Letters May 2006 Talks without pre-conditionsOn poll, "Should Iran accept or reject U.S. offer of direct talks?": Need one more choice on your direct talks poll: “Talks under no pre-conditions”. Insulting my Iranian heritageOn Iranian of the day, David Safavian: Jack Abramoff's "favorite": It is a shameful act on your part to include David Safavian as an "Iranian of the day". Just what the hell you think you are doing? As far as I am concerned anyone who associates with the likes of Robert Ney, Jack Abramoff, and Ralph Reed ought to be hung from the nearest tree! Don't insult my Iranian heritage by including Safavian in the same league!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! REPLY: "Iranian of the day" is not a badge of honor for a select few. It is a statement of fact... Safavian is just as Iranian as Ferdowsi! -- Jahanshah Javid Some Iranians will complain no matter whatOn Nima Mehraeen's photos on Shirin Ebadi's speech at UCLA: The photos in Nima Mehraeen's photo essay of Shirin Ebadi's speech at UCLA show that some people were escorted out of the speech my UCLA public Safety officers. Who is Shirin Ebadi a danger to? She is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. She was a judge during the Shah's reign. And she served as a human rights attorney during the Khomeini/Khamenei era. One must conclude that some Iranians will complain no matter what. If Shirin Ebadi was wearing a chador I would understand the outcry. But even in that instance, doesn't she have a 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech? Isn't is uncivilized to heckle the old lady who has a doctorate and has devoted her life to fighting for human rights? Maybe, as Leila Farjami suggests in her essay the Iranians were hungry for Kabobs. Wouldn't it be wonderful if...On Slater Bakhtavar's "Why Iran wants war": War and destruction is the legacy of ZionismOn Mazloom's "Shaash & awe strategy": Prospect of war and destruction is the legacy of Zionism. Fathers who choose to give such legacy to their children can hope their children do their dirty work for them. The little pissing boys grow with fears and fear turns them into psychopaths. Go look at the high rape statistics of children as young as 10 and 12 rapping kids as young as 6 and 4. It looks like when it comes to drowning in piss, they don't need any help from the rest of the world. Just laugh at the jokes!On Mana Neyestani's cartoon in IRAN newspaper (May 19, 2006) which sparked protests among Azaris: een Torka ham digeh shooresh ra dar avardand!!! MADOn Afshin D's "Recruiting Mohammad Attas of the world": You are a "roshan fekr-e tarik andish". First you agree that IRI government is more catholic than the Pope, then you turn it around one hundred eighty degrees and blame Israelis for the crisis we are in, including Mohamad Atta's madness. But since you a roshan fekr you find such actions to be grotesque, but since you are also a tarik andish you dream of a Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) solution, which is exactly what Atta did when he ran into that building, he mutually assured that the building, him, and everybody else got destroyed. You ask, "... a country of 75 million people... ?" You are one of those "Nuclear-Urination-Upon-Israel (NUUI)" strategists, or you think like them, or sympathize with them. Israelis are scared of MAD so the 5 million people nation won't pick a fight with the 75 million people, or vice versa, the country of 75 million will pick a fight and piss their way to victory because the 5 million people country has less urine. You don't get it; the 5 million people country has limitless resources (wherewithal), USA, to fight any nation with any number of people. If you really want to defeat Israel you should figure out how to defeat a nation of 300 million people because they are really the big URINATORS. And by the way since we are not in Iran we don't have to get permission to express our opinion in "irainan.com" or anywhere else, but since you asked I did try to express my opinion of what I think of Hamshahi Newspaper's International Holocaust (freedom of expression) Competition but I don't think they or their leader liked my opinion. I am not in the business of defending Israel since they are doing a great job themselves, but what I really like to do is to be in business of exposing ignorance. Huh! I wonder if I can make some money off of it since we have so much of it in Iran. The possibilities are limitless. If Saudis make such threats... , well let's see sand absorbs a lot of urine so urinating on them will not destroy them, yes I would argue the same thing: neither urination nor atomic bombs will destroy Saudi Arabia. Make