I've been following this Iran story like mad because, like my green arm band will say, I support spontaneous and organic expression of democracy at home and abroad. Also because I think Iran is a really interesting country that few people in the US know much about, and we think of it as a 3rd world country, but I think it's like a wealthy, more ordered version of Mexico. I really don't think Iran is in the 3rd world.
Anyway, a recent development over the last few days is that the Guardian Council has agreed to a partial recount. Which is, like, the stupidest thing I can think of. In order of most to least likely:
1. They say that the vote count was wrong, and Ahmadinejad still won but by a smaller margin (say, 56-39).
2. They say that the vote count was correct and Ahmadinejad's win is valid.
3. They say the vote was wrong and Mousavi won OR both candidates are below 50% so there will be a run-off.
4. They order a new election.
I read 1 as meaning "yes, we agree that someone cheated, but it really doesn't make a difference." I mean, admitting you cheated but making no real concessions is pretty damn inflammatory and I think it'll only get people more stirred up. 2 is a great big fuck you to the people of Iran, and it'll only rile them up more. 3 is a total admission of guilt and, while it might buy them more time, it ultimately tells the reformists that they can have whatever they want if they protest loud enough. It essentially gives the current system an expiration date of 2020, but leaves the current administration's fresh-saving seal open and the whole box out in the sun. And 4 is a total toss-up. I have no idea what will happen and nor does the Guardian Council. If they really didn't fix the election they can have confidence that similar results will turn up in a second vote, but they and I both know that they did fix it. I don't know what I would do if I were them, but I certainly wouldn't have done this. Oh well, I guess it just speeds up the process.
Green arm bands for all! As soon as I make mine!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Acrola, I have the reason for her name
Where later would be the city of Acrola, before 701 there were a handful of villages around the Eram Branch of the New River. These included the major villages of Socionn and Herrob, but also smaller hamlets, like Bachre in the northeast part of what would later become the Pitt District. Socionn and Herrob were close competitors until a flood destroyed much of the latter, while the more inland former was largely spared. Socionn's ascendency began, and by the end of the seventh century they received tributes from each of the other local villages (the major market in the modern Herrob neighborhood, Herrob Dou, is where the elders of Herrob brought their dous, or tributes, to deliver to Socionn).
Socionn turned toward uniting the villages as one solid entity, and to this end they built a large north-south boulevard between Socionn and Herrob (in modern Union) in order to encourage growth between the two. The boulevard was lined with oak trees, called acrol trees in the Socionn dialect, and therefore in time became littered with acorns. It became known as the Acorol Way, taking its name from these things. Within a few decades, contrary to Socionn's desires, the united city was soon being called Acrola.
Socionn turned toward uniting the villages as one solid entity, and to this end they built a large north-south boulevard between Socionn and Herrob (in modern Union) in order to encourage growth between the two. The boulevard was lined with oak trees, called acrol trees in the Socionn dialect, and therefore in time became littered with acorns. It became known as the Acorol Way, taking its name from these things. Within a few decades, contrary to Socionn's desires, the united city was soon being called Acrola.
Circles, equations
oatmeal + peanut butter + brown sugar = love
Me: Why is there so much Indian stuff in Berkeley? Is there a large Indian community here?
Karen: Yeah, that's why there's so much Indian stuff here.
Bailey + pile of blankets = always
Anna is in Berkeley.
Me: Why is there so much Indian stuff in Berkeley? Is there a large Indian community here?
Karen: Yeah, that's why there's so much Indian stuff here.
Bailey + pile of blankets = always
Anna is in Berkeley.
Monday, June 15, 2009
On Conversion Experiences, part 2 of 2
This elimination of the need for a conversion experience according to those principles became known as the Grontinion Article. It came into force throughout the Hillean Confederation (which included Hihaythea and the Yiffen Republic, as well as Colof and Alisia, where there were sizeable minorities of Beautavs). Surprisingly, however, no other country adopted the article for more than a century.
