Persepolis 2.0

Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi’s masterpiece of life during and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 (and her time in Austria and her subsequent return to Iran) has been reworked to reflect the situation in Iran following the June 12 election, outrage at the result, street protests, the role of Twitter in the unrest, and the death of Neda Agha Soltan.

As reported in the Guardian Persepolis 2.0 is based on images in Satrapi’s original work the new cartoon is the initiative of two Iranian exiles called Sina and Payman. Marjane Satrapi, gave her permission for the update, but was not directly involved.

Sina said the updated cartoon was intended to show how history was repeating itself in Iran. "The reaction to Persepolis 2.0 has been great, We've had visitors from 120 countries thus far, and a large volume of emails from people asking how they can help support Iranians. This has really infused us with energy, and we're now working on additional ways to help get the word out."

Persepolis 2.0 can be viewed at the website Spread Persepolis. I would strongly recommend a visit

My thanks to Modernity blog for drawing my attention to this work.

WW- Crab spiders

Crab spiders on our Cephalaria. This week's entry for the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of Wordless Wednesday.

Iran - the high price of free speech continued

Jila Baniyaghoob (above)who was arrested with her husband Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee on 20 June. Their whereabouts are unknown but probably they are held in the security wing of Tehran’s Evin prison.

According to Reporters Sans Frontières (via the Guardian) the media crackdown in Iran means that the country now imprisons more journalists than any other country

In the space of two weeks Iran has beaten both China and Cuba to the top spot with more than 33 journalists in jail in Iran (the figure will almost certainly rise further). At least 25 journalists arrested since the disputed election remain in prison, the Paris-based organisation said on Friday.

This clampdown has also seen Iran jump above Burma, which RSF claims has 14 journalists in jail, Eritrea, which has 17 jailed reporters, Cuba with 24 and even China, where 30 reporters – out of the 166 that RSF claims are imprisoned worldwide.

RSF fears for the safety of those imprisoned in Iran. "Several witness accounts make us fear that torture and ill-treatment are being systematically inflicted on prisoners who have demonstrated against the regime," RSF added."Several journalists and bloggers were brutally treated by the guards and by men employed by the state prosecutor, Saaed Mortazavi."

Amnesty International today called for the Iranian authorities to release the journalists arrested since the elections.

"It is shocking that journalists whose job it is to provide information to others are being detained, on top of all the other draconian measures the authorities have taken to restrict the free flow of information about what is really happening in Iran," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme.

"Rather than trying to investigate alleged abuses, the only message the authorities are sending is that they are seeking to hide the truth, both from their own citizens and the rest of the world."

I wonder if George Galloway or Seumas Milne will be protesting the incarceration of their comrades in Iran? Shall I hold my breath?

One thing is for sure Jila Baniyaghoob and her husband are worth a million Galloways

Zelaya’s removal sparks protests in Honduras

Yesterday’s removal of Honduran President, Manuel Zelaya, sparked protests in the country’s capital Tegucigalpa. The protestors put up barricades near the presidential palace as governments across the region condemned the first military overthrow in Central America since the end of the cold war.

Zelaya, who had been in office since 2006, was ousted after clashing with the judiciary, congress and the army over proposed constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election.

Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, who announced an immediate curfew for Sunday and Monday nights. The country's leading court said it had authorised the toppling of the president.

The US and European Union joined Latin American governments in denouncing the coup. The US president, Barack Obama, distanced the US from any involvement in the coup."Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference," he said. Washington said it recognised only Zelaya as president.

Last week, Zelaya tried to fire the armed forces chief, General Romeo Vasquez, in a dispute over an attempt to hold an unofficial referendum about changing the constitution to allow presidential terms beyond a single, four-year stretch. Under the constitution as it stands, Zelaya would have been due to leave office in early 2010.The Supreme Court, which last week ordered him to reinstate Vasquez, said yesterday it had told the army to remove the president.

Zelaya may have exceeded the limits of his presidential authority by calling for an unconstitutional referendum and by attempting to dismiss the head of the armed forces for refusing to cooperate in said referendum. But using the military to depose Zelaya was absolutely and utterly wrong, no matter how mild their role was (if the reports are accurate).

Latin America has been plagued by military coups ever since the Spanish and Portuguese were ousted in the 1820s. It is not long since we have seen the passing of some extremely nasty dictators (Pinochet, Videla, Rios Montt, and Stroessner to name a few). Any military action against a duly elected leader is to be condemned absolutely. I hope to hell that this is not the start of the slippery slope back to those vile times.

More tedious crap from George Galloway in today's Record

George Galloway SS* craps on further about Iran in today's Daily Record. Included in the column are indications of possible litigation against the Sunday Herald and an intimation that the protests were provoked by foreign agents.

Ach I can't be bothered with going any further into Galloway's bullshit. The man is a waste of rations. In the case of Iran he is simply a shill for what is most certainly an ugly regime.

But perhaps he will shock us all by doing something out of character like supporting, say, Mansoor Osanloo, the imprisoned union activist.

When you thought Richard Nixon’s reputation couldn’t be tarnished further....

Last week, the New York Times carried a report concerning the release of new tape recordings and documents made public on Tuesday (23 June) by the Nixon Presidential Library.

Although Nixon made no public statement on Roe v Wade (which 22 January, 1973 struck down laws criminalizing abortion) one segment indicates that he was worried that greater access to abortions would foster “permissiveness,” and said that “it breaks the family.”

However he did see a need for abortion in some cases: “There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,” he said before adding, “Or a rape.”

The tapes were recorded by the secret microphones in the Oval Office from January and February 1973

So there you have it - yet another vile comment from one of the USA’s vilest presidents. I am not sure what could show him in a even worse light... a photo of him sodomising Checkers perhaps?

Thomas Telford Aqueduct becomes Britain’s newest world heritage site

According to today’s Times the Pontcysyllte aqueduct and canal in North Wales has been designated by UNESCO as Britain’s newest World Heritage Site - the British site to be so designated.

The 200-year-old structure near Llangollen was built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop between 1795 and 1805. It is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain. Heritage lovers have campaigned for more than six years to have the aqueduct recognised alongside the world’s best known cultural and historical sites. Last night their campaign finally succeeded when it was added to the prestigious list by officials at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) meeting in Seville, Spain.

“We are absolutely over the moon," said Dr Dawn Roberts, economic development manager for Wrexham Council. "We have been working on this for so long and it means so much to those of us that are from this area. To have our aqueduct and our canal named as a World Heritage site is amazing. There is so much local pride and a lot of celebrations going on.” Dr Roberts added: “World Heritage status does not bring with it any prize or money, it is more of a badge of honour. It is an awesome sight and one of those sites in the world we feel people must visit.”

Rhodri Morgan, Wales’s first minister, said: “World Heritage nomination for Pontcysyllte aqueduct and canal is the cherry on the cake for Wales’s historic transport and industrial environment.”

Pontcysyllte aqueduct and canal is the third site in Wales to be granted World Heritage site status. The other two are Blaenavon Industrial Landscape and the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd.

Simin Behbahani on NPR

Simin Behbahani on a telephone interview on NPR on 26 June

Stop Throwing My Country To The Wind

If the flames of anger rise any higher in this land Your name on your tombstone will be covered with dirt.

You have become a babbling loudmouth. Your insolent ranting, something to joke about.

The lies you have found, you have woven together. The rope you have crafted, you will find around your neck.

Pride has swollen your head, your faith has grown blind. The elephant that falls will not rise.

Stop this extravagance, this reckless throwing of my country to the wind. The grim-faced rising cloud, will grovel at the swamp's feet.

Stop this screaming, mayhem, and blood shed. Stop doing what makes God's creatures mourn with tears.

My curses will not be upon you, as in their fulfillment. My enemies' afflictions also cause me pain.

You may wish to have me burned , or decide to stone me. But in your hand match or stone will lose their power to harm me.

Simin Behbahani

June 2009

Translated by Kaveh Safa and Farzaneh Milani. From NPR

Simin Behbahani - A poem for Neda

For Neda Agha-Soltan

You are neither dead, nor will you die.

You will always remain alive.

You have an eternal existence.

You are the voice of the people of Iran.

Simin Behbahani "The Lioness of Iran" is Iran's greatest living poet and human rights advocate. If like me you do not read or speak Farsi. I would strongly recommend purchasing A Cup of Sin Selected Poems. Her works is extremely powerful in English. In Farsi it must be breathtaking. The poem was published on the NPR website

The sewing needle is mightier than the sword

According to Friday’s Guardian British biological warfare scientists developed a poisoned dart to rain down on enemy troops during the second world war and used sewing machine needles to make prototypes.

A "most secret" War Office file, entitled "research into the use of anthrax and other poisons for biological warfare", shows that scientists at the Porton Down in Wiltshire were testing the use of poisoned darts to be dropped in cluster bombs.

Trials on goats and sheep demonstrated that even if the dart was removed, the victim was likely to collapse within five minutes. Where the dose was lethal, death followed within 30 minutes.

At first, scientists used a few needles bought at a branch of the Singer sewing machine company in nearby Salisbury, but soon realised that local stocks would not be sufficient.In January 1942 the man leading Britain's wartime chemical weapons programme, Dr Paul Fildes, made a direct approach to the sewing company. His letter opened with: "It is a little difficult to explain what I want sewing machine needles for ... "

The scientists admitted that, once used, people would quickly learn that light cover – such as trees, aircraft and lorries – would give almost complete protection against the darts. They were part of a programme that saw testing of anthrax and led to the creation of a hidden arsenal of anti-crop sprays, poison gas and germ weapons that experts say the government have been at pains to play down ever since.

Interestingly it was only in the 1990s that Gruinard Island in NW Scotland was made safe. It had been used for biological warfare tests during WWII

Holiday in Mazandaran (to the music of a Dead Kennedys song)

>Regular readers will know that I am certainly not phobic when it comes to the people of Iran (Mullahs, militias and sock puppet presidents excluded) and Persian art and culture. In fact I hope either next year or the year after to visit the country.

That said it does seem a bit daft, given the current situation in Iran, to think of promoting tourism to Iran. But that is exactly what the Iranian government has done.

According to Press TV, the Iranian government has just launched the new version of its tourism website, providing users with information about the country's stunning tourist attractions.

The new website introduces Iran's various historical, archaeological and cultural attractions and provides detailed information about the country's museums, hotels, ecotourism and gastronomy as well as sports, religious and health tourism.

The website also helps visitors obtain information about Iran's geography, economy, industry, agriculture, energy and climate.

Interestingly there is a large section on performance arts, particularly street theatre, including the production of improvised play called Election. The site also waxes lyrical about the recent performances of the Basij Morris Men and their performance of intricate dance routings on Azadi Square and at other locations.

The website also features information about Persian language and literature, poetry, visual arts, poetry, cultural diversity, and cinema and theatre (However the film the Hidden Half may not be reviewed, neither maybe is Touba and the Meaning of Night).

To visit Iran's tourism website go to tourismiran.ir.It seems to have disappeared for the moment

And some art by two superb young Iranian artists

My friend Elahe Heidari's haunting portrait of an Afghan refugee girl


A stunning work by Negareh Ayatollahi.

I had the privilege of meeting both artists last year Ot was my also my pleasure to meet Azadeh Tahaei an extremely talented photographer and poet. I only wish I had a tiny fraction of their atristic skills

...and of course some Darya Dadvar

....and the Vahdat sisters

Instead of Iranian news, here's some Niyaz

Niyaz, featuring the beautiful Azam Ali

Photo Hunt - Flags

he theme for this week's Photo Hunt is flag. Ach what is a Photo Hunt if I can't mould the theme to a photo I want to post! Here's a crab spider the not-wife found on our Cephalaria this evening.. It's patience in waiting for prey never flags!

I couldn't in all good conscience stretch this theme so blatantly and badly so here is a Union Jack flying over a building in central London

Ayatollah Khatami - what a charming fellow

Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami (not the erstwhile president of Iran)has called for the execution of "rioters" who have led a series of anti-government protests following the rigged presidential election.

