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freshwest
freshwest's Journal
freshwest's Journal
August 6, 2015
Only if a Faux bobblehead is in that van...
I only go to the UK 'Hate' Mail (as someone told me it was once called) because it comes up in google pic search results.
The Mail posts pictures of everything you could ever want to know or see. Like Obama's Stonehenge visit:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2745437/Knocked-bucket-list-Obama-makes-surprise-visit-Stonehenge-following-NATO-meeting-poses-grinning-family-walk.html
But they also post stuff you never wanted to see or know... Blech!
August 6, 2015
Ah, now I remember. Wasn't it a college essay?
Sans the luxury 
of living within the history of slavery in America.
I think everyone who is not black should listen in hushed silence. BLM is speaking about life and death, right and wrong, and the deepest values.
For others it is more than likely they'll be unable to comprehend, and with no disrespect to the OP or his supporters, this discussion is unworthy.
I just see it as logical to listen before one speaks on as sacred a subject as life and death...
BTW, just finished hearing 'Paul Mooney - Analyzing White America - Full Version.' I see why you like him. He didn't miss a thing, especially about 'training' everything.
August 6, 2015
~ Bain's Bane
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025216329#post457
Nance, here's a more worthy meme than we often hear online:
Dismissing the rights and concerns of people of color and women is reactionary. It is way more reactionary than Third Way. There is nothing progressive or liberal about it, and I don't consider people who do so to be leftists. Period.~ Bain's Bane
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025216329#post457
August 5, 2015
On April 28, 1967, boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 14, 1942, the future three-time world champ changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after converting to Islam. He scored a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and made his professional boxing debut against Tunney Husaker on October 29, 1960, winning the bout in six rounds. On February 25, 1964, he defeated the heavily favored bruiser Sonny Liston in six rounds to become heavyweight champ.
On April 28, 1967, with the United States at war in Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.” On June 20, 1967, Ali was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years. He stayed out of prison as his case was appealed and returned to the ring on October 26, 1970, knocking out Jerry Quarry in Atlanta in the third round. On March 8, 1971, Ali fought Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century” and lost after 15 rounds, the first loss of his professional boxing career. On June 28 of that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction for evading the draft.
At a January 24, 1974, rematch at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Ali defeated Frazier by decision in 12 rounds. On October 30 of that same year, an underdog Ali bested George Forman and reclaimed his heavyweight champion belt at the hugely hyped “Rumble in the Jungle” in Kinshasa, Zaire, with a knockout in the eighth round. On October 1, 1975, Ali met Joe Frazier for a third time at the “Thrilla in Manila” in the Philippines and defeated him in 14 rounds. On February 15, 1978, Ali lost the title to Leon Spinks in a 15-round split decision. However, seven months later, on September 15, Ali won it back. In June 1979, Ali announced he was retiring from boxing. He returned to the ring on October 2, 1980, and fought heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, who knocked him out in the 11th round. After losing to Trevor Berbick on December 11, 1981, Ali left the ring for the final time, with a 56-5 record. He is the only fighter to be heavyweight champion three times. In 1984, it was revealed Ali had Parkinson’s disease.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/muhammad-ali-refuses-army-induction
When it counted, he put his life on the line, standing up for what was right.
A real man walking the talk. Another is your hero, Muhammad Ali who fought the MIC.
He didn't support their works. Were things simpler then than now?On April 28, 1967, boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 14, 1942, the future three-time world champ changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after converting to Islam. He scored a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and made his professional boxing debut against Tunney Husaker on October 29, 1960, winning the bout in six rounds. On February 25, 1964, he defeated the heavily favored bruiser Sonny Liston in six rounds to become heavyweight champ.
On April 28, 1967, with the United States at war in Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.” On June 20, 1967, Ali was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years. He stayed out of prison as his case was appealed and returned to the ring on October 26, 1970, knocking out Jerry Quarry in Atlanta in the third round. On March 8, 1971, Ali fought Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century” and lost after 15 rounds, the first loss of his professional boxing career. On June 28 of that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction for evading the draft.
