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سرِ چوب‌كبریت را
تركرد و نوشت
هرجا هركو هروقت
عشق ما راست
>>>

عاقبت کار به کجا خواهد کشید؟

در شدیدترین بحران اقتصادی دوران حکومت، صف‌بندی‌های جدیدی در حال شکل‌گیری است، و در این صف‌بندی‌ها هاشمی رفسنجانی نقش فعالی را به عهده گرفته است. او که خود را قهرمان «عبور از بحران» در دوره‌های مختلف جمهوری اسلامی می‌شناسد، اکنون یک‌بار دیگر به میدان آمده تا شاید بتواند کشتی پر تلاطم «نظام» را از توفان سهمگینی که گرفتار آن شده برهاند>>>

War with Iran and the Economy

With the rise in conservatism and the likely success of Mitt Romney in the upcoming presidential election, there will be a renewed effort to beat the war drum in regard to Iran. Given the disappointing economic conditions here in the U.S., there might be popular support for war, especially among some politicians and economists who believe that war will jump start our stalled economy. In a September 5, 2010 article in The New York Times, renowned economist Paul Krugman stated: “From an economic point of view, World War II was, above all, a burst of deficit-financed government spending”>>>

A Role in International Courts

Payam Akhavan works as defender and prosecutor in international courts. Payam Akhavan was the first prosecutor of the post-Nuremberg international criminal courts, prosecuting criminals such as former Yoguslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, and helped with truth commissions and criminal tribunals in other countries such as Rwanda, Cambodia, and Guatemala. Akhavan was the first prosecutor of the post-Nuremberg international criminal courts>>>

The Crime of Teaching

I never met her, however, the picture her sister draws of her makes me feel I have known her for ages. In all the photos I have seen of her, she wears an innocent smile. A smile now captive in a prison cell in Evin. Nooshin was teaching a group of young students who according to “The law" are not permitted to seek higher education in Iran and because of this crime she is in prison today. Nooshin was once one of those youth, herself, who were denied education in that country>>>

A gem of a film

‘Do you think she’s going to come? Do you think she’ll be here?’ repeatedly asked some friends of mine I happened to bump into in the queue for The Patience Stone – an Afghan film I had been eagerly awaiting ever since I set my paws on the TIFF brochure some weeks ago – as I eyed a mass of conspicuously Iranian-looking faces, fingering my ticket. Waiting in line, it seemed the audience that evening was more interested in catching a glimpse of Iranian actress Golsfhiteh Farhani than seeing a film from one of Afghanistan’s most renowned novelists and directors, Atiq Rahimi>>>

Visiting the Crocodiles

My neighbor and her grandchildren
Are going to the zoo
To visit the crocodiles of the Nile river
Who, everyday after lunch
>>>

دو بیتی های ویژه ۶

گفتند دلی نیست که ویران نشد از عشق
با عشق عجین گشت و پریشان نشد از عشق  

گفتم که ندیدم به جهان هر که غمی داشت
از درد بجان آمد و درمان نشد از عشق
>>>

Out of Control

The voices demanding Ahmadinejad’s resignation, even in Iran’s parliament, resonate louder each day. Senior Iranian cleric, Grand Ayatollah Makarem, has warned the government of this unstable economic situation’s potential consequences. He said in an unprecedented tone that “there is a limit to what the people can put up with.” The Grand Ayatollah’s apprehension is justifiable>>>

Three Scenarios

The collapse the rial, poses a fundamental challenge to Ayatollah Khamenei. When I last visited Iran, in 2009, a nearly universal refrain -- among ordinary Iranians, business people, and especially among the circle of big-business types associated with Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who backed the Green Movement -- was that the pain of economic sanctions was biting harshly>>>

نه مستقل نه آزاد

وقتی که شما به تماشای رسانه های مستقل، در کشورهای آزاد می نشینید، می بینید که برنامه های آنها از یک بالانس خوبی برخوردار است، و منعکس کننده همه افکار و نظریات است، نه اینکه یک سویه باشد. اما متاسفانه رسانه های ما نه مستقلند و نه آزاد. هیچ فرقی بین رسانه های لوس آنجلسی، رسانه های اصلاح طلبان، چپی ها و غیره، با رسانه های جمهوری اسلامی وجود ندارد>>>

For the Love of Fesenjan

While just a few years ago, the only decent restaurants where you could satisfy your craving for good old-fashioned Persian cuisine in Toronto were all located in the stretch between Yonge & Steeles and Yonge & Sheppard – an area affectionately known among Iranians here as Tehranto - restaurants such as The Pomegranate have been changing things up a bit in the ‘Big Smoke’>>>

Pressure cooker

No you can't win.
There is no brick wall
to separate your faith
from the neighbor's lord.
>>>

Bad News For Mahmoud

On Sept. 4, Ahmadinejad had dismissed speculation that the country’s currency was in deep trouble. When asked whether the rial would reach an exchange rate of 30,000 to the dollar, the president called such predictions “psychological warfare.” Now, just four weeks later, the rate has jumped to 35,000 rials to the dollar, and a Tehrani business owner reports that the exchange market has nearly shut down, with no one willing to sell off dollars for the quickly depreciating rials>>>