My Homepage

Mein Weblog: Deutsch

Eco-Village Resource Directory

[email protected]

BBC News

New Civilization Network

The Internet Movie Database

Money

by Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

Hands of Light

by Barbara Ann Brennan

Samsara

Lagaan

 

 
How can one prevent a drop of water from ever drying up? The Himalayas are a powerful landscape, especially on widescreen cinemascope. I'm still full of the energy of Samsara, a German produced movie, shot in Ladakh. It is the story of a Buddhist monk who is faced with the question "What is more important: satisfying one thousand desires or conquering just one...?" I'd give it 5 stars!

 
Finally, here they are: my Photographs of Isfahan on my new page.

 
If you have 4 hours to spare for a movie, then here is one where they are well spent: Lagaan. The latest Bollywood success in Switzerland, it is well made and not overly kitsch (as one might expect). There are a few dance-scenes, but I liked mostly the colourful and lively way the characters were shown. And, it is history seen from a different point of view than our usual Western one.... I can recommend it!

 
Enivronmental News:
Fire Suppression Bush Style: Cut Down the Trees!

 
Have you ever heard of Zamzam? It was offered to me in every Iranian restaurant. It seems that Zamzam is making headway even internationally against Coca Cola! Read this report on BBC!

 
I've left Iran. And the weather couldn't be more different from the hot and dry Iran....

 
I'm just back from Isfahan, a memorable short visit. Unfortunately for my photographer's soul, every where they were renovating, and all the monuments were obscured in one way or another with scaffolding. More photos coming soon!

 
News

I would like more "good" news in our medias, or at least relevant news that shows where we are headed with our civilization. The other day I got one of the daily e-mail news bulletins from the Environment News Service, ENS with four extremely relevant pieces of information which I haven't seen anything about in the regular media:

HUMANITY LOSES $250 BILLION A YEAR IN WILD HABITAT. The economic value of wild ecosystems far outweighs the value of converting these areas to cropland, housing or other human uses. A study in the most recent issue of the journal "Science" says habitat destruction costs the world the equivalent of about $250 billion each year. The study comes to the conclusion that the benefit to cost ratio is more than 100 to one in favor of conservation! For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-09-07.asp

ENGINEERED GENES HELP WILD WEEDS THRIVE. For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that foreign genes from a genetically engineered crop plant can migrate into wild plants in a natural environment. A study released Thursday shows that wild weeds can incorporate bioengineered genes, potentially making the weeds stronger and more resistant to pests. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-09-06.asp

Here is the good news: NUNAVUT PREMIER STANDS FIRM ON GLOBAL WARMING. Premier Paul Okalik used a simple story about his children to help derail Alberta's attempt last week to forge an anti-Kyoto Protocol consensus among Canadian premiers meeting in Halifax. At a nationally televised press conference last Friday, Okalik publically confronted Klein after the Alberta premier warned that the terms of the Kyoto agreement could reduce oil rich Alberta's equalization contributions to have-not regions of the country. Okalik responded by telling reporters about his attempt to cross a river near Pangnirtung with his children last summer. The river, normally at low levels at that time of year, was too dangerous to cross - because of water from melting glaciers. "You can keep your money," Okalik told Klein, saying global warming presents a direct threat to the Inuit way of life. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-09-04.asp

And at last, a story that reminded me of the 19th century: ILLEGAL LOGGERS INVADE PRIMORDIAL PERUVIAN NATIVES Mahogany loggers have invaded a reserve area for non-contacted native groups in Peru's southeastern jungle to illegally extract the highly prized lumber. They have clashed with tribes in the area, activists and a leader of an indigenous federation said. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-09-01.asp.

 
Water shortage in Iran

As I wrote some days ago, they have started rationing water in Mashhad. Today I came across some more info on that issue:
Iran, a country of 70 million people, is facing an acute shortage of water. Under the agriculturally rich Chenaran Plain in northeastern Iran, the water table was falling by 2.8 meters a year in the late 1990s. But in 2001 the cumulative effect of a three-year drought and the new wells being drilled both for irrigation and to supply the nearby city of Mashad dropped the aquifer by an extraordinary 8 meters. Villages in eastern Iran are being abandoned as wells go dry, generating a swelling flow of water refugees.
(See http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update15.htm for additional examples.)

 

A rare sight these days, even in this part of the world!

