Features
February 2005
Latest
DIASPORA
The
day I became an Iranian American
I laugh. I now have two homelands, two governments, that are enemies of
each other
Massoud Noghrekar
She is dancing. The wind makes an umbrella out of her short skirt. Her tiny underwear, like her skirt, is an American flag. Her long white legs entice those of us standing in line. Her big breasts bounce beneath her t-shirt, which is also an American flag. Even her earrings are shaped like the American flag and flow when she moves.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Javadieh
Photo essay: Ashoura in Tehran's Javadieh neighborhood
Nader Davoodi
SUGGESTION
Unity
for a second
This Norooz, let's unite against war and devastation
Massoud Etezal
ADVICE
Shokooh's
couch
Why is she so afraid?
Shokooh Miry
The essential component of a specific phobia is a marked and persistent fear. A person who has a phobic fear of snakes will react with an anxiety response. Sometimes this anxiety response will be so serious that it will look and feel like a full panic attack -- complete with symptoms such as a pounding heart, difficulty breathing, or dizziness.
ADVICE
What's up,
Tech?
Virus or spam, Plug-ins, Icon colors, Can't get rid of IE
Tourang Birangi
So what's all the fuss about Google's desktop search? Well google's main bread and butter has been its internet search. The key in any search engine is the efficiency of its engine to search. Well, a few months back Google decided to turn its powerful engine to desktops. They can now search your desktop (your hard disk) much faster than Microsoft is capable of searching using it's Windows search tool.
WORK
Dubai's
downside
UAE society is completely stratified with every inhabitant categorized
Rachel Cerbone
A significant challenge that I have faced would be the enslavement of the non-locals in the United Arab Emirates. I can't speak for all Arab states in the Persian Gulf , but my experience is the UAE is quite disturbing. I decided to go to the UAE because I wanted to work whilst traveling abroad. My friend boasted of a thriving metropolis that has anything and everything you could want from a typical Western country; she also explained how easy it would be to find a job in this budding city of Dubai.
WOMEN
Westward
wind
Gender equality in the 21st century
Behshad Hastibakhsh
The dawn of the 21st century marks an important milestone in the worldwide campaign to eliminate traditional social and cultural barriers to gender equality. While women in some societies enjoy their equal social status and access to education, employment and career opportunities similar to men, gender based segregation and discrimination remains common in communities with strong conservative values.
IDEAS
Strategy
for survival
Altruism in social exchanges
Afshin Afshari
Through the ages, evolution has biased man's reasoning ability toward favoring long-term social contracts. Man, therefore, has an unconscious tendency to view all social exchanges in a long-term context. This archetype-God is -- in average -- strong enough not to need the help of such painful supplements as fear and guilt which constrain natural instincts and are detrimental to the mental health of the individual and the stability of society.
POETRY
Fadiyeh
For Simin Behbahani
Jahangir Sedaghatfar
ANALYSIS
Tanesh:
Iran va Amrika
Strategic factors in Iran-U.S. tensions
Ramin Kamran
POETRY
Akharin
rooz-e donyaa
I wish it was the last day of the world
Leila Farjami
POETRY
Nakhosteen
Poetry from an early 20th century immigrant
Ali A. Parsa
PHOTOGRAPHY
All
is calm
Photo essay: Bushehr
Ehsan Shahinsefat
DOCUMENTARY
The
good neighbor
A film on the life of novelist Ahmad Mahmoud
Azam Nemati
When I received e-mail from my friend at the local Iranian Cultural Society regarding their upcoming event featuring the documentary Ahmad Mahmoud: A Noble Novelist directed by Bahman Maghsoudlou, I was thrilled. As always when I get excited, I forgot to read the rest of the e-mail. My mind went back to when I was about ten years old and I had managed to borrow the book Neighbors from an older friend so I could be cool by knowing the content since his name was often brought up as a brave and great writer.
BOOK
Time
in circles
"Their faces are grave under their turbans, but their eyes smile"
Farid Parsa
Doris Lessing in her book Time Bites: Views and Reviews (Harper Collins, London, 2004), pours out many of her inner opinions, secrets, influences that had an impact on her life as a writer, political activist, social commentator, feminist, and above all human being who craves for something deeper. Lessing, who was born in 22nd October 1919 in Kermanshah, is an author of critically acclaimed novels, short stories, opera, drama, autobiography, poetry and nonfiction. She is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
IRAN-U.S.
Who
is doing whom?
The more I looked into this, the more I realized that we, the Iranians,
are the ones who are being terrorized
Hamid Bakhsheshi
I just finished reading the "Updates" section of the Iranian.com. I came across Notes of an Iranian boy and it really got me. I mean I've been reading a lot about the "American attack on Iran". I've talked to friends either in person or by phone and haven't found that many who have an IQ above 30, who like this idea. Yes, this is my take of it and I don't think people who have half a brain in their pumpkin can really agree with this stupid idea.
MUSIC
Idin
The voice
eWorldrecords
SPACE
From
Earth to distant galaxies
Firouz Naderi will become the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Associate Director
for Programs
NASA news release
Dr. Firouz M. Naderi, manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Program since April 2000, will broaden his oversight of endeavors to study other parts of the universe, from Earth to distant galaxies, in a new leadership position at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif ornia. JPL Director Dr. Charles Elachi said, "Firouz was called on to lead the Mars Program at JPL five years ago when the program had experienced some setbacks. He helped restructure the program and has led it to some spectacular successes..."
