Archive - Mar 2008 - Article

بی انصافا

از زنی که یکروز اون رو
برهنه تو شکمش داشت
ولی حالا روشو ازش برگردونده
که زخمیش نکنه،
با وجودی که تموم وجودش اشتیاقه،
می خواد دوباره قورتش بده،
می خواد بچه ش دوباره کوچولو بشه
و خودشودرسته توش بندازه

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نوروز به هيچ ايدئولوژی سرسپردگی ندارد

تجربهء هفت هزار ساله به ما می گويد که اگر نوروز يک عيد و جشن مذهبی بود در همان نخستين خم کوچهء تاريخ از ميان رفته بود. اما نوروز، تنومند و با شکوه و زيبا ـ تکيه زده بر عصای ستبر جداسری (جدائی از ايدئولوژی و مذهب) ـ از راه بندان همهء مذاهب رد شده است تا امروز نيز در مقابل اين پهلوان پنبهء خرافات زدهء حکومت اسلامی بايستد و بگذارد تا نوکران حکومت شان تملق اش را بگويند، تاريخ و هويتش را معوج بازگويند و در لحظهء تحويل سال بسوی «عرش الهی» شان دست بگشايند و، در عيدی ايرانی، به زبان عربی التماس کنند که: «يا مقلب القلوب و الابصار...» >>>

کوه نخست

درسفری اخیر به تهران خود را برای اولین بار شیفته البرز یافتم. گویا یک آشنازدایی رخ داده بود که مرا دلباخته کوهستانی میکرد که سالیان سال با بی تفاوتی نظاره گرش بودم و این در حالی که هر روزم را با نگاهی به البرز آغار کرده بودم. باید سالها میگذشتند تا دور از وطن و در شهری عاری از کوه، به ارزش صلابت و استفامت البرزپی میبردم، چراکه علی رغم آنچه در طی قرون و اعصار بر ما رفته است، علی رغم اهانتهایی که به میراث فرهنگیمان منجمله تخت جمشید و پاسارگاد روا داشته اند، این کوه ها را نتوانسته اند از ما بگیرند. هزاران نگهبان هم که به البرز روانه شده اند تا از درهم آمیختن دو جنس جلوگیری به عمل آورند، کوه ها همجنان با استحکام ایستاده و پذیرای عاشقان عشق و دوستداران طبیعت بوده اند.>>>

The Spider Killings (10)

Roxanne had been grilling Ramin for a half hour now, about the state of crime, in particular prostitution, in Mashad, his crime statistics, his office hierarchy, the qualifications of his staff etc. It had all boiled down in the end to the recent murder of the woman found on a busy city street a couple of weeks ago. The woman Roxanne believed was maybe the third or fourth victim of a serial killer, nicknamed the Spider Killer behind closed doors. Her friend Peyman’s informant would not elaborate on a precise number of victims, just that there had been more than two>>>

Pre-emtive failure

Iraq was occupied by the US-led troops from March 20 to May 1, 2003. Five years have passed since the Bush administration launched the war on terror beginning with the campaign entitled "Operation Iraqi Freedom" to topple the Saddam regime in Iraq. Yet the panoramic picture of Iraq continues to remain in a sombre situation. The US was yet to reach its target to “disarm” Saddam Hussein’s regime of weapons of mass destruction in the fight against “terrorism”, but nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons were never found in Iraq after the military occupation>>>

87 days and 50 pounds

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Sign Language as second language

I am in a line at my bank. The Brazilian and the Italian teller are busy with the customers who crane their necks to grasp what the tellers are saying in their thick accents. The quickest of tellers—a short, stout young man who doesn’t have an accent—a real Canadian—with short dyed blond spikes, is not in today. There is a sign on his counter: CLOSED. I look at my watch. The Italian and the Brazilian take their time. Keep talking. I’ll have to grab something to eat on my rush to class. They don’t care. They just shoot bland smiles at the impatient customers like me. I see a hand waving at me from behind a desk at the other end of the counter. It belongs to a new teller—a young Chinese man who stands now behind the desk where new accounts are handled>>>

No madness worse than greed

Every so often people assume that somehow they can make money out of the thin air. The most famous one was the Tulip mania of 1636-1637 in Netherland and the most recent one was the “dotcom” bubble of 1995-2001 (on March 10th, 2000 the NASDAQ peaked at 5132.52). Today we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the real estate bubble. In every case, the madness begins with those who have high tolerance for financial risk. That is to say they are rich and can afford greater financial loss than others. They speculate and make money, lots of money. Soon the less wealthy see this and join the crowd and before you know it the whole country is involved>>>

