"Decision on Conferring Generalissimo Title on Kim Jong Il Hailed" (Korean News)

What a great day for all world progressive peoples!!!

The British Association for the Study of Songun Policy, the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea and the British Branch of the Korean Friendship Association issued a joint statement on February 15 hailing the decision on awarding the DPRK title of Generalissimo to leader Kim Jong Il.

The statement said:

We fully support the decision made by the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, the DPRK National Defence Commission and the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly to award the DPRK title of Generalissimo to Kim Jong Il.

The decision is an expression of boundless reverence for Kim Jong Il.

He led the Korean People's Army founded by Generalissimo Kim Il Sung along the road of victory and glory and creditably defended the sovereignty of the country and the socialist country of Juche in more than five decades since his start of the Songun revolutionary leadership.

He prevented a war on the Korean Peninsula, ensured world peace and led the confrontation with the U.S. imperialists to victory with his invincible Songun leadership.

He turned the DPRK into an independent and self-supporting state and self-defensive socialist military power.

He performed great exploits not only for the Korean revolution but for the world revolution.

We will not forget the significant day when the decision was made to award the DPRK title of Generalissimo to Kim Jong Il.

O delirious happiness!

"KCNA Commentary Dismisses Misinformation Spread by Mentally Deficient Guys" (Korean News)

In which we are introduced to the word "underwits":

An Internet news of south Korea again spread misinformation about the use of mobile phones in the DPRK on Feb. 23.

It asserted mobile phone is being used as "a means for disseminating outlawed culture from outside" with its use gaining in scope.

Every piece of "misinformation" under the disguise of "local source" is peppered with contents to defame the DPRK.

This is nothing but cock-and-bull stories told by mentally deficient guys who know nothing about its society.

Korean-style socialism is a society centered on the popular masses which develops thanks to the positive role of the working people, its genuine master.

The desire and wishes of the people are fully reflected in the line and policies of the state in all aspects and they are implemented by dint of their creative energy, wisdom and resourcefulness.

It is the consistent principle of the DPRK to handle "culture from outside" with the interests of the people as standards.

The Korean people have strictly intercepted and repudiated at the doorstep anything unsound that gnaw at the sound thinking of people and hinder the genuine development of civilization of the society since the day the building of a new society started.

This principle has been adhered to by the Korean people desirous of everything progressive and noble and invariably carried forward by the younger generation, main players in the future, irrespective of any period and stage of social development.

The society in the DPRK has remained unfazed by any persistent political and military pressure of the hostile forces and any global economic and cultural turmoil because it has abided by the principle chosen by the people themselves generation after generation as their life and soul.

What is more ridiculous is that the misinformation dealt with young people in the DPRK.

They constitute the strongest national power and powerhouse for nation-building as they have sound mentality and profound knowledge and categorically reject the "fragrant wind" sent by capitalism.

Many of them volunteered to work in difficult and labor-consuming work sites by overcoming the sorrow over the loss of the father of the nation with strength and courage. Some of them died heroic deaths after saving their colleagues from the jaw of death. Society in south Korea is where material life has become deformed and spiritual and cultural life impoverished and political life reactionary under the strong influence of imperialist corrupt ideas and culture of the capitalist society which can be maintained only when the sound conscience of people is benumbed. Underwits in those societies can hardly understand the essence of the society in the DPRK and the noble spiritual world of the youth. It is the height of folly for them to talk about the young people and other people in the DPRK.

Pitiable, indeed, is the Lee group which provided a back room to hatch plots, counting on such fools.

Take that, Imperialists!

"Venezuela Condemns U.S. and West's Smear Campaign against Its President" (Korean News)

The Korean News site also features propaganda from North Korea's allies such as Venezuela and Iran. The style is blander, however, compared to the full-strength Juche stuff:

Andres Izarra, minister of Communication and Information of Venezuela, issued a statement to condemn the U.S. and the West's smear campaign against the country.

