Friday,
Oct 30, 1998
* SO DEPERSSING!
I am impressed, and happy that these delightful old pictures ["Laid back",
"Cheri"]
have been posted on the web. On the other hand I am depressed and saddened
that our lives have changed so much.
Just a few minutes ago, at the dinner table, my eight-year-old son,
who is very much interested in music, sat through three hours of Mr. Dariush's
October 11 concert in Dallas. He calls Dariush a superstar and asked me
if he held concerts back in Iran. He then asked my brother who has just
come from Iran if there are concerts like that in Iran now. Of course his
answer was NO.
Then my brother told him that they are not allowed even to play music
on the radio that includes a female voice. How do you explain this to a
young mind?
THAT IS WHY IT IS SO DEPRESSING TO LOOK AT OLD PHOTOS OF OUR PEOPLE
NOW.
Reza Khavari
rkhavari@flash.net
(Back to top)
Thursday
Oct 29, 1998
* Iranians: Type 3 personality
Rather than jumping to your own conclusions ["Nargess
Shahmanesh: Why insist on being around Iroonies?"], why not ask
yourself if there may be some validity to what was said. Unlike you, I
have been doing my research; and from that as well as my own experience
I can honestly say there is much to be admired about Iranians as well as
much not to be admired. That it is so strong both ways is what makes it
both intriguing and perplexing...
Each personality-type has both healthy aspects and unhealthy ones. What
I have observed with Iranians is that most gravitate around the Type 3
personality which goes by nicknames such as "Producer," "Performer,"
"Status Seeker" and "Succeeder" According to Jerome
Wagner, PhD, author of "The Enneagram Spectrum of Personality Types,"
positive descriptions for Type 3 are: efficient, successful, get things
done, motivator, enthusiastic, pragmatic, practical, goal-oriented, energetic,
manager, popular, active, dynamic, multi-faceted, organized, self-assured,
marketer, industrious, team-builder, and competent.
Negative descriptions are: mechanical, get ahead, calculating, impatient,
expedient, workaholic, chameleon-like, scheming, popularizer, image-conscious,
self-promoting, appearances, jet set, success-driven, slick, political,
mesrepresenting, oeverachiever, role-playing, and ignore feelings... FULL TEXT
Alex Bettesworth
Alex_B@pacbell.net
(Back to top)
* Suffering from adolescent pains
I stumbled upon your very negative commentaries on the Iranian people
and have to say that I'm completely ashamed of your publishing of this
bogus material depicting Iranians in such a bad light ["People
of extremes"]. These come from a few bitter people who tend to
generalise, as they also admitted.
I do not share their views and know quite a few Iranians. I live in
Santa Barbara where there aren't very many Iranians. I understand where
these negative views of Iranians came about, as the culture clashes are
extreme and should be taken note of, and the struggle for many Iranians
to REGAIN the status they once enjoyed in a country before it began to
suffer from closed-minded and primitive tyrant ruling - by this I do not
mean to condone the royalty, they were a bunch of naive guys taking all
the western lies and so-called promises too seriously.
So not to become political, I just would like to say that you shouldn't
take commentary from people who themselves are suffering from adolescent
pains of friendship betrayals and blaming the entire race and culture of
the one betraying them. And DO take into account real anthropological and
social issues backing the actions of the people of Iran. And the people
of Iran are not the lost second generation living in LA or San Francisco.
Maryam
University of California,
Santa Barbara
(Back to top)
Wednesday
Oct 28, 1998
* Booy-e Gand-e Paa
When I first saw the title for the Book of the Week in The Iranian
Times, -- Scent of Saffron -- I thought this must be another
book on Iranian cooking. Then the full title sunk in "Scent of Saffron: Three Generations of an Iranian Family"
I laughed so hard, I though I was going to have an accident.
I'm sure it is a fine a book, but the title could sure use a little
help. What's next in this perpetual attempt to capitalize on the superficial
understanding and appreciation for whatever deems to be ethnic?
I think I might write my own memoir about the intricate interplay of
religion and the extended family in Iran. I will call it "Booy-e Gand-e
Paa: How Religious Activity Works to Reinforce or Squander Family Ties.
S.T.
