INDEPENDENCE

Breaking away

What is to be learnt from Kosovo's jubilation and Serbia's humiliation?

24-Feb-2008 (12 comments)

Did anybody write on Iranian.com anything about Kosovo declaring its independence? It probably seemed of little significance. The country that will most probably be internationally accepted soon is indeed of very little relevance, with extremely little chances of appearing in the news any time soon, unless there would be some really serious humanitarian or catastrophic issues. And these things are quite rare for such small countries in Europe. However one thing that IS quite important is the fact that Kosovo created quite a unique precedence. I don't remember the last time when some portion of a country (Serbia in this case) unilaterally declared independence and was taken seriously by the US, the UK, Germany, France, Turkey and some other countries, immediately

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STORY

قصه 24 ساعت خواب و بیداری

قصدم اين است كه بچه هاي هموطن خود را بهتر بشناسي و فكر كني كه چاره ي درد آنها چيست؟

24-Feb-2008 (16 comments)
چند ماهي بود كه پدرم بيكار بود. عاقبت مادرم و خواهرم و برادرهايم را در شهر خودمان گذاشت و دست من را گرفت و آمديم به تهران. چند نفر از آشنايان و همشهري ها قبلا به تهران‌آمده بودند و توانسته بودند كار پيدا كنند. ما هم به هواي آنها آمديم. مثلا يكي از آشنايان دكه ي يخفروشي داشت. يكي ديگر رخت و لباس كهنه خريد و فروش مي كرد. يكي ديگر پرتقال فروش بود. پدر من هم يك چرخ دستي گير آورد و دستفروش شد. پياز و سيب زميني و خيار و اين جور چيزها دوره مي گرداند. يك لقمه نان خودمان مي خورديم و يك لقمه هم مي فرستاديم پيش مادرم. من هم گاهي همراه پدرم دوره مي گشتم و گاهي تنها توي خيابان ها پرسه مي زدم و فقط شب ها پيش پدرم بر مي گشتم. گاهي هم آدامس بسته يك قران يا فال حافظ و اين ها مي فروختم.>>>

OUT OF THE BOX

انديشيدن، بيرون از جعبه!

بيرون جعبه قرار گرفتن نوعی بهم زدن بازی و نپذيرفتن دستورالعمل های هزار بار تکرار شده است

24-Feb-2008 (7 comments)
کسانی که در داخل جعبه فکر می کنند در کشتن ايده های نو مهارت خاصی دارند و ورد زبانشان آن است که «اين ايده تحقق ناپذير است» و يا «اقدام برای تحقق اش مخاطرات زيادی را در بر دارد و به امتحانش نمی ارزد». به عبارت ديگر، آنها در کشتن اشتياق و شور برآمده از نوآوری و بديع و نو انديشيدن تخصص دارند. آنگاه، برناکی، بر زمينهء اين نگاه، به معنای «بيرون جعبه فکر کردن» پرداخته و شرايط انجام آن را چنين ديده بود: آمادگی برای پذيرش نگاه های نو در زندگی روزمره، ذهن باز داشتن نسبت به آنچه متفاوت است، آماده بودن برای انجام کارهای روزمره بصورتی نو، اهميت دادن به ارزش يافتن راه های نو برای حل مسائل، گوش دادن به سخن ديگران بدون پيشداوری، ميدان دادن به ديگران تا نظراتی متفاوت را عرضه کنند و بالاخره آماده بودن برای آزمودن پيشنهادها و ايده های نو>>>

STAR

Kosher meets Halal

Interview with Iranian American actress Shiva Rose

22-Feb-2008 (19 comments)
Shiva Rose Gharibafshar, daughter of Iran’s beloved talk show host, Parviz Gharibafshar with first wife Rose, is a fascinating Iranian American actress once married to Dylan McDermott. Shiva has prevailed as a devoted Mom, a fashion magnate, a die hard political activist (who’s even been arrested twice for anti war protests --once with her baby!) maintains a regular blog on the Huffington Post, and managed to squeeze out a movie recently in only 23 days! The movie, David and Layla, which opened in New York LAST WEEK (Feb. 15th) has already won 6 awards at various film festivals>>>

HUMANITY

One and the same

Do arts and skills belong exclusively to Persians?

