Op-Ed
VIEW
19-Nov-2009 (34 comments)
You might call this confession of a reluctant sanction-monger. Advocating sanctions against ones homeland is as strange as advocating for ones extended family to go without, so there better be a damn good reason(s) for such odd advocacy. First a little personal background which might help in dispelling any false notion or prejudgment. My entire extended family except one sibling live in Iran, all except one world-class rich distant cousin, are middle to lower middle class with most being like the overwhelming majority of Iranians in the hand to mouth category>>>
CONSTITUTION
14-Nov-2009 (2 comments)
تهيه و تنظيم پيش نويس يک قانون اساسی نوين هميشه يکی از مهمترين کارهايي بوده که مردمان با فرهنگ کشورهای پيشرفته، با ياری حقوقدان های خود، در شرايط معلق يا دگرگونی (آن چنان که ايران امروز ما در آن قرار دارد) انجام داده اند. برای انجام چنين کاری به شما تبريک می گويم. و مايلم دو نکته را با شما در ميان بگذارم. چرا نبايد مردم کسانی را که دست به چنين کار بزرگی (يعنی تهيه و تنظيم قانون نوين اساسی) می زنند بشناسند؟ من درک می کنم که ممکن است نام برخی از شما برای مردمان پيش داوری بوجود آورد ولی به نظر من اين پيش داوری به مراتب کم ضررتر از آن است که مردمان با افرادی پشت پرده، هر چند محترم و دلسوز، روبرو باشند>>>
MONEY
14-Nov-2009 (10 comments)
There is a witty expression that says "If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion", while expressions like this is a bit far-fetched, there is no doubt about subjective, and sometimes the paradoxical nature, of some economic analyses. Economics is a social science after all. For instance, both economists and politicians keep telling you that you should continue going to the shopping malls and spend money on products especially the expensive ones whether you can afford them or not. By doing so, you not only obtain the sheer pleasure of spending money but also help to pool the economy out of this resilient recession>>>
IDEAS
09-Nov-2009 (9 comments)
It is argued that masses are ignorant, they follow the clerics. Some fundamentalists believe they are doing God’s work in forcing weak believers to practice their religion. In order for evil to triumph it is for people to stand by and do or say nothing. Salvation is found by seeking the truth, not with superstitious dogma. People should be free to choose any path in conformance with their belief system. Even non-believers have made a choice regarding religion. No choice should be ridiculed because it is different from another>>>
VIEW
07-Nov-2009 (4 comments)
Nearly six months after the demonstrations that followed June's disputed presidential election, Iran's pro-democracy "green movement" is as strong as ever. Rallies took place in downtown Tehran today, having been in the works for months through Twitter, blogs, and word of mouth. Iran, it seems, is on the verge of having a new, unified opposition party. But the solidarity on the streets hides wide -- and growing -- splits within. The ostensible leaders of the movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami, and Mehdi Karroubi, are former high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic who would likely keep much about the Islamic Revolution in place>>>
BIRTHDAY
07-Nov-2009 (5 comments)
اين نامه را به مناسبت پنجاه و سومين سالروز تولد برايت مي نويسم. راه درازي را از سال 1956 بهمراه خانواده ات از زادگاهت روستاي ارادان به شهر تهران طي كرده اي: آنروزها تنها يك سال داشتي و خانواده ات مانند بسياري ديگر به اميد و با آرزوي موفقيت فرزندانشان از آن روستاي كوچك و بستگان خود بريده و به پايتخت مهاجرت كردند. آنها خود را از خانواده و نعمت نزديك بودن به آنها را محروم كردند و به شهر جديد و غريبي مهاجرت كردند تا شايد فرزندانشان فرصتهاي بهتري برايشان فراهم شود>>>
POINT
04-Nov-2009 (2 comments)
Today, marks the 30th year since the 444 day Iran Hostage Crisis began in 1979. On this day the media traditionally offers us images of burning American flags and effigies of Uncle Sam. We are reminded of the great chasm of mistrust and misunderstanding that has marked the last three decades of US-Iranian relations. But in the past year both Americans and Iranians have asked for something new. We have elected a president that promises to pursue diplomacy and Iranians have given birth to a popular democratic movement. So, we should not use this 30th anniversary of the hostage crisis to simply re-live tragedy and tension>>>
SATIRE
04-Nov-2009 (3 comments)