an offering to JesusOn Kaveh Nouraee's "A Jewish Muslim for peace": Kaveh, I was interested to read your objections to the idea that Jesus is the Son of God who suffered and died for our sins. While they're not new objections per se, they were worded in a manner that makes me think you had thought it through and arrived at these conclusions by yourself. Your objections are also known as the scandal of the cross, and they have been a source of puzzlement and outrage to both Jews and Gentiles alike from the very beginning of Christianity. You can say that Christianity is a religion that is founded on mystery, but of a different kind of mystery than we are used to. Usually a mystery is just something we don't know the answer to (such as who really killed JFK), and once we find out the answer we yawn and move on. A Christian mystery on the other hand, is known in its bare outlines to all and yet, it is never fully understood. Its contemplation is thus an endless source of joy and enlightenment. Anyways, I won't attempt to reply to your objections here (you can find them anywhere), but to issue you a challenge: You say that it is IMPOSSIBLE for God to have a Son, and to sacrifice his Son, and in such a cruel manner. Granted. My challenge is for you to put all your objections aside for a moment, and to imagine, just imagine, that it is all true. Let it sink in. What would you think of such a god? A god who sacrificed himself for us? Would you be moved to love him? To follow him? To lay down your life for him? ... Are you not just a little sad that such a thing is too good to be true? If your answer to the above is yes, then I urge you to make an offering to Jesus. Tell him that you would believe in him IF you knew FOR SURE he is God. Find a way to say it that does not feel like kofr for you. Don't worry. If he was just a prophet nothing will come of it. Signed, Best hope: slow changeOn Amir Nasiri's "What do we really need": Amir, At one end you have CIA supported Mujaheddin Cult (headed by nut case Rajavi... in which case I would say god bless Ahmadinejad) or you have former Royalty headed by Reza Shah the second who would be even more eager to sell the country for more wealth. Lets not forget that US is not in a business of nation buidling or democracy expansion. They are in it for their own corporate profit and agenda. The agenda will not include the wellfare of Iranian people or nation. The best hope at this time is for our own young generation to hash things out and slowly bring out the changes. It will be a lenghty process but it is the best alternative. We don't need another Iraq, Serbia, Bosnia or Ukraine at this time. As Iranian as anyone elseTo the editor of Canada's National Post in response to discredited story about Iranian national dress: Your recently run fabricated front cover story that Iranian Jews are about to be required to wear "special dress code" identifying them as "non-Moslem" was as abominating and reprehensible as the historical injustices inflicted upon Jews in Europe of the mid-fifties. In fact, your baseless assertion, as you now confess to it on a less conspicuous second page of your periodical, could have as well resulted in the bloodshed of hundreds of innocent noble people. It is, therefore, imperative that with your bold admission of this inadvertent error on your part and to prove your sincerity to resolve the issue that you will run a corrigendum conspicuously and with proper apologies on the first front page. Iranian Jews, who have their roots on the Persian/Iranian plateau for almost three thousand years as referenced in the Torah, are as Iranian as any other Iranian. Iran, a country ten thousand years in making with 2,500 years of continuous government and with immense contributions to the betterment of humanity through her arts and architecture, science and technology, and literature, music and poetry, has and will remain an integral nation in the family of nations. Iran, that at one recent juncture spanned from the Indus River and Oral Lake on the one hand, and to Nile River and Mediterranean Sea on the other, is still the most diverse country comprised of Iranians of Moslems, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrian and Baha'is faith from two dozen diverse ethnicities. Simply because the west is in conflict with certain policies of the Iranian government at this juncture, that in and of itself does not rationalize demonetizing Iranian peoples who have continually struggled for true independent democracy, freedom and justice for at least 100 years since its first modern Constitution of 1906 was enacted. David N. Rahni Ab fab!On "Bush: Iran must halt production of long