Newroz

Newroz, in the Kurdish language means a new day, and it is a Kurdish new year. The Kurds celebrate this event for thirteen days in a special way, but the first day, is an important day in this historic event. People buy and wear new clothes; they cook their best foods. Also, they bake different kinds of sweets, and put it on the table for their visitors. Then the elders in the family give gifts and money to the family members, especially kids. The green plants has a visible place in the decorating the Kurds house in this day because they see the plants as a symbol of hope and a fresh start. They give special attention to the sweets in this day too. They think if you start your first day of the year, with sweet tastes the entire year will be full of happiness for you.
Later, they go to visit their parents and close family members to ask them for forgiveness and their blessing. In same day during the afternoon, the families will gather in certain places to have their lunch with each other, so they share their foods with each other joyfully. After eating, they go out to the nature and green environment; they will start dancing and playing traditional games until late at night. The Kurds highly value this event, and they try to pass it to the generation to come with respect. They believe the tradition and costumes, which they practice and follow in these events, are strong bones of their identity.

Tragic Memory

Once I had a horrible experience while my oldest son was a new born baby, my wife’s sudden screaming woke me up around midnight. I could hear her screaming “SNAKE, SNAKE, SNAKE!” I quickly jumped out of the bed, and ran to her in the corner of the room to try to understand what was happening. She shouted” don’t move, you will step on the snake, there in front of you.” I was in shock and I was worried at the same time. I tried to take charge of the situation and control myself so I could help my wife. She yelled “it went into the baby’s room.” Immediately when I heard her say something about the baby, I gathered myself together, opened my eyes and saw the huge black snake raising its head and crawling towards my baby. As soon as I saw the snake heading for the baby, I forgot about everything around me and quickly ran towards the snake to kill it or at least prevent it from doing any harm to my son. I could see the snake was in a confused state as well. My wife was crying as the snake got closer to my sons bed. I quickly grabbed the snakes’ tail, turned it around and grabbed a piece of metal as the snake was attempting to escape to safety. Likewise, I was also doing everything I could to save my baby’s life too. I attacked the head of the snake whacking it a few times. Of course, I didn’t know I was whacking the head until I heard my wife shout “Stop, stop. You killed it.” After a short period of time I realized that I had just saved the lives of my wife and son. Whenever I remember this tragic memory, I hope I will never have to be in that situation again.

Canadian and Iranian educational System

To understand the moral and political differences between the cultures of the world, it is useful to compare their educational systems. A comparison between the Iranian educational systems and the Canadian educational system,is a good example. The Iranian educational system is based on religious belief and is centralized and supervised by the Islamic government and the ruling mullahs. Anything that goes against the Quran, the belief of the 12 imams, Khomeini and the current supreme leader Khamenei is censored and illegal. This explains why the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution is responsible for all the school planning, funding, and teacher training. Also everyone is required to take religious classes and memorize the holy Quran. In addition, a lot of the teachers or school staffs are religious clerics. Moreover, the students disciplined according to hard core Islamism rules. If the were not good in memorizing all the Quran viruses’ and Islam history even if they were genius in the sciences field, yet they could be rejected from schools . In Iran the human experiments are not valued ,or seen as a real base of the education system, however the religious believe has the upper hand ,and has the final word.

On the other hand, the Canadian educational system is based on scientific facts, and human experiments are greatly valued. The religion and politics have no great roll in the foundation of the educational system. It is almost a secular educational system. Officially the education in Canada is a decentralized system, and every different province has it's roll and polices, so the federal government has minimum authority. In Canada the provincial government is in charge of school planning financing, and administration. Canadian schools students may take religious classes if they wish, but it is not mandatory. However, students are required to take science courses till grade 12 and depending on one’s carrier in college and university. Evolution and many other scientific doctrines are much more valued then religious ones, but everyone has the right to belief what they want. The students have the ability to change their educational system through school elections. By investigating the Canadian educational system one could discover its cultural and special values. As a result, when one closely looks into, the Canadian educational system and the Iranian system. They should see clearly moral beliefs and political value in the two cultures clearly.

The advantages and disadvantages of Urban and rural life

I was born in the countryside and lived most my childhood there before moving to the city. Over the years I have come to realize some advantages and disadvantages between life in the city and life on the farm. I prefer living in the countryside compared to the city. Although the city provides more employment opportunities I find the countryside to be more satisfactory and less stressful. People in the city are always busy. On the other hand, nature decides the time of work in the countryside. One works when the sun rises and stops working when the sun sets. The city is very crowded and noise whereas the countryside is less packed and much more peaceful. While in the countryside one can grow organic food, in the city you can go to a variety of different restaurants and enjoy all sorts of cultural foods that are not available in the countryside. Most people move to the city for easier access to education but with the introduction of the internet people are now able to go to school online. In short, I prefer the peaceful and friendly environment of the countryside contrast to the city but regardless of preference both the city and countryside have their advantages and disadvantages.

