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Beebokhaars

The Iranian students of Columbia University, who should be the youthful leaders of a resistence and opposition movement against the Ahmadinejad regime, are not planning a big protest nor a demonstration like that which preceded the fall of the Shah when he visited Washington DC in the late seventies. No acts of civil disobedience are in the plans nor enactments of the stoning of young women nor the hanging of homosexuals by our bright Iranian students of Columbia University. No, instead they have decided to treat the Ahmadinejad visit to their University like an “Introduction to Middle-Eastern History” ... Might as well organize a group therapy session where the students express their ‘feelings’ about the controversial president. >>>

Mighty Bollinger

Let me start by saying that Dr. Bollinger, president of Columbia University, made several valid points in his address before Ahmadinejad’s speech. I also commend him in the tone that he used to challenge Ahmadinejad. Politicians should not receive a free pass because they’re guests, invited speakers, or politicians. On the contrary, they should be subjected to harsh criticism when they deserve it. And so, let’s analyze Dr. Bollinger’s speech starting with his tone. Would Dr. Lee Bollinger have the courage to confront George Bush, Dick Cheney, Tony Blair, or any other world leader with the same tone? >>>

I was there

NEW YORK -- It's the day after President Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University… I’ve had a hard time going to sleep last night. I was just at the United Nations General Assembly meeting. President Ahmadinejad was the 6th speaker of the afternoon session. He followed the president of Argentina who contributed a good part of his speech condemning Iran on the famous Argentinian terrorist case, asking the international community to adress this issue and handle it differently! He used the phrase "la República Islámica de Irán" many times towards the end of his speech, just a few minutes before president Ahmadinjead was about to start. I start feeling a bit self-conscious...>>>

Too late?

I listened to President Ahmadinejad's speech today at Columbia University. There are several correspondents, reporters, journalists and analysts who have covered the story and shed light on the different aspects of this encounter. Some still blame Columbia University and some now are worshipping its President Lee Bollinger for his bluntly critical introduction. Some reporters are already manipulating the quotes and words to transfer an impression that did not exist in President Ahmadinejad's words. Some are asking themselves if Ahmadinejad actually extended an olive branch to the United States. >>>

من از جایی نیآمده ام

هرگز درختی نخواسته ام
که سایه اش از خورشید فراتر باشد
و ریشه هایش از انگشتهایم
درازتر.
من خاک را تنها برای ایستادن دوست داشته ام
و آب را برای ربودنِ هر آنچه باد
با خود
نبُرده ست.

>>>

مجموعه ای از لذت ها

فریفته آموزه سلون، حقوقدان آتن باستان، که می گوید،"هیچ انسانی را خوشحال فرض مکن مگر آن انسان مرده باشد"، سونی مفهوم شادی را از یونان باستان تا دوران مدرن با جزییات دنبال کرد. او در تحقیقاتش یادآورمی شود که در یونان باستان شادی متعلق به دنیای پس از مرگ آدمی است که اعمال و کردار او از سوی جامعه بشریت قضاوت می شود. در قرن هجدهم، اما، شادی به مفهمومی انتزاعی تبدیل و قضاوت آن صرفا بر عهده شخص گذاشته شد. در این مقطع شادی تبدیل به "مجموعه ای از لذت ها" شد و دیگر با تاکیدات اخلاقی در ارتباط مستقیم نبود>>>

I still hate you " IRADJ KHAN"!

Getting a hair cut today took me back to my neighborhood salmooni , where Iradj khan, a GILAK man was a local shop keeper in "se raah-e takht-e jamshid" for as long as I remembered. In his shop there were all kind of magazines for customers to kill time until their turn, and a black and white TV. >>>

ماهیگیری با تور خورشید

دیگر از بهشت دلزده شده بودم ، دلم هوای تازه می خواست دلم از همه خوشی ها به هم خورده بود و خدا خیلی زود این را حس کرد و اجازه داد که با بالهای خودم به مرخصی بروم با همه ی دوستان فرشته ام خداحافظی کردم تک تک شان را بوسیدم یک به یک ، حتی به درختی که مادرم حوا و پدرم آدم ، زیرش از شیطان گول خورده بودند هم سر زدم و در لابه لای برگ های سبزش مار را دیدم و با او هم روبوسی کردم ، مار لبخندی زد و برایم سفری خوش آرزو کرد ، بالهای سفیدم را از خشکشویی کنار خانه ی خدا گرفتم از تمیزی برق می زد.>>>