Khatami, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, told worshippers during a sermon at Tehran University todaythat Iran's judiciary should charge such rioters as "mohareb", or one who wages war against God. "Anybody who fights against the Islamic system or the leader of Islamic society, fight him until complete destruction," Khatami said in the nationally broadcast sermon at Tehran University. We ask that the judiciary confront the leaders of the protests, leaders of the violations, and those who are supported by the United States and Israel strongly, and without mercy to provide a lesson for all."

The penalty for people convicted as mohareb is death.

It would be nice to think that his reward in paradise will be a syphilitic harpy

Well I enjoyed it anyway!

It would seem that Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter, was "shocked and saddened" to learn that his social networking device was being used to disseminate pertinent and timely information during the recent civil unrest in Iran.

"Twitter was intended to be a way for vacant, self-absorbed egotists to share their most banal and idiotic thoughts with anyone pathetic enough to read them," said a visibly confused Dorsey, "When I heard how Iranians were using my beloved creation for their own means—such as organizing a political movement and informing the outside world of the actions of a repressive regime—I couldn't believe they'd ruined something so beautiful, simple, and absolutely pointless."

If you hadn't twigged this is of course a spoof article from the Onion! Well I found it funny anyway.

Thanks to Bob From Brockley for drawing my attention to this one

Mourning the death of a true pop great.

While the media concentrates on Michael Jackson's death, Richard Marsh, aka Sky Saxon lead singer of the Seeds, passes with little fanfare. Such is fate. RIP Sky Saxon.

The Satan cat of Transylvania

Meet Csili. Without doubt the most evil cat in the whole of Transylvania and the bane of Redwine's life. This week's entry for the Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats.

Neda’s family forced out of home?

Yesterday’s Guardian reported that the Iranian authorities had ordered the family of Neda Agha Soltan out of their Tehran home. Neighbours said that her family no longer lives in the four-floor apartment building on Meshkini Street, in eastern Tehran, having been forced to move since she was killed.

The authorities have apparently treated the family with utter contempt: They did not let the family have her body back, she was buried without letting her family know and the government banned mourning ceremonies at mosques, the neighbours said.
In accordance with tradition, the family had put up a mourning announcement and attached a black banner to the building. But the police took them down, refusing to allow the family to show any signs of mourning. The next day they were ordered to move out. Since then, neighbours have received suspicious calls warning them not to discuss her death with anyone and not to make any protest.

A tearful middle-aged woman who was an immediate neighbour said her family had not slept for days because of the oppressive presence of the Basij militia, out in force in the area harassing people since Soltan's death.The area in front of Soltan's house was empty (yesterday). There was no sign of black cloths, banners or mourning. Secret police patrolled the street.

"We are trembling," one neighbour said. "We are still afraid. We haven't had a peaceful time in the last days, let alone her family. Nobody was allowed to console her family, they were alone, they were under arrest and their daughter was just killed. I can't imagine how painful it was for them. Her friends came to console her family but the police didn't let them in and forced them to disperse and arrested some of them. Neda's family were not even given a quiet moment to grieve."

"In Iran, when someone dies, neighbours visit the family and will not let them stay alone for weeks but Neda's family was forced to be alone, otherwise the whole of Iran would gather here," he said. "The government is terrible, they are even accusing pro-Mousavi people of killing Neda and have just written in their websites that Neda is a Basiji (government militia) martyr. That's ridiculous – if that's true why don't they let her family hold any funeral or ceremonies? Since the election, you are not able to trust one word from the government."

Aung San Suu Kyi

From the Huffington Post A stunning new depiction of Aung San Suu Kyi by Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic image of Barack Obama.

Zahra Rahnavard arrested?

According to the Independent There were fears last night that Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, had been arrested after a defiant statement that protesters should not buckle despite being in a situation she likened to martial law.

Zahra Rahnavard criticised the presence of armed forces in the street and insisted that the opposition had a constitutional right to hold demonstrations. The regime should not suppress it "as if martial law had been imposed", she said.

In the message posted on her husband's website, she also demanded the immediate release of people detained since the election. But before the day was out, there were reports that she herself had been detained.

It’s Time to Mow the Flowers - Simin Behbahani

It’s time to mow the flowers,
don’t procrastinate.
Fetch the sickles, come,
don’t spare a single tulip in the fields.
The meadows are in bloom:
who has ever seen such insolence?
The grass is growing again:
step nowhere else but on its head.
Blossoms are opening on every branch,
exposing the happiness in their hearts:
such colorful exhibitions must be stopped.
Bring your scalpels to the meadow
to cut out the eyes of flowers.
So that none may see or desire,
let not a seeing eye remain.
I fear the narcissus is spreading its corruption:
stop its displays in a golden bowl
on a six-sided tray.
What is the use of your ax,
if not to chop down the elm tree?
In the maple’s branches
allow not a single bird a moment’s rest.
My poems and the wild mint
bear messages and perfumes.
Don’t let them create a riot with their wild singing.
My heart is greener than green,
flowers sprout from the mud and water of my being.
Don’t let me stand, if you are the enemies of Spring.

--Translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa

From Logos Journal

Some cartoons on the Iranian election

Confrontation - Sohrab Sepheri

A light descended on earth,
I saw two footprints in the desert sands.
Wherefrom had it come?
And where was it going?
Only two footprints were visible,
Maybe somebody had stopped on the ground by mistake.

Suddenly the footprints started moving,
Light followed the footprints,
The footprints were lost.
I watched myself from the opposite direction:
A cavity was filled by death
And I started to move in my dead corpse,
I could hear the sound of my footsteps from distance,
Maybe I was passing a desert.
I was imbued with a lost expectation.
Suddenly a light fell on my dead body
And I resurrected with anxiety:
Two footprints filled my existence.
Wherefrom had it come?
Where was it going?
Only two footprints were visible
Maybe somebody had stopped on the ground my mistake.

Sohrab Sepheri (1928-1980) from sohrabsepehri.com

A roll of honour for Ireland’s WWII dead

A new study by the University of Edinburgh found more than 3,600 soldiers from the south of Ireland died on active service during WWII. Their names joined those of almost 3,900 fallen combatants from Northern Ireland on a roll of honour being unveiled at Trinity College Dublin on 12 June.

The study estimates that in the British army alone, as many as 100,000 people from the island of Ireland served in WWII, despite the Irish Free State's neutrality in the conflict. (Working out how many people did serve is harder than one might think, The best estimates I have seen would estimate 60-70,000 men and women from Eire served in the British armed forces during WWII)

Historian Yvonne McEwen said the ambitious project, which began in 2003, was inspired by stories of her grandfather's experience upon coming home after WWI where he fought as a Royal Irish Fusilier. "Society was not very kind to returning men who fought in the First World War, and I wanted to look at that in terms of WWII particularly with a partitioned country," she said. "I wanted to learn what happened to these men and women on both sides of the border - it turned out to be a staggering picture. suppose it was like becoming a detective - the more I uncovered, the more I wanted to know. I've learned a lot about the sacrifice made on the island of Ireland."


The roll of honour will be permanently housed in the Trinity College library, but Ms McEwen said some of the blanks in her research still needed to be filled.

It has taken a long time but the Republic has woken up to the contribution and the sacrifice made by those men and women who fought to defeat the Nazi monster. The IRA, on the other hand, got into bed with the Nazis.

Justice for Iranian Workers Protest on 26 June

Justice For Iranian Workers is a collaboration between four global trade union organisations:

The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation),

EI (Education International),

ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation),

IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations)

In a move in a continuing campaign to secure justice and trade union rights inside Iran they have called a worldwide action day on June 26 to demand justice for Iranian workers.

They are calling for:-

Mansoor Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi

• The immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned trade unionists including Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi and Farzad Kamangar;
  

• Unconditional recognition of all independent workers’ organisations in Iran and reinstatement of workers who have been disadvantaged as a result of their support for these organisations;

• Ratification of core ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargain by the Iranian government;

• Conclusion of collective bargaining agreements between the independent unions and the relevant employers.

Farzad Kamangar

A demonstration will take place on Friday from 1230hrs outside Iranian embassy in London 16 Prince’s Gate, London SW7 1PT in Knightsbridge. A separate demonstration will take place in Newcastle (see site for details)

TUC International spokesperson Sally Hunt (UCU General Secretary); Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen; and ITF General Secretary Dave Cockcroft will attempt to deliver over 16,000 postcards calling on Iran to release jailed Iranian prisoners.

Protesters dressed in black will hold up placards bearing the names of those arrested at trade union demonstrations on May Day last month in Tehran and still not released.

Click on the link at the top of this post for details of protests elsewhere in the world

This protest has even greater relevance given the dreadful events in Iran over the last 11 days. It is a cause that deserves the greatest possible support.

Mohsen Makhmalbaf interviewed, Mousavi under house arrest

According to Mohsen Makhmalbaf film director and international spokesman for Mirhossein Mousavi the Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi is under 24-hour guard by secret police and no longer able to speak freely to supporters.

"he has security agents, secret police with him all the time. He has to be careful what he says." He said in an interview with the Independent "The regime, arguably, is losing ground, not the protests, Ordinary Iranians are openly rejecting the legitimacy and power of Ayatollah Khamanei. That is entirely new, unheard of."

Mr Makhmalbaf is touring Europe to try to explain events in Iran to the media. He denied that he had been formally appointed as a spokesman for Mr Mousavi outside Iran. "I am simply speaking on behalf of all the people who are protesting and dying on the streets of Iran," he said. He explained that Mr Mousasvi's means of communication had been cut off, or confiscated, just after the disputed election, Mr Makhmalbaf had been asked informally to make sure that a true picture of what was happening in Iran reached the outside world.

Mr Mousavi had urged his supporters not to confront the regime directly but to "adopt the tactics of Gandhi, the tactics of non-violent protest and civil disobedience". "The problem is that the more people that are killed, the more angry people will be, the more protesters will want to come out onto the streets." Mr Makhmalbaf said

The film director dismissed all hope of some form of negotiated agreement. "Within the last ten days, there has been a meeting between Mousavi and Ayatollah Khamanei," he said. "Nothing came of this meeting. I do not know of any further dialogue which is now going on."

If Mousavi was to become president, he said, Iran would invest in "improving the economy for ordinary people, not creating nuclear weapons or supporting conflicts abroad". Secondly, he said, there would be an end to the "constant harassment of young people which means that virtually every young person in Iran has been beaten up by the security forces."

Mr Makhmalbaf, said that there were reports from Iran that some of the militia deployed to suppress protest were "speaking Arabic". "That is unconfirmed but it suggests that the regime is unable to trust its own security forces to repress the Iranian people," he said. "It suggests that people are being used from abroad”

Nothing more to add to this. Mousavi was never going to lead the people of Iran dancing into the Elysian fields but his presidency would surely have been a little better than what is being offered to the people by Khamenei. I won't say Ahmadinejad, That sock puppet seems to be locked away in a drawer.

WW - Neda

Neda Agha Soltani. Murdered by the Iranian regime 20 June 2009. This week's entry for the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of Wordless Wednesday.

Chavez continues to spit in the face of Iranian protestors

According to a Press TV report Hugo Chavez has stated that says that the world must respect Iran and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's eelctoral "triumph".

Cavez is reported to have said on his his weekly radio and television address"We call on the world to respect Iran because there are attempts to undermine the strength of the Iranian revolution. Ahmadinejad's triumph was a triumph all the way. They are trying to stain Ahmadinejad's triumph and through that weaken the government and the Islamic revolution. I know they will not succeed,"

At one point I would ahve given Chavez the benefit of the doubt, later I thought he was a prating idiot. Now he can f*&k off and die for all I care.

Shocking proof of support for Baha'is by perfidious Albion

In my previous post I noted that Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki had accused Britain, inter alia, of sup[porting members of the Baha'i faith, a religion that was founded in Persia in the 19th Century and which has faced severe persecution in Iran under the regimes of the Shah and the Mullahs and also in Rgypt.