LIFE
Dorrita
My luck with women
Peyvand Khorsandi
She was Portuguese and worked in a bakery called Olivers. It served cakes, coffees, sandwiches and was run by what we school kids guessed was a retired military general. We all hung out there when school was out. “You can’t congregate here!” he shouted at the sprawl of uniforms that amassed each afternoon as a result of a cappuccino someone had ordered at two o’clock.
POETRY
My
lover
For Foroogh Farrokhzad and Jimi de la Cruz
Farbod
POETRY
On sale
You matured
Doubledee
POETRY
Zendaani-ye
vojdaan
Zir-e sarzamin-e faraamooshi...
Farah Afshari
POETRY
Oghoobat-e
eshgh
Kicked my heart like a puppy dog
Qasem Nosrati
APHRODISIAC?
When
Danny met Chanty
The new love of my life
Doubledee
You've heard about it in talk shows. You've seen it in documentaries. You've even witnessed the peers, mostly female talk about it in the healing circles at your gym but you somehow never quite understood just what the fuck they are talking about. How can you possibly have orgasms -- and even better, multiple ones -- without a pair of helping hands or even better without involving your own helping hands!?
IDENTITY
Selling
dreams
Striking a balance between dream and reality
Arash Emamzadeh
In times when international travel and communication are so common while tradition and old time values are disappearing, sociopolitical and geographical borders are meaningless. Nowadays the only real borders are financial ones. In my previous two articles, I attempted to push for a new definition of Iranian identity based on shared values because I felt that a definition based on geographical borders is starting to lose its meaning (with us Iranians spread all over the globe).
LIFE
The
dream
Short story
Siamak Vossoughi
Just to know that if a man wanted to, he could walk into a video store and walk out with a dream. Not even a dream to get all excited about, but something to walk home carrying as casually as if it were a loaf of bread. Somehow that made it even more magnificent, as though it had already gone straight inside him, skipping any outward effects. He wouldn't have a smile but he'd have a purpose, and a big one at that, if you stopped and thought about it. He'd be taking all this stuff with a city and streets and people and everything inside them and squeezing it down into something manageable, love, let's say, or death.
POLITICS
Welcome
Dean
It is time to take a stand and play our part by supporting the Democratic
wing of the Democratic Party
Chris Urkofsky & Hamid Karimi
In the aftermath of the 2004 election, we, like other Democrats, have searched for ways to equip and empower the Democratic Party to take our country back from the right-wing extremists who have dominated all 3 branches of our government for the past few years. As a progressive organization that believes in the need for profound reforms within the Democratic Party, BAIAD -- Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats -- celebrates the election of Howard Dean to the Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
When it comes to maps which draw lines of identity around the people of
a nation you must apply more than just rules of cartographic practice
Raman Kia (Buddahead)
What the editors of National Geographic did not realize was that when it comes to maps which draw lines of identity around the people of a nation you can't simply apply the rules of cartographic practice and forget that maps are about history too. To the people of Iran, who are of Indo-European decent, the name "Persian Gulf" is symbolic of the historical memory of a great civilization spanning 7,000 years, a history which was their identity long before oil was found and Americans and the British stepped on their shores.
ELECTIONS
President
Mossaddegh
I hereby announce my candidacy for the president of the Islamic Republic
of Iran
Cyrus Mossaddegh
The greatest threat Iran faces today is America, and if the next President of Iran does not understand the Americans, then he or she is putting Iran in great danger. We must all agree that we cannot ignore the American military forces that are in close proximity and we must also agree that military confrontation must be avoided at all costs --- and to do that we must communicate with the Americans.
POETRY
Bass
kon ey zamin
For the victims of the Zarand earthquake
Orkideh Behrouzan
IDEAS
Deen
va hokoomat
The Islamic Republic is bad. But you cannot separate religion from the
state. Not in Iran.
Aghaye Hichkas
NUCLEAR
Misplaced
pride
The gazillion-dollar Russian-built money-pit-of-a-power-plant in Bushehr
is nothing to be proud of
Farhad Radmehrian
Watching the earthquake news reports on TV, the first thing you notice is the obvious and painful lack of equipment, emergency services, infrastructure and proper building codes. A uniform and capable public emergency assistance system, like fire, paramedics and civil defense corps can be a national project of utmost importance that will improve and save thousands of lives, way ahead of the country needing to worry about generating electricity from enriched uranium!
TRAVELERS
Journey
to the Caspian
Part 3: An American's travels in Iran in 1973
Rick Misterly
The beauty of approaching any subject with very little knowledge has the effect of putting one in a constant state of awe. You never cease at being surprised, seeing everything as new for simply what it is. My previous knowledge of Iran was that it was run by a guy who looked a lot like my dad and that it was a desert. But here I was in a totally different land, Mazanderan, with a different climate and people as well as the setting for many of the stories from the Shahnameh.
