WOMEN

Oh no you did not say that!

I am tired of people speaking on behalf of God

by Azam Nemati
13-Jul-2010 (3 comments)
I am pretty certain that most of you know the Boys of the Republic are at their wits’ end with brave Iranian women fighting for equality so the boys are trying to turn the clock back to Khomeini era. If you are too young to remember or you are a senior citizen but don’t care to know, up until before Khatami’s presidency music was banned, women had to either wear full chador or black scarves and loose back manteaus (long sleeve shirt dress)>>>

POETRY

Dancing Alone
by leora douraghy
13-Jul-2010 (one comment)
Dancing alone in your kitchen
Why do you do it, ma belle?
Why so alone, all alonely?
You move with the music so well.
Up to the sink
Back to the stove
Spoon in the pot, stir, stir >>>

POETRY

وطنم ، دخترم
by JanNessar
13-Jul-2010 (4 comments)
قلب من می دهد گواهی ها
می رود این همه سیاهی ها

می رسد صبح سبز وروشن، باز
می شود روزِ نازنین،آغاز >>>

HUMAN RIGHTS

Why should we care?

Since the June 2009 elections, human rights abuses have taken a different turn

by Fariba Amini
11-Jul-2010 (48 comments)
When we visited the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, D.C., as part of a delegation with spokespersons from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to protest the arrest and illegal imprisonment of an Iranian-Canadian scholar, one of the Iranian officials -- a Khatami supporter -- thanked us for taking on the noble cause of defending political prisoners. As I left the premises, I told him, “God forbid, if you end up in jail one day, we will defend you as well.” He smiled. I smiled too. But I meant it.>>>

DEMAND

Let Sakineh Go Free!

Judge not the rites of the Islamic Republic, whose calendar is still in the 1300s

by Guive Mirfendereski
11-Jul-2010 (17 comments)
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is 43 years old. A prisoner in Tabriz, she has been sentenced to death by lapidation (stoning) for the crime of zena mohassaneh. What the fuck is that, do you ask? Well, as far I can figure out it means that she had sex with a married woman! If that is true, then Mahmood the Motor-Mouth may want to revisit his statement at Columbia University a few years ago as to the absence of homosexuality in the Islamic Republic! But seriously, folks - I do know if zena is good or bad – I suppose that depends on the cuntext! >>>

BAHAIS

شرمندگی با صدای بلند

می‌خواهم با صدای بلند به تمام بهائیان ایران بگویم که بابت آنچه تا به حال برآنها رفته عمیقا متاسفم

by Mahmoud Farjami
11-Jul-2010 (12 comments)
از بهایی‌ها چندان چیزی نمی‌دانم و برخورد زیادی هم با آنها نداشته‌ام. شاید بارزترین آنها مربوط به پژمان باشد. پسری که در کوچه پشتی ما زندگی می‌کرد و بر خلاف اکثر ما مشهدی‌ها لهجه “تهرونی” داشت. قصه‌گوی نمایش بود. بعد از چندی او و چند تا از بچه‌ها از گروه کنار گذاشته شدند و نقش قصه‌گو را به من دادند. حذف پژمان دلیلی نداشت جز آنچه که سال‌ها بعد فهمیدم: پژمان “بهایی” بود>>>

HERITAGE

First Knights

European knights can be traced from little known Iranian cataphracts

by Nabil Rastani
11-Jul-2010 (4 comments)
Cataphracts or cataphracti were a form of very heavy cavalry that served as an elite they also served as an assault force, primarily used for impetuous charges to break through infantry and some forms of light cavalry formations. Some historians refer to them as the first knights because they wore heavy shining amour and were made up of the aristocracy. Iranians used cataphract cavalry for almost 1,200 years from antiquity to medieval era>>>

POETRY

Half and Half

Homeland, The New World & The Conflict

by Sasan Seifikar
11-Jul-2010 (one comment)
There is a dark cloud
Looming over you
Fair weather is out of sight
But I won’t forget you
Not even for a moment >>>

