© the eyeranian

The Problem with the Kurds

My first experience with a "real" Kurd (not the cousin of someone's wife that used to live in Kermanshah once, or the new bride of so and so that is 1/8th Kurd, etc.) was a few short months after the fall of Shah's regime. One of our neighbors had been amongst the thousands of people who took part in looting of Shah's army bases. This was not an act of larceny or senseless vandalism. The two days that ended the reign of Monarchy in Tehran were filled with street battles as certain bases and officers were disobeying their superior's orders and were defending their barracks with every bullet they had available. As the other bases fell to people's incursion, many were arming themselves to either join battles in other parts of the city or to stash them away, expecting a retaliation of sort to follow any possible change of government. Perhaps remembering what had happened 3 decades ago and the first time they got rid of their monarch under the leadership of Dr. Mossadegh.

This neighbor of ours had kept what he had taken, despite the calls by the new government to turn the weapons in within days of announcing a new government. One day while we were just being kids, playing outdoors, raising some havoc of one kind or another, his son bragged that tonight "the Kurds" are coming to take their guns. I could not prevent my nosey self to stay clear of that and on that night, I used all the trick a 12 year old can think of to get an invitation to their house and be present at this historic exchange.

Shortly after a late supper that evening, the father allowed an old light-colored Paykan into their covered garage and out walked this guy in a full traditional Kurdish outfit. He was a towering man of about 40, with a sun darkened skin, a big moustache and looked as if he could take on 5 wrestlers at once. Kak Abdullah was the first Kurd I had met.

Within a few short minutes and after swiftly downing the mandatory tea served to every guest entering an Iranian household, some money exchanged hands and Kak Abdullah picked up the small arsenal hidden under a bed in my friend's room, opened the trunk of his car and put the G3, M1 and MP5, plus an army sleeping bag full of ammunition and grenades besides other weapons already in there and pulled the car out. As he drove away, I followed him through the rooftops, climbing from one to another and watched when he stopped at the main intersection and picked up a passenger, a younger man dressed in what can be described as a peasant's outfit and then they both drove off. The passenger had obviously acted as the lookout, while this entire transaction was taking place.

Over the next few months after that, an all out war broke out within the Kurdish provinces of Iran. The main Kurdish political entity; Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), that was advocating politics of self-rule and autonomy within the borders of Iran, had been joined by other forces in the region in taking control of the cities and villages across the land. The new regime saw this as a challenge to its authority and despite attempts by several political figures of the time to mediate the situation in a democratic and non-violent way, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, opening the doors to a massive operation to take back control of the region for the central government. Thousands were slaughtered during this time and years later, I still hear stories such as the way artillery and tank brigades took control of the hills surrounding the city of Mahabd and started shelling the city and its civilian population at random for days at a time. Many families still have their dead buried in their own backyards as they could not leave their houses for a long time.

----

Fast forward to earlier this year. A few days before the invasion of Iraq I reconnected with an old Kurd friend. We had always had a close understanding of one another, the type you don't need to explain yourself to for mutual understanding. We had attended many events together before and organized even more. We linked and bonded through his party; the PDKI, my party; the NDP, and together through Socialist International.

He was cautious yet cheerful and very light-hearted. I wanted to warn him of the road ahead, of the way they will be abandoned and used again, the destination this path was leading to, where nothing resembled where they wanted to go. But it was too late. He said I was not being sensible to think differently; Zalmay Khalilzad himself had invited them to a meeting in Turkey to reinforce their commitments and to ensure that the Kurds will not be used again. This time was going to be different. The Kurds will be running the show, they were told. Their demands will be front and center.

A few days later, the bombs started to drop.

-----

Fast forward to last Thursday evening. My mobile phone rings, it's him. I can't talk, being in the middle of something else. I ask if I can call him back, he says not yet but he only needs 30 seconds. I listen as his voice is crumbling. He says you were right. I take no joy in hearing that. He says he has had enough. He had doubted things when Turkish troops were invited to guard their land but when "they" had asked Talabani to go meet Ayatollah Sistani and negotiate his approval, he knew this was not their show anymore. They are instruments of the occupiers now, officially. He just wanted to say I was right and he'll call as soon as he reaches Europe.

----

If there's such a thing as reincarnation, I must've been a Kurd in my past life. How could you not respect and admire the people who have survived some of the most vicious attacks by enemies from near and far for a big part of modern history, yet have managed to maintain their dignity, their unique sense of culture and arts, their wonderful customs and language, and their distinctive outlook on life? A smile is never that far from the lips of a Kurd when meeting a stranger, and neither is a song when happy or a scream when facing injustice. Kurds personify what every human being strives to be; strong, sensitive, responsible and sincere. This also is the main problem with the Kurds.

From my experience, Kurds cant fathom that others are not like Kurds. They are sincere to a fault, candid to an end, trusting to their own ruin. They believed Ambassador Zalmay as they believed many before him. They don't know how not to.

----

There's more I like to say on this, perhaps for another time though. Maybe after he's in Europe. Maybe.

For now, all I can say is; Freedom for Iran, Autonomy for Kurdistan.

My Magic Wand!

The news is horrifying of course: Antelope gores San Diego Zoo keeper in stomach. It seems that an African Antelope that had been kept in "isolation" for over 6 months, attacked a caretaker that had entered his cage (notice that word is never used in the original story?), causing some injury to the 33 year old female zoo employee. I certainly wish the nameless keeper all the best and hope her wounds are not of the serious type.

A few years ago somebody contacted me from a magazine geared towards the pre-teen and younger crowd and wanted some random views on diverse topics. The questions they submitted were appropriately of rather playful nature and one of them said "if you had a magic wand and could turn any one thing different in the world, what would it be?"

This wasn't long after my attempt to run for office and my opponent's stated "big accomplishment" was bringing a couple of Pandas to Toronto Zoo, which was part of our electoral district. My reply was that I would switch the role of all zookeepers and their captive animals for a year, housing them in very comfortable condos and feeding them prime steaks everyday, just for them to grasp the idea that none of that replaces the loss of freedom that is obviously felt by the animals as well. Well, my comments were never published and since animals couldn't vote, I couldn't get elected in that district (riding) either. Yet hundreds of thousands of animals are still kept in small and large cages across the globe, purely for the entertainment purpose of their human captors and please don't even begin to give me the stories of great work the zoos are doing in saving endangered species, etc. as you must know that is not their primary purpose and only a very tiny fraction of animals they enslave, need some type of intervention in order to survive.

I hope these jails, like the other ones housing innocent humans, are one day abandoned and demolished forever and humanity starts a long process of re-thinking its relationship with the world it occupies.

Simple and to the point.

Saw this sign hanging on a Los Angeles freeway overpass yesterday.

50% Done!

When I lived briefly in Montreal, A. was a roommate of mine. He was a former athlete who had represented Iran internationally. A genuine guy with so much passion and compassion, it often interfered with his logic. A. had a great sense of humor too and would often come up with anecdotes and stories that were entertaining and sometimes even hysterical.

One of his saying was this 50% done business. First time I fell for it, we were driving somewhere and he points to this store saying "we're about to buy this store". I look and there's this beautiful business on a corner with several employees and even more customers, seemingly very successful and certainly a good looking establishment. So, I ask questions, how, when, why, etc. and he goes into this detailed account of even what the rent is, what they are spending on labor and how he has this plan to put in place of reducing some expenses but expanding their market share and more. He must've talked, or answered my inquisitive questions for about an hour, 'til I had one last question left: "great, but when are you taking over?" Without losing a single beat and very seriously he tells me "it's 50% done already" stops, then continues with "I'm ready to buy it but for the money that I'm willing to pay, there's no way the owner would sell it to me, but my 50% is done!"

This continued with other stuff too. Anything A. wanted, was already 50% done in his mind. He was getting married, although the girl had absolutely no interest in him. He was moving to X, except for the tiny bit of detail about X not issuing him the proper visas to do so.

Yesterday, as I was telling the story to a friend, I realized I'm 50% done in many fronts myself, just don't want to be brave enough to face it. For example; bought a station wagon, so my part is done but am only missing the wife, kids and a dog for having a family. That's 50% done right?

Wherever A. is, I wish him well and hope that whatever he wants in life, he gets all 100% of it.

Similar yet different?

Somebody recently asked if there was a difference between flying into Baghdad incognito or playing sax on Arsenio Hall show. I suppose as it comes to both being publicity stunts designed to garner support, money, votes, etc. there really isn't a big difference. But here are some of the points that makes the two different:

- Most of the world did not go up against Arsenio having a talk show.

- No members of UN Security Council objected to the Arsenio Hall Show.

- Thousands of innocent civilians did not have to be murdered so the Arsenio Hall Show could take place.

- There were not daily transfers of friendly body bags out of Arsenio's studio.

- Except for the limited extreme fanatics., not many had ethical and legal objections to that show.

- The Arsenio "event" was not scheduled and executed by using tax payer's money.

- Sax player was not so afraid of audience members showing him how they really feel to hide.

Sangak is coming!

I take whatever negative I said about Orange County back! As I was picking up some necessities (and more niceties) at the plaza on Alicia Pkwy in Laguna Niguel where Super Jordan and Kakh Bakery are amongst the other Iranian businesses, I see this sign in front of a new store: " Opening Soon! Fresh Sangak Bread Bakery!".

For those unfamiliar with the pleasures a Sangak bread can bring into an otherwise mundane life, please move to the next post. But I am sure others can understand how this single event could possibly allow a man to forget all derogatory feelings for a region, in exchange for the opportunity to occasionally enjoy this provision with tea for breakfast or to make sandwiches late in the day, or a million other uses, each filled with much bliss. Can't wait!

The version pictured above is from here.

An Observation

Having somebody that loves kids so much play around with four of them under 6 years old for a couple of days before separating is like bringing a thirsty man from the desert, putting a tall glass in front of him, throwing a few cubes of ice in there, pouring this crystal clear water from a glass jar, gently shake the glass to get all the water nice and cold, then watch the glass as little drops of condensation form on its outside, occasionally joining other drops nearby and trickling all the way down to the table. And just when the man is almost out of willpower and bursting through the need to achieve contentment, knocking the glass over and taking him away.

