June 21, 2009
Iran: Dissension in the ranks
On Informed Comment today, I found the following:
Tehran is full of checkpoints but the Police are inconsistent due to personal taste of the commanders. The checkpoints are active at night. They mostly look for counter anti-riot gears, such as masks, wipes and first aid boxes, but it also seems that they also look for Satellite dish equipments. Most "illegal" satellite dish technicians have gone underground as they know that the police are after them. One case reported to my family is exemplary in showing that there is a division in the ranks of the police, which in a way is a good sign. Two contacts, one of them a Member of Musavi campaign, were stopped at a check point and their car trunk was full of posters and green bands. The constables took them to their immediate commander who confiscated all the material and ordered them to be arrested. However, as they were taken to another check point where the district commander was, he overruled his superiors and ordered them to be released and also oversaw the return of the posters and other pro-Musavi material to them. As they got in the car to leave the station, the district commander told them that they have to be extra careful and told them (Movaffagh Bashid- meaning roughly "good luck").
June 17, 2009
The Most Elegant Scene: Mass Protest in Tehran
On Informed Comment today, I found the following:
What I saw today was the most elegant scene I had ever witnessed in my life. The huge number of people were marching hand in hand in full peace. Silence. Silence was everywhere. There was no slogan. No violence. Hands were up in victory sign with green ribbons. People carried placards which read: Silence. Old and young, man and woman of all social groups were marching cheerfully. This was a magnificent show of solidarity. Enghelab Street which is the widest avenue in Tehran was full of people. I was told that the march has begun in Ferdowsi Sq. and the end of the march was now in Imam Hossein Sq. to the further east of Tehran while on the other end people had already gathered in Azadi Sq.
June 16, 2009
Most awesome galloping ever
I may need to bookmark this to look at when I'm feeling frustrated with my own efforts.
Cyberwar guide for Iran elections
On Boing Boing today, I found the following:
4. Help cover the bloggers: change your twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become 'Iranians' it becomes much harder to find them.
That's easy enough. Now if only I knew how to write "Where is my vote?" in Farsi.
June 13, 2009
Memo to the Right Wing: Put Up or Shut Up
On Firedoglake today, I found the following:
Are you deliberately trying to start a civil war?
. . . .
If your answer is no, then you have just one other choice. Knock off the tantrums, grow up, rebuild your party, come back to the table, and sit down and govern with us. (We know this will be a stretch, but we think some of you are capable of it.) You will need to learn, many of you for the first time, to get your way as adults do -- without fear-based politics, polarizing rhetoric, on-air threats against those who disagree with you, and repeating outrageous lies in the face of stone facts and irrefutable evidence.
And most of all: you need to stop feeding the crazies. You need to disavow them in every way possible -- sincerely, emphatically, and with full awareness that every time one of these people acts, it destroys the credibility of "conservatives," "Republicans," and "the right wing" in the eyes of the country. You cannot assassinate your way back to power. And don't doubt for a moment that the majority of Americans -- even those who agree with your ideas -- will abandon your cause forever once it realizes that's what you're trying to do.
June 12, 2009
Guide: How Iran is ruled
Useful reference from the BBC on Iran's governing structure.
