"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." -Thomas Jefferson Liberty Bell :: Opinions

April 14, 2006

Why?

Filed under: Opinions

Why do people talk,
Of injustice and the right to live,
Refusing to let willing men and women,
Risk death so others can live free,
But kill others,
Before they even have a chance to breathe?

Why will people kill
Because of a woman’s “right to die”?
Isn’t the right to live,
Greater than the right to die,
No matter whether old or young,
Disabled or strong?

Why did 9/11 happen?
The world gives us answers;
The government gives their view.
But nothing will satisfy,
Because there will never be a good enough answer,
For the death of thousands of people.

People feel pain and see death,
They curl up in a ball and tell it to stop,
Like telling a broken leg to fix itself.
Unless you pull the leg and cause some pain,
The wound will never heal right.

People have died for freedom;
People have died for peace.
But nobody should die,
Without a choice to live.

Why can’t people see?

March 28, 2006

America, the beautiful…

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
— Emma Lazarus, on the Statue of Liberty

America has been a country of freedom and hope for many years. And because of that, it has drawn and continues to draw people from other nations to it. Most are longing for a better life. They believe America will provide it.

They see America as a great nation. They hear people talk of a glorious land - possibly a paradise on earth. They hear job opportunities, not shortage of jobs. They hear about food and free health care - not about the American citizens with no health insurance, and others who struggle to provide for their families.

I know many didn’t realize the problems with America. I know because the people my Dad work with (Turks) viewed America as a great nation. And when they visited, and realize how much Katrina had affected people’s lives, they were shocked. They hadn’t heard of the homeless people, the starving people, the out-of-work people…

America! America!

Now America is facing problems regarding immigration. And we see people who are in the U.S. illegally (mostly Mexicans), take jobs and get health care where U.S. citizens can’t. And we hear people talking Spanish and wonder what they’re saying - realizing that because we can’t understand them, we might be the ones out of a job.

I know another family, who moved to Washington State from California. The dad’s an out-of-work white electrician. Not because he’s lazy - he tried very hard to find work. But because when he tried to find a job, he was rejected because he couldn’t speak Spanish.

God shed his grace on thee…

There was an article on Think and Ask, called Free Los Angeles, Go Fix Mexico. It’s copyrighted - “reproduction of any kind is not permitted without written consent” - which I don’t have. But it’s a good article and I wanted to use a few paragraphs:

What is wrong with Mexico? Gotta dictator? Can’t put food on the table? No jobs to be found? Well, join the club, for life is no better in the United States for poor and middle class blacks and whites.

The only difference is now we whites and blacks have to pay socially and financially for those Mexicans who enter this country and work for cash while they avoid paying income, property, and school taxes. But Mexicans get healthcare and public school education — for free. If we tried avoiding taxes the IRS would be on our door before you could say si si. If we show up at hospital expecting free assistance we’d die while waiting in the emergency room without health insurance.

Here is one possible all encompassing answer: Life is easy for the Mexicans. It is easy to enter the United States illegally and stay under the radar. It is easy to come to the United States and pop-out a baby to gain citizenship and apply for welfare. It is easy to work here for $8-per hour cash, pile-up 20 illegals in a one-bedroom apartment to save rent and split the cost of a beer keg on the weekends. It is easy to build political clout with the sheer influx of immigrants along with the baby boom that follows with each new family.

It seems ironic that illegal aliens gathered such steam in Los Angeles to march, considering they offer no intellectual exchange to advance innovation in this nation…other than halting laws that infringe upon their own special cause. Be proud of Mexico: Go home to build a life your children can boast was the effort of their parents’ hard work and reform. Meanwhile, rest assured, we are telling our children that there is no free ride in the United States…unless one is here illegally from Mexico.

And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

March 22, 2006

Save The Whales?

Filed under: Opinions


Save the Whales! You see it on people’s shirts, on their bumper stickers, and wonder why you came to Seattle again.

In a city as big and busy as Seattle you can’t avoid liberals. Including whale loving liberals.

Not that I dislike whales, I just believe the importance placed on whale protection is misplaced.

Because although I don’t care what the majority of ‘normal’ population thinks about whales, I care what my government thinks about whales. And they appear to care about them quite a bit.

