IDEAS

Despotism, colonialism, federalism, and...

... now tribalism!

by bahmani
14-Sep-2007 (one comment)
Anyone who has a child knows that you can never make a 4 year old do anything they don't want to. The best you can hope for is that they stop just long enough, to notice the example you have to set for them. So goes the war in Iraq now in it's 4th full year. Rather than set a proper example for this 4 year old 3rd world child to follow, the US and the greater Western 1st world is guilty of nothing short of child abuse and endangerment.>>>

CARTOON

Insects infect cultural understanding
by aamahdi
12-Sep-2007 (36 comments)
Research has shown that in most cases Americans’ attitude toward other nations is a reflection of our government’s foreign policy. This is ever more the case when there are hostilities between two countries and the lives of ordinary people are affected by such hostility. Media frenzy and sensationalism can further reinforce such hostilities and adds fire to the flames of stereotyping, stigmatizing, dehumanizing, and even war-mongering. Unfortunately, this has been the case for the United States and Iran since Nov. 4, 1979, when Iranian students took American diplomats as hostages and held them for 444 days.>>>

BOOK

Life in two nations

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian's meomirs

by Persis Karim
12-Sep-2007 (4 comments)
While I found myself concerned about this being another nostalgic look back at Iran through the eyes of an Iranian woman’s memoir, instead I encountered A Mirror Garden as a bildungsroman—a tale of growing up and self-realization—and of the ways that a woman’s perseverance, vision, and good fortune, lead not necessarily to a fairy tale ending, but a rather, a clear sense of being and acting in the world. This is a narrative that indeed runs against the notion what has been so regularly drummed into Americans—that women of Middle Eastern cultures — whether Iranian or Arab — are merely being acted upon and have no agency.>>>

SYMPATHY

End of the world

I continue to cry for the victims of September 11

by Nazy Kaviani
12-Sep-2007 (7 comments)
I asked the young Russian woman who was my translator whether they were saying anything about Ahmad Shah Massoud’s health after the explosion. She listened and said: “Some say he is still alive. Americans say he is dead.” In the afternoon, as we were driving back into the city, I asked her again if there was any news about Ahmad Shah Massoud. She listened and said: “No news about Shah Massoud. But they say an airplane ran into the World Trade Center in New York.” I didn’t believe her. She had made some mistakes with her English earlier that week, and I was sure she didn’t know what she was talking about. She was quiet and I kept quiet, too.>>>

COMMENT

Your wish has come true

Many didn't want to register just to leave a comment. Now you don't need to.

by Jahanshah Javid
11-Sep-2007 (57 comments)
You need the greatest amount of freedom for the greatest possible diversity. So I am happy to announce that from this moment on EVERYBODY can leave a comment below articles, photos, cartoons, etc. You do not need to register. We were hoping that most people would see value in registering. But since the launch of the new design, it has become apparent that the registration process has not appealed to average users. I got lots of feedback about this and the number one complaint was the need to register. >>>

9/11

Then and now

Let Hollywood and Nintendo fight our war. We have a better chance of winning that way.

by Setareh Sabety
11-Sep-2007 (5 comments)
Much has happened in the world since September 11th, 2001. For one the terrorists seem to be winning the war on terror. They are more prominent, more popular and more active than before. They now have a new base in Iraq and “the liberation” of Afghanistan and Iraq is nothing but a joke. Iran was the only victor in the war with Iraq. The U.S. did such a bad job of occupying Iraq that anyone, like Ahmadinejad, who resists her in the region is deemed a hero. The Americans learned the hard way that it was much more difficult to bomb an ideology or a belief system than cities, towns and villages. The U.S. and her allies found out that unlike Saddam Hussein, fundamentalist Islam cannot be chased out of its entrenchment with guns.>>>

9/11

Separation of mosque & citizens

Dutch Committee of Ex-Muslims

by Tina Ehrami
11-Sep-2007 (80 comments)
Today, September 11th 2007, the Committee of Ex-Muslims is officially founded in The Netherlands. Ehsan Jami (22), a young Iranian member of the city council from Leidschendam, wants to raise awareness about apostasy in Islam. He is worried about the human rights of those who are born into the religion of Islam, but who no longer wish to believe. In Islam apostasy is not accepted and is punished with the death sentence. In The Netherlands where the number of Muslims is growing more than any other religion, there are growing numbers of honor killings and violence in cases when Muslims chose to turn their backs to the Islam.>>>

9/11

Numb

I wondered why those endless images of death and ruin weren’t moving me the way they should

by Azarin Sadegh
11-Sep-2007 (2 comments)
I clearly remember the moment I heard the news on the morning of Sept 11th 2001: I didn’t feel anything. It didn’t strike me at all. I could have heard “The stock market has crashed” or “There is shortage of flu vaccine,” and my reaction would have been the same. I couldn’t understand why Americans were shocked. Hadn’t they been warned by those angry men parading in the streets on the other side of the world--the part of the world from which I escaped? Hadn’t they heard over and over, the shouts of “Death to America?” Hadn’t they felt the heat of hatred burning from those grieving women draped in black chador, the heat so intense it turned to ash any illusions of peace?>>>

