An Identity Case

On Wednesday, Molson was at his office sooner than ever—at eight twenty five—sitting behind his desk, freshly shaved, in his brown silk shirt, a yellow tie, and shiny brown leather shoes, with a mug of coffee in his hand—waiting for Liz to show up. The beauty salon was still close, otherwise he would have checked it on his way to work. At eight thirty sharp when he heard the door open, he jumped up and ran to the other room. It was Henry. “Oh, hello Molson,” he said in a thick Chinese accent. “I worried. The office open.” “I decided to come early to see if you come on time,” Molson said. “Oh. Yeah yeah yeah. Sorry. Because I worried.” >>>

Homeland security

R. Bolano rightly writes
that a father is a landscape
you do your best to avoid
all of your adult life.

You see him eat and swallow
with yellowed false teeth
and your hatred silently grows
dull, then sharp as a knife. >>>

False hopes

Just as he is being criticized by those to his right for his emphasis on engagement with Iran, President Obama came under attack from the left, in the op-ed pages of the May 23 New York Times, for just the opposite. Unlike critics from the right who largely concur with the president's stated objectives but disagree with his tactics, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett argue for a full about-face on Iran policy. Obama's current policy, they assert, is doomed to fail unless he repudiates pressure and instead accommodates the Iranian regime and its nuclear aspirations, ostensibly in order to improve U.S.-Iran relations. The Leveretts both misread the Iranian regime and misapprehend U.S. interests>>>

Iran's new millionaires

Guess where was the hottest real estate market in the world back in 2008? If you guessed Tehran, you are right. While we are facing a major downturn in the American housing market, there are places in the world which are enjoying their biggest boom in history. One of those places is Tehran, Iran. Yes Tehran is probably one the most expensive places when it comes to housing. Real estate prices surged by more than 100 percent in 2007, after rising by about 65 percent in 2006 and more than 50 percent in 2005. Meaning if you bought a house in Iran for $100,000 in 2005, it was worth at least $500,000 in May 2008. Assuming a drop of 30%, you are still looking at 350% growth. As a result there are now many new millionaires in Iran and I am talking Dollar Millionaires, not just Rial Millionaires!>>>

موسوی انتخاب من است

از صندوقهای رای فرار نکنید. رای شما هیج منزلتی را برای نظام ایجاد نمی کند. اگرحکومت به دنبال مشروعیت سازی باشد عدم حضور شما بهتربن فرصت را جهت مصادرهء به مطلوب آراء از طریق حضور سیاهی لشکر پدید می آورد حال آنکه حضور پررنگ شما چنین ترفندی را به کلی عقیم می سازد. پس لطفا بیایید قهر نکنیم و همگی در روز بیست و دو خرداد به پای صندوقها رفته و با رای به موسوی بر سرنوشت خود سوار شویم. می دانم که همه خزان زده و پژمرده ایم ولی این را هم می دانم و مرا از بزرگی چون قیصر امین پور یاد است که دل به پائیز نباید سپرد. به اندازهء کافی داغ دل دیده ایم و خون دل خورده ایم. دوست و دشمن از جلو و پشت ما را خنجر زده اند که بهترین گواه آن همین وضعیت فعلی جامعهء ماست>>>

دادن

چهار سال گذشت. محمود کاری کرد که مهرانگیز کار، عباس میلانی و... خیلی های دیگری که با «دادن» به این رژیم مخالف بودند و «دادن» را تحریم کرده بودند، همه میخواهند «بدن». من هم همینطور، با تمام وجودم میخوام «بدم». حتی رفتن به ایران را که معمولاً در ایام عید نوروز بود را به تعویق انداختم که قبل از مراسم همگانی «دادن» در ایران باشم و «بدم» با تمام صحت عقل و با پای خودم دارم میرم به ایران تا در مراسم «دادن» شرکت کنم. و اعلام میکنم که نه کسی من را تهدید کرده و نه اجباری در کار است. بلیط هم گرفته‌ام، زوریخ - تهران و رفتن به شعب «دادن». میخوام «بدم» و فریاد میکنم که میخوام «بدم»، آنهم به یک آخوند 72 ساله. دیگران را هم تشویق میکنم که «بدید».>>>

