Zohreh & Manoochehr (1)

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Prayers in Vegas

My mother took my grandmother to Las Vegas for the first time in her life. The interesting aspect of this trip is not so much my grandmother’s amazement of Vegas but more as to what she did to American soldiers in Las Vegas airport on the way back. In Las Vegas airport, my mother and grandmother were waiting in the flight terminal to board their plane while hundreds of soldiers were getting ready to be deployed to Iraq. My grandmother, who always manages to be a social butterfly even with the little English that she knows, began to tell the soldiers how much she wishes they were not going to war and were able to stay home with their families>>>

همیشه دعا کنید که همه به بهشت بروند

لازم نیست خیلی مرا بشناسید که بدانید من دیوانه نویسنده فقید کوین. و. سینسور هستم. دستشویی ٬زیر میز اتاق نشیمن ٬روی میز کنار تخت و ته همه کیفهای دستی من نوشته ای از کوین یافت می شود. با کوین قبل از مرگ رابطه ای نداشتم. ولی بعد از مرگش خوابش را هر از گاهی می بینم. دست بر قضا راهی جهنم شده است و اینجور که خودش می گوید اوقات خوشی را دارد... در خواب از من قول شرف گرفت که به کیدین زن بیوه اش نگویم. ساعت سه صبح از خواب پریدم و در اینترنت دنبال تلفن کیدین. و. گشتم. نبود. شماره یک مردی بود بنام ج. ن. تامسون. ظاهرن نسبتی با خانواده کوین دارد. >>>

Beyond reason

The Bush administration has once again ratcheted up the drum beating of a “Preemptive War” against Iran, on the presumption of the now familiar saber rattling pretext of “weapons of mass destruction.” Many believe his motive as a dire hope of passing on the White-House-Baton to another neo-conservative warmonger, John McCain, as his successor. While the court of public opinion worldwide, including the U.S., is unanimously against waging another bloody war of transgression costly to all sides concerned, President Bush, at least on the surface, seems to have been orchestrating another false image of “an international coalition” relying on his political lackeys and lapdogs, and poodles and patsies in Europe, Israel and the Middle East, as they are referred to by the independent press and the populace. >>>

Mali & Elizabeth

On June 17, 2008, after years of being in a committed relationship, I was finally able to marry my partner at San Francisco's City Hall. We wanted to honor my Persian heritage so after we said our vows we participated in the traditional Persian ritual where friends and family grind sugar cones over our heads to share with us their sweet wishes. The custom that I had seen in other Persian weddings growing up in Iran... My feelings were bittersweet, as I thought of the contrast. Finally in the U.S., I was able to marry the love of my life. On the other hand, in Iran, my country of birth, I know that gays often risk their lives to find their happiness in a same-sex relationship. Too often gays are executed because of who they are and for the love they feel!>>>

پیام و پيامك

هنوز از كنار اتاقك بازرسي، پاسپورت به دست، چندان دور نشده بودم كه نامم محوطه را پر كرد. در بلندگو اسمم را صدا مي كردند. خود را به نشنيدن زدن بيهوده بود. پرهيب شان اندكي كمتر از سرعت صوت پشت سرم هويدا شد، بعد هرم نفس ها بود روي گردن، حس مي كردم كه يقه ي پيراهنم كثيف شده و احتياج به شستن دارد. اين بار صداي بلندگو نبود، و تن لطيف و ظريف زن گوينده. مجازي نبود، واقعي بود و تا حدي خشن. ماموري در چند قدمي، كمي جلوتر از من ايستاد. ديگري آمد روبرويم، اشاره كرد كه از صف خارج شوم. بي كلامي، برگه اي را نشانم داد. پاسپورت را طلب كرد. آن را به بهانه ي چك كردن گرفت، ديگر پس نداد.>>>

Islamic attack on democracy

The Islamic Republic of Iran has reached the highest level of illegitimacy. The Illegitimacy is now an evident characteristic of the regime and henceforth can hardly be denied by an increasing majority of people in and out of Iran. Therefore, the Islamic regime, especially its so-called reformist factions, needs activists in the West to prop up the claim of regime’s legitimacy. Among the various pro-regime cyber-media in the West, Iranian.com is one of the most read websites. Although, it has a secular character, because of its high popularity and openness to any idea cannot escape from the supporters of the IRI. IRI’s supporters and lobbyists and on this site are three main groups>>>

Prison Letters

Among the millions of Iranian immigrants living outside of Iran today, there are many who have spent a good portion of their lives behind the bars of the Shah's or Khomeini's prisons. Now in exile, far from the coercive system of their home country, they have the opportunity to write about the time of their incarceration. Through this process they not only shed light on some corners of political life in contemporary Iran but also demonstrate that political prisoners, in spite of torture and fear of execution, are able to create a culture, of their own. In this culture like that of any other social group, we find joy and humor alongside depression and fear, as well as a passion for artistic and literary creativity which runs against the indoctrination policies of the repressive regimes>>>

بیسوادی

روزهای اخیر شاهد ِ نقد اندیشه های امام راحل بودیم و گروهی ناجوانمردانه رییس جمهورِ مهجورِ کشورمان را به تخطی از اندیشه های امام متهم می نمودند! در این چند سطر سعی دارم با استفاده از نوشته ها و سخنرانی های آن از یاد رفته، به نتیجه ای ساده دست یابم: مهمتر از همه، سخن این است که آیت الله خمینی، دارای "اندیشه" بود! این خود جای بحـث دارد، استفاده از واژه مقدس اندیشه در جایی که تضاد، ناهمخوانی و ضعف اطلاعات عمومی و اولیه مشخص است، درست نمی باشد (گوشه ای از سخنرانی های آقای خمینی گواهِ این مطلب است): >>>

Groundless suspicion

The main theme of The Fish Fall In Love ("Mahiha ashegh mishavand" directed by Ali Rafii) is so familiar to the Iranian viewer that few of us may complain about its plot making no sense. Or if the viewer is not Iranian, he/she may adopt a post-modern disregard for plot logic and concentrate on the clearest message of the film: suspicion destroys our best hopes. Newly freed political prisoner, Aziz, (Reza Kianian) sneaks back to his Caspian hometown to find his fiancée, Atieh, has been married off. Philosophical about life, he sneaks back out to roam the planet doing we know not what. These events happen years before the movie begins >>>

Good vs. Evil, again

Marjane Satrapi's film, Persepolis must have made George Bush and his new ally, Nicolas Sarokzy, quite happy. After all, despite Satrapi's rhetoric against the two leaders, her film's core argument is one that Bush and Sarkozy have long been busy constructing: the evil state versus the wonderful people. Aesthetically, Persepolis is a refreshing and beautiful black-and-white animation, but it is also built on a black-and-white viewpoint of Iran. Satrapi's world is divided into two very separate groups: you are either with Marjane, in which case you'd are a nice, warm human being with properly drawn features; or you are against Marjane, and therefore either a black spectre with no human face features or an angry robot who represents the Iranian state>>>