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November 21, 2001 * The reason: fear On Arya Abedin letter about Salman Rushdie: ["Rushdie & Hitler"] It reminded me of many years ago when I was 6-7 and spent lots of big-fluffy-quality time with my old grandfather in Tehran. The man was full of riddles spiced with cutting humor. One such sayings was "gohlule, gooz beh shagighe che rabti daare?" Salmon Rushdie, made controversial by Islam, still has to be recognized as one of the most talented writers of 20th century ["A good person"]. To compare his work to that of Hitler just shows a complete and utter ignorance of the reason why we should read books. Many a time in history we have witnessed conquerors burning whatever books they could get their hands on. The reason: fear. Fear that those reading them would actually develop an opinion which might be different to theirs. In a free society surely everyone should have their say. I would suggest to Arya to look again at her own opinion and may be compare that to the way Hitler shut all critics in Nazi Germany and for the record Israel is dishing to the Palestinians at the moment). Rushdie is a talented writer. That alone should qualify him for the cover. I am sure everyone would agree that the man has already paid dearly for his opinion and should not be asked to endure the half backed character analysis and categorization of Arya. As advice for Arya, I believe the street term "get a life" would be apt in these circumstances. * Insulting literature Isn't this a pre-April fool's joke? ["A good person"] Is that really what Rushdie has written in his latest book? I had to giggle when I started to read it, it was so overwritten and sounded so ridiculous. If this really is Rushdie's writing, your readers should not worry -- he is insulting literature rather than any religion. * The difference Regarding Mr. Abedin's objection to the photo of Salman Rushdie ["Rushdie & Hitler"], here is the difference between the two "authors" and the two books: - One book explicitly advocated the annihilation of a people; the other does not. - One author went on to lead the murder of several million people; the other author, to my knowledge, has killed no one. At worst Mr. Rushdie has insulted the sensibilities of many Moslems worldwide for which he has spent over ten years in fear for his safety. It is important for us, as readers and writers and thoughtful persons, not to let our hyperbola overwhelm our sense of reasoning and logic. As an aside, I have read both Mein Kampf and Fury ["A good person"]. Mein Kampf is the (badly written) product of a megalomaniac bent on destruction of the "enemy." Fury (which I finished only last week) is an excellent work of fiction, a brilliant commentary on modern America and our present age, and the product of a man fearlessly looking inward, searching for answers. It is also a page-turner and, unlike Satanic Verses, a relatively easy read. * Better get used to it I am appalled by the letter on the Iranian protesting your putting of Salman Rushdie's picture on the front cover of the site ["Rushdie & Hitler"]. Is this guy the type of person who would condone or carry out attacks on and looting of bookstores that sell books that he considers against Islam? Does he want the suffocation of free speech and expression to continue? It really is none of his business why you or anybody else puts Salman Rushdi's picture on their magazine. It is none of his business if any bookstore chooses to sell books by Ibn Warraq ("Why I'm not a Moslem"). Everybody recognizes Mein Kampf to be Hitler's manifesto of racism and hate, but yet we can all go to a bookstore in the US and buy a copy of it. Not only "Nothing is sacred", Islam is certainly not! Islam is a barbaric ideology of Arab imperialism. It is a cult of death and destruction. If seeing Rushdie's picture is disturbing to you, you better get used to it, cause you're going to hear a lot more of that very soon! * Not hip or cool I congratulate you on your wonderful Iranian website. I really enjoy going there and reading from it. However, I was disappointed after you posted an excerpt from Salman Rushdie's book on the web page ["A good person"]. If you know he has insulted almost 2 billion Muslims in the world by his work and Iranis are no exception. It is not hip or cool to have his stuff on Iranian today since most Iranis are Muslim and as such one person I would like you to show more respect for our feelings and take his work off of the web page. I appreciate your good work and wish you luck. * Dashti's "23 years" Dear Arya, ["Rushdie & Hitler"] Salman Rushdi was not the first author to write about the inconsistencies of the verses of Quran. And he is not going to be the last one either. I assume you are Persian. If you were more acquainted with our literature, you would come to know that so many of our ancient authors have, one way or another, written the same things. Surprisingly enough, nobody bothered to even criticize them. the most recent, which is our contemporary author, is