Missed me?

Pass da Stuffin'

Tomorrow is that specific U.S. holiday where millions of bird are slaughtered in remembering an assumed event involving some religious extremists who were here to build one nation under God, but pretend church and state are separate, and not before killing most of the original residents.

I'll be driving 190 miles (that's just over 305 kilometers for you commie metric using infidels) to spend the holiday with my cousin and her two lovely kids (okay, a husband too), plus a few other friends and family who will also be there. Sorry about no posts, but I'll be back soon and please remind me to tell you all about Hoder running for office, the problem with Kurds, San Diego zoo and the place to get the coolest clothes on earth. I may even think of some new stuff by the time I am back. See you in a couple of days.

Today's Post

Somebody very recently asked me how do I think of things to write. Actually I do not pay much attention to it and just make mental notes of things that I find interesting during my day. Then whenever I get the chance (usually late in the evenings), I try to remember a few of them and pour my thoughts on my keyboard. Today was one of the days I had a particularly busy day mentally and as such figuered I had a lot to write about.

So, I sit in front of my computer and decided to check out the weblog before getting down to the business of writing. One of the first things I noticed was that Alireza has a new post on The Persian Version (see? this Ping business works!). I opened his blog and read with much sorrow he has lost his grandmother. I left a comment wishing him strength through tough times and also noticed he had stated that his uncle has written about her on iranian.com.

Later, I go to visit Jahanshah Javid's iranian.com and there I find him to be the uncle Alireza was talking about. I had no idea JJ was his uncle and that he had just lost his Mom. I don't know what happened but I suddenly lost all energy and enthusiasm I was reserving for writing tonight. Somehow it was all drained from my body, to the point that I don't even remember a single topic I was so eager to share.

I have always considered JJ to be a friend, even though we have never met in person. I started sending him links, news and some written thoughts long ago, when the Internet was still new and his was one of the first permanent stops for Iranians on it. I used pen names and rarely sent stuff under my own, until later when I got more in the public eye and used my own name on my stuff. One morning later on, he sent me an urgent email: "I need your phone number." A few minutes later he called: "I heard Googoosh has left Iran and is in Toronto. Can you find out if its true?" I did and a few days later was sitting in front of her as she prepared for her first concert in over two decades. Ever since then, we have tried unsuccessfully to meet on several occasions, but it has not happened yet.

So, why did his loss of his mother affect me so deeply? I'm not sure. Maybe it was the unfussy way he announced it on his piece "She used to complain that it took me forever to publish her work." Although further down the page he admits: "My mother has died. And there are a lot of thoughts on my mind. It's not going to be easy." Maybe it was my own fear of one day losing mine. I know we all face that situation one day, but I am certainly not prepared to even consider that option at this point. Whatever it was, it'll take me a while to understand and come to terms with it.

Meanwhile, if you wish, you can send JJ a message of sympathy. I am sure he appreciates it. His email is jj@iranian.com

Tintin & Me

Watching my current all-time favorite and one of the most unique, clever and entertaining television shows ever, The Simpsons last night, something Lisa said stuck with me. In a chance encounter with the real guest star of the episode (Tony who?) J.K. Rowling, she repeated what I had heard before many times in that Rawling was responsible for an entire new generation of kids to read again.

For me (and my generation of Iranian kids), our J.K. Rawling was Georges Rémi "Herge" and instead of Harry Potter, we had Tintin & Milou. Although an adult, Tintin looked young enough to be the hero to many kids between 5 and 15, and the cast of characters, including his buddy Captain Haddock the old drunk sailor, detectives Dupont and Dupond, Madam Castafiore or Professor Tournesol were all so multifaceted and real, it was easy to build a relationship with each and find the ones you liked or disliked.

Through the adventures of this boy/man character, we all traveled to Tibet and South America, flew to the moon and explored the deep seas, and met a barrage of other interesting characters at every turn. It wasn't clear always as why was Tintin doing all this stuff, he was officially a reporter, but got involved ion some unusual adventures. I read somewhere that Herge may have been an intelligence officer himself at some point and Tintin was personification of his own life and endeavors. I suppose there'll always be a conspiracy theory about everything.

I was the lucky kid in the entire block that owned the complete set originally published by Universal Publishing in Tehran. The set may still be sitting at some storage box someplace and what wouldn't I give to get my hand on it again?

There are a few Iranian sites on Tintin, but this is the most comprehensive. Maybe one day somebody will get the urge to put more of our memories on the web. And there's Zartosht Soltani's brilliant parody that still brings a smile to my face, every time I come across it.

Monday Evening Motivationals

You didn't think I'd forget did you? With some delay and my apologies:

"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas."
-- Linus Pauling --

"Maintaining a complicated life is a great way to avoid
changing it."
-- Elaine St. James --

"Don't worry about whether or not I am now happy. Today is
only chapter 1. We have yet to write the book."
-- Lois Wyse --

"It only takes one person to change your life - you."
-- Ruth Casey --

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of
choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing
to be achieved."
-- Jeremy Kitson --

"Entrepreneurship is a state of mind, a can-do attitude, a
capacity to focus on a vision and work toward it."
-- Barry Rogstad --

"The difference between a successful person and others is
not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather
a lack of will."
-- Vincent T. Lombardi --

"One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse
to soar."
-- Helen Keller --

It Must Be Magic

I truly don't intend to come across as cynical or showing no compassion on this topic, but as someone who has lost a couple of friends/associates to HIV/AIDS, I often find myself wondering how Magic Johnson keeps looking better and better years after being diagnosed with the virus? Is there really some "magic" we don't hear about, or are there actual treatments out there that are only effective if you are blessed with the fame and fortune genetic makeup? What is it that millions of others around the globe have no access to, but our most powerful do? Isn't it enough to get away with murder (literally) that they now need to also avoid illness and death? I can imagine that he probably has a better regiment of exercise and diet habits superior to most of us mortals, but as far as treatments available, shouldn't they also be offered to others? I have heard of experimental therapies plus newest meds he's on. Whatever it is, one or more of those must be working as the man looks just as good and healthy, if not better than the day he hung his sneakers. I'm sure I'm missing something and have no doubt somebody within our smart reader group here can shed some light on it for all of us.

Tehran Intersections

Iran Filter has been an interesting project to watch in its early days. Although it would be nice if more people participated and provided links they find interesting, there are already plenty of useful information passed along between registered users and visitors. One that I have truly enjoyed and try to visit sometimes several times a day is the web site for Tehran Traffic Control Company, TTCC. They post a new picture every 2 minutes of various Tehran intersections and for someone with an perpetual case of homesickness, this is a welcome site.

As for Iran Filter, you only need to register to be able to add your own links, otherwise any visitor can stop by and enjoy what is being linked by others.

Another Velvet Revolution

Being in touch with Iranian activists of different stripes, I can tell you that what took place over the last few days in the one-time Iranian region known now as Republic of Georgia (Commonwealth of Independent States) is significant beyond the borders of this little-known Caucasian country.

What is being labeled as a "Velvet Revolution" was exactly that, a revolution. A public uprising against what they perceived to be a corrupt government, ending in the overthrow of a regime. There was some overtures for Shevardnadze to keep his post until a new government is put in place, perhaps resembling more of a reformist transition than a revolution, but the peaceful (although forceful) invasion of parliament by masses ended such speculations and the President resigned today.

This has suddenly put a third option in front of many activists in the region, particularly in Iran. The Iranian opposition has so far been divided in two primary camps; those who wish to take the country through a transitional period of slow reforms to eventually lead into a more democratic system, and others who advocate a ferocious revolution, at times with friendly overtures towards foreign "help" by some. Tbilisi presents a new option, where people force the hand of the regime, counting on the security forces to stay off violence and allowing for a change of government within hours, not days or even years. There has already been a few that have suggested this to be possible in Iran, citing examples such as Shah's army crumbling under the public pressure.

I am not yet convinced if that option applies to Iran. I believe the missing factor and what has not been an issue in Georgia or other examples of this peaceful transition of power, is religious fundamentalism. Despite the damage this regime has inflicted to the foundation of religion in Iran, we still have a sizeable portion of our population who are deeply religious. Within this segment, there are a smaller group who can only be described as fundamentalists. Although their numbers are limited their shear brutality and sense of dedication, plus access to weapons provides this fraction formidable power. Unlike the Georgian internal police, this group when cornered like a rat, will fight with every ounce of strength to preserve the system that has nourished it so well. A single act of aggression by these people, will bring about the bloodshed and carnage that this entire process is suppose to avert and could even cause an escalation of the violence on both sides to a regretful outcome.

So far, I'm still in the camp that believes the non-violence long-haul change routine is our best course of action and although the process is long and wearisome, the long-term results will be more mature, steady and long-lasting. Even the fundamentalists need to reach a stage where they will not be blowing themselves up in every government building in tomorrow's free Iran and that can only be achieved through the rule of law and a slow transition towards respecting the wishes of masses.

Is this even possible? yes. If we fail to consider this as a real and viable possibility, the road down to asking U.S. paratroopers to land in Tehran is not that far. Many fundamentalists (on the governments side or opposition) of the past twenty-odd years are now flag-bearers of a non-violent democratic approach to government. Why would it be impossible to expand upon that progress and achieve our ultimate goals independently?

The Apartheid Wall

Mr. Sharon, tear down this wall!

The Apartheid Wall

Neocons & MKO (again)

Amir Taheri is one of the "experts" of Benador Associates. The group also includes other notables such as Prince of Darkness Richard Perle and Iran's Enemy #1; Michael Ledeen. Taheri is the guy who recently claimed Hijab did not exist in Iran until 1977 and praised "W" on one of his biggest endorsements of the clerical tyranny in Iran, when he publicly applauded the student movement for democracy. So, his political leaning and affiliation is clear.

In his latest article he makes two allegations that may require further inquiry; one is that France bombed Bushehr in 1983, number two and more importantly; U.S. has made a deal with Massoud Rajavi's Mojahedin to commit acts of sabotage inside Iran, followed by another attack on nuclear plants to cause an uprising against the regime following its destabilization.

