Archive - Aug 2008 - Article

Uncovering a cover up

Iranian film director Khosrow Sinai has been awarded the prestigious “Knights Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic”. At a ceremony earlier this year in the Polish capital, the country’s president Lech Kaczynski bestowed the honour on the Iranian filmmaker in recognition of his services to the Polish Nation, and in particular for his documentary “The Lost Requiem”, made in 1982. Also honoured were five Iranian citizens of Polish descent, survivors of the “Polish Exodus” living in Iran>>>

From Bad to Worse and Beyond…

Discriminatory family law in Iran is on the brink of taking a few steps back! The “Family Protection Bill” passed swiftly and quietly during the first round of discussions of the legal and judicial commission of the Iranian parliament in July 2008, almost one year after it was drafted. Opposition to this bill has solidified one of the largest coalitions formed to protest a bill in recent years. An inclusive and strikingly diverse group of women activists, feminists, human rights defenders, as well as secular and religious groups (including some conservative women’s groups) are opposing this bill and demanding that the government take action to prevent it from passing through parliament for a final vote>>>

گمانه زنی دربارهء شکل رژيم آينده

هيچ کدام از اردوگاه های سه گانهء اپوزيسيون سياسی ما ـ برای رسيدن به مواضع خاصشان در مورد «شکل رژيم» ـ ساختار ديد خود را بر بنياد ارائهء احتجاجات منطقی و علمی نگذاشته و به نتايج به روز نشدهء تجربه های عملی گذشته اجازه داده اند که کاملاً در روند شکل گيری مواضع سياسی آنها نفوذ و دخالت قاطع داشته باشند؛ تا آن حد که ـ مثلاً ـ يک جمهوری خواه کافی می بيند تا کسی را که چند و چون موضع گيری جمهوری خواهان را مورد پرسش قرار می دهد تنها با زدن برچسب «سلطنت طلب» مشخص و افشا و رسوا کند. و پادشاهی خواهان هم در بکار بردن اين تاکتيک ظاهراً سياسی و در باطن تخريبی و فرصت کش، دست کمی از حريفان خود ندارند و هرکس که گوشه ای از نظام شاهی را مورد پرسش قرار دهد بلافاصله توده ای و نوکر روس و نمک خورده و دست پروردهء انگليس می شود. >>>

Diaries & Jallad

It was past three when K. woke up from his long nap in fright. A harsh wind was blowing a branch against the window. He felt thirsty, went to the kitchenette and poured himself a glass of milk and, after finishing it, proceeded to wash the small pile of dishes and glasses in the sink, whispered in his head, "a perfect execution, yek koshtan-e kamel?! He was thinking of a poem, shaar, he had been working on in his dream, not a word of which he could remember, and also thinking of the skeptical reaction of his affable friend Ibrahim should he ever dare to boast of a perfect poem, yek shaar-e kamel>>>

UN not USA

As long as Georgia was a part of the Soviet Union, all ethnic conflicts within the Soviet zone of "interests", were not international issues. Yet, the issue emerged à la une after the dissolution of the USSR, when first in 1995 the two regions -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- became involved in conflicts with local separatists supported by Moscow. The issue ended in a de facto independence of South Ossetia from Georgia. Yet, with a pro-US president in office, Georgia launched an assault earlier this month with artillery and rocket attacks on the separatists. Russia immediately reacted and showed the sharp claws of a polar bear>>>

Dizin and Other Memories

Skiing in Iran had a distinctly Persian feel to it. For one thing, the slopes were treeless, so there was no danger of colliding with any protruding stumps. More importantly, there were the people who were there: beautiful women parading around in the latest ski fashions from Europe with no intention of getting on the slopes; families laying out a picnic spread with lavash bread, feta cheese and herbs; and still others out to get their fill of skiing. I quickly took a couple of runs down the intermediate slopes to work out the kinks, then headed for the more advanced trails. The sun was blazing off the snow and I was working up a sweat each time I came down>>>

The Old Professor

This essay is a tribute to Professor John J. Glanville from the San Francisco State University philosophy department, whom I have known well since 1988 and with whom I closely studied Ancient and Medieval philosophy from 1991 to 1996. He was well advanced in age, his hair was entirely white, and he was still going strong when I knew him. But I have heard through a friend that he is now slowing down a bit and finally reducing his work load. I learned a lot from Professor Glanville. But he was not the only professor from whom I learned much or who left a deep impression on me. >>>