The statement said that the U.S. and the Western countries' public media were repeating ungrounded false propaganda to insult the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. It branded it as a wrongful attempt to break down the trust of Venezuelan people in the president.

The statement called upon all the people to unite and stand against such attempts of the U.S. and the West.

"Islamic Jihad Vows to Retaliate Israeli Aggressions in Quds City with New Intifada" (Fars News-Iran)

Jerusalem has been the subject of a good deal of incitement lately. Here a PIJ spokesman vows a "new intifada" in response to supposed "agressions" against the al-Asqa mosque:

A senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement warned about the dire consequences of Israeli aggressions against the Quds city, and said that the Zionist regime's new wave of violence against the Palestinian residents of the occupied al-Quds has sparked a new Intifada (popular uprising).

"Current clashes in the occupied Quds city are the beginning of a popular Intifada against the occupiers," Foad al-Razam told FNA on Sunday, and urged the Muslim Ummah (worldwide Muslim community) to rise to save the al-Aqsa mosque from Israeli aggressions.

"The repeated attempts by the Zionists last week to attack the al-Aqsa mosque and its sacrilege will provoke the feelings of Muslims all over the world, specially the feelings of the Palestinian residents of the Holy Quds," he added.

His remarks came after the Palestinians' Friday prayers, when Israeli police clashed with Palestinians at the al-Aqsa Mosque, killing one protester and injuring at least 15 people.

Confrontations have been ongoing since dozens of Israelis entered the al-Aqsa compound, one of Islam's holiest shrines, and scuffled with the Palestinian worshippers last Sunday.

Since the occupation of the Quds city, Israel has been trying to change the identity of the city through different measures, including building illegal settlements for Israelis, eviction of Palestinians and demolition of their houses.

A senior Palestinian journalist had earlier in an article stressed that protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque from fanatic Zionist Jews is a vital responsibility of every Muslim.

In an editorial in Al-Jazeerah website, Khalid Amayreh called on Muslims to protect Islam's holy places in the Holy Quds (Jerusalem).

"Attacking or destroying or burning the Islamic house of worship of 1400 years would spark off religious wars between Muslims and Jews, wars that would only end when the redeemer or Jewish Messiah appears," he said in the article.

"Arrogant powers cannot save Israel: Ahmadinejad" (PressTV-Iran)

He's singing his greatest hit:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says arrogant powers will never achieve their objective of rescuing the “evil and inhumane” Zionist regime of Israel.

“The goal of arrogant powers is to save the Zionist regime [of Israel], but they will certainly not fulfill this wish of theirs, because the world has changed and their era has come to an end,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghusn in Tehran on Sunday.

“The Zionist regime is an evil and inhumane creature that will massacre all regional nations if it is given the opportunity,” Ahmadinejad said.

The Iranian President further expressed confidence that a “just and humane order” will prevail in the world in future in place of the current rule established by arrogant powers.

For his part, the Lebanese defense minister hailed the resistance of the Iranian nation against Israeli aggressions saying that today Tel Aviv will think twice before attempting an invasion anywhere in the world for fear of the Islamic Republic.

Naqdi: "nothing but burning the White House and hanging the US commanders responsible for this cowardly action can relieve the Muslims' pain"

We have met Basij Commander Mohammad-Reza Naqdi before. He pronounced Iran "ready to send peacekeepers to UK," for instance, deplored "fabricated stories about Syria" on another occasion, and informed us that "capitalism is on its death bed" on another. Here he calls for "burning the White House" in response to dastardly Koran burnings:

A top Iranian military commander said the US helplessness in the confrontation against Islam is the real cause underlying the burning of the Muslims' Holy Book by American soldiers in Afghanistan, and stressed that nothing but burning the White House and hanging the US commanders responsible for this cowardly action can relieve the Muslims' pain.

"The US has committed such an ugly action and burnt Quran because of the heavy slap it has been given by Islam," Commander of Iran's Basij (volunteer) force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi said on Saturday.

