PedramMoallemian's blog

Poll, Schmoll

PedramMoallemian — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:05:45 +0000

After offering my take on the first presidential debate, it was interesting to see most of those presenting opposing comments based their response on the results of polls conducted after the debate, particularly one by CNN (not their “Perception Impression” gadget, but actual polls.)

McCain 1 - Obama 0

PedramMoallemian — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:22:27 +0000

Greg Craig would need to do MUCH better if his candidate wants any chance of winning upcoming debates. He has played the lead role in preparing Obama for his debates and even posed as McCain while they practiced.

Obama performed so poorly against a much weaker candidate, I feel obliged to offer a few points as a one time aspiring politician with some media training for such occasions:

Revolution & Superman

PedramMoallemian — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:11:55 +0000

Zoltar Live!

PedramMoallemian — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:24:02 +0000

My grandmother had a sort of her own spiritual advisor. It was a nomadic woman in her mid twenties that would stop by once a months or so to remove spells, get rid of a Jinn (Genie) or two that permanently lived in their basement it seemed, and finally write some prayers that my aunt in particular needed to wear around her neck until her next visit.

Spock & Reincarnation

PedramMoallemian — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:56:35 +0000

Somebody was once trying to explain reincarnation to me and just went a bit too far into details. Let me tell you, the worst thing you can do with me on something you have no physical proof on or can’t let me touch, smell and bite into, is going into too much detail.

What usually happens is my Mr. Spock side comes out and I become the most rational and logical person on earth, with little room for wiggling any emotional or unreasonable explanation out of the conversation. And that’s exactly what happened.

Beijing faked ceremony fireworks!

PedramMoallemian — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:06:24 +0000

Watching the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympics almost made me ill. What sickened me at first was the obvious effort to show off, to overspend, to exaggerate. I think I heard they spent 10 times more than Athens did on their opening ceremonies a few years ago and even that was a huge number.

Let’s be real, what does the ceremony have to do with the “spirit” of the sports, athletes or even the nature of Olympic games?

Lost In Opposition

PedramMoallemian — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:14:02 +0000

One of the many problems with the primarily “in-exile” opposition to the Iranian government is their choice to detach themselves from the day-to-day lives of their compatriots back home. I say choice, as with the state of today’s technology, distance is an almost non-existing barrier and they could certainly connect to current issues and hot topics within Iran if they wanted to.

R.I.P. Peace Movement

PedramMoallemian — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:38:26 +0000

It would be perfectly valid and reasonable for anyone to raise that as a self-proclaimed peace activist, an Iranian in U.S. and someone with enough audacity to consider himself a “progressive”, why I am no longer participating in any anti-war rallies, such as the ones held yesterday. I say no longer as I did for a while, even to the point of helping in organizing a few but have since lost all interest.

Quakes & Record Crashes

PedramMoallemian — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:51:33 +0000

Southern California (and reportedly even parts of Nevada) residents were treated to a bit of shaking with a 5.4 Richter rattle centered around Chino Hills earlier this week. To most it actually felt more as a back and forth “roll” than anything, particularly to those in large concrete buildings on rollers and seismic joints like myself. Most residents took it (or at least acted) remarkably in stride. After all, this is LA and Angelinos are supposed to be used to quakes.