SAKINEH
Upon hearing Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani being sentenced to execution by stoning
Every day, early in the morning
My father, who in his childhood
Had memorized all thirty parts of the Koran,
Would put the holy book on the reading cradle
And recite it with my mother
In their bedroom
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PAHLAVIS
Mosadegh was definitely a patriotic but his abilities were in doubt
The story of CIA coup against Prime Minister Mosadegh, other than imaginative skills of Kermit Roosevelt and Don Wilber, apparently had some roots in realities of some events that probably were organized by these characters to take advantage of them in future and possibly making some fortune from the oil companies that would benefit from the change of direction regarding oil in Iranian government policies. Kermit Roosevelt's background in OSS (Office of Strategic Services) where he worked as an officer in Middle East during WW II had provided him with an opportunity to become familiar with the history and politics of the region
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POINT
Those who support an Israeli attack on Iran are indistinguishable from Israel's worst enemies
by MJ Rosenberg
Few of the major proponents of bombing Iran are arguing that it is necessary for US security -- let alone that a bloody blowback against Americans is a risk worth taking. No, at this point, the argument is all about Israel and the threat an Iranian nuclear weapon might pose to it. That is why virtually all the personalities and organizations agitating for war are strongly identified with the Israeli right. And that is ironic. Imagine the Republic of Georgia deciding that the best way to defend against Russia is by bombing Moscow and then seeing what happens next
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VIEW
UK must not lend the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran
A Thai woman boarding a flight at Bangkok's airport is caught with a sedated tiger cub in her luggage. Stuffed in a bag with, er, cuddly tiger toys, this tiger was revealed by the X-ray machine to have a beating heart. The woman’s identity is not being revealed as police quiz her about her final destination which, of course, had to be Iran, the most bonkers country on earth. Why was a 31-year-old Thai woman smuggling a tiger into Iran?
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STORY
The world of humans can not sustain such perfection
The desert Jinn were a nuisance. The big one I had just shooed was sulkily lumbering away over the horizon into the sun. Now a tiny inquisitive one scurried up the rocks to watch me tune my
zehtar. Like a dog begging at the table, it waited attentively eager to gulp any discarded scraps of tone. Soon I felt two others sneak up to join it. Their polite stealth made no difference. Visible or not, their nosey presence distracted me from my daily practice
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POETRY
می دیدم
چشمه سار، اقاقیای سرمست
کوچه های همهمه، شفاف، قرمز
بر روی پرهای بی شِکِوه
شُکوه شاخک ها
و تصویر زنی
بر برکه – آغشته به حس
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VIEW
Countering anti-Iranian propaganda
In 1970's, when I had just come to the US during Shah's time, American people were much friendlier towards Iranians. They sometimes confused us with Arabs and I had a hard time explaining to them that I had only seen camels in a zoo, but generally they liked Iranians. But in the US nowadays things are a little different due to so much propaganda against Iran. So I thought I should get these short facts out there at least to counter some of the negative propaganda, generally propagated by Israeli-influenced media
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VIEW
The question is not whether to appease Iran or not -- but whether Iran is appeasable
by Tony Blankley
Neoconservatives, Reaganites and other militarily assertive factions in the United States are sometimes accused of thinking it is always 1938 (Britain's appeasement of Hitler at Munich) -- that there is always a Hitler-like aggressor being appeased and about to drag the world into conflict. There is sometimes merit in that charge.
Knowledge of history can be as much a snare as a guide -- if it is wrapped in a dogma that distorts the current facts to match the preferred historic lesson
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PRISONER
Activist Shiva Nazar-Ahari remains in prison
by Kalameh
Shiva Nazar-Ahari’s family is gravely concerned about the fact that her court date has not yet been scheduled despite the fact that she has been in temporary detention for nearly a year. Shiva is a journalist, human rights defender and women’s rights activist. A court hearing had been scheduled in June but was postponed for unknown reasons. Shiva is currently being held in the women’s ward at Evin prison. This member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters has spent over 100 days in solitary confinement
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POETRY
by Shadi Angelina Bazeghi
I have come to measure the speed
of my lost lover's madness.
-Remember him so much
that I am forgotten
Remember him so much, Ophelia,
that the rest have become a myth.
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INDIA
Visiting Indian villages which seemed to promise the future entrepreneurs
To understand India you have to see its villages! This dictum is often repeated to signify the hold of tradition on Indian society. Surprisingly, I found signs of entrepreneurship in the few villages of central India I visited which seemed to promise the future. These were all the more impressive as the past was still stubbornly strong in the mix of religion and history that was the mainstay of the folklore of these villages. This was the scene of the struggle between individual vitality and the inertia of group comfort
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ALARMING
در مورد اعدامهای مخفیانه اخیر در زندان وکیل آباد مشهد چه میتوان گفت؟
موج اعدام باز در ایران بالا گرفته است. در چند سال اخیر آمار اعدامها مرتبا رو به افزایش بوده و موارد متعددی از اعدامهای گروهی گزارش شده است. اکنون خبر میرسد که خصوصیت «مخفیانه» نیز به این اعدامها اضافه شده است. تعداد کسانی که در زندانهای جمهوری اسلامی در خطر مرگ به سر میبرند عددی چند هزار نفره را تشکیل میدهد. جمهوری اسلامی ظاهرا عطش سیریناپذیری برای کشتن دارد و در برابر اعتراضات جامعه جهانی راههای تازه-ای برای ادامه کشتار خود پیدا کرده است: قتل مخفی و گروهی
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POINT
This story is anything but finished
by pedestrian
These days, when I talk to my friends in Iran, hardly anyone, even the most politically active, talks about politics anymore. I’m certainly not claiming that my friends are a representative of the entire Iranian population – they certainly are not. But it was at first somehow disappointing to hear them disregard the latest political news the way they did. When just months ago, they were the ones filling me in on things I might have missed. Now, even when I bring up things like “did you read Mousavi’s latest letter?” or “did you hear about so and so’s outrageous prison sentence?” They are quick to change the subject
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VIEW
A history full of fear of awareness
by Roozbeh Mirebrahimi
From the most religious layers of the society to the most secular ones consider themselves part of the Green Movement despite their different perspectives. In other words, it is the Green Movement that has defined itself so widely. But it does have a significant difference with the 1979 revolution. While in the 1979 revolution to be anti-monarchy was the point of agreement of many different and even opposing groups, in the Green Movement to be against the Islamic Republic is not the point of convergence for all active forces
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