Growing Up Persian in America

It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anyone who knows anything about the Middle East knows that falafel is not Persian food but rather Arabic food. Then again what do most Americans know. This story was written by an Iranian or Persian and while it is a work of fiction it is in part autobiographical. The story is set in the Carter era, starting right before the revolution and then going through to Ronald Reagan’s election.

Zomorod is with her family in Southern California, her dad is an engineer making oil wells for a big company. For a while they were living in Compton but then they move to Newport Beach. The move to Newport Beach is not comfortable. Zomorod has no friends there and her parents are different. Zomorod does not know much about American culture. In order to better fit in she changes her name to Cindy. Incidentally the first friend she meets is named Cindy. Zomorod will call herself Cindy and her first friend Original Cindy.

Original Cindy is into herself. She likes horses and Captain and Tenil which she names her pet cats after. Zomorod does not know much about horses and she cannot follow along to the words of a song. They like to go to the pool and get a suntan. Her parents feel swimming and bicycle riding can help to make her grow taller. If she gets scratched by a cat she can lose her eye sight. These attitudes from her parents are a source of embarrassment for Zomorod.

As she starts Lincoln Junior High she goes through A socializing process. Some kids who are ignorant about Iran or Persia make racist jokes, other teacher ask her to give a report on Iran. At school she makes friends with Carolyn, Howie and Rachel. Through her friends she gets introduced to the Girl Scouts different people and different clubs. On a scout outing her dad buys everything that is on sale. The stuff that ain’t on sale and I the list of things needed for the camping trip are simply not needed.

In their condo complex they make friends and enemies with the neighbors, mostly friends though. Whenever someone comes over the mother wants to give them tea and feed them. If the family wants to say thank you they will make food and send it over. Most America’s do not follow this and to them it is different. For Zomorod it is embarrassing.

Things change when the Revolution happens and Americans are taken hostage in Iran. That is when her father looses his job, the family gets worried and stays glued to the television set. Enemies place dead hamsters on their doorstep and over load their trash can with trash thst is not theirs. But things will work out.

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Political Assassination

Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All through out Israel’s existence , from the pre state days to present time, assassination has been a tool of national self defense. The purpose of assassination is to prevent a full scale military’s confrontation . The book traces the history of Israel’s use of assassination and with some examination of it’s moral relevance and effectiveness. All branches of the Israeli Defense Establishmment all the way from IDF commando groups, Aman, Mossad and Shin Bet have been involved in assassinating enemy leaders.

In the pre state days the Haganah used assassination against rival Palestinian leaders, some British and even other Jews. One of the most noted assassination in pre state time was of Jacob DeHan. Jacob was a gay Orthodox Jew who was very pro- Arab. He was murdered and the Haganah decided to frame the Irgun. The Stern Gang, radical Jewish terrorists of the time assassinated Lord Moyne in Egypt.

After the establishment of the state of Israel, the fledgling state faced numerous threats. Among them was German Scientists working for Egypt in order to develop rockets and chemical weapon to use against Israel. To stop this the Israelis would send letter bombs to the scientists. These letter bombs killed several scientists and also wounded several of them. This may have had the effect of forcing Egypt to shut down that program.

Black September occurred after the PLO took over the Israeli hotel room during the 1974 Olympics. Almost all of the Israeli athletes were murdered. This would cause Golda Meir to send assassins after the PLO terrorists responsible. To kill someone a Prime Minister must sign a red paper. While many terrorists welfare eliminated there was also diplomatic fall out as Israel assassinnate enemies on friendly European soil. The Europeans were not happy about that. Did the assassination really stop the next generation of terrorists.

During the second Intifadah when Israel was facing suicide bombings a variety of assassination techniques were used . Among them was the use of drones to shoot missiles at opponents , like with Sheik Ahmed Yassin. Or to use booby trapped cell phones like Israel used with Ayash “The Engineer” Israel used assassination to halt Iran’s nuclear program as well as Syrias. While assassination or targeted killing may have solved an initial problem sometimes it lead to an even more complicated situations. For example Sheik Yassin, the founder of Hamas absolutely refused to work with Iran. After his assassination Hamas moved closer to Hezbollah and Iran. This made Israel’s situation all the worse because the new leader chose to work with Iran. This meant that Hamas was working with Hezbollah and Iran. This gave them more of an advantage against Israel. To stop the weapons from flowing in Israel had to assassinate someone who got weapons for Hamas. This triple ring of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran would have to be combated. THE biggest threat was of Iranian nuclear weapons.

