Date

MISERY

Ashnaye Gharib

Death and devastation brought by drought

by Tapesh
12-Dec-2010 (31 comments)
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VIEW

The American Gulf

U.S. Navy's renaming of the Persian Gulf

by jamal.abdi
12-Dec-2010 (32 comments)
In a move that threatens to exacerbate tensions in a region already pushed to the brink, the US Navy recently circulated an official directive to its personnel to refer to the Persian Gulf by the propaganda term "Arabian Gulf." The directive, appearing in the US Navy Style Guide, flies in the face of 2,500 years of acceptance of the term "Persian Gulf," and is viewed by many as means to divide the Middle East along ethnic fault lines. The Navy's controversial move reopens old wounds and engenders enmity that puts US service members in the region in danger>>>

WIKILEAKS

Misinformation Times

Actual U.S. cables belie New York Times' version

by Gareth Porter & Jim Lobe
12-Dec-2010 (2 comments)
The dominant theme that emerged in U.S. media coverage of the first round of Wikileaks diplomatic cables last week was that Arab regimes in the Gulf - led by Saudi Arabia - shared Israel's view that Iran's nuclear program had to be stopped by military force, if necessary. The New York Times generated that version with a front- page story featuring an alleged quote by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia urging the United States to "cut off the head of the snake", as well as other statements by Gulf Arab leaders suggesting support for military action>>>

NOBEL

Prized Women

What does the Nobel Prize really signify?

by Negar Mohammadi
12-Dec-2010 (2 comments)
The history of the Nobel Prizes shows how less the share of women has been compared to their male competitors. Excluding the number of times that the Noble Peace Prizes haven not been awarded mostly due to World War I and II, women have been honored 41 times since 1901. This is a little more than five percent of the total number of the Nobel Prizes awarded in a century. There are examples to indicate how the Nobel Peace Prize candidates were chosen in relevance to the existing Political era>>>

HAFEZ

حافظ و طبل خوشباشی
by Majid Naficy
12-Dec-2010 (18 comments)
در ایران، در بسیاری از خانه ها دو کتاب مقدس شمرده می شوند: مصحف و دیوان حافظ، با این تفاوت که اولی معمولاً سر رف خاک می خورد و دومی ورق ورق شده است. کلام حافظ چون ضرب المثل به کار می رود، با دیوانش فال می گیرند و بالاخره غزل هایش چه هنگام تنهایی و چیرگی غم و چه به وقت خوشی و شبچره به یکسان خوانده می شوند>>>

AUTHOR

Shooting the Heart of the Monster

Interview with Shahriar Mandanipour

by Elizabeth Hoover
12-Dec-2010 (one comment)
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy battles ghosts assassins, flees morality police, and has his thoughts crossed out by a writer trying to get his story past the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Welcome to Censoring an Iranian Love Story, Shahriar Mandanipour’s innovative novel that braids together the story of a writer attempting to pen a romance acceptable to the censors and the tale of two young lovers trying to connect in a country where being together could cost them their lives.>>>