Archive - 2007

Ensejaam

Tooye Sale Ensejam, khordim etteham Akhe darin az chi migirin entegham? Donya dare be soraat pish mire Amma too fekre inim kare man chish gire?>>>

Slander in black & white

My observations were about Istanbul and a few other towns I visited and the people of Turkey. Now, when one compares Reza Shah to Ataturk, the differences are striking. On the one hand we have Reza Khan Gholdor, (surely there was a good reason why he was given this nickname) who put his foot on every piece of land, confiscated it for himself and his newly named Pahlavi family, and then distributed it. How noble of Reza Khan! History has taught us that he was a malovolent dictator, who was ruthless towards his opponents and in the end sided with the Nazis. Let us name some intellectuals, poets, high ranking men who were incarcerated, shot at or killed at the order of Reza Khan:>>>

Ba behtarin arezouha...

I know you probably have a girlfriend. I am a jealous fool. Jealous. But what can I do? >>>

Azita, where are you?

Azita was my best friend. No, actually she was my only friend in high school. Or the only one I cared about. She was Jewish, and when the Islamic revolution happened, she and her family left Iran for Israel. We were forbidden from sending mail to Israel, so I had to send my letters through another country. Her address changed a lot, and it was in Hebrew, an alphabet that looked to me like modern art or bent nails. My last letter to her returned as a lost letter after having traveled through many different countries. I always wondered what letters or numbers I had missed in writing her address.>>>

Inside and out

I think a woman is beautiful inside and out. We do not have to be a beauty queen to be beautiful. We are strong, intelligent, hard working, compassionate, caring, energetic, assertive, and so on. We have an openness, agreeableness, extraversion and positive conscientiousness about us that if raised in a non nulling environment at school and at home will be brought out. I do not see the majority of women as neurotic. However, if they are raised in an authoritarian, nulling environment, and patriarchal family I can show you a neurotic individual regardless of gender.>>>

Once 17

That’s how I didn’t learn driving when I was younger. >>>

عقل، دین و خشونت

پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم (کاردینال راتزینگر سابق) در سخنرانی پارسال خود ( تحت عنوان ایمان، عقل و دانشگاه) در روزنبرگ تلازمی بین دین غیر عقلانی (به زعم او: اسلام) و خشونت دینی قائل شد. فحوای این سخنرانی بخودی خود اسلام را به چالش میخواند ولی آنچه موجب بر انگیختن احساسات فراوان شد اشاره او به امپراطور بیزانسی مانوئل پالیو لوگوس دوم (1350-1425 میلادی) بود که علی ما نُقِل در مباحثه ای (که به سبک رایچ در تمدن یونانی بشکل دیالوگ نوشته شده و واقعیت تاریخی آن محل تشکیک است) به یک عالم مسلمان ایرانی میگوید: >>>

Democratic culture

Finding itself in a new environment, the women’s movement had to look for new tactics and strategies compatible to the narrow avenues available within a theocratic system. Under such circumstances, the movement found success galvanizing support around grievances affecting a broad array of the female population—not simply single constituency issues. Given that women comprise nearly half of the Iranian population, relying on group identity and grievances offered a smart approach to building solidarity and mobilization. Issues such as custody for children, the right to divorce, legal equality, and opposition to violence against women were as important to secular, educated middle-class women as to poor, conservative, and working women.>>>

Supermodel terrorist

The US’s recent mega-sale of arms to Saudi Arabia seems to have made the whispers of bombing Iran grow louder, but so have Iranian-Americans in their pursuance of the “American Dream”. Realizing the trance of opportunity and freedom that brought them to the US in the first place, Iranian-Americans are arriving on a multitude of industries with great amplitude. Kayvon Zand, a surging model, musician, and promising supplementary to the eruption of current young Iranian-American artists making a name in their niche, is a witty superstar in the making. With his bewitching lucent-azure eyes and original style, Kayvon should be on everyone’s watch list.>>>

Chef groupie

On occasion, I’m sometimes asked by certain Chefs or my industry peers to review a restaurant, or act as a Mystery Customer and review a restaurant for it’s food and service etc. Try and visualise a hot-tempered Chef asking you to go ‘undercover’ to review his own food! Surely it’s a contradiction in terms, but foolishly, I seem to always accept! I find the challenge lies in phrasing the review carefully, so not to infuriate the Chef, but get my point across. (I feel another skill listing coming on for my Resume... “Shabnam the Diplomat”) And I didn’t even have to study politics to get it!>>>

Javoonaa

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