DIASPORA
One
generation, three centuries
I am daunted by how the images have remained intact despite the passage
of time
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani
Among the many political articles, I come across a short piece someone has written about what he remembers of life in Iran [See: "Once upon a dream"]. His words sound almost as nostalgic as I feel and what I read is so saturated with images, voices and fragrance, it opens an old door to memories. I know that door too well for it took me years to build it. I put a padlock on it a long time ago and threw away the key. Or, so I thought.
SUPPORT
Bam's
little blossoms
Interview with a sponsor of orphans from Bam
Fereshteh Nouri
RELATIONSHIPS
Welcome
to the 21st century!
I wondered if at the end of the day this generation is really that different
from those of the recent past
Baharak Sedigh
My grandmother, who lost her husband at a very young age, never remarried. Relationships really were for a lifetime back then. Even if it meant a lifetime of loneliness! I wondered, if grandma were still here, what would she say is the right amount of "mourning time" after the end of a relationship, before one could appropriately take a date to the old "favorite spots"?
FICTION
Haalat-e
aad'dee
Short story
Elham Gheytanchi
FICTION
Jamshid
and the Lost Mountain of Light
Children's book
Howard Lee
Many years ago in Persia, a traveler on horseback had just made his way through a narrow mountain pass. The downward path was rough and stony as it threaded its way around giant boulders and jagged rock formations. Snow-capped mountains towered above him, their barren slopes too hostile for even grass to grow. Over the rush of the river beside him, he could hear the eerie call of an eagle echoing above him.
ADVICE
Shokooh's
Couch
Finding a good psychologist
Shokooh Miry
E.D wrote: Can you please recommend a good psychologist? My kids are having a lot of problems and my husband has agreed to visit a psychologist with me and the kids. I don't want to pick someone at random from the yellow pages. How can I check to see if the psychologist has a license? Where do I start?
OPINION
In
so many words
Comments on issues of the day
Hamid Boroumand
I would like to see Hossein Shahrestani become Iraq's next Prime Minister, I would like to have Benazir Bhutto return to power in Pakistan, and if things don't change for the better in Iran within the next few months, I would be favorable to an organized bloodless coup with a timetable for free, fair and democratic elections in that country shortly thereafter.
SATIRE
Sex,
lies & shish kebob
Part 3: Anything's okay, so long as your ass remains a one-way street
Siamack Baniameri
It was obvious who wore the pants in that relationship. The guy was another victim of the Zan Zallil Syndrome and he was too much of a coward to stand up and tell the girlfriend like it is. I felt a strong connection with the guy due to our intense male bonding episode earlier. We guys are stupid like that. Just because we spend a few minutes sharing something primitive but personal, we automatically become best friends. So, I figured what the heck, I'll help the dude.
GEOGRAPHY
Greater
Iran
Federated commonwealth of Iranian states
Nima Kasraie
The purpose of this writing is not to present you with yet another flabby history lesson about Persia, something which I trust you all to be sick to death of. Yet the topic of the current article is something which I feel I cannot ignore writing about, as it seems that nobody these days cares to sputter about, save myself.
SUPERSTITION
Hossein
hocus pocus
In an era when the world is making quantum leaps in science and technology,
we Iranians still spend a lot of our lives in the past
Pesare Gol
As I flip through Iranian satellite TV channels I can't help stop and watch the Ashura processions offered by the Islamic Republic. A big room full of hundreds of bearded men, as well as some children, weeping and hitting themselves on the head mourning the loss of a character named Hossein.
LIFE
Once
upon a dream
All that remains is the memories
Arash Sayedi
The sound of my friends' laughter. The warmth of my grandmother's touch; the smell of her scarf. The sour taste of Masht Hassan's lavashaks. Playing with marbles in the dirt. Street soccer. Fighting with my neighbour's kid; beating that fat kid up real good and then getting beat up by his brother. Pushing a tire down the road with a stick. Ringing door bells late at night and running like a bat out of hell. Noon Barbary. Smell of naphtha on Charshanbeh Soory.
ARTS
Pieces
of Parima
Jewelry
Parima Shahin Moghadam
POLITCS
Fresh
look back
Iran-U.S. relations in 1977
Mahmoud Foroughi
Farhad Sepahbody writes: In the heat of today's rethoric, it is perhaps useful to enter a time machine and take a look at Iran's past relations with the U.S. Take a fresh look at Ambassador Mahmoud Foroughi's interesting paper on the subject that I found in my old archive.
POINT
Evil
in jitters
A natural yearning for freedom and justice in the Middle East is (thanks
to the United States of America) turning to impatience
Alidad Vassigh
The news is good. Like good storytelling, it condenses an immense, disparate set of experiences into an essential thread. And like any engaging tale, it triggers tension, anxiety or excitement. The writing is on the wall for Middle Eastern fascism and the ghastly ideologies of the 20th century:
SPELLING
It's
NOWRUZ
Seventeen different spellings of "Nowruz" have been detected
on the Internet
Bahram Gerami
ARTS
Fluid
times
Modern designs (no pun intended)
Kamran K. Amid
FATALISM
Turning
to the sky
The fire at Tehran's Arg Mosque
Roya Hakakian
I grew up around a kerosene heater, the kind that caused the fire in Tehran's Arg Mosque last Tuesday. They are damn messy. Owning one was a demanding affair. You'd have to fend against blostery winds, fetch a container, march through the snow, stand on queue at the kerosene distribution center for what, to a child whose toes were losing sensation, felt like an eternity.
