© the eyeranian

Just Random Reflections on News

109 Iranian lawmakers resign - Should I really care that the powerless 6th Majlis of the revolutionary era doesn't even have the two third norm of a quorum and it is therefore illegal and illegitimate now? No, as it was never legal OR legitimate to begin with. An election that is not free is not valid and not a single election has been held in Iran for the past decades (some say ever) that had allowed participation of all who wish to run and therefore electing an assembly that is reflective of the people it supposedly represents.

Holding or not holding a mockery of an election, makes very little difference to me, even if they hold a web based opinion survey to see if people will participate in it or not. I'll write about this in detail, but for now, even the Super Bowl news is more exciting...

The Big Game is Almost Here - As you are watching the game on CBS, let's remember their unfair practice of picking and choosing what commercials can run during their broadcast, based on ideology. The airwaves are public and owned by all of us. Those who have been provided with the privilege to use a portion of this public property to operate a business on, must remember their obligation to be reflective of all ideas in a society and provide the necessary conditions to allow ALL parts of the community to participate in this great exercise we call democracy.

MoveOn.org, the organization who had their ad rejected by CBS has organized a one minute boycott of the network and is asking all viewers to switch channels at two certain spots and watch the rejected commercial over at CNN. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, this will be a good and easy task in defense of freedom of speech. Hope you take part in it.

(Did I jinx the Pats you think? We'll see I suppose.)

US military authorized transfer of 19bn new Iraqi dinars - $12 million carried in cash to buy armored vehicles? All of it in new Iraqi currency and flown out of Baghdad airport? I'm not buying it.

Bush Sidesteps Call for Outside Probe on Iraq WMD - What is "W" scared of? They didn't say he was guilty of anything yet. Just that a non-partisan entity should investigate to see whether the humongous faux-pas about Iraq's WMD that could have been launched in 40 minutes and were stockpiled in warehouses we already were aware of, was an intelligence deficiency or a deliberate falsehood propagated by politicians to justify an illegal act.

I just put myself in his shoes and think that if I was innocent of any wrongdoing, wouldn't I be eager to have the matter investigated so the truth comes out and exonerates me of any possible misconduct? So, what is he trying to hide?

Pay The Spy, Damnit!

Despite what I said before, I am starting to like this Zakeri guy somewhat. For a "high-ranking intelligence official", he can't get a single one of his stories right and more interestingly, he can't keep his mouth shut.

He is in Germany trying to convince a court that Iranian officials told him about Al-Qaeda secret meetings in Iran and even predicted the terrorist attack will happen on "September 10th or 12th". It doesn't end there though. He also claims he contacted his CIA handler and warned him of the imminent dangers. You heard right, I said CIA handler. You see, Zakeri has now decided that he was a "double agent" and is actually asking for $1.2 million CIA owes him for his services, going as far back as 1992.

That is just a wonderful way to establish your credibility, isn't it. Particularly in a court of law. To admit to being a "double agent" and establishing that you are indeed a professional liar to have managed such a lifestyle for over a decade.

Amazingly, there's still a small number of Iranians who believe this creature!

Can We Talk?

It's official. Senator Arlen Specter has confirmed that while having a formal dinner with Iranian ambassador to the UN, Mr. Javad Zarif last week, both sides have agreed to finally hold official "government-to-government" meetings and as such a delegation of US congressional aides will travel to Iran next month. I'd be the last person on earth to condemn dialogue. Conducted in a healthy environment and with proper perspectives on both sides, sitting across a table and discussion of even most complicated topics is the only true way of achieving a just and lasting solution to any problem, even if it follows years of hostility and mistrust.

Having said that, this sudden turn of fortunes, along with other recent signs and rumors (Iran's involvement in Saddam's capture, relative soft new stand by the administration towards Iran, the "reform" movement's official demise and a hopeless attempt by MP's to involve people) are rather suspect and my distrustful Iranian mind has a hard time digesting it all so easily.

The "Guardian Council" has already reversed a bunch of disqualifications. I suspect the "leader" will speak over the next couple of days and describes the sit-in as an immature over-reaction and threatens that its continuation will be seen as endangering the regime (a charge that carries automatic death-penalty). With that, a bunch of disqualified candidates will give-up and the rest will go home with their tails between their legs. Legitimacy of the regime will come under a big question mark if only 10% of eligible voters bother to come out for the upcoming parliamentary elections. A life-saving shot needs to revive this corpse again, even if it means making good with "Great Satan".

The only remaining question will be, who the new figurehead will be to be in charge of this new distraction. Who knows? maybe the soft-spoken, smiling, bilingual and charismatic Zarif himself is already selected for the role. Maybe its a certain Rafsanjani off-spring. Most likely, it'll be someone we couldn't possibly guess. Let's see.

Inside Iran

I don't know how many of you were able to watch tonight's Nightline but Ted Koppel (the guy who wouldn't have the show if it wasn't for Iran and those foolish hostage-takers) hosted a half-hour program titled Inside Iran and it was one of the most realistic, non-sensational, balanced reports I have seen on Iran in a while. I couldn't help but to think of how effective Jane Kokan could have been, had she also approached her subject as Nightline producers did.

I have had no success in finding a transcript of the show, but if you do, please leave it in comments. Here are some of the ponts made I can recall:

- Improvements in Iran have largely stayed limited to non-political issues.

- Student movement and its leaders have lost faith in "reformers".

- The sit-in by MP's has very little public support.

- There isn't a clear alternative yet.

Now only if I could find more details...

Mystic Iran

I just finished watching Aryana Farshad's Mystic Iran and quite honestly am not sure how I feel about it yet. It is shot nicely enough, although I don't know why she'd be so short of footage to use repeated frames of teenagers in the park for example. The editing is above par but I wish she had used more added effects, like the last shot of Dervish's white hair flipping in front of the lens. Narrations by Shohreh Aghdashloo are a plus, but my non-Farsi speaking friend had a really hard time catching the Farsi names she so quickly goes over without annunciating them properly: Ahuramazda, Dashte Kavir Desert, etc.

Then there's the attempt to use the traditional shot of camera moving over the map to show the upcoming locations, but it feels inadequate as realistically only a couple of spots on Iranian map are covered, leaving the viewer wanting for more of the map to be explored. Perhaps that is the primary shortcoming of the movie; too little is covered. I think to explore the topic of Iranian mysticism, investigating Zoroastrian practices and one Sufi order may be a good start, but is hardly adequate or reasonable. I was left yearning for more, tell me about other Muslim divisions, Jewish customs, Baha'i traditions, various Christian sects as well as non-mainstream faiths practicing their version of mysticism in Iran today.

But maybe that is a positive aspect for the work. To leave you wanting more.

More on Neo-Con/MKO connections

They have not been able to kill the Richard Perle story yet. He now admits to being a paid speaker at an event to support an organization this administration has labeled as "terrorist" but claims he was unaware of the connection. I can't possibly imagine a way he could have missed the picture of Mayam Rajavi, the MKO co-leader on the official program/brochure for the event or the giant posters hanging at the venue.

While the assets of "Iranian-American Community of Northern Virginia", the main organizers for the event was seized by the Treasury Department, the guest of honor is busy with his Whitehouse duties, seemingly unfazed by the whole mess. I'm no lawyer, but going through various sections of the Patriot Act and ACLU's analysis of it, I believe there are some grounds Perle may be charged under this horrible piece of legislation. Maybe it's time for Ashcroft to send Perle to Guantanamo Bay. Law practitioner visitors, help me out here.

On a related but different note, Fox News (the Bush Neo-Con's mouthpiece) has been using Alireza Jafarzadeh as one of his commentators on Middle-East. Jafarzadeh has acted as the U.S. representative for "National Council of Resistance -NCR- (another pseudonym for MKO) and is currently active with a new outfit called "Iranian Renaissance Movement". His MKO connection has enraged even Republican Bob Ney of Ohio, but Jafarzadeh maintains that he was 'freelancing' for NCR and that was all before the group was added to the list of terrorist organizations by the State Dept.

This is despite the fact that even as late as August 2003, he was acknowledged as the "the National Council of Resistance's U.S.-based representative".

I don't know if I'm disgusted or saddened by this whole charade. I just hope one day we can look back at this period as instrumental and helpful in divulging the true character of various players involved in Iranian politics on the way to build a strong and healthy democracy. A real democracy with clarity and accountability and without the current games of deception.

Frustrating Dean Campaign

Dean dumped Joe Trippi. As his ex-campaign manager, Trippi was obviously a genius in the way he revolutionized every campaign that will ever be run, with his clever use of technology and the internet in particular. But as someone who has organized, managed, volunteered at and fronted a bunch of election campaigns in the past, I can tell you that working with people under his authority was one of the most frustrating experiences ever.

I don't know if its already too late for Dean to make a change or if Roy Neel intends to run things differently, but I can tell you that this far the campaign has managed to very effectively alienate scores of possible supporters, endorsers and donors. Last time I spoke with one of Trippi's organizers, I was so irritated as it was obvious they have no idea how to handle any inquiries or even simple policy questions. It seemed like the campaign was so internet-centered, they expected everyone to get on their site, read the blog, sign-up for a meet-up meeting or home gathering and make a contribution. ALL of it on the internet and without much two-way interaction.

In short, Howard Dean's campaign has so far managed to be so technology-based, it has gone overboard. Let's see if the new boss is wise enough and has the authority to change that.

Prince of Darkness & MKO

I am sure you all know who Richard Perle is by now. The man often referred to as "Prince of Darkness" is credited as the head Neo-Conservative in charge of Whitehouse' foreign policy and Middle East in particular. He was recently accused of being more concerned with what benefits the state of Israel ahead of taking care of his own country's interest. Although some may argue those two are the same, I subscribe to a different point of view.

As far as Iran is concerned, it is rumored for a long time that he has been the prime supporter of Mojahedine-Khalq Organization (MKO or MEK) within the administration, but now the support seems less clandestine. On January 24th, he was a speaker at "A Night of Solidarity", a fundraiser for "the Iranian Resistance" (one of pseudonyms for MKO) combined with a concert by the Gypsy Kings and Iranian performers. Notice the clever way of using "Earthquake Victims" in the official program brochure. You could be forgiven for thinking perhaps some of the events proceeds will be helping the Bam sufferers, but that's another story for another time.

