Friday, March 30, 2007

New Publications on Iran from Scholar Google

I did a search on recent academic publications on Iran using scholar google, these are some of them, the third one is downloadable directly:

THE ECONOMICS OF ENERGY INDEPENDENCE FOR IRAN
Authors : Thomas W. Wood, Matthew D. Milazzo, Barbara A. Reichmuth, Jeffrey Bedell
The Nonproliferation Review, 2007 - Taylor & Francis
Abstract: Iran has pursued an ambitious nuclear program with the declared goal of long-term energy independence. While this is a worthwhile and generally accepted national planning objective, it is clear that Iran's nuclear program as now structured will not achieve this goal, and in fact may delay it by diverting capital and other resources from projects that would address pressing current energy sector problems and contribute to ultimate energy independence for Iran.
Keywords: Energy economics

Prospects of nuclear power plants for sustainable energy development in Islamic Republic of Iran
Author: Amir Hossien Ghorashia Energy Policy, 2007 – Elsevier Available online 30 June 2006.

Abstract: This paper presents the feasible contributive share of electricity generation from each energy resources. This includes the economical feasibilities and all demographic projections involved in forecasting methodology, which explicitly reflect on overall national power demand projection in the Energy prospects of Islamic Republic of Iran till 2033. The Energy demand and reliability are presented with a view to elaborate on significant role and required capacity of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) towards fulfillment of an energy mix policy in the country.
Keywords: Iran; NPP; Prospects

The role of environmental NGOs in protection Zayanderood River in Isfahan
The PDF file is downloadable from: International NGO Journal, 2007
Keywords: Iran; NGO, Environment

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Graduation



For all who discovered formatting is as important as dissertation defense itself!

A Former British Ambassodor Speaks

This is an interesting piece by Craig Murray former British Ambassador to Central Asia:

http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/

" Let me quote, for example, from that well known far left source Stars and Stripes magazine, October 24 2006.
'Bumping into the Iranians can’t be helped in the northern Persian Gulf, where the lines between Iraqi and Iranian territorial water are blurred, officials said.
"No maritime border has been agreed upon by the two countries," Lockwood said.'That is Royal Australian Navy Commodore Peter Lockwood. He is the Commander of the Combined Task Force in the Northern Persian Gulf.
I might even know something about it myself, having been Head of the Maritime Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1989 to 1992, and having been personally responsible in the Embargo Surveillance Centre for getting individual real time clearance for the Royal Navy to board specific vessels in these waters. "

BBC Report on Iran

Interesting piece:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6501459.stm

Oil Price: $66

Nice report from Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avCAqGGJgiq8&refer=home

One wonders how big risk is an oil price model, i need to read on this, any good paper?

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

A Paper On Service Offshoring in the States

Robert Atkinson and Howard Wial have written a report about the impact of Service Offshoring on Metropolitan areas. The paper has been published by Brookings Institution and is available online. Its findings are:

· Twenty-eight metropolitan areas, with 13.5 percent of the nation's population, are likely to lose between 2.6 and 4.3 percent of their jobs to service offshoring, higher than the average loss among the metropolitan areas studied.

· Large metropolitan areas and metropolitan areas in the Northeast and West are generally more vulnerable to service offshoring than small metropolitan areas or metropolitan areas in the Midwest or South.

· Metropolitan areas with large concentrations of information technology service jobs or backoffice jobs are generally more vulnerable to service offshoring than other metropolitan areas.

· At least 17 percent of computer programming, software engineering, and data entry jobs are likely to be offshored in particular metropolitan areas.

