How different are they?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has urged students to push for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from universities.
“Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted him as saying during a meeting with students.
Ahmadinejad complained that reforms in the country’s universities were difficult to accomplish and that the education system had been affected by secularism for the last 150 years.
Since taking office a year ago, Ahmadinejad has also moved to replace pragmatic veterans in the government and diplomatic corps with former military commanders and religious hardliners.
Earlier this year, dozens of liberal university professors and teachers were sent into retirement, and last November, Ahmadinejad’s administration for the first time named a cleric to head the country’s oldest institution of higher education, Tehran University – drawing strong protests from students.
His administration has also launched crackdowns on independent journalists, websites and bloggers.
Change a few names and it sounds as American as mom, baseball and apple pie — nowadays.
Then, there’s these guys who’ve been lining up for years to really straighten out education in the United States.
Your question under the picture speaks either your ignorance or your blindness to your beliefs.
Either way it’s ironic.
This is hilarious. THere are American public policy groups (ACTA) that want the same campaign here!
Firestarter
If you understood image composition, which you obviously don’t, you would think the question was very appropriate
As the picture suggests because of it’s composition George Bush may not be as extreme as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but there are similarities. They both push a religious agenda. Both use fear as a way to control people. Both attack academics that go against their agenda. Need I go on?
So the question is a good question for any true blooded American to ask. It is your duty as an American to ask these questions. Are you not a true American? Don’t you like America and the freedoms it stands for? Why do you hate Americans so much?
It is you who are blinded by your beliefs and us real Americans are not going to take your bullshit anymore!
I’m a Canuk, Eh!
You can compare any two people and be right because of generalities.
In context of the article, the picture’s caption suggests that Bush has pushed for similar constraints on the American education system. I haven’t heard of that happening at a scale of that, even on this board.
The picture comment is still inappropriate and ironic. Inappropriate that this action by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is more similar to Mao Zedong, and has no contextual relation to George dubya. Ironic that personal belief of a person or group of people replaces the need for evidence.
Who are we to criticize what they do in Iran? They are a sovereign nation that should be “free” to set their own internal policies. The reason the United States is universally despised in the Middle East is because we think our way is the only way, and we’ll impose our way by force if we have to. A “mind our own business” foreign policy would go a long way towards eliminating the terrorist threat against our country.
Suppressing free thinking is about suppressing comparison. That is, authorities want obidience without any form of thinking, including that of comparison. Placing any question in front of a picture invites open debate. If you are for free thinking but don’t agree with the question, then ask a better question. Otherwise, you are only attempting to suppress comparison.
Libel
I’m always bemused at some semi-literate sophist passing himself off as a “canuk”. Not even in a class with Ken Clawson.
As for the B and A comparison, it’s a legit question. Asked, as well, in the linked article [and similar] — if one reads it.
Liberal in Iran is for a woman to show a little… ankle.
JT –
They said the same thing back in ’34. Would you spout the same platatudes for a Nationalist Germany or an Imperial Japan?
Do they even teach world history anymore?
I wanted to “fire a shot across the bow” to warn the moderators of the blog that they have crossed the line into libel.
I’d hate to think that this blog gets closed because of a Lawyer, or worse, the FBI, stops by because of comments like that.
And Libel has nothing to do with Terrorism.
Firestarter
” I haven’t heard of that happening at a scale of that, even on this board”
As the picture would suggest not on the same level or plane but it is still happening.
“Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is more similar to Mao Zedong”
To put them on the same level is just showing you lack of knowledge or inability to compare things that measure. Maybe someday Ahmadinejad will reach that level of influence and power but I hope I never see it.
BTW Nice use of the obscure meaning of ironic. Too bad your wrong
“Libel”
LOL you either don’t know what libel is or you meant to say liberal LOL
#8 Pei,
Is there any particular reason you can name for why a Canadian would have to ‘pass himself off’ as a Canuck? Firestarter is indeed a Canuck.
Or do you prefer ad hominem attacks instead? FYI, Firestarter is neither ‘semi-literate’ nor a ‘sophist’.
Sounds like Kansas, or Cobb County.
The way I look at it #8 Pei did not call Firestarter anything. Read the statement carefully. If Firestater wants to lump himself into that group that is his or her prerogative.
Libel:
1. Law.
a. defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.
b. the act or crime of publishing it.
c. a formal written declaration or statement, as one containing the allegations of a plaintiff or the grounds of a charge.
2. anything that is defamatory or that maliciously or damagingly misrepresents.
–verb (used with object)
3. to publish a libel against.
4. to misrepresent damagingly.
5. to institute suit against by a libel, as in an admiralty court.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=libel&x=0&y=0
You should look up “case law Libel” Also, you should get the Black’s Law Dictionary because in the United States of America we don’t go by “general” definitions in our legal system.
Your threat of getting the FBI to come after someone could be interpreted as blackmail or extortion so if I were you I would be very careful where I step.
