Free Republic

All eyes in Iran are on the bazaar, the nation's traditional marketplaces, where tensions have peaked over a proposed tax hike that has fused with other strains of discontent against the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since Tuesday, strikes in Tehran’s old bazaar rage on as merchants still refuse to accept the government’s proposal for an increase on their income tax. By some accounts, the bazaar protest is gathering momentum. In response to the growing demonstrations, increasing numbers of police are stationed not only around the bazaar but in various points throughout Tehran. Authorities have also shut down the bazaar,...

Tehran's Main Bazaar has AGAIN called for a national general strike today and an uprising against the Mullah regime by the same students involved in the Green Movement. In response, the Islamic Regime has ordered ALL offices, private or public in 18 Provinces - out of some 25 or so, (which seem to change from time to time) - approximately "States" in the USA - to be closed down from on Saturday.

1/22/2010 - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- More than 20 volunteers from the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing spent the morning with more than 30 sons of Afghan vendors Jan. 2, at the Kandahar Airfield Bazaar School. The school, which is in session each Saturday morning, was the idea of the Command Kandahar Airfield chief warrant officer who wanted to offer education to the children of Kandahar Airfield Bazaar traders. The boys, who are generally between ages 5 and 14, work with their fathers at the bazaar. When school facilitators, Canadians Capt. Scott Ash and Maj. Jen Setter, of the Kandahar...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Sept. 1, 2009 – With Iraqi forces now handling security in Iraq’s cities and towns, coalition forces get fewer chances to immerse themselves in Iraqi culture. Some hope that will change with the opening of an Iraqi bazaar here this month. “We want to get to a point where we give the feel of what a traditional bazaar is in Iraq,” said Army Capt. Andrew Nathan, a civil military operations officer with the 34th Infantry Division. “The business group that is setting this up is creating an ambiance of a bazaar or an oasis. It’s...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 23, 2009 – Soldiers with the 63rd Armor Regiment got the chance to buy homemade products and souvenirs and further the cause of Iraqi women and their families recently when they hosted a bazaar to sell the women’s handiwork. Soldiers from Task Force 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, buy from a vendor during a women's bazaar at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiya in Baghdad, Feb. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jamie Vernon  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "This is a great way for local women to improve their small businesses and take care...

Tehran's bazaar stays shut in VAT protest TEHRAN (AFP) — The Iranian capital's traditional bazaar stayed on strike on Sunday to back calls for the scrapping of VAT, even after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad froze implementation of the tax for two months Stalls were shuttered in the capital's main bazaar, an AFP correspondent said, with policemen in uniform and plainclothes patrolling the area. The main gate remained closed and shoppers left empty-handed. It is the first general strike at the bazaar since the revolution. The shutdown started in jewellery shops on Wednesday then spread to textile and carpet stalls, reaching its...

I attended a church bazaar this morning, and watched little kiddies posing with Santa. That started me wondering...

Apparently, Britney Spears is out to prove she's not a girl and very much a woman. Just days after baring her soul on Dateline, the pregnant pop tart is baring, well, everything else, for the cover of the August issue of Harper's Bazaar. The magazine confirmed Wednesday that Spears posed in the nude for the cover and an accompanying feature story and photo spread at a shoot on Thursday. Unfortunately for Harper's, said photos leaked onto the Internet shortly after the conclusion of the shoot and were available on various Websites as of Wednesday afternoon. In the images, a newly...

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2006 – Two suspected terrorists were captured yesterday in Afghanistan's Paktika province, and a makeshift bomb exploded in a bazaar in Khost province yesterday, injuring three civilians, military officials reported. Coalition forces in Paktika province's Sharan district captured the two men, who were suspected of involvement with roadside bombs. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, stopped two suspicious men near an Afghan National Police station and found land mines and timing devices in their possession. The men were turned over to Afghan police for questioning. "Improvised explosive devices are indiscriminate weapons of the criminals and insurgents who...

Recycled goods, including foodstuffs and magazines, are prized.BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the alleyways and streets near the main downtown Baghdad bus terminal, street merchants shouted loudly over the traffic and pedestrians. “Good quality products! Cheap prices! Come over and take a look!” Iraqis lined up three-deep in order to glance at the merchandise. For their efforts they saw stacks of magazines, lotions, books, food, and shampoos — some new, some second hand — all American.Ali Warrar, 35, took off his glasses and calmly said, “Not a dinar less than 750 (50 cents).” His customer kept turning the military MRE...

By Jimmy Moore Talon News September 23, 2004 Attempting to take political advantage of the devastating hurricanes that have hit Florida and the southeastern section of the United States in the past few weeks, liberal political action group MoveOn.org is saying that President George W. Bush is to blame for "making extreme weather stronger." CLICK ON LINK FOR REST OF "STORY" LOL