The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.------ Edmond Burke Ghazal Omid is one of the boldest Iranian political authors who speaks her mind and cherishes the greatness of Persian culture but lives in the present, not the past. An outspoken woman, politically inclined since her youth, she has long stood up to the government of Iran because she believes in humanity and women’s rights. Ghazal Omid is one of the boldest Iranian political authors who speaks her mind and cherishes the greatness of Persian culture but lives in the present, not the past. An outspoken woman, politically inclined since her youth, she has long stood up to the government of Iran because she believes in humanity and women’s rights. She insists on equality for men and women under a secular democratic regime which does not persecute people for their beliefs, as long as they keep it separate from the state. She says the first question she gets from her readers and radio/TV hosts and listeners is: Why she wrote this book and why she called it Living in Hell? Her stock answer is the Edmond Burke quotation, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.” She tells people that if they have something to say, it shouldn't be just a desire to hear their own voice but a humane duty and responsibility to help others. Born in 1970 in Abadan, Iran, minutes from the Iraq border, Ghazal is the youngest of eleven siblings, many of whom she doesn't know. She is the only daughter and the youngest of four children borne by the second of her polygamist father's two wives. She grew up both rich and poor at the same time. Her father, a multi-millionaire Ebenezer Scrooge, neglected both of his families, abandoning them to hide in the US to avoid the danger of the revolution. When he married Ghazal's mother, he did not mention that he had another wife and seven kids. A man with dark secret; this was the least of his inhuman acts. Her interest in history, politics and writing began at age eight. Instead of playing with dolls and toys, she was reading the news as her mother helped her understand her country's past and present. She witnessed the Islamic revolution up close and, even at that age, questioned Khamenei's motives. As a child, her dream was to become a doctor. However, her passion for writing, Persian literature, history and politics came naturally and was obvious to everyone except herself. Her first step to becoming a writer was her second grade teacher telling her that one day she would become a great writer. Her first published story was at age 14. Her poetry writing began out of despair in her teen years because she couldn’t communicate with her mother any other way. Ghazal lived in the city of Isfahan most her life. She miraculously survived the eight-year Iran/Iraq war despite her home being located in a primary target area for Iraqi bombers. Surrounded by death and destruction daily, her family faced near starvation in freezing conditions; inspiring her soul searching for answers to her questions about religion and politics. She started religious studies at age seven, reading both the Koran and the Bible. Although her abusive life caused her to lose her faith at age thirteen, it was restored by her pilgrimage to Mecca where she came to understand God in her heart; not based on the teachings of the Iranian regime. She especially resisted the pressure to hate other nations, their people and their faiths for no reason other than the blind hate preached by the brutal Khamenei and his mullahs who, posturing as Messiahs, through daily morning prayers in schools across the country, brainwashed kids and adults alike. Graduating high school as the war ended, her curriculum was aimed at medical school. However, despite high scores on entrance exams, she was denied enrollment in medical school or any public university because of her record of non-conformity to arbitrary non-Islamic dictates by the regime. Despite financial difficulties, she enrolled in a private university, studying French Literature to prepare for a law degree. At university, her low-key defiance in speaking to other students about the indefensible dictates of the government mullahs caused her to be continually watched and harassed by faculty spies. In retribution for daring to quietly defy petty rules, she was abducted by the secret police. Escaping by jumping from the kidnapper's speeding car into a busy street, she was seriously injured but was temporarily rescued by the crowd. Although she was the victim, she was rearrested and avoided prison on trumped up charges, which typically resulted in a rapid death sentence, only by agreeing to non-disclosure and signing away her rights to pursue the case. Seeking redress, despite the agreement, she took advantage of bureaucratic inefficiency and carried her case to the Supreme Court of Iran where it was dismissed as a 'misunderstanding'. After being

Nick Heller is responsible for New Business Development across EMEA at Google. He is based in Zurich, Switzerland and is focused on new product incubation and exploratory efforts in technology, meta-data licensing, strategic partnerships, special projects, and alternative distribution for existing and new business initiatives. He was formally leading the Media & Publishing team at Google in the European Strategic Partnerships group. Nick has a rich history of working within the media industry, primarily across mobile, television and online. Prior to joining Google, he worked for MTV Networks UK & Ireland, where he created the digital strategy and led new cross platform social networking initiatives. In 2006, he published a paper on the growth of mobile advertising, and continues to be a passionate advocate of the mobile medium. In 2002, he founded Degrees Of Separation, a tech consultancy and eBusiness network, linking blue chip organizations throughout North America with specialized software development firms. Prior to 2002, he worked in fixed income trading for RBC Capital Markets, located in Toronto, Canada. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario, and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.