My friend sent these questions for me to answer on my blog: 1) What are you listening to right now? Lauren Hill 2) What is your favorite meal of the day? Breakfast by far 3) If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red 4) Last person you spoke to on the phone? My brother 5) How old are you today? Thirty-Four 6) Favorite drink: Earl Grey tea 7) Favorite smell: Vanilla 8) What is your favorite sport to watch? Skiing 9) Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes 10) Pets? Not at present 11) Favorite food? Indian cuisine 12) hat was the last movie you watched? An Inconvenient Truth 13) Favorite book? Too many 14) Favorite day of the year? Everyday 15) What do you do to vent anger or revenge? Talk 16) What was your favorite toy as a child? My kitchen dollhouse 17) What is your favorite fall or spring? Spring 18) Hugs or kisses? Hugs 19) Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries 20) How many states have you lived in? So far three 21) How many countries have you lived in? Five 22) How many countries you have visited? Thirty 23) Favorite holiday? ah! Well!

اخبار روز: دو زن محکوم به مرگ به نامهای "ملک قربانی"، "محبت محمودی" در تماس با رئیس سازمان دفاع از حقوق بشر کردستان ضمن بیان وضعیت و سرنوشت مختوم به مرگ خود، خواهان توجه نهادها و سازمانهای حقوق بشری نسبت به سرنوشت خود شدند.

Malek Ghorbani and Mohabbat Mahmudi called on defenders of human rights all over the world to bring attention to their ordeal.

Newspaper editors arrested for putting a video about Ahmadinejad's VP online

رادیو فردا: ميثم زمان آبادی، مدير عامل و محمد زمرديان، سردبير سياسی سايت اينترنتی ايرانيوز، به دليل انتشار فيلمی از معاون محمود احمدی نژاد بازداشت شدند.

Bereft: While the scariest man in the world, Mahmood Ahmadinejad, chooses to peddle his inane drivel to Pope, a new study by Roger Stern, an economic geographer at Johns Hopkins University has published in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the Islamic Republic could soon run out of oil to export. "Iran earns about $50 billion a year in oil exports. The decline is estimated at 10 to 12 percent annually. In less than five years, exports could be halved, and they could disappear by 2015, Stern predicted."

اخبار روز: ارتش آمریکا چهار ایرانی وایسته به حکومت را طی روزهای اخیر در عراق بازداشت کرده است. از میان این گروه، دو دیپلمات ایرانی آزاد شده اند اما دو مقام عالی رتبه نظامی ایران همچنان در بازداشت هستند

ISNA: "As the Iraqi President, Jalal Talebani notified in his statements, these diplomats were invited by the Iraqi state for cooperation and so the Iraqi state is responsible to release them. The occupiers must be questioned based on international rules," he added.
International Rules? Since when they care about international rules! Ah! Only selected rules that favor their actions!

Security Council approves Iran sanctions nytimes: "The Security Council on Saturday unanimously passed a resolution intended to curb Iran's nuclear program, capping four months of negotiations over how severe and sweeping the sanctions should be."

رژیم ایران مورد تحریم قرار می گیرد.

Junoon is one of my favorite Pakistani bands. They usually use Sufi poetry in their songs. They are peace activists. Here is a documentary on them.

William O. Beeman: "A rising generation of young people and women will make the country more democratic and liberal than ever."

The regime in Iran has hanged three men in Ahwaz. The latest hangings bring to at least 12 the number of officially-reported executions carried out this week. Another eleven Iranians are awaiting execution after being convicted in secret trials.

I was working on my new collection and one of my old times favorite singers kept popping up in my head. Man! It's past ten years since I listened to Eros Ramazzotti?

Judith Kerr: "We were allowed to take one toy each, and I decided on the dog."

Let Us Not Forget the Innocent!


Reuters: "The resolution expressed the assembly's "serious concern" at Tehran's "harassment, intimidation and persecution" of human rights champions, interest groups, political opponents, religious dissenters, journalists, parliamentarians, students, clerics, academics, Internet bloggers and labor union members."

بی گناهان را فراموش نکنیم!
سازمان ملل در قطعنامه ای از تهدید و مجازات مدافعان حقوق بشر، مخالفان سیاسی، ناراضیان مذهبی، ژورنالیستها، نماینده های مجلس، روحانیان، دانشجوها و استادان دانشگاه، وبلاگ نویسان و اعضای اتحادیه های کارگری ابراز نگرانی کرده است.

A letter signed by nearly five hundred Iranian students and political activists demonstrates their concern regarding the arbitrary detention and alleged torture of several prisoners in Evin prison.

اعتراض به نقض حقوق زندانیان در بند ۲۰۹ زندان اوین

اخبار روز: تنها چیزی که در ایران امروز آزاد است، آزادی بازداشت و سرکوب و آدم ربایی و ارعاب و سانسور است؛ در حالی که محکومیت‌های پیاپی جمهوری اسلامی در مورد نقض اصول اعلامیه جهانی حقوق بشر از سوی مجامع بین المللی هر روز ابعاد گسترده‌تری به خود می‌گیرد، دستگاه حاکم بی توجه به کلیه میثاق‌های بین‌المللی به تشدید فضای امنیتی و خفقان در جامعه پرداخته است. در طی ماههای گذشته تعداد زندانیان سیاسی در زندان‌های مختلف کشور روندی تصاعدی داشته است. از جمله بازداشتگاههای امنیتی موجود در زندان اوین که کاملا مستقل اداره شده و از قوانین سازمان زندانها پیروی نمی‌کند بند ۲۰۹زندان اوین است، بندی که در طی سالیان گذشته بسیاری از فعالین سیاسی، دانشجویی، زنان، کارگران طعم تلخ بازداشت در آنجا را تجربه کرده‌اند.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday a new draft

U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran over its nuclear program largely met Moscow's concerns and could become the basis of a consensus decision.

