DEMOCRATS
U.S. presidential candidates under the banner of change
While America's Fuehrer tours the palaces of his moneyed-buddies in the Middle East, ranting incessantly -- and stupidly -- about Iran... and the inconceivable and "personal" promise of regional peace, the present Democratic pretenders to the Pennsylvania Avenue domicile, who also anticipate dominance over a Reichstag just a short jog away, deliver soft blows at each other as if all these non-sense, non-issues really meant anything. Anything relevant, that is, to the chaotic economic and foreign policies that define the sorry state of our nation these days!
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MEDIA
Europe vs. Iran: Using propaganda for social change
The propaganda aimed at social change through creating new norms and values is being directed more and more towards children. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, this new target group was selected in an earlier stage, in the early 1980’s when the new babyboom was old enough to go to school and learn about the values of the Islamic Republic. Schoolbooks had changed, resulting in text books with stories derived from the Qoran, carrying values of martyrdom, submission to Islam, our brotherhood with the Palestinians and last but not least the fight of the good (the Islam) against evil (the West)
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POETRY
خورشید که میتابد
پاهایم دراز می شود
در شهر دنیا و میگذرد
از مرز تمدن
با خلخالی از گل بوسه های آدمی
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HERITAGE
Photo essay: Saint Stephanos Church
by
Fathali Ghahremani >>>
VIEW
Causes of corruption in Iran
The existence of corruption is fundamentally a philosophical problem and has roots in human nature and ethics. Though from a political perspective, this writing is concerned with the percolation of corruption throughout political life. I seek, here, to outline the causes of political corruption, with a focus on Iran. Political corruption is widespread in Iran almost to the proportions of an endemic disease. The modus operandi of Iranian political life requires a recipe of bribery, nepotism, cronyism, secret deals, and financial collusions, among others, camouflaged by the rhetoric and visage of Islamic justice
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PRINCE & PAUPER
بهار اصلاً نمی دانست رابطه برف با مارک تواین را درک کند
ترجمه قطع جیبی شاهزاده و گدا رابه راحتی در بین کتابهایش پیدا کرد. با دقت زیادی انگار که دعای مقدسی را دارد ورق می زند، صفحات را با واسوس لمس کرد. اولین ترجمه محمد قاضی از شاهزاده و گدا در سال 1333 در آمد و او همان موقع که جوان رشیدی بود کتاب را خرید و آن شب تا آن را تمام نکرد خوابش نبرد. از نتیجه گیری کتاب وحشت کرد، یعنی اینکه کسی شاهزاده و یا گدا می شود فقط یک اتفاق است. آیا همه ما در شخصیت واقعی خود قرار داریم. نکند واقعاً شاهزاده ایم و لی به ظاهر و در اثر سیر حوادث لباس های گدایان را بر تن کرده ایم.
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QUESTION
If we want to change policy, we have to change the present circumstances, the clichee iranian type. We can change that, by changing the medias attitude. It is us in the west, who have to draw the media´s attention to the, let us call it a fact, that Iranians are Democrats and deserve to be supported. But a fact is something, which needs evidence. Every Iranian can proove and contribute by taking time (5 minutes), just clicking in the survey... I will pass on the results to the media in Germany. Despite the survey naturally may not be representative, it could be seen as a very small step
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POETRY
Some seek truth by soaring the heights,
there where they would become one with the Boundless.
Others seek it plumbing the depths,
there where they would surrender and be Bounded.
And both of these ways are good for a time.
But the Boundless one soon becomes prisoner of his freedom
while the Bounded one in bondage knows little release.
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ALARMING
Kianoosh Sanjari, a human rights activist and an ex-political prisoner himself, demonstrated against the human rights atrocities in Iran by showing his protest in a gathering together with Amnesty International in front of the Norwegian parliament in Oslo on January 12th. It is an alarming fact that the number of death sentences in Iran are on the rise, comparing 177 death sentences by hanging in 2006 to 298 in 2007. Not only is there a rise in the number of death penalties, there also seems to be more cases of “alternative penalties” like amputating limbs or pushing people off cliffs
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JOURNALISM
Amir Taheri incites bloodshed with impunity
Dear Mr. Taheri, and alike, we know that you, like all of us here in the west, have to earn a living and pay rent -- but at what price? You are willing to provoke conflicts where there are none with consequent bloodshedding just because you are against the present regime in Iran? Maybe, we Iranians of the diaspora that earn a living by legitimate means and working our asses of to make ends meet, should also set aside a fund where we can contribute to these has-beens so that maybe they will not commit these stupidities and just sit at home and SHUT UP
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VOTE
Making sure a candidate wins who supports our positions
As the California primary comes closer, it is incumbent that our Iranian-American community come show up at the election polls and vote for a candidate which takes a stance against military confrontation with Iran. Unfortunately, many of the Republican and some Democratic candidates have not taken this position and continue to leave the military option on the table. It is important for us as Iranian-Americans to vote in the California Primary, given that it is the state with the largest number of delegates and the state most likely to determine the next US President
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HAMSAR
همان گونه که داشتن معیارهای معتبرمی تواند موجب برگزیدن همسری دلخواه و برخورداری از یک زندگی آرامش بخش بشود، نداشتن معیار گزینش می تواند در مورد انتخاب همسر به حسرت و پشیمانی بیانجامد ، می دانیم که اگربرای بدست آوردن چیزی هزاران تلاش کنیم ولی ندانیم آن چیز چیست و چه مشخصاتی دارد، هرگز بدان دست نمی یابیم. حتی اگرهم بفرض محال پیدایش کنیم آن را نخواهیم شناخت. بنابراین باید دقیقا بدانیم چه می خواهیم تا دچار سرگردانی و اشتباه نشویم.
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POETRY
They say there is nothing like the wind
to tempt you away from here.
They say abandon your ways
haven't you had enough of fear?
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