OK, so, Iran is pretty much taking over the news, and we at USDemocrazy are pretty much captivated.
That said, we’re bringing you more on Iran because, frankly folks, the situation just keeps getting more interesting.
If you somehow missed what’s going on (we get it, you were on vacation in Siberia), let us fill you in.
Vote fraud, religious leaders in conflict, civil unrest, protest violence… Iran has it all. What’s more, these historic times are being witnessed in the most revolutionary way. This Iranian revolution, with all its exciting, electrifying, and terrifying action, is being live-blogged, vlogged, photographed, Facebooked, and, yes, Twittered.
Both Facebook and Google have responded to the crisis in there own way. After complaints, both introduced Persian (the language of Iran) as a translating option on their sites. This revolution forced both web giants to step up their international and multilingual game, and fast.
The Atlantic put together a list of important “tweets” on Iran, for those who can’t spend all day by their Twitter. (Though maybe that is recommended, lest we all miss something!) These include eye-witness accounts and other interesting tidbits, including:
one protester: ‘it’s really sad, ppl getting killed, we don’t have proper leadership’
Police reports they arrested 475 people yesterday
Hearing reports that Basij stormed Tehran University dorms at 2 am last night, students had barricaded themselves in. UNCONF
Twitter, and the rest of the Internet, has been crucial in this election due to the aforementioned protests, arrests (of protestors and journalists alike), and banning of foreign journalists from witnessing some of the action on the ground. With regular people being able to tweet and tell what has been going down, and what the next step for the country is.
President Obama stated that Iran is under intense scrutiny from the rest of the world, and that the violence needs to stop.
The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
An op-ed by Robin Wright in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times indicated that this so-called revolution in Iran won’t be terribly revolutionary after all:
The largely silent street demonstrations by day and haunting chants echoing across rooftops by night are not — so far — a counterrevolution. That’s not even their intention. What they are doing, however, is forcing Iran’s Islamic regime to face the same ideals that have swept across five continents over the last quarter of a century — the supremacy of popular will, justice, accountability and the transparency of power.
Before we start rambling on too long about what is going in Iran, we’ll stop and direct you to the best places on the web with the most important information so you can inform yourselves. We’ve all got a feeling this is something we’re going to want to remember, so we’re learning all we can…
The Daily Beast at its best, wrangling all the great info on the crisis.
How does the opposition, Mousavi, feel amongst the turmoil?
Is this the end for the supreme leader?!
The riot police make themselves known.
Folks, $400 million was authorized by the CONgress almost 2 years ago to influence the elections if not destablize and overthrow the government. Ahmadinejad is not as unpopular as WESTERN media points out. Beware, this sounds a lot like 53′ and 79′. Read Iranian history with the Anglo-American establishment and the vested interests in oil, re AIOC (now BP). Kim Roosevelt seems to have been resurrected!
“The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.”
If only people felt that way about citizens in our own country!
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