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Damn Illegal Aliens

First of all, this damnation only covers head of the family, spouse and children under 18 who live with parents. Children older than 18 years of age may be damned under different damnation policy through college, university or employment. Secondly, Only immediate family is damned. Family members who do not reside in the US are not covered. Proof of residency is required for the damn coverage. One might ask why should we provide such a damn costly coverage for damn aliens? Although this is a naïve question, it deserves a clever response. Let me explain.>>>

برای تولدم

مولود عشقم.

مادرم آبستنِ خجستگی بود و

در زمستانِ رو به بهارِ روزی خوب

مرا به دنیا آورد. >>>

The Fusion Confusion

Ever since I can remember, I always had a taste for the bizarre. Food combinations that pregnant women wouldn’t dare crave. In order to satisfy my bizarre craving, I always need something savoury with a hint of sweet. I start each morning with 2 slices of granary toast, one with Marmite (You either love it or you hate it!) and the other slice with honey. Ultra-sweet honey and uber-salty Marmite, an equal presence of sweet and savoury. Although I don’t have a sweet tooth, I do crave food combinations that contain both sweet and savoury in order to satisfy my cravings. For instance, I think red meat just begs for some kind of acidity to cut through it’s intense meaty flavour. Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome the guest star for this meal… fruit!>>>

Wholesale attack

My predicament: which one of the numerous half-truths and falsehoods packed in the brief speech should I address? Should I remind the audience that Coptic Christians of Egypt practice honor killing just as their Muslim neighbors? Would I have to reiterate the fact that genital mutilation predates both Islam and Christianity and, while not sanctioned by either religion, persists as a vestige of the earlier animistic practices? Would it be better to state that the nemesis of civility, tolerance and human rights is not religion as such, but the "illusion" of a literal reading of the scriptures that creates dangerous fundamentalists in every religion, with lurid dreams and plans of fiery holocausts to usher in the end of the world? >>>

Running out of time

When talking about torture and whether the practice could be morally justified the most common scenario that is offered is the example of the “ticking time bomb.” As the example goes, a number of bombs have been planted in a few populous areas. The authorities have the bomber in custody. They are certain about the facts that the bombs have been planted, the person in custody knows where the locations are, they have limited time before the bombs go off, and there is no possible way to find the locations of the bombs other than torturing him. The question now is whether in such circumstances, where the lives of thousands or (in the case of nuclear bombs) millions of people are in immanent danger torture could be a morally justified method for stopping this catastrophe?>>>

V for Voice

My unselfish and greater wish is to represent the voice of our repressed Iranian people, of the women of Iran who endure human rights abuses that should not even be occuring in this day and age... I would love to use our current production of "The Vagina Monologues" as a springboard for both a show in solidarity with women's and children's rights from you, my community, and as a compassionate vehicle of greater involvement of our Iranian community within the American community at large. This is a fabulous video where Jane Fonda and Eve Ensler, the playwright and women's rights activist extraordinaire, passionately and so eloquently explain our cause >>>

For Abadan

Dear Mr. Mayor of Abadan, read this and do as I tell you. There is no trace of re-construction in Abadan. I went to visit some of my relatives there for a few days, a city with 40-year-old memories for me. The city whose girls were portrayed so beautifully in Aghassi’s songs, and whose boys spent their evenings standing by the palm trees in those girls’ neighborhoods. And now it is a city without a plan, without beauty, without vivacious boys, and full of walls where bullet wounds have not healed yet. But I have decided to return this city’s beauty to it. This city will have to become my country’s most beautiful, warmest, and most exciting city again>>>

Hedayat's last message

While many nations nowadays are desperately searching for their own cultural roots, they tend to consider their cultural icons as ‘pure’ and undivided original. Apart from the fact that seeking cultural purification somewhat has its similarities with the original idea’s of Nazi philosophy and fascist nationalism, it also is quite useless. Whether it is a consequence of the social and economical pressures caused by migration, or a search for meaning and identity, certain nations - and especially weak states that need a new ‘social glue’ to have the support of the people - start this search of original identity >>>

گل بی عیب!

