Neda – The Angel Of Iran
Posted by Michelle Moquin on June 22nd, 2009
The Iranian people have such interesting names. In the last few days I have heard from so many of the women that I decided to find out what some of their names meant. I mentioned a few that I discovered yesterday. Then I stumbled upon this article of a young girl named ‘Neda’ meaning ‘voice’.
Neda was brutally killed this past Saturday in her fathers arms; her death, a symbol of rebellion for the Iranian people.
As I began to write my write this morning, I hadn’t even perused my blog since last night and there were only two comments posted. I decided that before I write, I had better see if anyone commented on anything that I might need to include in my write this morning. It was then that I discovered that a commenter had written one sentence: “Neda Soltani was shot in the chest from a rooftop by the Basiji.” I knew that she was the very same young girl that inspired my write today.
So…I’ll take that as a sign to continue….
I watched the video of Neda dying and I could not post it. I have never seen anyone die and I broke out in sobbing tears. Her eyes in the video looked so innocent….scared…and yet so peaceful as she laid there. I could not take my eyes off of her. Here is her story:
Her name is Neda, which means “voice” in Farsi, and her death has become the central rallying cry of the Iranian rebellion.
The fresh-faced teenage girl killed by what appears to be a single sniper shot on the streets of Tehran Saturday is now a potent symbol for Iran‘s pro-democracy protesters.
Her shocking and quick death in the arms of her howling father was captured on closeup video, posted to Facebook and came to life on computer screens across the globe.
“RIP Neda, the world cries seeing your last breath,” was one of a flood of messages on Twitter.
“They killed Neda, but not her voice,” read another. “Neda is everyone’s sister, everyone’s daughter, everyone’s voice for freedom,” said a third.]
Within hours of her death, posters of the girl’s face, open-eyed and bloody, were being brandished by demonstrators in Los Angeles and New York City.
The graphic video was originally posted to Facebook by an Iranian expatriate in Holland who said it was sent to him by a friend in Tehran, a doctor who tried to save the girl.
He identified her as Neda Soltani, a 16-year-old philosophy student.
A Facebook group created to mourn her calls her “The Angel of Iran.”
In Tehran on Sunday, the streets were quiet for the first time in a week, but the city was bracing for more unrest today when thousands are expected to mourn the girl’s death.
“To protest against lies and fraud is your right,” opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi told his followers in a statement.
“Be hopeful in exercising your rights and do not allow those who try to instill fear in you to make you angry.”
An ABC reporter in Dubai said she was told the girl was rapidly buried to forestall a funeral rally.
In the holy city of Qom, turmoil was reported among the ruling clerics. There were reports that some dissident clerics were trying to replace the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The regime is under threat after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a suspiciously huge landslide in the June 12 election, sparking accusations of vote rigging and days of mass protests.
Saturday’s brutal crackdown, in which at least a dozen people were killed and hundreds wounded, hardened opposition to the supreme leader as well as Ahmadinejad.
In apparent retaliation, the daughter of powerful former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and four of his other relatives were arrested and held for a day, according to state TV.
State radio said Monday that 457 people were arrested in the clashes.
Rafsanjani’s kin were held for a day for their own protection, but it was seen in most quarters as a clear warning to curb his support for Mousavi.
Rafsanjani, 75, is chairman of the Assembly of Experts that has the power to remove the supreme leader and is Mousavi’s most powerful ally.
Reporters Without Borders said 33 Iranian journalists and bloggers have been arrested even as the foreign press was barred from the streets .
“The regime has been visibly shaken by its own population. That is why the media have become a priority target,” Reporters Without Borders said.
State TV blamed “terrorists” for the street violence.
BBC Persia aired extraordinary video of a crowd of stone-throwing youths on Saturday slowly advancing on a cadre of well-armed police with riot shields, finally forcing the security forces to turn tail and run.
BBC’s lead reporter in Tehran was subsequently told he had 24 hours to leave the country.
