Iranian protests over election results

view all posts by arkarian

2009-06-18 08:34:26 pm

Iranian elections are over and several million paper ballots have been counted in a few hours before the count was stopped and victory was declared . . . Oddly enough, thousands upon thousands of people in Iran have taken to the streets in protest, demanding a full count of the vote or a new vote altogether.

Some thoughts on this:
1) A setup? Yeah, probably, but... Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (yes, that's really how you spell his name) "won" the election with about 2/3 majority. Saddam Hussein won elections in Iraq with 99.9% of the vote (literally). Families of the people who opposed Saddam "disappeared" in torture rooms. The thousands and thousands who opposed Ahmadinejad? Protesting in the streets (and only a handful getting killed).
2) The Iranian people are being *allowed* to protest against Ahmadinejad. True, the media is being strongly limited, but what do you expect? I expected the military to squash the protests quick. Instead, the protests have gone on for days. A recent crackdown on video of the protests shows that the protests are actually growing, not shrinking.

Considering how tyrannical the Iranian regime is (as compared to more modernized countries), it seems to be on a good path and I really hope we stay the hell out and let things work through for themselves.

I voted for the other guy.

Thread title:

Iranian elections are over and several million paper ballots have been counted in a few hours before the count was stopped and victory was declared . . . Oddly enough, thousands upon thousands of people in Iran have taken to the streets in protest, demanding a full count of the vote or a new vote altogether.

Some thoughts on this:
1) A setup?  Yeah, probably, but... Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (yes, that's really how you spell his name) "won" the election with about 2/3 majority. Saddam Hussein won elections in Iraq with 99.9% of the vote (literally).  Families of the people who opposed Saddam "disappeared" in torture rooms.  The thousands and thousands who opposed Ahmadinejad?  Protesting in the streets (and only a handful getting killed).
2) The Iranian people are being *allowed* to protest against Ahmadinejad.  True, the media is being strongly limited, but what do you expect?  I expected the military to squash the protests quick.  Instead, the protests have gone on for days.  A recent crackdown on video of the protests shows that the protests are actually growing, not shrinking.

Considering how tyrannical the Iranian regime is (as compared to more modernized countries), it seems to be on a good path and I really hope we stay the hell out and let things work through for themselves.

[spoiler="On a side note."]I voted for the other guy.[/spoiler]

arkarian:

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arkarian

2009-06-18 08:38:01 pm

mindfulness

fully erect

i've only been following bits of this, but i think it's a mixture of progress and the same old problems. but at least there's some progress, i.e. allowing more freedom of speech.

Gaius_4:

registered on 2007-07-05 06:10:26 pm.

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Gaius_4

2009-06-18 09:19:08 pm

Only speaking as a passive viewer of these events (as troubling as they are) - I've wondered if the guy running against Ahmadinejad is any better than him?

As in: what are his "policies" and stances on things. Not that I have any idea what Ahmadinejad's are (other than he denies the holocaust -which tells me enough about him right there).

Whoever is "President" -does that really matter? I mean, the true head of Iran is that religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. So whoever is president is nothing more than a puppet anyway. A 'Front Man'.

Then again, I could well be mis-informed on how things work over there. :-/ I'm not meaning to make light of any conflicts/tragedies that have happened. Clearly there is need for a change.

Jathys:

registered on 2008-09-05 12:22:56 am.

Gender: male

Location: MA

Edit history:

Jathys: 2009-06-19 01:00:25 am

2009-06-18 09:33:31 pm

Quote from Gaius_4:

Only speaking as a passive viewer of these events (as troubling as they are) - I've wondered if the guy running against Ahmadinejad is any better than him?

As in: what are his "policies" and stances on things.

Doesn't matter. In the good ole U S of A, we elect someone who claims he'll be a leader of the people, who makes promises he can't keep, who will undoubtedly prove to be no different than every other president who claimed the same thing before him . . . Not saying that part of the system works, but it is a system. Good or bad, the majority of the people win/fail together.

Quote from Gaius_4:

Whoever is "President" -does that really matter? I mean, the true head of Iran is that religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. So whoever is president is nothing more than a puppet anyway. A 'Front Man'.

In England, royalty used to be the true head, whereas it has become little more than a figure head for the sake of tradition. The "President" is only the #2 guy over there, true, but in time #2 guys become top dog.

