[Illustration by ALEX FINE] BY JONATHAN VALANIA Iran, 2009. Millions take to the streets to protest what is widely perceived to be a stolen election, despite the prevailing threat of arrest, bodily harm and a body count that currently numbers a dozen protesters shot dead by government forces. And still, day after day, the Iranian people take to the streets to protest the gross violation of their democratic rights. Rewind. The year is 2000. The place is Florida in the immediate aftermath of a presidential election — Bush vs. Gore. The initial tally has Bush ahead by a mere 300 […]
Big Brother Moves To Lancaster, And Nobody Cares
LOS ANGELES TIMES: This historic town, where America’s founding fathers plotted during the Revolution and Milton Hershey later crafted his first chocolates, now boasts another distinction. It may become the nation’s most closely watched small city. Some 165 closed-circuit TV cameras soon will provide live, round-the-clock scrutiny of nearly every street, park and other public space used by the 55,000 residents and the town’s many tourists. That’s more outdoor cameras than are used by many major cities, including San Francisco and Boston. Unlike anywhere else, cash-strapped Lancaster outsourced its surveillance to a private nonprofit group that hires civilians to tilt, […]
GUARDIAN COUNCIL: Votes Counts In 50 Iranian Cites Exceeded The Number Of Registered Voters
NEW YORK TIMES: TEHRAN — Locked in a bitter contest with Iranians who say the presidential elections were rigged, the authorities have acknowledged that the number of votes cast in 50 cities exceeded the actual number of voters, state television reported Monday following assertions by the country’s supreme leader that the ballot was fair. But the authorities insisted that discrepancies, which could affect three million votes, did not violate Iranian law and the country’s influential Guardian Council said it was not clear whether they would decisively change the election result. The news emerged on the English-language Press TV as a […]
JAILHOUSE ROCK: Fumo Looking At Hard Time
KAREN HELLER: After all these years of Vince’s being the Prince of the City and Harrisburg, of battling and fighting for you, but often for himself, in that $9-for-you, $1-for-him way of his, it comes down to this: He’s between a rock and hard time. Talking to a battery of leading defense lawyers and former prosecutors, I can tell you this: Based on the sentences of other corrupt officials, Fumo’s most likely going away for a long time, and soon. Convicted in March on all 137 counts, the former state senator faces a possible term of 21 to 27 years. […]
YELLOW JOURNALISM: The Last Truth Teller
POLITICO: POLITICO learned today that the Washington Post has terminated its relationship with liberal columnist/blogger Dan Froomkin. Froomkin authored the “White House Watch” blog and was told today that the blog had essentially run its course. MORE PAUL KRUGMAN: OK, I have no idea about the actual decision process. But I have a theory about the general mindset of the people who made this decision. Here’s how I see things: many people in the news media, especially at the managerial level, decided a long time ago that movement conservatism was The Future — and that the sensible thing, whether or […]
BLOOD BATH: Iran Gov Forces Thwart Mass Rally
WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC FACEBOOK: Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran’s Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that […]
QUALITY OF MERCY: Dems Unveil Health Care For All
TRIBUNE WASHINGTON BUREAU: Senior House Democrats on Friday presented a sweeping plan to reshape the nation’s health care system that represented the fullest presentation yet of congressional liberals’ vision for improving medical care — including a promise to provide health insurance to nearly 50 million uninsured Americans without adding to the nation’s deepening debt. The full price tag is expected to top $1 trillion. MORE NEW YORK TIMES: Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, […]
WEEKEND UPDATE: The Good News Flower Hour
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AYATOLLAH: Shut Up, Sit Down!
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Iran’s supreme religious leader threw his weight behind the disputed landslide victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday, calling the vote “God’s blessing,” ruling out any fraud, and ordering an end to massive street protests. In what may prove a pivotal point in the post-election crisis that has shaken Iran for nearly a week, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei took an uncompromising stand at Friday prayers. “If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible,” declared Ayatollah Khomeini, speaking to an overflowing crowd of tens of thousands at Tehran University that was bolstered […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Chip Berlet has studied extremism, conspiracy theories and hate groups for more than 25 years. In a recent report for PublicEye.org, he says that the murders of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller and Holocaust Museum guard Stephen T. Johns exemplify the potential for violence that often lurks within extremist groups. Berlet argues that right-wing pundits share some of the moral responsibility for the actions of their followers. He summarizes the analysis in his report in a June 10 Huffington Post article about Johns’ murder: “Apocalyptic aggression is fueled by right-wing pundits who demonize scapegoated groups and individuals in […]
ROCK THE VOTE: The New Math
[DOWNLOAD AS PDF] GUARDIAN: What really happened in Iran during that election count? As thousands protest against the results and demonstrate, we’ve gone to the Iranian Ministry of the Interior to get the official version of events. We’ve then got the Presidential Office’s eligible voters by region data so we can work out what the turnout as in each case. Whether you believe over 99% turnouts anywhere is one thing, but this data is only the beginning. MORE FIVE THIRTY EIGHT: You have probably heard it asserted that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad principal strength is in rural areas, whereas Mir-Hossein Mousavi did […]
PRESS BLACKOUT: Iran Expels Foreign Media
GUARDIAN: Ominously, the government ordered foreign journalists who are not permanently based in Iran to leave the country at once, and banned resident correspondents from reporting from the streets, a move seen as possibly heralding an intensification of the crackdown. The regime appeared to be following a dual strategy of partial concessions on Friday’s vote combined with arrests of opposition figures who could give coherence to the protests, which appeared relatively disorganised. Those detained included Muhammad Ali Abtahi and Saeed Hajarian, both Mousavi supporters and senior advisers to the former reformist president, Muhammad Khatami. MORE BBC: Supporters of Mir Hossein […]
BRENDAN CALLING: Open Letter To Arlen Specter
It’s me, Brendan Skwire. You know, Mr. Sunshine. I’ve called your office quite a few times regarding the need for a public option in health care reform, which I guess is about as good as it’s gonna get considering you and the rest of your colleagues on the Hill are too timid or too indebted to the death-by-spreadsheet health care industry to support real single payer universal health care. Sen. Specter, you of all people should be loudly proclaiming your support for single player health care. After all, wasn’t it the taxpayers who paid for your Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment? I […]