Thursday, June 25, 2009

It Rarely Snows in Portland

The room was largely empty. It was never that full. Not even in the better days. A television and its digital converting companion sat silently on some disposable IKEA furniture. A blue air mattress had been inflated and lay against the opposing wall like a small break in the white clouds. They were bare, there hadn’t been enough time to find the art that would have to have been removed when he left. Outside the snow fell quietly in the courtyard. The second grey building of the apartment complex was the only view from the window.

When the alarm went off, the man stirred and kicked off the blankets. There were three and he’d made the mistake of washing and drying them all. He didn’t know what they were made of and hadn’t thought to consult the tag for the proper care procedures. As a result, the blankets left little tufts of white and cream on any cloth they contacted. His pajamas had been through another blizzard last night. He sat up and looked outside and was thankful for the roof over his head even though he disliked the emptiness that lay beneath. Why had he left? Should he have done more to try to talk him into staying? Why couldn’t he ever seem to get out of the way of himself? Did everything that was good always have to be so fleeting? He stopped himself there. He didn’t like when he started thinking about life through the prism of some lyric from a song. He felt like he should have better clichés to use in his wallowing. He didn’t though, and that bothered him.

When he had moved here, everyone he talked to was tip-toeing past the graveyard and holding their breath. “Slowing down? No, so far so good.” Or, “we seem to have dodged the bullet up to this point.” That was then, but somewhere along the way, when he wasn’t paying attention, when he was busy falling in love, the lead found its target. He’d received his notice. The weekly pay ended and so did the solace of work. As long as he had had that, he didn’t have to be by himself so much. It hadn’t been so bad. He didn’t have to dwell on it. He didn’t have to realize it was all ending. Everything was wrapping up so nicely except he didn’t want what was on the inside.

He walked to the kitchen and assembled what he needed for breakfast. The pan was soon frying. The toaster busied itself with the task at hand. The refrigerator had been humming since he’d closed the door. Everything was doing what it was meant to do. The man sat and waited. His thoughts passed beyond concentration on the food and meandered to her. She was still here. It occurred to him that this whole time he’d been falling in love with two. Two, and she hadn’t left. Only he did and when he packed up the car that early morning and had driven off, well he’d departed with the future of all three of them in tow.

He couldn’t enjoy his breakfast. He kept wishing that things were different, that he could be different. He could make this work with just two. Just she and I. It was so simple and yet he spent so much time dwelling on it. He was aware of the growing exasperation but got distracted because he started thinking about Dylan and he found himself smiling, in spite of himself.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Iran

This is intended as a primer for anyone who like me is interested in what has been happening in Iran over the last few days. First, some historical context kept intentionally vague and brief.

1921-1925- Reza Pahlavi, a Brigadier General in the Persian (Iranian) Army takes control of the nation during this period beginning with a coup d'etat, overthrowing the existing government and eventually establishing his own dynasty which would rule the nation. He was not without opposition from other Iranians in doing this.

1925-1941- Reza Pahlavi, also known as Reza Shah, rules Iran as an autocrat with anti-communist and secularism policies. He began modernizing the country and tried to curb the influence of Islam in Iran through secular laws and policies.

1941- The British and Russians force Reza Pahlavi to abdicate the throne in lieu of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The British and Russians feared that Reza Pahlavi intended to ally himself with Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The invasion also allowed the Allies to use Iran's resources for their war effort.

1953- The British and U.S. governments overturn the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran who had held office since 1951. The Prime Minister had nationalized the oil industry which had been jointly run by an Iranian-British effort. In addition to this loss, the British and U.S.A. feared that the Prime Minister may have had communist sympathies which would have undermined the Shah's pro-Western stance. Iran shared an important border with the Soviet Union. Its oil wealth and location made it an important Cold War ally.

1950-1970s- The Shah of Iran continues his rule becoming increasingly autocratic and unpopular with his subjects.

1979- The Iranian Revolution occurs. The Shah is forced into exile. There were many revolutionary groups who took part including nationalists, Marxists and Islamic groups. In the chaos post-revolution, the Islamic revolutionaries take power and form a theocratic Islamic Republic led by the Ayatollah (high-ranking Shi'a cleric) Ruhollah Khomeini.

Soon after, relations with the West worsen, culminating with the Iran Hostage crisis which involved the storming of the American Embassy which overlapped the Carter and Reagan presidencies.

1981-1988- Saddan Hussein, leader of neighboring Iraq, invades Iran in hopes of acquiring disputed territories held by Iran which had large Arab populations, substantial oil reserves and would provide Iraq with greater access to the Persian Gulf. Somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Iranians are killed before a U.N. cease-fire is agreed to.

1989- Khomeini dies. He is succeeded as Supreme Leader by Ali Khamenei.

1989-1997- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani serves as President of Iran. He is a pragmatist and has pro-business policies and sought to rebuild and strengthen the economy while keeping the nation fundamentally aligned with the principles of the revolution.

1997-2005- Mohammad Khatami is President of Iran. He is a moderate and reformer who pushes for greater freedoms in Iranian society and sought to increase Iran's standing with the European Union and Asian nations. Many acknowledge that he was largely unsuccessful in moderating Iran's image because of the lack of support from Khamenei.

2002- President George W. Bush includes Iran with Iraq and North Korea in the "Axis of Evil" because they aided terrorism and sought weapons of mass destruction.

2005-2009- Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holds the position of Presidency. He is a controversial leader who does little to continue in the ways of his predecessors, Rafsanjani and Khatami.

The past week- An tightly contested election was held between Ahmadinejad and Hossein Mousavi, seen as many as a moderate who would return the country to the ways of Rafsanjani and Khatami.

Several sources have stated that the election results are fraudulent and that Mousavi won the election but has been removed from power by Khamenei and Ahmadienjad. There has been unrest in Iran since the "results" of the election were announced. Communications have been censored, media has been intimidated, protesters and university students have been assaulted by police and other armed groups. It has been alleged, though I have not seen it officially confirmed that members of Hezbollah have been brought to Iran to assist in the quelling of protests.

The outcome of this situation remains unforeseeable. Some see this as similar to the revolutions that happened throughout Europe in the late 80s as the Cold War was ending. Others are less hopeful and see a more apt comparison to Tiananmen Square.