Acrola, indeed, might have lead the way on such a practice, and had circumstances been slightly different, the Grontinion Article might have come 50 years earlier, and been termed the AnaPaotai Article or similar. In 1423, the Acrolan Regency officially broke from the Orthodox Beautav Church and began preparing reforms. Within five months, however, the Emperor had died, precipitating the anarchy of the Interregnum. The Regency lost all authority and Acrola fell into disarray, leaving no one powerful enough to carry on the reforms that had begun so promisingly. A new Emperor, Rafael, was crowned in 1497 and soon after underwent his own conversion experience, but Rafael carred very little for matters of faith. Although his closest advisor, John Munner, was the very liberal Bishop of Tubraka, this man likewise was focused much more on the state than he was the church. The two of them likely believed in the Grontinion Article, as Archbishop Terrio must have as well, but it did not take priority. They had already alienated conservatives in Heroudland and Lylya with their political reforms, so why bother enacting such a law for which they had very little concern. It would only disrupt the status quo but would not, as far as they were concerned, bring about any real change.
Both Bishop Munner and Archbishop Terrio died in 1510, removing the trace influences of religion entirely. Rafael's position had become secure enough by the 1510's that he might easily have passed the article through a willing convocation, but it is doubtful that the issue even crossed his mind more than a few times in passing. In 1519 Rafael died, and the article's prospects in Acrola immediately took a dive. His son Henry was a devout Beautav, almost to the point of fanaticism, and although he did not go so far as to reinstate Beautav Orthodoxy, he moved the Acrolan Reformed Church in a decidedly orthodox direction. The Article's prospects were revived once again at his death, in 1576, but the new Emperor Leopold was ineffectual. He had far greater issues to worry about besides, such as the threats of three of his sons to declare their independence from his empire.
The Luvian Republic became independent shortly after but it negated the immediate need for the Grontinion Article by extending full citizenship rights to all persons irrespective of faith. The average Luvian citizen did not believe in the need for an orthodox conversion experience, therefore there was no fear among them that the lack of a Grontinion Article prevented a soul from its salvation. A convocation of Luvian bishops would ratify the Article in 1618, but even then it was only so that the bishops would not come home empty handed, as all of their other attempted compromises and new measures had failed.
This would be the trend over the next several years; eliminating the political necessity for the Article, rather than passing it. The Ahou Confederation granted full citizenship to the Ronans, Istis and Espiriters within its jurisdiction in 1599. Upon declaring its independence, in 1642, the Green Republic shepherded several liberal reforms through its Council, and these included the Grontinion Article. From there, however, its liberal policy stagnated, leaving it to be past by the Republic of Acrola (which was based in Frontton, not in Acrola). However, even the conservative Allonian Confederation and Republic of Vallo had passed the Article by 1700, and the Trans-Acrolan Republic followed a decade later.
By 1750, every Acrolan state except the Lylyan Republic, the Heroudland Union and Nistravo Field (to which the Article did not apply) had passed the Grontinion Article into law. This also included the seven Acrolan nations practiced a separation of church and state. In these, each of these, a convocation of the clergy readily accepted the Article.
Sayia, however, was a much different situation. The Kingdom of Hope was a moderate state, but it was dependent of the theocratic Empire of the Beautavus. It seems likely that, had Beautavus not been Hope's only ally in the region, Hope might have found a way to break free from the orthodox control and formed its own church. Even given the circumstances, however, Hope managed some reform. In 1484, Hope granted citizenship to all persons who pledged allegience to the Church of the Beautavus. While this certainly meant nothing to the large minority of Ronans living in Priempor and other parts of Hope, it was a step away from the tight grasp of the Anotus in Beautavus. Priempor would be lost to Hilleana within a decade anyway, making the Ronans much less of a concern.
From 1498 until 1519, Acrola actively pursued a policy of friendship with Hope, desiring to lure that nation into its own political sphere. During those twenty-one years, two successive Bishops of Berram and Haffstroke served as ambassador to Hope, and became among the King's strongest advisors. In 1515, under the Bishop's direction, the King relaxed the harsh laws that forced even Ronans to attend weekly Beautav services. They were now allowed to opt out of that requirement by paying an extra tax, whose revenues were split evenly between the church and the crown.