the late Ali Dashti. His book "23 years" is far more critical than "Satanic Verses" of Salman Rushdi. Yet it went without any fuss from the religious circles at the time. Mind you, Ali Dashti was indeed cleric for most of his life and the flaws you have attributed to Salman Rushdi can not be attributed to Ali Dashti. He was not expatriate. But Salman Rushdi's case was blown up by propaganda machine of the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic of Iran still lives on sensation & mass hysteria, Salman Rushdi was just a godsend excuse for the IRI to jump on him & make a mockery of itself. The result is that, we Persians all over the world, paid a heavy price for IRI's propaganda & hysteria. You criticize iranian.com's editor for putting the satanic verses of Salman Rushdi on the cover of the magazine. Where as you should criticize the IRI for making an obscure third rate author known world over. I strongly recommend that you, read "23 years" of Ali Dashti & compare it with "Satanic Verses" of Salman Rushdi & find out for your self that Salman Rushdi is more than a thousand miles behind Ali Dashti. He does not have the eloquence or the depth of Ali Dashti. Best wishes & regards, H. Hakimi, * Honorary award from IRI I think Rushdie is probably a talented shit. After having received an honorary award from IRI authorities at Tehran's book fair, he was condemned to the Fatwa by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Let it be reminded that Rushdie is no longer under threat. I don't have anything against him nor anything in his favor. All I remember is that after seeing his picture in Newsweek I thought to myself that this guy will be in trouble. He probably gets credit for unfoldding a taboo. * America the land of outcasts "I have lived in the US since I was 11-years old and not once have I felt truly American." -- Excerpt from "Tight knot" By Mersedeh Mehrtash Frequently, new Americans remark that they never quite feel at home. I know it,s not as acute, but I don't either, and I'm a typical Angry White Male who can trace my American lineage back to early 1700's. Most everywhere, I'm an outsider as well - the scientific laboratories filled with dark intellectuals, the golden gym with the beautiful people, and the trashy Budweiser bar with beat up 70's cars parked out front. The feeling of alienation, of being outside never quite leaves any of us. America is, by definition, the land of outcasts, the shunned and the poor. It is too big to be the comfortable home of any one people. Maybe it is best to think of America not as a home, but as a disco, where a few lucky people dance and the rest of us sit on the sidelines and talk with good friends. When I visit the land of my roots, I too feel at home. I wonder about the circumstances that forced my old ancestors to leave it for a one-way journey to a place so different and strange that it was literally called the New World. Perhaps, they were already outsiders by then. * Tears of pain and joy I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for Ms. Partow Nooriala's poem "Ensanam Man". Women like you foster understanding among men and women. Your words moved me to tears of pain and joy. Thank you. * Terrible incoherence I recently saw Dr. Alamdari's work ["Lagging behind"] in a friend's bookshelf, and was quite impressed by the multitude of footnotes and also references at the end of the book. So I thought this must be a very well-researched work, but browsing through it more carefully gave me my doubts. Today I noticed that you have scanned some pages of this thick book and I felt like sharing my views with your other readers. Just as a layman, you know. I am also well aware that since I don't have the whole book at my disposal at this moment the content of the pages that you have scanned may be out of context, but nevertheless... I think attributing a country's development, or lack of it, to its climate makes very little sense, because, for example, Iran's climate has been like this for millennia, and Europe's climate has been like that for millennia, too. But many years ago, Persia, presumably having a similar climate to its climate today, enjoyed a civilization while the inhabitants of the territories of today's Germany, for example, were living in subhuman conditions! Even in the middle ages, many Europeans did not quite have the notion of bathing, and as it is well-know, their elite used cologne to hide their body odor, even though the climate of Europe some centuries ago must have been similar to what it is like today. See what I just found by a simple Google search: "Though, bathing still was no matter of course until the middle of the 19th century: for example there were no bath rooms in the Berlin city palace of the emperor Wilhelm I, bathtubs had to be fetched from a nearby located hotel." I think we can agree that a bath-less civilization is something of a contradiction in terms. I normally avoid bragging about Persian civilization, because first I don't know what relation it bears to me, and if the