Cable News Fail Update

A reader writes:

Today stands as another example of mainstream media's failure, especially cable news which is once again asleep at the wheel. As I'm writing this, CNN has a show about the Middle East peace process, hardly anything groundbreaking or for that matter newsworthy; MSNBC a taped documentary about prison life; and FoxNews continuing coverage of the latest airlines terrorist incident, which is to some extent understandable.

But if, out of 24 supposed hours of continuous news coverage, they can't find the resources to muster some decent coverage of events of such significance, then why bother?

I'm left to ponder if CNN would even bother to cover the fall of the Berlin Wall or the Tiananmen Square protests were they to happen today.

Obama Steps Up The Rhetoric

A different tack than last June:

"We strongly condemn the violent and unjust suppression of civilians in Iran seeking to exercise their universal rights," White House spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement. "Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States. "Governing through fear and violence is never just, and as President Obama said in Oslo — it is telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation."

CNNFail

Just read the twitter feed on CNN's pathetic coverage of the most significant event in world history now happening in front of our eyes. Another reader writes:

I only flipped over to CNN occasionally this morning and didn't see ANY of this, let a lone a mention of it!! (the coverage this morning was mostly about the latest terrorist attack amid bits of 'past year' previously taped stuff…once again CNN is on holiday…)

If you want actual news, don't switch cable on. Go to the blogs.

Quote For The Day II

"Killing them might not be helpful," – Christianist Ethics and Integrity Minister Nsaba Buturo of Uganda on plans to remove executing gay people in IUganda, in favor of rounding them up and jailing them for life, along with anyone who doesn't inform on them.

You want to know the true face of evangelical Christianism in Africa? Just re-read his remark.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Industrial-Complex

An enlightening article by Ali Ansari in The National Interest describes the Iranian Guards' business interests:

The argument that Iranian politics have become militarized makes the issue far too black and white. In fact, the IRGC has come to be in bed with a hard-line establishment made up of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and his clique, and even some journalists and clerics, meaning that the Right has coopted the IRGC as much as the IRGC has coopted them. This relationship between the hard-liners and the IRGC is long in the making, though it has been made far worse by Ahmadinejad’s arrival on the scene. We must remember this was started by Rafsanjani, when the moves into the political economy of the country were not initiated by the Guards though they have undoubtedly become enthusiastic participants. But what this means is that the IRGC is not a military junta. The Iranian state does not face a military coup in the traditional sense of the term. A more accurate categorization of Iran might be to call it the securitization of the state around the needs of an increasingly bloated business conglomerate, which confuses its own interests with those of the nation. This was in effect not the garrison state Hajjarian had warned about, but instead a mafia state writ large.

Why The Regime Is Rattled

A reader notes the upcoming calendar:

I think one way to explain the regime's brutality is by looking at the calendar. There are two important national holidays coming up, the first one is "Arba'ain" it is the 40 day anniversary of third Shia imam (who died in "Ashura" which was today), this will be also the 40 day anniversary of everyone killed today (I think it will be Feb. 5th). The second one is 11th Feb. the anniversary of Iranian 1979

revolution which is a national holiday accompanied by mass rallies.

I am thinking they are trying to preempt protests during those days by being excessively brutal today. Also bear in mind that in March Ahmadinejad's government is set to end several of its subsidies. Most importantly gasoline quotas will be eliminated and everyone has to buy at the non-subsidized price of 0.6$ per liter. Two and half years ago when they introduced rationing and quotas there were protests and gasoline stations were set on fire, imagine what might happen this time.

Faces Of The Day III

Pic13-green-women-in-haze-of-tear-gas

As before, the women of Iran have been deeply involved in this revolt, displaying astonishing courage and autonomy in the face of a regime which consigns them to subjugation. They are masked not to conceal their identities (the Baseej are mostly doing that) but to guard against the tear gas you see all around them. The Newest Deal adds:

The regime seems intent on continuing to dig its own grave. With at least 10 protesters killed — including the nephew of a former Prime Minsiter — on one of the holiest days in Shia Islam and by a supposed Shia theocracy, rage towards the Islamic Republic is understandably turning very raw. Past all the amazing things that were captured on the footage that leaked out of Iran today, perhaps what was most interesting is what was missing: any mention of Ahmadinejad. The abundance and veracity of anti-Khameini chants on Ashura should not be overlooked. The Supreme Leader (with the doctrine of velayat-eh faqih which vests him with power) has become public enemy number-one.

Cries of 'Allah Akbar' tonight are reported as being the loudest since June.

There appear to be increasing calls (and support) for a general strike, possibly beginning tomorrow. Dissident filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf has repeated these calls on BBC Persian, though he should by no means be considered a "roving ambassador" of the Green movement, as some would have him. Najafabad is rumored to be under martial law.