What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility...

Inauguration Speech on BBC

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Scientists have hailed a successful switch-on for an enormous experiment which will recreate the conditions a few moments after the Big Bang. They have now fired two beams of particles called protons around the 27km-long tunnel which houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which has been in construction for some 13 years. The £5bn machine on the Swiss-French border is designed to smash protons together with cataclysmic force. Scientists hope it will shed light on fundamental questions in physics.The vast circular tunnel - or "ring" - which runs under the French-Swiss border contains more than 1,000 cylindrical magnets arranged end-to-end. The magnets are there to steer the beam around this vast circuit. Eventually, two proton beams will be steered in opposite directions around the LHC at close to the speed of light, completing about 11,000 laps each second. At allotted points around the tunnel, the beams will cross paths, smashing together near four massive "detectors" that monitor the collisions for interesting events. Scientists are hoping that new sub-atomic particles will emerge, revealing fundamental insights into the nature of the cosmos.
They will be looking at what the Universe was made of billionths of a second after the Big Bang. The LHC should answer one very simple question: What is mass? The favoured model involves a particle called the Higgs boson - dubbed the "God Particle". According to the theory, particles acquire their mass through interactions with an all-pervading field carried by the Higgs. The latest astronomical observations suggest ordinary matter - such as the galaxies, gas, stars and planets - makes up just 4% of the Universe. The rest is dark matter (23%) and dark energy (73%). Physicists think the LHC could provide clues about the nature of this mysterious "stuff".

Read on...

Khosrow Shakibā'í (March 27, 1944, Tehran, Iran — July 18, 2008, Tehran) (Persian: خسرو شکیبایی) was a celebrated Iranian stage and cinema actor. He ranks amongst the most accomplished of actors of his generation. Read on Wikipedia      And We Cry...

حميد هامون مرد

ابراهيم نبوي

بي شک غمگينم که خسرو شکيبايي به عنوان يکي از بهترين بازيگران سينماي طلايي ايران در دهه شصت مرده است، اما بيش از هر چيز غمگين مرگ حميد هامون هستم. براي نسل ما، هامون فقط خسرو شکيبايي نبود. براي ما هامون نوعي زندگي بود، نوعي راه، نوعي شيوه فکر کردن و زندگي کردن. او همان چيزهايي را مي خواند که ما مي خوانديم، همان سليقه اي را داشت که ما داشتيم، همان عشق ها و نفرت هايي را به دل داشت که ما داشتيم. ما دوستش داشتيم، چون آينه ما بود. مي خواستيم از طريق او آن " خود" گم کرده مان را پيدا کنيم. مرگ حميد هامون براي من مرگ شخصيت بارز روشنفکر آويزان و سرگردان و آشفته و جستجوگر و پرشور و عاشق و زنده يک دوران است.

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On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone.

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Earth Hour
WWF.ca

Read on Parents.com

Norouz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (start of spring in northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on the March 21st or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed.

Read about Norouz

The cleaner your home is, the unhealthier it may be, because of toxic cleaning products made from petroleum-based chemicals.
Many of these commercial cleaning products contain dangerous chemicals that are not listed on the label. A manufacturer can omit any ingredient that is considered a secret formula from its label, and many of these secret ingredients are toxic and carcinogenic.

Green Options

"We must be the change we want to see in the world." —Gandhi
The best way of assimilating the teachings of A New Earth is through reading and re-reading the book. As Eckhart says on page 6, "As you read, a shift takes place within you."
All practices are, as the Zen teaching says, "the finger pointing at the moon," and not the moon itself. Be easy on yourself as you learn new practices and make changes in your life.

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Covering an area of 1500 sq. km, Tehran is situated in the north-central part of Iran, on the slope of the Alborz Mountain. As the national capital it is the  most populated city in Iran and the center of cultural, economical, political and social activities. It is about 1200 meters above sea level and enjoys a mild climate. The highest peak in the Alborz range, Mount Damavand (5,671 meters, 18,600 feet) is an extinct volcano, which dominates the skyline of Tehran.

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Infants taught sign language:

Can communicate wants and needs to their caregivers at an early age
Will have an earlier understanding of the English language
May learn to speak earlier
Could have an above-average ability later in life to learn a new language
May possibly have a higher I.Q.

Parents who sign with their baby may experience:

Lower frustration levels for both parents and baby
Deeper bonding with baby
A higher level of trust from baby
Satisfaction

Watch Video
SignWithMe.com
SigningBaby.com

As an Iranian couple who is cycling around the world for Peace and Environmental conservation, started our trip on 29th of April 2007 from Iran to promote peace. We will be countinueing for about 2 years to make a green line around the world and help the environment by planting peace trees in different places : Paz,peace,paiz,mir,shalom,salam
We will plant olive trees, where before there were thorns.

Watch Video on RMC4Peace
Blog

لغت نامه دهخدا

Article on theStar

Listen

Professor Randy Pausch - who is dying of cancer - shared the special "last lecture" he prepared for his students.

Watch on Oprah.com

Surya namaskara or Sun salutation is a series of twelve physical postures. These alternating backward and forward bending postures flex and stretch the spinal column through their maximum range giving a profound stretch to the whole body. Often, after a hard days work, we would just flop down on the couch * apparently * relaxing our bodies - but it is NOT so. The stagnant energies remain locked up and the organs remain de-oxygenated to a large extent. Surya Namaskar has a deep effect in detoxifying the organs through copius oxygenation and has a deeper relaxing effect.

Sun salutation
Health and Yoga

TEHRAN, Feb. 02 - Former lawmaker Ahmad Borghani died of heart stroke on Saturday night.
Borghani  had served as the deputy culture minister for press affairs at the administration of President Mohammad Khatami. He was also the correspondent of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in New York.

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Check ENOUGH FEAR Site

" ROCKIN' THE WORLD, ONE SOUL AT A TIME!"™ A powerful and dominating voice, singing philosophical and thoughtful lyrics over some catchy riffs and melodies, with an essence of powerful drumming is what you're in for when you listen to Soul Nidus.
For several years and in 2 incarnations, Soul Nidus has been creating music - along with a growing buzz that started in Canada and has reached across the Atlantic to Europe and as far as two of the band members' native Iran. That buzz continues to grow and spread across the globe through little more than word of mouth.

Soul Nidus MySpace
Videos on YouTube
Soul Nidus Site

Watch Video on YouTube

NEH : I’m hungry
OWH : I’m Sleepy
HEH : I’m Experiencing Discomfort
EAIR : I Have Lower Gas
EH : I Need to Burp

More on Oprah Show

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

1) Power down!
2) Waste less.
3) Talk to everyone about these issues.
4) Make Your Voice Heard.
5) DeTox your body, DeTox your home, and DeTox the Economy.
6) Unplug (the TV and internet) and Plug In (the community).
7) Park your car and walk…and when necessary MARCH!
8) Change your lightbulbs…and then, change your paradigm.
9) Recycle your trash…and, recycle your elected officials.
10) Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used, and most importantly, Buy Less.

Watch the Very Interesting Video

MARINA, Calif.- He gave his life for something he believed in and today a candlelight vigil will be held to remember Medhi Shahbazi. Shahbazi died last month after going on a hunger strike to protest what he called price gouging at the pumps. Today at 4:00PM people will gather at his once owned Shell Gas Station on Del Monte in Marina to remember Shahbazi.
Right now the station is surrounded by a tall chain link fence that was put up after Shahbazi posted signs protesting the rise in gas prices. Shell finally shut him down in August of 2005 but Shahbazi refused to give up. In June Shah went on a hunger strike that ultimately claimed his life.
To Shell Gas it was a violation of his lease combined with continued late payments that shut him down. 
Though Shahbazi is not alive to see it, to many he has made at least a small impact on their lives here on the Central Coast. The organizer of today's vigil says it's possible there will be future vigils, all fighting against big oil companies.