MUSIC
Soraya
Debut album, "Saazeh Taazeh" [New Melody] brings out a bit of
the old, a bit of the new
Behrouz Bahmani
The new album by Soraya entitled Saazeh-Taazeh [A New Melody], actually should be entitled, "Fresh Melody", because that is exactly what it is. A fresh new look at traditional, what I am now calling, Mature Iranian-Pop.
FICTION
Sanam
Short story
Mohammad Hossainzadeh
PARENTS
Babysitting
in style
The twins won't let us spend too much time doing anything to really appreciate
our expensive holiday
Siamack Salari
Last November we paid nearly £6,000 to book a two week-holiday to the Royal Mirage hotel in Dubai. We depart this Sunday and for the last month or so have been wondering why we spent so much money on luxury that we won't really appreciate because we will be too busy chasing after the twins trying to stop them breaking things, pulling things off tables and eating sand.
POLITICS
Bush,
Iran, war & democracy
The opposition should form a broad shadow government
Hassan Behgar
OPINION
Distant
stars
Welcome to the wasteland of Persian intellectual history
Fouad Kazem
The obsession with the past is rampant among Iranians. Our love for the past has been so great that many have chosen to ignore all that our great writers of the past actually said. They have chosen to boast about their greatness. A summary reading of all vulgar patriotic writing will show that their point is to prove the greatness of the Persian heritage, our real or imagined differences with the Arabs. These writers are troubled about our history and our present predicament.
OPINION
And
the winner is.... Qom
While Mr. Bush publicly denounces the IRI and promises to help the opposition,
he has in fact done everything imaginable to reinforce the regime in Tehran
B. Bamdad
It simply could not have been delivered more efficiently to the mullahs even if they tried! In Iraq, the newly elected party is the Shia, Pro-Iranian political alliance with long-standing ties and past residence in Iran. And in Afghanistan the big winner has been "the Northern Alliance" (long supported by the mullahs in Iran) with large sections of the country under their direct control. Shia factions in both Iraq and Afghanistan are taking over - with direct US assistance.
ANALYSIS
Beedaarsheed
A modern geopolitical primer for Iranian expatriates
Ramin Davoodi
Iranians in America are starting to wake up to the palpable sense of danger facing their homeland. This danger isn't limited to just the very real sense of a potential physical encroachment by an outside state; it is all the more felt, as it has been in decades past, in the imminently humiliating context of a loss of vital state sovereignty at the hands of larger, more aggressive powers.
NEW
YEAR
The
optimism of No-Rooz
In my imagination, I replaced the girls' dark veils with a tiara of pride
and in place of dark beards the successful young men wore bright smiles
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani
Once again, I open my window to let the No-Rooz air rush in along with memories of a lifetime. Although for sometime neither my feasts have felt like a feast nor my new years proven so new, I can't deny the magic of spring. A magic that, regardless of a thousand broken promises, still makes me believe in the pledge for a better tomorrow.
FOOD
Valentine
abgoosht
Saltanat entered the apartment with her nose first sniffing like a Bassett
hound on the trail
Kaveh Aminian, Seattle
I knew Saltanat loved abgoosht. This Valentine's Day was my opportunity to show her how much I loved her, but it had to be just right. I had never made abgoosht. I didn't even have a Dizi. Then, suddenly I thought of Asghar. If someone knew about abgoosht it had to be him.
LIFE
Remarkable,
independent -- and incomplete
A taste of the 21st century female attorney
Neda
21st Century Female Attorney - she is a woman first, then an attorney. She does not work at a big firm. She has her own schedule. She has a well-balanced life. She exudes power, confidence, and strength. She is self-reliant, capable, and independent, and above all she is a woman -- she is sexy, chic, glamorous, loving, caring and compassionate. Even outside of the office, she has the talent of presenting a well-thought and articulate argument with all sides taken into consideration.
LEBANON
Who
benefits?
Former Lebanese prime minister's death is harsh blow to quest for freedom
and independance in entire Middle East
Cyrus Rasti
On Valentine's Day Lebanon was the scene of an appalling act of terrorism at mid day local time. The explosion rocked the beach front district of Beirut where allot of the cities five star hotels are located. The target was the motorcade of Mr. Rafiq Hariri, who was the former prime minister of Lebanon. Prior to his death, he had attended a session of the Lebanese parliament in the central part of Beirut. Afterwards he was heading to his residence where he then tragically met his end.
POLITICS
Persians
push for Bush
As long President Bush stands with the Iranian people, the Iranian people
will stand with him
Slater Bakhtavar
Everywhere I've gone in Iran, with one exception, people have been exceptionally friendly and fulsome in their praise for the United States, and often for President George W. Bush as well." Thomas Friedman another Pulitzer Prize winner and ardent critic of the war in Iraq wrote "young Iranians are loving anything their government hates, such as Mr. Bush, and hating anything their government loves. Iran... is the ultimate red state."