It’s something that’s irritated me for years. On the flyers handed out before election, look at the list of things they support. You’ll see such-and-such a bill, quality education (haven’t succeeded, Washington is one of the worst states in regards to the quality of public education), and… save the whales. Yay! Isn’t good to know our tax dollars are being put to such good work?

I’m currently feeling cheesed off at whales. I’m in the process of a two week tread through Moby Dick, and am currently wishing whales had never been created. I shouldn’t blame the whales (I should probably blame Herman Melville, but he’s dead) and I’m not. But I’ve always been annoyed at all the whale loving Washington State politicians and the best way for me to feel a bit better about something is to write about it. So I’m writing now to all you tree-huggin’, whale savin’ people out there. You know who you are.

I am going to state this in simple words and only say it once:

Whales are beautiful animals which deserve rules for protection to help protect them. The rules that are applied to all endangered species and are protecting the endangered whales. It is the job of the state rangers to make sure these laws are obeyed. Our taxes help pay for their salaries. We should not have to pay more money. It is reasonable to expect that the taxes we pay go to protecting, sustaining, and educating ourselves and our families - not whales. It is also reasonable to expect government authorities who care more for the humans they are in charge of than the whales.

There, I feel better now.
Oh, I don’t actually pay taxes yet, but I’m speaking for those who do.

March 21, 2006

Why

When I was about six/seven I wanted to hang out with my sisters (one’s six years older, the other’s 2 and eight months) and their friends. And I didn’t want to be the girl who pulled on their hands and asked to sit on their laps or pleaded for a piggyback ride. No, I wanted to be one of them. I was spoiled and young and I was wrong.

Needless to say, I drove my sisters crazy. They’d drum it into my head that I was too young and eventually I’d go away sulking.

I got older. I decided I didn’t need my sisters. I left them alone.

Then I had a birthday. One which kids long for and life for (before 21). I was a teenager. I was one of them. One of the people I had spent the last few years avoiding.

It’s hard to mend that kind of damage. I didn’t hate the others - I just didn’t know how to interact with them. The years I had spent by myself or with the little kids I had spent thinking. Sometimes dreaming, but thinking. Not about politics - not back then - but about life, school, how things work, why the world is how it is. Then I would dream of a better place.

The teenage groups I’m usually around think about movies, life, clothes, boyfriends - something I’m in no need of at this age, and not much else.

There’s a saying I know:

Small minds discuss people,
Average minds discuss events,
Great minds discuss ideas.

I’m not accussing them of being ’smallminded’ but I’m not comfortable with that kind of thinking.

I guess that’s part of what drew me, a teen, to political blogging. I’ve always held strongly to my opinions unless proven wrong in a debate (and then I’ll quickly learn more facts about the other side.) And the political blogosphere produced an atmosphere, that although I was (am…) towards the bottom, I’m expected to be thinking. About life, and what people can do to make life better. And then I care share my views with the world

March 14, 2006

Mikey’s Mission: My Opinion

Filed under: Opinions, Military

“How can we ask our men and women in uniform to give their lives extending freedom and civil liberties to oppressed people across the globe while they are denied the very freedoms they are fighting to secure for others?”

In my previous post, Mikey’s Mission: The Facts, I told the story of Mikey Weinstein, who is suing the United States Air Force, claiming senior officers and cadets illegally imposed evangelical Christianity on others at the school. This post gives my opinion on his story.

In my opinion this case presents two questions:

1. What (in the Air Force) counts as illegally imposed?

2. Which freedom is more important, the right to express your beliefs or someone else’s right not to have to listen to them?

The answer to question no. 1 has changed, even during the lawsuit. On February 9th, the Air Force issued new guidelines on religion. The guidelines drop a requirement for chaplains to respect others’ rights to their own beliefs and no longer caution top officers about promoting their personal religious views. They also say superiors must be “sensitive to the potential that personal expressions of faith might appear to be official or have undue influence on subordinates.” With these new guidelines, the Air Force has avoided the strictness that caused problems in regards to the August edition.

It makes you wonder if there is a policy of unconstitutional religious coercion.

Air Force officials acknowledge that the guidelines were revised following an angry response from Christian groups and from 72 members of Congress who sent a letter to President Bush in January. “We didn’t like what came out in August, but this is a public retreat from where they were before,” said Mikey Weinstein.

The Air Force’s filing said the guidelines reaffirm its commitment “to protecting the free exercise of religion, prohibiting governmental establishment of religion and defending the nation.”

