Archive - 2008 - Article

Redefining the game

Ever since Iran publicised its nuclear fuel cycle plans in 2003, western experts have tried to downplay its rate of progress in nuclear engineering. The Iranian scientific community is often viewed as technologically inept. Relatively minor obstacles have been portrayed as next to insurmountable. These arguments are now growing increasingly false – Tehran is adding centrifuges faster than the UN security council can step up the pressure. Time is not working in the favour of the west. Iran is making good progress in many key areas of nuclear engineering. Presently, it has some 4,000 operational centrifuges at its facility in Natanz. This means that it is learning about the intricate art of connecting a large number of centrifuges with a vast amount of pipework while maintaining everything under vacuum>>>

On eight

This morning, in my daily ritual of visiting Iranian.com, the random advertisement box which for some time now has replaced the heading of this site took my attention. I have trained myself to ignore the large advertisements in the heading of Iranian.com and have come to accept that the large advertisement which overpowers the site is a reflection of the times in which we live. The economic man in consumer capitalism has no choice but to buy the idea of choice through advertisement, market himself in an economy where everything is measured by cost and profit, and become a self-responsible individual in a market that needs political intervention to insure profit. But this morning, a day before the elections, what caught my eyes was an election advertisement which presents the election consumer with an uncanny union of the smiling Republican and Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates>>>

Please don’t undo my “I do”

On June 17, 2008 I married my partner of 12 years Elizabeth Kristen. Before the signature on our marriage license was dry, the religious right had put Proposition 8 on this year’s ballot. Our closest friends, coworkers and family members bore witness when we announced that we would be together for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part -- not till the voters do us part. It is the job of the California Supreme Court to interpret the California Constitution, which they did in their May 17, 2008 ruling. Seven California Supreme Court Justices, (six Republican Justices and one Democratic appointed Justice) ruled that all Californians, regardless of their sexual orientation were protected by the state’s constitution>>>

The Newlyweds (12)

Payam jan, Against your best judgment, I went ahead and saw Kati by myself.At the time, I reasoned that I did not have any unethical motive.That it would just prove once and for all that I did not, could not, have any feelings for her, at least not beyond those that a brother-in-law should have. But in reality, I was just making an excuse to see her. Ever since her party for her friend Geraldine, I felt so low.I stopped going to work, pretending that I was sick.I lost my appetite.It was really weird.I would get these frightening hunger pangs and run to the refrigerator, serve myself a huge platter of food and then, when I sat down to devour it, looking at the food before me, inhaling its odors of burning meat and sour legumes, I would be overwhelmed with the desire to vomit.I lost ten pounds since I last wrote to you>>>

Friend of the People

Mr. Obama; Friend of the people! Sir!
They may already be after you, beware!
No use thinking you’re loved by all,
And so they won’t dare.
For they surely do. And, so,
Of your beloved self
Do please take care!
Be another J.F.K. >>>

Greater Middle East Initiative

The “Greater Middle East Initiative,” originating in the United States and subsequently embraced, and renamed as “Partnership for Progress,” by the G8 nations in June 2004 in Sea Island, Georgia, aims to address the sources of socio-political and economic backwardness in the region, loosely identified as encompassing the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Israel, and possible Afghanistan and Pakistan. Focusing on economic reform, good governance, women and minority rights, civil society institutions, and democracy, the project contains all the essential elements of the so- called Modernization paradigm, whereby the political and economic facets of modernization processes are linked together in a comprehensive approach that is thoroughly faithful in the paradigm’s quest for globalizing its main ethos of universal democracy, rile of civility, and economic liberalization>>>

Testing democracy

The Economist has created a very interesting section where, as I understood, subscribers have so far voted for either of the US presidential candidates. In Iran's case it is obvious that native Iranians (as there are very few foreigners in Iran) have largely voted for Obama and this is quite a clear sign that educated and liberal Iranians are Obama supporters, just like the Americans, and they are definitely not concerned about a possible protection of the Iranian population by the Americans, which may be the case for small countries like Georgia. It is also quite interesting that Israelis have largely voted for Obama rather than McCain, though national security is the greatest concern of the Israeli public. This may be a sign that no matter how much the Republicans try to show their tolerant and pluralistic face, they are still viewed as the white Christian party>>>