In the past, I have expressed my position on MKO and its leadership, as well as their tactics, even their links to the Neo-Cons. However, as a supposedly leftist and progressive entity, the original founders of the organization must be turning in their graves when Ashcroft is your main endorser and Perle a guest of honor at your events. After all, aren't we often judged by the company we keep? And all of it despite the "terrorist" label put on the group by U.S. government too.

Do I Even Exist?

A certain person who seems to hold this humongous animosity towards me bordering on hatred (despite the fact that we've never even met to my knowledge), is very busy within various blogs and sites spreading all sorts of misinformation about me. Sometimes impersonating me in comments (and being stupid enough to leave footprints), even contacting other bloggers and site administrators with stuff that is just way out there.

The latest he (I believe) has managed to fabricate is that I don't even exist! Apparently this blog is work of a group, we all leave our own comments and link to stories we have planted on other sites, etc.

I really don't know what makes a person go off the deep end like that, after all, many of the regulars and visitors here know me well and in person. Funny how they actually chose one of those same people to contact and make public the fact that I don't exist!!

Why do I bring this up? I truly don't care but just wanted you to be aware, in case you receive similar information.

Since I do not exist, here's a picture of our "group" with Ed Broadbent I found this morning along with a bunch more (I'll post them soon and when appropriate):

Cartoon

How Embarrassing

No matter how old you get, trying to show your mother to surf a couple of sites and opening your mailbox with one of the spams that include a picture of a huge penis to try to sell you some pills or vacuum or whatever, is still one of life's most embarrassing moments.

Flying Machines

When I included Muttley in the list of animated series popular in Iran, I got two emails telling me I was wrong and/or asking who the hell Muttley was. If you don't recall this star of Hanna-Barbera's classic Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, perhaps the above picture can help. If you're still not sure, listen to his laugh below and you'll remember:

Go Shohreh, Go!

What a year for individual Iranian women 2003 was. Now this makes it even better with recognition of yet another one for her great work. Shohreh Aghdashloo will forever be known as an Oscar nominated actress, even if she won't win one in March. She will also be the first Iranian actor or actress ever nominated for the award.

Here's an interview with her, plus the full list of all nominees. Now I can admit to not having seen the movie yet and promise to take my parents to see it together this week!

I hope we will all celeberate the day ALL Iranian women achieve their final objective and can look forward to taking back all their rights in a free and democratic Iran.

Ed Broadbent, MP

It was all a rather dull day until I got the news in my inbox. Ed Broadbent has won the NDP nomination to run in the Ottawa Centre riding for Canada's next federal election to be held sometime this spring. This is indeed great news on many fronts. First for people of Ottawa Centre who will have a member of Parliament with 21 years of experience, impeccable credentials and a team that will be second to none. Second for all Canadians who have missed the presence of a strong progressive voice in their federal politics over the past decade or so and now with Ed onboard and Jack Layton at the helm, may get the opportunity to bring some balance to what has been a government of right, with extreme-right as opposition. Lastly for NDP members and activists, plus all others who have struggled for so long to keep the principals and values of a great nation alive under the most severe attacks by the forces of money and power, and will now probably get an opportunity to see the fruits of their effort.

Although I didn't have the honour to work closely with Ed and ran for the party after his leadership tenure had ended, I have had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions, attend various functions and participate in discussions with him involved. He has never failed to impress me and I am sure he will continue to amaze other Canadians as well, the way he did for so many years. A prominent political opponent once pulled me aside in a public function to say despite his qualms with our message, he felt Ed was perhaps the best Prime Minister Canada never had. He certainly was and will be again one of the best Members of Parliament we have ever had and after this spring may be a big part of the official opposition. Go Ed, Go!

President Match

AOL has this "toy" called President Match where you answer questions as to your own political leanings and it calculates the presidential candidate closest to your positions. For me the results were a bit of a surprise. Here's how it ranked the 8 possible candidates (only from the two major parties as others are excluded), along with the percentage (in brackets) as how close their position is to mine:

1 - Kucinich (100%!!!) 2 - Sharpton (91%) 3 - Kerry (85%) 4 - Dean (79%) 5 - Clark (77%) 6 - Edwards (74%) 7 - Lieberman (64%) and finally 8 - Bush (1%!!!)

The first two did not surprise me, Kerry coming right after was a bolt from the blue, Dean probably lost a bunch of compatibility points with me on gun control issues, Lieberman was understandably lowest amongst Democrats and finally "W" came in with matching only 1% of my opinions, which is actually lower than I had expected. I'd bet for myself and most other folks, the number is higher than 1% for opinions in common with Hitler or Khomeini even, so being that far low was astounding.

Try for yourself and see where you'd fit in, but remember, this is only a "toy" and its accuracy is questionable at best.

Take A Chance On Me

Monday Morning Motivationals

Do turkeys enjoy thanksgiving?

You MUST read Arundhati Roy's address at World Social Forum. Here's an excerpt:

"New Imperialism is already upon us. It's a remodeled, streamlined version of what we once knew. For the first time in history, a single Empire with an arsenal of weapons that could obliterate the world in an afternoon has complete, unipolar, economic and military hegemony. It uses different weapons to break open different markets. There isn't a country on God's earth that is not caught in the cross hairs of the American cruise missile and the IMF chequebook. Argentina's the model if you want to be the poster-boy of neoliberal capitalism, Iraq if you're the black sheep."

Heard & Seen Today

They are in their late fifties. An Iranian couple with a middle-class lifestyle and limited income, not including the "help" received from off-springs. Respectable, good-natured people you may enjoy knowing.

She left for a local casino yesterday afternoon, "four or five o'clock" and came home before 11 this morning. Texas Hold'em is her drug of choice and she acknowledges her past behavior of playing up to 48 hours straight. She isn't alone. There are 20 friends she knows at her casino. Her daughter-in-law proudly proclaims her own position as "playing much more" often.

It's a sad scene. I can only bite my tongue and try hard to remain quiet.

From My Dating Files IV

Her - If you could invite any 3 people to your dinner party, dead or alive, who would you invite?

Me - Wow, that's a pretty good question. Let me think while you give me your list, okay?

Her - Sure; Dr. Robert Schuller, George W. Bush and Jesus Christ.

Me - You know what? I think we should just skip dessert.. Do you see our waiter anywhere?

Democrat's Candidates

Howard Dean is not out yet, as he certainly has the money and organizational structure to mount a comeback. Wesley Clark looks more and more like a fish out of water, but one can't underestimate the influence and command of his buddies, the Clintons, and that may be enough to make him a legitimate contender still. John Kerry comes across as, well, as a politician. A bit too sleek, a little too shifty, a lot like what drove many to vote for the folksy fool from Texas.

For those in the ABBOL club (Anyone But Bush Or Lieberman), that leaves John Edwards. The guy (yes he may look very young, but he is a fully grown guy!) has very little experience, and I'm not sure if that's so bad running against W. He is certainly photogenic and comes across as a charming buddy you wish you had. Politically, I find very little in common with him, despite the fact that his stomp speech: ""Today under George W. Bush, there are two Americas..." is just brilliant (just watch his "victory" speech from Iowa here).

Let's see how well he comes out of New Hampshire. If the ABBOL masses are large enough out there, he may be a very legitimate option. Now I do hope he is not the same man that often crosses over plus S.

Spending a day in Los Angeles, it became obvious what a conservative right-wing environment I live in. I had never seen so many Dennis Kucinich bumper-stickers in total of all my days combined as I saw in one day today. I have written about him before and I think regardless of agreeing with him or not, it is hard to not concur that he has really stood out amongst the democrats. The guy comes across as genuine, caring and trust-worthy. Qualities that will keep him very far from the oval office, regardless of his point of view. I really wish he had a chance. I think we'd all be living in a much better world if he did.

I didn't think I'd be saying this, but I am going to write Al Sharpton and congratulate him on the way he has conducted himself during this campaign. I don't know how much money he has left and how long he'd be able to continue, but as I look at the goals he set for himself in participating, he has been most effective.

He said "I am running for President of the United States to make sure that ALL the voices in our Democracy are heard loud and clear" and he has certainly been heard. Not in a sensationalistic and sloppy way either. He has been dignified and most respectable, raising his issues and without compromising his principals. Looking at some of his top ten reasons for running, it is fair to suggest that he has already succeeded, at least in some small way:

Increase political consciousness and awareness. Stimulate more people to get involved in the political process. Raise issues that would otherwise be overlooked—for example, affirmative action and anti-death penalty policy.

For that, I am glad he chose to run and wish more people from what may not be considered main-stream choose to find ways to raise the profiles of the issues they hold dear. We'd only be living in a democracy, if ALL voices have an opportunity to be heard. Particularly the ones in dissent.

Cartoon

Who Da Man?

Grant me the privilege of tooting my own horn for a bit on this post. Hey, if I don't, who will? I am very proud of myself. Not proud in some macho chest-thumping, self-appreciating or gloating way, but the exact opposite. Yesterday, I was able to be most humble, expose my weaknesses, leave myself vulnerable and show how illogical I can be. I don't know if it came across in some weak, negative way or was appreciated for the true and honest effort that it was, but I felt totally out of control and very exposed, yet I managed to go through with it. It needed to be done as I needed to be honest with myself and with my own feelings. Even if I made a total fool of myself, which I may have.

It felt like a big bungee jump or freefalling even, with the cord being in someone else' control or handing over the parachute release to a yet-proven friend and I'm truly not expecting much to come out of it either. But at least I know now that I can still do it and will leave the rest to fate. I think I have done my part now, and for that I'm proud of myself.

Now back to our regular programming.

