Current Affairs Film

Disturbing and Sad

A film that might prove objectionable to some is not being released. Now I understand that this is not a universal rejection, just in the South, and there are commercial interests involved. However, from commercial interests to implicit censorship is not a far stone’s throw. We saw it with Buster the Rabbit. How far will this go? At what point to stop being creative for fear of offending? At what point do we stop being thought provoking? At what point do we become soylent green?

Read More
Current Affairs

Kyrgyz revolution?

The BBC is reporting protests in Osh and Jalalabad in Kyrgyzstan in response to the recent election. Bishkek is brewing. I had put the rumblings going on there as flights of fancy. However, if Osh and Jalalabad are in fact under control of the opposition, this could be a very serious movement. The fact that the Bishkek rally was broken up relatively peacefully I think bodes well for the opposition.

Read More
Intra-faith Shi'ism

Navroz Mubarak – نوروز مبارك

Happy New Year to everyone. May the year bring you much joy and happiness. The springtime of a friend of Ali is always full of the efflorescence of Ali. None deserves eminence and praise among the people except he who befriends Ali. The heart of every Shi’i is protected from Satan in the fortress of Ali. As Ali is from the Prophet’s family, the true Shi’i belongs to the family of Ali. A hundred years of praise is not equal to even one in a thousand praises of Ali. Courage, knowledge, abstinence, generosity: these are the qualities I revere in…

Read More