The first one is one of those accusations nobody can prove or reject, so talk is cheap. Second one though, is straight out of the mind of Ledeen, the man obsessed with interfering with the natural progress of Iranian people towards democracy. A friend recently objected to me labeling Ledeen as Iran's #1 enemy, suggesting that someone like Khamenei is more deserving of the title. Perhaps she's right. To me, the 1979 revolution had three main goals reflected in people's chants and list of demands: abolition of monarchy and establishment of a republic, independence and freedom. The first one is done with and will never ever be reversed. Between the other two, at least Khamenei shows some basic commitment to the independence part, while Ledeen is so keen on destroying that too. As for freedom, Khamenei doesn't even believe in it and Ledeen's version isn't that much better.

Michael Ledeen, congratulations! You still retain the #1 position in my books.

Cartoon

Buy Justice? Buy Judgeships?

I believe in the principal behind idea of innocent 'til proven guilty fully. So, I'll assume wacko is also innocent on the recent charges, unless and until the opposite is proven. Putting him aside for a minute, I do believe the judicial system in U.S. is in shambles. First there's the issue of money and its influence on courts. A couple of days ago I was watching a program on TV about NFL's greatest running backs who played for not-so-great teams and there's the reporter shoving a microphone in the face of O.J. Simpson, interrupting his golf game at a Florida country club. Is there any sane person that still doubts this guy murdered two human beings in the most brutal way, yet was able to buy his freedom with fame and money to improve his handicap now? How is it that a select few can hire a mini-van full of attorneys and a bus-load of other experts to poke holes in the most solid cases, yet thousands of others sit in prison or death rows unable to afford a decent defense for themselves and suffer although innocent. O.J. is proof positive of a major failure of this system for that he was proven to the world to be guilty, yet managed to fool a few jurors.

Here's something else I find astonishing and even after a few years of living here still can't digest it: elected judges! Since when the job of deciding right or wrong, or more accurately legal and illegal is a popularity contest? Last thing a judge should worry about while deciding on any case, is how this will reflect in tomorrow's paper and whether an unpopular but correct decision can cost him his job. No judge, not in any level, should be subjected to that. This "direct democracy" gibberish is bad enough when public policy is decided based on which side can make more noise and raise the most dust to influence the voters, judiciary should not also be held hostage by the court of public opinion.

I can't end this without getting back to wacko. IF he is convicted, do you think that if he and his attorneys were barred from contacting the complainants in the case against him years ago, or at least any contact would have been with the presence of a court officer and not to allow buying of their silence, many many other children would have been saved what they may have experienced between then and now? Also, as one of the richest entertainers ever, don't you think he'll hire a plane-load of attorneys and a stadium-size crowd of experts and find a way out of these charges again? Maybe ALL lawyers should be public defenders, without the ability for some to buy better defenses, while most are nowhere nearly as lucky. Appointed judges, appointed defense attorneys and only the most necessary experts, sounds like the beginnings of leveling out the playing field in courts. Sounds like putting an equal value on the lives of all human beings, regardless of where they are from or what they are worth. Sounds like socialism. That can't possibly be good, can it?

ACI Survey

ACI, a forum and think-tank of Iranian academics and activists has introduced a survey (link in Farsi) to measure some of the viewpoints and concerns of Iranians, particularly the enormous percentage that is currently under 40. I don't believe there's enough of this type of work done and since such endeavors could not possibly be held inside Iran and with a more accurate and encompassing fashion (door to door or even by phone, etc.), the Internet may be the only way to try to gather such data.

The questions, aside from general demographic inquiries, focus on past participation in various elections, and opinions of what the participants see as conditions and obstacles for the future of the country. If you run an Iranian weblog, I hope you can link to it ion order to get the survey most exposure possible.

I sink like a stone ...

With my obsession with Leonard Cohen you must've guessed that I really enjoy musicians who are primarily poets. Cohen is probably the best example of that, although one who has never achieved the public acceptance bestowed upon other artists. Another one of my favorites and one who has also fond a way to get on the best selling charts is Gordon Matthew Sumner, better known as Sting.

As a child of the 80's, the images of him tied to that giant wheel of Synchronicity or running through the room of candles are remembered forever but I also remember him personally as the family man playing with his kids in Crane Beach in Barbados or later in a mini concert dedicating his "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" song to his wife. Very romantic for a rock star.

This is one of my much loved Sting songs as I also find my own logic drowned in a sea of emotion often.

Be Still My Beating Heart

Be still my beating heart
It would be better to be cool
It's not time to be open just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget
Be still my beating heart
Or I'll be taken for a fool
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so

I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart

Restore my broken dreams
Shattered like a falling glass
I'm not ready to be broken just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget

Be still my beating heart
You must learn to stand your ground
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so

Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart

Never to be wrong
Never to make promises that break
It's like singing in the wind
Or writing on the surface of a lake
And I wriggle like a fish caught on dry land
And I struggle to avoid any help at hand

I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart

UPDATE - I'm compleletely open!

I think I'd better dance now...

I'm taking a day off writing, why don't we use the opportunity and dance?

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."
Friedrich Nietzsche

Too Tight To Mention...

We have had this conversation with Hoder a few times before. He is of the mindset that all the time and effort he puts into his weblog (in his case also other pet projects of his), should may be compensated for or at least the costs should be reimbursed somehow. I don't criticize him for thinking that. After all, he is one of the people that spends hours (at least used to) finding interesting links and reading stuff to add to his sites for his readers, so why should he put money out of his pocket too?

I have resisted that idea so far, as I think the relationship built between a blogger and his/her readers is somehow changed if one tried to sell the other one books and magazine subscriptions and long distance services. So, I've stayed away from accepting advertising or other ways a site or blog can at least pay for itself.

eyeranian.net is hosted on VortexHost currently. A great outfit I can't really complain about. They are not the least expensive option out there, but like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. As the site was originally set up for a small circle of interested readers, I subscribed to a plan that only gives me so much space and so many GB's of "traffic" per month and over the last couple of months, when the number of readers has steady increased from only a few to thousands, it has become evident that what I have is not enough. That is why you may have seen the "bandwidth limit exceeded" page here occasionally and no eyeranians in site.

I was thinking of going the advertising route (and still may have to) but a reader I currently do not recall suggested the donation path. Somewhat reluctantly, I am going to try that. There isn't a big amount needed, I'm not planning to quit my day job over this or buy that plasma TV for the bedroom, just a few bucks to pay for some upgrades and improve the current situation. I figure if all those who are interested, think this site is worthy of their support and don't want it to go away, make a small donation of $5, $10 or $25 (not that I would turn down much bigger ones!), we'll be fine and eyeranian.net will survive in its current format. Think of it as your entertainment money or paying for a small cultural bridge or a political endeavor or whatever else you like, it will be greatly appreciated regardless.

You can use the PayPal account I have set up by clicking on the button below if you choose to and can help. I thank all of those who do, or those who really want to but can't, in advance.

The Nobel Concert

Didn't they announce that when all is said and done, there will be some new additions to the concert line-up to honor Iran's first ever Nobel Peace Prize winner "to reflect the winner"? Those were the exact words of concert organizer Odd Arvid Stroemstad only a short few weeks ago.

Well, the actual line-up was announced today and to reflect the Iranian winner, country singer Tim McGraw will headline the show!!! It gets worst, others in tow to honor Shirin Ebadi are the Chieftains, Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Orchestra Baobab, Martin Yates, Lene Marlin and the Cardigans. Very reflective of the winner, don't you think? This is just a joke, in my opinion.

So, I have a suggestion: The event is being taped to be shown on A&E later in December. The TV version is a large part of doing this obviously, with the U.S. market being a major concern. I think we should start writing A&E and ask them to use their influence to include representation of Iranian artists and culture.

Their email address is: ae.viewerrelations@aetv.com and I suggest a simple one liner text like "Please use your influence to include Iranian artists at Nobel concert taped on December 11 and to be shown on December 21st on A&E." for the body of the message. Please add your own signature too and let's hope they make a change. Maybe we'll get O-Hum? Doubt it!

SAFA on Toomar

One of my favorite weblogs, and one that I have unfortunately been overlooking recently (Leila and others, please start using BlogRolling Ping, so we know you have new posts) is Liela Farjami's Toomar. I find Leila to be an amazing writer, very witty, highly artistic, unmistakably poetic and extremely funny. Read SAFA and you'll agree.

Quotes on Israel

I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before it - not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.
Harry S. Truman

Our forces saved the remnants of the Jewish people of Europe for a new life and a new hope in the reborn land of Israel. Along with all men of good will, I salute the young state and wish it well.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Israel was not created in order to disappear - Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.
John F. Kennedy

Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom, and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life.
Lyndon B. Johnson

My commitment to the security and future of Israel is based upon basic morality as well as enlightened self-interest. Our role in supporting Israel honors our own heritage.
Gerald R. Ford

The survival of Israel is not a political issue, it is a moral imperative. That is my deeply held belief and it is the belief that is shared by the vast majority of the American people... a strong secure Israel is not just in Israel's interest. It's in the interest of the United States and in the interest of the entire free world.
Jimmy Carter

In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith. Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that. Israel is a land of stability and democracy in a region of tyranny and unrest.
Ronald Reagan

American and Israel share a special bond. Our relationship is unique among all nations. Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty, a home to the oppressed and persecuted.
William J. Clinton

We will stand up for our friends in the world. And one of the most important friends is the State of Israel. My administration will be steadfast in support Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seeking the peace for which all Israelis pray.
George W. Bush

Invasion was indeed illegal!

It's official. The invasion of Iraq was illegal! As if there was any doubt to begin with, now one of the strategists behind the entire invasion scenario also concedes that it was contradictory to international law to invade Iraq. Richard Perle, also known as "The Prince of Darkness" and a major player and influence in the administration of the former Governor of Texas now says "I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing."

Visa Hassles

Maybe it is just me, but wasn't it only a few years ago that a President was applauding the way Universities in U.S. have become a center for students from across the globe to learn more about this American style of democracy and to go back and adapt similar policies suitable to their own homelands as they become their country's elite and hold positions of power? And wasn't it another President who repeatedly after about 20 religious fanatics orchestrated terrorist plans and caused much suffering with their brutality kept saying that if we allow these attacks to change our lifestyle, our daily conduct, our future plans in any way, then we have actually allowed the terrorists to win?