My Tintin Posters

My order came in. I bought a few Tintin posters from AllPosters.com people, just like the ones you see above. Well, the actual ones are a lot larger. Now all I need is a few inexpensive frames from Ikea and my bedroom will look like a 12 year old's den. I recently read another writer refer to my generation as the "Tintin Generation". It may actually be a very appropriate term, except that Tintin wasn't as popular with girls and his fan base includes more males than females. Then again, I may be wrong. You can get your own posters and join my generation by clicking on the images above or searching all their posters below:

CBS & Super Bowl Ad

You've probably heard about this by now; CBS has decided to not accept an ad by MoveOn.org folks during the busiest and most expensive slot available on television: during the Super Bowl. There are all types of ads in the line-up of what will be shown, from the usual beer, fast-food, automotive commercials to Pepsi, upcoming movies and even one from Whitehouse' Office of National Drug Control Policy. But the anti-Bush ad was rejected by the network and you can only watch it on-line for now. Click here to see it and if you believe CBS is wrong in censoring their ads based on political content, follow the links to express your opinion. By the way, I think the ad itself is just brilliant.

Spy's Credibility Problem

The misinformation this Hamid Reza Zakeri guy comes up with, is just unbelievable. For those unfamiliar with him, this guy supposedly left Iran last year after serving many years as a top official within the regime's security/intelligence establishment and was immediately received by a portion of exiled opposition. He was first introduced to the general public by Alireza Meybodi's California-based AFN Radio and as a caller to the live broadcast. His credentials were later confirmed by exiled journalist Nourizadeh out of London, although "Zakeri" is still a pseudonym.

Some of his original revelations were intriguing for most within the opposition. Then he went off the deep end, first by proclaiming the magnitude of the fictitious support organization Reza Pahlavi has inside Iran and then using highly questionable timing to offer tidbits of information, just as certain subjects would come up or there was a need for the Washington's NeoCon machine to re-start their regime-change mantra or offer their alligator tears about how bad things are inside Iran. If Michael Ledeen was adamant about Iran's secret weapons program, Zakeri would offer new maps and even pictures. If there was a concern about the fate of MKO personnel inside Iraq, he had first hand accounts of Iran's revolutionary guards entering Iraq to engage them. He even produced fake letters to establish the double agent status of journalists during the Iraq invasion.

Now, all of these may or may not be true. However, his timing, methods and the way he suddenly comes up with new evidence, is suspect at best. This, along with the fact that nobody else who has served time in the prisons he was supposedly working at, families of his supposed victims or others he must have had contact with is able to confirm or deny his genuine identity, has made him a mere joke and a disgrace amongst those who oppose the government of Iran on credible and legitimate bases (watch for his fans to come out swinging now!).

His latest offering involves a supposed secret meeting and deal made between Al-Qaeda and Iranian officials to co-operate on what was to become the 9/11 tragedy. He offers no proof, very little verifiable detail (as usual) and one must wonder why he hasn't exposed this information before and over the past year or so he has lived in Europe and U.S.

I wonder what else he is going to come up with at the most opportune time, but I wish if he was legitimate to come up with whatever he knows once and for all and enlighten us maybe in a book or lengthy series of interviews, etc. So far, the way he does this is highly suspect at best.

Kucinich-Edwards Deal

I think one the most significant details out of Iowa was Kucinich's deal with Edwards about swapping delegates if one is too far behind the race. As far as their politics is concerned, they may be the two farthest apart candidates or close to it, so you know this was not based on ideology. Could it be that Kucinich who knows and knew he'd be the one in position of giving up delegates and essentially not ever being allowed near the oval office, made a political move with the candidate he sees as having a shot at the whole enchilada and yet willing to make a compromise deal on an issue or a post or who knows what? Politics is a game of give and take, and you can bet something must've been agreed upon between the two candidates and we may never know the truth, unless Edwards ends up taking an oath of office about this time next year and then lives up to a promise made in Iowa.

Whose War?

Even the bigoted, narrow-minded and ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan gets what this war is/was truly about. This in fact is a dilemma for the more progressive and liberal camp to not allow its message be mixed with those who may offer a similar point of view on the surface, but theirs is coming from the backwards protectionist and "White Christian" standpoint.

I often check my own point of view with those on the far right, just to get a perspective and also distinguish my angle on things. I strongly believe that the political spectrum is in fact a circle and its easy to go so far left or so far right, that you'd find yourself in the total opposite camp.

Remember, they may get the problem, but their solution is exactly opposed to what any freethinking and tolerant person would stand for. With that in mind, enjoy reading Pat and others in his group.

Bee Gees I

Chinese year of the Monkey

Random Questions on Love

1) You may not believe in love at first sight and love being such a complicated question, I would not blame you. But how about a few hours?

2) Is the whole concept of "obsession" just wrong? What if you were prepared to commit to obsessing for an eternity?

3) Don't you have a right to expect full honesty in love, if you have offered the same?

4) Love may be universal, but why is this concept of "love" so different when you cross various continents?

5) Making a fool of yourself for love is the norm, but is it proper?

6) Not ready for love? Well, get ready! Are there more important things in life?

7) How do you move on with so many unanswered questions?

Monday Morning Motivationals

Source

The Iowa Primary

And The Mud Flies!

Here is a general overview of her campaign; Iranian-American Ameri is running for the Republican nomination to go against Congressman David Wu, the 3 term representative for Oregon's First Congressional District (OR 01). Her competition is coming from businessman Tim Phillips.

Now as the race is heating up, mud-slinging has begun and Phillips seems a little too eager to keep referring to certain words in his campaign vocabulary, such as: Iran, Iranian, Iranian-American and alike. Get the picture?

Most of this comes from what is perceived to be Ameri's "flip-flop" on endorsing the current fingerprinting humiliation process, while she took a position against similar actions when it was limited to people from a few middle-eastern countries, including Iran. Ameri maintains that she was against the process because it was discriminatory and also did not make the U.S. safer.

Again, I will not defend her position. To me wrong is wrong and whether citizens of 80 countries are excluded from the degrading process or 27 (as is the case now), it is still wrong. Also her choice of using Clinton and Albright names about a billion times in reference to why she opposed the original measures, is just cheap. However, the way Phillips is choosing to attack her (example: "The bottom line is she put the people of Iran's interests before those of the American people.") is suspect at best and his hidden and open connotations about Ameri's background is unacceptable.

I wish we all live to see the day where a person's ethnic heritage, race, gender or sexual orientation is never brought up or even considered when running for an office, applying for a job or just passing by on the streets. I also wish to see a Republican/Democrat from the Iranian-American community run for office and stand up for what is right, regardless of how popular that issue may or may not be.

Okay, I couldn't resist offering her a bit of criticism, but its MY blog!

World Social Forum

Hey, I said I wasn't going to post as much stuff, not that I was gone for good (although that would obviously make a few people extremely happy). Here are some of the coverage from World Social Forum in Mumbai, India. Enjoy:

Activists Criticize U.S. Economic Policies

War overshadows anti-globalisation at social forum

Ebadi star speaker at World Social Forum

When organisers almost shooed her off the stage

My Parents

Some of you will love this, others won't. I have to take a break and may not be posting as much stuff here, as some of you are used to and expect. My parents (NOT pictured above) are coming for a visit and I will be a bit busy. This is the first time I am spending any length of time with them, particularly after my father's stroke. They will probably stay with me for a while, but specifically at their first days of stay we'll have plenty of things to look after, see friends and relatives nearby and spend some time just catching up. On top of it all, I may have to move soon too, but I don't want to even think about that yet.

So, forgive me but I will still try to visit often and occasionally find some time to pass along a few lines. Who knows? not having lived with my parents for so long (and being used to a solitary lifestyle) we may get on each others' nerves very quick and I escape here for a break often. But if I don't, I hope you understand. Please don't go too far away and check regularly as I promise to be back in full force very soon.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Coming to understand, appreciate and admire MLK was a big undertaking for me. You must remember that I learned my politics from books that usually had a Kalashnikov on the cover, there was a big Che poster on the wall and we took semi-military training on weekly basis. The first book I read on the topic of African-American struggle, was a Farsi translation of Malcolm X's autobiography.

Malcolm's "any means necessary" for us was the ultimate gesture towards freedom and King was just a softie who had sold out. Even a few years ago I would have argued about the way MLK castrated the civil rights movement and took away all its teeth in favor of a sugar coated mild criticism that has effectively led to no major improvements.

But we all grow up.

I am honored today to look up to Martin Luther King as one of the symbols of the non-violent movement, a great visionary and an effective leader. It is also great to see his followers won't allow his day be hijacked by an opportunist.

Family Values

I may be naive here, but let me ask a general question; let's assume, and I mean assume, nobody from middle-eastern background is crazy enough to even suggest anything like this in Ashcroft's police state, yes let's assume I was a bad person, killer or even a terrorist. I had been personally responsible for murder of a few hundred people and was busy planning for more while in hiding. Should my cousins, nephews and other family members be arrested for my deeds? The same goes for any other criminal, be it someone suspected of a petty one or a mass genocide.

Where do we draw the line between how horrible a person is and the rights his family and friends have as individual human beings, despite the relationship between the two? Where do we draw the line between practices of some of the world's most brutal regimes and those who claim to be obsessed with spread of freedom and democracy? This is typical conduct of Saddams of the world to chase, harass and arrest the relatives of a wanted man, to put pressure on him. Our standards must be much higher. We can't allow ourselves to step on every basic principal we hold dear, just under the name of security or war emergencies.

As I read this news, I could not help but to think of a friend. He escaped Tehran in the summer of 1981 to join the guerilla movement to fight the Iranian government with a socialist group. He was wanted in the city anyways and first joined other friends in the mountains and forests of Caspian sea region, but eventually moved to Kurdistan at some point, as he was finally captured there. What reminded me of him though was how his entire family spent over 3 years in prison and under torture for him to turn himself in. That included his mother, ailing father, brothers and sister. They never gave him up, I don't think they knew how even if they wanted to. When he was injured in a clash and arrested in Kurdistan, they reportedly took his mother there too. The father was already released as he had serious back problems and they couldn't care for him inside the system (he dies shortly after). I have heard and hope it isn't true that he had to even watch his mother's rape as part of his torture regiment and before he was executed.