Don’t look at me left left

Any way, what follows is a number of some Farsi expressions that are not necessarily funny unless they are translated into English. You may have heard some of them before. This list, which is by no means exhaustive, is your punishment for warding off the good writers from this site. To tell you the truth, I was so bored during the last spring break and tired of persistent watching of the weather channel. Staying idle is so unbearable for energetic individuals like me. I thought doing this may not be that tragic, but it is less tragic that going to Florida and jumping into empty pool. That is what a couple of my drunken students did last year>>>

Tanks but no thanks

Recent events in Georgia show the new type of battle that is likely to rage for decades to come, between what is remained to challenge democracy in the world, beside terrorism, which in reality is not a serious challenge toward democracy, but just a historically never-ending struggle (in a gruesome way) of the humiliated against the powerful. Terrorism has always existed in various forms and shapes, which was very active also about a century ago, and was known as Anarchism. Today it is called Islamic extremism, and in the future there will be other types, more or less powerful. However, the most serious and credible challenge toward democracy comes from more powerful ideologies that are more able to attract crowds and resources>>>

Chance worth taking

It is quite understandable that Israel would be deeply disappointed by Turkey's decision to invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for an official visit this week. In Israel's view, such a visit will only further legitimize a leader who is reviled for his denial of the Holocaust and for his repeated existential threats to the state of Israel. The question, however, should not be how much legitimacy Mr. Ahmadinejad may garner from this visit, but whether Turkish officials could potentially engender something positive out of this foray that could benefit not only Turkey but the entire region including Israel>>>

Character A

I have always been fascinated by human relations and the way they work, how people’s feelings and expectations towards each other are formed and how we interpret people’s actions based on our pre-assumptions that although might be clear to us may not be the case for other people at all. I am sure you have many of those people around you who are always complaining. Not complaining about life (that is what we all do and apparently enjoy it very much because otherwise we would have stopped doing it long time ago) I mean complaining about other people’s attitudes, reactions, things we expected them to do and they didn’t, or things they did that we never expected from them>>>

The Scream (4)

There was no escape for the Screaming Man and Mona Lisa. Ruthlessly pursued by hordes of paparazzi, they desperately fled from one place to the other until they eventually had to stop. Lisa was about to give birth. Holed up at the Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco, the expecting couple clasped their fingers together and began to wait. Outside, the media was waiting too. It was a siege worthy of Troy. Instead of weapons, their enemies had cameras, microphones, and wire connections. The enigmatic Italian beauty’s belly was getting fuller by the minute. Her pains had gradually begun. Speculations abounded>>>

Genuine Energy Concerns

Tel Aviv - Due to its abundance of gas and oil resources, not many countries believe that Iran truly needs nuclear power for energy purposes. However, when one looks at the energy situation in Iran, it becomes evident that there is in fact a dire need. Iran's total electricity production capacity stands at 33,000 megawatts (MW). 75% is from natural gas, 18 percent from oil, and 7 percent from hydroelectric power. Meanwhile, due to the fast rate of industrialization and population growth, demand for electricity is growing at 8% a year>>>

Signs of life

The room went dark. She was still in there. It was the last incident. Unnoticeable and ordinary. Most of the similar incidents that had taken place before were as insignificant as this last one; the elevator didn’t move as she pressed the 26th floor button. The automatic doors didn’t open. The janitor, singing a song didn’t say hi to her as expected. And the night before, the driver of the black BMW didn’t see her crossing the road. The toddler at the grocery store threw a tantrum and bit her hand, but the mother never apologized. The vendor of the vacuum never tried to sell her the latest model. The phone didn’t ring in the morning. The colleagues didn’t tease her cheap sunglasses and fake Rolex. Her Boss ignored the note she sent him.>>>

Diaries & Jallad

I was bleeding, dying, living the nightmare of death stretching over me like a venomous, heavy fog, drawn deeper by every second into the dark, mercury well of nothingness. The soldier, the one who had just pulled the trigger, wanted to excel in the art of cruelty by not finishing me off immediately, just as he had Ali, whose wasted body lay next to me, both of us covered by a thin layer of snow. "Troublemaking little dogs, ha?" His words, before shooting us in cold blood, echoed in my head a thousand times. "Please, not him," I should have pleaded with my tormentor, if only my tongue had not frozen beneath my teetering teeth and a strange conviction of my immorality had not suddenly, out of nowhere, attacked my immense fears right then and there>>>