I can confirm exclusively that Mottaki's allegation is absolutely true. the Bush Blair Corporation (as stalwart progressive and friend of the oppressed everywhere George "Stalinist Shithead" Galloway calls it) has had the temerity to give extensive television time to Britain's most prominent Baha'i.



Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed Omid Djalili's comedy as much as I do!

Just to be clear I am mocking the rubbish that has emanated from teh mouth of Iran's foreign minister. It is certainly not my intention to mock a faith that has been persecuted horribly under both the Mullahs and the Shah

More Uncle Napoleon style posturing by Iranian officials

CNN has reported that Iran may review its ties with the United Kingdom because of "interference in Iran's recent post-election unrest,"

Iranian Foreign Minister Uncle Napoleon, sorry Manouchehr Mottaki accused Britain of interfering in the country's recent vote(see my earlier post below. It also explains the Uncle Napoleon reference if you are not familiar with it). In addition Iran's parliamentary speaker, Uncle Napoleon, sorry Ali Larijani, submitted the request Monday to the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission which called on the Foreign Ministry to review the relationship
"The Islamic Republic of Iran favours the expansion of relations with all countries, but will never accept interference of other states in its internal affairs,"

According to CNN (and this is something I missed yesterday) Mottaki accused Britain of supporting followers of the persecuted Baha'i faith (more on this above).

Once again Britain has become Iran’s number one demon. There are good historical reasons for Iran to be deeply suspicious of our country but right here, right now the Iranian government is passing the blame for a situation totally of its own making.

SS* Galloway: Football 30 - Iran 12

It is interesting to note that Galloway's Daily Record http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/georgegalloway/ column today devotes 30 lines or part lines to the demise of Setanta Sport and its effect on the Scottish Premier League and just 12lines to Iran, of which a large part is devoted to pouring scorn on John Simpson.

Even though the Record is a Scottish paper and events affecting the SPL are important it does seem that Galloway, who has such "progressive" views (hahahaha), seems to have his priorities a tad askew.

(* SS standing of course for Stalinist Shithead)

Not one iota of evidence George? Press TV report may indicate otherwise!

George Galloway’s confident assertions that the Iranian elections were as free, fair and as transparent as the finest glass money can buy are perhaps undermined a tad by a news item on Press TV, the Iranian news channel he works for.

My thanks go to Bryan of Why Now? for drawing my attention to this item. (Why Now? is always well worth a read)

Press TV reports that Iran's Guardian Council has indicated that the number of votes collected in 50 cities surpass the number of people eligible to cast ballot in those areas.

The council's Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, made the remarks in response to complaints filed by Mohsen Rezaei -- a defeated candidate in the June 12 Presidential election.

"Statistics provided by the candidates, who claim more than 100% of those eligible have cast their ballot in 80-170 cities are not accurate -- the incident has happened in only 50 cities," Kadkhodaei said.

Kadkhodaei further explained that the voter turnout of above 100% in some cities is a normal phenomenon because there is no legal limitation for people to vote for the presidential elections in another city or province to which people often travel or commute.

The spokesman, however, said that although the vote tally affected by such issues could be over 3 million and would not noticeably affect the outcome of the election.

He, however, added that the council could, at the request of the candidates, re-count the affected ballot boxes, and determine " whether the possible change in the tally is decisive in the election results,"

Rezaei, along with Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, reported more than 646 'irregularities' in the electoral process and submitted their complaints to the body responsible for overseeing the election -- the Guardian Council.

Mousavi and Karroubi have called on the council to nullify Friday's vote and hold the election anew. This is while President Ahmadinejad and his Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli have rejected any possibility of fraud, saying that the election was free and fair.

Just 50 cities then? Well call me a pedant but irregularities in even 50 cities is a major cause for concern and surely a good reason for a rerun of the election. If 3 million votes can be affected than why not 11 million?

It looks to me that the Guardian Council are covering their backs. They have indeed highlighted a number of irregularities so in their mind they have discharged their duties and life can return to normal.

The problem is that a lot of the people of Iran (certainly and not just the “gilded youth” or “liberal elites” as Milne and Galloway describe them) are not fooled. This may not transfer to further large scale protests at present but there is a huge reservoir of resentment will boil over again at some stage, perhaps very soon

George Galloway sneers at John Simpson but ignores Iran protests

Last week George Galloway declared that the Iranian election was fair and square and the result absolutely, and utterly reflected the voting patterns of the Iranian people. The protestors on the other hand were simply the liberal elite who would lose interest quickly.

It was therefore interesting to go to the Daily Record to see what Galloway had to say on last week’s events in Iran. (he has a weekly column in the Daily Record.. where does he find the time) Do we see a resounding condemnation of the Iranian regime’s attacks on protestors? Do we my arse!

Firstly George waxes lyrical about Virgin Atlantic in what could be a paid advert! He devotes the more column inches too snide attacks on his erstwhile Labour colleagues than he does on the situation in Iran

When it comes to Iran he devotes more of his time to slagging off the BBC’s apparent bias and John Simpson’s coverage than to any other issue

“I just wish people like John Simpson would admit that the BBC - that's the Bush and Blair Corporation - has an agenda in its coverage of Iran, which is vehemently antigovernment.Poor old John looks a shadow - OK, a pretty substantial shadow - of his former confident and incisive self, falling over his words as he hams a take into a blurry digicam from a toilet in Tehran, or wherever he sends these faltering reports from. “

George remains resolute in his view that there is no evidence of electoral fraud

"Can we just look at the facts here, which sadly get in the way of a good story? We do not have one iota of evidence that the Iranian election was fiddled. Until we do, we should respect the result."

And here is his support for the protestors:

As we should the rights of the Tehran protesters to demonstrate peacefully on the streets without being shot or beaten up by government militias or soldiers.

In Galloway World, the election was fair and the BBC is biased against the Iranian authorities.(Or should that be the OBC now that Obama and Brown are president and prime minister George...). Perhaps the BBC should have gone out and sought the views of the Basij and the Revolutionary Guard

Galloway gives no appreciable support to the protestors apart from a throwaway line that he can bring out in the future to show everyone that he supported the protests all along. But then what can we expect from this opportunistic Stalinist Shithead?.

Uncle Napoleon alive and well and working as Iranian Foreign Minisiter

A Tehran Times article called The sun has set on the British Empire, so stop interfering Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki accused the United Kingdom of a list of infamous acts against the paradise that is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to Mr Mottali Britain sent secret service into Iran, not in ones, twos or even fours, but in “droves” - “We witnessed an influx of people (from Britain) before the election. Elements linked to the British secret service were flying in in droves,”.

He called on Britain to stop interfering in Iran’s internal affairs, saying its officials must realize that the expression “the sun never sets on the British Empire is no longer true.” (well golly gee willakers, and there we were thinking that a quarter of the world was still painted pink!)

Mottaki then went on to denounce certain Western governments and Western media outlets for their hasty reactions toward Iran’s presidential election and asked them to revise their attitude toward events in Iran.

Starting with France he accused the nation of having to put up with political lightweights who are “auctioning off” the French Revolution’s achievements” (I know it was a mistake to sell off that guillotine!)

Meanwhile Germany’s leaders are hostage to the Zionists’ terrorist policies, saying their country has been implementing policies in tandem with Tel Aviv. As a result it is in “no position to express views on Iran’s transparent election”, he added.

Methinks Mottaki has been listening too hard to the Wit and Wisdom of Comical Ali. In one sense it is amusing to see that Britain remains Iran’s default bogeyman even though our influence is much reduced. But then again at is perhaps no surprise - Britain’s (usually detrimental) interference in Persian/Iranian affairs over the years are a matter of record

"Uncle Napoleon" is a reference to Iraj Pezeskhad’s wonderful comic novel My Uncle Napoleon. The Uncle Napoleon of the title, was a blustery former army officer who genuinely believed he was involved in battles against the British Empire in his youth and that the British (the book is set in WWII when Iran was under British/Soviet occupation) are out to get him.

The novel is so popular in Iran (and should be popular anywhere people can read) that the expression Uncle Napoleon is used as shorthand for those people in Iran who believe that foreigners are the cause of all of their country’s woes.

Chatham House/St Andrew’s University report casts serious doubt on Iranian victory claims

Chatham House has published a paper titled Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election (available here as a pdf document).

Written by Professor Ali Ansari, Daniel Berman and Thomas Rintoul of the Institute of Iranian Studies, St Andrew’s University the report casts serious doubts on the plausibility of the claimed victory and demonstrates irregularities in the official results.

According to the press release (I just can’t work out how to copy salient ponts from the pdf document!) the official statistics indicate that:

• claims that Ahmadinejad swept the board in rural provinces flies in the face of previous results

• The plausibility of Mr Ahmadinejad's claimed victory is called into question by figures that show that in several provinces he would have had to attract the votes of all new voters, all the votes of his former centrist opponent, and up to 44% of those who voted for reformist candidates in 2005.

• Irregularities are found in conservative Mazandaran and Yazd provinces where votes cast exceeded the number of eligible voters.

Professor Ali Ansari said: 'The analysis shows that the scale of the swing to Ahmadinejad would have had to have been extraordinary to achieve the stated result'. Thomas Rintoul said: 'The claimed results in minority provinces are particularity extreme, the numbers from Ilam, Lorestan and Hormozegan almost defy belief'."

This is just a summary of the executive summary. The whole paper is well worth reading. It certainly does confirm suspicions that the election was rigged an a gigantic scale

Meanwhile in Burma Suu Kyi supporters are jailed for praying

A Burmese court has sentenced two supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months in prison simply for praying for her release.

According to the BBC Chit Pe and Aung Saw Wei were arrested in April after leading prayers at a pagoda in Twante, about 40km (30 miles) south of Yangon. They were convicted of insulting religion after leading prayers at a pagoda for Ms Suu Kyi and other activists to be freed
Supporters traditionally pray for the release of Ms Suu Kyi and other activists at Buddhist pagodas. But prison sentences for insulting religion were rare in Burma until the law was resurrected in 2007 to jail monks demonstrating against the military authorities, and has since been largely used to prosecute political cases.

As if we really needed it here is more proof that the Burmese regime is evil

Veronica Guerin’s probable killer dies in prison

Yesterday’s Irish Independent reports the death of Patrick Eugene (Dutchy) Holland, who was named by gardai as the killer of journalist Veronica Guerin

Holland (70) was found dead by prison officers around 6am in Parkhurst prison in England where he was serving an eight-year sentence for his role in a £10m plot to kidnap an English businessman. The UK Prison Service said that he appeared to have died from natural causes.

Holland's name was placed on a list of key suspects for the murder of 'Sunday Independent' journalist, Veronica Guerin, in June 1996.Intelligence gathered by the team of detectives indicated that Holland had been the pillion passenger on a motorcycle that was used in the murder Gardai were that Holland fired the fatal shot as he and another gang member, Brian Meehan, pulled alongside Ms Guerin's car. But they were unable to secure the evidence to ensure that he would be convicted on a murder charge.

Holland was later convicted on drugs charges and served nine years of a 12 year sentence. Within a year of his release he was one of five people arrested by police in London following an undercover operation.He was charged with involvement in a "honey trap" kidnap plot and sentenced to eight years in jail in May last year.

Ms Guerin's mother Bernie said simply: "May the Lord have mercy on his soul

It is a shame that worthless piece of shit did not die in prison serving a sentence for Guerin’s murder but at least he died behind bars. Rot in Hell scumbag

Rafsanjani's daughter arrested

The daughter of Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani and four relatives were arrested over their involvement in the Iranian protests.


The Fars news agency said that Faezeh Hashemi, her daughter and three other relatives were arrested during Saturday's demonstrations for 'agitating' the protestors.

I promise to respect you in the morning

Chavez and Ahmadinejad look longingly into each other's eyes. Surely it was the start of something beautiful!