This is how dictators run the societies they control. This is not how a democracy should act, even towards the people of a country it has under military occupation, regardless of the excuses made to justify the action.

Angoori Angoori!

Since we haven't done one of these in a while, this post is in in honor of another childhood hobby, friend, diversion; The Grape Ape. Translated as "Gooril Angoori", most Iranian kids have been entertained by the antics of a 40 feet gorilla and his buddy Beegle Beagle.

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera cartoons were all big in Iran, Particularly Tom & Jerry and their friends, including Grape Ape and Mumbly. There was also Quick Draw McGraw, The Flintstones (translated as Asre-Hajar or "Stone Age"), The Yogi Bear Show and Scooby Doo.

Good memories!

Even More Blogs! Yeah!!!

I have a couple of new additions to my blogroll on the right and wanted to share them with you. First is Alireza_ab who writes from Iran and in very fluent and accurate English (unlike moi!). So is Brooding Persian with a very diverse selection of posts and topics covered.

Then there's I Am Thumb Head Photo Log with some very interesting pictures. My favorite so far is this, which reminds me how awfully chaotic Tehran's traffic really is. Don't you think the car at the most bottom left corner can't move in any direction without touching the cab that has the big orange line on top? Maybe I'm wrong!

Welcome all and I'm sure we all look forward to your future posts.

Viva Ben & Jerry's

One of life's most simple yet exciting pleasures is when you are craving chocolate badly and are under the impression there's none around, you re-arrange your freezer items and somewhere buried in the back discover a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Mmmmm, life's good!

Muslim Vote 2004

Here is some interesting data about the Muslim vote in U.S. in particular for the 2004 election. I am not sure how accurate the numbers are, but it's still worth checking out.

Iggy Pop's Cry For Love

You Are Amazing!

I have reluctantly closed the comments section of my Thank You! post. Over 1,000 of you added your names and brief messages to that post (1,049 to be exact, but there are some duplicates and others). At this point, the page is getting just too long, killing bandwidth like crazy and I honestly think all the great comments and heartfelt notes have already made the point. It was something that needed to be said and everyone came together to honor those who came to our rescue when it was most needed.

All the credit goes to you, the bloggers out there who successfully spread the word. I'm still discovering new links to that post on sites in Iran I had never heard of before. That is just wonderful. A very well known U.S. blogger wrote me a couple of days ago to say in his opinion, the number of comments must be some sort of a record for any blog. Of course, there's no way to confirm that but I have never seen anything like it myself.

Now the task is to get it to those it was meant for. One blogger from inside Iran wrote me to say he/she has collected a list of all those organizations who were there, many of them with personal emails and contact information. Although I hope he/she will be successful in relaying the messages to as many of those folks as possible, I really don't want to rely on one person who may or may not succeed in this venture. I have already forwarded it to the only people I have direct contact with, the Mercy Corps folks, so I need your help to get it to others as well.

Please write anyone you know within all the organizations from around the globe who sent people or aid to Bam and offer them our messages of gratitude and appreciation. You can email a link to:

or print out all the pages and offer them a paper version. Either way, they need to get all the messages as they are obviously from the heart.

Write me if I can be of any assistance.

Viva Brazil

If I was Brazilian, I'd be very proud of my government right about now. Paranoid and xenophobic administration in DC decides to fingerprint everyone entering the U.S. (that's EVERYONE except those who don't require a visa, meaning anyone that is not from white north European heritage) and they retaliate by fingerprinting anyone entering Brazil with a U.S. passport.

The humiliation and indignity normally only associated with convicts and those suspected of committing serious crimes, is now bestowed upon hundreds of thousands of innocent men and women who automatically join the list of possible suspects, if they want to have their kids meet Mickey Mouse, are attending a business meeting, visiting a relative or are just changing planes in this country. So Brazil decided it was only fair to offer them a taste of their own medicine and bravely made a tough decision. They should be applauded for standing up against such an offending and erroneous policy.

This administration has mastered the art of insulting the world and one by one, former allies and friendly nations find new ways to dislike globe's only superpower. But not to worry, this is an election year and the citizens holding those passports, will have a chance to change all of that later in the year.

While we are on the topic, Iran Sports Press is auctioning off a signed Ronaldo jersey with proceeds going to Relief International for Bam earthquake victims. The high bidder will make a direct donation to RI to receive the jersey. At the latest, the bidding had reached $2,000 but I am sure somebody will raise that soon, maybe an eyeranian reader?

Did Iran Capture Saddam?

Al-Mustaqbal, a reputable Lebanese newspaper reports that Iran played a key role in capture of Saddam by promising to collaborate with him and then have his envoy monitored by Kurds in the area to finally find his hiding place.

This may be just another hoax or may explain the sudden softening of W's stand towards the Iranian regime over the past month or so. It's probably one of those questions that will never be fully explained.

Meanwhile, I'm glad the situation surrounding his capture was so safe and calm with no worries of any intruption by forces loyal to him that shortly after he was taken out of his "hole" and is still on the ground with cuffs on, U.S. soldiers find it appropriate to snap souvenir pictures (link may be down due to high traffic, try later).

I say capture, but we all know... We Always Had Him.

W Speaks Again

I know some of you don't like these, but they are just so much fun I can't stop laughing every time I come across them. They are the great quotes former Governor of Texas usually comes up with and despite a couple of previous posts on the topic, the man just keeps coming up with more! So without delay, here are the latest gems from Mr. Commander in Chief:

Future of Iran

What is going on in Iran these days has largely remained below radars with limited coverage in mainstream media. Perhaps rightly so. The fictional or real struggle between the "hardliners" and "reformers" is way past its expiry date and is neither news nor even interesting anymore.

Sadly so, it's not only the media that feels this way. Majority of Iranians are also tired of the games and have no patience for another round of the same back and forth contest played over the last 7 years.

The faction considered to be more liberal, came to power with a large movement of popular support. Of course, with the present structure, "power" is not the appropriate term as most of that is ceded to one unelected person with the title of "Supreme Leader".

Iranians elected President Khatami (twice) and then a new Parliament in challenging the wishes of this exact "leader". What they wanted was change and a vote for so-called "reformers" was more a vote against what they had as oppose to what they wanted.

There has been little doubt that what they ultimately want, is far beyond what these "moderates" are willing or able to deliver. And they have had over 7 years to prove it over and over again. In every mass movement towards more freedoms in these years, people have been abandoned by their elected representatives.

In the student uprising and then again in multiple nights of unrest in Tehran, these "reformers" chose the wrong side. Khatami was mostly absent in both occasions and even classified the protestors as "hooligans".

So, now that it's their turn to be scolded by the same "extremists", they seek a popular support that is non-existent. I am sure images of a velvet revolution went through the heads of many protesting MP's as they started their sit-in. But as they kept a lookout for the masses that will come in, take over the building and carry them on their shoulders to victory, nobody showed up.

They are too late. Their credibility with the masses evaporated the minute they chose to hang on to their offices, instead of backing the popular dissent movement. Iranians trusted yet another group one more time and once again they were defrauded.

Where will this go now is unclear. An old Persian proverb says "give them death, so they'll be happy with a fever." This may just be the strategy chosen by the leader's team. Disqualify everyone, then bend a bit and allow some in to keep everyone quiet. On the other hand, If reformers boycott the upcoming elections, the provincial governors resign and no changes are made, it may also cause some cabinet members and the President himself to also resign. Something he should?ve done the minute it became apparent his office is without any real power, years ago. This may create an opening for the great savior to enter the foyer once again with his own team and take over with the image of the great conciliator. This will of course be the role of former president Rafsanjani, the man many believe is still the real source of influence in Iran.

Regardless of the outcome, it is safe to expect that in the short-term, no major changes will be delivered by either side of this current tussle. This will only be yet another step, another experience in the long road to the destination most Iranians have chosen as their final objective; a free and democratic Iran.

Humor

You may have heard already that the Iranian government is considering moving the capital from Tehran, due to the high probability of an earthquake in the city of 12+ million. This is nothing new and there has been various proposals for the move circling around for at least 30 years. Maybe the devastation of Bam earthquake will finally make it a reality though. But looking at the global map below and where the earthquake belt is, there aren't many places in Iran that is much safer, so I have come up with a better solution:

Instead of moving Tehran, let's move Iran! I have studied various options available (East Coast of Australia, Western Europe, Brazil, etc.) and already selected the area depicted in the map; U.S.'s south eastern corner as most suitable. Here are some of the benefits of such move:

1. If we flip the current map of Iran, it will fit perfectly in that corner and still retain the "resting cat" shape, although this time it will be facing east which can be explained as "having an eye on the past", making it easier to sell the idea to the masses.

2. No earthquakes in Iran ever again.

3. The current location of Iran will be handed over to U.S. to connect the 51st state (Afghanistan) with the 52nd (Iraq) and finally get all the oil they ever wanted. Historical sites will be destroyed to fit the new history that this area was "discovered" by the Europeans and no civilized people ever lived there.

4. Carl Rove and company can appoint Reza Pahlavi as the new king there, returning him to his father's palace along with his 200 supporters who already carry U.S. citizenship anyways.

5. U.S. will finally get rid of most of the troubled "south", including all of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida Panhandle (no more election issues, we'll leave the rest of Florida for future "New Cuba") and South Carolina, plus parts of Louisiana (we'll get Baton Rouge and New Orleans, they keep Lafayette), Kentucky and North Carolina.

6. We'll gain plenty of golf courses in Carolinas and beaches on Gulf of Mexico which allows us to rename it Gulf of Persia, as Arab countries have done for years with renaming Persian Gulf arbitrary.

7. KFC will stand for Kurdish Fried Chicken, will enjoy partial autonomy and expands its menu to include savory lamb and veal dishes.

8. Tennessee's Al Gore will officially become Iranian. We'll teach him dancing baba-karam to loosen him up.

9. U.S. will not lose any cities that actually matter in keeping DC and everything north of there, while Atlanta will be renamed New Tehran.

