lingben

What you write is correct, except for this part:

The IRGC is not a 'special wing' of the Iranian military. They are a completely separate organization which has no equivalency in Western societies or defense departments.

The IRGC is tasked with protecting and spreading Khomeini's brand of Islamic theocracy throughout the world. This is why you see Iranian proxies in Yemen, Nigeria, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, etc.

The Iranian military is tasked with protecting the Iranian nation and people. The military is a lower priority and less funded that IRGC, especially since the IRGC is a major actor in Iran's economy via various bonyads.

GAMAAN has provided insight into Iranian opinions with intelligent polling and verification methods that correct for the Islamic theocratic regime's authoritarian control over society. The coles notes are that the majority of Iranians do NOT support the Islamic regime, are not religious and do not support the theocratic laws and regulations such as enforced hijab and other gender apartheid measures currently in place against Iranian women.

This video explains their methodology and results: https://youtu.be/YONfg85gPU4?t=4341

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/iran-secular-shift-g...

https://gamaan.org/survey-reports/

Ever wondered how these “small group of extremists” came about holding the entire country hostage? That’s because US nation state apparatus decided to overthrow democratically elected government there for their own interests.

It is tiresome to read again and again on the internet about how my country would be X or Y had the evil Westerners not "overthrown" the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953.

This false narrative is bandied around so much and so many fall for it with zero interest or curiosity to delve deeper to see if any of it is true.

Well, no, it isn't true.

Sadly, unfortunately, tragically, [insert adjective of your choice here]...

#Iran has NEVER been a democracy

Read that again.

While our future is bright and with the imminent the removal of the Islamic theocracy we will have the opportunity to have a secular democracy that represents and governs all Iranians, that will be a very important first for our ancient people, land and society.

What most ignorant people refer to in the above lazy copypasta are the events in and around 1953 with the appointment and dismissal of Mossadegh.

#READ THAT AGAIN

*appointment*

and

*dismissal*

Mossadegh was appointed, not elected, as per the 1906 Iranian constitution:

ART. 46. The appointment and dismissal of Ministers is effected by virtue of the Royal Decree of the King.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Ira...

You and I may not like that article in the 1906 constitution. While we're free to have our opinions about it, we can not have our own facts. The facts are that just like previous PM's (which included him btw!) Mossadegh was appointed legally (in accordance with the enacted constitutional framework) and also legally dismissed as well.

Funny that no one mentions or even remembers the first time around that he was appointed and dismissed: 28 April 1951 appointed and 17 July 1952 dismissed (1 year, 80 days) but every ignorant person loses their minds re the second time in 1952/1953 !!

Furthermore, it is hilarious that Mossadegh is now seen by some ignorant people devoid of any historical knowledge as a symbol or champion of democracy.

Mossadegh was so "democratic" that his referendum to dissolve parliament so that he obtains absolute power won 99.93% of the votes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_parliamentary_dis...

What did credible international publications think of his democratic zeal?

TIME magazine: “Hitler’s best as a vote-getter was 99.81% Ja’s in 1936; Stalin’s peak was 99.73% Da’s in 1946. Last week Premier Mohammed Mossadegh, the man in the iron cot, topped them all with 99.93%.”

NBC TV’s John Cameron Swayze announced: Mossadegh “has accomplished what Hitler and Stalin could not. He received 99 9⁄10 percent of the vote in a carefully managed referendum.”

New York Times: “A plebiscite more fantastic and farcical than any ever held under Hitler or Stalin is now being staged in Iran by Premier Mossadegh in an effort to make himself unchallenged dictator of the country.”

NYT, A Bid For Dictatorship, 7/15/52:”Having brought his country to the verge of bankruptcy,Premier Mossadegh is now trying to take it further along the road to ruin by demanding dictatorial powers for 6 months,on the plea that he needs these powers to pull Iran out of the crisis into which he has plunged it.What he proposes is in effect a legalized coup d’etat that smacks of Hitler’s technique.This is the legal device by which Hitler also acquired absolute powers he had no intention,of course, of surrendering them on termination of the ostensible period for which they had been granted, and there is no assurance that Mr. Mossadegh would act differently.”

Melbourne paper, The Argus (8/21/53): “THE swift and violent overthrow of Dr. Mossadegh , Premier and virtual dictator of Persia, has been a complete surprise to the world, and a pleasant surprise to the Western half of it.”

