Iranian democracy in action

[Adrian II]

In an apparent bid to outdo Osama bin Laden, Iran's democratically elected (duh) new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week got his burka in a twist. He has banned all foreign films in an effort to wipe out -- eew! -- 'corrupt Western culture'.

Does the Iranian President have the authority to ban films? Just like that?

Elements that were specifically named as affronts to the government's vision of Iran's Muslim culture included alcohol and drugs, secularists, liberals, anarchists and feminists.

Link

[Dâriûsh]

The fascist Islamic mafia strikes again.


The presidency is a sham. Ahmadinejad is just the extended will of Khamenei.


And if you think that’s silly, a while back they covered up all posters with David Beckham in Tehran. Beckham was actually the first western celebrity used in a commercial since the Islamic revolution.

[Tribesman]

alcohol and drugs, secularists, liberals, anarchists and feminists.

He is just after a job as right wing religeous pundit on one of Ruperts networks .
He has banned all foreign films in an effort to wipe out -- eew! -- 'corrupt Western culture'.

There are some French who would like to do the same

Does the Iranian President have the authority to ban films? Just like that?

I thought it was the guardians of morality or whatever they call themselves that dealt with censorship not the President .
Oh well it was bound to happen after the moderates and reformers were sidelined .
A hardening of positions is occuring throughout the region for some strange reason .
I cannot for the life of me think why . Anyone would think the hardliners feel under threat .

[Adrian II]

A hardening of positions is occuring throughout the region for some strange reason. I cannot for the life of me think why.

Because of a 'corrupt western influence', Mr President?

[Tribesman]

Because of a 'corrupt western influence', Mr President?
Ah a corrupt Western influence vying for dominance with a corrupt Eastern influence ......hmmmmm.....pity the poor ordinary buggers stuck in the middle eh , they get shafted both ways .

[Prodigal]

Does the Iranian President have the authority to ban films?

Well yeah...If they stop be shown he does, should he ban them though? Considering Rocky 6 is in the pipes, I wouldn't mind some selective film bans myself. Thing is, unless he has complete control over the internet in his country, banning films doesn't really mean a great deal, because anyone with a PC & half a brain can access any damn thing they like.

Its a bit like the full body covering deal for girls, that works fine, but hasn't anyone considered how many people have mobile phones? With camera's...Personally I like to "hope" that people are the same at a base level, which means guys & gals will always wanna get together, well if they can't see each other "face to face" there's not a great deal anyone can do about sending photo's by phone other than banning mobiles...And THAT would be a bit trickier me thinks.

So should he, can he, is it a good thing? No, yes, not really.

Think maybe best to take a deep breath & have faith in the people that want to do their own thing, because as long as there are, then they will, no matter what anyone says or does.

[Adrian II]

Personally I like to "hope" that people are the same at a base level, which means guys & gals will always wanna get together (..)

Oh, but they do. I am told young Iranians have more and better sex then we have in the West. There's more than one way to fold a burka...

Obviously, Mahmoud and his advisory committee aren't gittin any.

[English assassin]

I am told young Iranians have more and better sex then we have in the West.

You know this and instead you post a story about banning Iran foreign films???

Sir, you are letting the backroom down. We demand the teen Iranian hot sex story, and we demand it now.

[Adrian II]

We demand the teen Iranian hot sex story, and we demand it now.

Fly to Tehran, check in, visit some parties. You'll be surprised what goes (up and) down there.

[English assassin]

Fly to Tehran, check in, visit some parties. You'll be surprised what goes (up and) down there

Oh yeah. As a western European man with an Iranian wife, I am REALLY going to fly to Tehran for some adulterous rumpy pumpy under the eyes of the worlds leading Islamic theocracy, not to mention my in laws?

hey kids can I come to your party?

Wow, Adrian II was right!

Its the revolutionary guard at the door!

Sorry dear I may be home 30 years late...

[Adrian II]

Its the revolutionary guard at the door!
Sorry dear I may be home 30 years late...

Oh please. There are some really wild parties going on in the north of Tehran, indoors of course. Though there have been occasional street parties as well, drug-soaked, alcohol-ridden, sex-driven as they should. Hmm, yes. Well, don't let a stuck-up geezer like Mahmoud cloud your vision.

[Idaho]

Ah! Iranian politics was opening up nicely. The reform movement was growing, civil society and the economy booming and taking the country to new levels of openess...

And then Bush decides to go on about axis of evil, threaten attacks, invade Iran's neighbours on both sides - and then suprise suprise - the conservatives sweep back into power on a wave of anti-US feeling.

Top stuff Bush - you total t*%t.

[Fragony]

Ah! Iranian politics was opening up nicely. The reform movement was growing, civil society and the economy booming and taking the country to new levels of openess...

That is indeed a shame, but I don't think you can stop something that has allready been set in motion. I think this is just a backlash, Iran was doing so great but the current (young) generation grew up after Khomeini and his ways and still stand with empty hands, so they will take anything that yells hard enough. We will see in a few years.

