TRAVELER

Berlin

The making of a capital city

by Keyvan Tabari
17-Apr-2011
You go to Berlin for Berlin. This was especially true during the Cold War. My brother had the required permit to fly his plane there through the air corridor from West Germany but, nonetheless, was chased by Russian Migs and forced to land in the Berlin airport designated by them. Such restrictions isolated Berlin. It was an island in the forbidden surroundings of East Germany. Even now it is a destination preferably to be reached without distraction by other “uninteresting” sites on the road. But Berlin is not without detractors>>>

ANALYSIS

Desperate measure for desperate times

Subsidy reforms is like pouring castor oil down people's throat

by NASSER SHIRAKBARI
17-Apr-2011 (11 comments)
Subsidy reform is supposed to eliminate the present economic distortion due to price differential between domestic consumption and market value. It is to increase export to generate higher revenue, and redistribute revenues to the people and expand the economy. In reality no one knows how this is going to pan out. If it does achieve the expected goals, we will see a new Iran economically, and hopefully politically, as well>>>

SEX

سکس و انقلاب ۲

بگذار جوانان کمی سکس داشته باشند و بجای اینکه حکومت را تخلیه کنند، خود را تخلیه کنند

by AliAlavi
17-Apr-2011 (9 comments)
ایران اکنون یکی از بی بند وبار ترین و یا تجربه گراترین کشورهای جهان در امر سکس است. در هیچ کجای کشورهای آمریکای شمالی و یا اروپا شما نمی‌توانید به راحتی ایران (در همه شهرها) یکشب پر از سکس را داشته باشید. ناتوانی مدیران حکومتی و یا همان جوانان و نوجوانان روستایی سابق در گرداندن جامعه، ایجاد شغل، مسکن مناسب، حمل و نقل عمومی، وسایل سرگرمی رسانه ای و یا عمومی باعث شده که آنان جوانان را در این عرصه کمی رها کنند>>>

YADNAMEH

A Friend Remembers

Ehsan Yarshater on the late Nosratollah Amini

by Fariba Amini
17-Apr-2011 (10 comments)
I became acquainted with Mr. Amini through a common friend, Dr. Mahmoud Sana’i, Professor of psychology at the University of Tehran. Sana’i was from Arak, the same city that Amini came from, and they were close friends. He introduced me to Amini and I became fascinated by his personality. He had a keen sense of humor, but what initially attracted me most was the amount of poetry that he could recite from memory and the effective way he recited them. Acquaintance led to friendship and to a deep admiration of his many qualities>>>

BOOK

Let Us Water the Flowers

The Memoir of a Political Prisoner in Iran

by Jafar Yaghoobi
17-Apr-2011 (one comment)
It was late afternoon when a guard took me out of the cell and put me in a small line of prisoners. It was terrifying not to know what might happen next. In my heart and mind, I said good-bye to my loved ones. I truly thought it was the end of the road for us right then and there, given that after a long session of questioning we were lined up toward the amphitheater. The guards ordered everyone to grab the shirt of the person in front of him, then led the line forward>>>

STORY

The Beggar

I had wanted him to see that an Iranian was looking at him as a fellow Iranian

by siamak vossoughi
17-Apr-2011 (2 comments)
He was Iranian and I knew about being Iranian in America but I did not know about being an Iranian beggar in America. I didn't know if we could speak about something shared or not. It was lousy not to know for sure if we could. The whole business of loneliness seemed to be moving towards the moment of meeting someone who knew about loneliness, but he seemed to have a vast loneliness in him, as big as the distance between the two countries and as locked away as the night>>>

POETRY

اروتیک 3
by Alef Mahan
17-Apr-2011
حجاریهای عشق
روی دیوارهای معبد
قرنهاست مشغولند
جاودانگی یك دم >>>