A Life.com magazine photographer was missing, and a Newsweek reporter arrested.
Germany called for a revote, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the crackdown on peaceful protest “inexcusable.”
As the Neda video ignited fury and tears, several new Twitter accounts were opened dedicated solely to insisting the video was fake. The posters were roundly shouted down as tools of the Iranian regime.
One of the many other videos of the Tehran protests uploaded to YouTube captured the girl in the last moments of her life, standing on a curb with her silver-haired father, watching the protesters go by.
In a country where martyrdom is a matter of great import and mourning marches often mix with protests, the girl’s very public death has the potential to be a galvanizing event.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thomas: I hear ya. It is okay to dump billions into the Iraq war to make our country feel safe and protected, but not okay to dump billions into our healthcare system to insure those same people that we are trying to protect, are well taken care of.
Anna: First, I have to say, excuse for my brain freeze in the past week. I am well aware that you and Peter live in Guam and you were just visiting the mainland. I have got a lot on my mind these days, but no excuse. Secondly, thank you for the quarters -that was so nice of you to send them to me! I finally went to my PO box and there they were. Thank you…Thank you!
Pan: As much as I’m sorry to hear that racism has been rearing its ugly head where you are too, we don’t need that kind of attitude here either. What can we do to work to eliminate it together?
Iranian Girls and Readers: Just as you have communication problems with the government spying on you, I too have to have some restraints with what I say on my blog, or my blog may not be accessible anymore. Rest assured, things are going as they should be. My thoughts are with you.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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June 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 am
Senators like Linsay Graham and McCain could care less about our plight. They are just using our situation to make political points against Obama.
Obama is so wise and we Iranians appreciate the fact that we have a president who is not a moron. He will definitely have our vote come the next election.
Our country should not be used as a foil for the regime in Iran. I thank God that that hypocrite McCain did not get elected.
I am an Iranian American citizen. Most of us saw McCain as a contrived war hero who used the title of “war hero” to gain political advantage over Obama.
He used his “war hero status” shamelessly to imply it had given him some foreign affairs abilities that he didn’t have. His response to this situation shows that he still lacks those skills.
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:40 am
Hidden Benefits of Being Messy
David H. Freedman
Society isn’t kind to messy people. Parents punish children who won’t clean their rooms, and bosses question the competence of employees who have messy desks. But is messy really so bad?
Professional organizers claim that clutter costs us hours each day by making it harder to find things. Our surveys, however, suggest that messy people spend only nine minutes per day, on average, trying to find things in their homes and another nine minutes trying to find things in their offices. Most messy people can locate what they need fairly quickly — they just look where they last had the item. When a mess has been cleaned, it often takes longer to remember where the item has been stored.
Some experts believe we need schedules and plans to stay headed in the right direction, but people with plans often stick to those plans long after it should have been obvious that their plans were not working. Disorganized people usually are better at rolling with the punches and seizing serendipitous opportunities.
Example: Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when samples he had carelessly left exposed in his mess of an office were contaminated while he was on vacation.
For many people, a certain amount of messiness can be beneficial…
MESSY HOUSE
What does a tidy home actually do for you? It will not make you more productive — the hours spent cleaning won’t save you much, if any, time finding things later. It will not make you healthier — if anything, exposure to the chemicals in household cleaners tends to be worse for our health than living in a cluttered home, unless the mess is extreme and dust and mold accumulate. Finally, a tidy home probably will not make you happier — perhaps you feel better when your house is neat, but if your family does not share this passion for spotlessness, your demands for cleanliness are likely to lead to arguments and unhappiness. What to do…
Allow certain sections of the house to be messy. Let your messy spouse have a disorganized den… allow projects to pile up on the otherwise unused dining room table… don’t worry if the kids’ rooms are a mess.
Permit mess cycles. Don’t try to keep the home spotless all the time. Let the mess build, and pick up every few weeks or when guests are coming.
CLUTTERED DESK
Neat people tend to equate messy desks with inefficiency, but for a naturally messy person, a messy desk might be the most efficient arrangement.
