Is Iran jailing a ploy to retain power?

TRUDY RUBIN
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

May 25, 2007

Last week I wrote about a 67-year-old Iranian-American scholar of renown named Haleh Esfandiari who was imprisoned May 8 in Tehran.

This drama has become more bizarre since Monday, when Iranian television announced she had been charged with “seeking to topple the ruling Islamic establishment.”

These charges are laugh-out-loud ludicrous to anyone who knows Esfandiari – a petite, soft-spoken grandmother who came on her biannual visit to an ailing 93-year-old mother. As head of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, Esfandiari was known as an apolitical expert devoted to promoting U.S.-Iranian dialogue.

The malice behind the charges points in a more political direction – an effort by hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his KGB-like intelligence sector to push back against more pragmatic Iranian leaders. The pragmatists are open to direct talks with the United States and more exchanges between countries. Groundbreaking U.S.-Iran talks are set for May 28 over stabilizing Iraq.

The charges against Esfandiari are purportedly linked to the $75 million in democracy-promotion money the Bush administration budgeted for Iran. Most of this money goes to Iranian-language broadcasts, but some is supposed to go to unnamed civil-society groups inside Iran.

Iranian officials are sensitive to the internal political upheavals that took place in Ukraine and Georgia – with some help from Western organizations. Esfandiari was charged with conspiring with the Wilson Center against Iranian sovereignty.

“This is an American-designed model with an attractive appearance that seeks the soft-toppling of the country,” Iran's state TV said.

But neither Esfandiari nor the Wilson Center has ever taken a penny of the Iran democracy-promotion funds. “These are totally trumped-up charges,” says Wilson Center President Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group that called for a U.S. diplomatic offensive toward Iran.

One intent of the charges against Esfandiari seems to be to head off more academic and civic exchanges between the United States and Iran by frightening off potential participants. Already, her case is casting a chill.

Many Iranian-American scholars are now nervous about visiting their native country, and Iranian scholars will also think twice about traveling to the United States. Some noted U.S. Mideast experts have called for a boycott of Iranian government-sponsored meetings until Esfandiari is freed. University of Michigan professor Juan Cole told me, “I would find it difficult to sit in a conference when Haleh is in Evin Prison.”

After media stories appeared this past weekend about possible U.S. boycotts, Iranian officials already have retaliated. A noted Tehran think tank, the Ravand Institute for Economic and International Studies, was instructed to dis-invite Americans from a May 26-27 conference on Iran's economic and security role, and to revoke their visas. (I was invited but hadn't yet received a visa.)

Down this road lies an end to hopes of greater people-to-people dialogue. “If Iran decides any Iranian who meets with Americans is a spy, and if they refuse visas, you can't have exchanges,” says Columbia University Iran expert Gary Sick.

Perhaps the arrest of Esfandiari is meant by Ahmadinejad's circle to scare those who hope for a more open Iran. Perhaps it's meant to warn that U.S.-Iranian talks on security issues won't bring domestic reforms. Maybe Haleh will be released once the point has been made.

But I believe her plight is part of a fight by Ahmadinejad's circle against threats to his power. Under sharp criticism for failed economic policies, he faces new political alignments that could advance the date of presidential elections – which he would probably lose. What better way to distract attention than to stress security threats (helped by U.S. saber-rattling against Iran)?

Iranian security also recently arrested Hossein Mousavian, deputy head of a think tank close to the powerful ex-president (and pragmatist), Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Mousavian, with powerful protectors, got out after eight days, but the message was clear: Be careful. The question is when and whether the pragmatists will strike back.

Esfandiari does not have such powerful protectors. But her jailing flies in the face of common interests shared by sane people in the United States and Iran. So it is crucial that academics and prominent figures around the world tell Ahmadinejad he must release her. If you want to follow the efforts to free her, go to www.freehaleh.org.

---

me@rescam.org

Information testing broadband limits

By Bruce Mehlman and Larry Irving

May 25, 2007

Electricity reached one-quarter of Americans 46 years after its introduction. Telephones took 35 years and televisions 26 years. Already, in just six years, broadband has reached 25 percent penetration, according to McKinsey & Co.

