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Confessions of a Secret Agent
22-Dec-2007
When I first began "blogging" here (or more accurately, "threading") about two months ago, I had to defend my right to speak, because I was not an Iranian. It was hard, and sometimes painful, to hold my ground. But I knew I had finally arrived when I began to be accused of being a secret agent of various governments and organizations. I was “in”, I was accepted, I was one of the family. I met this victory with an odd mixture of satisfaction, frustration, and occasional despair.
Recently these accusations have been popping up left and right, and I mean literally left and right, because I am now apparently both a Hezbolaahi and a Zionist agent. I reply to these claims patiently, but still they multiply like mushrooms after a rainstorm. So today I posted a lengthy reply to one of these posts—lengthy even by my standards--intending to convert it into a blog. And thinking, well, from now on I’ll just refer my accusers to that blog. But then I thought, why bother? After all, the reply I wrote today to accusations leveled at me under the December 20 Iranian of the Day entry entitled “Brilliant Physicist.,” is really good enough. I can just refer them to that. And anyway anyone can track all my posts on my blogspace. So I decided to translate a poem instead.
It is a Chilean poem I've long known as a song, and heard again yesterday in a cafe near my home in the East Village. It was written by progressive activist Violeta Parra in 1965. It is called “Gracias a la vida.” It is very well-known.
The nation of Chile has known major CIA interventions, dictatorships, tortures, gross exploitation of its natural resources, economic disaster, and depredations upon its indigenous peoples. But it has also known great strides in democracy and autonomy, and it has given us this song.
I confess. I am a secret agent. There are two secrets whose sanctity I always honor: the mystery of the unfolding of the human heart and that of the ultimate fate of the soul. And I divulge the name of my agency: My agency is myself, my autonomy, and truth as best I can understand it.
And I understand the sovereign agency of nations to be based on this same individual agency. An agency whose coming has long been announced in the timeless works of the two great Eniightenments, the secular and the spiritual ones. And yet whose fruition remains a dream, as long as these Enlightenments remain severed from each other.
But their union is whispered in every human breath, and also by the wind.
Forthwith, Violeta Parra.
Gracias a la vida
(Thank You, Life)
Thank you life for giving me so much.
It has given me two stars which, whenever I open them,
distinguish perfectly between black and white,
and in the high sky its starry depths
and among the crowds the man I love.
Thank you life for giving me so much.
It has given me my hearing, which, in all its breadth,
records day and night crickets and canaries;
hammers, turbines, dogs' barks, rainstorms,
and the gentle voice of my beloved.
Thank you life for giving me so much
It has given me sound and taught me my "abc's",
along with it the words which t I think and proclaim:
mother, friend, brother and light illuminating
the route of the soul of the one I now love.
Thank you life for giving me so much,
it has given me the progress of my tired feet;
with them I walked through cities and puddles,
beaches and deserts, mountains and plains,
and your house, your street and your patio too.
Thank you life for giving me so much.
It has given me my heart which shakes its very frame
when I look at the fruit of the human mind;
when I look at good so far removed from evil,
when I look into the depths of your clear eyes.
Thank you life for giving me so much,
It has given me laughter and it has given me weeping.
Thus I distinguish joy from affliction,
the two materials which shape my song,
and the song of all of you which is the same song,
and the song of everyone, which is my very own song.
Thank you life for giving me so much.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyOJ-A5iv5I
****
Happy Holidays.
Salaam, Iraanrikaa
And don’t forget, paranoia will destroy ya! :D
Robin Jayne Goldsmith
New York City, December 20, 2007
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I believe.........
by Nadias on Wed Jan 30, 2008 09:17 PM PSTEmily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924.
Part One: Life
VI
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his (her) nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
Solh va Doosti (paz a vosotros)
Nadia
Ekey
by Kouroush Sassanian (not verified) on Fri Dec 28, 2007 01:29 PM PSTEkey khahad bekaneh shortetou
Ekey khahad bekaneh _________
Ekey Khahad bekhaneh shalvaretou
Man faghat khahaneh band kardaneh tasbeh hastam Saghi!
How many cowards whose hearts are all as false as stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars, who inward searched, have livers white as milk!
Hala doushanbeh biay perov!
To Anonymous-00: delavaz chi shodeh?
by Poetically Dysfunctional (not verified) on Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:46 PM PSTI wish you guys would explain what you want to say in more details instead of telegraphing it poetically to each other. How is anybody beside yourself and some fan or opponent of yours supposed to know what this means?
"Gar az manzel delavaz gashteh baghi,
dar on zendan namanad dood o saghi"
Gar az manzel delavaz
by Anonymous-00 (not verified) on Wed Dec 26, 2007 07:08 PM PSTGar az manzel delavaz gashteh baghi,
dar on zendan namanad dood o saghi
This is really truth in this case.
