Iran's leader: U.S. wants new opinions

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI -- Associated Press Writer

(Updated Sunday, September 23, 2007, 12:14 PM)

Iran President Ahmadinejad rips U.S.
ADVERTISMENT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the American people are eager for different opinions about the world, and he is looking forward to providing them with "correct and clear information," state media reported.

The hardline Iranian leader left Sunday for New York to address the U.N. General Assembly and speak to students and teachers during a forum at Columbia University.

Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops - claims Iran denies.

Ahmadinejad said his visit will give Americans a chance to hear a different voice, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The United States is a big and important country with a population of 300 million. Due to certain issues, the American people in the past years have been denied correct and clear information about global developments and are eager to hear different opinions," Ahmadinejad was quoted by IRNA as saying.

State-run television also quoted Ahmadinejad before boarding his presidential plane Sunday as saying that the General Assembly was an "important podium" to express Iran's views on regional and global issues.

He is scheduled to address the Assembly on Tuesday - his third time attending the New York meeting in three years. He is also set to speak at a Columbia University question-and-answer forum on Monday in New York.

His request to lay a wreath at ground zero, site of the World Trade Center 2001 terror attacks, was denied by city officials and condemned by politicians. After the Sept. 11 attacks, hundreds of young Iranians held a series of candlelight vigils in Tehran.

Police rejected Ahmadinejad's request, citing construction and security concerns. In an interview to air Sunday on "60 Minutes," Ahmadinejad indicated he would not press the issue but expressed disbelief that the visit would offend Americans.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini also appeared dismayed that the request was rejected.

"What kind of damage will the U.S. face" by Ahmadinejad visiting the site, Hosseini asked at his weekly press conference Sunday.

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger has resisted requests to cancel the event but promised to introduce the talk himself with a series of tough questions on topics including Ahmadinejad's views on the Holocaust, his call for the destruction of the state of Israel and his government's alleged support of terrorism.

Columbia canceled a planned visit by the Iranian president last year, citing security and logistical reasons. Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust "a myth" and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Hosseini said there "are efforts to cancel" the Columbia speech, but the Iranian government is continuing to pursue the program. He did not elaborate other than saying a lot of pressure was being placed on the program's sponsors.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks as Iran's new Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, looks on during large-scale military parades to mark the 27th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran that sparked the bloody 1980-88 war, in Tehran, Iran on Saturday Sept. 22, 2007. Threats and economic sanctions will not stop Iran's technological progress, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Saturday at a large parade featuring fighter jets and radar-avoiding missiles designed to show off the country's military might.



Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks as Iran's new Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, looks on during large-scale military parades to mark the 27th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran that sparked the bloody 1980-88 war, in Tehran, Iran on Saturday Sept. 22, 2007. Threats and economic sanctions will not stop Iran's technological progress, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Saturday at a large parade featuring fighter jets and radar-avoiding missiles designed to show off the country's military might.

Khaleej Times Online >> News >> MIDDLE EAST

Iran warns West against attack, shows missiles
(Reuters)

22 September 2007


TEHERAN - Iran told Western powers on Saturday that they would regret launching any attack over Teheran’s nuclear activities and it rolled out a display of missiles and other hardware that underscored its warning.

‘Our message to the enemies is: Do not do it,’ the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said, speaking to reporters less than a week after France’s foreign minister publicly raised the prospect of war.

‘They will regret it, as they are regretting it in Iraq,’ Jafari added, speaking on the sidelines of an annual military parade.

The Islamic Republic put on show medium-range missiles it has previously said could reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf at the parade marking the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq conflict.

Iran is embroiled in a deepening standoff with the West over its atomic ambitions, which the United States suspects is aimed at making bombs but which Teheran says is solely for generating electricity.

Washington has said it wants a diplomatic resolution to the dispute but has not ruled out military action if that fails.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner last Sunday raised the spectre of war, but has since backed away from the comment.

Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, has threatened to hit back at regional US interests if attacked.

Jafari’s words of defiance came a day after major powers, meeting in Washington, said they had ‘serious and constructive’ talks about new UN Security Council sanctions aimed at trying to force Iran to halt its sensitive nuclear programme.

The officials of the five permanent Security Council members and Germany said they will keep pursuing a ‘dual track’ approach to Iran—trying to persuade it to abandon such activities via negotiations while considering new sanctions.
‘Death to America’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressing the parade, made clear Teheran would not bow to Western pressure.

‘Those who think, that by using such decayed tools as psychological warfare and economic sanctions, they can stop the Iranian nation’s progress are making a mistake,’ he said.

The Islamic Republic showed among its weaponry a type of missile it has said has a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles) -- enabling it to hit Israel and US bases in the region.

But the television commentator said Shahab-3 had a range of only 1,300 km (812 miles). Another missile at the parade, Ghadr-1, can reach targets 1,800 km (1,125 miles) away, he said. It was believed to be the first time it has been shown publicly.

Troops, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and armoured personnel carriers passed in front of the podium. One truck carried the words ‘Death to America’.

Western military experts say Iranian forces would be no match for US military technology but that they could still create havoc in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, through which a large volume of the world’s traded oil passes.