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Water crystal of water that was shown the words, The Just, The Equitable

Masaru Emoto was introduced to the concept of micro cluster water and Magnetic Resonance Analysis technology. His quest began to discover the mystery of water. He undertook research of water around the planet not so much as a scientific researcher but as an original thinker, as a human being. At length he realized that it was in the water crystal that water showed us its true nature.

One project is the 99 names of God in Islam. We are hoping to create a photograph book of crystals showing 99 different names of God. Above is a sample of how it looks like. There are 99 of those and we spend two years going through all of them. We formally asked Masaya to edit the design and hopefully the book will be ready within this year. With this I will debut my work in the Islamic world. I feel the increasing need to keep myself physically healthy for this.

Read Article in Farsi
In English

A Death that Provokes Hearts and Minds. May He Rest in Peace...
Baraye Khanevadeye Shahbazi Sabr va Salamati Arezoo Darim

11/19/07 - CENTRAL COAST, Calif.- He made a living by owning and operating gas stations throughout the Central Coast, and at the age of 65 Mehdi Shahbazi, has passed away.
We last spoke with him back on October 2nd when he was admitted to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Shahbazi died this week at Stanford University Hospital of liver failure.
After multiple court battles, It was back in July of this year, that the former gas station owner went on a liquids-only hunger strike. Shahbazi said it was his way of fighting against corporate oil companies, for what he called, price gouging and profiteering.
Shahbazi is survived by his wife Valerie and two sons. Mehdi Shahbazi, was 65 years old.

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Read News

Behnam, a dear cousin is one of the Daf players in the group from Iran.

OCTOBER 14 - VANCOUVER
OCTOBER 17 - EDMONTON 
OCTOBER 20 - CALGARRY 
NOVEMBER 4 -TORONTO
NOVEMBER 5 -  MONTREAL

TORONTO:
Roy Thomson Hall – 3:30pm & 8:30pm
Email: AMysticalJourney@cfonet.org
Phone: 416 872 4255
For Toronto tickets visit Roy Thomson Hall after Wednesday, Ocotober 25th.

MONTREAL:
Place des Arts, Théâtre Maisonneuve – 8.30pm
Phone: 514 738 8866 x 66

See highlights of the program held in Vancouver...

WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE FEELING
IS A PERFECT REFLECTION
OF WHAT IS IN THE PROCESS
OF BECOMING.

WHAT YOU THINK
AND WHAT YOU FEEL
AND WHAT MANIFESTS
IS ALWAYS A MATCH.

Watch "THE SECRET"

Deceased DR. Moeen was one of the famous authors in Iran. In his Persian dictionary, he has explained about bicycle like this:
Bicycle is on of the vehicles that includes some gears. It moves through the turning of chain.
Definitely this explanation is not perfect and it hasn’t involved the other usages of bicycle. If DR. Moeen was alive, he definitely added the expressions like: Sport, Pedaling, Peace & Friendship message, Combat against traffic & environmental pollution, to the meaning of bicycle.
Also when Jules Verne was writing his book “all around the world in 80 days”, he never thought that somebody might go trough the world by bicycle (even for 800 days).
We are an Iranian couple:Somayeh(Nasim)Yousefi and Jafar Edrisi. After mountaineering and rock climbing in some years and meeting some people who have gone through several countries by bicycle, we made decision to go on a trip.
Yes. We decide to ride through some countries for about 2 years. The beginning of our plan is at the middle of April, 2007 and we will cycle about 20000 Kilometers by the message of peace & friendship and environmental conservation. Read more on Naseem and Jafar's site

Toronto-Iranians group has organized a session with them. They will explain their mission and will give a report of their journey from Iran to Canada through Europe:

North York Civic Centre, Council Chamber
5100 Yonge street, North York, ON
Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007, 6 to 9 pm

13 year old Severm Suzuki, plead for the future of her generation.

"Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to share."

Rageh Omaar embarks on a unique journey inside what he describes as one of the most misunderstood countries in the world, looking at the country through the eyes of people rarely heard - ordinary Iranians.

Rageh meets with local people to hear their personal stories and feelings about the current state of affairs in Iran. There are stories of taxi drivers, wrestlers, business women, people working with drug addicts and the country's leading pop star and his manager - the 'Simon Cowell' of Iran.

Watch documentary on Google

“The people of Babylon, who, against the will of the gods had suffered a yoke unsuitable for them..., I offered relief from their exhaustion, and ended their servitude.”

Cyrus Cylinder:25-27
(October 29, 539 BCE)

Watch documentary

The decision by President George Bush to add 21,500 U.S. troops to the 134,000 already on the ground in Iraq charts a way backward rather than a way forward. It promises to deepen the quagmire in which America finds itself. And it carries the enormous risk of widening the theater of war to the detriment of American interests in the Middle East.

A political article by R.K. Ramazani

Have a pleasant day :)

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Bamse
Khepel
Hana Dokhtari Dar Mazra'e
Barbapapas
Watoo Watoo
Chobin
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Watch more photos taken by Titka

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After 48 hours in the tiny capsule, Anousheh arrived at the International Space Station. As the astronauts opened the hatch to move inside the station, Anousheh got to smell outer space for the very first time. "It smelled something like a burnt cookie," she says.

Flying was fun, but Anousheh says the best part of her trip was the spectacular view. "When you see the Earth for what it is, you couldn't see any borders. You couldn't see any signs of wars. … It was just pure peace and beauty," she says. "You wonder, 'How could people ever do things to harm it?'"

During her trip, Anousheh says she'd see a sunrise and sunset every 90 minutes with each orbit around the Earth. She also had the privilege to see millions of beautiful stars. "It was like diamond powder over a black velvet sky," she says.

In contrast to President Bush, Jefferson decried what today is called a "war of choice." Jefferson's war against the Barbary pirates was a defensive war. He banished "the legitimacy of war to dark ages" and in 1797 said, "I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind."

The overwhelming majority of the American people hold views close to Jefferson's. They believe that the United States should not have invaded Iraq, that America has lost international respect and that the war in Iraq has increased terrorism globally, as the recent National Intelligence Estimate concludes.

According to a recent public opinion poll, a majority of the Americans believe that the United States should not pressure Middle East countries to become democratic. Jefferson believed that coercion is incompatible with liberty and that a society must undergo an evolutionary process before it can embrace democracy and the liberal values of justice, public education and a free press that are necessary for it to function.

Jefferson therefore would fault the Bush administration's campaign to democratize Iraq without regard to the realities of Iraq's society, where most people still have higher loyalties to family, religion and tribe than to the nation-state. The Department of State produced such an assessment of the Iraqi situation in its study, "The Future of Iraq," but the Pentagon rejected the findings of the study, and the invasion of Iraq proceeded.

Regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, Jefferson would condemn the bill just passed by Congress. It empowers the U.S. government to continue to keep in detention at Guantanamo Bay nearly 500 detainees, who have been there already without charge for five years. It scraps the centuries-old Anglo-American writ of habeas corpus, which is echoed in Jefferson's letter of 1779 to Patrick Henry, where he defended "treating captive enemies with politeness and generosity" as being "for the benefit of mankind to mitigate the horrors of war." ....

This article was written due to a bill on treatment of prisoners of war that was passed by US Congress yesterday.

Read entire article on The Daily Progress

Click to view one more list of Parsi terms

In her blog: The Earth is so beautiful and if we could all see it this way I’m sure we would do everything in our power to preserve it...

Visit Anousheh's site and her blog
Watch space video

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is a single-day experience that unites more than 170,000 Canadians in 51 communities across the country. Together, they're raising millions of dollars to fund innovative and relevant breast cancer research, education, and awareness programs in the communities where you live.

By October 2, 2005 more than one million Canadians will have participated in this event

Check website

Watch movie on Google

American news coverage is influenced by a complex set of institutional relationships. These influences can be thought of as a series of filters through which the news must travel before it emerges in the voices of news anchors. To understand how American news media report on the Middle East conflict, we need to understand how these institutional filters operate.