Hmmm. Then why is it that only because of the actions of a dozen out of hundreds of thousands of students (maybe millions) who have used the student visa program, the program has changed drastically and numbers dropped so significantly since 9/11? If 12 German nationals start robbing banks here, will we stop Germans from visiting and assume they all may be bank robbers? If some Cubans start a gang, should we be cautious of gang activities with our Cuban neighbors? Will we stop importing domestic workers from Philippines if two dozen Philippinos steal from their boss? Should we not allow Canadians driving across the border if one causes an accident that kills 30 innocent school kids? Of course not. We will not allow stereo-typing of any nationality or racial heritage blind us so much as to be scared, prejudicial or eve cautious of anyone, based on the actions of another person who may only share a common ancestry with one another.

Let's not let the terrorists win. So far, it looks as if they may have.

Canadian Apology

Faramin who has a weblog with a very long name (Human first then proud Iranian) posted a link to something that is a few months old but is still worth watching. This is a Canadian apology towards their neighbors south of the border, from that witty and hilarious CBC show; This Hour Has 22 Minutes: Enjoy!

Quote

"Prefer a loss to a dishonest gain; the one brings pain at the moment, the other for all time." Chilon

Leonard Cohen's Here It Is

Here It Is

Here is your crown
And your seal and rings;
And here is your love
For all things.

Here is your cart,
And your cardboard and piss;
And here is your love
For all of this.

May everyone live,
And may everyone die.
Hello, my love,
And my love, Goodbye.

Here is your wine,
And your drunken fall;
And here is your love.
Your love for it all.

Here is your sickness.
Your bed and your pan;
And here is your love
For the woman, the man.

May everyone live,
And may everyone die.
Hello, my love,
And my love, Goodbye.

And here is the night,
The night has begun;
And here is your death
In the heart of your son.

And here is the dawn,
(Until death do us part);
And here is your death,
In your daughter's heart.

May everyone live,
And may everyone die.
Hello, my love,
And my love, Goodbye.

And here you are hurried,
And here you are gone;
And here is the love,
That it's all built upon.

Here is your cross,
Your nails and your hill;
And here is your love,
That lists where it will.

May everyone live,
And may everyone die.
Hello, my love,
And my love, Goodbye.

Quote

"The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it's not without doubt but in spite of doubt." Dr. Rollo May

Just a Note

Iran Filter

Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder) has launched his newest project. Iran Filter is a community news and links site, dedicated to providing information on a wide variety of topics about Iran and Iranians. All registered members are encouraged to submit links and news items that are displayed for use by visitors. Similar to his Persian version of a similar idea in Sobhaneh (breakfast), there are some basic rules for what is allowed to be posted and they are as follows:

*Posts should:

- be directly related to Iran.

- Have news value.

- Accompany a brief description or summary in English, as well as a clear, informative, and self-explanatory title. This excludes personal opinions or judgment about the link provided or it’s content.

*Self-promotion, in any form is not allowed. Therefore linking to own work (article, blog, art, photo, etc.) is forbidden.

*All posts are subject to editing or removal by site administrator.

*Copyrights for all material, articles, links and artwork remains the property of their creator.

I think this is another great idea by Hoder. If utilized properly, Iran Filter can serve as a great tool for all those who are interested in news related to Iran, particularly items not generally covered by the mainstream media. Take a look for yourself and become a registered member. The broader participation will add to the variety of what will be available to all of us.

Still Ticking

Love & Yearning

I obviously have not seen this Smithsonian exhibition yet, but if the interactive web site is any indication, it looks fantastic. I don't believe I have ever come across such a professionally done and beautiful display. Enjoy a brief look into Love & Yearning. Thanks S.

Quote

"Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment." Samuel Johnson

Charting a new course...

I'm sure by now a large majority of citizens in this great land called U.S. of A. know (even if not openly, at least within themselves) how they were duped into this Iraq war. I for one believe in honesty, integrity and good-heartedness of a very large majority of these folks. I could not possibly live here if I did not. But I think the question remaining for many, is how to get out of this mess now. As proud people, they don't want to walk-away with tails between their legs and an honorable strategy is welcomed, since most were deceived because of that same honor. This is that "exit strategy" Powell was so persistent about and the collective administration obviously lacks.

Once again my favorite columnist (okay, one of them) may have started a dialogue on that very topic quite effectively. James O. Goldsborough recently published a two part article on "Bringing an end to the Iraq conflict". I am including both parts here and hope you take the time to review both. It may save many lives.

PART ONE

Bringing an end to the Iraq conflict

That the Bush administration deceived and misled the nation in launching its war in Iraq is well documented. Iraq's weapons, its threat to America, its connections to al-Qaeda, its influence on regional conflicts were all distorted and exaggerated.

These distortions – plus administration bluster about "cakewalks" and "mission accomplished" – have now come back to bite. The nation is on a course headed for the rocks, and shameless comments such as "America will never run," from a president who was an artful dodger of another misguided war, don't help.

History will judge Bush for his mistakes, but the issue before us today is practical, not historical. We find ourselves in an increasingly precarious situation, one even the administration no longer can deny.

Its message has begun to change. From a cakewalk, Iraq has become, "a long hard war," says Donald Rumsfeld. "We're going to have tragic days, but they're necessary, part of a war that is difficult and complicated."

The Bush message has a second part to it: The rocks may lie straight ahead, but there will be no changing of course. The administration has met no metaphor for retreat it hasn't employed in refusing to consider an exit strategy from Iraq. A partial list:

Quitting, turning tail, cutting and running, bugging out, going soft, leaving the job undone, challenging America's will, retreating, never running.

Such bluster compounds the initial mistake. An honorable exit strategy is exactly what is needed for Iraq.

The name "Vietnam" is heard today because of growing evidence that America's occupation of Iraq is unwelcome, both to Americans and Iraqis. The longer it lasts the more unwelcome it will become, which is why an exit strategy is vitally needed.

In his drumbeat of no-retreat metaphors, Bush ignores an important reality about war: They're not all the same. It meant something to say America would not retreat at Bunker Hill, the Marne or Normandy. It means nothing to say America will not retreat from the illegal occupation of Iraq.

In unnecessary wars, bad wars, wars of aggression, retreat can be the best course. Israel withdrew from Lebanon precisely because its occupation wasn't working. It took a military man, Ehud Barak, to understand the value of retreat from Lebanon.

This administration has no respect for history. We've seen this in its national security strategy, which accords America, unique among nations, the right to launch pre-emptive war when it chooses. That policy, known as the Bush Doctrine, was the rationalization for war with Iraq.

The administration never understood the practical consequences of pre-emptive war: How it would isolate us from friends and weaken alliances, divorce us from international law and codes of conduct, undermine America's moral authority, which for most of the past century was unassailable.

Insidiously, the Bush Doctrine confused national security strategy with private agendas. Seizing on the Sept. 11 attacks as justification and using Bush, the blank slate president, as vehicle, the administration's neoconservative warhawks defined their "evil empire" and put Iraq at the head of it.

The human, moral and economic costs of invasion, occupation and subjugation of this ancient nation were never part of the neoconservative calculation. Taking Iraq was their neat idea. If it didn't turn out to be a cakewalk, Bush could always stiffen spines with speeches about never retreating.

There were dissenters, foremost among them people who knew Iraq best. Neoconservatives were countered by State Department and CIA experts, academics and policy-makers from the first Bush and Clinton administrations, people who knew Iraq's history and the nature of its people.

A leading skeptic was Colin Powell, who in his memoirs explained that the first Bush administration declined to invade and occupy Baghdad in 1991 because an American "proconsulship" would not work. Q.E.D.

With his views formed in Vietnam, Powell knew about quagmires. When war became a certainty under Bush II, Powell's State Department undertook the Future of Iraq Project to assess postwar possibilities. That report, and another by the CIA, concluded that chances of implanting democracy in Iraq were low. Both reports were ignored by Pentagon neoconservatives (as were Iraq's peace-feelers), who knew nothing about Iraq, but who were put in charge of it.

Among analysts, no one has done better work on Iraq than Toby Dodge, English author of the just-published "Inventing Iraq," which recounts the British occupation of Iraq in 1920-32 and ties it to present events.

"The United States in Iraq today," Dodge writes, "must understand that it is both living with the consequences of (Britain's) failure and in danger of repeating it."

Just as Iraqis, Dodge says, defeated the British through "violence and political mobilization," they are prepared to bleed Americans to death today. There are forces at work that care little about Bush's rhetorical machismo.

We must learn from history.

PART TWO

Charting a new course in Iraq

On Feb. 27, 1968, Walter Cronkite, the CBS News anchorman, told the nation that America could not prevail in Vietnam, that the wise course of action was to admit we "did the best we could" and to begin a process of negotiation and withdrawal.

Americans understood and trusted Cronkite, and the Vietnam War's fate was sealed. The 1968 presidential candidates backed an end to the war. Elected, Richard Nixon could have declared victory and come home. Instead, he stretched war on four more bloody years, using every tool to stifle truth and dissent, ending with an accord he could have had at the beginning of his term.

As the occupation of Iraq goes bad, the Bush administration also seeks to stifle dissent. Debate on Iraq, warns Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, "sends a very unsettling message to Iraqis that our elections might decide their future. When they hear the message that we might not be there next year, they get very scared."

However much beleaguered governments dislike it, wars, especially bad wars, are good subjects for debate. Regimes seeking to stifle debate with crude appeals to macho patriotism ("America will never run") serve themselves, not the nation. They know public opinion on war can bring down governments, as it did with Vietnam, and could well do with Iraq.

In "Inventing Iraq," British scholar Toby Dodge writes that, having occupied Iraq since 1920, Britain's government, "had failed by 1927 to alter the long-running hostility of British public opinion." The occupation, wrote Lord Robert Cecil, "may be fatal to our existence at the next election."

So it was. The Conservatives were defeated in May 1929.