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust

This is definitely one of my all time favourite songs

The brutal face of the Iranian Regime

Hat Tip Martin in the Margins and Anneke who also carry this video



Hat tip to Martin in the Margins for this video.


There are no words that can fully express my disgust.

Maryam Namazie on the people's protest in Iran

I would not be a supporter of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran but I do agree with much of what she has to say.

A Poem by Zahra Rahnavard

Zahra Rahnavard is the wife of Mir-Hossein Mousavi. She is a well lnown academic and artist in her own right.

An article by Amir Taheri in today's Times prints a poem issued by Madame Rahnavard through Twitter and text message.

Let the wolves know that in our tribe

If the father dies, his gun will remain

Even if all the men of the tribe are killed

A baby son will remain in the wooden cradle

A discreet call to further action? Time will tell

Henry Allingham now the oldest man in the world

Following the death of death of Tomoji Tanabe in Japan WWI veteran Henry Allingham (113) has officially been proclaimed the oldest man alive by Guinness World Records.

Henry is the last survivor of the battle of Jutland, the last survivor of the creation of the Royal Air Force. May his tenure as world's oldest living man be a long one

Poem for the Rooftops ot Iran

Via the Guadain live coverage on the Iran situation

Photo Hunt - Creamy

Photo Hunt is creamy. Although the colour is a bit nearer yellow than creamy, I think it is creamy enough. The flower is one of the many blooms on our Phygelius capensis

Hugo Chavez also sneers at Iranian protestors

I must thank Bob of Bob From Brockley for this link.

Sadly but unsurprisingly Hugo Chavez has stood by Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, regardless of the protests that have taken place over the last week.

A Venezuelan foreign ministry statement, "in the name of the people," hailed the "extraordinary democratic development" that resulted in Ahmadinejad's victory.
"The Bolivarian government of Venezuela expresses its firm rejection of the ferocious and unfounded campaign to discredit, from abroad, that has been unleashed against Iran, with the objective of muddying the political climate of this brother country," said the statement issued June 16. "We demand the immediate end to maneuvers to intimidate and destabilize the Islamic Revolution."”

This sort of tripe makes me sick to be a leftist. For the likes of Chavez, Milne, Galloway and far too many others it does not matter what sort of scumbag someone is so long as they are anti American

Aren’t we meant to be better than this?

Bob has collated an excellent series of posts on Iran from around the blogosphere... oh and drivel from some tit called Jams O'Donnell!

Lest we forget

Aung San Suu Kyi is 64 today

So Cats really aren't as clever as dogs and psychologists?

Psychology lecturer Britta Osthaus has concluded that cats do not understand cause-and-effect connections between objects and is thus nit as bright as the average psychologist

She tested the thought processes of 15 of them by attaching fish and biscuit treats to one end of a piece of string, placing them under a plastic screen to make them unreachable and then seeing if the cats could work out that pulling on the other end of the string would pull the treat closer.

They were tested in three ways, using a single baited string, two parallel strings where only one was baited, and two crossed strings where only one was baited.
The single string test proved no problem, but unlike dogs no cat consistently chose correctly between two parallel strings. With two crossed strings, one cat always made the wrong choice and others succeeded no more than might be expected by chance.

Osthaus, of Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, said: "This finding is somehow surprising as cats regularly use their paws and claws to pull things towards them during play and hunting. They performed even worse than dogs, which can at least solve the parallel string task."

Quite clearly this experiment shows nothing of the sort. It fails to take account of the fact that cats know full well that nothing is worth doing that needs much effort. Ask any cat about the experiment and they will point out that that sooner or later they were going to get fed by the psychologist, so why waste important energy that could be better employed in a nice long rest.

I rest my case!

Robyn and Bebe wear green

This week's entry for the Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats.

Shirin Ebadi says VOID THE ELECTION

Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has written an important piece in the Hufffington Post. This is an extract. The full post is here

On Monday, June 15, more than 1 million people marched in the streets of Tehran to support Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi -- two defeated presidential candidates -- and to object to the results of last week's election.... Peaceful demonstrations ended, and while people were slowly dispersing to go home, suddenly, from the rooftop of a building belonging to Basij (the volunteer people's militia), shots were fired on the people. Another group started firing from another direction. Based on reports, there are seven killed and around 30 wounded and hospitalized thus far.

People's dissatisfaction with the results does not concern the present elections alone: Many objections were made four years ago when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was first elected president. At the time, Mehdi Karroubi and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, two senior and powerful figures of the Islamic Republic, were Ahmadinejad's opponents.
Ahmadinejad's four years of presidency resulted in people's great dissatisfaction.

During this time, inflation reached 25 percent, prices kept increasing on a daily basis, and people's purchasing power kept decreasing. A large number of newspapers were closed down, an increasing number of political and human rights activists were imprisoned, the offices of the Center for Human Rights Defenders (I am chair of the center) were closed down, etc.

The Leader of the revolution continued his support of the president in spite of the people's dissatisfaction, even after the Majles (parliament) declared that $1 billion had been withdrawn without legal authority. And the moment the Interior Ministry declared Ahmadinejad winner of last week's election, the Leader congratulated him, although votes had not been counted in all districts. Furthermore, other candidates had the right to contest the elections results, and no one should have been congratulated until their objections had been heard and definitive results been determined. This premature act of congratulating angered the Iranian population.

Objections to the last week's election are generally as follows:

1. At most voting locations, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi's representatives were not allowed to be present.

2. It is claimed that many of the ballot boxes have been tampered with.

3. Ahmadinejad obtained 14 million votes in the previous elections. This time, however, they made the unprecedented announcement that he had 24 million votes. Mehdi Karroubi announced that his votes were less than the number of his election headquarters' members and the members of the "Etemad Melli" party, which he heads. When millions of people in Tehran and other cities came out on the streets to protest the elections results, it was clear that Ahmadinejad's 24 million votes could not have been accurate.

The intensification of popular protests has resulted in the Leader of the Islamic Republic ordering an investigation of the complaints and the Guardian Council announcing that some of the ballot boxes would be recounted. It does not appear, however, that this will calm the situation.

The best solution for establishing peace in Iran consists of:

1. The unconditional release of every individual arrested and imprisoned for having objected to the results of the elections.

2. Ordering the cessation of Basij and police violence toward protestors.

3. Declaring the election void.

4. Ordering new elections under the auspices of international organizations.

5. Paying compensation to the injured and to the families of those who have been killed.

Calm could perhaps be brought back to the Iranian society if these conditions are met. Otherwise, there is a great possibility of increased violence in Iran.

Where is Ahmadinejad?

Ahmadinejad spots Mousavi out of the corner of his right eye

One thing that has puzzled me is the near total absence of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the last few days. His last appearance in Iran was at a press conference on Sunday and then at a “victory” rally in the centre of Tehran.

On Monday he appeared at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, where he was greeted as the "newly re-elected president of Iran". Interestingly he spoke of the end of "the age of empires"

The Iranian media reported that he was greeted by a number of senior government officials on his return from Russia on Tuesday. And then?

Nothing, nada, zilch and not a sausage

According to the Guardian analysts and diplomats say that the fact that Ahmadinejad has not been seen for is an indication that his position may have been weakened. Rallies backing him have been far less well attended than those organised by the Mousavi camp (when not photoshopped of course).

"If he was feeling confident he would be more visible," said Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, of London University's School of Oriental and African Studies. "It would make sense for him to present himself as the president of all Iranians. But he appears to be a bit detached from reality. The way he reacted has seriously damaged his position."

It does indeed seem odd that he has been absent. It certainly is not the action of a man confident in his office

An interesting historical note: On 18 December 1989 Nicolae Ceacsescu left Romania for a visit to Iran. This was at the height of the Romanian revolution. Seven days later he received an unwanted Christmas present.

On 15 June 2009 Ahmadinejad left Iran for a visit. Seven days later......???

Seumas Milne also sneers at Iranian protestors (no surprise there)

Although it can be said of others too there is not probably not a despot (sorry I meant freedom loving anti-imperialist) that unreconstructed Stalinist Seumas Milne will not support.

In today’s Guardian he excels himself! It is an article that starts with a cheap shot, comparing the response in Iran to that of disgruntled Tories after Attlee’s resounding election victory in 1945 (apparently a Savoy diner declared "The country will never stand for it.").

In Milne World (where the red star shines brightly among the hammer and sickles) “the evidence so far coming out of Iran, something similar seems to be ¬happening on the streets of Tehran – and in the western capitals just as desperate to see the back of Iranian president -Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”

“Of course the movement behind opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi spreads far beyond the capital's elite, as did the supporters of Winston Churchill against Clement Attlee. In Iran, it includes large sections of the middle class, students and the secular. But a similar misreading of their own social circles for the country at large appears to have convinced the opposition's supporters that it can only have lost last Friday's election through fraud.

That is also reflected in the western media, whose cameras focus so lovingly on Tehran's gilded youth and for whom Ahmadinejad is nothing but a Holocaust-denying fanatic. (I don’t know about you but Holocaust-denying fanatic is enough to damn anyone in my books even if they are kind to animals and love their old mum)

The other Ahmadinejad, who is seen to stand up for the country's independence, expose elite corruption on TV and use Iran's oil wealth to boost the incomes of the poor majority, is largely invisible abroad..... But such details have got lost as the pressure has built in Tehran for a "green revolution" amid unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen. The strongest evidence appears to be some surprising regional results and the speed of the official announcement, triggered by Mousavi's declaration that he was the winner before the polls closed. But most official figures don't look so ¬implausible – Mousavi won Tehran, for instance, by 2.2m votes to 1.8m – and it's hard to believe that rigging alone could account for the 11 million-vote gap between the main contenders.

If Ahmadinejad was in fact the winner, then there is an attempted coup going on in Tehran right now, and it is being led by Mousavi and his western-backed supporters... But for the demonstrators facing repression in Tehran, the conviction that they have been cheated has created its own momentum in what is now a highly polarised society. .. The article then goes on about Iraq, Israel, Lebanese elections (won with vote buying according to Milne)

In such a context, the neutralisation of Iran as an independent regional power would
be a huge prize for the US – defanging recalcitrants from Baghdad to Beirut – and a route out of the strategic impasse created by the invasion of Iraq. But so far, the signs from Tehran are still that that's unlikely to be achieved by a colour-coded revolution.

I wonder if it ever occurred to the likes of Milne that the men and women protesting in Iran are not “gilded youth” but people who are frustrated not only by what they see as a blatantly fraudulent election; they are frustrated by life in an oppressive society, frustrated at being second class citizens (in the case of many of the women, frustrated at high inflation, frustrated at high unemployment. They are angry and they want change.

The BBC is currently reporting that Iran’s Guardian Council is inviting Mousavi and the other two opposition candidates to discuss not 6, not 66 but 646 individual complaints arising from last week’s election.

As for being dupes of foreign powers, particularly the USA, if he were to ask the average protestor I am sure they would laugh in his face. Oh yes, I’m sure that the US would like a “defanged Iran” but this is not about pulling teeth of a local power, it is about people wanting a better Iran.

Iranian Government ramps up the price of protest

According to the Guardian the Iranian government tried to decapitate the opposition movement by rounding up ­hundreds of activists, journalists and intellectuals.

A total of 500 are reported to have been detained across the country, including well-known political figures from the 1979 Islamic revolution. The mass detentions combined with paramilitary raids on university campuses appeared to be part of a determined and sustained backlash on the part of a government that initially appeared to have been taken by surprise by the scale of the protests after the declaration that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won Friday's presidential poll.

The authorities also launched what appeared to be a concerted campaign to link the protests with foreign intervention, calling in the US and British ambassadors to complain about what Tehran called "intolerable" meddling in Iran's internal affairs.

Ebrahim Yazdi, a former foreign minister and aide to Ruhollah Khomeini, was arrested at the Tehran hospital where he was undergoing medical tests, according to the website of his Freedom party. Seven other members of the party were also detained.

