Archive - Nov 17, 2008 - Article

The Rise of Apocalyptic Islam

Ahmadinezhad is responsible for much of the rise in the apocalyptic trend's popularity and visibility in Iran. Prior to his election, Iranians knew very little of Ahmadinezhad's religious mindset, and he never mentioned Mahdism during his campaign. After taking office, however, he began supporting institutes working with the apocalyptic ideology and included prayers for the return of the Hidden Imam at the beginning of every speech. Still, Ahmadinezhad's apocalypticism is a greater threat to the religious establishment of Iran than to the West or Israel. The apocalypticism of Ahmadinezhad and his close circle is distinct from the narratives of traditional religious authority. Ahmadinezhad's primary influence is Ahmad Fardid, an Iranian philosopher who attempted to reconcile Islamic concepts with Martin Heidegger's philosophy>>>

Yes, we can too!

Roya tucks in her hair further under her head scarf as she moves to make room for the two new passengers on the back seat of the taxi. As they drive through the crowded streets of Vali Asr, the southern Tehrani taxi driver starts his speech of daily complaints. The passengers join in complaining about the traffic, the government, the price of food, the electricity fall-out, the ruthless ‘gashte ershad’(1) , everything. The taxi driver sighs, “we were stupid to start the revolution, things were so much better when the Shah (2) was still in power. Khoda rahmatesh kone!” (3) He hadn’t finished his words when one of the passengers yelled out “Eh!” She pointed to a poster taped on a street sign. It was a picture of the late Shah’s son, the Prince in exile, Reza Pahlavi. Roya couldn’t believe it. As they drove by her eyes followed the poster. All the passengers were suddenly mute.>>>

Angels and devils and spoonfuls, oh my!

Lately I have worked on a lot of events that have involved finger food or canapés and it has made me think about different ideas and combinations that are not only simple, but taste great… especially for the coming holiday season. Canapés are incredibly common in Europe, although I think when a food item is so tiny, it really is ridiculous if the preparation involved is time consuming and tedious. All that trouble for a single morsel of food? Forget it. Normal people like you and I, not only don’t have the time, but lack the patience required to produce something that will only get greedily chomped down without even the slightest thought given to the work involved in its creation! “Boooooo!” I say! Down with laborious, painstaking, fussy finger food and instead up with simple but delectable mini mouthfuls of pure heaven!>>>

The Newlyweds (17)

Dear Brother: I left you last with hope and happiness that I could go on with my life both making my wife and family happy and at the same time fulfilling the emotional emptiness that has plagued me through my friendship with Kati. Well, I have now woken up from that dream. It didn’t take much. Just some good old-fashioned jealousy. The gut-wrenching, night sweaty kind. We were out one night to some cheesy little nightclub in Richmond Hill with Nassim, her ubiquitous pal Mitra, Sam and his girlfriend Lissa, and Mitra’s date, none other than DOCTOR KEYVAN. You remember what a joke that guy is? Well, Mitra was hanging on to him like he was the most precious treasure. That girl is so desperate to get married, to someone, anyone, it is hilarious. I was getting ready for another night of boredom when to my shock, Kati showed up>>>

اصلاحات، مصلحت، ضرورت

مدت هاست که چون به عالم سياست ايران می نگرم می بينم اکثريت بزرگی از نيروهای متفکر سياسی ما خود را «اصلاح طلب» می دانند ـ به اين معنی که از «انقلاب» برای ايجاد تغييرات اجتماعی در ايران می پرهيزند و در جستجوی راه حل هائی هستند که «مدنی» (هم خانواده با «تمدن») خوانده می شوند. اما دقيق تر که می نگرم می بينم که شايد در جمع کثير اصلاح طلبان ايرانی اختلاف های ناظر بر ديدگاه و هدف بيش از آنی است که بتوان بی ذکر کردن نام گروه مورد نظر خود دربارهء اصلاح طلبی آن گروه سخنی گفت. در نتيجه اين پرسش سمج رهايم نمی کند که: «چگونه می توان طيف گستردۀ اصلاح طلبان را از لحاظ ديدگاه و هدف تقسيم بندی و اجزاء حاصل از آن را نام گذاری و تعريف کرد؟» يا، براستی، «اصلاح طلبان ايرانی چند گونه "هدف" را تعقيب نموده و می خواهند سيستم حاکم بر ايران را برای رسيدن به کدام مقصدی "اصلاح" کنند؟»>>>