Acrola under Emperor Henry continued to ally with Hope, but they no longer pressed for such reforms. When the Confederation of Allonia became independent, in 1584, its King Matthew immediately sought strong relations with Hope. For the next century the two nations were closely aligned, and Allonia's influences led to the establishment of a hereditary monarchy in Hope. In 1598, the heresy tax was cut in half. It was lowered again in 1610, 1615 and 1618. Then Hope agreed to recognize the Ronan religion, which meant that the tax would no longer apply to them, although they still lacked certain rights of citizenship. Very few people were now required to pay the heresy tax, and their burden was further relieved when, in 1652, the Church's portion was removed entirely. This was essentially the first step in the separation of the Beautav Church from the Hope State, although like its neighbor in Allonia, Hope never officially ratified such a measure.
These advances, of course, had little to do with the Grontinion Article or conversion experiences, but they demonstrated changing attitudes. By the latter half of the 17th century, the Kingdom of Hope no longer made any distinction between persons who practiced the Beautav faith and persons who had successfully converted. Like in so many nations before, the need for the Article had largely been removed, making it mean very little that, even in 1750, the Article still was not in effect in Hope.
That left only one more country that practiced Beautavism as its state religion: the Holy Empire of the Beautavus itself. There is no such story of progression within those borders, however. The famed Sayn stubbornness and adherence to orthodoxy that had demanded the creation of a Beautav Church in the first place kept the great theocracy decidedly conservative. At least once a century (although often times more) the Church Council would issue a law banishing all Ronans from inside the nations borders. There must certainly have been a few Ronans who returned, or who perhaps never left in the first place, but by 1400 they had little motivation. They were free to live as they pleased just across the border, in Langra, and Sayn Ronans had such disdain for Beautavs that they cannot have liked living under the Anotus. In the later centuries, these laws must merely have been passed in order to whip up religious ferver among the commoners, who had to be constantly reminded of how evil the Ronans were in order to reinforce their Beautav fanaticism.
Because of this, however, the Empire rarely had to deal with persons not born in the Beautav faith. Occasionally they would produce Ronan persons who had converted, but this seems to mostly have been a matter of propoganda. Conversion to Beautavism from Ronanism was extremely rare outside of Acrola and Hillea, and it is doubtful that the insular and autocratic Beautavus would have much appeal to converts in the first place. So, at the given date of 1750, only fully converted Beautavs had any rights or power in either the Empire or in the Church that it officially governed. By that year, however, only four nations recognized the authority of the Orthodox Beautav Church.
Acrola, indeed, might have lead the way on such a practice, and had circumstances been slightly different, the Grontinion Article might have come 50 years earlier, and been termed the AnaPaotai Article or similar. In 1423, the Acrolan Regency officially broke from the Orthodox Beautav Church and began preparing reforms. Within five months, however, the Emperor had died, precipitating the anarchy of the Interregnum. The Regency lost all authority and Acrola fell into disarray, leaving no one powerful enough to carry on the reforms that had begun so promisingly. A new Emperor, Rafael, was crowned in 1497 and soon after underwent his own conversion experience, but Rafael carred very little for matters of faith. Although his closest advisor, John Munner, was the very liberal Bishop of Tubraka, this man likewise was focused much more on the state than he was the church. The two of them likely believed in the Grontinion Article, as Archbishop Terrio must have as well, but it did not take priority. They had already alienated conservatives in Heroudland and Lylya with their political reforms, so why bother enacting such a law for which they had very little concern. It would only disrupt the status quo but would not, as far as they were concerned, bring about any real change.
Both Bishop Munner and Archbishop Terrio died in 1510, removing the trace influences of religion entirely. Rafael's position had become secure enough by the 1510's that he might easily have passed the article through a willing convocation, but it is doubtful that the issue even crossed his mind more than a few times in passing. In 1519 Rafael died, and the article's prospects in Acrola immediately took a dive. His son Henry was a devout Beautav, almost to the point of fanaticism, and although he did not go so far as to reinstate Beautav Orthodoxy, he moved the Acrolan Reformed Church in a decidedly orthodox direction. The Article's prospects were revived once again at his death, in 1576, but the new Emperor Leopold was ineffectual. He had far greater issues to worry about besides, such as the threats of three of his sons to declare their independence from his empire.
