This is a very cool and compelling motion graphics piece by a team of students from the Vancouver Film School. The numbers are interesting, to say the least, and more than a little provocative. RTFA has posted about the Iranian blogging movement before, but I was shocked to learn how many young Iranians are in the country. In this context, blogging makes a lot more sense, and I am suddenly curious to know what they are saying. I am expecting the opinion of the youth to be an interesting contrast with the message that is broadcast in the United States, which itself is a second-hand interpretation of the “official” message from Iranian heads of state. Give this video a watch!

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MChlT0GvFPM

Created by Vancouver Film School students Aaron Chiesa, Toru Kageyama, Hendy Sukarya, and Lisa Temes through the VFS Digital Design program.

RTFA: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM…

A prominent Iranian-Canadian blogger has been detained and his case is being investigated, Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday in the first official public confirmation about his whereabouts.

Hossein Derakhshan, nicknamed the “Blogfather” for his role in pioneering a blogging revolution in Iran, last updated his blog in October and Canadian media reports, quoting a friend, said he was detained on Nov. 1 during a visit to Iran.

Mr. Derakhshan was being held on charges of spying for Israel, a country the Islamic Republic does not recognize, according to Canadian media.

“His case is in a preliminary investigative stage at a revolutionary court and he is currently in incarceration in a jail in Tehran,” judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told a news conference when asked about Mr. Derakhshan’s case.

Revolutionary courts handle national security cases.

The spokesman did not give further details.
…
Mr. Derakhshan, 33, was a journalist in Tehran before moving to Toronto in 2000. He made his name by publishing instructions on how to use blogging software to publish blogs in Farsi, sparking an explosion of blogging in the Iranian language.

Let’s focus our attention on this case. Hossein Derakhshan, also known by his internet alias Hoder, is a hero of Free Speech, the Information Age, and arguably Humanity At Large. He organized and distributed information that led to a huge blogging boom in otherwise-strictly-censored Iran. Mostly thanks to his works, it’s been estimated that approximately 10.9% of Iranians who have access to the internet actively blog (~700,000 out of 6.4 million). Now they’ve arrested him for it.

Please keep him in your hopes, prayers, thoughts, et al. This man should be receiving a Nobel Peace Prize, but emancipation would be a good start … information about how you can become active and more regarding the story is available at freehoder.com

RTFA: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/07/10/iran-you-suck…

Unfortunately, it appeared to contain one too many missiles, a point that had not emerged before the photo appeared on the front pages of The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, The Chicago Tribune and several other newspapers as well as on BBC News, MSNBC, Yahoo News, NYTimes.com and many other major news Web sites.

Agence France-Presse said that it obtained the image from the Web site of Sepah News, the media arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, on Wednesday. But there was no sign of it there later in the day. Today, The Associated Press distributed what appeared to be a nearly identical photo from the same source, but without the fourth missile.

Wow, good catch! After taking a closer look at the image, it does appear doctored.

RTFA: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7290330.stm

An Iranian homosexual man who has said he will be executed if he is deported from the Netherlands has had his claim for asylum overturned.

Mehdi Kazemi has said his life is in danger if he is returned to Iran, where he says his boyfriend named him as a partner before being executed.

Homosexual acts are illegal in the Islamic republic.

A Dutch spokesman said Mr Kazemi would now be sent to the UK, the first European country he entered.

A claim for asylum in the UK had already been turned down.

RTFA: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080214/wl_mideast_af…

BAGHDAD (AFP) –
Iraq’s government said on Thursday that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due in Baghdad on March 2 for the first visit ever by an Iranian president to the neighbouring country.

The announcement came shortly after Iraqi and US officials said that Tehran had asked for a delay in talks expected this week in Baghdad between the United States and Iran on the future of Iraq.

It’s called “Operation Chameleon.” Take an Islamic nation (Iraq), install a puppet ruler, alter the local religion to be more similar to neighbors (Iran), and bingo: your puppet looks just like your “enemies”. Next thing you know, your puppet is being wined and dined on Kish Island, and “this might be the start of something grand.”