MATTER OF LIFE

Makkah is the center of Earth

2011-06-11T10:39:00.000+05:30

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS - DO YOU?

2011-05-25T10:24:00.001+05:30

Totems by Alain Delorme

These pictures were taken by a French photographer, Alain Delorme in Shanghai throughout 2009 & 2010. He called the series, Totems.

These couriers - mostly migrant workers from other parts of China - not only need strong legs but also acrobatic skills to balance these massive loads on their tricycles & bicycles while on the move. A lot of you must be wondering where the centre of gravity is in each case.

World's Fastest Train

2011-05-25T10:15:00.000+05:30

World's Fastest Train
CRH380A - China

China on Saturday December 11, 2010 launched the world's fastest train service covering a distance of 1,068 kms at the average speed of 350 kms an hour. The distance between Wuhan in central China and Guangzhou in the country's south was covered by the high-speed train in two hours forty five minutes. The train reached a maximum speed of 394.2 km per hour during trial runs that begun on December 9. Officially, on Dec. 26 the world's fastest train will be open for traffic on high-speed railway Wuhan-Guangzhou for the longest in the world and is a 'record' is also on the speed. Distance more than a thousand kilometers to be covered in three hours at an average speed of 340 kilometers per hour.
 

China's High-Speed train set new world record of 486.1 kms per hour

The train CRH380A hit a speed of 486.1 kms per hour to set a new world train operational speed record on world's longest high-speed rail line

Awesome guitar from 7000 trees

2011-05-18T11:53:00.001+05:30

70-year-old Argentine farmer from County-Gral Lavalle Pedro Martin Ureta (Pedro Martin Ureta) created a giant guitar of the trees in memory of his late wife, Gratsele. For this the farmer took 7,000 cypress and eucalyptus trees. Pedro Martin Ureta designed the giant guitar many years ago, immediately after his wife died in 1977, when she was only 25 years old.

The biggest ice cream cake in the world

2011-05-18T10:44:00.000+05:30

A well-known Canadian chain ice-cream «Dairy Queen» celebrated its 30 anniversary. In honor of this event in the central square downtown Yonge-Dundas Square was created by a huge frozen cake. Used for the creation of more than 9000 kg of ice, 91 kg of biscuit, about 136 kg of ice. Created a cake was brought in the Guinness Book of Records Ginnecsa. Afterwards everyone gathered at Yonge and Dundas Square could give it a try:)

Same Hill, Different Day by Paul Octavious

2011-05-18T10:43:00.000+05:30

Chicago based photographer Paul Octavious documents the life of a single hill in Chicago through a series of photographs in a project entitled Same Hill, Different Day.

For the past 3 years Paul has been visiting a beautiful mound of earth that he has come to call “the hill.” Ever since he found the hill in 2007, he’s photographed it hundreds, probably thousands of times. Yet every time, the hill looks different. From snow falls, kite festivals, outdoor movies, to even Ghana World Cup team practicing on the hill one foggy day – Paul has captured it all.

I have never seen a hill presenting so many different looks.

Stunning Steampunk Keyboard Designs

2011-05-10T10:12:00.000+05:30

The World Strangest Toilets Ever

2011-05-10T10:03:00.001+05:30

Amazing Concept Cars Design

2011-05-07T16:00:00.000+05:30

Electric Car

2011-05-07T15:13:00.000+05:30

Camera with Pencil Artworks

2011-05-07T15:03:00.000+05:30

Camera with Pencil

Artworks

__._,_.___

Typography Artworks By Yulia Brodskaya

2011-05-02T12:42:00.000+05:30

INCREDIBLE SNOW SCULPTURES 2

2011-05-02T12:40:00.001+05:30

STENCILED PAPERWORK ART

2011-05-02T12:38:00.001+05:30

How this artist has the patience for such intricate details is beyond me, but the Jill Sylvia Paper Cutouts are stunning pieces of holey art.

In some of her works, titled ‘Single Sheets’ and ‘Books,’ Jill Sylvia uses accounting books and balance sheets and intricately cuts out bars, lines and graphs within. With the same ledger papers, the Jill Sylvia Paper Cutouts project even experiments with making structures and buildings, resulting in outstanding paper presentations

2011-04-28T17:24:00.001+05:30

Pyramid Bloxx

Click here to play this game

2016 - Rio de Janeiro

2011-04-28T11:05:00.001+05:30

2016 - Rio de Janeiro

" Solar City Tower",

Built A Top The island Of Cotonduba Will Be The Welcome Symbol To The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro. It Will Be Seen By The Game Visitors And Participants As

They Arrive By Air Or Water.

The Tower, Captures Solar Energy. It Will Supply Energy For All Of The Olympic City, As Well As Also For Part Of Rio. It Pumps Up Water From The Ocean To Create What Appears Like A Water Fall And This Fall Stimulates Turbines That Produce Energy During The Night.

It Will Also Hold The Olympic Flame.

The Tower Possesses An Amphitheater, An Auditorium, A Cafeteria And Boutiques. Elevators Lead To Various Observatories. It Also Has A Retractable Plat-Form For The Practice Of Bungee Jumping.

At The Summit is An Observation Point To Appreciate The Scenery Of The Land And Ocean, As Well As The Water Fall.

Solar City Tower Will Be The Point Of Reference For The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

2011-04-28T11:01:00.001+05:30

1. Gladiator Mouse

Persian Cat

15th Century Maximilian Rat

Tournament Cat

Tournament Mouse

White Knight Cat

The Duchess

The Elven Princess

And For The Dogs: Warrior Kwan Helmet

The Samurai

Superb Heavy Bikes Collection (( 2 ))

2011-04-28T10:57:00.001+05:30

The most friendly whales in the world

2011-04-28T10:56:00.001+05:30

What could be better than a huge pat resident of the seas and oceans? Just kiss him on the forehead! Such an opportunity is available to tourists in San Ignacio Lagoon in Mexico, where there are very friendly in the world of whales.

A hotel carved out of a mountain

2011-04-28T10:54:00.000+05:30

The Cappadocia Hotel was carved into the Yunak Evleri mountains in the 19th century. However, there are six cave houses and thirty rooms that date as far back as the 5th and 6th century. I’d still take a Holiday Inn if you ask me but if you’re looking for a change-up then this could be the hotel.

Superb Heavy Bikes Collection

2011-04-28T10:11:00.000+05:30

Growing Money Tree

2011-04-28T10:00:00.000+05:30

An Australian bank gave an interesting action on the street was decorated with a tree 5 dollar bills , it was interesting to see

the reaction of passers-by. The most surprising fact that the first hundred people even focus on him did not pay .

Jewish & Christian Leaders to Rally at Mosque against Quran-burning Pastor

2011-04-27T18:06:00.001+05:30

Jewish & Christian Leaders to Rally at Mosque against Quran-burning Pastor

Pastor Terry Jones has been condemned worldwide for his act of buring the Quran.