mere fact that I was born near Persepolis entitles me to being proud about Cyrus, and how great he was, and secondly because I find it a sign of the Iranian inferiority complex, which is painfully triggered when we confront the Western magnificent technology. (Note that Persian civilization was no democracy. What made the Persian civilization "great" was not modern notions of freedom and tolerance. It was great in terms of vastness and military power and architecture. What else?) So if you are like me, then you can think about the civilization of Egypt, 5 millennia ago, which seems to have enjoyed a sophistication in architecture unmatched by whatever Persian civilization had to offer 25 centuries later. Interestingly, I haven't seen an Egyptian bragging about the civilization that was incidentally located in what is today's Egypt. It seems that they are more aware of the absence of any meaningful connection between that civilization and themselves. We have to give them that. Anyway, it's Saturday and I go on to read the other scanned pages, and I am disappointed to see a series of ramblings repeating the same stuff over and over, and the more I search for an argument the less I find. There are "self-evident" statements starting with "Evidence shows ...", and no argument is offered. In general, these pages suffer from a terrible incoherence. Before elaborating on a subject he has started, the author jumps to other issues without clarification on the relationship between consecutive paragraphs. Sometimes you think it could probably make a good Zabihollah Mansouri kind of book (is that why it made it to fifth edition?), or a sermon for Friday prayers in a small town, but doesn't quite pass for a work of scholarly caliber. Some sentences are quite far from decent scholarly parlance ("osool-an, All human beings are from the same race") and can put a smile on reader's face. The author employs, here and there, a terminology apparently borrowed from Marxist literature (bourgeoisie, feudalism), but I don't know how much it helps make his non-arguments look more substantiated. In the last scanned page we find the author categorically contradicting himself by denying his claim in the first pages about the impact of climate on the fact that Iran is nowadays lagging behind. By the way, I don't see any definition of "aghab-maandegi", meaning what the author has exactly in mind by using this word, in the pages that are scanned, and since this is the central theme of the book, I hope this term is defined somewhere else in the book. The fact that the book, which laments over and over again about the hazards of combining the State and Religion, is published in Iran is perhaps a sign of new liberties in Iran's literary scene, and the fact that it's been published repeatedly is a sign of Iranians' hunger for knowing the answer to the question that is the title of the book. The question remains, however, that how many of the readers of this book have found a satisfactory answer to their question. * Cure has to come from within I think Mr. Zangeneh described the problems with current system of government very well ["The R-word"]. The problem is his cure which emanates from an old and tired slave mentality that someone else has to liberate us. The Iranian government is not Taliban and restricting commerce and access to the world has never so far proved to be a successful instrument of liberation. In fact restriction from outside brings more soldiery from inside. I don't know where Mr. Zangeneh lives but it is easy for us from afar to say starve them and they rehabilitate. No. Cure has to come from within the country. We may not like it but we have to learn to respect it. * Intellectuals vs. taxi drivers Comments on "The R-word": My brother who's another one of the so-called intellectual citizens of the USA for over 25 years was saying "Iran is a good country except the fact that the majority of Iranians are bad." I couldn't believe how many Iranians nod at this stupid sentence. And I'm not any more surprised by any dumb articles posted here and there full of 'isms' and unpronounceable words. "World is moving towards democracy, Iran is going backwards" What kind of democracy is this? A vectorial democracy for the sake of Israel? We are the generation that filled the streets and cried out "Down with Shah" because he was a coward hiding behind SAVAK. I can not justify those who have done very little for our country, our culture and our people are supporting sanctions against Iran. These are the same rootless cowards who wear 'chador' and escape at night, leaving thousands of their betrayed followers back to fight, promising they will be back soon. I still sing those songs we sang in 1979 after revolution. I still watch those scenes where leftists, rightists, zartists, zoortists and ... were discussing their points of view in front of Tehran university. And I feel lucky whenever I visit my hometown and inhale a deep breath of dust and gasoline. Because I look at these useless intellectuals and see that the