Free Republic

Iranian photographer Jahangir Razmi, took 70 pictures of an execution in Kurdistan on Aug. 27, 1979. One picture (No. 20, below) won the Pulitzer Prize. It was, however, awarded to an unnamed photographer -- the only anonymous recipient in the 90-year history of the award. Mr. Razmi preserved 27 of the photos on a contact sheet and stowed it away in his home. Below are those photos -- made public for the first time. Photos: http://online.wsj.com/public/page/8_0004.html VIDEO - interview of WSJ reporter's story about identifying the photographer http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-iranpics0611-28.html

A video I made which briefly chronicles the history of Radical Islam for the fifth anniversary of 9-11.The Religion Of PiecesThis video is about 5 minutes long, and WARNING it is very GRAPHIC. Any input, comments and advice are greatly appreciated.Thanks Everyone!

Iranian President Mahmoud's Ahmadinejad's mystical pre-occupation with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah figure – the Mahdi – is raising concerns that a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic could trigger the kind of global conflagration he envisions will set the stage for the end of the world. While Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been making headlines lately by questioning whether the Holocaust actually happened, by suggesting Israel should be moved to Europe and by demanding the Jewish state be wiped off the face of the earth, his apocalyptic religious zealotry has received less attention. In a videotaped meeting with Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli in Tehran,...

While browsing through the ancient Persian history, I was struck and fascinated by another subject Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism has not only made a major contribution to the ancient philosophical thought but has also had a deep imprint on the Persian history and culture. Since ages, man has been striving to search for the meaning and purpose of life. Two ancient philosophies threw up answers to this eternal quest. One came out of the Vedic thought of re-incarnation (samsara) which believed in perpetual cycles of life, death and re-birth. It believed that soul (atma) finally got liberated (moksha) based on man's good...

One of the most vexing questions animating observers and analysts of Iranian politics is: why despite being extremely unpopular and incompetent, are the fundamentalists still in power? One factor that may provide a partial explanation is the huge change of the dominant ethos among large sectors of the population. In the 1970s and 1980s, the dominant ethos among large sectors of the Iranian people was idealistic, altruistic, and celebrated sacrifice for the greater good. Today, on the contrary, the predominant ethos have become excessive selfishness, acquisitiveness, cynicism, and lack of willingness to make the smallest sacrifice to protect the common...

It is a sign of how nervous the Iranian authorities are becoming after a dozen days of student protests, that a small gaggle of middle-aged monarchists in central Tehran can trigger a full-scale police alert. Scores of police, some in riot gear, encircled Revolution Square late on Tuesday, moving pedestrians on and even using a vacated bank premises as a temporary lock-up. The dozen or so matronly monarchists, some of them mothers of demonstrating students, are becoming a familiar sight at Tehrans hot-spots. But so far they are the only ones answering the rather plaintive and ineffectual appeals by opposition...

North Carolina would appear to be an unlikely outpost for supporters of a Mideast terrorist group. But federal prosecutors say it was. And now a former member is their star witness.Said Mohamad Harb is a government witness against two brothers who were allegedly running a cigarette-smuggling ring and sending the profits to the Hizbullah terrorist group April 19 — The house on Donnefield Drive on the east side of Charlotte, N.C., is pleasant enough from the outside. With azalea bushes blooming in the front yard of the blue-slate, two-story structure and American flags flying from homes up and down the...