(Back to top)
* What's happening in Chicago?
I have yet to see an event -- either cultural or political -- held in
Chicago mentioned in the Community section of your magazine . For those
of you subscribers who live near the Windy City, are there any Iranian
organizations in Chicagoland that promote such events? Any information
with regard to Iranian "kanoons" in or about Chicago is highly
appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Mehran Azhar
mazhar@students.uwf.edu
(Back to top)
Tuesday
Oct 27, 1998
* Why insist on being around Iroonies?
In respose to the articles by eRoTuS,
Alex Bettesworth,
and C.
Mohammadi on Iranians:
After reading these articles and letters the one thing that struck me
was just how generalized and shallow they are. And what confuses me is
why on earth do these people insist on being around Iroonies if they dispise
them as such.
I'm Iroonie, have lived both in Iran, Europe and have spent time in
the U.S. I cannot for the life of me understand this intense hostility.
We are humans, and like every other race on this planet have tall and short,
fat and thin, pretty and ugly, rich and poor, and most importantly good
and evil. Just like all other races.
Circumstances, political upheaval, forced geographical relocations,
have admitidly changed our people, but so have many other nations been
faced with similar, if not worse, historical/political upheavals in the
past decade. I'm not sure if these changes are necessarily for the worse.
For every LA nouveau riche tacky Iroonie, there are hundreds and hundreds
of highly original minds, very exciting and innovative individuals, who
are also a lot of fun to have around.
All I can say to those who are so quick to judge is expand your research
before finding it in their right to criticize.
Nargess Shahmanesh
n_shahmanesh@imeche.org.uk
(Back to top)
Monday
Oct 26, 1998
* What do I do? I'm Italian
Let me start this with a joke I heard from an Iranian fellow named Tony
(used car salesman, aka. mile clipper, he agrees with this one). Anyway
they asked an Iranian guy what do you do for a living? He said "I'm
an Italian!"
I don't know maybe it's only me, but I seem to be bothered by my fellow
countrymen who have chosen Western names for themselves and worse for their
children ["Why
change a name?"]. It seems to happen more in the U.S., where I
think Iranians have succeeded to loose more of their culture and "names".
They seem to be very Iranian, eat chelo-kabab, go to Persian concerts,
and drive BMWs (like myself!) but when you ask their name, you hear: "Tony".
What's worse is when they introduce themselves to other Iranians with
names like, Gino, Giani, Sergio,.... I don't understand who came up with
these names. Maybe we should look for the first Iranian guy who named himself
Tony and give him the Iranian Tony Award.
I can't stop laughing about this Tony name. Is that because many Iranains
think that we look alot like Italians? I have never met an Italian guy
who calls himself Jamshid. I understand that Iranians are very good at
adapting themselves to other cultures, but why change your name?
I happen to have an Arabic name just like many other Iranians, but I
don't find it necessary to change my name to a Persian name or to a Western
name for that matter. Shouldn't we just respect our parents for having
named us or we should all go around calling ourselves Tony?
I have heard from Iranians these horror stories about the hardships
that they had to go through during the hostage crisis in Iran. There are
no more American hostages in Iran, so I suggest all of these Tonys use
their real name.
It may not be so important to many people what your name is. If you
want to be a successful businessman you don't have to change your name.
Instead be honest with people. Sell good used cars; don't clip the miles.
Keep your promises so you don't have to call yourself Tony. If an American
girl in a bar is so stupid that she doesn't catch your beautiful Iranian
accent, then just tell her that your name is Qoli and you are Italian!
Hamid
(Back to top)
Friday,
Oct 23, 1998
* Prediction
My ["Hororscope"]
predictions are that the Iran will witness a revolution and Democracy will
be instituted in Iran, and all religious leaders and officials will be
exiled to the moon.
Jamsheed Tehrani
SyberHawk1@aol.com
(Back to top)
Thursday
Oct 22, 1998
* Glad I have American friends
I came to the U.S. when I was 14. We lived in New Jersey and I had limited
contact with Iranians. I then went to college in Pittsburgh and rarely
came home for six years, so that even lessened my contact with Iranians.
After graduating I decided to move to Los Angeles since there were many
Iraninans here, I thought I could then get more in touch with my culture.