Helpful: Messes don’t look as messy when they’re arranged in stacks. Things will be easy to find because they will be piled close to where they were last used, and stacking is quicker than organizing and filing. It doesn’t take substantially longer to dig through a pile of papers on a desk to find an item than it does to sort through a filing cabinet trying to remember where the item was filed.
UNTIDY YARD
Tending to a lawn absorbs hours of our time, wastes hundreds of gallons of water and often involves drenching the yard in pesticides. We all would be better off if “neat” lawns were replaced with “messy” fields of native plants.
You can make a naturally landscaped lawn more palatable to fussy neighbors by placing a border of neat grass around the edges. Also, explain to your neighbors what you’re doing and why. You might even get them thinking about their own lawns.
Personal interviewed David H. Freedman, a business and science journalist based in Needham, Massachusetts, who has written books on the management principles of the US Marines and the structure of modern computers. He is coauthor, with Eric Abrahamson, of A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder (Little, Brown).
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:41 am
they are chasing us in helicopters now
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:14 am
Did you hit one out of the park when you punched McCain’s ticket. He is a fake. He was captured because he was shot down as a pilot. That makes him a prisoner of war NOT an automatic war hero.
He used his status as the son of the head of the US Navy to get preferential treatment. He was removed from the company of the other POWs and kept in isolation. They did that so that he could get much better care than his fellow POWs.
The injuries that he sports occurred during his fall from his airplane. They were NOT given to him by the Vietnamese as he claims. He was treated so well once he told them who his father was that he recovered from his injuries while those that suffered similar injuries from the same fall died.
Of course, he refused to go without his fellow POWs going. He wasn’t suffering like they were. He was in “isolation” getting the good food and medical treatment because he was being used as a political tool.
He was not tortured to force him to make those statements against his country, unless you call not getting warm food, beverages, and tobacco as torture.
The guy is a fraud and a shameless abuser of being a POW. He was swift boated by the bushes when he ran against them in 2000 because they had information that he got preferential treatment when he was a POW.
Chris
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:15 am
Pan
As you can see the TSA will be held to answer for the treatment they gave to a white man who used his Iphone to record his experience. He was a white man. So they will be held accountable. If it is lost on you that they will be held accountable because he is a white man notice that the Fox fixed news guy says put his picture on the screen. When they do he says see that face “he looks like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.” Man detained and harassed at airport for carrying CASH!
WATCH Freedom Watch: http://freedomwatchonfox.com/
A man was detained by TSA in St. Louis for carrying cash. The man was traveling home following a Campaign For Liberty (Ron Paul) event. I thought the MIAC document was retracted? Apparently these goons didn’t get the word.
http://freedomwatchonfox.com/
Now if you are not white and you get harassed by the TSA it becomes a different story. Here is just such an incidence.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(AP) A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.
“I wouldn’t wish this experience upon anyone,” Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. “My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way.”
Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.
The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin’s chest, the Dallas-area resident said.
Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.
Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.
She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.
“Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her,” said Hamlin’s attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. Allred is a well-known Los Angeles lawyer who often represents high-profile claims.
Applying pliers to the torso of a mannequin that had a peach-colored bra with the rings on it, Hamlin showed reporters at the news conference how she took off the second ring.
She said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.
“After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing, and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove,” Allred said in the letter.
Quote
The last time that I checked a nipple was not a dangerous weapon.
Attorney Gloria Allred
TSA officials said they are investigating to see whether its policies were followed.
“Our security officers are well-trained to screen individuals with body piercings in sensitive areas with dignity and respect while ensuring a high level of security,” the agency said in a statement.
On its Web site, the TSA warns that passengers “may be additionally screened because of hidden items such as body piercings, which alarmed the metal detector.”
“If you are selected for additional screening, you may ask to remove your body piercing in private as an alternative to a pat-down search,” the site says.
Hamlin would have accepted a “pat-down” had it been offered, Allred said.