We just to have to see it...
Apologies and Ironies
by Rosie T. on Wed Dec 26, 2007 06:43 PM PSTI just want to point out that there are actually two separate discourses going on here right below me on the subject of apology and forgiveness. Or are there?
Koroush, I believe you were born in the wrong century. You should have been a "rend" among the taverns.
Saqi, bring on the Mast...
shaloms...
by Teach (not verified) on Wed Dec 26, 2007 02:58 PM PSTEither you were serious or you were joking, it means that you need serious professional help.
Either you are seriously apologizing or you are still joking, you still need serious professional help.
You hurt someone totally innocent that you did not really know. She may be generous enough to forgive you and forget, but I did not and I still don't. As harsh as this maybe, I hope that someone treats you in a similar fashion.
You need serious professional help for the upper part of your body. I hope you stop showing up around here under any name.
To Shalomster: Don’t worry about your rectum…
by Colon_Cancer (not verified) on Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:36 PM PSTI believe your apology is sincere, so you don’t need to worry about your rectum for the next, let’s see you are 27, for the next 23 years. But, even though I have forgiven you some of my free radical agents still go around on their own and inflict pain on people, so when you are 50 check with your doctor and get regular prostate examination from then on. See if you can get a female doctor, that way you can get some pleasure out of it at the same time :O)
he apologizes everyday with this site . . .
by Kouroush Sassanian (not verified) on Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:23 AM PSTI have accepted his apology! He now has to forgive himself!
Hala, Rosie jan lengesh koon . . . :)
I actually feel a lot better :)
by Shalomster (not verified) on Tue Dec 25, 2007 09:15 PM PSTThank you for your kind response. Joking around on these sites or making fun of others has been entertaining. But honestly, your recognition of my apology feels much better. And this will be the last time you'll hear from "Shalomster". I will change the name under which I post. May God Bless on this great day and actually everyday. Vielen Dank! Tsues.
Thank you for your apology.
by Rosie T. on Tue Dec 25, 2007 06:25 PM PSTIt's inspiring.
It's a very good Christmas present.
Akhtoong: The way up is the way down. (Heraclitus)
Let it be.
you should think about why
by akhtoong (not verified) on Tue Dec 25, 2007 06:08 PM PSTyou should think about why you did this.
you should also apologize to all in this site
who were exposed to your hate
its generous of you to treat
by :))) (not verified) on Tue Dec 25, 2007 05:54 PM PSTits generous of you to treat everyone so well.
hopefully we will not see any more implosions of hate here. but regardless of where the hate comes from its epicenter take the biggest blow, the heart and the mind of the hater i mean you know.
even fear fears fear and runs from itself such is the nature of doozakh.
RE: To Shalomster: My name
by Shalomster (not verified) on Tue Dec 25, 2007 05:33 PM PSTRosie, my sincere apology for all of this. Yes, this is Shalomster. I wouldn't say that my posts were anti-semitic, but wrong and personal and hateful to certain extent, yes. And again I apologize. I'm sorry about the stuff that I've written. Entschuligung Sie Mir bitte. Merry Christmas, and peace. I guess I did learn a bit. I am 27, but now looking back at what I wrote, I guess I wasn't acting like one. Peace. Tsues.
To Shalomster: My name
by Rosie T. on Tue Dec 25, 2007 05:19 PM PSTMy name is Robin Jayne Goldsmith. The name Goldsmith is an English name that was given to my grandparents at Ellis Island because they had a contraband German passport under the name of Goldschmidt. Their real name was Liebowitz. They were from a section of Byelorus which historically, until the partition in 1799, had been part of Poland, and they left the Czar's lands in the 1880's to escape the pogroms and also the Czar's army where they were not allowed to practice their religion.
As you probably now Liebowitz means son of Lieb, a variant of Leb or Lev or Levi, a very common Jewish name. But coincidentally it has resonances of Liebe in German, in which case it would be a Polish-German amalgam meaning Son of Love.
It is interesting to note here on this Christmas Day of 2007 the origins of the Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Ghost: I am that I am, Logos the word and Love. They correspond to the Hindu Trimurti: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Dissolver, also known as Satchitananda (being, knowledge and love). It is not fully understood yet how this Hiundu trinity resurfaced in Christianity and it possibly has ancestral Aryan roots due to the geographical connection through Persia. Nevertheless the concept Father was also taken directly from Judaism, from Jehova, from the First Commandment, which is normally translated into Englsh as "I am the Lord thy God" but which more closely means "I am that I am."
Whatever. You are the most vitriolic anti-Semite I have ever personally encountered in my entire life, and I do consider these interactins on the web to be personal. It's been quite an experience meeting you. You are very young, only 29. You have a lot to learn. You choose. We all do.
