Date

STRUGGLE

Voices of Bravery

Student movement remains vibrant despite pressure

21-Sep-2010 (5 comments)
Life for students in Iran has not been easy, especially those who seek justice or demand more freedom. Yet some of Iran’s best and brightest come out of Iranian universities and are sought after by American universities. Many have had to leave their homeland to seek more freedom, opportunities or take refuge in exile from harassment and imprisonment. Iran’s brave students continue to resist despite being targeted by IRI officials. They are once again holding the banner of the struggle for democracy, freedom, civil rights and the rule of law whether in prison or outside>>>

VIEW

America's World

What exactly can we expect in the way of consequences for America's engagements and interests in the world?

21-Sep-2010 (2 comments)
The all-in melee that is now American politics makes forecasting impossible. It can yield anything -- the bizarre is the new norm. Who or what will rise to the top after all this crazed flailing about is a matter of pure guesswork. For we have become an incoherent polity. Yet, in the midst of all this commotion, the tracks of the nation's foreign policy are readily discernible. There most certainly will be more of the same -- "more" in both senses. There are three reasons for this>>>

IDEAS

هویت و مدرنیت

در پاسخ به اقتراح اکبر گنجی در مورد مفهوم هویت در ایران

21-Sep-2010 (9 comments)
تاریخچه اخیر گفتگو در باره هویت از "غربزدگی" آل احمد آغاز می شود و با "بازگشت به خویش" دکتر علی شریعتی ادامه می یابد. سخن در نیمه دوم قرن بیستم اینست که نمی توان هویت ایرانی را از هویت اسلامی ایرانیان مستغنی دانست. بویژه در حضور رقیبی متهاجم چون استعمار فرهنگی غرب. این گفنار در مقاله "سه فرهنگ" دکتر عبدالکریم سروش دامنه وسیعتری می یابد. سخن او اینست که هویت ایرانی، هویت اسلامی، و هویت غربی در این سرزمین با یکدیگر عجین و ممزوجند>>>

AMERICA

Some Larger Sadness

"If there is a war, I hope that your son will not have to go."

21-Sep-2010
The father went to the librarian. She was beautiful. She did not look like there would be a war either, but he already knew that the president of a country and a librarian there could be very far apart. "Hello," he said. "I am looking for information about conscientious objector status. It is for my son." The librarian looked at the father and she thought that it was a big world. It was a much bigger world than she knew>>>

POETRY

مسجد محله
21-Sep-2010
بانگ گوی نماز
فراش خنده رو و خپلی بود
با ریش و مو و دست و پای حنا بسته
که شَست بزرگ پای راستش
همیشه از کفش پاره اش بیرون زده بود >>>

POETRY

The Neighborhood Mosque
21-Sep-2010 (one comment)
In our neighborhood
There was a tiny mosque
Which had a dome, but no minarets,
And as a child I thought
That Ali had been stabbed there >>>