Overall, the loss of service jobs to offshoring in the near future will be modest. However, offshoring's impact will be greater in metropolitan areas with high shares of information technology or back-office service jobs and in particular occupations within metropolitan areas. To reduce vulnerability to service offshoring, federal, state, and local leaders should work in concert to pursue policies that boost productivity and innovation, assist workers who are harmed by offshoring, and modernize approaches to economic and workforce development

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

PBS on US Religious Leader Delegation to Iran

This is a report of American religious deligation to Iran. It is very interesting. I loved its decent honesty:

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/312/index.html

also there is an interview:
http://mcc.org/iran/delegation/news/reportvideo.html

A Moderate Improvement: Lower Accident Rate

Iran roads go through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and yet they have a lethal reputation. Iran’s accident rate and the number of deaths caused by car accidents are among the highest in the world. Beginning of spring, Norouz, when Iranians celebrate their new year usually witnesses a dramatic increase in the number of accidents and fatalities due to increase in road travels and heavy traffic across the country.

According to law enforcement officers who spoke to ISNA this year the number of accidents has dropped by 11%, which shows a slight improvement in abiding by traffic laws. Still speeding and exhaustion share 70% of blame for these spring time accidents, which resulted in 467 fatalities. This number is 15% lower than last year. It must be noted that in some provinces the number of accidents has increased, among them Isfahan a breathtaking tourist destination. Tehran the capital has experienced a 60% decline in accident rate, mostly because nobody stays in Tehran in spring time!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Nice Article on Dubai

About Dubai:
http://www.cjr.org/issues/2007/2/editorial.asp

Very good article

A Movie to Watch: “Music Within”

Last night in Dallas AFI movie festival I saw “Music Within” directed by Steven Sawalich. The movie is about a real life personality. Richard Pimentel is a Vietnam veteran who advocated his life after recovering from his wounds and loss of his hearing to find jobs for veterans and later for disabled people. He wrote the first manual for employers to encourage them to hire disabled and challenged the discriminatory practices carried by businesses and employers against disabled and disfigured individuals.

I found the movie amazing. In Iran eight years war with Iraq have left many wounded and disabled[1] persons. Individuals like Richard Pimentel have so much to teach us about disabled and veterans to upgrade practices and to improve veterans’ welfare. I am asking myself how hard would be to invite Mr. Pimentel to Iran to give a talk about his experience? I am sure it is not impossible.

[1] A war veteran severely wounded is called Janbaaz in Farsi. This word literally means “who has sacrificed his livelihood.”

Lost in Translation?

check this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/us/25koran.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Shean Penn's Letter to GW

It is really great:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-penn/an-open-letter-to-the-pre_b_44172.html
"You want to rattle sabers toward Iran now? Let me tell you something about Iran, because I've been there and you haven't. Iran is a great country. A great country. Does it have its haters? You bet. Just like the United States has its haters. Does it have a corrupt regime? You bet. Just like the United States has a corrupt regime. Does it want a nuclear weapon? Maybe. Do we have one? You bet. But the people of Iran are great people. And if we give that corrupt leadership, (by attacking Iran militarily) the opportunity to unify that great country in hatred against us, we'll have been giving up one of our most promising future allies in decades. If you really know anything about Iran, you know exactly what I'm referring to. Of course your administration belittles diplomatic potential there, as those options rely on a credibility and geopolitical influence that you have aggressively squandered worldwide."

This is an interesting website:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Marjaneh Satrapi's interview

Click on the title. I disagree with her on many points, but she is right about a few essential one. I strongly recommend reading her interview. One great thing about Ms. Satrapi is her emotional honesty. She talks about events and people without justifying their actions or reactions. Her books Persepolis I & II are not about historical facts; they are story of a middle class Iranian family during a turbulent time. As a reader I do not use her testimony to judge, but to understand. That is what makes her remarkable as a writer.

http://dir.salon.com/story/books/int/2005/04/24/satrapi/index.html

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Monday, March 19, 2007

A Conference in DC "Portugal, the Persian Gulf and Safavid Persia"

"Portugal, the Persian Gulf and Safavid Persia"
Conference
Sept. 8-9, 2007
Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art
On the 500th anniversary of Afonso de Albuquerque’s attempts to take Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the Iran Heritage Foundation have organized a conference that will focus on the contacts of the Portuguese with Safavid Persia and various aspects of their activities in the Persian Gulf basin.