I regret that decision.
I don't know if it's the Iranians that I have met, but people that called
me their "brother" ended up being the biggest backstabbing, "Khaleh
Zanaks" I have ever met in my life. I have many American friends that
I have known for over 15 years, and they are my true friends. We have had
our share of arguments and disagreements, but we have resolved what ever
it was, and have gone on, even if we had to agree to disagree on certain
points.
Iranians have to prove their point to everyone, and if you don't agree
with them, then they bad mouth you and make up what ever they need to in
order to discredit you. Even my so called "brothers" have shown
their true colors. For the past three years I have stuck up for Iranians
when ever I heard anything bad. But now, I am extremely hurt and disappointed.
Why do we put each other down? With as many of us that are here, I think
that we would be able to help lift the whole Iranian population to new
heights in any field.
Reading the letters that others have written, it seems that we are making
excuses, by talking about what the Mongols and the Arabs and the Greeks
did to us that makes us the way we are. What does that have to do with
Iranians that have lived their whole lives here [in the U.S.]? I guess
we Iranians need to blame someone else for our shortcomings. What pathetic,
weak people, it makes me glad that I have good solid, true American friends
that I can count on.
CFSRB
CFSRB@aol.com
(Back to top)
Wednesday
Oct 21, 1998
* No mercy
Very sorry to see that following our mistake in exposing the emails
of some of our subscribers yesterday, they have already been targets of
spam:
I got these [promotional] emails from iranstar@iranstar.com, and Ahmad
Alizadeh International News and Broadcasting ali@esse.com.
I'm guessing that a lot of other people on your mailing list got them
too. It might be a good idea to send them an email not to use our addresses
any more. I'll do that myself too.
Zahra Mahloudji
ZMahloudji@DATAFUSION.net
(Back to top)
Tuesday
Oct 20, 1998
* Seduction, not rape
I don't think this [Iraj Mirza's poem
on the chador] is about rape. This is about ignorance. She thought
that nejaabat is the same as putting on the chador & roobandeh, even
in the middle of fornication! I do agree that Iraj Mirza seduced her, but
I don't see rape in the picture.
S.D.
smhd@earthlink.net
(Back to top)
Monday
Oct 19, 1998
* Another Shahanshah? No thank you.
[In response to Reza Velayati's letter, "Iran
is dead":] No matter how horrible the current situation in Iran,
dear monarchists, please stop dreaming about your old times and come out
of your shells. Stop telling nice stories about the past. Many of us still
remember it very well and don't want to experience another "glorious
King of the Kings" again.
Mr. Velayati says: "We had everything before the revolution".
I wonder why our monarhcists tend to close their eyes on the realities.
As a matter of fact, I agree that we might not have achieved much from
revolution, but "having everything" during Pahlavi?! Oh yes,
we had many things. We had SAVAK, we had censorship, political prisoners
too. The human right record of Pahlavi by no means was better than IRI.
I was a teenager at that time and well remember when my father, a young,
innocent, absolutely non-political engineer was arrested by SAVAK only
because a coworker of him, whom he barely knew, had been allegedly a member
of an opposition group. All of their colleagues in the company, seven or
eight engineers and technicians, all "disappeared" too. It took
us a few days of horror and fear before we found out that my father and
his colleagues had been actually taken by SAVAK, and a few weeks more until
a member of the family, who was a colonel, did his best to release him.
After that, there were several months of weekly reporting to SAVAK and
not being able to leave the town, etc. He is not in favor of the Islamic
government and in fact hates it, but by no means wants to see the monarchy
back in Iran again.
Revolution in Iran against Pahlavi was indeed a popular rising at that
time, and relating it to any "satanic alliance" between the U.S.,
Britain or the Soviet Union is just an ostrich-type excuse to cover the
misbehavior of the former government and the dissatisfaction of the people.
For me and many others like me, who had seen the nice and rather free days
of the first year of the revolution, there is abosolutely no regret about
overthrowing the monarchy, although we do miss that freedom and glory of
the first year of the revolution, and our dream is to restore it.
But onsecond thought, perhaps this sentence is correct that Mr. Reza
Velayati and his family had "everything before the revolution".
