Archive - 2011 - Article

Who needs a president?

While Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was touring the UN last week, delivering acerbic speeches and giving interviews, back home in the Iranian parliament questions were raised not about Ahmadinejad himself, but about the institution of the presidency in total, and whether there is a need for a president alongside the Supreme Leader’s office. This may seem surprising, but in fact is in line with the incessant calls by the IRGC and the conservative camp for the absolute rule of Khamenei as the sole ruler of the country>>>

To be fair

A few days ago a fellow blogger have published an article on this site analysing and questioning Iranian people’s attitude, culture and even the legitimacy of their historical claim (perfectly within his democratic rights). I tried very briefly in the comments for that article to provide a few answers and point our friend to the flaws in his argument. However this subject has proved to be more important to be left to a few comments as it needs further analysis>>>

For a better world

In an era of machine-generated music, difrent: is a live recording, played with soul by some of the best musicians alive. There’s no artifice, no grandstanding. I wanted it to be pop and accessible, but undeniably human, handmade. So when people see it live, with real players interacting with them taking the energy higher, it’s even better>>>

The blue lake of tears (5)

The thrill of having regained her soul did not change Princess’s determination to break her promise to the ugly frog as she had found his demands abominable. Without showing any gratitude, she ran away from the clearing in such a hurry, she tumbled over the forest path several times before reaching the Castle. The more the Princess distanced herself from the jet-black gigantic frog, the more the greedy creature cried his croaks from the top of his lungs>>>

رودخانه ها از میان ماه می گذرند

چه کسی می داند
چرا نیمه های شب
وقتی که بی خوابی دانه دانه مان می کند
به این انارها ی کال می بالیم
سرنوشتهای ترش
آخرتهای گس،
>>>

To Cure Shame

If April is the cruelest month, then September is the strangest. Strangest, that is, for Iranian-Americans. It's the month that brings Iran's mortifier-in-chief, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to New York City for the UN General Assembly. What absurdity will the man utter, we wonder to ourselves, what atrocity will he question, the existence of which minority will he deny this time? To ward off against the embarrassment he reliably causes, the expatriates have invented ways to cope>>>

Soul mate

Shams of Tabriz was
Rumi’s soul mate
And Golestan
Forough’s.
Rumi and Forough both
Changed their love into a poem
The eternal poem! >>>

Driving the Shah

Anyone who’s ever driven down an American highway, idled in America’s city streets surrounded by gas-guzzling SUVs, or shivered in the Arctic-cold air conditioning of a US office building, knows the truth: the United States has an insatiable thirst for oil. Certainly Iran’s shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, understood that need, and for eight years, 1969 to 1977, exploited it, negotiating a series of secret oil-for-arms deals with America’s best and brightest>>>

The blue lake of tears (4)

Nisha placed a saddle on the horse, attached the basket on his back with a shiny leather rope, led him outside on the smooth cobblestone walkway. As they passed the ponds encircled by flowerbeds, the Princess jumped on Atash. She had him walk down the short steps built for the sake of horses walking up and down the mount, before making him trot away in the meadow. As she rode her strong stallion through the forest, she experienced euphoria as if she had left the disciplined life of home-schooling for another dimension of time>>>

همدم روح

هم دم روح مولانا
شمس بود و همدم روح فروغ
گلستان.
رومی و فروغ، هر دو
عشق خود را شعر کردند
اشعاری جاودانه.
>>>

Splendor of Khajuraho

Khajuraho is famous for its erotic sculptures. The visitor’s initial prurient interest in them, upon scrutiny, quickly changes into an appreciation of their artistic worth. Together with other types of sculptures, and the magnificent architecture of the medieval Hindu and Jain temples on which they are all planted, they constitute the best examples of the arts of India before the impact of Islam. The temples are the houses of that India’s many Gods and the sculptures tell the temporal story of the community which created them. Their value is not just in their splendor but also in their historical legacy>>>

The Iranian art of lying

Ahmadinejad has mastered the art of Persian bullshiting theatricals. He represents the very persona of many of us inside and outside of the country. He is real. Like many of us, he lies without hesitation and in most situations, he actually believes his own lies. Ahmadi gets us. He understands that most of us take our cues from a defeated culture, which has adopted lying as a mean of survival. he looks you in the eyes and says it like it is NOT!>>>

After Ahmadinejad

I have to admit, that I am somewhat glad that Ahmadinejad is the current president of Iran. Because that means he can never ever become president again. At least under the current rules. I guess you never know. That being said, one can only wonder what form of paper mache headed drone, in God's name, Khamenei is planning on sliding his slimy hand up and into, to parade as the next best incarnation of his vision for the Toady President of Iran>>>

Coming of Age

Over three decades after their mass migration began from their homeland, Iranian-Americans have reached the pinnacle of success in their new home. In widely diverse fields -- from media to high-tech entrepreneurship, from senior ranks of the U.S. government to academia – people of Iranian origin have truly “arrived” in America. Now, having conquered the peaks of career achievement, they also want to give back. Having done exceptionally well, now they also yearn to do good>>>

The blue lake of tears (3)

Once she stepped out of her daughter's room, the Queen experienced a strong tension inside her between her concern for the Princess and her hate for the girl’s shadow. She had a compulsion to find the shadowy boy to kill him, but she knew of the sorrow her daughter would suffer if she went through with her idea of eliminating the boy. The Queen didn’t know what to do with her stressful dilemma. All night, her moods rivalled the erratic movements of the stock markets of today’s world>>>