Journalist Roxana Saberi's release from prison in Iran and return to USA

So the Iranian-American journalist who was arrested, accused of spying, and imprisoned in Iran for 100 days, returns to US. She apparently has told reporters that "singing the national anthem helped keep her going". "And it may sound corny, but I'm so happy to be home in the land of the free," she is quoted saying. See the article below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/22/roxana-saberi-returns-hom_n_206642.html

Well, I am sure that being arrested by IRI and spending 100 days at notorious Evin prison for no good reason was very harsh to say the least. But yes, that statement is quite corny, and sad in a way. As an independent Iranian-American journalist working both in USA and Iran, one would expect that she knows better. Or let's hope that she knows but forgets that the mess in Iran (including your imprisonment) has indirectly been caused by the predatory ways of Uncle Sam, the government of "the land of the free" in the first place.

Its roots go back to the 1953 coup that was staged by the CIA that overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadeq, and placed its own puppet regime, by making Reza Shah, a no-name soldier the king of Iran. Go read the history (or watch it on Youtube) as told by authors such as Stephen Kinzer ("All the Shah's Men") and numerous others.

I know that things are a lot worse in Iran right now than they were under Pahlavi's regime. But many may not know that the Evin prison was actually built in Shah's era. The shah, despite his nationalistic sentiments, was ultimately an anti-communist watchdog for US and its interests in the region. Shah's regime with the help of its dreaded secret service, SAVAK, that was trained by the very best of CIA, imprisoned, tortured and often executed thousands of political prisoners for dissent, associations with socialist/communist or even Islamic groups. In fact I remember once being in the Evin prison as a little kid with my parents when we went there to visit a close relative who spent four years in his 20s in prison for his supposed affiliation with a socialist organization. He was often tortured and nearly died in prison. All that injustice in the 60s and 70s helped drive the revolution in the late 70s which eventually resulted in the establishment of IRI.

What is even worse is that some publisher is probably after her for the book rights to her story, and of course Hollywood is offering her top dollars to make another "Not Without My Daughter" BS movie based on her story to further deceive the American masses.

Film: "Dan in Real Life"

"Love is not a feeling, but an ability", says the young Latino boy in Spanish to the father of the teenage girl he's dating. Interesting. Insightful. I suppose it makes sense and I know that one has to have the open heart and the capacity to love. But still I hadn't heard it in so many words so explicitly. Quoting this on Facebook, jokingly I made a comment that how come no one ever told me this before. A friend upon reading my comment on this recommended that I read "Blue Truth". I plan to do that.

Now back the film. I don't like the idea of falling in love with one's brother's girlfriend but I liked this film -- a lot. It made me want to have a big family and live in North Easter USA. It made me miss hard pouring rains, family gatherings & Thanksgivings. I laughed & I cried. So it is a good romantic comedy. The closing has a couple of great up songs I believe by the Norwegian Sondre Lerche, who also appears performing at the end of the film.

As for the cast, it's hard not to like Steve Carell. He's unpretencious and naturally lightly funny. John Mahoney as always makes a great dad for grown up men. And Julliette Binoche: not as hot as her early days but I pretty much like anything she's in with a bias. I still think she should stick to noir French-style films and do less of hollywood light-hearted comedies.

Film: "Goya's Ghosts" -- Religion is the Real Evil!

Last night I watched "Goya's Ghosts". An interesting film; good portrayal of the Spanish painter Goya and his artistic work and genius. The credit at the end of the film does a superb job of showcasing some of his paintings with closeups. Two of my favorite artists -- Bardem & Portman -- are in this film and they are great as usual. it shows the reversal of fortune caused by historical events -- the evil powerhouse of the Spanish Inquisition falls apart by Napoleon's attack on Spain and then they gain their power and influence when the English roll in.

This film is also a great reminder for me of why I despise religion so much, in particular the theistic religions (Judaism, Christianty, and Islam). Probably more people in the history of humanity have suffered because of these religions than anything else. Much has been written on this topic elsewhere, such as Christopher Hitchens' "God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything".

On the negatives: I didn't really like Portman playing both herself and her daughter! It seemed strange. Also her makeup after she's released from the prison is overdone. As others have pointed out, there are also inconsistencies in the English accents of Spanish speaking artists such as Bardem vs English speaking ones like Portman.

America's Strength! Say What?!

The other day I noticed that a friend on Facebook is supporting McCain/Palin! I don't know how else to say it other than that I think it is a shame for any Iranian to do so. However I just read that "Ahmadinejad wants McCain and Palin in the White House". But that is not just any Iranian; that is the president of IRI we are talking about. I also recently spoke to an Iranian-Canadian in Vancouver who wanted McCain/Palin to win. Her reason? When things are bad for USA, economy and everything else improves for Canadians! She said she remembered how tough things were in Clinton's era up north and how things have improved since. Well, she may have a point but I think she's being quite selfish and short-sighted. At least she beleived that McCain/Palin will be bad for us Americans.

