If there is a single moment in last year's Persepolis that united audiences around the world, this is it.  A young Marjane caught fast by two self-appointed moralists with terrible contraband: her homemade "punks not ded" jacket.  Last year's animated adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's amazing graphic Bildungsroman tells the story of a girl growing up in 1980s Iran, whom among other trials is forced to hide away her love of Michael Jackson, high-top sneakers and Iron Maiden.  So universal is the adolescent drive for rock & roll that Marjane cannot help but indulge, even if a flirtation with subculture in Tehran is dramatically more dangerous than for your average American mallrat.

Yesterday the LA Times published "The Koran, punk rock and lots of questions," a great column by writer Erika Hayasaki.  It features seventeen-year-old Hiba Siddiqui, the child of Pakastani immigrants, living in Texas.  Hiding her homemade "Homophobia is Gay" shirt and copy of The Taquwacores from her parents, Siddiqui's example illuminates the thriving subculture of Muslim teenage punks, one that goes a long way toward showing that punk rock can still be a dangerous endeavor, even in America.