AIRPORT

Ready For Take-off

As I check my passport one last time before putting it in my purse, my whole body freezes in horror

by Ghahremani
03-Mar-2008 (5 comments)
Funny how simple words can present a complicated, even scary, meaning when used as a combination. For example, ‘police’ makes me feel safe whereas “Secret police” gives me the creeps. “Homeland Security” is doing the same, because before this expression became a household word, I didn’t worry so much about “homeland” or “security”. Long gone are the days when my fear of flying was confined to take-off, landing, and all the turbulences in between. I’ll admit, those were indeed some of the most spiritual moments of my life and I have no doubt that each and every time, it was my heartfelt prayers -- sometimes amid tears while kneeling in the isle – that brought the plane to its safe landing>>>

WOMEN

What we want

Answers to questions about One Million Signatures Campaign

by Sussan Tahmasebi
03-Mar-2008 (8 comments)
The One Million Signatures Campaign seeks to bring Iranian law addressing women’s status in line with international human rights standards, these demands are in no way in contradiction to Islam. Iranian law is based on interpretations of Sharia law, but these interpretations have been up for debate by religious scholars for some time, not only in Iran but around the Islamic world. Shiite Islam, on which the interpretations of Sharia rely with respect to Iranian law, claims to be dynamic and responsive to the specific needs of people and time. Iranian society has changed much since 1400 years ago, but the interpretations of Sharia on which the Iranian law is based remain rather conservative>>>

TRAVELER

Keeping it Caribbean

Who wouldn’t want to relax for a week, somewhere achingly beautiful and home to a tropical rainforest?

by Shabnam_Ghayour
03-Mar-2008 (8 comments)
If I close my eyes, I could still be there… Lying on a sun-lounger at the shores of the Caribbean Sea, sipping on colourful juice cocktail cleverly poured into a shelled-out coconut. The scorching sun beating down on me as the waves gently lap the silvery-white sand. Could this be heaven? Well not exactly, but it could be the next best thing. It’s the colourfully exotic Caribbean… Puerto Rico, to be precise. Was it really 6 years ago, I ask myself? Sadly yes. 6 years since I saw such beauty and felt such unequivocal peace, where my every whim was catered to and I felt immersed in a strange and new experience, like never before>>>

POETRY

by Shirin Saeidi
03-Mar-2008
Masjid Soleiman’s summer heat
Highlights sweaty strands
scattered on the wet mud ground
Long red hair
braided
Softly on each shoulder
Home — >>>

LIFE

Being Afraid of Death

Can we learn anything from giving thoughtful consideration to our own death?

by varjavand
02-Mar-2008 (6 comments)
The premature death of one of my former students, reminded me of my own eventual mortality. Death is the most mysterious, certain event (not counting taxes, of course) in everybody’s life, albeit the most undesirable. Just as we utilize every conceivable scheme, legal and sometimes not, to minimize the payment of taxes, we also resort to numerous means, including unconventional ones, to postpone our physical demise. We follow a strict diet programs, exercise on a regular basis, take our daily vitamins and food supplements, avoid risky activities, and try not to miss preventive medical check-ups. When we get older, we do foolish things to pretend that we are still young, easygoing, and energetic>>>

IRAN-U.S.

What should we talk about?

Tying improved relations to Iranian respect for human rights

by Trita Parsi
02-Mar-2008 (119 comments)
The human rights situation in Iran is getting drastically worse. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report that executions in Iran - including instances of stoning - have sharply increased under in the last few years. In addition, using the Bush administration's Iran Democracy Fund as a pretext, Iranian authorities have clamped down on Iran's civil society with thousands of arrests. As Washington’s foreign policy elite is concluding that negotiations with Tehran lie in America’s strategic interest, it is also important to recognize that it lies in the US’s long-term interest to make any improvements in relations with Iran contingent upon Tehran’s adherence to the UN human rights deceleration.>>>

PERSIAN GULF

Money beats history

Boeing tries to get into the business of rewriting maps

by mahmoudg
01-Mar-2008 (15 comments)
This is an article I found on Boeing’s monthly employee newsletter in praise of their presence in Saudi Arabia. In of itself it is no more than a propaganda piece to appease their minuscule investment in the Arabian Peninsula. But what struck me odd was the fact that the author had mentioned “Arabian Gulf” in place of the “Persian Gulf”. This is a clear violation of the UN charter and I protested this act in a letter to the editor, author and a senior VP of the Boeing Company. Needless to say I have not heard back from any one>>>