He stressed Muslims' sensitivity to the crimes underway in Afghanistan by the US forces, and said Muslims do not accept the US apology, because it makes numerous military mistakes and then just asks for the Afghans' apology, and this is not acceptable.

"Nothing but burning the White House can relieve the wound of us, the Muslims, caused by the Burning of Quran in the US," he underscored.

"Their apology can be accepted only by hanging their commanders; hanging their commanders means an apology," he reiterated. [...]

The man is a rising star, no doubt about it.

English Iranian Press sites continue to find that the word "annihilation" comes in awfully handy when discussing Israel

Here, courtesy of the ever-watchful Elder of Ziyon.

Fars News (Iran): "Minister Stresses Iran's Respect for All Religious Minorities"

Tell that to the Baha'is:

Iranian Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Seyed Mohammad Hosseini underlined the Islamic Republic's respect and support for the rights of all religious minorities living in Iran.

Hosseini referred to the rights of religious minorities in Iran, and added that in Iran, the religious minorities have representatives at the parliament.

He further underlined that commonalties of different religions should be identified and introduced.

Hosseini made the remarks in a meeting with followers of monotheist religions in Tehran on Saturday night, stressing that the amicable and cordial relations among the followers of monotheistic religions in Islamic Iran is one of the honors of the sacred Islamic Republic.

In relevant remarks in 2010, Vice-Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi Fard had also reiterated the Islamic Republic's respect for religious minorities, and said that minorities in Iran enjoy the same rights that Muslims have even in legislating laws for the country.

"Representatives of the religious minorities enjoy equal rights with other lawmakers in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) in Iran," Aboutorabi Fard said in a meeting here in Tehran at the time with the Patriarch Cardinal of the Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic Church of Iraq.

He said that based on Islamic guidelines, all religious minorities in Iran are free to observe their religious duties, and they also enjoy the right to choose their own favorite MPs from among their own religious brethrens.

Armenians get two representatives, other religions get one MP, and Baha'is don't get anything, according to Wikipedia. And, of course, "senior government posts are reserved for Muslims." Besides that, converts to Islam "inherit the entire share of their parents' (or even uncle's) estate if their siblings (or cousins) remain non-Muslim." According to other propaganda at Fars, Israel was behind recent attacks on its own diplomats:

A senior Iranian diplomat blasted Israel for its baseless allegations about Iran's involvement in the recent terrorist attacks, and said the regime itself is the main suspect behind the blasts.

"If we follow the issue closely and wisely, we'll find out who is behind the scenario," Iranian Ambassador to Thailand Majid Bizmark said in an interview with the local daily the Nation, adding that the main suspect is the Zionists (Israelis). [...]

It is hard having to be both sides of all conflicts . . .

Update: Iran's PressTV now has an article featuring a video-interview entitled "‘Israeli claims of democracy absurd.’" As are US, British, and French claims, we learn.

Juan Cole goes all Khomeinist in his explanation of US motives and starts writing Irangrish

I have been trying to do a scientific study of the effect of Khomeinism on the brain-cells that have to do with language. This provides an exciting new piece of evidence. Notice what happens to his prose at the end of this paragraph:

Iran has 150 billion barrels in petroleum reserves, among the largest reserves in the world, but they cannot be exploited by US corporations because of Israel lobby-inspired US congressional sanctions on Iran. US elites, especially Big Oil, dream of doing regime change in Iran so as to get access to those vast reserves. Likely the most important US objection to the Iranian civilian nuclear enrichment program is that it could give Iran “nuclear latency,” the ability to construct a bomb quickly if it seemed to Tehran that the US planned to attack. That is, the real objection in Washington to Iranian nuclear know-how is that it makes Iraq-style regime change impossible and so puts Iranian petroleum out of reach of Houston for the foreseeable future. This consideration is likely the real reason that Washington does not, so to speak, go ballistic about North Korea and Pakistan having actual nuclear warheads, but like to has a fainting spell at the very idea of Iran enriching uranium to 3.5 percent (a bomb takes 95%). North Korea and Pakistan don’t have oil.

