UK & IRAN

A look at my two countries

Extreme right has been in power in Iran for 30 years but this is first time in UK history a Fascist has been elected

11-Jun-2009 (4 comments)
Earlier that day the BBC reported that a “far right, anti-immigrant” party in the UK – a Nazi party in all but name – had won two seats in the European parliament – there were pictures of its fascist leader laughing in victory, not unlike King Cockroach in my apartment. Then there was news of elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Its president – as outspoken as he is reactionary – has been locking horns (or antennae) with an ever-so-slightly less reactionary leader whose wife, dubbed the Michelle Obama of Iran, a veiled version, of course, has been helping him along in his campaign>>>

VIEW

Renewed revolutionary zeal

Act one of a more radical Islamic Republic?

11-Jun-2009 (2 comments)
It is likely that Khamenei will wait to see how this first chapter in a more overt confrontation with his potential rivals will play out. If Ahamdinejad is defeated in the election, Khamenei will likely try to distance himself from the more radical elements of the new generation and seek reconciliation. But this opening gambit launched by Ahmadinejad is not without risk for Khamenei and the regime as a whole. By attacking some of the regime’s top personalities directly, Ahmadinejad may have just opened up a Pandora’s box. In the last few days the President’s rivals have already attacked him and his allies with numerous counter-allegations of corruption, incompetence and untruthfulness, the magnitude and tone of which are extraordinary for the Islamic Republic>>>

“I also got to know two Baha’i female leaders

amigo19

Roxana Saberi advocates for Iran’s “prisoners of conscience”

Iran Press watch / amigo19
recommended by amigo19
11-Jun-2009 (one comment)
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choghok
11-Jun-2009 (5 comments)
When Mr Ahmaghinejad sits in the TV station and looks us in the eyes and tells us what a brave and knowledgeable people we all are, it makes it hard to dislike him>>>
Baroness Dudevant
11-Jun-2009 (one comment)
Stop Talking, Start Voting. >>>

ELECTION

انتخابات 88

جوانان ایران نباید هدف چرب زبانی و چراغ سبز لیبرال – رفرمیستها واقع شوند

11-Jun-2009 (11 comments)
اکثر طرفداران میرحسین موسوی، عاری از احساس مسئولیت، ایران نو- استعمار و دیکتاتوری زده را با کشورهای پیشرفته اروپای غربی، ژاپن، استرالیا و آمریکای شمالی مقایسه میکنند که حداقل 300 سال تکامل شیوه تولید سرمایه داری و انکشاف نیروهای مولده و مناسبات اجتماعی مربوط به آن را پشت سر گذارده اند. این بخش از مردم ایران بسادگی انتظار دارند که در طول چهار سال مدیریت کشوری دولت احمدی نژاد، ایران همان فاصله ای را در مسیر پیشرفت فناوریها، انباشت سرمایه و آزادیهای اجتماعی و سیاسی بپیماید که برای ملل غرب صدها سال طول کشیده است. در مدت چهار سال میتوان ظواهر را تغییر داد، اما تغییر در اعماق بوروکراسی اداری، اقتصاد، ایدئولوژی، سیاستگذاری، قانونمندی، سرمایه گذاری در بخشهای راهبردی، آموزش و پرورش، بهداشت، تامین خدمات سلامتی، احترام به حقوق زنان، مردم سالاری وامانت داری به مدت بسیار طولانی تری نیازمند است>>>

ONLINE

Face of change

Facebook engages young Iranians in upcoming elections

11-Jun-2009 (3 comments)
More than 25 years later in the 2005 presidential elections, Iranian reformers used SMS messages and blogs to encourage votes against the block of supporters that swept current President Mahmud Ahmadinejad to power. Although they had little success, the reformist bloggers who actively followed the elections found themselves in the ranks of Iran's opinion makers and intellectuals. Today, the lack of primaries in the presidential elections cuts the active election period to less than a month and the flurry of activity common during this one month has only been exacerbated by the exchange of information and mobilisation made possible by online technologies. Readers of Iran's early blogs have become bloggers in their own right and are using the popular online application Facebook to promote their preferred candidate>>>

AHMADINEJAD

Vote him out

Why Iranians all over the world should vote

11-Jun-2009 (2 comments)
Iranians from every political stripe have taken to FACEBOOK to discuss whether they should vote in this month’s presidential election. There are numerous daily online articles on the subject; it is now a hot dialogue among the Iranian diaspora. Many argue that their vote does not count, that at the end of the day, all four frontrunners--Ahmadi Nejad, Karrubi, Musavi and Rezai—are of the same mold, and that the outcome is clear anyway. Most Iranians also remember the Khatami era when more than 70 percent of the population voted for him and the result was that very little changed. Therefore, they have come to conclude that no matter what, in the Islamic Republic, their vote doesn’t really count because the structure of the regime stays intact. Is that true? Maybe, maybe not>>>

Mousavi or Ahmadinejad? The untold consequences

Shah Ghollam

MOUSAVI OR AHMADINEJAD?

payvand.com / Kam Zarrabi
recommended by Shah Ghollam
11-Jun-2009 (one comment)
>>>
Mehman
11-Jun-2009 (32 comments)
بازی سرنوشت ساز تیم ملی فوتبال ایران در راه جام جهانی 2010 >>>
sarasepidzadeh
11-Jun-2009 (one comment)
Is it true that Zahra Rahnavard is the key to this election? >>>

STATISTICS

Prospects for the 2009 Election

Renewal of allegiance in Iran's presidential campaign

11-Jun-2009 (2 comments)
Large voter turnout for Iran's June 12 presidential election would be a double-edged sword for the country's hardline leader, Ali Khamenei. Although Khamenei would like to maximize participation in Iran's elections, which he sees as an affirmation of the regime's legitimacy, higher turnout would likely lead to a smaller share of support for hardliners. Such was the case with Mohammad Khatami's 1997 landslide victory over Khamenei's favored candidate, a result due primarily to a larger than expected voter turnout that caught the regime off guard. This year's June 12 presidential election provides Iran's 46,199,997 eligible voters with a choice between only four out of the 476 presidential aspirants>>>
Khuzestani
11-Jun-2009 (2 comments)
The Need to VOTE!! >>>

POETRY

مادرم معذرتم را بپذیـــــــــــــر

رابطه ریاضی آزادی زنان با پیشرفت و تمدن یک کشور

11-Jun-2009
ای مردِ پُر از باد وُ غرور
باید اینک بپذیری در ذهن
عصرِ روشندلی وُ جلوۀ فرهنگ به آغاز شدست
مردوُ زن زوجِ برابر هستند
وَ زنان خالقِ تو تویِ جهانی هستند
که تو در پهنــــۀ آن سینــۀ خود گستردی:
"منم این طاوُسِ عِلیّن منم"
>>>