It was the day of "Ashura" - the most sacred day of the Shiite sect of Islam. Ashura is a day dedicated to those who knowingly choose martyrdom for the cause of God and would not give in to those who are in position of power. This Ashura was not the usual mourning of the saints who were killed 1400 years ago. This year there was a real rebellion against the forces of evil.

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On 12-27-2009 there were a series of anti-government demonstrations in Tehran. It was the day of "Ashura" the most sacred day of the Shiite sect of Islam. Ashura is a day dedicated to those who knowingly choose death over life for the cause of god. They did not give in to those who were in position of power. This Ashura was not the usual mourning of the saints who where killed 1400 years ago; this year there was a real rebellion against the forces of evil. Rather than the cracking sounds of the swords, there was fist against Iron. Young people risked their lives with the hope that their blood will win over the sword. There were many peaceful protests and the thugs managed to turn them into bloody riots with an unknown number of people injured or dead. There are vivid pictures of the government murderers shooting at unarmed civilians. There were challenges confronting the brave men and women who overcame their fear of death, faced the devil in the eye and fought and died in their blood. It must be the destiny of my countrymen to keep on fighting and dying, hoping others will have a better life. It is a part of the long history of my country to produce men who accept death with open arms, rather than tolerate the oppression of the thugs who run the most brutal regime on the planet. The new generation is shouting, just as we screamed in the streets of Tehran thirty years ago, "Guns, Tanks, and machine guns don't work any more." They were met by brute force, tear gas, bullets, and savagary of the worst kind, but as their pictures show, they fought bravely. It is heart-wrenching to watch the best of the best losing their lives in an unequal fight to the worst of animals evere created. Watching these events from thousands of miles away makes me feel so helpless. I wish I was there. I am not as young or as brave they are but I want to be a participant in the great stugle of Iranian people for freedom.

Getting old, I have lost my fear of death - it is the fear of being alive and risking another defeat which is eating me from the inside. It would have been enjoyable to defend my friends, cousins and all those honorable people who die on the day of martyrdom of the saints with out fear or reward . I wish I was one of those men and women who gave up their life and never gave in.

Here are a few pictures of my sons and daughters protesting the rule of devil itself.

There is total chaos. The murderers are close. Nobody knows their intention or strength. Just one wrong move and you are dead. Your life is gone in a fraction of a second, as if it is cheaper than dirt.

People are running for their lives. The thugs must be very close, the smoke is tear gas and is coming from the left, they cannot be more than 10-20 yards away. Cars are trying not to hit the people, they must have been caught off-guard, a usual tactic of the guards, sitting in a parking lot and waiting for the hunt to come close. There is no blood, it must be just the beginning.

This is real scary, they must be hearing gunshots, all heads are down, all of our heroes are running away from a single zone of fire. Most of them have green on, the guy in far left has nice camouflage and is using a cell phone, and has a slower pace. He is not as scared. He has a mission to do, to inform the others, he must have some trained balls. (Hey Dude looking for a job we need a new president with cohunes)

Fire, the only weapon against tear gas, causes the gas to go up in the air, but there is enough leftover to irritate the eyes and nose. The old man is nice - while everyone is leaving he is keeping the fire going. People are out of the area of danger. They are not running any more, just walking away. Looks like enough bloodshed for one day. Yet, where was the fire coming from?

Well, hell, these guys are sissies, no guns. Then who is killing the people? There must be some rat in regular clothes. Here they are, I know that bridge, and there are three of them with small arms.

Shooting civilians

These thugs are not just shooting people, they are having fun. They are all shooting at the same time; they must have got the orders from higher command, on the roofs or from a helicopter. Are these guys human beings or animals? Neither one - they are basijs. The idiot who never had a pot to piss in, whose parents were from poor villages. He is the pride of the family, he makes good money, works for God. He is going to be in heaven, but I heard people who kill in Ashura go to hell. I guess rules can be modified if you are a fake ayatollah.

The Government's Turn

This is a few days later, the government has to come up with a show of force. What do you do when you do not have enough bodies to fill in the streets? Well, leave it to Iranian ingenuity. We can get you the London Bridge.

As a middle school kid I was a regular in Pro-government ceremonies. Those were the good old days. Schools would close down. We would be bused downtown to watch a couple of idiots pass by, and we had the rest of the day off to see movies (at younger ages) and check the brothels (at older ages). All because his majesty wanted to show off. I bet 10-to-one I had a better time with those ladies than the Shah had. What am I doing talking about bad houses when brave people are dying? That's just great, but on the second thought these guys are harlots too; the pretty harlotssell their bodies for money. These bastards are killing for money. Ironically, it is much more expensive to cause harm than bring happiness.

