Archive - Apr 2009 - Article

What is to be done?

Let us suppose a worst case scenario through which Iran will produce, by 2015, enough fissile material for 5 atomic bombs, will actually decide to make them, and then sends these bombs over Israel. There is a good chance that one or two of them will misfire, one or two will probably be intercepted, and one or two may actually pass through. If the missiles are accurate, they will hit one or two targets; but the chances are that they will miss their targets, because of low accuracy. All of this to achieve what? To risk a massive retaliation, from Israel and the US, that may annihilate the whole country? One thing is for sure: the leaders of Iran do not operate in a suicidal mode>>>

Get out and vote this time!

It is easy to sit outside and tell those who have to live every day under the current oppressive regime of Iran not to vote. But the undeniable fact is that the Islamic Republic is in power and everything possible must be done to reduce the power of its extremists. If voting for someone more moderate can help achieve and open the smallest channels to breath even a little more and to help somewhat soften the policies of the government in the international arena, ... that option should be examined. The experiences of the past 30 years have clearly proven that not voting has played directly in to the hands of the least tolerant elements within the regime>>>

Another Mother's Child

On March 27, 2009, another little girl disappeared, this time closer to home for me. Eight year old Sandra Cantu was reported missing from the Tracy mobile home park where she lived with her mother. Her face was immediately on the nightly news, her rounded cheeks and innocent smile engulfed my thoughts those first few nights. I found myself thinking of her as I drove the highway, searching for her face to call out to me in the back of every white passenger van being driven by a menacing old man. I found myself looking out the window more at work, focusing intently on the faces of little girls walking past even though before I would barely have paid attention to passerby; I was just hoping to find her>>>

شهری در تصرف ويرانگران خودی

رامهرمز يکی از شهرستان های استان خوزستان و در شمال شرقی آن قرار دارد و، مثل بيشتر نقاط خوزستان، انباشته از آثار تاريخی است ـ به طوری که حدود 200 تا 250 تپه باستاني متعلق به دوره هاي ايلامي و هخامنشی در آن وجود دارد که اگر حکومتی دلسوز در آن سرزمين بکار مشغول بود می توانست با بيرون کشيدن اصولی و صحيح بناها و آثار خفته در دل آن ها و به نمايش گذاشتن شان برای گردشگران داخلی و خارجی، علاوه بر ايجاد کار و رفاه برای مردم آن منطقه درآمد سرشاری را نصيب کشور کند. اما، متأسفانه، چنين نيست و من در اين جا فقط چند مورد از اين گنجينه های ملی و بشری فقط اين شهر را که يا ويران شده و يا در حال ويرانی اند و چندين سال است که بوسيله گروهی موسوم به «حفاران غير مجاز!» بصورتی بی وقفه چپاول می شوند برايتان ذکر می کنم.>>>

رستوران آقا ارمنی و روشنک جان

اولین بار در مغازه ی آقا ارمنی بود که روشنک را دیدم و هفته ی بعدش با هم حسابی دوست شدیم و با فرهاد به درکه رفتیم و وقت برگشتن به خانه ی فرهاد در کوچه ساری رفتیم و سری به خمره زدیم .چقدر عرق خوری سه نفری حال داد. عاشق لهجه دارآبادی روشنک شده بودم. نسل در نسل در نیاوران و دارآباد بزرگ شده بودند. دختر ماه و خوش سر و زبانی بود که دل من و فرهاد را حسابی برده بود. یک دوست خوب و با حال که اصلن فکر نمی کردی دختر باشد مثل پسر بچه ها تخس و بازیگوش بود. باور می کنی یک بار دست و پاهای من و فرهاد را به تخت بسته بود و از خانه جیم شده بود. از خنده روده بر شده بودیم از دستش. پدر سوخته جوری بسته بود که دو ساعتی طول کشیده بود که دست وپایمان را باز کنیم>>>

Rumi's Wine

When mist of past clouds your heart
When memories pierce like swords heated in flame
When broken vows empty your soul
When there’s no one to be blamed
Your heart slams its doors
On enchantments of pure love
It no longer can fathom
Further pain or harder fall >>>

Dark Ages

Probably one of the greatest lessons in the Shahnameh is when it warns us of the “enemy within”. One that resides in our own persona and nurtures a self destructive impulse when we lose self confidence, start lying to ourselves and thus break the old Zoroastrian Oath of “Pendar Neek, Goftareh Neek, va Kerdareh Neek” aka “Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds”. It is then when our soul becomes corrupt, our virtues dissolve into a potion of ignorance and True Pride is replaced by Arrogance ... Thus seems to be the dilemma facing Iran’s greatest hero Rostam in Hyperwerks and its creative team’s adaptation of the third book: Rostam: Battle with the Deevs. >>>