PLAY
Beneath
Vosooghi
"Az Maahvaareh Baa Eshgh" was more like "Az Maahvaareh
Bikhod"
Mahin Bahrami
It was half past nine on a Sunday evening and the show was supposed to start anytime, well at least according to what was written on the ticket. The seats which were filled contained a lot of peroxide and a few hairless heads. Many of them had hopped over the Persian Gulf to Dubai to make it to the last day of a highly publicized theatre production from Los Angeles. It had been years since the last time I had attended a theatrical play, making me all the more anxious to experience another, especially one with a famous celebrity.
OIL
Boom & bust
Social engineering and the contradictions of modernization in Khuzestan's
oil company towns, Abadan and Masjed-Soleyman
Kaveh Ehsani
This essay is a comparative study of the design and social impact of Abadan and Masjed-Soleyman, the first and most important oil towns built in Khuzestan by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). The construction of these company towns almost a century ago forms an important chapter in the history of modernization and urbanization in Iran. As a result of this experience a new model of social engineering and hierarchic modernization was introduced into Iranian social life by powerful actors that included transnational capital, the central state, and professional elites.
MUSIC
Nasrin
Best of
David N Rahni
In 1974, at age twenty-four, Nasrin's dream came true. The National Iranian Radio and Television Network was looking for new talent that would appeal to the young population. Nasrin was blessed to have both youth and talent, and the rest is history.
POETRY
To
My Valentine
Pumping hope through tired veins
Setareh Sabety
POETRY
The
sound of all swollen words
For Forough Farrokhzad
Farah Afshari
POETRY
Booseh
reez
Mozaab-e maah-o she'r-o hozoor-e toh
Alireza Tarighian
POETRY
Delusion
There is an infinite sky / A perpetual distance.
Baharak Sedigh
STUDENT
This
doctor shit is hard
The link between studying for medical school & plumbing
Maziar Shirazi
I can't write these days; actually, I can't do much of anything that involves not sitting down, reading, or writing out something. MCAT year is a lonely year. My world has been reduced to an apartment, three bus routes, four or five Easton Avenue restaurants, and a martial arts class. Oh yeah, and how could I forget: a shitty prep class that is making me hate the concept of, well... learning.
IDEAS
ABC's
of democracy
Ways and means of democratization
Fatima Farideh Nejat
Would electoral reform make the political system more democratic? The following is a discussion about the possible benefits and the inherent limitations of the following three approaches to improving governance: 1) professional training for government employees; 2) organizational and managerial reform of government agencies; and 3) electoral reform to make the political system more democratic. If the first two approaches are lagging the third element would be ineffective.
HISTORY
The
shah and the people
Part 2: A tentative sketch of the Shah's personality
Afshin Afshari
In Part One of this series, the main life events of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the late Shah of Iran, were briefly recounted. Here, we will attempt to sketch a psychological profile. In this context, the use of certain psycho-analytical terminology and concepts seems appropriate. Naturally, the characterizations set forth herein bear no clinical significance and should therefore be taken, simply, as indicative of one possible paradigm for understanding this complex multi-facetted personality.
LANGUAGE
Body
gestures
The accent in your sign language
Bahram Saghari
One of my Iranian friends, to this day and after having lived in the states for some 25+ years, still extends his thumb instead of his middle finger, to bad drivers. He says he loves the puzzled expression on the recipient's face, while he is enjoying, just like these kids do, the fact that he is in fact putting a finger on them.
NOTE
The
toughest woman in Tehran
Iranian of the year: Shirin Ebadi
Raman Kia (Buddahead)
Thank you to all of you who wrote in to me earlier this year with your suggestions for Iranian of the year. To those of you who feared that the majority may chose someone from the Iranian football team, let me assure you that the majority of you had no interest in the Iranian Football team.
POETRY
Baba's
passing
In loving memory of my Baba, who passed away last weekend.
Persis Karim
SATIRE
Sex,
lies and shish kebob
Part 2: The games Iranian girls play: always acting, always dramatic,
always cunning; it never ends
Siamack Baniameri
"You don't understand. I'm suicidal, man. And it's all because of these pretentious Iranian women. They make you wanna hang yourself. It's all a game, brother. It's all a conceited, shallow game." "I hear you. I just got my butt handed to me by one them," I said. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. Aren't they arrogant or what? The only thing that matters to them is money..."
TRAVELERS
Destination
Tehran
An American's travels in Iran in 1973, Part 2
Rick Misterly
The road stretched ahead to the East as with the sun at our backs we headed into the country. The landscape looked like it had been arranged by an endless succession of earthquakes with huge boulders and jagged cliffs coming right to the edge of the road. Occasionally we would catch a glimpse of a mud-brick village, most easily distinguished by the green of trees. Water flowed down the slopes through the dry land and was directed to the village to make life possible.
OPINION
Territorial
integrity
How would a country continue to exist without having the right to defend
its heritage and territorial integrity?
Amir Naghshineh-Pour
It is difficult to comprehend why an individual would take issue with a legitimate academic, legal and historical defense of a nation's heritage. It would seem that Ms. Mohyeddin has failed to distinguish between educated and peace-loving Iranians (and non-Iranians who support their position) from a small number of fringe chauvinists, who are to be found in any culture. These fanatics have begun the game of changing historical facts for political and racist motives.