 
All human beings are in truth akin;
All in creation share one origin.
When fate allots a member pangs and pains,
No ease for other members then remains.
If, unperturbed, another's grief canst scan,
Thou are not worthy of the name of man.

Sa'adi

 
Marine Animals

A very rare example of a Longman's beaked whale has washed up at South Africa's shore recently (BBC News). It is apparently only the third example ever to be found. Just a couple of days ago a group of stranded pilot whales were put to death in the US. Last month the discovery of a giant squid that washed up on an Australian beach made headlines.

I just notice this pattern of news emerging. I think there were a couple of other headlines as well about unusual sightings of squids in California, etc. But what made me really mad was hearing about the latest plans of the US navy to introduce a new sonar. The United States Government has authorised the Navy to use a powerful new sonar system to detect submarines, despite concerns that it could harm whales and dolphins. Not enough that we overfish and poison our seas, now proof is emerging that indeed the new powerful sonar, which emits noise up to 215 decibels, is harming the hearing of whales and causes them to strand. Scientists believe that whales are affected by sounds louder than 110 decibels, and that a whale's eardrums could explode at 180 decibels.

 
As you may notice, I'm still working on improving the layout of the page. Eventually I will get it to the way that feels right!

 
News from Iran

Today I noticed three articles in the 1 August issue of the English language Iran News newspaper. The first one was titled "Police Slap Midnight Curfew on Tehran Traders". It went on to say that "Iranian police confirmed Wednesday they had obliged all shops, restaurants and other trade outlets to close at midnight, in a measure of "social discipline" that has infuriated the city's residents." It also said that "Many city shops, which in the past have stayed open up to 3:00 a.m. in summer, Wednesday bore stickers saying they would be closing at 11:30 p.m. Police Information Chief Colonel Ahmad Mahmudi said the aim was to "improve social discipline", without elaborating, but critics linked it to other repressive measures, notably a crackdown by special police units on young people accused of lax morals. Traders complained that they would loose up to 30% of their turnover and other people called it a curfew. The latest measures come amid a heightened war of words between conservatives and reformists.

The second article, titled "9 Music Schools Shut Down in Qom" also highlights a more restrictive approach of some authorities. "Authorities have closed down nine private music schools in and around the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, angering the students, the official news agency IRNA reported yesterday. The report stressed that there were few cultural activities in the city and young people had little to do during the summer vacations. But the conservative daily Jomhuri-e-Eslami welcomed the move, which sources said concerned more than a quarter of the province's music schools. "The enemy has always used art and music to destroy the identity of our national culture" it claimed. "Most young people study destructive and violent Western music in these schools, which become centers of corruption, " the paper charged. The local police chief alleged without elaborating that some of the students "did not respect Islamic religious values". Teaching of music is generally encouraged in Iran and Western music has been authorized for the past three years, but woman are not allowed to sing solo on the radio or television, or in concerts where men are present."

On the same page was also an editorial commenting on an even touchier issue: prostitution. Iran has a growing problem with prostitution. Welfare officials say there are at least 300,000 prostitutes working in the country. Now, some circles have come up with a solution: the establishment of "Houses of Chastity" (or "decency houses"). The plan was to facilitate 'temporary' marriages (sigheh) between men and women for a fee and a period of time. Furthermore, the plan called for public places such as hotels to be provided to these couples to consummate their so-called marriage. From the beginning it was not clear who initiated this idea, but every institution and official that was reported to be associated with proposing the plan in the first place either denied knowing anything about it or expressed deep abhorrence of the scheme. The comment went on to say that "In any event, the prostitution dilemma, which is getting worse by the day in Iran, requires fundamental rethinking of our entire economic, social and cultural structure because there is no denying that the status quo is a failure on many fronts." Read also this article on BBC News on this issue!

 
Reforms in Iran

Efforts to reform go on, not just in the political arena, but also in daily life. The education ministry has issued a directive that allows girls in Tehrans schools to lift their veils and wear some more colourful clothing while at school. Read about it at BBC News.

 
New Webpage!

Here it is! As promissed, here are some more pictures from this little surprise trip to the ruins! I liked to photograph the forms and patterns. Enjoy!

 
I've done some reading. It seems that the ruins of the caravanserai we saw the other day might date from the period of the Safavid Shah Abbas I. (1587 - 1629). He is credited with building a network of 999 caravanserais all over his empire. The Safavid era is considered the 3rd great empire of Persian history. It produced a great flowering of Persian art and architecture - many of the finest monuments of today date from that period.