Question no. 2, poses a different problem. I believe you can’t label one freedom more important than another. The right to express your beliefs must be equal to another’s right not to listen to them.

In a place where rank is prominent, equality is hard to inforce - even with the guidelines.

Bregman points out that what an evangelical officer may feel is a reasonably sensitive discussion, an enlisted atheist may feel is completely unreasonable.

“Will he (the enlisted man) open his mouth and tell him that with the risk of a repercussion down the road?” he asked.

Bergman also rallied against the new guidelines saying that dismissing the lawsuit would be “ridiculous in light of what the new guidelines say.”

“They completely, thoroughly violate the Constitution of the United States,” he said.

So naturely, I went to the Constitution, via Yahoo! Encyclopedia, to see exactly what it says:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

(I assuming that’s where Bergman was talking about.)

Now my thoughts are starting to circle, and I’m wondering whether I actually had a specific destination to this train of thought. Since I nearly always do, I’ll assume I did. If you figure out what it was please let me know.

*collecting thoughts again*

My straight opinion: Nobody should have religion forced on him/her. Freedom of speech and Freedom of religion are equally important - just as the right to express your beliefs is equal to the right not to listen to them. How the Air Force should go about this issue, I’m not exactly sure. I suggest another set of guidelines.

A bit of irony to end this post - when I looked up the Constitution online, the main advertisement on that page was for the Air Force Academy.

March 9, 2006

Terrorism and the Sons of Liberty

Filed under: Opinions, History


I had a discussion the other day with a friend (I’ll call him "Tom" to keep him apart) about terrorism. Tom was having troubles with a friend of his, "Jon", on the same topic. Jon was trying to convince Tom that early patriotic Americans had been terrorists, and because of that should not be hunting/killing Middle East terrorists. Tom ended up very confused and asked me a few historical questions ‘cause I’m the history geek. Most of them were covering the Sons of Liberty. Jon had used them as an example of American terrorism. 

Some historical information on the Sons of Liberty:

1. They took their name from a debate on the Stamp Act in Parliament in 1765. Charles Townshend, speaking in support of the act, spoke contemptuously of the American colonists as being "children planted by our care, nourished up by our indulgence…and protected by our arms." Then Isaac Barre, a Member of Parliament and supporter of the American colonists, responded by describing the Americans as "these Sons of Liberty" and warned that they would resist the new tax.

2. Although the origins are unknown, the Sons of Liberty was most likely started in 1765 by Samuel Adams

3. The first, and largest, branches were in Boston and New York City

4. The Sons of Liberty groups tended to meet late at night so as not to attract the attention of British officials and the American Loyalist supporters of the British Crown.

5. The Sons of Liberty worked with Committees of Correspondence. The "Committees" were colonial groups established for the purpose of formally organizing public opinion and coordinating patriotic actions against Great Britain.

6. Patriot mobs did attack gentlemen’s homes, Customs officers, East India Company tea, and vocal supporters of the Crown. They did not commit murder.

7. British authorities and their supporters considered the Sons of Liberty rebels, and referred to them as "Sons of Violence" and "Sons of Iniquity." Latter-day historians have called them terrorists, a word coined during the French Revolution gaining new meanings in recent decades.

Jon was saying (summarized version) that since the Sons of Liberty had used violence (unlawful) that harmed both British people and property they were terrorists.

In my opinion terrorism is: trying to intimidate or force people - usually for political reasons - by an unlawful use of violence harmful to people and/or property. Not a dictionary definition format and clarity, but I think it covers everything.

So a terrorist would be someone who: intimidates or forces people - usually for political reasons…

And that is why I do not agree with Jon’s statement that the Sons of Liberty were terrorists. They broke Britian’s rules. They harmed some people and property. For goodness sake, it turned into a WAR! But they fought for freedom. For freedom of religion and speech, in the hopes it would be handed down through generations. In a way, it was for the same freedom that allowed Jon to call them terrorists - because the freedom they handed down allowed the right to all viewpoints.

February 28, 2006

The Voting Age is… 16?

Filed under: Opinions, Quotes

“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”
–Theodore Roosevelt

Voting has always been a source for debate. Should women be allowed to vote? Should people of different race be allowed to vote? Both of those have been answered ‘yes’.