According to a current IRIB headline: "IRI can export 20% enriched nuclear fuel."

"Foreign Personage Lauds Kim Jong Il's Feats"

"Lyne Sinyodyium"? Doesn't sound like a real name, does it? I tried to Google it, and besides another Korean News article, I found this. Anyway, on with the lauding:

Lyne Sinyodyium, director of the European Society for the Study of the Juche Idea, issued a statement on Feb. 9 on the occasion of the 70th birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il.

She said: Kim Jong Il was the son of Mt. Paektu who personified the spirit of Mt. Paektu and Lake Chon.

He, the people's leader combined with pen and sword, developed and enriched the Juche idea through his outstanding ideological and theoretical activities and pursued the Songun politics, defending the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK.

Though he passed away, the feats he performed for the human cause of independence will last forever.

We are convinced that the Korean people will register greater successes in building a thriving nation under the outstanding and wise leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un, successor to Kim Jong Il's revolutionary cause of Juche.

AFP: Headline: "New Palestinian govt will respect PLO accords: Abbas," 4th Paragraph: " . . . angry reaction from the Islamist movement Hamas . . ."

I am not going to put any more of the the text of the article in this post. You can read it here. It could be worse. The article could omit Hamas's reaction altogether, but I'd say this counts as press-bias.

Fars News (Iran): "Iranian Students Unions Laud American People's Support for Iran"

What support, you ask? Read on:

Four major Iranian students unions in a letter praised the American nation for their February 4 rallies against the US officials' warmongering policies against Iran.

The American people staged massive rallies in front of the White House and throughout the US on February 4 to voice their strong opposition to the West's oil ban and the US warmongering policies against Iran.

Hundreds of people in New York shouted their opposition to any kind of threat for military operation and urged their statesmen to end their illegal sanctions against Iran.

Demonstrators shouted slogans such as, "No war with Iran," "We condemn assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists," "War and Lie, never," "Wall Street created unemployment, not Iran.

The letter is positively weird.

The following is the full text of the Iranian students' letter:

The people participating in the February 4th rally in support of Iran:

It is a letter from the Iranian youths to you insightful nation who stood against your government's militant behavior. Such a rally in support of the rights of the people of the Islamic Iran and condemning the imperialistic policy of a government which is under the shadow of the Zionist lobby suppressing the voice of oppositions, needs to be appreciated.

As you know, and it was mirrored in your slogans properly, the enemies of the Iranians supported by the US administration have assassinated some of the Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years, accompanied by unprecedented and comprehensive sanctions, in all fields: from economy to science, pursued by regime change plots against Iran led by the US.

Contrary to the US authorities' claims regarding the target of the sanctions and pressures, the nation of Iran is going to be targeted by the way. It have been proved through the history that Iranians are pacifist and seeking liberty; supporting the suppressed against the suppressors, and Iranians' support for the poor Palestinians has been one of the reasons behind these pressures. If Iran gives up this policy, every thing would be Ok! Let alone sanction and assassination! All in all, Iranians would never stop their policy of helping the suppressed people all over the world. Everything has its own price!

The critical end of Iranians is to have sovereignty to decide by themselves. It was expensive! Like Saddam's eight-year-long war against Iran and you know well what its consequences are especially for society. Did you know it was supported and guided by US government too? It never apologize Iranians so far.

Free Americans!

As you know US authorities always plan to fight against a point (one nation) of the world; yesterday Vietnam, today Afghanistan and Iraq, tomorrow maybe Syria and Iran. The expenditure of the wars burdens on American society. We supposed it is because of the domination of military-industrial complexities and Zionist lobby on US government. Nowadays 99% movement has risen against the 1% domination. We considered that President Obama neglected this movement after five months and he didn't mention it in his last inaugural address.

