Out & About With #RandomThoughts On Iran

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Despite all the challenges (and I just saw a report about how violators will have their rights taken away), I see this, and I know the spirit of Iran will never ever die:

 

Out & About With Some Mid-Month #RandomThoughts

 

It is "mid-month" as I continue to work away on projects and commitments.   I am grateful for the continued privilege to do my small part as a Global Citizen and in that spirit, I wanted to remember the 7 brave souls who paid the ultimate price for their selfless dedication to service as I look forward to doing my small part as a simple ordinary face in the crowd: 

“These are people I served alongside in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, The Bahamas, Indonesia, Mexico, Gaza, and Israel. They were far more than heroes,” said WCK founder and Chief Feeding Officer José Andrés. “Their work was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right. It is not conditional on being good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. We do not ask what religion you belong to. We just ask how many meals you need.”

Read José’s opinion piece in the New York Times

WCK coordinated everything correctly with the IDF in advance. Despite that, our convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded hundreds of tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on our newly established maritime route from Cyprus. “This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, CEO of WCK.

Read the full statement from World Central Kitchen

The IDF has acknowledged its responsibility and its fatal errors in the deadly attack on our convoy in Gaza. It is also taking disciplinary action against some of those in command and committed to other reforms. These are important steps forward. But without systemic change, there will be more military failures and more grieving families. In addition to the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, nearly 200 humanitarian workers have lost their lives during this conflict. That is why World Central Kitchen is demanding the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of our WCK colleagues.

Read WCK’s statement about the IDF preliminary investigation

While we continue to demand full accountability for what happened to our team—our friends—we continue to mourn the loss of their incredible hearts and smiles. WCK’s leadership is in close contact with their families, and we are doing everything we can to support them in this unimaginable time. Please stay tuned to our social media channels for information about the WCK global community honoring the lives of these heroes and ways you can participate. In the coming days, we will be sharing heartfelt tributes to remember their vibrant lives and indelible impact on the world.

Images from vigils held in Poland and Paris.

Someday it will come. We know this. Every person who was born will die. Whether it’s soon or a long time from now, peaceful or violent, expected or not, we cannot know, all we know is that it will happen. But everybody, including Marcus Aurelius, wonders what people will be saying, what it will mean for you to be leaving this world. We wonder about our legacy. We wonder how quickly we’ll be forgotten. In Meditations, Marcus speculated that despite the life he’d tried to live, the good he’d tried to do, there would still be people who were happy to see him go. No doubt, he wondered how he would be remembered, what his legacy would be. But he also wrote about how little this actually mattered, how it wasn’t in his control. Isn’t this also part of one of the most famous scenes in literature—where Huck Finn gets to sneak in to see his own funeral, eavesdropping on what everyone is saying about him, whether they’re grieving him or not? Wanting to be remembered, to be loved, to be celebrated–it’s a timeless, powerful urge. Some argue that much of civilization, most of art, most of war, and success is in some way rooted in a denial of death, wanting to live forever, wanting to be talked about after we’re gone. It’s funny that although Marcus tried to remind himself that posthumous fame was not worth much (he’d be dead), he still managed to find it. He is remembered. We are talking about him in today’s email–and although there were some people who were glad he was on his deathbed (and some people today don’t admire him), he did end up being remembered and is widely admired. The book he wrote, Meditations, wasn’t intended for publication…but it was and is selling like crazy (we even created our own leather edition here at Daily Stoic). Maybe that is the ultimate lesson here. Don’t think about it. Don’t focus on fame or a monument to your success. Don’t try to make sure everyone knows how important or wonderful you are. Just try to be good. Focus on the day in front of you. Live it well, live it according to your values. Leave the legacy—whether it happens or not—for whatever happens or not.

Out & About With a Tribute to Tehran - Official Music Video - Sina Bathaie ( ft Saba Zameni )

It is the first week of the new year as Nowruz is upon us--as my final "Quarter-End" Thought here in my corner, I decided to release this courtesy of the talented Sina Bathaie as I look forward to my ongoing engagements throughout Q2.

Onward & Upward!!!

فرامرز اصلانی | اسطوره ایی تکرار نشدنی

#RandomThoughts on This Nowruz Eve 1403

It is Nowruz Eve, the Persian New Year that goes back 3,000 Years to the time of Iran's Legendary King, Jamshid.

Here are some #RandomThoughts I released in my Instagram Corner:

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نوروز سبز؛ آهنگ شاد و نوروزی جوانان اصفهانی گروه پارتاک : Out & About As Spring is in the Air

 

Spring is in the Air and over 300 Million People will celebrate Nowruz.    Please enjoy this tribute to Nowruz:

Out & About with #RandomThoughts For the Week

Spring is in the air, and here in Orange County, Iranian-American organizations have continued their fabulous efforts to celebrate the Persian New Year.   I captured the following while being out and about in Irvine, California, Recently as I look forward to sharing further thoughts in a future edition of #RandomThoughts here in my Virtual Corner:

In addition, A Musical #RandomThought for all to enjoy as I say loudly Onward & Upward:

Out & About With #RandomThoughts As a New Month Dawns

 

March is before us.  

