Notations on Our World (II): On The UK As Countdown to the General Elections Begin....

As Elections loom, an apparent crucial by-election in the United Kingdom is at hand.  For the benefit of all in the United States and beyond, by-elections occur for Parliament Seats and their outcome are in many ways a referendum on the Sitting Government and Prime Minister.    According to a ruling Conservative Party source, the Conservatives are poised to lose this to the UK Independence Party that has been gaining inroads over the past year.    This is explaining the increased bellicose rhetoric coming out of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary on Europe and how the UK may leave it.

But, the ruling Conservative/Liberal Democratic Coalition has a bigger problem on its' hand as noted in this front page on the Guardian of London this morning.      This is as the Labor Party and its' leader, Ed Miliband, are in the doldrums over their poll numbers.    It was no accident that the new leader of the Scottish National Party noted how they would hold the balance of power in London after the 2015 Election season:

“@guardian: Guardian front page, Sunday 16 Nov 2014 – Revealed: how coalition has helped rich by hitting poor pic.twitter.com/3vzzp3Xf2o”😱😥
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) November 16, 2014

It will be quite a show....

Notations On Our World: On the Struggle In Iran.....

The plight of Rohani's Government as it continues to deal with the economic challenges and the Foreign Policy challenges is ever so acute.    The Iranian Parliament has balked at Rohani's 4th Nominee to head the Science/Education Ministry which may apparently prompt Rouhani to trigger extra ordinary powers given to the Supreme Leader/Supreme Guide under the current Constitution.    He had appeared before Parliament to urge a vote of confidence noting that by quarreling, nothing can and will be solved.

What is quite interesting to observe is how the extent  of the effect the  Green Movement continues to be felt even today as such Ministers are accused of being part of the alleged coup in 2009.   The Paranoia is astonishing.    This is as two more of Rohani's Ministers have been summoned to Parliament to answer questions on how the "Zionist" Phillip Morris has been allowed to sell Cigarettes in the Country--as the Country's own Official Broadcaster had a special on the dangers of smoking recently .


It is interesting how to see both Obama and Rohani are in some ways kindred spirits:



«احتمال استفاده روحانی از حکم حکومتی برای وزارت علوم»

On The Eve of an #outsider week-end: A "Mojo" To Share....

While assessing the daily state of the World "On the Grid", ran across this courtesy of the Success Magazine's Darren Hardy...one of the implicit tenants of what #outsider is about:

Post by Darren Hardy.

An "Outsider" NewsFlash: ISIL fighters driven out of Iraq's Beiji - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

This is the latest out of Iraq--whether Iraq can sustain it or not is the open question:

ISIL fighters driven out of Iraq's Beiji - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

An "Outsider" Newsflash: The New Congressional Leadership

The New Congressional Leadership for the 2015 Congress has been elected.  The election of Senator Warren is an interesting choice--the question is what they will do: 

Post by C-SPAN.

View of the Week

The idea behind #outsiders is ever so epitomized by this--although it is a tough steep mountain to climb: 

Onward!!!

Not forgetting this on the occasion of my 7600th Tweet :-) “If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn’t thinking. ~ George S. Patton "
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) November 12, 2014

On the Grid For the Day: The Latest From #Syria

Syria continues to burn despite a new UN plan for a "Freeze" as the UN Envoy met with Bashar Assad as Syria continues to be destroyed acre by acre hourly:

+++ 'WE WILL SAVE KOBANI'. This morning's @Independent front page, by Patrick Cockburn in the Kandil mountains: pic.twitter.com/OzkDPPqDV8 +++
— amol rajan (@amolrajan) November 12, 2014

Supporting vulnerable families through winter inside Syria, continues to be a huge challenge http://t.co/rHJIznpgtm
— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) November 12, 2014

The scenes from Aleppo shown yesterday on the BBC were simply horrific as this from BBC as it continues its' reporting on Syria was even more stark:

Civil War in Syria has left millions homeless http://t.co/VM0IVhXmkP #BBCGoFigure #BBCSyriaWar pic.twitter.com/uxlJKF6859
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 12, 2014

On This Veterans Day in the United States...and Armistice Day Around the World...