Okay, you had your turn. It's now the turn of others, the majority, who
were oppressed at that time and didn't enjoy the same benefits as your
family!
K. Sani
amirsani@hotmail.com
(Back to top)
Friday,
Oct 16, 1998
* Brilliant
[Regarding Laleh Khalili's article "Forgicing
Salm and Tur"]
Refreshing; if not, brilliant.
Faryar Mansuri
faryar@interport.net
(Back to top)
Thursday
Oct 15, 1998
* Islamic school ad unjustified
I was rather disappointed to see the segregated Islamic
school of New York advertised in your paper. How can one justify that,
having seen so many people of one's country displaced by such an ideology
which tends to be -- in its public and political form -- very destructive
.
Those poets and writers whose words you use in your journal such as
Kasraei and Parsipour deserve better and more support than the said school
and its supporters . The existence of one has today led to the destruction
of the other .
J.N.
arsh@globalnet.co.uk
(Back to top)
Wednesday
Oct 14, 1998
* A forgotten human right
For some reason, your photos from hybrid Iranians [at Iranian-American
street festivals in Washington and New York] reminded me of my great
sorrow when I will finally have to leave the U.S. for Iran: I WILL NOT
HAVE THE RIGHT TO WEAR SHORTS IN PUBLIC.
What a pity! Don't you think so?
A.T.
(Back to top)
Tuesday
Oct 13, 1998
* In honor of Sharekord
I notice that you put a name of an Iranian city as a part of the WEB
address for the Times. Have you ever put "Shahrekord"
there?
Shahrekord is the capital of Chahar Mahal Bakhtiari. I am originally
a Bakhtiari and might send you some pictures from there soon. Thanks
Mehrdad
REPLY: Your wish is my command! This week's Iranian city for the
Times URL will be Shahrekord. jj
(Back to top)
Monday
Oct 12, 1998
* Magnificent article
I'd like to congratulate Ms Khalili for her magnificent article analyzing
the elements of racism, xenophoebia, and ethnocentrism in Iranian culture
["Forgiving
Salm and Tur"]. Keep them coming, Laleh!
Amir
(Back to top)
* Tell us more
[Regarding Manoucher
Yektai:] Please tell us more about this wonderful Iranian painter .
Massey Alamdari
(Back to top)
Friday,
Oct 9, 1998
* Useless Ankaboot
I used to keep a list of interesting Iranian web
sites. Later on, I noticed your informative WebGuide and told myself there
is no need to keep so many URL's on pieces of papers here and there.
Then for God knows what reason you decided to
transfer your WebGuide section to Ankaboot.com! But sadly Ankaboo is so slow and useless and unreliable and intermittent
and, in one world, crappy, that I decided to dig my old papers and find
my favorit URL'S!
Hamid
hemendra1@hotmail.com
* Reply: We're good. We'll be even better
(Back to top)
Dear Hamid,
Thank you for contacting us regarding your opinions
on Ankaboot.
I'm sorry to hear that you feel Ankaboot is "slow and useless and
unreliable and intermittent." Our plan for Ankaboot.com is to be the largest and best source for finding Iranian
sites on the Net. In building our database we partnered with The Iranian
and included their sites in our database.
Currently we have over 2,600 sites listed in our
database. That is more than four times the size of The Iranian's
former WebGuide links. We also searched throughout the Net and found thousands
of other sites and included them as well. We appreciate our partnership
with The Iranian and we feel that we are providing the users of
The Iranian with a much better way to find sites.
Since the beginning of May 1998 when Ankaboot.com
was launched our viewers have submitted hundreds of new sites to us. This
is the first negative message we have received. Most of our viewers have
been very supportive and encouraging.
We plan to release the new version of Ankaboot.com
in the next few months. We hope you will try us again then and give us
your feedback.
Karim Ardalan
MIS, Inc.
karim@misinc.net
(Back to top)
Thursday
Oct 8, 1998
* Not worth the time
Your web site has some interesting features and stories, but I find
myself quickly moving away from the site in disgust every time a new browser
window needlessly loads. I understand you are trying to turn as many pages/advertisements
as possible, but after a while it gets to be too much!