10. Coca-Cola will become a subsidiary of ZamZam-Cola.

11. We'll rename Mardi-Gras to Mameh-Gah (like Namayeshgah), a place to showcase bare breasts of men and women.

12. We'll own CNN! (and immediately fire Amanpour for her Khatami interview.)

13. U.S. will still retain enough states/land suitable for development of more trailer parks for displaced former south residents with dark-pink behind the ears regions. They include, Arkansas, Oklahoma and of course W's home state of Texas.

In order to achieve this, we need immediate plans for relocation. Atlanta already has a good base of Iranians and those in Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma should move to the new Iran immediately. Then it's time for California Iranians (all 20 of them, because the rest of a few hundred thousands are no longer Iranian and are officially "Persian") to move there. In the third phase of great exodus, U.S. will open a consulate on Kish Island, so all Iranian citizens can obtain a 3 year work visa (as per W's new ridiculous plan) on their next trip to the island in order buy garments made in Karaj but labeled as Italian. Within 10 years, a complete transfer of people has taken place and many problems are solved for both sides. What do you think?

UPDATE - I just realized that if we keep the rest of Florida, we'll still have a resting but very vulgar cat! :o)

Monday Morning Motivationals

No Opinion Of His Own?

W's former Treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill who was fired from the administration in 2002 is reportedly ready to talk about some of the behind-the-scene bits and pieces of the ship headed by the former Governor of Texas. In a week that included another disappointing television program, I hope this 60 minutes exclusive lives up to its billing. Watch it tonight, if you live in U.S. or Canada.

Showdown at Majlis

Courtesy of Haditoons

The facade of another democratic principal, namely a parliamentary election, is once again being set up in Iran. A system that has sought internal and international legitimacy by conducting charades by that name and at the same time remain at the farthest reaches of dictatorship, is trying once again to repeat the exercise.

In order to participate in these "elections" as a candidate, you must first be amongst a very tiny minority in Iran. You must be at least 30 years old, in a country that as much as 70% are not. You must also hold a bachelor's degree or higher, something not as widely spread again, particularly amongst the 30+ crowd. Then you must declare your total devotion to the system and its constitution, including absolute loyalty to the supreme leader and his powers.

Just when you think you are done with all that is above, an unelected ultra-conservative council will review your credentials and decides if you are allowed to run. Their decisions are mainly based on what they call "dedication to the Islamic Republic" or lack of it. This is done completely arbitrary and with little or no explanation. For example, Ali-Hosseini, a current member of parliament (Majlis) from Hamadan who has been disqualified by this council states that he was amongst the anti-shah activists from years previous to the revolution, was arrested and jailed for promoting Ayatollah Khomeini's views back then, at one point was even the cell-mate of the current "supreme leader" Ayatollah Khamenei, was a 5 year veteran of Iran-Iraq war where he was injured and is currently disabled as a result, has served in the highest offices in the land including its parliament and is yet judged to be not loyal enough to the principals of the Islamic Republic.

In fact, over 80 of the current members of parliament are also disqualified. They include president Khatami's brother as well as the leader's brother! Others disqualified include current deputy speaker and two of the activist female members; Koolaei and Haghighatjoo. This is why they have chosen to conduct an open ended sit-in at parliament starting today.

Now remember, all these members, plus others who even attempted to run, are all from that narrowest of the narrow sliver of the society that qualified to register to begin with. In case of current members, they also passed the same "loyalty" test once before or they wouldn't be able to run last time. Yet, now they are pushed aside in favor of those seemingly more loyal.

This is not an election. This is an exercise in forgery, a fake, a sham, a big national simulation to fool the world. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a badly ailing member of this global community that requires immediate and radical surgery to remove more than one tumors eating away at its vital organs, and the cosmetic surgery most often recommended by the current horde of "reformists" will not save it.

follow up the latest developments on this topic here.

Bob Marley I

Get up, Stand up

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!

Preacherman, don't tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don't know
What life is really worth.
It's not all that glitters is gold;
'Alf the story has never been told:
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. Come on!

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!

Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. Jah!

Get up, stand up! (Jah, Jah!)
Stand up for your rights! (Oh-hoo!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Don't give up the fight! (Life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (So we can't give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (Lord, Lord!)
Get up, stand up! (Keep on struggling on!)
Don't give up the fight! (Yeah!)

We sick an' tired of-a your ism-skism game -
Dyin' 'n' goin' to heaven in-a Jesus' name, Lord.
We know when we understand:
Almighty God is a living man.
You can fool some people sometimes,
But you can't fool all the people all the time.
So now we see the light (What you gonna do?),
We gonna stand up for our rights! (Yeah, yeah, yeah!)

So you better:
Get up, stand up! (In the morning! Git it up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Stand up for our rights!)
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight! (Don't give it up, don't give it up!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Don't give up the fight! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight!

Michel Strogoff

Hey, I'm not the only one with some sense of nostalgia about old shows, TV series and cartoons we grew up with in Iran. Time to Think has a nice post on Michel Strogoff including the very popular soundtrack from the series.

Searching for more on Vladimir Cosma music, I came to something else I have a few memories of. You may not remember this, but I had a cool uncle who owned the biggest collection of tapes and a prize section of his tape displays was dedicated to Fausto Papetti. They were instrumental versions of popular tunes featuring a very romantic saxophone and super sexy cover images. Here's Fausto Papetti's version of Nadia's Theme from Michel Strogoff.

Will Work...

Yet another thing I had to get used to in moving to U.S. from Canada was/is the apparent paranoia every employer here feels about being sued and any type of possible litigation involving the workplace. It's not that Canadians don't sue current or former employers, but here this is an obsession. Employers literally plan for the day they let you go from the time they get your original application. It may sound absurd but in a short time I have watched many wrong decisions made either to avoid litigation or to end a situation that may have led that way. The right to seek justice for all employees is obviously fundamental and needed, but there has to be a better way of handling disputes to not impair commerce so unwisely. I have no answers on this, just a random thought.

On Ebrahim Nabavi

For those who are interested and can read Persian (my apologies to the rest), I recently had a virtual exchange with great Iranian writer and our premier political satirist Ebrahim Nabavi you can follow on-line. Nabavi's original article was about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iran (along with a historical view of reformist print media over the past decade) and his opinion that participation is necessary for all those who oppose the current structure. Although I disagree, I was more offended with his assertion that those who aren't living in Iran (such as myself, or Nabavi for that matter) have a distorted view of what is needed to be done in Iran and therefore should not be listened to on this or other topics. I responded to his article with a short note and then he answered me (as well as a couple of other readers) in his next article, and basically accepted that he was wrong in stereotyping and bunching of all Iranians in exile together. I hope this brief attempt at translation and summarizing of this discussion was fair and accurate. I look forward to your feedback also.

Listen to Cosmo

KRAMER: Jerry, you know that shoe repair place at the end of the block? Well, if they don't get some business, they're gonna have to shut down and make way for one of those gourmet coffee or cookie stores.

ELAINE: I like coffee.

GEORGE: I like "cookies."

KRAMER: Yeah, of course you do. And do you know why? Because you're a bunch of yuppies. It's your go-go corporate takeover lifestyles that are driving out these Mom and Pop stores and destroying the fabric of this neighborhood.

GEORGE: Well, what's so great about a Mom and Pop store? Let me tell you something. If my Mom and Pop ran a store, I wouldn't shop there.

He's 75!

Happy Birthday Tintin

On Peter Rose & More

I met a friend for coffee this morning (a "LARGE MOCHA" at a non mega-chain store and with a croissant). He is much smarter than I'll ever be and we were arguing about Pete Rose and whether he should be allowed in Baseball Hall of Fame. Just because my friend is smart, it does not mean he can't be wrong, as this was the case on his "ban for life" argument. But he was right about something else. In the heat of debate, he asked me why I don't put my opinion on this up on my weblog? I thought about it and he was right.

I think we all have a tendency to fall into certain routines and stereotypes we design for ourselves. I have tried hard to break that and as it relates to this weblog, try to have it more reflective of all my interests and attitudes, not just on politics or social issues, but also everything else including TV shows I like, my dating ventures, music I listen to and more. Yet there are many other topics I stay away from on the eyeranian. Well, I intend to be more cautious of that fact and try to not censor myself as often.

If Rose was running for public office, applying for a coaching job or asked to borrow $20, then his admitted gambling problem while a coach should be a concern. If he did anything wrong as a player (can you say Shoeless Joe Jackson?) his exclusion could be explained. Otherwise, Pete Rose deserves to be in the baseball hall of fame, period.

Now that I got that off my chest, I'm glad Paul Molitor, the best overall player to ever wear the jersey of my beloved Blue Jays, was honored on his first opportunity, even if he goes in with the best closer Jays ever faced; Dennis Eckersley. They both deserve it. Who do you think will be the first inductee in a Jays hat? McGriff? Alomar? Steib? Delgado? Somebody else?

Forbidden Iran II

Okay, here's my take on Forbidden Iran:

As it has become the unfortunate norm in certain journalistic circles, sensationalism and Hollywood drama got in the way of the real story. There was obviously a story there, actually two. One was the "Student Movement", in specific the suppression of students and then Zahra Kazemi's story and what actually happened to her. What in reality became the main topic in this documentary was Jane Kokan's brave endangerment of her life (real or imagined) as well as dramatic and almost fake poses, shots and commentary to add to the drama.

Was Kokan's life in danger? Nobody could say for certain. But anyone who has even traveled through Iran over the past decade could tell you that Iran is not 1975 Soviet Union, 1985 China or 1995 North Korea. Journalists are in fact restricted in their access, but even at worst cases their footage in confiscated and they are tossed out of the country. Kazemi was the exception of course, but that's because they treated her like an Iranian and not a Canadian journalist.

Then there was all the drama; Iman Samizadeh spectacularly proclaims the Iranian government is very dangerous, then demonstrates his website containing pictures of jailed "student leaders", including himself, from his London flat. "Arjang" has an office but is shot mostly moving through dangerous traffic. His name isn't shared but he has no fear of showing his face. Considering we are told he is arrested now, obviously "they" know who he is particularly with a tape of this show now, so who is he (or Kokan) concealing his identity from? Amir Fakravar's very dramatic speech, complete with close ups of his misty-eyed mom is somehow captured on broadcast quality video and then he is able to make a mysterious call from a horrific prison. The unidentified source in Isfahan (who appears a bit older than most average students) feels sitting on a park bench and talking is more dangerous than inviting a foreign woman into his cheap hotel room at night.

