Archive - Oct 2008 - Article

Lily's Magnolia

Lily Flower had never worked in her life. She was the last member of Flower family, well-known in Hustonville, Tennessee. At ten, her parents called her their little genius. She could sing the most difficult tunes and play the most complex songs on piano. At sixteen she dreamed of being a famous actress. But her parents died in a car accident and she inherited their fortune at twenty-four. Once the time of her grieving was over, she sold everything, left her hometown and moved to New York. She lived in a luxury house at Soho for the first six years, but the day she realized nobody had ever recognized her talents - excepted for her parents- she moved to this apartment building. Santa Fe Apartments, 43210 Stone Ave. “No pet allowed”. The concierge told her on the first day she moved in. But she didn’t care. Young and hopeful, “I’m going to get married,” she had thought. “Who needs a pet?”>>>

I slip through the mirror

I’m astonished at this garden

Kissing

             The hand of autumn!

I’m astonished at this perfume

Sparkling itself

                          onto corpses >>>

Bipartisan militarism

So here we have, yet again, our glorious Foreign Policy Community threatening another country -- one which hasn't attacked us and can't attack us -- with war, threatening to bomb them with "devastating strikes" that "would probably last up to several weeks and would require vigilance for years to come." And they want the next President, beginning this January, to "build up military assets in the region" in order to threaten and prepare for those attacks. It's just objectively true that there is no country in the world -- anywhere -- that threatens to attack and bomb other countries as routinely and blithely as the U.S. does. What rational leader wouldn't want to obtain nuclear weapons in a world where the "superpower" is run by people like Dan Coates and Chuck Robb who threaten to attack and bomb whatever countries they want?>>>

How do men feel?

I got in the back seat of the Taxi. There was a young man who got on before me. He was talking loudly on the phone….”Yes dear Hamid. These medications have affected my hearing and eyes. Sounds are louder and everything is brighter. Note all the changes I tell you. Take care and good bye.” After a while a girl got into the Taxi and sat on my other side and we drove off. I immediately took out two notepads from my bag and gave it to both of the passengers. The girl thanked me and started reading it. The young man also shook his head in appreciation. A little later he asked: ”Oh, are you the same one million signatures campaign?” I got excited that once again I had met someone who was familiar with the campaign>>>

The Newlyweds (9)

Khaleh Joon, I hope you haven’t been worried if your phone calls have remained unanswered for the past few days. Shahab and I were gone for a short vacation. I know this will come as a surprise to you after how low I have been feeling ever since our big fight. I was even more surprised than you must be at the way things turned out. About ten days ago, I came out of the shower to see the table set with candles and flower, the lights dimmed, some nice Persian music playing on the radio, and the smell of something yummy coming from the kitchen. I was in awe and did not know how to react. Shahab finally came out of the kitchen, came towards me and took my hand, which he kissed tenderly. He led me towards the table and pulled the chair out for me>>>

برابری خواهی

به نظر من، در درون فرهنگ ايرانی ما، بهترين، مهمترين و مؤثرترين نقطه ی شروع استناد کردن به تنها سند رسمی و معتبر ملی ما است که می تواند همچون ميثاقی انسانی ما را به راه مستقيم پيشرفت برساند. و اين همان سندی است که با نام «منشور کورش بزرگ» در جهان شناخته می شود. اين منشور، علاوه بر دارا بودن همه ی مفاهيمی که در ارتباط با مسايل حقوق بشر جهانی قرار دارند (هرچند در اشکال ابتدايي اين حقوق)، واجد اين بالقوگی هم هست که می تواند، در متن فرهنگ ملی ما، کارساز مشکل و مسئله ی زن در جامعه ای سنت زده امروز باشد، و همچون پايه و مايه ای برای بازسازی قوانين آينده ی مربوط به حقوق انسان ها و حقوق زنان ما بکار گرفته شود.>>>

خطرناک برای کی؟

اخيراً، هربار که مطلبی در مورد «نوانديشان دينی» (يا به قول آقای دکتر سروش، «روشنفکران دينی»)، و مخالفت مستمر آنان با «سکولاريسم» می نويسم، با اين پرسش گروهی از خوانندگانم مواجه می شوم که چرا، در عين نشان دادن موارد اين مخالفت، توضيح نمی دهيد که چگونه است که اين آقايان، برای آسان تر شدن کار نوانديشی شان، هيچ کدام کمر همت به بيان دلايل ابطال حکومت اسلامی و ولايت فقيه نمی بندند، و هرگاه که به اين مطلب می رسند بلافاصله رو بر می گردانند و از ورود به دايرهء اينگونه بحث ها خودداری می کنند. چرا اين انديشمندان، مرتباٌ، با سر و هم کردن استدلال هائی سخت ضعيف، سکولاريسم را نفی می کنند؟ مگر سکولاريسم حرفی خلاف عقايد آنان می زند؟ مگر باور مذهبی را نفی می کند؟ مگر کاری به کار اهل مذهب دارد؟>>>

