LIFE

For the Love of Faloodeh

“I am going to go out there into the pasture and have a look at that colt of yours!”

by LalehGillani
20-Oct-2008 (one comment)
“Did you bring me Faloodeh?” I demand, skipping all the common pleasantries and zealous Iranian courtesies. Enjoyably exasperated, she plays along and hands me a bag of Ajil to shut me up. And while I am stuffing my face, with me in tow, she concentrates on maneuvering through the crowd to reach the baggage claim and fetch her luggage. As long as my mouth is full, she sets a new record every year! The long ride home takes us through America’s fertile plateau and farm land. Once the Ajil is finished, she offers me a bag of dried Tut and Nochod, and then comes out a piece of Lavashak, followed by Tokhmeh, and finally a hardened Gaz. Meanwhile, she keeps talking, bringing me up-to-date with new births and recent deaths: >>>

VIEW

The Duty of the Iranian Artist

To all you artists who moved out of Iran: you did not sell out by being free

by bahmani
20-Oct-2008 (12 comments)
In the past few years, the emergence of "The Free Iranian Artist" and Free Iranian art has become more and more popular as the discourse on Iran, the relation to Islam, freedom, and politics, has shifted out of first into second, possibly third gear. If you are an Iranian artist, in my opinion, your first duty is to yourself, and second, to me (as one of your fans), to be FREE. Free to express your art in any way that you want. To do this, you must obviously, simply, survive. You cannot stifle. You cannot suffocate. You cannot go to jail. You cannot die. That will silence you forever, or worse, taint your art with the polluted scent and everlasting stain of oppression>>>

PUNISHMENT

Beginning of the end?

Is this really the beginning of an END of child executions in Iran?

by David ET
18-Oct-2008 (8 comments)
The news of a directive to all Iranian judiciary officials to commute the death sentences of juvenile offenders to life imprisonment, and then in a second stage to 15 years was happily but cautiously welcomed by Stop Child Executions and the human rights activists and organizations worldwide. The announcement by Iran’s Attorney General for Judicial Affairs was made on the eve of the UN General Assembly‘s annual debate on the Rights of the Child. The General Assembly was asked by Stop Child Executions and more than 300 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from 82 countries to fully implement the absolute ban on the juvenile death penalty, as required by customary law, the Convention on the Rights of the child, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights>>>

STORY

The Little Sparrow

It was all right to be feared, he thought, but not by sparrows

by siamak vossoughi
18-Oct-2008 (5 comments)
There was a little sparrow that was stuck on their porch somehow, having fallen or gotten lost or something, and the boy of nine, whose name was Babak Ghanbari, walked up to it. Something was wrong when a bird did not fly away when he walked up to it, and he called to his father, who was inside reading the newspaper. When his father came outside, the bird flew up to the corner of the glass porch roof. It flew belaboredly, like it took all it had to get up there. The father saw that it was in bad shape. "There is nothing that we can do for it," he said, and he turned and went inside.>>>

IDEAS

وسوسهء غرب و نوانديشان دينی

بيشترين تلاش های نوانديشان ما وفق دادن مجموعهء هنجاری اسلامی با مجموعهء هنجاری «زندگی اجتماعی مدرن غربی» بوده است

by Esmail Nooriala
18-Oct-2008
من يکی اکنون، در پی تجربه ای بيست و اندی ساله، به اين نتيجه رسيده ام که اين متحول شدگان ـ که خود را با کارت ويزيت «توانديش دينی» معرفی می کنند ـ در مورد کاری که می کنند دچار سوء تفاهم و وهم اند و خيال می کنند که برای همگان حرفی تازه و آموختنی و ديدگاهی نوين آورده اند. و همين توهم هم هست که منجر به نوعی ـ بقول آخوند ها ـ تذبذب مفرط در آنها شده و آنان را بدانجا می کشاند که چنان بنويسند و بگويند که تو گوئی آنها گنگ «خوابديده» بوده اند و عالم تمام کر، و حالا ـ به مدد انفاس قدسيهء الهی ـ طوطی شکر شکن شده اند و با صور بلند و اسرافيلی خود در گوش های پينه و پنبه بستهء ما می دمند تا بيدار شويم و بمدد دم مسيحائی اينان راهمان را از چاه باز شناسيم. من معتقدم که لااقل در مورد نوانديشی پس از انقلاب چنين تصوری اصلاً واقعيت ندارد و نوانديشان مذهبی ما دهشی در نوسازی مذهب نداشته و فقط از کسانی الهام گرفته اند که با مذهب سر و کاری ندارند و در حرف و سخن و احتجاجات آنان نيز نکتهء تازه ای نمی يابند>>>

