Archive - Feb 2009 - Article

A Valentine to Iran

These days when we find a rock with the imprint of a seashell we know it’s a common fossil. But in the days when Science hadn’t already imagined our world for us, the question of how the sea creature got so far inland, inspired stories. The ancient Iranians had seen rocks fall from the sky, so they imagined monsters called deevs who could throw rocks all the way from the bottom of the oceans to the tops of mountains. There is a well-known story in which a deev called Akvan battles the Iranian supreme champion Rostam. But that episode doesn’t say anything about Akvan throwing rocks from the sea. Why did Akvan toss rocks to dry land? Was he fighting another monster, was he building a home for himself? We don’t know. Obviously large parts of Akvan’s story are lost to us>>>

From Yazd to Inauguration History

The swearing in of Barack Hussein Obama will inarguably go down as one of the most memorable moments in many people's lives, mine included. I, along with over 2 million people, crowded the historic National Mall, braving below freezing temperatures for hours to witness the man who had risen to the top of the political food chain with meteoric speed and against all odds take his rightful place in history. As I tried to move my painfully frozen fingers, I couldn't help but wonder how my friend and photographer Abbas Shirmohammadi was faring from his perfect vantage point. For years, Abbas had been Hillary Clinton's official photographer>>>

Woff woff from Tehran

The outlook for homeless animals in Tehran changed in 2003 because of animal lover Mrs. Fatemeh Motamedi. As a child, Motamedi grew up feeling empathy for all living creatures. “It broke my heart seeing all those stray animals around me and their struggles to find food. And I saw cruelty towards them, like ropes around their necks and things that made me think we need organizations and shelters to help them.” And help she did. Motamedi founded the Center for Animal Lovers, an advocacy group to improve conditions for stray and unwanted animals in Iran. Although Motamedi and her husband now live in Canada they were instrumental in founding VAFA, Iran’s first and only animal shelter>>>

Not Voting IS Voting

Now that the recent election in the US is over with, there is another important election on the horizon. Namely the election of the next President of Iran. Once again this coming June 12th (oddly enough George Bush Sr's birthday), Iranians are forced to once again contemplate their unwinnable dilemma of staying away from the polls, or voting. Staying away seems unpatriotic. But voting means having to pick the lesser of 2 equally evil choices, courtesy of the all knowing and all seeing and all self involving theocratic dictatorship that really runs all of Iran's affairs from behind those scantily see-through skirts of the mollahs>>>

کی باید از ملت ایران عذر بخواهد؟

آقای احمدی نژاد, رییس جمهور حکومت اسلامی, که بارها خود را "مطیع, فرمانبر و عامل" ولی فقیه, آیت الله خامنه ای اعلام کرده است, در پاسخ به در خواست باراک اوباما, ریاست جمهور امریکا, مبنی بر کنار گذاشتن "ابراز دشمني" از سوی حکومت اسلامی و برقراري "ارتباط دوستانه" با امریکا بار دیگر سیمای خود بزرگ بین, عظمت طلب‘ ستیزه جو و عوامفريب حکومت اسلامی را به نمايش گذاشت. يکروز پس از ابراز تمایل رييس جمهور جديد آمريکا براي مذاکره با ايران، محمود احمدي نژاد ‏در سفر استاني اش در جمع مردم کرمانشاه، به اوباما چنین پاسخ داد: "اگر دولت جديد آمريکا به دنبال تغيير سياست هاي گذشته است بايد از ‏ملت ايران عذر خواهي کند و تلاش کند سابقه سياه و جنايت هايي که عليه ملت ايران مرتکب شده اند را جبران کند‎.>>>

Jewish girl, Muslim boy

Long before prophet’s
Hatred disguised itself
As twisted truth, promising
Virgins in paradise’ turf.
Long before bigotry became
Official - calling Jews impure,
Christians infidels, Bahaie’s
non-existent for the sake of its moor. >>>

We are ashamed!

