IRAN IS A THEOCRACY

Persian Rug from Isfahan, Iran When you go shopping for “Persian” rugs in Beverly Hills on La Cienega Blvd, where all the rug dealers are, most of the shop owners resent being called Iranian. They prefer being called Persians. It is not well known that  the area of...

THE TALE OF TWO NAMES

You have heard of Charles Dicken’s Tale of Two Cities. “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” I must tell you my tale of two names. In my case, the worst of times applies. My mother gave me a first name that has haunted me most of my life: Gösta. She...

Separation of Church and State

Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale 1800 Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Baptists of Danbury that lays out the need for a separation between church and state: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he...