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April 2004

April 16................................To top

* Terrorist messages on radio

Friday afternoon, driving up to Vancouver for 13 Bedar, I turned on my car radio to enjoy the company of Tom Leykis, aka The Professor, who teaches the Leykis 101 course on his radio talk show. Basically he teaches guys "how to get more tail for less money".

Anyway, a listener by the name of "Claudia" called in to finish up his job of singing over the phone for the Leykis 101 audience. Actually, Claudia had called in a few weeks ago, but had been busted and fined for double-parking his limo right in the middle of his performance! Tom gave him the go ahead and with excellent voice imitation, Claudia started to sing ... Ebi!!! 

After a few verses which had me almost drive off the road in a fit of laughter, Claudia gave a shout-out to his Persian friends and signed off, which Tom then commented "All you guys calling yourself Tony, and Sal, and Al... I know your tricks... you're Persian guys passing yourselves as Italians to pick up girls...he he..."

The feedback that came in after that was really interesting. One caller said: "Tom, now you've opened up the gates to a whole new Iranian Idol contest!" But the most amusing comment was by a disgruntled caller who said very seriuously : "You know Tom, you should be careful what you allow these guys to sing in a foreign language, you never know they might be sending over-the-air messages to their terrorist accomplices"!!!!!

At that point , I really didnt know what to feel.

-- Babak

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* Do we carry on as normal?

Susan B. from Dallas Texas wrote:

The driveby shooting you may have heard about on the news? Less than 25 yards from our house!

The couple was walking around the elementary school that Xander will go to -- the place that EVERYONE walks in this neighbourhood, we were out there Friday night -- and a car drove by and shot 6 times at this woman. The news described our neighbourhood as upscale -- doesn't mean much when a maniac has a gun.

What a scary feeling this has caused! Do we go out and walk, carry on as normal? Or do we cower in our homes and protect ourselves? I feel helpless, like a more personal 9-11 helplessness -- that we should stand up and fight, yet not take chances. But what does that look like?

Needless to say, we all had extra hugs for each other tonight before bedtime. Xander is blissfully unaware of it all except for lots of police cars. We hope he didn't overhear our conversations with each other or with the neighbours.

Just some late night thinking.....take care, my friends.

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* "The War President"

George W. Bush based on portraits of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq >>> here

Photo courtesy of American Leftist

-- Forwarded by Babak

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* Neglected sins

In Islam there is a wide variety of acts considered to be sins, and naturally must be avoided by Muslims. Among sins some are regarded as major sins, meaning to be more serious and must be observed more carefully. Though there are different opinions on numbering and grading them, most scholars' list contains items in common, namely; Interest (Riba),which is strictly forbidden, yet we can see being widely practiced and tolerated handsomely in most of Muslim states.

The question is why then, Hejab matter despite being not a direct major sin appears to be the favorite topic of Islam related discussions inside and outside Islamic communities today? What really makes this issue superior comparing with many other obligations we are to observe as Muslims?

A sign of piety or a personal decision, or even an emblem of an ideology or a political manifest. Every individual may have a certain impression of it.

However, watching people -particularly men- describing passionately the disobedience in lady's outfit they witness now a days in public, would provoke a Freudian look on the case too. It seems that commenting about women's hair or clothing instinctually is desirable for fellow men. In other words, it is a part of our human nature to be attracted by the opposite gender. Many of us unconsciously hide behind socially acceptable terminology and instrumentalize ethical duties by expressing our concern over Islamic values, to satisfy our restricted innate zeal.

Frankly speaking, who among those very much concerned with Hejab, does not close eyes to the very obvious sins he witnesses in every day life?

-- A. Saremi

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* Luscious lips

Persian expression describing luscious lips.

("The lower lip carpets the earth / the upper lip gazes at the heavens.")

-- Javaneh Khodabakhsh

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* Poker's "Iranian origin"

A possible Iranian origin to the game of poker via New Orleans?
Please take a moment to read the following paragraph from this website:

"The history of poker is a matter of some debate. The name of the game likely descended from the French poque, which descended from the German pochen, but it is not clear whether the games named by those terms were the real origins of poker. It closely resembles the Persian game of as nas, and may have been taught to French settlers in New Orleans by Persian sailors. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag (earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time). It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now."

Recently I lived in the city of Pirates, New Orleans, for a year and a half...

-- "V"

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* Tip of the day

"A little lemon and seltzer will remove those pesky ink stains after you've been fingerprinted." -- Martha Stewart

-- Jahan A

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* Visa: Tell your story

Lately we have been involved with an action to end the visa delay crisis. The members of the immigration subcommittees of the U.S. Congress are deciding whether to pursue positive immigration reform soon. At Immigration and Visa Reform Action Center, you can write to the right people and tell them YES! If you have a personal story to tell, PLEASE EDIT THE LETTER ON THE WEBSITE AND TELL YOUR STORY!