انتقاد از رهبر آزاد است؟

آیت الله سید علی خامنه ای مقام رهبری جمهوری اسلامی ایران، با سلام، همانطور که مطلع هستید یک جوان وبلاگ نویس به نام امید رضا میرصیافی که به جرم اهانت به شما در زندان به سر می برد و به دو سال و نیم زندان محکوم شده بود چند روز پیش در زندان درگذشت. گزارشگران بدون مرز احتمال قتل او را بر اساس شواهدی که پیوست این نامه است اعلام می کنند. امید رضا میرصیافی قبل از زندان به حکم خود معترض بود و آن را ناعادلانه می دانست و معتقد بود هیچگونه توهینی به شما نکرده است و حتی در رای دادگاه مشخص نشده بود که جملات توهین آمیز ایشان چیست؟ پس از فوت ایشان ما با مطالعه آرشیو وبلاگ ایشان که به دلیل مطالب همان وبلاگ زندانی بود، متوجه نشدیم که کدام مطلب ایشان در مورد شما توهین آمیز بود و مستحق دو سال و نیم زندان بوده است؟ >>>

The Secret Agent

Nojoom didn’t return until we were ready to board the bus. Meanwhile other hospital staff hosted us. I was waiting in the boarding line fending off Fournier’s inquires as to why I wanted us to stay, when I felt a nudge at my elbow. I turned around and was surprised to see Dr. Nojoom. “Excuse me,” he said, pulling me out of earshot ”I gather you are Iranian?” “Yes,” I said in Farsi. “Interesting bunch you are with,” he said. “What sort of school is this anyway?” I was sure he had been briefed by Dr. Parson, so I assumed he wanted an Iranian’s point of view.” I explained that it was mostly for children of foreigners living in Iran, and that my father had enrolled me here for a period because our family travels had put me out of synch with the Iranian school system>>>

War on Ignorance

A few days ago on this site Mr. Hossein Hosseini in his stimulating article seemed to imply that we Iranians have the most know-it-all people! Do we really? I respectfully doubt that. I used to fault friends, and I lost some because I did not approve of their pretending to be what they were not. That went on until I took some courses in modern psychology and discovered that what I or we consider pretension, is often benign and is a part of our defense mechanism as humans in order to save face in emergencies. In other words, what I discovered was that I should forgive the people as long as their pretension was temporary, for self preservation>>>

سیزده به در نحس

من مثل آن شاعری هستم که بر خلاف بقیه اصلاً بلبل را خوش آواز نمی دانست و احتمالاً تره جعفری و شنبلیله را هم بر دیدن گل های رز و گلایل و کاملیا ترجیح میداد. از همان روز ازل معتقد بودم که ماندن در خانه در روز سیزده فروردین نه تنها نحسی ندارد بلکه به علل گوناگون فواید زیادی به قول قدما بر آن مترتب است. ازجمله ایمنی اعضای خانواده در اثر حوادث گوناگون، صرفه جوئی در هزینه های خورد و خوراک و صد البته خوابیدن راحت بعد از صرف نهار در هوای بهاری و آن هم در تخت خوابی که همیشه عادت به استرحت برروی آن دارم. ولی چه کنم که نوعی دموکراسی کمونیستی در منزل ما بر قرار است و آن هم اینکه وقتی همه عقاید خود را در خصوص برنامه سیزده به در گفتند، این نظر عیال بنده است که صائب بوده و صد البته دلایل منطقی و عاطفی و اقتصادی و اجتماعی فراوانی برای توجیه آنها می توان ارائه نمود>>>

کفشها

برابرم چند تن تنها نشسته اند
هر کدام در کفشی سبکبار شده اند
آنسو
کفشی افسون شده چرم دفتر شعری
که روزی قیمتی چشمگیر داشت
اینسو
کفش لاستیکی خودکام دفتری
با کابوس واکس سنت مرور می شود >>>

Little Armenia

The king hung you like a crucifix
From the neck of my city, Isfahan:
With your cathedral and cobblestones
With your taverns and goldsmiths
And your blushing daughters.
The city remained apart from you
Lying beyond Zaiandeh River. >>>

Atomic Akhond

A few years ago, Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi shocked the Islamic Republic’s inner circles with this performance conducted in front of flashing cameras and rolling camcorders. Publicly, the conservatives admired his selflessness but envied his prudence behind closed doors; the moderates snickered and dismissed the news of the event with curt replies. The shock, however, must not be attributed to the publicly captured humility of any ayatollah towards the Supreme Leader. On the contrary, such scenes are entirely common and dully expected. What caused the jolt was not the act itself but the stature of the man behind the act, his existing ominous authority and decisive clout, and more importantly, the absence of any apparent gain bestowed upon him>>>

My absence

Mehrabad airport is crowded. Everybody seems in a rush to leave Iran. The air is dry. It’s the end of September, but the heat belongs to July. I push my valise on the floor, over the remaining pile of yesterday’s newspapers. A few pages are dragged with my suitcase. I stop pushing. I’m too tired. As the sweat runs over my forehead, I remember the exact moment when the three Pasdars raided the house last night. I wipe the sweat and wish I could wipe the tears off my mother’s face as she stood there at the center of the living room with all the eyes set on her. My mother, the woman who knows how to hide behind a serene smile, even when there’s a thunderstorm blowing her mind away>>>