drivers down in Tehran streets have better understanding of life in Iran and love for Iran. Whatever happens our love for Iran is immortal. Chaker-e-shoma, * Yes, Iran was "Jazeereh-ye-sobaat" Although enough has already been said about these matters, I could not resist but to clarify a few points to our hamvatan, Hamid Karimi ["Foster democratic thinking"]. In the opening paragraph of his letter, he states "..during the reign of Pahlavi dynasty, the vast majority of Iranians remained impoverished and illiterate..." and, on purpose, he makes this assertion without reference to appropriate background. In fact, not only this assertion is untrue, but quite reverse. The proof is in the simple comparison between the Iran of 1919 and the Iran of 1979. It is a historical fact that at the end of the Qajar Dynasty, Iran was a very poor and backward country with no effective central government and totally devoid of any kind of infrastructure. By 1979, and despite the adverse impact of the WW2, Iran became the strongest and one of the most prosperous countries in the region and gained the due respect of the international community and her rightful place in the world. Yes, Mr. Karimi, Iran was "Jazeereh-ye-sobaat" and thanks to her strong and respectful presence, the whole region was more stable - until the Revolution of 1979 reversed all that. It is either due to sheer ignorance or out of deliberate malice that likes of Mr. Karimi seem not to understand or not admit to the correctness and effectiveness of the policies of the pre-1979 government with regards to foreign affairs. Iran was a respected member of the UN, commanded the respect of all her neighbors and Iranians required no Visa to travel to most countries around the globe. Moreover, Mr. Karimi needs to be reminded that had it not been for the strength of the Artesh-e-Shahanshahi (despite it having been demoralized and decimated by the IRI), Saddam Hossein would have, at least, taken Khuzestan away from Iran. The question is, Mr. Karimi, do you believe in Iran having a strong enough military capability to protect the nation's interests? If your answer is yes, then compare the (quality) of the Artesh-e-Shahanshahi to the (quantity = cost to the nation) of the Armed Forces (Military, Pasdaran, Baseeji, Ansaar-e-Hezbollah etc.) of the IRI. And if your answer is no, then you need to go and study a little bit of history, geography and REAL politics. While prescribing "fostering democratic thinking and allowing opposing views to be heard", Mr. Karimi advises "abandoning the illusional ideas of solidarity" !! and, specifically, seeks to know "what constitutional changes monarchists or other secular groups have in mind?" The answer is, Mr. Karimi, when due process of democracy is followed, ALL opposing viewpoints are heard and issues are debated, then the freely elected representatives of the people of Iran WILL SET THE AGENDA FOR CHANGE - the FIRST CHANGE being the ABOLITION of VELAYATE-e-FAGHIH. Then, a secular and democratic constitution, befitting the 21st century, should be written and adopted by the parliament(s) and executed by the elected government, and not by any individual, be it a monarch or a vali-e-faghih. To clarify a couple of other points: First, no one is claiming that the Pahlavi era was flawless and clearly there was room for improvement in various aspects of the system. Otherwise we wouldn't be in the mess that we are today. However, the record of the IRI has definitely made the Shah's era seem like paradise. The trials of some dissidents, like Golsorkhee for example, were wrong. But falsely blaming the previous regime for every other incident is equally wrong. The examples of false accusations are the assassination (burning) by Islamists of Ahmad Kasravi and drowning in River Aras of Samad Behrangee, which had nothing to do with SAVAK. I happen to have personal knowledge of Samad, even before he became "Samad Behrangee". He was a talented school teacher, who couldn't swim and had the misfortune of being swept away by the current in Rood-e-Aras. Best regards, * Wreaks of ultra-conservative innuendos I was just surfing the web and found this website. Then, I decided to read a few letters. I was born (1950) and raised in Texas, and I guarantee that William Baker got it ALL wrong ["Opposing Jane Fondaism"]! After reading his letter, I have to say that it absolutely wreaks of American-ultra-conservative misleading innuendos and out-and-out lies. He writes very professionally, though; very possibly he works for one of the "public relations" firms handling the war effort for the White House. Is this what I can expect if I return to this webpage, sometime in the future? * I'm at a loss I have tried to send this e-mail to Mr. Makhmalbaf, in response to his article "Limbs of no body". The e-mail has been sent back to me. I would be very grateful if you could forward this email to him (if it's possible). Thank you. Mr. Makhmalbaf, I thank you for sharing your knowledge about Afghanistan. Few people have the curiosity (which in your case