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Break the vicious cycle

The reason that I do not advocate a war against Islam is not because of my blind faith, but because I believe it to be the wrong war and irrelevant to our goals. To me personally, Islam is a tool. No more no less. A tool cannot be praised or blamed for the way it is used. Now, let me elaborate. Imagine a carving knife. A knife on its own cannot be good or bad. In the hand of a great artist like Leonardo Davinchi a knife can be used to create the greatest sculpture masterpieces and the same knife in the hands on a murderer can be used to kill innocent people.>>>

عریضه

سلام بیژن خان خوب، امروز سالگرد پریدن تو به سوی ماه کامل است. آمدهام بر فراز صدایت خم شوم و چند شاخه رؤیای خسته و مجروح، روی ترمهی دلتنگیات بگذارم، - بنفش، به رنگ خودت، رنگ نیلوفر خوابهای بودا-. راستی تو آن روزها که امید، هنوز امید بود، چه رنگی بودی؟... حتماً آن بالا، کنار دریای سیاه چشمهای گیس گلابتون، آنقدر بر سرنوشت‌ات چیره شدهای که دیگر به روزهای تیره فکر نمیکنی.>>>

Welcome home

I was back to my home after many years I was filled with excitement. From the looks of the buildings and construction it looked as though there were certainly more people in the city then before. As I approached the gate to the city I noticed something was weird about my surroundings everyone was frozen, they were not able to move they just stood like ice sculptures frozen in time. I drove through the Main boulevards and realized that this phenomenon was apparent across the city. Everyone was a wax sculpture.>>>

Journey to Tehran

Tehran greeted me on January 3rd, 2007 around 5 am at the Tehran International Airport Mehrabad where courteous but thorough officials waved me through immigration to The Islamic Republic of Iran. The legendary hospitality of the Orient was fully confirmed as a committee, dispatched by the Conference that I was to attend, sent at this inconvenient hour three members to greet me with a beautiful flower arrangement. I went to many Conferences in my lifetime but was never made to feel so welcome or special! This is what I call civilization at its best—especially when one realizes that I am the holder of an American passport that at the present time distinguished me as not an ideal guest.>>>

War against people

The risk of a military attack against people in Iran is imminent. The US administration is adamant about an attack against Iran. The US government is trying to gain support of other states and the public opinion in the US for the attack. The French foreign minister has defended military attack against Iran. They claim war is inevitable if Islamic regime is to be prevented from producing nuclear weapons. On the other hand the Islamic regime is flaring up the fire of war. Both sides have escalated their war propaganda. Economic sanctions against Iran too are adding to the prospect of death and devastation.>>>

بلاخره باید ازجایی شروع کنیم

زمان نشان داده است که نظام سیاسی کشور ما فقط می تواند چهارشنبه سوری راکه نشانه صلح و دوستی بود به چهارشنبه سوزی تبدیل کند دندان طمع از سیستمی که تمام این سالها خودی و غیر خودی کرده را باید بکشیم برای زبان مادریمان کاری کنیم این عمارتی است که از سالیان سال پیش به ما رسیده حداقل به اندازه گذشتگانمان تلاش کنیم و این زبان را به ایندگان بسپاریم امید بسازیم در مقابل این همه ناامیدی که دامن مردم کشورمان راگرفته >>>

We have to start somewhere

Time has shown that the political system in our country can only change our holiday “Chehar-shanbeh Soori” (literally means ‘Wednesday celebration’) which is a sign of friendship and peace into “chehar-shanbeh Sooozi” (which translates to Wednesday inferno). The system that has created the conniving mentality of pitting “us” against “them” and it has to be removed by the root, before we can do something for our own language. This language is a gift that has been handed down to us and the least we can do, is as much as forefathers did, which is pass it down to the next generation. We need to build hope against all this hopelessness that’s so rampant in our country.>>>

How, Where, When and What?

How do you measure the weight of a second, felt upon your heart?

How do you count the miracles contained in an hour, witnessed by your eyes?

How do you price and pay for the moment of a first encounter, with your life force?

How do you define the feeling of the first kiss, and comprehend it?
>>>

نقش تبعیدیان در تحولات درون ایران

دو نام , ناصر زرافشان و اکبرگنجی , امروزه مطرح ترین و پر آوازه ترین نام های جنبش روشنفکری و روشنگری " سیاسی" ایران در داخل و خارج از ایران هستند. می دانم عزیزانی از جریان های فکری و سیاسی" چپ و راست و میانه "خوش ندارند این نظر را بشنوند و به عنوان واقعیت بپذیرند, اما کاری نمی شود کرد, خوش آمدن یا خوش نیامدن این و آن تغییری دراین واقعیت نخواهد داد!>>>

Hawks dive for cover

A major new development in the 2008 electoral campaign has been that the presidential candidates, aware of the public’s peace sentiment, have been breaking taboos that the neo-cons had erected, such as imposing pre-conditions for talks with Iran and the policy of regime change. For example, Senator Barak Obama is promising to sit down for diplomatic meetings with countries like Iran, Syria and North Korea and not to seek regime change. These positions are qualitatively different from "all options remain on the table.">>>

Mashhad

He fans the embers with a paper plate,
atop the balcony of his remote refuge,
many miles away from the Holy City,
and the surrounding hills are protective cloaks.
I stand in the outskirts of a city,
in a nation behind the scenes,
with a double scotch in one hand,
and a jujeh kabob in the other. >>>

ماه مشوش میشود

آه – چقدر
با فریب نشسته ایم
با فریب به رویا رفته ایم
با فریب نگاه کرده ایم
چقدر – ظلمت را
پاداش آسمانی دانستیم
>>>

One more today

And sometimes we sit
thinking as others shuffle in
order coffee
chat about the election
and shuffle out
and sometimes we sit
just to get out and feel
somewhat un-alone >>>

آيا بابک خرمدين مال من هم هست؟

من می گويم هرکس که «می خواهد» جزو «ملت ايران» باشد نمی تواند شهريار شاعر و کورش پادشاه را از «هويت ملی» خود بزدايد و يا، بر عکس، هر کس بخواهد اين ها را از هويت ملی خود طرد کند ديگر ايرانی نيست و بايد برای مليت خودش فکری بکند و، تا زمانی که نتوانسته است تکه ای از خاک ايران را برای خودش «مستقل» کند، برود و به يک جائی از اين عالم آويزان شود تا از دست «فارس های خونخوار!» در امان بماند. >>>

Dirty business

I was spending my third night at the front line. I had already received a Klashinkov rifle with a magazine that could hold thirty cartridges and a few blankets to sleep in as Neekvarz had promised. That night it was cold and foggy. A storm was blowing from northwest raising sand and dust; making the air dark. Apprehensive about my sentries, I had visited all of them twice earlier at night either in Karamee‚s company or on my own. All of them were awake and vigilant; everything seemed normal except the storm that was lashing across the plain and the hill.>>>