Sunday, January 31, 2010

Radio Zamaneh Hacked by "Iranian Cyber Army"

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/world/51495-dutch-based-persian-radio-website-defaced-by-hackers

Two Philosophical Statements and One Joke

Here are my latest contributions to world culture:

"People use technology, technology uses technology, technology uses people." - Julie Jigsawnovich

"Never mistake information for knowledge." - Julie Jigsawnovich

"What do you call a white dude with a condom? A safe cracker." - Julie Jigsawnovich

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Assassinated Iranian Physics Prof. Published Papers on Dark Energy

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/41428

"Examination of Alimohammadi's publication record reveals that he was not an applied nuclear physicist as the Iranian state media had claimed, but a mathematical physicist working in quantum mechanics and field theory. He had published more than 50 papers and had recently specialized in theories of dark energy. His last paper was entitled "Remarks on generalized Gauss-Bonnet dark energy", which appeared in Physical Review D last March (Phys. Rev. D 79 063006)."

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Taliban Makeover

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/world/asia/21taliban.html?hp

Taliban Overhaul Their Image in Bid to Win Allies

"The Taliban’s spiritual leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, issued a lengthy directive late last spring outlining a new code of conduct for the Taliban. The dictates include bans on suicide bombings against civilians, burning down schools, or cutting off ears, lips and tongues.
The code, which has been spottily enforced, does not necessarily mean a gentler insurgency. Although the Taliban warned some civilians away before the assault on the heart of Kabul on Monday, they were still responsible for three-quarters of civilian casualties last year, according to the United Nations."

"Q & A: How to Rebuild Haiti Stronger"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100120/wl_time/02880419533791953494195502300

TIME talked to Robert Maguire, director of the Haiti program at Trinity University in Washington, D.C.,

"Right now you have all these aid organizations and foreign governments pouring in money and time, but ultimately Haiti will recede a bit from the eyes of the world. The government obviously has to play a role in long-term, sustained rebuilding.


There's no doubt about that. Given that the government has essentially collapsed, in the short term there will be a need for ownership to be shifted to people who have the resources and ability [to rebuild].

How incapacitated is the government right now?


I think almost totally. Their physical infrastructure, which was weak to begin with, is pretty much gone. This is kind of an apocalyptic blow to this government. It was already what some people called a hollow government. It looked good on the outside, with some good, high-profile front people. But when you poked beneath, there weren't enough people with that expertise."

Relief Turned Away, New Quake Hits Haiti

"Doctors Without Borders says a plane carrying urgently needed surgical equipment and drugs has been turned away five times, even though the agency received advance authorization to land."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake

The relatively free press we enjoy in the US encourages public discourse and makes criticism based on facts possible.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Right Wing View of Haiti

I was looking for a right-wing article about the Haiti earthquake relief efforts to balance out the left-wing links I posted. Well, the Heritage Foundation qualifies!
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/01/13/things-to-remember-while-helping-haiti/

Politics of Resistance Conference at The New School

US begins airdrops of food and water into Haiti

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8466973.stm

Chavez: US uses earthquake to occupy Haiti

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116425&sectionid=351020706

Note: Press TV is under the control of Iran's Revolutionary Guards

Monday, January 18, 2010

Iranian Rap: Quf feat. Bidad "Basse Moftbari", produced by Mahdyar Aghajani

This track is so extremely haunting, beautiful, and intense that it is almost painful--in a good way. I love the music, Bidad's eerie traditional vocals and Quf rapping the slang poetry. Plus, the production and mix are deep and amazing.
The song and an English translation of the lyrics can be found at http://madyaraghajani.com/ , as well as the track credits:
Title: Basse Moftbari
Rapper: Quf
Traditional Vocals: Bidad
Producer: Mahdyar Aghajani
Written by: M. Aghajani, A. Ghahremani, A. Ghassemi, S. Lashkari, J. Rowhani
Mixed by: Mahdyar Aghajani, Guy Buss
Mastered by: Guy Buss

This post originally appeared here:
http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/jigsawnovich/rap-e-fars-quf-bidad-basse-moftbari-produced-mahdyar-aghajani

Kindness is what love looks like in public

"Funk--the raw stuff of life. Recognizing that you got to find yourself--but there is dangerous freedom in the Funk. Don't want to get funky. That ain't love. Soul is the sharing of soothing sweetness against the backdrop of the Funk. Kindness is a species of justice. Kindness is what love looks like in public."--Cornell West

Evidence of Hezbollah Involvement with Prof's Assassination?

http://iranian.com/main/blog/onlyiran/evidence-lebanese-hezbollah-involvement-prof-ali-mohammadis-assassination

Political Hackers are Getting Busy


A couple days ago the "Iranian Green Army" hacked the Iranian Hizbollah website. Third choice down on the http://hizbollah.ir/ homepage still redirects to http://www.getasexpartner.com/hiz-bol.htm. But now, instead of the green screen, etc., (see related post http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/jigsawnovich/hackers-redirect-visitors-hizbollah-site) there is a photo of Supreme Leader Khamenei with the IRI flag in the background, and the following message:
"Site has been returned,and the Hacker(s) Has Been Traced By Iranian Cyber Army , We will catch them as soon possible."
Of course, you may remember that Twitter was hacked by "Iranian Cyber Army" on December 17, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7BcDbxY2Wk
and more recently, China's Search Engine Giant was also attacked by "Iranian Cyber Army." http://blog.trendmicro.com/iranian-cyber-army-strikes-at-china’s-search-engine-giant-chinese-hackers-retaliate/

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Blast Kills Physics Professor in Tehran

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/middleeast/13iran.html

"…the blast…was powerful enough to shatter the windows in a nearby four-story building, mangle window frames and blow a garage door out of its frame. The BBC Persian service reported that the jolt led neighbors to assume that there had been an earthquake."