going global

dark history

2011-12-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

Some photos from the darker parts of my travels in Cambodia. Nearly half the population of Cambodia was wiped out under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

A few of the skulls in the Buddhist stupa at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.

Scan of a print on Ilford Fiber paper. Shot on Kodak Tri-X 400 pushed to 800. Scanned in color with a few tweaks to try to recreate the print as it looks to the eye.

One of the irrigation rooms at Tuol Sleng Genocide Prison in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.

Scan of a print on Ilford Fiber paper. Shot on Kodak Tri-X 400 pushed to 800. Scanned in color with a few tweaks to try to recreate the print as it looks to the eye.

seasia in color

2011-12-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

Been spending some time in the color darkroom.

I was framing this shot of the Royal Palace and these three monks walked around the corner. Could not have worked out better.

Scan of a wet print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper. Shot on Kodak Portra 800.

Crossing the street in Vietnam is an adventure in itself. Yet after riding a motorbike you somehow find harmony in the chaos. As long as you're in control. I never got passed holding on for deal life on the back of one.

Scan of a wet print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper. Shot on Kodak Portra 400.

I found this cart in Bangkok's Chinatown. Street food is huge in this part of the world.

Scan of a wet print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper. Shot on Kodak Ektar 100.

chambok village homestay in cambodia

2011-11-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

This set is from Chambok, Cambodia. We had a homestay for one night in this village near an eco tourism center. The center coordinated homestays with a few families in the village. We also went around a school and temple in the village where I got some of these photos. I'm in the process of contacting the eco village to have a copy of these photos sent to the village.

These girls were hanging around the temple in the village. This is one of my favorites from the trip.

Classes were on break when we visited the school. The students were coming back into class and these guys were eager to pose for the camera.

Da told us he was the only student who spoke English. He had learned it from his dad and was happy to practice with us.

A boy who is too young for school, but was following his mother around.

This is our homestay host and her son.

first photos from southeast asia

2011-11-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

I've been slowly developing and printing rolls from a trip to Southeast Asia I recently took. Other than a point and shoot, I took just my Minolta Autocord. Other than a few minor problems it held up during the trip, although it's still scratching some of my negatives. I think I got some good results though. I've been spending much time in the darkroom the past few weeks getting my favorites on paper. Below are a few from Cambodia. There will be more in the weeks ahead.

This photo was taken at Phnom Pros in Kampong Cham, Cambodia. There was a family of these guys and I think this guy was putting himself between us and the youngins. Luckily he didn't give me rabies.

This is part of the Bayon Temple Complex in Angkor.

This was taken on out way to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. There are two or three pigs in the cage on the back of the bike. They did not look very happy, but perhaps they are still too small to be dinner.

color prints

2011-09-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Been doing a lot of color darkroom printing lately. It's a bit more time consuming than black and white due to the fact that it's difficult to find the right color balance. Sadly these scans don't do the actual prints justice. I got them pretty close but the print just looks better on paper than on the screen. Same thing can be said for scanned negatives though.

gang of six deficit plan

2011-07-22T00:31:00.000-07:00

The Gang of Six plan seems to be the most likely solution to the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline. The plan doesn't seem much of a compromise to me. Yet it is very likely Obama will support it. A major tax cut would be given to the top tax bracket (from 35% to 23-29%), which, other than just after Reagan's presidency, is at it's lowest point since the great depression.

This just about sums it up:

Just about the only specific piece of the Gang of Six proposal, as explained well by Rep. Peter DeFazio above, is the move to chained CPI, a benefit cut for Social Security, veteran’s benefits and any program with a cost of living adjustment, along with a regressive tax cut.

Overall this plan will place most of the burden on the working class. It's about time we put the myth that these cuts help job creators to rest. Let's not forget the huge income inequality we have in this country.

In other news, the US claim that no civilians have been killed by drones in Pakistan is a lie. From a recent study:

Yet a detailed examination by the Bureau of 116 CIA ‘secret’ drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2010 has uncovered at least 10 individual attacks in which 45 or more civilians appear to have died.

Also an interesting read from Glenn Greenwald; the governments case for the anthrax attacks in 2001 is full of holes.

That Ivins lacked the means, ability and equipment to produce the sophisticated strain of anthrax used in the attacks -- especially to do so without detection and leaving ample traces -- has long been one of the many arguments as to why it is so unlikely that he was the culprit (or at least the sole culprit).

[...]

But, of course, in the U.S., the nation's most powerful political and financial factions -- especially those who control the National Security State -- are immune from meaningful scrutiny and investigation. As a result, President Obama -- in what I think is one his most indefensible acts -- actually threatened to veto the entire intelligence authorization bill if it included a proposed bipartisan amendment (passed by the House) that would have mandated an independent inquiry into the FBI's anthrax investigation.

On the lighter side of things, they now have fake Apple stores.

squared

2011-06-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Been using my Autocord TLR shooting both black and white and color film. I'm really liking this camera. The waist level finder is like using the best lcd ever made and I've found I can hand hold it still for stupid long amounts of times. Gotten sharp images down to an 1/8th of a second. After the jump is a set from the past few rolls I've shot.

He might be orange, but we call him Blue. My roommate's cat was relaxing then perked up at the sound of the buzzing self timer on my autocord and froze perfectly still for the half second exposure.

Arts Market at Civic Center.

At the Sutro Bath Houses in San Francisco.

At the Sutro Bath Houses in San Francisco.

Nopa neighborhood in San Francisco.

Nopa neighborhood in San Francisco.

TLR

2011-06-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

Another camera I've been lucky to inherit is this Minolta Autocord from the early 60s. The leather covering on it was in pretty bad shape so along with getting it cleaned and fixed up I got a Deep Jade leather kit from Camera Leather. I was also lucky to find a hood and UV filter from a local used camera store, Camera Heaven. Definitely the place to go in San Francisco for rare photographic accessories.

I've shot a few rolls through it with one to scan. Still getting a feel for this camera. Here's a shot from Coronado Beach in San Diego. With a negative 4 times the size of 35mm, the details are great. Scans much easier, too. The square format also makes for interesting compositions.

train east

2011-05-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Finally got photos from my train trip out to Chicago uploaded. You can view the set here on Flickr. I've also created a set of my favorite shots.

darkroom

2011-05-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

I have about 6 rolls of film I've been meaning to upload from a trip I took a little while ago. Finally got them developed and scanned, now to sort through them and clean them up for web use. In the meantime here's one of my favorite shots from the trip. It's at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. This is a scan of an 8x10 print.

It scans a little weird so I'll have to play with my scanner settings some to get it right. This was shot with my leica iiic on kodak tri-x.

developing my own film

2011-04-22T00:48:00.000-07:00

Decided to take a dark room class. Haven't started printing yet, but did develop my very first roll. This is a large set, so click here for all the photos.

more info on this photo on flickr

vehicles and performers

2011-04-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

Some shots taken in San Francisco. Just got back from a trip and have 6 rolls I need to develop.

1/500@f/6.3
Summitar 5cm f/2

1/500@f/4.5
Summitar 5cm f/2
See this on Flickr

1/500@f/4.5
Summitar 5cm f/2

1/500@f/3.5
Summitar 5cm f/2

1/500@f/4.5
Elmar 3.5cm f/3.5

Taken with a Leica IIIc. Film is Ilford HP5+, scanned with an Epson V500 and minor edits done in Lightroom.

desolate

2011-03-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

1/100@f/12.5
Taken along a railroad line in Sonoma County, California.

1/500@f/6.3
Taken along a railroad line in Sonoma County, California.

1/200@f/6.3
Chinatown in San Francisco on a very rainy day.

1/100@f/12.5
At the San Francisco Art Institute overlooking North Beach.

1/100@f/12.5
A bridge in Yosemite Valley

1/500@f/12.5
Forecast said it was going to be raining. No mention of snow.

1/200@f/12.5
Near Yosemite. The main road had just as much snow on it.

All photos taken on Kodak BW400CN and were scanned with an Epson V500 with minor edits done in Lightroom.

Invasion Libya

2011-03-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

Update 1 - 3/23/11
Update 2 - 3/25/11

As I've been following what's going on in Libya closely, I thought I'd keep an ongoing post with links for those interested with some commentary. This post will be updated with new developments. Al Jazeera has great coverage including a live blog.

For some background, University of San Francisco Professor Stephen Zunes wrote this article just as US naval ships were moving into the region when fighting between rebels and Gaddafi's forces first broke out. For a perspective on Libya's role in oil production, see this piece.

Missile hits Gaddafi compound in Tripoli from Al Jazeera, 3/21/11

‎But Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday condemned what he called the "bombardment of civilians" and called for an emergency meeting of the group of 22 states to discuss Libya.

He requested a report into the bombardment, which he said had "led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians".

"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," Egypt's state news agency quoted Moussa as saying.

[...]

However, Navy Vice Admiral William E Gortney added that any of Gaddafi's ground troops advancing on pro-democracy forces are open targets for US and allied attacks.

"If they are moving on opposition forces ... yes, we will take them under attack," he told reporters.

"There has been no new air activity by the regime and we have detected no radar emissions from any of the air defence sites targeted and there's been a significant decrease in in the use of all Libyan air surveillance radars."

The drawbacks of intervention in Libya, an opinion piece from Al Jazeera, 3/20/11

The Daily Show from 3/21/11. Great commentary on the situation in Libya.

As Gaddafi Forces Launch New Attacks, Reports on the Ground from a Divided Libya - Democracy Now reporting on the situation in Libya on 3/3/11.

No-Fly Zone Enacted as U.S. and Allied Forces Launch Air Strikes on Libya Amid Growing Concerns for Civilian Safety - Democracy Now reporting as the no-fly zone is enacted on 3/21/11.

--------------------------------

Update 1

Libyan rebels form 'interim government' from Al Jazeera on 3/23/11

Libya air force 'unable to fight' from BBC on 3/23/11. US Commanders were saying this after the first day, yet there were still strikes enforcing this so called no-fly zone.

CBS Poll: 50% Approve Of Obama's Handling Of Libya - Haven't read and watched US media on this, it comes as no surprise. I'm sure most of those opposed to Obama's handling of this say he hasn't done enough.

