R.I.P. Uncle Jack

Jack Layton passed away this morning after battling against cancer since July 25th. It's a shame that Canada missed the chance of to utilize his enthusiasm and popularity. May he rest in peace and NDP find a leader as qualified as him.

Illinois Trip With Bunch of Lovely Folks

This album is presented to you by ...

We Dare You To Sleep !!!

Cool Water talk with flavor of a boner !

(1)  - So you're Iranian?*

ME - Yes

(1)  - How long have you been in Canada ? 

ME - Almost four years

(1)  - Really ? I'm sure you like it here. The only thing I knew about Iran were two girls researching for me... Very beautiful 

ME - Yeah I get that all the time

(1)  - Well, I knew very little about your country, I started learning about Islam awhile ago

ME - O'yeah ? 

(1)  - Yeah, quite honestly I find Islam very similar to Christianity, I'm catholic by the way

ME - It might be true , they're Abrahamic faiths

(1)  - That's right, and I bet you guys have a hell of a fun time with having 4 official wives and 40 unofficial ones.

This is a short-conversation I had in an audit scene with an auditor from Canada Revenue Agency. This, along with plenty of other similar convos makes me think. Maybe being born as an Iranian Muslim is not a bad thing after all. Apparently we have beautiful women, can screw around and have as many wives I like and in the end of the day, can be considered another Abrahamic believer in the eye of a Catholic if dress up in suit!

Iran’s rich eat ice cream flecked with gold as poor struggle to survive (Washington Post)

Tehran — Gold-flecked ice cream wasn’t part of the picture that Shiite Muslim clerics painted during the Iranian Revolution, when they promised to lift the poor by distributing the country’s vast oil income equally across society.

But more than three decades later, record oil profits have brought in billions of dollars, and some people here are enjoying that decadent dessert. The trouble is, it’s just a small group of wealthy Iranians. Despite the promises of the revolution, many here say the gap between rich and poor has never seemed wider.

Iran’s new wealthy class has succeeded in tapping the opportunities provided by a vast domestic market, sometimes aided by corruption and erratic government policies. It includes children of people with close connections to some of Iran’s rulers, as well as families of factory owners and those who managed to get huge loans from state banks at low interest rates. The oil windfall — nearly $500 billion over the past five years — has also played a central role in establishing this small group that is visibly enjoying its profits.

Both supporters and critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say some of his economic policies designed to counter inequality are actually making things worse for many. And although some statistics show the gap between the Islamic Republic’s rich and poor has been stable over time, scenes of the rich flaunting their wealth have left many Iranians complaining.

The new wealthy are buying Porsches, getting caviar delivered to late-night parties, and eating $250 ice cream covered in edible gold at what’s billed as the highest rotating

From the top of Tehran’s 1,427-foot-high Milad Tower, Iran’s poor appear as tiny dots in the streets below.

“We provide a calm and luxurious atmosphere, away from Tehran’s daily problems,” said Ahmad Talaee, one of the owners of the Crown restaurant, as he received guests in the VIP section, with room for nearly 300 to enjoy $280 fixed-price meals, golden ice cream not included.

Construction workers in worn-out shoes waited in the hallway one recent afternoon to make final fixes at the restaurant, which opened in June, as a young couple in designer clothes fed each other shrimp flown in from the Persian Gulf. “As you can see,” the owner said, “we are re-creating the fairy tales of the legendary stories of ‘1,001 Nights’ right here in Tehran.”

But that ritzy lifestyle, set against a backdrop of increasing economic hardship for millions of ordinary Iranians, is leading to open criticism.

People are writing public letters complaining about the rise in inequality. Influential conservative blogger Amir Hossein Sabeti wrote last month that the shift in the way Iranians conduct themselves in public, increasingly ignoring the soberness that the revolution prescribed, is a bigger threat to Iran’s ideology than the United States or Israel.

“How can we discuss decency, simplicity and support for the oppressed when we have this culture of ostentatiously showing off wealth?” he asked. “Woe unto us the day that our policies stop supporting the needy, but support the wealthy,” he wrote, quoting famous words from the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.