Archive - 2007 - Article

Rove story

It's official; by month's end, Karl Rove will be out of the White House. And it will be of his own accord, not indicted and, most importantly, without having to ask his admired boss, and close friend, for a presidential pardon. It's time for the maestro directing the Washington Busharmonic to lay down the baton; take a midlife break; rest a bit; write a book; and, who knows, maybe even finish those few credits he still requires to get a long-postponed Bachelor's in Political Science. Let someone else direct the funeral music still being composed at the White House: Bush's "Mess in B Minor.">>>

ممنوعيت انديشيدن به اصول

می خواهم بگويم که اکثريت قريب به اتفاق مسلمانان (و نيز پيروان ديگر اديان) صرفاً مصرف کنندهء کالاهای فروشگاه «مذهب» هستند و کاری به کار «دين» ندارند؛ چه رسد به اينکه بخواهند در صحت و سقم «اصول» آن تحقيق کنند. اصلاً کدام کس حوصله و وقتش را دارد که کار و زندگی را رها کند و دور دنيا راه بيافتد تا کسی را بيابد که بتواند اصول دين را برايش توضيح دهد و توجيه کند؟ >>>

داروهای خواب آور

دوست عزیز، نه جمهوری اسلامی برای من آن کودک تبدار است و نه امریکا هیولای بی شاخ و دم. امروز خطاست که چشم خود را به تقصیرات و قدرت‌طلبی‌های مسئله‌ساز جمهوری اسلامی در منطقه و جهان ببندیم و فقط با سیاست‌های منفعت‌طلبانه امریکا در خاورمیانه درگیر باشیم. جهان امروز دیگر جهان 20 سال گذشته نیست. قرن بیست و یکم می‌طلبد که ما انسان‌ها همراه با رشد سریع تکنولوژی و به‌هم پیوستگی جهانی، به مفهوم نوینی از سیاست، قدرت، دمکراسی و روابط کشورها با هم دست پیدا کنیم.، >>>

Mullahs and opiates

America and her quasi-backboned “allies” have a huge problem that grows by the day. Expectedly, there are as many analyses of our problem as there are “experts” to tell us what to think. A deluge of Western analysts have their diverse expert opinions regarding the “Mullah Problem” and what do about it. Some strategists advocate a military solution that ranges from full invasion of Iran to selective bombardment of its burgeoning nuclear centers and related facilities. Others are proponents of imposing economic sanctions of various types and severity. Still others feel that we simply have to learn to live with the inevitable—those “crazy” Mullahs with the bomb.>>>

Dr. Baadazin

I am going to call him Dr. Baadazin. Even his email address says drbaaddazin@yahoo.com. When you ask him what kind of doctor he is he gets angry. He says once a lady whom he met online insisted to find out what his field of study is and he hung up on her. Well, I guess it is not something that makes or breaks a relationship, I agree. But it is tittering on the brink of false pretence. He says he is one of the five people in the world with this medical specialty so in all modesty he doesn’t want to “give himself away”. Vali khoda Google ro az ma nagireh. It acts like an instant lie detector

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The right to be rude

You know, my favorite medium of communication has never been the English language. I much prefer to express myself in Farsi whenever I feel the urge to submit my thoughts or emotions to paper. This time, however, I chose to write in English because the article – if it could be called an article – that provoked this piece of writing was written in English. Though one may say that pleas against attempts to curb freedom of expression are legitimate regardless of the source of the plea, one would be entirely taken aback if such pleas came from, say, Chief Justice Ayatollah Shahroody of the Islamic Republic.>>>

The right mix

The story itself is a marathon runner, for the most part it’s slow, preserving energy for later, every now and again it bursts out to gain speed and then it slows down and then towards the end, it goes full out but still for the most part, the runner is slow. If you didn’t get that metaphor, then here’s the translation: Basically, the story is slow, with outburst of action every now and again and then a climatic ending. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because Rowling wanted to stretch it out because she didn’t want it to end, or maybe it was for extra suspense but it simply went on for way too long. There were points in the middle and a 1/3 of the way in where I really just wanted to put the book down as it was boring me to sleep. There were moments where the action spiked up and those were quite invigorating at the time in contrast to the dull block of text.>>>

LET ME...know you azizam

Conquering Kamran was my all consuming desire. He asked whether I had a YAHOO id and soon we were sending IMs for eight hours or more at a time. We discussed life and the difficulties we had been through in life in general but also in our love lives. He also spoke about his upcoming book and how I would love the stories. It felt wonderful for a man to understand what I was talking about and it was easy to connect with him because we had both felt intense thoughts and emotions throughout our lives. This went on for so many hours and soon afterward he called me simply to hear my voice. He said, “I need to hear that sexy voice.” I responded, “How could you possibly know my voice was sexy.” He said, “Because I get so excited every time you IM me.” I was shocked and turned on.

 

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A piece of woman's clothing

... suddenly among the remaining things
A piece of a woman's clothing touches my hand
It is pale pink
Its front is made of net
And one delicate band
Connects the front to the back
I rub my fingers on this fig leaf
To extract all of its sweet juice >>>

یک تکه رخت زنانه

و ... ناگهان در میان تکه های به جا مانده
دستم به تکه رخت زنانه ای می خورد
که رنگی صورتی دارد
پته ی رویی اش توری است
و بندی نازک آن را
به پته ی پشتی پیوند می دهد
انگشت هایم را به نرمی روی این برگ انجیر می سایم
و می خواهم تمام شیره ی شیرین آن را بیرون بکشم
(English) >>>

Ode to mid-summer

Waking to the sound of cicadas
Wrapped in the sweaty tulle of mid-summer
Every movement lingers: becomes sensual
The mind in a haze refuses to think: goes on strike >>>

The flux

What is happiness?
It is something
I hardly notice
Even when I am
Completely at ease >>>

Ahead

Our dark mahogany radio
like Karen Carpenter's,
often sang sad songs
in a foreign tongue.
>>>

غروب آبیدر

در دورانی که دانشجو بودم و به لطف معلم همشهری ام با او آشنا شدم. اوایل بهار 1377 بود . انسانی را دیدم شیک پوش و مودب و انگیزه دار.... جدای از مساله ایدئولوژی و تفکر سیاسی اش که شاید با ان سخت مخالف بودم و غوغای جوانی در سرم بود و او هم تبسمی می کرد که انگار می دانست روزی این باد و همهه و نشاط و ساده باوری و زود خیزی فرو خواهد نشست و بنا به تجربه اش اجازه کسب آزمون و خطا به من داد تا خود هم بسنجم . اما آن روز معنی آن حرف را نمی دانستم !>>>

Caught up in the mortgage mess

Lately, one cannot log on to the internet, turn on the television or open up the newspaper (people still read newspapers, don't they?) without being inundated with some kind of news, invariably bad, concerning the housing market, mortgage defaults and so on. It also seems that while the news entities focus on all of the losses, cable TV channels like TLC and Bravo are showing investors and speculators making healthy profits in less time than it takes to solve the latest crime on the newest CBS spinoff, CSI: Rasht. >>>