Koodakaneh

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بوی بهار آورد باد

بهار، زمان نو شدن و زندگی از سر گرفتن طبیعت ، آغاز روئیدن و بیرون آمدن گل و گیاه از شکم خاک تیره و تار و رنگارنگ شدن باغ و بوستان پس از یک دورۀ سردی و بی رنگی ، همیشه یکی از مضامین مورد علاقۀ شاعران ایرانی بوده است. منتهی در هر دوره ای و در هر سبکی ، شاعران طبیعت را به صورتهای گو نه گون منطبق با شرایط زمان و مکان دیده، توصیف کرده اند. و از گرد آمدن همین گونه گونی هاست که سبکهای مختلف ادبی بوجود آمده است. سبکهای ادبی و شعری را در شعرو ادب پارسی انواعی است : خراسانی (ترکست انی) ، عراقی، هندی و شعر نو.>>>

Government of the masses

The latest election for the Eighth Iranian Majlis (Parliament) took place on Friday, March 14, 2008, and according to Iran’s Interior Ministry, 65 percent of the nation’s 43 million eligible voters cast their ballots without the slightest disturbances or mishaps that are so common in many places during elections, not to mention the debacles in Florida’s 2000 and Ohio’s 2004 elections. Iran’s turnout was 14 percent higher than in the 2004 Parliamentary elections when 51 percent of the voters participated, said Hassan Khanlou, the chief of the ministry’s election committee. >>>

He's no better

One can say, we are all prisoners of our own perceptions. Millions of people have voted in this election so far. The Republican nominee has been chosen, but the Democrats have not yet been able to choose their nominee. This has happened not because of the vast differences of policies between the two remaining candidates. Both Clinton and Obama have very similar plans and policies toward most of the big issues. The quagmire the Democrats find themselves in choosing a leader is not, therefore, in the differences in policies offered by the candidates, but the perception the voters have of Clinton and Obama>>>

نوروز در زندان

در راهروی بند سفره‌ای سراسری چیده شده بود و در دو طرف آن بچه‌ها نشسته بودند. در چندین نقطه از سالن، سفره‌های هفت‌سین پهن شده بودند. اسدالله و چند نفر دیگر از حواریونش! همگی با لُنگ کراوات زده و در طول بند رژه می‌رفتند و به شوخی کردن با این و آن پرداخته و به جشن و پای‌کوبی و شعرخوانی می‌پرداختند. یک نفر نیز اسدالله را همراهی می‌کرد که از او به نام” آقای فتو” نام می‌‌برد و با اشاره‌ی اسدالله از افراد مختلف با دوربین ساختگی‌ای که درست کرده بود، عکس می‌گرفت و تحویل آنان می‌داد. عکس‌ها چیزی جز نقاشی‌های ساده و ابتدایی بیش نبودند. مثلاً عکسی که ظاهراً از تواب‌‌ها می‌گرفت و به دست‌شان می‌داد، کره‌خری بود که چهار دست و پایش را هوا کرده بود. سیگارهایی ساختگی نیز به وسیله‌ی کاغذ، با استادی تمام درست شده بود که به لحاظ شکل ظاهری بسیار شبیه به سیگارهای واقعی می‌نمودند و در میان سفره‌ی هفت‌سین بند گذاشته شده بود>>>

Confessions of a Farsiholic

The first time I was fined for saying “Farsi” instead of “Persian” I didn’t fight the ticket because back then the action was all about French. French fries had become “Freedom” fries, ruining a flavorful shortcut to khoresh-e-gheimeh. Flag wavers claimed fried potatoes sliced lengthwise should never have been called French fries in the first place. There were “chips” to go with fried fish in England as early as 1864. Surely the US adopting fries in the 1930s, should have named this calorie bomb after her freedom-loving ally, and not after folks who would leave Iraqis in peace. The Francophile in me worried that the logic of Iran experts who said the term “Farsi” broke ties with prestigious Persia, could also apply to French culture>>>

Wake-up call for day-dreamers

We have just witnessed the passing of yet another defeat for the struggle for freedom in Iran, and yet another victory for a regime that is far too incompetent and far too unrepresentative for a progressive and prosperous Iran. Sixty percent or more of the Iranian electorate went to the polls, therefore tacitly approving the unfair electoral process that was cooked for them. The best way to deal with the elections was to boycott it, as so many, including myself, had suggested, and the vast majority of the Iranian electorate considered (for various reasons that I will try to deal with) otherwise. It is worth noting that 60% is pretty much the figure that most Western democracies are happy to have for their elections>>>