At a January 24, 1974, rematch at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Ali defeated Frazier by decision in 12 rounds. On October 30 of that same year, an underdog Ali bested George Forman and reclaimed his heavyweight champion belt at the hugely hyped “Rumble in the Jungle” in Kinshasa, Zaire, with a knockout in the eighth round. On October 1, 1975, Ali met Joe Frazier for a third time at the “Thrilla in Manila” in the Philippines and defeated him in 14 rounds. On February 15, 1978, Ali lost the title to Leon Spinks in a 15-round split decision. However, seven months later, on September 15, Ali won it back. In June 1979, Ali announced he was retiring from boxing. He returned to the ring on October 2, 1980, and fought heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, who knocked him out in the 11th round. After losing to Trevor Berbick on December 11, 1981, Ali left the ring for the final time, with a 56-5 record. He is the only fighter to be heavyweight champion three times. In 1984, it was revealed Ali had Parkinson’s disease.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/muhammad-ali-refuses-army-induction
When it counted, he put his life on the line, standing up for what was right.
August 5, 2015
Many Iranians are social democrats repressed by the state religion. It seems the West profited by releasing Khomeini from a French prison when the young generation was determined to overthrow the Shah. I don't think a coincidence that the new generation got radicalized as it did.
(Anecdotally, I used to talk with the young Iranian emigrants as they were demonstrating in front of the ARAMCO building at that time. Many Iranians had fled the Shah to the USA and were doing well. But they were upset for their breathern left behind. Ironically, the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights was one of their inspirations. They were not religious zealots, but they stopped demonstrating when the Shah was gone. Later they were nearly as unhappy with that turn of events, but hoped for the best for Iran later.)
Iranians would likely prefer to go back a progressive government, in comparison to the rule of theocrats, as they had under Mosaddegh and their democratically elected government:
1953 Iranian coup d'état
Operation Ajax.
Mossadegh had sought to audit the books of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now BP) and to change the terms of the company's access to Iranian petroleum reserves. Upon the refusal of the AIOC to co-operate with the Iranian government, the parliament (Majlis) voted to nationalize the assets of the company and expel their representatives from the country.[7][8][9] Following the coup in 1953, a government under General Fazlollah Zahedi was formed which allowed Mohammad-Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran (Persian for an Iranian king),[9] to rule the country more firmly as monarch. He relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power until his own overthrow in February 1979.[7][8][9][10] In August 2013, 60 years after, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) admitted that it was involved in both the planning and the execution of the coup, including the bribing of Iranian politicians, security and army high-ranking officials, as well as pro-coup propaganda.[11][12] The CIA is quoted acknowledging the coup was carried out "under CIA direction" and "as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government."[13]
Iran's oil had been discovered and later controlled by the British-owned AIOC.[14] Popular discontent with the AIOC began in the late 1940s: a large segment of Iran's public and a number of politicians saw the company as exploitative and a central tool of continued British imperialism in Iran.[7][15] Despite Mosaddegh's popular support, the AIOC was unwilling to allow Iranian authorities to audit the company accounts or to renegotiate the terms of its access to Iranian petroleum. In 1951, Iran's petroleum industry was nationalized with near-unanimous support of the Majlis in a bill introduced by Mossadegh who led the Iranian nationalist party, the National Front. In response, Britain instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically.[16] Initially, Britain mobilized its military to seize control of the British-built Abadan oil refinery, then the world's largest, but Prime Minister Clement Attlee opted instead to tighten the economic boycott[17] while using Iranian agents to undermine Mosaddegh's government.[18] With a change to more conservative governments in both Britain and the United States, Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration decided to overthrow Iran's government, though the predecessor Truman administration had opposed a coup.[19] Classified documents show that British intelligence officials played a pivotal role in initiating and planning the coup, and that the AIOC contributed $25,000 towards the expense of bribing officials.[20]
Britain and the US selected General Zahedi to be the prime minister of a government that was to replace Mosaddegh's. Subsequently, a royal decree dismissing Mosaddegh and appointing Zahedi was drawn up by the coup plotters and signed by the Shah. The CIA had successfully pressured the weak monarch to participate in the coup, while bribing street thugs, clergy, politicians and Iranian army officers to take part in a propaganda campaign against Mosaddegh and his government.[21] At first the coup appeared to be a failure when, on the night of 15–16 August, Imperial Guard Colonel Nematollah Nassiri was arrested while attempting to arrest Mosaddegh. The Shah fled the country the next day. On 19 August, a pro-Shah mob paid by the CIA marched on Mosaddegh's residence.[22] According to the CIA's declassified documents and records, some of the most feared mobsters in Tehran were hired by the CIA to stage pro-Shah riots on 19 August. Other CIA-paid men were brought into Tehran in buses and trucks, and took over the streets of the city.[23] Between 300[1] and 800 people were killed because of the conflict.[2] Mosaddegh was arrested, tried and convicted of treason by the Shah's military court. On 21 December 1953, he was sentenced to three years in jail, then placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life.[24][25][26] Other Mosaddegh supporters were imprisoned, and several received the death penalty.[9]
After the coup, the Shah ruled as an monarch for the next 26 years[8][9] while modernizing the country using oil revenues, until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.[8][9][27] The tangible benefits the United States reaped from overthrowing Iran's elected government included a share of Iran's oil wealth[28][clarification needed] and ensuring the Iranian nation remained under the control of an allied dictator. Washington continually supplied arms to the increasingly unpopular Shah and the CIA-trained SAVAK, his repressive secret police force;[9] however by the 1979 revolution, his increasingly independent policies resulted in his effective abandonment by his American allies, hastening his downfall.[29] The coup is widely believed to have significantly contributed to anti-American and anti-British sentiment in Iran and in the Middle East. The 1979 revolution deposed the Shah and replaced the pro-Western monarchy with a largely anti-Western authoritarian theocracy.[30][31]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
The Middle East was not as extremist at that time and many people, including women and the various minorities, were given freedom to live as they choose. Our version of fascist theocrats, the GOP, is intent on subjecting us to a system as harsh and corrupt as the ayatollahs.