کمیته دانشجویی گزارشگران حقوق بشر: با وجود گذشت ۵ ماه از زمان بازداشت احمد باطبی، وی همچنان در روندی خلاف قانون در بازداشتگاه ۲۰۹ زندان اوین نگهداری میشود. در حالی که بر اساس قانون متهم میبایست ۲۴ ساعت پس از بازداشت تفهیم اتهام شود، احمد باطبی با وجود ادعای وزارت اطلاعات مبنی برعدم پرونده سازی جدید علیه وی، همچنان در بند امنیتی زندان اوین نگهداری میشود.

Student Committee of Human Right Reporters: After five months, Ahmad Batebi is still in Section 209 of Evin prison.

If there is a name for exile then be it the shards of her reminiscence laying broken among the ruins of his life, relics that if attempted no longer could be pieced into a recognizable whole, instead swept into the dustbin of the heart, washed by a momentary pause of sighs... from the poem There sings no bird by Roger Humes I went to get my mails and I found Roger's package in the box. He sent me his book, signed: Sheema, Without you this book would have never been.

Larijani: Iran rejects new UN resolution in advance

The regime appeasers keep pushing for a marriage of interest between Iran and the United States but the regime keeps pushing back!

Today is the Esperanto day. What is Esperanto? Well I didn't know much until I was contacted by an Esperanto speaker... and a few of my poems got translated from English to Esperanto. Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international language. The name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof first published the Unua Libro in 1887. The word itself means 'one who hopes'. Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy and flexible language as a universal second language to foster peace and international understanding.

دختر کوچولو رو امروز عصر برده بودم بیرون. ژاکت سبز و شلوار کرم و کیف سیاه صورتی به دست خودش رو یک نگاهی کرد و لبهاش رو به هم کشید و گفت: اینها به هم نمی یان. شبیه باغچه شدم!

I took the little girl out tonight. She had her green jacket, cream trousers, and a black pink Cinderella handbag. She looked at herself in displease and said: These colors don’t go together. I look like a Garden Floor!

اخبار روز: سازمان دیده بان حقوق بشر امروز با صدور بیانیه ای اعلام کرد که قوه قضائیه ایران باید مقاماتی که مسئول دستگیری خودسرانه و شکنجه وبلاگ نویسان در سال ۱٣٨٣ می باشند را به پای میز محاکمه بیاورد، نه آنکه وبلاگ نویسان را به دلیل اظهار مسالمت آمیز عقایدشان محاکمه کند.

HRW: The right to free expression is enshrined in the Iranian constitution and in international human rights treaties ratified by Iran. Yet they violate international free-expression norms.

واقعا دردآور هست توی دنیایی که دانشگاههای استنفورد و ژاپن و اینور و اونور دارن روی نمونه های کهکشان سازی کار می کنند مردم ما آزادی بیان ندارن!

It is painful to see in a world where Andrei Linde is discussing inflationary universe, Iranians don't have the freedom of expression!

اخبار روز:اتحادیه اروپا روز چهارشنبه سیزدهم دسامبر، بازداشت مجدد منصور اسالو رییس هیات مدیره سندیکای کارگران شرکت واحد اتوبوسرانی تهران و حومه را محکوم کرد. اتحادیه اروپا در بیانیه خود از ایران خواست که به حق آزادی بیان و حق ایجاد تشکل های آزاد کارگری، احترام بگذارد. ریاست اتحادیه اروپا گفت بازداشت منصور اسالو رییس هیات مدیره سندیکای کارگران شرکت واحد اتوبوسرانی تهران و حومه، هیچ توجیه معتبر و قانونی ندارد.

Tony Blair: There were "major, major problems" in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, but "all of this is now overshadowed by the issue of Iran".

ayyyy ya ya! The regime is late in its payments again?!!!

racket-free: Happiness is heaven. And heaven is in your heart.

Unlimited Hypocrisy!


Veil is a limitation for men, not for women (via Kamangir)

Ahmadinejad's Speech

The university students at polytechnic institute cried out "Down with dictator" and in response the Iranian president called them U.S. agents!

اخبار روز: دانشجویان پلی تکنیک صبح دوشنبه با حضور در محل سخنرانی محمود احمدی نژاد در این دانشگاه، او را «هو» کردند و با فریاد «مرگ بر دیکتاتور» و «مرگ بر استبداد» چندین بار سخنرانی وی را قطع کردند. احمدی نژاد در پاسخ به دانشجویان گفت: افتخار دانشگاه در این بوده که همیشه دیکتاتور را در هر لباسی شناخته و سرکوب کرده است. امروز بدترین نوع دیکتاتوری در دنیا دیکتاتوری آمریکایی است که در لباس حقوق بشر جلوه کرده است! او دانشجوی معترضین را به آمریکآیی بودن متهم کرد و گفت که از بیگانه پول می گیرند!

Never the spirit was born, the spirit shall cease
to be never
Never was time when it was not; End and Beginning
are dream!
Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the
spirit for ever;
Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems!


