Category Archives: Academics

Scientific Misconduct

That Germany’s Minister of Defense Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg abdicated today was foreseeable, and inevitable. His doctoral thesis was plagiarism which is considered as grave scientific misconduct. That Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, who holds a PhD in science and is married … Continue reading

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A Rhetorical Triumph

Angelika Neuwirth has presented a monumental analysis of the Holy Qur’an [1] which provides a number of convincing arguments that the scripture must not be regarded as  fait accompli but had rather developed as a liturgical text during permanent and critical, … Continue reading

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Eric A. Brill’s Arguments

I have foretold the final result of last year’s presidential election in Iran already early in May 2009. I wrote at that time, “Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei can’t help but only endorse ‘his’ president Ahmadinejad. And when he is going to … Continue reading

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Just Fallen Short

Quasi-periodicity in 15th century Islamic Art and whether it actually has been developed as a concept is still a matter of a somewhat controversial debate. There are three sites in the city of Esfahan which have been studied in this … Continue reading

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Clotilde Reiss

See update below. Today Clotilde Reiss has luckily been allowed to leave Iran. The 24-year-old, as has widely been reported, ‘language teacher’ had been arrested on July 1, 2009 at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport when trying to leave the … Continue reading

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