HOOPLA

Is the Sky Falling?

So, exactly what's NEW in latest talk about imminent attack against Iran?

by Eleanor Ommani
02-Jul-2008 (7 comments)
Spare us the pain of yet another repetition of the “Chicken Little, the sky is falling” syndrome, as journalist Seymour Hersh so accurately stated about his own writings on Iran... It seems one of the motives in writing this latest ‘expose’ of the Bush Administration’s well-financed covert operations against Iran was best illuminated in Hersh’s discussion and retelling of the Pentagon’s version of the Iranian patrol boat incident back in January 2008. “Weariness with the war in Iraq has undoubtedly affected the public’s tolerance for an attack on Iran, but this mood could change quickly”, writes the investigative journalist, citing the Iranian patrol boat incident as a clear example of the “potential for escalation”. >>>

TRUE

A Canadian tale

Something took pity on my whimpers of despair

by jamh
02-Jul-2008
It started on another blue summer day in Lake Cowichan. We were kayaking in the river. The water was warm and transparent. Dina stopped at a small sandy beach to go for a dip. I kept diving in as deep as I could, or at least as much as the pressure in my ears would allow. The sun was illuminating the depths in shafts of light simmering with clarity. I picked up two bottle caps from the bottom and Dina was laughing. "You're always finding things!". On the last dive I saw something sparkle. When I reached it I was almost out of breath but I could see that it was a watch. East European, was the thought that entered my mind when I was looking at it on the beach. >>>

WOMEN

The place to be

Discussing essential needs of Iranian women today

by Ari Siletz
02-Jul-2008 (8 comments)

“Dad, would you rather I were a boy?” The first time my daughter asked me that she was in her teens, arguing for easier curfews and a more liberal attitude towards boyfriends. What she was really asking was, “Why is my worth as a human being disproportionately tied up in my chastity?” As I browse the program for the 19th international conference of the Iranian Women’s Studies Foundation, I see that some of the lectures and panels pose same question from different angles. For example, Sharareh Shahrokhi’s lecture topic will be, "The right to choose what to wear: an essential need for an Iranian woman or a superfluous one?"

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POETRY

Amor Perdido
by Cameron A. Batmanghlich
02-Jul-2008 (6 comments)
In a heartbeat
In a smile
In a kiss on the cheek
In a look filled with passion but disguised in friendship
Love was lost
In waiting for a train on a platform
In the loud sound of speakers announcing your departure >>>