20 April 2011

Religious leaders from various backgrounds -- Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim and others -- plan to rally Thursday at the Islamic Center of America (pictured), where Pastor Terry Jones says he'll protest Friday against "radical Islam". The clergy and others plan to link hands in a circle around the mosque to symbolically shield it from Jones, whom they describe as divisive.

Among he participants are Catholic Archbishop Allen Vigneron and Episcopal Bishop Wendell Gibbs.

"This is an opportunity to show a different vision than the one he's bringing," said the Rev. Daniel Buttry, a Baptist pastor from Hamtramck with the Interfaith Leadership Council.

The council created an online petition that garnered more than 1,500 signatures. It reads, in part: "We ... stand together in condemning the actions of those who spew hate and fear, and who misuse and desecrate holy books of faith. Instead we call on people to carry out the best traditions of all religious faiths, embodied in the idea of doing to others as we would have them do to us."

But Qur'an burning Pastor Terry Jones (pictured right) says he's coming to Dearborn this Good Friday to peacefully protest against jihad and Shari'a, which he says threaten non-Muslims with violence, and to demand that Muslims submit to U.S. laws.

"They are more than welcome to worship freely, to build mosques," Terry Jones told the Free Press. "The only thing we ask of Muslims is that they honor, obey and submit to the Constitution of the United States."

The idea that Sharia precepts are infiltrating Western institutions has become increasingly popular in recent years among social conservatives and culture warriors. The growth of the idea has, in turn, led to counter informational campaigns like the one Saturday.

"It's absurd," said Michael W. Hovey, coordinator of interfaith relations for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. "There is no Sharia law in Dearborn or anywhere else in the United States. I mean it's not a conversation to be had. It's ridiculous."

The head of the mosque bristles when he hears about Jones' plan to demonstrate outside his Islamic center, which sits off Ford Road.

"Who is he to question our loyalty?" said Imam Hassan Qazwini, a Shi'a cleric known for his moderate views. "Muslims are as American as he is. He has no right to question the loyalty of American Muslims in this country. We are peaceful, patriotic citizens who love this country and care about it as much as any citizen."

Qazwini heads a mosque that is one of the older Islamic centers in the region. It has Arab-American members who go back several generations in the U.S. Born in Iraq, Qazwini has met and spoken with President George W. Bush, whom he embraced in Dearborn during the Iraq war, and President Barack Obama. His mosque has done extensive interfaith and community outreach, a sign of the center's inclusive and temperate nature, supporters say.

During the last week, Qazwini has drawn a wide range of supporters: government officials, religious leaders and law enforcement. On Thursday and Friday, they plan to hold public interfaith rallies in support of the center and against Jones.

At 10:30 a.m. Friday, interfaith clergy will hold a press conference at the Islamic Center concerning Jones' unwelcome appearance. City and religious leaders are asking anyone who wants to demonstrate against Jones to gather at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center between 4-7 p.m. Friday.

Sources:

Niraj Warikoo, "Metro interfaith leaders to unite against Quran-burning pastor" Detroit Free Press April 20, 2011

J. Patrick Pepper, "Terry Jones' planned visit sparks fears of violence, hopes for solidarity" Dearborn Press & Guide April 19, 2011

URL of this Page: http://islamonline.com/news/articles/2/Jewish-&-Christian-Leaders-to-Rally-at-Mosque-agai.html
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Asadullah Syed

Islamic finance can fuel regional economies - economist

2011-04-27T18:00:00.001+05:30

Islamic finance can fuel regional economies - economist

Great opportunity to create entrepreneurial middle class in Mena for long-term progress

By Samihah Zaman, Staff Reporter
Published: 00:00 April 26, 2011

Image Credit: Alex Westcott/Gulf News
Shaikh Nayhan with Dr Volker Nienhaus at the 19th International Conference on Investment Rules and their Impact on Economic Development being held in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi: The current political transformation in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) has created a historic opportunity for economic and financial change guided by Sharia-compliant instruments, a leading economist said in the capital Monday.

The Islamic instruments should be invested towards the development of an entrepreneurial middle class so that long-term economic progress and job creation can be guaranteed, Dr Volker Nienhaus, economic adviser and former president of the University of Marburg, said at 19th International Conference on Investment Rules and their Impact on Economic Development.

The conference, which runs in the capital till tomorrow, yesterday saw government representatives, academicians and university students from across the Mena discuss the present global investment climate, the suitability of government rules and regulations for attracting foreign direct investment, and opportunities for economic growth.

Confidence

Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who inaugurated the event, said the provision for an appropriate investment climate was a "fundamental requirement for instilling confidence in an economy and establishing it as a vital part of the global economy".

On the sidelines of the conference, Dr Nienhaus told Gulf News that the promotion of enterprise among the middle class was the key to ensuring regional stability.

"Middle-income entrepreneurs usually run family businesses which do not sell speculative shares on a stock exchange, and they are also less indebted. So if these entrepreneurs receive finance backed by real goods, as investments coming from Islamic instruments ideally should be, there is a real chance for long-term job creation. In addition, a middle class is integral to the creation of a sustainable knowledge economy," he explained.

Liquid capital

"In countries like Algeria and Morocco for instance, the colonialist system of capitalism still remains so that the elite are responsible for most of the enterprise and investment. In Egypt, private monopolies controlled by the wealthy replaced the public monopolies of yore. However, this elite segment is prone to shocks and volatility, which also hampers the job market greatly," Dr Nienhaus said.

A strong middle class that can provide a large proportion of the economy's total number of jobs, as is the case in the EU and the US, therefore protects against job market volatility and subsequent civil unrest.

"For Egypt to create an entrepreneurial middle class might take decades, and this is where countries like the UAE, which has an abundance of liquid capital, has an opportunity to both step in as well as benefit from the returns of the investment," he added.

He also advised the use of Sharia-compliant finance to develop Mena region economies.

URL of This Page: http://gulfnews.com/business/investment/islamic-finance-can-fuel-regional-economies-economist-1.799174

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Asadullah Syed

Most Egyptians want an end to peace treaty with Israel

2011-04-27T17:58:00.001+05:30

An American survey reveals some known and stark truths about Egyptians with 54 per cent saying they are opposed to the Egyptian Israeli peace treaty, while 71 per cent say democracy is their preferred political system

Ahram Online, Tuesday 26 Apr 2011

About 54 per cent of Egyptians do not want to keep the peace treaty with Israel and do not want the Israeli embassy to remain in the country, according to a US survey.

The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center and published on Tuesday. Researchers conducted personal interviews with 1,000 Egyptian adults between 24 March and 7 April.

The survey has sent shockwaves among Israelis with one Israeli official describing the results as a catastrophe for Israel.