The fact is many contemporary international news outlets referred to Mossadegh as a dictator because that’s what he was. There was nothing democratic about his reign (nor his coup attempt at overthrowing the Shah) Anyone who says otherwise is either naive or lying.

There’s only one reason a handful of Iranians have rehabilitated, re-branded, mythologized and continue to promote Mossadegh: their disdain for the late Shah.

Lamenting the loss of a Mossadeq because of democratic ambitions betrays a lack of knowledge of Iranian history.The most common misconception is that he was democratically elected. He wasn’t, he was appointed by the King.Another misconception is that he was a champion of democracy.

During his tenure Mossadegh dissolved the senate, shut down parliament, not once did he hold a full meeting of the council of ministers, suspended elections for the National Assembly, announced he would rule by decree, jailed hundreds of opponents, and the cherry on top of this "democratic" so called champion: he dismissed the Supreme Court.

This angered the National Assembly so he announced a referendum to decide if it should be dissolved. At the opening session he gave a speech aimed at intimidating dissenters saying only 80% of those present truly represented the people - for visuals think Saddam’s parliament speech with that cigar.

Our “champion of democracy” arranged that those voting for dissolution and those against voted in plainly marked booths. The signal was clear: anyone brave enough to vote in opposition would be beaten up by his street hooligans/Tudeh (Communist) supporters.

Dissolution won by 99% of all votes!

In one town with a population of 3,000, 18000 votes were cast in favor of Mossadeq’s undemocratic dissolution. His democratic ideals were so far reaching he allowed the dead to vote. Hundreds of people were killed during his rigged elections.

By the time of the counter-coup that toppled him he had 27 gallows put up on Sepah Square to hang his enemies in public. All but approximately 4 days of his premiership were under martial law/curfew. There was nothing democratic about his reign.

While a member of parliament he posed as a champion of the constitution, due process, representative govt, free press; but only in a few months did he do the things mentioned above. Khomeini promised democracy too. Had his revolution not succeeded he too would be touted a great democrat

From 1941-1979 Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi appointed & dismissed 22 PMs (incl. Mossadegh twice) in accordance to the 1906 Constitution.Yet, Mossadeq is the only 1 referred 2 as “democratically elected” despite the fact that all were appointed and dismissed in the same manner.

What set Mossadeq apart from the pack were his political ambitions.After becoming Prime Minister he successfully forced the Shah 2 appoint him Minister of War,granting himself absolute power.He soon replaced officers w/those loyal 2 him, consolidating power to obtain the throne via a coup

When the Shah finally dismissed Mossadegh in accordance with his legal authority under the Constitution of 1906, Mossadeq had the officer who delivered the dismissal decree arrested, his Foreign Minister published an editorial in Bakhtar-e-Emruz denouncing the Shah & called for his ouster.

It’s clear to the objective student of Iranian modern history that Mossadeq initiated a coup against the Shah and the events that followed & led to Mossadegh’s downfall should more appropriately be labeled a “counter-coup”

The Mossadegh that many promote is more of a myth like CheGuevara. People think he stood for things which were inconsistent with reality.

Also, it bears notice that Mossadeq's own Chief of Police & cousin, General Daftari, joined the royal forces to topple him. He was disliked by everyone except his communist friends.

why would they push back on the most successful scheme since MtGox' willy bot?

exchanges

clients on exchanges sell BTC and buy USDT thinking they are buying USD not realizing they are buying tethers

think of it this way, you can easily put money into the system but you can't get it out, instead you get funny money

don't believe me? find me one person who has sold tether and has documentation to prove it

when money comes in but can't leave... there's a name for that...

Are people getting into cryptocurrencies really that clueless?

short answer is YES, people getting into cryptocurrencies really are that clueless. take for example that the vast majority who opened new accounts at coinbase didn't realize that you could buy fractional shares of bitcoin and therefore assumed since they couldn't afford bitcoin at 1BTC at around $15k they opted for altcoins

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7femm2/many_people...

I've observed that Trump and his supporters live in a childishly simple world where anything and anyone who says "good" or supportive things is hailed and anyone who criticizes or questions Trump is derided and held in contempt, irrespective of any actual factual basis.

