Good memoir and peek into upper middle class Iranian culture, by the way.
Although images were created for Iran's 1979 Revolution, they apply to the aftermath of the June 2009 Iranian Election.
Since the Revolution in 1979, Iranians have coped with an increasingly repressive regime. Attempts for greater social and political freedoms have resulted in brutal crackdowns by the hardline government. The ensuing apathy and significant boycott of the 2005 presidential elections led to the election of the ultraconservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Four years later Iran has become increasingly alienated and its people more polarized than ever before. The campaign of former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Moussavi galvanized voters hoping for change, especially among the youth – two thirds of Iran’s population is younger than 32. On June 12th 85% of eligible voters cast their ballots and what happened next changed Iran forever.
How do you count almost 40 million handwritten paper ballots in a matter of hours and declare a winner? That's a key question in Iran's disputed presidential election.
International polling experts and Iran analysts said the speed of the vote count, coupled with a lack of detailed election data normally released by officials, was fueling suspicion around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide victory.
As with many social movements, the largest protester segment are students. It's not a bad thing since these are the folks with the time and energy to kick things off. When I marched against the Gulf War in the early 1990s, students and career activists made up the majority of protesters too.
The Iranian uprising reminds us that government or the state only have authority by the permission of the people. If the citizens think the trust has been broken because of vote or election fraud, it's their right to remind those in charge how tenuous their power really is. The Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regime can bust heads, shot and stab protesters all they want. It's up to the marchers and protesters who'll ultimately decide when they are satisfied, when it's over and when things will get back to normal.
Since I have no DirecTV service right now, I've been obsessively tracking the tweets from the street on Twazzup and Twitter. Clicking on the links has given me the chance to see some amazing pictures, great articles and movingvideos.Iranian Green Revolution: Latest Eyewitness Reports on Iran Election Fallout blog is full of videos compiled from YouTube. My favorite may be the one where a young woman literally kicks a man (10 seconds) in uniform who is harassing and beating people whith his baton. The woman got beat too but at least she got her licks in. Her resistance in the face of political repression is very brave.
The biggest negative about American support on Twitter is when people pass on obvious disinformation in a misguided attempt to help. If you see a tweet that is the opposite of 95% of other tweets, such as "march for Tuesday canceled, stay home", then don't pass it on. The status quo party has many hackers on payroll to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt, FUD.
I've been a big technology fan my whole life but the democratization of communication that allows regular Iranians get their stories out to other regular people around the world, without any filters, makes me appreciate the Internet even more. The revolution may not be televised but it will be Social Networked. Going forward, there will be no such thing as a media blackout. That's a good thing.
Finally, on to the story....
Jamileh, a 25-year-old woman from Iran, describes her experience taking part in demonstrations against the recent election result that saw current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeat opposition hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi amid accusations of vote-rigging. Parisa describes how she returned home from a protest march, only to be disturbed by police who then arrested her brother.
I live in the city of Esfahan in Iran, a tourist place for worshippers of all major religions in the world. It has famous shrines such as the Friday Mosque, as well as Christian churches and Zoroastrian temples. The people here are peace-loving and deeply religious, but after the election result on June 12, the atmosphere here has become tense and scary.
For the past five days the city has seen huge demonstrations held by supporters of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi – and why not. Like millions of my fellow Iranians I had huge expectations from the outcome of this election. During the campaign the young electorate rallied their support towards Mousavi and, like many Iranians, I was expecting him to win the election. When the result came out, showing that Ahmadinejad had won by two thirds, I was in a state of shock and disbelief.
I voted for Mr Mousavi because I feel he is an enlightened person. I see him as a reformist who could help free our society from the dictatorship of Ahmadinejad. I must confess that women enjoy no freedom under Islamic Iran. The clergy expect us always to be covered with a Burqa and to wear gloves. They never allow us to mingle freely with boys. During wedding ceremonies, women are seated separately from the men.
I felt cheated when rumours spread that Ahmadinejad had won by rigging the election. Ask any youngster in the street and she or he would say that this election was rigged. I am very angry and so are young people of my generation. I can see this anger in people spreading everywhere and it is not just limited to cities.
I took part in a demonstration and found that the protestors were generally peaceful. I noticed that it was the police guards that were unnecessarily provoking the protestors by wielding batons and using tear gas. So the demonstration sometimes turned violent though no fault of the protestors, but the police arrest protestors claiming rioting.
The recent events are extremely stressful and worrying for me. People are angry and I don’t think the government would be able to suppress this uprising. People are talking of a new revolution which will lead us to freedom and democracy. Every day people pour out into the streets in their thousands, to march and protest. At night people come out of their buildings onto their rooftops and shout: “Allahu Akbar.”