AMENDMENT XV
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

AMENDMENT XIX
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

And in 1971, Amendment XXVI ruled that:

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

A recent article from the Guardien, “We can have sex, so why can’t we vote?”, explores the British voting age. Currently the British voting age is 18 - same as in America. While teens under 18 (in Britian) are old enough “to have sex, get married and join the armed forces with their parents’ consent, work and - crucially - pay taxes” they are unable to vote. Many adults believe teens are too immature or irrationaly minded to vote.

In 2003, teens led a protest in London’s Parliament Square. They were organized:

“These young people had organized themselves, leafleting at school gates, recruiting via email networks and cultivating the attentions of the media. Their understanding of how the news worked and their alertness to propaganda was impressive. These children were sceptical, but not cynical, and well informed about why they were there.”

Near the end of the article, the author mentioned:

“For a country that often appears to pride itself on how much it worries about its younger generation, we are remarkably bad at listening to what it has to say.”

~*~

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to present my opinion right now . Hopefully I will be able to soon .

February 20, 2006

Mightier than the sword…

“Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword.”
— Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)
– - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - –
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton was an English author, playwright and politician. He is well known for the above quote as well the opening phrase, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

Other quotes of Sir Bulwer-Lytton are:

“One of the sublimest things in the world is plain truth.”
and
“When people have no other tyrant, their own public opinion becomes one.”
– - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - –
America has been a free country for many years. Since the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), America has had a government chosen “for the people by the people.” America became a stable country. Now, America is one of the largest, and strongest, countries in the world.

While I was writing a previous post – “In the name of religion…” – I realized I was more upset at the way Americans were acting over the cartoon riots than upset at the ones who started them. I took out my anger at the Muslims, at religion. But I was mad at America: at Bill Clinton, at the MSM, even at Ted Kennedy and others unrelated to the cartoons.

I was mad at America for picking themselves apart. I still am.
– - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - –
A wise man and a U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, said:

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ”
– - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - –
I realized the pen is mightier than the sword.

When 9/11 occured, Americans had to support each other. Afterwards, life went on, but one thing had changed: we had experienced one terrorist attack, and would not face another without being prepared. So you could argue that America is actually stronger now then it was before 9/11. The “sword” failed to defeat America.

But now the words of American citizens are taking up the task the terrorists left. Through the pen, America is destroying itself.

The pen is not just mightier than the sword - the pen is a lethal weapon that can destroy the greatest nations.
– - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - –

February 18, 2006

In the name of religion…

By now news of the Libya cartoon riot has reached the world across the internet. In the article linked, the writer mentions a quote by former president Bill Clinton.

I can tell you, most people in the United States deeply respect Islam … and most people in Europe do.

I generally respect all religions. I believe it is a human’s right to worship a god they choose, both publically and privately. But “in the name of religion” isn’t a valid excuse for your actions. And when innocent people are harmed “in the name of religion” I loose whatever respect I had for that religion.

No American, old enough to hear the news or see the pictures on TV and in the newspaper, will ever forget the tradegy of 9/11. They will not forget the victims - and they will not forget the killers. Most will not forget the words of the hijackers: “Allah is the greatest!” Nearly 3,000 people died that day - 3,000 people died in the name of religion. Because of a “holy war.”

Now the Muslims are rioting against Denmark for publishing cartoons depicting Muhammad. So far at least 29 people have been killed. Why should people be killed because of religion?

So Mr. Clinton will have to forgive me for disagreeing with him. I no longer respect Islam. And Mr. Clinton is going to recieve no support from me regarding the following statement:

…people in the United States have also condemned the publication and they are deeply concerned on it.

I am deeply concerned about the effects of the cartoons. I’m concerned for the lives of the Danish supporters. I’m concerned for the lives of the law enforcement and troops.

I’m deeply concerned at where the world is headed when the freedom of the press and free speech causes the death of innocent people.

Update: Cartoon Protests Leave 15 Dead in Nigeria

February 15, 2006

Letter from Iranian students

Filed under: Liberty, Opinions, Iran

February 10th, 2006

In the name of God, the Supreme Goodness
In the names of Love, Iran and Freedom

Iran is my land. Although her name has espoused history since ever, the world has forgotten her since 27 years ago. Nowadays, my country’s name is back on everyone’s lips for a threat, bigger than ever, emanating from the idiocy of those theocrats who govern us, is hanging above us all. A looming menace that, with the sagacity of our people, we are determined to turn into an opportunity for awakening.

