Archive - Jan 2008 - Article

Thirty Birds

This poem was revealed to me. Let us not argue from whence, whether from the sub- or super-consciousness, and simply accept that, as with the Leila poem, I had no conscious choice or will in its making, only in the editing. It revealed itself with Attar's journey as the central metaphor, but it also revealed the presence of Ahriman/Angra Manyu, Ahura Mazda's opponent. I envisioned him somehow very strongly as Khomeini engaged in a battle with the "songgirl", Forough, for the soul of Iran and the world>>>

Long live the Bomb

The problem arises about what we don’t know and the accuracy of what we assume we know. Knowing the past and the present behavior of the Islamic regime makes it very hard to believe they have abandoned what seems to be their final card to play. The Islamic Republic cannot possibly live longer than it already has without the bomb. In dealing with the mullahs ruling Iran, what you see is not what you get, and what you hear is not what they mean. Transparency and honesty are not their strong suit. So, we need a first-rate sleuth to see through their smoke-and-mirrors, as well as beyond their twisted tongues into their warped brains>>>

رنسانس اتمی و سکوت رسانه ای

مساله این است که خود اروپایی‌ها و آمریکایی‌ها تازگی‌ها به این نتیجه رسیده‌اند که با وجود ریسک‌های زیست‌محیطی انرژی اتمی، این شیوه‌ی تولید انرژی فعلا با صرفه‌ترین شیوه است، ولی وقتی نوبت به کشورهایی مثل ایران می‌رسد یک دفعه از این جور استدلال‌های ساده‌خر‌کن می‌آورند. خود من با کمال تاسف سه سال پیش مقاله‌ای در نیو ساینتیست نوشتم و همین استدلال را برای رد نیاز ایران به انرژی اتمی تکرار کردم و الان هم کی به عقب نگاه می‌‌کنم می‌بینم که اصلا تنها دلیل چاپ این مقاله همین بود و اگر مثلا از آن دفاع کرده بودم امکان نداشت چاپ بشود. من از بابت این نادانی و دربست پذیرفتن چنین استدلالی از مردم ایران عمیقا عذر می‌خواهم.

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هیچ یک با هم

دختر
ایرانی بود یا می‌نمود

با چشمانش
که میان ابر اخم
و شبنم یک لبخند
به نزدیکتر زآنچه می‌دید
و دورتر زآنچه در خیالش بود
می‌نگریست >>>

Nazeris on fire

There is such relief in reviewing a piece of music by Hafez and Shahram Nazeri, mostly because nobody who likes Shahram Nazeri will abstain from buying his latest work, even if I give it a bad review! My review is not a technical one, as I am barely qualified to be a good connoisseur of good Iranian music. I am a listener. The one for whom music is written (sometimes) and produced (always). As listeners, some music we hear with our ears, and some music we hear with our hearts. This man’s voice, and his young musician son’s composition, is something I listened to with my heart>>>

A Hero born of a hero

It was the noon of January 8, 2008. A large crowd was waiting for Bilawal Bhutto Zardini's speech. He is the son of the famous Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minster of Pakistan who was assassinated two days ago in a mysterious event. Now, Bilawal, a 19-year-old history student of Oxford University was the chairmen of the Pakistan's People Party, the greatest secular party of the nation, although he did not like political jobs. There is a high risk for a terrorist action during or after today's event. For a teenager it seemed so soon to worry about death, but it was the reality of life for Pakistan's new sudden hero>>>

گلابی ممنوعه

سرگروهبان قنبری آموزش دیده ارتش شاهنشاهی بود و هنوز بعداز سالها خدمت، بدنی ورزیده داشت.در مدت خدمت و در طول جنگ تحمیلی صدام بر علیه ایران گروهبان جوانان زیادی را آموزش و به قول خودش آنها را به مردان ورزیده تبدیل و به جامعه تحویل داده بود. گاهی وقتها که در خیابان قدم میزد با مردان جوانی روبرو میشد که با احترام و محبت به او سلام میدادند و وقتی با دقت به چهره های آنها نگان میکرد تصویر جوانانی را می دید که سالها قبل زیر دست او آموزش دیده و خدمت کرده بودند.>>>