Bhagavad-Gita

Arash Sigarchi

The Spirit of Man: An Iranian blogger, Mr. Arash Sigarchi is now serving jail time for charges such as insulting the leader of the regime and espionage for the United States... etc. Arash is now diagnosed with Cancer and he is in dire need of assistance.

If you live anywhere but Canada and U.S., please go to his blog to donate for his surgery. If you live in the U.S. or Canada please go to Winston's blog.

درصورتیکه تمایل دارید در پرداخت هزینه جراحی آرش سیگاچی به وی کمک کنید می توانید به وبلاگ آرش رفته و به صورت حسابش مبلغ را واریز کنید. در صورتیکه در آمریکا و کانادا زندگی می کنید به وبلاگ وینستون رفته و از دکمه پی پل در سمت راست وبلاگ او استفاده کنید.

در صورتیکه درباره این مطلب سوالی دارید می توانید با آرش سیگارجی تماس بگیرید.

Maman, I miss you.

اخبار روز: در ۹ ماه گذشته حداقل ۷۲۰ نفر از فعالان سیاسی فرهنگی دستگیر شده اند، دستگیرشدگان بعد از دستگیری مورد ضرب و شتم قرار گرفته و به به سلول انفرادی و بازداشتگاهی نامعلوم منتقل شده اند، دادرسی ها اغلب بدون کارشناسی قضائی و حقوقی و مبتنی بر دیدگاه امنیتی و سیاسی انجام می گیرد

Iran: In the past nine months more than 720 activists have been arrested and taken away to undisclosed places.

In my opinion it is important to help your child learn she can stand up for herself from an early age. This afternoon when I had taken my little girl to the playground, a little boy shouted at her. She ran to me crying. I told her when anyone shouts at you, you tell them you don't appreciate them shouting, or tell them there is enough space for both of you to play or just shout back. I also told her, she has to stand up for herself. Later on when we were passing a Victoria Secret store, she asked if she can have a bra. We went in and asked one of the sales ladies. The lady asked: how old are you? The little girl replied: I will be five. The sales lady smiled and said: It is a very good question. I think you have a few years before you need one.

“You're not a Mozlim?”
“Not according to my Rabbi?”
“You have a Rabbi?”
“Yeah, I took him hostage.”

Peyvand Khorsandi

ادوارنيوز: تجمع بزرگ دانشجويی به مناسبت گراميداشت ۱۶ آذر روز دانشجو با عنوان «دانشگاه زنده است» پيرو فراخوان دفتر تحکيم وحدت در صحن دانشگاه تهران با حضور بيش از يکهزار نفر از دانشجويان برگزار شد.

Akhbar-rooz: Despite repressive measures by the Iranian regime more than 1000 university students protested aganist the oppression.

'There will be sanctions' on Iran

The powers making up the UN Security Council are agreed that "there will be sanctions" against Iran, though their extent is yet to be decided, France said, after a Paris meeting on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Meaning: We will see if the Iranian Regime will hand deliver the monthly allowance to our doors or we will have to go ahead with the sanction!

Yahia Lababidi: "Literature under restrictive regimes has tended to develop a flair for allegory, confessing in code, or through the use of symbolism. Similarly, in repressive societies, means of indirect communication tend to thrive. Egyptians have a gift for this sort of thing. Past masters at innuendo, they deftly employ double meanings to get past the censors on stage and in life. Slyly they vent their sexual (and political) frustrations in jokes, songs, and video clips, that manage to hint at everything without really saying any thing."

Peyvand Khorsandi is in the U.S. for his stand up comedy nights.

کیانوش سنجری عضو جبهه متحد دانشجوی از تاریخ 16 مهرماه در بازداشت وزارت اطلاعات به سر می برد و از داشتن وکیل محروم بوده است

احمد باطبی هم اکنون در بند نیمه عمومی بازداشتگاه 209 در محل بسیار نامناسبی نگهداری میشود.

Blogosphere has a new blogger. As of today Michael Ledeen is blogging for Pajamas Media.

Iran: Two journalists detained, national weekly closed for “ethnic insult” Reporters Without Borders: “The Iranian authorities have once again shown that repression is the only policy they know how to adopt towards the media,” the press freedom organisation said. “This harassment must stop. We call for the immediate release of Shirko Jahani and Hussein Saidpour.” 

The terrorist sympathizers have started their campaign to force Lebanon's U.S.-backed government from office. Is Lebanon going to be a terrorist training farm again?!

Delara Darabi

A friend of mine sent this clip and asked me to post it on my blog. When Delara Darabi was seventeen her fiancée killed a rich elderly woman but she took the blame. Under the Islamic law and a regime that murders innocent humans I don't know how anyone can be the judge and the jury for such a case! Under the current regime of Iran, the underage are kept as inmates to be executed after their eighteenth birthday.

This is a very slow clip. Click on to watch Del Ara's drawings.

Islam the Fragile Religion
The case against Editor-in-Chief of "Sanat" newspaper Samir Huseynov and journalist Rafiq Taghi

Is a religion worth a human life? Is Islam so sacred that no one may question it? Who makes these rules? Why should Islam or any religion or ideology be worth a human life! These are just a few questions that came to my mind when reading about Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani's fatwa against Rafig Taghi, the Azeri Journalist and Editor-in-Chief of "Sanat" newspaper Samir Huseynov. I checked the Grand Ayatollah's website and this sentence jumped out: "We are from God and to Him we shall all return". Let's agree this is what we all believe in. What I like to know is who has given this Ayatollah the right to play God! Who says the political Islam is indisputable! This Ayatollah should be brought to justice in a non religious court and be sentenced for spreading hate and being the mastermind behind the murder plan.

