Favorite Picture of the Day

(h/t The Daily Night Owl. To see the whole picture, open it in a new tab or window, or just go visit the site. Apparently I can't fix Blogger to show the whole thing)

Someone at CNN Got It

I have no blue how it took this long, but some guest at CNN finally got their head of their butt and figured out what was going on with these Iranian pro-government rallies. The most recent rallies that occurred have, according to several of my twitter sources, been staged. Those who work for the government were forced to participate in these shams of rallies as a part of their jobs or face unemployment and worse.

If you want to see some heated debates, scroll down to the comments section of that CNN story.

Wow, They Finally Figured It Out

USA Today has a story up today on the prevalence of children as sex offenders (h/t to Marcella Chester). According to the story, 36% of sexual offenders are children, with a whopping 93% of them being boys. Girls are often involved in these activities at younger ages.

I was five when the six year old girl we took care of began to abuse me. For the longest time, I didn't know how to handle what had happened. It occurred to me, though, that she was probably abused by someone else - most likely an adult because of things that were going on in her life. As a child, you don't know how to handle that sort of thing and lash out against other people... or you are lead to believe that this is what constitutes love, which can mess up the rest of your life.

It is hard for me to reconcile my feelings on the sex offender list with the experiences I have had. Because she was probably abused, it isn't right to put her on the sex offender list. However, this doesn't downplay the problems that the abuse has caused me in my life.

How can I feel like I have justice?

Well, I really can't. The only thing I can do is go forward and try to move on. What happened to me and other children in similar situations was not our fault and it wasn't "innocent exploration." As hard as it is, you have to try and make peace with what happened to you, learn what you can from it, and be a better person because of your experiences.

New Websites

In keeping with the topic of Iran, please visit the Struggle for a Free Iran site. They have a list of people killed and detained since the beginning of the protests also.

Also, visit the Iran Daily Newspaper site. It will have a pro-government spin, no doubt, but is an interesting source of information.

If you're planning on visiting Iran (which is being discouraged for obvious reasons), check this site out. The tagline is my favorite: "Welcome to Iran, the Land of Civilized and Friendly People." This is true for the majority of the population - those not in control.

This site has anything you'd ever want to know about the Iranian flag.

Oh, and don't forget to take a look at the Iranian Constitution. Not only is it interesting to read what they have to say about other religions in their country, but it's odd to see the changes in how this constitution has been used (or not) since June. Torture is forbidden as is arresting people without a proper lawful cause. I wonder if anyone has legitimately claimed asylum in Iran.

Happy New Year

It is always interesting to look back on the previous year and the changes that we have experienced. None of these changes are more important - or dangerous - than those faced by Iranian civilians. Here is just a short look at what has happened there since June.

• June 13 - Re-election of M. Ahmadinejad causes riots and protests in Iran by supporters of Mousavi; people protest throughout the world in the next few days on behalf of Iranians
• June 14 - Pro-Ahmadinejad supporters line the streets; some video of this and future pro-government rallies shown however are actually videos of green protests; Mousavi files a formal appeal to the government asking for a recount of the votes
• June 15 - Mousavi joins the public in protest, despite warnings that this would be illegal and he could face serious consequences
• June 17 - Iranian soccer players wear green wristbands and are later suspended for doing so; Ebrahim Yazdi, former foreign minister and Sec-Gen of the Freedom Movement of Iran, arrested at hospital while undergoing tests
• During the above time period, the University at Tehran was attacked by government forces, causing the detainment of over 200 students and the beating of hundreds more; foreign news crews were ordered to leave the country and news began to filter out through social networking sites like YouTube, Facebook, and the newly popular Twitter; several international news agencies had their offices attacked and raided; government forces tried to shut down SMS and the internet, yet the people were still able to get word out to the world; the US State Department begins to assist the Iranian people in gaining access to shut down websites; hundreds of reformists and protesters are arrested along with several foreign news personnel; protesters taken to hospitals also have possibility of being arrested, so wounded hold up in makeshift hospitals
• June 19 - The Ayatollah says that Ahmadinejad's victory is a divine sign and told protesters they would no longer be tolerated; in the face of the Ayatollah's words, protests (albeit on a smaller scale) occurred
• June 20 - Neda Agha-Soltan's murder is captured on video, fueling the fire lit by green revolutionaries
• June 22 - Tear gas and more force is used by the Basij to clear up protests; Ebrahim Yazdi sent back to hospital for medical procedure and later released
• June 29 - a "recount" of the votes is held, with the council in charge saying the Ahmadinejad still wins
• July 15 - Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes in Iran, killing all on board. Some think this is a ploy by the government to distract and quiet protesters
• August 5 - Ahmadinejad sworn in again, though he can hear protesters shouting "death to the dictator" outside of the Parliament
• August 11 - Iranian government confirms the detainment of over 4,000 persons in connection with protests
• September 18 - Quds Day; large protest held
• November 4 - 13th of Aban; large protest held
• December 7 - Iranian Students Day; large protest held
• December 26 & 27 -Ashura-related protests held; Ashura commemorates martyrdom and gratitude to God; you can find more here and here
• December 27 - Seyyed Ali Mousavi, Mousavi's nephew, is killed; his body is kept from the family for quite some time before finally being released; Mousavi anticipates his death in the next coming days
• December 28 - Ebrahim Yazdi re-arrested