OPINION
Direct
negotiation
How should Iran preserve the name of Persian Gulf
Nader Habibi
While Arab countries have repeatedly used the name Arabian Gulf in the past four decades, Iran's reaction has never been as severe as the National Geographic incident. This incident has increased Iran's sensitivity to such a high level that it could have an adverse effect on Arab-Iranian relations. Under popular pressure, Iranian officials will have to react to any future incidents where any international organization uses the name "Arabian Gulf".
FESTIVAL
The
joy of masks
Photo essay: Venice Carnevale, 2005
Yasin Memari
ESSAY
Death & rebirth
An essay on the 1979 Revolution for English class
Jahanshah Javid
I wrote this essay for an English 101 class on April 10, 1990 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I had left Iran four months earlier after spending the 1980s as a reporter and photographer who was more than just sympathetic towards the Islamic Republic. By the time I left for America, I was angry and disappointed at the revolution and religion -- and myself. I still am... :o)
LANGUAGE
Namiri!
Life and death in Persian
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani
Peculiarities in a culture seem to go unnoticed by its people until they are pointed out by others. I remember twenty-some years ago, an American lady -- who took care of my children while I went to work -- brought such a fact to my attention. Her daughter had inquired about the family she worked for."I told her they are nice people," she said. "Except that they are constantly threatening to kill each other!"
POLITICS
IraNexus
NIAC's latest brainchild proves it's worth by helping in the crusade
to save the Persian Gulf
Behrouz Bahmani
Eight weeks ago, we all began hearing the first rumblings of the National Geographic's Persian Gulf debacle concerning the updated 8th edition of their world atlas and the controversial inclusion (in parentheses) of the words "Arabian Gulf" below it's historically relevant and rightful label.
RELIGION
More
Muslim than others?
It isn't difficult to see Arab racism creeping back into the psyche of
contemporary "Islam"
Nima Kasraie
An American college student who had just converted to Islam, once came up to me and asked: "Do you have to be an Arab to be a good Muslim?" "Of course not." I replied. "Who told you that?" "The people in the mosque give me that idea," She said.
SATIRE
Wham,
bam, thank you Azam
I owe Ms. N. a debt of gratitude for love finally coming and knocking
on my door
Sima Shirazi
Doctor Ruth step aside! Let a real love doctor shake up the house! That's exactly what Azam N is doing in the cross-dressing and the gay communities these days. Her love guide, Make it your bible, bubba, on to how to win a mate has become must read material for anyone looking for a same-sex relationship around the world.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Competing
dreams
Photo essay: Public painting competition
Ehsan Shahinsefat
SPORTS
Team
Melli's big test
Bahrain-Iran is only the first of a series of six games: it is, however,
a crucial one
Siavush Randjbar-Daemi
Alarm clocks are being set, coffee is being brewed and well-crafted excuses are being sent to puzzled bosses. Today, the Iranian National Football Team will be playing the first game of the final round of Wold Cup qualifiers, after a couple of close shaves in the preliminary stages that nearly provoked a very early elimination from the Qualification Tournament.
NUCLEAR
Controlling
a hurricane
Iran and the myths of non-proliferation
Camron Michael Amin
The recent ups and downs of the European brokered deal between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency will provide fresh fuel to the debate over non-proliferation strategy here in the United States. Full of more heat than light, it will be a pointless debate. We can no more control nuclear arms than weathermen can control hurricanes. Our superpower status has insulated us from perceiving that the global climate is ideal for nuclear arms proliferation. On the eve of its own Atomic Age, Iran is the case in point as to why.
KURDESTAN
Welcoming
separatism
Kurds should break the taboo and welcome separatism as the most appropriate
alternative at this stage
Kamal H. Artin
Recently the media has been talking about Iran as another potential war zone. Some might wonder what the role of the Kurds would be in such a situation. Foremost, I hope and assume that because of being the victims of genocide, war, and abuse, the Kurds wish that no one goes through their bitter experience!
PHOTOGRAPHY
Rewinding
Shahnameh
Photo essay: Rostam & Sohrab puppet opera
in Tehran
Mehraneh Atashi
FICTION
Rooz-e
Shanbeh
Short story
Mohammad Hossainzadeh
CULTURE
The
other terror
Part Two: The art scene
Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian
While we do not need to use the dishonest tactics of cultural terrorists, some of whom, I have been told, even resort to raiding classrooms, if the lecturer discusses the Persian contributions to Islamic culture, there is ample reason to be on our guard. Being right is enough, if only politics do not interfere. Dedicated scholars need our support to withstand the onslaught.
FILM
The
heirs of wars
Bahman Ghobadi's "Turtles Can Fly"
Sasan Seifikar
What makes Turtles Can Fly a very unique film is that it shows us war from the perspective of children. This is a very different point of view than the one we usually find in war movies. What the film makes clear is that in any war or military conflict, children suffer the most and that when world leaders go to war, it is the children who will bear the brunt of the misery and grief.
OPINION
Who
needs defusing?
Iran -- or U.S. media?