Thanks Sasha ... Merry Christmas!
by Shalomster (not verified) on Tue Dec 25, 2007 02:40 PM PSTMerry Christmas to you too Sasha! And ... my life is just fine and has been throught all of my 27 years. Luckily, I haven't had bad experiences in my life, and have got a pretty good family. And I wish the same for you and everyone else ... a happy, long and healthy life.
Rosiestein ... do whatever you people do around this time of the year. Sorry, I think I misused your name. Its actually Rosielsky or Rosienein or ... you know ... one of those names. Tseus.
Koroush...
by Rosie T. on Tue Dec 25, 2007 07:19 AM PSTI think you are very naughty. Our mutual friend jj seems to have sent you a holiday gift from Nice...Porne narm az Farang...how timely...it's under "experimental." Perhaps it's his way of apologizing to you for the Revolution... :D
Peace and Love
by smiley face :) (not verified) on Tue Dec 25, 2007 05:37 AM PSTMerry Christmas, and happy holidays to all. Let us remember "the most powerful force in our life is LOVE and the greatest Joy is GIVING, and helping others".
Peace and love for every body!
How to deal with anappropriate postings
by ManNaManam (not verified) on Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:14 PM PSTI wonder if there's an effective way of dealing with offensive, filthy, and egotistic postings in these threads. I think the best method is to leave those postings "unanswered" to marginalize them. I know it's hard to resist but we need to restrain ourselves on this ping pong game that theonly outcome is negative energy.
peace on this Holy night;
For the occasion...
by Teach (not verified) on Mon Dec 24, 2007 02:48 PM PSTI am sorry Rosie for your bad experience. But here is another one for this occasion:
.
Hafez ar khasm khataa goft nagireem barou,
Var beh hagh goft jadal baa sokhane hagh nakonim.
.
(Poor) translation:
Oh Hafez, if [your] enemy is wrong about you [or accuses you wrongly], don't be offended by him [forgive him as he is wrong not you],
But if he is right, then again no need to fight his righteous words [so either way, it is okay, you win!]
.
This guy apparently does not know that the deceivers and the deceived are mostly in tehran posing as the leaders and the led.
Happy Holidays.
Shalomster take a good look at yourself
by Sasha on Mon Dec 24, 2007 02:36 PM PSTTake a good look at the comments you posted. They are full of toxic waste. Whatever obstacles, tragedies, and suffering you have undergone does not give you the right to behave in this manner. You are not the only one that has suffered in life. Many on this thread could tell you some really awful things that have happened to them.
The difference between you and them is that they have let go of their hate. Do not let your hate consume you. Let it go. We are not your enemies. We were not the ones who hurt you. We were not even there.
Let go and set yourself free. :o)
Every day is a new beginning. An opportunity to start over anew. Do not waste your precious days on this earth consumed in hate. They truly are shorter than you realize.
Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad and a Happy New Year.
solh
Slasher released...........:o)
by Sasha on Mon Dec 24, 2007 01:04 PM PSTFinally the Slasher is released. :o) I could only contain her for soooooo long. :o)
solh
Sasha joonisima, flag away...
by Rosie T. on Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:17 PM PSTI've been flagging him since last night without even READING him. I never asked the READERS not to flag, I just asked the MODERATORS not to delete...It is ALWAYS the readers' right to flag (it's a demcoracy) and it's ALWAYS JJ's right to determine which flagged posts remain or not, as he is the one who receives the flaggings (and it's a javidocracy...) Democracy, javidocracy...we must learn to live with paradox...
I just don't want the MODERATORS to exercise their judgement on thiS particular thread because it seems that I, and JJ, have a higher tolerance for what requires deletion than some of them do. And this is not surprising, nor a criticism of them either... it's jsut the reality...
I am EXTREMELY ambivalent about the Shalomster experience. On the one hand, I feel it's ALWAYS worth a shot to attempt to dialogue with ANYONE. And in any case, the FAILURE of that dialogue provided a clear testament to how serious the forces are that we're up against and that, indeed, this is no game...he's DANGEROUS...he's REALLY dangerous...Nazism knows no particular target...Palestinians, Bahais, Kossovars, Tibetans, Amazonians, Rwandans,Poles, ANYONE can be a victim of the ESSENCE of Nazism....and we need to be reminded...that this is a REAL problem...
on the other hand NOT flagging him nearly DESTROYED this entire thread and it also portrayed the UGLIEST image imaginable of Iran for whatever interested and concerned web surfers happened to google upon our homepage and click on this article...and I don't care if there were FIVE of them or 50 or 5000 last night
So...mixed reviews from me on the whole Shalomster episode...but I am FLAGGING him...without READING him...he was deleted ONCE and he hasn't come back...because you see he's also a COWARD with no PRINCIPLES (not even NEGATIVE ones) and he just wanted some ATTENTION...like the guy the other day who shot up the people in the mall and then killed himself and left a note saying he wanted to be famous...Rampant consumerism creates such an inner void that people will do ANYTHING, even KILL and DIE, just to be PERCEIVED....for five minutes...just perceived..by strangers...through machines...through media technologies...