If an alarm does sound, “until that is resolved, we’re not going to let them go through the checkpoint, no matter what they’re wearing or where they’re wearing it,” said TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird in Salt Lake City.
People routinely pass through security wearing wedding rings without problems, and it might take a larger bit of metal to trigger an alarm, Baird said.
Hamlin filed a complaint, but the TSA’s customer service manager at the Lubbock airport concluded the screening was handled properly, Allred said.
Hamlin wants an apology from the TSA and an investigation by the agency’s civil rights office.
Allred said she might consider legal action if the TSA does not apologize.
Hamlin was publicly humiliated and has “undergone an enormous amount of physical pain to have the nipple rings reinserted” because of scar tissue, Allred said.
Hamlin said her piercings have never set off an airport metal detector.
“The conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary,” Allred wrote. “The last time that I checked a nipple was not a dangerous weapon.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So Pan understand in America the constitution and its protection only really benefits white men. He was eventually allowed to get on his planes by the FBI. But the OTW woman was forced to have her nipple rings removed.
So if you and any other OTW is flying in the mainland, you will be harassed by the TSA as they see fit.
While this is happening to OTWs, the white senators are grabbing every opportunity to exclaim to America and the world on our news media how abhorrent the Iranian government is to their people. Hypocrisy is the kindest word that can be used to describe these racists.
It seems that degrading an American OTW women by forcing her to have her nipple rings removed with pliers while a male TSA employee watches. White american can be as disgusting as any nazi if given half the authority and a badge.
Count your blessings that you have your own island to gather support from.
Ruth
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:20 am
Michelle, My heart goes out to the people of Iran. They are fighting for their rights against a regime that wants to keep them down, especially Women.
I had a good talk with Carr this weekend and we spoke of so many topics. One of them was why I am constantly misunderstood on your blog when I mean well and I am for equal rights for Women across the Board.
After some explanation, I was explained the facts of why Women in America, which make up the majority of voters are not getting the equality they should have had all along. It is complacency.
It goes like this: Women were given the right to vote in the early 1900′s. It was wrong that they didn’t have the right, but they did get it. Since then they have been the Majority, yet they sit and bitch about inequality when all they must do is use the same system the so called White Man has used all along. They must vote, vote, vote. Since the White Men have gained Control, they want to keep it. Wouldn’t you as Women?
Women must vote in Women for Local, State and Federal Positions since you have the majority of voters. Sitting around and Bitching about how unfair things are is justthat – Bitching, an excuse. Women must get off their asses and vote in the people who will side with them. Since they have the majority of voters, there is no excuse that can be used to blame Men. Thinking of Killing them is absurd and undemocratic.
In this country, the Majority wins. So quit Bitching and do something about it.
HOWIE
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 am
Howie
As much as I have disagreed with you on other things you have said about women, I think you are correct this time. We women in America have to go to the polls and elect women who will represent our wants.
Lucy
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 am
Pan you are correct about you assessment of white america. Today on every news media outlet we are being told that the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) abuse of a white man, Steve Bierfeldt. But we hardly heard a peep about the OTW woman who was forced by the TSA to have her nipple rings removed.
Man detained and harassed at airport for carrying CASH!
WATCH Freedom Watch: http://freedomwatchonfox.com/
A man was detained by TSA in St. Louis for carrying cash. The man was traveling home following a Campaign For Liberty (Ron Paul) event. I thought the MIAC document was retracted? Apparently these goons didn’t get the word.
(AP) A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.
“I wouldn’t wish this experience upon anyone,” Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. “My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way.”
Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.
The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin’s chest, the Dallas-area resident said.
Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.
Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.
She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.
“Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her,” said Hamlin’s attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. Allred is a well-known Los Angeles lawyer who often represents high-profile claims.
Applying pliers to the torso of a mannequin that had a peach-colored bra with the rings on it, Hamlin showed reporters at the news conference how she took off the second ring.
She said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.
“After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing, and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove,” Allred said in the letter.