An Identity Case

The whole thing started in early June when Mohsen, whose Canadian name was Molson, bought a dog—a white Shih-tzu, only three months old. He had recently moved to a new apartment in downtown Vancouver after the separating from his wife. For ages his daughter Anahita had been asking him for a dog. In spite of the fact that it was not at all a good time to get her the puppy, Molson could not resist buying the Shih-tzu when a friend of his said he wanted to give away the puppies their dog had given birth to. Anahita couldn’t take care of a puppy by herself. Neither could his son, a two-year-old who moved around not much better than the puppy on all fours>>>

Defending conscience

Change for Equality on May 2nd reported that six members of One Million Signatures Campaign, the campaign to change the discriminatory laws, were arrested during and after a peaceful demonstration which was held to celebrate May 1st. The police forces attacked the demonstrators even before they congregated and left many of the people with bloody faces. There were more than 150 arrested and among them was Campaign activist Kaveh Mozafari, Jelveh Javaheri’s husband. Jelveh was home when the intelligence forces raided their residence taking everything that potentially might have been useful to fabricate a case for pressing a charge against them including unthinkable and random items such as Jelveh and Kaveh’s University degrees!>>>

چرا "تحریم" انتخابات بی معنی است؟

چرا مدافعان تحریم فقط هر ۴ سال یک بار، در روز انتخابات ریاست جمهوری به یاد مشروعیت نظام می افتند. اگر مشروعیت نظام را قبول ندارند، قاعدتآ می بایست در تمامی اموری که پای نظام در میان است راه نافرمانی مدنی را پیش بگیرند. پس چرا هنگامی که بچه های خود را در مدارس آموزش و پرورش جمهوری اسلامی ثبت نام می کنند، یا در طول مدتی که بر اساس قوانین نظام به فعالیت های تجاری می پردازند، یا زمانی که ازدواجهای خود را به ثبت رسمی می رسانند، یا هنگامی که با گذرنامهء جمهوری اسلامی سفر می کنند، فرم های کارت ملی را پر می کنند و یا از بانکهای دولتی تقاضای وام می کنند، مشروعیت نظام و قانون اساسی را زیر سئوال نمی برند و از تمامی قوانین پیروی و از مزایای آن استفاده می کنند؟ مگر می شود نظام سیاسی و قانون اساسی یک کشور، فقط هر ۴ سالی یک روز فاقد مشروعیت باشد؟>>>

Iran restores Facebook access

Iran restored access to Facebook on Tuesday, two days after the government's efforts to block the social networking site became an issue in the June 12 presidential election. Candidates opposing incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had earlier condemned the government, charging that blocking the site was meant to interfere with their campaigns by confining news to government-controlled outlets. "The government wants to prevent all free discussions on the elections," said Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president and adviser to Mehdi Karrubi - one of two reformist candidates running against Mr. Ahmadinejad>>>

Sexual revolution

One of the best-known examples of love and reciprocity in mystic circles appears in an account of the life of Rumi, the greatest Sufi poet in the Persian language, whose followers founded the Mevle known for its ritual whirling. While living in Konya in 1244, Rumi forged an intense bond with Mawlana Shams Tabrizi, a mystic and accomplished teacher who claimed to have reached union with God. Theirs was a unique relationship since both were mature and renowned masters. Franklin Lewis writes that contemporaries defined their relationship as falling in love, which Franklin qualifies as a “Platonic love of a disciple for his teacher.” Rumi took Shams home, “ where they lived happily for a year or two before the disciples of Rumi became to act on their jealousy”>>>

Expression of life in its entirety

Traditional Persian music, otherwise known as Sonnati music, has officially entered a new era; an era where creativity and unconventional thought have intertwined together to surpass the limitations of tradition. As his father steps down from the throne, the Prince and soon to be the Master of Sonnati avaz (singing), Homayoun Shajarian, has prepared himself for this moment: to inherit the style of music that has been dubbed by most first generation Iranians-Americans as dull and dreary. He provides a new vision; a hope that Sonnati music, through his youthful heart and voice, will gain its inspiration through imaginative innovation, while maintaining true to its traditional roots>>>