Archive - Sep 2008 - Article

Welcome to London! Just kidding.

A few weeks ago I returned from close to four months of fieldwork in Iran conducting research for my doctoral thesis. However, I and the 460 other IranAir passengers were caught off guard by an unwelcome greeting from UK immigration officers. As we set foot off the airplane, our passports were checked, an experience I have never had flying in from other countries. Having just spent hours in Imam Khomeini airport, I was witness to the thorough and professional examination of passports and Visas; thus, I could not understand the logic behind this act except harassment of those who decide to fly with IranAir. >>>

حرکت بیباکانۀ پوتین

آیا روسیه ، با یک ارتش دو میلیونی ، تکنولوژیِ پیشرفته نظامی-فضائی و هزاران بمب اتمی قصد دارد گرجستان را ببلعد؟ آیا پوتین همانند استالین ، می خواهد گرجستان را زیر چکمه هایش خُرد کرده و به بقیۀ جمهوری های جداشده از اتحاد جماهیر شوروی ، پیامی بفرستد؟ آیا پوتین از اینکه آمریکا از یک طرف گرفتار جنگِ عراق و افغانستان و از طرف دیگر در یک بحران شدید اقتصادی دست و پا میزند ، فرصت را برای اعمال نفوذ مناسب یافته است؟ با اتکا به تفسیر متخصصین آمریکائیِ جمهوری های جدا شده از روسیه شوروی ، علت اصلی درگیری آمریکا و روسیه در گرجستان ، انرژی (نفت و گاز) کشورهای همجوار دریای خزر می باشد و در این رودر روئی ، پوتین موفق شده که بوش را مات کند. >>>

No hero

The Republican presidential candidate John Sidney McCain III is a con man. The term “con man” comes from “confidence man,” an individual who swindles his victim by first gaining the mark’s trust. Having nothing to do with the word convict, a prisoner, nowadays, the term “con man” refers to anyone who is all about deceit and lies, it is about passing fiction for reality, or inventing a myth to bolster one’s image. John McCain is a “con man” extraordinaire: his Vietnam War legacy as accepted by supporters, the media and even his sheepish opponents is not what it seems. McCain fancies himself as war hero. His supporters do not waste any moment to remind the public that he was an ex-POW (prisoner of war), who spent time at the “Hanoi Hilton,” the infamous Hoa Lo Prison, where the North Vietnamese held the American prisoners of war>>>

Smart choice

McCain's choice for VP was a very smart move. This presidential campaign will be something to remember and something quite interesting for future political advisors and analysts to ponder about. What Mr McCain did was to borrow almost everything Mr Obama was successful with, without giving up any of what he already had. McCain was known for a few things, whether true or not! He was, and is, quite an old man, a white Christian, which bodes well with most Americans (who are also white Christians), a known maverick among the Republicans and somebody who has some strong principles (sometimes more conservative, other times more liberal), and he usually acts according to those principles. He didn't have Obama's youth, and Obama's slogan of change, and these two went together>>>

چند خط

این روز‌ها از صدقه سر یکی‌ از این پایگاه‌های اینترنتی، کانال های تلویزیونی داخل ایران را تماشا می‌کنم. هر شب یک چند دقیقه‌ای از این کانال به آن کانال میروم تا ببینم چه به خورد این ملت بد بخت میدهند. برنامه‌ها که البته اکثرا همه مزخرف و بی‌ محتوا هستند ولی‌ نکته‌ای که جلب توجه می‌کند کثرت تعداد گویندگان و مجریان ترک در صدا و سیمای جمهوری اسلامی است. بعضی‌ که بطور کلی لهجه دارند و دیگران که لهجه را به قول خارجی‌‌ها "ماسک" کرده اند،شکل و شمایلشان داد میزند که از خطه اذربایجان به تهران آمده اند. وقتی‌ هم که گزارشگران برای تهیه گزارش به میان مردم تهران میروند، که دیگر واویلا، انگار از قلب تبریز گزارش میکنند. البته اشکالی ندارد. یعنی‌ بنده سگ که باشم که بخواهم اشکال بتراشم.>>>

Viva Viagra

We are the nation of forward lookers. Often we wish things happen before their time. We sell Sunday news paper on Saturday. We wish our colleagues and coworkers a nice weekend at the middle of the week. We sell next year’s models of automobiles few months before the end of this year and books that are released this year are copyrighted for next year. What if we sell wine before its time? Wouldn’t that be something else with poor quality and bitter taste? What if a child is born today and his birth date is moved a few months ahead. Does that make him younger or that is plainly weird? We may even invent a solution for imaginary problems that have not materialized yet. No no I am not talking about war with Iraq and preemptive strike and WMD tale, I am talking about erectile dysfunction, ED>>>

A Good Night's Sleep

"Let's go to an American bar and have an American beer," I said. "All right," he said. I could see he was thinking of why did somebody have to stop going to a bar and ordering a beer in order for somebody else to know what it was. Somehow I thought that if it really was like that, if there really was a time when everybody in the world could do that, could just walk right in and order a beer wherever they were, there wouldn't be any need for any beer to order. There was a way we could each walk into a bar individually - sit down, have a look around, check the score of the game - and there was a way we could walk in together. I felt sorry for him. I felt sorry for me too, and I felt sorry for everyone in the bar. I felt sorriest for them because at least we knew the value of a good night's sleep. It was a losing business to look at Americans and wonder what they thought of the war >>>

On the political map

Darius Shahinfar, the first generation American of Iranian descent who captivated the attention and interest of the Iranian American community from coast to coast, lost his bid to be the Democratic nominee for New York’s 21st Congressional District last night. The disappointing result was the culmination of a ten month journey which saw Mr. Shahinfar embrace his Iranian-American heritage and identity. The long-shot candidacy of Shahinfar in a five-person field was particularly notable for the serious amount of money he was able to raise for a political neophyte in his first election>>>

What is the truth?

