Archive - Sep 20, 2008 - Article

Shall we dance?

Born in Tehran in 1930 into a mixed family of a Tartar mother and an Azerbayjani father, Haideh Ahmadzadeh started dancing at the age of seven in a country that was struggling to keep up with modern times. Dancing for girls was not an accepted or desirable occupation. Her love of dance made her overcome many obstacles and with the approval and backing of her mother and later her husband Nejad, she got to the top of her profession. With a great deal of hard work, discipline and drive, Haideh and Nejad founded a Ballet Academy, Iranian National Ballet Company and Iranian Folk Dance, Music and Song Group. They performed regularly for State guests at home and abroad, their travels wrought with a great deal of incident and adventure>>>

in the event of a war

While the possibility of a war against Iran seems to ebb and flow from day to day, the actual war itself may entail internment of the Iranians in the west, especially in Britain and the US. As painful as the thought may be, let us review the historical perspective on this issue. Ronald Reagan was the first American president who at last acknowledged the injustice and tragedy inflicted upon the Japanese-Americans during WWII. As we know the Japanese, some of whom were second or third generation Americans, were swiftly interned and their possessions confiscated never to be returned to them>>>

ما سکولار هستيم

پذيرش سکولاريسم موجب می شود که ـ چه يک شخص و چه يک گروه يا حزب سياسی ـ بر چهارچوبی تکيه زند که از ايجابات سکولاريسم ساخته شده باشد. مثلاً، چگونه يک انسان سکولار می تواند، در راستای مبارزه با يک حاکميت ضد سکولار، با يک فرد موافق حکومت مذهبی، و نيز يک فرد مخالف سکولاريسم، ائتلاف و همکاری کند؟ عقل عملی به ما می گويد که چنين ائتلافی يا نتيجهء سستی مبانی سکولاريسم در نزد شخص مدعی سکولار بودن است و يا حاصل بی خبری او از تضاد مبارزه با دشمن، در کنار دوستان آن دشمن؛ و يا آن را بايد صرفاً نوعی پيروی بی محتوا از مد روز تلقی کرد.>>>

شارلاتانیزم

بار دیگر خداوند , به عنوان حامی حزب جمهوریخواه امریکا, در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری امریکا ایفای نقش می کند. واین بار در هیبت الهام بخش , راهنما و راه گشای بانوی زیبایی که ادعا می کند با ایشان , یعنی با خدا رابطه دارد , بانویی که جنگ را خواست خدا , و قوانین غیردموکراتیک را رحمت الهی می پندارد. سناتور جان مک کین کاندید ریاست جمهوری حزب جمهوری خواه امریکا - که بطور مستقیم در کشتار غیر نظامیان بی پناه و بی گناه ویتنام شرکت داشت - با انتخاب این بانو نشان داد که برای کسب آرای بیشتر و در راه کسب قدرت سیاسی , به راحتی برای آن تک و توک شعار و ژست دموکراتیک اش فاتحه خواهد خواند . >>>

Diaries & Jallad

K. was thinking about Wednesdays, caught in the middle with little or no respite, nearly always a working day, without any one questioning why weekends should always get the big breaks, then wondered if the predicament of Tuesdays or Thursdays was any better and answered yes, since Tuesdays were like Mondays fresh with work spirit and Thursdays bound up with the excitement of weekends breathing at their neck, and yet, the moment he remembered Jalil’s voice informing him recently that as of late Thursdays were being treated in government offices as an extension of Fridays, i.e., a longer weekend, he quickly shelved any comparison of poor lonely Wednesdays and Thursdays. It was past 7 pm and he was sitting across the table from Dr. Assadi at his small office on the second floor overlooking the yard where a trickle of patients were still milling about.>>>