New Release by Iranian Poet Sheema Kalbasi


For more on Echoes in Exile please go to its website (here)... You can order the book Amazon.com, Barns&Nobles, and partial donations will go to the listed charities on the website (here)

Kalbasi's poetry is generous and abundantly human, passionate and compassionate.

-- Jimmy Santiago Baca, award winning poet and author

Sheema Kalbasi’s poems speak of love, loss, and life in exile. They are the poems of a human rights activist passionate with the hope of peace. Kalbasi’s poetry exposes the deep heart of a woman who is compassionate with suffering and full of the joy of life, of the innocence of a child, the knowledge of a woman, the aspirations of a peacemaker. These are stirring poems with a worldly view, both accessible and imaginative. They make an excellent cross-cultural exchange that demonstrates our universal
humanity.

-- Daniela Gioseffi, American book award winning author

پژواک در تبعید نام کتاب اشعار انگلیسی شیما کلباسی است. کلباسی در این کتاب با سادگی، جذابیت و توانایی همیشگی حاضر در نوشتارش به ابعاد انسان می پردازد.



اشعار کلباسی بسیار سخاوتنمند، سرشار از احساس و بشر دوستانه هستند.

جیمی سانتیاگو باکا

شعرهای شیما کلباسی شاهدی بر موقعیت تراژیک انسان معاصرند، موقعیتی که در آن تبعید به جایگاهی برجسته برای نشان دادن بی‌عدالتی نهفته در جابجائی انسان‌ها بدل می‌شود. شعرهای ژرف، تاثیرگذار و بازتافتی کلباسی به ما این توانائی را می‌دهند تا اندیشهٔ بازگشت به خانه را از چنگ دنیائی که بازگشت را از ما دریغ می‌کند، بیرون آورد.

پیمان وهاب‌زاده، دپارتمان جامعه‌شناسی، دانشگاه ویکتوریا

In his latest article Eli Lake writes: The State Department has been reviewing ways to "get Iran to be helpful on Iraq" as part of a government-wide review of Iraq policy.

I say: Yes! Please do so... and I'll see you in two years!

Since when Iranian regime is helpful?!

It was April 2003 when I first blogged about Azam Ali... I like her music and her voice... In Pakistan and India there is Qawwali singing and her music sounds like a combination of new age and Qawwali to my ears...

حسن زارع زاده اردشير: روند سرکوب تدريجي و گام به گام جنبش دانشجويي به جايي رسيده که دانشجويان بسيجي تحت پوشش سپاه پاسداران وارد عرصه برخورد با دانشجويان شده اند. در تازه ترين اقدام بسيج دانشجويي، توحيد غفارزاده دانشجوي دانشگاه آزاد واحد سبزوار عصر دوشنبه در برابر چشمان نامزدش به قتل رسيد تا دانشگاه پادگاني به به دانشجويان منتقد و مخالف دولت پادگاني نمايش داده شود.

An Iranian university student, Tohid Ghaffarzadeh was killed by a Basiji (paramilitary force) in Sabzevar, a city in the northeastern province of Khorasan.

I feel much better after talking to my dad in Ukraine. Apparently the lines work on and off. What a relief to hear his voice saying Happy Birthday Sheema. Hearing his voice fills my heart with warmth and joy.

Happy Birthday Sheema.

Save Zahra kamalfar from violation in Iran and in Russia

Lisa Goldman: "My friend Allison Kaplan Sommer, who is a contributor to Pajamas Media, asked me to circulate this article and video of Zahra Kamalfar. Ms. Kamalfar, a political dissident who escaped Iran with her children during a furlough from prison, has been stranded in Moscow Airport for 73 days under horrendous conditions. The Russian government is now threatening to send her back to Iran tomorrow (Monday), where she will likely face severe punishment." Watch and read here.

Sign the Petition here.

اخبار روز: امروز صبح منصور اسانلو در خیابان توسط مامورین لباس شخصی بازداشت و به نقطه نامعلومی برده شد.

Mansour Osanlou is arrested and taken to an undisclosed location.

The Wall Street Journal: "A leading Iranian student activist is calling for the Bush administration to directly fund opposition groups seeking to topple the theocratic regime in Tehran. Manucher Mohammadi escaped from Iran last month after his brother and fellow democratic activist, Akbar Mohammadi, died in Tehran’s Evin prison. Manucher Mohammadi says his brother was severely tortured during seven years in prison and ultimately died from his injuries."

Laura Rozen


Journalist Laura Rozen, who sees herself as an Iran analyst and her imaginary friends feed her information that weights zero to nothing, may have a new target for character assassination: Manouchehr Mohammadi. Now with Mohammadi in the United States, Rozen is sitting uptight to get back to her typing and drinking latte! No human in the right mind would write the way Rozen writes based on dislike or hate for the Bush administration! Ms. Rozen, next time you cash your checks go to Toys “R” US and get yourself one of these globs. It is an interactive Explorer Globe and hopefully will teach you facts about Iran!

My poem Hezbollah first published in 2004 won the Harvest International poetry award today.

شعرم "حزب الله" که اولین بار در سال دوهزار و چهار به چاپ رسیده بود... امروز برنده جایزه بین المللی هاروست شد.