FRIENDS

All Smiles

Obama-Netanyahu meeting: Assessment and implications

by Robert Satloff
08-Jul-2010 (25 comments)
If any issue hovered over the Obama-Netanyahu tete-a-tete, it was the question of prioritization. For Netanyahu, the issue seems clear: as he said at the outset of his public remarks at the White House, "The greatest new threat on the horizon, the single most dominant issue for many of us, is the prospect that Iran would acquire nuclear weapons," and the rest of his comments flowed from that opening statement. These words suggest that Iran is, without doubt, the most important issue for Israeli security, though not necessarily the most urgent; Netanyahu did not imply that decisions on assessing the efficacy of sanctions need to be made very soon, nor that decisions on preventive military action are imminent>>>

18 TIR

The fight continues

They can feel our breath on the backs of their necks

by Reza Mohajerinejad
08-Jul-2010 (8 comments)
This time of year, every year, I remember. On the evening of July 8, 1999, I slept in the dormitories of Tehran University when it was attacked. We woke to the sounds of the Basiji as they screamed at us in the name of a god who was merciless. They beat us to a pulp. The sounds of that night have never faded from my memory. Students were battered, their bones literally broken like branches pulled from a tree. There were shots fired and the sound of breaking glass filled the night air. Students screamed in disbelief and horror as their sense of security was forever shaken>>>

POWER

جدال بر سر دانشگاه آزاد

تنها ارزش مالی این نهاد نیست که دهان طرفداران احمدی‌نژاد را آب انداخته است

by Hossein Bagher Zadeh
08-Jul-2010 (one comment)
کشمکش برسر تصاحب و کنترل دانشگاه آزاد و ارزش افسانه‌ای مایملک آن که طرفداران احمدی‌نژاد آن را ۲۵۰ هزار میلیارد تومان برآورد می‌کنند، در هفته‌های اخیر شدت گرفت و سرانجام با دخالت شخص خامنه‌ای موقتا آرام شد. طرفداران احمدی‌نژاد عزم کرده بودند به هر بهایی شده این دانشگاه را از چنگ هاشمی رفسنجانی و عوامل او بیرون بکشند و در این راه از همه اهرم‌های ممکن کمک گرفتند>>>

FARSI

In Defense of English

Any suggestion that “Farsi” was imported by diaspora Iranians can be dismissed as uninformed

by Ari Siletz
08-Jul-2010 (27 comments)
As far back as January 9 1978 native English speakers used the word “Farsi” to denote the language spoken in Iran. I make this assertion because I contacted the Library of Congress for references to the word “Farsi” in general interest American newspapers prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution. The top image above is of page E10 of the Chicago Tribune dated January 9 1978. The writer says in the column on Iran, “The official language, Farsi, is spoken by only about 60% of the people.”>>>

CAGE

Tehran Zoo

Experimental documentary

by Arash Khakpour, Arash Radkia
07-Jul-2010 (16 comments)
...>>>

SANCTIONS

Going after the Guards

How did so much wealth and power come to IRGC?

by NASSER SHIRAKBARI
07-Jul-2010 (26 comments)
Over the years IRGC expanded its enterprise to other opportunities along the lines of telecommunications, energy, logistics and services, and automobile. They also build dams, bridges, and tunnels underground for railways. Ghorb’s director is IRGC General Rostam Qasemi, and its chief executive is IRGC’s commander and chief, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari. Ghorb’s military projects extend to the Nuclear and Ballistic missile programs. Smuggling contraband of sorts, electrical appliances and gasoline is another>>>

BAHAI

حق حيات

آيندگان كه تاريخ من و تو را مي خوانند چگونه داوري خواهند كرد؟

by Yousefali Ahmadi
07-Jul-2010 (9 comments)
نمي دانم از چه زماني و براي چه موضوعي حكايت هابيل و قابيل بين ما درگرفت و نمي دانم چه كسي تخم فتنه و فساد را بين ما پاشيد كه هر چه كرديم و به طريقي اثبات نمائيم كه برادر هم هستيم و با اتحاد مي توانيم رشد كنيم و با اتفاق مي توانيم بسازيم و آباد نمائيم نشد كه نشد. و تا اين كه تجربه اخراج از ايول به سال 1362 شد باورمان نمي شود ... فقط و فقط يك مطلب را از شما انتظار دارم كه در اين آخرين ايام حيات خويش متوجه شوم كه حق حيات داشتم كه زاده شدم و يا نه؟>>>
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