Monday, November 05, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
"Anar Chini" (Picking Pomegranate Ceremony)
Pomegranate is a
symbol f love in Iran. This is Roud-bar, north of Iran by the Caspian.
symbol f love in Iran. This is Roud-bar, north of Iran by the Caspian.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Haifa Wehbe performs new single
Aghoul Ahwak (I say I love you). I wish I'd paid more attention to arabic in school. I love you anyways!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Jewel - Foolish Games (Live)
She is pretty, she plays country so damn well and she yodels (and I mean yodels like no one else does). Amazing ha ?!
Fashionably sensitive but too fool to care...
Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash - Blue Yodel No. 9
two legends playing together; definately a peice of history. Enjoy!
The Most Beautiful Girl by Charlie Rich
For ... if I ever upset you even a bit!
Follow link if you have problems with Youtube.
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/player/0,,153695-330702-WMLO,00.html
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Colonel Bozorgmehr - An old time friend of the oldman
Col. Jalil Bozorgmehr, trusted attorney to Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh and an old time friend of my grandfather, died a few weeks ago at the age of 93 in Tehran. His remarkable loyalty to Dr. Mosadegh has been noted by many including Dr. Mosaddegh himself. He published many books about the military trial and post 1953 coo events. He also recently published a photo essay of Mossadegh which I have used below:
Mossadegh as student studying political science (first degree) in Paris and law (PhD) in Switzerland.
Mossadegh became prime minister of Iran in 1951. His first bill to the Parliament was to nationalise oil and kick the British out!
The Oil Commission was formed following prime minister's order. Head of the Commission Allahyar Saleh (center) and to his right: Abdollah Moazami, Hassibi, Dr. Shayegan,Chief Justice Sarvari, Hossein Makki. On Saleh's left: Dr. Matin Daftari, Dr. Reza-zadeh Shafagh, Najmolmolk, Senator Naghvi
The British and CIA staged a coo in 1953 following Mossadegh's success at the Hague to legally establish Iran's rights over oil. He was subsequently put on military trial when Col. Jalil Bozorgmehr served as his Public Defender (Attorney) (above photo - standing to Dr. Mossadegh's right). Mossadegh was sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment and was then sent on exile to Ahmadabad where he died of cancer at the age of 84 on March 4, 1967. He is buried at his Ahmadabad residence.
See following article for further reading about Col. Bozorgmehr
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Old Parliment Building in Iran
Late 19th Century Iran: a Parliament and full-democracy up and running. Early 21st Century: that's a dream! Did you know women could vote in Iran beforeswitzerland and the country was on the brink of having a woman prime minister in late 19th Century? What happened? Well it was blown away by the West!! I believe Westerners deserve what they get from Al-Quada today. Greed often gets in the way of humanity and cultured people are too easy to conquer; nonetheless culture only carries on "TO BE".
Friday, May 18, 2007
The godfather
Some nations have a father. Iran is too old a nation though to have a single individual even if it is Cyrus the Great to be its father. We have a godfatehr instead. An old man. Some don't realise what he means from an organisational point of view for the nationalist movement in Iran. A man of wisdom and organisation who left a legacy of resistence and a vision of a better future for our country.
Recently I had few problems at work. I have measured my office door and ordered a poster of the old man to go on the door (from outside of course). Should they not learn their lesson, we will do what Dr. Mossadegh did while on exile in Ahmad-Abad. We will write a Foreward to "Men of Algeria" (or maybe something similar).
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Bizzare !
This is Iran today! Have a guess why this guy has been arrested and win a trip round the planet in the orbit in Apolo5 (only non-Iranians qualify in this contest!).
Monday, April 09, 2007
The Stone Garden
Darvish Khan (roughly translated as Ascetic Sire) - famous for his austerity - designed this amazing peace of art, the stone garden.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Sustainable Development and Cuban Revolution
Sustainable Development: How Cuba Is Quietly Saving The Planet
[from proenviro newletter march 07]
Rising sea levels and droughts, floods and freak weather; climate change is enough to push even the most phlegmatic of observers into action. Although the prognosis is grim, there are some unsung heroes in this battle against climate change. It is from them that we have the most to learn, and it is from them that we may gain a sense of hope. And the World Leader in this arena as identified by both the United Nations Development Programme and World Wildlife Fund? Cuba.
To put it more simply, Cuba is the only country in the world with sustainable development. The definition of this as stated by the World Conservation Union is “improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems”.
The way in which this is measured is through cross referencing the ecological footprint of individual nations against their Human Development Index (HDI). An “ecological footprint” is the amount of land and sea area required to supply current human consumption (at present, the Earth provides 1.8 hectares per person, with our current average footprint standing at 2.8 hectares per person). The Human Development Index (HDI) is a United Nations indicator of general well being calculated from life expectancy, literacy rates and per capita GDP (the UN considers an HDI of above 0.8 to represent “high human development” and gives a far superior indicator of standard of life than GNP measures alone).