Quote
The last time that I checked a nipple was not a dangerous weapon.
Attorney Gloria Allred
TSA officials said they are investigating to see whether its policies were followed.
“Our security officers are well-trained to screen individuals with body piercings in sensitive areas with dignity and respect while ensuring a high level of security,” the agency said in a statement.
On its Web site, the TSA warns that passengers “may be additionally screened because of hidden items such as body piercings, which alarmed the metal detector.”
“If you are selected for additional screening, you may ask to remove your body piercing in private as an alternative to a pat-down search,” the site says.
Hamlin would have accepted a “pat-down” had it been offered, Allred said.
If an alarm does sound, “until that is resolved, we’re not going to let them go through the checkpoint, no matter what they’re wearing or where they’re wearing it,” said TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird in Salt Lake City.
People routinely pass through security wearing wedding rings without problems, and it might take a larger bit of metal to trigger an alarm, Baird said.
Hamlin filed a complaint, but the TSA’s customer service manager at the Lubbock airport concluded the screening was handled properly, Allred said.
Hamlin wants an apology from the TSA and an investigation by the agency’s civil rights office.
Allred said she might consider legal action if the TSA does not apologize.
Hamlin was publicly humiliated and has “undergone an enormous amount of physical pain to have the nipple rings reinserted” because of scar tissue, Allred said.
Hamlin said her piercings have never set off an airport metal detector.
“The conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary,” Allred wrote. “The last time that I checked a nipple was not a dangerous weapon.”
————————————————————————–
The hypocrisy of the republican senators is that they use every opportunity to get on one of the news shows to exclaim how weak Obama is for not supporting democracy in Iran. While remaining silent to the treatment their OTW citizens receive at the hands of the thugs, bigots, and racists with badges in this country.
Ruth
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:03 am
I can’t get in. I keep getting this message; Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:24 am
Hafa adai
Michelle
I can’t print this article. Your blog won’t take it. Can I email it to you and you enter it under my name?
Peter
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Obama has done exactly the
right thing for the following reasons:
1. Nothing he says is going to make any difference to
what Iran does;
2. If Obama is indeed in any measure responsible for the
result on Iran’s streets today as a result of his speech there
weeks before, his decision to suddenly meddle in Iran’s
business rather than to join hands with its leader and
march forward forgetting the past would be hypocricy;
3. If the Ayotola was considering any kicking out the one
leader and installing the new one, Obama’s meddling
may well have dissuaded him from doing so. The same
applies if he is now, perhaps, considering such a thing,
and/or if the clerics who can oust the Ayotola himself
are considering any action.
4. Contrary to any belief that the calm on the street today
means that the protest is over, it does not; theocracy as
a means of governance in Iran is OVER, and Obama’s
standing there will be the highest ever of any U.S.
president precisely because of his handling.
You would probably say Ghandi was too pragmatic too.
But then you wouldn’t understand Arabs either, especially
not Iran or the convenant of peace Obama is truly trying
to make with the whole world.
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Hi Mischa, omg, I saw this video on the news, it’s horrific. I had a very hard time watching her die and watching her father watching her die. My thoughts are with the people of Iran, looks like the supreme leader needs a supreme kiss in the ass or a supreme coup.
George, unless you’re going to pay me, I blog when I feel like it, I don’t take orders from racists, sexists or any other -ists even if they prefer blondes. I did go MIA this weekend, and it’s none of your biz why ; ) oh and like Doug keeps saying, please take your meds!
Anna, are you going to share the recipe for soipan (sp?) or what? You’re such a tease : ) I am a foodie and particularly when it comes to ethnic foods so send a basic recipe will you?
Howie, I’ll agree, if women want more representation well then start voting only for women (except Palin) and start running for office and any other thing we want more of a female voice in, it’s the only route, but as I’ve stated here before, often women are not for other women…wish they were…on this issue I think most of us would agree though so I’m holding out hope for change in that regard. I wish I had a personal CARR, you’re very fortunate.