Debating Intervention: Is U.S.-Led Military Action the Best Solution to Libya Crisis? on Democracy Now, 3/23/11

Strikes will 'antagonise' many in Arab world, says Chomsky - from the Irish Times, 3/21/11

U.S. rescue chopper shoots six Libyan villagers as they welcome pilots of downed Air Force jet - From the Daily Mail, 3/22/11

Six Libyan villagers are recovering in hospital after being shot by American soldiers coming in to rescue the U.S. pilots whose plane crash-landed in a field.

The helicopter strafed the ground as it landed in a field outside Benghazi beside the downed U.S. Air Force F-15E Eagle which ran into trouble during bombing raid last night.

And a handful of locals who had come to greet the pilots were hit - among them a young boy who may have to have a leg amputated because of injuries caused by a bullet wound.

The imperialist scramble for Libya from Socialist Worker on 3/23/11. Includes comparisons to Kosovo.

--------------------------------

Update 2

Is Barack Obama's Libya intervention a flip-flop from what he said in 2007? from PolitiFact.

Savage asked Obama, "In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites -- a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?)"

[...]

Obama said, "The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."

White House: Libya fight is not war, it's 'kinetic military action' from The Washington Examiner on 3/23/11.

US remains military muscle in Libya campaign from Raw Story (AFP repost) on 3/25/11.

Mission Creep - Opinion piece from Al Jazeera on 3/25/11.

another roll in the leica

2011-03-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

Ran another roll through my iiic, this time a roll of Fujifilm Neopan 400.

Heat Lamp and the Sky
1/100@f/12.5

Tree's Shadow in a Pond
1/500@f/12.5
At the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park

Walking down the Cobblestone Path
1/100@f/9.0

Children on the loft
1/2@f/2.0
flash: EZ420@1/16 in umbrella, camera left. hand fired
my old roommates got these at a garage sale. quite creepy.

shades
1/4@f/4.0
This was taken with a NOOKY HESUM, an extension tube for the Summitar 5cm that's used for close up photography. I took a couple photos with it, but they're all underexposed. It looks like 1/4 on my iiic is really fast. Going to have to do some tests to check other speeds.

The glasses are actually centered in the frame, but because this frame and others around it were so dark, my scanner had trouble picking up the frame and it came out like this (plus some minor cropping). I kind of like it though.

Holy Smoke
1/10@f2.0

1/100@f/9.0

1/100@f/12.5

All negatives were scanned with an Epson V500 with minor edits done in Lightroom.

going retro

2011-02-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

I recently got in my hands a Leica IIIc circa 1940. I was told it's a rare wartime model and has been in my family for four generations. I've known this camera has been sitting in a closet at my mom's house for quite a while. A few months ago, something led me to want to try shooting film and this seemed like the perfect camera. It's not in the best shape, but I'm highly impressed by the quality of the shots I've taken. There's just something great about the simplicity of this camera. No light meter, no batteries, no auto settings. It's the complete opposite of my DSLR in so many ways.

"Beyond Vietnam"

2011-01-21T00:14:00.000-08:00

If you have never listened to a speech by Dr. Martin Luther Kind Jr. this is a must see. From Monday's Democracy Now. You can read the full text of the first speech, "Beyond Vietnam," here. From Wikipedia regarding the speech:

The speech was a reflection of King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with whom King was affiliated.[96] King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation. Towards the time of his murder, King more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice.[97] Though his public language was guarded, so as to avoid being linked to communism by his political enemies, in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism."[98]

Select portions from the speech, given exactly one year before his death. Some parts may surprise you:

Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart of their concerns this query has often loomed large and loud: Why are you speaking about war, Dr. King? Why are you joining the voices of dissent? Peace and civil rights don't mix, they say. Aren't you hurting the cause of your people, they ask? And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live.

[...]

A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.

[...]

As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked -- and rightly so -- what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.

[...]

They must see Americans as strange liberators. The Vietnamese people proclaimed their own independence in 1945 after a combined French and Japanese occupation, and before the Communist revolution in China. They were led by Ho Chi Minh. Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them. Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony.

Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people were not "ready" for independence, and we again fell victim to the deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere for so long. With that tragic decision we rejected a revolutionary government seeking self-determination, and a government that had been established not by China (for whom the Vietnamese have no great love) but by clearly indigenous forces that included some Communists. For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives. For nine years following 1945 we denied the people of Vietnam the right of independence. For nine years we vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam.

Before the end of the war we were meeting eighty percent of the French war costs. Even before the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, they began to despair of the reckless action, but we did not. We encouraged them with our huge financial and military supplies to continue the war even after they had lost the will. Soon we would be paying almost the full costs of this tragic attempt at recolonization.

After the French were defeated it looked as if independence and land reform would come again through the Geneva agreements. But instead there came the United States, determined that Ho should not unify the temporarily divided nation, and the peasants watched again as we supported one of the most vicious modern dictators -- our chosen man, Premier Diem. The peasants watched and cringed as Diem ruthlessly routed out all opposition, supported their extortionist landlords and refused even to discuss reunification with the north. The peasants watched as all this was presided over by U.S. influence and then by increasing numbers of U.S. troops who came to help quell the insurgency that Diem's methods had aroused. When Diem was overthrown they may have been happy, but the long line of military dictatorships seemed to offer no real change -- especially in terms of their need for land and peace.

The only change came from America as we increased our troop commitments in support of governments which were singularly corrupt, inept and without popular support. All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy -- and land reform. Now they languish under our bombs and consider us -- not their fellow Vietnamese --the real enemy. They move sadly and apathetically as we herd them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs. So they go -- primarily women and children and the aged.

They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. They wander into the hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one "Vietcong"-inflicted injury. So far we may have killed a million of them -- mostly children. They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the children, degraded by our soldiers as they beg for food. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers.

[...]

When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. Also it must be clear that the leaders of Hanoi considered the presence of American troops in support of the Diem regime to have been the initial military breach of the Geneva agreements concerning foreign troops, and they remind us that they did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had moved into the tens of thousands.

Hanoi remembers how our leaders refused to tell us the truth about the earlier North Vietnamese overtures for peace, how the president claimed that none existed when they had clearly been made. Ho Chi Minh has watched as America has spoken of peace and built up its forces, and now he has surely heard of the increasing international rumors of American plans for an invasion of the north. He knows the bombing and shelling and mining we are doing are part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. Perhaps only his sense of humor and of irony can save him when he hears the most powerful nation of the world speaking of aggression as it drops thousands of bombs on a poor weak nation more than eight thousand miles away from its shores.

[...]

There is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter the struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves organizing clergy- and laymen-concerned committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. Such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.

In 1957 a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which now has justified the presence of U.S. military "advisors" in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counter-revolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Colombia and why American napalm and green beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

[...]

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

[...]

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

[...]

Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter -- but beautiful -- struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.

Makes you think, what would have happened if Martin Luther King, Jr. had never been assassinated and had still been alive today. What would he make of the situation in the world?

around san francisco

2011-01-17T21:54:00.000-08:00

diy collapsible softbox

2010-05-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

Not wanting to spend the money for a professional softbox I decided to go the diy route. I had a few criteria I wanted to meet. I wanted something large, portable, and the ability to use two flashes. I searched out a few other designs to get some ideas, particularly some designs from DIY Photography.net. For the size and shape I based it off this model. It is a 40"x24" face and about 20" deep. The idea would be to construct the box so it could fold into triangles. Initially I was thinking of using some sort of plastic, but in the end went with foam core and gaffers tape for the joints. Each "wall" was actually two pieces to fold into a smaller size. With some simple geometry I figured out the dimensions I need and started to cut the foam core. Once I had the pieces cut, it was time to tape them all together. The outside edge has a long strip of velcro to hold it together. The inside was painted flat white which helps bounce the light since foam core is quite translucent.

Next step was the bracket. I made this out of steel and brass as it's what I had lying around. After making a model out of paper (thicker 5x7 notecards) I went to cutting and shaping the metal. Most of it is bolted together with the exception of the steel square bracket that is welded. Nuts are also welded to the bracket to hold the flash. For the flash mounting mechanism I copied another design from DIY Photography.net. I wanted to softbox to be mountable vertically and horizontally so I added brackets to support the flashes so they don't pivot around the bolts. The face of the bracket is slotted. Velcro straps were made to attach the body to the bracket. For the diffuser I used ripstop nylon and velcro to attach it.

If I were to make another one I'd make a few changes. I see little reason for a rectangular design. I'll have to see the different between shooting with the softbox vertical or horizontal. I also purchased coated ripstop nylon. Further testing will show if I get color cast from it. If so I'll replace it with non-coated. I also didn't give the shape and dimensions much thought. I also need to add supports at the bends since it tends to sag.

Here are some pictures:

The bracket mounted on my light stand. You can see the slots to mount the body and bolts that hold the flash.

Softbox with no flash mounted.

Detail of the strap design.

The softbox mounted with one flash without the diffuser screen.

all apart

test shot

Here's a shot from a series I did of my friend's jewelry.

more photography on my blog

New target of rights erosions: U.S. citizens

2010-05-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Glenn Greenwald wrote a great piece on the erosion of rights for U.S. citizens under the Obama Administration. This is a must read. Just like the Bush administration, the Obama admin is further eroding civil liberties. Except now the targets are US citizens who can be denied trial, citizenship, and even assassinated for acts of terror. What is an act of terror you ask? Well, it can be simply protesting at the RNC. Truth is terror is at the discretion of those making the charges. This is the beginning of a police state.

From the article:

"It is not hyperbole to observe that all of the above-cited recent examples are designed to formally exempt a certain class of American citizens -- those accused of being Terrorists and arrested on U.S. soil -- from the most basic legal protections. They're all intended, in the name of Scary Terrorists, to rewrite the core rules of our justice system in order to increase the already-vast detention powers of the U.S. Government and further minimize the remaining safeguards against abuse. The most disgraceful episodes in American history have been about exempting classes of Americans from core rights, and that is exactly what these recent, Terrorism-justified proposals do as well. Anyone who believes that these sorts of abusive powers will be exercised only in narrow and magnanimous ways should just read a little bit of history, or just look at what has happened with the always-expanding police powers vested in the name of the never-ending War on Drugs, the precursor to the never-ending War on Terrorism in so many ways."

