A Good Article

Rojan Taghavi has written a very insightful article for Guardian "Iran fears falling oil sales – not UN sanctions" She reviews Iran's refining infra structure.

A Difficult Year Has Passed

Almost a year has passed and a lot has happened. I think I should start writing again. At Clayton State we are celebrating the first anniversary of CREST. Dean Chacko left us to become Dean of College of Business Administration in Abu Dhabi. Dr. Tidwell is on his way to Pennsylvania to assume deanship of School of Business at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Alphonso Ogbuehi is joining Clayton State as the new dean of school of business. It is many changes.

Good News for Clayton State

Our Dean Chacko informed us today:
"It is with pride that we announce that the Georgia Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) recently announced the winners of its Annual Awards Competition. The Clayton State University School of Business Building received the First Place Award in the Low-Rise Category."
Clayton State University also has launched its major in supply chain management. Its is going to be one of the best programs in the area.
So life continues...
if you are in Atlanta check our speakers' series.

Being Silent

I have been silent too long. No excuse for that. So here we go.
Iranian year of 1388 is coming to an end. It was the most eventful year and you need not me to recount. However there is a chance that amidst the political stories the tale of economy was unheard.
The Iranian government is set, and undeterred, to go ahead with liberalization. There are many arguments for it and there are some against, well more against. Some say the critiques are more urban oriented, since they benefit more from subsidization and the rural "majority" are silent. These attribute the silence of rural population to their lack of representation and access to internet.
Although there is some truth to this argument, the word "majority" is a vague one and the definitions of rural and urban are not the same for everyone. Really would a town in rainy north of Iran is as rural as a city in the far south corner of Khorasan, close to Afghanistan border?
The truth is government is set to reduce its obligations. It has reduced the tariffs on car imports, leaving domestic producers vulnerable.
Would it be true to say, this government wishing to accomplish something, anything, spectacular is doing the one thing no other Iranian government would have dared? The future will answer that.

LA Times New Article

Mr. Daragahi has written a new article based on some new information. The note has appeared on LA Times Babylon & Beyond page.
I am very grateful for his kind attention and willingness to re-visit the subject. I also am glad there now there is something about the other side of story available to those who are interested.

To Subsidize or Not to Subsidize

The debate over subsidization is getting tense, head of government and speaker of the house, Mr. Ahmadinejad and Dr. Larijani exchanged pleasantries over it. A. wants Majlis to give him full authority and do not bother him with formalities such as budgeting the money. It is getting interesting.

An Article on Iranian Commercial Aviation

This is an interesting piece on Tehran Bureau. Apparently the website is part of PBS Frontline. As for the article conclusions, I think comments are informative. One person who had lost a dear one in Caspian crast says that gov't was aware of the airplane's technical problems. It is hard to say what caused that accident the black box was gone and experts are silent, too silent if i may say so. Enjoy
Read the article here.

By the way Aria Airlines resumed its flights using its Fokker 50s out of its base in Bandar Abbas. The call sign is on the air.