According to the poll, many Egyptians view the peace between Egypt and Israel as one of the negative aspects of the Mubarak era for his perceived favouring of Tel Aviv in his economic, security and political policies.

The Israeli daily Haaretz responded to the results of the survey by saying that the danger of these results is that they reflect the fact that many Egyptians do not trust Israel and do not want to deepen relations between the two countries. The newspaper also pointed out that the two countries share a bloody history that Egyptians have not forgotten.

The report also revealed that most Egyptians feel that the peace treaty was pursued by both late president Anwar El Sadat and ousted president Mubarak purely for the sake of regional and international benefits.

Another Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, added that the survey is a slap in the face to Israelis and shows that strong relations between the two neighbouring countries will not resume after the revolution. The paper asked Israeli officials to prepare for a cooling off of relations.

The poll also showed changes in the Egyptian attitude towards democracy with 71 per cent describing it as the preferred form of governance, compared to 60 per cent who held the same view a year ago. Additionally, 34 per cent of Egyptians rated the economy as good, as opposed to 20 per cent last year.

Regarding the military, 88 per cent of those interviewed described its influence on the country as good. Ninety per cent rated military chief Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi favourably.

The court system and religious leaders were also viewed positively with 67 per cent and 81 per cent respectively seeing them as having a positive influence on the country.

URL of this Page: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/10776/Egypt/Politics-/Most-Egyptians-want-an-end-to-peace-treaty-with-Is.aspx

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Asadullah Syed

Kashmir resolution possible only by UNO resolutions

2011-04-26T13:18:00.001+05:30

America

Written by MTT News

Monday, 25 April 2011 16:05

Washington, MTT News Desk: The Executive Director of Kashmir Center Washington, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, has said that the Kashmir dispute should be resolved in accordance with the Kashmiris' aspirations by implementing the relevant UN resolutions.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai addressing a function organized by the Kashmir Center in Springfield, Virginia, said that the UN resolutions had emphasised that the future of Jammu and Kashmir must be ascertained in accordance with the wishes and the will of the Kashmiri people.

He maintained that the US President, Barack Obama, French President, Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister, David Cameron wrote an Op-Ed in International Herald Tribune on April 15, 2011, wherein they mentioned that they would support a solution to the crisis in Libya that respected the Will of the Libyan people.

Dr Fai said that the Will of the people must prevail in all international situations including Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr Fai pointed out that the Indian military and paramilitary forces in Kashmir were using brute force to crush the genuine and legitimate struggle the people of Kashmir for securing their right to self-determination.

He emphasized that even the US State Department's recently released Country Report on Human Rights said that "Estimates of the number of missing persons varied. Human rights organizations stated there were 8,000 to 10,000 people missing in custody in Jammu and Kashmir."

He hoped that the world powers would use their influence to persuade India and Pakistan to initiate a peace process involving the UN and the people of Jammu and Kashmir to bring about a just resolution of the lingering dispute.

Lieutenant General Agha Muhammad Umer Farooq, President National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, who was the chief guest on the occasion, praised the people of occupied Kashmir for keeping the freedom movement alive despite heavy odds and suppression by hundreds of thousands of Indian armed forces.

"The Indian army is responsible for many untold atrocities but one thing is quite clear that it could not break the will of the people for their right of self-determination," he said.

The NDU President stated that freedom struggle had gone through various phases but the people of Kashmir never accepted Indian rule in the territory. He also admired the Pakistanis and Kashmiris living in the US for highlighting the issue of Kashmir at the international level.

Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, Dean, Faculty of Arts, NDU and a scholar of international repute, said that Kashmir was one of the oldest disputes on the records of the United Nations.

"It was expected by many that it would loose its intensity over the years. This indeed has been proven wrong. On the contrary the recent developments inside Kashmir once again reinforced the notions that the Kashmiri peoples' devotion towards the realization of their right to self-determination was still as strong as it was in the beginning of the struggle," he said.

He pointed out that New Delhi had miserably failed to suppress the sentiments of the Kashmiri people.

Back in Srinagar, the Tajikistan's ambassador to India, Saidov Saidbeg Boykhonovich, has said that his country shares strong bond with Kashmir over the centuries.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Saidov Saidbeg Boykhonovich talking to the newsmen in Srinagar on the sidelines of a religious conference, said, Kashmiris are their brethren.

"Kashmiris have been awakened and educated by Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA). His preaching improved the education, culture and religion here," he added.

Earlier, the envoy during his address at the conference used Persian poetry to point out the long relationship between Tajikis and Kashmiris. Thousands of people from different parts of the Valley and religious scholars from across the globe participated in the daylong conference.

URL of this Page: http://www.markthetruth.com/america/1666-kashmir-resolution-possible-only-by-uno-resolutions.html

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Asadullah Syed

Pakistan values its cordial relations with Saudi Arabia: Zardari

2011-04-26T13:15:00.001+05:30

Pakistan

Written by MTT News

Monday, 25 April 2011 15:19

Islamabad, MTT News Desk: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan values its cordial and friendly relations with the brotherly country, Saudi Arabia.

The President further emphasized upon augmenting socio-economic, trade and defence ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani, Commander, Royal Saudi Naval Forces called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday.

The Saudi Commander was accompanied by Rear Admiral Ghasham Bin Manahi Al Qahtani, COS (Log & Supply), Jasim Al Khaldi, Deputy Head of Mission Saudi Embassy Pakistan and other members of Commander's delegation.

Pakistani side included Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs and Defence Production, Admiral Noman Bashir, Chief of Naval Staff, M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General, Mrs. Nargis Sethi, Secretary Cabinet, Lt Gen ® Syed Athar Ali, Secretary Defence, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar, besides other senior officials.

Pak-Saudi bilateral relations including defence cooperation between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

The President hailed the contributions of Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces in promoting and giving further impetus to existing relationship between the Defence Forces of the two countries.

Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani thanked the President for meeting and expressed the hope that the existing close cooperation in defence and other areas between the two countries would continue to grow to the mutual benefit.

The President later conferred the award of "Hilal-i-Pakistan" on Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani, Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces in recognition of his endeavors for strengthening cooperation between the Saudi Naval Forces and Pakistan Navy.

Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani, a graduate of Pakistan Naval Academy received his commission in 1969 as Ensign in the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.

He was promoted to the rank of vice admiral and appointed as Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces on May, 9, 2010.

URL of this Page: http://www.markthetruth.com/pakistan/1662-pakistan-values-its-cordial-relations-with-saudi-arabia-zardari.html

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Asadullah Syed

US, NATO attempt assassination of Gaddafi

2011-04-26T13:10:00.001+05:30

26 April 2011

With the attack Monday morning on the Bab al-Azizyah complex in Tripoli, the US-NATO war on Libya has entered a criminal new phase that incorporates the policy of state-organized assassination.