[Ser Clegane]

The new president is indeed quite a little sunshine:

Ahmadinejad wants Israel to be "wiped off the map"

Mr Ahmadinejad made his comments at a conference in the Iranian capital Tehran entitled The World without Zionism. (comment by SC: charming conference motto )

He said Israel's establishment was "a move by the world oppressor (the West) against the Islamic world".

Referring to Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

An article on Spiegel Online (in German) even mentions that Ahmadinejad was talking about a new wave of attacks by Palestinians that woulkd destroy Israel.

What a sad day for Iran and the world when this guy got elected

[yesdachi]

We demand the teen Iranian hot sex story, and we demand it now.

It’s where the next girls gone wild video will be shot (or shot at).

[Fragony]

An article on Spiegel Online (in German) even mentions that Ahmadinejad was talking about a new wave of attacks by Palestinians that woulkd destroy Israel.

What a sad day for Iran and the world when this guy got elected

He can burn as many flags as he likes, and yell jihad as much as he likes, it will only make him look more rediculous. Sad day he got elected yes, but I don't think it will last very long.

[econ21]

There was speculation - based on likeness in photographs - when the new Iranian President was elected that he was one of the leaders who held Americans hostage in Tehran. Was this ever proved or disproved? I would imagine some in Iran must know one way or the other.

[Dâriûsh]

Oh, but they do. I am told young Iranians have more and better sex then we have in the West. There's more than one way to fold a burka...

Obviously, Mahmoud and his advisory committee aren't gittin any.

The infamous underground parties are an urban phenomenon. Much like parties in the west, really.

The new president is indeed quite a little sunshine:

The same stance as Ayatollah Khamenei. The evil Jews are a convenient excuse to avoid talking about domestic problems.

I thought it was the guardians of morality or whatever they call themselves that dealt with censorship not the President .

The Constitutional Guardian Counsel. Human equivalents of fire breathing dragons.

Sad day he got elected yes, but I don't think it will last very long.

Inshallah.

[Fragony]

I take it you still have family there Dariush, what is the word on the streets about mr Presidents's flirt with disaster?

[Dâriûsh]

I take it you still have family there Dariush, what is the word on the streets about mr Presidents's flirt with disaster?

I haven’t heard anything about his latest ‘gem’. But generally, people I talk to are still hoping that he will unintentionally cause a peaceful revolution, like the Ukrainian Orange Revolution.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Ah! Iranian politics was opening up nicely. The reform movement was growing, civil society and the economy booming and taking the country to new levels of openess...

And then Bush decides to go on about axis of evil, threaten attacks, invade Iran's neighbours on both sides - and then suprise suprise - the conservatives sweep back into power on a wave of anti-US feeling.

Top stuff Bush - you total t*%t.

Right, because they have totally fair and open election processes there.

Crazed Rabbit

[Tribesman]

Right, because they have totally fair and open election processes there.
If you wanted to coax a rather angry bear out of a cave , would you go in and poke it with a stick or leave a pile of food outside Rabbit ?

[Meneldil]

He would bomb it back to the stone age

[Sjakihata]

Is Iran officially a democracy?

[Tribesman]

He would bomb it back to the stone age
Yeah , but the angry bear is safe in his little cave and all Rabbit manages is to blow the hell out of the nice little woodland creatures outside , so those that survive the onslaught seek refuge in the darkness with the bear .

[Adrian II]

If you wanted to coax a rather angry bear out of a cave, would you go in and poke it with a stick or leave a pile of food outside Rabbit ?

I would blow up the bear's Twin Towers.

[Redleg]

Right, because they have totally fair and open election processes there.
If you wanted to coax a rather angry bear out of a cave , would you go in and poke it with a stick or leave a pile of food outside Rabbit ?

Depends if I wanted to kill the bear or not.

[Dâriûsh]

Is Iran officially a democracy?

No.

More than one thousand candidates were disqualified by the Guardian Counsel in the presidential election. In a vain attempt to show that they weren’t just disqualifying women and reform-minded Muslims, some of the extreme Islamic nutcases were also disqualified.

[Red Harvest]

Is Iran officially a democracy?

A lot of countries "officially" are, but have single party rule and rigged elections.

[Adrian II]

Is Iran officially a democracy?

Human Rights Watch paints a general picture in its Iran backgrounder:

Respect for basic human rights in Iran, especially freedom of expression and opinion, deteriorated in 2004. Torture and ill-treatment in detention, including indefinite solitary confinement, are used routinely to punish dissidents. The judiciary, which is accountable to Supreme Leader Ali Khamene’i rather than the elected president, Mohammad Khatami, has been at the center of many serious human rights violations. Abuses are carried out by what Iranians call “parallel institutions”: plainclothes intelligence agents, paramilitary groups that violently attack peaceful protests, and illegal and secret prisons and interrogation centers run by intelligence services. The Iranian authorities systematically suppress freedom of expression and opinion.

Doesn't look like democracy to me.