Do someting, like other minorities do

We, Iranians, complain about unnecessary bureaucracy in Iran and we, Iranian-Americans, complain about the same beau racy in the United States. The point to make about the U.S. bureaucracy is the recent backlog and immense delays in the processing of immigration petitions with an increased fee and official promises to expedite them and remove the backlogs. But, as you know it from your personal experience and I know it from my nationwide immigration practice, there has not been a slight and better change yet. >>>

Living With "Uncertainty"

From The "Time" Of My "Birth" ..
"Unbeknownst" To "Many" ..
I Have "Always" Struggled ..
With "Much" Uncertainty ..
Never "Satisfied" With "Plain" Explanations ..
Knowing The "Great" Depth of "All" Things ..
"Always" Wondering "Whether" I Know "Enough" ..
The "Shadow" of "Doubt" Ever Present .. >>>

I HAD a dream

There was still plenty of abgoosht and vodka left when Martin Luther King’s ghost crashed our party a couple of nights ago. His holiday wasn’t until today, but he showed up early because he overheard our debate about US-Iran relations. The subject: does criticism of Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Falluja, Blackwater, and the Patriot Act somehow excuse or legitimize human rights violations of the Islamic Republic? After all, if it is legal in America to torture in the name of national security, why pick on Iran for doing the same thing?>>>

Women vs. God

In 1936, Reza Shah ordered the public unveiling of women in Iran. The clergy vigorously protested; women of the mercantile middle class stayed home, refusing to appear „naked” in public. Lower middle class and rural women began to work outside the home, most of them in small textile shops. It is the labour of women and children, with their small fingers, which forms the backbone of the carpet industry in Iran. Any benefits relating to housing or childcare which they receive are given not to them but to their husbands. Their working conditions are harsh, with long hours, low pay and inadequate maternity provisions>>>

Don't worry (too much)

As far as I am concerned, the so called stimulus package, proposed by the Bush administration, is nothing more than a too-little-too-late remedy. It may not have the intended effects envisioned by the administration. As you know, the disposable income is not the only determinant of consumer spending, albeit a key factor. For consumers to spend more money, especially on the big-ticket items, their expectations must also be favorable. Without optimistic expectations, the full increase in consumer spending, following the tax rebate, is only a wishful thinking>>>

در انتظار ِظهور

ملاک کامیابی و موفقیت یک قوم کوچ یافته را نباید بر تعداد پزشکانش یا توانایی مالی اش بنا نهاد، کامیابی قومی کوچ یافته را باید از رشد و استقلال ذهنیش دانست. رشد ذهنی همان میانه روی است در زیستن و اندیشیدن میان دو فرهنگ، دو طرز فکر. رشد فکری زاده هوش است و هوش قدرت همگونی است با محیط، یعنی ایجاد توازن. امرسون نیز می آورد: "هوش یعنی باور داشتن در خود، باور داشتن در حقیقت خود، باور داشتن در درست بودن هر آنچه در ژرفای قلبمان شایسته خود می دانیم." >>>

دشنه خائن

دشنه مبهم بود
مثل یک زخم قدیمی غم آلود
دشنه خائن از خود ما بود
خود را برادر میگفت با صداقت ظاهری جفاکاران
دشنه هوا را بلعید
زمان ایستاد عقربه خم شد

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شیرین عبادی در سرزمین عجایب

حالا به نظر من آدم باید خیلی ساده باشد که فکر کند جایزه‌ای که در میلان به شیرین عبادی داده‌اند هیچ ربطی به جایزه‌‌های قبلی این موسسه ندارد و شیرین خانم عبادی اصولا تافته‌ی جدابافته‌ای است. از این تیپ حمایت‌ها خیلی در این یکی دو سال از ابلهانی مانند گنجی و عبادی شده است که یا واقعا خودشان نمی‌دانند ماجرا چیست و معادلات قدرت پشت این حمایت‌ها را نمی‌بینند، یا اینکه من و شما را خر فرض کرده‌اند و نمی‌دانند که آدم به شک می‌افتد وقتی می‌بیند از یک طرف مرتب ضد بوش و جنگ روضه می‌خوانند، و از طرف دیگر مدام توسط کثیف‌ترین شبکه‌های قدرت دست راستی در آمریکا و اروپا حلوا حلوا می‌شوند. >>>