The Luvian Republic became independent shortly after but it negated the immediate need for the Grontinion Article by extending full citizenship rights to all persons irrespective of faith. The average Luvian citizen did not believe in the need for an orthodox conversion experience, therefore there was no fear among them that the lack of a Grontinion Article prevented a soul from its salvation. A convocation of Luvian bishops would ratify the Article in 1618, but even then it was only so that the bishops would not come home empty handed, as all of their other attempted compromises and new measures had failed.
This would be the trend over the next several years; eliminating the political necessity for the Article, rather than passing it. The Ahou Confederation granted full citizenship to the Ronans, Istis and Espiriters within its jurisdiction in 1599. Upon declaring its independence, in 1642, the Green Republic shepherded several liberal reforms through its Council, and these included the Grontinion Article. From there, however, its liberal policy stagnated, leaving it to be past by the Republic of Acrola (which was based in Frontton, not in Acrola). However, even the conservative Allonian Confederation and Republic of Vallo had passed the Article by 1700, and the Trans-Acrolan Republic followed a decade later.
By 1750, every Acrolan state except the Lylyan Republic, the Heroudland Union and Nistravo Field (to which the Article did not apply) had passed the Grontinion Article into law. This also included the seven Acrolan nations practiced a separation of church and state. In these, each of these, a convocation of the clergy readily accepted the Article.
Sayia, however, was a much different situation. The Kingdom of Hope was a moderate state, but it was dependent of the theocratic Empire of the Beautavus. It seems likely that, had Beautavus not been Hope's only ally in the region, Hope might have found a way to break free from the orthodox control and formed its own church. Even given the circumstances, however, Hope managed some reform. In 1484, Hope granted citizenship to all persons who pledged allegience to the Church of the Beautavus. While this certainly meant nothing to the large minority of Ronans living in Priempor and other parts of Hope, it was a step away from the tight grasp of the Anotus in Beautavus. Priempor would be lost to Hilleana within a decade anyway, making the Ronans much less of a concern.
From 1498 until 1519, Acrola actively pursued a policy of friendship with Hope, desiring to lure that nation into its own political sphere. During those twenty-one years, two successive Bishops of Berram and Haffstroke served as ambassador to Hope, and became among the King's strongest advisors. In 1515, under the Bishop's direction, the King relaxed the harsh laws that forced even Ronans to attend weekly Beautav services. They were now allowed to opt out of that requirement by paying an extra tax, whose revenues were split evenly between the church and the crown.
Acrola under Emperor Henry continued to ally with Hope, but they no longer pressed for such reforms. When the Confederation of Allonia became independent, in 1584, its King Matthew immediately sought strong relations with Hope. For the next century the two nations were closely aligned, and Allonia's influences led to the establishment of a hereditary monarchy in Hope. In 1598, the heresy tax was cut in half. It was lowered again in 1610, 1615 and 1618. Then Hope agreed to recognize the Ronan religion, which meant that the tax would no longer apply to them, although they still lacked certain rights of citizenship. Very few people were now required to pay the heresy tax, and their burden was further relieved when, in 1652, the Church's portion was removed entirely. This was essentially the first step in the separation of the Beautav Church from the Hope State, although like its neighbor in Allonia, Hope never officially ratified such a measure.
These advances, of course, had little to do with the Grontinion Article or conversion experiences, but they demonstrated changing attitudes. By the latter half of the 17th century, the Kingdom of Hope no longer made any distinction between persons who practiced the Beautav faith and persons who had successfully converted. Like in so many nations before, the need for the Article had largely been removed, making it mean very little that, even in 1750, the Article still was not in effect in Hope.
That left only one more country that practiced Beautavism as its state religion: the Holy Empire of the Beautavus itself. There is no such story of progression within those borders, however. The famed Sayn stubbornness and adherence to orthodoxy that had demanded the creation of a Beautav Church in the first place kept the great theocracy decidedly conservative. At least once a century (although often times more) the Church Council would issue a law banishing all Ronans from inside the nations borders. There must certainly have been a few Ronans who returned, or who perhaps never left in the first place, but by 1400 they had little motivation. They were free to live as they pleased just across the border, in Langra, and Sayn Ronans had such disdain for Beautavs that they cannot have liked living under the Anotus. In the later centuries, these laws must merely have been passed in order to whip up religious ferver among the commoners, who had to be constantly reminded of how evil the Ronans were in order to reinforce their Beautav fanaticism.
