Month: July 2009

Breaking tweets from a reliable twitterer:

Heavy Clashes at Vali Asr Sq.

Reports of Clashes at Dravzeh Shiraz, Isfehan.

Reports: Hundreds of People reaching infront of Tehran University… Clashes at Kargar St. still continues

Heavy Clashes at Karegar Shomali St, (Near Enghlab Sq.) Tear gas, Fire and blockage…

Hundreds of Protesters chanting against the regime infron of Ploytechnic University, Near Azadi Sq. (not conf)

Police used Teargas against people trying to push them back at Vanak Sq.

Clashes infront of Tehran Universi and VankSq.

Police Attacked People at Enghelab Sq.

And this time CNN is right on top of it:

Things are really heating up in the streets of Tehran. The crowds were in the hundreds according to our observers about a couple of hours ago. Now they say between 2,000 or 3,000 people, and we can confirm at least five clashes between security forces and protesters. This is happening in revolution square…very close to Tehran University. This is a protest to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of another protest ten years ago, a crack down that killed several students… The government had said don’t come out or there will be a crackdown and that’s exactly what’s happening. … [A]t least five clashes we can confirm between security forces and protesters.

Fresh but unverified footage:

It's a pretty advanced case of the neocon mindset:

Netanyahu appears to be suffering from confusion and paranoia. He is convinced that the media are after him, that his aides are leaking information against him and that the American administration wants him out of office. Two months after his visit to Washington, he is still finding it difficult to communication normally with the White House. To appreciate the depth of his paranoia, it is enough to hear how he refers to Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, Obama's senior aides: as "self-hating Jews."

So we now know for sure that the cover-lie was another cover-lie. So what was the real reason for the sudden, 3 pm, don't even tell your father-in-law, drag-Todd-back-from-the-peak-of-the-summer-run, meltdown on July 3? Watch for shoes falling from great heights. My neck is sore since last September.

Dahlia Lithwick has a brilliant column:

Once you understand that Palin's only actual message is the importance of loving and understanding Palin, it becomes easier to understand why she quit. The more Palin tries to explain herself, the more we all fail to get her. Every time she goes off script, she makes less sense. No wonder she didn't want to do debate prep or be coached by the McCain communications team. Instead of thanking those who packaged, explained, and spun her, Palin resents them. And because she believes she has been crystal clear all along, she's come to resent us, too. The enduring political lesson of Sarah Palin may simply be that for most of her political career she's been lost in translation, without fully appreciating that only in translation was she ever, briefly found.

Tom Schaller believes Palin will capitalize on her greatest skill:

Sara on the blog Raye Man Kojast? (Where's My Vote?) writes:

Here are pages from an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps website that allows people to identify Iranian protestors. On this page, Numbers 1 and 19 are stamped "identified." The sites are currently down. If they come up, remember to fill in the form and denounce Mickey Mouse.

Daniel Indiviglio admits he was wrong about rental prices:

The Guardian reports what many activists have been speculating for weeks:

The son of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has taken control of the militia being used to crush the protest movement, according to a senior Iranian source.

"Mojtaba is the commander of this coup d'etat. The basiji are operating

on Mojtaba's orders, but his name is always hidden in all of this. The government never mentions him," the Iranian politician said. "Everyone is angry about this. The maraji [Iran's most senior ayatollahs] and the clerics are angry, the conservatives are very angry and strongly critical of Mojtaba. This situation cannot continue with so many people on the top against it."

Scott Lucas adds some context:

The source portrays a situation where, in part because of the anger against Mojtaba, the Supreme Leader can rely on only a minority of senior clerics, politicians like Ali Larijani, Mayor of Tehran Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei have been alienated, and key commanders of the Revolutionary Guard such as General Ali Jafari have been angered.

It must be emphasised that this is a single-source story. There are elements which are shaky: for example, General Jafari has swung behind the regime’s crackdown on dissent. The extent of political opposition within the regime also seems exaggerated. Larijani, for one, appears to be sitting on the fence.

Still, there is much here which corresponds with our own sources on divisions in the clerical and political leadership. Definitely a story, if not the story, to watch in forthcoming days.

Marc Herman finds hope in Indonesia:

But shhhh. You don't want to give the idea that smoking weed is much less harmful than drinking alcohol, and in moderation among adults, can even help advance your career, life, imagination, and something Americans used to call the pursuit of happiness. Before they gave it all up for the mass incarceration and cultural demonization of those seeking pleasure.

(Photo: Michael Phelps by Nick Laham/Getty.)