The Bush administration, showing signs of desperation, still has no end game. Bush, who has lied to the nation from the beginning about this war, still talks as though American forces will not leave Iraq until legions of saluting Iraqi democrats shouting aves are ready to line up to acclaim them.

As the rising daily body count demonstrates, the chances of that are zero.

Bush needs an exit strategy. Here it is:

First: Admit we need help. Bush's basic mistake of going to war unilaterally must be overcome. Bush clings to Iraq as though it was some kind of prize America has won, as though Americans desire the burden that occupation and subjugation bring.

Reality is that most Americans would willingly accept sharing the prize and a reduction of the burden.

We need a new Security Council resolution prompting other nations to help by ceding to the United Nations political and peacekeeping authority in Iraq during a short transitional phase.

Such a resolution would bring immediate international support of the kind we have seen in Bosnia (the European Union), Kosovo (the United Nations) and Afghanistan (NATO). It would bring support from key nations that could most help in the stabilization of Iraq, nations such as Germany, France, India and Russia.

The resolution would stress that the U.N. peacekeepers are there at the invitation of Iraqis, and their mandate will last no longer than Iraqis desire.

No question that many nations are enjoying the disaster Bush has delivered to America, for example, Russia. Russians have not forgotten the glee of U.S. policy-makers during Moscow's disastrous Afghanistan occupation in the 1980s.

Still, many nations have indicated a willingness to help behind the right U.N. authorization. No nation gains from letting Iraq sink deeper into the chaos Bush has wrought.

During the peacekeeping period, a representative council of Iraqis would be formed to replace the U.S. occupation administration and the present U.S.-imposed governing council, which has little indigenous support. As in Afghanistan, the interim regime would be composed of people representing the major political, ethnic, religious and tribal groups.

The Iraqi army would be reconstituted. There is broad agreement today that disbanding it was a mistake. Prior to occupation, some 1 million Iraqis were employed directly by the state, about half that number in the armed forces. These people today are unemployed and hostile.

Troops of the former army, unlike their commanders, were composed mainly of Shiites, not Baathists loyal to Saddam Hussein. Ex-Baathist officers would not be rehired.

America's financial commitment to Iraq would remain. The $87 billion voted by Congress for Iraq would not be diminished, but its proportions, 75 percent for occupation and 25 percent for reconstruction, would be reversed. Destroying a nation's infrastructure creates obligations.

Iraqis and Americans, in consultation, would determine how the money is to be spent.

This program could work. Bush's program cannot work.

Bush's error, the mote in his eye stuck there by his neoconservative nation-builders, has been to believe that U.S. occupation could remake Iraq in the American image. It is not working, and a Vietnam-strategy of sending more troops, staying longer, laying more razor wire and killing more Iraqis isn't the answer.

When you're headed for the rocks, full steam ahead is a poor solution. We need a new course in Iraq.

Goldsborough can be reached via e-mail at jim.goldsborough@uniontrib.com.

The Enemy Within

I know she looks harmless, even downright pleasant. What did you expect? Somebody with horns and a long tail? The enemy often has one of those crafty Machiavellian appearances and this is no exception. Read her own declaration:

"In Congress, Goli Ameri will work with President Bush to strengthen our economy, create more jobs, and win the war against terror. As an American of Iranian descent, Goli is acutely aware of the dangers of religious extremism and totalitarian government. Goli Ameri is a proud American with a real desire to serve her neighbors and her nation."

Goli Ameri wants strong public schools and wants us to put our children first. She fights for seniors. Will revitalize small business, support High Tech and gives voters the choice!. I dare you to find one candidate from any main stream party running in any election for any office in any of the next 10 elections who would also not make the same claims. In other words, Goli Ameri is full of fluff and hot air.

And what is that "religious extremism and totalitarian government" line in the quote above? Is she talking about W's administration? Because I think most of us are "acutely aware" of the dangers of such governments. Will she keep an eye on W's team to make sure they don't go down that road? Or will she push for one group of religious extremists to attack other religious extremists world-wide?

After all, didn't her President called his "war on terror" a CRUSADE? You remember that was the whole deal with the original Crusades, don't you? One bunch of religious fanatics killing a whole bunch of what they perceived to be another bunch of religious fanatics. Amazingly, this time even the particular religions have also remained the same two.

I wish Goli all the best. I am sure if elected, she will do for us what Powell and Rice have done for the African-American community.

Monday Morning Motivationals

============================================

This week, do a few things differently. Make the phone
calls you've been putting off. Commit to some daily
exercise, to paying those nagging bills, or to reading a
few minutes every day. Eat slightly healthier and go to
bed a bit earlier. Read to the kids or go for a walk with
your spouse. Do a few Positive Daily Actions every day
this week. The power of PDA makes all the difference.

============================================

"Success is neither magical or mysterious. Success is the
natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals."
- Jim Rohn -

"Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure."
- Edward Eggleston -

"No man [or woman] is free until he learns to do his own
thinking and gains the courage to act on his own personal initiative."
- Napoleon Hill -

"Follow your dream...take one step at a time and don't
settle for less, just continue to climb."
- Amanda Bradley -

Source

Interesting Military Quotes

My friend Nima felt you may enjoy these quotes, particularly since some of you had that lively discussion about quotes earlier. Thanks!

"Aim towards the enemy."
- Instruction printed on U.S. Army rocket launcher

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."
- U.S. Army training notice

"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate.
From 30,000 feet, every single bomb always hits the ground."
- U.S. Air Force ammunition memo.

"If the enemy is in range, so are you."
- Infantry Journal

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire
when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in
what's left of your unit."
- Army preventive maintenance publication

"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
- Infantry Journal

"Tracers work both ways."
- U.S. Army Ordnance Corps memo.

"Five-second fuses only last three seconds."
- Infantry Journal

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid."
- Col. David H. Hackworth

"If your attack is going too well, you're probably walking
into an ambush."
- Infantry Journal

"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection."
- Joe Gay

"Any ship can be a minesweeper - once."
- Anonymous

"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do."
- Unknown Army recruit

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you."
- Your buddies

"If you see a bomb disposal technician running, try to keep up with him."
- U.S. Army ordnance manual

"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed"
- U.S. Air Force flight training manual

Hossein Amanat

Cyber Architect introduced me to Hossein Amanat today. Amanat is the designer of Tehran's famous Azadi (freedom) monument, formerly known as Shahyad. He also designed the wonderful Bahai' buildings in Haifa, plus a very impressive residential building I recently went to a cocktail party at but had no idea it had such a strong Iranian connection. Obviously a brilliant architect, Amanat now practices his craft out of Vancouver, with projects all over the globe.

Sadie Hawkins II

This Sadie Hawkins Day thingy really blows. Not a single homely gal pursued.

Occupiers or Liberators?

Had a chance to meet and speak with a couple of Marine's just back from eye-rak (if you spend 6 months anywhere, I think you owe it to the people of that region or country to at least learn the proper name of their land). Anyhow, these young men and their friends, almost exclusively from poor and/or minority backgrounds, are a rather interesting bunch. I'll leave my judgment on the U.S. military, recruitment strategy and mindset bestowed upon their soldiers for a different time, but one amazing factor was their attitude towards Iraq and Iraqis. In short, I can tell you this much; these guys certainly see themselves as occupiers and not liberators.

In all the conversations, it was clear that they see their mission (and they all are expecting to be called back sometime very soon) as not liberating these people who needed help getting rid of their dictator ruler, but as a superior military force occupying enemy territory. In other words, the enemy was not Saddam or Ba'athist or Al-Qaeda, it was Iraq and Iraqis.

This made me come home and look for images of the occupying force and the same signals are everywhere. The image above is an example and I stress again, there are plenty of other samples but this is just one of a bunch. Published today on Yahoo News, the caption for this image reads:

U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division Spc. Lowary Rick Terry holds a machine gun mounted on a Humvee beside a stone image of the face of former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein which has been painted over with a US. flag and the name of the American forward operating base, Omaha, outside Tikrit, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2003. (Efrem Lukatsky)

What is described as "a US flag" is actually the map of Iraq, covered with the stars and stripes. Correct me if I'm wrong, shouldn't the "liberators" be happy to turn the country back to its people and therefore have an Iraqi flag covering their own homeland? Doesn't this show the occupying mindset, as covering Saddam's statue with a flag exclusively flown in from NYC also demonstrated? You can turn over the administration parts to Iraqis all you want (watch for Ahmad to become more and more prominent, it's time to install a puppet as Hamid was installed in Afghanistan), as long as you are playing the role of occupiers, you are indeed occupiers.

The Simon & Garfunkel Night

He : Hey how you doin'?

Me : It's almost midnight, what's wrong?

He : Nothin'

Me : C'mon what is it? You never call this late.

He : ah, you had no posts today.

Me : Duh, no kiddin', you are calling me this late for that?

He : Yeah, you posted stuff yesterday, but nothing today.

Me : Forgive me! this was the Simon & Garfunkel night

He : Simon and What?

Me : Garfunkel.

He : What's that???

Me : Who, not what.

He : Whatever, who is that?

Me : If you don't know that, I'm not going to explain.

He : Fine! What does that have to do with the posts?

Me : They were in town tonight.

He : So, you went there?

Me : No.

He : Whatever. (click)

Sadie Hawkins

I learned today that this Saturday is Sadie Hawkins Day, "a uniquely American date on which women are supposed to pursue the men of their choice." Apparently this was invented by cartoonist Al Capp who decided to introduce the event in his "Li'l Abner" comic strip in 1937. The actual date is changed regularly but it is generally held on the second Saturday in November. What a great idea, I thinks! Why not?

Picture above created with Inter Face.

