On August 20, 1978, in the Cinema Rex in Abadan, Iran, was set ablaze, burning alive 500 individuals. The victims were mainly from a working class neighborhood, where the Islamists had strong support. Nevertheless, in the views of radical Islamists, people had no business going to western movies.

Over 100 movie theaters were closed in that campaign–mainly by intimidation (familiar tactic) but in this case the doors were nailed shut, gasoline poured around, and the building set afire. The sounds of victims screaming as they were burned alive resounded through the neighborhood. Khamenei himself is believed to have played a role in organizing the attacks on movie theaters, so his brutality today should not surprise the Iranian people.

Since June 12th the regime commits horrific crimes such as election rigging and Neda’s murder denied them and blamed outsiders for its deeds. It’s not a new pattern but goes back to the period just before the Shah’s overthrow….

Chavez, like Ahmadinejad, has a screw loose somewhere that invites mockery. As I reported in another post he praised Ahmadinejad as a leader who resembled Idi Amin, Mugabe and Carlos the Jackel–so ironic yet so apt.

So what happened when Ahmadinejad arrive in Venezuela. To make him feel at home, Chavez played him the Iranian national anthem–only it was the wrong one. The band played "Soroude Shahanshahi”, the anthem of the late Shah," again ironic in being an appropriate theme for a dictator.

You can watch a video showing Ahmadinejad walking down the ramp of his plane with a uniformed band makes him welcome:

Enduring America

The above site also has some interesting news items:

IRANIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS–Management will be transferred to seminaries and a member of the clergy placed in each school "to fulfill the cultural needs of the students."

TRASHING NEDA: he commander of the Basiji militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, has marked this week’s celebrations of…

SIX REASONS WHY THE REGIME’S RE-EDUCATION CAMPAIGN IS DOOMED

Consider the central goal: To convince the people to believe what many once believed–that this regime is good, that its Supreme Leader is an honorable and moral man and that he represents Islam at its best. At the same time a campaign of intimidation against its own people. The two goals are 180 degeees in opposition.

No doubt regime insiders recognize their dilemna but they continue anyway because they can ‘t think of anything else and because they have gone to far to risk openness now. At least six specific factors that doom the “re-education” campaign from the start.

1. The horrors Khamenei has recently inflicted on the people are whichgrow even worse by the day.

2. The more crimes the regime commits in the present, the more motive people have to explore its past crimes.

No need to recall those that have gotten the most attention up to this point. Soon people will start looking into…