This is a photo of my GUITAR which I took the other day ... I've started learning & playing it ...

These days my mind is extremely occupied by the news of what is now happening in Iraq !

Everyday we hear on the news the death of at least 50 innocent people in Iraq along with heavy casualties ... about 100 ... this is the news & that's it for today ...

It's repeated again the next day & the day after next and continues, continues & continues ..., but nobady says what happens to the casualties, how many of them die & what happens to their families !!!

I think everyone thinks about these two questions: "Who is responsible?" and "What should be done?"

I usually read Noam Chomsky's weblog ...

In his recent entry he has written about Iraq ...

I left a comment through which I had a kind of debate on the issue of Iraq with someone from Norway who is keen on this weblog & leaves comments ...

In my comment I have said that I still don't know which situation in Iraq was better: Now or the time when Saddam was the ruler? I truly believe that the US, the UK ... are invaders and should leave Iraq one day, but I really don't know whether the situation will be better or worse if they quit, won't the Shiai & the Sunni kill each other more than they do now & won't another ruler like Saddam appear among them?

The guy from Norway believes that the occupiers should leave the country as fast as planes can take them out of it, he says " there should be put an Arab peacekeeping force in place, to reduce the risk of the civil war continuing ..."

In my opinion his idea of putting an Arab peacekeeping force after the occupiers leave is great, but I'm not still sure whether the Arabs will be peacekeeping or not ...

I don't think they know democracy & peace, as we see they just kill & kill & kill ... every day ...

Here there are some parts of what the guy from Norway has written as comments on Chomsky's entry on this issue,

" ... with the occupiers gone most of the terrorism will be reduced, as the occupation is fuelling the "civil war", then the US (and other occupiers) should issue a public apology for the crimes they have committed, and pay massive reparations for the damages and casualties caused ... the occupation and Saddam's rule have increased tensions between Shiites and Sunnis ... I don't, however, think the occupation is doing anything to reduce these tensions. Quite the opposite, the tensions are increasing (as we very clearly can see every day). I'm not aware of evidence of this (yet), but I won't be surprised at all if the US has been involved in blowing up holy sites to increase internal tension. The US are trying to fight the resistance, not the death squads.We know why we are there. It most certainly is not to spread democracy, freedom or anything of the sort. It's oil and spreading market fundamentalism ... the West are now responsible for killing more than a million people in Iraq over the last 15 years. It's about time we leave them alone ..."

Anyway, whoever being responsible, I haven't found an answer for my next question, "What should be done now ?" and I don't think any person, government or organization is able to find a way to stop this catasrophe & put an end to it !!!

This is the link of Noam Chomsky's weblog,

http://blog.zmag.org/ttt

***It seems that people in Iran cannot open the comment page, I would be grateful if they sent their comments to my email( chackavak@gmail.com ) which is also in my profile on the left side of this page***

One of my friends who has always been so kind to me has given me " The Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy " ...



Thomas Hardy, (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) — is an English novelist, short story writer, and poet ...

This is one of his poems which I found veryyyyy beautiful in this book :

" I'm a lofty lovely woman,"
Says the lady in the furs,
In the glance she throws around her
On the poorer dames and sirs:
" This robe, that cost three figures,
Yes, is mine," her nod avers.

" True, my money did not buy it,
But my husband's, from the trade;
And they, they only got it
From things feeble and afraid
By murdering them in ambush
With a cunning engine's aid.

" True, my hands, too, did not shape it
To the pretty cut you see
But the hands of midnight workers
Who are strangers quite to me:
It was fitted, too, by dressers
Ranged around me toilsomely.

" But I am a lovely lady,
Though sneerers say I shine
By robbing Nature's children
Of apparel not mine,
And that I am but a broom-stick,
Like a scarecrow's wooden spine."

Here you can read a short biography of him:

http://www.britainexpress.com/History/bio/hardy.htm

Every year at this time, being affected by the pleasent scent of spring flowers & the beauty of nature, I'm prepared & looking forward to welcoming "Norooz" & its most beautiful custom: setting "haft sin" ...

These things never become old or repeated for me ...

In the garden of our house there are two long bushes of some kind of very beautifulllllll yellow flowers which start blooming exactly when they feel that spring is coming ...

These are some pictures of them:

Entry 76

I -myself- got tired of opening my weblog & facing Saddam at the gallows, let alone the readers of my weblog ...
There are lots of other things having happened these weeks ...
The other night the full lunar eclipse was visible in the sky of Iran ...
I liked to see it, but it was at midnight & I couldn't get up ...



Anyway, I don't know much about astronomy, but I'm keen on & enjoy talking about the space, the planets, the sun & esp. the stars ...
Whenever I hear something about them, I become astonished ...
The other week my brother showed me some photos of different planets in small scales which compared their sizes with each other ... they were really astonishing & magnificent !
While I was watching them, esp. the ones in which there were the pictures of the earth, I was thinking who I am and how small & worthless human beings are ...
In one minute I totally believed we are nothing, but suddenly a little annoyed of making myself humble, it came to my mind that " I AM something " ...
" I AM something " as far as I know my self ...
" I AM something ", as far as I know my society & my world ...
And " I AM something ", as far as I have the ability to know the space and to feel & enjoy its magnificence !

Entry 75



" A witness, Iraqi Judge Munir Haddad ... said Hussein appeared 'totally oblivious to what was going on around him. I was very surprised. He was not afraid of death.' ... But Munir Haddad's description of Hussein's demeanor before his execution contrasts markedly with another witness, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie. ' He was a broken man,' al-Rubaie said. 'He was afraid. You could see fear in his face.' ...

From:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/30/hussein/index.html

During the time I was watching him standing still at the gallows, being surrounded by the masked executioners & listening to one of them describing the process of his execution, I was wondering what was running through his mind ... I remembered what I had heard about "Marie Antoinette", the Queen of France ...
On October 16, 1793 while she was being taken to be guillotined, she was looking for some gloves to be matched with her clothes !!!
When one becomes nothing except "POWER", they can never think of "DEATH" ...

Entry 74

The other day I watched "The Truman Show" with "Jim Carrey" having the leading part in it ...



Unlike his other films, this film attracted me a lot ... it was great ... It's really worth watching, not once, but more ...
During the time I was watching it, I was confused & I tried to understand what he does & what the others around him want from him ...
When I finished watching it, I began to understand what he did & what the others around him wanted from him ...
I don't know how much & how well I've understood, but I thought the whole film wanted to show us the bewliderment & the agitation of man in this mad mad world ...
Truman is followed everywhere, he has no tranquility in his life, whatever he does is watched & recorded, and he can't feel the enjoyment of " freedom " ... , but at the end he is the winner, and when all the ways are closed, he turns around and with a slight bow shows everyone that he has not surrendered !
By the way, surfing the internet, I found this link about the film which I think is interesting :

http://www.transparencynow.com/trusig.htm

Entry 73

Will he be hanged ?!!!!

Entry 72



The other night the electricity had gone off ... I was going to make some food remained from lunch warm; I put it in a plate and wanted to put it in the microwave oven that I suddenly remebered there was no electricity and I had to make the food warm on the stove, for a few minutes I really didn't know how to do it on the stove (something that I easily did in the past when we didn't have microwave ! ) ...
I put the food in a pot while thinking how it would become warm without being burned ... in the past it never burned, but I didn't remember what I did that it didn't burn !
Besides all the advantages of the modern technology, I think it's caused lots of damage to our creativity !
There is no doubt that modern technology has helped us a lotttt ...
In the past we used to wash the dishes ourselves: now the dishwasher does it for us & we can use that time for doing what we're interested in ...
We used to sit beside the telephone set & talk with others: now we do our work while talking on the cordless phone ...
But sometimes when we look back at the past, don't we think those times despite the lack of the modern technology were more enjoyable than now? ...
Don't we say to ourselves, " We didn't have anything, no cell phone, no satellite, no microwave, no Internet , but we enjoyed life more ... " ? ...

Entry 71

I was watching a program on VOA the other month, it was about a clinic which has been established in the US for the children addicted to computer games ...



The speaker said that some of the children are addicted to cocaine so that they can stay up late & continue playing the games ...
Later on that program when the speaker was talking to the psychotherapist who was invited to discuss the subject, she told him, " I hope I haven't become addicted to the internet myself, because everyday I am in a rush to check my emails ! "
Anyway, while surfing the net, I found the two following texts on this subject :

Question: Can spending too much time playing video games hurt my child?

Answer: Yes. Excessive video-game playing can have a negative effect on a young child for several reasons:

* Kids who spend too much time at the computer are missing out on other activities fundamental to their physical, social, intellectual, and emotional development. Time spent in front of the computer or game console is time taken away from playing with friends, reading or a doing a project with you, or playing outside.

* Kids often play video games alone, and too much time spent alone can cause social isolation. • Children who watch more than ten hours of TV a week don't do as well in school as children their age who watch less. When setting limits, it's important to consider the total amount of time your child spends in front of electronic screens, including TVs, computers, video consoles, and movie screens.

• Bad habits can become ingrained and are more difficult to change as children get older. (According to research, the average American 4th-grade boy spends 9.5 hours each week playing video and computer games — in addition to other screen time.)

• Research shows that if your child regularly plays games with plots based on violence and aggression, he's at risk for increased aggressive behavior. In addition, some games promote gender bias and irresponsible sexual behavior.

It's important to remember, however, that video and computer games aren't all bad. Quality games give children the opportunity to practice problem-solving and logic skills. They increase fine motor and coordination skills and encourage an interest in information technology. And, if you are playing the games with your child — something I highly recommend — they provide an occasion for you to do something together. Your best bet is to limit video-game playing now while your child is still young. In addition, be a smart consumer and choose video games for your child that aren't sending the wrong message.

-----------------------------------------------
Effects Of Video Game Playing On Children

Positives

* Video game playing introduces children to computer technology.
* Games can give practice in following directions.
* Some games provide practice in problem solving and logic.
* Games can provide practice in use of fine motor and spatial skills.
* Games can provide occasions for adult and child to play together.
* Players are introduced to information technology.
* Some games have therapeutic applications with patients.
* Games are entertaining.

Negatives

* Over-dependence on video games could foster social isolation, as they are often played alone.
* Practicing violent acts may contribute more to aggressive behavior than passive television watching. Studies do find a relationship between violent television watching and behavior.
* Women are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless or sexually provocative. * Game environments are often based on plots of violence, aggression and gender bias.
* Many games only offer an arena of weapons, killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting.
* Playing violent video games may be related to aggressive behavior (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004). Questions have been raised about early exposure to violent video games.
* More often games do not offer action that requires independent thought or creativity.
* Games can confuse reality and fantasy.
* In many violent games, players must become more violent to win. In "1st person" violent video games the player may be more affected because he or she controls the game and experiences the action through the eyes of his or her character.
* Academic achievement may be negatively related to over-all time spent playing video games. (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004)

Reasons children give for playing video games:

* It's fun
* Like to feel in control
* Releases tension
* Relieves boredom
* Develops gaming skills
* Feel a sense of mastery

You can read the whole texts in these websites:

http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/expert/bigkid/ggames/71259.html

http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_effect.shtmln