More Traffic

Attention all my eyeranian friends who write me asking about the best ways to attract more readers to your blog. I don't blame you. It's more fun when your stuff is actually read by a bunch of people and you are recognized by the guy checking your passport in the airport or run into someone you never met and he asks how your ill father is. There's also the problem of people sending you vicious messages, try to break into your PC and occasional suspicious messages who offer you a "job" by some scholarly type who speaks perfect Farsi but can't tell you much about the secret project and let's not forget the mass email of viruses to your system, but it is still interesting to direct new traffic to your blogs. However, many of you aren't taking even the most basic steps to do that! Here's an example:

I told you about BlogRolling but I still see many blogs updated without pinging blogrolling.com. This is a service that more and more bloggers are using and if you have links on other sites, this may be the only way people would know you have new stuff to read or see. Why would they visit you if they aren't expecting new posts? C'mon! start doing it today! It works, trust me! Ping awa!y!

One more suggestion: please link to your favorite blogs in your posts. People who enjoy your stuff, probably enjoy stuff you enjoy too. If we all did this (and I'm guilty of not doing that enough myself), we will all build a steady following of people who enjoy our stuff and more importantly, like free entertainment! Let's do it, deal?

Amir Malek Event

If you are in Toronto this weekend, this seems like a great event and a worthy cause. Please go!

Aisha

ZaneIrani (Iranian Woman) one of my favorite (and regularly read) weblogs offers a link to this video ...so sweet so beautiful ... nobody knows how she feels...

Meatrix

This short animation may turn you against meat, at least the large scale commercial version found at most stores. It just reminded me of how much I'd want to be a vegetarian, but love the taste of flesh too much. Maybe in my next life...

Link courtesy of iranian.com

Happy Pappy?

Have you ever had a totally miserable day, where nothing could possibly go any more wrong, completely turn into a blissful joyous affair because of a perfectly unpredicted encounter with someone so pleasantly superior to your previous expectations, you'd end up smiling well past your last "good-bye"? Well, I know I have.

The Great Orator

I haven't done this in a while and quite honestly miss it a great deal. When I came across a page of quotes attributed to the former Governor of Texas today, I could not stop myself from laughing. It was actually interesting that every quote that sounded even half-decent, was from a formal and pre-written (by someone else) speech and all the fun ones were him actually talking. So if he was forced to speak for himself, these are the only kinds of crap "W" could manage to say. Enjoy:

They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program.

The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants.

People shouldn't read into venue locations someone's heart.

Redefining the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment.

The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case.

If affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm for, then I'm for it.

It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas.

Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods.

One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected.

What I'm against is quotas. I'm against hard quotas, quotas that basically delineate based upon whatever. However they delineate, quotas, I think, vulcanize society.

I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together.

I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial profiling, which is illiterate children.

I understand small business growth. I was one.

I'm a patient man. And when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man.

I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure.

As governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our public schools, and I have met those standards.

Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicine as we used to know it.

There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country.

There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it.

This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve.

We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans.

Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness.

To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.

False Pride

Not many things turn me off more than this sense of false pride some of my countrymen and women hold over some of the most bizarre ideas they feel what a sense of national and cultural pride should be. Granted, this is probably not unique to Iranians but I only get pissed off a lot when it hits so close to home. An example of such, appeared in pages of iranian.com recently, which appropriately enough was featured in their "anyway" section (there are variations of the same text in heavy e-mail circulation also). Anyway should be my reply to this apparent proud Iranian lawyer from Sydney who believes aside from fire and pomegranate juice (I won't let go, will I?), all other wonderful stuff on earth came from "Persia" or is downright "Persian".

I was going to write a reply to him when I got a message from Siamak Farah about the same and explaining how his nephew who has never been to Iran, but "knows more about Iran than any other 10 Iranians I know" has done a bit of research on the topic and prepared a reply that should knock the socks off anyone who wants to be a proud Iranian, based on false data and facts.

So, with his permission, here are the original points with comments added by Mahyar Farahbakhshian:

Who are the Iranians?

1. Twelve thousand years ago, they invented irrigated farming.

Sumerians/Elamites, not Iranians. Iranians entered that area about four thousand years ago.

2. They invented writing.

Ditto. Sumerians invented cuneiform.

3. They figured out how to tell time.

Babylonans. A semitic people.

4. They founded modern mathematics.

This is true. See Al-khwarizmi.

5. In the Code of Hammurabi, they invented the first legal system that protects the weak, the widow and the orphan.

Babylonians. Cyrus let the law stand.

6. Five thousand years ago, they had philosophers who attempted to list every known thing in the world.

Twenty five hundred, and the philosophers themselves were Greek.

7. They were using Pythagoras' theorem 1,700 years before Pythagoras.

Untrue.

8. They invented artificial building materials, some kind of pre-fab-crete stuff used to construct high-rise towers.

Buildings in that area are made of mud.

9. Northern Iran, is assumed to be the place we're all descended from.

Define 'we all'. Indo-Europeans spread out in all directions from points a little north and a little west. Think Kazakhstan today.

10. They were the first people to build cities and live in them.

Sumerians are not Iranian.

11. For thousands of years, they wrote the greatest poetry, history and "sagas" in the world and they still do.

That's subjective.

12. Because they were great horse breeders, they invented the cavalry in war, Knights of the King originate in Ancient Persia, and they invented other things like the Game of Polo (Cho-gun).

This is true.

13. They invented the postal system.

Also true.

14. Emperor Darius the conqueror invented and built the Suez Canal giving access to the Persian Navy to the Mediterranean Sea (Infact that is precisely how the Moslem armies went as far as Spain some thousand years later)

Cambyses did it. It failed and he ordered the waters whipped. Darius did a slightly better job. There is a thirty meter difference in the sea level of the Red and Mediterranean. Only the phoenecian engineers seemed to get it right. In any case, the canals crumbled later.

15. The Iranian Museum in Tehran contains some of the most outstanding stone, metal and clay sculptures and inscriptions created in the history of the world. Some of them are more than 7,000 years old. If a bomb hits this place, art lovers around the world will go into mourning.

The British museum has a lot of the same work. If any museum is bombed, art lovers will go into mourning.

16. The first school for astronomers was established by Iranians. This is how the "wise men" got to be so wise. They knew how to follow the stars.

True.

17. Beginning around 200 A.D., the Iranians founded universities that exported teachers throughout the civilized world to teach medicine, mathematics, philosophy, theology, literature and poetry inter alia...

This is not so impressive. The Romans had universities of this scale for Five hundred years. The Greeks for nearly a thousand.

18. Abraham, the father of Israel, was from Persia.

He was from Ur, which is at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq. He also was not Persian.

19. Abraham, the father of Islam, was from Persia (Which means Abraham was Persian)

See above. The comments "(Which means Abraham was Persian)" is fallacious because it does not address the concept that the same lands can be occupied by different people at different times.

20. Abraham, the father and "model" of Christian faith, was from Persia.

See above.

It's Miller Time in T.O.

It's rather strange when someone you have known for years is suddenly the mayor of the largest city in Canada and a major economical and cultural center for the entire continent. Last night, Torontonians elected David Miller as their new mayor. Miller is a lawyer with an economics degree from Harvard. For years we worked within the same party structure, although he was a City Councilor and more involved with municipal politics while my interest was on federal issues. We attended meetings, councils and rallies where as an elected politician he'd often be a guest speaker and I worked commonly behind the scenes. But this post is not about David Miller, as I have had my own mixed feelings on him (a now-cleared miscommunication with his office staff made me somewhat guarded with him). To me the most significant part of the story is that David is an NDPer (an activist within Canada's New Democratic Party) as I was for years, and as such a declared Socialist.

This is significant in two ways, one is the perception held by NDP with Torontonians. After the extreme right masterfully alienated the only Provincial government of NDP in Ontario, causing their defeat in '95 elections, it often felt as if being known as a party activist was a burden for some. The rightists still use the term as if it is derogatory, most recently demonstrated by another mayoral candidate John Nunziata who tried to discredit Miller in Nov. 3rd debate with it. But now, people vote a Socialist and an NDPer to what some have described as the second most important political position in the country (Toronto's city budget is over $6.5-billion, more than many provinces). Some credit, without a doubt should be reserved for two men; 1 - My great friend, Howard Hampton, leader of Ontario NDP and the man selected by a majority of voters as the best possible Premier, despite not winning a mandate and 2 - another former Toronto City Councilor and often partner of Miller's in city hall debates Jack Layton, now leader of Federal NDP.

Election of an NDPer to such significant office is the fruit of the hard work by them, along with thousands of unknown and little-known other activists who have continuously pushed an agenda of fairness and social justice to the forefronts of every political debate held in every corner of the city, the province and the country. As I said when the party activists chose to nominate me as one of their federal candidates in 1997: "Canada is very lucky to have clusters of her best children assemble together under one banner and one party to be the guardians of values all Canadians cherish as their greatest achievements. "

The other significant side of Miller's election can be summed up in one word; integrity. The outgoing mayor was the personification of corruption and deceitfulness. Mel Lastman came to power dishonestly and managed the city in the same manner. There was everything from a multimillion dollar computer leasing scandal to his numerous verbal blunders that made the city look ridiculous and weak. Some of his most recent gaffes included not knowing who the World Health Organization was and then going on a bizarre tirade against it shortly after (Jon Stewart said of him in his Daily Shoe that he was thinking about a trip to Toronto "but I've heard the mayor's kind of a dick.") to his famous insult while on way to Kenya as part of the Olympic delegation trying to win the 2008 for Toronto and courting African votes, when he said "I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me." He was credited months later with killing Toronto's chances by that one single line. Lastman actually helped strengthen Miller's resolve to run in May 2002. "You'll never be mayor of this city. You say dumb and stupid things!'' he screams at him in city council. David Miller started assembling his election team shortly after.

With Miller, Torontonians decide to go with someone with a clear record of integrity. Someone who ran on a campaign to stop the influence of money within the city hall. "Tonight, the people of Toronto have voted to take back their city," Miller said in his victory speech. "Together we will open up the doors of city hall for the people of Toronto. And we will padlock the backdoors to the dealmakers and influence peddlers. Access will not be bought and sold in my administration, ever, because the public interest will always be paramount in David Miller's city hall."

This may be an entirely new beginning for an amazing city.

Food Of Gods!

