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Since my piece on The Shagged Sheep was posted, Professor John Miller, the "Journalism Doctor" who started this whole thing, has had the good grace to fall sheepishly silent. Not so the barristers in short pants over at Law Is Cool. Their position is now that all English translations of the Ayatollah's are a crock, and so's the original Iranian. I posted various updates, but they were starting to clutter up the foot of the page so instead I've collected them below.
In effect, they've thrown their own witness under the proverbial bus. They called Professor Marvin Zonis as an expert witness in Khomeini scholarship when he appeared to be disparaging a particular book. But he's apparently completely unqualified as an expert witness when he's approving a particular book. Good luck to anybody who makes the mistake of hiring these flailing anonynellies to represent them in court. They've more or less impeached their own expert.
M J Murphy, on the other hand, is seeking clarification from Professor Zonis. I wonder if Mr Murphy is a little miffed at Law Is Kool-Aid. Throughout the last year, they've served as the sock puppets' sock puppets. That's to say, the law students El Mo put up to front his campaign against me Maclean's have used Law Is Cool to advance their case. When the "kerfuffle" (as M J Murphy describes it) over John Miller blew up, the anonynellies decided that it might be more persuasive to respond via Mr Murphy's blog. So they "leaked" (their word) their "research" to him, and used him, so to speak, as the sock puppets' sock puppets' sock puppet. And Mr Murphy dutifully printed it under the headline "Steyn Gets Punked By 28 Year Old Literary Hoax."
In reality, he seems to have been "punked" by their 28-minute old hoax. Indeed, he seems to have fallen prey to the same syndrome he and Professor Miller claim I'm guilty of - "taking someone else's word for it". I hope he does make contact with Professor Zonis and asks Professor Zonis to confirm both the authenticity of Problems #2631 and #2632 and to offer a translation. All the rest is apple sauce. Which goes well with roasted lamb.
Kathy Shaidle makes some good points and a prediction about this kind of argument-by-Google. First, John Miller says, "Well, I can't find it on the Internet, so Steyn must have made it up" - as if the treasure house of human civilization not yet uploaded counts for naught. So then somebody finds something seemingly similar on the Internet and M J Murphy declares that Steyn has fallen for a hoax. So then I wearily scan in the relevant pages in English and Farsi of the original - what's the word? - "books", and Law Is Kool-Aid declares these obviously fraudulent fakes that anybody could have doctored.
If it's not on the Internet, you made it up. If it is on the Internet, you Photoshopped it.
Anyway, here, preserved in perpetuity are my final thoughts on the Anonynellies:
UPDATE 1: The sock puppets' sock puppets over at Law Is Cool have fired back a hard-hitting response: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, they say, pay no attention to the number of editions of the Resaleh Towzi al-Masael the Ayatollah published in Iran, this quote exists only on right-wing blog sites and Steyn knows nothing about Farsi except how to say "Why, Miss Houri, you're beautiful without your chador on" to whichever piece of Islamototty he's got the hots for. Okay, here's the Ayatollah's original:
(Click here, or, if it's still a bit murky, use the version at the Imam Khomeini site.)
You don't like Mr Borujerdi's translation? Okay, fine. Why don't we do this? You nominate a recognized Persian scholar - you know, a professor in a Near Eastern Language department at a respected university - and Professor Miller (or M J Murphy) can nominate one, and I'll nominate one. And we'll each agree to print all three translations of the above paragraphs on our respective websites. The Miller-Murphy-Law R Kool side will enjoy a two-to-one advantage, but hey, I'll take those odds.
UPDATE 2: I see the pantywaists at Law R Cool are now querying not only Mr Borujerdi's English translation but also the original Farsi. Good grief. Next thing you know they'll be denying the existence of the Ayatollah lui-meme. Okay, let's make it simple for you delicate blooms. My offer above stands, but, as you suspect I dashed off the Farsi paragraphs printed above, why don't we modify it as follows? We'll ask the three recognized Persian scholars to provide a translation of Problems #2631 and #2632 from whichever edition of the Ayatollah's book they regard as the most authoritative. C'mon, guys, whaddaya got to lose up against a bozo dropout like me?
Incidentally, say what you like about M J Murphy but he's been letting hostile commenters have free rein over at his website. You either permit comments or you don't (we don't, though we have Mark's Mailbox in lieu), but there doesn't seem much point in permitting comments and then shutting them down as soon as you get one that disagrees with you. Law Is Cool's neurotic habit of responding to dissenting comments within the very comment, and then deleting any it finds itself unable to respond to, and defining as "racist, sexist, homophobic, etc" anything that diverges from Law Is Cool's own dreary orthodoxies would all be laughable were it not for the fact that these folks expect to be hired as lawyers. Would you want a chap incapable of coping with one hostile Internet comment representing you in court?
"Objection, your honor!"
"Okay, that's it. We're not going to play anymore."
What a bunch of anonymous sissies. Anyway, I've made my offer. You guys don't rate me as a Persian scholar. Okay, let's take it to the Persian scholars. Next question.]
UPDATE 3: When Barristers In Short Pants Attack: Okay, I'm done with Law Is Cool. Their new line is that all the Iranian editions are obviously fraudulent, too. Thirty years ago, I put a false beard over my real beard and snuck into Tehran to peddle a hoax version of the Resaleh to Rashidi and other Iranian publishers.
To review what happened, the anonynellies at that site "leaked" (their word) to M J Murphy an old New York Times news story from 1980 announcing that Professor Marvin Zonis of the University of Chicago had declined to provide an introduction for The Little Green Book because he was unhappy with it. On the basis of this, M J Murphy announced that I had fallen for a 28-year old literary "hoax".
I said I'd never mentioned The Little Green Book, but that my standard text was an edition of the Ayatollah's book with which Professor Zonis had been happy to collaborate - A Clarification Of Questions - and cited the relevant problem number and included the original Farsi, too, along with details of the most famous Persian edition.
So, if Professor Zonis disapproves of a book, that's conclusive proof that I fell for a hoax.
But, if Professor Zonis approvres of a book, pay no attention, means nothing, that's just another fraudulent quotation out there.
Sorry, lads, the fact is problem #2632 is about what to do with rogered sheep after you've had your way with them. And Professor Zonis will be happy to confirm that, and confirm the authenticity of the original Farsi. To put it in terms even you fairies can understand, you called him as your expert witness. And now you won't accept his testimony.
I wonder if M J Murphy, who fell for your "research", also supports this latest bizarre argument. But, if not, perhaps he'd like to take your place in my offer above.
By the way, you describe Oriana Fallaci as a "convicted hate criminal". Convicted by whom, and when?
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