22-Feb-2008 (15 comments)
Humanity is one race. As Sa'adi said in his famous poem, people are parts of one body. When one body part is in pain, the other body parts are in agony. The hardworking people in every grouping in our world have the same human needs, aspirations and hopes as others. The Arab people have the same pains and sufferings and hardships as the Iranians, the Jewish people, the Germans, the Turks, the Slavs or the Latins. They all want food, shelter, clothing, peace and prosperity for themselves, their families, their neighbors and their peers>>>

POLITICS

29 Years of Cantankerism

It is clear that Revolutionary forces, must now give in to Evolutionary forces

22-Feb-2008 (32 comments)
You'd think that Iranians who thrive on disagreeing, arguing, and disbelieving anyone trying to make the slightest point (as you will no doubt see in the comments after this piece), would have perfected some sort of logical process to distill it by now. Given the conditions these past 29 years, which have been riper than a honeydew (kharbozeh?) melon in the late-summer Esfahan sun, you'd think that by now, some sort of conclusive voice of the opposition, would have been heard, over all the praying and braying. But even after 29 years it's still eerily silent>>>

POETRY

Friendship
22-Feb-2008 (7 comments)
I look through the misty windows of distance
and I know
you will talk of your loneliness to no one but me
I listen
to the solid walls of time and place falling to pieces
in the air of joint feelings and thoughts >>>

BABA

Religion, God & Spider Man

Is my son Koorosh too young for all this mumbo jumbo?

21-Feb-2008 (29 comments)
Video>>>

IRAN

Islamic Democracy, indeed

Well, what do you expect from an ISLAMIC republic?

21-Feb-2008 (54 comments)
This is not a regime for all Iranians. It doesn't even pretend to be one. But we need to acknowledge its merits too. It is a ystem that works so well. Don't be surprised to find the same old regime in power for decades to come! I won't be surprised. Especially knowing the FACT how irrational, emotional, disunited and weak the opposition is. We all know that the economy is doing poorly, because it is quite simple, the Islamists seem not to be good economists! They also know that having a good economy implies completely opening the doors to American and other democratic powers' investments inside Iran and this might create more sympathy among Iranians for the West, and its DEMOCRATIC values. Human rights record is horrible>>>

FOOD

An(other) Inconvenient Truth

I’m not alone in my belief in happier animals = better meat

21-Feb-2008 (13 comments)
It's time we learnt the truth about all the issues that surround the food we consume. How much do we really know about origins, farming, environmental implications and all the other issues that we cause an impact on, every single time we take a trip to a supermarket. So how well informed are we? Not as much as you would think! Ultimately we only know what the government are pressured into allowing us to know and the odd ‘Expose’ by the media. So how are we to make informed and socially conscious decisions? Well, in essence, we can’t. We are not equipped to make well-informed decisions when it comes to the food we consume as we just don’t have enough knowledge and education on the key issues affecting the global food, farming and agriculture industry>>>

ORGASM

قدرت و شوق

تکنولوژی ارگاسم

21-Feb-2008 (3 comments)
چه ارتباطی میان حقوق زنان و ارگاسم وجود دارد؟ از نظر فیلمساز و فمینیست های کارکشته و موفقی مثل وندی اسلیک و امیکو امری، همه جور ارتباطی! داستان از کتاب "تکنولوژی ارگاسم" نوشته دکترریچل مینز شروع شد . این کتاب به تاریخ اختراع وایبریتورهای الکترو مغناطیسی می پردازد که از دهه 1880 برای درمان هیستری زنان به کار گرفته می شدند. این فیلم مستند Power and Passion در واقع داستان این کتاب را پی می گیرد که تاریخ این اختراع ساده و ارتباط آن با یکی از رفتارهای پیچیده انسان یعنی ارگاسم را بررسی می کند. دکتر مینز مسیر گاه شهوت انگیز و گاه خنده دار زنان "هیستریک" و تلاششان برای آرامش جنسی را از روزهای ریاکاری ویکتوریایی تا امروز نشان می دهد>>>

IRANIAN AMERICANS

Stand up and be counted

Be truly recognized in the American political process

21-Feb-2008 (10 comments)
Along with millions of Americans of Middle Eastern ancestry, the Iranian-Americans feel particularly singled out with the enduring and agonizing deterioration of their civil and constitutional rights, rights violations that have only been exacerbated after September 11 when the U.S. was despicably attacked by a group of fanatical terrorists from abroad. I tend to mainly focus herein on the particular plight of the nearly one million law abiding Americans of Iranian/Persian heritage, who make an annual contribution to the American economy approaching hundreds of billions of dollars and with educational achievements that are at least twice the national average>>>

DAY DREAMING

Walking Along The Caspian
21-Feb-2008 (6 comments)

Meandering Through the Woods
Along The "River" ..
From The Mountains "On" High ..
Valleys Catapulting The Cry Of Wild ..
As The Leopard Growls Through The Forest ..
Assuming The safety of Cover ..
Lions Finding Prey Unabashed ..
The jealousy Of The Weak But "Obvious" ..

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MUSIC

Reng

A piece for fun

20-Feb-2008 (9 comments)
Video>>>

VIEW

Reviving the Iranian revolt

I am proud of what my parents' generation did in 1979

20-Feb-2008 (161 comments)
Twenty nine winters later, the Islamic Republic of Iran is more independent, stable, confident and technologically advanced than ever, while it has remained as the most serious and continuous challenge to the U.S. hegemony in the world. But what can explain the survival of the outcome of such revolt? What will the future look like for Iran, whose most of its young population now have no first-hand experience of that revolt? The rise of the first non-cleric president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, can point to some answers.>>>