AFTABEH

ريدن از شما ، بقيه اش با ما

نامه صنف آفتابه سازان به رييس جمهور

by Hashem
18-Oct-2008 (10 comments)
با سلام خدمت آقاي احمدي نژاد. من صنعت كاري هستم كه سالهاست در خدمت اين مرز و بوم مشغول به كارم وبا ساخت انواع آفتابه به چرخش چرخ صنعت اين كشور كمك ميكنم. آقاي احمدي نژاد از شما به عنوان يك رييس جمهور(كه حتما تا به حال مشتري يكي از آفتابه هاي من بوده ايد) تقاضا ميكنم كه به صنعت آفتابه سازي اين كشور كمك كنيد چون آفتابه سازان هم اكنون نيازمند ياري سبز شما هستند. از همه مهمتر اينكه با توجه به شعار دولت مبني بر نوآوري و شكوفايي ملي، شركت ياران آفتابه ما هم براي ايجاد نوآوري، به دست نيروهاي بومي اقدام به ساخت آفتابه هايي به رنگ سبز فسفري كرده>>>

PROPHET

The Story of Mohammad

The revolutionary, warrior and sovereign

by Arash Monzavi-Kia
16-Oct-2008 (135 comments)
Mohammad worked for nearly a decade in the Roman trade route and became very familiar with both the Christian and the Jewish traditions of the Near East. As an intelligent young man, although illiterate, he absorbed most of the biblical stories, which put his life in a much more appealing prospective. He found solace in the hardship stories of Job and Moses, but perhaps was most influenced by Abraham, a Semitic prophet who recanted his own town and traditions, to build a new Utopia and create a new way of life. At the age of 40, after marrying a wealthy business woman, Mohammad found some spare time to contemplate his past and future, his beliefs and doubts.>>>

IDEAS

What Role Religion Can Play

Part 1: The Age of Science and Modernity

by varjavand
16-Oct-2008 (one comment)
America is a nation of highly religious citizens and Americans seems to have retained their spiritual life “Full 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God, 85 percent in heaven and 82 percent in miracles, according to the latest FOX News poll. Though belief in God has remained at about the same level, belief in the devil has increased slightly over the last few years — from 63 percent in 1997 to 71 percent today” (2004). Such information, however, should not be viewed as an indication of the status of religion in public life. When it comes to public life, this nation pretends that religion does not really matter. We are not supposed to let our religious believes interfere with our public life>>>

FICTION

The Newlyweds (6)

He's giving me the silent treatment

16-Oct-2008 (2 comments)
Salam Khaleh Joon, I hope this letter finds you and yours well. I wish I could say Shahab and I are doing fine here but this would be far from the truth. We recently got into a major fight and it was much, much worse than the last time, when he punched the wall. But before you get worried, I am okay. I mean, I am not hurt or anything. Not physically at least. As for my emotional state, that is another story. It all started when we were invited to Maryam’s house for a party. Remember the last time, I told you about bumping into Maryam, my old friend from Iran>>>

GANJI

از تخریب گنجی بترسیم

می‌ترسم از روزی که دیگر گنجی در کار نباشد که با دیدنش احساس غرور کنیم

by oazadi
16-Oct-2008 (22 comments)
وقتی نوشته نوری‌علا را خواندم بی‌اختیار اشک در چشمانم حلقه زد. نمی‌توانستم باور کنم که به‌نام مدرن‌خواهی و دمکراسی‌طلبی هم می‌توان این‌گونه به‌ تخریب یکی از نمادها و قهرمانان جنبش دمکراسی‌خواهی ایران پرداخت. نمی‌توانستم باور کنم که اکبر گنجی که کیهان و اوین و اعتصاب غذا نتوانستنند او را بشکنند را عده‌ای قصد دارند بشکنند. برایم سخت بود ببینم عده‌ای این همه دلاوری گنجی را در چند جمله ساده خلاصه می‌کنند و به‌فرودگاه رفتنشان و ترجمه مقالات گنجی را تا آن حد بزرگ می‌کنند که بخواهند بر سر شخصیت ملی بزرگی چون منت او بگذارند و او را نمک‌گیر خود بدانند. مدام از خودم می‌پرسیدم: «آیا این گروه یادشان رفته که گنجی برای یک نسل از جوانان ایرانی که در میان خرابه‌های جنگ زاده و بزرگ شدند یک قهرمان است؟>>>

IDEAS

We believe

Confederation of Iranian Students, Netherlands

by Farinaz Aryanfar
16-Oct-2008
We believe in the Universal Human Rights, we believe that every inhabitant of a state has to be equal before the law, in a society regardless of race, skin-color, beliefs etc. Because all the colors together establish the rainbow and if one is not participating, there would be no rainbow, it would be incomplete! And I know this sounds very simple, but that is what we miss in Iran: Simplicity. It would be fantastic if I, with my provocative ideas, could be treated the same as a man with his Islamic philosophy in Iran. Why won’t it be fantastic if EVERYONE gets equal treatment?>>>

