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Facebook Revolution

The dream of a quick, non-violent movement that will bring about democracy is exactly what it is... a dream

08-Jul-2009 (29 comments)
I took a long drag from my cigarette and reluctantly listened to the dude as he tried to explain what was taking place in Iran. The dude was so excited, he couldn’t control his movements and knocked his friend’s coffee over and burned the poor chump’s lap along with the family jewels. He exuberantly explained that a new non-violent movement is taking shape in Iran which will overthrow the mullahs and bring about freedom and democracy to the whole Middle East. He talked about Gandhi and Martin Luther King and explained that massive strikes will follow which will cripple the mullahs shortly. As I’m sitting listening to this guy, I’m thinking to myself, what a bunch of bullshit.>>>

ISRAEL

و ناگهان، باز خطر جنگ

كودتای انتخاباتی خامنه‌ای/احمدی‌نژاد امنیت خارجی ایران را نیز بیش از هرزمان آسیب‌پذیرتر كرده

08-Jul-2009 (10 comments)
چند روز پیش دوستی در پیامی خصوصی، به نوشته هفته گذشته من و اشاره به امكان برخورد خشونت‌بار در درون حاكمیت انتقاد كرده بود. نوشتم كه من ترجیح می‌دهم «واقعیت» را آن گونه كه می‌بینم بیان كنم و لو این كه ناخوش‌آیند باشد. و بعد به مقالات متعددی كه در باره خطر جنگ در دوران حكومت بوش نوشته‌ام اشاره كردم، و با ذكر این كه «در آن موقع هم كسانی بودند كه می‌گفتند چنین خطری ‌وجود ندارد» اضافه كردم كه «اكنون خوشحالم كه با رفتن بوش این خطر بسیار تخفیف یافته است». امروز، اما، باید اقرار كنم كه این «خوش‌حالی» من بسیار گذرا بوده و در فاصله‌ای كمتر از چند روز پس از پاسخ به آن پیام بر باد رفته است. سه هفته پس از انتخابات سرنوشت‌سازی كه به بزرگترین بحران داخلی حاكمیت در طول حیات ۳۰ ساله جمهوری اسلامی منجر شده ، اثرات این بحران در سیاست خارجی ایران نیز به تدریج آشكار شده است.>>>

IDEAS

The Problem of Leadership

Avoidance of extreme measures is a clear proof of the originality of current Movement

08-Jul-2009 (3 comments)
Given the current circumstances, it is meaningless to talk of “The problem of Leadership in the Movement and the Search for Ways to Elevate It”. This is more reminiscent of the days when political struggle was limited to the coming together of a handful of enchanted people to “form a study cell and write platforms about the world and internal conditions” and then be picked up by SAVAK, with their manuscript pamphlets onboard. The current Movement, embodied in the slow and deliberate Reformism, on a path albeit winding and laden with potholes, has been years in the offing; and in the form of elections it has drawn millions of people to the stage. Their belief in their righteousness and originality has empowered them to the point of confronting the Supreme Leader.>>>

STORY

The Butcher

Guide us along the straight path

08-Jul-2009 (35 comments)
The call to noon prayer beats down from the sun. A laborer mutters his devotion in the scant shade of a sapling. Enough playing and sightseeing at the marketplace. Time to go home for lunch. I had spent the day watching the grape flies at the fruit seller's shade. They float silently in the fragrant air, their wings blurred around them like halos. They read your mind. Try to grab one and it has already drifted serenely out of the way. No hurry, no panic. They know the future. On the short walk home, the sun is already bleaching memories of the fruit seller's paradise. Guide us along the straight path ...Why do we need guiding along the straight path? I wonder. >>>