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Abu Saeed
Culture
Yalda
Significance of winter solstice in Persian culture
By Massoume Price
December 8, 1999
The Iranian
Yalda, a Syric word imported into the Persian language by Syric Christians
means birth (tavalod and meelaad are from the same origin). It is a relatively
recent arrival and refereed to the "Shab e Cheleh" festival,
a celebration of Winter solstice on December 21st. Yalda, forty days before
the next major Persian festival "Jashn e Sadeh", has been celebrated
in countless cultures for thousands of years. The ancient Roman festivals
of Saturnalia (God of Agriculture, Saturn) and Sol Invicta (Sun God) are
amongst the best known in the Western world ... GO
TO FEATURE
Outlook
Iran's reformists seek economic revolution
Tax breaks are on offer in three free trade zones,
By Guy Dinmore
The Financial Times
December 7, 1999
Tax breaks, the world's cheapest energy supplies, and even outstanding
beaches - these are all being used by reformists within the Iranian government
to spearhead economic change.
The attractions have been highlighted as part of a renewed drive to
draw foreign investors to three free trade zones unfettered by the tough
restrictions on the mainland ... FULL
TEXT
Death date
Apparently I'm supposed to say adios at the age of 68. Want to know
when you will, umm, die? ... CLICK
HERE
Thanks to Bruce Bahmani
More Letters
* Fuggedaboudit
Nariman Neyshapouri
writes: I strongly disagree with the assertion that Iranians need and
should become involved in the US political process and that this will somehow
improve the state of things in Iran ["Iranians
in the U.S.: political power" - "Cyrus
meets Lincoln"]. One of the biggest reasons why Iranians have
been so successful in this country is because we haven't wasted our time
with lobbying, politics, and pressure groups ...
Secondly no so-called Iranian lobby group will be able to reverse the
passionate anti-Iran sentiment and bigotry that exists in Congress. Fuggedaboudit.
Not only would you have to go up against the Mujahedeen, but against AIPAC
and all the other Israeli lobby groups. These people will do anything in
their power (and they have a lot of it) to prevent better relations with
Iran and an end to sanctions ... FULL
TEXT
* Kiss ass
In response to "More
thankful than Americans"
The fact that our homeland, along with countless other Third World countries,
remain in a state that forces its people to go into exile is LARGELY due
to the foreign policies of the land of milk and honey [USA} over the course
of last fifty years.
To count yourself as lucky and remain thankful for being given the quasi-freedom
to consume (without a care in the world) is not by any stretch of imagination
a valid justification to preach that all of us will have to kiss the bloody
hand of the true incarcerater of freedom and democracy.
"B" and persons of his ilk will do well to remember that any
country in the history of the world that became something achieved their
status not through deserters-com-cheerleaders (A Bud in one hand clutching
a baseball cap in the other and eager to kiss ass) but by men and women
of substance who weren't self-centered and audaciously selfish.
Much as I hate cliches, but one has got to ask these people: ask not
what your country has done for you! Ask what have you done for your country!
(and please leave your uncles, fathers, and mothers out of your excuses-
Just YOU).
NOT-so-thankful,
J. Shahri (Mr.)
* Art: Images of old Iran, Washington
DC
The Sackler Gallery in Washington DC is featuring the Iran photographs
of Antoin Sevruguin until May 28, 2000. The Sevruguin exhibition includes
fifty images of rulers, courtiers, and commoners, and scenes of daily life
in Iran from the late 1870s to the 1930s ... DETAILS
HERE
SELL
TICKETS ONLINE AT YOUR SITE
Books of the Week
* Saaniyeh-yeh
aakhar (1999)
Y2K issues in Iran
By Dr. Ali Parandeh
* Barandeh-haa
ham baazandeh-and (1999)
A memoir by a former mayor of Tehran, with photos
By Ahmad Nafisi
* Jazireh
sargardaani (2nd edition, 1998)
Novel
By Simin Daneshvar
* Mumia
va assal (1996)
Novel
By Shahriar Mandanipour
* Mehr-e
giaah (1998)
Novel
ByAmir Hassan Cheheltan
See more
Iranian books for sale
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
Video of the Week
Divorce
Iranian Style
A new documentary that goes where Western camera s have never before
gone: into an Iranian divorce court. The film is directed by award- winning
independent filmmaker Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, an Iranian
anthropologist and writer, based in London, whose specialty is women's
rights and family law in the Mid-East.
THE IRANIAN
Video Store
Copyright © Abadan Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
May not be duplicated or distributed in any form
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More
news
Pro-reform newspaper (Salam) which triggered
riots back under new title
TEHRAN,
Dec 8 (AFP) - Staff members of the leading pro-reform Salam daily, whose
closure in July sparked six days of unprecedented student riots in Tehran,
brought a new reformist newspaper to the newsstands Wednesday ... FULL TEXT
Nuri to appeal jail sentence "in order
to be parliamentary candidate"
TEHRAN,
Dec 8 (AFP) - Jailed reformist Abdollah Nuri will appeal against his five-year
sentence for spreading "anti-Islamic propaganda," to give him
a chance of running in the February elections, his lawyer said Wednesday
... FULL TEXT
General Musharraf of Pakistan arrives in
Iran
Dec 8, 1999 (BBC) -- Pakistan's military ruler General Parvez Musharraf
is expected to hold talks with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami during
a two-day official visit. The talks come against a backdrop of differences
over several issues including Afghanistan, killings of Iranians in Pakistan
and drug smuggling ... FULL TEXT
Iran to start using sniffer dogs in war
against drugs
TEHRAN,
Dec 8 (AFP) - Iran will begin using sniffer dogs, considered "impure"
animals in Islamic tradition, in its high profile war against drugs, the
government-run Iran paper reported Wednesday ... FULL TEXT
Iran: Sanctions hamper Y2K efforts
TEHRAN, Iran The U.S. trade sanctions against Iran are
hampering the country's efforts to prepare for the millennium computer bug,
Iran's top Y2K official said Tuesday, but he added that he did not foresee
any major disruptions ... FULL TEXT
Iran says stops nuclear cooperation with
China
TEHRAN, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Iran said on Wednesday it was no longer
working on nuclear projects with China, a change long sought by the United
States which fears that Tehran may be trying to acquire nuclear weapons
... FULL TEXT
Iran official says WTO membership indispensable
TEHRAN, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Iran could risk economic isolation if
it fails to secure itself a place in the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
Iran's Central Bank Governor Mohsen Nourbakhsh was quoted on Wednesday as
saying ... FULL TEXT
Gloves off
Tehran (Iran daily) - Culture Minister Ataollah Mohajerani has
invited his most outspoken critic, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, to a debate ...
FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
For kids
Tehran
(Iran daily) - New book: "Gol almaas" includes 24 Persian tales
and 19 stories for children from around the world ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
World Cup qualifying draw results
December
8, 1999, (Hamid Taghavi) -- The 2002 World Cup qualifying draw results are
in. In Asia, 40 teams will compete in 10 groups of four. Iran was the seeded
team in group 2 ... FULL TEXT
Tabatabaie: A-OK
Tehran
(Iran daily) - National soccer team goalie Hadi Tabatabaie says everything
is cool and he doesn't know why people want to drag him into non-existant
controversies ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
BBC
Persian Service
For the latest news,
interviews and features on Iranian current affairs ... LISTEN HERE
Exchange rate
Updated December 6
Buying: 860-870 tomans per dollar
Selling: 876 tomans per dollar
CALL TOLL FREE: 877-SEHHATY (877-734-4289)
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