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* Majid Rafizadeh: The "Maximum Pressure" on Iran's Regime
* Lawrence Kadish: The Spreading Scourge of Illusory Superiority


** The "Maximum Pressure" on Iran's Regime ([link removed])
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by Majid Rafizadeh • July 22, 2020 at 5:00 am
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mum-pressure&pubid=ra-52f7af5809191749&ct=1&title=The+%22Maximum+Pressure%22+on+Iran%27s+Regime [link removed]
* For almost four decades, Iran's regime has been squandering the nation's resources on terror and militia groups... It is estimated that the regime has spent more than $100 billion on its nuclear program.
* Many employees of the government, including coal workers and railroad workers, have been protesting unpaid wages and salaries. One protester told Iran News Wire, "I wish I would get COVID-19. Many of us do. Committing suicide is hard but we wish for death every day. What we have is not a life."
* Some of Iran's authorities have publicly announced that they also do not have money to pay their mercenaries abroad.
* Iran's mullahs have no one to blame but themselves for the country's drastic economic situation. They simply need to start prioritizing their own people over sponsoring and funding terror and militia groups across the region.

The Iranian regime is facing an unprecedented level of pressure, which, if it continues, can threaten the ruling mullahs' hold on power. Iran's currency, the rial, which has been in free fall in the last few weeks, has plunged to a record low. Pictured: Traders from Tehran's Grand Bazaar gather on June 25, 2018 to protest the collapse of rial's value, shortly after the Trump administration started its "maximum pressure" policy against Tehran. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

The Iranian regime is facing an unprecedented level of pressure, which, if it continues, can threaten the ruling mullahs' hold on power. Iran's currency, the rial, which has been in free fall in the last few weeks, has plunged to a record low. As of July 18, 2020, a US dollar is now worth approximately 250,000 rials. Before the current US administration imposed a "maximum pressure" policy against Tehran, a US dollar had equaled nearly 30,000 rials.

People, as they see the value of their money depreciating by almost ten-fold, have been rushing to get foreign currency. Last month, Iran's oil exports also sank to a record low. Three years ago, Iran was exporting roughly 2.5 million barrels of oil a day. According to the latest reports, Iran's oil export is now around 70,000 barrels a day -- a reduction of nearly 97%. The country's budget heavily relies on selling oil.

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** The Spreading Scourge of Illusory Superiority ([link removed])
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by Lawrence Kadish • July 22, 2020 at 4:00 am
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* Illusory Superiority is a quality that now afflicts many in public policy who think they know most things better than the mayor, the governor, or the president.
* This is an army of professional "seldom right - but never in doubt" individuals who seem to be singularly unphased by their ability to get so much so wrong.
* If the goal of the newspaper is brainwashing and indoctrination, like Russia's Pravda, its executives, of course, are perfectly right to harness thought; but that is a business decision about profits and market share. It should not be confused with journalism.
* Those in politics, whether staff or politicians, possessed of illusory superiority may well bring down the republic. Quite a few seem convinced that by losing the executive branch, the House and the Senate, they are somehow saving the country rather than actually pulling the grenade-pin that will bring about the collapse of the nation's economy, free-speech, and our very future.

Lawrence Kadish.

We all know someone whose favorite pastime seems to be knowing something about everything better than anyone.

You know.

The one who lamented to a friend, "I told my husband he should not have sold that stock!"

"Well," was the response, "Then maybe, you would like to invest some of your own money yourself?"

That was, apparently, not the right answer. Still, that sardonic exchange, labeled, "illusory superiority," and once confined to inconsequential conversation, has now seeped into our political world, harming the ability to voice opinions, destroying open campus debate, and creating an environment that despite the opinion of the voters, allows government staff to view itself as far smarter than the person elected to office.

Illusory superiority is defined by Wikipedia as:

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