Archive - Article

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 >>>

داد داور

هر روز وقتی اتومبیل قدیمی پرایدم روشن میشود با خود فکر می کنم که آخرین روزی است که با این لگن به سرکار می روم. خیلی اذیتم می کند . از طرفی برای یک قاضی عالی رتبه ای مثل من دیگر افت دارد با این اتومبیل های قدیمی فکسنی بروم سرکار. وارد پارکینگ اداره می شوم، نگهبان مثل فیلم " عقده حقارت لاندو بوزانکا" از من اسم و فامیلم را به دقت پرسیده و کارتم را کنترل می کنند. لابد برای آنها هم عجیب است که من چطوری با این هیکل گنده در آن ماشین کوچک جا می گیرم.طبق معمول آسانسور خراب است و باید هیکلم را چهار طبقه بالا بکشم. باز کردن قفل در اطاقم هم قوز بالا قوز است. هر گاه به خدمات اداری می گویم که آن را درست کنند ،به نحوی می فهمانند که باید اندکی اسکن رایج بسلفم و گرنه باید هر روز زجر بکشم>>>

گذر

بارها در گذر درهم  بگذشته من
بسر کوی خیال تو دلم
                 باز تپید
باز با یاد تو دل شیدا شد
بتمنای وصا لت پرو بالی زد و
سینه بدرید
دیده ام باز بدنبال تو هر سو میگشت >>>

This heart

It aches from within
It pounds with every breath
Its waves pound the shores
The Ocean gods are mad
Heart that’s clear as water
Filtered through sands of life
Open to be hit any moment
Can not be otherwise >>>

The outsiders

Instead of being motivated to be a participant and contributor to a brighter future their top priority is to find a way to leave Iran. Instead of voting for the next president they are voting to never to have anything to do with Iran. The extent of this alienation is so deep that it was not uncommon to hear some Iranians being in favor of Iran being bombed by Bush so as to bring about change. What does this tell you about the situation in Iran? It says that given the slightest opening, opportunity, chance, or circumstance, --- even being bombed! --- the Iranian people will remove those in power. >>>

Puzzle of Persia

During the post revolutionary period of 1979-82, after fighting and eliminating most of the internal opposition; ayatollah Khomeini and his allied clergies established their Islamist tyranny over the entire Iranian political, military, financial, judicial, and cultural affairs. Since then, a puzzling Persian theocracy has plagued the Middle Eastern politics and become a prime source of emulation and support for most militant Islamists. To consolidate their tyranny, lucrative industries, banks and major companies were confiscated and controlled by the Islamist instruments (Bonyads). The Iranian military was purged and then subjugated to the constant oversight and scrutiny of the Revolutionary Guards>>>

The Secret Agent

My favorite game as a child was playing ‘dead or alive’ with photo albums. Flipping through the thick pages, I tried to guess just by looking at someone’s photograph whether that person was still living. Often the age of the photograph was a clue. If the paper was yellowing, or the subject was wearing something that looked like a costume, the person was probably dead. Sometimes though the clues were outside the picture. “Who’s this, Mom?” I asked shoving a black and white photo in her face. The subject was wearing a dark suit, and looked like a movie star. My mom sighed the way women sighed those days at Gone With The Wind. “That’s Golbaz,” she said. >>>

کدام زرتشت؟

فرارسيدن ششم فروردين، زادروز خيالی (تصوری، قراردادی اما بجا و مفيد و خجسته) ی زرتشت، يکی از شخصيت های افسانه ای شده و جهانگير ايرانزمين، فرصتی يگانه را برای پرداختن به برخی از نکات قابل بررسی فراهم می سازد که من نيز می خواهم مقالهء اين هفته ام را به چند نظر گذرا در همين زمينه اختصاص دهم؛ بی آنکه مدعی باشم «زرتشت شناس» ام و نيز بی آنکه قصدم طرح مسائل مربوط به نوانديشی های مذهبی باشد. پس، آنچه که مطرح می کنم صرفاً نگاهی است پديدارشناسانه و جامعه شناختی به آنچه که می توان «معمای زرتشت» خواند ـ «معما» بدان خاطر که دربارهء اين چهرهء تاريخی / افسانه ای که حدود 3500 سال پيش در خراسان بزرگ می زيسته (و من نيز با آنها که معتقدند «مزار شريف» در افغانستان آرامگاه اوست هم عقيده هستم) حرف ها و حديث های گوناگون و متضادی مطرح می شود.>>>