Among the most important of these filters are the business interests of the corporations that own the mass media, interests that extend beyond the United States and across the globe to the Middle East. The economic interests of media owners are shared by political elites, politicians and policymakers who form a second filter. These political elites have the power to access and influence mainstream media and are themselves part of a system dominated by corporate money and interests.

A third filter, Israel's own public relations efforts, further affects the coverage. The government of Israel employs some of the largest American public relations firms as image consultants to coordinate its political and media campaigns. Nine Israeli consulates helped implement these PR campaigns by developing relationships with journalists and monitoring media outlets.

At the same time, those progressive organizations opposing Israeli government policy, such as Jews Against the Occupation and Americans for Peace Now, rarely make it through these filters. Finally, if any news stories critical of Israeli policy do surface, there are a host of media watchdog groups that monitor and pressure journalists and media outlets, the most important of which is CAMERA.... Read Democracy Now

After centuries of confusion, astronomers finally produced a working set of guidelines and a definition in deciding which space object is a planet and which is not.

The International Astronomical Union, a worldwide society of astronomers from 75 countries voted on the final proposal after more than a week of heated debates over the standards in properly classifying celestial bodies into different categories.

As a result, the solar system's lineup of planets has been pared down to eight when 424 astronomers voted Pluto into obscurity and designated it as just a mere "dwarf planet" like hundreds more of space rocks in the fringes of the system.

The "New Definition" explicitly says that "a planet is a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a almost round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

That leaves the heavyweights of the solar system, eight heavenly bodies named after mighty gods of antiquity, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and our very own mother Earth as the sole mainstays of the elite planetary club. Accordingly, Pluto was demoted from planethood mainly because of its erratic orbit which overlaps that of Neptune.

The IAU members created a new category for Pluto and its moon Charon. They are now known as "dwarf planets," a new group of celestial bodies which the astronomers coined to accomodate space objects with lesser-than-classical planetary stature.

A third group of minor celestial bodies orbiting around the sun has also been formed, the small solar system bodies that heretofore will include many asteroids, comets, and natural satellites.

With the recent tweaking of Earth's neighborhood, goverments and educational institutions around the world are expected to launch a task of galactic proportions to teach billions of schoolchildren, people and students about the latest updates in the solar system and astronomy.

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Read news on Payvand or on BBC

The Dance of the Rose and the Nightingale

Review: "The autobiography of a young girl growing up in Iran in the 1940s whose passionate interest in dance confronts a society where new ideas challenge old values. "Ramazani structures her poignant and compelling story around metaphors of movement. A sense of energy pervades this life narrative which is all about mobility-in a physical, spiritual, artistic, and metaphorical sense. It is a meditation on blurry boundaries and shifting categories, a refusal to be contained in national boundaries or languages."

Author: Nesta Ramazani is a writer, lecturer, and founding member of the Iranian National Ballet Company. She is the author of Persian Cooking: A Table of Exotic Delights. She has also written many articles on the subject of Middle Eastern women, which have appeared in the Middle East Journal, Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Affairs, and Middle East Insight. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Beautiful photos by Marcos Falcao

Click to see the list of Parsi terms

"Cease Fire" revolves around a psychology theory and is based on the book “Recovery of your inner child” written by Mrs. Lucia Capacchione.

Visit Tahmineh Milani's site

Click 'inja' and then 'Watch ONLINE' on the top right corner

Watch two video clips on the critical issue of animal cruelty (disturbing images):

Activist Alec Baldwin exposes the truth behind humanity’s cruelest invention–the factory farm

Vegetarianism not only spares billions of animals from horrific suffering, it also spares your waistline

Animal flesh has a tremendous amount of FAT, specifically cholesterol. Research shows that 16-23gr. of protein is a tremendous amount for most cultures around the world. We live in a society that is protein poisoning itself.

1- WHEN IN LIFE ARE YOUR PROTEIN NEEDS THE GREATEST?

As an infant! 1.2-1.6% of mother’s milk is protein -about the same as fruit. As your body becomes more efficient, it reuses and recycles protein within the system.

2- BUT DON’T I HAVE TO COMBINE MY PROTEINS TO GET A COMPLETE PROTEIN?

The body will adjust to whatever protein intake we offer it.

3- DON’T I NEED TO EAT MEAT FOR ENERGY?

No. Protein is the last thing the body burns for energy. The first thing body burns is sugar, the second is carbohydrates. Protein is the last resort. Excess protein creates nitrogen in the system. Excess nitrogen creates fatigue.

4- BUT IF I DON’T EAT MEAT, WON’T MY BONES GET WEAK?

Meat contains a lot of uric acid which leaches calcium from the system. People who eat meat have the weakest bones.

5- WHAT IS URIC ACID AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE TASTE OF MEAT?

Your body can only handle about eight grains of uric acid in a day. An average piece of meat (3-40z.) contains 16 grains. Uric acid in the bloodstream creates arthritis - it irritates the tendons and joints. Uric acid is urine acid; it’s the acid from the urine of animal. It’s what gives its taste.

6- WHAT IS THE ROLE OF PUTREFACTIVE GERMS?

When an animal dies, putrefactive germs, which are germs from the colon, saturate all the cells of the meat . It is putrefactive germs that tenderize the meat. Just get clear about what you are eating.

7- WHO ARE WELL-KNOWN VEGETARIANS?

Leonardo DaVinci, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Benjamin Franklin, Disraeli, Edison, Schweitzer, Gandhi, Einstein.

8- IF YOU’RE GOING TO EAT MEAT HERES HOW:

• Get a clean meat source- Halal, Kosher, Range fed, Etc.
• Eat meat only once a day-maximum!
• Eat meat properly combined

9- DON’T ATHLETES NEED TO CONSUME LOTS OF MEAT?

The world record-holder in the 24-hour triathlon (4.8 miles swimming, 85 miles cycling and 52.5 miles running) is sixto linares. The only to win the Iron man triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, 26.2-mile run) more than six times is Dave Scott. Both Sixto Linares and Dave Scott are vegetarians.

More info on www.earthsave.org & www.veg.ca

Palestine in maps

Why the world rushes to save victims of tsunamis and hurricanes and earthquakes while it closes its eyes so tight to such catastrophes caused by our own fellow human beings?

Lebanese women walk by a building which was damaged after an attack by an Israeli missile in Ghaziyeh village, near Sidon, in south Lebanon, July 19, 2006.
Watch photos in MSNBC

Twenty-eight Israelis have been killed - including 16 civilians killed by rocket attacks - since the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah militants began last Wednesday. More than 280 Lebanese - mostly civilians - have been killed in the conflict. Israel launched attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Many thousands of people continue to flee Lebanon, and several countries have sent ships and helicopters to move their nationals.

Read news on BBC & MSNBC

In quest of spiritual ideas, to the end of introducing a new style of calligraphy, which is the embodiment of a historical and spiritual heritage, opportunities are sought to exhibit this new style, which was not formerly present in Iranian and Islamic art...

Visit this wonderful site

Three Music Categories

Watch clip on CNN

History of Islam on Wikipedia

Click to hear interview

Watch Zidane's Clips on YouTube

Zidane blames Materazzi insults

Zinedine Zidane's agent says the France captain headbutted Marco Materazzi in Sunday's World Cup final because the Italian made a "very serious" comment.

"He told me Materazzi said something very serious to him but he wouldn't tell me what," agent Alain Migliaccio told BBC Five Live Sport.

Offering his support, Chirac said: "Dear Zinedine, in such a hard and intense moment for you, I would like to express the whole nation's affection and admiration for you. "You are a virtuoso, a genius of football and an exceptional human being. That is why France admires you." ...

July 12, 2006 - Zinedine Zidane: There was provocation, and it was very serious, that is all. My action was inexcusable but you have to punish the real culprit, and the real culprit is the one who provoked it. Voila.

Read news on BBC - Zidane Explains - Watch the dramatic clip - How people saw it...