Because of this, however, the Empire rarely had to deal with persons not born in the Beautav faith. Occasionally they would produce Ronan persons who had converted, but this seems to mostly have been a matter of propoganda. Conversion to Beautavism from Ronanism was extremely rare outside of Acrola and Hillea, and it is doubtful that the insular and autocratic Beautavus would have much appeal to converts in the first place. So, at the given date of 1750, only fully converted Beautavs had any rights or power in either the Empire or in the Church that it officially governed. By that year, however, only four nations recognized the authority of the Orthodox Beautav Church.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
On Conversion Experiences, probably part 1 of 2
Orthodox Beautavism required that any person of the Beautav faith must experience a conversion experience, in which any manner of miracle occurs to them. This is essentially to prove that God wants them in the faith, and that they do not falsely profess it for whatever purpose. The miracle, however, can be of any sort (generally it is the convert claiming that God has spoken to them and commanded them to convert to Beautavism), and the priest who confirms the conversion cannot reject it unless there is significant and compelling evidence.
Birth in the Beautav faith is considered a miracle in itself, thus ordinary Beautavs do not require an official conversion. In theory, this meant that conversion was a relatively easy process, and virtually any person who wanted to could achieve a full conversion to Beautavism within a year. There are documented complaints, however, of priests demanding bribes in exchange for confirmation even in the late 11th century. Witholding confirmation meant that the person could not achieve various rights according to the country in which he lived. If he lived in one of the River Republics, it might even put his life at risk. He had already turned his back on the prevailing Ronan or Isti faith, which made him an apostate and subject to harsh penalties including execution. His conversion to Beautavism would offer him the limited protections guarenteed to Beautavs in that country, but those protections cannot be extended until the conversion is complete.
A complete conversion is required for citizenship in the pre-modern Beautavan Empire, Kingdom Hope, Union of Hihaythea, Yiffen Republic and Saulite Kingdom. While non-Beautavs in Vend and Great Acrola can achieve citizenship, they only have limited rights, and cannot, for example, vote in local or national elections (although pre-modern Acrola, of course, has no national elections).
Thus in traditional Beautav lexicon, a practicing Beautav is a person who believes in the Beautav religion, attends Moon Rituals and open services, but has not yet had an accepted conversion experience. A Beautav convert, meanwhile, is any person who has successfully converted to Beautavism, including a person born into the religion.
The early extortion of the conversion process festered and thrived for centuries, until the reformations of the 15th century. In 1411, the people of the Yiffen Republic threw off the shackles of Beautav Orthodoxy and forced their President to follow their lead. The commoners then, over the next decade, the people created the Northern Beautav Reformed Church. Hihaythea and Vend followed suit shortly after, and collectively rejected the idea of a church hierarchy. For this reason they refused to accept the idea that a priest needed to receive and confirm the converted. For a few years anyone who claimed to have had a conversion experience was automatically accepted into the Northern Beautav Reformed Church. Later, however, this sect rejected the idea of a conversion experience entirely, ruling at the 1487 Synodat of Grontinion that a person constantly received the word of God, and therefore as soon as they have followed God's order to convert, there is no reason for a miracle to prove that God welcomes the convert.
Birth in the Beautav faith is considered a miracle in itself, thus ordinary Beautavs do not require an official conversion. In theory, this meant that conversion was a relatively easy process, and virtually any person who wanted to could achieve a full conversion to Beautavism within a year. There are documented complaints, however, of priests demanding bribes in exchange for confirmation even in the late 11th century. Witholding confirmation meant that the person could not achieve various rights according to the country in which he lived. If he lived in one of the River Republics, it might even put his life at risk. He had already turned his back on the prevailing Ronan or Isti faith, which made him an apostate and subject to harsh penalties including execution. His conversion to Beautavism would offer him the limited protections guarenteed to Beautavs in that country, but those protections cannot be extended until the conversion is complete.
