Such a strange time it is, my dear!

Via @khoshkeledoc

In this dead-end (July 1979)
- Ahmad Shamlou

They smell your mouth
To find out if you have told someone:
I love you!
They smell your heart!

Such a strange time it is, my dear;

And they punish Love
At thoroughfares
By flogging.

We must hide our Love in dark closets.

In this crooked dead end of a bitter cold
They keep their fire alive
By burning our songs and poems;
Do not place your life in peril by your thoughts!

Such a strange time it is, my dear!

He who knocks on your door in the middle of the night,
His mission is to break your Lamp!
We must hide our Lights in dark closets!

Behold! butchers are on guard at thoroughfares
With their bloodstained cleavers and chopping-boards;

Such a strange time it is, my dear!

They cut off the smiles from lips,
and the songs from throats!

We must hide our Emotions in dark closets!

They barbecue canaries
On a fire of jasmines and lilacs!

Such a strange time it is, my dear!

Intoxicated by victory,
Satan is enjoying a feast at our mourning table!

We must hide our God in dark closets!

Amartya Sen on Democracy, the Left and America

"This reading that the plague that haunts the world today is American imperialism has a grain of truth in it, but that grain of truth is underneath a ton of other things. How can you emphasise that and forget everything else—forget the international threat of terrorism, of creeping fundamentalism across the world, not see the problems of dictatorial continuation, whether in Sudan or in our neighbourhood, Burma, or that democracy has not made much progress in recent years; not see our domestic problems like hunger and undernourishment, on which the Left is the natural party to protest loud and clear?"
- Amartya Sen

Cut the Rope

Stop the executions of children and others in Iran.

Bulla Ki Jaana

I never get tired of this song, Sufi lyrics, sung by Rabbi Shergill, a Sikh:

Roundup

Death sentence handed down to acvtivist for participation in protests. Look, the regime doesn't care how many Iranians they kill. They don't care about the people. They care about the oil and the power it gives them.


IRGC tightens its grip with Telecom move.

CBS: Cooperation rises between Iran and Taliban.