ISLAM

مسلمان‌ستیزی و مسلمان‌نوازی

آیا برای حفظ مسلمانان از مورد حمله واقع شدن باید اینطور نمایاند که سنت‌ها قابل بزرگداشت است؟

by nilofar-shidmehr
15-Apr-2011 (5 comments)
"مسلمان ستیزی (مسلمان هراسی)" و "فرهنگِ مسلمانان نوازی" هر دو جریان‌های هویت سازند. جریان اول سعی دارد افرادی را که در کشورهای خاصی می‌زیند یا اقوامشان در این کشورها می‌زیسته‌اند مسلمان جا بزند و همه‌ی مسلمانان را افراطی (بنیاد گرای) مذهبی و یا تروریست بنمایاند. جریان دوم همان آدمها را مسلمان خوانده و سعی دارد بنمایاند که فرهنگ جوامع اینها را می‌شود به فرهنگهای مسلمانان کاهش داد و چنین فرهنگهایی همیشه منزه و والا بوده و جای تجلیل و تکریم دارند>>>

HEJAB

آیا حجاب باید ممنوع شود؟

تحلیلی از حجاب و جایگاه آن

by Azar Majedi
15-Apr-2011 (60 comments)
بنظر من دفاع مطلق از پوشش حجاب، یعنی در هر شکل و فرم آن و در هر شرایطی، بعنوان دفاع از آزادیهای فردی یا آزادی پوشش کاملا اشتباه و گمراه کننده است. چنین استدلالی حقوق دیگر برسمیت شناخته شده در جامعه، حقوقی اگر نه مهم تر به همان اندازه مهم را تحت الشعاع قرار می دهد. دفاع بی قید و شرط و مطلق از پوشش حجاب با حقوق دیگر در تناقض قرار می گیرد؛ بطور نمونه، حقوق کودک، حقوق زنان، حق جامعه و اصل سکولاریسم>>>

STORY

Pork Eaters (2)

That first day in London, the two Iranians turned me over to the schoolma’am

by Ari Siletz
15-Apr-2011 (4 comments)
On the drive to my school it was a surprise to see that the car had its steering wheel on the wrong side. We were driving on the opposite side of the road! But since all the other cars did it wrong too, thankfully everything worked out. Still, the direction of traffic felt odd, reminding me of what various uncles and cousins had said many times: the English are a crafty lot. There is always method to their madness and madness to their methods and they never let you know which is which>>>

STORY

A Prophet Passed by Our House

Two short stories

by Erfan Nazarahari
15-Apr-2011 (2 comments)
A prophet passed by our house. Suddenly, a thousand love birds grew out from the small tree in the garden and sang us a thousand songs they had hidden in their small throats. Then we remembered that we are actually related to the tree and the birds. A prophet passed by our house. We had a thousand locked doors and a thousand keyless locks. He brought us a key. But just as we called his name, all the locks opened without the key>>>

POETRY

رسوا
by Mahmoud Seraji
15-Apr-2011 (8 comments)
خاک سر کویت را مستانه بسر ریزم
رازی که خدا داند از بنده چه پرهیزم؟

از پرده برون افتد این راز نهان آخر
از سایه خود تا کی وحشت زده بگریزم؟ >>>

POETRY

Porcelain
by jamh
15-Apr-2011 (5 comments)
On my way back home,
ignoring the palmate pink
underneath the green,
I carelessly stepped
on the most intricate leaf
I had ever seen
>>>

HEJAB

Can't Wear That

Telling Muslim Women what not to wear

by Kari Ansari
13-Apr-2011 (42 comments)
A small minority of Muslim women in certain parts of the world wear what is known as the abaya (black cloak) and the niqab (face veil). It is known as a burqa in South and Central Asia and seen most often as the blue full-body veil worn by Afghan women. This form of covering is the manifestation of the strictest interpretation of modesty in Islam. Women who choose this practice consider themselves seriously observant Muslims and believe this form of dress allows them to move about the outside world while protecting their dignity>>>

MOJAHEDIN

Time to Leave

Where will Camp Ashraf residents go?

by Reza Mohajerinejad
13-Apr-2011 (6 comments)
In a film posted on You Tube, I watched the images of more than 30 victims of the April 8, 2011, attack by the Iraqi government. The faces of the dead, the moment just before death swept in, took them by surprise, were forever captured in a frozen gaze and recorded for the world to see, The bodies of the victims were lined up on the ground. Each seemed to be placed on a stretcher of some sort, covered in white sheets, red flowers placed across their bodies. In truth, I must admit that the faces of the dead were beautiful and tragic all at once>>>
« first‹ previous…373839404142434445…next ›last »