Archive - 2008

The Little Prince

Once upon a time, there was a King of a Land. Actually he wasn't really a King. Years before he became King, his father, a stern and defiant Colonel in the calvary of the mighty army of the Land, upon losing a terrible battle to an evil kingdom to the north, decided that the embarrassing loss was the result and fault of the old King who had become fat and corrupt and greedy. The angry Colonel decided he had to save the Land. So he overthrew the Old King, and proclaimed himself the New King. That is how his son became the King. Deep in his heart though, the young King had never really wanted to be King. He secretly wanted to be a graceful dancer. But when you are the son of a stern and angry Colonel with little patience for such silly surprises, you can't really tell your Father>>>

Open Letter to Reza Pahlavi

"The intent of this letter is not to remind you of history but to respectfully examine your place in it." >>>

چگونه

چگونه چگونه چگونه...>>>

What the hell happened?!

What the hell happened these past 4-5 years to get us into this mess we are in? Ha?  Just like the people in Iran, we have become so apathetic>>>

Once there was a legend…

My sixteen-year-old cousin Shawn has no notion or understanding of his father’s culture. Born to an American mother and Iranian father, Shawn is an all-American boy with an all-American girlfriend and an all-American lifestyle. Shawn is his high school’s star quarterback, plays a mean guitar, he is the Capitan of the debate team, listens to rap, shaves his head and wears baggy pants. He gets good grades and collage football recruiters are falling all over each other to get their hands on him. Shawn does not speak a word of Parsi. Like many American teenagers born to an Iranian parent, Shawn has no interest in his father’s background. Shawn shies away from anything that might link him to his Middle Eastern roots>>>

VOA Interview of Parastou Forouhar on Anniversary of her Parents Murder

VOA ROO DAR ROO Program interviews Parastou Forouhar Daughter of Slained members of the Iranian National Front: Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar.  >>>

The lessons of the Fedayeen

First of all, one has to remember that it is easy to criticise all of this in retrospect, just as it is easy to underestimate the repression of the shah and the islamic republic. The influence that the Fedayeen had in the birth of the new left and on the Iranian revolution is historic and cannot be taken away, though a very heavy price was paid for it. But there were many mistakes - militarism, Stalinism, centralism, the culture of the heroic guerilla and the professional revolutionary. As the organisation disintegrated, not surprisingly heroes suddenly became villains in the eyes of many supporters. A lesson that I personally learnt is that without debate, without democracy, without the ability to discuss every aspect of theory, your organisation will end up as a sect rather than a serious force capable of leading a revolution>>>

pictory: Bebin TV (History For Dummies) Iran Iraq War

Excellent Summary by Bebin TV on the history of the bloody 8 year long conflict that opposed Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Ayatollah Khomeiny's Iran. >>>