Date

USA

Rove story

Or never having to say you're sorry

19-Aug-2007 (one comment)
It's official; by month's end, Karl Rove will be out of the White House. And it will be of his own accord, not indicted and, most importantly, without having to ask his admired boss, and close friend, for a presidential pardon. It's time for the maestro directing the Washington Busharmonic to lay down the baton; take a midlife break; rest a bit; write a book; and, who knows, maybe even finish those few credits he still requires to get a long-postponed Bachelor's in Political Science. Let someone else direct the funeral music still being composed at the White House: Bush's "Mess in B Minor.">>>

VATICAN

God's palace

God's palace

Photo essay: Visitng the Holy See

by Farah Ravon
18-Aug-2007

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IDEAS

ممنوعيت انديشيدن به اصول

اعجاب انگيز نيست که هر فرد آدمی آن «جهان بينی» را که در رگ هاي روح و ذهنش تزريق شده «حقيقت مطلق» بداند

18-Aug-2007

می خواهم بگويم که اکثريت قريب به اتفاق مسلمانان (و نيز پيروان ديگر اديان) صرفاً مصرف کنندهء کالاهای فروشگاه «مذهب» هستند و کاری به کار «دين» ندارند؛ چه رسد به اينکه بخواهند در صحت و سقم «اصول» آن تحقيق کنند. اصلاً کدام کس حوصله و وقتش را دارد که کار و زندگی را رها کند و دور دنيا راه بيافتد تا کسی را بيابد که بتواند اصول دين را برايش توضيح دهد و توجيه کند؟ >>>

WOMEN

داروهای خواب آور

در کنفرانس بنیاد پژوهش های زنان

18-Aug-2007
دوست عزیز، نه جمهوری اسلامی برای من آن کودک تبدار است و نه امریکا هیولای بی شاخ و دم. امروز خطاست که چشم خود را به تقصیرات و قدرت‌طلبی‌های مسئله‌ساز جمهوری اسلامی در منطقه و جهان ببندیم و فقط با سیاست‌های منفعت‌طلبانه امریکا در خاورمیانه درگیر باشیم. جهان امروز دیگر جهان 20 سال گذشته نیست. قرن بیست و یکم می‌طلبد که ما انسان‌ها همراه با رشد سریع تکنولوژی و به‌هم پیوستگی جهانی، به مفهوم نوینی از سیاست، قدرت، دمکراسی و روابط کشورها با هم دست پیدا کنیم.، >>>

LIFE

Omid

Omid

Yeki bood yeki nabood...

by shahireh sharif
18-Aug-2007 (one comment)

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The Dude
18-Aug-2007
...In our first lesson, this lady will take the time to explain to all you expat girls and boys who might have lost touch with the reality of our homeland,what the government of Iran does to its' people... >>>

OPINION

Mullahs and opiates

Karl Marx once said derisively about spiritualism that “religion is the opiate of the people.” If so, one of them is more like crack cocaine

18-Aug-2007 (7 comments)
America and her quasi-backboned “allies” have a huge problem that grows by the day. Expectedly, there are as many analyses of our problem as there are “experts” to tell us what to think. A deluge of Western analysts have their diverse expert opinions regarding the “Mullah Problem” and what do about it. Some strategists advocate a military solution that ranges from full invasion of Iran to selective bombardment of its burgeoning nuclear centers and related facilities. Others are proponents of imposing economic sanctions of various types and severity. Still others feel that we simply have to learn to live with the inevitable—those “crazy” Mullahs with the bomb.>>>

LIFE

Dr. Baadazin

Disclaimer: Not representative of all Iranian gentlemen

18-Aug-2007

I am going to call him Dr. Baadazin. Even his email address says drbaaddazin@yahoo.com. When you ask him what kind of doctor he is he gets angry. He says once a lady whom he met online insisted to find out what his field of study is and he hung up on her. Well, I guess it is not something that makes or breaks a relationship, I agree. But it is tittering on the brink of false pretence. He says he is one of the five people in the world with this medical specialty so in all modesty he doesn’t want to “give himself away”. Vali khoda Google ro az ma nagireh. It acts like an instant lie detector

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HODER

The right to be rude

Hossein Derakhshan's opponents should just “grow up” rather than resort to legal measures

18-Aug-2007 (one comment)
You know, my favorite medium of communication has never been the English language. I much prefer to express myself in Farsi whenever I feel the urge to submit my thoughts or emotions to paper. This time, however, I chose to write in English because the article – if it could be called an article – that provoked this piece of writing was written in English. Though one may say that pleas against attempts to curb freedom of expression are legitimate regardless of the source of the plea, one would be entirely taken aback if such pleas came from, say, Chief Justice Ayatollah Shahroody of the Islamic Republic.>>>
manesh
17-Aug-2007 (5 comments)
What a man we lost in our times. Just watch the videos at the bottom and tell me you didn't love him:>>>

STAGE

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh

Preview performance of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" in Berkeley's Ashby Theater

by Jahanshah Javid
17-Aug-2007

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BOOKS

The right mix

J.K. Rowling has come a huge way from the first Harry Potter book

17-Aug-2007
The story itself is a marathon runner, for the most part it’s slow, preserving energy for later, every now and again it bursts out to gain speed and then it slows down and then towards the end, it goes full out but still for the most part, the runner is slow. If you didn’t get that metaphor, then here’s the translation: Basically, the story is slow, with outburst of action every now and again and then a climatic ending. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because Rowling wanted to stretch it out because she didn’t want it to end, or maybe it was for extra suspense but it simply went on for way too long. There were points in the middle and a 1/3 of the way in where I really just wanted to put the book down as it was boring me to sleep. There were moments where the action spiked up and those were quite invigorating at the time in contrast to the dull block of text.>>>

EXPERIMENTAL

LET ME...know you azizam

He is the man I had always wanted and he knows it

17-Aug-2007

Conquering Kamran was my all consuming desire. He asked whether I had a YAHOO id and soon we were sending IMs for eight hours or more at a time. We discussed life and the difficulties we had been through in life in general but also in our love lives. He also spoke about his upcoming book and how I would love the stories. It felt wonderful for a man to understand what I was talking about and it was easy to connect with him because we had both felt intense thoughts and emotions throughout our lives. This went on for so many hours and soon afterward he called me simply to hear my voice. He said, “I need to hear that sexy voice.” I responded, “How could you possibly know my voice was sexy.” He said, “Because I get so excited every time you IM me.” I was shocked and turned on.

 

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POETRY

A piece of woman's clothing
17-Aug-2007
... suddenly among the remaining things
A piece of a woman's clothing touches my hand
It is pale pink
Its front is made of net
And one delicate band
Connects the front to the back
I rub my fingers on this fig leaf
To extract all of its sweet juice >>>

POETRY

یک تکه رخت زنانه
17-Aug-2007

و ... ناگهان در میان تکه های به جا مانده
دستم به تکه رخت زنانه ای می خورد
که رنگی صورتی دارد
پته ی رویی اش توری است
و بندی نازک آن را
به پته ی پشتی پیوند می دهد
انگشت هایم را به نرمی روی این برگ انجیر می سایم
و می خواهم تمام شیره ی شیرین آن را بیرون بکشم
(English) >>>