For example: is it really necessary for me to have 10 browser windows
open to look through the archived Photo of The Day? Also, should already
registered users really need to load three introductory pages before getting
to the main page?! It's like watching a 1/2-hour TV show with 20 minutes
of commercials.
If you don't change your code to flow better, your site will not be
worth the time it takes to browse, and soon your advertizers will see that
you are "page stuffing."
Still, I find the site and its contents interesting enough to care and
write to you about it, so it's on the right track. Some HTML work is needed
though to make it an *enjoyable* site.
David Yaghoubian
goob@dnai.com
REPLY: The new-browser commands have been removed from the links
in the Photo of the Day archive and the registration page now links directly
to the Today section. jj
(Back to top)
Wednesday
Oct 7, 1998
* Low-profile
As I am a new reader of Iranian Times I would like to know why the buisiness
section is low profile and you can not find much up to date analysis of
the relevant issues, even the $ rate given is not daily.
I am sure most Iranians in different parts of the world would like to
know the up to date rate of exchange for the rial in different currencies.
Dr Hossein Saidpour
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth, UK
hsaidpou@bournemouth.ac.uk
(Back to top)
Tuesday
Oct 6, 1998
* Concentrate on freedoms, not war
I think it is important to see the big picture before we enter a war
game with Afghanistan. For the first time in our history, the constitution
of Iran is legally forming. Although we have a long way to go, still people
are demanding freedom and the rule of law. For a country like Iran this
is definitely a first step. The impact of this trend in our society is
not something to be ignored.
The road chosen by Afghanistan is their internal problems. If Pakistan
is supporting the Afghans, let it be. Iran is not so developed to afford
more political, social, and economical problems. We need to continue our
movement for freedom of thought and speech and should not focus on the
Afghan's problems. It is our problem when they threaten our national security,
but in the long run the winner will be the most stable country, which we're
on the path of accomplishing.
Any sudden action from Iran will result in fundamentalism to gain power
in Iran.
Arman
arman@ix.netcom.com
(Back to top)
* In short...
[Regarding Laleh Khalili's "Absence"]
BIG DEAL.
AMTSKM@aol.com
(Back to top)
Monday
Oct 5, 1998
* Islam = Reformed Manicheism
Excellent document ["Conspiracy
theories and the Persian mind"]. conspiracy
theories are characteristic of other Islamic countries and the Soviet Union
because of Manichean influence. Communism is a form of Manicheism (thesis-antithesis,
etc) and Islam itself is a reformed or one could say rectified kind of
Manicheism. Islam takes many elements of Manicheism but instead of two
abstract gods defined by their opposition makes them into one.
Traces of Manicheism in Islam is the theory of
martyrs (like Mani they are alive and receive food from their Lord) all
prophets from one source, the three groups of the Surat al-Waqiah etc,
and of course the Zoroastrian elements point to Hira, the stopping place
on the way from Mecca to Ctesiphon as the place where Manicheism entered
and was then transformed within the person of Mohammad.
glasse@banet.net
(Back to top)
* Mohammad Basirian: "Soldier of Human
Dignity"
If a government, through its higher education
system, tries to train a generation of young graduates whose main goal
is to consolidate the foundation bricks of the existing regime by approving
and possibly applauding all its policies, such a system is indeed digging
its own grave. Such a regime will be a dead one sooner or later. In order
to live, to meet the challenge of our world which its only constant phenomenon
is perhaps "change" itself, a higher education system should
rather ignite a critical approach within the younger generation. An approach
looking for changing the status quo towards ideals rather than guarding
it.
An old lady, a sculptor, a playwright and a philosopher
who lectured during our commencement ceremony put this idea under the beautiful
title of "Raise a rainbow." When the big heart of my teacher
and friend, Mohammad Basirian, stopped on that fifth day of October in
1988, several generations of graduates from University of Tehran lost a
genuine, humble, restless patron of human dignity.
Although his official assignment was "Specialty
English Course Professor," all his students would agree that he was
indeed teaching "how to learn." He was indeed trying to ignite
a passion for learning, a critical view towards the status quo. He would
shout at a student, he would argue with the bureaucrats, the ones who were
taking the safe side of the mighty rulers. He was the one who would act
sometimes with brutality with those students who had chosen the easy way
by adhering to the existing norms and codes of power.
