Jews in Iran?

I am posting this because it goes against what I think most of us think about the Middle East - that Jews only live in Israel, and if they stray outside their homeland, they face terrible hardships. The truth is Jews used to live all over the Middle East - I have heard that at one point Baghdad was about 30% Jewish - and their religion is not hated. What is hated is Zionism and the Israeli state, which are seen by the more astute (idiots live everywhere) as separate from Judaism. Now, I think this article is very interesting because it shows that Iranian Jews can co-exist with their Muslim neighbors. It mentions that many Iranian Jews leave the country every year, and I know for a fact that many of them are able to come to the United States as refugees. This is likely a political thing, with the United States admitting them as refugees in order to prove that the Iranian regime is oppressive and mean. I also know that the Iranian constitution discusses the rights of religious minorities, and guarantees a Jewish seat in the Majlis (the parliament). Interesting to think about...

Not in US news...

I was going through my blog reader, and saw an article that caught my eye. Out of curiosity, I looked for the same headline in the Washington Post and New York Times, and (not) to my surprise, it was not there. Perhaps it was buried on the back pages or something, I'm sure the journalists of the United States would not overlook a report that US Marines Corps generals were found at fault for 24 civilian deaths in Haditha, Iraq, due to inadequate oversight. Now, I know the media has its hands full regarding the election campaigns and the death of Boris Yeltsin (something that it actually kind of news), so I will just post a link to the Al-Jazeera article here for you.

'Crash my Wedding"?!

I haven't written in a very long long time, most due to time issues with school and such, also because I find myself spending a lot of time with one person in particular, which leads me to the article that prompted me to blog. The series is called "The Real Wedding Crashers", or something terrible like that. Now, I don't have a television, largely because I have watched over the past few years just how far TV has fallen from being something moderately entertaining to something that people almost feel compelled to sit in front of in order to watch something truly horrifying. This show takes the cake (yep, I meant that pun). It has also made me decide that if people think that weddings are ridiculous enough to take them to this level...I am getting married in a foreign country or something. I also like how homosexual marriage will 'ruin the sanctity of marriage', but turning weddings into a farce is entertainment. Whatever. Here's the Washington Post review that made me cringe.