Hi. Shervink is currently on a wiki-break because he is very, very, very, really extremely very very busy in the non-wiki world. He might also be active on a very serious top-secret parallel project for a while, which is decidedly more fun than wikipedia.
In the book of Esdras, the Bible tells us that about 2500 years ago, three guardsmen of the Persian emperor Darius the Great held a contest as to what was the strongest thing in the world.
The first said: "Wine is the strongest";
The second said, "The king is strongest";
The third said, "Women are strong, but above all things, truth is strongest".
The winner was then awarded by Darius, being allowed to go to Jerusalem to help rebuild Salomon's temple, fulfilling a promise already given by Cyrus the Great who had initially liberated the Jews from their Babylonian captivity.
Iranians believe, since ancient times, that there is a cosmic war going on between good and evil, light and darkness, truth and those who try to hide and wipe it out.
As an Iranian, as a Wikipedian, and more generally as a human, I believe that truth is strongest. Our duty is to contribute our part to its eventual triumph.
The Original Barnstar
For your work on articles relating to Iran's modern history, I award you this barnstar. Keep up the great work!