Two large precision-guided bombs reduced buildings in the complex to rubble. Libyan officials reported three people killed and 45 wounded, 15 of them critically.

This was the third such attack on the complex where Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi lives and works. The compound was hit by a cruise missile fired from a British submarine on March 20, the second day of the US-NATO assault, and again on April 23, when warplanes struck a parking lot just outside of Bab al-Azizyah that reportedly was above an underground bunker.

With each strike, the objective is ever more naked: the murder of Gaddafi and members of his family.

The building struck on Monday housed the Libyan leader's offices and library and a meeting room where earlier this month he had held talks with South African President Jacob Zuma and other African leaders on an African Union proposal for a ceasefire in Libya's ongoing civil war. The proposal was quickly quashed by the US-NATO alliance and the so-called rebels who are being backed by the US and Europe.

Despite claiming legitimacy for their military actions on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorizes "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, Washington, London and Paris have made no secret of the fact that their real aim is "regime change," i.e., the imposition of a puppet government that will be more subservient to their interests (and those of the energy conglomerates) than the Gaddafi regime. To that end, they are prepared to carry out whatever bloodletting is required.

After five weeks of bombing, and with the US military command claiming to have "attrited"—in plain English, slaughtered—up to 40 percent of the military forces loyal to Gaddafi, they appear no closer to realizing their aim. The "rebels," a fractious coalition of ex-Gaddafi officials, aging CIA "assets" and Islamists, have proven wholly incapable of advancing west toward Tripoli. Moreover, the openly stated hopes of the imperialist powers that the bombs and missiles dropped on Tripoli would trigger a palace coup resulting in Gaddafi's ouster have gone unanswered.

Last week, the top US uniformed military commander, Adm. Mike Mullen, warned that the US-led intervention in Libya was "moving towards stalemate."

The Obama administration and its European accomplices, increasingly frustrated by the failure of their tactics, are not willing to accept such an outcome. This is what has placed the policy of assassination at the center of their calculations.

Mullen's warning was accompanied by the announcement that armed US Predator drones have been deployed over Libya. The pilotless warplanes have been employed with ever growing frequency by the Obama administration to carry out its dirty war against the population on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Pakistan's Conflict Monitoring Center in Islamabad has documented 2,200 civilian deaths over the past five years from drone attacks.

The CIA and its apologists defend the drone attacks as remote control extrajudicial executions of "terrorists," simply dismissing evidence of the horrific civilian death toll. Now, these same methods are being employed in Libya under the pretext of protecting civilian lives.

Meanwhile, within official Washington, there has been a steady drumbeat for Gaddafi's assassination, with leading US senators going on television talk shows and sounding as if they had cribbed their remarks from the script of "The Godfather."

Thus, one program had Senator Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services committee demanding that the US-led intervention "cut the head of the snake off" and urging, in reference to Gaddafi, "Let's get this guy gone."

What is striking is that such language evokes not a hint of disagreement, much less protest, from within the US political establishment and the corporate-controlled media.

One would hardly guess that such methods mark a fateful shift from what had long been considered essential tenets of international law. While the assassination of foreign rulers as a tool of statecraft was well known in the Middle Ages, from the 18^th century and the dawn of the bourgeois revolutions it was regarded as beyond the pale.

There were, of course, wholly pragmatic considerations, among them the fear of "chickens coming home to roost," with the resort to assassination by leaders of major powers legitimizing the practice and creating the conditions for someone to murder them as well. There was also the calculation by those with the world's more powerful militaries that the use of assassination would tend to level the playing field with their less well-armed rivals.

But there were also, particularly in the history of the United States, other arguments, rooted in principles of democracy.

Thomas Jefferson in a 1789 letter to James Madison described assassination as one of the "legitimate principles in the dark ages which intervened between ancient and modern civilizations, but exploded and was held in just horror in the eighteenth century."

The US Army's code of conduct signed by Abraham Lincoln at the height of the Civil War in 1863 warned that "civilized nations look with horror upon" the method of assassinating one's enemies, regarding such practices as "relapses into barbarism."

This prevailing attitude toward assassination—defined as "treacherous killing"—was written into the international laws of war adopted at the Hague Convention of 1907 and has been continued in largely the same form in subsequent treaties and conventions.

As recently as 1976, the Church Committee, which conducted the US Senate investigations into the CIA's organization of assassination plots against world leaders ranging from Cuba's Fidel Castro to Patrice Lumumba of the Congo, concluded that this bloody practice "violates moral precepts fundamental to our way of life…[and] traditional American notions of fair play."

Today, the outlook expressed in the committee's reports seems, in the context of official discourse in Washington, as anachronistic as if it had been written in the 18^th century.

After nearly a decade of the so-called "war on terror," begun by Bush and escalated under Obama, assassination—together with wars of aggression, torture, extraordinary rendition, detention without charges—has become just one more accepted tool of American foreign policy.

Indeed, the executive order issued in the wake of the Church Committee probe that barred US-sponsored assassinations was overridden by the Bush administration in the name of eliminating alleged terrorists—a right to kill that has been extended under the Obama administration to US citizens. Now, the case is being made that assassination is a legitimate tool for pursuing "humanitarian" missions or whatever other pretext is invented for imperialist looting.

The ongoing war in Libya marks a further escalation in the criminalization of the American ruling elite, which extols the methods of murder and thuggery to achieve its aims abroad while relying on financial swindling, political fraud and state intimidation to enforce its interests at home.

Its open embrace of assassination stands as a stark warning. There is no section of the financial and corporate oligarchy that rules the United States that maintains the slightest adherence to democratic principles. Under conditions of an unrelenting crisis of the world capitalist system, combined with an unprecedented polarization between its obscene accumulation of wealth and the increasingly desperate conditions facing masses of workers, it is compelled to defend its class rule through the use of unrestrained violence.

The struggle against war and the fight against the increasingly grave threats to democratic rights within the US itself can be waged only through the independent political mobilization of the working class in its own party, fighting for workers' power and the socialist transformation of society.

Bill Van Auken

URL of this Page: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/pers-a26.shtml

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Asadullah Syed

Amazing Shadow Art

2011-04-26T11:40:00.001+05:30

Amazing Shadow Art

That's right, these artists have managed to create these incredible photographs by toying with an object's shadow. Pretty incredible. I never thought a shadow could be considered art until now

Uphold Islamic tradition of peace in Kashmir: clerics

2011-04-25T18:00:00.001+05:30

Srinagar, April 24 (IANS) An international conference of Islamic scholars here Sunday laid emphasis on the need for unity, cohesion and preservation of the Sufi traditions among the local Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir.

First of its kind in Kashmir after separatist violence started here in 1990s, the conference was organised by a local group called 'Karwaan-e-Islami' which supports the propagation of peace, tolerance and Sufism among the local Muslims.

