Shawn > Recent Status Updates

This monster eating everyone is horror! OMG I keep re-playing it (on the audiobook). This novel’s worth the acclaim. True, it Harkins back to a lot of the classics, so I can see that some may say it is not original, but man oh man, this is quality sci-fi writing, I’m loving it. Glad I got around to it

This should be a user-friendly read. He starts off w/citing two authoritative, exhaustive sources on Iranian history, saying that he is only attempting to introduce the country to a general readership. So far, it's been interesting to learn of just how similar the Farsi language is to others (Latin, German, Sanskrit, etc.).

Lotta political science. It's reviewing the labor movement (May Day in Iran), and how Khomein made connections to working class people while addressing the issue of private property (non-working class people). You see how Khomein, to Western eyes, especially in USA, is just your run o' the mill politician, continually changing and shifting, catering & promising, appealing and messaging.

"He told the chamberlain of the morning breeze to spread out the emerald carpet and, having commanded the nurse of vernal clouds to cherish the daughters of plants in the cradle of the earth, the trees donned the new year's robe and clothed their breast with the garment of green foliage, whilst their offspring, the branches, adorned their heads with blossoms at the approach of the season of the roses."

Quite academic, not really a comprehensive, polished book. But the information presented in the essays thus far is very clear and understandable. It's analytical, but the analysis is greatly needed. For instance, Khomein is compared to the Latin American populist leaders. His revolution was not dissimilar to that of Latin American upheavals and movements.

Wow! And for once, an explanation is given about the Sunnis & Shiis! Bewildering to me that people, journalists, writers et. al. throw these terms Sunni & Shii without ever explaining what they signify. I bet 9/10 people can't really break it down, and yet we hear it in all the most important 'worldly' conversations. It's like Democrats & Republicans,: it's erroneously assumed that everyone knows the imported meaning

These are essays, and they come from [University of California academics]. Thus far, w/the intro & the opening chapter, the book's proving to be a repository of invaluable information regarding the outsider perceptions of Khomein & the nation of Iran. It's starting off by discussing what 'fundamentalism' is. To many Westerners, the word 'fundamentalism' conjures up, w/Islam, an extreme thing, detestable. However...