Tehran, Iran 1974, during the Shah's reign of terror, the machinations of the CIA, and the shadow of the SAVAK, I lived and worked for a year in a nightmare hell of a cultural Armageddon.
     For me, the Mullah and the hash pusher will always represent the boiling turmoil of this land of cutthroats, this desert of hatred and this deep pit of self hatred.
     It is a place where humans have learned to hate other humans and to love a myth of eternal life where they can pursue the same kinds of racism and inhumanity forevermore.
     I found that fundamentalist Islam was even worse than fundamentalist Judeo-Christianity. These cultural diseases, most perfectly symbolized by Torquemada, Conquistadors and the scimitar, have collectively done more to guarantee the extinction of the human race than most other forms of entrenched stupidity, including capitalism and representative un-democracy.
     It creates cultural deserts where no one loves anyone, and fear alone commands respect.