Our Brothers and Sisters!
Glorious Brothers and Sisters

Your resistance is like a candle among darkness which is made by militant American authorities. Keep it lightening as it is. With new powerful honorable rallies in more than 100 cities, present the power of %99 movement and demand a stop of war, terror, oppression and sanctions against Iranians.

We believe you can do it as done on February 4th. It will be possible if it includes all people from all walks of life gather under the umbrella of the Occupied Movement. We hope the freedom and justice-seeking movement becomes continuous and dynamic. God willing, we will witness a day without cruelty all throughout the world.

Thank you
Justice-Seekers without Border
Justice seeking movement
Union of Students Islamic Society
Union of Independent students' Islamic Society
Unity Consolidation Office

That's some potent Irangrish.

"New House for Education through Trees Bearing Slogans Built"

This blog is no stranger to the subject of slogan-bearing trees. The present article should bring us up to date nicely:

A new house for the education through trees bearing slogans was built in South Phyongan Province on the occasion of birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il (Day of the Shining Star).

The house has six rooms.

Displayed in the first room, the introductory room, is an oil painting "Immortal Handwriting" illustrated with photos of the three commanders of Mt. Paektu. There is a map showing the distribution of 127 trees bearing slogans discovered in cities and counties of the province.

On display in the second room are the trees on which anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters wrote slogans and their photos. They include slogans "Commander Kim ll Sung is a god for all people. Only when Commander Kim is held in high esteem is it possible to achieve liberation by ourselves and build a paradise" and "Shining Star appeared in the sky above Mt. Paektu. It shines all over the country. All people, look up to it".

The third, fourth and fifth rooms are devoted to trees bearing slogans written by members of underground revolutionary organizations in the homeland.

Those slogans include "The illustrious Commander Kim Il Sung's art of shrinking the earth reached here, the land of Phyongan" and "Let us put forward Commander Kim Il Sung as the supreme leader, woman commander Kim Jong Suk as woman leader and the Shining Star as a future leader and demonstration the dignity of our nation after the independence of Korea".

There are also slogans reflecting the Ten-point Programme of the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland and those arousing the people to a sacred war for the liberation of the country.

Materials on the achievements made in the education through trees bearing slogans are displayed in the sixth room.

On the threshold of the Day of the Shining Star it is visited by hundreds of party members and other working people and school youth and children everyday.

I woner what that business about "shrinking the earth" means. We Imperialists can't fathom the depths of this stuff.

That's funny, Haniyeh didn't say anything about Israel's being a "cancer" in his Washington Post editorial

From J-Post:

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh continued Monday to issue fiery statements about Israel, which he compared to a cancer that is threatening to spread to other parts of the body.

Rounding up a three-day visit to Iran, Haniyeh said in an interview with an Iranian TV station that Israel remained the “main enemy” of the Arab and Islamic world. [...]

The WaPo piece, from 2006, is here.

Los Feliz Ledger: "Thieves are taking the copper wire from streetlights, in some cases, leaving whole blocks in the dark"

Is this an example of job-creation? I've been noticing streetlights out in Los Angeles myself:

Copper wire theft is an ongoing problem in Los Angeles and the nation as a whole. Challenging economic times make the theft of copper wire and heavy metals very lucrative.

Thieves are taking the copper wire from streetlights, in some cases, leaving whole blocks in the dark. My office is receiving a few complaints from the Los Feliz area of the 4th District about streetlights going dark, but the problem is not as prevalent in Los Feliz as in other areas of the city.

There are two dedicated crews from the Bureau of Street Lighting who are responding to all of these outages. But they can only move so fast; and with the city’s budget challenges, replacing stolen copper-wire is an extra cost that we can ill-afford. [...]

Guardian: "Iran to announce 'major nuclear progress'"

Great news:

Iran will soon reveal "very big new achievements" in its controversial nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced.