I won't say any of these is not true, but there's just way too much fluff and not enough meat. If you want to tell the story of the student uprising, that should be the focus. Do a bit of research to see what the roots of the protest were, what triggered the original protest, provide some factual details for the viewer to absorb, then get some perspective from authorities, and from activists as to where they see this going from here.

If you wish to discuss the murder of Zahra Kazemi, then give us some background on her, other stories she has worked on, maybe samples of her pictures. Interview her colleagues and those who knew her best. Try to get as many different versions of what may have actually happened to her, talk to some experts; forensics people, legal authorities, those who may have been through a similar ordeal. Then tell us what is going to happen next. What steps have been taken, what can be done.

As it is, I got the following from the show; - Iranian government (at least the non-smiling faction) is VERY DANGEROUS. - Students want freedom, but Iranian police is fascist (not much on non-police vigilante types) - Kianoosh who has been arrested four times can use his full name and speak with no disguise, but a foreign journalist must shred her notes on the bus or she may be harmed. - Zahra Kazemi is buried in a holy shrine's cemetery, in an area that is regularly locked up. Anything new or useful? You tell me.

Cold war mentality and this cloak and dagger attitude to journalism has killed enough legitimate stories. I hope the chronicle of Iranians struggle towards democracy and the different obstacles they face in that road is not fallen victim to fast cut, overly dramatic, sensationalist treatment Jane Kokan employed in this way-too-short documentary.

If you haven't seen the program yet, the complete show should be on their site next week, but here's a teaser available now.

Lost Treasures

A few years back, when I was involved with some import/export business, I received a fax from an auction house (I think they were based in London) about upcoming items for sale and they included a few cars owned by the Shah, including his Rolls Royce and a couple of other rare cars. However, it was obvious that some of the better known and more rare cars rumored to have been owned by him, including his rare Mercedes-Benz Gull Wing were not included and presumably stayed in Iran. I inquired about the collection and never went any further but a couple of years later came close to purchasing another car owned by former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. It was a Peykan (reportedly the very first built in Iran, although most Iranians believe that first car was owned by Prime Minister Hoveyda) given to Ceausescu by the Shah. I digressed...

What reminded me of all this is the news about Francis Bacon's Two figures lying on a bed with attendants possibly leaving Iran for a show in UK. The piece, in reality three paintings as seen above, has been in storage for about 25 years as even the distorted nude figures of Bacon have been too risque for show during all this time. Makes you wonder what else may still be in some damp storage room or corner of someone's closet in Iran that is of historical, artistic or cultural significance.

Writing this reminded me of a few other things. One was this group that was professionally cleaning out the palaces, resorts and residences of Kish Island right after the revolution and selling them at this semi-secret location in Tehran. They would have all new "inventory" (read freshly looted items) every week and this is when there was absolutely no commercial flights to the island and local vigilantes were in charge all over Iran, including Kish I'm sure. It was rumored that they even sold handguns and other unique items with engravings to indicate they were presents from various former governments and officials (including one from an unnamed U.S. president) to the Shah.

The other one was visiting Niavaran Palace 17 years after Pahlavi family had left it, with a few missing paintings on the walls, and in Shah's private theatre there is a large wall display full of pottery, statues and other relics from the Inca, Aztec and other ancient people/cultures of Americas. I asked anyone I could find there, but nobody had any idea what they were, where they came from, how valuable the collection was or even seemingly cared much about the bunch of old pots on the shelves. I could scream, but didn't and again wonder now as to what else may be there that its value or importance is not known or appreciated.

Painting story from: Iran Filter.

On Iranian Blogs

It is with great pleasure for me to announce that there's Another Irani Online! That may not sound very exciting at first, but it is when it means a new blogger has joined our ranks who has things to say! Take a look at N's new site with a few interesting entries already.

Two reminder points for others: 1 - Please go to Blogrolling right after you post anything new to your blog EVERY TIME, to let the rest of us know yours has been updated, and 2 - If you have something to say and don't have a blog yet, what are you waiting for??? Contact me if you need help in starting one, today!

One last note: Iranian Blogs are in the news again. Highly recommended to read.

Canada and USA

One of the other differences between U.S. and Canada is on the way alternative medicine is viewed and used. As an example, Chiropractors in U.S. are actually referred to as Doctors, are valid and well-respected components of acceptable treatment procedures for accident victims, injured workers, those who believe regular spinal adjustment helps in preventing a variety of illnesses and others. Most insurance policies include them in their coverage and even the odd "traditional" physician may recommend a visit to one. In Canada, Chiropractors are mostly viewed as just snake oil salesmen who crack your back.

By contrast a Canadian Massage Therapist (RMT) is a trained professional sought by anyone with soft tissue injuries or seeking stress-relief and about 1,000 other benefits of a pro's healing touch. Here, anything associated with the term "massage" is automatically associated with images of dark rooms in the back of a rundown storefront in the industrial area of town and scantly-clothed imported attendants. After all, it is just 14 days of classes to become a "Massage Technician" in California, something unheard of in the country just a bit further up north.

Caramel Macchiato Anyone?

Adding to the Starbucks comments earlier, I think one of the reasons they are so successful (my hats off to their marketing people for recognizing this and capitalizing on it) is that in the culture deprived majority of North American continent, ordering a "Caramel Macchiato", "Espresso con Panna", "Espresso Frappuccino" or "Tazo Chai" is downright "continental" and classy. Not to mention never having to deal with small, medium or large vocabulary when you can order a "Grande" instead. Maybe a cheap substitution for the opera that wasn't understood, the poetry that was never recited, the book that wasn't opened (in favor of the checkout tabloid).

Now put your revolver back in the holster as I believe this isn't unique to this continent. Many of my own countrymen and women with tons of available culture and heritage to hang on to are also afflicted with the same disease and are just as quick in adapting the "cool" new foreign thing and toss out their old. A friend that used to own a restaurant in DC area was once telling me about how his Iranian clients never ordered Shish-Kabob until he changed the name to Fillet Mignon Kabob and suddenly they were short of the stuff every night as now suddenly the only thing Iranians ordered was the exact same plate they couldn't sell the week before, plus a new name.

A Reminder

Thank You!

Inspired by Hossein Derakhshan, this is a note to thank all those teams currently leaving Iran after participating in rescue and relief efforts in Bam. If you wish, please use the comments section to add your own short message of thanks.

You Are Illegal!

If I hear the term "illegal immigrants" one more time, I may vomit.

Let's get this argument over with once and for all. If you live in the continents of America, and are not of native ancestry, YOU ARE AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT!

All human beings living here are part of one of theses three groups: 1 - The original human residents of this land who came here before all others. 2 - Children of the original "immigrants" who came primarily from Europe and started the new "nations" here, and 3 - Those who came afterwards, normally through a process of immigration (documented or otherwise) or naturalization of some sort.

Now to determine who is legal and who is not, let's first define legality. This may not be the actual classic definition, but in my view laws are sets of written and unwritten rules a society accepts as standards they wish to run their communities by. For example, a society decides that having sex with a person under the age of 18 is unacceptable, so they make it illegal and even set penalties for it. These laws are different from each country and society to another but some basics such as stealing, killing and rape are frowned upon by almost all human beings. Simple enough? Hope so.

So, let's see who is legal now?

That first group who settled in these continents and their time of arrival dates back to thousands of years, came when no other humans were here. So, they could not have broken any laws and therefore pass the test for being "legal".

Group two came with specific notions of taking away gold or slaves or to take over land they did not own. In order to get their wishes, they killed, raped, tortured and committed atrocities right down to genocide. Although I don't know if any actual records exist, it's hard to imagine the native residents considered stealing, murder or rape as acceptable actions in their land and therefore the newcomers clearly broke the laws set by the communities they invaded and never had any permission to come here to begin with, so they were illegal. They, along with their families and children they produced are the first wave of illegal immigrants to theses shores who went on to carve out new nations, cities and communities based on an illegal invasion.

The third group came either with permission of others who were here illegally and therefore are illegal to begin with, or just crossed into new territories already claimed by those illegals in continuation of breaking the laws and norms acceptable by the original natives. This group then is also illegal in its entirety, regardless of the papers they may have been issues by other illegals or not.

So...

Once again, if you live in the continents of Americas, and are not of native ancestry, YOU ARE ILLEGAL!

End of my argument.

Iran & Earthquakes

As most international teams leave Iran and there are rumors that other agencies and organizations are forced to pull out, it may be time to start discussing what may need to be done now that no more recovery is expected, relief is already in place and options for reconstruction are being considered.

A good starting point may be what MIT's Iranian Studies Group has put forward in form of a report on earthquake management strategies and options for Iran. The report features opinions by various experts and also points to other studies and documents on this topic. You can view or download a pdf version of the entire document here.

Thanks YK.

Great Leaders, Ha?

You may remember back in October I wrote about and also added my own name to NRA Blacklist. Now the folks behind that site have launched a new one titled NRA Leaders designed to introduce the people behind this organization and expose their views. Here are a selected number of quotes from NRA officials, most of them on the 76 member Board of Directors that includes many known personalities and elected officials. Enjoy:

Ted Nugent, the singer is on the NRA Board of Directors. Here's his view on apartheid: "Apartheid isn't that cut and dry. All men are not created equal. The preponderance of South Africa is a different breed of man. I mean that with no disrespect. I say that with great respect. I love them because I'm one of them. They are still people of the earth, but they are different. They still put bones in their noses, they still walk around naked, they wipe their butts with their hands ? These are different people. You give 'em toothpaste, they fucking eat it ... I hope they don't become civilized. They're way ahead of the game."