Quote from Gaius_4:

Clearly there is need for a change.

"Yes we can!"

Again, I voted for the other guy.

[quote="Gaius_4"]Only speaking as a passive viewer of these events (as troubling as they are) - I've wondered if the guy running against Ahmadinejad is any better than him?

As in: what are his "policies" and stances on things.[/quote]Doesn't matter.  In the good ole U S of A, we elect someone who claims he'll be a leader of the people, who makes promises he can't keep, who will undoubtedly prove to be no different than every other president who claimed the same thing before him . . . Not saying that part of the system works, but it is a system.  Good or bad, the majority of the people win/fail together.

[quote="Gaius_4"]Whoever is "President" -does that really matter?  I mean, the true head of Iran is that religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  So whoever is president is nothing more than a puppet anyway.  A 'Front Man'.[/quote]In England, royalty used to be the true head, whereas it has become little more than a figure head for the sake of tradition.  The "President" is only the #2 guy over there, true, but in time #2 guys become top dog.

[quote="Gaius_4"]Clearly there is need for a change.[/quote]"Yes we can!"
[spoiler="On another side note."]Again, I voted for the other guy.[/spoiler]

Boris:

registered on 2009-03-02 11:03:21 am.

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Boris

2009-06-19 12:19:01 am

The Overlord of All Acorns.

Ahm isn't as bad as the American media wants you to think he is. It's because said that he wants to kill Jewland that Amerika gets so angry.

That said, he isn't stupid either. If the election was indeed rigged (which it looks like it was), the guy would give himself a healthy victory margin, not something ridiculous, and not something too close. Too close would warrant a recount, too much would scream setup.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female

2009-06-19 12:47:03 am

Servin' you realness!!

Quote from Boris:

That said, he isn't stupid either.

Maybe not, but he's definitely insane.

Also, who gives a flying fuck about all this shit in Iran? I'm so sick of the media cherry-picking events to call news for undisclosed reasons. They'll go on and on for days about one incident, while bigger incidents of the same type from other parts of the world are practically ignored. Just like when a child goes missing and it's national news for weeks when the truth is a hundred other kids went missing during that timeframe and nobody gave a shit. I personally don't give a fuck about Iran OR their election OR their problems, I have my own shit to deal with right here in the USA. I really don't care about Iran's problems, as far as I'm concerned I hope someone nukes the entire middle east off of the globe. It's a total wart on the ass of the world and the only reason we have any relationship with those crazy bastards is because they've pitched their tents on top of our oil.

[quote="Boris"]

That said, he isn't stupid either.

[/quote]

Maybe not, but he's definitely insane.

Also, who gives a flying fuck about all this shit in Iran?   I'm so sick of the media cherry-picking events to call news for undisclosed reasons.   They'll go on and on for days about one incident, while bigger incidents of the same type from other parts of the world are practically ignored.   Just like when a child goes missing and it's national news for weeks when the truth is a hundred other kids went missing during that timeframe and nobody gave a shit.  I personally don't give a fuck about Iran OR their election OR their problems, I have my own shit to deal with right here in the USA.  I really don't care about Iran's problems, as far as I'm concerned I hope someone nukes the entire middle east off of the globe.  It's a total wart on the ass of the world and the only reason we have any relationship with those crazy bastards is because they've pitched their tents on top of our oil.

tomatobob:

registered on 2004-03-27 12:44:30 am.

Gender: male

Location: O'er yon hill

2009-06-19 12:51:52 am

Never stressed

yeah, fuck those guys, man. sittin' on our oil an' shit, who fuckin' needs them.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female

view all posts by BioSpark

Edit history:

Opium: 2009-06-19 12:57:55 am

2009-06-19 12:52:16 am

Servin' you realness!!

Quote from tomatobob:

yeah, fuck those guys, man. sittin' on our oil an' shit, who fuckin' needs them.

exactly. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I hate those people.

EDIT: Besides, it is our oil basically. The more industrialized/technologically advanced races of this world have been kind enough to buy every drop they pump out instead of going in there and just fucking taking it. It may not be right to just take it but it would have prevented what we have now: a bunch of moronic brain-washed religious psychopaths who actually have enough money at their disposal to cause us major problems.