زبان مادری

یکی از چیزهایی که بعد از مهاجرت خیلی سریع تفییر می کند، زبان است. یاد گرفتن زبان کشور جدید برای مهاجران لازمه بدست آوردن کار و جذب شدن در جامعه میزبان است. از این رو از همان روزهای نخست سعی می کنیم تا هرچه سریعتر هر آنچه که از این زبان جدید نمی دانیم به حوزه دانسته هایمان اضافه کنیم. ولی گاه چنان در این امر جدیت بخرج می دهیم که متوجه عوارض جانبی آن نمی شویم: بعضی از مهاجرانی که فرزند خردسال دارند با این استدلال که کودک هرچه سریعتر باید زبان محیط را بیاموزد (ولی شاید با این نیت که خودشان فرصت تمرین این زبان جدید را در گفتگو با فرزندشان پیدا کنند) به زبان جامعه میزبان با فرزندشان حرف میزنند.>>>

Five hundred years of arrogation

On September 25, 1507, a six-ship, 400-man strong Portuguese force under the command of Alfonso de Albuquerque appeared off the island of Hormuz. In what transpired in the next three days they overcame the town’s thirty thousand fighting men, demanded and received an annual tribute of fifteen thousand gold Xeraphins, and placed the governor of Hormuz under the protection of King Manual I of Portugal (see a brief history here). In no time, shockwaves of this incidence reached the court of Shah Ismail I (ruled 1501-1524 AD), the young founder of Safavid dynasty (1501 – 1722 AD). The rise of new expansionist powers in Europe, and their far-reaching ambitions, was deeply felt. >>>

Revolution of the heart

What do you fear most when lying in your bed at night, just before sleep takes you away from your worldly worries? What secrets have you hidden deep inside your heart, hoping against hope that no one ever discovers that which you have hidden from plain view, but that which causes you so much anguish in the still, black, hours of the night. What demons torment the furthest recesses of your soul, your mind, and your heart, and make you long for some way to unburden yourself without risking your standing in the community, your reputation amongst colleagues, your self-inflated sense of importance in the eyes of friends and family, and without having to face the cold, hard, painful truth that all of us, you and me included, are flawed, fallible, and imperfect and because of this our lives are filled with many little and not-so-little fears.>>>

Consider all the consequences

In each war there are always winners and losers. The winners are those who make money and gather more power to themselves while all the others are the losers. It doesn’t matter if one has been on this side or that side; chances are that in the end the majority end up losing far more than they thought they will gain. Ask any parent that has lost a child in a war if he or she can in any way be compensated for that loss and you’ll have the answer. One can expect the push for war from those who will gain from it, but not from those who lose. But the sad fact is that those who gain from war use all the communication means at their disposal to persuade the losers to support and even participate in the war.>>>

Father & son

“MY DAD WAS an ironmonger,” said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran Radio’s studio 4, during a preelection interview. “He worked very hard so I could go to the University of Science and Technology and study civil engineering. But in 1993 Father passed away due to an accident.” A year later Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, helped lower his father’s coffin into the grave. Ahmad Ahmadinejad died in 2006 from heart complications, not in an accident in 1993 as his son had claimed in 2005. No one is quite sure why Ahmadinejad told such a palpable lie so publicly. Perhaps he thought he could shield his family from the public spotlight. Or perhaps he was trying to hide something. >>>

Nether-Persians

Why do so few Moroccans, Turks, Muslims from Surinam make themselves heard? Where are the Iraqis, the Afghans? In the current debate on Islam in the Netherlands, Iranians dominate. This became especially obvious when the discussion was given fresh impetus by the apostate Muslim, Ehsan Jami—of Iranian background. Yesterday, Jami presented his Committee of Ex-Muslims. The only other member is Damon Golriz, a representative of the VVD, the Dutch liberal [conservative] party, and professor of mechanical engineering at a technical college, whose chief adviser is columnist and university professor Afshin Ellian. Both are from Iran. Similar committees in England and France, which served as a template for Jami, were founded by Iranians as well.>>>

Feelin' hot hot hot!

Chilli is a great way to instantly transform a simple dish into something a lot more special. To create a delicious and quick Oriental dish, simply start by lightly frying off some garlic, ginger and chilli in some vegetable oil, add your chosen meat or seafood and stir fry (increasing to a high heat) until the meat/fish is cooked. This won’t take more than 5-8 minutes if your meat is cut into thin strips and seafood takes no time to cook at all. You can add vegetables if you like, perhaps broccoli, peppers or green beans, and finish off with either some soy sauce or some oyster sauce and serve with rice or noodles. See? Simple!>>>