It will be quite a month as California will have its' primaries, and Iran has the pretense of a farce that its' leaders call an election.  This is also as the War in Gaza and Ukraine rages on and on.    This is also what Anthony Scaramucci noted as a "Five Alarm Fire" about the dangers of Donald Trump to America and the World.   

Spring is also in the Air and Nowruz is before us.   On a personal note, I was also witness to life as a Hummingbird laid a nest and nurtured her eggs.   Being witness to a renewal of life brings out a sense of hope:  

I also note that I have been a proud supporter of Ukraine and contributing to Ukraine24 as I note this tribute to Ukraine:

Onward and Upward!!!

I present 

Out & About With Mid-Month #RandomThoughts

Today was President's Day Weekend, and I worked on various projects and initiatives.

During my foray on my Social Media corners, I caught this from my feed a few years ago—which was a card done by one of the children from the Parish School at St. Timothy‘s to hand out to the Parish Pantry Clients--it was a solid admonition to live up to.

It has also been a very tragic few days in our World.   Wars rage on, and Putin killed one of his leading opponents, Alexy Navalny, as his Wife notes that he was drugged.  As I write this, his body has not been returned to his family -and yet the GOP stays silent.

Here in the United States, it has been highly irritating being witness to a dysfunctional Hosue of Representatives,  a GOP that is taking its’ queue from North Korea (as I caught a few of the clips from there, and boy, it is laughable and scary at the same time),  GOP Governors who are more interested in social engineering than governing; a right-wing media that thinks more of Putin (epitomized by the useful idiot Tucker).    The war in Gaza continues with no end in sight as opposition to Netanyahu continues his opposition to peace.   This is as Palestinians in the Occupied Terrorities continue to deal with over 700 checkpoints and over 750,000 settlers occupying land illegally with support from the Government of Israel and constant raids throughout the West Bank every night.  .     This is as over 1.5 Million Palestinians are in Southern Gaza as an invasion looms and as some Twenty-Nine Thousand People have lost their lives.   I yearn for the day when we can all do what we can to  Make America and the World Normal Again. 

As I also reflected on the predicament of us here in America, I assessed the latest out of Iran.    Iran has been driven to the ground by mismanagement at all levels, from the so-called Supreme Leader all the way down to the village level, for over Forty-Five years as darkness, death, and destruction have descended upon Iran, having been witness to history and as the Revolution indeed "ate its' Own."    The latest has been a Ponzi scheme whereby a 27-year-old kid took millions to sell Iranians cheap iPhones and ended up leaving Iran.  

The first clip reflects on what Iran was featuring two of Iran's leading performers, Martik and Goggosh.   The clip is in Farsi but has English Subtitles:

This is on Dr. Milani of Stanford being witness to history:

This analysis, done by Iran International's Dr. Vaisi, reflects upon the 10 profound tragedies of the Revolution & reflects on signs the regime is collapsing: 

  

As I also worked away, I finished Dr. King's Letters from the Birnghiman Jail and it was quite a letter--there is also a sermon of his on the Three Dimensions of a Complete Life--as i wanted to share some thoughts on it:

• Lord help me to accept myself every day...
• Lord I ain't much, but I is all I got...

I close out with this from Sina Bathaie:

Onward & Upward!!!

یغما گلرویی - شعر رهایی

Out & About With #RandomThoughts

It is the dawn of a new month--as challenges loom large in our World. I decided to headline my opening #RandomThought for February 2024 by remembering Kobe and his commitment to excellence as I close out with this I released to my Instagram Corner earlier On Iran:

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Out & About With A Closing Thought & A Tribute To Tehran - Official Music Video - Sina Bathaie ( ft Saba Zameni )

While out & about this weekend, got to know this Toronto-Based Composer, Sina Bathaie with his tribute to Tehran, Iran's Capital.

It has been an interesting January.....

Onward....

Out & About With #RandomThoughts For the Week

This was a week that America celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.   I helped to launch nd continue to move along the Daily Outsider in the spirit of the admonition he noted as we continue to dream to transform by embracing the dream of changing the conversation about our World.  As I also reflected upon 2024, I embrace and hope to live up to Emily Dickinson's Hope.

Onward and Upward!!! 

 

Out & About With Brief Mid-Month #RandomThoughts

It has been quite a year already!!

I decided to share the following random thoughts and a greeting from Walden University as 2024 begins in earnest.

Onward and upward.