Any way, back to the Facebook incident. I questioned her logic (or lack thereof). She said that if Obama was elected USA would lose its strength! I responded to her on her Facebook wall and to my surprise she deleted my response without any comment!

 

Hmm...Censorship within our own little semi-public media called Facebook Wall! Now we are continuously subject to the censorship of the US media by the conservative right-wing republicans and the influential and powerful pro-Israeli politicians, lobbyist, and bankers. And we've seen how the fundamentalist mullahs have chocked/drown/cut (in some cases literally) the media and the dissent back home in Iran for years.

 

But this one felt personal. Why would anyone do such a thing? Intolerance? Weakness? Fear? Now I want everyone to read my response. So here is an edited and expanded version of it:

McCain and Palin are warmongers and religious fanatics. Palin thinks that invading Iraq was "will of god"! Killing people under the name of god. Sounds familiar? Iraq is in ruins; its people are murdered & raped, made homeless. The Iraqi civilian death toll is approaching 100,000 (www.antiwar.com/casualties).

"US lose its strength"? What strength? The strength to invade and destroy poor 3rd world countries like Iraq & Afghanistan, kill & rape their people and rub them of their resources? I don't want that kind of strength. No human being ever should.

During the last 8 years US has certainly lost a lot of strength: In Iraq alone, more than 4,000 Americans have died and over 30,000 Americans are wounded (www.iraqbodycount.org). International acceptance & respect for US and Americans is far lower than it was in Clinton's era, thanks to President Bush's wrong foreign policies, invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, arrest, imprisonment and torture of innocent people all over the world including in US under the excuse of anti-terrorism. The US economy is in crisis, the core of US financial system is falling apart. Now we the taxpayer Americans have to pay $700 B to save the financial corporations that are partly in fault for the mess we are in and save the system from total collapse. People are losing their homes: in California alone there were 100,000 home foreclosures (300,000 nationwide) just in the month of August 2008! Bush and his people wiped out the surplus they inherited and now we have one of the largest deficits ever.

So under the Republican rule USA is far weaker than it was before. If McCain/Palin are elected things are sure to get worse -- for the world, especially for the poor and unprivileged, and for the majority of Americans.

The great outdoors

After years I had an opportunity to go on a little weekend camping & rafting trip. We camped by Lake Isabella past San Bernardio, swam quite a bit in the lake with temptations to swim across the lake though I avoided it fear of leg cramps. Lots of games, a great BBQ that i took care of, and a very uncomfortable night at my old tent that hadn't been unpacked in years. But I enjoyed it. The next day we rafted in kyaked in class 2 & 3 rapids of Kern River. The weekend was a good reminder of my passion for the outdoors and open waters. It takes me to my childhood. I need to do more of it. An REI shopping trip is in the order before July's Yosemite trip.

"Recipe for Happiness" or just "One Fine Day"

Back in 2002 when I used to spend most of my weekends in San Francisco with a girlfriend, one of my pastimes was going for coffee and brunch with her. Once I read a short poem by SF's own Lawrence Ferlinghetti on a postcard in one of my favorite brunch places on Union St, Rose's Cafe.

I had lost it till the other day when I went there with a new friend for breakfast after years. It was the first day of 2007. It was a beautiful, sunny and pleasantly warm winter day in one of the best cities in the world. I felt happy.

"Recipe for happiness in Khabarovsk or any place

One grand boulevard with trees
with one grand cafe in sun
with strong black
coffee in very small cups

One not necessarily very beautiful
man or woman who loves you

One fine day"

Another Recipe for Happiness: Jazz, Good Health, and Bad Memory

I attended a jazz festival in UCLA last weekend, the day one of a 2-day UCLA Jazz and Reggae festival. It was an outdoor festival with a big stage, on grass field covered with people, and various food and retail vendors set up all around. It was a beautiful and sunny day. I enjoyed it.

Dianne Reeves, one of my favorite jazz singers, was among the performers. She was awesome. She did a couple of songs including one from the end of George Clooney's film "Good night and good luck" that were quite touching. It somehow took me back to the painful days. It still hurt but it it good to remember that it was all over.

Later on when I was walking through the temporary vendors stands, I saw a T-shirt with the following quote:

"Happiness is having a good health and a bad memory." -Ingrid Bergman

Yeah, that is what I need: a bad memory to forget that it ever happened.