Vivitar thyristor flash manual power control mod

2010-03-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

A little over a week ago I learned that I can very easily modify my Vivitar 3500/35-D flashes to have manual power output control. Previously I tested the different settings on the flash. To give me full manual control I have replaced the photo resistor with a potentiometer. This should work with all Vivitar flashes that use a photo resistor to adjust light output. This mod is quite easy and only took about 15 minutes the second time I did it. The 3500 has a separate module where this circuitry is housed. I know some Vivitar models are one unit, so be aware that flashes have a high voltage capacitor in them and you can shock yourself.

I found that a 50 kilohm log potentiometer works best. I set up a test rig attaching the two wires from the photo resistor to a bread board which I plugged the variable resistor into. I had previously measured the resistance of the photo resistor and found it was a megohm when the sensor was taped up. I had read that some others had used a 100k pot with good results. I thought I'd go a step up and was going to get a 250k. The electronic store was out of them, and only had one 100k, so I got that and two 500ks. After testing the potentiometers, and later, static resistors, I found that above 50k there is little difference between the strongest auto setting (the orange dot) and full power (M). So I returned the pots for two 50ks, one for each of my flashes. I also found in the tests that the flash is more sensitive on the low end of the resistance spectrum so I went with an audio taper (log) potentiometer rather than a linear one.

First, separate the module from the flash body and remove the 4 screws holding the top to the body.

Be careful pulling the unit out since wires are attached to a pcb at the bottom of the module.

The photo resistor is held by tabs on the inside of a module. Use a small screwdriver to top out the sensor. The sensor itself is in a bigger housing. Pop it out.

Cut the two wires to the photo resistor and strip them. The wires are wrapped around another set of wires inside, so I unwound them and pulled them through the top so I could get my wire strippers on them. This also gave me more length to work with. You can now close the module back up. Just make sure the switches line up when putting it together and no wires get caught on them.

The potentiometers I got are rather large for this purpose. Something small enough to fit in the module housing is ideal. I got the idea to use plastic bottle caps as a housing came from ukespresso who did this mod on his Vivitar 2800. I didn't feel like pulling the drill out so I cut wholes out with a pocket knife. To get the pots to fit under the caps I clipped the tabs as well as a tab on the top of the base.

Here you can see the pot soldered in. I used the top two pins on the pot since this raises the flash power by turning clockwise.

And the finished product. I used some double stick tape to attach the pot to the flash body. I sanded it a bit and cleaned both surfaces with rubbing alcohol. It feels strong. I then painted the cap black. I'll probably paint tick marks on the cap so I can track my power settings.

This is the difference between the dial at the lowest and highest settings. Remember that the range can be increased further by using the three color settings on the back, red being the weakest and orange being the strongest.

Feel free to ask me any questions on the process.

more diy photo

more photography on my blog

Vivitar 3500 Thyristor Flash

2010-03-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

I have two Vivitar 3500 flashes (one is a 35-D, but they are identical as far as I can tell). For the longest time I could not figure out how these things actually worked. There are four settings on back; red, blue, orange, and manual. From the 'calculator' up top you can tell the three color settings are two stops apart, and manual is full power. But until recently I did not know that there is a photo resistor up front which actually adjusts the power of the flash based on the amount of light the sensor sees. The more less light, the more resistance, and the stronger the flash. Thanks to this discussion on the Strobist Flickr discussion group I was able to get a better understanding on how this flash works. I decided to set up an experiment to see how this sensor works in practice. This will apply to all Vivitar thyristor flashes.

My next plan is to remove the photo resistor and replace it with a potentiometer giving the flash full manual control. I'll post a write up once that's done.

The idea here was to test all four settings with ambient light, a headlamp aiming at the sensor, and the sensor taped over with three pieces of electrical tape. The headlamp idea didn't work since it didn't produce enough light, and the pictures actually came out brighter since the headlamp was blocking the reflected light from the flash. I decided a better way was to take my second flash, snoot it, and aim it directly at the sensor.

All pictures were taken at 1/160s, F6.3, and ISO 200. The one thing I forgot to set manually was white balance, but I'm not going to normalize them in Lightroom since the differences are very slight. I took three pictures of each shot and used JPEGs straight from my Canon 20D. All the pictures are below. Simply open them in a different window or download them and compare them with a program like Lightroom or FastStone.

As expected all 3 tests on manual produced identical results. The settings function as expected too, with red being the weakest and manual the strongest. Even with the sensor covered you can see this pattern is followed, although it is very slight and you really have to stare at the images to notice. The red setting with a covered sensor is much stronger than the orange setting with ambient light and a flash hitting the sensor since the sensor itself governs when it comes to flash output.

The one deviation from what I would expect is comparing the ambient and flash tests with the red setting. The flash test is slightly brighter than the ambient test. This happened for all three shots of each. Only thing I can think of is that the second flash is adding light to the shot. The blue and orange settings work as they should and the ambient shots are brighter.

Even though this flash doesn't have a full manual mode making it less than ideal for off camera flash, it still provides some power adjustment and isn't so bad to start out with. My hope is replacing the photo resistor with a potentiometer will make it much more useful.

Red with ambient

Blue with ambient

Orange with ambient

Manual with ambient

Red with flash

Blue with flash

Orange with flash

Manual with flash

Red with tape

Blue with tape

Orange with tape

Manual with tape

more photography on my blog

photography

2010-01-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've updated here. I've been mostly focused on my project over at Flux 53. If you're in the bay area come stop by and check us out. I have been taking a great deal of photographs over the past few months. Here's a select few. To see more, check out my Flickr.

news roundup

2009-10-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

Got no time to really write a post, so here are some worthwhile links:

US funds dry up for Iran rights watchdog - Federal funding denied for watchdog group that investigated abuses of protesters after this summer's disputed presidential election in Iran.

Price of gold soars on report of Arab states ditching dollar - The dollar will no longer be the currency tied to the price of gold.

Voices against the G20 - Report of protests and activities during the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

House cuts workweek to 2 1/2 days - Congress gets lazier.

Progressivism? Not so fast, folks - Dummest thing I've read all week. But it's like a train wreck, you just can't look away.

From Frontline, Obama's War - If it's like Bush's War, it's definetely worth a watch. Still haven't watched this preview.

Mom's designated driver: her 13-year-old son - And for the story that makes you go 'what the fuck?'

more suck from the Obama Administration, net nuetrality, g20, and a robbery

2009-09-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

Obama drops demand that Israel freeze settlements

Prodding Israel and the Palestinian Authority to restart talks aimed at a permanent resolution of their decades-old conflict, President Obama dropped a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze, U.S., Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

"Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward," Obama told reporters before a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that is necessary to achieve our goals," Obama said.

So ask Israel to block building settlements, do absolutely nothing when they ignore you, then say its not a big deal and things should just move along anyway.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman proposes to possibly extend the agency's network neutrality principles to the mobile Internet

As expected wireless carriers are opposing the statement arguing against government interference to the Internet. The truth is that net neutrality would protect the Internet to be free and open and keep it from a corporate takeover where the highest bidder would control bandwidth. Most people are unaware of the importance of net neutrality legislation and how without it the Internet will be controlled by just a few rich companies like radio and tv are, taking the voice away from the people.

The G20 summit is in Pittsburgh this weekend and the police is prepared. It has been extremely difficult for activists to get permits for marches and rallies and they will most likely be overwhelmed by the police presence. Upward of $20 million will be spent on security while at the same time neglecting the first amendment rights of activists.

On a lighter note, thieves stole a helicopter and robbed a security firm in Stockholm and got away. This sounds good enough for a movie.

Stormtroopers reflect on destruction of the Death Star

2009-09-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Reminds me of something I found a couple years ago:

Uncomfortable Questions about the Death Star Attack

1) Why were a handful of rebel fighters able to penetrate the defenses of a battle station that had the capability of destroying an entire planet and the defenses to ward off several fleets of battle ships?

2) Why did Grand Moff Tarkin refuse to deploy the station's large fleet of TIE Fighters until it was too late? Was he acting on orders from somebody to not shoot down the rebel attack force? If so, who, and why?

3) Why was the rebel pilot who supposedly destroyed the Death Star reported to be on the Death Star days, maybe hours, prior to its destruction? Why was he allowed to escape, and why were several individuals dressed in Stormtrooper uniforms seen helping him?

4) Why has there not been an investigation into allegations that Darth Vader, the second-ranking member of the Imperial Government, is in fact the father of the pilot who allegedly destroyed the Death Star?

5) Why did Lord Vader decide to break all protocols and personally pilot a lightly armored TIE Fighter? Conveniently, this placed Lord Vader outside of the Death Star when it was destroyed, where he was also conveniently able to escape from a large-sized rebel fleet that had just routed the Imperial forces. Why would Lord Vader, one of the highest ranking members of the Imperial Government, suddenly decide to fly away from the Death Star in the middle of a battle? Did he know something that the rest of the Imperial Navy didn't?

6) How could any pilot shoot a missile into a 2 meter-wide exhaust port, let alone a pilot with no formal training, whose only claim to fame was his ability to "bullseye womprats" on Tatooine? This shot, according to one pilot, would be "impossible, even for a computer." Yet, according to additional evidence, the pilot who allegedly fired the missile turned off his targeting computer when he was supposedly firing the shot that destroyed the Death Star. Why have these discrepancies never been investigated, let alone explained?

7) Why has their been no investigation into evidence that the droids who provided the rebels with the Death Star plans were once owned by none other than Lord Vader himself, and were found, conveniently, by the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, and who is also believed to be Lord Vader's son? Evidence also shows that the droids were brought to one Ben Kenobi, who, records indicate, was Darth Vader's teacher many years earlier! Are all these personal connections between the conspirators and a key figure in the Imperial government supposed to be coincidences?

8) How could a single missile destroy a battle station the size of a moon? No records, anywhere, show that any battle station or capital ship has ever been destroyed by a single missile. Furthermore, analysis of the tape of the last moments of the Death Star show numerous small explosions along its surface, prior to it exploding completely! Why does all evidence indicate that strategically placed explosives, not a single missile, is what destroyed the Death Star?

United for Iran Global Day of Action photos

2009-07-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

Here are my photos from the United for Iran Global Day of Action in San Francisco on July 25th. See more of my photos on Flickr.

news roundup: California budget and Obama's secret guests

2009-07-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

An agreement was made between California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators that would dramatically cut social spending and start offshore oil drilling. Part of the budget cuts include:

$6 billion from K-12 schools and community colleges over two years
$3 billion from the University of California and California State University systems
$1.3 billion from Medi-Cal, the state's healthcare program for the poor
$1.2 billion from the state prison system

Republicans warned the deal could fall through over the proposed release of prisoners of non-violent crimes (other key points of the deal can be seen in that SFGate article).

