This is NPR, National Public ...

This is NPR, National Public Radio.

It is 9 O’clock

da.da.da.da

da.da.da.da

da.da.da.da

da.da.

da…

This is NPR National Public Radio broadcasting from Washington, DC, and I am Silvia Paggioli.

Politicians and world press are heading towards Annapolis, Maryland for another historical summit on Middle East Peace Talks being held starting November 27.

Initiated by President George Bush, the summit is largely viewed as yet another step towards eternal quest for peace in the Middle East.

But while the eyes of the world are fixated towards the Annapolis Summit, yet another crisis is underway and growing, and of all places, YES, in Annapolis, Maryland!

Crisis has begun when John Oliver Smith an engineer and father of two who is married to his Iranian wife Davar Ardalan, whom happens to be a Senior Producer at our sister-station WYPR decides to post a commentary [Peace like a river...] on a popular Iranian website.

The website called “Iranian.com” is frequented by thousands of Iranians from all walks of life. The website boasts itself to be a place where according to the founder “nothing is sacred” and in the eyes of many this is misinterpreted as if “everyone’s mom background and reputation is on the line”.

When John Smith, a tall gray and handsome Catholic of Irish decent who at least up to 6 o’clock Monday morning was still in his ecstasy over a great Thanksgiving Holiday decides to write an article on Iranian.com about religious tolerance among his family and household and his love for his wife and children, he was unaware of the potential geopolitical consequences, and the crisis that he had inadvertently initiated!

His article has created an ethnic unrest among Iranians who frequent the Iranian.com. Fist fighting, verbal attacks and name calling among the “Anonymous” visitors has reached a point of traffic jam, that according to our engineers, it has brought the Internet Distribution Nodes to a point of collapse in areas south of the Mason-Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi River.

We have Davar Ardalan standing by on the phone reporting to us from her kitchen in Annapolis, Maryland:

-Good morning Davar, could you tell us why your husband decided to post that article?

Davar: “Good morning Siliva, I asked him the same question and he said he just wanted to express something nice and positive during the Holiday Season and in accordance to his personal and religious belief, he hand no malice in mind”.

-Then what happened?

Davar: “well, I was just serving the scrambled eggs and toast to my children for their breakfast and we were planning to go to the mall to return some of the Christmas gifts that we had purchased over the Black Friday and we found them cheaper on-line.

-I know, I do the same every year too, I love returning things that I buy, but go ahead, tell us then what happened?

Davar: Well, then my younger one yelled “mom, dad, look! Dad’s article is bombarded by people’s comments and they seem trying to kill each other!” So, I told him “Aman eat your breakfast and leave the computer alone.” But inside I became worried as what was going on.

-Was your husband surprised?

Davar: Oh, “surprised” is an understatement, he was devastated! He said “sweetheart I did not mean anything bad!” And here I was early in the morning, trying to feed the kids, the dog and two cats and my son’s pet chinchillas and my husband was worried about his article and in the midst of all of these my aunt calls from Los Angeles and invites herself and three kids for Christmas Eve dinner in our house!

-Oh my! Oh my! Don’t you hate that? Can you tell us about the attackers, where they armed?

Davar: Oh yes, they were all dressed up as “Anonymous” with fictitious names and called me names and questioned me why I worked for the IRI Radio and TV. What could I say? I did not write the news for the IRI; I was just an employee for god sake! We had 7 layers of editors above me and I was just earning a living! I finally quit anyway!

-So, could you tell us what will happen next, and will these gangs come back or was this a random act of kindness?

Davar: I believe they will go away. They are mostly malnourished, semi-employed, technocrats in search of fame and freedom of expression. It is very difficult when they see you, but you don’t see or know them. They will find another victim within hours and like stray dogs attack yet another victim in another article. This reminds of the back alleys of Tehran where you could always be attacked by hungry dogs! I don’t miss those days…..

-So, I am happy things are settling down and I certainly hope you and family have a safe holiday season and I bet this is the last time John will contribute an article to Iranian.com

Davar: Oh, I bet he won’t be writing for them for quite a while, he needs to recover from this surprise first!

-Thank you Davar and good luck on returning those items at the mall.

-And that was Davar Ardalan reporting to us from her house in Annapolis, Maryland and thanks to our sister station WYPR.

This is Silvia Paggiloi reporting for National Public Radio in Washington, DC.

It is 15 minutes passed 9 a.m. and you are listening to NPR, National Public Radio…..

da.da.da.da

da.da.da.da

da.da.da.da

da.da.

da