Jeff Cooper is another current member of NRA Board of Directors. His views on diversity are as follows: "The goal of good government is the optimum balance of liberty and order. Social diversity does not pull in that direction. Liberty is what we seek over the centuries, but if we grant it to too diverse a population, order disappears. Regarding the United States? it would seem that we ought to choose assimilation over diversity. It seems to me that diversity, rather than being a goal to be sought, should be an obstacle to be circumvented."

John Lott is another NRA personality who says: "Should racial preferences play a role in government hiring? My own research has statistically analyzed the effect of changes in hiring rules and the composition of police departments on crime, arrest and conviction rates. Increasing black officers' share of the police force one percentage point as a result of the new hiring policies increases murders by at least 2%, violent crime by almost 5% and property crimes by 4%."

Leroy Pyle, a former NRA Board Member offers this opinion on Sarah Brady: "That ugly cackler. She pulls her husband around like a pull toy on a string. My friends and I say that if that ever happened to one of us and our wife did that, somebody would slip into the house one night and slit her throat."

And then there's an elected official, occupying a seat in U.S. congress. Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY), another Board of Directors member of NRA was once interrupted in the midst of this speech: "My sons are 25 and 30. They are blond-haired and blue-eyed. One amendment today said we could not sell guns to anybody under drug treatment. So, does that mean if you go into a black community, you cannot sell a gun to any black person, or does that mean because my..." [NOTE: her comments were interrupted at that point by Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) who demanded that her words be stricken from the record as inappropriate.]

Visit the site for a few more.

Answering Your Questions

On a previous post I offered to answer any questions you may have for me and promised to answer them honestly. To be frank, I was hoping there'll be none, but I was wrong. To my count, there were 12 total comments, containing 20 questions. Thanks a billion for caring enough to bother. So, here they are, as promised; answers to what you wanted to know about me:



Haleh: I would like to ask you to actually read the comments left for you.

I read every single comment posted on my blog. Once again, as I don't think of my comments section as a forum or place to debate issues, I do not generally reply to the comments and leave that for the other readers. Besides, my email address is prominently displayed on the banner on top of my main page, so if anyone wishes to send something directly to me, please do. Thank you for your advise though.

No. It was actually something mundane I can't recall right now but i think it was just expectation of a reply that caused the hurt feelings. My post on my dating adventures cause very little reaction actually, or I suppose I wouldn't be dating anymore.

visitor: Since yours is my favorite, what is YOUR favorite blog(s)?

Thank You! There are more than a few. With Iranian blogs in English, I find a relative inconsistency which obviously reflects what may be going on in the lives of their writers. There are those who post original, thought-provoking, interesting posts for a while, then just provide links and eventually post very rarely or give up completely. But there's always somebody else taking over and this trend seems to persist all the time. Some of my current "must-reads" are : Iranian Truth, Iran Translated, writersblot, SleepWalker, plus those amazing pictures from Daily Dose of Imagery and of course Nikahang's great cartoons. (I just know I forgot someone and they'll be upset with me)

as for non-Irani bloggers, I really don't have "regulars". I read the ones I link to and the rest I end up just surfing to from other sites and links. Some readers are also kind enough to send me the occasional link to something they have found interesting on a blog. Those are undoubtedly my favorites, please keep 'em coming.

sister-scorpion: What is your name?

Let me check some ID...yup, it is still Pedram Moallemian, just like what it was when I first started this blog and called it "Random Opinions & Observations by; Pedram Moallemian"

sister-scorpion: What is your quest?

Dictionary.com: Quest = The act or an instance of seeking or pursuing something; a search.

My quest? Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? Okay here: to live happy and try my best to make it a better world too. Corny enough? You gotta admit it was a corny question to begin with.

sister-scorpion: What is your favorite color?

Navy Blue.

Anonymous I: why are you advertising for labatt blue?

I didn't think admitting to not linking the way beer looks, tastes or smells could be considered advertising for a beer company. That post was about how their advertising reminds me of home, which is the place I spent most of my life at: Canada.

Anonymous II: I just want to know what is your job?

As stated on that Free Thoughts interview, I try hard to keep my everyday life separate from what is my activist, writer, blogger life. But I do maintain a very uninteresting average day job. As said to a friend recently, think of a 7-11 cash register or restaurant dish-washer. Something to pay the rent and internet connection costs with.

Anonymous III (the one with lots of questions): What is the recipe for the herbs and spices on the beans?

Golpar is sold already mixed/made in Iran and I know no-one that would actually make it. I therefore have no idea what the ingredients are but I just searched the net, and this book apparently has the recipe if you wish to look it up:

 

Anonymous III: What are the stories the grandmother tells?

My grandmother is a treasure chest of old Persian stories and poems in particular. She could recite poems for days on end from memory, if you ever let her. One of the regrets in my life is that when she lived with us for a brief period back in the mid-90's, I wanted so badly to record most of what I could in her own voice/words. But their stay was during the time I was running for office and was busy with a couple of other things too and never got the opportunity to actually do it. If I remember any specific story, and it's relevant, I'll post them here.

Anonymous III: Does the korvee ever catch fire?

It's KorSee. Yes, they sure do. Particularly the old charcoal powered ones have their heaters often knocked over (usually during night, as people sleep under them) and then you've got a fire to deal with. They are more rare now, but last time I was in Tokyo, I was delighted to see high-end Japanese department stores carry a similar device, although round and much more stylish than the old rustic Korsee's we were used to.

Anonymous III: How have you modified the holiday to pass it to your American kids?

I have no kids.

Anonymous III: What are you doing to entertain your sister? Is she cooking? Fessanjan or KhoreshGormesabzi? Where are you taking her? Is she trying to get you married?

My sister has been here enough to be the planner of things she wants to do on her visits, like the Whale Watching outing she booked. She shopped a lot, we ate out often and just hung out. She only cooked once and it was gourmet burgers (delicious). We had some GhormehSabzi at Bandar Restaurant and no Fesenjoon this time around.

Nope. For whatever reason, my family stays out of that discussion. It may have something to do with getting an uncle married into a less-than-perfect marriage once long ago and pledging to never do it again, I may be wrong. I may have to ask the readers here to pick up the slack, as I obviously am incapable of doing it by myself.

Anonymous III: If you had a wife (assuming you don't already) where would she be right now? At church? Babysitting nieces and nephews? Cruising the sales at Barnes & Nobles? Taking a beating from her soon-to-be-ex boyfriend? Signing up for a computer/Spanish/Literature class?

At first I was somewhat offended by the tone of your question as I thought to myself "she'd be wherever she'd want to be, why ask me?", but then I re-read it a couple of times and I think I understand your approach on this. You are more after the ideals and if all was perfect, what would I prefer angle than the actual physical place where she'd be (correct me if I'm wrong).

If I had a wife (do not yet!), she'd be waiting for me to finish posting this, so she could write the next one. She'd be scoring some bargain tickets to see The Producers on line afterwards, preparing to defend her dissertation and building an appetite for this cool Zereshkpolo I made with Chicken tonight. Fantasy big enough for you? It is for me. By the way, is your sister trying to get married?

Naser: Do you also read Persian blogs and if you do, which ones?

Yes, I do. I find Persian blogs much more consistent as it relates to the quality of what is posted. For example Haleh should be writing fiction for her ability to make mundane items sound so interesting. KhorshidKhanoom has always fascinated me with her insights and sense of activism. Hoder should be applauded on many fronts, including his introduction of original discussions and topics unique in the blogestan. Zeitoon is filled with exuberance and energy of Iran's youth. It'll be fascinating to read Sina Motallebi again, now that he is really free. Parastoo and Zahra are two of the other regular bloggers I don't miss. These are also blogs I link to on the eyeranian. Once again, forgive me if I have forgotten anyone.

balaatnistam: What does taqdeermachen mean?

When you find out, let me know also. Then again, don't bother.

jafar: Why did you leave Canada to reside in the US and even become a US citizen?

My reasons for immigrating to U.S. (I'm not a U.S. citizen) are rather extended and also many-sided. Here is part of it; I had gotten myself so involved with many causes in Toronto, it was hard to maintain a personal life. I also had a soft spot for palm trees forever and the Canadian winters were getting to me after 18 years. So when I decided to move away and re-start from fresh, the California sunshine was very seducing. How long will I be here? I don't know but if I was a betting man, I'd bet on a return to Canada one day.

Thanks again to everyone to have bothered with your questions.

Down The Crazy River

Somewhere Down The Crazy River
Robbie Robertson

Yeah, I can see it now
The distant red neon shivered in the heat
I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land
You know where people play games with the night
God, it was too hot to sleep
I followed the sound of a jukebox coming from up the levee
All of a sudden I could hear somebody whistling
From right behind me
I turned around and she said
"Why do you always end up down at Nick's Cafe?"
I said "I don't know, the wind just kind of pushed me this way."
She said "Hang the rich."

Catch the blue train
To places never been before
Look for me
Somewhere down the crazy river
Somewhere down the crazy river
Catch the blue train
All the way to Kokomo
You can find me
Somewhere down the crazy river
Somewhere down the crazy river

Take a picture of this
The fields are empty, abandoned '59 Chevy
Laying in the back seat listening to Little Willie John
Yea, that's when time stood still
You know, I think I'm gonna go down to Madam X
And let her read my mind
She said "That Voodoo stuff don't do nothing for me."

I'm a man with a clear destination
I'm a man with a broad imagination
You fog the mind, you stir the soul
I can't find, ... no control

Catch the blue train
To places never been before
Look for me
Somewhere down the crazy river
Somewhere down the crazy river
Catch the blue train
All the way to Kokomo
You can find me
Somewhere down the crazy river
Somewhere down the crazy river

Wait, did you hear that
Oh this is sure stirring up some ghosts for me
She said "There's one thing you've got to learn
Is not to be afraid of it."
I said "No, I like it, I like it, it's good."
She said "You like it now
But you'll learn to love it later."

I been spellbound - falling in trances
I been spellbound - falling in trances
You give me shivers - chills and fever
I been spellbound - somewhere down the crazy river

Monday Morning Motivationals

============================================

To make 2004 your best year ever, arrange for lots of
highly productive, extremely good days! Work hard, play
often. Sing and dance, read more, hug and laugh more. Be
more daring, take more naps, invent something, take a
trip, have Sunday brunch with your best friend. Arrange
for approximately 365 great days and I promise, the
year will take care of itself!