The exponential explosion of digital content on the Internet is striking. YouTube alone consumes as much bandwidth today as the entire Internet consumed in 2000. Users upload 65,000 new videos every day and download 100 million files daily, a 1,000 percent increase from just one year ago.

The market research firm IDC predicts that this year the amount of information created will surpass, for the first time, the storage capacity available. Those fearing a bandwidth shortage are taking pre-emptive actions, such as the Defense Department's recent cutoff of soldiers' access to content-rich sites such as YouTube and MySpace.

Driven by a critical mass of fast connections and the arrival of a “killer application” – video – broadband has arrived. Broadband, or high-speed Internet connectivity, is the transformative technology of our generation. Access to and effective use of broadband affects the ability of individuals, industries and nations to grow, compete and succeed. If we can match the explosion in digital content with the smarter and more robust networks needed to get information to homes, businesses and schools, America stands a good chance of regaining its global leadership in broadband access, innovation and adoption.

Yet as new content proliferates, today's high-speed connection could be tomorrow's traffic jam. The strain on broadband capabilities and the looming data deluge is often called the Internet exaflood. “Exaflood” stems from the term exabyte, or 1.074 billion gigabytes. Two exabytes equal the total volume of information generated in 1999. The Internet currently handles one exabyte of data every hour. This mushrooming amalgamation of data is pushing the Internet to its limits.

We should not fear the exaflood, however. It is key to the innovative new services and applications that appear almost daily. Consider the growing number of universities that are making course lectures available online, often in real time. Or telemedicine programs that are transmitting medical images and linking patients with distant specialists for real-time consultations.

Preparing for the exaflood is critical to the nation's success. The Internet infrastructure must be robust enough to handle all of the new data; this is often a challenge because the Internet is really thousands of privately owned, individual networks stitched together. It requires constant investment so that it will continue to grow and run smoothly. The private companies that maintain the Internet backbone are continually upgrading the network with new computers, routers, fiber optics and software to make sure data get where they need to go as fast as possible.

All sides agree that we need ongoing investment in content, massive upgrades of infrastructure and relentless innovation to handle the phenomenal growth in data traffic. We need advancements in how we build and operate networks, including new file compression technologies, upgraded traffic management software, better spam and virus filters, and new delivery platforms. And we need substantial investments in short-haul bandwidth through fiber to homes, broadband over power lines, satellites and fourth-generation wireless networks.

The formula for encouraging such extraordinary investments is clear: minimize tax and regulatory constraints and maximize competition. Policy-makers across the nation have ample opportunity to implement this blueprint right away. They should pass common-

sense legislation such as permanently extending the Internet tax moratorium, building broadband-ready public housing, and cutting depreciation schedules for network equipment and infrastructure.

The price of maintaining the status quo would be Internet gridlock that cripples new services, and our country would fall further behind other countries in broadband penetration.

The impending exaflood of data is cause for excitement. It took two centuries to fill the shelves of the Library of Congress with more than 57 million manuscripts, 29 million books and periodicals, 12 million photographs, and more. Now, the world generates an equivalent amount of digital information nearly 100 times each day. The explosion of digital information and proliferation of applications promises great things for our economy and our nation, as long as we are prepared.

Mehlman was assistant secretary of commerce under President Bush. Irving was assistant secretary of commerce under President Bill Clinton. They are co-chairmen of the Internet Innovation Alliance, a coalition of individuals, businesses and nonprofit groups that includes telecommunications companies.

---

me@rescam.org

Anorexia and bulimia

By Emelie Claxton

May 25, 2007

Do you want to know something scary? Young girls and women all over the world are putting themselves through torture just to fit into size 0 clothes. Millions of people all over the world have these problems. Some have even died. These problems are called anorexia and bulimia.

