First Cut is the Deepest

I ate my lunch on Sunday sitting on a bench in Del Monte Square in San Francisco, where I was listening to a really cool singer (Justine Bennett - check her out here! I actually enjoyed her singing so much I bought here CD, which is something I haven’t done since hearing Antje Duvekot singing in Cambridge... Aaaah, Antje! but I digress).

She was singing a Cat Stevens song, and for some reason I looked around me at the people scattered on the other benches listening to the song... and I tried to wonder what brought them here...

The truth is, we’re all so much self-absorbed that we forget that the people around us are just as complex, have so much emotional baggage, have as many hopes, aspirations, problems, good and bad days as we do... We’re just so focused on ourselves that we think that those around here are mainly extras in the big film of our life... while in reality they’re neck-deep into their own film, which is probably more interesting than ours, and in which we are barely extras ourselves...

We are all the same, in reality! And, well, we're all just as messed up as each other...

So I started guessing what the people around me were doing here... and besides the tourists like myself (although, believe me, even a tourist can have a lot on his mind...). I'm probably wrong about the guesses but hey, they're just as valid as any other guess..

There was this guy with his wife and baby girl, who was constantly fighting with his wife and was considering splitting... so they took this weekend in San Fran to, somehow, get out of the fighting circle... a sort of a truce.

There was this old couple, clapping softly at the end of each couplet, almost grateful to the singer for getting them out of their daily routine...

There was this young Asian couple from Boston, and she loves him more than he does. She was almost struggling to get his attention, while he was almost avoiding looking her in the eyes... as he felt that, in a sense, by loving her less than she did, he was lying to her... And she, well, she knew all that, but pretended she didn’t...

There was this single mom - no rings - , taking her little boy out on a Sunday afternoon, since she barely sees him during the week... he goes to his grandmother everyday, while she comes to pick him up at 8, when she’s done working...

And all throughout, Justine was singing:

“Baby, I'll try to love again, but I know...

The first cut is the deepest
Baby I know
The first cut is the deepest...”

French Electoral Results: MERDE.

Merde.

53-47. Sarkozy wins.

I woke up exactly at 2 o'clock boston time (it's Sunday!!=), just in time to hear the results of the French elections live.

Sarkozy wins.

I went to splash my face with water, not to wash away the effects of sleep but to try to see if it's a nightmare or if it's real.

Sarkozy wins.

I didn't vote because I'm not a citizen, and this way I'm never going to be one, apparently.

This result is the consecration of a racist ideology, 'the triumph of the ideas of the (extreme right)' in the words of Marine Le Pen of the fascist 'Front National' party.

And speaking about Front National, it is important to remember that, during the past presidentials, 20% voted for Jean Marie Le Pen. 1 out of every 5 Frenchman voted for a fascist. We cannot forget that.

Nicolas Sarkozy is merely the continuation of these ideas. The son of a Hungarian Nazi collaborator who migrated to France to escape justice in his own country, Sarkozy represents the end of France as we know it. Forget about egalite: he is set on heading to an overtly inegalitarian State, attempting to scrap what he can get his paws on of the French social model which, opinions may diverse, has been one of the fundamental values of the countries. And you can trash the whole fraternite thing, because some are more fraternel than others - and blacks, asians, and arabs (also knows as 'scum' in Sarkozy's jargon) are unwelcome in the unified, unitary, homegenous, white France. Under Sarkozy as minister of interior, mass deportations had already begun, the idea of revoking immigrants citizenship - not residency permit: CITIZENSHIP - was put under application. It's already happening.

Being french-born and french-brought up, i used to consider that my belonging to my home country was not under discussion. Well, apparently, it now is.

I guess i'll just stick around here for a while then, America is far more welcoming...

BBC's "Inside Iran": one of the best documentaries ever!

To complete the previous entry...
There is far, far more to Iran than angry people burning a flag or a weird, weird president who never wears a necktie.