With an HDI of 0.826 and an ecological footprint of just over 1.5ha, Cuba has been able to deliver sustainable levels of high development in spite of a 47year economic blockade. Thus, the lessons we may learn from this are not only environmental and economic, but also social.
The Cubans have taken a root and branch approach to sustainable development and at the national level, the government’s macro-micro hybrid programme has produced excellent results. In Pinar del Rio, authorities firstly examined base level issues, proceeding to replace, free of charge, over 600,000 incandescent bulbs with energy saving lights. They extended this investigation for almost all household consumption, distributing over 600,000 gaskets and fuses for pressure cookers and coffee makers and proceeded to retire and recycle a further 55,000 makeshift and inefficient electrical devices in the region. Another method (and one operated at Pro Enviro to help businesses become more energy efficient) is that of monitoring hourly demand and total consumption on a daily basis, therefore providing an excellent basis for cost and waste analyses for both homes and businesses.
The government was also far sighted enough after the revolution to invest in methods of power generation that were environmentally friendly, including hydro-electric power, and now extending this to heavy investment in solar and wind power. Indeed, even where the use of fossil fuels is unavoidable, technology has been used to limit their impact. For example, two units in the Sandta Cruz del Norte thermoelectric plant have been modified to simultaneously burn crude and the accompanying gas that is released through crude extraction. These new gas turbines and combined cycle will contribute to the half million kilowatt total of electricity produced through gas.
Most crucially of all though, the Cubans have avoided the free market failure of businesses engaging in emissions trading, so that efficiencies produce real progress in polluting industries, not merely rhetoric and de minimis compliance.
With such a huge emphasis placed upon the 4 R’s of environmental planning – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover – it was a matter of course for Cuban society to pick this up at a grass roots level. Aided by government decentralisation, enforced self-reliance and local ingenuity, the 4 R’s have become a way of life for Cubans. In the fields of education, health, housing, water, sanitation, food security and community development, issues are addressed at a community level. Locally sourced food, even in cities, has cut out environmental costs associated with transport and storage. Access to clean water and the recycling of household water has allowed for extensive, cheap crop irrigation. Indeed, the agro-ecological system pioneered in Havana during the 1970s has only been so successful thanks to the stakeholder participation of society as a whole. In a country where the notion of buying a new product when an old one breaks is an alien concept, one must take good care of the original in the first place. We humans certainly don’t have the luxury of buying a new planet no matter how much material wealth we enjoy, and the Cubans know this. Our lesson to learn from this is how to develop our very own “little Havanas” over here.
[from proenviro newletter march 07]
Rising sea levels and droughts, floods and freak weather; climate change is enough to push even the most phlegmatic of observers into action. Although the prognosis is grim, there are some unsung heroes in this battle against climate change. It is from them that we have the most to learn, and it is from them that we may gain a sense of hope. And the World Leader in this arena as identified by both the United Nations Development Programme and World Wildlife Fund? Cuba.
To put it more simply, Cuba is the only country in the world with sustainable development. The definition of this as stated by the World Conservation Union is “improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems”.
The way in which this is measured is through cross referencing the ecological footprint of individual nations against their Human Development Index (HDI). An “ecological footprint” is the amount of land and sea area required to supply current human consumption (at present, the Earth provides 1.8 hectares per person, with our current average footprint standing at 2.8 hectares per person). The Human Development Index (HDI) is a United Nations indicator of general well being calculated from life expectancy, literacy rates and per capita GDP (the UN considers an HDI of above 0.8 to represent “high human development” and gives a far superior indicator of standard of life than GNP measures alone).
With an HDI of 0.826 and an ecological footprint of just over 1.5ha, Cuba has been able to deliver sustainable levels of high development in spite of a 47year economic blockade. Thus, the lessons we may learn from this are not only environmental and economic, but also social.
The Cubans have taken a root and branch approach to sustainable development and at the national level, the government’s macro-micro hybrid programme has produced excellent results. In Pinar del Rio, authorities firstly examined base level issues, proceeding to replace, free of charge, over 600,000 incandescent bulbs with energy saving lights. They extended this investigation for almost all household consumption, distributing over 600,000 gaskets and fuses for pressure cookers and coffee makers and proceeded to retire and recycle a further 55,000 makeshift and inefficient electrical devices in the region. Another method (and one operated at Pro Enviro to help businesses become more energy efficient) is that of monitoring hourly demand and total consumption on a daily basis, therefore providing an excellent basis for cost and waste analyses for both homes and businesses.
