IRAN
by Volker Perthes
It is not possible to predict political developments in Iran, even over the short-term. It may be realistic to assume, though, that scenarios for Iran in 2010-11 will still be scenarios for the Islamic Republic of Iran – that, in other words, a replacement of the existing system by another is unlikely. True, changes within the Islamic Republic are to be expected. The precise depth and direction of such changes will depend on a variety of factors originating both within Iran and its external environment. A scenario is not a prediction; quite the contrary, it provides a picture or story of different possible outcomes
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IDEAS
Human beings are genetically predisposed to be awestruck
Throughout the history of humankind, we cannot find any phenomenon more enduring and more ubiquitous than religion. It has been with us ever since we started living in communities. While scientific investigations have not provided conclusive evidence regarding the origin of religion, many researchers believe that human beings have a natural inclination for religion because of their genetic makeup. In other words, believing in religion is rooted in our genes. We are predisposed to be spiritual beings and religion is the outward manifestation of our spirituality
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IDEAS
آیا میتوانند بدیلهائی برای دین باشند؟
رویاروئی فکر روشنگری با جهانبینی دینی در سه جبهه بود. جنبه شناختی دیدگاه روشنگری کیهان شناسی جدیدی فارغ از پیشفرضهای متافیزیکی ارائه کرد، جنبه سیاسی آن به تفکیک دین از سایر حیطه ها منجمله سیاست انجامید و بالاخره در پهنه ذهنیت فکر روشنگر زیبائی شناسی و اخلاقی جدید را بارمغان آورد. این تقابل فقط در عالم فکر نبود. در عصر جدید با ظهور پروتستانتیزم و دولت- ملتها طومار سلطه کلیسای کاتولیک بر اروپا یکباره در هم پیچیده شد.
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DINOSAUR
Big unusual bone shapes indicate remains of a living creature
I occasionally go to Iran. During a visit in January 2009, I was taking a walk near my home in Ramsar's Katalom suburb, in Mazandaran Province. As I usually do, I analyzed sediments and rocks along the way. One day I noticed the existence of some rocks within the soft sedimentation of reddish soil (Aluminium Silicate). What caught my attention was the way they were positioned on the top of a hill. The rocks did not have earthly base, and all around the rocks was soft soil, and many of them had rather unusual shapes
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STORY
what does an American think of an Iranian who tries to squeeze every drop of poetry out of their encounter
I don't know what the American man on the street thinks of an Iranian who is trying to squeeze every drop of poetry out of their encounter, who doesn't know what else there is for him to squeeze, because he came at age six and began an American moment which always placed the man on the street at its center, which found that center more precisely the more the man wore how lost and trembling he was, before an Iranian had even walked by. Before an Iranian had even walked by, it was the world that had him looking like that, and I'd walk by and want to tell him - you can make a country out of that, you know
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POETRY
ای پرده نشین بی حجا بم
وی رمز سوال بی جوابم
از خواب گران رهاییام ده
چشمم بگشا که مست خوابم
در حیرتم از تصور خویش
وز باور خود در اضطرابم
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