So, let's have a good time. After all, the ayatollah is throwing a party, he has got himself in a pissing contest with a bunch of kids. Between you and me and the wall, rumor has it that he has problem with his prostate. Why not - he has been sitting on his ass too much.

The papers are saying he does not have that much of a following anymore, then his pissing contest must be staged. It just terribly pathetic when someone else have to piss for you to win. Let's check the news. Maybe we'll gain some insight into the Holy Prostate.

Associated press news release: Iranian hard-liners backed the government in mass rallies. Tens of thousands of hard-line government supporters turned out for state-sponsored rallies Wednesday, some of them calling for the execution of opposition leaders as Iran's police chief threatened to show "no mercy" in crushing any new protests by the pro-reform movement. The government gave all civil servants and employees a day off to attend the rallies and organized buses to transport groups of schoolchildren and supporters from outlying rural areas to the protests. Tens of thousands of Iranians were expected to attend the demonstrations, organized by the government in response to a recent series of opposition protests. Many conservatives at Wednesday's rallies chanted pro-government slogans and held pictures of Iran's clerical rulers.

I told you someone else is going to do the pissing, after all if you are government employee and they are asking you for a little bit of a piss or it is your job, what are you going to do? Of course you piss.

This is a picture of the Ferdosi Square in Down town Tehran. There used to be a statue of Ferdosi here (Iranian version of Homer). They took the statue down because it was sign of idolatry (it is OK to worship the shrines). The population is pretty large but not a lot by Tehran's standards. All pictures show one angle of population; it's a cheap trick to make them look bigger. The building to the right is the central station of an important bank. It looks exactly the same as thirty years ago. There has been no renovation of government offices since the revolution. The shabby buildings to the left were not too shabby 30 years ago. The red banner is over the building where I got my transcripts translated to English to leave Iran. Let's look at these pictures. All school kids are bused in but we do not see any. Of course it would look too staged.

The lady has a colorful jacket on, not black attire of the season. Poor woman does not belong here. She was bussed in from the government office; she is scared of the cameraman, covering her hair, Holding onto the pictures of Khomeini and Khamenehee like the pictures of her in-laws. There is a clergyman with his back to us, the guy is looking at him for his cues, both of them are scared. "Let's just survive this damn day," they think.

A pretty Iranian Lady, in dark cloth, wearing black gloves to cover the hands (sign of Ultra religiosity). Our pretty lady forgot to clean up her lipstick. Her hair is showing too ,and the nose job cost a lot of money. She does not look happy, just a pose for a mischievous cameraman taking advantage of his temporary authority. The SOB has turned our pretty lady into a model for Khamenehee. All other people in the picture are smiling, (Hey Ali, how far are we from the buses, we have a few extra hours may be we can get some opium. It will make up for this damn cold day).

Another pretty lady caught up in a bad place in a wrong time. Cover the makeup and ,run my friend, run.

So manyphony pictures you were beginning to think we have run out of our famous Thugs and Murderers. But no, here we go, right from downtown Tehran. Their existence is an insult to humanity. If things turn around, they will turn around too, they might be mean, but they are very adaptable, and they will not even yawn for free.

Bearded, angry, looking for trouble, they will kill anything and anybody for money and a castle in heaven. It makes me embarrassed to say we are both from the same city.

Fat ugly virgins, wearing white shroud, ready to blow themselves up. But nobody knows what kind of virgins they will get after the explosion. Be honest; if you were that ugly too, would not you blow up yourself too? The Kid with the flag is wearing black, but clean shaven, and eying the fat cheeks, with a severe identity crisis. Poor basterd needs a wife, but there is no money in holding a flag. Once he drops a few college professors he will get enough money to marry someone even more stupid than himself. (the Fat Chicks got an Iranian smile on. I can see it, but you can't).

Authors Bio:

I was born and raised in Tehran Iran .I came to the U.S in 1976 to study psychology. With time decided to hang my hat here and became a U.S. citizen.

My areas of interest in psychology were varied. However I mostly worked with stroke patients. I minored in history and Anthropology in college. I practiced as a clinical neuropsychologist and as an assistant professor of psychology in Northeastern Ohio Medical University. I have written articles, books, and Invented treatments for serious neurological conditions. My last area of interest in neuropsychology was in research for treatment of hemianopsia.

I fought in Iranian revolution, Iranian politics.
I retired a couple of years ago and I spend my extra time playing Tar which is a Persian instrument. Tar is grand father of Guitar , but it is much more delicate and can play musical pieces that one can not play on Piano or Guitar.
The pleasures of life come from playing Tar ,reading history books, blogging and being with my family. The painful part of life is dealing with Iranian government and its supporters. I am an atheist , however , I respect freedom of religions.
I am a Democrat.