TRAVELERS

Seeing the “real” Iran

As a naïve kid, I assumed that Persia was a tiny island paradise that rarely made it to maps like my birthplace

19-Jul-2007 (one comment)
A country’s history is much like wine. Considering Shiraz is the birthplace of the seductive grape to which it gave its name, I believe my thought is reasonable. With age, a culture grows more attractive, increases its depth and notes, and heightens in value. Hence, I have concluded that Persia, with its three thousand years of flavor is one of the finest in the world. Having spent majority of my twenty-one years in Australia, I could not avoid becoming a jolly wine follower. We proud Aussies swear by our top quality Shiraz, but will always be haunted by the fact that it originally ain’t really our grape. Bugger.>>>

PERSONAL

You get the picture

What sort of sub human entity would write letters like this?

19-Jul-2007 (2 comments)
TEHRANGELES -- I was browsing iranian.com when I saw a link to a picture showing a women without hejab riding on the back of a guy on a street racer bike. I was thinking to myself how badbakht have we Iranians become when a picture of woman without a head scarf, in the year 2007, finds its way to the home page of a site with a lot of readers. A few moments later, I started reading the letters page. As usual, many well written letters with great content. While basking in the thoughts of how well some of my countrymen and women write in English, I came across a letter by the "individual" with the internet pen name of Issa Hajizadeh>>>

CITIZENSHIP

A chance to meet

Citizenship Workshop with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco

19-Jul-2007
With the recent defeat of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill in the Senate, a major opportunity was missed to strengthen and improve our broken immigration laws. Although the proposed Bill was not perfect, there were areas that affected the Iranian American Community such as the H1B visas and sponsoring family members for green card. The Bill is dead for now, but the debate is not and there is a good chance that another Bill will surface in the next Congress. We, as Iranian Americans, must pay close attention to the new Bill and lend our voice to the debate as our community is for most part an Immigrant Community, meaning majority of us was born outside the United States>>>

IRANIANS

Hitler's legacy

Iran's and Iranians' identity is indeed largely based on what they see as Iranians being Aryans

19-Jul-2007
There are indeed many who identify themselves as proud Iranians who would get angry for calling Iran a backward country, or even to associate Iran with the neighbourhood. They would argue that Iran is unique, great, and notably different from not just its peers but also from the rest of the world. And to prove this, the so-called Persian/Iranian nationalists (not calling them racists is just being nice) would proudly identify and associate themselves with Aryans, with no reserves at all, openly and arrogantly. Clear sign of backwardness! No further proof is needed. No further comment is needed. And in case, one, like me, would dare to question the legitimacy and diplomacy (is it okay in today's world to bring words about such a dodgy identity that has been buried by Westerners more than half a century ago?!) of such a popular stance, these proud Aryans would not hesitate to attack>>>

CREATIVITY

My children

My children

Photo essay: London art workshop

by Parima ShahinMoghaddam
19-Jul-2007

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VISUAL

A Kiarostami day

Joining friends to see Abbas Kiarostami's photo exhibition and films in Berkeley

19-Jul-2007
At the Berkeley Art Museum a fan blew at one Kiarostami photograph. The rest of his works remained still--like the audience in a theater-- while this projected video of branches and leaves apparently swayed in the turbulence created by the fan. The famed film director had broadened me forever with awareness of the very air between the projector and the screen. Beware, those who would walk blithely into Abbas Kiarostami‚s mind, the door you entered through will be too small to let you back out.>>>

IRAQ

Unpleasant truth?

No evidence of Iran’s role in violence and instability in Iraq – confirms British Foreign Minister

18-Jul-2007 (one comment)
Contextually, this important admission by the British Foreign Minister of absence of any evidence linking Iran to the violence and instability in Iraq was preceded by the discussion about Iran’s nuclear programme and Britain’s readiness to impose another set of punishing sanctions on Iranian people, for Iran’s non-compliance with the security council’s resolutions which have no basis in international law, imposed on supposed suspicions for which again THERE IS NO EVIDENCE>>>

CONFESSIONS

Must-see TV

IRIB's to broadcast confessional show

18-Jul-2007
The very first time that I saw a confessional show on IRIB, I was captivated. True, in the beginning it was crude, the interviewer was always out of camera range barking out the “questions” and the subject’s physical pose was unnaturally rigid for someone who was unburdening himself... Our beloved IRIB has just announced the two episode long confessional show to be broadcast on its channel one on this coming tonight and tomorrow night (Wednesday and Thursday) at 21:45. The stars are to be one Haleh Esfandiari, a sixty something grandmother and Kian Tajbakhsh, a father of a spanking new baby>>>

TRAVELERS

Paris divided by art

Paris divided by art

Photo essay: Museums, historical buildings, churches ...

by Shaghayegh Ghanbari
18-Jul-2007

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CAMPAIGN

They're not Ron Paul

Democratic Party candidates for U.S. president look good. Ron Paul does good.

18-Jul-2007
Let's rather talk about the candidates I feel most American-Iranians feel compelled to vote on, the democrats. Out of these candidates naturally we have the "handsome and dazzling" Obama. Its about time we had a black president right? I mean, Martin Luther King wasn't bad was he? Also we have Hillary Clinton, the woman. Its also about time the US got a female president, no? Its about time women got to control the White house, yeah? Wrong to both, let's just compare their voting record to Ron Paul on certain key issues and you will understand what I mean:>>>

PEACE

People to people

People to people

Videos & Photo essay: San Francisco gives warm welcome to peace cyclists from Iran

by Jahanshah Javid
12-Jul-2007 (one comment)

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LIFE

 The Tehrangelesazation of Brooklyn

I have a problem with the mindset of a lot of Brooklyn transplants

12-Jul-2007 (2 comments)
East Tehrangeles. Not literally, of course. There aren't scores of 'Purshian' mafia running around with sharply gelled tips, fake boobs, and nose jobs. NOT YET. But I tell you, if the L.A. Persian hipsters ever find a way out of SoCal and get into tattoos, thrift shop chic, and adopting Asian babies, I think they would feel right at home in say, Park Slope or in the other colonized neighborhoods in BK. Why, you might ask. Because the kinds of people that have taken over Brooklyn's choice neighborhoods increasingly exhibit the same social ambitions and hang ups as my West Coast brethren. Smug sense of satisfaction with their zip codes? Check. Pride at being able to say they live in a particular neighborhood? Check>>>

PRIORITIES

Crocodile tears

Animal rights? We have much higher priorities in life to worry about

11-Jul-2007 (one comment)
On a short trip near Caspian Sea in 1979 I stopped at an art and craft store that mostly sold wooden bowls, straw hats and dried garlic on strings. But I also noticed an out of place object there; a stuffed body of a baby Persian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) now completely extinct, thank god. The taxidermy job on the baby tiger was done so badly with pieces of fur missing and looked like a homeless outside McDonald's that have not had a shower for six years and of all things the baby tiger had a smile on his face!>>>

FAIRNESS

All men?

Male-bashing in iranian.com

04-Jul-2007 (one comment)
I appreciate and admire what Iranian.com is doing in creating an open community for Iranian writers to express and write their views without any censorship and so on. But there is a small something that stings me down below the times when I go to Iranian.com and read about women's rights in Iran and their hard fight for justice and natural given right to equality, and that is the little green texts over the headlines>>>
Wayne Willis
04-Jul-2007
How to choose a great username.>>>