2nd Revolution in Iran?

[Shryke]

Another site running info of sorts, comments and such: http://niacblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/e...unrest-day-two/

“[We] are still safe, but to tell you the truth, all of us are feeling sick of what we have to see on streets these days. This afternoon, [we] saw five policemen attack a middle age lady. They beat her brutally, with no mercy. She tried to escape with her young daughter but they got her. I stopped and tried to help her, but three men in civilian clothes attacked my car, and I had to drive away because [my daughter] was with me. Tonight, people shouted “Allah o Akabar†from their roof tops, but hundreds of police forces on bikes swept the streets and marked houses from which they could hear voices. Tomorrow, I will go to a lawyer to ask for a [foreign] visa. This country will not be a safe place anymore, and I don’t want to repeat my parents’ mistake in 1979 by staying and watching.â€

I entered facebook with an anti-filter, but I don’t know how long will it work. Please help us by sending emails. All internet news services are blocked, and we cannot understand if what we hear is true or false. Please tell U.N officials about police violence. People are dying here. Don’t leave us alone.

[Narishma Reborn]

I can't wait to find out what Jason Jones has been up to over the weekend.

Wow, I completely forgot that he had been over there... I know the Daily Show was going to have stuff from him this week, but was it that he'd already been there and had left, or is he still there? Either way, so much for their actually sending correspondents places... :-P

American media seems to be finally catching up on stuff, but the fact that it took so long for these stories to take top billing and get the attention they deserve is shameful.

[Lord O' Bones]

Yeah, who knew that the week Colbert was in Baghdad that shit would go down in Tehran with The Daily Show there?

[turinturambar]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/1...,-Iran-in-Chaos.

Sorry if this has already been posted, I kind of skimmed through the last few pages.

I have a lot of Iranian friends and celebrate the Persian New Year with them every year. From what I'm hearing from them, many of their friends back home have been involved with the protests. Police are arresting people left and right and beating them with clubs. Houses are being raided, people are being evicted from their homes, universities are shutting down.....the situation is bad. Yet at the same time, many of the people I know are excited this is happening and hope for a complete revolution. Some people I know want to go to Iran and help in any way they can, a lot of people are willing to die for their cause. This is a very interesting time for my friends. Hopefully we see some positive results.

[Shryke]

Globe Freelancer Detained/Beaten

Foreign media say Iran blocking coverage of protests

[Brude]

Not sure if anyone posted this photo yet.

[lokisnow]

Fuck it, I'm disgusted and maybe even a tad surprise. It may come to nothing and likely will, but we still might be seeing a fucking revolution in Fucking Iran. This has to be fucking covered.

Anyway, thanks for the links Shyrke, reading them all with interest.

just now catching up on this thread. come on EHK. WE all know that:

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

unless it is state supported by the US government. An actual citizens uprising? that's potentially dangerous, it might disrupt the interests of the United states mafia (such as the Cuban Revolution) or United States big Business (such as the Venezuelan revolution) or just might not be in our interest at all. A revolution akin to the sort of revolution we ourselves had? That sort of thing cannot be dignified with coverage, completely absurd, democracy happens when we force it on other countries, self rule doesn't come from within but from us. and if it tries to come from within, well, that's just not how things are done.

ETA

spare the snark earlier, I had not been aware of how bad things were.

[Ocean of Notions]

The revolution may not be televised but it is tweeted and blogged. The information age doesn't need your damn television if there's internet. ;)

I'm still kind of pissed off with that friend who tried to tell me how inconsequential and ultimately unimportant this event is. Then again, that conversation some how went into the labour riots in France and he tried to explain to be about their ethnic issues (like I'm an idiot and didn't know already) and pointed out that Muslims were involved there too. I need new friends.

[EHK for Darwin]

just now catching up on this thread. come on EHK. WE all know that:

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

unless it is state supported by the US government. An actual citizens uprising? that's potentially dangerous, it might disrupt the interests of the United states mafia (such as the Cuban Revolution) or United States big Business (such as the Venezuelan revolution) or just might not be in our interest at all. A revolution akin to the sort of revolution we ourselves had? That sort of thing cannot be dignified with coverage, completely absurd, democracy happens when we force it on other countries, self rule doesn't come from within but from us. and if it tries to come from within, well, that's just not how things are done.