So far five people have been killed via trials on charges of orchestrating the revolution and exposing human rights violations.

Women have experienced a huge revolution themselves within the Green Revolution. Feminism is alive in Iran.

Let's hope that the new year brings with it a sense of peace for the citizens in Iran.

Give Hope a Chance

I watched District 9 the other night. All I could think of was the apartheid situation in Israel/Palestine (for the record, Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela have all called this situation an apartheid - note that two of them actually lived under South Africa's apartheid). Sure, go ahead and call it my capstone project haunting me during the holidays. However, the conditions and discrimination faced by the aliens in the film are very reminiscent of that faced by the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

Since I've been dwelling on that for a few days, this news story was very unexpected. Here are some of my favorite parts regarding the young Israeli boy and Palestinian girl:

Friendship often starts with proximity, but Orel and Marya, both 8, have been thrust together in a way few elsewhere have. Their playground is a hospital corridor. He is an Israeli Jew severely wounded by a Hamas rocket. She is a Palestinian Muslim from Gaza paralyzed by an Israeli missile. Someone forgot to tell them that they are enemies.

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“The wounds of our children, their pain, our pain, have connected us,” noted Angela Elizarov, Orel’s mother, one recent day as she sat on a bed in the room she shares with her son. Next door is Marya, her 6-year-old brother, Momen, and their father, Hamdi Aman. “Does it matter that he is from Gaza and I am from Beersheba, that he is an Arab and I am a Jew? It has no meaning to me. He sees my child and I see his child.”

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He [Marya's father] and his children have been at Alyn Hospital, which specializes in young people with serious physical disabilities, for nearly the entire time since. The Israeli government, which brought him here for emergency help, wanted him and his children either to return to Gaza or to move to the West Bank. But attention in the Israeli news media produced a bevy of volunteers to fight on his behalf. Marya would not survive in either Gaza or the West Bank. The government has backed off, supporting Mr. Aman on minimum wage and paying for Marya to go to a bilingual Arabic-Hebrew school nearby.

But Mr. Aman has no official status and is also raising a healthy and bright son in a hospital room. He wants residency or a ticket to a Western country where his children will be safe and Marya will get the care she needs.

Volunteers who help are often religious Jews performing national service. Some ask Mr. Aman how he can live among the people whose army destroyed his family.

“I have never felt there was a difference among people — Jews, Muslims, Christians — we are all human beings,” he says. “I worked in Israel for years and so did my father. We know that it is not about what you are but who you are. And that is what I have taught my children.”

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“I was raised as a complete Zionist rightist,” he said. “The Arabs, we were told, were out to kill us. But I was living in some fantasy. Here in the hospital, all my friends are Arabs.” Ms. Elizarov, Orel’s mother, noted that in places like Alyn Hospital, political tensions do not exist. Then she said, “Do we need to suffer in order to learn that there is no difference between Jews and Arabs?”

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Perhaps through the suffering of others, humanity as a whole could someday come together to create a more peaceful existence for all.

Iran and Airplanes

There is an awful lot going on in Iran. I'm not even going to pretend like I can do the situation justice, so for more on the what's going on, visit The Daily Dish. Andrew Sullivan and company have done a wonderful job over the weekend with analyzing the different news coming out of Iran via the citizens and social networking sites.

CNN all day has been talking about the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas. Al Qaeda has now confirmed that they are behind the 23 year-old Nigerian's plot to bring down a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit Friday. Headline News has been asking people for their opinions about the raised security at airports and some of the responses astound me. There is a lot of racism and religious intolerance regarding this event. One particular gentleman was upset that "our people" are being searched.

For the record, you never know who is going to be involved with terrorism. There are plenty of homegrown terrorists or those who support terrorists. I, for one, have no problem going through more searching if I can be confident that my plane trip will go smoothly or that my loved ones will be fine during their trips.