No More Meat!

Eating meat has some advantages and some disadvantages. Some people's meals contain meat and some others don't. The second group is called vegetarians. People become vegetarian for different reasons, such as religious reasons, health, fad, economic, or moral reasons (against the killing of animals). Whatever their reason is, these people are healthier.

Meat has more disadvantages than advantages especially red meat. Vegetarian diets are healthier. Most vegetarian diets contain lower total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, which decrease the incident of heart disease. A research in US shows that, Vegetarians in the U.S. have a lower incidence of heart disease than nonvegetarians. And that's because vegetarian diets are low in fat.

Vegetarians also have a lower incident of high blood pressure and a lower rate of Type 2 diabetes than do nonvegetarians. And this is also because of the lower fat and more fiber in the vegetarian diets. Fibers help to decrease cholestrol (too much of which) is not good for heath.

Vegetarians (according to another research in U.S) have lower rates of death from colon cancer than nonvegetarians. This is also because of the increased fiber intake, decreased fat, and increased amounts of fruits and vegetables in the diet. There's also some evidence that vegetarians suffer less from osteoporosis, kidney stones, gallstones, and diverticular disease.

Vegetarian diets are very healthy diets, which can prevent people from getting maladies such as heart troubles, high blood pressure and colon cancer. So if you desire to be healthier than you are, don't eat meat!

Three Stings

George got stung by a bee and said,
“I wouldn’t have got stung if I’d stayed in bed.”
Fred got stung and we heard him roar,
“What am I being punished for?”
Lew got stung and we heard him say,
“I learned somethin’ about bees today.”

Shab_e Yalda
Shab_e Yalda (Yalda Night) is the last night of the Persian month Azar, the last month of the fall, and the day after is the first day of the Persian month Day, the first month of the winter. Iranians celebrate this night because it is the longest night of the year.

Another name for this night is “Sab_e Cheleh” this name is because this night is Forty days before the next major Persian festival, acording to zarasterians, "Jashn e Sadeh ". The start of the solar year has been marked to celebrate the victory of light over darkness and the renewal of the Sun. O n this night, the longest night of the year, the forces of “Ahriman”, The Evil, are assumed to be at the peak of their strength. While the next day, the first day of the month "Day" is known as "khoram rooz" or "khore rooz" (the day of sun) belongs to Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom. Since the days are getting longer and the nights shorter, this day marks the victory of Sun over the darkness.

There are certain things to be eaten on this night. Iranians have certain dried nuts mixed called “Ajeal_e Shab_e Yalda” which is diferent from the “Ajeal” which is served in the New Year. “Ajeal_e Shab_e Yalda” consits of roasted seeds, peanut, almond, hazel_nut, raisins and dried fruits such as, fig. Other things to be served on this night are pamegranate and watermelon. It is believed that if someone eats pamegranate and watermelon on this night he or she will no catch a cold during the winter.

There are many customs for this night. On this night families, relatives and friends get together to celebrate the longest night of the year. They chat, tell stories, read poems from“Divan of Hafez”. They consult “Divan of Hafez” this action is called “fall”.Hafez is strongly believed by Iranians to tell the truth. On this night most of people stay up late to benefit the longest night of the year for being together more and enjoying their time together.

This night celebrated in Iran is my favorite Iranian custom because it is usually the best night of my year beside my wonderful family members. In the contrary of the cold weather outside there is cozy and warm place inside which I love. I am looking forward to the next Shab_eYalda.

Discription
George said,”God is short and fat.”’
Nick said,”No, He is tall and lean.”
Led said,”With a long white beard.”
“No,”said John,” He’s shaven clean.”
Will said,”He’s black,”Bob said, “He’s white.”
Rhonda Rose said,”He’s a She.”
I smiled but never showed ‘em all
The autographed photograph God sent to me.

Nowruz

Nowrouz
Iranian new year doesn’t start like other countries all around the world. It doesn’t start in the snowy cold season of the year. It starts in the first day of Spring, with rebirth of the nature. In the spring the weather is mild, trees and flowers start to bloom, animals are out after their long sleep in the winter, birds are singing, sun rises earlier and days are longer than they used to be in the Winter, when everything is in the full beauty.

Iranians celebrate the first day of spring, which is called nowrouz, meaning new day. There are many interesting customs for celebrating the new year among iranians before and after “Sal Tahvil” which is the moment the new year starts.

Before Nowrouz there are many customs. A major one is “Khane Tekani” which is a major cleaning of their houses before starting the new year. They also plant wheat, barley or lentil sprouts about two weeks before Eid, which grow in a dish and is called “sabzeh”, and decorate eggs. They also buy new clothes, shoes to wear in the new year. They buy fruits, dried nuts, berries and raisins which is called”Aajeel”, sweets and traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, toot, naan-nokhodchi for entertaining visitors during Norouzi visitations after Sal Tahvil.

