Persecution of Bahais in Iran (column in The Northeastern)

Have we really come as far from the Holocaust as we would like to think? As we all know, Jews of the time were fiercely persecuted, executed and stripped of basic human rights.
Members of the Bahá’í Faith are living this reality in Iran and few people know it. The Bahá’í Faith was founded in Iran in 1844 and is a peaceful monotheistic world religion that believes in the unity of all religions, all peoples, all races and all mankind.
Bahá’ís have been persecuted since the inception of their religion. Beginning with the Iranian revolution of 1979, there was a new-founded vengeance for the Bahá’ís. Many had to flee for their lives to America, leaving behind loved ones unable or unwilling to travel.
However, many Bahá’ís still live in Iran, making it the largest minority religion in the nation and they are continuously challenged to this day. Then Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saw to it when he wrote the formerly secret memorandum in 1991 (discovered by the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 1993) making it legal to suppress the Bahá’í community of Iran.
Khamenei’s document is still in effect, denying Bahá’ís in Iran pension, employment, the right to inherit property and enrollment in university among other rights. As if this weren’t bad enough, the Iranian government began seizing and desecrating Bahá’í graves and holy places. Bahá’í citizens are also being arrested and detained for unknown reasons and lengths of time.
One thing I find very interesting, as a citizen of the United States, is when people often complain about the “lack of freedom” we Americans possess. This seems so ironic to me. The First Amendment itself is proof of this freedom. In Iran, for example, citizens aren’t allowed to speak out against their government at all.
I consider myself to be lucky to have simply been born here. It’s luck of the draw, really, where we end up in the world. I could just as easily have been in Iran and be fighting for my rights every second of every day, rather than sitting here in a cushy air-conditioned office writing about it.
Those of you reading this may be wondering why I’m even writing about this, why I even care; it’s because I find the subject to be very close to me.
I am a member of the Bahá’í Faith. And I am proud.
So for those of you who have gotten this far, I am asking you to take some time to think about our brothers and sisters in Iran.
My main point is this: we all have basic human rights. Just because these men, women, and children are not in our country does not mean they should be ignored. What is happening there is a travesty and a massacre.
July 25, 2009 is Global Day of Action through United for Iran, a non-partisan effort to stop all of the wrongful actions in Iran, not just to Bahá’ís. In honor of these noble men and women, step up and use your voice because they can’t.
For more information visit the United States Bahá’ís’ official page on persecution in Iran at iran.bahai.us. Also, go to united4iran.com for more information on July 25’s events. And for those of you on twitter, @BahaiUS.
e-mail Molly Turner at molly_turner90@yahoo.com.

The Return

It's been a while and I don't have much going on right now except the musical which, at this point, I REALLY don't want to write about. So, a list!

The Top Ten Pop Culture-y Things I'm All About Right Now

10. 30 Rock - Tina Fey has found the perfect recipe for the perfect ending to the NBC comedy line-up: one part great cast, one part great guest stars, one part doesn't try too hard, and one part Tina Fey wit and humor. When I heard Tina Fey (among others) was not returning for the 32nd season of Saturday Night Live, I was heartbroken. But her great sense of timing and dialogue lives on in this show that doesn't miss a beat, and well, rocks.

9. Smallville - If you are not caught up on Smallville, just skip to number 8. This season is crazier than ever. With every episode comes a fresh batch of bum-kicking Clark, hilarious lines by Lois Lane, tragic romances coming together and falling apart, new dark plots intertwining and creating a knot of suspense in the stomachs of all viewers, and superheroes using their superpowers, not to mention bringing us one step closer to the truly evil Lex we all know (and love?) and with any luck the demise of Lana Lang, the weakest link in this amazing show. No wonder I can't wait for each week's fresh episode. Wait--was that the WB's slogan?

8. Radiohead - I have liked this band for a while, but I'm getting my second wind, so to speak. I first acquainted myself with the trippy OK Computer and loved every minute of it. Now, however, I am onto The Bends, the more pop rock of the two, and I can't stop listening to it. Each song brings forth a "I LOVE this song!" from me, but I can't help it, 'cause I do.

7. Gilmore Girls - DON'T SPOIL ANYTHING PAST SEASON FIVE FOR ME! I have, clearly, only seen the first five seasons (because that is all Sarah owns on DVD thus far) but let's put it this way: I watched five seasons in a month. That's 110 episodes in less than four weeks. Nothing has kept me that enthralled since I first discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which is a high compliment for this show). I'll admit I was totally against the idea of GG for most of my life. I felt it was grouped in with shows like 7th Heaven, Everwood, One Tree Hill, and other trash. But, the rumor of incredible dialogue and Sarah's promise that it was good drew me in and now I'm dying, literally, DYING waiting for the cliffhanger of Season Five to be resolved when I can finally cradle Season Six in my arms. "Luke, will you marry me?"

