Raging against the gods

In the thirteenth century A.D. there was Rumi and Shams. In 2700 B.C. there was King Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The heroes, Rumi and Gilgamesh, were civilized masters of their domain, enjoying a small greatness in their time. Shams and Enkidu were untutored outsiders who burst in from the wild to become the heroes' beloved companions. The same extraordinary spiritual upheaval created by the unlikely friendships launched both Rumi and Gilgamesh out of their time and into legend. George Charbak's play, The Epic of Gilgamesh with a long prologue, thankfully does not dwell on the Enkidu-Shams comparison. In fact Enkidu's god protector is simply referred to as the sun god, sidestepping the god's real name Shamash, the root for the Arabic word Shams >>>

Shadows of mistrust

Decades after the events of 1950's in Iran, there is still a lot of heated debates about what happened, who was to blame and why? The issue which in some people's view, originated from intervention of foreign elements in order to influence Iran's political process, had profound impact on the future events which happened during the years after that. Antagonistic atmosphere of Iranian politics has always been filled with extremist tendencies and emotions towards one side or another during this period which contributed a lot to creation of many unfounded stories around those events that eventually resulted in start of one of the cruelest governing systems of the world in our country.>>>

Guys, it’s time to move on

Yet another anniversary of 28th Mordad, and I can’t stand it! Like the 3rd of Esfand 1299 nothing shows the divisions amongst Iranian nationalists up as much as the anniversary of these events and the (mis-)treatment of history by all involved. There are many lessons that need to be learnt by Iranians from these episodes of their history but having learnt those lessons (long ago) they need to move on. Unfortunately we don’t seem to be able to do this judging by the idiotic emotion ridden pieces of tripe written every year by all sides. >>>

کاشانی و مصدق

پس از 30 تیر 1331 تاریخ نهضت ملی ایران به دو بخش تقسیم میشود و شاید بخش دوم از اهمیت بیشتری برخوردار باشد از آن جهت که پرده ها فرو می افتد، رفته رفته نقش ها آشکار می گردند، عهدها شکسته، دوستی ها بدل به دشمنی و خیانت ها هویدا می شوند. علت تغییر موضع 180 درجه ای آیت الله از آن جهت که یکی از دو رهبر نهضت ملی ایران بود، محتاج بررسی و تحقیق ریشه ای است و در این فرصت کوتاه دست نمی دهد. اما آنچه مسلم است این است که از فردای 30 تیر 1331 رفته رفته غرور و نخوت در رفتار و کردار آیت الله به وضوح مشاهده می شود. >>>

Cloudy, with a chance of war

As an American-born Iranian, who has lived and studied in Iran, Ebtekar’s war images are influenced by the Iran-Iraq war. “My earlier works borrow a lot from the Iran-Iraq war. If you look closely at my earlier works you will see jet-planes and tanks that are direct references to the ones used in the Iran-Iraq War.” But war does not stop there for the globe, nor for Ebtekar. He explains: “When 9/11 happened I stopped working on this manner and felt as though I couldn't continue in that political climate. However when current war was declared shortly after, I remember saying to myself I have to continue working, it’s actually more important to do it now that any other time. So I continued, and now the references are not solely from the Iran-Iraq war but from a larger body of sources and material that are coherent with contemporary geopolitical crises we are in.”>>>

Rove story

It's official; by month's end, Karl Rove will be out of the White House. And it will be of his own accord, not indicted and, most importantly, without having to ask his admired boss, and close friend, for a presidential pardon. It's time for the maestro directing the Washington Busharmonic to lay down the baton; take a midlife break; rest a bit; write a book; and, who knows, maybe even finish those few credits he still requires to get a long-postponed Bachelor's in Political Science. Let someone else direct the funeral music still being composed at the White House: Bush's "Mess in B Minor.">>>

ممنوعيت انديشيدن به اصول

می خواهم بگويم که اکثريت قريب به اتفاق مسلمانان (و نيز پيروان ديگر اديان) صرفاً مصرف کنندهء کالاهای فروشگاه «مذهب» هستند و کاری به کار «دين» ندارند؛ چه رسد به اينکه بخواهند در صحت و سقم «اصول» آن تحقيق کنند. اصلاً کدام کس حوصله و وقتش را دارد که کار و زندگی را رها کند و دور دنيا راه بيافتد تا کسی را بيابد که بتواند اصول دين را برايش توضيح دهد و توجيه کند؟ >>>

داروهای خواب آور

دوست عزیز، نه جمهوری اسلامی برای من آن کودک تبدار است و نه امریکا هیولای بی شاخ و دم. امروز خطاست که چشم خود را به تقصیرات و قدرت‌طلبی‌های مسئله‌ساز جمهوری اسلامی در منطقه و جهان ببندیم و فقط با سیاست‌های منفعت‌طلبانه امریکا در خاورمیانه درگیر باشیم. جهان امروز دیگر جهان 20 سال گذشته نیست. قرن بیست و یکم می‌طلبد که ما انسان‌ها همراه با رشد سریع تکنولوژی و به‌هم پیوستگی جهانی، به مفهوم نوینی از سیاست، قدرت، دمکراسی و روابط کشورها با هم دست پیدا کنیم.، >>>

Mullahs and opiates

America and her quasi-backboned “allies” have a huge problem that grows by the day. Expectedly, there are as many analyses of our problem as there are “experts” to tell us what to think. A deluge of Western analysts have their diverse expert opinions regarding the “Mullah Problem” and what do about it. Some strategists advocate a military solution that ranges from full invasion of Iran to selective bombardment of its burgeoning nuclear centers and related facilities. Others are proponents of imposing economic sanctions of various types and severity. Still others feel that we simply have to learn to live with the inevitable—those “crazy” Mullahs with the bomb.>>>

Dr. Baadazin

I am going to call him Dr. Baadazin. Even his email address says drbaaddazin@yahoo.com. When you ask him what kind of doctor he is he gets angry. He says once a lady whom he met online insisted to find out what his field of study is and he hung up on her. Well, I guess it is not something that makes or breaks a relationship, I agree. But it is tittering on the brink of false pretence. He says he is one of the five people in the world with this medical specialty so in all modesty he doesn’t want to “give himself away”. Vali khoda Google ro az ma nagireh. It acts like an instant lie detector

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The right to be rude

You know, my favorite medium of communication has never been the English language. I much prefer to express myself in Farsi whenever I feel the urge to submit my thoughts or emotions to paper. This time, however, I chose to write in English because the article – if it could be called an article – that provoked this piece of writing was written in English. Though one may say that pleas against attempts to curb freedom of expression are legitimate regardless of the source of the plea, one would be entirely taken aback if such pleas came from, say, Chief Justice Ayatollah Shahroody of the Islamic Republic.>>>