WILL IRAN BREAK APART?

Iran is more an empire than a nation
While Persian (Farsi) is the official language, half of all Iranians speak a different language at home.¹ The languages and dialects spoken along the southern shore of the Caspian Sea continue to engross linguists and anthropologists.

The minority population is huge. More Azeris live in Iran, for example, than in independent Azerbaijan.² Both Iranian Azerbaijan and Kurdistan have a history of separatism, the latter sparked not only by ethnic discrimination, but also by anti-Sunni religious oppression.

Azeris and Kurds are not alone in exerting regional identities and, on occasion, pursuing (more…)

TEACHERS AND COACHES

America needs fewer teachers and more coaches. After 23 years of schooling, I have seen my fair share of teachers and perhaps the best was my Ph. D. dissertation adviser, John R. Thelin.

As would be expected, Dr. Thelin brought to the table a host of degrees, honorifics, major publications and accolades. Still, the title he asked all his graduate students to use was “Coach.” This curious penchant at first took me off-guard, but I decided it must be a helpful way to prevent his students from being intimidated by his intellect and accomplishments.

I now understand that my wise (more…)

Chapter Fifteen: THE HILL OF TZOMPACHTEPETL

Chapter Fifteen: The Hill of Tzompachtepetl

Accompanied by twenty Xocotlan sub-chiefs sent by King Olintecle, the expedition made its way down the Apulco river valley to a town where Olintecle told them they could wait for the messengers’ return. The King had advised Cortez against going to Tlaxcala. “They are bad people,” he said, “traitors against the Great Montezuma. A more treacherous people you will never find.” But Cortez insisted, trusting the advice of Mamexi and the Totonacs.

The town was called Izta Quimaxtitlan (itch’-ta qwee-mox-teet’-lan), and when they arrived, all of the elders and nobles had assembled to greet (more…)

FALLUJAH IN FRANCE

When, seven months ago, I finished writing my book, The West’s Last Chance, London had not been attacked by Islamist terrorists, the Tate Museum in London had not removed an art exhibit because it offended radical Moslem sensitivities, and France had not yet experienced the explosion of violence from elements of its Moslem population in its "no-go zone" communities.

The fact that I predicted all those events in my book was not the result of clairvoyance. It was merely the result of a normally intelligent person looking at the facts, and their rather obvious implications, without the blinding effect (more…)

A YOUNGER BODY

This is a companion piece to A Younger Brain from last March. That discussed how a nutrient called SAM-e (S-adenosyl-methionine) can actually youthen your brain. Now we’re going to talk about it can youthen your body.

The older you get, the more creaks and aches and tightness and soreness you get, particularly in connective tissue like cartilage. Our bodies aren’t designed to last as long as we live today, and these tissues wear out. Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, which is an auto-immune disease, osteoarthritis is a mechanical wearing away of joints, cartilage, and connective tissue.

I started taking the SAM-e regimen (more…)

IS PARIS BURNING?

Hitler’s infamous question is being asked anew by Moslem immigrants, characterized by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy as “thugs” and “scum,” now into their eighth day of violence in Parisian slum suburbs.

French President Jacques Chirac promptly condemned Sarkozy rather than the Moslem rioters. Such talk by Sarkozy – Chirac’s main political rival – showed a “lack of respect” for the rioters, which “could lead to a dangerous situation.”

Further confirmation that France is doomed.

The French media whimper about the cause of the rioting being “poverty” and “frustration over unemployment.” The problem is the not that these Moslem kids (more…)