John Mohammadi
TIME magazine has a quick article about Iran entitled "Can the U.S. Defuse Iran?". Besides the author's name and the date of the article, almost everything else was in the article was misleading, false, a half-truth, or spin. If you want to know why most Americans still think that WMDs have been found in Iraq, it's because of this sort of reporting. So, here we go:
OPINION
America
is our big hope
Iran has become like a patient whose immune system has ultimately failed
to cope with a deadly tumor
Omid Parsi
I can't imgine how a liberating occupation by a Western superpower today can be any worse than the repression and wretchedness that Persians have suffered under the rule of Hezbollah. What is the alternative? The irony is that if the purpose of a hypothetical Western invasion were to achieve the outcome of the Arab conquest of a thousand years ago, in a few decades our "identity" would be based on Gap and MTV and, sadly enough, we would be still better off for it!
SCIENCE
2,500-year-old
lady with Alzheimer's
Interview with Esmaeil Mirfakhraei
Farid Parsa
All scientific discoveries have certain social and political ramifications but at the moment our nation seems to be exempt of all these responsibilities that face the civilised world. It seems to be easier this way. Let's be a child forever and just play with our toys while the rest of the world faces up to to real challenges and grows stronger as a result.
FICTION
Joghdee
keh khodaa bood
Dedictaed to the followers of the Imam
Mahshid Amirshahi
ALBUM
Forward & back
Personal photos
Mahshid Amirshahi
OPINION
The
groundhog and the spate of the union
It is official: there will be six more weeks of winter and four more
years of George Walker Bush
Samira Mohyeddin
Let's face it, George Bush's speech is not just about the state of the union in America, it is about mapping out how America's state will inevitably end up effecting the state of the world, and judging from Bush's proscriptions and prescriptions, the focus of the administration has shifted to the state of Iran. However, military aggression and the promulgation of US hegemony is not the answer; as my own oracle recently told me: no bully ever made the playground safer.
IRAN-U.S.
Will
the U.S. attack Iran?
Don't listen to the so-called liberals and intellectuals who claim the
war has begun or will start soon
Payman A.
The most important explanation for why Iran won't be invaded is pretty simple. The U.S. military is overextended. Where would America get the necessary soldiers needed to invade Iran? There would have to be a lot more soldiers for an Iranian invasion. And no, the draft will not be revived, because the public outcry would be tremendous.
DIARY
Yekshanbeh,
22 Bahman
A diary entry from February 11, 1979
Shirin Vazin
I used to write my diaries from the age of 13. When the revolution in Iran took place I was just 15. The attached files show what I have written on 22 Bahman 1357 (February 11, 1979). Since I don't have a Farsi program on my computer I scanned the relevant pages. Maybe you can still use it somehow on your site.
REVOLUTION
1979
things that went wrong
I was listening to old tapes of Khomeini's famous speech...
Amir Nasiri
The year was 1979. It was the year of change and reconciliation. Yes, it was the year of change. A mullah came out of no where and gave a series of promises to millions of people of no mans land and then betrayed the same people who fought and helped him to come to power. The mullah's name was Khomeini, the people were the Iranian people and the country was Iran. I remember that time. I was only 6 years old. I could see the happiness, confusion and some sort of hope in people's eyes the first few days. My father used to drive in his small beetle (ghoorbaghe-ee) and hand out Cigar Shirazi to all soldiers and then grab their head and give kisses on their foreheads.
REVOLUTION
The
Islamic Revolution lives
All this mumbo jumbo about a "second revolution" happening
in Iran is just gibberish echoed by disillusioned Iranians in exile
Lawrence Reza Ershaghi
In this article, I wish to travel down the road of contemporary Iranian politics to deconstruct the mainstream version of events by Iranian expatriates on post-revolutionary Iran. The time is more critical than ever for us to understand such events as the drums of war are being beaten by the neo-cons in Washington.
SEARCH
Looking
for a few good spies
Washington calls the Iranian MEK a terrorist group. But some administration
hawks think its members could be useful
Christopher Dickey, Mark Hosenball and Michael Hirsh
This is a terrorist cultleader? Maryam Rajavi is dressed in a Chanel-style suit with her skirt at midcalf, lilac colored pumps and a matching headscarf. Over a dinner of kebab, rice and French pastries, Rajavi smiles often and laughs easily. She's at once colorful and demure, like many an educated woman in the Middle East. Indeed if George W. Bush -- who relies on powerful females for counsel -- were pressed to identify a Muslim model of womanhood, this 51-year-old Iranian would look very much the part.
NY,
NY
"W"rapture
All I can imagine now is sitting in the park this month admiring the
silky saffron sways to the motion of the cool New York City air
Tala Dowlatshahi
A few years ago, I was given a print of The Gates project for Central Park, New York City. The print was a gift from a former board member of a school programme I used to help manage. The unique quality of the print was the signature by the artist himself, Christo, back in 1980, when initial design for the project began. American-Bulgarian Christo and his wife, American-French Jeanne Claude, are responsible for a series of amazing wrap works around the world.
OBSERVATION
Chasing
liberty
Photo essay: Bush's State of the Union address
Jahanshah Javid
POETRY
Want
me too
Lover to his (departed) belovedsovereignty
A.
