If You Have To Pay People To Protest

 I read a piece this AM....where some folks in Seattle  were going to pay approximately $125 an hour....if you showed up and did a protest situation.  A four-hour block?  You'd get $500.

Cash?  Well....that's the hint given.

In rural areas of the US....for hauling hay...the basic rate starts at $15 an hour, and you can find in some areas....it's up to $20 to $30 an hour (depending on the area and heat).

So you could make pretty good money for a 4-hour afternoon....protesting.

My question is....if you have to pay folks.....is your protest even genuine in  nature/scoop?  It just seems to me to be a fake-protest...if you need 200 folks (costing $100k).  

Would Republicans pay $125 per hour?  I doubt it.....they'd probably offer ice tea, some donuts, and a brief prayer for your safety/health.

All of this a fraud....with CNN or NBC trying to image the protest in some frame of mind.....but not telling you that the 500 folks at such-and-such protest were mostly faked-up?

Basic History of Iran From 1945 to 1980?

 After World War II, Iran was occupied by Soviet and British forces due to its strategic importance and oil resources. 

The Allies forced Reza Shah Pahlavi to abdicate/leave power in 1941.  His son, Mohammad Reza Shah, took the throne.  It's safe to say that Pahlavi was 'friendly' to the Germans in this 1941 period.....so the Brits and Soviets pushed the 'dad' out.

After WW II?  Cold War dynamics fall into play.  Iran became a geopolitical battleground between the US, U.K., and USSR. 

The Soviets for a couple of years....support separatist movements in Azerbaijan, Iran and Kurdistan, but withdrew in 1946 under international pressure (at least they say this story).

Around 1951...Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh  comes along.  He's mostly a Iran nationalist.  Mossadegh's agenda?  Basically starts a movement to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). 

This starts a British-led boycott of Iranian oil and economic woes. In 1953, the US and U.K. design a coup (Operation Ajax) to oust Mossadegh.  This solidifies the Shah’s power and securing Western oil interests.

This starts a 25-year period with the Shah.  Iran...in several odd ways...gets westernized.  There's all these reforms (women's rights) from 1963 on.  From 1967....Iran Air expands routes, and Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport becomes a regional hub. 

By the early 1970s, Iran is in the middle of tourism 'boom'...with 100k to 200k western visitors per year.  Everything you see in Dubai today?  That was the growing potential of Iran in the 1970s.

Luxury tourism factor?  That's another odd story....Five-star hotels like the Tehran Hilton and the Shah’s promotion of Iran as a “gateway to the East” caters to affluent travelers. You even start seeing package tours by Western agencies included Iran alongside Egypt or Turkey.

Starting around the early 1970s....discontent starts to become evident.  The groups?  Oddball form....secular intellectuals, students, bazaar merchants, and the Shia clergy, led by figures like Ayatollah Khomeini.  Oddly....the Shah’s secularism and authoritarianism are a problem.

Beginning of the end?  Well...economic woes increase.  No one can say the exact turn or path of problems....but they connect up to political repression, protests in 1978, the death of Khomeini’s son (blamed on the secret police), and widespread demonstrations.  Russians involved?  You can probably lay that out there but there's limited facts to talk about.

From early 1979 on?  It's a gov't led by Kohmeini's crew....with limited  economic recovery, and 

How many Iranians support dumping the Kohmeini-thugs?  Well....a Dutch group tried to do a independent statistical collection in 2022.  What they suggest is that around 81-percent of adults want a complete change in gov't.

As bad as the Shah's path fell apart....Kohmeini's crew has arrived at the same location.  A lot of this disgruntlement due to economics and cost of living?   I think the bulk want a change, period....thinking anybody would be better than the current group running the  program.

Finally....if the US and UK had never bothered to throw out the PM in 1953? Some folks wonder about that.....what Iran would  be like today...without all the religious turmoil.  

Attention Story

 I tried to make sense out of this Charlotte NC story..

Local gal....on the city council.....Tiawana Brown....in position for an re-election....now indicted on federal charges for stealing $115,000 in COVID funds.  Note....NOT state charges.

So you might wonder....how she spent the $115k?  Well....allegedly...she used the funds to throw herself a $15,000 birthday party.

I paused over this.  I grew up in a rural farming community, and the biggest deal someone might 'throw'....would be a bar-b-q, and a banjo-picker or two.

So this gal hired up some catering operation....which featured a throne and horse-drawn carriage for the display. 

Throne, and horse-carriage?  Yeah.

Just arriving at such an event....I'd be asking (as a guest)....how you can afford a $15k affair.  When you go and steal money....the last thing you should do....is draw attention to yourself.  This being the only time she ever got caught?  I doubt it.

Fed time?  Maybe there's potential for a deal, but I'm guessing she'll have to serve a minimum of 6 months unless she pays back the $115k.  If it were me....I'd go to family members....beg and borrow  the cash,  and try to deal as quickly as possible.

Five Observations

 1.  I sat this AM....trying to watch Washington Senator Patty Murray struggle in some childish way....uttering a fake cry during dramatic and juvenile-like speech. 

It's childish how play-acting is such a part of politics today, with these dimwits unable to 'deliver'.

2.  Watched a news reporter discuss riots in LA....since Wednesday morning. Apparently....before Wed....there were X-number of folks at five or six sites.  Since Wed (with Nat'l Guard/Marines deployed)....X-number has been cut in half.  No reason given....other than perhaps they don't want confrontation anymore.

3. This Democratic Party agenda.....'NO KINGS'....comes across as a 8th-grade type operation and doesn't  seem to attract anyone much (unless you pay them to gather).

To be honest, if you offered folks the opportunity to make Trump a 'king'....probably 20-percent of folks would say they'd be fine with it....if Barron (his son) follows on next.

4. Egyptian teenage kids are seen.....dragging off western activists (mostly from Canada and US)....who came to Egypt with the aid of breaking through the border to Gaza in order to deliver aid.

As they get dragged to buses....they are taken and hauled to the airport, and given the deport-order....where they have to purchase an immediate ticket to exit.

I think most had this agenda....seven days of hotel stays.....photo opportunities....fake protests.