More than 10,000 local Muslims attended the conference.

Karwaan-e-Islami's Amir (chief) Maulana Haami said that with the full support of people from all shades of life, their 'tehreek' (movement) is progressing to achieve the objectives of universal brotherhood, peace and unity among people of all faiths by spreading the teachings of the Prophet of Islam.

Tajikistan's ambassador in India Syed Ahmad Beigh Sayeedi, who also attended the conference, said: 'Such conferences prove helpful in spreading the message of 'Aulia Kirams' (scholars, saints and Sufis) in the real sense.'

He said Tajikistan is organizing a conference on Islamic scholar and cleric Mir Syed Ali Hamdani – credited with having brought Islam to Kashmir in the 14th century – and said that the shrines of Hamdani and others at Khatlan province of Tajikistan have been renovated and maintained in a befitting manner in his country.

He invited the people to visit these shrines.

Other Islamic scholars who also spoke at the conference included Al-Sheikh Shah Al Hamid Shafaee (Cairo) and Maulana Abdul Gafoor Ibrahimi (Saudi Arabia).

Many local clerics at the conference laid stress on the history and the great traditions of Islam in Kashmir whose tolerant, Sufi approach to purity and penance had allowed a wonderful symbiosis between followers of different faiths here.

The speakers voiced concern at the government's inaction towards the establishment of the Sheikh-ul-Alam University here whose creation had already been announced by the authorities.

Sheikh-ul-Alam, the 15th century patron saint of Kashmir, was fondly called 'Nund Rishi (sage)' by both local Muslims and Hindus.

It is due to thos reverence for the saints and Sufis that the Valley has historically been known as the 'Rish vaar' (Abode of sages and Sufis

URL of this Page: http://www.inewsone.com/2011/04/24/uphold-islamic-tradition-of-peace-in-kashmir-clerics/45688

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Asadullah Syed

World Islamic Conference held in Kashmir

2011-04-25T17:58:00.001+05:30

Sunday, 24 April 2011 22:45 KDNN

Srinagar: A grand Dawat-ul-Sunnah International Islamic Conference, first of its kind in the state, was held here today. The conference was organized by Tehreek Karwaan Islami in which about one lakh devotees from all parts of the Kashmir reached Srinagar to attend this grand Islamic Conference.

The conference was attended by not only the Ulema of J&K State and country but also from various parts of the world. The conference commenced with Quraan Khawaani and Naat Khawaani. Later the religious scholars delivered their conscience inspiring and thought provoking speeches with regard to Islam, Faith and Teachings of Prophet Mohammad (SAW).

These religious scholars in their speeches said that the Islamic teachings are very much relevant in this modern and scientific age also. They also highlighted the teachings of Prophet and appealed the people to follow the teachings of Prophet in letter and spirit, which is the only solution for the human sufferings. They said that "Aulia Kirams" have always shown the path of truth, brotherhood and tolerance, that is why these Aulias travelled thousands of kilometers to reach the people and apprise them about the teachings of Islam and Prophet Mohammad (SAW). The Ulemas said these Aulias sacrificed everything to achieve this goal. They unanimously demanded establishment of Shiekh-ul-Alam University in valley forthwith and also appreciated Moulana Ghulam Rasool Haami for translating this dream into reality.

Addressing on the occasion, the Ameer of Tehreek Karwaan Islami Moulana Haami said that with the full support of people from all shades of life this Tehreek is progressing to achieve the objectives of universal brotherhood, peace, unity among people of all faiths by spreading the teachings of our Prophet (SAW). He promised that Shiekh-ul-Alam University will be established soon and said 200 Kanals of land has been donated by the people in Ganderbal particularly Wakoora. He expressed his gratitude to these people for the purpose. He also thanked the Ulemas who attended this conference.

The ambassador of Tajkistan in India Mr. Syed Ahmad Beigh Sayeedi on the occasion said that such conferences prove helpful in spreading the message of Aulia Kirams in real sense. He said Tajkistan is in near future organizing a conference on Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) and said that the shrines of Mir Syed Ali Hamdani and other Aulia Kirams have been renovated and maintained in a befitting manner. He invited the people to visit these shrines in Khatlan.

The Ulema who spoke on the occasion include Moulana Javid Rabani, Moulana Wali Mohd Rizvi, Moulana Fazal Haq Qadri, Al-Shiekh Shah Al Hamid Shafaee, Moulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi, Syed Nadeem Kirmani, Syed Basharat Hussian Rizvi, Qazi Abdul Quyoom, Moulana Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, Ghulam Kibriya Chasti, Moulana Ghulam Rasool Haami, Moulana Taj Mohammad Azhari, Moulana Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Naqeeb, Moulana Riyaz-ul-Haq, Syed Ahmad Biegh Sayeedi (Ambassador) and Moulana Abdul Gafoor Ibrahimi (Saudi Arabia).

URL of this Page: http://www.kashmirdispatch.com/headlines/24042962-world-islamic-conference-held-in-kashmir.htm

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Asadullah Syed

2011-04-25T17:19:00.005+05:30

Those are more than 1,000 cars confiscated by the Chinese police because their license plates had expired.

This is not possible in INDIA because INDIANS know when license will be expired when they should renew it.

INDIA IS GREAT

Circuit Board Seating

2011-04-25T17:19:00.002+05:30

Most beautiful Sea shells

2011-04-25T17:07:00.000+05:30

Anti Smoking Advertisements

2011-04-25T16:45:00.002+05:30

Cake Shaped Soaps From Yorkshire Soap Co

2011-04-25T16:45:00.001+05:30

Yorkshire Soap Co. builds bathing soaps that look like delicious mouth watering cakes. They even decorates their soaps with pieces of real food items like orange pieces and cinnamon sticks and candles to make it appear like the real thing.

Making of Bacon Roses

2011-04-25T16:15:00.002+05:30

SELECTED MIX PICs

2011-04-25T16:15:00.001+05:30

10 Oldest Masjid in the World

2011-04-25T16:14:00.001+05:30

10 Oldest Masjid in the World

The designation of the oldest Masjid in the world requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest Masjid congregation. Even here, there is the distinction between old Masjid buildings that have been in continuous use as Masjid, and those that have been converted to other purposes; and between buildings that have been in continuous use as Masjid and those that were shuttered for many decades. In terms of congregations, they are distinguished between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence, and early congregations that ceased to exist (wikipedia).