Al’s been quiet, but I’m going say pie to ‘Hi Al a mode’ anyway : )
Caio, Zen Lill
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I saw Madaline at noon. She said that if she agreed to help us get arms we would have to be willing to spill rivers of blood. She said that was not convinced that we had the fortitude for it.
She says we have to be willing to overthrow the theocracy with brute force because they have total control over the government and they will not give it up without a fight to the death.
She says that she has to leave to help her comrades who have experienced some ship trouble. But she says that she will leave someone here to help if we will fight and spill blood like water.
I don’t know what to do.
Behi
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
What’s the problem?
We had shoot -from-the -hip policies for the last eight years. Do we want to continue doing this?
So we miss that?
Can’t we try somehting different?
Are we going to do the same mistakes all over again?
I trust Obama’s pragmatic approach 200%
Give him the chance he earned.
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm
f we end up with the ‘mushy middle’ in health care it will be a disaster..but here, I think Obama is right..What can we do? Go to war w/Iran? Anything we say. can and will be held against us..and the protestors..One more point..we are getting the “mushy middle” not because of our president but because of our “centrist” Democrats..at least on domestic issues. Never underestimate the corruption and cowardice of Congress..
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Speaking as a former advisor to the Iranian government in natural resources, I do not see a “path out of the woods” at this time. There is no Ataturk in view. No reformist poised to take over. Not even a despotic general who might be encouraged to bring his forces to bear on the situation. There is no credible opposition to the theocracy, which is well entrenched.
At this juncture, to incite a bunch of Iranians to go out and get themselves butchered is utterly irresponsible. For McCain and his cronies to call for action is irresponsible and the height of hypocrisy. Only a few weeks ago he wanted to Bomb, bomb, bomb the same people he now wants us to support. But as usual he has no plan.
Real change at this time woud require that Iranians spill rivers of blood. I don’t believe they have an appetite for it. Whether or not they choose to do so is their business, and we should stay out of it until we are asked to intervene and have a reasonable chance of doing so effectively. We have stretched our resources to the breaking point in two wars that should not be fought.
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Howie
You are exactly on point.
Remember to vote….we may only have 2 choices….but we do have a choice!!
THIS IS MOVING. HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET…..IF WE EVER KNEW……
WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE
This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920
that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
for the vote.
(Lucy Burns)
And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.
Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden’s blessing
went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
‘obstructing sidewalk traffic.’
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above
her head and left her ha nging for the night, bleeding and gasping
for air.
(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her
head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate,
Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffere d a he art attack.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the ‘Night of Terror’ on Nov. 15, 1917,
when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his
guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson’s White House for the right
to vote.
For weeks, the women’s only water came from an open pail. Their
food–all of it colorless slop–was infested with worms.
(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks
until word was smuggled out to the press.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf
So, refresh my memory. Some women won’t vote this year because-
-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn’t matter? It’s raining?
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO’s new
movie ‘Iron Jawed Angels.’ It is a graphic depiction of the battle
these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling
booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women’s history,
saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk
about it, she looked angry. She was–with herself. ‘One thought
kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,’ she said.
‘What would those women think of the way I use, or don’t use,
my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just
younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.’ The
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her ‘all over again.’
HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history,
social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
else women gather. I realize this isn’t our usual idea of socializing,
but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
a little shock therapy is in order.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn’t make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: ‘Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.’
Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.
We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fough t so
hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party – remember to vote.
History is being made.
Read more:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/tactics.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/brftime3.html
LIVING ALOHA
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Hi Zen Lill, It is nice not getting my head chewed off every time I comment and I sure am fortunate for having Carr as my Mentor. He sets me straight on things when I go off track. I really love our relationship. He makes me feel important because he can see what I really am and he Loves me unconditionally.
He told me that No honest Woman can argue with what I wrote today. If Women are a Majority, crying about issues is not going to change anything. Using the power of being a majority is very powerful. You get the idea.