6. Veronica Mars - Though the geniuses behind our favorite girl sleuth have been pressured to change things this season, the show remains as suspenseful, hilarious, intellectual, gripping, and surprising as it was in the past. New characters have been introduced for the better to create more drama and I'm still completely caught up in the epic love of Logan and Veronica (though where has Wallace been lately?). Keep it up, V. We all love you.

5. Rufus Wainwright - Let me just say that if he weren't gay, I would totally marry him. Listening to Rufus Wainwright is like swimming in a sea of chocolate. I feel physical pain in the fact that I only own two of his albums and am greatly anticipating May 15's Release the Stars, his latest masterpiece that is promised to be much more operatic. MORE operatic? Be still my heart!

4. Forever in Blue - I won't say much about this fourth (and I can only assume final) installment in the Travelling Pants series by Ann Brashares except, "Pants = Love."

3. Dreamgirls - Go see this movie. If you don't, you'll regret it. And I won't make fun of you sob during Jennifer Hudson's notorious, "And No Way I'm Telling You I'm Not Going." I mean, she got nominated for an oscar for a reason.

2. King Dork - This is the audiobook I'm currently listening to. I'm not even sure I could tell you the plot at this point except that it involves crazy people, ever-changing band names (such as Baby Batter), Catcher in the Rye, dead dads, Little Big Toms, and awesomeness. It's freakin' hilarious and I highly recommend you to take whatever you will from it.

1. The Office - When you look up bittersweet in the dictionary, Pam and Jim are what's listed. This show is seriously getting better every week. The Pam and Jim dynamic is still heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Michael Scott is still doing things that make you cringe and pee your pants your laughing so hard at the same time. Dwight's still a psycho. And every other character on the show is still amazing. I feel as if this show was made for me, especially since February 15's episode will be directed by none other than the amazing Joss Whedon.

Agree? Disagree? Comment!

Does anyone else smell roasting chestnuts?

Ah, only seven days until Christmas. This calls for a list!

The Top Ten Best Things About the Christmas Season

10. Stockings - Stockings in some ways are better than the actual presents under the tree. Mom always has a beautiful presentation on Christmas morning and the stockings are always the first thing I go for. They're filled with fun little trinkets and doodads. Do you see how infectious the Christmas spirit is? I'm using the words trinkets and doodads.

9. Seeing family you haven't seen all year - Most of you think this should probably be closer to the bottom, and I guess it should, but my family is crazy. Not to say that I don't enjoy them, because I dearly love them. But my dad and uncle always get their panties in a twist and my cousin always gets upset by my aunt, and well, just family stuff. But when we get all together, we have a great time.

8. Buying presents - It's fun to shop in the first place, but shopping for gifts is usually pretty fun. I always have a really hard time shopping for Dad, and Austin usually takes me a while to figure out, but otherwise, it's an easy thing to do that gets me in the Christmas mood. And that's what it's all about, right?

7. Getting presents - I'm not going to lie. I like receiving just a little bit better than giving. But just barely. But opening presents is only fun when those around you are doing the same and experiencing the same feelings.

6. Christmas movies - I love movies, and some of my favorites are of the Christmas variety, like "The Santa Clause," or, "A Christmas Story." (If you haven't seen it, catch it on TNT all Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--it's a must.) Watching one of these light movies with the same morals of family and Christmasness is one of the absolute best ways to get into the Christmas season, especially when they start in November!

5. Holiday specials - A prime example of this one is "A Charlie Brown Christmas." It's incredibly fun to see the characters you watch every week (for those of you who watch as much TV as I do) go through the holiday season. This year, my favorite has definitely been The Office's, "A Benihana Christmas." It was one of the funniest episodes of the season, but also emphasized the holiday season in a hilarious way. Catch it if you can.

4. Christmas music - The one thing that my brain truly triggers as being the Christmas season is the Choir Christmas concert every year. Hearing the traditional carols/precessionals/pieces that I've known for approximately eleven years is comforting to say the least and is one of my favorite Christmas events of all time. (see also #3) Being a part of it isn't too bad, either. I also love how every store releases a limited edition Christmas album, though I never buy them (that's Sarah's job). It's fun to hear modern day musicians break out of their everyday mold and get into the spirit with everyone else.

3. Traditions - One minor tradition my family has is that we can only open up on present on Christmas Eve and have to save the rest for the next morning. This is usually the last thing we do before going to bed and after watching some sort of holiday movie. Though it's hard for me to resist opening more, I'm always thankful for this because Christmas morning is well worth the wait. My family doesn't have many traditions in general, but every year on Christmas Eve, for as long as I can remember, my brother, sister, and I all sleep in the same room. It's one I hope to continue for as long as I can and encourage my children (if I have any) to carry on. We each have already made plans for what we'll do the first time one of us can't be there. A Christmas without this tradition wouldn't be one at all to me.

