#RandomThoughts: On @FreeNazanin, #Iran & Staying Hopeful

 

Yesterday was a day to remember all who were victims of Torture.    The depictions above honored who have been subject to torture.    I have had the honor to be supportive of the case of Nazanin Zargari-Ratcliff who has been held in Iran since 2016 and has been on a hunger strike.   Her husband, Richard, has also been on a hunger strike in front of the Iranian Embassy in London.   What I found so hillarious was a claim made by one of Hassan Rouhani's advisers equating Javad Zarif (subject to sanctions by the United States) to Nelson Mandela--I caught this by an Iranian Analyst and I just laughed:

One great development was an open letter signed by 14 leading opposition figures inside Iran that have called for Khameini to resign and for the Islamic Republic to Go.     4 of them were interviewed by Iran-E-Farda's Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh.    I have been assigned a project by the Daily Outsider Team to translate and provide guidance on both letters and the expressions of support over the ensuing days.

This has also been a very distressing week as the World was witness to another tragic death of a father and a daughter trying to cross the Rio Bravo.     This image broke my heart:

This is why this was so important to remember which MoveOn.Org sent out: 

 Some will say this is a "LIBERAL" thing--but this is an American as it comes because unless one is a Sioux or a Cheyenne or many of the other honored tribes of American Indians, we all came from somewhere.    

As it has been quite a challenging week, I decided to be a bit upbeat to closeout my weekly #RandomThoughts with these thoughts I captured:  

Remaining hopeful ever more....