9/11

Remembering the unforgettable

We need to educate ourselves about Islam, radical Islam and Islamofascism

by Amil Imani
11-Sep-2007 (11 comments)
It is said that "powerlessness frustrates and absolute powerlessness frustrates absolutely; absolute frustration is a dangerous emotion to run a world with." Sometimes I wonder why I am so restless, why I cannot cease thinking! It seems like the world we live in reveals to us incessantly, at certain moments or in certain circumstances, just how little we are and how vast the universe is. This world of ours is a very complex world. The world we live in is a world of many brutal voices. It is a world of heavy blows and delirious trances, but it is the only world that we know.>>>

9-11

Roger's story

Did the attacks on New York's World Trade Center make him gay?

by faridm
10-Sep-2007
Roger was a ladies’ man, who frequently scored dates with the prettiest girls on campus, as his perfect charm somehow got girls to give in to his dating demands. He did attend church regularly so the combination of church related activities and functions enabled him to meet a myriad of interesting gals. After graduating from college, Roger landed a sweet job with Morgan Stanley inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. He learned to enjoy the city, loved his job and a few years later fell in love with his neighbor, a young Asian lady attending Medical School at Columbia. They both attended the same church. >>>

PROSTITUTION

فقها و فحشا

"گر تو نمی پسندی, تغییر ده قضا را"

by mnoghrekar
10-Sep-2007 (3 comments)
پس از حدود سی سال مبارزه ی اسلامی با فحشا, بیداد فحشا هنوز یکی از ویژگی های حکومت اسلامی و حاکمیت فقها ست.روش های مبارزه ی اسلامی با فحشا, برای چندمین بار در تاریخ , در سی سال گذشته نیز تجربه شد. آتش زدن و تخریب محل کار و زندگی فواحش( تن فروشان ), سوزاندن و اعدام تن فروشان, شکنجه و اعدام پااندازان خرده پا , محجبه کردن تن فروشی و دایر کردن " شهرنو" های اسلامی روش های به کار گرفته شده از سوی فقهاست .علی رغم اثبات نا کارایی این روشها ی ضد انسانی و ابلهانه, مرغ فقها در بکار گیری این روش ها "یک پا دارد" و کوتاه بیا نیستند, حتی به قیمت گسترش حیرت انگیز فحشا و عوارض آن >>>

ENVIRONMENT

Too hot to handle

Is planet Earth ageing gracefully?

by D. Hedayat
09-Sep-2007
Southern Europe needs air-conditioning. Switzerland with it’s ski mountains, lake Geneva, chalets needs summer time air-conditioning. But we always think the good old days will return. The climate will reverse itself. That will never happen. The problem is serious. Heat comes to the surface at a higher rate now, lingers on if there is no breeze or gets absorbed in the lakes, ponds or any other cool place. The limits of temperature for human comfort are minute. Between 24º and 26º degrees with slight air-movement to be felt. Without air-movement, within the limit of those temperatures, one will not be comfortable behind desks with a suit and necktie. >>>

FREE SPEECH

شرافت کاری و اخلاق حرفه ای

بزرگترین آفت دروغ از بین بردن و سست کردن اعتماد بین افراد است

by Mehdi Jami
09-Sep-2007 (10 comments)
حسین درخشان ...دست به جعل زده است و از خود چیزی ساخته و به من بسته است. برای من جالب است که کسی که فحاشی مردم را به خود منتشر می کند تا مثلا آزادمنشی خود را به رخ بکشد تذکر حقوقی مرا ادیت می کند. او نگران است که روشهای غیراخلاقی اش با نقد حقوقی و اخلاقی همان اندک تاثیری را هم که ممکن است در بعضی اذهان داشته باشد از دست بدهد. بسیار با معنی است که او اگر هر کامنتی در هر جای وب بر خلاف خواست و نفع او باشد رسما می نویسد و اعتراض می کند و خواهان برداشتن آن می شود اما کامنتی را که در برابر رفتار ناجوانمردانه او گذاشته می شود و در آن هیج اصلی از آزادی بیان و احترام به مخاطب مخدوش نشده کوتاه می کند.>>>

POLITICS

امام مرده سخن می گويد!

براستی چراست که دست از سر اين «امام» بر نمی دارند؟

by Esmail Nooriala
08-Sep-2007
گاه شرايط آنگونه ايجاب می کنند که رهبر فوت شده را بصورتی شگفت آور به ميان بازماندگانش برگردانند تا مشکلات و اختلافات را سريعاً حل و فصل کند. و از آنجا که احضار ارواح نه ممکن است و نه پذيرفتنی، نزديکان رهبر از دست رفته بايد او را از طريق بازگفتن خاطره های خويش بازسازی و احياء کنند.>>>

JOURNALISM

Wright is wrong

Robin Wright lies and Washington Post calls it journalism

by hoder
08-Sep-2007 (31 comments)
Someone please tell me if Robin Wright is a journalist or Haleh Esfandiari's PR manager. How dare she can get away with such a blatant lie that "Esfandiari and the [Woodrow Wilson] center have long denied receiving any U.S. funding for the lecture series she runs." The about page of the Woodrow Wilson Center reads "Approximately one third of the Center's operating funds come annually from an appropriation from the U.S. government.">>>
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