With the exception of Yazdi, the arrests appeared to bypass political leaders and focus on their lieutenants. Mohammad Tavassali, Tehran's mayor in the years after the Islamic revolution and leading member of the Kargozaran party was arrested. Tavassali is close to the former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is the most powerful opposition within the inner circles of the clerical hierarchy.

Another former revolutionary stalwart, Behzad Nabavi, who negotiated with the US during the 1979-81 Tehran embassy hostage crisis, also appeared on the list of detainees.

"Iranian intelligence and security forces are using the public protests to engage in what appears to be a major purge of reform-oriented individuals whose situations in detention could be life-threatening," said Aaron Rhodes, a spokesman for the international campaign for human rights in Iran.

The wave of detentions has spread beyond the capital to include provincial cities. At least 100 civic figures are understood to have been arrested in Tabriz, where Mousavi has strong support.

Amnesty International reported that the detainees included 17 political activists, who had been "taken to unspecified locations on Monday night after they staged a peaceful protest in the city's Abresan Square".

The Tabriz detainees included Freedom Movement activists and eight members of the Islamic Participation Front, a reformist organisation linked to Khatami, were also arrested.

In Shiraz, in the south of the country, Amnesty cited reports said that a hundred students had been detained after security forces used teargas to storm the university library.

In the central province of Isfahan, a senior prosecutor warned that dissidents could face execution under Islamic law. "We warn the few elements controlled by foreigners who try to disrupt domestic security by inciting individuals to destroy and to commit arson that the Islamic penal code for such individuals waging war against God is execution," Habibi said, according to the Fars news agency.

Another four activists in Qazvin province, north of Tehran, were said by human rights campaigners to have "disappeared" while members of the Tahkim-e Vahdat, an influential students organisation supporting the other reformist candidate Mehdi Karoubi, had been "systematically targeted".

Human rights groups voiced concern over the health of a political activist, Saeed Hajarian, who was arrested yesterday. Hajarian, once an adviser to President Mohammad Khatami, needs constant medical attention for brain and spinal injuries sustained in a failed assassination attempt nine years ago.

Mohammadreza Jalaeipour, the son of a prominent Tehran academic and a Mousavi supporter was also reported to have been arrested as he was boarding a flight to London this morning.

Abdolfattah Soltani, a human rights lawyer who has defended many student activists, was picked up on Tuesday.

The new arrests follow an estimated 120 activists and journalists picked up in a first wave in Tehran over the weekend, including Mohammad Reza Khatami, brother of the former president, who was later released.

Two other prominent reformists, Mohammad Ali Abtahi and Behzad Nabavi, and a well-known human rights lawyer, were picked up in the same sweep.

It would seem that the backlash has begun. It may be (and I pray that it is the case) that the protests have reached an unstoppable critical mass. We shall see....

Meanwhile in the Arab world

Associated Press carries this interesting item about the relative silence in the Arab world about events in Tehran. But maybe, just maybe, there is a possibility that events in Iran may inspire reformists in the Arab world.

Despite the silence of key Arab nations, there are signs the young and reform-minded have been inspired by the mass protests that followed the disputed election. "It makes me feel so jealous," said Abdelmonem Ibrahim, a young pro-reform Brotherhood activist in Egypt....We are amazed at the organization and the speed with which the (Iranian) movement has been functioning. In Egypt, you can count the number of activists on your hand," Ibrahim told the Associated Press.

One Egyptian blogger, who writes anonymously under the user name "Louza," posted a picture of a demonstration in Tehran, adding, "Sigh, will the Arab world follow?"

"Even though they are run by an authoritarian regime, (Iran) still allows for a good amount of liberalism and freedom," said Gamal Fahmy, a prominent Egyptian secular reform activist. In contrast, he said, activism in Egypt has been "put in a freezer" because "the regime doesn't allow for the space to express any sort of opposition."
"I think the new generation of activists will definitely be inspired by what they see on the Iranian street. What's happening in Iran isn't happening on Mars," he told AP. "So Egyptian activists will feel they can replicate it in their own country."

Still, there has not been as much wall-to-wall coverage of the Iranian uproar in Arab media or Arab activists' blogs as there has been in the West — for a number of reasons. Some are not convinced by claims of fraud in the election results showing a victory for hard-line incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is popular among some in the Arab world for his tough stance against the United States and Israel. Even among Arab critics of Ahmadinejad, some don't believe his rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is a true reformer and they note that Iran's unelected supreme leader holds the real power.

Meanwhile, Arab governments — even ones that are fiercely critical of Iranian influence in the region — have remained silent, apparently afraid of angering the powerful Persian nation.

Iran’s — mainly Sunni countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt — are deeply worried that Iran is seeking to fuel Islamic radicalism, empower Shiite minorities in the Arab world and establish itself as a regional superpower by getting involved in crises they believe are none of its business, such as the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and inter-Palestinian fighting.

Jordanian political analyst Labib Kamhawi said Arabs want "somebody else to fight their battles on their behalf "So nobody expressed any position on the Iranian elections because they think that the Americans and the Europeans will do it for them," he said. "This is a very negative approach, especially with regional political issues."

Gulf nations — always worried about the biggest military power in the vital area — may be happy to see Iran tied up in its domestic affairs. "This is not bad because it weakens the rigid Iranian approach to the countries around the region," Saudi analyst Dawood al-Shirian said. Still, Gulf states do not want to see a violent power struggle in Iran for "fear of the unrest spilling over," said Mustafa Alani, a security analyst at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.

A partial list of Iranian journalists and bloggers arrested since the start of the protests

Information from Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres) on some of the Iranian journalists who have ben arrested

Saide Lylaz, a business reporter for the newspaper Sarmayeh, who had been very critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s policies, is arrested at his home in Tehran. His wife says she does not know where he has been taken.

Mohamad Atryanfar, the publisher of several newspapers including Hamshary, Shargh and Shahrvand Emrouz, was arrested on 15 June and was taken to the security wing of Evin prison.
Aldolfatah Soltani, a lawyer who represents many imprisoned journalists and who is a member of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, is arrested on the orders of the Tehran revolutionary court and is probably taken to the security wing at Tehran’s Evin prison.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, also known as the “Blogging Mullah,” was arrested at his Tehran home. A vice-president during Mohammad Khatami’s presidency, he had been acting as an adviser to Mehdi Karoubi, one of the opposition candidates in last week’s presidential election.

Blogger Somayeh Tohidloo arrested on 14 June.

Although seriously disabled, Saeed Hajjarian was arrested at his Tehran. Following Khatami’s election as president in 1997, Hajjarian was editor of the now-closed daily Sobh-e-Emrouz, which supported Khatami’s reforms. After the newspaper exposed the involvement of intelligence officials in a series of murders of dissident intellectuals and journalists in 1998, he was the victim of a murder attempt in March 2000 that left him badly paralysed. He is seen as one of the strategists of the pro-reform movement.

The price of speaking out is high

Sheer bloody stupidity

This well rounded comment is from the comments on the Daily Mail's reportage on the Iran situation

at 16:39 David from Altea, Spain said

"How dare Brown whinge to Iran he is far worse than Ahmadinejad and luckily we haven't started rioting YET"

Not someone who engaged brain before shooting his mouth off, I think!

People I know who lived through the Iranian revolution, the subsequent repression, the Iran-Iraq war and so on would find our political system, warts and all, rather preferable to that of Iran.

I suppose it goes to show that crass commentary is not just the preserve of the likes of Niles Gardiner or George Galloway

Needless to say there are plenty of other idiotic comments on the BBC, Times, Telegraph, and just about any other news site that you can think of

A happy birthday to Harry Patch

Harry Patch, one of the last three British veterans of WWI, the last five authenticated veterans worldwide and the last survivor of the Western Front is 111 today.


Happy Birthday Harry, may there be more to come

The revolution will not be Photosopped

On the other hand the Iranian authorities will happily try to exaggerate support for Ahmadinejad using said application

This image was taken From Daily Kos. It is better, probably, not to advertise the Iranian photographer's site which seems to be the origin of this image.

Foootball as protest

Members of the Iranian national side show support for protestors by wearing green wrist bands during their World Cup Qualifier with South Korea

Source The Times

George Galloway sneers at Iran protestors

It is said of George Galloway that there is not a tyrant or repressive regime he will not embrace with open arms. Not content in the past to embrace Saddam Hussein (although to be fair so did Donald Rumsfeld!), deny the Tianamen Square killings he now has some unpleasant things to say about the situation in Iran:

In his Daily Record column on June 15 (Titled You can count on the fact election was fair) he says:

There are grounds for being surprised at the result of the Iranian election. Even grounds for being disappointed. But there are absolutely no grounds for the cats' chorus of criticism and allegations now emanating from some quarters after the cookie crumbled the wrong way....

I have been more closely interested than normal in this poll. I present two weekly shows for Iranian-owned Press TV. As such, I know that, uniquely for a developing country, the Iranian broadcast media went to extraordinary lengths to be fair to all four presidential candidates. ...

This massive exercise took place without trouble of any kind - the polling stations were kept open longer than required to facilitate the huge lines of people outside. Indeed, that's one of the reasons I discount the opposition complaints.When a candidate is reduced to protesting that too MANY people were allowed to vote, you know he's in trouble.The counting, too, was awesome. And, by the way, there were observers from all four camps present throughout these stages.

Although the western media largely did the usual thing - not straying far from their five-star hotels, talking to those who would happily talk to them and especially if they spoke English - it's clear they mistook the plusher parts of the capital for the country at large. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad commands the loyalty of the poor, the working class and the rural voters whose development he has championed.

He lives like them, looks like them - he's never worn a suit since becoming president - and there's more of them than the English speaking more liberal elites now on the streets demonstrating.

It will soon fizzle out.

This election almost mirrors the class composition of the recent polls in Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez has exactly the same friends in his country. And the same enemies. I've said many times that Ahmadinejad's comments about the Holocaust are a disgrace. His rhetoric can be ugly and he does not play well in Peoria, the mid-west weather vane here in the US where I am at present.

But he is the president of an important country and we'll just have to accept it.

So presumably in Galloway World the protestors are salon liberals, malcontents and enemies of the Islamic paradise . Or perhaps George is crying in anticipation of the possible fall of another beloved repressive state (Remember his quote “I think the disappearance of the Soviet Union is the biggest catastrophe of my life” )

Well it seems that things have NOT fizzled out so soon. There is a groundswell for change in Iran and to call that a cat’s chorus is an utter insult.

Sadly I don’t expect that the protests will bring about the sort of changes that many hope for but they deserve our unreserved support.

Galloway on the other hand can go f%&k himself.

Hat tip to Harry's Place

Keeping Twitter open - The best suport the US Government can give to Iranians at present

CNN has reported that the US State Department is working with Twitter and other social networking sites to ensure Iranians are able to continue to communicate to each other and the outside world.


By necessity, the US is staying hands off of the election drama playing out in Iran... But they do want to make sure the technology is able to play its sorely-needed role in the crisis, which is why the State Department is advising social networking sites to make sure their networks stay up and running for Iranians to use them and helping them stay ahead of anyone who would try to shut them down.

Senior officials say the State Department asked Twitter to refrain for going down for periodic scheduled maintenance at this critical time to ensure the site continues to operate... The Internet, and specifically social networking sites, are providing the United States with critical information in the face of a crackdown on journalists by Iranian authorities.

“There are lots of people here watching,” one senior official said. “There are some interesting messages going up.”

The US Government can't do much in Iran, despite what idiotic hawks may think or say. This certainly is one way that it can help facilitate the flow of information at a time when Iranian authorities are closing other media forms.

More on Iran - The power of Twitter and Youtube

This needs no words from me

WW - Cephalaria bud

This week's entry for the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of Wordless Wednesday.