The infamous Laura Rozen is at it again. She wakes up with her latte and laptop and goes at her keyboard! It is good to be paid the money she is and write bunch of whatevers, and have your readers clap for you! She is one of those liberals that make you want to change your party for the next one! How come when it comes to Iran these aunt and uncle scam journalists get their latte first thing in the morning!! Read her latest titled Iran Hawks Reorganize.

Make sure to read it on an empty stomach or have a bucket handy!

Judith Apter Klinghoffer: "Nor have Iranians forgotten the Palestinian (including Hamas) support of Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war and they resent the money being spent on it. After all, the Iranian economy is terrible and the unemployment level of educated youth is over 50%. What do you think about the Iranian army? I asked. It is no different from that of Saddam and its missiles are so inaccurate that Iranians joke that an attempt to blow up Tel Aviv will end up flattening Mecca."

عاشقانه های بابا و دختر

پ: خیلی دوست دارم

دختر کوچولو: منم

پ: زندگی منی

دختر کوچولو: شما هم

Kianoosh Sanjari is being held incommunicado at an unknown location and Amnesty International fears that he may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment.
سنجری به شدت شکنجه شده و همچنان تحت فشار فراوان قرار دارد. این رفتار نشان دهنده وضعیت نگران کننده کیانوش می باشد. وزارت اطلاعات قصد دارد کیانوش سنجری را زیر شکنجه از بین ببرد

Michael Ledeen: "And while I thought he [Rumsfeld] should be replaced, I found the manner and the moment of his purge utterly disgusting. What was the rush?"

I agree with Ledeen on this but the defeat in election was too big and Bush had to bring something to the table. It is unfortunate that one of the best doctrines proposed for the Middle East was abounded by President Bush himself -- the moment he turned the wheel and took the wrong exit! And... it is too late. Separated states are all that can save Iraq... but that doesn't mean ethnic cleansing will not continue for the next several years. A balkanized future is Iraq's path to peace now! Will that be the future for Iran?

Somehow the Iranians never find that NorthStar!

Iran

I don't know how it is with others but this James Baker brings me chills! Now with Robert Gates in the picture and the Iranian Brady Bunch (Vali Nasr, Hooshang Amirahmadi, Trita Parsi, and more) on the U.S. end and (the soon to see his bloody head) Rafsanjani with Ahmadinejad --mullah verses revolutionary guard-- on the other end... ah! Well! Better they do some more flip—flop and get it over and done! I guess these U.S. study groups are just collectively in need of a better group or study subjects. So far whatever has been the outcome is been devastating! You see what is a study group for the latte drinkers and spa goers over here turns out to be just a bit more than a sip of bloody marry down there!

Once Upon a Time... I started telling a tale to the little girl just like my dad used to tell me and my siblings before bedtime. So last night after the little girl fell asleep while listening to a story, I got back to working on some literary work. I turned on the Television to have some noise in the background and surprise surprise they had a program on Islam. The images of three year olds in Pakistan shouting death and destruction were disturbing.

My views and writings apparently upset some people in the blogosphere (read Iranian blogger monopolists). Why do these people feel such a strong bond and allegiance to Khatami? Why do they campaign for Rafsanjani? Only regime apologists with ties and interests to Iran's repressive regime can ignore the on going human rights abuses!

Democrats: Arrogant and Ignorant?... Or is it just John Kerry!

The Conservatives like to use Kerry -the Democrat- card and for some reason Democrats play right into their hands. Kerry represents everything a regular American cannot relate to... and well... all for the right reasons. Kerry doesn't stimulate the mirror cells in any ones brain but his own like: speak French at home! rich! windsurfer! snob! ehh! An elite too?! I don't know why Democrats wanted him to go against President Bush in the last election. US Senator John Edwards (North Carolina) was a much better choice. Anyway... all these voting talks... and today of all days... I realized... I have never voted! I had not come of age to vote in Iran... (even if I lived and had come of age in Iran who would I vote for? Rafsanjani --like the Iranian blogger monopolists suggested! Or for Khatami --the Mullah with an aba of chocolate-- his fans love fruitcake! What can I say!) I didn't have any right in Pakistan... and in Denmark... where I lived for many years... I could vote when I received my Danish citizenship... but... by the time I did become a proud Danish citizen... I had... moved to USA... and now... it will be three years before I can apply for a Pentagon job (ha! ha! you think I won't! think again!)

I am moving to Washington D.C.

It is incredibly important to bring attention to the horrendous and inhuman act of Sangsar (stoning) in Iran. This is a direct violation of human rights.

Some Iranian Diaspora sadly tend to minimize the crimes the Iranian regime commits against its own people. Human Rights is universal. Human Rights knows no boundaries and borders. Human Rights abuses, mistreatment of religious minorities, stoning, and executions of political and religious minorities cannot be dismissed as a matter of cultural nuances and differences.

Happy birthday mom. Wished you were alive so that we could go biking like we used to back in Fredericia.

Your daughter.

Freedom for Kianoush Sanajri

I read this article and thought to myself ... my mom may have had this type of Breast Cancer...

"IBC strikes women at an average age of 52—10 years younger than common breast cancer. What information Richard Smith could find while surfing the Internet was that IBC was fairly rare, spread quickly and carried a relatively short life expectancy after diagnosis (the disease-free survival rate for IBC, as reported in research funded by the National Institutes of Health, is less than two and half years)."