The Grand Bargain

In a recent policy paper by the New American Foundation (among whose board members sits Francis 'End of History' Fukuyama), it is argued that the next U.S. administration must engage Iran with a 'grand bargain', which addresses both Iran and the U.S.'s strategic concerns. The paper argues that the piecemeal approach the U.S. has taken towards Iran has clearly failed to change the behavior of the regime in Iran, and a détente is not a desirable option. The only stable and strategically appropriate path to take is a full rapprochement. The policy paper is very frank in its approach, as imperialists usually are among themselves. It argues that Iran is strategically too important to be alienated, and argues that in the absence of a full rapprochement, Iran's leaders will have no choice but to flea to the Russian and the Chinese spheres of influence>>>

The Newlyweds (8)

Payam jan, To say that I am disappointed in you is an understatement. However, it is the most accurate interpretation of what I am feeling right now. After reading your email, I was really angry. Fuming. The initial email I wrote you was full of that rage. I am glad I cancelled it and I waited til I cooled down before writing to you again. However, the hurt is still there. After being unfairly accused by my wife, it really stung for you to point your finger at me too. Yes, I know I am far from the perfect husband. I am the first one who will call myself a failure. I have told you so many times. It was you and Maman Joon who always kept insisting I was this wonderful person who just hadn’t explored his full potential yet. Baba usually would hide his face behind a newspaper during one of those motivational sessions. How right he was>>>

گام بعدی

این مجموعه برای خرد کردن اعصاب خانم ها در قرن بیست و یکم تهیه نشده است بلکه در ابتدا نگاهی داریم به تاریخ حرمسراداری در ایران و سپس با هشیاری کامل از این که قرار نیست نه فیلم هنری ببینیم و نه فیلمی از وضعیت فعلی ایران، به تماشای فیلم مستند "چهار همسر و یک شوهر" که بر اساس زندگی یک روستایی چهار زنه تهیه شده است می نشینیم. فیلم به درد تحقیقات مردم شناسی و انسان شناسی و دیدن در جمع های کوچک تخصصی می خورد و معلوم نیست چرا بانوی فیلمساز متعهدی از سوئد راه افتاده است و در روستایی گمنام یک مرد چهار زنه پیدا کرده است و از زندگی چهارزنه ی او فیلم مستندی تهیه کرده است؟ آیا این فیلم سندی از زندگی زن ایرانی است؟ آیا آن مرد روستایی چهارزنه، نماد همه ی مردان ایرانی است؟ آیا زندگی همه ی ایرانیان به این گونه است؟>>>

Real Me

I was kidnapped from the maternity ward of a hospital after birth. When this appalling incident happened, to avoid a scandal, the hospital authorities took the baby in the next crib whose parents were missing and gave him to my parents. I am someone else. Who I really am, I don’t know. I could have been a normal baby growing up in a normal family and turned into a normal adult but my life didn’t happen this way. Just to add a little more flavor to my life, my parents once admitted that I was conceived because of a defective condom. I learned this horrifying truth when I was a kid. Sometimes I hope the real me never finds out who he really is. Obviously, he has more skeletons to discover than I do>>>

Like a Poem

Seeing you is reading a love poem
I am the lilies that in your hair reside
On the walls of your church
I am the image of Christ crucified
I am a book on your bookshelves
A whippoorwill on your shoulder
I am anklets around your calves >>>

Persian Love

Music video>>>

Rumi in tears

Under the pretext of celebrating Rumi, the 13th century Persian mystic, poet and philosopher, the Hollywood Bowl presented a showcase of Islamic fundamentalism on Sunday, September 27th. The event attracted a huge crowd (15,644 officially attended) made up mainly of Iranians who have emigrated to Southern California since the Islamic Revolution swept Iran in 1979. Initially, they were proud and excited that the Hollywood Bowl was paying attention to their culture. They thought that perhaps the grandeur of the Bowl, together with a grand budget and grand vision has yielded a grand tribute to the beauties of their culture. But, by the end of the night, many of them, if not most, found themselves disappointed after being trapped for almost four hours, and forced to witness the less grand aspects of that same culture>>>

A New Paradigm

In upcoming US elections, two Iranian-Americans are vying for two San Francisco supervisor seats. And it's not for the same seat! The incumbent from District 5 is Ross Mirkarimi, a Green party progressive who is fast becoming a political force in the city, and the country. Ahsha Safai is the Democratic party newbie, running his first campaign in what appears to be a solid bid for supervisor of the District 11 spot. Ahsha is no newcomer to politics however, I have been keeping tabs on this young turk's (metaphorically speaking) career, when he first burst onto the scene as one of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's key campaign field directors, before that a stint in the 2nd term of the Clinton White House, before that, priceless internships in the government of Massachusetts, all while attending MIT. Those of us who know him, feel that it wasn't a matter of if, for Ahsha, but more a matter of, what's taking him so long?>>>