Keep on Truckin’ Zen Lill. You see the truth when it is presented to you.
HOWIE
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:53 pm
It would be nice if Carr would read the blog for you it appears. Zen Lill didn’t write that I did Mr. Howie.
Emma
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Just as a reminder. Where were those republican senators when black americans were being bitten and attacked by dogs used by the police?
No outside country came to our aid. No senators stood up and called the people hanging beating, and terrorizing our mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends thugs.
Now these hypocrites are calling for the Iranian thugs to be stopped. And they are asking a black man to voice their indignation to the situation in Iran.
Imagine the gall of a bunch of racists white boys asking a black to complain for the people who did worst to his people for 50 plus years, most of their time in the senate.
White boys don’t care about the feelings of others. They never have shown the ability to be understanding about the feelings of others when making statements concerning them.
The revolution black america brought about through their will to end segregation was done without any foreign help. It can be done.
We did it with the white police more than willing to maim and kill us. So it can be done.
Ruth
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:12 am
That’s okay Michelle. I’m really so happy that you allow us Chamorros to use your blog to connect.
I look forward to you coming to Guam. Believe me you will receive a grand welcome.
I love your articles. And my friends are thrilled with the alien connection. Did you know that that Island that was mentioned was listed by the military as a place that will be off limits for a while for the Marianas and any other civilians.
Hafa adai
Anna
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:09 am
Thanks for the Messy is good article! I knew if I held out long enough… ;-)
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:00 am
ZANDER ON USING PLACEBOS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
The placebo effect has both fascinated and perplexed scientists for ages. In research trials, one group of people — the placebo group — ingests a substance they are told may have medicinal value even though it is in fact a mere sugar pill or similarly inactive material. The confounding result is that many people respond to the substance as if it were the real deal. Life coach and frequent Daily Health News contributor Lauren Zander sees this conundrum completely differently. The placebo effect, she says, is an outstanding example of the power of the mind. It is the remarkable ability of human beings to make something possible simply by believing it can be, she says.
The placebo effect is not a new theory… scientists have studied it for centuries. A recent study of doctors in Chicago showed that 45% of those polled prescribe placebos for various reasons in clinical practice, including to calm the patient, to treat nonspecific complaints, and as a last resort after other treatment had failed. These patients believe something will help them, and in the end it does.
Lauren says that we all have evidence of the efficacy of placebos in our personal histories. Think through the many times in your own life when you badly wanted something to happen and believed it could, though it seemed unlikely… and, in fact, it did. Call it what you will — synergy, magic, fate — the facts are your evidence. But most people are reluctant to accept that they have this kind of power, says Lauren. The reason? If you accept the potential power of your beliefs, it will lead you to acknowledge that there is a long list of things you’d like to change or accomplish… and in view of that, not acting on them can be an extremely uncomfortable place to be.
BELIEVING IN THE POWER
Many people stay put, refusing to recognize their inherent strength. But if you are among those who accept that the power of your belief can change reality, you are blessed with an incredible tool. Understanding this power creates the possibility of achieving your innermost desires… as well as fulfilling your negative prophecies too. As the saying goes, “whether you believe you can or can’t, you’re probably right.”
Acknowledging the power of placebo gets you to pay attention and focus… because by honestly believing you can achieve what you want, you begin to give serious thought to what that might be. Yet this is also where it gets risky and you are likely to find yourself getting nervous. Lauren offers the example of a man who stayed in a relationship for years, even though he admitted it lacked passion and shared interests. He was bored, but reluctant to examine his deep desire for a relationship that brought satisfaction and joy. Doing so would surface his choices and make them painfully clear — he could remain and stagnate or he could leave, facing loneliness and the risk that his soul mate might not be out there. However, there was a third choice too. He could change his belief about his partner and realize that there were interesting things about her, if he only would open his mind to them. He chose this last route, committing to making more effort to create passion in his life. The result? A newfound depth and happiness in his relationship with the very same woman.