The first half of the 20th century minus the Reza Shah period is unique in the whole history of Persian literature in the amount of satire, lampoons and invectives which were published largely though not entirely through the press, and usually with a political motive. It was characteristic of Iranian history that the fall of an arbitrary state, often even the death of a ruler, led to division and chaos. The first quarter of the twentieth century was a period of revolution, chaos and coup>>>
OFFER
02-Nov-2009 (6 comments)
The U.S. and its western allies are recklessly close to shattering the hopes of the world’s progressive and peaceful humanity by its plan of ordering Iran to hand over eighty percent of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) in one bulk shipment. Under the cover of conceding to provide Iran with a certain quantity of 20 percent uranium for use in its clinical medical reactor, the U.S.-France demand, was in fact, actualization of the age-old dictum of denying Iran its right to uranium enrichment, by taking the process out of Iran’s hands>>>
SLOGANS
02-Nov-2009 (one comment)
شعارهای امروز جنبش باید میکروب زدایی و خانه تکانی تاریخی کنند. باید مفهوم "ولایت فقیه" را صبورانه، بی توقف و سازش، و با احترام به دگراندیشی برخی برادران اندرون جنبش، افشا و رسوا نمود، باید با مدرک و استناد به سی سال استبداد و کشتار بر منبی و بفرمان "ولی فقیه" صدمه های تاریخی این اصل من در آوردی را بر ملا کرد، تا انقلاب به سرقت رفته شدمان راباز پس گیریم. باید برای مردم روشن کنیم که برخلاف دروغ های "ولی فقیه" و بوقهایش، سکولاریسم به هیچ وجه بر علیه هیچ دینی نیست>>>
POINT
30-Oct-2009 (44 comments)
Barack Obama has not drawn the right conclusion from his predecessor's failed Iran policy. A paradigm of sticks-and-carrots simply is not going to work in the case of the Islamic Republic. Here, a lesson is readily available, if only the Obama White House were willing to consider Iran's recent history. It is unrealistic to expect that a regime which fought Saddam Hussein's Iraq (then backed by the United States) to a standstill in a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s, unaided by any foreign power, and has for 30 years withstood the consequences of U.S.-imposed economic sanctions will be alarmed by Washington's fresh threats of "crippling sanctions.">>>
RELIGION
30-Oct-2009 (4 comments)
پيدايش هر مذهبی (در داخل دين ها) نشان از پيدايش نيايشگاه (بعنوان سازمان مرکزی) و دينکاران (بعنوان کارکنان آن سازمان) دارد و اين مجموعه خود را حاملان و نگاهبانان «راه درست» می دانند، و تا آنجا که زورشان برسد ديگران را وادار می کنند که فراروايت ايشان از «راه راست» را بپذيرند و هرکس هم که نپذيرد «کافر» محسوب می شود و آنکه از روايت سرپيچی کند «مرتد» و، در همه حال، مستوجب عقوبت مرگ. هم اکنون در زندان های ايران کسانی به انتظار مرگ نشسته اند که گناه شان خروج از اسلام و پيوستن به دين مسيحی است!>>>
GEITHNER
30-Oct-2009 (44 comments)
A young man with little known accomplishment or track record other than voting no to Iraq war as a jr. senator of Illinois, becomes U.S. president ‘against all odds’. He was supported by the richest in the U.S. and around the world, morally and financially. Was a superstar long before getting elected and a megastar afterwards. He is smart and talented for sure with immense self confidence, 'charisma', and the world's largest known fan club to booth. He inherited a cluster from the little Bush for sure but has spent several trillions of tax dollars and overwhelmingly to key players of Wall Street and Corporate world in an effort 'to revive the U.S economy'>>>
VIEW
28-Oct-2009 (4 comments)
"The Russians are microwaving our brains." The comment of my corner-shopkeeper in Tehran reflects a widely-held view about the state's use of powerful jamming signals to block foreign media. The blocking of key communication links has played a big part in the violent crackdown that followed Iran's election. The possible health risks of these newly installed devices have even been raised inside Iran's majlis (parliament); Zohreh Elahian, a member of the national-security and foreign-policy committee, responded to reporters' questions about a possible increase in miscarriages by promising that the figures would be examined>>>
POINT
26-Oct-2009 (88 comments)
Thirty-one years ago, a few months after the 1979 Revolution, the generals and close associates of the Shah, including his long time PM Amir Abbas Hoveyda, were shot to death without trial. The crowds cheered. When the father of the Rezai brothers, was asked to fire the shots, he refused. He was not a killer even though three of his own sons, members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, had been killed under the Shah. One of those generals was Hassan Pakravan who had long been retired at the time of his execution>>>
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