iranelection - Jezebel

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A Ribbon In The Sky
Like A Prayer
Union Stationary
V Is For ________
Gloom With A View
Let Your Fingers Do The Talking
The Long And Winding Road
Union Flare
Many Questions, Few Answers
The Red Badge Of Courage

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NefariousNewt
08/05/09

In reply to A Ribbon In The Sky
I heard a writer on The BBC News Hour, who works for Press TV, the Iranian government news channel, and he was going on and on about the BBC and it's one-sided coverage of Iran, and how they kept harping on Ahmadinejad's legitimacy, which he said comes from the rural people, and that the reason for the protests was because the middle and upper classes in Tehran feel "threatened." Of course they do -- their own government is threatening them!
The Iranian government is walking around with blinders on.
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sportz.star
08/05/09

In reply to A Ribbon In The Sky
Elphaba lives!
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CurtCole
08/05/09

In reply to A Ribbon In The Sky
I bet she's really good with plants.
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stealthird
07/31/09

In reply to Like A Prayer
That reminds me of the time I went to a Sufi zikher in NYC and there was this little girl crawling between everybody's legs while the dervishes whirled...
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dreamweave
07/31/09

In reply to Like A Prayer
The Bart Simpson in me is making it VERY difficult not to make a joke about her name being Seymour....
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NefariousNewt
07/31/09

In reply to Like A Prayer
"The colors in this room will simply not do..."
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Raederle
07/31/09

@NefariousNewt: "I'm thinking it needs more ponies."
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jewess
07/31/09

In reply to Like A Prayer
her negs look kinda missing... like she's floating
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Zombie Ms. Skittles
07/31/09

@jewess: Or like she's wearing brown pants?
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colormeroutine
07/31/09

In reply to Like A Prayer
Something about this looks oddly photoshopped. Maybe it's jsut the perspective?
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lavenderstain
07/31/09

In reply to Union Stationary
What is most important, is that we keep Iran in the news. And i know that people in Iran find the international support inspiring. I know this because my entire family lives there, and the number one thing they always ask me is: do people KNOW whats going on in here.

and number two is:

Do they know we exist? do they care?

And I want that answer to always be in the affirmative.
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NefariousNewt
07/31/09

In reply to Union Stationary
I applaud the solidarity, but I think that this doesn't go far enough. I doubt most of these people are going to go beyond this, to do their part to help foster new freedom in Iran. They will go back to their lives until the next tragedy or cause rolls around.
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Elaken
07/31/09

@NefariousNewt: What, pray tell, is their part in fostering new freedom in Iran suppose to be? I didn't realize we had a defined role.

I think people get unbelievably overwhelmed by their ineffectiveness when it comes to what is going on. This is what they can think to do and they are trying it. I just wonder how many people denouncing them are actually truly making changes in the world themselves.
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Hooplehead
07/31/09

@Elaken: @ Nefarious Newt: Agreed, what else are they supposed to do? Iran is half a world away and the current leadership isn't listening to Obama or Hillary. Nor are they that impressed with non-Muslims or Westerners, period. Even if these folks all booked flights to Tehran tomorrow, their odds of personally impacting this situation are nil.
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blackbird_pie
07/31/09

In reply to Union Stationary
I hate to say this, but I have to wonder how much of the attention being given to this is because it's a tragedy of the death of someone who was standing up for their freedom; and how much is because it's a tragedy of the death of an attractive young woman who was standing up for her freedom. Do you guys think that if it was a chubby middle-aged man who was captured on video just after being shot, that it would capture the world like this?
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..now it's just Aesop's Foibles. promoted this comment blackbird_pie was starred blackbird_pie was unstarred

Aesop's Foibles. YES.
07/31/09

@blackbird_pie I see your point, and no, I can't say with any certainty we'd see such interest had it been a middle-aged guy. However, I can also say that even if it's just the latest "cause" for some people, it's calling attention to a very real and very serious situation, and getting people involved is never a bad thing. I mean it's very easy to live in your bubble, day in and day out, and while it's a total shock to watch one of your peers bleed out and die in the street, it's also a way for some of us to sort of snap out of it and finally raise our heads and become aware that there are things much, much worse than crappy cell reception or overdue bills or what have you. And awareness and activism, I think, are better late than never, you know?
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BadHairLife
07/31/09

@blackbird_pie: Well, in Neda's case, she wasn't part of the protest, she was a completely innocent bystander. She was just going to a class, and was hit by stray gunfire as she got out of the car.

The balance of your comment on the attractiveness having an impact still stands, however.
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Penny
07/31/09

@BadHairLife: Yeah, I find it really interesting that she was not political in life but has been so greatly politicized in death.

I think I might have reached my old and cynical phase......
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BlondeGoddess
07/31/09

@blackbird_pie: Every cause needs a symbol, something or someone that touches people on an emotional level, to get connected to what is happening. I don't mind that it's a beautiful young woman, it has been a soldier before (Capa's famous photo of a soldier being shot during the Spanish war) or a child (like Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the Vietnamese girl that was running naked on the streets after a napalm attack). I still have a paper clipping on my kitchen wall of a young mother who cradles her dead child after the Beslan massacre, it's like a modern day Madonna and child, such an amazing image.

