Japan Joins the Evil Empire
Yesterday, Japan hanged three men.
The death penalty is barbaric, but in Japan, they just take you in the morning and hang you, after you might have been in jail for twenty or thirty years. Your relatives aren’ even told.
That though is truly barbaric. Even when we had the death penalty, it was carried out as humanely as possible, according to the standards of the time.
So Japan now joins the Evil Empire of Iran, China and the United States.
How Could Anybody Vote For Rick Santorum?
The times has a fairly detailed article on Rick Santorum today and they list some of his beliefs.
He has actually called higher education a liberal conspiracy. Good one that, as does he think that ideas and scientific breakthroughs, like cures for serious diseases just happen without education?
He also says that women ,who get pregnant after being raped, should be made to keep their gift from God. I should think that the only country with similar views is somewhere like Iran.
His views on homosexuality seem to be very much like those in Iran too.
He has also said that working mothers are slaves of radical feminism. That is something worthy of the mullahs of Iran.
I could go on, but I have better things to do, like the washing up, as we widows can’t be choosy about who does the work. Does Rick Santorum have a policy for widows? I suspect it’s God’s gift to those left behind. I couldn’t find his views, but I did find this piece about a widowed conservative Republican, who has a gay daughter. She talks more sense in a minute, than the odious Santorum has talked in the last year.
Show me a white American male with strong religion and I’ll show you a bigot, who believes that a woman’s place is slaving in the home.
Web Programmer At Risk of Execution In Iran
This is from Amnesty International.
Web programmer Saeed Malekpour could be executed at any time in Iran. His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 17 January 2012 and a court official has indicated that his death sentence may have now been sent for implementation.
Saeed Malekpour, a resident of Canada and Iranian national, aged 36, was again sentenced to death on 19 October 2011 by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, and it was confirmed by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court on 17 January 2012. On 14 February 2012, one of Saeed Malekpour’s lawyers visited both courts to ask about his case, but learned that the file was being held at neither court. Comments from a court official suggested that this is because Saeed Malekpour’s file has been sent to the Office of Implementation of Sentences.
Saeed Malekpour was sentenced to death for “insulting and desecrating Islam” after a program he had developed for uploading photos online had been used to post pornographic images without his knowledge. Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death in October 2010 following a trial that reportedly only lasted 15 minutes. After a June 2011 announcement that the Supreme Court had returned the case for further review, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court imposed again the death sentence as well as prison sentence of seven and a-half years. Amnesty International understands that although he has legal representation now, for much of his detention Saeed Malekpour has had no access to legal counsel.
Saeed Malekpour had been living in Canada since 2005, but was arrested in October 2008 while visiting his family in Iran. He was allegedly tortured while held for over a year in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin prison. In 2009, Iranian state television repeatedly aired a “confession” by Saeed. In an open letter dated March 2010, Saeed Malekpour stated his “confession” was extracted after prolonged torture following orders by Revolutionary Guard interrogators.
I see many e-mails like this. To the Iranians justice seems to be a word with seven-letters and that is all.
This one touched me, as I’ve written programs to upload pictures and othe files to the Internet. As far as I know no-one has used them for any illicit purposes.
Iran’s Incompetent Bombers
I found the story in The Times today under the headline, Failed Bombers had beer-and-prostitute holiday in Thailand. The full story is here on a website called scoop.co.nz.
It’s a pity that the man on the Tehran omnibus probably won’t read the story. But then his .0000001 or much less of a vote, wouldn’t get rid of the country’s ridiculous government.
Still incompetent bombers have always been good for a laugh in both fact and fiction.
The Real Iranian Problem
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a lecture at the Geological Society of London about earthquakes. One thing said, was that Tehran is due a very large and damaging quake, because of the way they have developed the city.
Then in Cambridge last week, I had an Iranian taxi-driver and when I told him this, he said that most people in the city believe it and are incensed that their money is spent on unwanted vanity projects by the corrupt Iranian government. It was one of the reasons why he left Iran.
The Turkey/Iran area has always been earthquake-prone. And always will be. Remember Bam. The Wikipedia article pointed to, says some interesting things about Iran’s policy, including possibly moving the capital.
The Times today is saying that it can’t import the grain it needs because of sanctions stopping it being paid for. The sanctions are linked to non-compliance with international nuclear regulations. The nuclear regulations were in part put in place as a quid quo pro for American assistance over the Bam earthquake.
Iranians Seize Barbie
This headline is in today’s Sunday Times.
Apparently Barbie has been banned in Iran since 1996 according to this article. So police are now seizing them in shops.
A mother is quoted as saying that her daughter says the Iranian versions, Sara and Dara (Ken) are ugly and fat.
I don’t think my children ever had a Barbie. But they were all boys. On the other hand, they didn’t have an Action Man either.
The US Navy Does Irony
This is a good story from most peoples’ point of view, even if a US ship rescuing Iranian fishermen has a rather ironic taste given the state of relations between the two countries.
Let’s hope that the politicians play their next cards right and don’t undo all the good work.
The Iranian Schindler
I wonder what the leaders of modern Iran will make of this story.
An Iranian diplomat saves fellow Iranians, who just happen to be Jews from the Nazi death camps. So to both Jews and Iranians he should be a hero. It also is a good story about Iran and a Muslim, who showed the civilised humanitarian values we expect from everyone.
The Great Advantage of Rick Perry As US President
He would be able to talk to President Ahmadinejad as an equal as they both have the same views on capital punishment.
This even extends to their views on the execution of juveniles!
The two are made for each other!
Formula One to Iran
I never thought I hear these words together, but then some of those who work in Formula One have a different set of morals to those that I do!
I doubt it will happen, but read this piece in the Telegraph. Here is the update at the end.
UPDATE on 08/09: Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s chief executive, has now played down the possibility of a race in Tehran. “It’s not a question of politics,” Ecclestone said. “I’m not political. If a country is peaceful and safe then that is fine with me. But we have three or four countries waiting their turn. I don’t think Iran is top of our list at the moment.” Of course, Bernie has never been known to perform a U-turn.
If you could read Bernie’s mind, you’d make a fortune.
The Anonymous Widower 