Not eloquent but the right approach

Like it or not, Obama's statement is the best response a US president could give at the moment. To start sabre rattling as Nile Gardiner would like (see below) would be a disaster for the protestors

Right wing rubbish on Obama’s Iran silence

I am not familiar with Nile Gardiner but the Heritage Foundation website shows him to be the: Director, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies (D, MTCFF, TKASCDIFIS... A set of initials that don’t make the best of scrabble hands!). Given his credentials it is perhaps unsurprising that he casts a less than benevolent gaze on President Obama

That said his blog piece in yesterday’s Telegraph which accuses the Obama administration's response to the Iran election of being “cowardly, lily-livered and wrong” seems to be little more than a crass rant

Gardiner states that The White House's refusal (as at the time of writing at 18.36 on 15 June) to “question officially the result or even condemn the brutal suppression of opposition protestors, is undermining America's standing as a global power...., and is little more than a... cynical exercise in appeasement....As blood flows on the streets of Tehran, the United States government remains as silent as a Trappist Monk...”

In Gardiner’s view “It's about time the Obama administration... started focusing on halting the rise of a nuclear-armed Iran, as well as building up America's defences in the face of a highly dangerous rogue regime. That includes moving forward with a global missile defence system as well as actually increasing defence spending instead of cutting it."

His final sentence is “ It's a sad day when the greatest power in the world withholds criticism of a brutal, tyrannical and illegitimate regime for fear of upsetting its rulers.”

Well blow me! As if the USA has never withheld criticism from brutal regimes before!

From what I have seen of his writings since reading the above post Gardiner would probably indict Obama for the murder of Cock Robin. His words seem to have gone down well especially among those who would condemn Obama for breathing

Any hawkish words from the US at this juncture would be counterproductive at best - and at worst an utter disaster for the Iranian opposition. The USA has a less than glorious track record in Iranian affairs (just think of two names: Mossadeq and Pahlavi to underline) this point and Iranians have a long memory (or at least one that is frequently jogged). Strong American condemnation of Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime, however justifiable, would inflame the situation while at the same time undermining the protestors

Or is this what the hawks want? After all it is better to have a bogeyman to aim at than someone who may just pay a little lip service to reform.

Vote recount in Iran?

According to the BBC (and many other sources) Iran's Guardian Council says it is ready to recount disputed votes from Friday's presidential poll.

The Guardian Council said votes would be recounted in areas contested by the losing candidates but it is not clear whether the offer will be accepted by Mr Ahmadinejad's rivals, who want the election annulled. The opposition says millions of ballots may have gone astray.

The council, which is considering an appeal by Mr Mousavi and another defeated candidate, had earlier said the results were only provisional.

This is certainly an interesting development but whether it will signify much in the end remains to be seen.

Iranian Elections - a foodie's view

Forget the BBC, CNN or the main news providers The Village Voice's Fork In The Road blog has the hot poop on what is really concerns people the world over....

While newsies sit on the edge of their seats watching riots erupt in Tehran, foodies naturally wonder what is being consumed.... And here's the short answer: Persian is one of the world's oldest documented cuisines, responsible for the invention of many dishes that we now take for granted. Persians invented the shish-kebab as an easy way to cook meat quickly, and provide finger-size morsels to eat as snacks with a glass of wine...

Rice is the heart of the Persian menu, prepared with great care and often colored with saffron or turmeric. Typically, tinted grains of rice will be mixed with white grains for enhanced aesthetic effect. Rice is often parboiled, steamed, and then oiled with meat juices or other fats. Persian cuisine uses lots of herbs, such a quantity, in fact, that they often form the green basis of stews called khoresht, which, in addition to meat or chicken, can also contain other vegetables like beans. Vegetables are also eaten as incredibly tart pickles called torshi. Fruit plays an important part in the cuisine, often cooked with chicken or meat--as in the national dish, fesenjan, which is chicken in a tart nut-pomegranate sauce.

Other dishes that originated in Persia include the stuffed vine leaves called dolmeh, and the fresh cheese known as panir. The food of Turkey was largely inspired by ancient Persian food, and the Ottoman Empire carried this modified version of Persian around the Mediterranean Rim...

Well there you have it. An interesting post and Persian cuisine is surely delicious but maybe a tad surreal in the current climate!

Previous posts include "Rustic cooking in an Afghan cave", My dinner with Enver"(from the archives) and "Quick meals from Idi's fridge"

Iranian government fires on protestors

The BBC reports that shots have been fired at a rally in Iran where hundreds of thousands of people were demonstrating against last week's presidential election results. One protestor is reported to have been killed while numerous reports indicates that many others have been wounded

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Tehran, says Monday's rally was the biggest demonstration in the Islamic republic's 30-year history and described it as a "political earthquake. The government had outlawed any protest following two days of unrest, with the interior ministry warning that "any disrupter of public security would be dealt with according to the law".

"There has been sporadic shooting out there... I can see people running here," Reuters quoted a reporter of Iran's Press TV as saying from Tehran's Azadi Square. "A number of people who are armed, I don't know exactly who they are, but they have started to fire on people causing havoc in Azadi Square." A photographer at the scene told news agencies that security forces had killed one protester and seriously wounded several others.

He said the shooting began when the crowd attacked a compound used by the Basij a religious militia linked to the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

So it begins. I shudder to think how it will end, how many will die.

Khamenei orders election inquiry

It would seem that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reversed his earlier decree that the Iranian Presidential election result was fair(ly rigged) and has ordered an investigation into the disputed re-election of President Ahmadinejad.

Khamenei, who has the final say on such matters, had described the result as fair and urged the country to unite behind Mr Ahmadinejad. Today it emerged, however, that he had met the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi last night and ordered the powerful Guardians Council to examine his allegations of vote-rigging.

Ahmadinejad is Khamenei’s placeman so it is extremely unlikely that the result will be overturned. I somehow doubt that the Guardian Council will find any “irregularities”... After all the powers that be in Iran are hardly going to air their own dirty laundry.

Phygelius capensis

It was almost worth jarring my bad knee for this shot!

Doors and the Great Wall of China

Ahmad Shamlu (or Shamloo or Shamlou) was one of the greatest Iranian poets of the 20th Century. This poem, which gave the title of an anthology of his poetry published in a 1973, was written before the revolution of 1979. That does not stop it from saying a lot about today's Iran

I am agrateful to my dear friend Redwine who sent me this translation of the poem.



Door is an insidious thing… I have thought about it time and again.

It is only for the possible – or what is more, the positive – existence of a door that one keeps on looking around a walled area… If there were no doors, walls could utterly maintain and stand by the significance of the impasse, to wit the constraint, evermore. Still, if so, every wall could be a decisively negative certitude and knew well what to do confronting everyone…

If there were no doors, each wall could, without a hitch, resound with the inscription suspended by Dante at the entrance to hell; but, regrettably, one has to confess that doors have deprived them of so impeccable and sheer a sense.

***
More than that, a door is a full-blooded parasite.

Its personality is totally subject to that of wall; still one should suspect this point, in that though only walls can justify the existence of doors, they cannot sustain the finality and their arrant emphaticness I referred to before, in the presence of doors. But, there would not be after all anything more useless and ludicrous than a door if there were no walls. However I do not know a thing about painting, I can easily paint such a door:

What is more ludicrous than a door that – separate and independent from a wall – tries to have a personality?

Yet, a door that is not constructed in any wall has the astounding potentiality of provoking thought…

I have given my mind to such a door; and sometimes it has made my mind think about borders and passageways of borders, with no change in its form necessarily.

Actually, a free-standing door that can be nothing, is a good passageway for thinking, through which one can find way to many realms.

***
The necessity of walls is felt soon by observing a door. I ask if we sense accordingly the necessity of doors by observing a wall.

I do not suppose so. It may be so, but not that much to me, at least. I find walls more logical than doors, and believe that doors are vacuous hopes: they repudiate the character of walls when opened, and their ((own's)) when closed.

A wall is simply not more than an obstruction if there is no door in it; but nothing betrays its own entity as a door that bears a heavy lock… Maybe that is the reason why we cherish Roman and Greek castles more than old fortresses, and maybe that is the reason why we feel relieved and restful by recalling those sumptuous and colonnaded castles; and feel dubious and anxious by remembering those stealthy citadels; maybe... I do not know...

One more point: the uncertainty that makes us to construct walls…

The lofty walls before which we feel a dire need for doors…

And the doors which should be secure and specifically invulnerable, and have heavy locks...

As though life would be impossible but among walls and doors, but among this hurly-burly, this ambivalence, this opening, closing, and reopening:

Building a wall,
Constructing a door in it,
And
Closing the door!

Is it not a laughingstock? Why, yes. On the whole, it is hilarious.
***
The Great Wall of China has been a matter of discussion at times – and each time with a different outlook. It is said that the Great Wall of China was founded to fortify the country against the invading northern tribes.

It was an interesting point, having had one third of a Chinese generation victimized; let us say, a whole generation… because the graveness of such a matter is not weighed through the number of its victims.

The truth is that what immolated an innumerable group of people was not the main surmise of the theory i.e. the possible invasion.

It cannot be said that only the general principles of this theory are modified here; the blind spot of the theory is that the constructors of the wall (not indeed their commanders) did not construct a door in that wall! As a result, the main catastrophe they wanted to ward off beforehand by wall-constructing, changed readily and came forth more unsparingly in the same form and structure they had walled! Ah! And this is, I think, the destiny of all those who overlook the importance of doors. The northern did not invade but the southern did not find any door to escape through.

I would like to confess that I was ungrateful to doors in the beginning of this discourse.
In the history we human beings make, nothing is more remedial to us than a door to escape through.

Doors are essential; even a door constructed in no wall…

In this world – of no validity – we live in, doors are more requisite than everything else, even the Great Wall of China…


Ahmad Shamlu
Tr. by Mohammad Forough

The Iranian election

Skim throught the blogoshpere and you will see many words written on Friday's election. I was planning to add my two cents worth but I have very little that is new or original to that has not already been said bring to the party. That doesn not mean I won't say something!

Ahmadinejad's victory is a sham. The result was rigged and quite ineptly rigged at that. Ahmadinejad remained popular among his core voters (rural dwellers and the urban poor) despite high unemployment and inflation and a slim victory in the low 50s was very possible. The result given shows Ayatollah Khamenei's (the real leader) contempt for the for those who wish to see at least some degree of liberalisation in Iran.

My next post will say far more about Iran than I could ever say.

Papers indicates Shell’s complicity in Niger Delta protest crackdown

The Independent on Sunday carries a disturbing report which raises questions over Shell Oil's involvement in human rights abuses in Nigeria. Confidential internal documents and court statements, seen by the newspaper revealed how the energy giant enlisted the help of the country's former military government to deal with protesters.

The documents support allegations that Shell helped to provide Nigerian police and military with logistical support, and aided security sweeps of the oil-rich Niger Delta. Earlier this month Shell agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in a "humanitarian settlement" on the eve of a highly embarrassing US lawsuit (It looks like Shell did see the writing on the wall and cut its losses before it faced a massive defeat in court...)

One of the allegations was that Shell was complicit in the regime's execution of civilians. The Anglo-Dutch firm denies any wrongdoing but the documents contain detailed allegations of the extent to which Shell is said to have co-opted the Nigerian military to protect its interests.

The legal settlement came 14 years after the Nigerian government hanged nine protesters, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, after a charade of a trial in 1995. Saro-Wiwa led a successful campaign against Shell in his Niger Delta homeland, even forcing the company to quit Ogoniland in 1993. As the campaign grew, the Ogoni suffered a brutal backlash that left an estimated 2,000 dead and 30,000 homeless. The documents claim there was systematic collusion with the military and Mobile Police Force (MPF), known as the "Kill and Go". Shell has always denied this but is believed to have settled in court as a result of the embarrassing contents.

In one document written in May 1993, the company wrote to the local governor asking for the "usual assistance" as the Ogoni expanded their campaign. Nigerian military were called in, resulting in at least one death. Days later, Shell met the director general of the state security services to "reiterate our request for support from the army and police". In a confidential note Shell suggested: "We will have to encourage follow-through into real action preferably on an industry rather than just Shell basis". The Nigerian regime responded by sending in the Internal Security Task Force, a military unit led by Colonel Paul Okuntimo, a brutal soldier, widely condemned by human rights groups, whose men allegedly raped pregnant women and girls and who tortured at will. Okuntimo boasted of knowing more than 200 ways to kill a person.

