Life

The rise of Khatami

In the spring of 1996 I was dismissed from college. The impact of the dismissal was so hard on my psyche that I became mentally disarrayed and socially disconnected for a while. The only thing I was seeing was to work hard, make money and flee from the hell hole. A year later at the end of one of those long and tiring days, one of my close high school friends called and asked if we could meet to see how things going on with us. At the same time I knew that there was every Wednesday night gathering at our old high school math teacher, Mr. N’s house. Bunch of geeky looking and politically active old classmates and college students were meeting there talking about nothing but politics>>>

THROWN OUT and FORGOTTEN

Over 3000 yrs ago in Persian heritage Men & Women were not different and they were equal. Princesses, and Queens were seen as role models and every women in Persia were always side by side men, equally without any discrimination, They were working together in persia for peace, freedom and glory. Many warrior ladies being captain of armies held the highest position in militaries, side by side with men, in the toughest wars, they fought with enemies. >>>

New and unexpected hope

A few months ago a group of 14 Iranians traveled around europe and the United-States by bicycle in order to bring the message of peace and friendship of the Iranian civil society to other nations, in a project called 'Miles for Peace'. This is a summary of their experiences after this intense trip and talking about their future projects. See video clips on Youtube and their own blog: milesforpeace.org/blog. People can also sign the petition support dialogue and peace between Iran and other nations.

>>>

Maddening world

I’d swear this world has gone mad. This morning at work during our daily morning-coffee-Chitchat. I mentioned the racism killing in Antwerp to my colleague that’s an odd thing to mention at a morning-coffee session isn’t it? about 2 weeks ago I had read a short article about the proceeding of this psychopath, that has been stuck in my mind and I had mentioned this to my colleague, so today’s sentencing was something we couldn’t let pass by . This man had killed a black pregnant lady and had injured a Turkish lady if that’s not heinous enough.>>>

Lion Heartz

As a young child, I grew up as a Persian Sufi Dervish and understood what being one was all about. As a young boy, I would get into countless confrontations over the color of my skin, friend, ego and who we thought was the toughest. My father would always see me come home with a black eye and a bruised body. He decided I should learn some self-defense, in order to defend myself and learn self control. My father who was a brown belt, and had three years in the Persian Royal Air Force, and was advanced in Persian Martial arts called: “Varzesheh Pahlevooni”>>>

Marvelous Maz

“I’m Pehrzheean!” actor Maz Jobrani declares in one of his Axis of Evil stand up comedy routines. To find out how “Pehrzheean” Jobrani really is, I sent him an email asking if ever puts raw eggs on his rice. “What red-blooded Iranian doesn’t?” was his reply. Later I met Jobrani in person. He’d invited me to watch his performance at Punchline, the illustrious San Francisco comedy club that has also hosted Chris Rock, Ellen Degeneres, Dana Carvey, Margaret Cho, Dave Chapelle, Rosie O’Donnell, and Robin Williams. Afterwards, we met in a nearby pub. Jobrani was in a sprightly mood.>>>

Cutting the rope

There are a few courageous campaigners who oppose the death penalty in Iran but the campaign to see capital punishment ended is hampered by the lack of freedom of speech in the country. Since the death penalty is a government policy, it is hard for individuals to speak out. This lack of debate causes many people to be ignorant of the truth behind the death penalty, including its lack of value as a deterrent to violent crime or its imposition against those persons innocent of any crime who have been wrongly convicted, to name just two examples. >>>

به بهانه اشاعه فرهنگ ایرانی!

جالب این است که این مراسم باز هم تحت عنوان اشاعه فرهنگ ایرانی برگزار میشود این جشنها و گردهمائی ها هم میتوانست موثر واقع شود اگر اشاعه بخش فرهنگ خردگرایانه ، انسانی ایرانیان در کنار رقص های زیبا با لباسهای مختلف و غذاها جلوه گر میشد. اما متاسفانه در این مراسم قسمت های با ارزش فرهنگ ما که تاکید بر همدلی انسانها ی مستقل از ملیت اشان دارد به نمایش گذاشته نمیشود.>>>

"Marg bar dictator"

...>>>

Give diplomacy a chance

We, the undersigned, represent the views of a diverse grouping of Iranian expatriates in the United States, the UK and elsewhere in the West. Some of us have vastly different views regarding the current government in Iran; we are individually members of many different political parties; we do not all agree on how best to reach stability in the Middle East. But we all feel a connection with both our homes in the West and the finest core values of the societies in which we are living, and with the country of Iran and its cultural traditions, whether we came by these ties by birth, heritage or friendship.>>>

طرفدارانِ دوآتشه

آخرین تکواندوکار تیم ایران هم از مسابقه حذف شد. با دلسردی مشغول جمع کردن وساﺋلم از زیر صندلی بودم که فریاد "ایران، ایران" واضحتر از همهمه های گنگ حاکم بر سالن به گوشم رسید. این تشویق نابهنگام و غیرمترقبه گویا خیلی از ایرانیهای دیگر حاضر در سالن مسابقه را نیز متعجب کرده بود. همه نگاهها به گروهی از طرفداران که مشغول نواختن طبل و سرودن شعار بودند دوخته شده بود. >>>

Girls just wanna have fun

About this time last year, I was having tea with my teenage cousin Shirin in Tehran. We were celebrating the good news in the papers that day. Her name had been published among the list of admitted students to her “first choice” university. Her hard work had paid off and it was time to have fun. Iranian fun. She invited me to take part in some of the leisure she’d sacrificed to a yearlong preparation that was devoted primarily to studying and thinking about her future. Her offer impressed me - neither she nor her friends were the slightest bit embarrassed by my hot pink scarf with sparkly gold embroidery. I wore the Britney Spears of hijab. >>>