fwiw, I think Iraq was a few years away from an internal revolution happening, and we disrupted that process with Captain Cowboy's war of colonialist crusadist stupidity. What we're seeing in Iran right now could have been happening, imo, in Iraq anytime in the last six years if we had not intervened. Hell this particular revolution could have sparked a revolution in Iraq in an alternate universe that never had the Iraq war. ;)

I know the first part is sarcastic, but none of that stuff accounts for the lack of coverage on the US networks. Slashed foreign bureau's, corporate prerogatives to cover the shit that they think 'Where's Iraq on the map?' Americans are more likely to watch, like beauty queens, celebrities, and white girl abductions, the fact that it was a weekend and they don't really do news then. The unconfirmed nature of most of the reports didn't help, though actual boots on the ground (which they don't have) could have changed that. And overall just dropping the ball. That media outlets are legitimately fear a grass roots revolt and wish to avoid coverage lest such sentiments spread to Merika? Not so much.

As for the second part, I'm curious what 'signs of revolution' you saw in pre-invasion Iraq. Saddam had been the leader there for decades and didn't look to be leaving anytime soon. The nascent revolts that did arise after Gulf War I were brief, small, and easily crushed. The population there had no expectation of real democracy and very little experience with it. I really see no basis by which to extrapolate the Iranian situation to Iraq. Two different countries, cultures, histories, and peoples. Fake elections were staged for years in Iraq and nobody took to the street. What makes you think, absent a US invasion, that anything would change on that note?

[Brude]

According to MSNBC, some shit's been going on in some prison somewhere. Actually, that seems to be all that's happening in the world ever over the weekend, if MSNBC is where you get your news.

Seriously, it becomes the Lockup Network - so much so they can't even get a news presenter in to read from AP wires when really big news stories happen on a Saturday or Sunday. It's terrible.

[EHK for Darwin]

According to MSNBC, some shit's been going on in some prison somewhere. Actually, that seems to be all that's happening in the world ever over the weekend, if MSNBC is where you get your news.

Seriously, it becomes the Lockup Network - so much so they can't even get a news presenter in to read from AP wires when really big news stories happen on a Saturday or Sunday. It's terrible.

I noticed that too. I was fucking appalled that they didn't preempt any of that shit for actual news. 12 straight hours (or more) of prison shows. Does anyone actually watch that? On the off chance that a meteor destroys the entire West Coast on a Saturday, do they even have a news crew in to cover it? Does MSNBC just assume shit doesn't happen on weekends?

[Gorn]

This reminds me of what happened in Serbia in 2000, when Milošević tried to steal the presidential elections. But, in that case, opposition leaders made a deal with the police and army generals, and the riot police simply stepped aside and let the protesters enter the Parliament building and the public TV studios.

[mormont]

Mousavi cancels rally.

[Hereward]

Ahmadinejad can always console himself with the fact that he has Iraq's backing. Great use of blood and treasure that turned out to be.

[The Stranger]

there will be no revolution. there will be no firebrand reformers. CNN is even more incompetent than normal on this issue. Stranger out.

[dalThor]

Iran's state television says the supreme leader has ordered an investigation into claims of fraud in last week's presidential election.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is ordering the powerful Guardian Council to examine the allegations by pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims widespread vote rigging in Friday's election. The government declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner in a landslide victory.

It is a stunning turnaround for Iran's most powerful figure, who previously welcomed the results.

From Associated Press

[gladius]

I guess I can accept that this is one of the most incompetent attempts to keep someone in power (real or perceived) or a ploy to get rid of Khamenei's enemies. I thought there should be more, but that's not the case, apparently.

Selective reporting is nothing new. News that don't fit the agenda are often ignored or downplayed.

[Lord O' Bones]

*post*

Holy shit!

"Hi" and "Bye" again.

[Lyanna Stark]

Re the Ayatollah's decision: I wonder if this will just be a smokescreen and a ploy to calm people down, or whether it will actually mean that the true result will actually be made public? I feel a bit negative about the whole thing and think it will just be the former, which is sad. From a feminist POV, I had high hopes Moussavi would triumph, as this would mean Iran could possibly had turned into one of the most progressive countries with regards to Muslim feminism.

[ljkeane]

From a feminist POV, I had high hopes Moussavi would triumph, as this would mean Iran could possibly had turned into one of the most progressive countries with regards to Muslim feminism.

Does anyone else have an advert for meeting Iranian girls for marriage in the UK on this thread?, it doesn't seem quite appropriate.