On the topic of California's budget crisis, here is a talk by Mike Davis and David Bacon at Socialism 2009.

President Obama continues President Bush's policy of keeping certain White House visitors a secret. Obama administration officials of denied requests of top health care industry executives visiting the president. Obama criticized the same types of practices by former President Bush during his presidental campaign.

Today on Democracy Now! there was a good interview with Princeton University professor Cornel West and Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party on race in the age of Obama and the social struggles that need to rise to push Obama. From Cornel West:

Lincoln supported the slave trade when he was in the House. He supported the Fugitive Slave Act. In the first inaugural lecture he gave, he supported the first proposed Thirteenth Amendment, which said there would be slavery forever in America, the unamendable amendment. That was Lincoln. If it were not for the abolitionist movement, the courageous black and white freedom fighters, from John Brown to Douglass, who put pressure on Lincoln, we would have been dealing with a white supremacist Lincoln.
Lincoln became great, because a social movement pushed him against slavery in that regard. And Obama is looking to the wrong Lincoln. And if he doesn’t understand the greatness of Lincoln was responding to the social movements of working people and poor people, he’s going to end up with a failed presidency, with a lot of symbolic gestures, but, on the ground, everyday people, those Sly Stone called “everyday people,” suffering still.

Rafsanjani speaks at Friday Prayers

2009-07-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another defining moment in the movement in Iran. Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gave the Friday Prayer. He is on the Assembly of Experts which is the group responsible for appointing, monitoring, and dismissing the Supreme Leader. As an Ayatollah he is in rotation of giving the Friday Prayers and this is the first time a pro-reform leader has been in such a position. There was lots of speculation how far Rafsanjani would go in his speech. At the same time numbers of people in the street rivaled early days after the elections as hundreds of thousands, possibly a million, gathered in the streets, many shouting "death to the dictator" and "I am ready to die to get my vote back," strong signs that this movement is still in its early stages. Meanwhile, Mousavi may be calling for the military for support.

He made a number of points during his speech. Calling for the freeing of prisoners, stating peoples voices need to be heard and censorship in the media needs to stop. He called for talks to dispute the crisis, and said the Government and security forces should act within the limits of the law. He criticized the Guardian Council for not acting faster and called for unity. In a rare move, state TV did not run the speech, but instead had said Rafsanjani had simply called for unity trying to quiet the protests. Rafsanjani noted China should listen to all its people and was critical of their response to the protest there. He also mentioned violence in Palestine and Pakistan.

Many pro-reform politicians were at the prayer including Mir Hossein Mousavi. Rafsanjani tried to quiet down slogans and chants, but they sporadically appeared.

Protesters inside the mosque chanted “Allah o Akbar”, “Azadi… Azadi” (Freedom… Freedom) and slogans against Russia and China.

[...]

It is worth mentioning that there was a loudspeaker inside the mosque which chanted, “Death to America!”, but every time that slogan was heard, people loudly replied with, “Death to Russia, Death to China!”

Numbers of people in the streets was anywhere between hundreds of thousands to over a million. A group gathered around Evin Prison, where many protesters are being held. Basijis forces clashed with protesters using teargas, batons, knives, and tasers. There were reports of them targeting women, pulling them away from the crowds.

Basijis and other security forces today brutalized protesters once again. At least two people were shot and one girl was reportedly killed during the protests. Basijis used batons to beat people – even small children and women were not spared. Many women were reportedly stabbed with knives by Basijis dressed as women. Several mosques around the city were packed with Basijis waiting to come out and clash with protesters.

I also got unconfirmed reports from Twitter that Mousavi was with a group of protesters converging at the Interior Ministry in an attempt to get the military to his side. There were also talks of him being arrested if he were to speak. A general strike is to be called if Mousavi is arrested. I'll report more on this if I hear anything else. It has been confirmed that 36 high ranking military personnel were arrested along with a number of lower ranking officials. We may see more concrete developments involving the military in the coming days. It should be noted that neither the Iran Revolutionary Guard nor the Army has really involved itself in the unrest.

I also found news of oil workers being arrested due to fear of strike. Weeks ago when talk of a general strike first started it was stated that the oil workers would be the first to strike.

Pictures in Seattle Liberal Examiner

2009-07-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Erik Strand used a couple of my pictures in his article Socialism Conference 2009: is this their time? for the Seattle Liberal Examiner.

you got sached

2009-07-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."

-Thomas Jefferson

Goldman Sachs recently posted the biggest quarterly profits in its 140-year history. This might seem surprising given its competition has fallen:

“Goldman is essentially the last investment house standing,” said Matt McCormick, a banking analyst at Bahl and Gaynor Investment Counsel. “So they have the ability not only to attract and retain great employees, but they have the ability to attract and retain great clients."

This, and the economic crisis in general, is a characteristic of capitalism itself, one that Marx and Engels theorized over 160 years ago. Recessions are expected and typically are a consolidation of capital. The situation with Goldman Sachs is a bit different though. If you look at the complete picture, you'll see Goldman did not get lucky. Former Goldman employees are at the center of this, filling high government positions. This was a conjob engineered by Goldman Sachs, on the backs of the American people.

By now, most of us know the major players. As George Bush's last Treasury secretary, former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson was the architect of the bailout, a suspiciously self-serving plan to funnel trillions of Your Dollars to a handful of his old friends on Wall Street. Robert Rubin, Bill Clinton's former Treasury secretary, spent 26 years at Goldman before becoming chairman of Citigroup — which in turn got a $300 billion taxpayer bailout from Paulson. There's John Thain, the asshole chief of Merrill Lynch who bought an $87,000 area rug for his office as his company was imploding; a former Goldman banker, Thain enjoyed a multibilliondollar handout from Paulson, who used billions in taxpayer funds to help Bank of America rescue Thain's sorry company. And Robert Steel, the former Goldmanite head of Wachovia, scored himself and his fellow executives $225 million in goldenparachute payments as his bank was selfdestructing. There's Joshua Bolten, Bush's chief of staff during the bailout, and Mark Patterson, the current Treasury chief of staff, who was a Goldman lobbyist just a year ago, and Ed Liddy, the former Goldman director whom Paulson put in charge of bailedout insurance giant AIG, which forked over $13 billion to Goldman after Liddy came on board. The heads of the Canadian and Italian national banks are Goldman alums, as is the head of the World Bank, the head of the New York Stock Exchange, the last two heads of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — which, incidentally, is now in charge of overseeing Goldman — not to mention …

Matt Taibbi explains how Goldman Sachs has done this before in The Great American Bubble Machine.

They achieve this using the same playbook over and over again. The formula is relatively simple: Goldman positions itself in the middle of a speculative bubble, selling investments they know are crap. Then they hoover up vast sums from the middle and lower floors of society with the aid of a crippled and corrupt state that allows it to rewrite the rules in exchange for the relative pennies the bank throws at political patronage. Finally, when it all goes bust, leaving millions of ordinary citizens broke and starving, they begin the entire process over again, riding in to rescue us all by lending us back our own money at interest, selling themselves as men above greed, just a bunch of really smart guys keeping the wheels greased. They've been pulling this same stunt over and over since the 1920s — and now they're preparing to do it again, creating what may be the biggest and most audacious bubble yet.

The article explains how Goldman Sachs has been behind a number of bubbles since the Great Depression, including the early 2000 tech stock bubble, the housing crisis, and the oil crisis.

That summer, as the presidential campaign heated up, the accepted explanation for why gasoline had hit $4.11 a gallon was that there was a problem with the world oil supply. In a classic example of how Republicans and Democrats respond to crises by engaging in fierce exchanges of moronic irrelevancies, John McCain insisted that ending the moratorium on offshore drilling would be "very helpful in the short term," while Barack Obama in typical liberal-arts yuppie style argued that federal investment in hybrid cars was the way out.

But it was all a lie. While the global supply of oil will eventually dry up, the shortterm flow has actually been increasing. In the six months before prices spiked, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the world oil supply rose from 85.24 million barrels a day to 85.72 million. Over the same period, world oil demand dropped from 86.82 million barrels a day to 86.07 million. Not only was the shortterm supply of oil rising, the demand for it was falling — which, in classic economic terms, should have brought prices at the pump down.

Page 6 of the article gets into recent history describing how Goldman managed to steal money from taxpayers directly with federal bailout money.

After the oil bubble collapsed last fall, there was no new bubble to keep things humming — this time, the money seems to be really gone, like worldwide-depression gone. So the financial safari has moved elsewhere, and the big game in the hunt has become the only remaining pool of dumb, unguarded capital left to feed upon: taxpayer money. Here, in the biggest bailout in history, is where Goldman Sachs really started to flex its muscle.

[...]

By the end of March, the Fed will have lent or guaranteed at least $8.7 trillion under a series of new bailout programs — and thanks to an obscure law allowing the Fed to block most congressional audits, both the amounts and the recipients of the monies remain almost entirely secret.

[...]

Goldman's primary supervisor is now the New York Fed, whose chairman at the time of its announcement was Stephen Friedman, a former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs. Friedman was technically in violation of Federal Reserve policy by remaining on the board of Goldman even as he was supposedly regulating the bank; in order to rectify the problem, he applied for, and got, a conflictofinterest waiver from the government. Friedman was also supposed to divest himself of his Goldman stock after Goldman became a bankholding company, but thanks to the waiver, he was allowed to go out and buy 52,000 additional shares in his old bank, leaving him $3 million richer.

The next bubble is just beginning, in the form of carbon credits, which are really a joke as far as helping the environment goes.

The new carboncredit market is a virtual repeat of the commodities-market casino that's been kind to Goldman, except it has one delicious new wrinkle: If the plan goes forward as expected, the rise in prices will be government-mandated. Goldman won't even have to rig the game. It will be rigged in advance.

Ultimately this shows what a fairy tale the concept of a 'free market' is.

The collective message of all this — the AIG bailout, the swift approval for its bankholding conversion, the TARP funds — is that when it comes to Goldman Sachs, there isn't a free market at all.

[...]