We are only human, and we respond to other humans. As long as it opens people's eyes to the attrocities of this world, I'm fine with it.
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Penny
07/31/09

In reply to Union Stationary
Something about this irks me. Maybe it's the dude texting....I don't know. I can't really articulate why I'm bothered.
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linnyt is a walking cliché
07/31/09

@Penny: he's telling his friends to get down to the square and join the demonstration. both dudes are doing that. they need all the support they can muster.
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dridirtitini
07/31/09

@Penny: the picture kind of gives off a "this is our cause of the month" feel. these people are more than likely truly concerned and passionate about the situation in Iran, but the photo just seems kind of... apathetic or something
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Penny
07/31/09

@dridirtitini: I think after reading the interview with her mother yesterday, I am at a point where I feel like the people in her life need to put this to rest somewhat. While I understand not wanting to forget the horrible thing that happened, I don't really like her being a lighting rod for all the problems in that country.

I don't know, I might just need coffee or something.
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AthertonMerriweather
07/31/09

@Penny: I feel the same way. I'm not against what they're doing and think demonstrations are important, but could they guy stop tweeting for just a few hours?
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otherginger
07/31/09

@dridirtitini: I'm reminded of a lot of protests here in SF; lots of, well, pampered looking white people in (ironically) Pantagonia products protesting Chinese rule in Tibet.
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purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing breaks and stretch, ow
07/31/09

@otherginger: I'm not claiming there are no problems in the politics of protest in this country, but I'm also getting to the knee-jerk point of wanting to demand that people who insult protesters either prove they care more or shut up. If you don't care, then I don't see what business it is of yours what people who care do, and if you care in a more productive way, please tell us so that we can replicate your strategy. Personally, I think the Iran situation is well-served by shows of civilian concern coupled with noninterference from Western governments. I am pleased that people still care about it a month later.
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Hooplehead promoted this comment

purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing breaks and stretch, ow
07/31/09

@otherginger: also - sorry, apparently this set me off - I would rather see people who've bathed and put on proper clothing protesting than try to mediate between the media and the unwashed squatter crowd. I like many unwashed squatter kids, but I find the idea that the middle class can't care about things that tends to come with them obnoxious. If I protest, I'm not protesting so that we can all live without indoor plumbing, I'm protesting because I believe in a basic universal level of ability to participate and have a basic standard of living with no bombs falling through your ceiling.
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SharonTaint
07/31/09

@AthertonMerriweather:

And the dude behind him as well. Unbelievable.
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Penny
07/31/09

@purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing...: It's not the protesting, it's the constant use of her image that bothers me. Not sure what squatter kids have to do with it, protesting is protesting.
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StephanieBoland
07/09/09

In reply to V Is For ________
Violence, then Vindication, then Victory.
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FurrierAndIves
07/09/09

In reply to V Is For ________
Velvet eyes. And iron will.
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LucilleMcGillicuddy
07/09/09

In reply to V Is For ________
I know it is culturally insensitive of me but
when I see covered women I want to tell
them not be ashamed of themselves. I
know it is far more complicated than that
and I have read some women even find it
liberating to not be judged by their
appearances. But I am an American woman
and it makes me want to walk up to
whoever is in charge and make them look at
my face and say I am not ashamed.
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Mad May
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: huh? I dont get what you're trying to say, are you talking about the niqab or the fact that Iranian protesters are forced to hide their identity
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thesciencegirl
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: Why do you feel entitled to have strangers prove to you that they are not ashamed? That's incredible.
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MarissaExplainsItAll
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy:
It's a form of respect to Allah, not a silly vanity thing.
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greengrey
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: Every time I see American women at the beach with sarongs, shorts, or well, tops on, I want to tell them not to be ashamed of themselves.
I am a European-American woman, and I weep for my American sisters who are ashamed.
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save jinger
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: If you start a sentence with, "I know it is culturally insensitive of me..." it might be best just to keep it to yourself. If you are trying to understand another culture, that is one thing, but to make assumptions and judgments like that is, like you said, insensitive.
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milominderbinder
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: ohhh, everyone i read through this a few times and i think she ( lucille) means that she wants to walk up to whoever is in charge (as in vague male oppressor) and tell them that SHE is not ashamed and won't wear one. not that she expects the women to apologize to her and say they aren't ashamed. or at least that's my analysis.
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LucilleMcGillicuddy
07/09/09

@save jinger: I
know it is and I don't like it. It makes me
feel a way that I'm not proud of. I'm not
saying it's good. I'm sharing something
I feel that I know is not "correct". I hope I
was not wrong to share something about
myself I seek to change.
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thegogglesdonothing
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: Currently, the Iranian government is posting pictures of protesters on the Internet and asking people to identify them so they can be arrested, so there's an advantage to covering your face in Tehran right now regardless of tradition.
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thesciencegirl
07/09/09

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: Out of curiosity, what's your motivation for sharing that here?
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LucilleMcGillicuddy
07/09/09

@milominderbinder:
thanks, I do not want any woman to feel
ashamed because anyone else told her so.
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LucilleMcGillicuddy
07/09/09

@thesciencegirl:
because sometimes, for me at least, writing
something down helps me understand a
feeling - why something touches a nerve -
and, hopefully, broaden and improve
myself. I like to think at Jezebel, I am
among friends.
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