"Traditional" vs. "Modern"

Don't put lipstick on a pig and call it lipstick jihad. Iranians are not a modern nation! The constant conflict and struggle between Sonnat (tradition) and modernism is not a new phenomenon in the Iranian society… and as a result every generation has suffered. Sonnat is so fundamental in our blood and bones that our feminists agree to partner up with men they meet an hour prior to the Come to West-marriage, women agree to have anal sex in order to save virginity, men are in pursuit of a modest woman but at the same time demand everything from an education, to a high paid job, and shiny lipstick from the Modern Times-Virgin Bride, say freedom of speech sits high in the agenda but cautiously choose to side with the wrong, promote talks with the Iranian regime and get the shia revival or treacherous triangle up and front on the bookstores' counters and shrug off arrests after arrests after arrests, Sangsar (stoning) and public executions as one percent of the judicial system, and we allow the tradition of censorship in daily life as well as in literature to continue… the list goes on and on...

Ahmad Batebi is free for now...
كمپين آزادي براي احمد باطبي دادگاه انقلاب با پذيرفتن وثيقه آقای لطف الله ميثمی به مبلغ ۳۰۰مليون تومان برای مدت ۴۸ ساعت به احمد باطبی مرخصی داد .امروز ساعت ۱۰ صبح احمد باطبی توسط ماموران وزارت اطلاعات به همسرش تحويل داده شد . همچنين از وی خواسته شده در محيطی ايزوله اين مدت را با خانواده خود سپری نمايد .و پس از پايان مهلت مقرر خود را به زندان اوين معرفی نمايد .

Dailysh: "My question is why stay here and pay taxes to the governments who support the war and Israel? Why stay here... when they can go back to Iran and help...."

It has been a few years since I posted Aisha by Outlandish on my blog. I like this group because somehow we have the same experiences as people of immigrant background and Danish citizenship. Beside this and walking the same streets, my youngest brother knows them and they went to the same school. The Outlandish sing a lot of political songs. I like this song.

One Body counts as ONE BODY

He who does not prefer exile to slavery is not free by any measure of freedom, truth and duty.

Kahil Gibran, Spirits Rebellious


...in an e-mail response to someone from this (here) team...

So your friends find the humiliating experience of being told, like small children, what to wear and how to behave a big adventure. How pathetic! There must be hundreds perhaps thousands of disputes, complaints, divorces, and cases like these going on in Iranian courthouses every day. Thank God that 90% of what I said (continued from here) is less than 1% of what goes on in the judicial system. At what percentage point do you think the criminal behavior of the regime will start to bother you? If you find human lives in terms of statistical counts and averages, why do you care that 100,000 Iraqis are dead? That number is less than 0.4% of the Iraqi population and less than a third of the number of Iraqis killed by the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war. That is absurd! And again, if all these thousands of deaths are nothing but statistics to you, why are you so much against revolutions? Let's say 50,000 people get killed, that will only be about 1% of the number of drug addicts in Iran! Please feel free to go to Iran and change the world your way but I wonder how meaningful that change would be when you are not even ready to recognize the extent of the disaster that has gripped our nation for the past 27 years, when you shrug off stoning, public hanging, and mass executions as 1% of things going on in the judicial system.

Political activist "Kianoush Sanjari" arrested in front of Ayatollah Boroujerdi's house in Tehran along with a number of others.

I Object to the University of St. Andrews awarding Mr. Khatami an Honorary Degree!

During Mr. Khatami's presidency (Voted in by millions of Iranians whose aspirations were to see an improvement in the social, political and economic conditions in Iran), the people of Iran continued to suffer from the Islamic Republic's theocratic and oppressive policies!



Please sign the petition.

اینکه پنج شش نفر مامور، که لباس شخصی به تن دارند، در روز روشن هجوم می برند به خانه ی جوانی دانشجو (احمد باطبی) که به جرم بالا بردن پیراهن خونین هم کلاسی اش، شش سال در زندان بوده، و او و همه ی دار و ندارش را کیسه می کنند و به دوش می گیرند و با خود به غنیمت می برند، و سپس مدتی بعد از آن، همان پنج شش نفر مامور، هجوم می برند به خانه ی پزشک معالج آن جوان دانشجو (حسام فیروزی) و خانه اش را زیر و رو می کنند و در حالی که همسر و دخترک اش از ترس به خود می لرزند، وسایل شخصی اش بار ِکیسه می شود، و صاحب خانه را به بند می کشند و با خود می برندش به هر کجا که اراده می کنند، آن هم در روز روشن، این معنی اش چیست؟ آدم دزدی نیست؟ وای بر این روزگار که قبح جنایت ریخته و زشتی آدم دزدی تطهیر شده است. و صد البته غم انگیرتر آن است که صدای اعتراض کسی هم درنمی آید

کیانوش سنجری

The Supreme Leader, Soraya M., George Bush, and Abu Gharib
...in an e-mail response to someone in this (here) team... I wrote...

Thank you for taking your time to give a detailed response to my email. My impression from this email is that you have probably been born and/or raised in the West and your idea of Iran is a place where you look to as you soul search to find your roots and identity. I hope this email can shed some light on the true nature of the Iranian regime and human right abuses in Iran.


One warm summer day in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini who at the time was the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic wrote a letter to three of his confidants (the so-called committee of three) ordering them to "clean up" the Iranian prisons as the war between Iran and Iraq was drawing to an end. In plain words, Khomeini left it to the discretion of the three clerics to order the execution of any political prisoner who was not "converted". The committee ordered execution of prisoners based on their answers to a couple of questions such as whether the person did his/her daily prayers or whether they still believed in their cause. Meat trucks carried the bodies of the executed prisoners at dawn to a place that was later named "the cursed-land" by regime thugs. The bodies of the executed prisoners were buried in mass graves in the "cursed-land". Thousands are believed to have been executed in this way. Many of those prisoners had done their sentences and were awaiting release.