Jafari admitted Western powers enjoyed air superiority but suggested Iran would be able to outwit them. Asked how Iran would respond if any country allowed its territory to be used as a base for an attack, he said: ‘You have seen the missiles—just pull the trigger and shoot.’

Words of Wisdom! HONESTY!

“If it is not right do not do it,
if it is not true do not say it.
“Every 1 of us lives his life just once;
if we are honest,2 live once is enough..
&
“A true friend will tell you d truth 2 ur face
-
not behind ur back.”



“If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”
-Marcus Aurelius-





“What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-



“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
-Thomas Jefferson-


“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.”
-Spencer Johnson-


“No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into someone's eyes.”
-Paulo Coelho-


“Sex is full of lies. The body tries to tell the truth. But, it's usually too battered with rules to be heard, and bound with pretenses so it can hardly move. We cripple ourselves with lies.”
-Jim Morrison-


If you truly want honesty, don't ask questions you don't really want the answer to”


To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.”
-Edward R. Murrow-


There's no trust, no faith, no honesty in men; all perjured, all forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers.”
-William Shakespeare-




“Every act of dishonesty has at least two victims: the one we think of as the victim, and the perpetrator as well. Each little dishonesty makes another little rotten spot somewhere in the perpetrator's psyche.”
-Lesley Conger-


Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone - and hurt them to the bone - you can feel self-righteous about it at the same time”
-Dave Van Ronk-



Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.”
-Mary Kay Ash-

“He who is passionate and hasty, is generally honest; it is your cool dissembling hypocrite, of whom you should beware”



“Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense”


“Every one of us lives his life just once; if we are honest, to live once is enough


“I keep six honest serving men: They taught me all I knew: Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who”


“Lie to a liar, for lies are his coin; Steal from a thief, for that is easy; lay a trap for a trickster and catch him at first attempt, but beware of an honest man”
-Arab Proverb-


“One of the hardest things in this world is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission.”
-Benjamin Disraeli-

“We must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy”
-George Bernard Shaw-


“A true friend will tell you the truth to your face - not behind your back.”
-roxioj571 Sasha Azevedo-

Mel and Joey: OFW na, Artista pa!

GMANews.TV

Skate Asia 2007 starts with 25 contestants, Hosted by Philippines!

GMANews.TV


RP skaters vow to soar in Skate Asia 2007


By Tarra Quismundo
Inquirer
Last updated 09:29pm (Mla time) 08/12/2007


MANILA, Philippines--Clean pirouettes, snappy leaps and graceful glides marked the opening on Sunday of the biggest international recreational ice skating competition yet in Manila.

Promising "to set the ice on fire," more than 600 skaters from Asia and the United States started a week of friendly competition in Skate Asia 2007 at SM Mall of Asia.

It is the first and largest international skating event the country ever hosted since the Philippines' first rink opened at SM Megamall 15 years ago, according to Ric Camaligan, SM corporate officer and president of the Philippine Skating Union (PSU).

The event, sanctioned by the Ice Skating Institute (ISI), the international governing body for recreational skating, is expected to showcase the surprising Filipino skill in gliding, jumping and even dancing on ice, a talent that just a decade and a half ago was undiscovered in a country that has no winter.

"Here, we are trying to show that we are serious in skating. Bringing the Philippine flag in a world class competition is an honor," Camaligan said in his remarks to the gathering.

"This marks the first time that Skate Asia is held in the Philippines, here in the first and only Olympic-size rink in the country," said Steven Tan, SM regional operations manager.

The competition will pit 16 teams from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Singapore, Taipei, the United States and Manila in some 3,000 events, including male, female and mixed solos, couples events and ensemble programs, said Lavidz Chua, event officer.

The Philippines fielded three teams from three SM rinks. Participants range from two-year-olds to young adults.

"There are really no winners and losers here. Everybody gets medals ... even those who do not win gold, silver and bronze still get medals," Chua told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

"After each event, they get their medals within minutes. It's very informal because there are so many events," Chua explained about the competition, now on its ninth year.

The event, she said, was under "an entirely different category" than Olympics-level figure-skating competitions, as highly skilled skaters compete in the latter and participants represented countries, not rinks. Olympics-standard skating competitions fall under the auspices of the International Skating Union, an organization separate from the ISI.

Instead of technical criteria for judging, Chua said skaters would be judged based on how they would show the skills they had so far learned. Top-level ISI skaters would eventually graduate to ISU-standard competitions in time, she added.

Setting the tone for the weeklong competitions, the Philippine delegation showed what it can do by rendering a series of production numbers, from a reprise of a musical number in the hit animated movie "Happy Feet" to a medley of Broadway and Thai dances.

Cheers and applause erupted among spectators gathered around the rink and pressed against the ledge of the upper floor as the skaters wearing colorful costumes danced.

Tourism Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque Jr. urged participants to take the time to see the sights around the Philippines after the competition.

"There are a lot of sights to see, experiences to have, food to taste and have a wonderful time because Filipinos love to have a wonderful time," Jarque said.

4 statues of saints crying tears of blood?

GMANews.TV

Today's Latest Philippines News! New Typhoon again for RP!

GMANews.TV






Cebu, Inmates: Money donations come in for Cebu dancing inmates

Saksi: Cops raid factory for making fake 1,000-500peso bills

Funny Tv Show Live!

Japanese Wierd Live Octupos..[Exotic Food]