IRAN-ISRAEL

Getting real

Dealing with an Iran that is unlikely to unlearn the technology of enriching uranium

by Trita Parsi
15-Oct-2008 (29 comments)
On the eve of his departure from political life, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Olmert delivered a stinging parting shot – putting under question not only the wisdom of holding on to Palestinian land, but also the feasibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “We have to make a decision, one that goes against all our instincts, against our collective memory,” he told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. Recognizing that no other Israeli leader ever had uttered these words publicly, Olmert went on to declare that “Israel must withdraw from almost all, if not all” of the West Bank to achieve peace. On Iran, Olmert argued that Israel had lost its “sense of proportion” when stating that it would deal with Iran militarily. “What we can do with the Palestinians, the Syrians and the Lebanese, we cannot do with the Iranians,” Olmert said >>>

IRANIANS

Agents of change

Excerpts from "Young and Defiant in Tehran"

by Shahram Khosravi
15-Oct-2008
In Tehran, the Iranian Artists’ Forum (Khaneye Honarmandan-e Iran) is the best location to observe the curiosity of the youth. Weekly courses or lectures are usually packed with young people who come to listen and discuss art and philosophy as well as other cultural and social issues. Moreover statistics show the considerable amount of translations of modern philosophy. For instance, all the books of Friedrich Nietzsche have been translated into Persian and have gone into multiple printings since the 1990s. The same holds true for many of the other philosophers of modernity. There have been more Persian translations of Kant in the past decade than in any other language. This is Sepehr’s and a part of his generation’s expectation of modernity. >>>

SEX

«هیچ‌ چیز خطرناک‌تر از زنی نیست که می‌‌نویسد»

مردم می‌گویند این‌که نوشتی کس، بی‌ادبی است. می‌گویم چرا بی‌ادبی است؟

by Leva Zand
15-Oct-2008 (17 comments)
اگر به زبان من دقت کرده باشی، می‌بینی چیزی که می‌نویسم، جنسی یا اروتیک نیست. کلمات جنسی که استفاده می‌کنم به‌هیچ‌وجه اروتیک نیست. قصد من از استفاده کس، کون، کیر، کونی، بارونی و کلمه‌هایی از این دست، واژگون کردن معنای منفی و کارکردهای تاریخی این واژه‌ها و آوردن آن‌ها در یک سطح متفاوت است. وقتی این‌ها را می‌نویسم یک اجراگری کلاسیک زنانه نیست. یعنی قصد نوشته‌ من تحریک امیال جنسی مرد دگرجنس‌گرا نیست. بنابراین خطرناک است. این در بالاترین می‌آید. مردم می‌گویند این‌که نوشتی کس، بی‌ادبی است. می‌گویم چرا بی‌ادبی است؟ دارم کلمه را در معنای کاملاً متفاوتی استفاده‌ می‌کنم. دیدن این تفاوت‌ها برای کسی که ذهنش به مردسالاری در زبان، عادت کرده، سخت است. >>>

LIFE

این قافله عمر عجب میگذرد!

سالها میآمد و میرفت،گردش ماه و خورشید

by Mohammad Hossainzadeh
15-Oct-2008 (9 comments)
نزدیکیهای صبح بود که رسیدیم شیراز، «ساک در دست و پتو زیر بغل». همگی رفتیم سراغ یکی از این هتلهای بی ستاره همان دور و بر دروازه اصفهان که لامپهای مهتابیش دم به دم باز و بسته میشد و اسفالت را رنگ میزد. هوا سوز داشت گرسنه هم بودیم و بیخوابی توی اتوبوس ایرانپیما هم رویش. دیروز عصر که از اهواز راه افتادیم تا خود بهبهان شرجی توی هوا موج میزد و حالا سرمای اول صبح شیراز ما را که پیراهن آستین کوتاه تنمان بود بد جوری غافلگیر کرده بود. من بودم، مهدی بود، عزیز، شهرام، منصور، پرویز و خیلی های دیگه که قیافه شان از یادم نرفته اما اسمشان چرا. همه بچه های خوزستان بودیم که حالا بعد از شیش ماه تعلیماتی توی پادگان زرهی اهواز، برای خدمت به شیراز آمده بودیم. با مهدی همان توی پادگان آشنا شدم. گاهی گپ و گفتی توی نهارخوری و بعضی وقتها هم سالن ورزش. اندامی ورزیده، صورتی آفتاب سوخته و نگاه گرمی داشت.>>>
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