[QatzelOk]

Iranian Couple Cycles the World for Peace and Conservation
From the January 12, 2008 issue
By Jennifer Redfearn



Modern Iran shows a variety of perplexing faces to the world: hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sophisticated academics, outspoken exiles.

One young Iranian couple, determined not to leave their country’s public relations to others, is bicycling around the globe to spread a message of peace and environmental conservation.

Somayeh Yousefi, 28, and Jafar Edrisi, 29, met nine years ago atop Mount Damavand, the highest peak in Iran, and married four years later. After selling their car and furniture for $12,000 last April, they set off to educate the world about Iran and to plant trees across the globe. They cycled through Turkey, crossed Europe and then skipped across the Atlantic Ocean before arriving in New York City in November. This is their first trip outside of Iran.

“We don’t want to judge other countries by the bad stuff happening on the news,” said Yousefi, who was Iran’s female rock-climbing champion for six years. “We wish to convey a message of peace and friendship from the people of Iran to other countries,” she said.

The couple plans to cover a total of 12,500 miles during their two-year odyssey. Living on an average of $10 a day, they haul the basics — tent, cookware and clothing — from city to city. So far, they have planted 14 trees and screened a video about Iran’s natural wonders in communities all along their route.

“People are very confused about Iran,” Yousefi said. “They think Iranian people are terrorists or aggressive or that we ride camels. Iran is a rich country, but no one knows about it. So we think it is our duty to show our culture to people.”...

rest of article

How many Americans would cross Iran by bicycle?

[kamikaze718]

wow, 14 trees, there making a huge difference in this world. There not gonna be able to change anything, there just a bunch of tree-hugging hippies.

[Grunch]

wow, 14 trees, there making a huge difference in this world. There not gonna be able to change anything, there just a bunch of tree-hugging hippies.

How many trees have you planted lately?

[Armin]

wow, 14 trees, there making a huge difference in this world. There not gonna be able to change anything, there just a bunch of tree-hugging hippies.

And you've achieved what from complaining about it?

[Oxymoron]

How many Americans would cross Iran by bicycle?

Not many we dont want to be imprisoned for spying.

[dgun]

How many Americans would cross Iran by bicycle?

3.

[Goranhammer]

Lance Armstrong could do it with one testicle tied behind his back.

Besides, I don't see this. Iranians speaking out against violence and terror is like Scots speaking out against obesity.

[QatzelOk]

Iranians speaking out against violence and terror is like Scots speaking out against obesity.

Iran has been portrayed as mullahs and radicals ever since the US and Britain lost it as a colony.

And then these imperial powers used their ally Saddam Hussein to kill a million of its people in the 80s.

What a centre of hate the US is becoming in a postcolonial world. The American viewer has been conditioned by commercial media to hate Israel's enemies who - let's face it - are also the enemies of liberal captitalism and American hegemony. These three tyrannies - commercial media, the Izrayall terror colony, and liberal capitalism - are three faces of the same caste-system-supporting worldview.

Hierarchal social orders are anti-democratic. And yet our media belongs - for the most part - to people who think they are the master race. What chance does real equality and real democracy have in these conditions?

Iranians are just like you and me, and their government is their own to choose.

[Ter]

QatzelOK said:

Iranians are just like you and me, and their government is their own to choose.

Democracy Iranian style...

Iran: Vetting of Candidates for December Elections

In preparation for the upcoming Assembly of Experts, municipal councils, and several parliamentary by-elections on December 15th, the Iranian regime has once again disqualified thousands of aspiring candidates on purely ideological grounds. Furthermore, the regime continues to crack down on media outlets, blocking Iran's citizens from access to unbiased information and a diversity of thought and opinion. The regime's track record of restricting the freedom of expression and participation in electoral competition demonstrates a profound disrespect for the will of the Iranian people and international standards of free elections. We continue to support the Iranian people in their efforts to exercise these basic rights.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/77429.htm

[QatzelOk]

What an excellent source, Ter. A US State Department mouthpiece.

Why don't you just quote a Daniel Pipes article.

I realize that "Iranians cycling for peace" doesn't fit into the box that the commercial media would like to bury them in. That's exactly why I posted it. To show you the error of our lying media ways, where the biggest liars with the most money tell regular people what to think and feel about other people.

Strategic racism is all commercial media has to offer the world citizen.

[Ter]

OK. BBC is better?

Iranians condemn election vetting
excerpt:
The Guardian Council has already said that 89 women - registered as candidates - will be disqualified.

It now has 10 days to complete the vetting procedure.

The Guardian Council caused outrage during last year's parliamentary election by disqualifying some 2,000 candidates and in effect disqualifying most reformers from standing.

full text at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4549117.stm

Let me know if you need more references.

Ter

[hannu]

Do Iranian cyclists have the rear brake lever on the left hand side of the handlebars or the right?

I'm sure theoddoneout could tell me but he's disappeared. Nothing sinister I hope.

[ThereBeDragons]

Iranians are not a hive mind. That's like using the Iraq War to prove that American people can't advocate peace or using the PRC's internet policy to claim that Chinese people can't advocate freedom of speech.

[dgun]

Iran has been portrayed as mullahs and radicals ever since the US and Britain lost it as a colony.

The US never had colonies in Iran and thereabouts. UK, Russia, and France did.

[QatzelOk]

The US never had colonies in Iran

Then why was the CIA involved in overthrowing Mossadegh in the 50s?

If this isn't colonial behavior... overthrowing governments in other countries, sponsoring terror against them (Saddam), smearing them in the press...

I think your definition of "colony" is a bit archaic.

[dgun]

If this isn't colonial behavior...

Colonial behavior would involve establishing some kind of, I dunno... colony.

[Noelnada]

Furthermore, the regime continues to crack down on media outlets, blocking Iran's citizens from access to unbiased information and a diversity of thought and opinion.

Oh my fucking Christ, the poor people in Iran do not even have access to Fox News and CNN. What a shame !!

[QatzelOk]

the poor people in Iran do not even have access to Fox News and CNN. What a shame !!

Under Mike Eisner, Disney made a lot of money on children's films where the bad characters have darker skin than the good guys.

Iranians are missing our commercial media's manufactured racism! Aimed at children!!

[dgun]

bad characters

Were they poorly developed or just poorly drawn?

[QatzelOk]

Of course, I meant to write "bad" characters, but then you could have asked me if they were truly bad, or if they just seemed bad, or if their badness was ironic.

But there is no irony in using the public airwaves to create racism that is to your own caste's advantage. Especially when you are using children's eyeballs as the entry point of your infotoxins.

In Disney's Aladdin, the Arab characters want to slit throats. In this thread, the Iranian characters want to spread peace from their bicycles.

Guess which one is more real? Can you even tell the difference anymore?