BioSpark:

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BioSpark

2009-06-19 12:56:28 am

hʌŋ laɪk

ə hɔːrs

do you even know what you are saying? the majority of the people in that area aren't the problem at all. just because there are terrorists, corrupt governments, etc. doesn't mean you have to bomb the whole place and kill everyone.

tomatobob:

registered on 2004-03-27 12:44:30 am.

Gender: male

Location: O'er yon hill

2009-06-19 01:01:27 am

Never stressed

they should kill everyone who isn't me, i have my own troubles and i don't need to hear about other people.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female

2009-06-19 01:03:24 am

Servin' you realness!!

Yeah the problem over there is just their corrupt dictators. You can take out the dictators but then what? Oh look, here comes another crazy fuck-tard to take his place - and so on and so on. It's like cutting the head off of a monster and watching it grow a new one every time. I say just blow up the damn monster or else it will just keep growing new heads forever. There may be a few cool people over there but IMO they're so in the minority that when they die in the nuclear fire it will be a mercy killing.

Jathys:

registered on 2008-09-05 12:22:56 am.

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view all posts by Sadiztik Fish

2009-06-19 01:17:51 am

Quote from Opium:

I have my own shit to deal with right here in the USA. I really don't care about Iran's problems, as far as I'm concerned..............

Okay... Just 2 questions then:
1) What "shit" are you dealing with "right here in the USA"? I don't mean personal problems, but actual USA related issues . . . Since you're "dealing" with it, then what is it you're dealing with? Are you searching for the missing children you just mentioned?
2) You don't care about their problems? Well, good for you. Truth of the matter is though, if you don't care about something, then it makes no difference to you one way or another. If you don't care about something, why are you voicing your apparently very strong opinion about it?

I do care. Not because the media (quite frankly, I would normally agree with you on the part about the media selecting what tidbits it decides to cram down our throats), but rather in spite of it. We get spoonfulls of propaganda against a country just so long, it's nice to see propaganda slanted for that country once in a while.

Quote from Opium:

There may be a few cool people over there but IMO they're so in the minority that when they die in the nuclear fire it will be a mercy killing.

Cool people? Oh, you mean people who think the same way you do? Unfortunately those people are actually the majority. Just like in the USA, the majority gets ruled by a powerful minority (whether that power is by military, money, or simply being enough of a badass to reach out and take what you want when everyone else hesitates).

Truth is, much of their leadership agrees with you . . . The USA may have a few "cool" people in it, but the majority of them are monsterous and should be destroyed.

[quote="Opium"]I have my own shit to deal with right here in the USA.  I really don't care about Iran's problems, as far as I'm concerned..............[/quote]Okay... Just 2 questions then:
1) What "shit" are you dealing with "right here in the USA"?  I don't mean personal problems, but actual USA related issues . . . Since you're "dealing" with it, then what is it you're dealing with?  Are you searching for the missing children you just mentioned?
2) You don't care about their problems?  Well, good for you.  Truth of the matter is though, if you don't care about something, then it makes no difference to you one way or another.  If you don't care about something, why are you voicing your apparently very strong opinion about it?

I [i]do[/i] care.  Not because the media (quite frankly, I would normally agree with you on the part about the media selecting what tidbits it decides to cram down our throats), but rather in spite of it.  We get spoonfulls of propaganda against a country just so long, it's nice to see propaganda slanted [i]for[/i] that country once in a while.

[quote="Opium"]There may be a few cool people over there but IMO they're so in the minority that when they die in the nuclear fire it will be a mercy killing.[/quote]Cool people?  Oh, you mean people who think the same way you do?  Unfortunately those people are actually the majority.  Just like in the USA, the majority gets ruled by a powerful minority (whether that power is by military, money, or simply being enough of a badass to reach out and take what you want when everyone else hesitates).

Truth is, much of their leadership agrees with you . . . The USA may have a few "cool" people in it, but the majority of them are monsterous and should be destroyed.

Sadiztik Fish:

registered on 2008-07-17 04:05:21 am.

Location: Canberra Australia

Sadiztik Fish

2009-06-19 01:27:39 am

OMG FLAN!!!!!!!

Quote from Opium:

Quote from tomatobob:

yeah, fuck those guys, man. sittin' on our oil an' shit, who fuckin' needs them.

Besides, it is our oil basically.

