Word: ritual
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...tiniest slip of instructions: basically, download the latest version of iTunes (9.1 for those of you who must know these things) and follow the instructions from that point onward. A little hubristic, I thought, this pointed refusal to trumpet on arrival. But a half-hour after the unsurprising ritual ("Agree?" "Continue") of synching the latest of my Apple products to its desktop ancestor and uploading my iTunes library, my iPad was ready. It was as if I had known it all my life...
...Shirts are not the only ones to perform blood rites. Sondhi Limthongkul, leader of the anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirt movement and the owner of ASTV satellite news network, spread menstrual blood at the base of a statue in a black magic ritual meant to neutralize Thaksin's supernatural weapons. It was just one of several acts staged by Sondhi with black magic overtones...
...Thongchai Winnichakul, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin, says those who deride last week's blood ritual should take a good look at themselves. All religions engage in some kind of irrational rite, and superstitious rituals abound in daily life at weddings, graduations and other ceremonies. The Red Shirts aren't any different than the rest of us, he says. "They are not more stupid or irrational than us. In fact, they are creative and self-aware...
...recent times, however, the ritual has evolved into an opportunity for people to set off illegal fireworks, some of extremely dubious quality and reliability, creating what many residents of Tehran liken to a war zone. Some older residents even compare the night and the anxiety it brings to the eight-year-long war with Iraq when Saddam Hussein's air force intermittently and indiscriminately bombed Tehran. Says a Tehran taxi driver in his 60s: "People used to enjoy themselves on this day. This is supposed to be a family tradition, but it's not safe for women and children...
...Basij erected roadblocks and conducted car searches in much of the capital over the weekend. Last week, Tehran Governor Morteza Tamadon announced that 500 individuals involved in the illicit trade of fireworks had been arrested. "Tradition showcases the beauties of a culture," said Tamadon, adding that "the fire ritual offers nothing but ugliness, fear and worry ... With decisive action, we will try to wipe the problem called Chaharshanbe Suri from the mind of society within the next two years." That is unlikely to happen...