This post is about the food of gods. There's very little doubt in my mind that if there was ever a Garden of Eden, it was full of Pomegranate trees (okay, and one apple tree). And if there is actually a place called Heaven, I'll be watching the heavenites through the Pearly Gates enjoying their Pomegranate and Pomegranate trees. Just one look at how those perfectly shaped seeds have all gathered as a united and strong community, inside an outer shield completely concealing the treasures within, can attest to the divine usage of this perfect banquet of taste and visual delight.

Now you all know about my soft spot for Pomegranate juice. Next time you are honored enough to hold a Pomegranate in your hands, don't break the skin. Start gently (I stress VERY gently) massaging it, feeling the inner seeds breaking one by one as if you are a master Chiropractor adjusting the delicate spine of a toddler. You continue adding pressure little by little, being extremely careful not to puncture the skin. As this is not an easy task for the weak (resistance is futile), I recommend doing this while there's another Pomegranate available to break open and munch on as you are massaging the other. After a while, you will be left with this crumbled and soft outer skin, holding what feels like Jell-O inside. This is when with extra care and by use of a very fine knife, you make an opening about the size of a Sharpie tip, put that opening to your mouth and start sucking the blessed nectar of paradise, also known as Pomegranate juice. It is essential to do this while remembering me and acknowledging it to all friends and foes as the "eyeranian method" of being allowed a momentary visit to heaven.

That's how I have mine, but here are some other ways.

Perpetuate Peace

The original resolution relating to honor November 11 (anniversary of end of WWI) was enacted by Congress on June 4, 1926 and did not directly relate to veterans. It read as follows:

WHEREAS the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

WHEREAS it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and

WHEREAS the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday:

THEREFORE be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

With that, I hope we can all use this day to take a step "to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations" and remember all those across the globe who paid the ultimate price in various just and unjust wars "with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples."

War is a very ugly thing, wage peace!

Various Quotes

I really wasn't upto writing much today, but since for whatever reason I spent a lot of time reading various quotes today, I thought I'd share a few of them with you. Enjoy!

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.
James A. Baldwin

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!
Albert Einstein

Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarreled with him?
Blaise Pascal

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.
Ernest Hemingway

The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution.
John F. Kennedy

It doesn't require any particular bravery to stand on the floor of the Senate and urge our boys in Vietnam to fight harder, and if this war mushrooms into a major conflict and a hundred thousand young Americans are killed, it won't be U. S. Senators who die. It will be American soldiers who are too young to qualify for the senate.
George McGovern

Only the dead have seen the end of the war.
Plato

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.
Jean-Paul Sartre

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.
Benjamin Franklin

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
Aristotle

Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.
Gore Vidal

A free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.
Frank Lloyd Wright

Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.
Bertrand Russell

Cartoon

Monday Morning Motivationals

============================================

What's your dream? Define and clarify it. Write it down,
and proclaim it to the world. Live your dream. Let the
whole world see your dream! Let the world cheer and be
awed by the power of you and the power of your dream.

============================================

"Every man dies. Not every man truly lives."
- Braveheart -

"One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar."
- Helen Keller -

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
- Les Brown -

"Freedom is actually a bigger game than power. Power is about
what you can control. Freedom is about what you can unleash."
- Harriet Rubin -

Source

An Eyeranian in Cuba

I have too many memories of Cuba to encapsulate in one single post. But as a few of the regular readers here have written me to ask, here are some random thoughts;

My first trip to Cuba started when my seatbelt came apart as I tried to abide by the Cubana Airline pilot's request to fasten it on the tarmac in Toronto airport. This was just a sign of a crumbling infrastructure caused by years of a U.S. led embargo against this island nation that has seen every piece of any machine, every utility delivery apparatus and every building and structure (with the exception of some tourist facilities, mostly built and maintained by foreign companies) in Cuba is either broken or needs major servicing. On a clear day, you could still see American warships in distance from Havana port enforcing the embargo that has been condemned over and over again by the UN general assembly. But the seatbelt failure was also a testament to Cuban people's resilience and ingenuity. As I pointed the flaw to the flight attendance, suddenly this grease covered mechanic appeared out of nowhere and tightened it back in its place. I had no idea the plane carried its own mechanic with it, as it needed constant maintenance and the guy must've been hidden away somewhere with our luggage as he disappeared as quickly as he had emerged.

A look around the plane, I was shocked to see many Marines flying there in full uniform. Remember, this is a flight from Canada to Cuba, so where did they come from or where were they going? This is when I was introduced to Quantanamo Bay for the first time, after asking one of the Marines. Holding a Canadian passport, I had no concerns flying into Cuba. Canucks pride themselves in being a nation of peacemakers and hostility towards another nation based on their ideology is unheard of. But there were many other Americans on the plane too, breaking their country's law by vacationing on the beaches owned by a communist administration. Cubans don't mind the U.S. visitors at all though. They need the tourist based income and go out of their way to help in concealing any evidence of a trip to their island for their American visitors. This includes not stamping their passports by adding a lose page and stamping it instead.

Many Cubans hold university degrees as education is free all the way into post graduate levels. But as government decides (and sometimes miscalculates) the future needs of their country, students are directed into fields where forthcoming needs are expected. As everyone is guaranteed a government job, this occasionally means that people like our scuba-diving guide was actually trained as a veterinarian. At first I thought how ridiculous this was, but thinking of other neighboring islands that have not had to be challenged by similar limitations and still a huge majority of the population is illiterate made me admire these people even more.

This, I believe is key to understanding Cuba and Cubans. Comparing them to U.S. or western Europe or even far east and other places is just unreasonable, but when you put them besides their neighbors and other similar islands in the Caribbean, you begin to understand and appreciate what they have achieved. Just a short boat ride away in Dominican Republic and even more in Haiti, health issues are a major concern to the point of often becoming major international tragedies, yet all Cubans enjoy free healthcare and their hospitals (aside from the shortcomings) are staffed with experts to handle most situations.

I found most Cubans less political than I had imagined and dissatisfied with one aspect of their government or another. Yet, even the most outspoken ones express a rather father-like affection for Fidel Castro. No wonder many experts predict a fall of the current socialist system after Castro is gone. Another common element for many Cubans, is this utopian image of what's available across the waters in U.S. Perhaps watching Florida television and more so, listening to dissident radio stations from there plays a large part in that, encouraging the odd one to try to cross the distance in ill-equipped man-made rafts and often not making it.

I was staying in a hotel about 45 minutes outside Havana on that trip. This is before Varadero area was so well developed with the help of foreign resort investors and hotel chains. Havana is a beautiful city ravaged by years of neglect and gradual destruction. There are signs of its past as America's favorite playground all over, including clubs, former casinos and buildings that make you think you've seen them before elsewhere. The embargo has also stopped for most parts importing of cars to the island, so 1950's automobiles are everywhere to the point of making the visitors feel they are trapped in some time warp scheme where the history has stopped at the point of Cuban Revolution.

Speaking of the revolution, there are no shortage of small or large tributes to Comandante, Ernesto Che Guevara on every corner. My favorite was Havana's car museum. Well, in reality all the streets in Havana are a car museum, but this is basically a large room with about 7 to 10 cars parked inside. Sitting on a corner and behind the velvet ropes was this greyish-bluish 1959 Chevy that once belonged to non other than Che himself. Needless to say, I HAD TO find a way to fool the attendants and manage to get behind those wheels, which I did. Imagine having a poster of this guy in your room for the better part of your life and now looking for the signs of the wear on the steering wheel of this car caused by his sweat and hand contact.

Miramar is the former upscale area of Havana, where many of the old mansions are now occupied by foreign embassies. At the time, the Iran-Iraq war was still taking victims from both sides and it was curious to see how those two embassies almost face one another in Cuba and are certainly within a stone throw of one another. Another memory of Havana involves Boutique "La Casa de la Moda Cubana" and restaurant in nearby "La Maison", where you can watch a fashion show at evenings and leave your heart watching some of the most beautiful people on earth.

On the topic of people, Cubans are perhaps one of the most warm, friendly and generous people on earth. Despite all the hardship they have faced over four decades of a brutal embargo that is essentially only supported by U.S. and Israel, they have managed to maintain a vibrant and flourishing culture while building a bright and healthy community. You must tip your hat to that.

I can't finish this without acknowledging some of the reports on abuse of human rights by Cuban government. Although the constant aggressive hostility from a foreign superpower plays some role in that, there are no excuses for limiting the basic rights we are all born with and must maintain to grow as individuals and communities. Any administration that participate in such conducts must be admonished for its behavior.

Profound Statement

Saw this on a bumper sticker today:

Survey

A friend sent me this today:

My name is Javed, and I made a survey with the help of a few friends (male and female), inquiring about Muslim women's feelings towards the mosque (even if they do not attend). I tried to make it as unbiased as possible. Of course, no survey will ever be perfect, but I tried to cover as many bases as possible, without making the survey too big. If you have any constructive criticisms, please email me. If you find a question to be biased, again, email me. Please forward this to other Muslim women you know, The survey can be taken at http://www.hijabman.com/survey.html Thanks. If you would like to know the results, again, email me. The results may be published on my website, and may be used for an academic project in the future.

Joke

My sister sent me this today:

A Man was in New York's central park when a dog went wild and attacked a young boy. The man was able to grab the dog by the neck, pulling it off the boy and choking it to death. A reporter for the NY Times arrives to interview him and congratulates him on his act of heroism.

The reporter suggests the headline: "New Yorker saves the life of a young boy" But, the man told him, "I'm not from NY." 'OK, then how about: "American hero saves the day!"' But, the man told him, 'I'm not American.' 'Then, where are you from?' asked the reporter. 'I'm from Pakistan,' the man answered. The next day the headlines read:

"MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALIST STRANGLES DOG IN CENTRAL PARK. FBI INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE LINKS TO AL QAEDA"

True Face of Neo-Cons

I'm sure by now you've heard the term Neo-Cons a billion times. I use it, other writers use it, even the main-stream occasionally refers to the gang that is in charge of many aspects of decision making in the administration of the former Governor of Texas (particularly in foreign affairs) as Neoconservatives or Neo-Cons for short.

But who are these people, what positions do they occupy and what they believe in is not discussed enough in my opinion. Foe example, I am not sure if majority of "Americans" know or would appreciate how closely these guys (and yes, they are almost entirely guys) are associated with a certain foreign government that enjoys their "unwavering support" regardless of it's actions, or how much power is given to members of a very specific, limited and fanatical pack.