دوئیت تهرانی/شهرستانی

رز آرا در مجموعه اشعارش نامی از تهران نمی برد بلکه برای اشاره به تهران از واژه یا دال پایتخت استفاده می کند. واژه پایتخت در شش شعرکتابش هنوز مرا نیافریده اند (1382) که شامل شصت ونه قطعه است آمده است. تفاوت دال پایتخت با دال تهران در این است که "پایتخت" مثل "تهران" تنها نامی خنثی نیست بلکه مفهمومی مولد است. دیگر اینکه "پایتخت" مثل "تهران" واژه ای معصوم نیست، بلکه به ستمی تاریخی اشاره دارد. زیرا تاریخمندی خاصی را در ارتباط با گفتمان قدرت برملا می کند و نشان می دهد که تهران مرکزی است که مفهوم شهرستانی در تقابل با آن ساخته می شود. دال "پایتخت" تهران را نه تنها به عنوان یک شهر بلکه به عنوان مرکزیتی که بر مبنای تخت و تاج ساخته شده معرفی می کند."پایتخت" تاریخ آقا محمد خان قاجار را به یاد می آورد و اینکه مرکزیت تهران بر اساس خشونت قومی-ناسیونالیستی قدرت استوار شده. چهره ی آقا محمد خان—عقیم بودن و خشونتش—لایه ها، خشونت، و ارزشهای نهفته فرهنگ مردسالاری و قبیله ای را که در خشونت، جنگ طلبی، کشتار و انتقام جویی، و هجوم ریشه دارد هویدا می کند.>>>

کورش و عصبانيت کمونيستی

يکی از دوستان جوانم از تهران آدرس مقاله ای را روی اينترنت برايم فرستاد، در يکی از سايت های حزب کمونيست کارگری، با عنوان «گرامیداشت روز کورش، نوستالژی رژیم گذشته! مردم نه ایران اسلامی و نه ایران اهورایی نمی خواهند!» (بگذريم که منفی در منفی مثبت می شود و اين عنوان معنای عکس بخود می گيرد. اما به ما چه، ما که معلم ديکته و انشای کسی نيستيم). باری، و به همراه اين مقاله يادداشتی فرستاده بود مبنی بر اين که مقاله مال هفتم آّبان سال پيش است اما يکی دو نفر را می شناسم که از هواداران حزب کمونيست کارگری هستند و امسال مقاله را تکثير و در هر کجا که توانسته اند پخش کرده اند تا ـ لابد، به خيال خودشان ـ جلوی عشق و علاقه مردم را به کورش بگيرند و آن ها را از «ناسيوناليست» شدن نجات دهند. مقاله را که خواندم قيافۀ دوست گرامی خانم آذر ماجدی را در حين نوشتن آن مجسم کردم و بی اختيار به ياد آقام علی مرحبا افتادم. >>>

The Newlyweds (11)

Baradare Azizam, Two months of silence. I deserved that, after sending you that nasty email. All I can do now is to apologize and hope that you forgive me and please agree to write and call me again. I have had a lot of time to reflect on what you conveyed to me in your last email. I know that you have only the best of intentions towards me. I know I have to work on my marriage and make the best of it. Nassim is a good girl that would make any man happy and she would never have gotten angry like that if I had not provoked her. Dadash joon, I want you to know I tried everything I could to put distance between Kati and me, even though I disagreed with your opinion. I didn’t return her phone calls or emails>>>

Good for America. Good for the World.

