Iran
milhayser | December 4, 2014On Aardvarchaeology, Martin Rundkvist tells the story of a 14-year old Swedish Muslim girl who also happens to be very good at karate. Recently this young woman was disqualified from a tournament because she wears a veil and the rules state "that the umpire needs to be able to watch for damage to each contestant’s throat." She was also disqualified from solo performance, despite that lack of potential for neck damage. Martin writes, "Things are changing in the karate world. You couldn’t compete wearing any kind of veil until last year. When it became allowed, Iran’s women’s team immediately…
jtoney | June 12, 2013This post was co-authored by Ali Arab, Ph.D., an assistant professor of statistics at Georgetown University.
We are living in a global society driven by innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Success depends upon free access to information and unfettered research by scholars. Yet targeted academic boycotts are increasingly common, throwing more and more roadblocks on the way to progress.
Earlier in May 2013, the decision by the world-renowned British cosmologist Stephen Hawking to withdraw from a major academic conference in Israel reignited discussions among scholars on whether or…
jtoney | July 27, 2012This post was co-authored by Natasha Bahrami, a foreign policy researcher, and Ali Arab, Ph.D., an assistant professor of statistics at Georgetown University.
Last month, a young American woman was blocked from purchasing an Apple product at a local store in Alpharetta, Georgia. After overhearing her speaking Farsi, the second generation Iranian-American was informed that selling the product to her went against the company's policy. Apple's export compliance policy states that direct or indirect sales of Apple goods to any embargoed…
emjohnson | July 4, 2009Danny Schecter asks, how independent are we?
"This isn't just about Madoff. This is about the system in which Madoff's scam took place. This is about systemic fraud and malpractice, the cultural trade of due diligence for easy profit. It's about conflicts of interest where companies paid ratings agencies for their ratings. It's about ideological blinders that let regulators and the Federal Reserve look the other way while banks turned into betting parlors."
Amy Goodman looks into the overthrow of independence in Honduras.
The first coup d'etat in Central America in more than a quarter-century…
razib | June 11, 2009
There is currently a presidential election going on in Iran. The buffoon Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is running against a "reformist," Mir-Hossein Mousavi. There is some controversy because Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, has been active in the campaign, and held hands with him in public! (and I thought that the principal banned PDA?) It is a quirk, though not too significant, that both candidates are from ethnic minorities. Mousavi is an ethnic Azeri Turk (as is the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) while the buffoon is Talysh (the Talysh language is mutually intelligible with standard Persian). But…
amillikan | January 16, 2009Scientists across the globe have put out a call to help two AIDS researchers being held prisoner in Iran. Accused of forming a "velvet revolution" and charged with "communicating with an enemy government," the researchers were reportedly exchanging scientific information with colleagues—a crucial scientific practice—in order to successfully implement public health measures in Iran to slow the spread of AIDS. Several ScienceBloggers have posted information on how to support these doctors.
neurophilosophy | September 30, 2007According to Pullitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, the answer is yes.
zooillogix | July 18, 2007In a story that needs no embellishment, the Iranian state news agency, IRNA, is reporting that fourteen "spy squirrels" were captured infiltrating Iran. According to IRNA: "In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders. The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services."
Allegedly, the critters were equipped with modern technology including GPS units, cameras, and listening devices. The report also said that the squirrels were trained for espionage…