Art book with no art...

I always thought that the first year calculus textbook is the worst deal possible. But this textbook beats any calculus text (or any textbook for that matter) hands down: Global Visual and Material Culture: Prehistory to 1800 — doesn't contain any images of art. Nevertheless, it costs $180 is a required textbook at Toronto's Ontario College of Art and Design. More about it here.

Israel's claim that Iran is the biggest thread to peace should be put into historical perspective. So how about identifying the military conflicts initiated by Iran/Persia in the last 400 year? Let's see:

• 1980-1988: Iran -Iraq war. Initiated by Iraq
• World War II: Iran was invaded by Germany and the Allies.
• World War I: Persia maintained neutrality.
• 1826-1828: Russo-Persian War. Formally, this was initiated by Persia, however, the roots of the conflict lie in the Treaty of Gulistan (see below).
• 1806-1813: Russo-Persian War. Initiated by the Russian Empire. The war resulted in signing the Treaty of Gulistan, which confirmed the inclusion of modern day Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Eastern Georgia and other territories into the Russian Empire.
• 1796: Persian Expedition. Initiated by Catherine the Great.
• 1722-1723: Russo-Persian War, Initiated by Peter the Great. All the annexed territories were returned to Persia in 1735.
• 1649-1653: Mughal–Safavid War. This was initiated by the Safavid Empire (Persia), but the military action was localized to Kandahar. 
• 16th century: Ottomans vs Safavids: neither side can be held solely accountable.

Well, if history teaches us anything, Iran has never been an aggressive player on the political arena...