The World is  remembering  the fallen.   Scenes from France was quite moving as France unveiled a a " Ring of Remembrance” by architect Philippe Prost that has the name of  579,606 soldiers from around the world who died between 1914 and 1918.   As reported by France 24, "..A majority of the names – 241,214 – are British, alongside the 173,876 German names and 106,012 French...."  It is so simple & yet so beautiful a tribute to the sacrifice as the names are listed in alphabetical order with no regard to where they were from to underscore a sense of unity: 

Photo Source;  The Daily Telegraph/Reuters

Among the countries who celebrate this day, Australia did as well as it remembered the fallen.   Over 102,000 Australians have fallen in wars throughout the World.     In Britain, the Queen led  the Nation as the fallen are remembered with 800,000 celebratory ceramic poppie.    Everything came to a halt at 11 AM Local time to remember that day as Military cadet Harry Hayes was given the distinct honor of placing the last poppy at the Tower of London installation:  

.

Photo Source; The BBC

As the World remembers, conflicts rage on throughout the World.   It was with great interest how we here at #Outsiders ran across the work by Team Rubicon who have worked to leverage their expertise learnt in conflict to help make a difference.   We hope to feature such stories throughout our Work in #Outsiders over the course of the ensuing months.

We conclude with this beautiful tribute to the Veterans of the United States and yes the World-we must never forget: 

“To The Veterans
of the United States of America
Thank you,
for the cost you paid for our freedom,
thank you
for the freedom to live in safety
and pursue happiness,
for freedom of speech,
and for all the freedoms
that we daily take for granted.”
~ Sara Niles

On Another Challenging Day: Notations For the Day

As the drama over the Iran Nuclear Negotiations has continued, the "Social Grid" has been abuzz on the latest.     The official Iranian Media has been sounding optimistic, however the "buzz" is creating a different impression:

@lrozen sorry ..its correct /#Araghchi : Still can not claim to have made progress in negotiations.
— ahmad mousavi (@mousavi_ahmad) November 10, 2014

The heartbreaking news out of Nigeria has also been horrific as a school was attacked by a suicide bomber in the North Part of the country infested with the Boko Haram insurgency.    It was quite laughable how the Nigerian Federal Police Spokesman said how everything was OK as the BBC interviewed him earlier today.    The Nigerian Political Analyst who appeared later on underscored the deep level of anxiety as there are reports of Nigerian Soldiers who are running away as Boko Haram is winning and holding territory. The inaction by the Government of Nigeria is bordering on being criminal.   

Beyond Nigeria, there is Israel.    Israel continues to be faced with unrest.    Two young Israelis--a 26 year old woman and a 20-year Israeli Soldier--died from wounds suffered from a Palestinian attacker.        The latest unrest began when an Israeli Arab was allegedly killed by Israeli Police which has led to unrest.    Israeli Right wingers--let by the Foreign Minister of Israel--have noted that Israeli Arab citizenship must be revoked upon an establishment of an Palestinian state as others like Bennett are not even willing to accept that--and are calling for more building and more building.   

APEC, in the meantime, has begun and China is playing host to rivals in Beijing which included a handshake between the Japanese Prime Minister and the Chinese President and as all the leaders are sporting matching outfits despite all the fissures underneath:



In the midst of all the terrible news from Nigeria and Israel,  we here @ #outsiders wanted to report on this courtesy of the Business Insider Twitter Feed: 

 

“@businessinsider: Meet the 12 People who won $3 million for their breakthroughs in science and math http://t.co/zK9yR3dQmB”🎉🎉👏👏😁
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) November 10, 2014

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the tragedy in Nigeria and Israel today.

View of the Week: On Negotiations with Iran & the View from the UAE's National On the Pending Nuclear Deal

  

Image Source; www.irna.ir 

We here @ #outsiders couldn't agree more with this insightful editorial by the National--especially on the eve of Thanksgiving here in the United States.  It is our hope that the dead-enders in Washington and Tehran will not derail the deal.    We believe that the fact that this image was directly reported  on the official Islamic Republic Website underscores the commitment by the Iranian Leadership to get a deal done--and negotiations are due to continue tomorrow:  

From the UAE as Nov 24 comes close...hope they pull it off: Iran nuclear deal is in our interests | The National http://t.co/0SrI3Enoh8
— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) November 9, 2014