They're not kidding, it's not funny, and they are doing it piece by piece by getting the public to agree with their ideology as Rush and his Koch sponsors wanted. Fascism is a grass roots movement with payments made directly or indirectly to their followers. Change the thinking of the masses and it enables demagogues to get away with anything.
Note that Truman did not agree with the coup, but Eisenhower did. The only honorable thing to do in the face of nationalism of oil refineries, etc. in Iran would be to demand paying for the investment. Instead, this lousy thing was done. This is our legacy and why they say 'Death to America' as they have suffered terribly.
But it doesn't excuse our version of the ayatollahs, and ignoring history. The Iranians have not forgotten.
Obama is right to call the GOP out as they want to continue to carry out the wrong policies of the past. Obama has instead called for speaking with them since before 2008. We have a chance to turn things around there and we must turn things around here. Because it can happen here, yes it can.
The same, but Iranians are nationalists, GOP/Koch/Libertarians are Nihilists. And...
Iranians want to be united as a country, the American types are selling us out to every country, setting up their own fascist fiefdoms.Many Iranians are social democrats repressed by the state religion. It seems the West profited by releasing Khomeini from a French prison when the young generation was determined to overthrow the Shah. I don't think a coincidence that the new generation got radicalized as it did.
(Anecdotally, I used to talk with the young Iranian emigrants as they were demonstrating in front of the ARAMCO building at that time. Many Iranians had fled the Shah to the USA and were doing well. But they were upset for their breathern left behind. Ironically, the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights was one of their inspirations. They were not religious zealots, but they stopped demonstrating when the Shah was gone. Later they were nearly as unhappy with that turn of events, but hoped for the best for Iran later.)
Iranians would likely prefer to go back a progressive government, in comparison to the rule of theocrats, as they had under Mosaddegh and their democratically elected government:
1953 Iranian coup d'état
Operation Ajax.
Mossadegh had sought to audit the books of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now BP) and to change the terms of the company's access to Iranian petroleum reserves. Upon the refusal of the AIOC to co-operate with the Iranian government, the parliament (Majlis) voted to nationalize the assets of the company and expel their representatives from the country.[7][8][9] Following the coup in 1953, a government under General Fazlollah Zahedi was formed which allowed Mohammad-Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran (Persian for an Iranian king),[9] to rule the country more firmly as monarch. He relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power until his own overthrow in February 1979.[7][8][9][10] In August 2013, 60 years after, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) admitted that it was involved in both the planning and the execution of the coup, including the bribing of Iranian politicians, security and army high-ranking officials, as well as pro-coup propaganda.[11][12] The CIA is quoted acknowledging the coup was carried out "under CIA direction" and "as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government."[13]
Iran's oil had been discovered and later controlled by the British-owned AIOC.[14] Popular discontent with the AIOC began in the late 1940s: a large segment of Iran's public and a number of politicians saw the company as exploitative and a central tool of continued British imperialism in Iran.[7][15] Despite Mosaddegh's popular support, the AIOC was unwilling to allow Iranian authorities to audit the company accounts or to renegotiate the terms of its access to Iranian petroleum. In 1951, Iran's petroleum industry was nationalized with near-unanimous support of the Majlis in a bill introduced by Mossadegh who led the Iranian nationalist party, the National Front. In response, Britain instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically.[16] Initially, Britain mobilized its military to seize control of the British-built Abadan oil refinery, then the world's largest, but Prime Minister Clement Attlee opted instead to tighten the economic boycott[17] while using Iranian agents to undermine Mosaddegh's government.[18] With a change to more conservative governments in both Britain and the United States, Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration decided to overthrow Iran's government, though the predecessor Truman administration had opposed a coup.[19] Classified documents show that British intelligence officials played a pivotal role in initiating and planning the coup, and that the AIOC contributed $25,000 towards the expense of bribing officials.[20]