============================================


"Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will
spread beyond all boundaries."
-- Corita Kent --

"Dreams come a size too big so that we can grow into them. "
-- Josie Bisset --

"All successful men and women are big dreamers. They
imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect,
and then they work every day toward their distant
vision, that goal or purpose."
-- Brian Tracy --

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet."
-- Emily Dickenson --

They Need More Help!

It is easy to forget, but as you are reading this, they are still recovering bodies from under the rubble in Bam. They are still trying to add up all the unofficial burials to add to the casualties total that passed 30,000 days before. Finding a 97 year old lady alive has been described as a miracle, as no other survivors have been or are expected. Now the battle is to save those who survived the catastrophe. Tens of thousands are living in tents, with little or no heating and other life necessities. Orphans are organized in make-shift classrooms to divert their focus from what has happened in their lives. The injured are facing shortages of medical supplies and drugs they need. In short, they need more help.

Mercy Corps has collected almost $320,000 in donations so far. As they "work through a growing, global network of partnerships with outstanding public, private and humanitarian organizations, and the generosity of forward thinking foundations and benefactors", they are able to obtain grants, contracts and donated goods from their partners and turn every single dollar donated to $12.72. With an easy calculation, that means they will be able to send over $4 Million in supplies and other help to the earthquake victims in Bam already. That means that if you can only afford to send them $5, in reality you have contributed over $60 and a $110 donation is almost $1,400 in goods sent over.

Please click here and donate $2, $5, $20, $100, whatever you can afford. I have no doubt somebody with great need will appreciate it on the other end of the globe and since he/she can't thank you directly, I offer you my most sincere gratitude.

No Starbucks For Me

I broke my personal boycott against Starbucks last week by accepting a coffee somebody had bought me from them and I am not very proud of it either. Now I did not boycott Starbucks as part of one the organized groups out there. Be it because of actions of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and his Zionist views, their anti-union strategy and treatment of employees or even because they are just everywhere.

With my petite-bourgeoisie view on life, I have major difficulties with Starbucks' predatory treatment of the smaller, non-chain, mom-and-pop competition for them out there. Most of these smaller shops are owned by immigrants who have little access to certain job markets out there, or those from the middle to lower income class who try hard to get out of the rat race by realizing a dream of entrepreneurship and building their own business. By aggressively going after these operators, the larger chains go after one of the most vulnerable segments of our economy and the ones with least possibility to fight back.

I know some of you may think that "hey, it's business and they are allowed to do what's necessary to maximize their profits". Maybe. But on the same token, I'm allowed to deny them my business and try to support the smaller guys who in my view are much more deserving of their community's backing. So, the new period of boycott has already started.

Converse All Star

Did you own a pair of Converse All-Stars growing up? I spent most of my middle-school years in Tehran's Jahan-Tarbiyat school, where basketball was school's official religion with three courts in the boys yards and two coaches, one of them a member of national team. In that environment, owning a pair of All-Stars, at the time the coolest shoes to play basketball in, was like a dream. A dream unfortunately never realized for me, so I still find myself craving a pair whenever I pass by a display of them in a store window. I think I should certainly get myself a pair, one of these days.

Oh, and if there's anyone else visiting here with Jahan-Tarbiyat memories, including those involving Mr. Bani-Ahmad, the school founder or his son-in-law Shojapour, contact me directly.

World Social Forum

Just as I accused the activists around the world of giving up on the battle against globalization, World Social Forum proved me wrong in organizing a large gathering for "six days of brainstorming on the direction of the anti-globalization movement." And one of the main participants is our own Shirin Ebadi. This "direction" they are referring to will be very interesting and in my opinion will be key to the way many activists and organizations will continue their struggle over the next few years to come. Wish I was there.

Battle of Seattle

Remember the "Battle of Seattle"? What was described as the showdown of globe's ultimate capitalist club, The World Trade Organization (WTO) and thousands of protestors was a wake up call taken very seriously by those at the top. Seattle may have been the more memorable one, but the "showdown" quickly spread and was quickly becoming a regular event, each time bigger and better organized, with more people participating in various venues around the world.

What stopped the grass roots movement gainst globalization and politics of greed and tyranny by few governments and their multinational corporations in this form? 9/11 did. What would have happened if we had not refocused the world's attention to the redesign of the existing world order? I guess we'll never know.

The Nigerian Letter

I didn't think people still fell for what has been called the "Nigerian Scam" anymore. This has been going on for so long, and there has been some high profile coverage of the details, I figured almost everyone is well aware of it by now.

This changed recently when a friend emailed me asking what I was up to and I jokingly replied "I'm helping a prince take some money out of Central Bank of Nigeria", thinking; Ha Ha, I made a funny! Well, few weeks later we are on the phone and I find out he took it completely straight and wanted to know how the venture was going. Then another friend forwarded me this story and now I know the daily emails I still get almost every single day, has some people fooled to this day.

To be honest, I may have been one of the first fooled by this rip-off, although never lost anything except for a bit of my time. I got one of the original faxed versions of the bait latter before email was as popular, in 1994. It was typical, he was a "former official" that had taken some money ($21 Million, I think) out and it was all at a bank I could confirm the details with. All was needed was my co-operation for them to transfer the funds to my account and in exchange I will get a share of the dough. Sounded simple enough.

I thought I was smart and had my bank contact the bank mentioned and sure enough, everything was confirmed. Then I called the Nigerian embassy and they told me all about the scam, which I promptly ignored. After all, this was supposed to be money hidden from the current government and I would not have expected anything but for them to deny everything. Greed is an amazing stimulus.

My only blessing came because I had to leave the country on business and as such passed along all the information to a colleague who promised to follow it up. By the time I was back a couple of months later, he had received much more details from a few law-enforcement friends and we decided to not pursue it further.

A couple of years later, I am watching a television show (it may have been 60 minutes) and there's guy that had lost a lot of money and came close to losing his life on a trip to Nigeria holding the exact letter I had gotten.

So, next time you get an urgent message, asking you for some help in transferring funds from Nigeria or Congo or ..., remember that if it's too good to be true, it probably is. Then check out any of these sites, to maybe suppress that compulsion to get oh-so-greedy.

If I Was Midge Ure!

Whale Watching

Spent a chunk of yesterday whale watching. If you haven't done this ever, I highly recommend you try it if given the opportunity. It was a cool day here, so it got rather chilly heading out to the Pacific, but lucky for us, the whales migrating south towards warmer waters of Baja California only swim 2 to 5 miles away from the shore.

This is some of what I learned:

Whale's tail is called a "fluke". Gray whales, the kind we saw, have no top fin a.k.a. Dorsal. Grays have two blowholes. They usually swim under water for as long as 5-20 minutes, then get to the surface and Spout (breath) 2-5 times, each time letting out a tall spray of mist that can get as high as ten feet and is loud enough to be heard half a mile away. When they toss their body partially out of the water and crashing back in on an angle, it is called a Breach. They also do something called Skyhopping, where they stick their heads out and remain relatively motionless as if to look around and get an idea of their surroundings.

The main one we chased for a bit was about 45 feet long and weight about 40 tons. Whales often travel in groups called a Pod, Dolphin groups (the other mammals we saw) are called a School. Killer whales or Orcas, usually don't like the warmer water and stay further North.

Most commercial tour operators seemed quite respectful of the space needed and well-being of the whales, but private boaters who follow the big guys occasionally get over-excited in trying to get a closer and closer look and obviously disturb the poor animals trying to make their way through the human disturbance.

I can go on forever, but it is something you must experience for yourself and see this magnificent animals in their natural environment. And please don't go to zoos or parks where these creatures and others are imprisoned.

Can We Make Yet Another Effort?

The amount raised by Mercy Corps has stalled at just under $300,000 for the past day almost. I know the new year and holidays are partially responsible, and fundraising after the sense of emergency for a situation has diminished is hard, I also know at times I may sound like a broken record that sounds like PBS fundraising drive people (not sure if that is bad thing though). However, there is plenty of work that still needs funds in Bam and I would like to ask all of you to give it one more push to see if we can buy a few more tents and space heaters for those who survived the disaster.

Please ask everyone you know, send an email to people in your email contact list, make a plea on your blogs and web sites and in short whatever we need to do to give Mercy Corps that extra final push to maximize their ability to work on behalf of the victims.

Also, if you work for a large corporation, either approach the powers-to-be or let me know and I'll go begging, as we are looking for good-hearted corporations (there must be one out there) that would offer to match funds raised towards this effort.

Since a couple of people have asked, let me make something clear too. I don't work for Mercy Corps, have never met anyone that works for them, don't know any of their executives or in short have any connection to them. On the morning of hearing the disaster had struck, not trusting Red Crescent bosses, I wrote to a few friends asking if we could raise some funds via our blogs and websites and have trusted friends in Iran spend the money directly in helping the victims. I quickly discovered the sanctions make that impossible to do legally so my next aim was to find a U.S. charity (as required by law) that would be able to deliver direct aid and called or emailed about a dozen or more I knew of. Mercy Corps were the first people who responded, provided some solid details and announced their first team had just left Pakistan for Iranian city of Zahedan. I liked their forward approach and quick action and passed that information along to everyone I knew, including some Iranian-American organizations and media types. Are they the best, most efficient, greatest experts to handle this task? We will see. For now I have no reason to think otherwise and looking at their history, I trust they wont let us down. But at this point, there's no time to sit back and contemplate some of those questions. Help is needed now and somebody must collect it. Between an arm of the Iranian government with no public accountability requirement and an international well-established charity dealing with these types of matters, I choose the latter.

Hope you agree too and join me in making this one last push before we start re-focusing our thoughts on reconstruction and not relief. I'll be sending out my emails and make my calls shortly. Thanks!

UPDATE I - Their total just passed $300,000. You think we could get to $350,000?

UPDATE II - Life must go on. It always does.

UPDATE III - Elizabeth Dole and a Bush to go to Iran?