There is a fantastic country with more than 70 million people, a vibrant culture, and orgasmic food. There is a country of controversy, of millennial history, of a slightly different brand of Islam, and of very pretty girls :). It's... a country like no other, and it's a shame the little we know about Iran has been so negative it has completely obstructed our desire to learn more, to get past the silly stereotypes that irresponsible media finds only too easy to repeat.

Maz Jobrani, an American-Irani comedian (of the Axis of Evil Comedy show, see my previous post! Did I mention I went to see them in Boston? Sara dragged there by force and I am sooo grateful she did :)))) says: "Just once show us doing something good, man! I wish they'd show someone in Iran doing something nice, like, baking a cookie! So you'd have on the news, "and now we go live to Iran to meet Mohammed, who is baking a cookie! Back to you, Bob!".

HEYY! I found the clip!!! Here!! Watch it, it's hilarious!! (1 min 38).

Well, SOMEONE actually bothered to go take a look inside Iran and meet the people:



The BBC Channel 4 has a fantastic documentary, titled "Inside Iran", where the journalist, Rageh Omaar, spends a couple of weeks in Teheran. The result is, as the BBC says, "an amazing portrayal of an energetic and vibrant country that is completely different to the usual images seen in the media".

I fully agree. One of the most useful ways to spend an hour of your time. Right after giving me a foot massage.

(thanks to Sa'ed!!).

Iran: the Revolution vs. Sleevless t-shirts, the Showdown

How bloody stupid can this government be?

I considered the use of one or many of the following adjectives: silly, irresponsible, petty, dictatorial.
And while there's a bit of truth in each, STUPID seemed to be the most appropriate.

Let's watch this interesting game unfolding in front of us. We'll keep score in italics.

What am I talking about? THIS, my friends. (Daily News: here)

So Iran wants to issue directives about people's CLOTHES, HAIRDOS and the like. Some of the silliest rules:
- No sleevless t-shirts, even inside all-male dorms, at the Uni.
- No 'immodest' t-shirts
- No 'spiky hair'. I swear. The Irani Government is so petty it has passed a law against spiky hair.

And they've been arresting people. Because their clothes are 'immodest' or 'un-islamic'. Yep.

(score in first 10 minutes: People: nil, Government:1 )
Okay, so assuming there is a hypothetical good reason for it, what did the Gov gain by doing that? I don't think productivity has increased, has it? Or perhaps analphabetism has decreased? Does the country now have less of a drug problem?
I don't know, is the weather getting any better perhaps? Jeez!


And this is what happens when you manage to piss off people for no reason whatsoever: they protest. Well done, champ, you've pissed off the educated young middle class without gaining anything. Bravo.

(score at halftime: People: 1, Government: 1)

After the Revolution, the only colours allowed were black, brown, and grey. During the Reformist era, women were allowed to were bright colours.
But the Revolution was in 1979. That's 28 years ago. I'll vent that 30 or 40% of the population was born AFTER -- and they have, frankly, a better taste in clothes than Khomeini or Ahmadinejad.

(Score at the 47th minute: People: 2, Government: 1)

For God's sake, Iranis are becoming so posh they have more nose jobs than the Brits. How do you think they'll abide by the Government outfit??

They've come too far and there's no turning back: you can tame an already supressed population, but people tend to cling onto their little bits of freedom. And if they have tried freedom, even on something so trivial as their clothes, they re not going back. It's just a lost cause for the Government. The more they try to bother the people, the more they will alienate their population -- in a period of harsh international winds, where National Unity should be the refuge of the country in waiting of the tough days ahead.

(Final Score: People 3, Government 1. People win!! :)

Let there be no misunderstanding: I am fine with, and for a modest, Islamic dress. The problem is not about the type of the uniform they want people to abide by (even if I quite disagree with the official outift as being far too strict than religion demands, but thats not the issue at hand).

But I am, primarily and more importantly, with giving people the choice to wear what they want. When I was in France, we as Muslims were outraged that this particular right was being taken away from us, and we (well, women most notably, with the whole veil issue) were being forced into a comformist mold where we're supposed to look like the 'real French'.

It's the same here. We're old enough to fucking choose our clothes, dammit!!