Our demand is that we do not want a partial recount, but a full recount of the election result to get to the truth. Life is normal no more . Ordinary citizens are scared to venture out into the street. Most shops pull down their shutters by 6pm, fearing violence between the demonstrators and police.
Yesterday evening I joined a demonstration at Hatim Nizar street, responding to the call given by our leader Mousavi to hold peaceful protests and march in memory of eight people killed. Most people wore black as we marched the streets silently, the majority of them were young boys and girls. After we walked a few yards I heard some commotion.
Suddenly people began running all over the place. There was confusion and panic. I could see people falling over each other. Baton-wielding police were charging us. I ran for my life using the opposite lanes and managed to reach home safely at night.
At around midnight I was rudely woken from my sleep. I heard the bell ringing repeatedly and banging on the door. No sooner had I opened the door than a few guards barged inside my flat, pushing me aside. They began questioning my 18-year-old brother and I.
They wanted to know whether we were supporters of Mousavi and had taken part in the rally. I lied and said we were not supporters of any political party, but they kept on pressing and were becoming rude and threatening. They refused to believe us. Then they arrested my brother and dragged him all the way down the street to the waiting police van. I kept pleading with them that my brother was innocent and to let him go.
My aged parents began wailing and neighbours gathered at our place. I had tears in my eyes, fearing what would happen to my brother.
Today, in the early hours of the morning, I visited the local police station. They say that my brother will not be freed until the investigation is over. Until then, I remain worried and fearful for his life. I pray to Allah that my brother is safe and will return back soon.
Social Networking sites like Twitter and Facebook can be used for things other than goofing around and wasting time. Although taking stupid quizzes, checking out videos and other links are still fun.
If you are looking for web application or software development project management work like me or any job really, here are a few sites to help you look for work on the Twitter platform.
If you need help getting established on social networking sites and setting up a strategy for building your online brand, Inner Architect may be able to help. Susan Hanshaw and Dean Guadagni gave an excellent presentation, Using Social Media to Enhance the Project Management Experience, at PMI Silicon Valley last night. Great tips on how to get a lot out of existing sites like Twazzup.
After months of watching the span go up over 280, I finally biked over to the new Mary Avenue Bridge between Sunnyvale and Cupertino over I-280 on Sunday morning, May 24, 2009. You access the bridge in Sunnyvale from the intersection of West Homestead Road & Mary Avenue or from Meteor Drive in Cupertino, CA. It's an uphill ride all the way there, so I knew it'd be slow going. Happily, that means the ride back was downhill. Which was nice. Since it was still early in the day, I went to the Mountain View Farmers market later in the morning.
Silicon Valley has a brand new landmark, one that promises to attract the attention of anyone motoring down Interstate 280 through Cupertino and Sunnyvale. The Mary Avenue pedestrian and bicycle bridge opens today, and while the large, white span held up by 44 cables is striking during the day, you should check it out at night. That's when it will really glow, with lights illuminating the 90-foot-tall, 325-foot-long structure that crosses 11 freeway lanes. Think mini-Bay Bridge.
...its construction is a case of the car culture losing to bicyclists, joggers and walkers in an era when the car was king and the region was on a massive freeway-building binge.
The cost was high. At $15 million, it's believed to be the most expensive span of its type in the South Bay. Sunnyvale opened two pedestrian bridges along Borregas Avenue over highways 101 and 237 last week for about the same price for both.
Studies indicate that 265,000 people will use the bridge each year, 175,000 of them cyclists. And best of all, 35,000 of those will be commuters opting to leave their cars, vans and SUVs in the garage.
By Gary Richards, 4-30-9, mrroadshow @ mercurynews.com or 408-920-5335.
The bicycle-pedestrian bridge that almost didn't happen opened April 30 in Cupertino and was immediately hailed as both an iconic Silicon Valley structure and a bold statement about alternative transportation. The $14.8 million Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge, a white, steel cable-stay bridge spanning Interstate 280, connects the cities of Cupertino and Sunnyvale. It gives travelers a shorter route between De Anza College, Homestead High School, the Oaks Shopping Center and other destinations currently separated by the 11-lane highway.
The opening celebration brought together two cities, Caltrans, the Valley Transportation Authority, architects, engineers, residents and bicyclists. All of them played a role in taking the bridge from a pie-in-the-sky notion to a steel-engineered reality, even when it looked as if the project was doomed.
The plan all along was to create a striking bridge. All involved with the project knew building another overcrossing would work just as well. However, they wanted to make a statement with this bridge.