Anorexia (also known as anorexia nervosa) is an eating disorder where people basically starve themselves. This leads to extreme weight loss, yet the victims of this disease still believe they are fat. Anorexia most commonly occurs in adolescent girls. Women with the disorder have an extremely hard time with pregnancy. Telling a normal pregnant woman that she should gain 25-35 pounds before giving birth is like telling an anorexic person to suddenly gain 100 pounds. Also, the baby might have problems. Some symptoms of anorexic girls are body weight inconsistent with age, refusing to eat in public, anxiety, weakness, brittle skin, shrunken bones, irregular heartbeat, development of osteoporosis and bulimia.

With bulimia, girls binge and purge, a process of overeating, then throwing up. This damages their metabolism, so if they stop, they gain almost twice as much weight as they had before. Girls also take laxatives, thinking that they can eat as much as they want without gaining weight. Bulimics look just like any average person. Some are even overweight. Soon bulimics become food-obsessed and can't stop eating. Their metabolism goes down the tubes just like their lunch. Other problems with purging after every meal are dental; receding gums, cavities and near disintegration of teeth are caused by bulimia.

So what are you supposed to do? Don't even think about it. You may have the right to treat your body that way, but that doesn't make it right. Eat. Be healthy. As I said before, 7 million women and 1 million men have this horrible disease. Don't join that group. It's your life. YOU make the choice.

Claxton is an eighth-grader at R. Roger Rowe Middle School in Rancho Santa Fe. Her teacher is Amy Dechary.

---

me@rescam.org

---

Account frozen...

big business does not invest this into gorwth of their businesses they just line their pocket with more cash!!

And you make this statement amidst one of the most robust periods of economic growth in the history of this country.

You are both right:

The rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer... ;)

---

It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

The rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer... ;)

and the text keeps getting bigger! ;)

---

me@rescam.org

Check your history [snip]

He says this knowing full well that no one will actually check the facts, whether it be due to a lack of time or just plain laziness... And of course, if questioned, he will gladly provide you with his supporting facts... Which should bring about other questions like where does he find the time and why isn't he too busy working like the rest of us...

Evangelists, the military, corporate america, and politicians, all seem to have this process down to a science... ;)

---

It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Check your history [snip]

He says this knowing full well that no one will actually check the facts, whether it be due to a lack of time or just plain laziness... And of course, if questioned, he will gladly provide you with his supporting facts... Which should bring about other questions like where does he find the time and why isn't he too busy working like the rest of us...

Evangelists, the military, corporate america, and politicians, all seem to have this process down to a science... ;)

Making money...?

---

Account frozen...

Net taxes could arrive by this fall

The era of tax-free e-mail, Internet shopping and broadband connections could end this fall, if recent proposals in the U.S. Congress prove successful.
Net taxes could arrive by this fall

They will have to get a democrat into the Presidency first. Bush will veto any massive tax hike like this.

I see this as more of a Republican Plus seeing that they are for revenue generating no matter how they abtain it.

This seems like wishful thinking on your part. The Republicans (not all of them of course) have pushed tax cuts as a way of increasing revenue. It seems to have worked when Reagan did it and when this president Bush did it. The theory is that the economy booms, and even at lower tax rates, the amount of money paid in taxes goes up. For many fiscally conservative Republicans, this appeals to their constituents who enjoy paying a lower tax rate and benefit from an expanding economy. Those Republican politicians whose supporters like tax cuts will fight any tax increase.

Check your history and you will find that every time a tax cut has been enacted the economy of the country that cut taxes experienced a dynamic boost.

Tax cuts are suppose to generate much a boost in the economy however what we have seen is that big business does not invest this into gorwth of their businesses they just line their pocket with more cash!!

A good example of this is the OIL companies!

The government makes more on gas taxes than the oil companies on profits.
Your friends in congress aren't going to lower the gas tax. They want to actually raise it by claiming the oil companies profit is to high( wind fall tax). Your same friends in congress won't let the oil companies build refiners (profit investment) for many reasons and one is shortages to keep the taxes high.
Oil companys make their profit on volume not high price. The governments force the prices high.

---

Red Bull Air Racing

Gas price by zip at Seti

Political [19] is closed. Political [20] will be created soon.

---

me@rescam.org