Where are we going?

Lately, and I'm mainly talking about the last few years, I've sensed something new. Something I thought merely existed in films. Racism and xenophobia became something I heard or saw everyday. Sometimes it even managed to scare me. Now it's just disgusting me.

I came across this clip on YouTube. Unfortunately it's in Swedish so never mind watching it if you don't speak Swedish.



This is actually just a small part of the problematic situation today. Nevertheless, many right extremists win votes by using recent civil riots caused by people from other countries as excuses for their party's existence. They use it as a fulcrum, and it's depressing and deplorable to see how people fall for it.

Forza Internazionale, Forza Ibrahimovic!

Inter didn't manage to advance in the UEFA Champions League earlier this week, but they made it up for the fans by beating Rossoneri today. I was really diappointed when Ronaldo as transferred to Milan. For me he has always been Mr Inter. When he scored 0-1 for Milan it felt terrible. It felt terrible to see the man who said that he loved Inter to score a goal on Inter, wearing the archrival's jersey.

No harm done though. Julio and Ibra gave us a victory today.

Another propaganda stunt pulled by western media

I actually wanted to bring this topic up a month ago when I first heard about it. Anyway, here it is. It's about the latest historical movie "300" by Warner Bros.

Their latest campaign is said to be one of the most horrific renderings of the ancient Persian empire and her citizens. Meanwhile, the Greeks are portrayed as superior and "civilized" compared to the tyrannic Persians and this really bugs me. Now don't get me wrong, I have utmost respect for Greece, her history and her people. But due to the current political status in the world, propaganda is being used to affect people's general opinion of eastern countries, especially Iran. Some of you might know of the Cold War and how America always portrayed itself as the good side while the Soviet Union was regarded to be evil (to some extent I agree here though). But the Cuban missile crisis for instance was actually a pure provoking act by USA. Just take a look at a collection of pictures from the movie that I've selected, they give the wrong image of one of the world's oldest civilizations.

The Greek leader Leonidas in the middle and the Persian Shah Xerxes to the right.

The Persian Shah Xerxes.

An original picture of Xerxes on a wall of the Perspolis palace (Wikipedia image)

Another stupid portrait of the Persian emperor (he actually looks like a guy from the Village People, see below).



The mighty and heroic Spartans...

... and the pathetic rendering of Xerxes' elite fighting force.

This movie is being hyped and I intend to see it even though I am very sceptic of it. Well, actually most Iranians are (please read this thread from PFDC's General Discussions Forum!!).
A petition against the message of this production has been created over the net by a group of people (probably Iranians all of 'em) and it has been addressed to Warner Bros directly. Please visit it and just read the message, it says quite a lot about why this movie is so unpopular among Iranians!

To: Warner Bros. Picture Company

Cc: Zack Snyder (director)

Dear Warner Bros. Picture Company,

We the undersigned, through this letter, protest your irresponsible, unethical and unscientific actions.

This letter is in concern of making the movie, 300 by your company, which, according to all historical documents, is fraudulent and distorted, and its broadcast guarantees the violation of undeniable international legal rights.

It is a proven scholarly fact that the Persian Empire in 480 B.C was the most magnificent and civilized empire. Established by the Cyrus the great, the writer of the first human right declaration, Persians ruled over significant portions of Greater Iran, the east modern Afghanistan and beyond into central Asia; in the north and west all of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), the upper Balkans peninsula (Thrace), and most of the Black Sea coastal regions; in the west and southwest the territories of modern Iraq, northern Saudi-Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, all significant population centers of ancient Egypt and as far west as portions of Libya. Having twenty nations under control, encompassing approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, unquestionably the Achaemenid Empire was territorially the largest empire of classical antiquity.

Based on the Zoroastrian doctrine, it was the strong emphasis on honesty and integrity that gave the ancient Persians credibility to rule the world, even in the eyes of the people belonging to the conquered nations (Herodotus, mid 5th century B.C). Truth for the sake of truth, was the universal motto and the very core of the Persian culture that was followed not only by the great kings, but even the ordinary Persians made it a point to adhere to this code of conduct.

We did not expect Warner Bros. Picture company, as one of the world's largest producers of film and television entertainment to ignore the proven obvious historical facts, and damage its own reputation by showing the Persian army at the battle of Thermopylae as some monstrous savages, and thus create an atmosphere of public mistrust in its content, and hurt the national pride of the millions of Persians while doing so.

While announcing our disgust at such a heresy, we demand an immediate historical review and quick apology from the responsible people.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Alright, I am aware that nothing will be done and frankly I don't think that these efforts will result in anything significant for Iranians in general. Warner Bros will not apologize for this production, of course not. And even if they did, it would probably not mean shit (unfortunately). But yet and still, it is annoying to see how the might of the Persian people and the Persian empire has to be victimized this way.

Thank you for your attention.

... and here's another one...

"We have not seen concrete proof of diversion of nuclear material, nor the industrial capacity to produce weapons-usable nuclear material, which is an important consideration in assessing the risk,".