transforms itself in some sort of selfless search) you have displayed over the years in your life and in your work. You humble most of us film students whose sole curiosity is film whereas you are discovering the world and life through your films. I have been doing some research for a screenplay that I would like to write, but unlike yourself, I only do it through books and articles. My main character is from Nigeria. I've never been to Africa. I'm Brazilian. Reading books about the country I've learned many things, some that sadden me, others that remind me of Brazil (a lot of the slaves in Brazil were brought from the Yorouba region of Nigeria). Coming from a country as complicated as Brazil, where violence is very much present, too often the direct consequence of the clash of extreme opulence with abject poverty, I was troubled to read about Nigeria, here chaos and violence reign in a way that defies even the worst slumtown in Rio de Janeiro. It is a fascinating country, but a frightening one to behold. Imagining it threatens my deepest sense of security. And I'm only reading books. Ben Okri, a famous contemporary Nigerian writer gave an inaugural speech at a millennium lecture. The title 'Mental Fight' stems from a verse by William Blake: 'I will not cease from Mental Fight Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand Till we have built Jerusalem'. He then says "Is humanity exhausted? Individuals are, nations are, some civilizations are becoming so; but humanity isn't. The hungry nations are hungry still. The starving people dream of food. The unfree fight for freedom. The oppressed plan for liberation. The small scheme for might. The invisible prepare for higher visibility. They are only exhausted who think they are. They are only exhausted who no longer have a reason to strive and dream and hope. They are only exhausted who think they have arrived at their final destination, the end of their road, with all their dreams achieved, and with no new dreams to hold. The exhausted are those who have come to an end of their powers of imagination, who have limited their possibilities, who have thought themselves into the dead ends that they call the highest points of their civilizations. Those who are exhausted have lost the greater picture, the greater perspective. They are trapped in their own labyrinth, their lovelessness, selfishness. For those with limited dreams, there is chaos to come. Disintegration. Nightmares. (...) Exhaustion is a mental thing, the absence of a spiritual viewpoint, a universal vision, a sense of new journeys, higher discoveries. (...) ". But you are right. There is no possible fight or any sustainable dream when one is victim of hunger. No amount of righteousness and idealism will overcome hunger. That is the one fuel that we need to overcome anything else. I'm at a loss. Sincerely, * Visit from the Third Reich Regarding "Cultural continuity", here's a quote from A Middle East Mosaic by Prof. Bernard Lewis: "The Aryans were the kindred people who settled in Iran and India. The name Iran (earlier forms Eran and Eryan) records their memory and derives from a genitive plural form, '[the land] of the Aryans', i.e., 'the noble'... In 1936, Dr. H. Schacht, economic minister of Third Reich, visited Iran and informed the Iranians that as 'pure Aryans' they were not subject to the provisions of the Nuremburg race laws. It was at this time of increasing Nazi influence that Reza Shah decreed that the name 'Iran' must henceforth be used in all languages, replacing Persia and its equivalents." * Ajman, half an hour from Dubai Just like we have different dialects in Iran, the Arabs from the Persian Gulf have a completely different dialect from the Arabic of the Quran or Fosha. Hence, in the Gulf, Ajam is the word used to refer to Iranians. Proof of this is the little Emirate Ajman, half an hour drive from Dubai, where most of the Iranian population of the U.A.E reside. I should think that having lived in this part of the world for 20 years enables me to discern between the word used to describe Iranians and the word meant for deaf people. I also believe that a person who has visited Dubai only once, should not ignorantly try and contradict little facts, which are nevertheless facts. I wish that people, such as Mr. Arash Abedin, who make trivial comments to the Iranian.com ["Ajami = deaf"], based on their ignorance, lack of information and hatred of other cultures would conduct some sort of research before doing so, or else refrain from it. Furthermore, my article is my way of describing Iranian society and hambastegi in Dubai and not a point for political debate on disputed lands. * Ajam=Dumb Dear Mr. Arya Abedin, ["Ajami = deaf"] While admiring your patriotic sentiments, I must correct an obvious error in your letter. The word AJAM, in the spoken Arabic of 1,400 years ago and in some modern dialects, means DUMB, or MUTE and not "deaf" as you have suggested. (the Arabic term for "deaf" is pronounced: "Otroosh"). The reason is very obvious. The conquered Iranians