It’s a familiar dilemma. What allows people to exit the secure field of playing it safe for the tremulous one of taking risks is a solid belief that what they want is possible and that they will bring it into reality. In other words, having belief breeds the sense of possibility… possibility leads to action… and action leads to achievement.
PUTTING A PLACEBO TO WORK
The question to ask yourself, says Lauren, is what placebos are missing in your life? What pills would you want to take? It might be the “I love to jog” pill or perhaps “my husband is adorable.” Some people will desire a pill that makes them crave healthy foods, not chips or cookies. Make a list of the placebo pills you’d like to have. Which ones can you act on? There will be some you are not prepared to deal with at this time and others that don’t matter enough to invest the work involved. Pace yourself. Seeing the wide spectrum of how much you want — and that it is possible to get — can initially feel overwhelming.
Once you have decided which “placebo pills” to keep, be prepared for some inner drama as you struggle to bring desires and belief into reality. It won’t be all smooth-going, says Lauren. Most of us have an internal combination of brat and coward, she explains. We are either afraid to take a chance or we act like a baby who refuses to change. Fortunately, we also have the ability to overcome both. Moving forward happens when you fully accept that your beliefs are powerful… that your desires for your life are powerful… that you are powerful and you can make them happen. If you still waver about embracing this truth, there are some doctors in Chicago who can give you a prescription to demonstrate that it works.
Source(s): ??Lauren Zander, founder and chairman, Handel Group, http://www.handelgroup.com.?
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:10 am
There is a rumor that Madaline was seen walking down Tehran streets WITHOUT a head covering. The rumor also says that she had an asian dress on with splits that ran up both sides of her legs.
I think she was baiting the basij ann the regular police. We are looking for a leader. We women are hopping for encouragement from someone that is in Iran.
Lashkar Gah
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:38 am
I am an Iranian american. I think that the republicans who are using every opportunity to criticizes President Obama. today I watched Senator John Barrasso call the police force in Iran thugs. That may be but I do not think this man has the right to call any police force thugs.
Senator Barrasso is the leader of a country that has a history of police who are thugs. Their history of clubbing, sicing dogs on their blacks, hanging them leaves him with credibility. Where was his voice on police thugs when they were operating with impunity.
Where is his and his fellow republican racists every day when police thugs prey on OTWs? Thugs that prevent OTWs from using their national highways without fear of being singled out for harassment, robbing of their cash, and imprisonment for objecting to being treated as their white citizens.
Republican senators have a lot to utter about the thugs with badges in their own country. Yet they harras Obama at every opportunity to score political points. They slander him in every way because their constituencies accept any denigration of a black man.
They can be as nasty as they wish to our black President because he is black. They are the thugs of the Senate.
Einaz
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:56 am
Dear Emma, I commented as #5, Zen Lill Commented as #11 and I replied to her Comment as #16, then you come off with an attitude that Zen Lill didn’t write #11. What gives you the right to insult me for no reason. I can read for myself and Comment to whomever I like. It happened to be Zen Lill on Monday.
I see your Comment, #17 now and there were none coming from you before that so I do not know what you are talking about.
Hi Michelle, this Woman has got a problem. Secondly, I was told that Iran was blocking your blog on Saturday and possibly trying to identify Commentators from Iran. The Iranian Gogernment is doing all sorts of things like tracing cell phones so it would be wise to remove the Sim Cards from phones in Iran if peopple want to remain anonymous.
HOWIE
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:59 am
I apologize to Zen Lill and Howie for my out burst. My read of the blog didn’t show Zen Lill”s comment. It did not show a number of other entries either. My BFF called to tell me about it.
She sent me an email with the difference. I wonder if others are seeing different blog appearances of Michelle’s blog. Is it the aliens or the government Michelle?
Emma
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
[...] that Neda Soltan was brutally killed in the streets of Iran. And it was one year ago today that I wrote about her. I can’t believe that one entire year has gone by already. It feels like it was not [...]