letters": This must be one of the wittiest, well-written pieces I've come across on Iranian. com. It had me in absolute stitches for hours and made loose quite a few calories in chuckles! Ab fab! ThanX M Zahed Department of State is pleased, I'm notOn Omid Farda's "Please elaborate": My good friend -- Omid Farda (very unlikely) -- wrote a typically polite but ridiculously long reactive piece just to get around to asking me this favor -- "I have one request from Mr. Mirfendereski here and that is to elaborate in depth on Democracy and Freedom as start." No thanks, I choose not to and if that is not satisfying then he understands neither about freedom nor democracy. In Iran, as anywhere else in the world, the best form of government is benevolent dictatorship, just like the form of despotism that is most familiar in the patriarchal or matriarchal family settings of our beloved Resolute Nation and also in America. That certainly has been the Iranian model for 2,500 years and most countries in the world emulate it. Name me one country where the citizen is truly free or the system is truly democratic, as you subjectively understand these terms to mean. Social democracy, better democracyHere are a few notes by way of clarifying some concerns expressed regarding my recent article, "Kodaam mardom? Kodaam hokoomat?": Hami Abghari Only through open dialouge and free expressionOn Goldust Jon's "I am Iranian first": Mr. Goldust Jon, Once there is a free Kurdistan, then I could become Iranain. Once there is a free Iran, then I could become a Middle Easterner, and so on. I might even not need to have any nationality at some point! If my views are tribal at this point, let it be. Your view happen to be the opposit and I respect it. I am not hurt by your opinion and hopefully nobody is hurt by mine either. Frankly I do not wish any harm to anybody, even those who have harmed the people of my origin. Only through open dialouge and free expression, a society can move forward. I beleive iranian.com is an open forum and therefore I send them articles. It is up to them to decide not to publish my views. If they make such a decison, there is no hard feeling and I would continue to send my views to other open forums. Throughout the history many have tried to prevent free expression, but the world has not judged them as the servants of humanity. I have answered to most of your points in my other articles. For further details please refer to www.kaes.us/artin Sur and SuriOn Guive Mirfendereski's "Suri: A Corrputed Word?": Fashion in IranMy name is Dr Luca Lo Sicco and I teach management and Fashion marketing at the Auckland University of technology in New Zealand. Last year I prepared an assignment for my students based on Iranian culture. Assignment that was so successful that I intend to repeat it this year. I would like to know if there are Universities in Teheran that teach Fashion and if it's possible I would like to have their address or website. Violin lessons in DCI just moved to Washington, DC from Los Angeles and am looking all over for an Iranian violin instructor so I can continue my lessons of Iranian classical music. To date I have been unsuccessful. I was hoping you could help put me in contact with someone -anything would be helpful. Thank you! Safe to say he's delusionalOn Amil Imani's "He's no dummy": Dear Mr. Imani, In contrary to people with fanatic overvalued idea who have some doubt in the truth of their belief, people with delusion have a false and fixed belief excessive to their cultural or religious background. The severity of delusions depends on their affect on the affected individual or the people around them. Based on your comments he has no doubt in the imminent emergence of Mahdi (savior), views himself as his vassal, and has made bizarre statements about historical facts such as holocaust. For such reasons it is safe that he is considered as delusional and evaluated by international experts before it is too late. One could argue that that he might be suffering from a collective delusion, since only a small minority of 6 billion people in the world support his ideas. The fairest and safest option is that he is referred to an international court and while there, he can be evaluated by a team of independent forensic psychiatrists. Such an intervention might also lead to evaluation of other world leaders who have other pathologies such as xenophobia, psychopathy with no remorse for their crimes, paranoia etc. For more details please refer to an article of mine on this matter here. Kudos from jomhoorieh eslamiOn protests in Azarbaijan over cartoons: I am terribly disapointed of Iranian.com lagging behind all in touching on what is