I find these social memes fascinating. I wonder if any sociologist has made a serious study of how they start and spread. There is another town in India dedicated to weightlifting and working as bouncers:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/30/world/asia/india-muscle-villag...

for a fantastic expose of how facebook is riddled with fraud and bots, check out veritasium's two videos:

facebook fraud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

the problem with facebook https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ZqXlHl65g

no, they are an asset manager, not bank or other credit/lending inst

unfortunately the article doesn't mention what if any consequences there are for the student who falsely accused this teacher and ruined his life

because there is so much opacity that they don't realize there's no there there

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/business/chase-ads-youtub...

and looking outside the US, Australia hasn't had a recession in more than 25 years

Editor’s Note: The following piece is based on an error. The Times did not in fact change the headline of a January 19 article after its publication as was alleged. Andrew C. McCarthy acknowledges and explains the error in this post. The text of his column as originally published remains below for reference. We regret the error and apologize to our readers.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/445628/barack-obama-do...

the ones with pulp are still providing you with a massive amount of sugar relative to pulp

you can easily drink the equivalent of 12 oranges, in one drink but very very few people can eat 12 oranges in one sitting

there is wisdom in that nature packages sugar with fibre, at times lots and lots of fibre (cane sugar for example)

exactly, Veritasium covers this in meticulous detail in his two videos on facebook fraud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ZqXlHl65g

great spreadsheet, one small error:

in the "[high ret] 0.5 / 25%, 6% hurdle" spreadsheet, column R references the "[high ret] 0.5 / 25%, 6% hurdle" spreadsheet (rather than itself)

I'd love to hear his rational as well, in the meantime, here's what I've found:

https://www.elmfunds.com/blog/video-the-most-important-numbe...

not to be glib but the best way to fix windows 10 privacy issues is to stop using windows 10 and switch to linux, there are many user friendly, mature distros out right now and they are only getting better: ubuntu, linux mint, arch, manjaro, openSUSE, centOS, etc. as well as up and comer new distros like elementary

https://www.fastcoexist.com/3061574/the-new-nationalism-of-b...

Such a comment betrays an incredibly unsophisticated understanding of the issues being discussed. Perhaps a revisit to McLuhan's maxim would be enlightening:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko6J9v1C9zE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoCrx0scCkM

doesn't seem like you actually read what I wrote but here's a relevant article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/19/do...

“The wind kills all your birds. All your birds, killed. You know, the environmentalists never talk about that.”

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/290093-trump-wi...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/19/do...

if you have been paying attention to what he says, then you would have heard that he is incredibly against renewable energy sources, especially wind (he has a major grudge against wind farms ever since his battle with them in Scotland)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-loses-battle-to-stop-wind-...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/22/trump-re...

it is notoriously difficult to pin down what Trump stands for because it really depends on the day and time and situation since he only truly cares about himself and only thinks about what will benefit him. but his pronouncements against renewables and his penchant for "clean" coal, opening up drilling on public lands, fracking, etc. is crystal clear

this infographic shows just how razor thin the win was for Trump and how it was delivered via the electoral college:

http://i.imgur.com/FZEjdCF.jpg

these are facts, one can decide to deride them in a childish attempt to obfuscate or wallow in ignorance or one can choose to objectively discuss them as they are

There's just no need to keep pretending that your opinion is the only rational choice when you've been repudiated so completely.

You do realize that Clinton won the popular vote, right? the majority of Americans agree with her policies and voted for her. Trump won because of the arcane 18th century election structure unique to the US called an electoral college.

really? please provide a similar example to the despicable Birtherism movement on the right, which Trump himself championed btw

I say the following with human empathy and don't want it to come across as flippant or insensitive (due to the nature of the method of communication): from what you've written it sounds like you could benefit from talking to a counselor or other mental health professional rather than voting for any particular candidate in an election

unfortunately mental health is all too often a taboo subject but it shouldn't and needn't be.

wish you the best

if facing Trump as a Jew he would have been implicitly and explicitly vilified for it

just a few days ago Trump's campaign released their final tv ad:

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2016/11/07/trump-s-white-n...

to your or I that may seem abhorrent but most of Trump's base would have lapped it up quite hungrily

as well you had surrogates as highly noted as Ann Coulter were saying things like this:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/08/de...

there is a linux OS built specifically for chromebooks called gallium OS

https://galliumos.org/