LUBED_WII_MOTE

please tell me more about how awesome it was to be in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Yeah. I bet a lot of you nerds forgot about that one.

Is it pronounced Wine-ding or wind-ing?

I just wanna say that your run was pretty awesome, but also even more awesome because you were fine with going at it with KFC at barstoolsports. He came at you with the fury of an experienced blogger and Internet tough guy and you handled him masterfully. Bravo.

Ruxin, you evil bastard.

Im not sure if you are still active here in this thread, but here it goes.

My understanding is that US-Iran relations were basically nonexistent after 2001; there were some under-the-table dealings between both country's intelligence services in the hunt for terrorists that was going well, until Bush's administration came out and identified Iran as a country on the "axis of evil."

Then of course, Iranians and Americans were subjected to a half-decade or so of saber-rattling from Ahmadinejad.

This new guy seems to be making the right moves, but again, warning signs are being raised from allies like israel, identifying Rouhani as a "wolf in sheeps clothing"

I know that Iran is a theocracy like Saudi Arabia, i know that your Council of 12 and Inner Council and the Ayatollah are nearly infallible in terms of decisions despite the larger presence of the elected govt and its President.

However, Saudi Arabia is an older country, established really to control the flow of oil from the region, while strict wahaabist law and super fat govt compensation keeps the majority of the population in check (hey guys, we're gonna pay for your home, your education, give you a job; just cover your wives in black and do what we say)

And Iran, while certainly a little nutty, still took care to preserve its cultural and theocratic history. Moslems, zoroastrian temples, jewish synagogues, votive figures and images, all preserved despite the perceived "radical" tenet of islam established there. If these sites were in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, etc; they would be and they were destroyed.

So now Rouhani is playing nice and it makes me think a few things: Rouhani would of been part of the faction that led the drive to preserve these historical sites, if he had the chance, and he wants US-Iran relations lesst ense because it makes a lot of sense economically. Opening up to the West means a lot more opportunity for Iranians to make money. Also, i want to visit someday and not be killed/tortured/held indefinitely.

Thoughts on my conclusions?