Britain and the US selected General Zahedi to be the prime minister of a government that was to replace Mosaddegh's. Subsequently, a royal decree dismissing Mosaddegh and appointing Zahedi was drawn up by the coup plotters and signed by the Shah. The CIA had successfully pressured the weak monarch to participate in the coup, while bribing street thugs, clergy, politicians and Iranian army officers to take part in a propaganda campaign against Mosaddegh and his government.[21] At first the coup appeared to be a failure when, on the night of 15–16 August, Imperial Guard Colonel Nematollah Nassiri was arrested while attempting to arrest Mosaddegh. The Shah fled the country the next day. On 19 August, a pro-Shah mob paid by the CIA marched on Mosaddegh's residence.[22] According to the CIA's declassified documents and records, some of the most feared mobsters in Tehran were hired by the CIA to stage pro-Shah riots on 19 August. Other CIA-paid men were brought into Tehran in buses and trucks, and took over the streets of the city.[23] Between 300[1] and 800 people were killed because of the conflict.[2] Mosaddegh was arrested, tried and convicted of treason by the Shah's military court. On 21 December 1953, he was sentenced to three years in jail, then placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life.[24][25][26] Other Mosaddegh supporters were imprisoned, and several received the death penalty.[9]
After the coup, the Shah ruled as an monarch for the next 26 years[8][9] while modernizing the country using oil revenues, until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.[8][9][27] The tangible benefits the United States reaped from overthrowing Iran's elected government included a share of Iran's oil wealth[28][clarification needed] and ensuring the Iranian nation remained under the control of an allied dictator. Washington continually supplied arms to the increasingly unpopular Shah and the CIA-trained SAVAK, his repressive secret police force;[9] however by the 1979 revolution, his increasingly independent policies resulted in his effective abandonment by his American allies, hastening his downfall.[29] The coup is widely believed to have significantly contributed to anti-American and anti-British sentiment in Iran and in the Middle East. The 1979 revolution deposed the Shah and replaced the pro-Western monarchy with a largely anti-Western authoritarian theocracy.[30][31]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
The Middle East was not as extremist at that time and many people, including women and the various minorities, were given freedom to live as they choose. Our version of fascist theocrats, the GOP, is intent on subjecting us to a system as harsh and corrupt as the ayatollahs.
They're not kidding, it's not funny, and they are doing it piece by piece by getting the public to agree with their ideology as Rush and his Koch sponsors wanted. Fascism is a grass roots movement with payments made directly or indirectly to their followers. Change the thinking of the masses and it enables demagogues to get away with anything.
Note that Truman did not agree with the coup, but Eisenhower did. The only honorable thing to do in the face of nationalism of oil refineries, etc. in Iran would be to demand paying for the investment. Instead, this lousy thing was done. This is our legacy and why they say 'Death to America' as they have suffered terribly.
But it doesn't excuse our version of the ayatollahs, and ignoring history. The Iranians have not forgotten.
Obama is right to call the GOP out as they want to continue to carry out the wrong policies of the past. Obama has instead called for speaking with them since before 2008. We have a chance to turn things around there and we must turn things around here. Because it can happen here, yes it can.
August 5, 2015
Just HAD to go there.
RIP, Jimi Hendrix.
I'll be posting less than I do now. I'm sadly disappointed.
As true as it was when it came out:
Just HAD to go there.
RIP, Jimi Hendrix.
I'll be posting less than I do now. I'm sadly disappointed.
August 5, 2015
Looks like the love of my life (but my guy was taller) for over a decade. Don't forget, the President of the Galaxy had an advantage. Because two heads are better than one. None of the candidates can match that hair except Frederik!
Thought it was this guy, at first:
Looks like the love of my life (but my guy was taller) for over a decade. Don't forget, the President of the Galaxy had an advantage. Because two heads are better than one. None of the candidates can match that hair except Frederik!
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