Bi-Honar
08-18-2009, 04:30 PM
Sorry if I've been a little absent from the forums lately. I guess it was so bad that Pedram had to call last night and make sure I'm okay, which was very sweet. :drinking47:
Anyway, Sammy got laid off and we've been building a deck in the backyard. On to some interlocking after this and we're hoping to finish the backyard before Labour Day, so we don't feel guilty taking some time off as labourers! :UniKia:
Definitely missing all of you guys and looking forward to the long weekend and BBW with Hamid, vodka shots with Rasoul and beer towers with Pedram! I see we have some new smilies and I assume we have the commander to thank for that - looking great.
Anyway, during my breaks, I've been trying to stay on top of Iranian news and I check ILNA, ISNA, PressTV, Mowj, etc. on a daily basis. My Farsi (reading) has improved significantly as a result! :bow2:
Some updates you may or may not know about:
* As posted in the forum, Sadeghe Larijani (the brother of Majles's Larijani) took over "Ghoveyye Ghazaie" from Shahroudi. The ceremony, which took place yesterday, was postponed from its original date for unknown reasons. Larijani has promissed to deal very harshly with ANYONE who has acted outside his/her legal boundaries - referring to NE, Basij, etc. and their confrontation with the people.
* During the ceremony AN & Hashemi greeted each other and exchanged a few words - some media outlets have portrayed that as a reconciliatory gesture and a good thing. In reality though, AN said that those in "high places" who are stealing from the people need to be dealt with (obvioulsy referring to Hashemi and his family) and can't expect those in lower positions to respect people's property if this practive is allowed to continue. This was obvioulsy a reiteration of his stance during televised election debates. He then got up and left as soon as Hashemi began to deliver his speech. This is a very significant piece of news as it reemphasizes the major clash between two very important factions of the rulinf elite.
* I have noticed that PressTV has been "more balanced" in its news and the presentation of that news since Rafi's Friday sermons, ILNA and ISNA also seem to be pro-reform or at least empathic to the cause. The PressTV comments (posted on their articles) are not getting erased as often as before and while 2 months ago, the only comments allowed were about "zionist puppets" each and every time, they are now allowing more comments to stay up.
* Ettemede Melli was shut down on Sunday. This is the main "opposition" or reform newspaper in Iran and is run by Karroubi. Karroubi has been very vocal about his allegation of post-election rape and abuse in prisions and EM has been his voice to make this issue public. The conservatives are obviously not very happy about this and that's why the paper was ordered to be shit down after some heated public exchanges between Larijani (who is overseeing the committee investigating prison abuses and Karroubi). There have been some conflicting reports about the closure of the paper which makes the issue even more intereting.
* Within the next few days or week, Mousavi's going to form a front, including Khatami, Karroubi and many big names, called "Raahe Sabze Omid" or RASA for short. This is the big news at the moment and it is believed that RASA will have a lot of heavy-weights supporting it. Anjomane Mohandesine Majles for example, the Doctors association (who issued a not so pleasant elamieh condemming the post-election crackdown a few days ago), etc. It is unclear, whether Rafi will come out and publicly support RASA and whether RASA is to be a movement, organized political party, or just a front. We'll definitely find out in the next few days.
* Iran has threatened to ban the Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia! This is another huge deveopment and although they've sited the Saudi's mistreatment of Iranian pilgrims as the reason, the looking H5N1 crisis, and the government's inability to deal with the issue effectively, is most liekly the reason.
* Shahroudi was today appointed to Shorraye Negahban by Khamenei, following the end of his tenure in Ghovveye Ghazaie.
Anyway, Sammy got laid off and we've been building a deck in the backyard. On to some interlocking after this and we're hoping to finish the backyard before Labour Day, so we don't feel guilty taking some time off as labourers! :UniKia:
Definitely missing all of you guys and looking forward to the long weekend and BBW with Hamid, vodka shots with Rasoul and beer towers with Pedram! I see we have some new smilies and I assume we have the commander to thank for that - looking great.
Anyway, during my breaks, I've been trying to stay on top of Iranian news and I check ILNA, ISNA, PressTV, Mowj, etc. on a daily basis. My Farsi (reading) has improved significantly as a result! :bow2:
Some updates you may or may not know about:
* As posted in the forum, Sadeghe Larijani (the brother of Majles's Larijani) took over "Ghoveyye Ghazaie" from Shahroudi. The ceremony, which took place yesterday, was postponed from its original date for unknown reasons. Larijani has promissed to deal very harshly with ANYONE who has acted outside his/her legal boundaries - referring to NE, Basij, etc. and their confrontation with the people.
* During the ceremony AN & Hashemi greeted each other and exchanged a few words - some media outlets have portrayed that as a reconciliatory gesture and a good thing. In reality though, AN said that those in "high places" who are stealing from the people need to be dealt with (obvioulsy referring to Hashemi and his family) and can't expect those in lower positions to respect people's property if this practive is allowed to continue. This was obvioulsy a reiteration of his stance during televised election debates. He then got up and left as soon as Hashemi began to deliver his speech. This is a very significant piece of news as it reemphasizes the major clash between two very important factions of the rulinf elite.
* I have noticed that PressTV has been "more balanced" in its news and the presentation of that news since Rafi's Friday sermons, ILNA and ISNA also seem to be pro-reform or at least empathic to the cause. The PressTV comments (posted on their articles) are not getting erased as often as before and while 2 months ago, the only comments allowed were about "zionist puppets" each and every time, they are now allowing more comments to stay up.
* Ettemede Melli was shut down on Sunday. This is the main "opposition" or reform newspaper in Iran and is run by Karroubi. Karroubi has been very vocal about his allegation of post-election rape and abuse in prisions and EM has been his voice to make this issue public. The conservatives are obviously not very happy about this and that's why the paper was ordered to be shit down after some heated public exchanges between Larijani (who is overseeing the committee investigating prison abuses and Karroubi). There have been some conflicting reports about the closure of the paper which makes the issue even more intereting.
* Within the next few days or week, Mousavi's going to form a front, including Khatami, Karroubi and many big names, called "Raahe Sabze Omid" or RASA for short. This is the big news at the moment and it is believed that RASA will have a lot of heavy-weights supporting it. Anjomane Mohandesine Majles for example, the Doctors association (who issued a not so pleasant elamieh condemming the post-election crackdown a few days ago), etc. It is unclear, whether Rafi will come out and publicly support RASA and whether RASA is to be a movement, organized political party, or just a front. We'll definitely find out in the next few days.
* Iran has threatened to ban the Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia! This is another huge deveopment and although they've sited the Saudi's mistreatment of Iranian pilgrims as the reason, the looking H5N1 crisis, and the government's inability to deal with the issue effectively, is most liekly the reason.
* Shahroudi was today appointed to Shorraye Negahban by Khamenei, following the end of his tenure in Ghovveye Ghazaie.