The Christian Science Monitor recently published a pasteurized version of what some of the key beliefs amongst the Neo-Cons are and although this sanitized version does not tell the whole story, it is a start for those who wish to start understanding the hell-hole these guys are planning to take us in. Perhaps more useful, is their introduction of key Neo-Con figures, where we can meet men named Kristol, Perle, Wolfowitz, Bolton, Ledeen and more. You can even take a short test to see if you are a Neo-Con yourself. A test many of this weblog's regular visitors will proudly "pass", some with flying colors.

Here are some samples of Neo-Con attitudes, in their own words:

"Change - above all violent change - is the essence of human history." - Michael Ledeen

"American power should be used not just in the defense of American interests but for the promotion of American principles." - William Kristol

"The President of the United States, on issue after issue, has reflected the thinking of neoconservatives." - Richard Perle

"Iraq is just one battle in a larger war, bringing down the regime in Iran is the central act, because Iran is the world's most dangerous terrorist country." - Michael Ledeen

"On the outcome of the confrontation with Tehran, more than any other, rests the future of the Bush Doctrine - and, quite possibly, the Bush presidency - and prospects for a safer world." - William Kristol

Dariush Zahedi

Dr. Dariush Zahedi's case does not seem to get enough publicity unfortunately. Except for yet another on-line petition, the only other significant step I've seen about him is Human Rights Watch's press release to demand his freedom. I wish there was some way to get more people to pay attention to his dire situation.

Some Links

Israelis and Palestinians tired of the violence and destruction gripping their homeland are attempting new ways to promote peace.

Are U.S. forces in Europe preparing themselves for further imminent attacks? (I wrote this earlier and they've already started bombings in Iraq)

Did Saddam offer unrestricted inspections, free UN-supervised elections (meaning he'd bow out) and more to avoid the war but Neo-Cons refused it? Imad Hage says yes he did.

The White House does not want anyone or any entity carrying the "independent" badge to have access to their secrets.

The "Claim Democracy Conference" should be a very interesting gathering later this month in DC. If you go, fill me in please. Here's another event I can't attend, plus another here but I think I should attend this (perhaps less significant) one in San Diego.

Musical Day!

ooo wee! since y'all have been so busy defending your race or beating up your own heritage so profusely over that last post, I'm only posting musical stuff today. It's the food for your soul you know? time to eat!

O-HUM

O-HUM is probably the finest example of a fresh divergence in Iranian pop/rock music. Despite the ups and downs of the last few years, immigration to Canada and then back to Iran, departure of some band members, multiple delays of their new albums and a period of severed connection to their primary internet-based fans, they are now back with a fresh video.

I still believe them to be the only Iranian musical entity capable of breaking through the culture and language barriers to international recognition. Of course, this endeavor has been and will probably be fundamentally hampered by poor management, lack of experience and a general unawareness of the world outside a limited window of familiar but tired stipulations.

I wish the organizers of the annual Nobel Peace Prize concert who have promised to allow the event to partially reflect the country of the award winner ("Since planning starts in January, the artists invited to the concert aren't typically connected to the winner, who is announced in October. "But we do usually make a few late additions, to reflect the winner," said Stroemstad.") would considered inviting a band like O-HUM (or even Arian) to be the representative of the Iranian music that Iran's large 70% of the population under 30 listens to the most.

First We Take Manhattan

Leonard Cohen picture taken by my multi-talented eyeranian friend Nima Taradji and used with his permisiion. ©1998 Nima Taradji Photography
(I just didn't want to go to Illinois).

First We Take Manhattan

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens
I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby
I love your body and your spirit and your clothes
But you see that line there moving through the station?
I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win
You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline
How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I don't like your fashion business mister
And I don't like these drugs that keep you thin
I don't like what happened to my sister
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby ...

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I am guided

Ah remember me, I used to live for music
Remember me, I brought your groceries in
Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

Illegal Immigrants

This otherwise reasonable woman at work was very upset today. Irritated at somebody with an inferior position to hers at work who had not understood her instructions well and not performed the delegated tasks properly. The employee at question was a middle-aged Mexican immigrant with limited English skills. The nicest guy you could possibly imagine. I once made the mistake of commenting how good the lunch he had brought from home looked and he brought me very elaborate lunches for a week until I begged him to please stop. The problem today was obviously a miscommunication issue and not really that important. Besides, with tons of other Hispanics around, it could've been resolved very quickly and amicably. But no, she would not let it go.

I am sure it was a combination of different things, plus some pinned up anger she must've carried from an earlier incident or even a collection of events in her life. Whatever it was, she finally went where I'm sure she now wishes she had not gone. That's when she repeated something twice that went like this: "why don't they learn English? they come here and never bother to become American. They don't dress American, don't talk American. Why don't they learn to act American". I had heard enough.

I spent a good deal of an hour reminding her (okay I lectured but I did NOT yell!) and few others who had considered sympathizing with her that in that case they should all very quickly start learning some new languages and begin to act Pawnee, Shoshone, Cheyenne, Cree or Cherokee, as "acting American" would surely mean acting like the native population of those inhibiting this land and not the foreign occupiers, those who swindled natives, mass murderers or others re-settling here. It was a site to see. A few who have no stomach for the truth grunted something nasty (as they will after this is posted, just watch the comments) and walked away. The rest went through a few different emotions, starting with annoyance, denigration, anger, recognition, sadness, guilt and finally insight and clarity.

It reminded me of a few years back when I was invited to participate in a debate about immigration on a national television program up in the "great white north". I accepted because they had also invited the deputy minister of immigration but insisted that a representative from first nations must also be present which they accepted. I had been on this show once before and knew the host was a jackass who would try to be controversial by pulling some stunt or inventing something shocking to scorn the more progressive guests (I guess it worked for him as he is now host of a much more prominent show, but has mellowed somewhat). So, I prepared by collecting all the information for an Iranian elderly couple who had just received their deportation orders and waited.

We all go to the studio that evening to find the deputy minister who often fancied herself a "lefty" had decided to not show up and sent a poor bureaucrat in her place. The replacement was this proper woman of about 40-45 who only answered questions based on the exact "party line" and didn't even bother to mingle with other guests before or after the taping. Anyhow, I almost backed out at that point but decided to go ahead when I saw who they had invited to represent the first nations. This guest was someone I knew well (if you are reading this S. and it is okay to use your name, let me know!) and I knew it would be fun. So, we start taping and somewhere towards the middle of the discussions the host uses the dreaded words "illegal immigrants" and the bureaucrat follows up with her stupidity of telling us about those who had "entered the country legally and with prior permission".

Here was my chance. I opened the file, briefly pointed to the highlights of the case, looked at the host asking him if he would like to ask the original residents of this land to clarify for him who is legal and who is illegal and let them decide who gets to stay and who should be deported, then turned to the woman and asked "did your grandparents enter the country legally and with prior permission? why should mine?". With that, I turned to S. and let him take over. I tell you, watching this large native man who was articulate, definite and persuasive tearing new holes for both the idiots over 15 minutes or so and without even a commercial break was a delight I'd never forget. It was as if you had finally allowed "Chief" to answer Nurse Ratched and Dr. Spivey of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest for good and put them in their place.

They never aired the show. I wonder why? But the scene today totally reminded me of the look I saw on the faces of those two poor souls that night.

I wish more of the European immigrants in this great land get off their high-horses one day and not be too proud of the vicious legacy they and their parents have created, join others from all other parts of this globe who have contributed immensely to their communities and truly see themselves as equals with the Mexican who can't speak perfect English, the Sikh who wears a turban, African-American that has the funky hair, Asian that eats weirdest foods or the eyeranian who has a different point of view but loves his new homeland as much as anyone else.

Laugh Now!

Click on the picture above. Picture link via Hoder

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Just a Reminder...

Monday Morning Motivationals

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Suggested by: Faramin

USAma vs. Osama

I don't know if many others noticed this; on the first days after the dreadful days following September 11 attacks and when the world was being more educated about the Al-Qaeda/Taliban/Wahhabi world, most western media outlets following the proper English spelling and what had been the norm used even by the FBI, introduced us to the head terrorist; Usama Bin-Laden.

But shortly after that, somebody noticed the most wanted man in U.S.A. also carries perhaps the only name in the world that starts or contains USA in it so promptly. Right away and in unison, everyone switched to Osama instead of USAma. A search today through Google's news search yielded 159 stories containing Usama, many from Arab and other foreign language media outlets, and a staggering 6,480 results containing the "new" spelling of Osama.

I actually find it rather shallow and irrelevant, as I can't accept the sudden almost unanimous change was just a coincident. So, I'll continue searching for stories that don't start the distortion with the name of the subject matter.

Weblogs & Copyrights

Here is a story about a guy with a blog and his troubles involving copyrights issue and much more. See what kind of trouble you can get into with these blogs?

At home in Evin.

Pictures of Akbar Ganji and other prisoners held in the "General Population" section of Evin prison on Gooya News although sad and still disheartening, it also makes others who occupied the facility wonder if the luxuries seen are offered to all inmates. Of course I use the word "luxuries" while admitting the relative nature of what it may mean. But just as an example, these are some of the items glaringly different with images etched in so many memories;

It appears at least in this bright "cell" detainees have their own space with basic bedding material, storage space and yes drapes. The floors are carpeted, electrical lamps are plenty and exposed, room has what appears to be a television set (and other electronics?) and even a kitchenette. It also appears the drapes on top are covering what may be windows to the outside.

Now compare that to this image; a similar size room filled with 30-40 and sometimes 50 "inmates" with a hard cement floor, no beddings or covering of any type and the only light allowed in through tiny windows about 20 feet up near the ceiling that only contained one small well-covered light fixture.

I hope this is now the new norm in Evin, but listening to others who have "visited" the facility as early as months ago, I see this as an orchestrated photo op. Too bad Ganji that is respected by many has become part of it.

Link via Come to my Garden. Pictures courtesy of ISNA.

Halloween Cartoon