Speaking at a rally in Tehran to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad also said Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment progamme.

"In the coming days the world will witness Iran's announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements," Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran's Azadi [Freedom] Square broadcast on state television. [...]

Does that picture remind you of something?



Update: The latest Haveil Havalim features important and very major achievements.

LA Times: "Testing pot in a legal vacuum"

The idea of this article is that pot-testing is on the rise, but the situation is chaotic because it is illegal on the federal level:

[...] The idea is that patients don't pop a Vicodin not knowing if the pill has 5 milligrams of hydrocodone or 15. Nor do people make drinks wondering if they are pouring beer or bourbon or Bacardi 151.[...]

It's for recreational use.

Only some top-end dispensaries test their products, and even they can't be sure the results are reliable. Because all marijuana possession is illegal under federal law — and the Justice Department has been cracking down recently — the nascent labs are as unregulated and vulnerable to prosecution as dispensaries and growers. In Colorado, the one lab that tried to get a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration was promptly raided by that agency.

That very week, Los Angeles passed its marijuana ordinance, which required testing by "independent and certified" labs, without specifying who was supposed to do the certifying. Long Beach followed suit two months later.

Making the situation even woollier: There are no federal standards for pesticides in marijuana. [...]

The idea that the pot sold all over the place LA is all or even significantly for medical use is a big joke.

Fars News (Iran): "Haniya: Palestinian Nation to Confront US, Israeli Threats against Iran"

Here's an article that puts things in perspective. And Hamas and Fatah are forming a unity government, right?

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said during the February 11 rallies - marking the 33rd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution - in Tehran that the Palestinian nation will confront and stand against the US and Zionist regime's threats against Iran.

Congratulating the Iranian nation and government on 33rd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Haniya said Iran is commemorating the victory of its Islamic Revolution at a time when other Muslim nations are celebrating the trend of Islamic Awakening in north Africa and the Middle East region.

Stressing that the Iranian nation had a share in the victory of resistance movement of the Palestinian nation, Haniya said they will surely play a role in constructing a bright future for the Palestinians as well.

He reiterated that the Palestinian nation has rejected all the US and Zionists threats against the Iranian nation and will confront them.

Underlining the need for unity among all Muslim nations, he stressed that "we will resist alien interventions in Arab and Islamic world."

Haniya arrived in Tehran on Friday upon the invitation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to review regional developments, particularly those of Palestine with Iranian officials.

Millions of Iranians in Tehran and other cities poured to the streets to show their unconditional support for the Islamic Republic through staging massive rallies on February 11th. [...]

Mehr News (Iran): "Syria death toll report not accurate"

In which we learn that "the number of forces loyal to the government or police forces who have been killed are much more than civil forces." It must be true--who can you trust if not the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs?

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday.

He was scheduled to hold talks with Syrian officials during his two-day trip.

In an interview with the Persian service of Khabaronline news website on Tuesday, Amir-Abdollahian said that the death toll in Syria has not been reported accurately.

“A number of people have been killed in clashes. But when we examine these reports, we see that the number of forces loyal to the government or police forces who have been killed are much more than civil forces. However, we have warned about any killing in Syria and regard it as a red line. And (we) believe that, not only in Syria, but in all regional countries, opportunities should be used and affairs should be handled by the people and governments in such a way that the people suffer the least,” he stated.

"Letters Praising Kim Jong Il Carved on Natural Rock"

As this article reminds us, only 7 more days until Kim Jong Il's birthday!

Letters "Peerless Patriot General Kim Jong Il. February 16, Juche 101 (2012)" were carved on natural rock in Mt. Sokda, Jungsan County, South Phyongan Province on the 70th anniversary of his birth.

The total length of the letters is 120 meters with his name 10 meters high, 5.5 meters wide and 1.4 meters deep. Other letters are 8.5 meters high, 4.8 meters wide and 0.9 meters deep.