- Mohammad ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency

Here's another interesting article, although nothing groundbreaking and new is being reported.

Read the article here.

Finally some intelligent words on the Mid-East crisis

...In the case of Iran, armed action would be aimed at intentions -- that may or may not exist. However, the same result -- tragedy and regional turmoil -- would inevitably follow...

- Hans Blix

I was looking through the New York Times when I saw and article on the never ending story about Iran's nuclear energy program. I must say that it is rare to see inputs on the issue where rational thinking and reasoning has been practiced. This time it's Frank Barnaby who is a weapon scientist. He had the guts to publicly declare that the more oppressed Iran gets by the western world (and to some extent maybe Israel), the worse it will become.

LONDON (Reuters) - Military strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear ambitions could backfire, increasing Tehran's determination to obtain atomic weapons and bolstering hostility toward the West, a report said on Monday.

The report ``Would air strikes work?,'' written by a leading British weapons scientist, said strikes would probably be unable to hit enough targets to cause serious damage to Iran's nuclear facilities.

``With inadequate intelligence, it is unlikely it would be possible to identify and subsequently destroy the number of targets needed to set back Iran's nuclear program for a significant period,'' said the report.

``In the aftermath of a military strike, if Iran devoted maximum effort and resources to building one nuclear bomb, it could achieve this in a relatively short amount of time.''

Such a weapon would then be wielded in ``an environment of incalculably greater hostility,'' said the report, which was published by the Oxford Research Group and written by Dr Frank Barnaby, a nuclear physicist and weapons expert.

Barnaby, one of the few remaining people in the world to have witnessed an above ground nuclear test, urged greater diplomatic efforts to end a standoff with Tehran.

Iran refused to meet a United Nations deadline last week for halting uranium enrichment -- a process that can produce nuclear fuel for use in power plants or weapons.

Iran's defiance prompted Washington to say all options are on the table for dealing with what it sees as a potential nuclear threat from Iran, and an Iranian deputy foreign minister responded by saying Tehran was prepared even for war.

BLIX BACKS REPORT

Iran is likely to have built secret facilities underground as well as ``false targets'' designed to look like nuclear sites and act as decoys, Barnaby's report said.

An attack on those facilities would boost support for the country's authorities, the author told Reuters in an interview ahead of the report's release.

``If Iran is bombed the whole community is going to be totally united behind the government to speedily produce a nuclear weapon,'' he said. ``It would be an absolutely idiotic thing to do.''

Strikes would also interrupt oil supplies and impact the global economy, he said.

Hans Blix, former U.N. chief weapons inspector, backed the conclusions and warned Washington and its allies to learn from Iraq, where a decision to invade was based partly on a false belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

``In the case of Iran, armed action would be aimed at intentions -- that may or may not exist. However, the same result -- tragedy and regional turmoil -- would inevitably follow,'' Blix wrote in a foreword to the report.

Barnaby said bombing targets such as the Bushehr nuclear power reactor in southwest Iran once they were operational could cause potentially catastrophic contamination.

``To bomb that would be absolutely criminal -- you'd have another Chernobyl on your hands,'' he said.

Barnaby, 79, witnessed an atomic weapons test and saw the awful power of the explosion in 1953 in the Australian desert.

``You can't avoid being profoundly affected by that kind of experience. Seeing these things explode in the atmosphere, it makes you imagine what would happen if it exploded over a city. It's absolutely horrifying -- and it convinces you quite rapidly that these weapons have to be negotiated away.''

Grand Theft Auto goes Baghdad

And people still wonder why the Iraqis hate the American presence in their country...

Enjoying tunes from the land of the dead

I remember that I played the game Grim Fandango back in the year 2000 and I fell in love with it right then. A while ago, probably a year back or something I got the soundtrack from a friend. I never played it until today, and all of a sudden I became 13 years old again. This is a masterpiece, no matter how childish it is. The tracks are performed by a big band (consisting of 19 musicians if I'm not mistaking). It's jazz at its best. Drop me a line if you're interested in samples (or possibly more...)

I forgot to mention that it's Friday today. I came back from campus a while ago and I'll start preparing lunch soon.

Thank you for reading.

Accounting in the rain

This lovely Thursday is characterized by the constant raining and the feeling I have inside which tells me that the spring is approaching rapidly.
I began my accounting studies this Monday and I've been positively surprised. It's a lot of reading but it's so logical at the same time.

I have approximately 9 weeks left on this course and then I've taken one large step towards the light in the end of the tunnel. I can't believe how time is flying. One year ago I began my voluntary work for PFDC as a moderator on the boards. One month ago I turned 20. As the days are becoming longer, and as the snow slowly melts away (hopefully to not return in the near future) I can sense the spring around the corner.

Last week we performed our last shows (as it seems now, I hope I'm wrong) at Oktoberteatern in Södertälje. I'm going to miss all that, but life goes on. I'm still enjoying my studies and I've found some new friends over here. Ever since I moved into my own apartment I've been feeling better and better. But even though life moves on and new challenges arise, I will still miss this place and the euphoria it is filled with.