Chapter 92 / A history of Paisley or Boteh Jegheh Design Boteh-Jegheh (a.k.a Paisley), is an asymmetrical geometric floral pattern that signifies royal sovereignty, and nobility. It was the focal design in the headgears of the Iranian kings since Shah Abbas the great (1642-1666) of the Safavid Empire of Iran .

 

Boteh Jegheh on the crown of Shah Abbas II of Iran  

Chapter 92 - A history of Paisley or Boteh Jegheh Design

Boteh-Jegheh  (a.k.a Paisley), is an asymmetrical geometric floral  pattern that signifies  royal sovereignty, and nobility.  It was the focal design in the headgears of the Iranian kings since Shah Abbas the great  (1642-1666) of the Safavid Empire of Iran .    

In the Name of “America First” / The Risks of America’s New Nationalism

 

America First

In the Name of “America First”

The Risks of America’s New Nationalism

8 FEBRUARY 2018, 

HALL GARDNER

Despite the self-congratulatory tone of both his Davos Speech and State of the Union Address, President Trump has not yet obtained the confidence of the leaderships of major US allies or their populations. Nor has Trump been able to point the way to the establishment of more positive diplomatic relations with American rivals that could guarantee global peace in the long term. After a full year in office, Trump’s dealings with both US allies and rivals have not yet appeared to possess any discernible “method.” Nor is there any true Trump “doctrine” except for a vague and ill-defined ideological conception of “America First” whose proclaimed aim is nuclear superiority and “unmatched power”—in the presumption that “weakness is the surest path to conflict.” 

Sean Penn in Iran / Actor's dispatches for The Chronicle

Sean Penn
Illustration by Triunfo Arciniegas

Sean Penn in Iran: Actor's dispatches for The Chronicle

Sean Penn, Special to The Chronicle

Published 4:00 am, Monday, August 22, 2005

DAY ONE

In June, Sean Penn and two friends traveled to Tehran. It was Penn's first trip to the country. What he found was a culture in conflict. Although the nation is ruled by a very conservative, tradition-bound government, Penn talked to many younger Iranians who have a strong interest in Western culture and want their own country to liberalize its policies on individual rights. Beginning today, The Chronicle will publish a five-day series of his reports from Iran:

It's the week preceding presidential elections. Candidates attack one another's credibility. Activists push to boycott the vote. Traffic and pollution choke the cities. Leftists support a no-win idealist. Preachers guide their flocks toward political starboard. The media have fallen under the grip of standing power, and should they defy it, they're imprisoned. University students promote human rights, while fundamentalists deny them. It is a culture in love with cinema. With Brad Pitt. Angelina Jolie. And anything Steven Spielberg. It is a nation of nuclear power, where the lobbies of the religious right effectively blur the lines between church and state. But it is also a country of good and hospitable people. And when the local team wins a big match, there is dancing, kissing, drinking and drugs in the streets. Women are graduating the campuses in higher and higher numbers, occupying government in higher and higher numbers. Sound familiar? But wait. The women. Look at the women. All is not well. I'm thinking about the women. This is Iran.