Free Republic

Analysis: How Iranians are Avoiding Sanctions April 14, 2008 The Financial Times Anna Fifield in Tehran When Shahrom, a Tehran developer, wants to transfer thousands of dollars to his property investment business in Dubai, or to associates in the US, he does not go to the bank. Instead, like thousands of other Iranian business people, he turns to his trusted money changer. Using a centuries-old financial transfer system known as havaleh in Iran and elsewhere as hawala, its Arabic name, Shahrom moves his money easily – and just about invisibly. “I usually transfer money into my own account in Dubai...

I know a lot of dumb people who’ve said a lot of dumb things. In fact, I am one of those people. I’ve said that only-children tend to be spoiled in front of people who didn’t have brothers and sisters. I’ve made fun of people without college educations in front of people who it turned out never went to college. I regularly make a complete and total ass out of myself. I should probably find a way to get paid for it at this point; I do it so often, it’s like a part-time job. But for all the dumb...

Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has sent a letter to one of Ariel Sharon's sons apologizing for suggesting that the prime minister's massive stroke was divine punishment for his withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last year. Robertson's' comments last week drew widespread condemnation from other Christian leaders, US President George W. Bush and Israeli officials, who canceled plans to include the evangelist in the construction of a major Christian tourist center in northern Israel.