Globalization, destructive as it has really been in its universal economic outcomes, has also brought about some significant changes in the national self of many individuals of various nationalities throughout the world. Such indiduals, of whom I find myself to be one, while remaining national or even nationalistic in their selves, have grown, in their national selves, to be, in different degrees, a “citizen of the world” as well. Considering that these days nothing happens in or to any part of the Earth which is not going, sooner or later and directly or indirectly, to affect all the other parts too, these individuals consider it both as a human right and a civic, or at least moral, duty to be concerned with the world affairs as if these were part of the internal affairs of their own respective countries>>>

عشق عمومی

طبیعی است که متاسف باشم از آنچه اتفاق افتاده است. هرگز فکر نمی کردم به این زودی ها از زمانه جدا شوم. برای خودم یک زمان 5 ساله قائل شده بودم. زندگی ام به 5 ساله ها تقسیم شده است. این بار قرار این بود که این دوره کوتاهتر شود. به اجبار. انتخاب من نبود. از کانادا که برگشتم با طرحی نو آمده بودم تا زمانه را در کانادا پایه گذاری کنم. هیات نظارت زمانه بدون اینکه این طرح را باز کند یک هفته بعد بدون حضور من تصمیم گرفت که ساختار زمانه را دگرگون کند. پیام آن از همان روز اول روشن بود. اما من عمدا نخواستم آن پیام را عمده کنم. من دلایل متعدد داشتم که تصمیم هیات نظارت یا بورد زمانه کارشناسی نشده و شتابزده است. دلایل قاتع کننده نیست و روش اجرا نیز مناسب نیست. خواستم تا طرح کتبی شود. شد. اما ایرادها کمتر نشد. تمام این ماجرا 20 روز طول کشید. آنها در 9 اکتبر جلسه گذاشتند در 10 اکتبر ضمن دیداری برای قهوه خوردن از سوی رئیس بورد و مدیر پرس نو به من شفاها ابلاغ شد.>>>

Dilemma

It’s a dazzling summer morning. The breeze moves the shining waves of sun with care. Foreign birds fly in the sky with harmony. A masked man is trailing me through the orange trees of my childhood memories. The green leaves touch my face and juicy oranges drop over my head. The branches scratch my skin and the pain spreads its path through my veins. I run and I don’t look back. The heavy breathing of the faceless man overshadows the happiness of the wind, and the diffuseness of a fading moon enlightens my way. Like in a dream, in a blink of eye, I grow tall and strong, capable of pushing away branches and trunks and leaving their imposing path. Like the imaginary Deev of legends and tales, I crush trees under my toes, knowing I’d reach the birds, if I want to.>>>

Enchanted

I recently visited Lisbon and several other cities of Portugal [Photos]. The trip was not only fun but an adventure since Portugal is like no other country in Europe. There is a lot of history to be observed. Portugal has been a seafaring nation since the fourteenth century. Its very poverty drove many of its people out of the country in search of a better life, and thus turned the Portuguese into discoverers. They sailed everywhere, from Brazil to China and East Timor via Angola and Mozambique, from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to Goa in India, in a quest for riches and intent on spreading the catholic faith. Portugal is the land of Henry the Navigator and Vasco de Gama, the first to sail to India via the Cape. Fado, the country’s traditional music reflects the melancholy of the many who left their country never to return, their homesickness and the longing of those they left behind. Is this also why the Portuguese, though friendly and helpful, are not exuberant like the Italians, why they rarely smile?>>>

Sleepless in Tehran

Under Ahmadinejad, Iran's mullahs have gone on a domestic subsidy binge — using oil money to cushion the prices of food, gasoline, mortgages and to create jobs — to buy off the Iranian people. But the one thing Ahmadinejad couldn't buy was real economic growth. Iran today has 30 percent inflation, 11 percent unemployment and huge underemployment with thousands of young college grads, engineers and architects selling pizzas and driving taxis. And now with oil prices falling, Iran — just like the Soviet Union — is going to have to pull back spending across the board. Fasten your seat belts. The U.N. has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 because of Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment. But high oil prices minimized those sanctions; collapsing oil prices will now magnify those sanctions>>>