Years later, after Islamic Revolution, during
the Iraqi invasion days, when the very young revolutionary guards (Pasdars)
would block the streets and stop the cars and search the trunks and ask
meaningless questions, it was he who would shout at them furiously and
tell them your enemy is the one who is penetrating your capital city and
bombing it every night, not the girls and boys and families traveling in
the cars which you stop.
Ten years have passed since the day his heart
stopped. He was in his early fifties. When I look back, I realize that
he was one of those rare people who tried to take his students to the peaks
of life and tried to teach them how to look at life from the top. To ignore
the minor differences and tolerate different attitudes; to look at life
to see how you can change it. He tried to teach passion for learning.
If there are some of the several generations of
his students who happen to read this memorabilia, the graduates of University
of Tehran's different faculties during early 1970s, they would agree with
me that it would be fair to call him "The Unknown Soldier of Human
Dignity. "
Parviz Forghani
alawtad@emirates.net.ae
(Back to top)
Friday,
Oct 2, 1998
* Bitter truth
I believe Ms. Khalili in her recent article "Forgiving
Salm and Tur" has been extremely courageous
and honest about our national psyche regarding race issues.
At the risk of being unpopular, I have always
said that a lot of us Iranians are as racist as the KKK. How many times
have you heard your fellow Iranians refer to Blacks as "those damn
Barzangis" or call Mexicans some other demeaning names?
How many times have you heard Iranians living
in Iran tell you horror stories about poor Afghan refugees, calling them
thieves and savages (just like Anglo-Americans who blame all their social
ills on smelly foreigners)? At the same time I have heard Blacks, Hispanics,
and Arabs make racial remarks about other races and nationalities.
The reason is simple; they all suffer from the
same illness that we've been afflicted with, and that is that their national
ego or pride has been demolished by outside forces throughout history.
Hispanics and Blacks, through the media, have been represented as a class
of minimum-wage workers or crack-selling criminals. Just like us Iranians,
they have been humiliated. They compensate for it by feeling superior and
putting other races down.
Laleh's most correct and profound statement was
"We, the diasporan Iranians, draw lines of segregation along class
lines as frequently or more often than we do along color lines." Couldn't
have said it better myself.
Laleh has held up a mirror to us, showing us the
bitter truth about our national character. Just like any ugly image in
a mirror, the reflection may be painful to look at, but it is still true.
Farhad Homayounpour
fhoma@celanese.com
(Back to top)
* Our own
Taliban
The continuation of presecution of religious minorities
or any minorities in Iran goes to show, we have our own Talibans, but we
call them...!
S. Sohrab
ssohrab@mail.fm
(Back to top)
* Sweet
memories
Thank you Mr. Kasraian ["Envy": Photos from Turkman Sahra]. I am a Turkman from
Gonbad-a-Kavous and certainly appreciate your pictures a great deal. It
brought sweet memories from the distance past. Thanks again...
Nader Ghoujeghi
nghoujeg@teleweb.net
(Back to top)
Thursday
Oct 1, 1998
* No talk of Persian supremacy before
Islam
In our own history, you never come across a reference to the term "Persian,"
a term you have used repeatedly in your article ["Forgiving
Salm and Tur"]. "Iran" and "Aniran" ( i.e.,
non-Iranian) are terms used in the pre-Islamic era, when there is no talk
of the supremacy of Persians (people who live in Fars and in general mainland
Iran) over other ethnic groups living on the fringes of the Iranian plateau.
After Islam, for hundreds of years, we did not have an entity called
Iran. The Persian language carried the burden of "cultural unification."
As a matter of fact, what we call the Persian language, has its origin
in the Khorasani accent of the old Pahlavi language which spread from northeastern
Iran.
Your refere to the Persian language as if it is a legacy of the people
of Fars. This is wrong. In the vacuum created after Islam, the Dari variation
of Farsi -- an Indo-Iranian language -- became a good and natural alternative
to Arabic. The Pahlavi language of Fars perished and Dari from Khorasan
replaced it. Farsi belongs to all Iranians.
