Life is to precious to be wasted on politics.

4th anniversary! From Boston to Washington D.C., New York and Geneva!

Test comments!

Iranian bloggers protest receives international coverage

I guess our message is heard! Check out BBC's report. Guardian and Online Journalism Review also reported on the protest.

TODAY WE ARE ALL EMROOZ

Here is a link to "Emrooz" website (in Persian) which is censored in Iran.
Unfortunately I can't post the content of "Emrooz" in my weblog as it is in Persian.

I will write more about this campaign a bit later; for the moment though, have a look at this.

Solidarity with Iranian bloggers

After a long period of silence it's time for action.
Here is a link to news about a collective action planned by Iranian webloggers (in English in Persian). On Monday 20 September 2004, in protest to censorship of internet, the government's crackdown on independent and reformist websites and the arrest of internet activists in Iran many Iranian bloggers are going to rechristen their blog and call it "Emrooz".

"Emrooz" is the name of a Iranian reformist news website which has been closed down by the conservative Iranian Judiciary. Iranian bloggers will post the contents of "Emrroz" or provide links to Emrooz as a sign of solidarity with this Persian internet news site.
I wil take part in this collective action and if you have a weblog I encourage you to do the same!

Out of Africa

After such a long time, here's a post from Africa!
Exciting times; fast pace of life: Boston to Washington D.C. to New York -- and now, from Tanzania to Keny to Ethiopia!

Back home soon! Who knows, may be I'll write more often...

Bam; no more

I'm back. Moved from Boston to Washington D.C. and started a new life. It's a very sad period. It's almost the anniversary of this website. But this period co-incided with devastating earthquake in Bam, Iran.

I'll be back with more soon... now it's time to go to New York City for a few days... again!

A day with Chile, Allende, Revolution!

I was hoping to see Isabel Allende, but only her message was read at MIT's one-day program entitle "The Other September 11: Chile, Terrorism, & US Foreign Policy" . In addition to Isabel Allende's message, interesting presentations, slide shows and music played by Sergio Reyes, Noam Chomsky was the last speaker. Quite an interesting program.

Should I move to my other blog?

Nobel Laureate Ebadi returns to Iran

Our voice is heard!

What a pleasant surprise it was to wake up yesterday morning with the voice of the BBC radio reporter who was talking about the Nobel Peace Prize for Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights lawyer and activist.

How heartwarming it was to realize that the world is listening to us; That our demands for change which are not heeded by our rulers, are at least heard and supported by the world! Shirin Ebadi is the voice of hundreds of thousands of Iranians, mostly women and the youth, who want change, and yesterday she received the recognition that she, and many of her colleagues working tirelessly inside Iran and outside Iran (most notably Mehrangiz Kar), deserved.

Picasso

Picasso has always been a fascinating character for me. He's one of my favorite painters --especially his bule and red periods. But tales of his personal life depict a not very likable character.

I just watched "Surviving Picasso" with Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins was brilliant in his role as Picasso. An interesting tale about a highly original and selfish artist.

Chavela Vargas

Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending Chavela Vargas' concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York City. It was fabulous! Such a special voice. At 83, Vargas' performance was amazing, followed by minutes of standing ovation from a very colorful audience (read a report on the concert here)! Vargas songs have been featured in Frida and in Pedro Almadovar movies. Certainly a special night to remember!

What kind of blog?

Bar exam is finally over, and I should be able to write more regularly here.
One question has been on my mind since I started writing on this blog is the nature of this weblog; should it be more oriented towards Iran, and current events in Iran? or towards my interests and daily observations?
questions, qeustions, questions...
We'll see!

International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran

Today is 9th of July, the anniverssary of 1999 student unrest in Iran.
On that note, a more political post for today!

I am surprised that the establishment of the International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran did not receive wider coverage in Iranian and internatioanl media. This committee is composed of an impressive group of intellectuals and scholars from around the globe: Samir Amin (Economist), Noam Chomsky (Professor of Linguistics), Costa Gavras (Film Director), Albert Jacquard (Scientist), José Saramago (Nobel Laureate, Literature), Jean.-Pierre Vernant (Historian, Collège de France), Hélène Antoniadis-Bibicou (Historian), André Guillou (Historian), Maurice Godelier, Anthropologist, Alain Joxe, Sociologist, Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Historian (Professors at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales), Paul Noirot (Publisher), Roland Sublon (Dean, Theology Faculty, Strasbourg), Jean Ziegler (Sociologist, Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur), Antonio Lobo Antunes (Novelist, Portugal).

I think this is a very important development. The democratic movement in Iran needs exactly this kind of action, coming from independent, and wll known intellectuals who can lend their moral support to the cause of democracy in Iran. I am eager to see what are the future plans and next steps of this committee.