War by any other name

This week may be looked back on as the pivotal moment when war with Iran entered the mainstream of political thought in the Obama era. At a time when Iranians are standing up to an Iranian government that has been deprived of the Bush-era shadow of war, that shadow is again emerging. "Bomb Bomb Iran" may be finally crossing over to the pop charts. While Iran war rhetoric is nothing new in Washington, for the first time it has been given a vehicle>>>

سکس و علی شریعتی

علی شریعتی در بسیاری از نوشته و سخنرانی‌هایش انسان را پدیده‌ای دوگانه معرفی می‌كند كه از دو بخش كاملا نامتجانس و متضاد ساخته شده است. در دیدگاه فلسفی شریعتی، بخشی از شخصیت انسان از لجن، گل بدبو و حماء مسنون ساخته شده است كه بخش شیطانی، دنی، این دنیایی، حقیر، كثیف، لجن، حیوانی و دچار روزمرگی اوست>>>

Haft Shin

My new year shall begin
with everything sweet:
Shekar, symbol of power and wealth,
Sharab, to celebrate this wonderful year,
Sharbat, for our youth and their health,
Sher e Shahname, to keep near
the stories that are our own,
>>>

خانم معلم 7

آخرین پنجشنبه ماه دی بود. همچنین فردا آخرین روز دی ماه بود و این ماه سرد می رفت که پایان گیرد. ربع ساعتی بود که سولماز از خواب بیدار شده اما همچنان در بستر داراز کشیده و حوصله برخواستن نداشت. ساعت یک بعد از ظهر بود. آن روز بمناسبت یک جشن مذهبی در سراسر ایران تعطیل رسمی بود. روزهای تعطیل به سولماز فرصتی می دادند برای استراحت و خوابیدن تا دیر وقت>>>

Rituals of Resistance

The Islamic Republic’s deepening fear of the people since mid-2009 is a plausible explanation for its animosity towards the joys of Chahārshanbe-Sūri. But if the first nowrooz since the election has provoked this stringent campaign, the suspicion of puritan Islamists towards any public expression of human pleasure has been evident since the foundation of the regime in 1979. Any occasion of festivity and spontaneous life - informal gatherings at street-corners, concerts and sporting contests, student parties and even bustling shopping-malls - is regarded by Islamist zealots with profound disdain>>>

امپراتور عریان می‌شود

احمدی‌نژاد تنها با استظهار به حمایت خامنه‌ای توانست بر صندلی ریاست جمهوری اسلامی ایران تکیه بزند، و مردم رأی دهنده نیز به درستی شناختند که چه کسی مسئول پایمال کردن رأی آنان بوده است. اکنون نیز که احمدی‌نژاد در برابر بحران عظیم اقتصادی ایران مستأصل شده است و از پس مخالفت مجلسیان نیز نمی‌تواند برآید تنها ولی فقیه است که می‌تواند به کمکش آید و او را از مخمصه نجات دهد>>>

Generation V

In my late 30s I feel very old or old-fashioned at best. I remember my mom’s words when I was a teenager and she was giving me grown-up advice. Once she asked me if I knew why crows lived 300 years? I replied with a half-open mouth and popped-up eyes, “they live 300 years?” She said, “yes, and it’s because no-one has ever seen them mating in public." My mom’s mystical approach to sexuality not only stayed with me but it evolved as I did>>>

Loose screw

I lit the cigarette and watched the full moon descending over the city. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mohsen and his last love. That woman. There was something haunting in her voice, and that’s why I was tempted to believe her, a woman who claimed to be loved by the only man who had ever loved me. However every time she called, I just stood there like a fool, unable to say a word or to deny her story. And even if it was all true, why did she need to call me?>>>

A Soldier

Not a sacred warrior,
Nor with a bayonet blessed by God.
Not even a human being,
Just a simple peasant, a surrogate,
A sacrificial lamb, a frightened child,
Chosen by the rich to be an instrument of war>>>

بیستون

عشق تو شد در دل فرهاد خون
تا که بنا‌ گشت از آن بیستون

تیشه فرهاد به دست تو بود
کز دل خارا همه بر خواست دود
>>>

That's not the spirit

Last week, Congress took the unprecedented step to recognize the Iranian New Year, Norooz. The House passed resolution H.Res.267, sponsored by Congressman Mike Honda (Democrat-California) and wished the Iranian-American community, as well as the Iranian people, a happy New Year. The resolution was as uncontroversial as could be - just a sign of America's humanity. Oddly enough though, two lawmakers from Florida, Congressmen Jeff Miller (Republican-Florida) and Bill Posey (Republican-Florida), chose to vote against it, effectively stating that they don't wish 300 million Norooz celebrators worldwide a happy new year>>>

A prayer for hope

In the early hours of Saturday, I set our Nowruz spread. I grew up in a household of ceremonies and rituals. Everything was a BIG deal to my parents, worthy of time, attention, and love. Of all the ceremonies celebrated in my childhood, however, nothing was as big as Nowruz. Weeks of preparations and cleaning chores and shopping delivered my family into the moments the year changed, the biggest deal of the year. I left my parents' home when I was 18. Whatever I learned there has obviously made a serious impact on me! >>>