Baha’is persecuted in Iran
The 300,000 members of the Baha’i Faith living in Iran under near-constant persecution are heroes to me and
scores of other Baha’is who live in central Illinois. The lies, attacks and atrocities heaped upon
Iranian Baha’is since the 1979 Islamic Revolution would be unimaginable, were they not so
well documented. Iranian Baha’is have — for decades — encountered wave after wave of unprovoked, government-sponsored attacks; yet,
through it all, these innocent and gentle people remain obedient to a
government that seeks to exterminate them.
The Iranian government has long trampled upon the human rights of Baha’is living in Iran. Since the 1979 revolution, dozens of Baha’i holy places have been seized and desecrated. During this same period, 10,000
Baha’is have been dismissed from government and university jobs, their pensions
denied and, in some cases, forced to be repaid. Hundreds (perhaps thousands) of
Baha’is have had their homes raided and possessions seized. And, since 1979, some 200
Bahai’s in Iran have paid the ultimate sacrifice — state-sponsored execution.
Further executions may be in the offing, under the latest government-sponsored
attacks embodied in the arrest and pending trial of seven leaders of the Baha’i Faith in Iran who administer the affairs (such as they are) of the Iranian
Baha’i community.
By the time this letter is published, the trial of these seven Baha’i heroes will have begun. I call them heroes because, like those gone before
them, they could avoid government persecution by simply recanting their faith.
Instead they face false charges of, among other things, “espionage for Israel,” which carries a potential death penalty. Please pray for these people.
Information regarding them and the ongoing persecutions, can be found at
http://iran.bahai.us/ Another welcome action is to contact your Congressional
representatives and ask them to support House Resolution 175, which calls on
Iran to immediately release these seven people whose humble demeanor and faith
in God are awe-inspiring.
Mike Lang
Spiritual Assembly of
the Baha’is of Springfield
How to avoid a ticket
In his Guestwork column in the Feb. 5 IT, the “Jerome speeder” took local police officers to task for giving speeding tickets for “going over the limit a few miles.” Without going into how many miles a “few” is, if you go any higher than the stated limit, you risk getting a ticket. It’s just that simple!
If I go, say, 33 mph in a 30 mph zone, normally I would not expect to get a
ticket, assuming road and weather conditions were OK, due to the margin of
error I believe the police usually work within. However if the police did give
me a ticket in such an instance, while I wouldn’t like it, I really would not have much of a case against them.
A sure way to avoid speeding tickets is to scrupulously obey the limit. But if
you insist on exceeding it, not only do you risk getting a ticket, often you’ll have to wait at the next red light just that much longer!
Dick McLane
Springfield
bleepinggolden.com
Thanks to Dusty Rhodes for an amusing — and may I say, inspiring — article about how Ilinoisans are cashing in on our ex-governor’s infamy with T-shirts and more. As was said so often during his impeachment
hearings, we’ve “got this thing and it’s bleepin’ golden.”
I’d like to ask for some creative assistance from IT readers: a few weeks ago I purchased the domain name www.bleepingolden.com but I’m new to figuring out how to market something like this to the highest bidder in
true Blagojevich style. What’s in it for Springfieldians if they help me figure out how to sell the domain for megabucks? It’ll mean a brewpub if we raise enough capital! So folks, think of how to parlay a
site (that can only become more valuable as Rod’s trial begins) into megabucks so our city can have fresh microbrews.
Even if you’re not into beer, think how much good a Web site like that could do as a Wall of Shame of Illinois Politicians, a
Blago/Burris Changing Story of the Day, or media grand tour listing. The
possibilities are endless.
Lola L. Lucas
Springfield
Correx
The photo we used with our Buddy Holly story last week wasn’t the real Buddy Holly, but John Mueller, the Holly impersonator who performed
his Winter Dance Party reenactment show Feb. 8 at the Hoogland Center for the
Arts in Springfield. According to original Crickets member Niki Sullivan, “John is a reincarnation of Buddy Holly. He is that good. He has the same determination in his eyes that Buddy did and when John is on
stage, he is a totally dynamic
performer, just like Buddy. John is awesome.”
This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2009.