CYCLYSTS
Baaykot-e
khabari
Consequences of not giving false praise to those in power
Amir Ahmadi and Hassan Alizadeh
HISTORY
The
other terror
Part One: How real is the threat to Persian
culture if those who are fanning separatism succeed?
Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian
Iranians abroad are doing a lot to preserve their culture. This is especially important when that culture is under deliberate attack through piecemeal distribution of the components of the whole. A realization of the real issues at stake is more urgent than being drawn into the battle for the dwindling resources of the world under the guise of love of freedom. When it really hurts, we tend to put aside our proverbial discords and present a united front against any abuse. There is need for much more to counter the threats and they are legion. Fragmentation of Iran is actively pursued from many quarters.
SATIRE
Sex,
lies and shish kebob
Part 1: Why are you Persian guys such loose mouth, perverted liars? she
asked
Siamack Baniameri
I was on my break, outside in the back, chilling, smoking pot, minding my own biz. Severe daydreaming session was in progress and everything was going relatively well. No dramas, no running from the law, no immediate currency concerns, no new STDs, no overdue child support payments, and to top it off, the piss-test came back negative. Life is alright.
OPINION
Ayaa
Iran dovomin hadaf-e amrikaast?
Is Iran next?
Mohammad Ali Isfahani
Including Shargh al-Owsat's war scenario
OPINION
Iran
under siege
The issue is oil
Farrokh A. Ashtiani
Sign away concessions or else, and when a government is corrupt they always make the wrong choices. And as for people they always lose big, what I mean is take a look at the sad truth, Saddam is still alive and shaves everyday and reads books I would not be surprised that he has access to a Nintendo game or a backgammon too, and is allowed to think. But people of Iraq are dying and American soldiers are dying and all in the name of food for oil then and war for oil now.
OBSERVATION
Slates
wiped clean
The truth about "Marg bar Shah"
Jim S.
Today while spending a day at home, I heard a commotion coming from my son's room. Thinking that I had better make sure that he wasn't tearing the room apart lest his mother raise holy hell with him when she got home, I opened the door and walked in. He wasn't tearing the room apart at all. He was sitting on the end of his bed watching cartoons and chanting with the crowd of cartoon characters. Here was my ten year old boy with a clenched fist raised in the air, sitting on the end of his bed chanting "Marg Bar Shah" (Death to the King).
IDEAS
Arguing
with reptiles
Thinking leads to truth as much as driving leads to a destination. The
question here is what "truth" and what destination?
Arash Sayedi
Pacifism is well and good in the civilized world where truth is divine. But it is of the utmost importance to remember that when you deal with a Christian, Jewish or Islamic conservative (or anyone with fanatical beliefs regarding any subject for that matter), you are not conversing with a higher human mind that is struggling to make sense of reality despite of his lower, irrational brain; but rather you are dealing with the beliefs, opinion and emotions of a reptilian brain in possession of the most powerful tool of reasoning in the known universe.
POETRY
Sorood-e
sobh-e sard
Garmaa-ye mehr
Alireza Tarighian
Paintings
Patricia Byron Hariri
POETRY
Bozorg
dar alefbaaee koochak
Moher knows
Leila Farjami
POETRY
Az
no baaz baa to hamin
(Daliesque)
Hossein Nushazar
POETRY
Ravaan
pareesh
Diaspora
Mandana Zandian
POETRY
Sangsar
Collection of poems
Sheema Kalbasi
POETRY
A
conversation
A conversation between Jelalladin Rumi and Pablo Neruda On the Centenary
of Pablo's Birth
Persis Karim
POETRY
* In
those moments...
* What
if
A poem and a half
Baharak Sedigh
POETRY
Marketplace
A westerner walks among their civilization
Patricia Byron Hariri
POETRY
Bottom
line for U.S. spreading liberty
The New American Century has no soldiers to lose, only profits tallied
at Arlington Cemetery
Dean Brink
POETRY
Mashgh
Mard, baaraan, asb
Shahrokh Setoudeh Foumani
POETRY
Circle
of hate
Why must we live by the way of the gun?
The Green Elf
POETRY
Purging
Between us there is still a flame
But no longer does it burn
Sara Ansari
POETRY
The
walls
You can touch it you can feel it but you can not break it
Mehran Makki
POETRY
Cry
rivers
For your tears throw a curse
on the war
and the warmongers
Farah Afshari
POETRY
Dash-te
shaghaayegh-e maa
Pars meekonam dar kharaabe-haaye yaad
Mehrnush Moazami Gudarzi
POETRY
Broken
heart...
I lost my daughter, that I love so
Brenda Jamalzadeh
POETRY
The
torch
For reopening of Statue of Liberty Park in New York after 9/11
Shoja Adel
TIPS
How
to liberate Iran
Please... please... please, pay a bit of attention when carpet bombing
the city with your 'precision' bombs
Sharif N Mafi
Seymour Hersh has told us that some GI's are creeping around the deserts south of the Zahedan preparing for W's next war. I do not subscribe to the New Yorker but I tend to listen when Mr. Hersh speaks; he seems to know what's cooking way ahead of time. So I would like to make some suggestions to the GI's in case they actually do make it to Tehran and decide (God forbid) to 'obliterate'... oops. sorry. I mean, "liberate" us... Falluja style.
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