Official Posting Complete

I got on this morning and did my grading. If you add comments or posts after today (right now) you need to tell me via email or I won't know they are there. It probably won't count, but if you dazzle me I may feel generous. :> and if you just like blogging keep it up! Overall I think the project went really well. I look forward to reading your summaries/interpretations of the blog. Remember 2-5 pages: intro, 2-3 'themes', summary/conclusion

see you in class tomorrow!

2 Fun Links

As we're wrapping up this blog project, here are 2 links that might give you a laugh:

The first is an article in which an Iranian cleric states that women who dress scandalously cause earthquakes in Iran: click here

The second is a Bill Maher clip with "Muslim Dior Fashion Show": click here to have a laugh

As far as my opinion goes, I couldn't help but feel a little worried after laughing about the earthquake article. Thoughts included: How many people believe this cleric? and What kind of decisions are the people who DO believe this making? Anyway, hope you all enjoy

New Nuclear Deterant for Iran, or Another Antagonizing Action?

http://www.iranian.com/main/2010/apr/new-iranian-nuclear-deterrent

This article speaks of Israel taking its own action against Iran. As a national defense measure for Israel, they sent a UAV, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Spyplane over Iran. The Iranians were a bit annoyed back then, but now especially after the nuclear summit, things seem to be bigger thorns in their side than before. This article coming from Iranian.com really brings out the feelings of Iranian people and I believe that this article stands for something bigger as the aggression steps up in the Middle East once more. Is Israel antagonizing for another war, much like during the 70s?; or is this truly just a mere concern for their safety, or both?

Iran Labels US "nuclear criminal"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8627143.stm

Iran held another nuclear summit, after President Obama's. I believe that this was an attempt to 'fight back' at the US for coming down so hard on Iran's nuclear development. President Ahmadinejad gives multiple reasons as to why Iran cannot use nuclear weapons; in my opinion these reasons are empty and nothing more than a scapegoat. This article is short but it is loaded with "between the lines reading" and i think that Iran is trying to demonize the United State's effort in nuclear disarmament.

Our Summer in Tehran

After watching "Promises", I saw that Justine Shapiro was involved in the production. I knew of her from the show "Globe Trekker," so I looked further into Promises Films Production, and saw info about another movie she is making "Our Summer in Tehran."

This movie is her attempt to reveal a little bit about the personal lives of 3 different Iranian families. It is a documentary. You can see in the trailer that before her visa is finished, she gets a call from Iranian influences who tell her to leave the country within 48 hours. At some point, they must have learned more about her film project, and they must not have agreed with the content in some way. She is surprised and upset.

Click here to see the trailer and Shapiro's reaction.

I know that the Iranian government puts up a facade for the outside world to see them differently, so somewhere during film production, "Our Summer in Tehran" probably rubbed this government image the wrong way. While I'm sure PromisesFilms wasn't trying to swindle information out of Iran, I'm glad that they managed to at least film some of their material and do some research. It seems like it was for a good cause, and I think that some Iranian citizens with repressed voices are proud of the work that PromisesFilms has started to do.

I'm excited for the film release now!

Middle East Peace

EDIT: For Some reason or another the link did not post, here it is, sorry.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303491304575187942850578732.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

This link leads to an article discussing President Obama's new policy for the Middle East. I feel that the young president is very over ambitious in his plans and does not think of possible repercussion very often. I respect that he does his own thing and is a trailblazer. However, this is a very delicate issue, the US policy in the M.E., and i believe that he may not be able to live up to what he plans. We will certainly see but check this article out and let me know what you think.

Twitter and Iran

I saw several videos dealing with the twitter revolution and the use of digital media to spread information from the Iranian elections and protests. I thought I'd post this one because it's shorter and to the point. It's interesting how far technology has gotten. A few years ago we wouldn't be seeing this steady supply of images coming through. One of the news clips I saw that also covered this story was from the Rachel Maddow Show. She said that we are 6,000 miles from Tehran, but we've "never been closer." If something happens in Iran, someone can just upload their cell phone video to the internet, and the world can be watching within minutes.

I think that twitter is an important power the Iranians have. If it wasn't for that, their opinions would probably not reach us, but they would have more difficulty talking to each other. I wouldn't be surprised if twitter could bring the people of Iran together and start a real revolution in the government. Technology like this has great potential to bring people together. Just think of the recent flash mobs in Philadelphia. It started out with just a few people on Facebook, then people started finding out about it through there, and suddenly you have a large group of people meeting up on the streets because they saw it on a social networking site.