A complete conversion is required for citizenship in the pre-modern Beautavan Empire, Kingdom Hope, Union of Hihaythea, Yiffen Republic and Saulite Kingdom. While non-Beautavs in Vend and Great Acrola can achieve citizenship, they only have limited rights, and cannot, for example, vote in local or national elections (although pre-modern Acrola, of course, has no national elections).
Thus in traditional Beautav lexicon, a practicing Beautav is a person who believes in the Beautav religion, attends Moon Rituals and open services, but has not yet had an accepted conversion experience. A Beautav convert, meanwhile, is any person who has successfully converted to Beautavism, including a person born into the religion.
The early extortion of the conversion process festered and thrived for centuries, until the reformations of the 15th century. In 1411, the people of the Yiffen Republic threw off the shackles of Beautav Orthodoxy and forced their President to follow their lead. The commoners then, over the next decade, the people created the Northern Beautav Reformed Church. Hihaythea and Vend followed suit shortly after, and collectively rejected the idea of a church hierarchy. For this reason they refused to accept the idea that a priest needed to receive and confirm the converted. For a few years anyone who claimed to have had a conversion experience was automatically accepted into the Northern Beautav Reformed Church. Later, however, this sect rejected the idea of a conversion experience entirely, ruling at the 1487 Synodat of Grontinion that a person constantly received the word of God, and therefore as soon as they have followed God's order to convert, there is no reason for a miracle to prove that God welcomes the convert.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Nose goes
I have this idea for a story about a woman who feels really held back by her nose. Like, she's insecure about it and she frequently blames any bad thing that happens to her on her nose. So then she decides to get a nose job and it looks fantastic. Everything turns out great--she gets more attention from men, she feels like people take her more seriously and all her other insecurities are generally resolved. She thinks she's really turned a corner in her life, and everything is going to be okay.
But you can't just get over insecurities by way of a scalpel, and she still has lingering issues with her appearance. She knows she looks fine now, but she has trouble seeing herself as attractive or really worthy of the attention she's receiving. She might get past this in time, but then comes a more troubling development. The new nose thinks life is so easy. The new nose thinks everything is handed to her on a silver platter. The new nose thinks that rewards just throw themselves at her without her even having to try. Yes, new nose, we might be beautiful now, but you don't understand what we've been through. You don't know what it's like to have people stare at you for the wrong reasons. You only know what it's like to receive positive attention; you've never lived on a face for which the best you can hope for is no attention at all. The woman soon turns against the new nose--or sees the new nose as having turned against her.
I'm not sure how it'll end yet. First there's some serious research I have to do. I want to interview people who have had nose jobs to ask them what made them to decide to get them; if there was any singular event; what reaction did they expect from strangers, friends, family, lovers, etc.; how said people actually did react, and what happened that they did not expect. I want to be able to talk to people who are satisfied with the result and people who are dissatisfied. Of course, the hardest part is finding people who will voluntarily respond to such questions, but I've already started thinking of the ad I'll one day put out on craigslist!
But you can't just get over insecurities by way of a scalpel, and she still has lingering issues with her appearance. She knows she looks fine now, but she has trouble seeing herself as attractive or really worthy of the attention she's receiving. She might get past this in time, but then comes a more troubling development. The new nose thinks life is so easy. The new nose thinks everything is handed to her on a silver platter. The new nose thinks that rewards just throw themselves at her without her even having to try. Yes, new nose, we might be beautiful now, but you don't understand what we've been through. You don't know what it's like to have people stare at you for the wrong reasons. You only know what it's like to receive positive attention; you've never lived on a face for which the best you can hope for is no attention at all. The woman soon turns against the new nose--or sees the new nose as having turned against her.
I'm not sure how it'll end yet. First there's some serious research I have to do. I want to interview people who have had nose jobs to ask them what made them to decide to get them; if there was any singular event; what reaction did they expect from strangers, friends, family, lovers, etc.; how said people actually did react, and what happened that they did not expect. I want to be able to talk to people who are satisfied with the result and people who are dissatisfied. Of course, the hardest part is finding people who will voluntarily respond to such questions, but I've already started thinking of the ad I'll one day put out on craigslist!
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