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

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/

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

For All Doctoral Candidates ABD

Good Luck People, these are the days and smile and check the cartoon is from: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php

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

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.