Archive - 2011 - Article

Time that once was

Moments of the past pass in a moment, as lifetime of memories. A picture of me in one spot of past moments scans quickly showing a joyful kid. Irrelevant now, just a memory of past that now is what was and not what if. Nothing in time is cherished when present, because present is future goals. Past remains a powerful scent capturing a room of desired what if. This travel has an end unless past remains, where arriving to a destination reminds of times of when there was once>>>

A Lesson To Be Learned

Sooner, or later, we all reach an age where we can’t afford to ignore a chest pain. In fact, our priorities change drastically: We decide high heel shoes are exclusively for special occasions, no-iron tableware is as good as cotton – if not better, and the fiber content of food turns into the most important nutritional fact. The list goes on and if you happen to choose a nice nap over dancing in the rain, you’ll understand what I mean. So last week, when I felt a dull pain that could be related to my heart, I took my doctor’s advice and called 911>>>

Democratic Islamic Republic?

Inside Iran, many reformists have always expressed their fidelity to the Supreme Leader – who doesn’t want them – and to the legacy of Imam Khomeini. This allows the reformist current to stay in the political game. But then what do the reformists want? Is a democratic Islamic Republic still possible, I mean possible in real life, not in theory? The Hezbollahis as part of the Principalists (osulgerayan) succeeded in destroying the Reformist parties’ political cadres... In other words they marginalized the future generation of democracy advocates>>>

بختیار که بود و چه کرد؟

"...من گمان می‌کنم که ستاره اقبال آقای بختیار هر چه از قتلش به دست عمال رژیم می‌گذرد،‌ بالاتر و بالاتر می‌رود. مردم متوجه می‌شوند که دلیری و شجاعتی داشت و خطر را خوب می‌دید. راه حلی که پیشنهاد می‌کرد، یعنی جدایی دین از سیاست اساساً راه حلی است که به گمان من شمار روزافزونی از مردم ایران هم به آن رسیده‌اند و جنبه‌های دیگر شخصیتش کاستی‌های آن هم بیشتر مورد توجه است..."

>>>

دگرستيزي و دگرزدايي

گفتمان هاي سياسي ايران در نيم سده گذشته کيش بهائي را آئيني بيگانه جلوه داده اند. اين نگرش پيامد فراموشکاري هايي عامدانه براي غيرخودي بر نماياندن آئيني است که از بطن حوزه هاي علميه شيعه و فرهنگ ديني ايران در نيمه دوم سده سيزدهم ه ق/ نوزدهم ميلادي برآمده بود. زمينه غريبه سازي اين جنبش شيعي-ايراني با تبعيد رهبران بابي و بهايي به بغداد پس از قصد جان ناصرالدين شاه در 1268ه ق/1852م فراهم آمد>>>

They Shake the Desert Sands

The reed played its final notes of lingering peace. The turquoise twilight turned to deep purple, and a silvery white moon looked as though it was coming down from the sky to the earth. The twinkling lights, the stars, were set inside the dark sky like rich glitter on the chalice of a king. The desert sands glinted under the faint wind that had wings. Desert roses closed their blossoms, and the tales of the Zagros Mountains took me back to my roots, to the changing times of history, to the epic desert>>>

Simple Truth

As you see the flower
You say "wow" and sit
Near the terracotta pot
And stare at new petals
Like a humming bird >>>

Varda Bebar

...>>>

Sacred Varanasi

For centuries, life in India has been shaped by two different religions, Hinduism and Islam. They were not any less divergent in their prescription for the afterlife. Burning in hell is the ultimate damnation in Islam, while the Hindus seek the liberation of their soul in the very fire of the funeral pyre. It was not so much theology as the rituals of India’s religions that, presently, attracted me to its sacred Varanasi>>>

Unaffordable

Exact estimates vary, but in the next few years Iran will be in position to detonate a nuclear device. An aggressive theocracy armed with the bomb will cast a dangerous shadow over the region’s political transition, but the consequences will not be limited to the Middle East. An Iranian bomb is likely to unleash the most divisive partisan discord in this country since the 1949 debate about who lost China. In the end, neither the turbulent order of the Middle East nor the partisan politics of Washington can afford an Islamic Republic armed with nuclear weapons>>>

Cash Crunch

By devoting much of its oil and gas earnings to public cash payments, Tehran is locking itself into a situation where it has little margin for error if its hydrocarbon revenues decrease. If oil prices decline -- or, more important, if the United States and its allies can dissuade countries and companies from paying for Iranian oil (Washington has no objections if they receive said oil, only if they pay for it) -- then the Islamic Republic could face serious problems paying for the checks to which the Iranian people are rapidly becoming accustomed>>>

زیبا تا زشت

در این که آمنه کاری بزرگ و انسانی کرده و مانع از آن شده است تا کسی در حضور دیگران و دوربین‌های تلویزیونی انسان دیگری را، صرف نظر از جرمی که مرتکب شده است، به عمد و آگاهانه کور کند تردیدی نیست. ولی آن چه که کمتر در این قضیه مورد توجه قرار گرفته این است که چرا خانم بهرامی باید در وضعیتی قرار گیرد که مجبور شود در مورد سرنوشت مرد جنایت‌کاری که به صورت او اسید پاشیده است تصمیم بگیرد>>>

گرگ و چوپان

بعد از حوادث 22 خرداد سال 1388، تعداد زیادی از بره هایی که در این بازی شرکت داشتند در این مدت به صف گرگ پیوسته اند. میگوئید نه! به قول مش قاسم تا قبر آه! آه! آه یعنی فقط چهار انگشت فاصله است و نباید دروغ گفت. در این بازی هم مثل تمام بازی هایی که تاکنون در ایران صورت گرفته، زرنگترین بره پشت سر چوپان بدون برو برگرد در دور بعدی بازی گرگ خواهد شد. شک نکنید. این را تجربه چند هزار ساله زندگی اجتماعی ایرانیها میگوید. >>>

Iran's Stunning Unpopularity

Iran's favorable ratings are in a "freefall" across the Arab World, with Iran's behavior in Iraq, Bahrain and the Arab Gulf region being viewed negatively by most Arabs. These are a few of the key findings of an Arab American Institute poll conducted by Zogby International during the first three weeks of June, 2011. The poll surveyed over 4,000 Arabs from Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates>>>

Don't Do What We Did

A revolution that started with the fifth generation of freedom organ 'Google' should not end up with an “archaic ideology” that is obsolete and outmoded in modern times. The only way to gain proper freedom is to liberate oneself from the yokes of doctrine; otherwise Egyptians will be looking at another revolution in a few years, like Iran today. The romance with the Islamic Republic has fallen and is maintained by the terror of state oppression, so will Egyptian romance with the Salafis and Akhwans>>>