Archive - 2009 - Article

The Secret Agent

Some months before he vanished, Golbaz had said something about a new law about to be passed that would affect his job. Soon he started skipping town on short notice for days at a time, sometimes coming home with a tan, sometimes having lost weight. He wouldn’t say where he had been. Until one day Aunt Merhri found airplane tickets in his jacket. “When were you going to tell me?” she fumed. “At the last minute.” he replied. He was going to Europe for training, but wasn’t allowed to say more. Aunt Mehri showed me Golbaz’s letters. They were dated a week apart from London, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Vienna, and some cities I hadn’t heard of. There were no return addresses, and gave no clues as to what he was doing or when he might return>>>

Simple truth

There’s a reason why we learn math. It’s not just to know how to do basic arithmetic or calculating the speed of train A and train B. Mathematics is important to us on a much deeper level. Philosophically speaking, math can explain the building blocks of existence and giving us the answers to the questions that we seek. Like what is the meaning of life? Yet being apart of the answer to those problems is essential to what we are without realizing it. Being an Architecture student, I’ve taken into account how many structures, objects and things can be broken down into simple shapes that are much simpler than their complexity portrays>>>

Breakfast at Gracie Mansion

Monday morning I had the great honor of meeting personally with New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, on the occasion of the old and traditional Norooz celebration at his official residence at Gracie Mansion. I had met him before; however, this morning was a turning point in my judgment of him as he proved to be a practical and a no non-sense human being, not just a politician. Himself a descendant of an immigrant family, he demonstrated many understandings the communities are going through now. But first, allow me to convey to you his message of great contribution of immigrants, including Iranians, to the New York City community>>>

کاغذ در باد

نوشتن برای خبری است که در لابلای ورق خوردن کاغذهاست . کاغذها مانع خبرها هم هستند. کاغذها پیامشان را پنهان می کنند تا نوشته شود و ماندگار بماند و در گیرو دارو هرج و مرج ، در انفجارها و خرابی ها ، در تمام آبادیها و تمدنیا ، در حفره ها عمیق و سطحی ، تنها کاغذها باشند که پیام را می برند. وقتی باد پاییزی در پیچ کوچه و خیابان مارپیچ می تازد کاغذ ها در برابرت از زمین برمی خیزند و تا سطح بی اعتنایی سقف ماشینها پر می کشند. این باد بادآورده برگهای خشک پاییز را در بی خبری به هوا می برد و کاغذها همراهشان در باد می خرامند. و بی آنکه بخواهند با خبرهاشان برمی خیزند و همراه با باد بی آنکه بخوانیشان از راه می رسند و به پنجره های بسته پناه می بردند>>>

To my beloved America

It's been a while
since your beliefs are gone,
since this apathy
made you spend your way
to your last home,
a refugee, now in heaven
now in hell >>>

Four more weeks

...>>>

Expect major catfights

The Obama administration's recent overtures for a reconciliation with Iran have come in the form of sweet talk of opening up of fisted hands, accompanied with a quotation from the wily and clever Sa'di, one of our more popular poets (1184-1283?). The initial Iranian responses to these Obama overtures are starting to resemble the coy Iranian bride's ladylike silence upon first being asked if she would take the man. Initial reactions from the Iranian government were predictable rebukes and denunciations to the effect that nothing has changed in reality, that the Americans should draw some lessons from their past and present behavior if they really want better relations with Iran>>>

The contender

Sometimes news takes time to get out of Iran - particularly when it comes to internal strife in the upper political echelons. But eventually, major clashes leak out. This week the news emerged that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran and Ahmadinejad's main rival in the Osulgarayn (Principalist) movement, resigned from his post just before the end of the previous Persian calendar year - approximately March 18 or 19. A number of days later, he was reinstated to his job after his resignation was rejected by senior officials, most likely the supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei.>>>

What is happening to us?

Whenever the victim(s) is Muslim and the aggressor not, the probability of Muslim outrage is exponentially far greater than when both are Muslims. When there is a role reversal that is the aggressor is Muslim and victim is not this observation does not hold. For example lets take the case of the eight year war the late Saddam Hussein started and imposed on Iran. Although no reliable statistics exists, the number of victims are put at anywhere between one to two million. That is one to two million victims with zest for life, beloved families and unfulfilled dreams who overwhelmingly were Muslim>>>

«قانون جرایم رایانه‌ای»

در هفته‌های اخیر موج وسیعی از سركوب وبلاگ‌نویسان به راه افتاده است. در روزهای آخر سال گذشته، اطلاعیه شدید اللحنی از سوی «مرکز بررسی جرائم سازمان یافته اینترنتی» وابسته به سپاه پاسداران منتشر شد كه از برخورد سازمان یافته و با بهره‌گیری از پیش‌رفته‌ترین فن‌آوری‌ها برای كنترل نشر اینترنتی حكایت می‌كرد. در این اطلاعیه گفته شده بود كه ده‌ها سایت و وبلاگ «ضد دینی» و «ضد اخلاقی» بسته شده و ۱۸ نفر بازداشت شده‌اند. در همان روزها خبر فوت مشكوك وبلاگ‌نویس امیررضا میر صیافی در زندان اوین منتشر شد و گزارش‌های بعدی شائبه قتل او در زندان را تقویت كرد. و اكنون «معاونت مبارزه با جرایم خاص و رایانه ای» در نیروی انتظامی، وبلاگ ‌نویسان را با ارسال یك «هشدار» بی‌سابقه مورد تهدید قرار داده است>>>

Nowruz in exile

I stitch
my skirt
to the spring
of the hostess city,
my skin to the
reminiscence
of springs past
in my city of birth,
and I celebrate
the new year's feast,
Nowruz, on Cyberspace! >>>

Flint to Flint

I am on a train.
Heading towards London.
In between two worlds,
my head bouncing against the Window.
The train reaches Kings Cross station,
I zigzag the crowd,
a sea of rushing suites,
and in my empty seat,
a half read newspaper >>>

When and how?

On Nowruz, the day when Iranians celebrate the coming of spring and the new Iranian calendar year, US President Barack Obama took the helm of American foreign policy towards Iran and dramatically communicated his will to chart a new course away from the failed policies of the past. "My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us", Obama said in a video message to Iranians. But given the upcoming Iranian presidential elections in June, the real challenge for the United States is when and how to further engage Iran. Obama understands that there are vast areas of convergence between the United States and Iran when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan, and many more areas where constructive engagement could produce tangible results for both sides>>>

Wall Street vs Main Street

Yoram Bauman, an Economics Professor at the University of Washington, is well-known for his sense of humor. He recently compared Italian and Wall Street Mafias: "Italian Mafia are gangsters who make offers you can't refuse, whereas financial mafia are bankers who make you loans you can't understand, I'm not sure which is worse." Well, Professor Bauman, I can tell you the worse one is NOT the Italian Mafia. It is this Wall Street’s culture of entitlement that is hard to shake. Yes my friends, here is the punch line: Wall Street simply destroyed Main Street, pure and simple, and it is going to take years to rebuild it. The main root of the current crisis can be summed up in one word: greed, the first of the seven deadly sins>>>

Literary tranquilizers

I have coined this title for referring to my collection of the most potent, popular, brief and soothing words of wit and wisdom mainly Persian. My aim is to provide an alternative for ever-increasing trend in substance abuse or myriad of over-the counter or prescribed pills that are popped daily to cope with increasing stressful conditions associated with our 'modern' technological age. The greatest advantage of literary tranquilizers are their virtually no cost and lack of side effects provided that one gets addicted to them and loves them. Resorting to these should beat all other devastating addictions >>>