Archive - May 2011 - Article

Don't get too excited

Among all these nations in Middle East, Iran has a better prospect for true democracy and modernism. She is most fit to call it off from this cultural yoke. She has seen it and as they say no pains no gains. She has paid a huge price in its recent memory with Mullahs in reign. Yet alone, it has always guarded its sense of nationalism with keeping a skeptic eye on its religion. It is just the matter of time Iran will free itself of this religious yoke>>>

Khamenei's Choices

Whatever gains Khamenei might have in mind, one thing is for certain: his elimination of Ahmadinejad and his allies from the realm of politics in Iran will not accomplish anything unless it is followed by firm steps towards a genuine national reconciliation, which must include the total exoneration of Mousavi and Karroubi from all governmental allegations leveled against them, as well as meaningful democratic reforms. Politically speaking, such reforms must, at a minimum, lead to high levels of transparency and accountability at all levels of government>>>

چگونه فمینیست شدم؟

در فرهنگ غربی، تلاش برای درخواست برابری بین زنان و مردان، در طی مثلا ٥٠ سال گذشته، به سطح عمومی جامعه نیز رخنه کرده است. این واقعیت اجتماعی البته شاید چندان در ایران صدق نکند یا هنوز در سطح وسیعی به چشم نخورد. ما در ایران به طور ناگهانی و در حین مصادف شدن با یک حادثه مشخص، «فمینیست» نمی‌شویم. مجموعه‌ای از تجربه‌های شخصی، تجربه‌های اجتماعی و دریافت‌های مختلف حسی ما را به این نقطه می‌رسان>>>

In Between

Living in exile, being a foreigner. It meant speaking without being understood. It meant never belonging. It meant abandoning the past. The place I had no more right to own, to hold, to love. As if by leaving it, I had sworn not even to remember it, ever. But what if the news of the war and the sadness in the letters coming from home and the insouciance - this depth of shallowness in the signs of pleasure - resuscitated the ghosts I had attempted to elude>>>

Mashi and Mashiana (I)

Splendid is Goddess
Esphand, Supreme Goddess of Earth
whose fertile thought of conceiving woman
and man sparkled on a late April day, lingered
latent in her wet scented womb,
for forty years >>>

Chizari Tactics

Mohsen Chizari gets around. A top commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Chizari was hit with sanctions last week by the Obama administration. Given his nationality, one might assume that he was sanctioned in relation to the Iranian regime's nuclear pursuits or its crackdown on dissidents. In fact, Chizari, the Quds Force Chief Qasem Soleimani, and the organization itself were targeted for abetting oppression somewhere else: Syria>>>

Transmuting anger into laughter

I’m guessing VOA’s new Perisan news network director, Ramin Asgard, was among the crowd at Kambiz Hosseini’s Berkeley talk for the same reason I was: to see what Parazit’s US fan base looked like. For one thing the crowd looked really big. The Iranian-American themed Berkeley Lecture Series usually doesn’t fill a 500-seat theater, and normally you don’t see teenagers sitting on the aisle steps playing Pokemon>>>

Self + Social Perception

Although it is unclear why people tend to view themselves and their loved ones differently and often with a rosy glow, research from a variety of fields in social sciences has established that the overwhelming majority of people see themselves as being more capable, talented, and deserving of future success in relation to their peers. It seems that people are incapable of subjecting themselves, and the people and ideas that they hold dear to the same standards of scrutiny that they use to assess everything else in life>>>

فراموشی

از ميدان لواسان تاعمامه جاده باريكي است در دامنه اي با شيب تند كه تا يال كوه هاي مشرف به هر دو منطقه. يك طرف لواسان و طرف ديگر فشم . جاده باريكي كه دوطرفش ديوار و درهاي بزرگ ويلاهاي پولدارهاي تهران گرفته است. با آويزه درختان مو و پيچك ها روي ديوار ها.... سيصد متر نرفته بايد بپيچيم. بالا برويم ، دوباره بپيچيم.. سعيد نيمه بطر شيواس ريگال ومارتيني را توي يخچال كنار دستش مي گذارد وتوي راه كه مي رويم از خودش مي گويد>>>

بمان صدای خسته بمان

بمان صدای خسته بمان
که من آن کبوترم
که با بالهای زخمیش
به درختی ناآشنا >>>

انشقاق حکومتی و جنبش سبز

حلقه محاصره محمود احمدی‌نژاد روز به روز تنگ‌تر می‌شود و ضربات مخالفان او در درون حکومت سنگین‌تر. هواداران و مدافعان پیشین او یکی پس از دیگری راه خود را از او جدا می‌کنند و به صف مخالفان می‌پیوندند. معمولا آنان که در گذشته در حمایت او مصرتر بودند و مبالغه‌آمیزتر سخن می‌راندند امروز حادتر علیه او موضع می‌گیرند. مجلس و قوه قضاییه و شورای نگهبان علیه او صف‌آرایی کرده‌اند >>>

Turning 43 in Prison

He’s one of approximately 40 imprisoned journalists in Iran, who are serving prison terms in relation to their writings or other social and political activities. Bahman’s charges however were solely related to his writings. In fact they are directly related to the practice of his profession as a journalist. Charges have been brought against Bahman for articles he wrote critical of the economic policies of President Ahmadinejad>>>

Working for Us

Hillary Clinton’s announcement last week regarding a change in US visa policy was welcome news to Iranian students coming to America to study. With the old single entry visas there was no guarantee that Iranian students would be able to return to class if they left the US to, say, visit a sick parent. But from now on, new students will receive two year multiple entry visas. This compassionate policy change was announced a few weeks after Huffingtonpost published an article by Jamal Abdi and Trita Paris titled, “How Obama Can Reach the Iranian People: Start With Visas...">>>

What Are the Odds?

Sometimes practicing law can make you jaded and a pessimist. But every once in a while a client who has a clear dream comes in the door and reminds you of the power of perseverance. Today I get a call from a young Iranian man currently studying in Turkey, who was recently denied an F-1 student visa for attending a community college in the U.S., without a formal interview. Of course they don’t give visas for attending a community college to Iranians, are you kidding?>>>

Shekaar-o-Tabeeat

At Behzad's house,
hiding from his mom,
and her greasy stew,
we hid under a bed
in the clay room.
>>>