01. Quba Masjid, Saudi Arabia

02. Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, Saudi Arabia

03. Masjid al-Qiblatain, Saudi Arabia

04. Jawatha Masjid, Saudi Arabia

05. Masjid al-Haram, Saudi Arabia

06. Great Masjid of Kufa, Iraq

07. Masjid of Uqba, Tunisia

08. Imam Hussain Masjid, Iraq

09. Al-Aqsa Masjid, Jerusalem

10. Al-Zaytuna Masjid, Tunisia

Amazing permanent marker art by Heike Weber

2011-04-25T16:07:00.000+05:30

2011 New York International Auto Show

2011-04-25T16:02:00.002+05:30

LUMINOUS BEINGS FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA

2011-04-25T16:02:00.001+05:30

WORLD’S MOST BEAUTIFUL RESTAURANT DISHES

2011-04-25T16:01:00.001+05:30

San Francisco: Coi

At Coi, visionary chef Daniel Patterson (an F&W Best New Chef 1997) idolizes produce in dishes like this upside-down tomatoes tart, in which quickly charred, peeled cherry tomatoes sit on a bed of pesto and are topped with a tomato puree (made in a whipped-cream dispenser) and a crispy olive tart shell.

Errenteria, Spain: Mugaritz

Dish: Red Fruits From the Garden
A year’s worth of experimentation went into Andoni Luis Aduriz’s voluminous edible bubbles, made with sun-ripened berries and beetroot. The Michelin-two-starred Mugaritz was destroyed by a kitchen fire in February 2010, but Aduriz reopened it in June
.
Paris: Pierre Gagnaire

Dish: Les Cristaux de Vent ("Wind Crystals")
Legendary French chef Pierre Gagnaire gives the meringue a divine twist. He adds water to the classic egg white and sugar mixture to make them ethereally light—a discovery by molecular gastronomist Hervé This—and shapes them into gorgeous-looking sticks
Laguiole, France: Bras

Dish: Gargouillou
This beautifully composed salad by the super-cerebral Michel Bras can have up to 60 individually prepared vegetables, leaves, flowers and seeds, which vary depending on the day.

New York City: Le Bernardin

Dish: White Tuna Poached in Olive Oil
Seafood genius Eric Ripert juxtaposes the high and low in this playful dish of white tuna poached in olive oil, topped with delicate sea beans, crispy potato chips and a light red-wine béarnaise sauce.

Chicago: Alinea

Dish: Heart of Palm
At Alinea in Chicago, the always-forward-thinking Grant Achatz (an F&W Best New Chef 2002) serves hearts of palm stuffed with five different fillings—from vanilla pudding to truffle-pumpernickel puree—on five separate pedestals.

Yountville, California: French Laundry

Dish: Confit of Moulard Duck "Foie Gras"
This dish by chef de cuisine Timonthy Hollingsworth at the renowned French Laundry combines carefully shaved frozen foie gras with pickled huckleberries and blossoms from the restaurant’s garden.

New York City: Jean Georges

Dish: Eggs Caviar
Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s elegant Eggs Caviar offers buttery, soft-scrambled eggs served in the shell, topped with whipped cream and a spoonful of caviar.

Paris: Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée

Dish: Sea bream, citrus fruit/peppers, caramelized ventrèche
Among the haute dishes at French megachef Alain Ducasse’s grand restaurant is this fish-and-citrus creation in which sea bream is prepared two ways and dotted with colorful cubes of lemon, yuzu and bergamot-flavored jelly.

New York City: Eleven Madison Park

CooOL Funny Pillows

2011-04-25T15:58:00.000+05:30

Amazing Animated Photography by Jamie Beck

2011-04-25T15:54:00.000+05:30

EARTH IN A BUBBLE

2011-04-25T15:48:00.001+05:30

Kingdom: Role model for Islamic finance

2011-04-25T15:45:00.000+05:30

Al-Rajhi Bank CEO Abdullah S. Al-Rajhi, right, NCB CEO Abdulkarim Al-Nasr, left, Mutlaq Al-Morshed, executive vice president, corporate finance, SABIC, second from right, and Humayon Dar, MD, BMB Islamic, take part in a panel discussion on Islamic finance and banking at the Jeddah Economic Forum on Tuesday. (AN photo by Ghazi Mahdi)

By KHALIL HANWARE | ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 22, 2011 22:35 Updated: Mar 22, 2011 22:35

JEDDAH: The present status and future of Islamic economy, especially finance and banking, was the focus of deliberations on the final day of the 11th Jeddah Economic Forum on Tuesday.

The panelists of a session on Islamic finance and banking were of the view that Saudi Arabia, which has made rapid strides in Islamic finance, could be a role model in promoting it among both Islamic and even non-Islamic countries.

They said the global economic slowdown, witnessed in the past couple of years, was an eye-opener to most of the advanced countries as they felt that they might not have been in such a mess if they had adopted Islamic finance.

They all agreed that Islamic finance is growing but it needs a regulatory authority to ensure full Shariah-compliance.

Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Saleh Kamel felt that Islamic economy had not been treated fairly. "Islamic economy cannot find the place that is due to it unless it is introduced as a subject in schools and universities," Kamel said.

"It (Islamic economy) is ordained by Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the rules and regulations are there to guard against malpractices like usury and conduct Shariah-compliant financial and banking transactions," Kamel said.

He said that Islamic banks had been in operation for 38 years but a shortage of experts had delayed their worldwide expansion.

"We require scholars and experts so that all the rules and regulations related to Islamic finance and banking are unified and individual banks or institutions do not have their own interpretations," he said.

He was, however, hopeful that the value of Islamic financial assets would reach $4 trillion from the current $1 trillion by 2020.

He appealed to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to set up a Shariah control supervisory board in line with measures adopted in countries such as Malaysia and Sudan.

He hinted that the giant Islamic bank, Al-Kabeer Islamic Bank, will be launched by the end of this year.

Al-Rajhi Bank CEO Abdullah S. Al-Rajhi said the challenges include the lack of institutional framework, expansion of market and difficulty in managing short-term liquidity.

He agreed with Kamel that there is wide disparity in the application of Islamic banking principles.

"Every Islamic bank has its own Shariah board. That's why there is contradiction in the number of Islamic products, which reduces the confidence of customers. So, we have to unify Shariah parameters, which now number over 40," he said, emphasizing the need for a unified Shariah board.

According to Al-Rajhi, the volume of finance provided by Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia amounts to more than $100 billion.

Al-Rajhi said the recent royal decrees would add a major thrust to the Saudi economy in the coming years and ensured that the banking sector would support implementation of the decrees.

He also confirmed that all of the Kingdom's banking transactions are Shariah-compliant.

National Commercial Bank CEO Abdulkarim Al-Nasr said Islamic finance had expanded globally and not just in Islamic countries.

It had expanded from $260 million in 2000 to more than $1 trillion now and is expected to grow up to $4 trillion by 2020. Islamic insurance alone is expected to reach $25 billion by 2015.

"In fact, Islamic banking represents 95 percent of banking activities for individuals in the Kingdom. They represent 30 percent of the entire banking assets here," he said, adding that the recent global financial crisis had made Islamic banking more relevant.

