Archive - 2007

Going too far

In the dispute between Mehdi Khalaji and Hossein Derakhshan, I sympathize with both Hossein and Mehdi, even though I have to take sides with free speech over truth. Hossein has a habit of throwing wild accusations. But even if all of them were malicious lies, he is still expressing his personal political opinion which cannot and should not be silenced. >>>

No, you're Iranian

There are more people from Persia than Iran on Facebook. Yup... Many young people of Iranian origin in the US construct 'Persian' as an alter-ego to being 'Iranian' because Iran has been reconstructed as something unattractive, backward, alien, and terrifyingly Muslim by their families, other Iranians in their social networks, and not least by American media and foreign policy ever since the Revolution. It is a defense mechanism against the (perceived) enormous social cost that comes with identifying as Iranian. I am fully open to the prospect that maybe it's not an "either-or" proposition, and some use the terms interchangeably-but looking at some of these group names, there seem to be a significant number of people that have crystallized Persian vs. Iranian into a dichotomous cultural struggle>>>

A threat to all of us

While everyone is on holidays, a new blow to online free speech has taken place and I would like to share it with you and ask for help. Last Friday, my blog was shut down by my hosting company (Florida-based Hosting Matters), as a result of a legal notice sent by Mehdi Khalaji, an Iranian fellow at a neo-conservative think-tank (Washington Institute for the Near East Policy with Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and James Woolsey on its advisory board). Khalaji's lawyer has sent a notice to my hosting company and also my domain registrar, Go Daddy, asking them to a) remove any 'defamatory' material about him, b) make me publish an apology, and c) pay $10,000 for the claimed damages>>>

Price of baseless accusations

TORONTO -- One of the most controversial and maybe most read Persian blogs has finally been shut down. It belonged to Hossein Derakhsan, aka Hoder. No doubt, many of his enemies and those who did not like him very much may be very happy. But only a few may even ask why this has happened. The following is a brief account about the rise and fall of the so called THE GODFATHER OF PERSIAN BLOG. I think one of his biggest mistakes was lack of knowledge and skill in the field of journalism and professional writing. Hoder was not aware of the terms and conditions of writing on the web. He simply accused anyone who did not think like him. Maybe this is why he called his blog: EDITOR MYSELF.>>>

444

Your left hand
shadows your right like a blown gas valve
cocking the night >>>

Momma

Momma I'm dying
Momma I'm fading away
The little twinkle in my eyes, the same one that's been there since I was a little >>>

Stalin alive and well!

Hossein Derakhshan's blog is suspended by Mehdi Khalaji! Apparently Khalaji having had worked for and under the current regime of Iran before he was revolutionized has brought his Mullah mindset to the United States. I by no means defend Derakhshan for I have observed his actions and his support for the current regime of Iran but am surprised at Khalaji. He is supposedly promoting a democratic Iran?! He too can write and express his opinion but to shut down a blog is nothing short what we observe in today's Iran where newspapers and blogs are shut down or filtered every day>>>

All this hoopla over nothing

Recently, I have over and over again heard a small group of Iranians attack the National Iranian American Council (NIAC); each time with a new charge. At an information meeting about Goli Ameri's new lobby group, they accused NIAC of being too critical of the Bush Administration. Iranian monarchists have for several years accused the organization of being a front for the mullahs. And of course, pro-Israeli neo-conservatives like Kenneth Timmerman have been on NIAC's case for calling for diplomacy with Iran. So far so good. Any group that infuriates Goli Ameri, the neo-cons and the monarchists must be doing something right.>>>

In search of ...

I came home, took off my suite and took a cold shower hoping it would change my mood. It didn't so I drove to the nearest bar to have a drink and play a little. I was hoping it would be quite so I can just sit in a corner and no one would notice me but being Saturday night I thought wishful thoughts. The bar was full but I realized quickly the patrons were all regulars because they all looked like serious gamblers. That was perfect because they don't bother others and don't like to be bothered, after all they are there to "take the house down!" So I sat in the far end of he bar and ordered me a Stoley on the rocks with some olives on the side.>>>

اوهام!

نمی دانم چرا بوی کافور رهایم نمی کند؟ از هر وسیله معطر کننده ای هم که دم دست دارم بوی تند و تیز کافور بیرون می زند. همه آن هائی را هم که می شناسم، که مراوده دارم، که می بوسم، که در آغوش می گیرم همین بو را می دهند.>>>

Lena the bank teller

She has all white hair. Her skin is choorook, her hands are shaking. A tiny lady at least 80 years old, no joke. Her name is Lena. And she is working as a bank teller at Bank of America. I wonder how old she was when she first learned to use the computer? I am not comfortable when she calls me to her window because I have never dealt with a teller her age. I almost feel like she should not be here, that it's wrong and cruel for her to be working. But she is pretty quick, knows the job well and we move quickly. Of course I don't have a BofA account, and I am cashing a check, so she gets a chance to make a sales pitch to me.>>>

Una noche de desierto

One day we will make a journey to Iran together ... we will travel to Kerman and I will locate a little place with a particular energy level that I know of in the desert; a place where the falcon-hearted beings lay down to rest and draw energy form mother earth making their wings leaner and their hearts beat faster. Under the moon light, sounded by the desert spirits and our own genies as the witness for our passion, I will take my linen jacket off so you can lay on it ... and then ... I will feast on you as a desert lion feasts on a gazelle! I will look into your eyes and drown in the river of their sparkle, then gently kiss you.>>>