happening in Iran. This shows Iranian.com's true respect for democratic values. It is treating news and happenings of utmost important in a discriminatory way. Iranian.com deserves kudos from jomhoorieh eslami. Wake up Javid aziz. Do I look like a sigaar-foroosh?My name is Behyar from New York. I was interested in purchasing few cartons of Iranian cigarettes, 57 or Bahman. Do you sell any or maybe you can recommend me where do get it from. Thanks you very much, Behyar I am an Iranian first!On Kamal Artin's "Fighting words": Artin, No such thingOn Nicole Pajoohi's "Irooni-baazi": I enjoyed reading Nicole Pajoohi's piece largely because it had nothing to do with soccer, nukes, or admiration of freedom and democracy. I am not sure of the comedic value of the piece, though, as I found it more a foray into self-discovery than humor. Be that as it may -- I could not understand why the anecdotes that she related in her diary should necessarily or exclusively be labeled "Irooni-baazi." I am sorry that George Mason occupies such a lowly station vis a via an equally lousy place like the University of Virginia. I can say this though, Mason has a better basketball team. So what if some mother thinks the world of her daughter's school choice? I expect Nicole to be better than the Irooni-baaz whom she deplores and not be bothered by any of this. Irooni-baazi is just the act of Iranians being themselves, no different from other people being themselves. If there is such a thing as Irooni-baazi, I suppose its epitome is the very sense of az-ma-behtaran that I hope Nicole did not mean to conveys of herself. One poor bastardOn "Chaotic traffic reminds me of home (sniff sniff)": Call me sadistic -- I was hoping that toward the end of the video, the intersection would be deserted except one poor bastard walking across the street and then -- ZAP -- gets hit by some truck out of the blue! How ironic, no? Typical Iranian leftistOn Homayoun Abghari's "Kodaam mardom? Kodaam hokoomat?": Dear Mr. Abghari, I read your article in Iranian Website, it was interesting and very personal understanding from American democracy. I have been living in US for 30 years and I have not experienced American society and democracy the way you described in your article. Your article is a personal description of American democracy reminds me typical of Iranian leftists. Some Iranian leftist intellectual that I know are very ignorant of understanding the Western democracy and its limitation (specifically American). I don't know where did you get your Information about American Democracy (hope not just FOX News). I hope you have lived or still living in US? However, you are missing the point about democracy of US in large and falling into the trap of perfectionism, which is comparable to zealously of any ideology. In addition your article was in Persian it did not help you much (Persian language has tendency to take you into path of dreaming not reality). Tarof and lyingOn Ben Madadi's "Culture of lying": I really appreciated the article about Iranian lying. There is, though, the difference, between Tarof and lying for its own sake or to gain advantage. Many Iranians stop at a little Tarof and are honest. Unfortunately, some wouldn't know the truth if it bit them, so to speak. The habit of lying can grow until it does all kinds of damage, including to the liar,who doesn't know he or she lies to herself as well. In the end, they don't know who they are. Eshghe manI'm dying to know what song these lyrics are from... can u at least help translate them? A smaller PersiaOn Little Bird's cartoon, "Shrinking Persian empire": The splendors of the past, of Persia, of the Silk Road, of Andalusia (700 years!), of Baghdad’s Abbasid glorious times, of Saladin’s Jerusalem and his Ayouybee’s Egypt-based Islamic empire. JJ Newroz Source schmourceOn "Imam Zaman: Alive and kicking (for now)": Ignorance leads to disasterOn Little Bird's cartoon, "Shrinking Persian empire": If we ignore the fact that Amerigo Vespucci years before Columbus had explored the America, Christopher Columbus is widely known as the first man that stepped into the new world. So, why Columbus is known to be the first one? Because he was the first one that had ideological and economical plan to transform the new world into a supporting source for revitalizing Spanish Empire. As a result, Christopher Columbus has a legacy that can be recognized with its two unique identifiers. Firstly, despite that he perfectly knew his new marine path to India was most likely a misleading slogan and would not take him to India, still he took the path and named his journey as “A New Path to India”. The second one is when he arrived in “India