Flag away, darling, Flag away. Nobody ever said not to...
Robin
Rosie T..............May I have the honor.........:o)
by Sasha on Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:31 AM PSTI volunteer to flag any future posted comments by Shalomster.
I think this person has had more than sufficient time to swim in their own personal toxic waste on this thread. The only reason I did not flag this person was out of respect for your wishes to allow any one to express their views.
I too believe that people have a right to their views but this is beyond logic.
solh
Miss Marple...
by Rosie T. on Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:12 AM PSTI'm sorry, I thought..you were...caspianseamermaid...I'm trying to find her...she once sent me a video of Neil Diamond's Cracklin" Rosie...it is a song...about drunkenness..and Cracklin' Rosie...was the name...of a cheap ros'e wine...drunk...by workers...in Kaliforniaa...
and Neil Diamond was my sixth grade math teacher's nephew...I know..I know...it's...unbelievable...and Hafez spoke of the "rend" and the drunken universe...fanaa, little fishies, fanaa...let it go...let if flow...
ff...NOT frowning fish...flying fish...frequent flyer...freedom fighter...funny face...tanhaa sedaast keh mimundad...
Merry Christmas!
Rosie
I'm no mermaid! Just a fish
by J. Marple (not verified) on Mon Dec 24, 2007 10:59 AM PSTI'm no mermaid!
Just a fish among the fishes of the deep blue sea and I live in peace.
Have you ever seen a fish's face when it frowns?
I try to live in peace from within
so that I don't have to frown often.
That in itself is quite hard... quite hard.
A frowning fish is a sorry sight to see!
Sorry for the delay in responding I had to tend to my oceanly affairs!
And I do have to return to the affairs again now.
Perhaps soon...
Robin
by Kouroush Sassanian (not verified) on Mon Dec 24, 2007 10:35 AM PSTChera mikhie ozveh in cluppee bashee ke hazeereh ghabolet bekoneh . . .;)
Mersi Rosie Joon..
by Deltang (not verified) on Mon Dec 24, 2007 09:10 AM PSTEngaar zaboonet belakhareh vaa shod. Khob barikallah, marhaba, ahsan, beraava, sad aafarin.
Migamaa, cheraa een maari shal be haft zaboon bad o bira mige, aa beh to tefli maasoom nish mizaned. Cheshes? Cheh margishes? Chera be to band kardes? Mageh baa to pedar koshtegi daareh? Laamassab, een maareh, shale va inghad nish mizaned; ageh shal nabood chekaar mikard? Engaar mikhaad hameh oghdehaasha to sare to khali bookooned.
Ama to mahalesh nazaar joonam, delkhor ham nasho. Een bad bakhte falak zadeh khol shodeh, saresh baa koonesh baazi mikooned.
Khosh baashi khaanoom, barf aa shireh khoradan ham to sarmaye oon tarafaa yadet nareh.
To Miss Marple" Get on board...
by Rosie T. on Mon Dec 24, 2007 08:46 AM PSTGet on board, lil chillun, get on board,
Get on board, lil chillun, get on board,
Get on board, lil chillun there's room for many more
(Negro spiritual).
"I believe God is an ocean of love and we swim in his bosom like the fishes." --Sojourner Truth, ex-slave, nurse, teacher.
It's a vast sea, with many boats, many mariners, many life forms, many fishes. Are you a mermaid, by any chance? Please answer. I need to know.
Agatha/Hagatha/Chrone....
"Cracklin' Rosie, get on
by Miss Marple (not verified) on Mon Dec 24, 2007 08:32 AM PST"Cracklin' Rosie, get on board
We're gonna ride till there ain't no
more to go... " -ND
but... I think you're already on board,
pay no attention to the ones who're a disgrace to the human race!
Oh No Ali! I know you're an Iranian...
by Rosie T. on Mon Dec 24, 2007 06:45 AM PSTI was replying to Teach's last post about the virulent anti-Semite who poured sewage all over this thread. Teach said he hoped he wasn't Iranian and I said I actually didn't think he was. I consolidated two replies, one to you, one to Teach. Sorry, you're right, it was confusing. I'll edit that post.
So you really ARE Ali G./Bruno!!!? (with a little Hafez thrown in...or at least Obeid Zakaani...)
Robin