As Iranian human beings, we are ashamed for what has been perpetrated upon the Baha’is in the last century and a half in Iran. We firmly believe that every Iranian, “without distinction of any kind, such as, race, color, sex, language, religion, politics or other opinions,” and also without regard to ethnic background, “social origin, property, birth or other status,” is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, from the very inception of the Baha’i Faith, the followers of this religion in Iran have been deprived of many provisions of human rights solely on account of their religious convictions>>>

Score

Something interesting happened in the city of Tehran on January 20th. For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran an all-female soccer club played a match against an all-male team comprised of players between 15 to 18 years of age. As expected, the event did not sit well with Islamic authorities and coaches of both teams were fined and suspended. The managers of Estegllal soccer club who organized the match were hoping that the incident will quickly blow over... not a chance>>>

Muslim & Modern

After the rise of so called Islamic fundamentalism and the perceived threat against the west, Islam has been subject to scrutiny, interpretation, and critical analysis by Muslims as well as non-Muslims in the United States. Countless numbers of books have been published. "The Muslim Next Door" is one of the best. It is a very fascinating book that offers a refreshing departure from the ordinary presentations of Islam by others. It examines a wide variety of issues pivotal to the religion of Islam. The author, Ms. Sumbul Ali-Karamali, a Western educated Muslim woman, offers her own views concerning these pivotal issues, especially those related to Muslim women, their role, and their rights under Islamic law>>>

We made a big mistake

Last night I went to see the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. It was a good movie, and brought back some bitter-sweet memories. I was visiting India for a few days, in early 1980’s. I found India an interesting country, with ancient culture and history, beautiful natural scenaries, dense population, rich and poor living side by side, and democratic. But, what took most of my attention, coming from Iran after the revolution, was the intense clash between Hindus and Muslims. Every night on TV, I watched burning maabads and musks, put on fire by someone affiliated with the two religious groups>>>

تولدم مبارک

روز پونزده آبان ماه هزارو سیصدو هر چی‌ که بود
مثل هر روز دگر برخاستم
ناگهان به یادم آمد که من امروز متولد شده ام
پس شتافتم سوی آینه تا ببینم صورت سی‌ ساله‌ام را
توی آینه محو خود گشتم و گشتم
آینه باز شد من به داخل رفتم آنگاه
سی‌ سال عمر گذشته روبرویم شد نمایان >>>

Take the Last Chance

...>>>

Rehabilitating the Shah

A common narrative concerning the Shah and the Pahlavi legacy unites much of Iran’s intelligentsia with liberal-left opinion in the West. According to this narrative, Mohammad Reza Shah’s father, Reza Shah, was an absolutist dictator who attempted to modernize Iran at the point of the gun and an entirely unacceptable pace. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is depicted as a corrupt stooge and a “westoxicated” lapdog of American imperialism who, by squashing the authentic democratic urges of his people, ultimately empowered the fundamentalist scourge now raging in his homeland. As the 30th anniversary of the late Shah’s departure from Iran approached, I had the opportunity to read Gholam Reza Afkhami’s magisterial biography of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi>>>

Fooled, several times

Like many other Iranian-Americans, I was so proud and happy to see one of our own, Goli Ameri, first run for Congress and then later be appointed to a high-level position in the State Department. But just as the last 8 years have been a lesson in discarding political naiveté, it has also been a rude awakening to see how ruthless and ambitious politicians can be – even if they are Iranian-Americans. The election of Obama is not just a rejection of past policies to me, but also a rejection of ethnic policies: I much rather have a black president that stands for the values that made this country great, than an Iranian-American President that would pursue and defend the ruthless and backward policies of the Bush crowd>>>

Too Much of a Good Thing

Manufactured smells that permeate in public used to be limited to occasional wafts of smoke, industrial fumes and/or fragrances. That’s changed. Nowadays, if it isn't burning incense, it's aromatic baths, scented candles, air-fresheners and God only knows what else. Even the “new and improved” household cleaners are like a cheap perfume that while failing to mask the stink, they can bring tears to your eyes. While it’s good to be considerate of others, sometimes the attempt to mask a pungent odor can exacerbate the situation. Personally, I’d rather smell tobacco than put up with the stink of a cab driver's extinguished cigarette added to the strong scent of that fake pine tree cutout dangling from his rearview mirror>>>