Remember that you do not need to be a US citizen to talk to these officials. For more information please consider checking the following web address: visareform.net

This particular proposal has two major parts:

1. For a first time applicant, begin the security check process when an applicant with an I-20 form pays the SEVIS fee-rather than waiting until the applicant receives the SEVIS receipt in the mail, goes to the consulate, and submits a visa application.

2. For a visa renewal, perform security check while holders of non-immigrant visas are still in the U.S., so they can be granted "advance parole" for 12 months. This would allow them to receive a "security pre-clearance" certificate before they leave the U.S. This certificate could be submitted as part of their visa renewal application, speeding renewal process.

After you've sent off some letters, please also PHONE your legislators and ask to speak about this issue, and SET UP A MEETING with the staffers to discuss this issue in more detail (all legislators have offices in their home district). PHONE CALLS and MEETINGS are very effective. You can find their local phone # and address here. As I am living in Pasadena, CA, I am about to schedule a meeting with Adam Schiff who is on the judiciary committee and is the Pasadena's Congressman.

The following are representatives on the immigration subcommittee in Southern California. It will be a great move if those of us, living in CA call each of these representatives and set up meetings (you might not meet with them personally but even if you meet with someone on their staff, it still counts):

Linda Sanchez
4007 Paramount, Suite 106
Lakewood, CA 90712
District Office 562-429-8499

Congressman Howard L. Berman
14546 Hamlin Street, Suite 202
Van Nuys, CA 91411
(818) 994-7200

Elton Gallegy -- 2 offices
Congressman Elton Gallegly
2829 Townsgate Road, Suite 315
Thousand Oaks, CA 91361-3018
Phone: (805) 497-2224
Toll Free: (800) 423-0023
FAX: (805) 497-0039

Congressman Elton Gallegly
485 Alisal Road, Suite G-1A
Solvang, CA 93463
Phone: (805) 686-2525
FAX: (805) 686-2566

Senator Dianne Feinstein is also on the immigration subcommitte and her office in LOS ANGELES is located at:

Guillermo Gonzalez, Deputy State Director
11111 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 915
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310/914-7300

Thank you for your consideration.

-- Amir Sadjadpour

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* Iran tops nations refugees go to

BBC FACTFILE -- Global Migration As part of our series on global migration, BBC News Online looks at the numbers of people migrating, where they are going and some of the implications of migration.

Over the past 15 years, the number of people crossing borders in search of a better life has been rising steadily. At the start of the 21st Century, one in every 35 people is an international migrant. If they all lived in the same place, it would be the world's fifth-largest country >>> Full text

-- Forwarded by A. Faghri

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* Attention Iranians and Persian Speaking Residents of New York City

Participants sought for Email Survey on Use of the Persian Language and Iranian Community Life in New York City--deadline for participation is April 25th. 

About the Researchers: Roozbeh Shirazi and Vida Nazemian are graduate students of education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

We are conducting a study on the sociology of the Persian language (Farsi) in New York City, which is part of a broader effort by researchers at Teachers College exploring the diverse linguistic landscape of New York City.

As part of our research, we are seeking respondents for an email survey that will be mailed to to their email account. The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, and will ask about your past experiences, views, language habits and language behaviors in New York City.

The survey will be used for research purposes only; should you participate your identity and email addresss will be kept stictly confidential, and not used for any other purpose but the needs of this study.

We actively encourage the participation of ALL New York City Iranians and Persian speakers! This will be a tremendous help to us and provide valuable information on the Iranian community and how it uses, maintains, and transmits its language. Unfortunately, the scope of the project is limited to residents of the City of New York, and Greatneck, NY.

To participate, please send an email to: persianproject2000@yahoo.com
with your name, age, and borough of residence, saying that you agree to participate and complete the survey.

After receiving your email of consent, we will email you if you are to participate in the survey or not. We don't want to skew the data with overrepresenting one area or age group of Iranians in the city. If you are selected, we will send the survey as a Microsoft Word attachment starting next week.  Please submit the completed survey as a Word attachment to the same address with the title: 'Completed Survey.'

All questions can be sent to persianproject2000@yahoo.com.

We are running the survey/responding to that email account for the next 3 weeks, so the deadline for participation and emailing back the completed survey is April 25th, 2004. Thank you and hope to hear from as many of you as possible!

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Shorts
Archives

April 16
* Terrorist messages
* Carry on as normal?
* "The War President"
* Neglected sins
* Luscious lips
* Poker's "Iranian origin"
* Tip of the day
* Visa: Tell your story
* Top refugee destination
* Attention Iranians in NY

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