Officials and working people in South Phyongan Province chose the rock that is easily visible, reflecting the ardent desire of the people around the country to exalt his immortal revolutionary feats forever.

An unveiling ceremony took place on Wednesday. [...]

"Iranian President Warns Nations against Bullying Powers' Plots" (Fars News-Iran)

Another of the many almost-identical articles based on Ahmadinejad speeches. The Iranian Press turns these out like so many snowflakes. It isn't just that Iran makes hostile and threatening statements about Israel--it projects a suffocating paranoid conspiracist world-view with Israel as its central obsession. Yes, the most obvious comparison is to the Nazi world-view. It isn't an accident that Holocaust-denial, which Ahmadinejad is known for, is the neo-Nazi propaganda strategy of recent years.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blasted the attempts made by the arrogant and colonialist states against other countries, and warned against the bullying powers' new plots to loot the world nations.

The bullying powers are trying to continue their previous approach in new forms, the President said they are trying to pave the way for looting the nations' wealth and resources.

He described the democracy claimed by the West as a big lie and a deception, stressing that democracy in its western version is the humiliation of the mankind because it is only serving the interests of capitalists and Zionists in the name of people.

Ahmadinejad said hegemonic powers are trying to manipulate the influence of media and use unfaithful elements to return to the Middle East and regain dominance over the region.

He made the remarks, addressing the opening session of the 25th International Islamic Unity Conference, and said regional states should be vigilant since big powers are trying to save and revive the Zionist regime.

Ahmadinejad had earlier blasted the attempts made by the arrogant and colonialist powers against the other countries, and urged the world nations to become united against the bullying powers.

He also reiterated that independent states by adopting rational stands can thwart plots of their enemies.

The global arrogance is doing its best to save the Zionist regime through suppression of governments and nations that are against the West's policies, he said in March.

Ahmadinejad underlined the need to adopt a unified stand in dealing with the bullying powers, and said the arrogant and colonial powers under the guise of backing nations pursue their ill-wishes.

Note to those who like to argue that Ahmadinejad does not wield the real power in Iran: That's true, but he is a good spokesman, presumably, for those who do.

Mehr News (Iran): "Cabinet approves bill to cut four zeros off currency"

According to a story from last April, it was going to be three zeroes. I guess they've become more ambitious:

The cabinet has finalized a bill to slash four zeros off the national currency, rial, the vice president for planning affairs announced on Sunday.

Davood Manzoor said the bill will soon be submitted to the parliament for ratification.

Manzoor said the administration had earlier approved the general outlines of the bill which envisages removing four zeros of the currency by 2014.

In July 2011, the cabinet introduced a plan to re-denominate the rial by cutting four zeros from the currency.

Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani has said it will take about three years to implement the plan.

That would have been a zero a year according to the old plan.

"Why French Parents are Superior"--I don't buy this

Here are the paragraphs in which the author notices the supposed difference:

[...] We quickly discovered that having two restaurant meals a day with a toddler deserved to be its own circle of hell.

Bean would take a brief interest in the food, but within a few minutes she was spilling salt shakers and tearing apart sugar packets. Then she demanded to be sprung from her high chair so she could dash around the restaurant and bolt dangerously toward the docks. [...]

After a few more harrowing restaurant visits, I started noticing that the French families around us didn't look like they were sharing our mealtime agony. Weirdly, they looked like they were on vacation. French toddlers were sitting contentedly in their high chairs, waiting for their food, or eating fish and even vegetables. There was no shrieking or whining. And there was no debris around their tables. [...]

One of the keys to this difference, we learn, is not to pick them up right away when they cry and other policies which avoid of giving too much attention and teaching patience and self-reliance. Some of this involves the fact that "the French have all kinds of public services that help to make having kids more appealing and less stressful. Parents don't have to pay for preschool, worry about health insurance or save for college." Be a Laissez Faire parent in a Socialist country, is that the idea? There are more anecdotes and scientific studies brought in to back all this up, but I'm skeptical. I'm surprised the Wall Street Journal published it.

