palashbiswaslive: Fwd: Tightening the Grip: What the New U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Mean for You

Friday, July 30, 2010

Fwd: Tightening the Grip: What the New U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Mean for You

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PAAIA <info@paaia.org>
Date: Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 2:58 AM
Subject: Tightening the Grip: What the New U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Mean for You
To: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com

PAAIA: Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans

Tightening the Grip: What the New U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Mean for You

July 29, 2010, Washington D.C. –The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA or "the Act") was passed by Congress on June 24, 2010, with a vote of 99-0 in the Senate and 408-8 in the House of Representatives. The Act expands upon the restrictions of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 ("ISA") and the Iranian Transaction Regulations ("ITR") administered by the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). On July 1, 2010 President Obama signed this Act into law.

CISADA is a major expansion of U.S. economic sanctions against Iran and contains many new restrictions on companies considering business activities related to Iran. This article will provide an overview of the primary provisions of CISADA, with a particular focus on those sections that will most directly affect the average Iranian American.

Click here to read more.

Unprecedented Rise in Persian Language Enrollment

By Jeff Baron, America.gov

July 29, 2010, Washington D.C. -Persian is a hot subject on U.S. college campuses, with students registering for courses in the language in unprecedented numbers.

Surveys of colleges and universities by the Modern Language Association have shown large gains in registration for classes in Persian (also called Farsi): up 82 percent from fall 1998 to fall 2002, and up 82 percent again from fall 2002 to fall 2006.

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Q&A With Mahmood Hamidi, Panoramic Photographer Extraordinaire

By Negin Mirmirani, PAAIA Reporter

Since 2006, Mahmood Hamidi has been combining his computer skills with his passion for photography to capture stunning 360-degree panoramic images of some of the most beautiful places in the world, including Shiraz; look for them on his website. I recently took a few moments to learn more about Mr. Hamidi and his work.

How did you become a photographer?

Well, actually I am a computer engineer—not a photographer— professionally. But photography is my hobby and takes up most of my spare time. I was interested in photography since I was a child growing up in Tehran, Khorramshahr, and Shiraz, and have been taking pictures as an advanced amateur photographer for 25 years.

Click here to read more

Shabeh Jomeh Chicago Chapter Honored by the Cook County Treasurer

By Mina Amir-Mokri

On June 24, 2010, Shabeh Jomeh, a not-for-profit networking group for Iranian-American Professionals was honored in an award ceremony by the Cook County Treasurer's Office in Chicago, Illinois . Maria Pappas, Cook County Treasurer, recognized 49 ethnic chambers of commerce and business organizations in the award ceremony.

The Cook County Treasurer recognized that strengthening individual ethnic groups fosters a stronger society, and the occasion of the award ceremony served to celebrate the diversity of Chicago and its ethnic communities, and to provide a forum in which leaders of the various ethnic communities could seek to establish ties amongst themselves and work together to achieve common goals for the benefit of the greater Chicago community. Indeed, the Cook County Treasurer suggested that she would make her office available as a venue for future collaboration among the leaders of the various organizations being honored.

Click here for the full article.