Op-Ed

Who lies the most?

Just a few days ago I was just thinking about the current electoral process that is undergoing in the US, and comparing it to Iran. I was comparing Americans to Iranians. America is the oldest ongoing (continuous)democracy (Britain is a 'democratic' Monarchy if we may say so) and they are some of the most prepared peoples in democratic affairs. But it is so amazing that the average American voter (that means the vast majority) is not much different an idiot than the average Iranian voter. While the Iranian voter votes for an Islamist hypocrite who pretty much says nothing while lying about the most basic realities of the world, the American voter votes for a Christian who is just a bit more careful in his lies (because of the continuous harsh scrutiny by opposing media channels), though still pretty much saying nothing!>>>

War & peace

Yassamine Mather of Hands Off the People of Iran faced pro-war journalist Nick Cohen of The Observer in one of the regular studio talks organised by London’s Soho Theatre. Introducing Cohen to a packed audience, the chair, Martin Woollacott (ex-Guardian foreign correspondent), called him a “brave” but “lonely” voice on the left. A man who has doggedly stuck to his pro-interventionist stance despite the nightmare that has unfolded in Iraq. Indeed, as Woollecott correctly added, Cohen clearly thought the best form of defence was attack and had expanded his position into a general critique of the “western left’s sloppy softness - and even romanticisation - of fundamentalism”. >>>

The hell with Valentine's Day

I believe in all seriousness that Valentine’s Day is a complete and utter sham masquerading as the alpha and omega of lovers' days. Rather than a day of heart-fluttering and butterflies, for many it is one of gut wrenching disappointment and the utmost dejection. Those not strong enough to resist the ineluctable desire for conformity and anonymity become pariahs even by their own evaluation. And if that wasn't bad enough the Übermenschen and Überfrauen amongst us who choose to rebel against the wave of mediocrity poised to engulf and eviscerate us at any moment, are pretty much assured marginalization and to be ostracised by society’s sheep as heartless, selfish misogynists and misanthropes respectively>>>

جمهوری اسلامی یک حکومت مدرن و غیرارتجاعی است

مقاله دکتر اسماعیل نوریعلا "آتش ارتجاع" را خواندم که غیر مستقیم ( یا شاید هم مستقیم، خدا می داند) در جواب صحبت های جنجالی اکبر گنجی در دانشگاه تورنتو نوشته شده بود. بعد از خواندن مقاله احساس کردم که اکبر گنجی در این نوشته مظلوم واقع شده است. گر چه مطمئنم آقای گنجی نیازی به امثال من برای دفاع از خود ندارند، اما پررویی را به حد تمام رساندم و تصمیم گرفتم روبروی این دو استاد بزرگ بایستم و حرف بزنم. پس اساسا نوشته من جواب به صحبت های نوریعلا نیست که من در حد جواب دادن به او نیستم، بلکه دفاع از گنجی یا "پوپر ایران" است. >>>

Both terrorists

All trilateral parts of conflicts, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Zionism, reject constantly peaceful solutions. All of them believe that Palestine is a consecrated land for their future generations and only so it must exist until Judgement Day. If all of them are at the height of their radicalism, they will gender an eternally vicious spiral of war and violence. The two antagonistic poles have different charges and sacred altars. Neither Zionism’s sacred expansionism nor Islamism’s God’s state can guarantee peace and co-existence in this region>>>

Here's your chance

Barack Obama, this improbable son of immigrant has done something that it was thought impossible. To bring people from both side of isles, ardent republicans the likes of the Susan Eisenhower who recently pledged in a Washington Post op-ed to step outside of her party, "this lifelong Republican will work to get him elected". To pass gender issues and have 100 of the top feminist leaders in the country to support him over Clinton. He has the ability to united people of all creeds>>>

Fear and Hope

The occasion for this reflection is, of course, the Barak Obama phenomenon -the novelty of which, incidentally, is demonstrated by the fact that my word processing program does not recognize either name. To be more precise, it is the conundrum that the phenomenon poses for the American electorate in the 2008 Presidential campaign. The audacity of Obama’s hope has become contagious. The Democratic Party establishment’s iconic Ted Kennedy has endorsed him, and more than 70% of Move-On respondents have chosen him over Hillary Clinton.>>>

Simply Irresistible

The singletons amongst us are cruelly reminded that, once again, despite our best efforts, there will be no romance on this cruellest-of-cruel days… the dreaded Valentine’s Day. Yes folks, Valentine’s Day is just over a week away and there is no escaping it! My personal belief has always been that this special day was a well thought out scam created by the greeting card companies and florists of this world, to cash in on our hard earned monies…. Jerks. But single or not, Valentine’s Day is a strange affair at the best of times. Happy couples seem to appear from nowhere and the City is suddenly awash with red roses, shop windows are crammed with chocolate, perfume and lingerie>>>

