L. Bruce Laingen, the current President of the American Academy of Diplomacy, was was charge d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Tehran when it was seized by Iranians who kept Americans there hostage until January, 1981. In his recent article about the pace of change in Iran he writes:
Regime change in Tehran is inevitable. But it must come from within. Iran is not Iraq. It is big; it is populous: 70 million and counting. It is overwhelmingly Shiite. Its people are culture-proud and intensely nationalistic... Change will come, but it can and should be "soft" change. Playing our cards wisely, there are ways we can encourage it...This is no time for a Mossadegh repeat. Outside involvement risks derailing the momentum for change already under way in Iran, change that could eventually force the theocracy to collapse of its own weight. As an old expression has it, patience is a bitter cup that only the strong can drink.

Regarding my June 22nd post on the biased and false reporting policies of CNN, the weblog that the CNN news report is referring to is the weblog of "Faheshe" which on 18th of June peaked with 9580 hits. On the same June 18th Gooya which is a News site had 102574 hits, Baztab another news site had 37611 hits, and etc. The CNN reported site didn't even rank 10th among the high hits.
This data is from an independent webcounter based in The Neatherlands named Nedstat:

http://www.nedstatbasic.net/s?tab=4&link=3&id=2404514&country=IR

The reason that I looked at June 18th data is that the "Fahesheh" weblog had it's peak hit on June 18th. Although the CNN-Reuters report does not specify what date they are referring to, but similar data with far greater differences than I mentioned can be seen for the entire month prior to the CNN June 16th report. The report by CNN and Reuters is nothing but fabrication of false news.

Many American conservative blogs such as Blogs of War, Andrew Sullivan, and others have been following the Iran events closely. Braindroppings has an interesting post about this issue which is worth a look.

A lot of things happened when I was in my books. The Iranian Riots happened, and have come to an end. What is really scary these days is rumors that the conservatives want to show an iron fist by executing some of the protestors!!! :( Last week after the riots the Iranian Television Network (IRIB) for two nights in a row aired a program at prime time, generating the idea that the protesters were hooligans supported by foreign media and exiled opposition. Bush's premature support of the riots has not done much help to heal this ill generated idea. This is while the influential former head of the judiciary has labeled the protestors "as Moharebs (those who fight Allah) and not as Mokhalef (those who oppose Allah)", which translates as "traitors instead of opposition". Treason is punishable by execution in Iran. I hope the reformists have the power to stop further blood shed.

Here's a list of bloggers who teach in academia. It seems I simply can't get enough of these people, can I? :)

Well yipieeeeeeeeeee :) My preliminary exam is over :) The damn thing was 6 hours long on Tuesday. Now back to blogging and life :)

Dear friend,

I write to you with dire concern regarding the reporting policies of the CNN News Agency. On June 16th, 2003 CNN has published an article in its TECH section titled:

Prostitute diary tops Iran Web hit
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/06/16/iran.blogs.reut/

This article was published based on the report by Firouz Sedarat, Reuters news agency reporter in Tehran titled:

Iran Internet Use at Risk from Conservatives
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=2943120

This clear fabrication, and manipulation of news headlines can lead to disastrous results for Iranian Internet users. Such provocative headlines are the best excuse for tougher regulations on the Internet freedom of speech, which is currently being discussed in the Iranian parliament and judiciary. Ironically this comes at a time when personal websites, and weblogs have become the most valid news source from the Iranian nations continuing struggle towards democracy.

The San Francisco Chronicle has an excellent report on the role of the media in this struggle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/06/20/MN293330.DTL&type=printable

Iranian Internet users have organized a protest, in the form of an online petition, against this form of biased reporting from CNN. I urge you to read and consider signing this petition to protect freedom of speech in the time when it is most needed for the Iranian nation.

This petition is located at:
http://www.persianblog.com/petition.asp

Also please consider forwarding this letter to whom ever you may find interested in the issue.

The first Iranian weekly e-zine, Capuccinno, celebrates its first birthday :) Happy Birthday Cappuccino :)

A strange feeling emerged tonight... It's a feeling that one day I hope I can experience as a father... It's the feeling of seeing something bigger than yourself, something imperishable, something that has lived long before you and will live long after you, seeing the circle of life... I first became familiar with this feeling a couple months ago when I first spoke with "her" father... There was a moment, something happened, something so deeply humane, something so unselfish, something that we don't see in everyday life... there was a change in the light that was reflecting from the eyes of the old man... Humans usually tend to compete with each other... Jealousy is a natural state of mind... Selfishness is our instinct of survival... But there's some deep point out there, a point that I am learning to experience but have a while to get there...The point that the same instinct of protection and survival sees it's ultimate survival beyond itself... It understands that its own continuation depends on the continuation of the circle of life... It's a very philosophical point... It's a point where the limits are timeless and borderless... It's the point where the trees make sense, and the worm isn't so ugly anymore... The moment where air has a meaning and the sun sheds more than just photons... It's the point where the arrow of love has reached its target, and when a house becomes the home of mercy...

There's a beautiful song from the world famous broadway musical theatre Les Miserables written by Victor Hugo. There's a peak emotional moment in the story where Marius, the love of Jean Val Jan's stepdaughter Kozette, is in the barracks fighting during the third French Revolution in the mid-1800's. At night Jean Val Jan goes out to the barrack and volunteers to be the night guard. He's not there for the political cause. He's seen plenty of bloodshed and revolutions before, and knows that the end result of all of them is chaos. In that barrack something beyond the chaos of politics is going on. In that barrack, the circle of life is in full turn... Jean is there to make sure Marius stays well... And he sings in prayer...

From "Les Miserables"
Music by Claude-Michel Schoenberg
Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

He is young
He's afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring him home

He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.

Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy.

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live.
If I die, let me die
Let him live, bring him home...
---------------------------------------

I think my mother said this prayer in her own thoughts, when she saw me staring at "her" picture tonight...