ولی فقیه بحرالعلوم نیز هست , البته در اسلام (به ویژه درتشیع) چیزی که کم نداشته و نداریم بحر العلوم است , اینان در همه ی عرصه های علوم طبیعی (و ماوراء طبیعی و خفیه) و علوم اجتماعی , از فقه و سیاست و اقتصاد و حکمت و نجوم و ریاضیات و طب گرفته تا فرهنگ و انواع و اقسام هنرهای اسلامی و غیر اسلامی متخصص و صاحب نظر , و معلم و راهنما بوده و هستند. حال اگر نظرات , افاضات و فتاوی این بحر العلوم ها با علوم زمانه ی خود , و این زمانی , همخوانی نداشته و ندارد این مشگل علوم است نه عیب و ایراد اسلام و بحر العلوم های اش, چرا که مسلیمن می پندارند اسلام و بحرالعلوم های اش " گل بی عیب" اند و" به ذات خود ندارند عیبی", و اگر عیب و ایرادی هم گرفته می شود یا از نادانی نامسلمان هاست و یا از نامسلمانی ی مسلمان ها! >>>

Shock & awe(ful)

This book does more than describe complex patterns of torture techniques and offer explanations for their distribution. Torture and Democracy is also designed as an accessible and reliable sourcebook for citizens. No one these days is particularly surprised that torture has its supporters even in democracies. Since September 11, 2001, American officials have acknowledged using well-known coercive techniques on prisoners, and some influential Americans have justified torture in certain cases. And since Abu Ghraib, the world has become familiar with iconic images of American torture. Most people, though, don't know about the painful but clean tortures that now characterize so much policing around the world >>>

Room for millions

When I argued about the benefits of having more children, I made it clear that having more children does not automatically benefit the society. It does so as long as the children do not grow up to become criminals and/or free riders. Generally speaking, I may add, more children may make society worse off because parents need to spend more time taking care of their kids and less time on other matters that can help elevate their standard of living. Society does benefit, though, with one caveat: the family must be able to provide for all children adequately>>>

کاسه داغ تر از آش

خواهی نشوی رسوا همرنگ جماعت شو: ما ایرانیان اولین کسانی بودیم که این ضرب المثل را عمل کردیم. این داستان را یک هندی برایم تعریف کرد: بعد از حمله اعراب اولین مهاجران ایرانی به هند رفتند. اول استقبال خوبی دریافت نکردند. یک گروه برای مذاکره پیش هندیان رفتند. گفتند ما با صلح و دوستی آمدهیم. هندیها گفتند تعداد زیاد و تفاوت فرهنگی شما جامعه ما را متزلزل خواهد کرد. رهبر ایرانیان یک قند را در چائی انداخت و گفت ما مثل این قند در جامعه شما حل میشویم. >>>

The Spider Killings (4)

-- "Akh ! Ajab heyvoun-haayee hasstan, what animals they are!" Azadeh murmured as she looked at her bloody lower lip in the small mirror hanging on the wall of the interrogation room. Why did they have to slap her on the mouth like that? For what? That old pervert who had tripped her on purpose so she would fall on her ass? He deserved to be told off, even if he was the bloody chief of police. Oh, how he had ogled her body: Like a hungry dog before a juicy cut of meat! She smiled as she remembered his shocked look when she had asked him if he wanted to take her picture.
>>>

غیاب

Neither the best, nor the brightest

It must have been Harry S. Truman, the plainest amongst our plain presidents, who scared us all into having idiots running our government by saying: “Whenever you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.” Of course, he failed to acknowledge the possibility that we could have the worst of both worlds: inefficient government and dictatorship. And at this moment, we seem to be marching in step to get there soon. Are our nation’s best and brightest so repulsed by the bureaucracy in the public sector that decidedly prefer to take up arms running the predatory wing of the private sector?>>>