LANGUAGE
I am embarrassed that I can’t speak Persian
by Leyla
Everyone on my dad’s side of the family speaks Persian. At family reunions they all jabber like exotic birds, their hands spinning and twirling for emphasis. Every so often I catch a word that I know, or my name, and I try hard to make out what’s going on, but I never can. So I just sit there, pretending I’m having fun, and waiting for someone to translate for me. Besides my mom, I am the only one who doesn’t understand. You would think having someone like me would make me feel better, but it doesn’t
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STORY
The old Owl was sitting at the edge of the world and watching life—the passage of life and its trail, that is. He saw men who became attached to the worldly things such as bricks, doors and walls. The Owl knew, however, that bricks fall apart and doors break and pillars don’t last long. He had seen so many broken crowns in the midst of ruins of this world and always sang songs to remind men that this world is temporary; He sang loud so men can hear but they didn’t care
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POETRY
تلنگری بر آسمان ميزنم
صدای قلبم را در کوچه ای قدیمی می شنوم
ابری بر درختی تكيه ميزند
پرنده ای بال می گشاید بر روی لحظه
آسمان - آسمان می ماند
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PAHLAVI
امروز هیچ ایرانی دلسوز, خوش نام و ریشه داری مایل نیست با رضا پهلوی کاری داشته باشد
by Azadeh
پس از بیش از سی سال در بدری, ما بالاخره باید وضع خودرا با رضا پهلوی روشن کنیم و رضا پهلوی هم وضع خودش را با ما! اگر ایشان نوه رضا شاه بزرگ و فرزند محمد رضا شاه پهلوی میباشند, پس در اینصورت وارث تاج و تخت ایران و پادشاه قانونی ایران هستند. اگر ما هنوز به ایشان احترام میگذاریم فقط و فقط بخاطر نام و مقام ایشان است. اگر ایشان از خاندان آن دو بزرگ مرد تاریخ نبودند, فقط یک شهروند معمولی دیگر ایرانی میشدند
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VIEW
The human cost of occupation
The fact is that the U.S. armed forces and the “coalition of the willing” by occupying a foreign country and raising the level of their exposure have made the forces a natural and easy target for the resistance forces who know the topography of their country like the back of their hands. Also it is public knowledge, at least in the rest of the world that the European members of NATO already have decided to withdraw their armed forces from Afghanistan for good
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REZAIAN
"I'm Iranian by birth and American by choice, and I'm proud of both."
by Ali Reza Eshraghi & Omid Memarian
Climbing up Powell St. in downtown San Francisco and turning left onto Sutter, a big shop used to capture your attention with a the wise Jedi master Yoda on its display window, glaring at you as if inviting you in. This was Taghi Rezaian’s last carpet store; departed Taghi Rezaian. In contrast to the simple exterior of the shop, inside was an elegant combination of furor and flurry. Hundreds of colourful rugs with different designs and patterns, fine and coarse textures
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STORY
It was as though if he ate pork, the last bit of Iranian in him would disappear
I could not make sense of what the schoolma’am was saying, but watching her smiling red cheeks and hearing her motherly inflections, her impression of me seemed favorable. Finally I picked out the word “Mrs.” Which I knew indicated a married woman in English. How Mrs. Cherret went on and on. It seemed she was determined to teach me English by saying right there and then everything it was possible to say. The method worked, however. A few minutes after she began her barrage of gibberish, my textbook views on English vowels were radically altered
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POETRY
برای بیژن پاکزاد و شوقهای کوچکی که برای ساکنان غربت آفرید
مرگ ایستاده
با کت و شلواری ساده
با دکمه های آهنین
و گاه با عصای طلایی
و با چشمانی که خیره می نگرد
به تک ، تک ما
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TRAVELER
Photo essay: The return of Europe's prime city
by
Keyvan Tabari >>>
ANALYSIS
Subsidy reforms is like pouring castor oil down people's throat
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
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SEX
بگذار جوانان کمی سکس داشته باشند و بجای اینکه حکومت را تخلیه کنند، خود را تخلیه کنند
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
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YADNAMEH
Ehsan Yarshater on the late Nosratollah Amini
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
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BOOK
The Memoir of a Political Prisoner in Iran
by Jafar Yaghoobi
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
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