On the "Prowl": Thoughts On #Trump, #Internet & Other Thoughts....

It has once again an interesting 24 hours as I saw comments from Donald Trump on his assessment on Iowa--accusing Ted Cruz of Fraud and admitting that skipping the last debate cost him.    This is as the GOP has come out with "guns blazing" labeling him a "loser", calling him "Donald the Magnificent" among other things.      It will be interesting to say the least--especially as I saw Tim Scott, the Senator from South Carolina endorsing Marco Rubio for President and as Rand Paul is Out. 

I had a bit of a drama this morning as well.  I was thankful how our network here in Southern California was so reliable and yet this morning saw an outage which prompted our team to be on the hunt for Wi-Fi hotspots.    I got on the phone with AT&T and they told me that it may take up to 24 hours--but we're back "on line" catching up.    I note this because the UK yesterday suffered a major outage throughout the country that BT had to apologize for.    It was also quite a day for one of the internet pioneers as it effectively put a for sale sign for its' properties.     Our team will be on the prowl for it--and I could only be a bit je.alous as I saw that despite its' present challenges, Yahoo still has almost a Billion Visitors monthly to its' properties!!!

It has also been quite a distressing 24 hours.    I was horrified during my morning review as I saw reports on a 10-year child being executed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.   As I understand it, he had defected from the Taliban and had gone back to school.    The issue of child soldiers are a reality in Afghanistan not withstanding the apparent strict orders by the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani.   The situation continues to get worst by the day as I reviewed comments by the new US Commander underscoring the dire nature of the reality on the ground in Afghanistan.    I could not also help but be horrified by continued reports out of Egypt as the repression continues by the Sisi Government.  A satirist was imprisoned because he had the nerve to mock one of Sisi's Allies!!   This is as our team just released a Tweet on the #ArabWorld hashtag on the dire conditions in Jordan due to the on-going refugee crisis.  

Despite it all, I took comfort in what the great Deepak Chopra reminded us all of as our team will be working on the next series of notations and gearing up for the Friday Musical Interlude in honor of Black History Month:

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way,
ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past
or a pioneer of the future.”
~ Deepak Chopra

I also hope all enjoy this "Week-End Hym" that the team ran across earlier that should be quite uplifting:

"Virtually Breathless"--yet Grateful :)))

On the aftermath of #Iowa and some of the challenges in our World, the team hit the "Virtual Ground" running today and being "Virtually Breathless" is an understatement.    I will be especially keen to see how Yahoo is doing as I was kind of gratified to see the challenges by Big Oil as one after another have been reporting losses.

Interesting times indeed--but I embraced this thought as I supported the ongoing development work of  #Outsiders:

Recipe for success: Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.  ~ William A. Ward

Working Away....

It has been a busy one yet again at #Outsiders. Although we will be on "duty" as we do the daily Social Media Roundup for our "hashtag" watches, the team will be working on the latest series of notations over the ensuing days. It has also been an interesting evening with reports out of Iowa on the win by Ted Cruz and the razor trip win by Hillary Clinton. 

This week is also quite a week. The 37th Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution is being celebrated by the Regime in Iran. As President Rohani has been on his charm offensive, the reality inside the country has been different as the team has been working away on some of the realities inside the Country. I was on the grid for the night as I ran across this by one of the preeminent contemporary historians of our Time, Professor Touraj Daryaee of UC Irvine as noted below: 

Touraj Daryaee added 2 new photos.

2 hrs · 

Revolution: It is only a passing observation and note as a historian!

It is the 37th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and two images has kindled my memory of what was at stake. First is the front page of Hamshahri Newspaper in Iran, which has a picture of the early revolutionary days, where men and women, both with tie and without, and women with and without hejab came together. No one forced the other to dress or behave in a way that was not in accord with their own beliefs.

These people revolted for "freedom," for the release of political prisoners, end of torture, freedom of the press. They revolted for people to have a say in a political system where before it had no vote and no real say. As Zibakalam has mentioned, the chanting of "death" to this and that was only minor a part of this revolution which became louder and lost its real substance.

The other picture comes from Mehr Nameh which reviewed Ayattollah Khamenie's recent 992 page biography. The picture is telling of who was involved in the early days: Ayattollah Kahmenei representing the clergy, Foruhar and Bazargan, the National Front, as well as Amir-Entezam, and finally Chamran the idealist fighter. In religious garb, in suits with ties, without ties, etc. The image showed the diversity and inclusiveness. Some people may want us to forget this and recreated a totally different past, but the historians who be the gatekeepers here.

37 years forward and we have a totally different Iran, where many of the early ideals have given way to chants of death, rule by one fraction of the people with a specific ideology, holding the rest of the people in limbo.

But, this is the story of revolutions, where it takes time for it to show its results. It seems everyone fought each other after the victory, and little by little groups and people were pushed aside and one group won the day.

The real question is whether this group would at some time allow others to participate and achieve the dream that was the revolution, or it would become a dictatorship of one man-one party where the minority rule over the almost 80 million people.

دو عکس از روزهای اوایل انقلاب مرا بیاد آنچه این حرکت قرار بود انجام دهد انداخت. دکتر زیبا کلام چندی پیش نیز این موضوع را در سخنرانی بیان کردند. انقلاب برای آزادی بود. آزادی بیان آزادی مطبوعات آزادی زندانیان سیاسی و پایان شکنجه و فشار و مهمتر از همه ظلم به مردم ایران.

عکس نخست که از مهرنامه گرفتم و از کتاب خاطرات آیت الله خامنه ایی است نشاندهنده این باز بودن و آزاد بودن دوران اوایل انقلاب است. با کروات و بی کروات و با عبای روحانی. چپی و لیبرال و ملی مذهبی و مذهبی همه دست در دست هم دادند برای آزادی.

عکس دوم از همشهری گرفته شده است که با تیتر "همان مردم" گویای این بود که زن با حجاب و بی حجاب با کت و کروات و بی کت همه در این انقلاب شریک بودند. آمده بودند تا آزادی را تجربه کنند. نزدیک هفتاد سال بود که زحمت کشیده بودند که یکنفر و یا یک حزب برای همیشه بر مصدر قدرت نباشد. بله قربان نخیر قربان و دلا و راست شدن جلوی کسی انجام ندهند.

سی و هفت سال از آنزمان گذشته است. امروز چه داریم؟ معلوم است که یک گروه از میان همه بازی را برد. دیگران که این بازی را باختند بی گناه نیستند چون همه به جان هم افتادند.

اما زمان می برد تا انقلاب نتیجه واقعی خود را نشان دهد. چه خواهد شد؟ آیا گروهی که بازی را برده حاضر است با مردم و دیگران قدرت را تقسیم کند یا اینکه بمانند زمان شاه یک حزب و یک نفر و یک گروه به نام اسلام (انگار که فقط آنها مسلمانند) فقط حق تصمیم گیری برای همه مردم ایران دارند؟

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