Zurich, 20 July 2006  -  Suspensions and fines were the sanctions pronounced by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee at its meeting. Zinedine Zidane has also agreed to do community service work with children and youngsters. FIFA Disciplinary Committee imposed a three-match ban and a fine of CHF 7,500 on Zinedine Zidane on account of his head-butt to Materazzi's chest. As Zidane has now retired from international football, the committee took note of Zidane's pledge to do three days of community service work with children and youngsters as part of FIFA's humanitarian activities. Materazzi was suspended for two official matches of the Italian national team and fined the sum of CHF 5,000 for repeatedly provoking Zidane. More on this news

"When I born, I Black, When I grow up, I Black, When I go in Sun, I Black, When I scared, I Black, When I sick, I Black, And when I die, I still Black.. And you White fella, When you born, you Pink, When you grow up, you White, When you go in Sun, you Red, When you cold you Blue, When you scared, you Yellow, When you sick, you Green, And when you die, you Gray.. And you calling me Colored ??"

A poem by an African kid. This poem won some awards.

Click to See Map

Kenneth Lay, the Enron founder, has died. He was found early today at his home in Aspen, Colorado, a family spokesman said. He was 64. It appears he suffered a heart attack.
Mr Lay was awaiting sentence in October for his role in the Enron scandal, having been found guilty of nine counts of fraud and conspiracy in May. Mr Lay was facing as much as 25 years in federal prison.

Mr Lay and his successor as Enron chief executive officer, Jeffrey Skilling, were convicted of spearheading the fraud that plunged the world's largest energy trading company into bankruptcy in December 2001.

The company's implosion from an accounting fraud wiped out more than 5,000 jobs and $1bn in employee pensions virtually overnight. Shareholders claimed more than $25bn in losses as a result of the crime.

Mr Lay's is not the first untimely death of those involved in the Enron scandal. In January 2002, shortly after the scandal broke, senior executive Clifford Baxter was found shot dead in an apparent suicide. A revolver and suicide note were found at his side in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land where he lived.

Read news

Watch trailer for "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"

Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.

With wit, smarts and hope, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH ultimately brings home Gore's persuasive argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the biggest moral challenges facing our global civilization.

Watch trailer - Visit ClimateCrisis

Before you buy your next container of deodorant check the label to see if it contains aluminum. Most commercial brands of antiperspirants and deodorants contain either aluminum chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium. These compounds are very soluble and are readily absorbed by the body. Once in the body, the aluminum portion of the molecule ionizes, forming free radical aluminum (Al+++) This passes freely across cell membranes and forms a physical plug, that when dissolved is selectively absorbed by the liver, kidney, brain, cartilage and bone marrow. It is this concentration of aluminum that has been the source for concern in the medical community, and has prompted the research being done on Alzheimer's disease and Breast Cancer victims. The human body has a few areas that it uses to purge toxins: Behind the knees, ears, groin area and armpits. The toxins are purged in the form of perspiration.

Antiperspirant, as the name clearly indicates, prevents you from perspiring, thereby inhibiting the body from purging toxins from below the armpits. These toxins do not magically disappear. Instead the body deposits them in the lymph nodes below the arms since it cannot sweat them out. This causes a high concentration of toxins that leads to cell mutation a.k.a. Cancer. Nearly all Breast Cancer tumors occur in the upper outside quadrant of the breast area. This is where lymph nodes are located.

Your best alternative is one of the new “crystal deodorant stones”. These stones are 3 times more effective than commercial deodorants, they are not sticky or greasy and do not stain clothing. The crystal deodorant stone does not contain any aluminum or other harsh chemicals, perfumes, oils, emulsifiers, alcohol or propellants and are hypoallergenic.

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Might this be only a myth? You be the judge!! 

After nearly 30 years of arguing that a black hole destroys everything that falls into it, Stephen Hawking is saying he was wrong. It seems that black holes may after all allow information within them to escape. Hawking will present his latest finding at a conference in Ireland next week.

It was Hawking's own work that created the paradox. In 1976, he calculated that once a black hole forms, it starts losing mass by radiating energy. This "Hawking radiation" contains no information about the matter inside the black hole and once the black hole evaporates, all information is lost.

But this conflicts with the laws of quantum physics, which say that such information can never be completely wiped out. Hawking's argument was that the intense gravitational fields of black holes somehow unravel the laws of quantum physics.

New X-ray data from Chandra X-ray telescope give the first clear explanation for what drives this process: magnetic fields. Chandra observed a black hole system in our galaxy, known as GRO J1655-40 (J1655, for short), where a black hole was pulling material from a companion star into a disk.

Read article one & article two 

World Cup schedule and up-to-date results
Read news on all teams on BBC
Visit FIFA World Cup

Persian Empire, largest Empire world had ever seen
Persepolis, richest city undet the sun
Tolerance for other religions
International religious freedom
Paid maternity leave for one year
Very well paid workers
Women, paid more than men
City ravaged and brought to ashes by Alexander
Persepolis built in 500 B.C. - Lasted for 200 years

Watch Clip @ IranInfo in Denmark
Read about Persepolis

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Microsoft announced Thursday that chairman and co-founder Bill Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role at the company, effective July 2008, to spend more time working on his charitable foundation.

Gates will then work part-time at Microsoft as chairman and technical adviser and will work full time for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the organization he founded with his wife, which focuses on global health and education.

"I believe with great wealth comes great responsibility - the responsibility to give back to society and make sure those resources are given back in the best possible way, to those in need," he said. Gates added, "It's not a retirement, it's a reordering of my priorities."

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Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian Renaissance polymath: an architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, musician and painter. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius, a man infinitely curious and infinitely inventive. He is also considered one of the greatest painters who ever lived.

Leonardo is famous for his realistic paintings, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, as well as for influential drawings such as the Vitruvian Man. He conceived of ideas vastly ahead of his own time, notably conceptually inventing the helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, the calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double hull, and others too numerous to mention. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were feasible during his lifetime; modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the Renaissance. In addition, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of water (hydrodynamics). Of his works, only a few paintings survive, together with his notebooks containing drawings, scientific diagrams and notes.

Read about Leonardo da Vinci and his work

Abū ‘Alī al-Husayn ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sīnā ابوعلى سينا Abu Ali Sina or arabisized: أبو علي الحسين بن عبد الله بن سينا) often referred to by his Latinized name Avicenna was a Persian physician, philosopher, and scientist who was born in 980 in Kharmaithen near Bukhara, now in Uzbekistan (then Persia), and died June 1037 in Hamadan, Persia (Iran).

He was the author of 450 books on a wide range of subjects. Many of these concentrated on philosophy and medicine. He is considered by many to be "the father of modern medicine." George Sarton called Ibn Sina "the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times." His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun (full title: al-qanun fil-tibb).

Ibn Sina was put under the charge of a tutor, and his precocity soon made him the marvel of his neighbours; he displayed exceptional intellectual behaviour and was a Child prodigy who had memorized the Koran by the age of 10 and a great deal of Persian poetry as well. From a greengrocer he learned arithmetic, and he began to learn more from a wandering scholar who gained a livelihood by curing the sick and teaching the young.

However he was greatly troubled by metaphysical problems and in particular the works of Aristotle. So, for the next year and a half, he also studied philosophy, in which he encountered greater obstacles. In such moments of baffled inquiry, he would leave his books, perform the requisite ablutions, then go to the mosque, and continue in prayer till light broke on his difficulties. Deep into the night he would continue his studies, stimulating his senses by occasional cups of goats' milk, and even in his dreams problems would pursue him and work out their solution. Forty times, it is said, he read through the Metaphysics of Aristotle, till the words were imprinted on his memory; but their meaning was hopelessly obscure, until one day they found illumination, from the little commentary by Farabi, which he bought at a bookstall for the small sum of three dirhems. So great was his joy at the discovery, thus made by help of a work from which he had expected only mystery, that he hastened to return thanks to God, and bestowed alms upon the poor.