It is not clear how many people have been stoned to death in Iran because the regime is particularly tight lipped about this style of execution. The number is large, at least tens, and according to some accounts, the regime judiciary has ordered and carried out the stoning of more than 1000 people. The "crimes" that justify this cruel and barbaric punishment under the regime's "justice" code range from acting in home-made porno movies to accusation of adultery. Soraya M. whose hours before stoning has been portrayed in a book entitled "The Stoning of Soraya M." was accused of adultery because she was cooking for a male family friend. The punishment is carried out by first giving the inmate a "dead wash" (ghosl-e-meyet) in early morning hours before being taken him/her to the killing field where he/she is buried up to the neck/chest. The size of stones is DELIBERATELY chosen in such a way that they don't kill the inmate immediately but rather prolong the suffering for at least 15 minutes, delivering an excruciating death. It is very common that the condemned is alive and aware when their eyes pop out as the mob is carrying out the execution. Stoning is typically overseen by the ordering cleric. Stoning is not a cultural thing (as you imply in your email) as it is a punishment sanctioned specifically by regime's "justice" code. Nazism had also its roots in the German culture and philosophy. This hardly justifies Nazis' crimes.



Atefeh was only 16 years old when she was arrested because of immoral acts. According to some accounts, she had an affair with some members of the moral police and they asked for her execution to preserve their "honor" and "reputation". During the hearings, Atefeh became momentarily upset and took off her clothes in protest. Shortly after, her execution was ordered and carried out personally by the mullah judge in public. Even the executioner refused to carry out the sentence and plead for reversal.



Several years ago a woman was accused of looking at nude males. Her blinding was ordered by a mullah judge.



The wrists and fingers of people accused of theft are cut IN PUBLIC.



Hundreds of people are executed by hanging IN PUBLIC every year.



In 2005, a cleric shot and killed a young man in broad daylight in Tehran-Karaj metro. The young man was apparently "hitting on" a girl in the metro. According to regime's laws, clerics can be tried only by a special tribunal, which of and by its own is a clear example of an apartheid judicial system. The cleric was later acquitted and released.



Hundreds of dissidents were killed in exile by regime's agents. The preferred method of killing was slashing throats. Some of these dissidents were lured to meeting with regime's agents by the promise of finding a peaceful political settlement. In 1997, a German court named regimes' top leaders in ordering the assassination of several Kurdish dissidents in Mykonos restaurant in Germany.



In addition to all these human right abuses, the regime has brought economic misery on a massive scale to the Iranian population. Nearly half of Iranians live under the poverty line. It is estimated that one in every 18 Iranians is addicted to illicit drugs. Scores of young Iranian women are sold in Pakistan and the Persian Gulf states as sex slaves. Despite its oil riches, Iran imports nearly 40% of its gasoline domestic consumption.



As for George Bush ordering the war: no doubt that Abu Gharib is a clear example of war crimes. But do you know how many of the 50,000 Iraqis you mention have been killed at the hands of Iraqis in the wave of ethnic violence, car bombings, mosque bombings, etc.? How come that you so bravely attribute stoning to Iranian culture and religion but see Bush as the culprit in killings that in a major part are caused by ethnic rifts in the Iraqi society.

House Approves Iran Freedom Support Act

The House voted Thursday to impose mandatory sanctions on entities that provide goods or services for Iran's weapons programs. The vote came as U.S diplomats continued to press the U.N. Security Council to penalize Tehran if it fails to end its uranium enrichment program.

House sponsors of the Iran Freedom Support Act said they expected the Senate to act quickly on the measure, sending it to President Bush for his signature this week.


via The Spirit of Man

I try to find the words to describe what reads inside me. I am atop the roof and down on the sands. I am tired-happy-mix! This, my dear is a quarter off a poem. I am writing to remember. I am honest when the sky shakes and the waves echo the sea. Virgin breaths, sands reopening the floors. And I am honest to god honest... and boxed accordingly.

I like it alright!

Iranian Ex-Lawmaker Alleges Torture

Nora Boustany: "I am held in solitary confinement and interrogated four times a day," Khoini reportedly shouted. "They wake me up in the middle of the night to interrogate me. They are trying to turn me to a mental patient." Referring to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he added, "They are forcing me to denounce my beliefs, to repent for my activities, and to ask forgiveness from Khamenei."

A Virtual US-Iran Dialogue

I got an e-mail from them (here) to post my comment. Here is my take...

Dialogue/talk/diplomacy or whatever else we want to call it is not going to stop the Iranian regime from getting the bomb. If they are intended as warm-up to a post-nuclear Iran, the story is different. And if the US is getting ready for a world where the regime has its fingers on the nuclear trigger, it should also start making serious strategic adjustments as correctly pointed out in Plan B for Iran: What if Nuclear Diplomacy Fails? One important adjustment that was not mentioned in that document is that the US should start making a U-turn with respect to its middle-east democracy agenda. Why? Because the regime strategy is rather obvious: “expansion through low intensity violence and use of proxy groups in the region while deterring the threat of American conventional force via the nuclear bomb.” American insistence on elections in the region will be the best opportunity for mullahs’ proxies to gain power through a well-coordinated campaign of deception, coercion, and violence. Lastly, the regime-US talks will have another profound impact. Rafsanjani who was regime’s president for 8 years once said that the pro-American Iranians should know that when the time comes, Americans would be throwing them away like a piece of toilet paper. The talks will not stop mullahs from going nuclear but will surely prove Rafsanjani right.

