The cost of war

Today, September 21st is the International Day of Peace. This day was first inaugurated on the third Tuesday of September, 1982 and the goal of International Day of Peace was to "devote a specific time to concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its Member States, as well as of the whole of mankind, to promoting the ideals of peace and to giving positive evidence of their commitment to peace in all viable ways. It should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.">>>

Mersi az eshghetan

Salam bar familhaye gole man: Alan yek hafte mishe ke az bargashtam be khaane va niz tarke shoma azizanam gozashte. Lazem nist ke begam cheghadr delam tang shode. Az yek hafte ghabl az parvazam, yek boghze shadidi shoroo kard dar delam shekl gereftan. Va motaasefane dar lahezate akhare safaram, nazdike saafe gozarnaame, yek edei az shoma majboor shodin shahede tarakidane in boghz beshavid. Baz ham ozr mikham.>>>

The clash of idiots

But we in the Iranian Opposition, or for that matter, every Iranian with at least five years education, is not really surprised to see how the Seyyeds are sitting in the driving seat of one of the oldest nations of the world, and do not really know what to do. But they are only there because the people of Iran do not have any faith in civil disobedience. The Seyyed rulers know that as long as the people of Iran do not confront them with the idea of a General Strike, they can put Iran in harms way.>>>

Someone stop this train!

It has been six months that we, Iranians, are approaching a fall in the train of fate. Meanwhile people who have the power to intervene are in different conditions: Ahmadinejad: He welcomes a war. If a war begins he hopes that the world would come to his rescue and USA would be trapped in the quagmire of Iran. USA would be defeated and he and his friends would be war heroes. They could move against his rivals and get rid of all opposing factions and social groups. They would rule Iran comfortably without fear of domestic opposition.>>>

برخورد دشمنانه

کنفرانس امسال چندین ویژیگی داشت که برخی از آنها را مطرح می کنم. شرکت وسیع نسل دوم ،شرکت قابل ملاحظه مردان که بیش از سی درصد جمعیت در کنفرانس بوند ، امسال برخلاف سال گذشته کنفرانس از نخبه گرایی برحضر بود بدین خاطرتمام سخنرانان انتخابی در کنفرانس جدید بودن به غیر از یک نفر از سخنرانان که قبلاً در بنیاد سخنرانی کرده بود. آن چیزی در کنفرانسهای بنیاد معمول شده بود تعدادی از سخنرانان مثل دور قمری هر دو و سه سال یکبار دعوت می شدند تا نظرات تکراری خود را با یک مقداری کمک و زیاد مطرح کنند و از طرفی تعدادی از دوستان هم عادت کردن که یک نوع بحث را بشنوند.>>>

Voices that Radio Farda fears

To president of Radio Farda, Jeffrey Gedmin: Below please find my response to your opinion piece, Voices That Tehran Fears, in The Washington Post: Oh come on! You make it out to seem as if Radio Farda is this enlightened beacon that will save Iran and bring about freedom, democracy, and peace to Iran if only it could operate freely. The truth is your programming is mostly silly irrelevant pop songs with the occasional filler of watered down news that has little substance and reaches us here with a scratchy signal that makes it hard to listen to. >>>

A new dawn

I thought the ease of commenting could bring about substantial changes to the way that the site is used in the future. After seeing a couple of comments on one of my recreant photo-essays, I realized that the future has arrived and things have changed already. A simple calculation revealed that since the publication of the article mentioned above only 14% of posted articles managed to remain immune to comments (all articles till 18th Sep were included in this calculation). Let’s not talk statistics, but at the first glance an increase in the number of articles commented on is apparent.>>>

Opening the floodgates

First one was about people. I learned that despite the lightning speeds and freedoms of anonymity in internet communications, people are still the same people. Before that, I had imagined all along that if only the good people of Iran, who obviously all wanted to resurrect their cultural honor and advance the cause of democracy in Iran, could, and were allowed to communicate directly with each other, something would click, leaders would emerge and actions would snowball. Not so. Not so fast, anyway. If there are benefits to communicating freely and spontaneously, it will still take time>>>

I am Mohsen Namjoo (1)

Part (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) >>>

Lost in the garden of deceits

The call for war against Iran was issued by no other than Mr. Bernard Kouchner the foreign minister of France, a country with the motto of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. France the home of Voltaire and Rousseau is now calling for war against a country that has never threatened France or its neighbours. France a nuclear power with illustrious colonial past is urging others to be aware of the dangers that nuclear weapons pose. From the other side of the Atlantic we hear the same cries for more war, death and destruction.>>>

«نه زیستن، نه مرگ»

تازه چشم‌هایم در حال گرم شدن بود که احساس کردم کسی پهلویم دراز کشید. سایه‌اش را دیدم. نمی‌دانم چقدر طول کشید، ولی مطمئناً زیاد نبود. یکباره احساس کردم که زمین زیر پایم به لرزه در آمده است. با هراس از خواب پریدم. بغل‌دستی‌ام دچار تشنج شده بود. سرش به عقب افتاده بود و خر و خر می‌کرد. دست‌پاچه شده بودم. نیم‌خیز شدم. ابتدا فکر کردم که دچار حمله‌ی صرع شده است و خواستم کمکش کنم. نگاه کردم، دیدم پاهایش تا زانو باندپیچی شده و خون‌آلودند. ناگهان به خود آمدم. به سرعت متوجه‌ی اشتباهم شدم. او سیانور خورده بود و حالا مجرای تنفسی‌اش دچار مشکل شده بود. دست و پا می‌زد و جان می‌داد.>>>

The Iran conundrum

Underneath all conquests and expansions, underneath all the frivolous wars over religious differences, underneath all the oppression and tyranny, underneath all the motives of greed for wealth, underneath all the wars over injustices, lies one single drive: to dominate. The passion to dominate, control and rule over one's fellow humans is an ancient impulse. It goes back to prehistoric times when certain individuals had the desire to force their will upon those around them. The Islamic Republic of Iran is not an exception to this rule. >>>