2. The Spirit - Shoppers on Black Friday whine about the insanity of women clamoring for the last Tickle Me Elmo, but when it comes down to it, people generally behave better on Christmas. It's the one time of year, that people slow down and take a break from their jobs, however short it may be, to appreciate those around them and be thankful for what they have (because everyone knows that Thanksgiving isn't really a cool holiday and saves all of their thanking for Christmas). People give to charity and volunteer at shelters when they necessarily wouldn't have otherwise. In short (you wish), Christmas brings out the best in all of us.

1. Christmas morning - Everything on this list just builds up to the one moment everyone waits for--Christmas morning. At our old house, the three of us kids would always wake up the rest of the household, then wait anxiously in the kitchen for them to amble in and settle in the living room. Once this was done, we would race in and take in everything. No matter what is recieved, it's the feelings that count. My dad, the twenty-first century's Ebenezer Scrooge, even gets excited about it. I love watching my family open my gifts to them, not to mention seeing what Santa brings.

Oh, crap. I left him off of this list. The real Santa now lives in Iowa, though. So, I guess it's okay. Ah, the products of not being able to sleep are amazing, aren't they?

Anyway, I hope this post has helped to enlighten the few of you who will read it as to why I love Christmas and to get into the Christmas spirit.

Sixteen Candles!

My day started off with arriving at school and having Brian Gaylor tell me happy birthday. I'm pretty sure that's like, the third thing he's ever said to me. Anyway, a few other people told me happy birthday, then my brotha from anotha motha (Patrick--we have the same birthday)


gave me a gift. I felt really bad because I hadn't gotten him anything. He made me a really pretty burnt orange scarf and gave me a keychain that said something like, "A waist is a terrible thing to mind." Whatever THAT means...anyway, he brought cupcakes



and kool-aid.



I brought napkins. Madison brought cups (only four--she forgot about Beki) and we had a little party.

That's Patrick, Beki and Haley.

It was pretty fun. The rest of the school day was allright. I didn't have an incredible amount of work in any of my classes, but I did have a quiz in Chemistry and Microbiology. They were pretty easy, though. In tech, we just hung out and talked. Then, Madison and I came home and ate and I opened my presents. I got the Project Runway MyScene Barbie and Madison got me two Spamalot tickets (once they go on sale)! I gave Mom peppermint lotion, The DaVinci Code on DVD, and a Joey Russo (yes, of Blossom) bookmark.

Andrew came over around 5:15. We ate and the three of us decided which men in People's Sexiest Man Alive issue were actually worthy. Then, at 6:00 (call) I decided to go ahead and get dressed/ready for the play. We got there at 6:20-ish and hung out backstage. It seemed like a ridiculously long time of doing NOTHING. Madison and I peeked out into the audience a lot. We were preeeeeetty booooored. Finally, it started. I think it went pretty well. I messed up one part of my story and one of my costumes fell apart, but that's theatre, right?

Afterwards, Madison and I talked to Andrew and Koty (sorry, no pictures) then we went to McDonald's with them because Koty wanted two double cheeseburgers. Once we returned to the house, we watched an episode of Family Guy and a little bit of The Soup. We then travelled to the movie theatre and saw Casino Royale. When we got there, Chris DUVall (that was intentional--that's how hicks say DuVall) was waiting for me with a gift! He gave me a farting card, Superman blowouts (those little things that make noise) and two movie gift certificates. Not too shabby. We went in and the seating was as follows:
Mom-Melanie-Micah-Madison-Me-Koty-Andrew.

I made sure that Koty was a movie talker before I began to talk. And talk. And talk. I talked through the entire movie. When I wasn't talking to Madison and when Koty wasn't talking cars to Andrew, we talked about various things, like tuxes, and the poor make-up and hair choices for the Bond girl (don't worry, he's not gay). It was really fun. Madison was freaked out and scared of the movie until about half way through. Seelee chiiiiiuld. (Fred Armisen, yo.) We were all somewhat dissatisfied with the movie, but I enjoyed it. Then at 12:30, the four of us went our seperate ways for the night. Madison and I watched the super lame season finale of Degrassi, then called it a night.

Not much else happened for the rest of the weekend, except the play. On Saturday, I made my first movie with my new camera. It's called A Day With Lois Lane and the software I used is really awesome. I put it on my iPod and burned it to a DVD in a matter of minutes! I showed it off at the play that night. The next day, Simon gave me his gift--he made a pair of earrings that were soup cans and said The Soup on them! (I have a picture, but it won't upload for some reason--maybe there's a limit per post...) It was really awesome. My friends are so much more creative than I am.