He turned to medicine at 16, and not only learned medical theory, but by gratuitous attendance on the sick had, according to his own account, discovered new methods of treatment. The teenager achieved full status as a physician at age 18 and found that "Medicine is no hard and thorny science, like mathematics and metaphysics, so I soon made great progress; I became an excellent doctor and began to treat patients, using approved remedies." The youthful physician's fame spread quickly, and he treated many patients without asking for payment.

In Iran, he is considered a national icon, and is often regarded as one of the greatest Persians to have ever lived. Many portraits and statues remain in Iran today. An impressive monument to the life and works of the man who is known as the 'doctor of doctors' still stands outside the Bukhara museum and his portrait hangs in the Hall of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris.

Read more about Avicenna

List of Iranian scientists and scholars
Classical (pre-modern) Era

Raphael's The School of Athens (1509) with Plato and Aristotle in the centre, Vatican Museum

Western philosophy is conventionally divided into three large eras - the Ancient, Medieval and Modern.

• The Ancient era runs through the fall of Rome and includes the Greek philosophers such as Plato.
• The Medieval period runs until roughly the late 1400s and the Renaissance.
• The "Modern" is a word with more varied use, which includes everything from Post-Medieval through the specific period up to the 20th century. Contemporary philosophy encompasses the philosophical developments of the 20th century up to the present day.

Read History of philosophy

The Death of Socrates, 1787
Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)
Accused by the Athenian government of denying the gods and corrupting the young through his teachings, Socrates (469–399 B.C.E.) was offered the choice of renouncing his beliefs or being sentenced to death by drinking hemlock.

Socrates (c. 469-399 BCE)

Socrates is considered to be among the most influential Western philosophers. Although he never wrote a word himself, the many works of his student, Plato, provides a window into Socratic philosophy. His major contribution to the study of philosophy was to redirect inquiries away from the natural sciences and toward the contemplation of systems of ethics and questions of ethical conduct.

Socrates was an outspoken critic of the government, and therefore he was charged with corrupting the youth of Athens and with impiety. Despite his eloquent defense, Socrates was found guilty and sentenced to death. Plato records Socrates's last month of life in jail. Socrates remained staunchly true to his beliefs, refused to recant any of his statements, and also refused to accept exile over death. He took a cup of hemlock surrounded by his friends, and, comforting them, drank the poison that would end his life.

Plato (c. 427-347 BCE)

Plato was Socrates' student and one of the most influential philosophers in Western civilization. After Socrates' death, Plato gave up all political aspirations after this tragedy, and pursued instead a career of travel and philosophy.

Plato's texts, and his magnum opus The Republic , in particular, have had an impact on European history second only to the works of Aristotle. Particularly influential was his theory of Forms, in which Plato suggested that the reality of corporeal and materials things is based on a metaphysical reality of ideas that exists in an eternal world of Forms. Plato's idea of a an absolute Form of the Good was close to the Christian monotheistic God; Neoplatonism in the Christianizing Roman Empire (100-400 CE) revived Plato as an early precursor of Christian doctrine.

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

Aristotle came to Athens to study and joined Plato's Academy in 367 BCE. Aristotle became Plato's best student and was generally felt to be  Plato's successor. For three years he was the tutor of the adolescent Alexander the Great.

Aristotle's work might be viewed as an attempt to reconcile naturalism, as posited by the pre-Socratics, with the metaphysical world described by his teacher, Plato.Ultimately, Aristotle would repudiate Plato's metaphysical understanding of the world. Aristotle preferred (and indeed developed) the processes of scientific observation and experimentation in the material world. He is credited with establishing systems and categories of scholarly research that have survived to the present day. Aristotle's work has been critical in the development of much of Western philosophic thought through to the nineteenth century.

Read The Ancient Greeks

SUNNYVALE, California - Internet powerhouse Yahoo announced that it has rectified the flaw, which was causing a worm called as "Yamanner," to attack the user's computer even if the e-mail attachment was not opened.

The company said that "a very small fraction" of its 200 million accounts in Yahoo! Mail were infected by the problem, which was detected Monday.

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Current Earth Population (at this second): 6,567,226,868

It took all of human history until 1800 for the world’s population to reach its first billion. Now we add a new billion nearly every dozen years. As the global total swells to nearly 9 billion by 2050, the social and environmental strains will be enormous.

Worldometers

Have you ever forwarded an email with a picture of a burnt baby because you thought you MIGHT help him? Or an email that urges you to pass along the email, otherwise your YAHOO or ORKUT account will be closed down? How about the one that Bill Gate will send you a check? "For every person that you forward this email to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00"!!!!

Hoax warnings are typically scare alerts started by malicious people - and passed on by innocent users who think they are helping the community by spreading the warning.

Do not forward hoax messages. We've seen cases where e-mail systems have collapsed after dozens of users forwarded a false alert to everybody in the company. Corporate users can get rid of the hoax problem by simply setting a strict company guideline: End users must not forward virus alarms. Ever.

Aside from entertaining emails, always type a few words of  the suspected email and the word "HOAX" in google. Chances are you will see the complete content of the hoax in a site such as the one below. Happy emailing!

List of Known Hoaxes

Some religions or belief systems by number of adherents:

1-Christianity 2.1 billion (Began: ca. 27 AD/CE) 
  -Roman Catholicism: 1.085 billion 
  -Protestantism: 590 million 
  -Eastern Orthodoxy: 200 million 
  -Anglican: 84 million 
  -Oriental Orthodoxy, Assyrians, and other Christians: 350 million 
  -Latter Day Saints (Mormons) 12.6 million (Began: ca. 1830)

2-Islam 1.3 billion (Began: ca. 622 AD/CE) 
  -Sunnism: 940 million
  -Shi'ism: 170 million 
  -Sufi, Ibadiyyah, Druze and other Muslims : 80 million 

4- Hinduism 900 million (Began: 15th century BC/BCE)
  -Vaishnavism: 580 million
  -Shaivism: 220 million
  -Shaktism/Smartism/Arya Samaj/Other sects: 150 million

5-Buddhism 708 million (Began: 6th century BC/BCE)
  -Mahayana: 185 million
  -Theravada: 124 million
  -Chinese/Japanese Buddhism: 394 million

6-Judaism 15 million (Began: 13th century BC/BCE)  

7-Humanism over 3 million

8-Zoroastrianism 2.6 million (Began: ca. 6th century BC/BCE)

Check out major religious groups by number of adherents

Simulations on a supercomputer have allowed Nasa scientists to understand finally the pattern of gravitational waves produced by merging black holes.

"With these calculations, we are now able to know what will be the distinctive gravitational wave signature that comes out from just outside merging black holes," commented Professor Peter Saulson, who is part of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (Ligo) Scientific Collaboration.

"And by looking for this signal, we will be able to learn whether Einstein's Theory of General Relativity is correct or whether there is even stranger physics ahead for us in the future."

Read News on BBC

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Nike Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. have teamed up to try to become a runner's best friend.

The two companies announced Tuesday they are jointly developing a wireless system so some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor can communicate with Apple's iPod Nano music player to track a runner's performance and help choreograph songs to the moment.

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New materials that can change the way light and other forms of radiation bend around an object may provide a way to make objects invisible.

The concept begins with refraction -- a quality of light in which the electromagnetic waves take the quickest, but not necessarily the shortest, route. This accounts for the illusion that a pencil immersed in a glass of water appears broken, for instance.

"Imagine a situation where a medium guides light around a hole in it," Physicist Ulf Leonhardt of Britain's University of St. Andrews, wrote in one of the reports.

The light rays end up behind the object as if they had traveled in a straight line. "Any object placed in the hole would be hidden from sight. The medium would create the ultimate optical illusion: invisibility, Leonhardt wrote.

Read News on BBC

In this paper, John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago's Department of Political Science and Stephen M.Walt of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government contend that the centerpiece of U.S. Middle East policy is its intimate relationship with Israel. The authors argue that although often justified as reflecting shared strategic interests or compelling moral imperatives, the U.S. commitment to Israel is due primarily to the activities of the “Israel Lobby." This paper goes on to describe the various activities that pro-Israel groups have undertaken in order to shift U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction.