In October 1993, Okuntimo was sent into Ogoni with Shell personnel to inspect equipment. The stand-off that followed left at least one Ogoni protester dead. A hand-written Shell note talked of "entertaining 26 armed forces personnel for lunch" and preparing "normal special duty allowances" for the soldiers. Shell is also accused of involvement with the MPF, which worked with Okuntimo. One witness, Eebu Jackson Nwiyon, claimed they were paid and fed by Shell. Nwiyon also recalls being told by Okuntimo to "leave nobody untouched". When asked what was meant by this, Nwiyon replied: "He meant shoot, kill."

Since the settlement, Malcolm Brinded, Shell's executive director, said: "We wanted to prove our innocence and we were ready to go to court. We knew the charges against us were not true." He added: "I am aware that the settlement may – to some – suggest Shell is guilty and trying to escape justice," but said this was not the case.

Hmm if these documents are genuine then Shell may well have been crucified in court. A small settlement (by the standards of an oil company $15m is small change). It certainly sounds like Shell’s hands are stained with the blood of Ogoni. Sadly it is unlikely that the company will truly be called to account for their disgraceful complicity. I only hope that Shell executives develop an uneasy conscience and dream of those who were murdered as a result of their desire for dirty profit

Loreena McKennitt - Mummer's Dance

A guilty pleasure song.

Photo Hunt - Lock

The theme for this week's Photo Hunt is Lock. Since I don't have decent photos of door locks, canal locks or those fine men or women who form the second row of a rugby scrum I thought I would stretch the theme a bit. Lock sounds like loch, the Scottish word for a lake or sea inlet. Move to Ireland and the word for a lake becomes "lough"

So having stretched the theme away from things that you put keys in to expanses of water my photos this week were taken at Millstreet County Park in County Cork, Ireland. The building in the first photo is a reconstruction of a crannóg - an artificial Island built in lakes and other watery places and used as a dwelling place in prehistoric times.

The sun is shining, the crows are croaking and I return to work today so here's some McGonagall!

THE MIRACULOUS ESCAPE OF ROBERT ALLAN, THE FIREMAN

'Twas in the year of 1858, and on October the fourteenth day,
That a fire broke out in a warehouse, and for hours blazed away;
And the warehouse, now destroyed, was occupied by the Messrs R. Wylie, Hill & Co.,
Situated in Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow.

The flames burst forth about three o'clock in the afternoon,
And intimation of the outbreak spread very soon;
And in the spectators' faces were depicted fear and consternation;
While the news flew like lightning to the Fire Brigade Station.

And when the Brigade reached the scene of the fire,
The merciless flames were ascending higher and higher,
Raging furiously in all the floors above the street,
And within twenty minutes the structure was destroyed by the burning heat.

Then the roof fell in, pushing out the front wall,
And the loud crash thereof frightened the spectators one and all,
Because it shook the neighbouring buildings to their foundation,
And caused throughout the City a great sensation.

And several men were injured by the falling wall ,
And as the bystanders gazed thereon, it did their hearts appal;
But the poor fellows bore up bravely, without uttering a moan,
And with all possible speed they were conveyed home.

The firemen tried to play upon the building where the fire originated,
But, alas! their efforts were unfortunately frustrated,
Because they were working the hose pipes in a building occupied by Messrs Smith & Brown,
But the roof was fired, and amongst them it came crashing down.

And miraculously they escaped except one fireman,
The hero of the fire, named Robert Allan,
Who was carried with the debris down to the street floor,
And what he suffered must have been hard to endure.

He travelled to the fire in Buchanan Street,
On the first machine that was ordered, very fleet,
Along with Charles Smith and Dan. Ritchie,
And proceeded to Brown & Smith's buildings that were burning furiously.

And in the third floor of the building he took his stand
Most manfully, without fear, with the hose in his hand,
And played on the fire through a window in the gable
With all his might, the hero, as long as he was able.

And he remained there for about a quarter of an hour,
While from his hose upon the building the water did pour,
When, without the least warning, the floor gave way,
And down he went with it: oh, horror! and dismay!

And with the debris and flooring he got jammed,
But Charlie Smith and Dan. Ritchie quickly planned
To lower down a rope to him, without any doubt,
So, with a long pull and a strong pull, he was dragged out.

He thought he was jammed in for a very long time,
For, instead of being only two hours jammed, he thought 'twas months nine,
But the brave hero kept up his spirits without any dread
Then he was taken home in a cab, and put to bed.

Oh, kind Christians! think of Robert Allan, the heroic man
For he certainly is a hero, deny it who can?
Because, although he was jammed, and in the midst of the flame,
He tells the world fearlessly he felt no pain.

The reason why, good people, he felt no pain
Is because he put his trust in God, to me it seems plain,
And in conclusion, I most earnestly pray,
That we will all put our trust in God, night and day.

And I hope that Robert Allan will do the same,
Because He saved him from being burnt while in the flame;
And all that trust in God will do well,
And be sure to escape the pains of hell.


Don't forget that McGonagall Online can provide you with all of your William Topaz needs!

Robyn takes a chin rub with typical feline fortitude

This week's entry for the Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats.

Gonorrhoea drug resistance fears

According to the BBC there fears over emerging strains of drug-resistant gonorrhoea in England and Wales. Tests on samples infection have shown high levels of resistance to a commonly used antibiotic called azithromycin. Azithromycin is supposed to be a fall-back drug if the standard ones stop working against the infection..

The Health Protection Agency first spotted six cases in 2007 which were resistant to azithromycin - five from Liverpool and one from Cardiff. Further analysis has shown there has been a general trend towards antibiotic resistance in recent years, which means treatment will very likely not work, even if the dose is increased.

The researchers said resistance could have occurred because the drug was being used against official advice. Another potential source of resistance is that low doses of the antibiotic are commonly given for chlamydia. Some of those patients are likely to also have undiagnosed gonorrhoea, which would not be fully treated, paving the way for resistance to develop.

Study leader Dr Stephanie Chisholm, said antibiotic resistance is able to develop very easily in the organism that causes gonorrhoea it is already resistant ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and penicillin. She stated that if high-level resistance to azithromycin spreads further, then there is less treatment option available for the future.

In a related development a spokesman for the Worshipful Company of Barber Surgeons stated that if the disease becomes untreatable then it would “swing back into action”.
“We have been concerned at the spread of antibiotic resistance in a range of infections, Many of these conditions are outside the scope of the Worshipful Company but we have considerable experience in treating the diseases of Venus”

“Members of the Company were treating the disease when Mother Clap was still running her Molly House on Field Lane. In fact we still have considerable stocks of Lunar Caustic in our stores. In addition we can offer a course of mercury injections into the urinary meatus which will, if nothing else, make the sufferer think twice about unsafe sex in the future! “

“If all else then fails our chaplains will intercede with St George the patron saint for this condition”

The Department of Health declined to comment on the Barber Surgeon’s offer

Space: the fatty frontier

The science fiction genre is full of examples of lantern-jawed heroes roving the galaxy, righting injustice, fighting evil overlords and saving space maidens from ravening astro-monsters... just like Dan Dare:


Sadly it seems that space heroes will not be tall, and handsome galacto-babe magnets; it is more likely that they will be snort, fat and bald!

The website Phenomenica.com carries a report of a lecture given by astrobiologist Dr Lewis Dartnell at the Cheltenham Science Festival.According to Dr Dartnell making long space voyages will do no good to your appearance. He believes that near zero gravity would leave humans stunted and cause their bones and muscles to be underdeveloped.

Will space voyagers look more like Pakleds?

Dr Dartnell added, if humans spent extended periods in space they will have bloated faces and lose their hair. This will happen because fluid would pool in their skulls and there would be no need for insulation from the cold. "With little effort required to move around in microgravity and an environment that is never too hot or cold, future spacemen and women are likely to become pretty chubby," he said.
"Without gravity, fluid would float up to pool in the skull, which would cause the head to look permanently swollen out of proportion.Also, with no need for hair to insulate the head or eyelashes to flick dust from their eyes, future humans may become completely hairless,”

Ah well, At least when I get frozen and land up in the future I can claim to be a space ranger given that I already have the physique of a person who has spent a long travelling the galaxy (sighs)

The Milgram Study of Obedience - Parts III to V

The Milgram Study of Obedience - Parts I and II

Although I am well aware of Stanley Milgram's experiment I had not seen this footage before. How many of us would refuse to go on to the conclusion?

Forough Farrokhzad - Friday

Forough Farrokhzad (1935-1967)

My silent Friday,

My deserted Friday,

My Friday: sad, like old abandoned lanes.

My Friday:

The cold day of ailing, idle thoughts,

Moist day of long, evil bore,

loaded with grief,

grief for my faith, for my hope,

Oh, my Friday, this renouncing day

…

Oh, this empty room,

Oh, this gloomy house…

These isolating walls from attacks of youth,

These collapsing roofs on my slight daydream of light,

In this place of lone, reflection and doubt,

In this space of shade, text, image and sign.

My life, like a mysterious river,

streamed into those silent, deserted days,

so calmly with a lot of pride.

My life, like a mysterious river,

Streamed into those empty, gloomy rooms,

so calmly with a lot of pride.

Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani From the website Forough Farrokhzad The Sad Little Fairy

WW - Ivy leaf toadflax

Cymbalaria muralis. This week's entry for the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of Wordless Wednesday.

Shell settles Saro-Wiwa lawsuit

According to the Times (and many other sources) Royal Dutch Shell will pay $15.5 million (£9.6 million) to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of colluding with Nigeria’s former military regime over the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other peaceful anti-oil protesters. (See my earlier post here )

Shell admitted no wrongdoing in reaching the settlement, which will be used to compensate the families of Mr Saro-Wiwa and eight other civilians maimed or hanged by the regime. The money will also be used to set up a development trust for the Ogoni people from the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria.

US law allows overseas nationals to sue companies registered in America for human rights abuses. Shell spent 13 years attempting to get the claims against it and Brian Anderson ( a former managing director of the company’s Nigerian business) thrown out of court but was told in April by a New York judge that the case would go to trial.

The company said that it agreed to a settlement “in recognition of the tragic turn of events in Ogoni land, even though Shell had no part in the violence that took place”.

According to the lawsuit against Shell, the company encouraged Nigeria’s military regime to clamp down on Mr Saro-Wiwa because his activities threatened lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta. The suit also claimed that Shell representatives met Sani Abacha, then Nigeria’s military president, to discuss the tribunal and told associates in advance that Mr Saro-Wiwa would be found guilty. The lawsuit against Mr Anderson alleged that he met Owens Wiwa, Mr Saro-Wiwa’s brother, and offered to secure the Mosop leader’s freedom in a return for a halt to the group’s protests. Dr Wiwa was later forced to flee Nigeria, having also been detained and tortured by the military regime.

Malcolm Brinded, Shell’s executive director for exploration and production, said yesterday: “While we were prepared to go to court to clear our name, we believe the right way forward is to focus on the future for Ogoni people, which is important for peace and stability in the region.”

Judith Chomsky, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, which helped to bring the case against Shell, said that the settlement showed that “corporations, no matter how powerful, will be held to universal human rights standards”.

Darya Dadvar in concert in London III

Darya Dadvar in concert in London II

Darya Dadvar in concert in London

While I'm at it here's some more Darya Dadvar

Enjoy!

