Iranian of the Day

Can she relax & be more coherent? No one is chasing after you!

As much as I am aginst IRI, I hope some people in their fight against IRI, don't be used and become the new US stooges! Equal but not subordinate to US!

Wonderful speech!

Congratulations for a well deserved award! Nafisi's latest memoir is an amazing tale of our history and her "personal history", but especially a wonderful tribute to Ferdowis's the Book of Kings! A very impressive representative of our great literature!

She deserve the Neocon award

There is a geniuine fight for democracy in Iran.  At the same time lets not lose sight of Nafisi and her right wing neocon ideology.

//www.antiwar.com/gancarski/?articleid=477

//weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/797/special.htm

Ghalam-Doon Joon,

Thanks for your all your comments. My stated “Democracy” definition was only a personal thought.

from Voltaire’s Essay on Tolerance: “Think of yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.”

Cross, Demo, Hmmm!

I did not realize this award giving/winning had a religious connotation too.

Hmmm! Interesting...  I'm already in enough trouble with DK. I certainly do not want to touch this one. 

No Sorry With The Truth

Right on, “Shirin.” Your comment was as sweet as sugar. Need to mention other dubious so called award winners like Mrs. Ebadai, Mr. Ganji, & etc along with this lady winner in regard to your point. The combination of words “Cross” & “Demo” to make the word “Democracy” (the same pronunciation) ought to be a demo of standing up for justice & freedom as Jesus Christ sacrificed his blood on the cross for those & not  a symbol for delusion and/or deception. 

I'm very sorry that Ms.

I'm very sorry that Ms. Nafisi and others in the West continue to build their careers through the blood and labours of Iranians. She is in no way a representative of global democratic aspirations, or the democratic struggles that have been taking place in Iran for the last century.

I congratulate Azar Nafisi but she annoys me.

Everything is sacred

ghalam-doon Jaan

First of all Thank you for your civil response and keeping a sense of humor to my provocative question.

But like many Anonymous commentators when it comes to criticizing others who in the Open are taking a Stance, you people only resort to criticizing but offer no constructive solution as an alternative.

Since you are asking me I have Rarely Said Bad Things about Moussavi or Karroubi or Attacked them for that matter.

Made Fun of them sure ... and I will whenever I consider that they are not living up to the expectations of the constituency ( not mine) they are supposed to represent.

At Worst I satirically advised their enthusiastic voters to make a better choice between Bad and Worse :

SATIRE: I voted ;0)

I am not their unconditional fan and never was so I won't pretend that they are an inspiration to me nor to my personal political views all the more that I did not take part in this vote. so to me slogans like "Where is My Vote?" or "Ahmadinejad is Not my President" were at best ridiculous since I do not consider this Republic as Legitmate anyways ...

But again that is MY Biaised Choice and Personal Conviction but I maintain it Publically and try at best to Face my Own Contradictions and contradictors in public not in hiding or stabbing people in the back under the Bold Stance of Anonimity, even if Privacy is something that I can understand and lifting it is not and should not be a pre requisite to one's free choice which is yours and respectable in your own right. Thus my Generic use of the Term "YOU" aimed not at merely you the Private Person but your likeminds ... given that we all have our own at some point.

Here are mine:

NEO CON WARMONGERS ? Tehrangeles Demo in Support of Iran's Greens

But those who have been selling us Ahmadinejad as our New Mossadegh on Capitol Hill and who everyone knows their name and organization ( NIAC/AIC ) are no more qualified to speak in the name of Iran's Greens than the people who are running or praised by the National Endowment for Democracy (an Endowment Which NIAC benefits from but denies that right to other organizations or individuals such as the Boroumand Foundation or the Iranian Human Rights Center).

I simply don't consider myself as GREEN and Never Did ... But Green White and Red with the Sun and Lion in the Middle :

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HdNBjnJ6A

And that From Day One 30 years ago  ... and Not since last July ...

And I don't think that I was alone for that matter. There is a Silent Majority who has been hoping for Regime Change all these years and not merely for Nostalgia for a Dead King or Long Lost Empire but for a genuine democratic system of government of their choice.

I am not going to change my opinion or personal loyalties based on Popularity Polls of a given Presidential candidate of a dictatorial state or the limited choice of a nation in choosing his or her candidate to a system of government which they hoped at best to be reformed only to be dissappointed at bullet point and an unfortunate death toll which continues to this day ...