...The history of these events is well-understood. When political Zionism began in earnest in the late 19th century, there were only about 15,000 Jews in Palestine. In 1893, for example, the Arabs comprised roughly 95 percent of the population, and though under Ottoman control, they had been in continuous possession of this territory for 1300 years. Even when Israel was founded, Jews were only about 35 percent of Palestine’s population and owned 7 percent of the land....

...The fact that the creation of Israel entailed a moral crime against the Palestinian people was well understood by Israel’s leaders. As Ben-Gurion told Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress, “If I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. . . . We come from Israel, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?”...

...IDF fired one million bullets in the first days of the uprising, which is far from a measured response. Since then, Israel has killed 3.4 Palestinians for every Israeli lost, the majority of whom have been innocent bystanders; the ratio of Palestinian to Israeli children killed is even higher (5.7 to 1)...

...The Lobby also has significant leverage over the Executive branch. That power derives in part from the influence Jewish voters have on presidential elections. Despite their small numbers in the population (less than 3 percent), they make large campaign donations to candidates from both parties. The Washington Post once estimated that Democratic presidential candidates "depend on Jewish supporters to supply as much as 60 percent of the money." Furthermore, Jewish voters have high turn out rates and are concentrated in key states like California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania. Because they matter in close elections, Presidential candidates go to great lengths not to antagonize Jewish voters...

…One CNN executive has said that he sometimes gets 6,000 e-mail messages in a single day complaining that a story is anti-Israel. Similarly, the pro-Israel Committee for Accurate Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) organized demonstrations outside National Public Radio stations in 33 cities in May 2003, and it also tried to convince contributors to withhold support from NPR until its Middle East coverage became more sympathetic to Israel…

...Pressure from Israel and the Lobby was not the only factor behind the U.S. decision to attack Iraq in March 2003, but it was a critical element. Some Americans believe that this was a “war for oil,” but there is hardly any direct evidence to support this claim. Instead, the war was motivated in good part by a desire to make Israel more secure...

Read article @ Harvard University

Read review @ London Review of Books

Last Friday, the National Post ran a story prominently on the front page alleging that the Iranian parliament had passed a law that, if enacted, would require Jews and other religious minorities in Iran to wear badges that would identify them as such in public. It is now clear the story is not true. Given the seriousness of the error, I felt it necessary to explain to our readers how this happened.

National Post - BBC

World War One gave the Young Turk government the cover and the excuse to carry out their plan. The plan was simple and its goal was clear. On April 24th 1915, commemorated worldwide by Armenians as Genocide Memorial Day, hundreds of Armenian leaders were murdered in Istanbul after being summoned and gathered. The now leaderless Armenian people were to follow. Across the Ottoman Empire, the same events transpired from village to village, from province to province.
The remarkable thing about the following events is the virtually complete cooperation of the Armenians. For a number of reasons they did not know what was planned for them and went along with "their" government's plan to "relocate them for their own good."

Watch Video Clip - Read about Armenian Genocide

The Russian Federal Space Agency officially announced that Iranian born Anoushe Ansari would travel in space on the Soyuz aircraft next spring. Ms. Ansari, a U.S. citizen, is to fund the flight on her own to become the first female space tourist. The Ansari family is also well known for investing in space tourism projects.

Read Article - Read Profile

If you find it remarkable that a female human rights lawyer from Iran should have the audacity to remind the US government of its constitutional responsibilities, then you don't know Shirin Ebadi.

Read Article

Women car racers in Iran have been awarded prizes for the first time in the history of the Islamic republic.

Read Article on BBC

Alcatraz was a military installation established in 1850, later becoming a military prison, until 1933. The United States Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz were acquired by the United States Department of Justice on October 12, 1933. The island became a federal prison in August, 1934. During the 29 years it was in use, the jail held such notable criminals as Al Capone (Al Caponi), Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), and Alvin Karpis, who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate.
During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary never logged any officially successful escapes. In all attempts escapees were either shot dead or believed to be drowned in the frigid San Francisco Bay.

Alcatraz Official Web Page

Shahbazi was, Shell Oil officials acknowledged from 1986 through 1989, the best in Marina area.

But now, Shahbazi, his wife Valerie and their two children are hanging on to the gas station by their fingernails. Since November, Shell Oil and its representative, Peninsula Petroleum, have been trying to remove Shahbazi from the Marina Shell station that he’s run for more than 20 years.

Despite all this, Shahbazi has not given up his battle against Shell. He’s fighting the company in court, arguing that the signs he erected on the station’s property last fall—accusing big oil companies of gouging consumers—were legal and an expression of his First Amendment rights.

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Her memoir is a gripping story – a must-read for anyone interested in Zara Kazemi’s case, in the life of a remarkable woman, or in understanding the political and religious upheaval in our world.

Read More

...Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams, two Nobel Peace Prize winners along with two other Nobel laureates feel a particular responsibility to let the world know that the people of Iran and the United States do not support violent resolution of this crisis.

..."No more military attacks. No more war," they said in a written statement. "We demand a nonviolent world where human security is the basis of our common global security."...

Read Article on Washington Post

The discovery of the snake, which was not more than three feet long, also adds to the belief that snakes may have developed on land and not in the sea.

Read News on Washington Post

Niagara Falls is a set of massive waterfalls located on the Niagara River in eastern North America, on the border between the United States and Canada. Niagara Falls comprises three separate waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls (sometimes called the Canadian Falls), the American Falls, and the smaller, adjacent Bridal Veil Falls. While not exceptionally high, Niagara Falls is very wide. With more than 168,000 cubic metres (6 million cubic feet) of water falling over the crestline every minute it is the most powerful waterfall in North America and possibly the best-known in the world.

Read More on Wikipedia

Several Successful Iranians

French actress Juliette Binoche has travelled to Iran by the invitation of Abbas Kiarostami, the famous Iranian director. Some news sources has published that Binoche has gone to Iranian ancient city, Isfahan, to visit the director for starring in his latest movie. Binoche is best known for his roles in some great movies such as Blue, The English Patient, Chocolat and Cashe (Hidden). Iranian director Kiarostami also is one of the famous Asian directors who have made The Taste of Cherry, Ten and Where is the Friend's Home?.

Read Report on BBC (in Farsi)

Easter is the most important religious holiday of the Christian liturgical year, observed in March, April, or May to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which Christians believe occurred after his death by crucifixion in AD 27-33 (Good Friday). Easter can also refer to the season of the church year, lasting for fifty days, which follows this holiday and ends at Pentecost.

Read About Easter on Wikipedia

Text of the Commandments:

While Christianity and Islam share these laws with Judaism, other faiths do not generally recognise the Ten Commandments in their unity, however, many of them (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, etc.) have comparable laws or principles.

Despite the Ten Commandments not being explicitly mentioned in the Quran they are implied by the following verses in the Quran (using Jewish numbering):

1. "There is no other god beside God."(47:19)
2. "My Lord, make this a peaceful land, and protect me and my children from worshiping idols." (14:35)
3. "Do not subject God's name to your casual swearing, that you may appear righteous, pious, or to attain credibility among the people." (2:224)
4. "O you who believe, when the Congregational Prayer (Salat Al-Jumu`ah) is announced on Friday, you shall hasten to the commemoration of GOD, and drop all business." (62:9)
The Sabbath was relinquished with the revelation of the Quran. Muslims are told in the Quran that the Sabbath was only decreed for the Jews. (16:124) God, however, ordered Muslims to make every effort and drop all businesses to attend the congregational (Friday) prayer. The Submitters may tend to their business during the rest of the day.
5. "....and your parents shall be honored. As long as one or both of them live, you shall never say to them, "Uff" (the slightest gesture of annoyance), nor shall you shout at them; you shall treat them amicably." (17:23)
6. "....anyone who murders any person who had not committed murder or horrendous crimes, it shall be as if he murdered all the people." (5:32)
7. "You shall not commit adultery; it is a gross sin, and an evil behavior." (17:32)
8. "The thief, male or female, you shall mark their hands as a punishment for their crime, and to serve as an example from God. God is Almighty, Most Wise." (5:38 - 39)
9. "Do not withhold any testimony by concealing what you had witnessed. Anyone who withholds a testimony is sinful at heart." (2:283)
10. "And do not covet what we bestowed upon any other people. Such are temporary ornaments of this life, whereby we put them to the test. What your Lord provides for you is far better, and everlasting." (20:131)

Read Entire Article on Wikipedia

A European spacecraft has begun successfully orbiting around Venus.