Al-Nasr also shed light on services provided by Saudi banks to small and medium enterprises through the Kafalah program. More than SR1 billion worth of loans have been already given to young men and women, he pointed out.

Calling for applying social responsibility in Islamic banking, Zakat and waqf was Humayon Dar, managing director of BMB Islamic.

He said a majority of Saudis backed financing in line with Shariah principles.

"However, the future of Islamic finance products depends on its conformity with Shariah regulations, as that is the fundamental factor for its success," he said.

Ahmed Mohieldin Ahmed, secretary general for economic affairs, Islamic Chamber of Commerce, and Iqbal Khan, CEO of Fajr Capital, moderated two separate sessions on the future of Islamic finance and banking.

Mutlaq Al-Morshed, executive vice president, corporate finance, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), also gave an overview of how SABIC was committed to Islamic finance and banking transactions. He pointed out innovative ideas such as the CDS (credit derivatives) that J.P. Morgan launched recently would strengthen the Islamic finance sector.

The legal framework needs to be standardized, he added.

He also referred to the need for experts of Islamic finance who understand Shariah and finance.

"There are a lot of Shariah scholars and financial scholars. But they don't seem to elated to each other. However, it is being pursued and requires time to be fully witnessed, he added.

URL of This Page: http://arabnews.com/economy/article326197.ece

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Asadullah Syed

Geelani demands arrest of Moulana Showkat's killers

2011-04-23T17:16:00.001+05:30

TopNews

Written by MTT News

Friday, 22 April 2011 17:20

Srinagar, MTT News Desk: The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and the President of Jammu & Kashmir Tahreek e Hurriyat (TeH), Syed Ali Shah Geelani, while addressing a Juma congregation in Baramulla, demanded an impartial probe to expose the killers of Maulana Showkat Ahmed Shah.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani said that the Kashmiris' liberation struggle was totally indigenous and was in no way sponsored by any neighbouring country.

The APHC Chairmand the President of Jammu & Kashmir Tahreek e Hurriyat (TeH), Syed Ali Shah Geelani had also led a big procession in the area and people on the occasion raised anti-India slogans.

In other instance, in Occupied State of Jammu & Kashmir (OSJK), senior APHC leader and the Chairperson of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Khawateen Markaz (JKMKM), Yasmeen Raja, has demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Kashmiris including pro-freedom Hurriyat leaders and Hurriyat activists languishing in different jails of Occupied State of Jammu & Kashmir (OSJK) and through out India.

Yasmeen Raja who was recently released from unlawful detention, addressing a party meeting at Rajbagh in Srinagar, said that India could not suppress the Kashmiris' just freedom struggle through use of brute force and continued detentions of innocent people.

She said that the resolution of Kashmir dispute was vital to establish peace and stability in South Asia. "Pakistan and India should take immediate steps to settle the lingering dispute," Yasmeen Raja added.

Vowing to continue the freedom struggle till its logical end despite all odds, the APHC leader asked India to fulfil its promises made with the people of Kashmir to give them right to self-determination.

Senior Hurriyat Leader and Vice Chairman Jammu Kashmir Peoples League, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza while addressing a Juma congregation at Bejbehara Jamia Mosque, today said that the solution of the Kashmir dispute can no longer be delayed or hijacked by political maneuvering, urges for inclusion of Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue process to address the long-standing issue.

The APHC Leader said that the Kashmir dispute was the main obstacle in the cordial relations between Pakistan and India. He added that durable peace in the region was impossible without an amicable settlement of the dispute.

Waza said that both the countries should talk on the Kashmir dispute because all other problems including water, Cir Creek and Siachen would automatically be resolved after solution of the Kashmir dispute.

Waza has appealed to the world community particularly the USA to play an effective role in resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Kashmiris' aspirations.

URL of this Page: http://www.markthetruth.com/topnews/1650-geelani-demands-arrest-of-moulana-showkats-killers.html

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Asadullah Syed

The Education of an Iranian Revolutionary

2011-04-23T17:14:00.001+05:30

In 1978, the future Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi helped storm the justice ministry in Tehran in protest against the shah. 'The future appeared full of promise.'

By DAVID FEITH

APRIL 23, 2011

'At the time I really believed that an Islamic Republic would bring us independence and liberty." The time was 1978 and the belief belonged to Shirin Ebadi, then a 31-year-old judge on the Tehran city court. So strong was her revolutionary fervor that she helped storm the justice ministry, one of many acts of revolt that eventually toppled the shah and installed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as Iran's supreme leader.

"What would happen to our beloved Iran? No one knew," Ms. Ebadi writes in "The Golden Cage," her new book out next week, "but the future appeared full of promise."

The future, it turned out, was full of 7th-century religious fanaticism and brutal political repression. Now 63 and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her work defending the Islamic Republic's victims, Ms. Ebadi is no longer a revolutionary. She is subversive and brave, to be sure. But in this season of Middle Eastern uprisings, when a new Iranian revolution would be the most important to date, she conveys caution and gradualism.

"Some people believe that we have to throw out [Iran's] constitution and come up with a new constitution—this means revolution," Ms. Ebadi says. "Of course deeply I believe that this is not a democratic constitution, but I am looking for pragmatic ways. . . . We have to bring power to the people gradually."

Over two conversations this week in New York City and Washington, D.C., Ms. Ebadi says through an interpreter that she fears a Libya scenario in which Iran's leaders act like Moammar Gadhafi. Any attempt to end their rule, she worries, "is going to call for blood-shedding. . . . I am for solutions with less blood-shedding. I am a defender of human rights. That's why I don't want to find ways that would hurt people."

View Full Image

Terry Shoffner

Ms. Ebadi prefers to focus political and legal pressure on getting the Iranian government to begin respecting the many existing constitutional rights that it ignores. For example, the right of ethnic minorities—the Azeris, Baluch, Arabs and others—to teach their mother tongues to their children. "This is the first step, to ask for the implementation of these laws. After that people will naturally become stronger. Then they can take other steps."

Dogged persistence, not grand action, is this lawyer's way. The Khomeinists kicked her off the bench for being a woman in 1980, mandating that she work as a secretary in the court over which she once presided. By the early 1990s, she established a law practice that focused on representing the weak—refugees, women, children. She took on the cases of intellectuals, students and others whom the regime had targeted as zedd-e enghelab, counter-revolutionaries. Often that meant representing the families of individuals whom government agents had stabbed to death in their home, for example, or shot in their university dormitory.

