tagged w/ Persia
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I had the pleasure of viewing this documentary on Iran and its people/culture and had to share it. There is so much we do not know about this land rich in history and steeped in culture. Despite the political/religious turmoil and tensions we see displayed in the media and by politicians and warmongers on all sides, the culture lives on. I have always believed that it is the people of a country who can work together to stop war and to plant the seeds of humanity and peace. I surely hope to see this with Iran and all countries around the world. Rick Steves takes you on a mystical and incredible journey through Iran and you come away not only with more knowledge of its people but hope that peace can be achieved. I hope you enjoy this look into an incredible culture as much as I did.I had the pleasure of viewing this documentary on Iran and its people/culture and had... more
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Persian Female Warriors. iran before the arab invasion Persian women had hight ranks in Persian society and were treated as goddesses before the Arab invasion and imposition of the dark, backward, and pernicious Arab ideology of Islam upon Persia which destroyed our liberty, form of government, system of Federalism, Equal Rights, Freedom of speech, Freedom of religion and Democracy and replaced those ideals and systems with a backward, central brutal government, discrimination and slaveryPersian Female Warriors. iran before the arab invasion Persian women had hight ranks... more
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Great owners, great staff and the best food in Bloorcourt Village! Even the patio, huge new LCDTV and air conditioning is awesome. Akbar, Billy & Mohsen's is a must have lamb, souvlaki, all day breakfast, and try the huge double burger with cheese with a side of onion rings...wow, you'll honestly love it.
Akbar, Billy, Mohsen's is dependable and excellent quality food. It's at 748 Dovercourt Rd only about 50 steps from Bloor street west right across the street from Pizza, Pizza. You can't miss the blue patio tables and chairs!Great owners, great staff and the best food in Bloorcourt Village! Even the patio,... more
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These are your Current Virals for 11/3. Check out the latest virals at Current.com/virals.
Return of Alice Teaser
Weezer Snuggie Infomercial
Bottle Bank Arcade - TheFunTheory.com
Rejected Mortal Kombat Fatalities Ep. 1
#1 Video:
Prince Of Persia Film Sands Of Time Official Movie Trailer
These are your Current Virals for 11/3. Check out the latest virals at... more
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Reid Baer is NO JIHAD recruiter but a poet who enjoys peaceful Persian things like this Mosaic poem:
My Marvelous Mosaic
By Reid Baer
My simple mind likes to quickly
identify with a single
piece – a colorful pebble – a
bright green stone – a small ceramic
tile I can call my own and then
call it quits and go directly
home but my collective psyche
won’t collaborate in such a
narrow scheme that eliminates
shapes and sizes and mandala-
like patterns illuminating
a vision of the many parts –
the tiles – the stones – from which a more
complete mosaic of reds - blues –
and blacks are at stake and the great
multitude of terracotta
promises an integrated
picture into a floor – a grand
ceiling – a towering mountain
of uncompromising beauty!
-Reid Baer is NO JIHAD recruiter but a poet who enjoys peaceful Persian things like... more
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A presentation of facts aggressively repressed by the Baha'i sect based in Haifa Israel which facts reach into the very core of the Jewish, Christian and Moslem Faiths and which will ultimately unite them and the entire population of the world, both religious of all faiths and secular.A presentation of facts aggressively repressed by the Baha'i sect based in Haifa... more
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50,000 soldiers believed buried by a cataclysmic sandstorm in 525 B.C
The remains of a mighty Persian army said to have drowned in the sands of the western Egyptian desert 2,500 years ago might have been finally located, solving one of archaeology's biggest outstanding mysteries, according to Italian researchers.
[more@link] http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/cambyses-army-remains-sahara.html
Bronze weapons, a silver bracelet, an earring and hundreds of human bones found in the vast desolate wilderness of the Sahara desert have raised hopes of finally finding the lost army of Persian King Cambyses II. The 50,000 warriors were said to be buried by a cataclysmic sandstorm in 525 B.C.
"We have found the first archaeological evidence of a story reported by the Greek historian Herodotus," Dario Del Bufalo, a member of the expedition from the University of Lecce, told Discovery News.50,000 soldiers believed buried by a cataclysmic sandstorm in 525 B.C
The remains of... more
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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's newly appointed -- and controversial -- first vice president has resigned, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Friday.
Esfandyar Rahim Mashaie "has declared that according to the order [from the nation's supreme leader] from this moment on I do not consider myself to be the 1st VP. I am prepared to serve the Revolution in any place that I can," Fars reported, quoting Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh, senior adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Earlier, the supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sent a letter to Ahmadinejad saying "it is necessary" to declare Mashaie's appointment "null and void," Fars reported.
Such a choice is "against your interests and the interests of the government and has caused disappointment among your friends," Khamenei said, according to Fars.
Mashaie has been controversial because of comments he reportedly made last year that the Iranian people are friends with all people, including Israelis. Critics also found fault with Mashaie for reportedly not leaving an area in Turkey where female dancers were performing.