And here's the real punch line. After playing an intimate role in four historic bubble catastrophes, after helping $5 trillion in wealth disappear from the NASDAQ, after pawning off thousands of toxic mortgages on pensioners and cities, after helping to drive the price of gas up to $4 a gallon and to push 100 million people around the world into hunger, after securing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars through a series of bailouts overseen by its former CEO, what did Goldman Sachs give back to the people of the United States in 2008?

Fourteen million dollars.

That is what the firm paid in taxes in 2008, an effective tax rate of exactly one, read it, one percent. The bank paid out $10 billion in compensation and benefits that same year and made a profit of more than $2 billion — yet it paid the Treasury less than a third of what it forked over to CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who made $42.9 million last year.

How is this possible? According to Goldman's annual report, the low taxes are due in large part to changes in the bank's "geographic earnings mix." In other words, the bank moved its money around so that most of its earnings took place in foreign countries with low tax rates. Thanks to our completely fucked corporate tax system, companies like Goldman can ship their revenues offshore and defer taxes on those revenues indefinitely, even while they claim deductions upfront on that same untaxed income. This is why any corporation with an at least occasionally sober accountant can usually find a way to zero out its taxes. A GAO report, in fact, found that between 1998 and 2005, roughly twothirds of all corporations operating in the U.S. paid no taxes at all.

What's interesting looking at Goldman Sachs and the recent economic crisis in general is how they fit into Marx's criticisms of capitalism. A recession is just part of the boom and bust cycle that is an integral part of capitalism. From The Meaning of Marxism:

As capitalism reaching the height of its boom phase, prices and wages start to go up in response to the increasing demand for labor and goods. Hungry for profits, capitalists borrow huge sums of money from banks and other lenders in order to get in on the profit bonanza, thereby taking on huge debts that they expect to pay off from windfall profits. Debt, in other words, helps prolong the boom by offering cheap money to investors; but it sets them up for bigger falls once the crisis hits, because it creates an intricate financial chain, that, if broken, threatens a financial crisis. (page 64)

Capitalism also naturally leads to monopolization as bigger companies buy up or drive smaller ones out of business. Not necessarily leading to smaller businesses disappearing, but becoming less significant. This happened in the late 1890s as companies monopolized to the point that they had to be broken up. The same can be seen today with conglomerates growing larger and having rising market shares. Recessions speed up this process as we can see today.

Each economic crisis accelerates the centralization and concentration of capital, the big fish eating the small fish (or the profitable fish eating the bankrupt fish).(page 65)

But this time around there was a twist Marx himself would have never seen coming. With its influence in government Goldman Sachs was able to eliminate its competition partially through policies beneficial to itself. Another question should be asked. Would this situation not had happened if there were no Goldman Sachs? I'd argue it still would. Goldman is smarter and better-connected than its competition, but is just a product of the system of greed that led to this crisis.

The true face of capitalism has shown itself through this latest crisis. If citizens really had a say in our 'democracy' would Goldman Sachs be able to get away with what they've done? Of course not. As should be clear by now, it doesn't matter if a republican or democrat is in the White House, now it is clear both these parties are simply parties of the super wealthy.

Sources:
Democracy Now!: As Goldman Sachs Posts Record Profits, Matt Taibbi Probes Role of Investment Giant in US Financial Meltdown
Rolling Stone: The Great American Bubble Machine
Rolling Stone: Inside The Great American Bubble Machine
New York Times: With Big Profit, Goldman Sees Big Payday Ahead
MSNBC: Strong bank results mask wider weakness
The Meaning Of Marxism by Paul D'Amato

all about the health care

2009-07-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

Just after I flew over my handlebars and went head first into the street there was one thought in my head as I was getting up. I hope I don't have to go to the hospital cause I don't have any health insurance. It was one of those moments where the stupidity of the health care system just hits you. The fact that people have to make this decision all the time, weighing financial stability against their health.

A few weeks ago Sensen No Sen, a political blog I regularly read had a great three parter on the health care crisis and how it might change in the years to come. The posts are well researched and cited. The first part addressed the problems with the current system. In 2007 18% of the population has no healthcare, of those 80% being citizens. Yet the United States spends a larger portion of its GDP than any other industrialized nation, while 37th in the World Health Organizations ranking of the world's health systems.

Part 2 looks at the different options on the table, although mentioning how single payer has been rejected, and does not go into it in detail. Most proposals are mandated healthcare from the insurance companies which is far from universal when you're forced to buy a horrible product. The best option on the table is that with a government funded public option, and while it's included in the House Bill, the Senate Bill does not include it.

Part 3 explains how the health care industry is an oligopoly and the reasonings why we will not have low priced, market driven health care. I would have liked to see more analysis on a single payer system. I don't really see it as a realistic option these days with the millions the health care industry spends on lobbying in this country. Where are those lobbying reforms Obama promised us anyway?

the green brief

2009-07-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Don't know why I didn't stumble upon this earlier, but The Green Brief is a very good source of day to day information from Iran. The big news now is that Mousavi supporter Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is scheduled to lead the Friday prayer. Sources say Mousavi will also attend the prayer.

There was a general strike in Kurdish areas of Iran yesterday. From the Green Brief #27:

Kordestan province and many other Kurdish areas in Iran’s northwest observed a strike today. The strike was held in remembrance of Kurdish political activist, Dr. Abdorrahman Ghasimlo and in protest of the elections. All shops were closed in Saqez, Mahabad, Bokan and Sardasht as well as a few areas in Urumieh. The general strike was so wide-spread in Saqez that even rural areas around that city closed all shops in a show of solidarity. Transportation was completely jammed. No taxis could be seen on the streets of Saqez.

And on the topic of Friday prayers:

It has now been confirmed that Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karoubi and Mohammad Khatami will be attending this week’s Friday prayers which will be lead by Hashemi Rafsanjani. In the past three weeks, Rafsanjani didn’t lead prayers in Tehran’s Friday Prayers mosque even though he is one of the four Imams of the mosque who lead prayers there in turns. There are reports that the Sea of Green might use the opportunity to conduct protests, but they remain unconfirmed as of yet.

July 25th is a Global Day of Action for Iran. Check for rallies in your area.

A few weeks ago it was reported that Nokia had sold the Iranian government spying software. As word spread sales of Nokia phones have plummeted. Protesters have also targeted products advertised by state-run TV creating an advertising crisis.

protesters once again hit the streets in Iran

2009-07-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

As expected the streets of Iran exploded today on 18 Tir and the 10 year anniversary of a brutal crackdown against student protesters. This information has been gathered from a very reliable twitter source I have been following since near the beginning of the election. I will also update this throughout the day as I get more information so be sure to check back.

There are reports of protests in the cities of Tehran, Rasht, Ahvāz, Shiraz, Mashhad as well as others. Although unconfirmed it is probable shots were fired in various areas of Tehran. It was later confirmed that protesters were shot at in Azadi Square. Many unlinked sources reported that police were turning on the basij para-military force, who have been responsible for most of the violence in the past month. As this happened people began asking additional police forces to join their cause. It was said that police were disarmed early on in the election conflicts due to their compassion toward the protesters. For the first time the basij began retreating the scene, maybe finally frightened by the will of the people. Families also came out into the streets in cities around Iran once again this is a movement of the people not just the young. Cars all over the streets were also honking horns in support of the protesters. Meanwhile the government cracked down further on communications while showing small groups of protests on state TV.

Opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi is expected to appear at a Mosque in Tehran. The movement appears to be moving past Mousavi and political powers and for the people themselves. Also in a remarkable showing of international solidarity, protesters gathered in front of the Chinese embassy in Tehran in opposition of the recent violence against the ethnic group of Uighurs.

Below are a few of the tweet from user oxfordgirl I based much of this information on.

Rasht, Ahvaz, Shiraz, Mashad all seen lge protests. Chants of death to dictator at some, others silent march. #iranelection #gr88

V large protests Shiraz. More reports of protest in almost every city in Iran & arnd the world. Organised by the ppl 4 the ppl

Unconfirmed: shots heard at Azadi squ. helicopters all over tehran - #iranelection #gr88

Avoid Mirdamad, reports clashes and fire. Unconfirmed but better stay safe. #iranelection #gr88

Getting 2 many reports 2 keep up w/. Clashes all ovr Tehran, protests all ovr Iran. Again Mullahs join protest in Mashad #iranelection

Gunshots heard Keshavarz Blvd and Azadi square. Cannot confirm. report fire Mirdamad. Be careful ppl #iranelection #gr88

Unconfirmed reports: Shots heard Azadi squ, reports of several injured. I cannot confirm. #iranelection #gr88

Appears now there HAS been shooting at protesters at Azadi Squ. Be safe, if it is very rough go to nearest mosque. Pray for the dead. #i ...

Shooting reported Azadi and Enghelab. #iranelection #tehran #gr88

Reports; Families coming out together,. Babol , Kerman, Ahvaz , Rasht, Tabriz, Shiraz, Hamadan, kerman #iranelection #gr88

V, V unconfirmed report that police have turned on basij. Treat with caution, but something like this had been expected. #iranelection

Sources: The fire at Mirdamad was at the metro. Some report shop windows smashed - by basij - #iranelection #gr88

Mousavi expected to appear at Mosque in Tehran this evening - have no other details. #iranelection #gr88

I cannot confirm reports police fire on basij, but coming in from many unlinked sources. Would be incredible. #iranelection #gr88

Report : ppl protesting in front of Chinese embassy in Tehran #iranelection #gr88

ppl asking police to join them as news spreads of unconfirmed reports that police fired on Basij in Tehran today #iranelection #gr88

Basij reported to be in retreat for first time, perhaps not happy being led by Khamenei son?! #iranelection #gr88

Gov jamming communications from provinces more effectively that in tehran. #iranelection #gr88

Iran Tv showing this morning footage to show 'no protests' except small group near Uni. We know better #iranelection #gr88

Mousavi dnt giv up, we dont need another political party. Power is always in the hands of the ppl & they will grasp power. #iranelection

No more political parties, step up and lead the ppl Mousavi or they will take power for themselves. This country is on brink #iranelection

Cars everywhere r honking their horns in support of the protesters #iranelection

Iran, Honduras, Immigrants and Marijuana

2009-07-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've got a number of topics to cover today.

Let's start with Iran. Tomorrow is 18 Tir on the Islamic calendar. It marks the 10th year anniversary of a brutal crackdown on university students protesting the closure of Salem, a reformist paper at Tehran University. Public commemorations of the event are illegal, but this could be another increase in action in Iran. Ahmedinejad gave a public address yesterday calling Iran the elections in Iran the world's freest. In a very interesting type of civil disobedience people were asked to turn on all electronics and appliances to put heavy strain on the power grid. There were reported blackouts in numerous cities including Eastern Tehran.

