Letters
Feb 1-5, 1999 / Bahman 12-16, 1377
Today
* Census:
- Good for all of us
* Angylina:
- Call her what you want
- I also serve soup to the poor
Previous
* Oil:
- More oil, less prosperity
- Pump it or lose it
* Revolution:
- Wonderful collection... for kids
* Kids:
- Adoption?
* Politics:
- Getting down to serious business
email us
Friday,
February 5, 1999
* Census: Good for all of us
A few weeks ago I received a card in the mail from the U.S. Census Bureau
advertising part & full time jobs. I have been thinking about the same
things David Rahni mentions in his letter ["Iranians
in 2000 US census"]. I believe we have to think about the following
issues:
- The first step in becoming an official minority group in this county
(& being able to benefit from some of the government's special minority
programs) is to show noticeable numbers in our population through census
2000.
- There are assurances that information provided to the census would
not be supplied to the IRS, Immigration, FBI,...(although I am not so sure!)
- If the population of Iranians in the census shows a significant number,
national advertisers would notice and spend money not only on Iranian media
but also on related businesses and services.
- A good size Iranian community will attract the attention of the politicians,
and thus it gives us advantages to ask them for something in return, such
as more relaxed immigration laws, or putting a stop to unfair behavior
towards our parents at the airports when entering the U.S., etc..
I agree with Mr. Rahni that this should be the top agenda for all Iranian
groups in the U.S. (regardless of their religious, political, social, or
cultural affiliation), because the result would benefit us all.
There should be a center (or better a web page) dedicated to this cause
where everyone could find information, solutions or ideas.
Masoud Modarres
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* Call her what you want
Boy, I was blue this morning until I found my
way to Angylina's site. She's got a great body. I don't care what you call her.
(Also see Angylina's letter)
Behzad Fazel
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Thursday
February 4, 1999
* I also serve soup to the poor
First off, you have no
right to call me bimbo. You don't know me, what kind of education I
have, or why I do what I do. I don't think you have authorization to use
that picture either! It states on my
page that those pictures are copywrited. I suggest you take it and
the story off your site now before you are sued by myself and the photographer.
I work hard to achieve the goals I have. All my life I have been harrassed
by men like you who have sat on your throne and throw stones at people
all while your living in a glass home. You're the same "men"
who cheat on your wives, make as much money as you can to drive "Mercedes
Benz" while people are starving. At least I take the time and lend
my time to homeless shelters on the soupline and money to animal adoption
services. I live a modest life. I drive no fancy car. I live in a 900-sq
foot rental home and am greatful for the life I am blessed.
Just because someone looks good and takes care of their body and isn't
afraid to show it off doesn't mean that they did anything to get it. I
have NOT compromised myself to get where I am at. I've done this all on
my own, without relying on anyone for help. I'm not afraid to show off
my body and model.
Now, I am warning you to retract that article and remove the picture
or my attourney will contact you within 24 hrs. And you cannot print, show,
or put this letter on your page either.
Angylina
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Wednesday
February 3, 1999
* More oil, less prosperity
[Regarding "Pretend
we have no oil"], with the exception of one field in the Persian
Gulf, where the reservoir straddles across sovereign borders between Iran
and one of the UAE emirates, there is no other reservoir even close to
other countries' jurisdictions. In the Caspian Sea we may, in future, also
run across a possible similar scenario. Neither case is too significant
and you can always make some kind of arrangements, whereby one or the other
country becomes the operator, and they share the revenues under some well-tried-out
formulae. In the case of the Persian Gulf field, proper protections are
in place already.
Mr. Mirfendreski's article while interesting and thoughtful philosophically,
on purely economic terms, has shortcomings. Considering the competitions
from other sources of energy, whose costs have been steadily decreasing
vs. the increasing trend of exploration and production cost for oil, the
present value of a barrel of oil, say 10 years from now, is really very
little. Reliance on the revenues of oil, however, is bad no matter what
the price, today or tomorrow.
Worldwide a principle seems to hold true, that places rich in non-renewable
natural resources, tend to have lower standards of living. The overseas
examples are many and well known. Even in the United States, this principle
seems true. States like New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma ... with abundant
natural resources fall short of states like Massachusetts, New York ...
with negligible or no natural resources.
Hashem Farhang
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* Pump it or lose it
To respond to the question about leaving oil in the ground ["Pretend
we have no oil"], most Iranian reserves are shared. Masjed-e-Soleiman
is shared with Iraq's Northern wells. And there were reports (rumors?)
back in the Shah/Cold War era that Semnan oil fields somehow tapped into
the Soviet Caspian Sea reserves, which explained why Iran and the Soviet
Union had a few production sharing agreements. Unfortunately if your neighbors
are pumping, it's a "pump it or lose it" situation.
Ramin Abhari
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Tuesday
February 2, 1999
* Wonderful collection... for kids
Thank you very much for the wonderful collection of pics and songs ["Revolution:
1979-1999"]. Please keep it on line so my kids get educated about
what has gone into this revolution.
Keefer
keefer88@voicenet.com
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* Adoption?
Do you know where I can get info on adopting a child from Iran?
Niloo Soleimani
niloo@cisco.com
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Monday
February 1, 1999
* Getting down to serious business
I enjoyed your article ["Laleh Khalili's
"A
first concert"] as an informative report
on a special segment of Iranian youth. As an Iranian-American who has been
away from Iran for over twenty years, and all at the same time, very much
interested in the fate of my countrywomen and men, I would like to thank
you for taking the time to eloquently describe an evening of a special
occasion in Tehran.
I was not surprised to read how Iranian youth
are so thirsty for anything Western, and specially American. The confines
of the regime in Iran are only fooling themselves, if they think, by any
means, they are preventing the new generation from the harms and decadence
of Western culture by imposing unreasonable restrictions on them. The forbidden
fruit only looks to be more desirable or so it seems to the vulnerable
and impressionable young!
The present regime in Iran should and will have
to, in order to survive, concentrate its energy and effort on the more
imminently viable issues: like how to rescue the economy and mend the ever
increasing gap of the bridge between the out-of-line hard-liners and the
moderate so-called democrats. And that most definitely requires a whole
lot of effort and energy! So I really do wish they would get down to some
serious work.
Nasrin Sasanpour
nasrins@worldnet.att.net
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