Darya Dadvar - Tragedy of Rostam & Sohrab

In the mood for some Darya Dadvar

Darya is appearing at Bush Hall in West London tonight, I am pleased to have a ticket to see here... and a tickect that I can make use of, unlike the one for Mor Karbasi in April

A little light relief courtesy of Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

Presentiments of things to come - from "Disasters of War"

La Leocadia - A portrait of Leocadia Weiss. One of his "Black Paintings"

The Duchess of Alba

Last of the diggers

John Campbell “Jack” Ross, Australia's last remaining World War I veteran, has died, aged 110. At the time of his death he was also Australia’s oldest man. According to his obituary in The Age he died peacefully in his sleep at the Golden Oaks Nursing Home in the central Victorian city of Bendigoon 3 June.

Mr Ross enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in January, 1918 and trained at the wireless training school before he was posted to the 1st Battalion at Broadmeadows camp in Victoria. However, the war ended before he could be posted overseas.

He was awarded the 80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance medal in 1998 to commemorate the end of WWI. He also received the Centenary Medal for his contribution to Australian society in the 100 years since federation.

According to the BBC Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd paid tribute to Mr Ross, saying Australia "owes so much to this brave war generation...Today [Wednesday] we mourn the death of Jack Ross...I ask that we also reflect on the service and sacrifice of the 417,000 Australians who served our nation during World War I and the 61,000 who gave their lives,".

There are now just five WWI veterans alive:

Henry Allingham, Harry Patch, Claude Choules (British although Choules, the only veteran also to serve in WWII, lives in Australia)

John Babcock (Canadian but resident in the USA)

Frank Buckles (American)

Midnight Oil - The Dead Heart

Photo Hunt - Advertisment

The theme for this week's Photo Hunt is advertisment. I don't have any good photos of adverts so I thought I would advertise one of the most delightful pubs in Ireland. Located in Annascaul on the Dingle Peninsula the South Pole Inn was once owned by one of my personal heroes Tom Crean.

Tom Crean was an explorer who participated in three of the major British expeditions to Antarctica in the early 20th century including Captain Scott's ill fated attempt to reach the South Pole (during which he was decorated for bravery) and Shackelton's disastrous expedition of 1914. Crean was one of the men who accompanied Shackleton in his successful bid by open to reach South Georgia to obtain help in rescuing the other expedition members.

After he retired from the Royal Navy and from exploration he opened the South Pole Inn and died in 1936. The pub is full of photos and memorabilia from his expeditions and there is a bronze statue to the man in a memorial garden across the road. (see below)

I know this is a stretch on the theme but how often do I do that!

All tired out after a hard day's evil

This week's entry for the Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats.

First Great Bustard chicks born in UK since 1832

The Great Bustard Group has been working to reintroduce the Great Bustard to the UK since 1998. The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) became extinct here in the 19th Century so the hatching of the first wild chicks since 1832 has been hailed as a "huge step".



David Waters, the man behind the reintroduction of the birds, described the news as "absolutely brilliant". "The bird was reasonably abundant at one time from Yorkshire down to the South West," he said. "One of its strongholds was Salisbury Plain, which lends itself to reintroduction, because it's a big military area which has changed very little since the Great Bustard was here, and has never had modern agriculture."

The species suffered a huge decline in numbers in the 17th and 18th Centuries as a result of changing farming practices and hunting, and has only been an occasional visitor to this country since the 1840s. It has also seen populations fall worldwide and globally is considered vulnerable to extinction.



Dr Mark Avery, conservation director of the RSPB which is supporting the project, said: "The hatching of Great Bustard chicks is fantastic news for conservation and marks yet another chapter in the drive to bring back lost species to the UK."
Under the reintroduction scheme, about 80 Great Bustards have been released on a Ministry of Defence-owned site on the plain since 2004. Eggs are taken from nests on farmland in Russia before being hand-reared without close contact with humans. They are then brought to the UK, where they are put into a large enclosure until they are ready to fly away of their own accord.

"What has to happen now is these chicks have to grow up and breed themselves, but this is a huge step for the project," Mr Waters said. "I defy anyone to go to the Galapagos or anywhere in the world and see a bird more spectacular than the Great Bustard," he said.

Excellent news indeed!

Is a new AIDS-like disease emerging in China?

I found the link to a Hungarian website called RSOE Emergency Disaster Information Service via the Fortean Times breaking news section. Sitting among the stories about plans to cull the Scottish wild wallaby population, gay penguin adoption and witch bottles a story about a new, more infectious AIDS-like epidemic in China stuck out like a sore thumb. The Fortean Times may be a journal of strange phenomena but it is not a "tinfoil hat" publication like, say Nexus.

The summary page indicates that the disease is statewide and at least 600 people have been infected. The event description page provides this information:

A new infectious disease is spreading in large areas of Mainland China. Symptoms are similar to AIDS but it spreads faster between family members, even via bodily fluids like saliva. Mr. Lin from Yunnan Province caught a disease last May, unlike anything he had seen before. "This disease destroys immunity cells just like AIDS. The lowest amount of immunity cells of some patients is only 200, mine is 400. The doctor couldn't find many antibodies, so he called it 'Fear of AIDS' disease."

Preliminary research shows that patients have symptoms of fatigue, chronic diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes, and weakened immunity. But doctors cannot find any sign of the HIV virus. "A huge number of people caught the nameless virus but the doctors cannot make a thorough check. So they make a conclusion that it's a 'Fear of AIDS' disease. The symptoms are very much like those of AIDS."

Because the Chinese Ministry of Health doesn't recognize the disease, it has not carried out any investigation. However, patients feel very horrified and sad when they see their family members and friends become infected by coming into contact with their saliva or sweat. "We hope that media reports can pressure the relevant departments to pay more attention to the disease. Do not make any irresponsible conclusions and say it is caused by fear or psychological effect – it is a real virus. Many doctors, including doctors from Beijing also say this is an infectious disease."

Doctors from mainland China also believe patients might catch the disease. However, the exact number of people infected remains unknown and what the mortality rate is, and how many have died from it.

The RSOE site does not seem to be sensationalist and it may well have picked up early indications of a new and highly infectious disease. That said, Chinese doctors have called it a 'Fear of AIDS' disease and this could well be correct for all I know. It would be interesting to see what happens It could be an awful lot of very little of course.

However, new diseases do appear more frequently than we think. Only last week there were reports of a new, Ebola-like disease named LUJO disease (after Lusaka and Johannesburg where the disease struck) which four of the five people who contracted the infection.

Resurrecting the Lituus

Researchers from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the University of Edinburgh collaborated on a study to re-create an old musical instrument known as the lituus.

Although music was written for the instrument - Bach's choral musical composition "O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht" was one of the last pieces of music written for it – nobody alive had ever seen one, knew what it looked like or exactly what it sounded like. However, software that was developed by Alistair Braden to improve the design of modern brass instruments enabled researchers to recreate the instrument.

Researchers developed a system that enabled them to design the Lituus from the best guesses of its shape and range of notes. According to the BBC the result was a 2.7m (8.5ft) -long horn, with a flared bell at the end. It is an unwieldy instrument with a limited tonal range that is hard to play. But played well, it apparently gives Johann Sebastian Bach's work a haunting feel that couldn't be reproduced by modern instruments.

Dr Braden and his supervisor Professor Murray Campbell, were approached by a Swiss-based music conservatoire specialising in early music, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, to help them recreate the Lituus. SCB gave them their expert thoughts on what the Lituus may have been like in terms of the notes it produced, its tonal quality and how it might have been played.

Yesterday’s Independent carried a short item about Elisabeth Fritzl who is is reported to have begun an affair with one of her bodyguards.

The Austrian online newspaper oe24 said Elisabeth, now 42, had started a relationship with a man identified only as Thomas W, and the couple were now living together and is apparently " head over heels in love," the paper reported.

The newspaper claimed the relationship had already been of huge psychological benefit to Ms Fritzl, who only experienced a few teenage flings when she worked as a waitress, before she was kidnapped by her father, Josef, at the age of 18 and locked up in the cellar beneath his home. Ms Fritzl is now reported to have felt well enough to discontinue her regular sessions with a psychiatrist and had even successfully completed a driving test, the paper said.

Roderick Orner, a British consultant psychologist and an authority on trauma, said yesterday that it was normal for victims to start intimate and socially supportive relationships because they needed to build up their trust. "Providing the relationship is monitored by an expert, it can be very positive and we should welcome it," he said. However he added that trauma victims also suffered from "attachment difficulties... This is why they will need professional advice and support," he explained.

I can’t think of anyone more deserving of some happiness and stability in her life than Elisabeth Fritzl... apart from those of her children that shared years of imprisonment with her. I really do hope that she finds a lasting and loving relationship.

WW - Valerian

Red valerian (Centranthus ruber)that has taken root in a neigbour's garden (top) and a single palnt in our front garden (bottom). This week's entry for the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of Wordless Wednesday.

What a protest vote for the BNP will get you

Nick Griffin may have been trying to improve the image of the BNP, but (unsurprisingly) he might as well try to polish a turd given the pond life rabble that the party attracts. Yesterday’s Observer ran an article highlighting some of the “wit and wisdom” of key BMP members:

Salford-based BNP Euro election candidate Eddy O’Sullivan set his Facebook status to read "Wogs go home". O'Sullivan wrote: "They are nice people - oh yeah - but can they not be nice people in the fucking Congo or... bongo land or whatever?" O'Sullivan denied that the comments were racist and insisted they were made in private conversations between individuals. "I also may have had a drink at the time," he added (definitely a case of in vino veritas, methinks)

Anti-fascist organisation Searchlight has spent months infiltrating the far right's network of websites and chatrooms and found that many BNP activists share O'Sullivan's views.:

Jeffrey Marshall is senior organiser for the BNP's London European election campaign. Following the death of David Cameron's disabled son Ivan, Marshall claimed in an internet forum discussion: "We live in a country today which is unhealthily dominated by an excess of sentimentality towards the weak and unproductive. No good will come of it." Later, Marshall is alleged to have written: "There is not a great deal of point in keeping these people alive after all." Marshall claims that the comments were private and some had been paraphrased and taken out of context (Hmmm)

• Garry Aronsson, Griffin's running mate for the European parliament in the North West, posts an avatar on his personal web page featuring a Nazi SS death's head alongside the statement, "Speak English Or Die!" He lists his hobbies as "devising slow and terrible ways of paying back the Guardian-reading cunts who have betrayed the British people into poverty and slavery. I AM NOT JOKING."

• Barry Bennett, MEP candidate for the South West, posted several years ago under a pseudonym in a white supremacist forum the bizarre statement that "David Beckham is not white, he's a black man." Bennett, who is half-Jewish, added: "I know perfectly respectable half-Jews in the BNP... even Hitler had honorary Aryans who were of Jewish descent... so whatever's good enough for Hitler's good enough for me. God rest his soul." (being half Jewish would not have just got you half-killed under the Reich...)

• Dave Strickson, a BNP organiser who helps run its eastern region European election campaign, carried on his personal "Thurrock Patriots" blog a recent report of the fatal stabbing of a teenager in east London beneath the words "Another teen stabbed in Coon Town".

When confronted in the past about the extreme views of some of its members, the BNP senior hierarchy has often tried to dismiss them as unrepresentative of the party's core membership. But it appears that they run right to the top of the party. Lee Barnes, the BNP's senior legal officer and one of Griffin's closest allies, has posted a video on his personal blog of a black suspect being beaten by police officers in the US and describes it as "brilliant". Barnes adds: "The beating of Rodney King still makes me laugh." Barnes told the Observer his comments were "nothing to do with colour" but were merely a reflection of his belief that the police should have more powers to punish perpetrators of crime by "giving them a good thrashing". (I wonder if he would enjoy it as much if the victim had been white...)

Simon Darby, Griffin's deputy and the BNP's spokesman, accused Searchlight of "distorting the BNP's message". "When you put it in the context of what's been happening at Westminster, a few scribblings on Facebook hardly seems something to get worried about," he said

What can I add except to say that they have been damned by their own words. The prospect of one of these scumbags getting elected horrifies me. It is one thing to protest against the mainstream parties, especially in the light of recent revelations, but I hope people are not so bloody stupid as to cast their votes for this rabble.