In the day of Eid (Nowrouz) iranians set a special table with seven specific items present starting with the letter S called “Haft Sin” meaning “seven 'S's”. The items symbolically correspond to seven creations and holy immortals protecting them. Haft Sin consists of ”sabzeh” (wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth), “samanu” ( a sweet pudding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence), “senjed “( the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing love), “sir” ( garlic - symbolizing medicine), “sib” ( apples - symbolizing beauty and health ), “somaq”( sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise),”serkeh” ( vinegar - symbolizing age and patience),these are the essential items which should be included in the Haft Sin table. There are also other items which Iranian put on the table such as: “Sonbol “(Hyacinth (flower)), “Sekkeh” (Coins - representative of wealth), traditional Iranian pastries such as “baghlava”,” toot”, “naan-nokhodchi”, dried nuts, berries and raisins “Aajeel”, lit candles (enlightenment and happiness), a mirror (symbolizing cleanness), decorated eggs, sometimes one for each member of the family (fertility), a bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving), a bowl of water with an orange in it (the earth floating in space), rose water for its magical cleansing powers, a holy book (e.g., the Qur'an, Avesta, Bible, Torah, or Kitáb-i-Aqdas,) and/or a poetry book (almost always either the Shahnama or the Divan of Hafez).

At the moment of the “Sal Tahvil” all the family members sit beside the “Haft Sin table” and await for the exact moment of the arrival of the Spring. Iranians usually pray for having a good year in these moments because it is believed that the wish that one makes in these moments will be surely accepted by God. it is also believed that whatever a person does on Norouz will affect the rest of the year, so iranian try to do whatever they plan to do in the fallowing year. On the new year’s day iranians make a special meal calles” Sabzi Polo Mahi”which is rice with green herbs served with fish.

After Sal Tahvil the visitations start. First the youth visit elders of their family to show their respect for them then elders will return their visit later. The elders give money to the young ones which is called “Eidy”, they usually put the money in the “Qur’an” and it is believed that this money is blessed. After that they go to their other relatives, friends and neighbours. The visitations are usually short, about 30 minutes, because if it takes long they won’t be able to visit everyone.These visitations continue up to the end of twelve_day celebrations of Nowrouz. On the thirteenth day families leave their homes and picnic outdoors. This day, which is called “Sizde be Dar”, is the last day of Nowrouz holidays.

Tehran

I live in Tehran. Tehran is the capital city of the Islamic Repablic of Iran with a land area of 658 square kilometers. It is located in the northern part of the country at the bottom of the slope of the Alborz Mountains. It is surounded by other provinces such as Ghom, Ghazvin and Ostan-e markazi.

The location provides the city with a nice weather. All four seasons of a year can be seen in Tehran. It is cool in the spring, almost hot in the summer, rainy in the automn, and snowy in the winter.

The population (as of 2006) is 7,354,000. In the 20th century, Tehran faced a large number of migratories from all around Iran who are predominantly Persian today, More than 60 percent of Tehranis were born outside Tehran.Tehran population includs ethnic and religious minorities such as Azeris, Armenian, Assyrians, Kurds, Jews, Bahá'ís and Zoroastrians. About 99.9% of non-persian Tehranis are either bilingual in Persian or fluent speakers of it.

The predominant majority of Tehranis are the followers of Shia Islam and the minorities include the believers of different sects of sunni Islam, Zoroastrianisim, Bahai faith, Judaism, christianity. There are also small groups of Shiks, Hindus, Buddahists, Mandeans, Spiritualists, Atheists, Yazidis, Yarsan, Secular Muslims and the followers of Mystic Islam etc.

Tehran has a wealth of cultural attractions including palaces (Golestan Palace, Sadabad Palace, Niavaran Palace Complex, etc), museums (Reza Abbasi Museum, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art,etc), castles and forts (Ghal'eh Dokhtar Tang Goseel near Karajfrom Seljuqi era, Iraj Fort in Varamin,etc), famous houses(Etehadiyeh House (Qajar era), Amir Bahador House (Qajar era), , archeological sites(, towers, libraries, bazzars,and shopping centers.


Famous Tehranis

Here is a list of the famous Tehranis: Abbas Kiarostami, Abbas Marufi, Abdolkarim Soroush, Abol-Ghasem Kashani, Ahmad Allahyari, Ahmad Matin-Daftari, Ali Amini, Ali Parvin, Amir Ansari, Arash Labaf, Ardeshir Zahedi, Arfa Atrai, Azar Nafisi, Bahar Soomekh, Bita Farrahi, Bozorg Alavi, Camila Batmanghelidjh, Deep Dish, DJ Aligator, Ebrahim Hamedi (Ebi), Firouzeh, Forough Farrokhzad, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, Gholamreza Rouhani, Hadi Saei, Hassan Ali Mansur, Hosein Ala', Jalal Al-e-Ahmad, Kamran Shirdel, Khosrow Vaziri, Mahnaz Afshar, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Mírzá Husayn-'Alí, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Mostafa Chamran, Niki Karimi, Rahi Mo'ayeri, Said Nafisi, Shadmehr Aghili, Shaul Mofaz, Simin Behbahani, Soleiman Haim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tehran

Love by Rumi

Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation?
What do you know of Love except the name?
Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain,
and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion.
Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal:
it has no interest in a disloyal companion.
The human being resembles a tree; its root is a covenant with God:
that root must be cherished with all one's might.
A weak covenant is a rotten root, without grace or fruit.
Though the boughs and leaves of the date palm are green,
greenness brings no benefit if the root is corrupt.
If a branch is without green leaves, yet has a good root,
a hundred leaves will put forth their hands in the end.