What makes it your oil? I find it quite amusing that you seem to think America owns it. Just because you pay for it, doesn't mean it's all yours. Do you think if I went to McDonalds and bought a burger, I can have the whole ice cream machine as well?

Personally, I think it's racist people like you that cause the problems in the world.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female

2009-06-19 01:36:16 am

Servin' you realness!!

The oil belongs to whoever buys it, silly. The majority of the oil from that region is bought by other countries. They don't drill all that oil with themselves in mind, they intend to sell it.

BTW, what does race have to do with it?

Jathys:

registered on 2008-09-05 12:22:56 am.

Gender: male

Location: MA

2009-06-19 01:49:04 am

Quote from Opium:

BTW, what does race have to do with it?

He probably got confused by reading something he saw somewhere.

Quote from Opium:

exactly. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I hate those people.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female

view all posts by BioSpark

2009-06-19 01:50:35 am

Servin' you realness!!

Quote from Jathys:

Quote from Opium:

BTW, what does race have to do with it?

He probably got confused by reading something he saw somewhere.

Quote from Opium:

exactly. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I hate those people.

What does 'I hate those people' have to do with race?

BioSpark:

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BioSpark

2009-06-19 01:56:02 am

hʌŋ laɪk

ə hɔːrs

you only hate the people in that area, and you're assuming that at least a large portion of them are terrible people. sounds pretty racist to me.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female

2009-06-19 02:03:04 am

Servin' you realness!!

My reasons for hating those people have nothing to do with race. I've made no statement which would indicate my reasons have anything to do with race at all. I don't really care what race they are. If the people who lived there just happened to be the same race as me then I would still hate them because as I've said, it really has nothing to do with that.

If I thought I would actually have to defend these beliefs I never would have stated them. As far as I know just about everyone in my life shares the same opinions as me on this issue, even the ones who disagree with me about so many other things. I'm actually very surprised to hear anyone argue against me on this, it has never happened before. So it wasn't my intention to start a debate. I HATE THE MIDDLE EAST. I said what I think and I'm done.

tomatobob:

registered on 2004-03-27 12:44:30 am.

Gender: male

Location: O'er yon hill

2009-06-19 02:05:35 am

Never stressed

You were surprised to find that people did not agree that an entire region of the world is full of horrible monsters who need to die? Really?

Me too!

Jathys:

registered on 2008-09-05 12:22:56 am.

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Location: MA

view all posts by arkarian

2009-06-19 02:15:24 am

I post about people standing up for their rights.
You post about how you don't care because it's just "media cherry-picking", which apparently upsets you even if you don't care.

I'm confused though . . . "I HATE THE MIDDLE EAST"... What is this based on? Have you been to the middle east? If not, where did you get your information about the middle east? The news, perhaps? I sure hope not. It would be a truly sad thing if it's "media cherry-picking" when there's a positive story and a well formed opinion if there's a negative story.

FYI- Stating opinions is not the same as saying that millions of people should be killed.

arkarian:

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arkarian

2009-06-19 02:21:58 am

mindfulness

fully erect

good idea is not to read/watch/listen to us news. bbc seems to be a better alternative.

Jathys:

registered on 2008-09-05 12:22:56 am.

Gender: male

Location: MA

2009-06-19 02:41:27 am

Quote from arkarian:

good idea is not to read/watch/listen to us news. bbc seems to be a better alternative.

For the most part, I'm going to agree with you there, but if you listen to a lot of opposing news sources you can normally filter out the waste and get a tiny bit of actual information. Not much, but it does happen.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female

2009-06-19 02:56:18 am

Servin' you realness!!

This is actually NORMAL in the middle east:

Oh and look, it's also commonly known that the law in the Middle East is OK with beating your wife:

Don't forget about HONOR KILLINGS. Basically there are a number of superficial reasons where it is actually OK to kill a member of your family or spouse to preserve your family's honor. It is common and widely accepted. The western media isn't making this shit up people!

tomatobob:

registered on 2004-03-27 12:44:30 am.

Gender: male

Location: O'er yon hill

2009-06-19 03:03:14 am

Never stressed

clearly those three videos apply to the overwhelming majority of people in the region and are evidence that they all have to go.

Opium:

registered on 2008-08-19 01:51:50 pm.

Gender: female