Archive - Feb 27, 2008 - Article

The Fusion Confusion

Ever since I can remember, I always had a taste for the bizarre. Food combinations that pregnant women wouldn’t dare crave. In order to satisfy my bizarre craving, I always need something savoury with a hint of sweet. I start each morning with 2 slices of granary toast, one with Marmite (You either love it or you hate it!) and the other slice with honey. Ultra-sweet honey and uber-salty Marmite, an equal presence of sweet and savoury. Although I don’t have a sweet tooth, I do crave food combinations that contain both sweet and savoury in order to satisfy my cravings. For instance, I think red meat just begs for some kind of acidity to cut through it’s intense meaty flavour. Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome the guest star for this meal… fruit!>>>

Wholesale attack

My predicament: which one of the numerous half-truths and falsehoods packed in the brief speech should I address? Should I remind the audience that Coptic Christians of Egypt practice honor killing just as their Muslim neighbors? Would I have to reiterate the fact that genital mutilation predates both Islam and Christianity and, while not sanctioned by either religion, persists as a vestige of the earlier animistic practices? Would it be better to state that the nemesis of civility, tolerance and human rights is not religion as such, but the "illusion" of a literal reading of the scriptures that creates dangerous fundamentalists in every religion, with lurid dreams and plans of fiery holocausts to usher in the end of the world? >>>

Running out of time

When talking about torture and whether the practice could be morally justified the most common scenario that is offered is the example of the “ticking time bomb.” As the example goes, a number of bombs have been planted in a few populous areas. The authorities have the bomber in custody. They are certain about the facts that the bombs have been planted, the person in custody knows where the locations are, they have limited time before the bombs go off, and there is no possible way to find the locations of the bombs other than torturing him. The question now is whether in such circumstances, where the lives of thousands or (in the case of nuclear bombs) millions of people are in immanent danger torture could be a morally justified method for stopping this catastrophe?>>>

V for Voice

My unselfish and greater wish is to represent the voice of our repressed Iranian people, of the women of Iran who endure human rights abuses that should not even be occuring in this day and age... I would love to use our current production of "The Vagina Monologues" as a springboard for both a show in solidarity with women's and children's rights from you, my community, and as a compassionate vehicle of greater involvement of our Iranian community within the American community at large. This is a fabulous video where Jane Fonda and Eve Ensler, the playwright and women's rights activist extraordinaire, passionately and so eloquently explain our cause >>>