History

The overwhelming majority of Iranians are neither Moslem nor Communist fanatics. They are illiterate and poverty-ridden peasants without any clear political conscience. Tell them their lot is well night intolerable, and they will instantly agree. Their basic attitude is one of hatred of government. The government to them is a symbol of oppression; it is the tax collector who squeezes the poor and the grafter who mulcts the state. Wide sections of the population are ripe for communism. — “Iran…

Two Years Before the Mast, 1869: Late in the afternoon, as there were vespers at the Roman Catholic churches, I went to that of Notre Dame des Victoires. The congregation was French, and a sermon in French was preached by an Abbé; the music was excellent, all things airy and tasteful, and making one feel as if in one of the chapels in Paris. The Cathedral of St. Mary, which I afterwards visited, where the Irish attend, was a contrast…

A new friend emailed me this morning, asking me about why I pronounce my name the way I do, and so I figured it was high time that I actually write up something to have for posterity. The name itself is Persian, but of Greek origin. The original Persian name is Kourosh (koo-ROSH). The one whom Anglophones call Cyrus the Great, is known in Persian history as Kourosh-e Bozorg, but as Greek lacks an “sh” sound, it became Kouros (koo-ROS).…