Following a five month, 186 million mile journey the Venus Express fired its main engine for almost an hour and began orbiting the planet.

The manoeuvre marked the start of a mission due to last two Venusian days, equivalent to 486 Earth days.

Read More

Have you ever seen a halo around the Sun? This fairly common sight occurs when high thin clouds containing millions of tiny ice crystals cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal acts like a miniature lens. Because most of the crystals have a similar elongated hexagonal shape, light entering one crystal face and exiting through the opposing face refracts 22 degrees, which corresponds to the radius of the Sun Halo. A similar Moon Halo may be visible during the night. The picture was taken in Gunlock, Utah, USA. A flock of birds was caught by chance in the foreground. Exactly how ice-crystals form in clouds remains under investigation.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Google Inc. bought software developed by a graduate student in Australia that is designed to improve the quality of Internet search results.

The software, called Orion, displays information from Web sites directly without users having to click through to separate pages, according to a statement on the University's Web site. Orion also displays search results for topics related to the user's query, a feature that would enable Mountain View, California-based Google to display a broader set of results.

Read News

Hidden for 1,700 years, the Gospel of Judas was unveiled today. The text offers a surprising take on Christianity's most reviled man.

Check News on National Geographic

Book  Movie

Fill in the grid so that every row,every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Check it out @

On Wednesday 29 March 2006, the Moon’s shadow will sweep over the surface of Earth during the fourth total solar eclipse of this century.

The path of the Moon’s ‘umbral’ shadow begins in Brazil at 10:35 CEST and crosses the Atlantic reaching Africa about 11:08 CEST, where it will travel over the northern part of the continent. It next crosses the Mediterranean Sea to Turkey, and then central Asia where it ends at sunset in western Mongolia.

For lucky observers in Egypt, Turkey, Russia, Brazil, Mongolia, Libya, Togo, Nigeria and Chad, the Moon will completely obscure the Sun and cause almost total darkness for a few minutes. This is the total solar eclipse and such an event only happens every few years.

Read this news

Check Past, Present, and Future Eclipses

All the tests at SimilarMinds.com are developed based on scientific measures used to ensure test reliability and validity. Multiple statistical measures and research are used to ensure test questions measure what they are intended to measure.

The Big Five is currently the most accepted personality model in the scientific community. The Big Five emerged from the work of multiple independent scientists/researchers starting in the 1950s who using different techniques obtained similar results. Those results were that there are five distinct personality traits/dimensions.

Check it out

Chat With Chomsky, The Washington Post(March 24, 2006). An excerpt:

The term "globalization," like most terms of public discourse, has two meanings: its literal meaning, and a technical sense used for doctrinal purposes. In its literal sense, "globalization" means international integration. Its strongest proponents since its origins have been the workers movements and the left (which is why unions are called "internationals"), and the strongest proponents today are those who meet annually in the World Social Forum and its many regional offshoots. In the technical sense defined by the powerful, they are described as "anti-globalization," which means that they favor globalization directed to the needs and concerns of people, not investors,financial institutions and other sectors of power, with the interests of people incidental. That's "globalization" in the technical doctrinal sense. Latin America is now exploring new and often promising paths in rejecting the doctrinal notions of "globalization," and also in the remarkable growth of popular movements and authentic participation in the political systems. How successful this will be is more a matter for action than for speculation.

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The government of Britain had grown increasingly distressed over Mossadegh's reforms and were especially bitter over the loss of their control on the Iranian oil industry. Despite Mossadegh's repeated attempts to negotiate a reasonable settlement with them they refused outright the same terms, and later total control over Iranian oil.

Unable to resolve the issue singlehandedly due to its post second world war problems, Britain looked towards the United States to settle the issue. The United States was falsely informed that Mossadegh was increasingly turning towards Communism and was moving Iran towards the Soviet sphere at a time of high Cold War fears.

Acting on the fears created by Britain the United States and Britain began to publicly denounce Mossadegh's policies for Iran as harmful to the country.

In October of 1952, Mossadegh declared that Britain was "an enemy", and cut all diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. In November and December 1952, British intelligence officials suggested to American intelligence that the prime minister should be ousted. The new US administration under Dwight Eisenhower and the British government under Winston Churchill agreed to work together toward Mossadegh's removal.

On April 4, 1953, US Central Intelligence Agency director Allen W. Dulles approved $1 million to be used "in any way that would bring about the fall of Mossadegh". Soon the CIA's Tehran station started to launch a propaganda campaign against Mossadegh. Finally, according to The New York Times, in early June, American and British intelligence officials met again, this time in Beirut, and put the finishing touches on the strategy...

Read this article on  or another one on

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge on Friday ordered Google Inc. "GOOG" to give the Bush administration a peek inside its search engine, but rebuffed the government's demand for a list of people's search requests — potentially sensitive information that the company had fought to protect.

Read more on Fox News

The Haft Seen

• sabzeh - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish (symbolising rebirth)
• samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ (symbolising affluence)
• senjed - the dried fruit of the jujube tree (love)
• seer - garlic (medicine)
• seeb - apples, (beauty and health)
• somaq - sumac berries (the colour of the sunrise)
• serkeh - vinegar (age and patience)
• sonbol - the fragrant hyacinth flower (the coming of spring)
• sekkeh - coins (prosperity and wealth)

• pastries
• lit candles (enlightenment and happiness)
• a mirror
• painted eggs, perhaps one for each member of the family (fertility)
• a bowl with two goldfish (life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving)
• a bowl of water with an orange in it (the earth floating in space)
• rose water for its magical cleansing powers
• the national colours, for a patriotic touch
• a holy book (e.g., the Qur'an, Bible, Torah or the Avesta) or a poetry book (almost always either the Shahnama or of Hafez)

Haji Firooz

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The tragedy of Karbala is an unparalleled event of the history of mankind. The great sacrifice made by Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Holy Prophet, on Āshura (the l0th of Muharram 61 A.H.) and the steadfastness shown by him is a beacon light for everyone, who has faith in his mission and is keen for its success...

Did he know that he would be killed or was he under the impression that his life would be spared? Did he act according to a predetermined plan or took decisions in the light of every new development? Did he...

Some opponents, and those, who consider that everyone wishes to be a sovereign, also, say that love for rulership placed Imam Husayn in this perilous situation, but it was not proper to kill him in such a tragic manner. It would have been better to control and dissuade him by means of threats and allurements....

The correct answer to all these questions is that the factors for such a movement had commenced from the very beginning of the rule of Mu'awiya and were becoming stronger day after day. At last the matters had taken such a turn that if Imam Husayn bin Ali had not taken this step all the traces of Islam would have been obliterated and the pains taken by the Holy Prophet would have been wasted, neither the Qur'an nor Islam would have survived...

Read "A Probe Into The History of Ashura"

هوا داران زن فوتبال در حال تظاهرات در تهران و درخواست برای حضور در استاديوم های ورزشی

Ontario citizens of Persian descent have made significant contributions to the development of our province. Their traditions have enhanced the rich cultural fabric of Ontario.

The first day of spring is equivalent to the Vernal Equinox. This marks the commencement of spring and the Iranian solar calendar.

It is appropriate to recognize the first day of spring as Norouz Day in Ontario.