Achilles' heel

Few days ago the official spokesman of the Islamic Republicís judiciary reported a directive banning any further execution in public has been issued by the head of the judiciary. The said directive also disallows any further dissemination of pictures of hangings by Iranian mass media except in cases that exclusive exceptions are made by the judiciary. Interested observers who are seasoned in the IRI's public announcements have come to expect denials and clarifications on the heel of most officially announced declarations. And since it has been a few days and none has been made it should be safe to opine on repercussion of the judiciaryís latest directive>>>

غیاب انسانیت

فرضأ کمک های مالیی که از جانب ایران به فلسطین می شود بیشتر از پولهای مالیاتی که از جیب ایرانی ها به جیب دولتهای کشورهای غربی می رود٬ صرف ساخت سلاحهایی می شود که برای تهدید جان خانواده های خودشان در ایران به کار می رود. ولی حق طلبی و آزادیخواهی ما چه می شود؟! موضع گیری قاطع ما در برابر ظلم و ضعیف کشی کدام است؟ آیا میزان پایبندی ما به آرمانهای انسانی مشروط به روابط تاریخیمان با ملت های مختلف است (آن هم در چارچوب ساختارهای موجود روابط بین الملل)؟ و یا آنکه همدردی و همدلی میان انسانها و مبارزه با بی عدالتی و زورگویی فرا تر از این مسائل است؟ >>>

آتش ارتجاع

هيچ شکلی از «بنيادگرائی» نيست که در ذات خود واکنشی و ـ اتفاقاً ارتجاعی هم ـ نباشد. يعنی هم بصورت واکنشی در برابر کنشی پيشرونده ظاهر شده و هم خواستار آن نباشد که نه حتی به گذشتهء نزديک که به گذشتهء بسيار دوری که فقط در تخيل آدميان ماليخوليائی وجود دارد برنگردد. اينکه يک «بنيادگرا» از مدرن ترين تکنولوژی ها و اسلحه ها برای از بين بردن جهان متجدد استفاده کند هرگز ماهيت «ارتجاعی» و «واکنشی» بنيادگرائی اش را تغيير نمی دهد. >>>

Stop. Wrong direction.

Following the National Intelligence Estimate ("NIE") report, the rhetoric on Iran has decreased significantly. Not only have politicians stopped debating about it (except for attacks against Clinton for supporting a resolution calling the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization), but the news and reports about Iranian nuclear programs have stopped getting the front page coverage in major papers that they apparently deserved in the past. Yet there's a problem here, an itch that everyone feels but no one has yet scratched. The Bush administration has long stopped caring about Iran possessing nuclear WEAPONS. It cares about Iran possessing nuclear KNOWLEDGE>>>

When taboos must be broken

Muhammad was before the prophecy a reliable businessman (Muhammad-al- amin), working for his wealthy wife, Khadijah. As a prophet in Mecca, he was a sage thinker, a quick speaker, who could invite people to believe in the only God “Allah”. He was decent, humble and generous to the poor, with whom he shared his meal. After 10 years of prophecy, he had to leave Mecca and his migration--“Hijrat”-- to Medina in 622 marks his new career. In Medina, as a powerful prophet with personal ambitions, Muhammad did not only used and abused the existing traditional norms of society; he s also violated ethical rules of his own religion to achieve his goals>>>

Why not IRAN?

I care for my own more than others. Why do I need to feel so sorry for others while my own kind inside Iran have a much worse fate than Palestinians? Palestinians are… how many? Are they 3 million, 4 million? Iranians are probably more than 75 million if we take into account those who are outside Iran too, like me. Why should I put Palestinians in my priority-list while I really feel sorry for Iranians, especially my own relatives who have no justice and no hope inside their own country? So many Iranians want to leave Iran to pursue their dreams and I understand them perfectly. So, Israelis are kicking the hell out of Palestinians. So what? Why do I care for them while Iranian rulers are kicking the hell out of Iranians inside Iran? >>>

What will Israel do?

Though the White House press release read "President Bush to travel to Middle East to follow up on progress made at Annapolis," his January trip actually centered on Iran, a country he did not visit. America's friends -- the Persian Gulf monarchs as well as Israel -- fear that the publication of the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) means the United States is weakening in its resolve to confront the rising threat from Iran. President Bush made his Middle East jaunt, in part, to assure them that that assessment was premature>>>