Goofy Baptist preacher gets wrapped in Sefer Torah

"Messianic Jews," i.e. Baptist and Pentecostal missionaries who specifically target Jews by dressing up Xianity in Jewish trappings are behind this goofiness. They manged to symbolize themselves perfectly. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Bishop Eddie Long has apologized for last Sunday's service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church that drew the ire of Jewish groups and religious scholars.

"The ceremony was not my suggestion, nor was it my intent, to participate in any ritual that is offensive in any manner to the Jewish community," Long wrote in a letter sent Saturday to Bill Nigut, Southeast Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Footage of the service, viewed by nearly 600,000 people on YouTube, showed Long being wrapped in a sacred Torah scroll and carried upon a throne.

"He's a king. God has blessed him," said Colorado Rabbi Ralph Messer before covering Long in a scroll "[that] may still have the dust of Auschwitz and Birkenau." Messer referred to the Nazi extermination camps in Poland where millions of Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

In his letter to the Anti-Defamation League, Long "[denounced] any action that depicts me as a king, for I am merely just a servant of the Lord."

Nigut, who said he was "horrified" by the service, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sunday he appreciated the bishop's apology. [...]

Messer, who has no formal rabbinical training, is active in the Messianic Judaism movement, which fuses evangelical Christian beliefs with elements of Jewish tradition. [...]

Instead of "fuses," I would write "attempts to disguise."

"2nd 'Hollywoodism and Cinema' Conference Kicks Off Work in Tehran" (Fars News-Iran)

They like holding conferences in Iran. One of the subjects of this one will be "Hollywood and Holocaust":

The 2nd international conference on 'Hollywoodism and Cinema' started work in a ceremony attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Thursday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini and his deputy in cinematic affairs Javad Shamaghdari will attend the opening ceremony along with a number of cinematic scholars and officials on February 2.

About 48 foreign scholars from France, the US, Canada, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Italy, Egypt, Russia, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Palestine and the UK will take part in the event.

The conference is scheduled to be held as a sideline program of the 2012 Fajr International Film Festival.

The event will discuss five principle topics namely 'Narration in Hollywood,' 'Role of Cinema in the World Awakening,' 'The Role of Hollywoodism and Human Decadence,' 'Portrait of Future in Hollywood' and 'Hollywoodism and Zionism.'

Considering the anti-capitalist movements in the US and Europe, a number of other related subjects will also be explored during the conference.

Since the recent uprisings in US and European cities and their impressive messages can be adapted into films, the conference will review other related subjects such as 'Hollywood and Holocaust,' 'Palestine on the Line of Fire,' 'Hollywood and Apocalypse,' 'Hollywood,' and 'Darwinism and Liberalism.'

The Occupy Wallstreet people should appreciate that.

The re-arrest of someone released in the Shalit deal and Angy Arab's reaction

The post is entitled "The folly of signing agreements--any agreements--with the Zionist entity" and here is the text, starting with a quote from a Ha'aretz article:

"The Israel Defense Forces arrested Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut, a Palestinian man who was released from Israeli prison in October as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. Stut’s arrest makes him the first released prisoner to be recaptured since the prisoner swap. According to an IDF spokesperson, Stut was arrested for being a security threat in the area of Dura near Hebron by the Golani Brigade." For the life of me, I can't see how anyone can really sign an agreement on any matter with the lying Zionist entity? Of course, the Zionist usurping entity is not scared of Hamas but would not dare pull this violation of the agreement with Hizbullah. And this is not an arrest: it is a kidnapping and should be treated as such, when the other side decides to respond.

What does AA mean by "violation of the agreement"--just re-arresting someone? Hamas achieved the release of over 1000 prisoners in exchange for Shalit. The re-arrest of one Hamasnik--or even a number of them--is hardly a "ha, ha--fooled you" moment.