FEAR

ترس آفرينی

تاريخ ترس محتسب خورده

by Esmail Nooriala
01-Mar-2008 (7 comments)
انتخابات دورهء نهم رياست جمهوری را می توان آغاز دورانی دانست که حکومت اسلامی مستقر در ايران به انتهای ديگر «مدرج حقانيت» می رسد و ديگر چيزی از حقانيت آن باقی نمی ماند و، بنا بر قوانين خلل ناپذير علم، از آن پس چاره ای ندارد تا، برای باقی ماندن بر سرير قدرت، راه سرکوب تمام عيار را در پيش گيرد. البته، از همان ابتدای تشکيل حکومت اسلامی، سرکوب جرء ذاتی سياست های اجتماعی اين حکومت بود، اما اگر در ابتدا می توانست اين سرکوب را متوجه آنها که «طاغوتی» و «استکباری» و «ضد انقلاب» خوانده می شدند نمايد، در طی زمان دامنهء اين سرکوب گسترده تر شد و، پس از پايان دورهء موسوم به «اصلاحات»، همهء جامعه را فرا گرفت. اکنون روزی نيست که خبری از اعدام و سنگسار و دست و پا بريدن و از کوه پائين انداختن نباشد.>>>

POETRY

Gates are Falling

Those that are lucky hear the gate chimes

by Yasi
01-Mar-2008 (one comment)
Early morning calls are bad news for most
I have been there too, I HAVE been most
But today, you see I receive a call
Frantic and hurried, deserving a big toast
How do I tell you of my fluttering chest?
To be composed through this, to be at my best?
How do I let the world know I’m soaring?
>>>

POINT

Transsexuals in Iran

Another anti-Iranian propaganda that doesn't exactly work how it should

by hoder
29-Feb-2008 (45 comments)
If you are a Jewish Iranian, living in the U.S. from the age of 6, it is very likely you don't like Ahmadinejad. So of course you would like to show how you hate him and how he is such a liar and how evil the entire government he represents is, in any way you can. So you decide to attack one of the only positive angles Iran has been reported: Sex-change. And why not connect it to Ahmadinejad's speech in your city's university, Columbia, where he said in Iran homosexuality doesn't exist the same way it does in the U.S. (We all know the united Republican>>>

SALVATION

راه نجات

نياز به سرب مذاب نيست

by Mohammad Ali Esfahani
29-Feb-2008 (17 comments)

راه نجات، هيچ به جز انقلاب نيست
جز اين، هر آنچه هست به غير از سراب نيست

گفتند انتخاب کن از بين شيخ و شاه
اين هردُوان يکند، نه! اين، انتخاب نيست

چون شد که رفت او و به جايش نشست اين؟
فرزند من مپرس! که ما را جواب نيست

>>>

NUCLEAR

Bad news

All-important question of Iran's ongoing enrichment activities

by Ephraim Asculai
29-Feb-2008 (16 comments)
The newest and much-anticipated International Atomic Energy Agency report on safeguards activities in Iran was sent to the IAEA Member States on February 22, 2008 and almost immediately leaked to the press. As usual, no one was completely satisfied by it but everyone could find in it something that upholds his or her particular point of view. And as usual, the most important part of the report – that dealing with Iran's ongoing uranium enrichment program, with the potential to provide the material for a nuclear explosive device -- was relegated to the end of the report>>>

VIEW

Obama's life in danger?

Don’t claim that no one warned you

by Amil Imani
29-Feb-2008 (74 comments)
In eloquent speeches presidential candidate Obama has made copious promises, understandably to attract voters. He talks about “change,” without really spelling out change from what to what. It just sounds good: “change.” A great sound bite, indeed. Change is exciting, while status quo is viewed as stagnant and boring. It is all part of the political game of telling people what they want to hear, getting elected, and worrying about delivering later. The electorates are both short on memory and long on forgiving. So, the farce of empty high-sounding promises fills the air at campaign times. But there are instances that a promise during vote-gathering can later haunt the person>>>

OBAMA

When does it end?

How far does a candidate have to go to prove his/her loyalty?

by hamidbak
28-Feb-2008 (33 comments)
Obama was asked two nights ago, in the debate in Ohio, about Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s endorsement of his campaign. He replied that he denounced the endorsement. He was then asked if he had rejected it. Obama replied that he doesn’t think there is a difference in the two. Tim Russert kept pushing it, “yeah you denounced it but do you reject it?” Ok, maybe it didn’t happen quite like this, but what the hell? The guy, Farrakhan, is goofy. He’s well on the other end of normalcy, especially when it comes to saying things. But why doesn’t denouncing him and his endorsement enough when it comes to the Jewish community?>>>

STORY

The Spider Killings (5)

This will be the last time Azadeh sees that schoolbag

by laleh haghighi
28-Feb-2008
As soon as Azadeh got home, she rushed to the bathroom and locked herself in. Quickly shedding all her clothing, she stood in front of the mirror, looking at her naked reflection, something she seldom dared to do. Her arms and legs were covered with a multitude of scars, as well as the coagulated blood from fresher wounds. Her body had for years been the canvas for her monstrous designs. She used knives, razors, and scissors in guise of brushes and pencils. She opened one of the drawers in the bathroom vanity and took out a pair of scissors. The thought of cutting her skin once more filled her with both trepidation and exhilaration. Slowly, she brought the sharp tip of the instrument down, until it rested against the skin on her inner thigh>>>
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