Vice President Joe Biden made a statement that the United States would not interfere if Israel decided to attack Iran. Obama later said this was not a green light for Israel to attack Iran although while clarifying Biden was not sending a signal Obama said, "I think Vice President Biden stated a categorical fact, which is we can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are. What is also true is that it is the policy of the United States to resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels." This ignores the fact that the US gives Isreal billions of dollars a year in military aid, and therefore should have a say on how they use it. But as always, this fact was not mentioned by either the president nor vice president.

Nobel laureate and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias will moderate dialog between Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti of the coup forces. While the Honduran media supports the coup forces despite majority support for Zelaya, similar elements of the media can be seen here on the coverage. Here is a great analysis on the media's handling of the situation. As I wrote last week, even though the US has condemned the coup, their actions are starting to prove otherwise. Even though the event has been called a coup, the administration will not give it the official title cutting off aid to the military forces.

The quote of the day goes to a report by Reason Online in an article discussing how poor, high-immigrant El Paso, just across the border from violent-filled Cuidad Juarez could be one of the safest in the nation. They conclude cities with high immigrant populations usually lead to low violence. The quote:

"Most people in Washington really don't understand life on the border," El Paso Mayor John Cook told the Post. "They don't understand our philosophy here that the border joins us together, it doesn't separate us."

The Marijuana Policy Project has started running ads calling to legalize and tax marijuana in California. The move has been discussed as a way to help with the budget crises. Marijuana is the number one cash crop in the state and a $13 billion a year industry.

Noam Chomsky on the economic crisis, the middle east, the environment and industry in the US

2009-07-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

Democracy Now broadcast a great speech by Noam Chomsky last Friday. I highly recommend watching it in its entirety.

Noam Chomsky, the MIT professor, author and dissident intellectual, just turned eighty years old this past December. He has written over 100 books, but despite being called “the most important intellectual alive” by the New York Times, he is rarely heard in the corporate media. We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky. He spoke recently here in New York at an event sponsored by the Brecht Forum. More than 2,000 people packed into Riverside Church in Harlem to hear his address, titled “Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours.” In his talk, Chomsky discussed the global economic crisis, the environment, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, resistance to American empire and much more.

Some excerpts:

Haiti’s first free election in 1990 threatened these economically rational programs. The poor majority made the mistake of entering the political arena and electing their own candidate, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a populist priest. And Washington instantly adopted standard operating procedures: the moving at once to undermine the regime. A couple of months later came the military coup, instituting a horrible reign of terror, which was backed by Bush, Bush I, and even more so by Clinton. By 1994, Clinton decided that the population was sufficiently intimidated, and he sent US forces to restore the elected president—that’s now called a humanitarian intervention—but on very strict conditions, namely that the president had to accept a very harsh neoliberal regime, in particular, no protection for the economy.

[...]

One such inefficiency, now recognized to be one of the roots of the financial crisis, is the under-pricing of systemic risk, a risk that affects the whole system. So, for example—and that’s general, like if you and I make a transaction, say, you sell me a car, we may make a good deal for ourselves, but we don’t price into that transaction the cost to others. And there’s a cost: pollution, congestion, raising the price of gas, all sorts of other things, killing people in Nigeria because we’re getting the gas from them. That doesn’t count when we—we don’t count that in. That’s an inherent market inefficiency, one of the reasons why markets can’t work.

[...]

Well, while Obama’s signaling very clearly his intention to establish a firm and large-scale presence in the region, he’s also, as you know, sharply escalating the AfPak war, following Petraeus’s strategy to drive the Taliban into Pakistan, with potentially awful results for this extremely dangerous and unstable state, which is facing insurrections throughout its territory. These are the most extreme in the tribal areas, which cross the AfPak border. It’s an artificial line imposed by the British called the Durand Line, and the same people live on both sides of it—Pashtun tribes—and they’ve never accepted it. And, in fact, the Afghanistan government never accepted it either, as long as it was independent. Well, that’s where most of the fighting is going on. One of the leading specialists on the region, Selig Harrison, he recently wrote that the outcome of Washington’s current policies, Obama’s policies, might well be, what he calls them, “Islamic Pashtunistan,” Pashtun-based separate kind of quasi-state. The Pakistani ambassador warned that if the Taliban and Pashtun nationalism merge, we’ve had it. And we’re on the verge of that.

[...]

By World War II, there was a significant change. Business leaders and elite intellectuals recognized that the public had won enough rights so that they can’t be controlled by force, so it would be necessary to do something else, namely to turn to control of attitudes and opinions. These were the days when the huge public relations industry emerged in the freest countries in the world, Britain and the United States, where the problem was most severe. The public relations industry was devoted to what Walter Lippmann approvingly called a “new art” in the practice of democracy, the “manufacture of consent.” It’s called the “engineering of consent” in the phrase of his contemporary Edward Bernays, one of the founders of the PR industry.

[...]

And they are the architects of policy. Obama made sure to staff his economic advisers from that sector, which has been pointed out, too. The former chief economist of the IMF, Simon Johnson, pointed out that the Obama administration is just in the pocket of Wall Street. As he put it, “Throughout the crisis, the government has taken extreme care not to upset the interests of the financial institutions or to question the basic outlines of the system that got us here.” And the “elite business interests” who “played a central role in creating the crisis…with the implicit backing of the government,” they’re still there, and they’re “now using their influence to prevent precisely” the set of “reforms that are needed, and fast, to pull the economy out of its nosedive.” He says, the economy—“The government seems helpless, or unwilling, to act against them,” which is no surprise, considering who constitutes and who backs the government.

[...]

The state-corporate program began with a conspiracy by General Motors, Firestone Rubber, Standard Oil of California to buy up and destroy efficient electric transportation systems in Los Angeles and dozens of other cities. They were actually convicted of criminal conspiracy and given a tap on the wrist, I think a $5,000 fine. The federal government then took over. It relocated infrastructure and capital stock to suburban areas and also created a huge interstate highway system under the usual pretext of defense. Railroads were displaced by government-financed motor and air transport.

[...]

So think what’s happening. Spain and other European countries are hoping to get US taxpayer funding for high-speed rail and related infrastructure. And at the very same time, Washington is busy dismantling leading sectors of US industry, ruining the lives of workers and communities who could easily do it themselves. It’s pretty hard to conjure up a more damning indictment of the economic system that’s been constructed by state-corporate managers. Surely, the auto industry could be reconstructed to produce what the country needs using its highly skilled workforce. But that’s not even on the agenda. It’s not even being discussed. Rather, we’ll go to Spain, and we’ll give them taxpayer money for them to do it, while we destroy the capacity to do it here.

[...]

It’s also important to remind ourselves that the notion of workers’ control is as American as apple pie. It’s kind of been suppressed, but it’s there. In the early days of the Industrial Revolution in New England, working people just took it for granted that those who work in the mills should own them. And they also regarded wage labor as different from slavery, only in that it was temporary. Also Abraham Lincoln’s view. There have been immense efforts to drive these thoughts out of people’s heads, to win what the business world calls “the everlasting battle for the minds of men.” On the surface, they may appear to have succeeded, but I don’t think you have to dig too deeply to find out that they’re latent and they can be revived.

United 4 Iran Global Day of Action, July 25th, San Francisco, noon

2009-07-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

There will be a mega rally on Saturday, July 25th in front of San Francisco at City Hall Plaza from 12pm to 4pm to support the people of Iran during this remarkable time in their history. This event is to get the entire Bay Area together to stand for Iran. From the organizers:

This is going to be the biggest rally of NorCal Iranians on Ahmadinejad's inauguration day, please invite all your Iranian and non Iranian friends to this event.
There will be live performances by local and out of state artists in support of Iranian's struggle for democracy.
As before we ask you not to bring flags or signs, plain Iran flags with no sign in the middle please.
Let's get United 4 Iran.

If you are on Facebook join the event and invite all your friends.

iran goes on strike

2009-07-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

Iran will go on a 3-day strike during a holiday that is usually ignored.

Monday is the start of an unusual three-day Islamic holiday called Itikaf. Sometimes translated as “seclusion” or “retreat,” Itikaf is a time when particularly pious Muslims cloister themselves inside homes or mosques for a period of intense prayer and deep spiritual reflection. It is a practice that the Iranian regime has long encouraged the country’s citizens, particularly the youth, to take part in, usually without much success.

But this year, supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the reformist challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are planning to take up the government’s appeal for religious observance. Mousavi’s Web site has called on Iranians to use the state-sanctioned holiday to launch a three-day, nationwide strike and boycott of businesses and banks in hopes of re-sparking the popular demonstrations that brought the country to a halt two weeks ago.

Socialism 2009 in San Francisco

2009-07-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend I attended the Socialism 2009 conference put on by the International Socialist Organization in San Francisco. It was an amazing event with talks on topics including racism, sexism, immigrant issues, history, the middle east, the prison system, the environment, science, media, unions, and socialism, Marxism, and revolutionary politics. I highly recommend attending next year in either San Francisco or Chicago, and maybe even New York since it was so successful this year in those two locations. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Also, check out my flickr

Talk on Prop 8 is Going Down: Winning Gay Marriage in California

Sherry Wolf speaking on Prop 8 is Going Down: Winning Gay Marriage in California

Prop 8 is Going Down: Winning Gay Marriage in California

John Pilger speaking on Empire and Obama: Power, Illusion, and America's Last Taboo

Main Auditorium at the Women's Building in San Francisco, Ca

Mark Steel's birthday cake

Richard Brown of the San Francisco 8 speaking for Oscar Grant, San Francisco 8 and the History of Political Repression in America

The record spins during the after party

Panel on Will Socialism Eliminate Sexism?

Final Rally: The Return of Socialism

Reform clerics say Iran's presidential vote invalid

2009-07-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

A group of reform clerics came forward disputing a statement from the Guardian Council calling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the presidential election.

The pro-reform clerics group said in a statement that the top legislative body, the Guardian Council, no longer had the right "to judge in this case."

In a statement to the press, the Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers said some members of the Guardian Council had "lost their impartial image in the eyes of the public."