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Tehran, 12 January 2006 (CHN) -- UNESCO's national commission has chosen the city of Shiraz in Iran's Fars Province to be registered in the list of UNESCO's City of Literature. UNESCO's Creative Cities aims at creating a network of cities which are creative in the fields of literature, cinema, music, folk arts, design, media art, and gastronomy.

With the agreement of Fars province, Shiraz will be the first Iranian city which would be registered in the list of UNESCO's Creative Cities.

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The famous Horsehead Nebula in Orion is not alone. A deep exposure shows that the dark familiar shaped indentation, visible just below center, is part of a vast complex of absorbing dust and glowing gas. To bring out details of the Horsehead's pasture, amateur astronomers at the Star Shadow Remote Observatory in New Mexico, USA fixed a small telescope on the region for over seven hours filtering out all but a very specific color of red light emitted by hydrogen. They then added the image to a full color frame taken over three hours. The resulting spectacular picture details an intricate tapestry of gaseous wisps and dust-laden filaments that were created and sculpted over eons by stellar winds and ancient supernovas. The Horsehead Nebula lies 1,500 light years distant towards the constellation of Orion. Two stars from the Orion's Belt can be found in the above image.

Visit Astronomy Picture of the Day for more photos everyday.

"Ayatollah Damad is talking about the case of a father killing his son. Under one interpretation of the law, the father is immune from the death penalty because he has killed his own flesh and blood. The Ayatollah then poses the very unconventional question as to whether or not the government should play a role in bringing justice by treating the father like any other criminal in this case."

In the law of retribution, the decision to punish is left to the victim, rather than a court which represents society as a whole. Ayatollah Damad says this ancient idea of vengence and harsh physical punishments don't belong in a modern state.

"But unfortunately in Iran, the clergymen, the great clergymen in the government, don't think like me," says Damad, "they believe we should apply the pure Shariah by the order of Islam, but my point of view is that the applying of Shariah cannot prevent the criminal. It is necessary for us - a new system."

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Imam Ali is the central figure at the origin of the Shia / Sunni split which occurred in the decades immediately following the death of the Prophet in 632. Sunnis regard Ali as the fourth and last of the "rightly guided caliphs" (successors to Mohammed (pbuh) as leader of the Muslims) following on from Abu Bakr 632-634, Umar 634-644 and Uthman 644-656. Shias feel that Ali should have been the first caliph and that the caliphate should pass down only to direct descendants of Mohammed (pbuh) via Ali and Fatima, They often refer to themselves as ahl al bayt or "people of the house" [of the prophet].

When Uthman was murdered while at prayer, Ali finally succeeded to the caliphate. Ali was, however, opposed by Aisha, wife of the Prophet (pbuh) and daughter of Abu Bakr, who accused him of being lax in bringing Uthman's killers to justice. After Ali's army defeated Aisha's forces at the Battle of the Camel in 656, she apologized to Ali and was allowed to return to her home in Madinah where she withdrew from public life.

However, Ali was not able to overcome the forces of Mu'awiya Ummayad, Uthman's cousin and governor of Damascus, who also refused to recognize him until Uthman's killers had been apprehended. At the Battle of Suffin Mu'awiya's soldiers stuck verses of the Quran onto the ends of their spears with the result that Ali's pious supporters refused to fight them. Ali was forced to seek a compromise with Mu'awiya, but this so shocked some of his die-hard supporters who regarded it as a betrayal that he was struck down by one of his own men in 661.

Mu'awiya declared himself caliph. Ali's elder son Hassan accepted a pension in return for not pursuing his claim to the caliphate. He died within a year, allegedly poisoned. Ali's younger son Hussein agreed to put his claim to the caliphate on hold until Mu'awiya's death. However, when Mu'awiya finally died in 680, his son Yazid usurped the caliphate. Hussein led an army against Yazid but, hopelessly outnumbered, he and his men were slaughtered at the Battle of Karbala (in modern day Iraq). Hussein's infant son, Ali, survived so the line continued. Yazid formed the hereditary Ummayad dynasty. The division between the Shia and what came to be known as the Sunni was set.

An opportunity for Muslim unity arose in the 750's CE. In 750 except for a few who managed to flee to Spain, almost the entire Ummayad aristocracy was wiped out following the Battle of Zab in Egypt in a revolt led by Abu Al Abbass al-Saffah and aided by considerable Shia support. It was envisaged that the Shia spiritual leader Jafar As-Siddiq, great-grandson of Hussein be installed as Caliph. But when Abbass died in 754, this arrangement had not yet been finalised and Abbas' son Al Mansur murdered Jafar, seized the caliphate for himself and founded the Baghdad-based Abbassid dynasty which prevailed until the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258.

Read "Iran Now a Hotbed of Islamic Reforms"

The Cyrus Cylinder is an artifact of the Persian Empire, consisting of a declaration inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform on a clay barrel. Upon his taking of Babylon, Cyrus the Great issued the declaration, containing an account of his victories and merciful acts, as well as a documentation of his royal lineage. It was discovered in 1879 in Babylon, and today is kept in the British Museum.

The declaration is widely regarded as the "first charter of human rights", among others due to the call for the abolition of slavery worldwide and for the freedom of choice of profession, the practice of freedom of religion as reported here and the mention of Babylonian slaves being freed.

Part of text of the declaration

Now that I put the crown of kingdom of Iran, Babylon, and the nations of the four directions on the head with the help of (Ahura) Mazda, I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them until I am alive. From now on, till (Ahura) Mazda grants me the kingdom favor, I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it , and if any one of them rejects it , I never resolve on war to reign. Until I am the king of Iran, Babylon, and the nations of the four directions, I never let anyone oppress any others, and if it occurs , I will take his or her right back and penalize the oppressor.
And until I am the monarch, I will never let anyone take possession of movable and landed properties of the others by force or without compensation. Until I am alive, I prevent unpaid, forced labor. To day, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job provided that they never violate other's rights.
No one could be penalized for his or her relatives' faults. I prevent slavery and my governors and subordinates are obliged to prohibit exchanging men and women as slaves within their own ruling domains. Such a traditions should be exterminated the world over ......

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If Iran’s desire to have access to nuclear power is old news, which it is, then why is it being splashed as breaking headlines across the world?  Why now?  What has happened thus far in 2006 that was not happening in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005? Answer: Iran Oil Bourse

• The Iranian government has finally developed the ultimate “nuclear” weapon that can swiftly destroy the financial system underpinning the American Empire
• The weapon is the Iran Oil Bourse slated to open in March 2006
• With the opening of the Iran Oil Bourse:

1. Europeans will no longer have to buy and hold U.S. Dollars in order to secure payment for oil.  They will be able to purchase oil with their own currencies, the euro.
2.  The Chinese and Japanese will be especially eager to adopt the Iran Oil Bourse because it will allow them to drastically reduce their enormous dollar reserves and diversify with euros, thus protecting themselves against the depreciation of the U.S. Dollar.
3.  Russians have an inherent economic interest in adopting the euro because the bulk of its trade is with European countries
4. The Arab-oil exporting countries also need to diversify against the rising mountains of U.S. debt notes – the depreciating dollar

Key points made by Krassimir Petov, Ph. D. in his report:

The Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse

It’s time for the We the People of these United States to spread the word and truth regarding the real threat Iran poses to the United States, and act boldly to fix our own government and money system so that we no longer are required to fight wars to maintain the stability of our own currency. 

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...But referring Iran to the United Nations’ Security Council for possible sanctions to curb its nuclear ambitions is the wrong approach. It would raise short-term tensions while reducing long-term chances of reaching a negotiated settlement. And President George W. Bush’s threats of economic sanctions and military action reveal a profound misunderstanding of the behavior of that Middle Eastern regime - just as President Jimmy Carter misunderstood it decades ago...

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R.K. Ramazani is the Edward R. Stettinius Jr. Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Virginia. He has published extensively on U.S.-Iran relations, including "The United States and Iran: The Patterns of Influence" and, most recently, "Iran’s Hostage Crisis: International Legitimacy Matters" in "Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East."

Tehran,1966

Tehran, 2005