As part of an exploration of the wider contacts of Portugal with Asia, Africa and South America, the Freer and Sackler Galleries will commemorate this important historical moment with a series of exhibitions in the summer of 2007 entitled "Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries."

This quincentennial is also the occasion for a conference on Portuguese relations with the Persian Gulf and Safavid Persia between 1500 and 1700. The meeting aims to examine various aspects of the activities of the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf basin and their interaction with other forces in the region, Safavid Persia, the Ottoman Empire, Arab principalities around the Gulf’s littoral, India and rival European merchants active in the area.

Topics to be discussed include sources and historiography, mutual perceptions, trade, diplomacy and politics, missionary activities and cross-cultural exchange. Stay tuned for registration details at:
Iran Heritage Foundation
5 Stanhope Gate
London W1K 1AH
United Kingdom
TEL: +44 20 74934766
FAX: +44 20 74999293
EMAIL QUESTIONS TO: farhad@iranheritage.org

Exhibition opening Sunday, June 24 through Sept. 16 2007:

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=zotru6bab.0.ev6rhubab.kgqeopbab.6718&ts=S0230&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asia.si.edu%2Fexhibitions%2Ffuture.htm

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Papers Free to Re-Appear

Tehran Court has lifted the bans on three daily papers. These are Shargh, Hammihan and Asia. Shargh was banned during last local elections and Hammihan daily was shut down on May 16, 2000. Both papers are close to Kargozaran Sazandegi, a technocrat party, and Hashemi Rafsanjani’s supporters. Hammihan’s director is Mr. Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, former mayor of Tehran and a technocrat figurehead. Asia daily used to cover economic affairs. Judge Husseinian has lifted the bans and announced that all three papers are free to publish.

Iranians abroad and 300


I have not seen 300 but most of my friends did, from what I read about the movie and the comic book I have a general picture about it. This is not the movie that I want to write about since I have found overseas Iranians’ and Iranian-Americans’ reaction far more interesting. Iranian communities in the States have reacted to 300 by starting petitions and writing several articles (to read a few) condemning the movie as a biased misrepresentation of Persians, another move in a media warfare and another calculated step in a conspiracy against “Persians”. These allegations might be true; however this is not the only misrepresentation of Persians or Iranians in media.

Several articles that appear almost daily in media, documentaries and even movies all are doing a nice job of biased misrepresentation of Iranians. Not many reacted or react as strongly to them. Even certain groups benefit from such misrepresentations and they themselves help media to produce such biased material. Then why 300 has attracted so much attention?

During last three decades many Iranians abroad have been introducing themselves as “Persians” severing any connection to contemporary Iran, seeking security in an ancient identity that quite frankly many do not know what exactly it was. Iranians abroad have avoided the negative externalities of Iran’s negative image in the media by considering themselves to be Persians. They consider themselves to be victims of another invasion and have washed their hands from Iran and its affairs. For them 300 is condemned since it soiled the image of glorious ancient Persia by imaging it as an imperial power and a massed army of untrained infantry coming to halt in front of 300 Spartans in a narrow pass by Athens. For them this is unforgivable.

To tell the truth, we are Iranians; our identity is based on two pillars of ancient Persia and Islam. In denying one and seeking refuge in another one there is no permanent peace. Ironically Persian Empire of Achaemenids was as much as a rival of west, represented by Greeks, as Islamic Republic of Iran is today. And to be honest for the sake of truth, many Iranians abroad are as illiterate about Achaemenids as they are about contemporary Iran. May be it is time to learn a few things about Iran. The pride is in knowledge not in battles, as an ancient nation we have won many and have lost many. Iranians outnumbered in Thermopolis but were outnumbered in Chalderan[1].

[1] Chalderan plain is located west of Tabriz where on August 23rd, 1514 an Iranian (Persian) army of 27’000 opposed an invading Ottoman army, numbered 200’000 armed with muskets and heavy artillery, 300 pieces of them. Iran’s cavalry and infantry were armed with spears, bows, swords and 1500 muskets and no artillery. Only 300 Iranian Cavalrymen survived the day.

Friday, March 02, 2007