The “Cultural and Arts” division of the IRIB channel 3 has released a two episode documentary program directed at explaining the problem facing the Iranian Youth. It is centered around the popularity of Iranian Rap music and titled “Shock”. The program is quit dreadful in the level of untruthfulness and absurdity is uses to explain the issues and problems facing the young people of our nation. Some of the readers here might ask, “well, what did hell did you expect”? My answer is, more than what I saw!! A little about the Iranian youth, this crucial demographic group between the ages of 15 and 29 comprises more than one-third of the nation’s population>>>

آن سه شنبه ی شوم

آن روز، از زماني که با صداي زنگ ساعت چشم از خواب گشودم لرزه اي به جانم افتاد. بايد سريع حاضر ميشدم و چشم به راه تعميرکارِ شوفاژ ميماندم، گفته بودند براي تعميرِ دستگاه در طول روزِ ۱۱ سپتامبر سر ميزنند ولی ساعتش را مشخص نکرده بودند. سرتاسر روز در خانه ماندن و انتظار! دلهره اي غريب داشتم. دلهره ميراثي! دلشوره مزمن! يا به قولِ خاله ام: «دِلَه هولَه» دو سه روز بود که زير پلکم ميپريد و دستانم بي جان بود. گمان بردم که از سر خستگي است و بهتر است حداقل امروز را خانه بمانم و استراحت کنم. در خانه ماندن و انتظار صداي زنگِ در؟ هميشه حسِ وقوعِ حادثه اي شوم مضطربم ميکرد. پيش ترها به يادم مي آمد که هر بار پيش از هر حادثه شومي در خانواده، گرفتارِ اين دلشوره بي مورد ميشدم و از پيش آمدي ناشناس ميترسيدم و بي دليل کلافه بودم. حس ششم نبود؟ >>>

Diaries & Jallad

Ibrahim, staring in the eyes of the chief psychologist for a moment, turned his eyes toward Kemal tied to the bed and with his right hand all bandaged up and, fighting tears, whispered, "it's a malignant tumor in every poet's heart." "You can go inside and see him if you like but just for a few minutes. We have given him some pills and he shouldn't be disturbed by any heavy conversation, if you know what I mean," Dr. Assadi, holding the door knob and waiting for Ibrahim's acceptance of his stiff condition, knew he was taking a small risk by letting that seriously intellectual-looking man inside and, yet, was hedging his bet that Kemal would be happy to see one of his friends. >>>

Patriots who want their country destroyed

I was sent a file by a “patriot”, Arash Irandoost, with a note saying “see Mossadegh not from an Iranian perspective (which is mostly biased), but through the Western Eye. Read and decide for yourself.” Evidently though, he wanted me to ‘decide for myself’ based on the pertinent highlighted text. Yet another ‘patriot’, Roxanne Ganji,suggeststhat I read a couple of books as “proof the true face of her dear Dr. Mossadegh.” This time I see the infamous Hassan Dai’s name in the correspondence. Certainly I don’t find the truth objectionable. In fact, as a researcher, my fidelity to knowledge is paramount. But my problem is the irony of the situation.>>>

The country that is not

A renowned and experienced Swedish diplomat by the name Ingmar Karlsson has recently been the top news in Sweden. Some angry bloggers and newspaper columnists want him fired and some cheer him on. The reason has got nothing to do with his diplomatic work. It has to do with his latest book: Kurdistan, a country that is not (Kurdistan, landet som icke är). The title of the book (beside Kurdistan) is derived from a Swedish poem about a wonderful place that exist only in dreams and not in reality. Since the release of his book Mr Karlsson has been under heavy fire. >>>

Haleh's Story

You love someone else, you say
I am confused and anguished for having put my guard down
Long enough to let you into my heart
I so want to be done thinking about you, so I try but
It is her I can’t get out of my mind
It is not about her looks
It is not about her youth
It is not about her figure, what has me thinking about
For what difference would any of that make? >>>

Taking the lead

Parwin is in a middle of a conversation with one of the IFF volunteers in café de Balie in Amsterdam, when I arrive too late and all whet due to another Dutch September rain storm. Like a committed and skilled manager who is in the business for years, she delegates tasks and preparations for the Iranian Film Festival. It is a lot of work to organize a three day long festival while having a fulltime job. As a program manager at an idealistic organization she unites people of different cultural backgrounds by introducing art and film-related projects. Parwin speaks enthusiastically about the variety she is going to offer in the program of the IFF 2008. She was only 5 months old when her parents brought her to The Netherlands>>>