The Other Contest: Who Will Be Iran’s Next President?

Photos: AP (5), Getty Images (1)

Leader and Contenders: Ahmadinejad (top left) and the men who would be next (clockwise from top center): Larijani, Adel, Ghalibaf, Karrubi, Khatami

By Maziar Bahari | NEWSWEEK

July 7-14, 2008 issue

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Less than six months after the next American president takes office, Iran will hold its own Election Day. To win that race takes not only popular acclaim but the approval of one man—Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—and so far, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has the edge. For all his economic and diplomatic bungling, Ahmadinejad is still liked by Iran's poor: he stands up to the West; he knows how to talk to ordinary folk, and he's never been accused of personal corruption. Fat oil revenues help, too. Most important, he's no threat to Khamenei. Here's a look at other contenders.

Ali Larijani: Speaker of Majlis (Parliament). Khamenei likes him, but his ego puts others off.

Gholam Ali Haddad Adel: Supreme Leader's in-law and friend, not independent enough for some voters.

Mohammad Khatami: Reformist ex-president, widely seen as hopelessly wishy-washy.

Mehdi Karrubi: Tougher than Khatami, but equally poor odds. Reformists like him scare Khatami.

Mohammad Jafar Ghalibaf: War-hero mayor of Tehran has been running since 2005. Watch him.

Wisconsin's unique landmarks once again find themselves in the pages of the latest novel to be presented to readers of history, thrillers and religion in a work that combines all three genres into an adventurous global conspiracy.

The Epoch Point, just released on May 1 and written by Wisconsin native Spencer Zimmerman, is a fictional novel that includes historical facts, certain to intrigue history buffs who are interested in history from the local to the international level, especially as that history thrillingly plays out into what Zimmerman describes as a worldwide "conflict between God and the devil, good and evil."

According to the book's synopsis, the lead character, Robert Davis, is "a young Airman fresh out of Air Force basic training," reflective of Zimmerman's own recent service in the Air Force. "After being held captive in China, (Davis) suddenly finds himself unraveling the most immense conspiracy in history...soon uncovering hidden facts suggesting Russian and Iraqi involvement...discovering the diary of Lee Harvey Oswald...As the clues surface, an evil emerges powerful enough to rewrite the entire history of humanity...before long the conspiracy takes on a supernatural form, marked by [natural disasters] and the wrath of God...Nothing [prepares] (Davis) for the final suspenseful twist the story takes, a da Vinci style revelation that reaffirms his belief in Christ."

Zimmerman, having lived in several locations around Wisconsin, including near Lake Mills and Watertown, incorporated Wisconsin locations and history into his novel, among them a Viking cathedral on Washington Island and the events surrounding Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. Also mentioned is a small village outside of Burlington, Wisconsin, founded by a Mormon religious leader who proclaimed himself king, the only monarchy to ever occur in the forty-eight continental states in American history. Among the other Wisconsin landmarks in The Epoch Point, and most notably, the famous national landmark Aztalan is discussed at length.

Zimmerman's discussion of Aztalan in his book in part follows what Zimmerman calls the "darker" side of Aztalan, including its cannibalism and religious practices, and the instantaneous disappearance of its thriving population. Zimmerman's writing also seeks to make connections between Aztalan's existence with that of the Minoan civilization from Ancient Greece and Zoroastrian culture of the Middle East. All three peoples had similar beliefs, worshipped fire (one of Aztalan's mounds is believed to have been the abode of an "eternal" flame) and practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism.

Zimmerman noted all of these "obscure (historical) connections," which ultimately inspired him to take the connections and formulate them into an adventurous plot. Writing his book took roughly two years.

The book's chapters are titled after the sixty-six books of the Bible, and the plot progresses as Davis reads through each chapter of the Bible, opening the Bible for the first time in chapter one of The Epoch Point. Each chapter follows a "flashback" style in structure, in which the book's characters experience revelations of historical events and experiences from 4000 B.C. to the present, which allow them to observe how those events contributed to the global conspiracy they are presently confronting. Zimmerman states that the book's events begin on New Year's Eve of 2000, and end on Christmas of 2006.

While writing novels remains at present a hobby for Zimmerman, he already has ideas for a second novel that he anticipates will follow a more scientific fiction path. The Epoch Point is currently available through Amazon.com, and Zimmerman is hoping to get copies of the book into some of Lake Mills's downtown novelty shops.
-Emily Ann Paape Lake Mills Leader

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Posted By: The_epoch_point @ 07/05/2008 10:11:04 PM

Wisconsin's unique landmarks once again find themselves in the pages of the latest novel to be presented to readers of history, thrillers and religion in a work that combines all three genres into an adventurous global conspiracy.

The Epoch Point, just released on May 1 and written by Wisconsin native Spencer Zimmerman, is a fictional novel that includes historical facts, certain to intrigue history buffs who are interested in history from the local to the international level, especially as that history thrillingly plays out into what Zimmerman describes as a worldwide "conflict between God and the devil, good and evil."

According to the book's synopsis, the lead character, Robert Davis, is "a young Airman fresh out of Air Force basic training," reflective of Zimmerman's own recent service in the Air Force. "After being held captive in China, (Davis) suddenly finds himself unraveling the most immense conspiracy in history...soon uncovering hidden facts suggesting Russian and Iraqi involvement...discovering the diary of Lee Harvey Oswald...As the clues surface, an evil emerges powerful enough to rewrite the entire history of humanity...before long the conspiracy takes on a supernatural form, marked by [natural disasters] and the wrath of God...Nothing [prepares] (Davis) for the final suspenseful twist the story takes, a da Vinci style revelation that reaffirms his belief in Christ."

Zimmerman, having lived in several locations around Wisconsin, including near Lake Mills and Watertown, incorporated Wisconsin locations and history into his novel, among them a Viking cathedral on Washington Island and the events surrounding Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. Also mentioned is a small village outside of Burlington, Wisconsin, founded by a Mormon religious leader who proclaimed himself king, the only monarchy to ever occur in the forty-eight continental states in American history. Among the other Wisconsin landmarks in The Epoch Point, and most notably, the famous national landmark Aztalan is discussed at length.
- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: The_epoch_point @ 07/05/2008 10:10:44 PM

Zimmerman's discussion of Aztalan in his book in part follows what Zimmerman calls the "darker" side of Aztalan, including its cannibalism and religious practices, and the instantaneous disappearance of its thriving population. Zimmerman's writing also seeks to make connections between Aztalan's existence with that of the Minoan civilization from Ancient Greece and Zoroastrian culture of the Middle East. All three peoples had similar beliefs, worshipped fire (one of Aztalan's mounds is believed to have been the abode of an "eternal" flame) and practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism.

Zimmerman noted all of these "obscure (historical) connections," which ultimately inspired him to take the connections and formulate them into an adventurous plot. Writing his book took roughly two years.

The book's chapters are titled after the sixty-six books of the Bible, and the plot progresses as Davis reads through each chapter of the Bible, opening the Bible for the first time in chapter one of The Epoch Point. Each chapter follows a "flashback" style in structure, in which the book's characters experience revelations of historical events and experiences from 4000 B.C. to the present, which allow them to observe how those events contributed to the global conspiracy they are presently confronting. Zimmerman states that the book's events begin on New Year's Eve of 2000, and end on Christmas of 2006.

While writing novels remains at present a hobby for Zimmerman, he already has ideas for a second novel that he anticipates will follow a more scientific fiction path. The Epoch Point is currently available through Amazon.com, and Zimmerman is hoping to get copies of the book into some of Lake Mills's downtown novelty shops.
-Emily Ann Paape Lake Mills Leader