As I write you these words, those with whom I used to play in my childhood are climbing the walls of the Danish Embassy, chanting and blaring, setting the foreign mission ablaze. Commanded by the ignorant who rule over my land, those innocent kids with whom I played hide-and-seek form today a human chain around the nuclear facilities. Smuggled into my country by Pakistani traffickers riding their donkeys, the technology being guarded by its human shield is now presented as a national pride by those same idiots who surf the tide provoked by the Danish cartoons. As if vociferating insults and pyromania could prevent the nuclear issue from reaching the UN Security Council!

Having taken over my land first, the chaos is now menacing world peace. What anarchy, what confusion!

We, the innocent generation making up 70 percent of the population of today’s Iran; We, who had no say whatsoever in the 1979 revolution. With all due respect for all peoples on earth, we shall here present our grievances to the world:
for a quarter of a century you have forgotten us, a noble people known once for the beauty of its high culture abandoned to its misery; instead of being educated in a culture of love and science, awful beasts crushing themselves against the towers of the modern world are our little sisters and brothers who are taught, in what is supposedly a classroom, to be flattering hypocrites, merciless and hateful of others. Taught to despise whoever thinks differently from their ‘Supreme Leader’ or their school principal; Taught to consider foreigners as heretics and ignorant people deserving nothing but the worst kind of death.

They falsify the history they teach them omitting to tell them that, had it not been for the perspicacity of the world back in 1953, we would be dealing with ideologies far more stupid than what we have today in this godless labyrinth which our land has become.

In schools, they talk of ‘independence’ but confuse it with the conditions of the stone age cave dwellers, ignoring that all peoples of the world need each other and it is this very mutual dependency that paves the road for mutual understanding, respect, peace and healthy relationships.

Throughout these years, they darkened the immaculate mind of our children with superstitions and gossips on the inexistent qualities of those governing us and the wonderful attributes of their so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ supposedly leading the entire world leaving no place for the nation.

These story-tellers blackened the pages of our history books saying that our children died in defence, not of our land, but of their ‘Supreme Leader’, thus making the slightest utterance of the world homeland, a crime in our schools.

Those who speak so eloquently of ‘federalism’, we wish they could come for a snap visit to our schools and listen to the gibberish nonsense that is being taught here, thus seeing for themselves that in today’s Iran federalism is equal to separatism. Perhaps in the future, when our children will have learned once again the discourse of love and patriotism, federalism would become the progressive, consensual world it is supposed to be. But, until then, let us not forget that those who govern us have consistently lied to history, ignoring that history doesn’t lie.

We now address the peoples of the world,

The real crime going on in our country is the systematic brainwashing of our children whose innocent minds are put under the perfusion of devilish ideologies. The danger of the brainwashed millions, enriched in classrooms turned into ideological centrifuges, is far greater that millions of atomic bombs.

North Korea, Syria, Lebanon and Sudan are in no better shape than we are. Believe us! Long before you became the victims of terror, terrorists themselves had become the first casualties of the foolishness of their satanic rulers.

Rulers who, in order to secure their own survival, turn innocent children into moving bombs, killing and spreading terror. Now that you are alarmed by the nuclear crisis, we beg you not to abandon us once again in the hands of the jailers oppressing us for nearly 3 decades, when the atomic issue is resolved.

We look forward to the extended hands of our sisters and brothers, to those of the children of Adam and Eve, those of the noble peoples of the world, to come to our rescue in helping us regain our due place in the concert of the civilized nations. Our nation is on the verge of annihilation and would welcome any measure or economic and political sanctions that would accelerate the downfall of the mullahs!

The great people of the United States withstood 444 days of captivity for their children in the hands of this regime. Their anxiety is still alive. Think of us then! Think of an entire nation that has been for nearly 10,000 days the hostage of a few who, just recently, dropped their mask, thus showing their real fearful face to the world.

We now address the people of Iran,

There will be no miracle! Regardless of what kind of regime will be put in place tomorrow, let us unite our forces today on the basis of our common principles and draft our own charter founded on the pillars of the world’s most noble treaties. It is not up to us to determine what form of governance we want. Tomorrow, in a free Iran, it will be up to the people of this country to decide what they want, thus making it an obligation for us all to submit to their collective will.

We, the Student Freedom Lovers of Iran, invite all those thriving towards the immensely difficult task of achieving freedom to participate to the Congress for the Freedom of Iran, putting aside their differences and thinking instead of our children.