could not speak the language of their Arab conquerors. Arabs used this to show their contempt towards Iranians and called them Ajam = Dumb, Mute (or Laal in Persian). Ironically, later in the course of our history, some of the best Arabic linguists, were Persians such as Abu Ali Sina (Avesina) to name but a few. So much so that Arabs claim him for themselves! With Regards, * Confirm, amend or correct The persons of Iranian origin who reside in the lower Persian Gulf are referred to by the Arabs as Fawaris (Faris, people from Fars, Iran), if not just Iranis. The Arabs who have dwelled on the Iranian coast and return/returned to the Arabian coast, even if it is after hundreds of years of being on the Iranian coast, are referred to as huawalah, which is the corrupted derivative of mutawahalia (people who changed lands). Please, can anyone out there confirm, amend or correct this view? Thank you. * A or B? In her article ["Questions of faith and freedom"], Darya Allen-Attar asks whether women can ever live a faithful life in Islam with rights and restrictions, equal to those imposed on men? The answer is what kind of women? Group A or Group B? Group A - On Sunday November 19, ABC TV's 60 Minutes had a section on today's Kuwait. It showed more and more Kuwaitee women preferring to become subservient to their men. These "Group A" women are encouraging emergence of a strict Islamic rule in Kuwait requiring similar treatment of women as in Saudi Arabia and Iran. In fact, most of them said that was the way Islam wanted women to be. Group B - The women in this group know that religiosity is pathological (references include many scientific scholars at the Institute of Rational-Emotive Therapy). Group B women know that if you seek the company of the mentally disturbed, you pay a price. As such, they would not seek a "faithful" life with an Islamic man. In general, Islamic men are totally unaware of the concept of egocentrism and egomania. And though, almost all of them suffer from these diseases, which explains why they have this unconscious yet tremendous urge to control others, especially women. So, Darya, are you in Group A or Group B. If you are in Group A, forget about your freedom because that is seen by the pathologic Islamic men as prostitution. If you are in Group B, continue to stay away from religious men and their societies, especially the devout Moslems. * Daei is MY HERO I cried along with Yahya Golmohammadi, the school-teacher soccer defender, as he scored his bittersweet goal against Ireland ["Growing pains"]. I cheered, knowing that although we were unable to go to the World Cup this time around, we finally would have the honor to be able to tell the world that our national team beat a squad that some of the best teams in Europe hadn't been able to score against. Watching the ever so enlightening 24-hour Persian channels on our satellite dish, I sat listening to people calling in and giving their take on the ninety minute soap opera that we all had just witnessed. I expected people to be happy and proud, and although many did give credit where it was due, I was amazed at some of the hogwash (I couldn't think of a more appropriate word!) that I heard. It was so "Iranian", yet I couldn't help but be outraged at it... People who probably even knew nothing of football would call in and talk about how we should have played better or tried harder. I kept wanting to say.. "Excuse me, but we just beat IRELAND!" Don't get me wrong, I would die for my team, but I am not delusional. There are some people out there who actually believe that the Iranian National Team could beat the likes of Argentina or France... Well, it's nice to have high hopes, but also, I think our gentlemen deserve a little tashvigh (It is too late for me to think in English right now...) for beating a European team. Well, I am rambling on and on, but the message I hated the most was when a woman called in and said something to the tune of , "You know, Ali Daei isn't as big as we make him out to be. He isn't even that good." That's where I started dialing the TV station on speed dial, but it was busy and I was late for school... So, I thought I would use the wonderful letter's section of this web site to get my point across: I love Ali Daei! He is MY HERO... We cannot take this man for granted. He not only is a soccer player with an engineering degree, but he is also a person with a pure heart. All of our players are. We have good men who fight on the playing field for nothing but the appreciation of the fans. For the past few weeks, I have been sending e-mails to coaches and soccer teams all around the world, including the MLS, asking that they look at the Iran-Ireland and try to think about signing some Iranian players. We need to support our heroes 24/7 and not just remember them once every Jameh Jahani! Please, try to do all you can to support Iranian soccer and to let the world know of all the talented players that have yet to be discovered by the football world.... God bless all Iranians who live for the love of