I don't know the significance of this. It is important that any clerics are contradicting the Supreme Leader's words, but I'll have to figure out what implications this has in Iran's government.

Meanwhile it's been reported that a handful of protesters have been executed. Prisoners have also been raped. As the government is loosing their grip they use more drastic tactics.

Obama admin control over the press and more on Honduras

2009-07-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

Columnist Helen Thomas and CBS reporter Chip Reid criticized White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on the issue of pre-selected questions about health care sent in from email and social networks.

“It feels like the concept of a town hall, I think, is to have an open public forum. And this sounds like a very tightly controlled audience and list of questions. Why do it that way?” asked Reid.

[...]

“We have never had that in the White House,” Thomas said, referring to the degree that press events are pre-scripted in the Obama administration. “I’m amazed, I’m amazed at you people who called for openness and transparency…”

Watch the video. It's dissapointing seeing this type of action from the White House since this was one of the foundations of Obama's campaign.

For more on Honduras check out this article by Socialist Worker and today's Democracy Now!

Iran: from the revolution to today

2009-07-01T18:42:00.001-07:00

I had been planning on writing a brief history of Iran to put the situation today in context, but someone more informed on the topic beat me to it. Since I know some people don't like reading really long articles I decided to paraphrase below. I still highly recommend reading the original article since it's full of great information. I still want to write a history on events before the 79 revolution.

WITH REPRESSION silencing most street protests for the moment as hardliners tighten their grip, is a democratic transformation--or revolutionary change--possible in Iran?

Lee Sustar begins at the revolution of 1979, when US-backed dictator, the Shah of Iran, was forced to flee the country, mainly due to general striked throughout Iran. Factory councils were initially set up but power centered around the clergy and middle-class and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The left was quickly divided and violently smashed and the 1980 invasion of Iran by Iraq backed by the United States allowed Khomeini and the clerics to consolidate power.

[In the post-revolutionary era] divisions broke out roughly into three camps: an Islamist left, which maintained some of the social rhetoric of the revolution; an Islamist right, based around the most conservative clergy; and a pragmatic right dominated by clerics who were close to, or had become part of, big business interests. Over the next two decades, these factions would clash over how Iran should engage with the world, economically, politically and culturally.

The Islamic left took power during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88 with Mir Hussein Mousavi becoming prime minister. Mousavi justified social policies on religious grounds, saying "the way of Islam is to attend to social justice." After the war and Khomeini's death, factional struggles came into the open and cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani eliminated the office of prime minister and was elected president. Ali Khamanei became the supreme leader replacing Khomeini. Despite his attemps to engage the West, workers' standards of living declined and lead to riots and repression.

Rafsanjani completed his two alotted terms as president and aligned himself with the Islamic left, who after the fall of the Soviet Union shifted toward pro-market, neoliberal policies. Reformist candidate Mohammad Khatami won the 1997 presidential election, but the Islamic right, with their support from Khamanei controlled the majority of the government. Students in the pro-democracy movement had no support from the president and workers suffered under privatization and deregulation. In addition the clerics' Guardian Council, which approves candidates in office, barred many reformers from running in parliamentary elections.

To counter the mortal threat from Khatami's reform program the right built up networks of former Revolutionary Guards and the basij. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose political connections as well as those with the basij became the right's candidate for the 2005 presidential election, then being mayor if Tehran. With Khamanei's support, and suspected voter fraud, Ahmadinejad one the post. He put himself forward as a populist against Rafsanjani who was seen as the cause for Iran's economic turmoil. Once in office Ahmadinejad embraced privatization, but on a model based on Russia and Eastern Europe, where entrepreneurs are able to create huge private monopolies from former state assets. These assets would go to allies of Ahmadinejad threatning Rafsanjani and the existing capitalist class in Iran.

Rafsanjani supported his old rival Mousavi to counter Ahmadinejad and Khamanei. At the same time the economic and social liberal position of Mousavi gave him backing of young people and the working class. The election took place, Ahmadinajad won and we are where we are today.

For those in the Bay Area, there is a huge rally planned for Saturday July 25th in front of San Francisco city hall. I'll post more as I get information. For now check the Bay Area for Iran group on Facebook.

who makes policy in this country?

2009-07-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

I'm on the mailing list for the Organic Consumers Association and usually there's some really interesting stuff in their newsletter. This week they have a list of the top 100 firms that spend the most money lobbying in this country. The amounts are for the first quarter of 2009. Here are the summations by industry:

$42 Million: Health Care, Health Insurance, & Pharma
$31 Million: Oil
$20 Million: War
$17 Million: Telecoms
$15 Million: Financial
$10 Million: Automotive
$7 Million: Life Insurance
$6 Million: Biotech

And the top ten companies:

1. Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A.: $9,996,000
2. Exxon Mobil: $9,320,000
3. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: $6,910,000
4. Chevron U.S.A. Inc: $6,800,000
5. Lockheed Martin Corporation: $6,380,000
6. Pfizer, Inc: $6,140,000
7. Conoco Phillips: $5,980,935
8. National Association of Realtors: $5,727,000
9. U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform: $5,480,000
10. AT&T Services, Inc: $5,134,873

Do you still think our government has your best interest? I'm sure if this were to be further divided by Republicans and Democrats receiving these funds it'd be a near even split. See the full list here. Also note that many of these corporations contract out to lobbying firms so the am mounts are greater than this.

Another interesting article from OCA is about "natural" products and how many times it's a marketing ploy and actually undermines the organic foods industry. Retailers like Whole Foods Market and wholesalers like United Natural Foods Inc. push these products with rather than certified organic products. On the topic of Whole Foods, here's an in depth article about their poor labor standards and union busting.

military coup in Honduras and how the US will act

2009-07-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was ousted by a military coup on June 28, 2009. President Obama has joined many leaders throughout the country condemning the ousting, although Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held off formally calling the event a coup which would cut off millions in aid to Honduras. The US administration has not called for Zelaya to be reinstated in office. Zelaya is a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and has made a series of moves in opposition of US foreign policy, mainly highly criticizing the war on drugs. The president has said the US is responsible for drug violence in Central America and has called for legalization. In December he wrote Obama a letter outlining these points. He also raised minimum wage by 60 percent in a country where many foreign companies operate factories.

Generals Romero Vasquez and Luis Suazo who led the coup also received training by the United States at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formally known as the School of the Americas. WHINSEC has trained many Latin American soldiers and policemen including generals, dictators, and armies for drug cartels, some of which have been previously involved in CIA sponsored coups.

Democracy Now's Juan Gonzalez related these events to Haiti under the Clinton administration.

[T]his reminds me very much of what happened years ago in Haiti, where you had basically a military coup against a legally elected president, Aristide, and where the—a Democratic administration, President Clinton, condemned the coup leaders, as has President Obama, at least in this in the early days here, but where the US military was playing a different role—in essence, had its own ties with the established coup leaders.

It will be interesting to not only watch what the Obama administration does during this event, but also what goes on behind the scenes.

interview with member of basij

2009-06-30T17:24:00.001-07:00

I found the Tatsuma, the person who's updates I've been posting from Fark has started a blog. He's posted an interview with a member of the basij from Tehran Broadcast where the plain clothed force member says he is being paid the equivelent of $200 a day and hopes he can get two wives with it.

- Who gave it to you?
— Haji. He said beat them so they cannot get up. They are traitors.

- What do you think?
— That’s none of my business. I only get my money.

- So you’re paid to beat. Do you enjoy it?
— Yeah! They pay me to beat. Wouldn’t you do it too?

- How much do they pay?
— 200 Thousand Tomans. (His eyes lighten up.)

- That’s a lot. What do you want to do with it?
— I’ll get a wife. When I have this much money, I can even get two. Do you know how much it will become [in 10 days]? 2 million! Though I might not go back to Torbat-e Jaam. I might stay here. Haji said there will be more demonstrations. They will keep us employed.

He also mentions Arabs from Lebanon being part of the forces. There have been reports from the beginning of this that Hizbullah members from Lebanon were brought into Iran.

- There are also Arabs. No?
— Yes. But I’ve heard they are in a hotel. It’s said that they’re from Lebanon. When we were given Tuna cans for dinner last night, the guys were saying that Arabs get better food.

Here is an update from yesterday on the blog.

- Security forces were out in force today, due to the decision of the Guardian Council to support Ahmadinejad. Thousands of Basijis and security forces were occupying Tehran's public places, clashing with angry protesters who came out to protest the announcement. Protesters were unable to form large groups, hindered by the massive presence of government forces patrolling the streets. Some protesters tried to express their discontent by honking their horns, resulting in Basijis smashing their windscreens and slashing their tires.

- Protesters had planned to make a human chain, but they were prevented by security forces and Basijis to assemble. As the regime is making it nigh impossible to recreate the huge protests that followed the election, the dissidents once again took to the roofs shouting "Allahu Ackbar" to express their anger.

- The Guardian Council announced its verdict regarding the dispute over the elections. Unsurprisingly, they sided with the Supreme Leader and declared that they were legitimate, there was no fraud and that Ahmadinejad was the winner. In reaction, Mousavi declared that he refused to accept the results and the Guardian Council's decision. The government is also pressuring former President Khatami to intervene and help quell the protests. A fight erupted in the Majlis as a MP asked for clemency and tolerance toward protesters.

- Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, refused to comment on the re-election of the Ahmadinejad, and refused to speculate on internal Iranian affairs. She declared that there was "a huge credibility gap" between the Iranian government and its population, and that this gap would not disappear after a limited recount. However, she harshly condemned the arrest of British embassy staff, qualifying it as "deplorable treatment" and that the United States Government was monitoring the situation with great concern.

- Following the arrest of the British embassy staff, the European Union announced that they were considering recalling their ambassadors from Iran until they are released. According to the French organization La Fédération Internationale des Droits Humain, at least two thousand protesters are still in prison, while thousands of others were arrested and then released. Reporters Sans Frontières came out with their own report, saying that Iran was the country with the most journalists in prisons worldwide.

- President Ahmadinejad asked a judge today to investigate the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, and declared that he was searching for Neda's real killer. He declared that Soltan had been killed by agents who are enemies of the Islamic Republic, possibly foreigners. Supporters of Ahmadinejad, including MPs, are trying to pressure State Media to ban all appearances of Mousavi on the airwaves.

