Archive - Apr 2010 - Article

A trip to Italy

I woke up in the middle of the night by the slow sound of his purring. He was in my bed and I hardly knew him. Only for a few days. His chestnut hair and blonde beard were highlighted in the semi-dark room and the light hair on his massive chest was a little shiny, reflecting the light coming from the lampposts in the street. We were in a hotel in Venice and he was actually a total stranger. He introduced himself as Steve and he was American. That was all I knew about him>>>

Weapons of Mass Consumption

Mollahs of the Coca Cola Caliphate, accustomed to the gloriously holy burp offered by the Aba-brown beverage, after a sinfully satisfying CK (Chelo-Kabab), would certainly have to agree that "Coca-Cola ... Makes Good Things Taste Better." And lest we forget the Protesters, who reminded of yet one more reason for freedom, would most certainly agree that Coca Cola is "For People On The Go!" All of this then, begs the question, why of all the wonderfully consumable pure joy inducing American products, is Coca Cola still being sold in Iran?>>>

Complete without men

Women, given enough time, get to a point where they realize they are complete even without men. On Friday night I went to see the LA premier of Women without Men by Shireen Neshat. The treat was that she was there with us, and at the end of the film took some questions from the audience. A diminutive and soft spoken woman, Shireen Neshat is incredibly articulate and unmistakably passionate about her beliefs, her art and her cause. Her art resonates as globally well as it does because it is a representation of what she firmly believes and has a burning desire to share with the world>>>

حاج خانوم

آمد آهسته نشست روی صندلی، پشت میزی که توی آشپز خانه است. نفس عمیقی کشید و خدا را شکر کرد. با نگاهی آمیخته به کمی تمسخر،هر چند برای لحظه ای کوتاه، به او نگاه کردم. پیش خود سؤال کردم که "برای چه از خدا تشکر میکنه؟" پشت خمیده؟ نفسی که به سختی بالا میاد؟ توی این سن کار کردن و خونه ای نداشتن؟ ولی زود به خودم گفتم که، "ولش کن، بذار با خدای خودش حرف میزنه، به تو چه؟" >>>

نگران تاریکیها

من و تو
مثل دو ستاره ایم
شب را بر نمی تابیم
از تاریکی روشن میگذریم
در سیاهی گوشه ای را پنهان نکرده ایم >>>

Dual Loyalty?

Politico's Laura Rozen ran a story citing an anonymous U.S. government source who suggested that Ambassador Dennis Ross, senior director for the Central Region at the National Security Council, "seems to be far more sensitive to Netanyahu's coalition politics than to U.S. interests." Five days later, Stephen M. Walt, coauthor of the 2007 book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy weighed in with his ForeignPolicy.com, "On 'Dual Loyalty'," which called for all employees of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy to be barred from policymaking positions in the U.S. government>>>

راههای طی شده (2)

منظور از آته ایسم محض آن گونه آته ایسمی است که جز انکار خدا و دین سخن و رسالت دیگری ندارد. اینگونه آته ایسم در تقابل با فلسفه های دیگری است که بخشی از چارچوب مفهومی شان انکار خداست ولی دلمشغولی اصلی شان این نیست. روی سخن ما در این فرصت اما با آته ایسم محض است چرا که آته ایستهای وطنی امروز اغلب از این گروه اند، و الهام بخشان غربی شان نیز>>>

More credit than they deserve

As I began reading this book in March 2010, I learned of the imprisonment of Jafar Panahi, a New-Wave Iranian filmmaker, along with several friends and members of his family. This made the subject matter of the book highly topical and quite relevant to today's political struggles in Iran. Further evidence of this topicality is the fact that Iranian government ministers have lost their posts or were impeached because of films. We learn from this book about two important genres of Iranian cinema: art films (made for the educated elite and film festivals), and social films>>>

Collateral Damage

Another batch of dead bodies, That few seem to recognize, Nor even care about.
Unless, Of course, The corpse,
Had been blessed,
By having been,
Made in America,
The land of,
A superior race >>>

خانم معلم ( پایان )

غروب یک روز بهاری از آخرین روزهای بهار سال هزار و سیصد و هشتاد و شش بود . گورستان شهر اهواز خلوت و ساکت بود. قبرهایی که افراد آرمیده درون آنها در آن هنگام از یک روز وسط هفته از میان زندگان ملاقات کننده داشتند بسیار کم بودند. در آن سکوت و آرامش کسی از میان قبرها می گذشت و با گام های آرام پیش می رفت. او بدیدار کسی آمده بود که می دانست جز در این گورستان جای دیگری نخواهد یافتش>>>

Ferdosi's Murder Mystery

...>>>

Moved by Malays

Upon entering Malaysia one would realize that the country is on the move. The infrastructure is first class and new developments are seen in all corners of the cities. The people are friendly and can communicate well in English. The ethnic mix in the country consist of 63% Malay, 24% Chinese, and 7% Indian. They all seem to get a long and be in line with the government policies to grow businesses and bring in more capital. The population appears to follow the “Separate but equal” concept, as one would notice the ethnic division in the country. It appears that the Chinese population runs most businesses and Indians are also taking parts in some areas such as finance and engineering>>>

دَوَران رو به زوال رژیم

حکومت‌های ایدئولوژیک و تمام‌خواه اصولا دشمن‌تراشند. این حکومت‌ها برای توجیه موجودیت خود و سیاست انحصارطلبانه‌ای که در پیش می‌گیرند بهترین راه را در این می‌بینند که دشمن‌های واقعی یا فرضی را ردیف کنند و از آن به عنوان وسیله‌ای برای سرکوب مخالفان سیاسی خود از یک سو، و بسیج نیروهای هوادار خویش از سوی دیگر، کمک بگیرند. هیچ وسیله‌ای بهتر از یک جنگ خارجی برای سرپوش گذاشتن به اختلافات درونی، سرکوب مخالفان داخلی، و جلب حمایت مردم از حکومت، به کار نمی‌آید>>>

Census Wrap Up

See you in 10 years! This census is done! All but a gleam in the eye of the 30+ community groups (see list below) that were involved in promoting it. Once the tallies have been made and the final numbers are out, the biggest surprise won't be that for once a decent total number of Iranians living in the US will have been counted, but that the community groups managed to put aside their own endeavors and pull together to push through the biggest coordinated community mobilization effort in the short history of Iranian-American community groups in the US>>>

Struggle fought in hearts

Whatever happens in the show-trial of seven Bahai leaders in Iran, the larger issue is the fate of the Iranian people. The question is: What kind of nation does Iran aspire to become? Will it remain a repressive society unable to overcome the effects of religious bigotry? Or will it live up to the ideals not only of international human rights but also Islamic standards of justice? Bahais have the greatest respect for all religions>>>