of West” and was greeted by the people that were totally different from Indians, still he insisted to call them Indians. Choosing a new path to India was not logical or justifiable by economy. All the well known passages to India at the time were economically adequate and did not require a need for identifying any new marine path. Columbus voyaged out his way towards the new world because he was simply curious. As all of us know, having a sense of curiosity is good and it is the source of creativity but moderation is the key. His curiosity turned out to be much more costly beyond the value of queen Isabel’s gold and his sailors’ lives, not to mention the lives of thousands or millions of natives of the so-called new world. I would like to call this legacy of Columbus as “Blind Curiosity Legacy”. Furthermore, when Columbus arrogantly named the natives of the new world the Indians, he contradicted his first legacy, the blind curiosity legacy. In his first legacy there is a small trace of science involved. A man without having any pretext or prejudgment is in search of facts and he is exploring the available alternatives more or less blindly. But in the second legacy, he goes against the grain and insistently ignores the fact. The fact that the people of the new world did not look like Indians, nor they lived, talked, cooked, eaten, and had sex like them. Let us call this legacy as “Arrogant Ignorance Legacy”. Looking back into the history, one can find no solution when curiosity gathers with ignorance, while the result becomes a disaster. As we later see, the outcome of exploring the new world was neither in favor of Christopher Columbus nor the Queen Isabel of Spain. Because after massacring the natives, Columbus’ reputation as a man of science and exploration sharply dropped and he was exposed as a ruthless in nature. On the other hand the wide expansion of the Spanish imperialism exponentially spread thin that later resulted in the Spanish Empire explosion from the within. Christopher Columbus ran the idea of voyaging towards the new world on religious and economical platforms. In the meantime these two, religion and money, were perfectly serving the purposes of his curiosity and arrogance. Accordingly, one of the main factors that were holding the Spanish monarch’s head above the water was the support of Catholic Church. The Spanish monarch needed that support in order to cover ugly face of the reality of what was going on in the new world. The reality of invading/exploring the new world by reading religious mumbles into people’s ears. Remember that Spaniards massacred the natives of the new world in the name of God and perhaps democracy. In addition, the religion was also directly supporting to Columbus’s idea whenever he was in shortcoming of the facts for convincing his men to take extraordinary actions that would not make sense otherwise. You imagine that the sailors had to paddle their tail off for thousands of miles with no planning, no adequate equipments and nutrition, no map, and most importantly no women for a year or so. On the other hand, Columbus was facing another challenge. He had to convince the other crowd in the Spanish court yard, the bankers who were not taking religious crap as a business plan. Columbus justified his economical reasons of invading the new world by promising them with gold and spices. After all, he was going to find a new path to India, the land of gold and spices. Therefore, shortly after El Salvador became the first victim in the row of Columbus’ invasions. Columbus chose the name El Salvador, The Savior in English, for two reasons. One that to show his loyalty to his Christian believes and the second, to emphasize that that piece of land saved his ass and his reputation and also royal families’ face for funding the project. However, the history proved both, Columbus and Queen Isabel were wrong. Spain failed to revitalize the Spanish Empire despite of genocide of the natives, funding tremendous amount of money, and applying gigantic diplomatic efforts to legitimize their invasion. As a result soon Spanish territories were disintegrated to the smaller countries and a whole lot of other invasions started by other European countries. Bottom line, ignorance and curiosity are two main ingredients of making a perfect disaster by consuming money and religion. I hope we don’t ignore the history otherwise we are condemned to repeat it. Good chunkOn Jahanshah Javid's "Born again in the USA": Funny I was thinking "like father like daughter" when I read your genes comment - respectfully disagree... a gooood chunk of what she has, she has from you.
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