football, * Seeing into both worlds I want to read more interviews from Susan Warda ["So Iranian... So American"]. What an excellent article. She seems to be able to see into both worlds making them ONE! Too bad the rest of the world can not see this! Thank you Susan, * World wonder Persepolis Is it possible to post a link to the site below; they are conducting a global vote on the 7 wonders of the Ancient world. Persepolis is not mentioned and would most probably be nominated if enough people suggest its nomination by emailing them. site: //www.new7wonders.com/e/voting.php I have no relation to the site. Keep up the great work! Best Regards, * Correct quote? In Monday's quote of the day, you had: The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. -- Bertrand Russell I believe the correct quotation [and one of my all time most favorite ones] to be: The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent full of doubt. * Psychology scholarship? I was wondering if you know of any scholarships designed for Iranian psychology graduate students? I am a first graduate student, studying the role of religion in acculturation of Iranian immigrants to the US. I would greatly benefit from such information. Thank you, * Math scholarship? I AM AN IRANIAN SEEKING A SCHOLARSHIP IN MS MATHEMATICS FOR ONE OF THE UNIVERSITIES IN THE USA. CAN YOU DIRECT ME? THANKS AND REGARDS TEHRAN IRAN * Authorizing divorce We need recent information or an available resource on obtaining Islamic accepted documentation for authorizing divorce when the Iranian woman (located in Europe) has a desire to pursue such a course of action. What is the new law coming out that effects such a request for Iranian woman in other countries who would like to have the official divorce prior to their return to Iran to visit? Thank you, * Language lessons I am interested in taking Persian language lessons in Tucson. The University of Arizona only offers one beginning class that does not work with my schedule. Are you aware of a network of private Persian language instructors? Thank you, * Afshin Salary Trying to find AFSHIN SALARY (age 29) my old friend. He used to live in IRAN- SHIRAZ - SHAHRAK VALIASR-RD111 (or115). If you know him please either let me know or give him my email. * Love America Let's have Jihad against the terrorists, Jihad against low life radicals, Jihad against the enemies of humanity, Jihad against the lack of respect toward other people's opinion Jihad against selfish low life killers of innocent people who use religion (any) for their evil cause, Love freedom, Love your family, Love your friends and neighbors, Love America, SHE IS BEAUTIFUL * Letter to U.S. Muslims Sir: I suggest that this article be published in The Iranian for comment: "An open letter to U.S. Muslims" By M.A. Muqtedar Khan Special to The Sentinel published November 18, 2001 Also, to my untrained eye, what does the "M. A." preceding Muqtedar Khan's name stand for? Thank you, Bill Dillon * Closest to what we need Dear iranian.com readers, As a regular reader of iranian.com you probably know that this independent publication truly reflects the diverse opinions of the vast majority of its readers. In this forum , every reasonable person can and has presented his/her opinion in a civilized manner and the exchanges have been extremely helpful in clarifying the issues of national interest. As anything else, it is far from being perfect but more than anything else, it is the closest to what we need. Those of us who have always read only one side of the coin in many other respectable publications, know that this is a priceless treasure that has to be supported by all means. unfortunately after a few years of activity, the journal has not been economically self-sustained ; and if we do not support it, it will be our own loss. The journal needs a minimum of $30,000/year to break even and continue to publish in present condition. But the present condition is not sustainable and the publisher eventually will have to hire some help to provide this service. I believe it would be fair and reasonable to ask the frequent readers and supporters, in addition to their annual donations, to donate one dollar a month as a subscription fee. This will be $12 a year per supporter. If my calculation is correct we will need 2,000-2,500 donors to ascertain the continuous publication of the paper and ease publisher's mind from the financial burden of the job and give him time to do his real work of journalism. I know, there is a limit to how much a person can spend on supporting many other publications and causes.But in other publications we mostly read the guru's opinions and here we hear our own voices and actively participate in the discussions. That is the difference. It is really our own forum being moderated by Jahanshah. This solicitation is being done without the publisher's prior knowledge. Those who are interested or have better ideas, can discuss them in the forum. Thank you all in advance. Sincerely,
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