Mashaie's daughter is married to Ahmadinejad's son. Ahmadinejad has defended Mashaie despite the criticism surrounding the appointment. He is among the Iranian president's closest confidants, and he was previously the head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Fars reported.
And the appointment to the position reflected that closeness. Although there are 12 vice presidents in Iran, the first vice president is the only one who can lead a Cabinet meeting if Ahmadinejad is unable to do so.
Other news reports said that that other Iranian voices had come out against Mashaie, including rightist lawmakers, the Council of Experts and clerics. Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami said in a sermon during Friday prayers that Ahmadinejad should rethink Mashaie's appointment, Fars said.
The ayatollah said he regarded the present government to be legal, a reflection of his support for Ahmadinejad, whose controversial victory in last month's presidential elections stoked widespread unrest in Iran.
But he urged Ahmadinejad "to heed the advice of his friends."
"We consider this government to be legal and support it, but based on our fondness for the president we ask that he reconsiders his appointment of the first vice president," the ayatollah said.
At Friday prayers, Khatami reportedly said "we would like" Ahmadinejad "to remain a powerful and popular president."
"We wish that there would have been no need for the supreme leader to express an opinion in this regard. But now that he has, his opinion must be heeded immediately because the legality of all things in the Islamic System [of government] comes from the supreme leader."TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's newly appointed -- and controversial -- first vice... more
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This story has legs.
Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is a former President of Iran, and is considered a "reformer" because he would like to be polite enough to the US to get sanctions lifted, liberalize economic rules, and then be an authoritarian. This makes him one of the most liberal leading politicians in Iran. Of course, he is first and foremost a politician, so he may swing to whatever faction has coattails, and the democracy movement has them.
Being an Ayatollah (which is kinda like being a federal judge: except that their legal system is Islamic law, so more like a religious/legal expert), he gave an influential speech today at Tehran University where he argued (according to al Jazeera) media censorship must end, and political prisoners must be released, and that everyone lost with this election.
Of course, giving such a speech at a University means students are going to go nuts, and this is carefully choreographed political theater. Braveheart-esque cries of "Freedom!" during the speech quickly turned into "Death to the dictator!" on the streets. And just as naturally, Basij hopped on their bikes with their chains and pipes to go give the college kids a beat down as police shot tear gas and whipped out their handy batons to give more beat downs. No word yet on how many died and were arrested.This story has legs.
Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is a former President... more
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Azar Nafisi is best known as the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, an often harrowing portrait of how the Islamic Revolution in Iran affected one professor and her students.
Her new book, Things I’ve Been Silent About, is a memoir of growing up against the background of Iran’s political revolution.
She is a visiting professor and the executive director of Cultural Conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC.
Nafisi is a professor of aesthetics, culture and literature, and teaches courses on the relation between culture and politics.
Al Jazeera gets her thoughts on the Iranian elections.
Al Jazeera: What has just happened in Iran?
Azar Nafisi: Well, what has just happened in Iran is a continuation of what has been happening for thirty years. Iranian people took up opposition and used an open space to express what they want. Their vote was not just against [incumbent President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad but for what he stood for.
But it seems like Ahmadinejad has won an overwhelming majority?
But the most amazing thing is that so many people came out into the streets to demonstrate and protest and to make their wishes known.
.....because sometimes, one voice sings louder than the many, but listen to the chorus...Azar Nafisi is best known as the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in... more
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The rift among Iran's conservatives will hinder Iran's policy moves, particularly where the United States is concerned.
The troops had about as much sympathy for the demonstrators as a small-town boy from Alabama might have for a Harvard postdoc. Failing to understand the social tensions in Iran, the reporters deluded themselves into thinking they were witnessing a general uprising. But this was not St. Petersburg in 1917 or Bucharest in 1989 — it was Tiananmen Square.
There is a crisis in the political elite, particularly among the clerics. But that crisis does not cut the way Western common sense would have it. Many of Iran’s religious leaders see Ahmadinejad as hostile to their interests, as threatening their financial prerogatives, and as taking international risks they don’t want to take. Ahmadinejad’s political popularity in fact rests on his populist hostility to what he sees as the corruption of the clerics and their families and his strong stand on Iranian national security issues.
The clerics are divided among themselves, but many wanted to see Ahmadinejad lose to protect their own interests. Khamenei, the supreme leader, faced a difficult choice last Friday. He could demand a major recount or even new elections, or he could validate what happened. Khamenei speaks for a sizable chunk of the ruling elite, but also has had to rule by consensus among both clerical and non-clerical forces. Many powerful clerics like Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani wanted Khamenei to reverse the election, and we suspect Khamenei wished he could have found a way to do it. But as the defender of the regime, he was afraid to. Mousavi supporters’ demonstrations would have been nothing compared to the firestorm among Ahmadinejad supporters — both voters and the security forces — had their candidate been denied. Khamenei wasn’t going to flirt with disaster, so he endorsed the outcome.The rift among Iran's conservatives will hinder Iran's policy moves,... more
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With orders now having been given to the Islamic Republic's security forces to use maximum force the demonstrators will have no choice but to get armed in order to defend themselves and their compatriots who are fighting for their basic rights - their human rights - which this terrorist and anti-Iranian regime has denied them since its inception 30 years ago.