On Sunday, Mom drove me and Madison to Muskogee after our final show (thank the Lord it's over!) and we saw Stranger Than Fiction. It was really, really good, but that theatre was really, really hot. We went to El Chico next, and the food seemed especially good. Lastly, we went to Hastings and I used my gift card from Ayyamiha to buy the new season of Family Guy. It's definitely better than the season before.

Well, that pretty much sums up the first weekend of my sixteenth year to be alive.

Fifteen and 177/178 Candles

Three days until I'm sixteen. Just thought I should share that with you.

Expect a post tomorrow concerning the early gift(s) I recieve from Dad and Sarah.

Take Two Cyst Removal

So, I woke up at 5:15 this morning for surgery. Dad stayed in bed and didn't come to the hospital with us, but it actually went very smoothly this time. The anesthesiologist came in before the nurse put my IV in. He was really nice, and told us that if the nurses didn't get it on the first try, to come and get him. A few minutes later, he just came back and did it himself...and got it on the first try! Yay for not being stabbed with a needle five times! I'm not going to really paragraph this entry, by the way. The best part about the whole day was seeing this crazy old man from last year's car show (whose son, coincidentally, beat Shadow) with the back of his gown hanging open. Thank God he had his old people boxers on. They took me back pretty much on time. Paul was the only person who was dawdling. Finally, they knocked me out and cut me open and--it wasn't a cyst after all. Just scar tissue that happened to form like a cyst on the nerve. So he took a lot more precautions with the way he sutured and whatnot so it won't happen again (and so that I won't get to use my cyst removal punch card). This time I get to wear my splint for two weeks. It's kinda like having a cast, I guess, only not as bad (not that I remember).

"I'm Always Around."

Ah, Superman Returns, perhaps the best film to be released during the summer of 2006. Good enough for me to pay an approximated $46.50 to see it seven times, once at the IMAX in 3-D, an experience every superfan should have. Much like my previous post, http://rooneyplanet.blogspot.com/2005/12/day-with-rooney.html, this is going to chronicle my love for Superman and how that came to be.

I was never into comic books. Only recently have I dabbled in a few comics related to specific storylines in different series due to interest in future films, television shows, etc (ex., The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Pheonix Saga...). But the first superhero I really remember is Superman, played by Dean Cain on The Adventures of Lois & Clark. He was never my favorite, per se; I never really had a favorite, but Superman was always around.

Fast-forward to October 16, 2001: the series premiere of Smallville. I remember watching the first three or four episodes of it, but never really getting into it, mainly because I didn't know that much about Superman, and diving into knee-deep superlore as a ten year old isn't exactly a fun thought. But in November of 2005, my freshman year of high school, I jumped in...and great Caesar's ghost was it wonderful. Smallville is one of the most well-written shows the WB ever produced (Joss Whedon's work aside) with characters and plot to boot. It's addictive and thought provoking and impossible to stop watching. Thus began my love for Superman.

As June 28, 2006 drew closer my anticipation grew. I had never seen a Superman movie all the way through, never picked up a comic book, but I knew the icon and I knew Bryan Singer, and that was enough. The night before the premiere, I saw Superman: The Movie for the first time. It's campiness was overwhelming in the tone of the film, but the man Christopher Reeve presented was the man the world knows, loves, and most importantly needs.

Butterflies flitted in my stomach as the theatre darkened. Unmemorable popcorn and previews whizzed by and it finally began. The Superman Theme, perhaps the best of John Williams's work, danced in my ears and excited the audience in an almost patriotic way. Countless references to the original Salkind brothers' productions were artfully woven throughout the film from the title crawl, to minor plot devices, to almost exact lines, to star, Brandon Routh's mannerisms. Every single scene, shot, frame, and sound was absolutely perfect. Routh expertly mixed Christopher Reeve's classic portrayal with his own contemporary view of the effigy was perfect for the masterfully crafted film and Kevin Spacey brought a toned-down Lex Luthor to the mix, a refreshing change. Screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris created the deft love triangle where the audience felt as though Lois should almost be with the everyday superhero and good guy, Richard (James Marsden), rather than the lovelorn Superman. Secondary characters Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) and Kitty Kowalski (Parker Posey), Lex's latest fodder, brought an understated sense of humor to the film. Nothing about it bothered me, except the uncharacteristcally subdued Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) who seemed a little too road-weary to hunt down a story. The cheap plot device of giving Lois Lane a son bothered me because it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the Superverse, but Tristan Lake Leabu (Jason White) was so charming and sweet, it worked. A particularly poignant moment is when kryptonite-poisoned Superman lies unconscious in the hospital Jason kisses his unknown father on the forehead.

In short (you wish), Superman represents something our society has needed, currently longs for, and will always strive for: truth, justice, and the American way. And Superman Returns is an articulate monument to that.

"I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one."