If you think that Iranians back home can achieve freedom without the Moral Support of Democratic Societies including Civil Rights organization or personalities in the public eye ready to help raise awareness on the plight of their fellow compatriots back home as was done through media coverage, internet communications or televised medias like Radio Farda/Radio Liberty or VOA Persian which played a far more active part than the hypocritically neutral BBC Persian in informing Iranians on the real nature of their regime and contributed to the general awareness which culminated in what we witnessed last July ... then you are simply blind or pretending to be.

Without these media outlets Iranians had no other means of expressing their anguish and hopes to the World outside and share their common dreams and aspirations for a Different alternative to that the Selected and Limited Choice offered to them.

Otherwise might as well NOT rely on this fellow neither as the self proclaimed Green Spokesman in the Diaspora:

LOST IN TRANSLATION: NIAC Welcomes Hamid Dabashi on Advisory Board

or His Joon Joon Friend Flynt Leverette who is also against Regime Change:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJw7bGr6qvA

or his other friend and Press TV Host George Galloway:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=11B_CTF5JvQ 

My Humble Opinion,

DK

Dear DK

I don't know what you mean by "YOU Fellows" like "we" belong to some cult or something.

But if by that you mean we should close our eyes and ears, I suggest you do the same.

Next time that you see a video of Karoubi or Mousavi, write some thing nice about them. Forget about their past and accept them as the leaders of the movement. Then "we" will forget about NED and its shady past. Ghabool?

Here is a nice video to calm you down:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk8aC4jIvHM&feature...

Lots and Lots of Laugh!

Tell me ghalam-doon Jaan What is it YOU Fellows Really Want ?

In the end of the Day What is it YOU Fellows Really Want ?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv81sNYSZ9w

Democacy Meekham Human Rights Nameekham or Vice Versa ? ...

Un Coup Je Veux Un Coup Je Ne veux Pas ...

Bee Khial ... Ta Gabre Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah ...

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufMWQqChTw0

Everything is falling into Place

Give me my green shawl which is the symbol of my patriotism!

So people were killed on the streets of Tehran so Ms Nafisi etal can get together and being awarded! Isn't that nice.

Of course these days everybody has wrapped themselves in their green shawl and has joined the movement. 

A few words about the so called National Endowment for Democracy:

//www.iefd.org/articles/trojan_horse.php

But what the heck! Lets forget the past, put ourselves in a state of total oblivion about what some elements in the left used to call imperialism and have some real fun!

FYI/Mahnaz Afkhami Reads Simin Behbahani message

Mahnaz Afkhami -2010 Democracy Award Presentation:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJzmsJQn6Y 

Congratulations

Congratulations to You Mrs. Nafisi Great Initiative!

I look forward to the day when Your Republic of Imagination Finally Joins My Empire of Dreams ;0) 

"A Country that Loses it's Poetic Vision is a Country that faces death" -Saul Bellow

Recommended Watching:

Recommended Readings:

Eminent Persians by Abbas Milani

On famed Film Critic Jean Claude Carrière who wrote the Preface to Azar Nafisi's French Translation of Reading Lolita in Tehran entitled Mémoires Captives and also has a part in Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy:

Carrière's Master Class In Tehran by Darius KADIVAR

Rumi A Great Film Critic's Choice by Darius KADIVAR

On Mahnaz Afhami mentioned by Mrs. Nafisi:

Mahnaz Afkhami: A Women For All Seasons (VOA/BBC Interviews)

pictory: WOMEN GET TO VOTE: Female Crowd Gratefully Gather At Shah's Palace (1963)

pictory: Female Ministers in Pahlavi Era (1970's)

pictory: Mahnaz Afkhami and Shahbanou Farah in Lorestan (1976)

pictory: Mahnaz Afkhami International Women's Conference in Mexico City (1975) 

pictory: Women's Day: Mahnaz Afkhami Pioneer Feminist (1975)

pictory: Women's Day: Farah, Jihan, Mahnaz Tehran (1970's)  

thank you

for this, and for a deserving 'iranian of the day' recipient.

Good initiative.

Thank you.

Very Impressive ...

Tks For The Video :)