Khalid Mashal was a Hamas leader in Amman Jordan. The Israelis botched an assassination attempt against him. It soured relations between Israel and Jordan and they had to give Mashal the antidote anyways plus they had to release tons of Palestinians fighter.Does assassination work. Let’s watch the news and see what happens with the Soleimeni issue.

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The Book of Abbaddon : Become a Living God

ABADDON: The Angel of the Abyss by E.A. Koetting
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book marks the 4th in a series of books about working with arch demons. This one is about Abbaddon. He is the gate keeper of the abyss or the guy who guards the entrance and exit to Hell. This fallen angel is the one who stops the demons from leaving Hell and haunting our world. He also won’t let you in either. Abbaddon is not only identified with being the guardian to Hell, he is associated with several other entities.

Since Abbaddon determines who leaves and enters Hell, he has often been conflated with Satan himself. In the Book of Revelations he is mentioned but he is not only called Abbaddon but he is called Apollyon. This connects him to the Greek God Apollo. Abbaddon is at times called the king of locusts or plaques. Apollo can control plagues and he has some warrior aspects in common with Abbaddon. He has wolf like characteristics. Abbaddon has also been conflated with Hades the lord of the dead. In a way that is fitting. After all Abbaddon is a king of Hell as he decides who comes and goes. Abbaddon is also conflated with Bab and Hekate. Both are escorts to the realm of the dead.

Abbaddon used to be associated with a place in the underworld. Now he is a being. The book itself has rituals for initiation , cursing and other rituals connected to the deities mentioned above.

This is a left handed philosophy book and the objective is not to merge with god but rather to become a living god. The book asks for discipline and to cut away our attachments. You will like the philosophy As it is very empowering.

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On the Trail of a Jinn

Jinn Hunter: Book One: The Prism by Tahir Shah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A strange robbery takes place in the bank at New York were millions of dollars worth of gold melts away and is gone. Oliver who is a math genius can find pattens out of anything and use it to solve problems. His life is about to change. In the realm there is an upside down pyramid that houses all the rogue jinn who terrorize the world. It is guided by Morrocks. Neqsuimus is the most powerful jinn of all and he has escaped.

Right about this time people all over the world are going crazy and acting irrationally. Oliver’s uncle Sinan, owner of Ozymadias and Sons gives him a paperweight.Oliver travels through the dragons eye. In the realm of the Jinn Oliver realizes that he is part of a tribe called Jinn Hunters. Their job is to collect rogue jinn and return them to the prison but Oliver is hardly prepared.

So his training begins in the Crednta. Training is grueling but he is hardly prepared. If he accepts the job to bring down the Jinn what are his odds of surviving? Good question. Read the books and find out.

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Writing From Ursula K Leguin

No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ursula is a well known fantasy / science fiction writer, this book is a collection of essay written about a variety of subjects. She is no longer among the living yet her wisdom reaches out from beyond. One of the things she tackles is this positive thinking in regards to old age. Some people like to to say that you are only as old as you think you are. Nothing could be further from the truth. Old age comes with wisdom and many times aches and pains as the body breaks down. Age is not just a number. Youth is seen as a magical time like it is a time of innocence thst had some enlightenment attached to it. It is is not a virtue to remain as a child. We grow old for a reason. We are supposed to be more mature and more responsible. We are not supposed to stay the same.

She does address her cat Pard. He is a fun trouble maker with a sense of style all his own. Not much of an outdoor cat still he likes to run out every once in a while but soon he makes his way back home. He likes to hunt Beatles and mice and he enjoys playing with them in her Oregon home. The cat does not hunt to kill but rather it is instinct and he likes to play with them like toys. He brings the author mice as a gift because that is what cats do in the wild.

Does this make cats cruel. No , in fact only humans can be cruel because they have developed enough of a brain to enjoy being cruel.

It’s is great book with common sense anecdotes. I wish there were more like it. Enjoy

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Drug Addicts Do What Though wilt

Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Drugs like cocaine and heroine can I have an immense impact on individuals and their families. I should know as I have had family member lose their battle to drugs. By and large cocaine and heroine are not drugs that you can normally control/ but rather they control you. Crowley himself was addicted to heroine. None the less this is still a work of fiction.