"Now that our bridge is open, other cities will see our bridge and be wowed by the design and not see bicycle and pedestrian architecture the same way we did 20 years ago," said Sandoval. "We can create a flair of beauty and functionality." Will Kempton, director of Caltrans, compared the bridge to the Sundial Bridge that spans the Sacramento River in Redding.
Bridge Facts
Cost: $14.8 million with 80 percent coming from VTA Measure A funds and outside grants. The city of Cupertino was the other major financial contributor and the city of Sunnyvale provided funds for the project. Specifications: Span is approximately 440 feet long and 16.3 feet wide with 44 pre-cast concrete deck panels. The bridge has no center support. There are 44 German-engineered locked coil cable supports. Towers are 90 feet high and weigh approximately 57,000 pounds. A feasibility study projected 265,000 people a year to use the bridge, 175,000 of them cyclists.
Construction: Work began Jan. 24, 2008 after nine years of planning. A topping off ceremony was held in November 2007.
Construction injuries: 0.
Landscaping: About12 acres of landscaping, native trees and bicycle trails with a public art plaza on the Meteor Drive entrance. The art by Tom Aidala features quails on boulders and a perched red-shouldered hawk.
I love today's word of the day at Urban Dictionary. This has been happening so much lately, I'm glad someone coined a word for it. The evening news programs are the masters, but other media outlets are just as bad.
A falsified righteous outrage at things that are basically unimportant and meaningless, frequently employed by politicians, political activists, or the media. Politicians and talking heads use it to garner support for their causes, to claim the moral high ground and to tar their opponents; the media often just uses it in a cynical bid to increase ratings.
Manufactured outrages of note include Nipplegate, the Monica Lewinski scandal, the 2009 tea partys, backmasked satanic lyrics, lapel pin controversies...
Just about any time you hear any politician, activist, or radio show host getting outraged about anything, really. The louder and angrier they get, the harder they're working at manufacturing it.
by Aquillion2 May 20, 2009
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An invention of the mainstream media, aka MSM, intended to drum up outrage at a statement or situation. The key characteristics of manufactured outrage are: prior to the media's intervention, the vast majority of the general population had never heard of the statement or had never found the statement or situation to be objectionable in any way.
Here are the folks I follow on Twitter. A colorful bunch of technologists, funny people, hip hoppers, dog people, politics, women suff, words and other assorted geeks. The main criteria for folks I follow, don't Tweet so much everyone else gets scrolled off the main page when I go to the Twitter site. Nothing is more annoying than to have a screen full of verbal rubbish from only one fool. Unless, of course, a poster is live blogging an event. That's OK because it's only temporary.
More proof there's infinite ways to waste time and learn stuff on the interwebtubes.
Unfortunately, Sxoop Mosaic doesn't dynamically update like my other medallions and widgets. So this truly is a snapshot of the folks I follow.
This short video breaks down one of the fundamental causes of the most recent economic meltdown. The gist of video message is that a small, predatory group of rich guys, also known as the oligarchy, played the stock market system to make themselves bucket loads of money. The fact that the worlds' economies are spiraling down the toilet bowl is just an unfortunate side effect as far as these vampires are concerned. They got their money.
Some will claim that short sellers and naked short sellers (hedge fund manipulating stock prices by flooding the market with phantom stock) don't set out to destroy companies but I don't believe it. I'm generous enough to chalk the first company destroyed as a side effect up to an "oops, did we do that?" mistake. But the destruction of companies after that were definitely deliberate and planned. So much for counting on the market to do the right thing.
Despite what you may think about the invasion of privacy it was for protesters to go to the private homes of AIG bonus recievers, you can definitely understand the impulse after seeing videos like this one.
Since I'm not in the financial industry, I can't vouch for every detail mentioned in the video. But I can appreciate how Mr. Bagley took the time to try to break down the complex problem to a digestible level. I notice on many finance industry insider sites, those in the know spend a lot of time scoffing and looking down their noses rather than adding any productive information to the conversation.
Short selling hedge funds lit the spark that led to the global economic meltdown. Now they want to help craft the laws Congress will pass to fix our broken regulatory system. That's insane.
Gregory Kohs: Very, very alarming stuff. It really sickens me that our small church struggles without a Sunday schoolhouse for our rapidly-expanding youth services programs, but these crooks can pull a few fast ones and walk off with their billions.
A button to give me money via PayPal. Any, all or no occasion. Just for funsies.
Instant Messengers
What's Going On?
Devans00
Random thoughts and observations. My goal is to use a lot of $50 words and amuse myself. Networking is a big part of my life these days, so there are many links to folks I meet, seminars & events I've attended or articles I've heard about.