You who are conscious enough not to let your own kids be disturbed watching violent movies, think of our sisters and brothers who are taught by their religion or literature instructors how to activate a bomb and welcome death on their way to heaven by invocating the saints in a mystical trance.

Enough hesitation! It is time to wake up! If you do not want us to remember tomorrow that today you privileged your factional political agenda over the survival of an imprisoned nation, then you have to open your arms and let us for once taste the sweetness of peace and security.

Believe us! We are tired, exhausted! During the past 4 years in jail, they handicapped my leg and broke under torture the arm with which I am writing these words. In between these lines, you should hear the voice of Arjang Davoodi, who has lost his sight and hearing under torture and must endure 15 years in jail in the hands of these criminals in the southern city of Bandar Abbas. Can’t you hear it! Can’t you hear the sound of the droplets of blood falling off the dead body of Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, the martyr of the Tehran University campus? The sound of the exhausted breath of Syamak Poorzand and Abbas Amir-Entezam? That of the tears of the wife and daughters of Akbar Ganji? The sigh of the mother of the Mohamadi brothers? The sweet voice of the daughter of Mehrdad Hadirpoor? The groaning of the teenage martyrs of the 1980s, the voices of Tabarzadi, Zar-Afshan, Jookar, Batebi, Bakhtiari? The last moaning of girls being stoned to death? The voice of youngsters weeping before the execution scaffold? The sound of the boots of poverty-stricken men forced to join the regime’s security apparatus and to endure the pain of blisters inflected upon them by ruthless repression, year after year? Can you hear the voice of an entire hostage nation, the people of Iran, imprisoned in a jail vast as Iran, turned into a forced labour camp? We are here, tired but hopeful!

Hear the voice of my father and that of our fathers whose flesh makes up the land of Iran, the land we all love. Hear it and put your differences aside so we can once again love each other, for Iran and for all Iranians.

We have all paid a huge price. Perhaps, none of us will ever forgo the bitter memories of the years of torture and jail, nor those of oppression, bloodshed and fear. Despite all the sadness however, we have all learned to love other peoples of the world and that peace and security can not be achieved by building atomic bombs but by loving each other.

Neither I nor any of my jailed companions, none of us could be entangled in partisan politics, be it republican or monarchist, socialist or anything else for that matter. So long as our people are oppressed, our children raised as barbarians and taught to live as cave dwellers, we are Iranians aspiring to love and freedom.

The new Iranian year of 1385 is approaching. We shall call this New Year the Year of Freedom. We shall call upon all Iranians to set up with the help of international organizations, the Congress for the Freedom of Iran on March 22, corresponding to the 9 900th day of captivity of the Iranian nation in the hands of a few mullahs.

Time is short! Let us gather our collective effort so that the 10 000th day of our captivity become the first day of our liberty.

Iran will never die!

Signatories:

1 - Amir Abbas Fakhravar

2 - Manuchehr Mohammadi

3 - Arjang Davoudi

4 - Akbar Mohammadi

5 - Mehrdad Lohraseby

6 - Iman Samizaded

7 - Sam Ariamanesh

8 - Peyman Aref

9 - Mehrdad Heydarpour

10 - Ali Alamzadeh

11 - Amir-Heshmateh Saran

12 - Mah-lagha Fakhravar

13 - Frank Zabetian

14 - Pegah Farzaneh

15 - Arya Ajorlou

16 - Mojtaba Vatani

17 - Saeed Yarigar

18 - Shahla Mahmoodi

19 - Setareh Namdar

20 - Sayeh Namdar

21 - Nahid Nariman

22 - Majid Nariman

23 - Rozita Raad

24 - Farokhlagha Fakhravar

25 - Arash Aryanpour

26 - Irandokht Bagheri

27 - Arvin Kaveh

28 - Elahe Behnia

29 - Mojtaba Taghipour

30 - Amir-Hossein Fakhravar

31 - Shervin Sadiqi

32 - Naghme Amani

33 - Abdullah Tayebzadeh

34 - Simin Bahari

35 - Esmaeel Behboudi

36 - Helia Kangarlouii

37 - Abdulsamad Karimi

38 - Assad Shaghaghi

39 - Esmaeel Ahmadi

And 560 other student activists

National Union for Democracy in Iran