The story or diary begins with Peter Pendragon being released from the Air Force after a major world war. His uncle leaves him lots of money. One evening he goes to a a fancy resturaunt/nightclub where he get introduced to Lou , his future wife and cocaine. The man doing the introducing is King Lamus who people have mixed emotions about . Lou is a great singer and she immediately captures Peter’s heart . The cocaine makes him feel exhilarating as there is nothing that can stop him. After there marriage they take a honeymoon in France then in Italy.

In France he and his wife get into heroine. It takes the edge off the coke. It also helps them keep focused. When it comes to heroine though things soon dissipate into self loathing and neglect . Heroine addicts don’t bathe and their clothes are often unkempt. Due to impurities they tend to age prematurely.

But this book is not about drug addiction or the dangers there of. This is a book about Magick and spirituality. King Lamus takes the couple too the abbey of Thelma where they learn about spiritual developement and finding and doing their true will.

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Amalgamation of Chaos and Tantra

Ultraculture Journal: Essays on Magick, Tantra and the Deconditioning of Consciousness by Genesis P-Orridge
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jason Louv is fantastic. At a young age he is written some books and put out his own compilation which is what I am reviewing. Granted i read one of his works earlier and liked it even better. What transpired in this compilation is a mixture of magic stores and travelogues through different lands. Many of the spiritual world deal with Tantra and Chaos Magick.
Travels in India are typical. Backpackers go through places like Kathmandu,Nepal,Kashmir and other places in India. Saddhus or holy saints are everywhere. Having renounced the material world they shift their focus toward the spiritual. Practically naked ,dressed in rags and covered with ash these holy men rely on donations. Some great Saddhus spout some great spiritual knowledge. These Saddues make great psychological role models in their understanding of the mind and how it creates our reality. “Nothing can trouble you but your own imagination,” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj wrote in I Am That. When talking about magic k Jason does a nice job of doing away with conspiracy theories and how we have become divided as a result. We did it for them. It was not done to us. The biggest conspiracy, after all, is perpetrated by all of us, when we agree to be afraid of each other, to separate ourselves into subgroups by belief and inclination. Ultimately we are the only ones who can do it to ourself. We are our own god. Real magic happens when you drop the bullshit and remember that you’re God. Just like everybody else. No ritual required.
God is not some thing outside yourself. Rather as the old saying goes , God lives within. We are God among God. There is not a being you can meet, from the lowest vibrations to the highest, that is not God also, and worthy of your respect. God is at play with God, a dazzling field of consciousness for you to remember yourself in. Since i am my own god and everyone is their God it would make sense to adapt a policy of live and let live. The ultimate path to freedom comes from this revelation. When you stop trying to make decisions for others, stop trying to control them, or save them, then they cannot make decisions for you. And then you’re free, to express your essence as you will.
Perhaps the biggest trap our thought processes and spirituality has ensnared us in is the need to improve our selves morally and intellectually. Now it is not a spiritual challenge to grow in either one really it is a matter of effort. The evolution of man is not the intellectual and moral betterment of all. It is the liberation from measured time.
Here is one gem I plucked from the book, it is an invocation to Choronzon.
Through the pearl of inverted synthesis; Do I STIR AND CREATE thy Nether Might! By the inexorable midnight sun oblivion, Poised on the edge of Anthrax Horizon; Do I CALL FORTH AND INVOKE thy Nether Might! With the wicked blade, forged of the triumphant Aphex Loa! Do I WIELD AND ENACT thy Nether Might! To the annihilation of the love supreme ingested within the tunnel of agape; Do I BECOME thy Nether Might! The dawn of light calls forth by the essence of chaos. By the waters of Nether Night is the EGG supplanted in the mind. WE come beyond the edge; infinity. Through the pearl of inverted synthesis; Do I STIR AND CREATE thy Nether Might! By the inexorable midnight sun oblivion, Poised on the edge of Anthrax Horizon; Do I CALL FORTH AND INVOKE thy Nether Might! With the wicked blade, forged of the triumphant Aphex Loa! Do I WIELD AND ENACT thy Nether Might! To the annihilation of the love supreme ingested within the tunnel of agape; Do I BECOME thy Nether Might! The dawn of light calls forth by the essence of chaos. By the waters of Nether Night is the EGG supplanted in the mind. WE come beyond the edge; infinity. Hail Choronzin

This book will take you to high of monastery in the Himalaya all the Way to the lows of a magical working in a basement. Remember the words of guru are horse pucky, be your own Guru.

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