The government was also far sighted enough after the revolution to invest in methods of power generation that were environmentally friendly, including hydro-electric power, and now extending this to heavy investment in solar and wind power. Indeed, even where the use of fossil fuels is unavoidable, technology has been used to limit their impact. For example, two units in the Sandta Cruz del Norte thermoelectric plant have been modified to simultaneously burn crude and the accompanying gas that is released through crude extraction. These new gas turbines and combined cycle will contribute to the half million kilowatt total of electricity produced through gas.
Most crucially of all though, the Cubans have avoided the free market failure of businesses engaging in emissions trading, so that efficiencies produce real progress in polluting industries, not merely rhetoric and de minimis compliance.
With such a huge emphasis placed upon the 4 R’s of environmental planning – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover – it was a matter of course for Cuban society to pick this up at a grass roots level. Aided by government decentralisation, enforced self-reliance and local ingenuity, the 4 R’s have become a way of life for Cubans. In the fields of education, health, housing, water, sanitation, food security and community development, issues are addressed at a community level. Locally sourced food, even in cities, has cut out environmental costs associated with transport and storage. Access to clean water and the recycling of household water has allowed for extensive, cheap crop irrigation. Indeed, the agro-ecological system pioneered in Havana during the 1970s has only been so successful thanks to the stakeholder participation of society as a whole. In a country where the notion of buying a new product when an old one breaks is an alien concept, one must take good care of the original in the first place. We humans certainly don’t have the luxury of buying a new planet no matter how much material wealth we enjoy, and the Cubans know this. Our lesson to learn from this is how to develop our very own “little Havanas” over here.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Iranian Women Rugby
Cardiff - Wales is the capital of rugby. It was interesting to see Iranian girls play rugby, too. I bet they are not that good though! They can't possibly be; after all Rugby is very new in Iran.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
An icon of Iranian freedom movement
"Ahmad Batebi (born 1977 in Shiraz, Iran) is an Iranian student who has been imprisoned since the Iranian Student Protests in July 1999" (Wikipedia, 2007).
Very sad news was relayed around the globe today. An icon of freedom movement in Iran has suffered a brain attack followed by several seizures. Hope he is OK!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Batebi
Very sad news was relayed around the globe today. An icon of freedom movement in Iran has suffered a brain attack followed by several seizures. Hope he is OK!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Batebi
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Beautiful snowy day in Cardiff
Today, schools were shut in most cities around the UK. It has been even more special for me since I heard very good news from one of my best friends in Tehran.
You can see the good news in the picture (the good news is that tiny thing...the big guy is the bad news!). Congradulations to Masoud and Samaneh!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Parviz Parsi (Yaa-Haghi)
Sadly, another great musician - a pillar of Iranian music - passed away this week.
Click on the title to listen to his magic! You can also follow the following links.
http://www.iranian.com/ram/Yahaghi/3.ram
http://www.iranian.com/ram/Yahaghi/4.ram
Click on the title to listen to his magic! You can also follow the following links.
http://www.iranian.com/ram/Yahaghi/3.ram
http://www.iranian.com/ram/Yahaghi/4.ram
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Rituals of rural Iran
Many researchers have studied Iran's rural communities looking into their rites and rituals. Some say Iranians have mixed Islam with Zorastrianism and created Shia't religion. Since Safavis (around 1500 A.C.) the majority of Iranians have been Shia't.
In a country size of Western Europe, where nearly 1000 different dialects are spoken and 10's of different tribes live together, many rituals are still influenced by anciant Pagan faith of the Arian invadors and the anciant local residents of Iran.
In a country size of Western Europe, where nearly 1000 different dialects are spoken and 10's of different tribes live together, many rituals are still influenced by anciant Pagan faith of the Arian invadors and the anciant local residents of Iran.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Work in the food sector
It is almost three years since I started my research into the UK Food and Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry. It has been a great learning experience. I am going to do my best to help the industry and eat well (!) while doing so!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Pariii...vash !
Some 60 years ago some said she is a diva; she was more of a cabaret pop star though!
The two links have only one thing in common: Parivash!!
Friday, January 26, 2007
5000 Km from home is where I live now !
Cardiff is a beautiful city but its not home and will never be!
A nice road !!
Haraz Road - in Iran - is actually a very beautiful single carrage way between Tehran and the Caspian see. Its 4 hours of scary drive though!!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Reza Shah on exile in South Africa
Hi ... been such a long time. I know that I have starved my regular fans for so long!!
Now here is a nice add:
The poor X-shah of Iran, Reza Shah the great spent last few yrs of his life in this house. So don't go on winging about your life anymore !!!
Keep leaving scraps and encouraging me. Thanks. You are really supportive!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
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