I do not disagree with you on all the points you have discussed in your
article but then again, do not categorize all iranians as people with a
sense of supremacy towards all third world people and an inferiority complex
towards the first worlders, or as people who do not want their children
to marry Blacks, etc. People are different in all societies.
Kaveh Ghayour
kghayour@aero.odu.edu
(Back to top)
* Change will elevate our culture
Laleh Khalili's article ["Forgiving
Salm and Tur"] was magnificent- Baa-RE-Ka-Laa!
Unfortunately, so many of us (Persians) know that this (superiority)
mentality exists BUT the real challenge is what we can and should do in
order to take our culture and people to the next level of co-existence
in Iran and abroad.
We are very perceptive and aware of the world around us. However, the
breaking point comes when we must step out and make changes -- we are filled
with fear -- fear that is tainted by not being accepted by our cultural
norms, our families and communities.
Some feel that change would harm the authentic nature of culture, that
changing cultural attitudes and norms will water down Persian Culture.
FALSE. If anything, change will elevate our culture and people.
I continuously challenge my fears and never fall victim to it. I challenge
all to live outside of the realm of fear.
Maryam Ovissi
movissi@asianart.org
(Back to top)
Wednesday
Sept 30, 1998
* I love aviation
I just visited your Iran
Air info site. I love aviation and especially civil aviation, your
update was just the info. I needed to know about the airline situation
in Iran.
I have left home and have not been back since 1986, and my last Iran
Air flight was with a B747-200 (Kurdestan) from Tehran to Istanbul!
Reza Bostani
r.bostani@worldnet.att.net
(Back to top)
* Shouldn't help Clinton
I don't think there should be any donations
from Iranians to Clinton or any Americans. Don't get me wrong. I have
nothing against them, but they see Iranians, and especially Muslims, as
terrorists or as people who are up to no good, which is not true at all.
My opinion!
Amir Johnson
bad382ez@yahoo.com
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Tuesday
Sept 29, 1998
* Brazen anti-Semitism
Though I appreciate Ali's passion for his cause ["Such
hypocricy"), we certainly could have done without the unnecessary
profanity. I am even less appreciative of the brazen anti-Semitism in his
last sentence which is so common and still, in 1998, expressed so readily
and unashamedly by many of our countrymen.
Iraj
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* You should go to Iran
I enjoyed very much reading your article ["American,
Iranian too"]. This is the second time that I read it. Both times
I was very moved seeing a girl who has never ctually been to Iran, researching
to find all the reasons behind every cultural thing. It's wonderful.
I on the other hand am half Iraninan and half American. My father came
to the U.S. to study, met my mother, they moved to Iran. My sister and
I both were born there. I lived there for 10 years (I am 21 now).
I went to visit two years ago; it was amazing, exciting and interesting.
If you ever get a chance to go, you should. Again, I enjoyed your article
very much.
Jessica Asgari
Louisville, KY
j.asgari@helios-pharma.com
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Monday
Sept 28, 1998
* Ghosseh
nakhor azeezam...
The proverb in your quote of the day on Friday,
Sept 25, "khoshaa aan keh khar aamad-o gaav raft" (happy
he/she who was born an ass and died a cow: The more stupid the happier),
reminded me of the following poem by someone whose
name I have forgotten:
Del- aazaadeh-am oftaadeh dar daam-e pashimaani,
pashimaanam vali soodi nadaarad in pashimaani.
Dar dowraan-e javaani laafeh daanaaee zadam, ammaa,
beh peeri mizanam bar baameh daanesh koose naadaani.
Gomaan bordam fzuntar shavad har rooz aagaahi,
nadaanestam keh aagaahi bovad aaghazeh hyraani.
***
ghosseh nakhor azeezam keh zendegi doh roozeh...
If anyone knows the name of the poet, please let
me know.
Afshar
AFSHARUSA@aol.com
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* Opponents of reconciliation
In light of the ongoing anti-Iranian sentiments
expressed by the U.S. congress it would be beneficial for your readers
to get relevant information regarding the political interest groups opposing
any improvement in the U.S.-Iran relations on Capitol Hill. Providing a
link in your web site to the American Israeli Political Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) at www.aipac.com should provide a sobering experience for your readers.
Hormoz Ameri
hameri@earthlink.net
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