Despite the bloodshed and violence the demonstrations keep growing larger as people find the courage to fight back against the people who are suppressing them and killing their compatriots.
Two of the notable slogans heard on the streets of Iran today are:
DEATH TO THE DICTATOR!
I WILL KILL WHOEVER KILLED MY BROTHER!
==================================With orders now having been given to the Islamic Republic's security forces to... more
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Murder On The Streets Of Tehran
Basij Shots to Death a Young Woman
Video
At 19:05 June 20th - Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. - Warning - Video should only be viewed by a mature audience.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22876.htmMurder On The Streets Of Tehran
Basij Shots to Death a Young Woman
Video
At 19:05... more
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Post-election protests continued in Tehran for the fifth day on Wednesday. In many photos, riot police wear uniforms with the English word police on them. Ambulances, too, bear the word ambulance in English. Why not use Persian words instead of their English equivalents?
Because everyone knows English. Like many capital cities, Tehran has its emergency personnel wear markings that are internationally recognizable. Street signs, too, are translated into English, and police cars are generally inscribed in both English and Persian. That makes the city more tourist-friendly without sacrificing clarity for locals. After all, the Persian word for police is the same: polise. (Persian, or Farsi, is an Indo-European language that uses an Arabic script, but people will often use Latin lettering, also known as Penglish or Fingilish, especially when typing or texting.) It's also the same word in French (police), German (polizei), Italian (polizia), Czech (policie), and many other languages. Iranian students are required to take English classes in high school. So using the English word for police actually maximizes the number of people who will understand it.Post-election protests continued in Tehran for the fifth day on Wednesday. In many... more
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Iran: The Propaganda Never Stops
By Timothy V. Gatto
http://www.countercurrents.org/gatto130309.htm
Even though Iran has not fought a war for conquest in over two hundred years, our government, our media, our politicians and our “ally” Israel continue to beat the war drums and cast Iran in the harshest light possible. We forget that Iran gave us permission to use their airspace to engage the Taliban and Al Quaeda and provided information as to the whereabouts of their leaders. This stopped when George Bush included them in his “axis of evil”.
13 March, 2009
Countercurrents.org
I never cease to be amazed at American news. I watch a few outlets, just to see if they ever mention anything about the rest of the planet. Except for earthquakes, floods, threats against the US and plane crashes, if we didn’t have maps and globes, we wouldn’t know that there is a world outside the U.S., Mexico and Canada (unless we are in a war somewhere). I realize I’m being a bit facetious when I write about how ignorant our news outlets have become, but the fact is that I’m much closer to the truth than not.
Sometimes I ask myself why our media doesn’t cover the events taking place in other countries. Most Americans don’t know that Iceland, a prosperous country a couple of years ago, went completely bankrupt. There were riots in the streets and this hardly made the mainstream media. There are other things that don’t make news in the media even though it affects us all. Call me a conspiracy believer, but I figure that the government would rather have Americans know little or nothing about the real world. This way, if we end up going to war with another nation, they can spin it just the way they want to.
You can always tell when our government wants something from another nation. The first clue is that we hear much more about the country on the news. It seems that suddenly, a nation that becomes a “place of interest” and gets a thorough look by the media. The history, the resources, the plight of the people and its global importance (especially to the United States) becomes paramount. Countries we turned a blind eye to, nations that were ignored while starvation and genocide were taking place, instantaneously become the center of attention the minute the first drop of oil is pumped out of a proven oil reserve.Iran: The Propaganda Never Stops
By Timothy V. Gatto... more
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"In 2005, the BM (British Museum) presented Forgotten Empire, a highly successful show devoted to the ancient Persia of Cyrus and Xerxes. This spring it is following that with another, focusing on the late 16th and early 17th century: Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran.
In a way it will present a version – enormously more precious and rare – of the goods on sale in the bazaar. There will be superb carpets, textiles, elaborately worked metal, paintings, elegantly written and profusely decorated Korans: a cornucopia, in fact, of the arts of the nation that we used to call Persia.
During his long reign Shah Abbas presided over a flowering of Iranian arts in a style as characteristic as that of the France of Louis XIV. This was carried from huge projects to the most delicate and refined of decorative work. Abbas I, sometimes known as Abbas the Great, reigned from 1587 to 1629. He was one of the great rulers of his age – the equal of the Ottoman Sultan, the Mogul Emperor or the King of Spain. In his epoch, Iranian power was at its highest point since classical times. He ruled territories stretching from the Tigris in present day Iraq to the Indus in Pakistan, and northwards into modern Georgia and Azerbaijan. In other words, a fair proportion of the headlines in today’s newspapers are generated by places once governed by Shah Abbas...""In 2005, the BM (British Museum) presented Forgotten Empire, a highly successful... more
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A UK researcher has found evidence that the Persian Empire used poisonous gases on the Roman city of Dura in the 3rd centruy AD, making them the first to use chemical warfare.A UK researcher has found evidence that the Persian Empire used poisonous gases on the... more
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