“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion”

I agree with the statement that great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends, fads and popular opinion because all these things are not done for the improvement of one’s life but for mere attention. A lot of times people feel alone and socially unaccepted so in order to fit in with a certain group they decide to dress or speak with the slang most common to that group. All trends and fads have an extraordinary influence on one’s lifestyle because some trends and fads pressure people into a certain type of lifestyle which is often negative and non-beneficial to the person. Trends and fads and followers of popular opinion seem to be the youth. Those who follow popular opinion do not use reason and are therefore led in the wrong path in life but those who disregard popular opinion and follow their own reason are most likely to become successful person in society.

Iraq: a Democracy in the Making

March 7th 2010 was a turning point in Iraq’s history. After Iraq established its independence in 1932 and after the execution of the infamous dictator Saddam Hussein in 2006 Iraq held its first democratic election. When we look back at Iraq’s past we learn of the horrors and hardships that its people have lived through. Throughout history almost all of Iraq’s rulers have come to power with military coup or bloody revolutions. The nationalist Arab officers started the modern history of Iraq with the assassination of its monarch Faisal II. Iraq has never being a strong, unified country and it’s always been under the influence of different powers such as Britain, America and the Soviet Union.

Iraq has been a country of constant warfare and crimes against humanity. The Kurds who are the second largest nationality in Iraq have been the victims of the fascist Baath (national) party of Saddam Hussein who deprived them of their democratic freedoms. The Kurds were always discriminated against for their nationality and language and the Shia minority much like the Kurds endured the most inhumane crimes imaginable. In 1988 Saddam began a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Kurdish population of Iraq known as the anfal campaign. 200,000 Kurds were buried alive and 5,000 in the Kurdish town of Halabja were exterminated by the use of poisonous gas all in one day. The people never had freedom or saying in government. Those who spoke against the central government were brutally terminated. In 1980, Iraq went to war with its neighboring country Iran for the return of the Persian Gulf which had previously been given to the shia of Iran in 1975 in a deal with Saddam in favor of suppressing the Kurdish movement in Iraq. Once the Islamic revolution brought Khomeini and his mullahs to power in 1979 Saddam demanded the return of the Persian Gulf but Khomeini refused and this resulted in the first 8 year long Gulf War which cost 2 million lives.

The main aim of the Baath party and their leader Saddam Hussein was to create a strong Arabic empire with Iraq as its central power. In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait to gain the oil reserves and natural resources which would make further expansion possible. Kuwait plead for aid from the United Nations and a coalition of 32 countries led by the United States pushed Iraqi forces off Kuwaiti soil and ended the war. Had these nations not stepped in to stop Saddam there is no saying which country he might have invaded next? Saddam’s ruthless killings did not stop until the 2003 American invasion.

The people of Iraqi have never had any saying in government decisions and this is why Iraq has always had authoritarian leaders in the past. However, for the very first time Iraqi’s have the right to vote and a constitution which protects their rights and liberties. Even though, we hear of car bombings and terrorists activity there is no denying the fact that Iraqi’s enjoy an amount of freedom that they were not able to enjoy in the past. The people have decided to follow a path of democracy and as long as they continue on this pass their progress is unstoppable.

How to Win an Argument

The art of arguing is an important skill,and it is essential to students who studying political science, philosophy, economics and other social sciences. To win an argument is not an easy task, and it is even harder to outline the steps one needs to take to win. When I am facing with an argument, I first begin by researching, and identifying all the pros and cons to prepare myself. Next, I let my opponent present his argument, where he stands in the debate and why? After a while, I state my argument, and show the truth of it by asking my opponent questions. Try and control your temper. It is important that one does not get emotional or angry at his\her opponent for their claims. Then Try questioning your opponent’s claims further by turning his own argument against him, exaggerating it or by using different meanings of his words. Afterward, use your opponent’s answers to try and draw your conclusion. Finally, try to bring forth evidence that your opponent has no knowledge of, but do not make any claim that you cannot prove. If you follow these simple steps then you are likely to win in any argument.

Dreams

Playing professional soccer, earning a university degree and becoming a journalist were my main wishes since I was a teenager but unfortunately they have not come true yet. During my years in elementary and secondary schools I was one of the best soccer players, my family and friends were predicting a bright future for me on the field. Also, I had good skill in writing simple story’s and compositions. I remained an A student in my class and my teachers used to call me a journalist. Of course, it was crystal clear to me that I had to attend university first to become a real journalist after. At least these were my father’s wishes too. He was repeating these wishes all the time before me until I believed them and even as a teen I was telling about these wishes to everyone I knew. Unfortunately during 1979 the Islamic revolution happen in my country and it was start of my family’s exile line. We were Kurds and a political family so we could not stay in our country. To stay safe from new revolutionary Islamic guard on time we moved to the mountains and remained there for a longtime. After the mountains we move to a refugee camp which were protected by U.N.H.C.R and stayed there for a decade without any access to school and basic service for living. 20 years after those black days I still work hard to fulfill my wishes. Due to the fact that I am no longer that teenage boy I cannot become a professional soccer player, but I still have faith that I can complete my university degree.