Yyou could now, possibly, be accused of copyright law violations for publishing copyrighted material without permission.
Your batting .300 so far
You have no case so just be quite and go back to doing whatever you do.
#15 J
“lump himself into that group”? And what, pray tell, is that ‘group’? Last time I looked, Canada is a country, Canadian is the nationality and Canuck is a slang term for Canadian. You know, like “Yank” is slang for American.
*You* are a Yank. *I* am a Canuck. So is Firestarter.
They are both right-wing, religious nuts.
As per post #11, I wanted to warn the moderators of a Blog that I like to read that they are putting themselves at a legal risk by posting that picture with the presumably rhetorical comment below.
Try to get above personal attacks. It really draws the focus away from the points you’re trying to make.
Ha! J, you rock!
You’re arguing a simple point, but you follow it up with an attack on the character of anyone who would oppose you.
“Are you not a true American? Don’t you like America and the freedoms it stands for? Why do you hate Americans so much?”
This could be (and is) the tag line for lots of arguments. Here’s J selling cigarettes.
Smoke Happy brand cigarettes. Are you not a true American? Don’t you like America and the freedoms it stands for? Why do you hate Americans so much?
Awesome!
Terry
“The Group” would be the one defined in #8 by Pei.
“Last time I looked Canada is a country, Canadian is the nationality and Canuck is a slang term for Canadian. You know, like “Yank” is slang for American.”
Your point?
I never said he wasn’t a Canuck, Canadian, or Mongol for that matter. I don’t care where they live or what they call themselves!
Firestater
“I wanted to warn the moderators of a Blog that I like to read that they are putting themselves at a legal risk by posting that picture with the presumably rhetorical comment below. ”
Before someone goes dispensing legal advise it might help if they understood the law!
“Try to get above personal attacks. It really draws the focus away from the points you’re trying to make.”
Thanks for the advice!
Ascii King
I hope you understood I was using those comments in a sarcastic manner. I thought it might be effective to use there tactics against them unfortunately Firestater turned out not to be an American. 🙁
Firestarter
I had to comment on this one again.
“Try to get above personal attacks. It really draws the focus away from the points you’re trying to make.”
Do you mean like your first post?
“Your question under the picture speaks either your ignorance or your blindness to your beliefs” – Firestater
Yes, “they are both right-wing, religious nuts”, but they are in power only because they are supported by a right-wing, religious nuts mainstream.
Do they even teach world history anymore?
Sure. They teach the history that was written down by the all the cultures that won over the past few thousand years. I’m SURE that they were very careful to get all the details right, and to take into account the “loser’s” perspectives on the events as well.
If there’s another kind of history… a God’s Eye View, for instance, I’m not aware of it.
They said the same thing back in ‘34. Would you spout the same platatudes for a Nationalist Germany or an Imperial Japan?
Who are “they”? You mean “people who hate America and Freedom and Mom and Apple Pie”?
If you seriously mean to compare Iran to Nazi Germany, maybe you could start off by educating us “Freedom Haters”, because I don’t really see any comparison.
This is for a grade:
COMPARE AND CONTRAST Iran and Nazi Germany with regard to:
1) size of standing army as a % of population
2) % of GDP spent on the military
3) previous efforts to achieve world domination
4) interactions with neighboring countries, both peaceful and otherwise, over the last 30 years.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
I’m sure your answers will be very enlightening, or at least entertaining. If you love freedom and America and God and Apple Pie you will be unable to resist educating us all.
As per post #11, I wanted to warn the moderators of a Blog that I like to read that they are putting themselves at a legal risk by posting that picture with the presumably rhetorical comment below.
Explain this “legal risk”.
You sound like a 15 year old who is obsessed with AM talk radio.
Is Firestarter going to tell his mommy?
#10 Max
Sounds like you’re the one who needs a history lesson Max.
What did Iran ever do to us anyway? None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iran. If anything, they have every right to distrust us. We suppressed the people of Iran with a U.S. sponsored dictatorship until 1979. Then the U.S. sponsored Saddam and supplied Iraq with arms to invade Iran during the 1980-88 war, which included the use of WMDs against Iranian forces trying to repel the invasion. Then the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, effectively surrounding Iran with our military forces including our navy in the surrounding Persian Gulf. Iran has every right to build up their military arsenal to deter our aggressive military posture on their borders. They also have every right to bog down our military in countries along their borders. If anyone is guilty of displaying Nationalist fervor and Imperial ambitions, it’s the current U.S. leadership under President Bush, which makes his references to the same all the more amusing.
Now there is a history lesson for you Max!
There are no legitimate American groups calling for anything remotely similar. The difference is night and day and then some.
#5
That they are sovereign does not mean we cannot or should not criticize. I don’t think we should bomb them, but we have every right and obligation to speak out against the erosion of freedom in other parts of the world. There are perhaps millions of liberal Iranians who do not support the some of the extreme elements of their leaders and could use our support even if we are just using the “pen” rather than the “sword.”