The work got her thrown in jail for 23 days in 2000, and it nearly cost her life: That same year, while reviewing intelligence ministry files to prepare for a case, she found her own name on a list of intellectuals to be targeted for extrajudicial killing. Her death warrant was cancelled by Iran's then-President Mohammad Khatami before it was carried out. Now, a decade later, she lives in exile (mostly in Atlanta, Ga.), having not returned to Iran since June 2009, fearing certain arrest. Her husband and sister remain there and have been arrested as a means of pressuring Ms. Ebadi. They are now out of prison but can't leave Iran.

Ms. Ebadi nonetheless calculates that the best way to change Iran is to work within the system, as she once did navigating the country's courts and ministries. In this regard her outlook is similar to that of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, Iran's most prominent opposition figures. Both former regime officials, Messrs. Mousavi and Karroubi ran for president in June 2009. Since the election was stolen by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, both men have advocated deep reform but not revolution.

Both have been under house arrest since February, when they tried to lead marches in solidarity with the democrats of Tunisia and Egypt. In the 10 weeks since their confinement and effective silencing, the Iranian opposition has appeared to be in remission, with no high-profile protests or diplomatic defections.

But Ms. Ebadi says the Iranian opposition has actually "become stronger." She claims that "dissatisfaction is increasing every day" and points specifically to the economy: "The price of food in Tehran is twice as much as it is in New York." She mentions a recent International Monetary Fund report that Iran's economy is experiencing no growth and 22% inflation, and also a parliamentarian's recent statement that unemployment exceeds 30%.

What's more, she says, the Ahmadinejad government has hurt itself by cutting food and fuel subsidies. Others have interpreted the subsidy cuts—which were bound to be unpopular—as a sign of government confidence. But, says Ms. Ebadi, they sent the price of natural gas up 20 times and caused angry protests in front of parliament.

Ms. Ebadi also expresses optimism about opposition from organized labor, which was crucial to dislodging the shah in the late 1970s. "For the last two weeks, the workers at the Mahshahr petrochemical company have been on strike and the plant has not worked at all. . . . During the shah's reign, when the workers went on strike that was political—their salaries were paid but they didn't want the shah. But now they say 'We are hungry.' And I think that a hungry worker speaks stronger."

The point is surely debatable. As the political scientist Francis Fukuyama has written, channeling Samuel Huntington, the successful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt fit a classic model, driven "not by the poor but by upwardly mobile middle-class people who find their aspirations stymied." By this reasoning, bread riots are less likely to yield the fundamental change that Iran needs. When that change looked possible in the summer of 2009, Iran's protesters were generally not the poor and their motivations appeared more political—"Where is my vote?"—than economic.

Another advantage for Iran's opposition, says Ms. Ebadi, is that the government's nuclear program is increasingly unpopular. "Ahmadinejad talks about nuclear energy as national pride . . . but that's not true. People don't care."

This is a reversal for Ms. Ebadi. In a 2006 Los Angeles Times op-ed, she wrote that "Although a vast majority of Iranians despise the country's hard-liners and wish for their downfall, they also support its nuclear program because it has become a source of pride for an old nation with a glorious history."

That was true "at the time," she now says. "But after the Security Council of the United Nations placed economic sanctions on Iran, and the violence of the government increased, and poverty was increased, then the people found out that the policies of the government in this regard were wrong. Now they don't care at all. Remember that people don't always think the same, they change."

The most convincing plank in Ms. Ebadi's generally optimistic view is Syria. "People are very happy about the uprising of the people of Syria. . . . If there is democracy in Syria it's like the arms of Iran are cut off," she says. "The people of Iran would be very happy if Bashar Assad is toppled because that's the beginning of the toppling of the Iranian government."

As for U.S. policy, Ms. Ebadi first states pointedly that "A military attack or a threat of military attack is the worst thing." This answer is of a piece with Ms. Ebadi's statements since winning the Nobel in 2003. Along with the dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, she has for years represented a view that the U.S. could do little right in Iran.

In 2007, after the Bush administration allocated $75 million to support freedom and human rights in Iran—through TV and radio broadcasts, exchange programs and support for civil society groups—Ms. Ebadi wrote in the New York Times that "Iranian reformists . . . believe that the best Washington can do for democracy in Iran is to leave them alone."

Now, with a new U.S. president and Iran's enduring postelection crackdown, she's tempered that view. She underscores that she would never accept non-Iranian funds for her work, but she wants the U.S. to "provide access to the news for the [Iranian] people. . . . What I'm talking about is the Internet more than anything else."

This sounds a lot like the Bush administration's program, so I ask if informing the Iranian people should extend to supporting Iranian journalists and civil society groups. "Of course," she replies.

She also supports U.S. and international sanctions against Iran's energy industries, though in 2006 she wrote that "imposing U.N. sanctions on Iran would also be counterproductive, prompting Tehran to leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty."

Then there's her call, which she has sounded consistently, for the West to prioritize human rights and press Iran to respect its own laws and treaty obligations. That agenda includes promoting the newly appointed U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran; demanding the release of political prisoners like her personal lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, the student activist Bahareh Hedayat, and the leaders of Iran's Bahai community; and calling for Iran to suspend its (sometimes public) executions of criminals and political prisoners, which numbered nearly 100 in January alone.

This would require some major U.S. rethinking. The State Department talks about Internet freedom, but for years it has sat on $30 million allocated by Congress for the promotion of "scalable, field tested" firewall-circumvention tools. On sanctions too, a strong law is now on the books, but the Obama administration hasn't seriously enforced it. Just this week, more than 450 foreign companies attended the Iran Oil Show in Tehran to explore opportunities in Iran's oil, gas, refining and petrochemical industries.

As recent events have shown, the main actors in the Middle Eastern drama will be the people of the region, not the U.S. So what advice does Ms. Ebadi have for the Tunisians and Egyptians now building their own postrevolutionary states?

"Usually in any revolution people are focused on who wants to have the most power. But the most important thing is the laws that are written during that time," she says. "What happened in Iran? . . . Numerous of the bad laws were passed within the first months. But then we thought that's not that important, if the president's good we can change it or make it good later. And we had a good president, [Mr. Khatami], but he couldn't do anything with the bad laws."

Ms. Ebadi, the cautious lawyer, may yet live to see the day when she can rewrite those laws.

Mr. Feith is an assistant editorial features editor at The Journal.

URL of this Page: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703983704576277373280750408.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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Asadullah Syed

Peru | Mysterious Walls

2011-04-23T12:11:00.001+05:30

Peru | Mysterious Walls

Shireen Sungkar

2011-04-23T11:28:00.000+05:30

Shireen Sungkar be a catwalk model in Bidakara wedding expo show
Jakarta Indonesia

Amazing Salad

2011-04-23T10:09:00.001+05:30

Amazing Salad

Dots on the Wall

2011-04-23T10:07:00.001+05:30

Look closely at the dots on the wall of this dam in Italy
This is really interesting..........

This is the Diga del Cingino dam in Italy -
But look closer... See spots on the dam wall?