Who Said “No Democracy In Iran’?

At least these ones did not need a manual and talking points memo from party insiders or insurance companies like the republican operatives that have been going around disrupting healthcare reform town hall meetings. In anycasee, this article, Who Wants Sactions on Iran?, by Hamid Dabashi is a must read for those who care to [...]

Tough Talk in Iran

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a rare and important speech on Friday.

Events over the following days will be crucial. Mousavi has called for a huge rally on Saturday. Turnout could be decisive in determining how the rest of the story unfolds.

The world is watching…

Sizing Up the Iranian Elections

Iran is experiencing its most serious civil strife in decades. At least one person has already been killed.

The election results remind us that the will of the people is not the deciding force in politics there. Whether or not Mousavi had the election stolen from him is not relevant.

He is no savior himself…

Ahmedinejad Says No To Your Vampire Application Request

The unthinkable has happened. We were aware that that Iran has some extremely dodgy politics, but there is a line and the Iranian government has not only crossed it but has begun dancing on the other side. Lives of millions have come to a complete stop as Tehran has made its most heinous move against [...]

Iran’s Most Powerful Missile is its Smallest

[Tarboush Tip: Will for his encouragement of everything sharmoot-related]

Friedman Watch: Thomas Friedman Gone Wild

In today’s New York Times, Thomas Friedman outdid himself in a piece titled, simply, “Pakistan.” He made the interesting observation that there was not a mass protest in Pakistan against the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, akin to the ones seen in the wake of the publication of the Danish cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet, Mohammed, [...]

To intervene or not to intervene?

This is a letter I sent to a dear friend after he sent me the latest sob-story article on gays in the Middle East, penned by Peter Tatchell of the group Outrage! The article describes a host of horrific crimes committed against Iraqis because of their assumed sexual orientation. Before you judge me and my [...]

Weekend Reading: Lee Bollinger’s White Man’s Burden

If you thought Lee Bollinger’s introduction of Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, to speak at Columbia University in September, was among the most ignorant, unprofessional, and uneducated displays to be spewed by a prominent educator, you’re not alone. If you are struggling to understand how such illiterate and racist remarks could come out of a major [...]

A Non-Psychotic Report on Ahmedinejad’s Talk

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfyy_oT89RY]Of course, we need Al-Jazeera International just to get a sensible report on his speech at Columbia U. I was extremely shocked he took live, unstaged questions from the audience. He clearly has not learned anything from American leaders. President Bush has still not ventured out onto an American campus in such an unrehearsed way. [...]

Why Ahmedinejad Thinks There are No Gays in Iran

I know we all laughed at his view that there are no Gay people in Iran. But, perhaps he was referring, in an underhanded way, to the Iranian governments efforts to exterminate Gays by making homosexuality a capital offense. He was not, perhaps, in denial, but was rather overstating Iran’s efficacy in eradicating them. It [...]