Amnesty International: "Despite the seriousness of his medical condition, prison authorities are allegedly not permitting Ahmad Batebi to receive any medical treatment beyond a few pain killers. According to a press report, Dr Hesam Firouzi, Ahmad Batebi's doctor, wrote to the authorities on 6 August stating that his patient was at risk of paralysis or heart attack, and needed to receive specialist treatment outside prison."

Niloufar sent this (here) yesterday. I would like to see one of her works next time I am in Europe.

Soon... I am having readings... to promote my book of English poems, Echoes in Exile. It is a bit unnerving. I am a writer not a speaker! If you are in L.A. April 11th... you are welcome to join me at Poetry at the Loft and more...


a note: If you decide to buy the book... you should know the money --that is my share-- goes to the breast cancer research foundation in Connecticut, USA.

No "Grand Bargain" for Iran

Kenneth R. Timmerman: "There can be no doubt: The State Department and the CIA want the United States to fail in stopping Iran from going nuclear, because they fear confronting the mullahs running the show. Since 2003, the Europeans have been "negotiating" with Tehran’s mullahs over their previously undeclared (and thus, illegal) nuclear program. Here we are, more than three years later, and Iran continues to enrich uranium, in utter defiance of the Europeans, the IAEA, and now the UN Security Council. And Condi and the CFR actually believe we are going to achieve something through yet more negotiations?"

Ramin Jahanbegloo, Hossein Derakhshan and openDemocracy

Danny Postel: "OpenDemocracy owes its readers an explanation for its decision to publish an article that justifies the repression of intellectual freedom - a position that stands in direct contradiction of the magazine's core principles. Essential to Derakhshan's assertion is his view that Jahanbegloo is in fact guilty. Of what? Of "indirectly helping the Bush administration in its plans for regime change in Iran through fomenting internal unrest and instability." And how, precisely, did Jahanbegloo do that? By conducting "comparative analysis of socio-political change in contemporary east-central Europe and the Islamic Republic of Iran" with "financial support" from American think-tanks."

Today is a day when Iraq attacked Iran… and two nations faced death, and destruction because of their cut throat regimes.

Forked Tongue, knifed Eyes

Every morning we lift our heads, straighten our back, walk out of the door. Every morning I wonder if my daughter will have her breakfast or not. I tell her there are children starving in the world. Every morning I have to come up with a new trick out of my magic hat for her to have that breakfast. Every morning I ask my husband if he will like tea or coffee with his breakfast. Every morning we leave the house to a world where being Iranian is equivalent to being a terrorist. Every morning we leave home to be treated as a Khatami, an Ahmadinejad, a Rafsanjani, a Khamenei, a Khomeini, A regime’s representative! And all this regardless of whom we are and what we have endured to be here, regardless of how many times we have been bruised and cut, regardless of how many times death has knocked on our door because of living in Iran or when leaving Iran... Today... we still carry a full bag of identity mixed and merged with the occupying regime... and our face; accent, walk, and place of birth give away that identity.

The Iranian President: "We love everyone in the world - Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians... We are against occupation, aggression, killings and displacing people - otherwise we have no problem with ordinary people."


We are a Nation that uses phrases such as I will kill you to express the anger... and I will eat you to express the love! Which one... Ahmadinejad's falls under?

Nema Milaninia: "The November elections are around the corner and we need more Iranian-Americans, particularly our generation, to get out there and vote. With your help as part of the blogging community, I was hoping that you’d put out the word to inspire more Iranian-Americans people to vote."

thinking and thinking...!

How should I know Whitney is a male name! I am not an expert in names and am not an expert in spelling either! It's the same when I am referred to as Mr. Sheema Kalbasi... between you and me it's absolutely true that I am thinking about a laser hair removal and killing my $1350 for a chin and upper lip cleanup -- that's another physical change motherhood has endorsed me with -- anyway... I am thinking about signing my name as Sheema Kalbasi (lioness). I suggest you do the same – to those of you who are bad in spelling (me) and want others to know what gender you belong to...
Once I get my Ph.D. I will just add Dr. to my name and the lioness will be over and done… the real reason: Once I earn my Ph.D. I will probably be in my eighties and all my god-given-teeth are replaced by my retirement- payment plan-teeth.

Listening to a few Argentinean students on NPR I couldn't believe my ears. Was I the only one who heard this group and their double standard and views on politics? that they don't want their country to be like Cuba but have great respect for Fidel Castro because he stands up to the U.S. ... unfortunately that is not all. I have heard similar views from Europeans and some Anti Bush Americans that Ahmadinejad, the little known man is now a gigantic figure for standing up to the United States. Whenever I hear such understatements of the Iranian regime my response is how would you feel if your women were chained and stoned to death? Would you survive a day as a political opposition if you were persecuted and sentenced to years in prison or executed! People in the U.S. have the chance to vote for a new president every four years... in our case if we demand our rights to be respected... we bleed to death! Let me reassure you Iran under the current regime is no place to live and those who rule the country are not to be trusted. If you ask me... Ahmadinejad should be checked for radiation as he enters the United States for his U.N. speech.

I was working on my media kit for Echoes in Exile last night ... and I recalled my friend Roger Humes' words (here)

if exile will be the only home you will ever know

if exile will be the only words you will ever write...

Happy Birthday Elham jan.