- Egypt has stopped all attempts at protests and rallies in support of Iranian dissenters.

the struggle in iran continues (pictures from sf demonstrations)

2009-06-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

Pictures from demonstrations in San Francisco from Thursday and Friday (or scroll down below).

Protesters continued to clash with police as a power struggle continues among the ruling clergy. Mainstream news sources reported around 3,000 protesters outside the Ghoba mosque while according to twitter sources 3,000 wouldn't even fill the mosque and numbers were greater. I'll also note that I mentioned the power struggle among top clerics at least a week ago from twitter, while the mainstream is just now catching on. Staff from the British Embassy were arrested the other day and I have read that they have been tortured to give links between the UK and the protesters. In Sweden a group of protesters broke into the Iranian Embassy. There is still discussion of the general strike that is being organized and planned.

One of the people on Twitter I am following's friend was arrested among with other protesters and gives his first hand account.

Reza released from Hospital yesterday he is banned from university and now is a stared [marked by gov] student

he spent his first 48h of arrest at level -4 of ministry of interior building without food or water

he said all sort of people were there & some of them were just unlucky people just walking in streets and captured for no reason

Reza estimated around 200 people were in each room and there were not enough space to even sit on the ground

they didn't open the plastic handcuffs for a day & half, & randomly beat up people in there

Reza said the only exception was they didn't hit arrested people directly in the face

there was also a awful problem of only one toilet for all people in there and a impossible time limit of around 1min for each person

He said in the second day some pain cloth people came with papers forcing people to sign them

the papers were prewritten confessions all in different hand writings saying the signer is a member of organization by mousavi

and they paid to go to streets and say things & they know they have violated national security & Islam

Reza said some people sign them & some other just faked their signs & names, there were not enough confession papers for all people

around 3am day 2 they started moving people in vans, Reza said a driver was talking to a Basiji about Evin prison is full and what shoul ...

apparently they released some people on that night & move Reza & some of the selected people to Evin

Reza had no idea why they select some of the people and where they moved the others

it took near 3 hours to get to the prison, Reza said the driver seemed enjoys wandering in the streets

and another hour passed just standing in the row at the entrance of prison & filling out forms

in first day at Evin prison staff started searching for severely injured people & gave them some first aid

according to Reza some of the injured people already passed out and a taxi driver looked like dead by that time

all types of gov agents came & go in the next couple of days, moving people, forcing them to walk or just stand for a long time

Reza said it looked like they have no idea what should they do with so much people

a man came and say they will be released today and an hour later another came & say they will be in prison for 10year!

they ran another confession show at Evin, this time with promise of instant freedom & new accusations

Correction: *but with new accusations, not promising them!

in last days Reza said it looked they get a little more organized and start searching for any special case in arrested people

unfortunately Reza's mother told everything she knows over the phone to a man calling from Evin

the man promised Reza's family they will release him if he's really innocent

and after they knew Reza is a student they moved him to a more harsh environment with some other people

according to Reza some students from Polytechnic university were also there

they prevented them from sleeping by kept them standing all the night

in morning a man introduced him self as Intelligent came saying he will record their confections with camera

he promised if one of them confess in front of camera he will free them all & they will blur his face & nothing to worry!

at night around 10PM they Released Reza & his family instantly moved him to a hospital for internal bleeding

Reza had no idea why they suddenly released him & some of his inmates

I skipped some of the incidents as Reza requested. he's very weak both mentally & physically

and I don't want to put him in more pressure of any kind right now

Finally, here are pictures I took on Thursday and Friday from demonstrations in San Francisco. See more of my photos on Flickr.

secret prison in US holds activists, obama "stonewalling" gay marriage

2009-06-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Democracy Now! had a very good and frighting piece Thursday about Andrew Stepanian, an animal rights activist, who was held in a secretive prison known as Communication Management Units (CMU), also called "Little Guantanamo." Most inmates are of the Muslim faith.

In 2006, Andrew Stepanian was sentenced to three years in prison for violating a controversial law known as the Animal Enterprise Protection Act. Stepanian and six others were jailed for their role in a campaign to stop animal testing by the British scientific firm Huntingdon Life Science. They were convicted of using a website to “incite attacks” on those who did business with Huntingdon Life Science. Together, the group became known as the SHAC 7.

Andrew spent his last five-and-a-half months at a CMU in Marion, Illinois with highly restricted visitation and phone rights. He was charged with conspiracy to commit a violation of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act for setting up a website, meaning he didn't actually take any action. In Andrew's case, we was charged for being involved with others by association and none of the others comited any criminal acts either.

The greater implications of this are downright scary, where a dissident is unable to criticize or plan to act against the government or corporations in non-criminal ways. These laws, along with the patriot act, are slowly turning our country into a police state where someone who speaks out and starts gaining traction can be arrested under this horrendous laws.

[O]ne thing that came upon over and over again was listing how these individuals have support websites, how they have individuals supporting them and donating money, donating books, organizing benefit shows, doing media, going on Democracy Now!. That actually came up in Daniel McGowan’s sentencing. So it’s clear that these people are being targeted because they have a strong network of support that can get information out. And putting them in these facilities is an attempt to neutralize that.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened (protesters being arrested at the Republican National Convention under the Patriot Act comes to mind) and it certainly won't be the last. I just hope the people will be able to fight and defeat these laws before we are all arrested for trying to speak against them.

Gay Pride is in San Francisco this weekend (as well as other parts of the world) and the parade is kicking off with a political contingent. The other day's Colbert Report had a good segment on how Obama is "Stonewalling" any advancements on gay rights. In his usual manor, Colbert explains how Obama has not kept his promises to the LGBT community. On his "The Word" segment as Colbert says "you see, the president is too busy with the economy, and healthcare, and the wars to issue an executive order ending don't ask don't tell," while text on the screen reads "Would require stroke of the pen." He goes on mentioning that even though Obama extended benefits to same sex partners, those did not include health or retirement benefits.

Stand with Iran Thursday and Friday

2009-06-24T23:54:00.001-07:00

There are two gatherings to show support for Iranians in the San Francisco Bay Area. The first is at Union Square in San Francisco tomorrow, Thursday June 25th at 6pm.

SF Protest in Honor of Those Who've Lost Their Lives Date: Thursday, June 25, 2009 Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm Location: San Francisco Union Square City/Town: San Francisco, CA (please share this)

This is not a political demonstration.
this has come down to SUPPORTING BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS and supporting those who have been brutally murdered just to fight for freedom and Justice.
Come stand up against the barbarity, cruelty, massacre and inhumanity taking place in Iran.

Wear black, No Flags. No religious signs either please.
bring candles too. thanks.

Here is the Facebook event. Share it with your friends.

The second is Friday June 26th at 2pm at the Golden Gate Bridge. We are going to stand on the sidewalks of the bridge. No placards are allowed due to the windy weather, but you can attach A4 size printed plain flags or pictures to your shirt.

Show support by wearing some green as well. For more information check out the Bay Area for Iran Facebook group.

the end or is the media just loosing interest?

2009-06-24T13:13:00.001-07:00

As the corporate media was writting off the protesters (they're finally catching up about 12 hours late) blood continues to spill on the streets of Iran as anti-demonstration forces crack down. I woke up to some chilling messages on Twitter.

just in from Baharestan Sq - situation today is terrible - they beat the ppls like animals - #Iranelection RT RT RT

I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads - blood everywhere - pepper gas like war - #Iranelection

they were waiting for us - they all have guns and riot uniforms - it was like a mouse trap - ppl being shot like animals #Iranelection

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing - #Iranelection sure that she is dead

so many ppl arrested - young & old - they take ppl away - #Iranelection - we lose our group

ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting - from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys #Iranelection

all shops was closed - nowhere to go - they follow ppls with helicopters - smoke and fire is everywhere #Iranelection

phone line was cut and we lost internet - #Iranelection - getting more difficult to log into net - #Iranelection

rumour they are tracking high use of phone lines to find internet users - must move from here now - #Iranelection

reports of street fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now - #Iranelection - Sea of Green - Allah Akbar

in Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher - Allah Akbar - #Iranelection RT RT RT

they catch ppl with mobile - so many killed today - so many injured - Allah Akbar - they take one of us - #Iranelection

Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere - #Iranelection

they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us - #Iranelection

Everybody is under arrest & cant move - Mousavi - Karroubi even rumour Khatami is in house guard - #Iranelection -

we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast - #Iranelection

The government has been cracking down on people using Twitter as well.

Despite this crackdown, there has been a stronger focus on regrouping and organizing. To the media, this might mean the movement is dying, but with closer inspection it is just entering another phase. The next few days will be days of mourning for those who have died. From today's Democracy Now:

The latest news, which I just checked, a number of websites that I ordinarily do, because you have to dodge censorship and such, is that Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, the senior-most opposition Grand Ayatollah, has called for three days of mourning of the victims of the recent violence.

And Mr. Mousavi has also called for a march of his supporters, with their families—namely, they’re coming with their spouses and their children—to march towards Khomeini’s mausoleum. This is a very shrewd move, because, obviously, if they’re coming with their families, they are a bit more protected from violence. And they’re headed towards a mausoleum, which is exercising a very old and amazing political gesture that we have in Iranian political culture, which means—translates as seeking refuge in a sanctuary, and presumably will be protected from violence there. So they’re using aspects of Iranian political culture in order to navigate through strategies of civil disobedience.

Guest Hamid Dabashi discusses how this is less of a revolutionary movement and more of a civil rights movement for the people of Iran.

On a sidenote I highly recommend listening to Democracy Now! as it's one of the most informative news sources out there. Rather than just give headlines, they actually go in depth on topics of discussion.

I was forwarded an article that gives more a first hand account from a labor point of view in Iran. If the people are successful, the degree of changed that is achieved in Iran will be measured by the strenght of the labor movement in Iran.

One 26 year old worker in Iran who was contacted by Socialist Worker on Thursday of last week said that many people felt it was “like 1979”.

“The protests are very uplifting and most people do not see them as a challenge to Islamic rule,” he said. “We have lost our fear of the state.

[...]

“The police tried to take a shortcut to ambush the protesters. The workers used shovels, bricks and construction equipment to stop the police. At this point the demonstrators joined in to help the workers.”

The involvement of workers and the poorer neighbourhoods is an indication of how this movement is reaching deep into Iranian society.

from the past two days

2009-06-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

News update from June 22nd and 23rd. There's a mention of the strikes, but I think this was not well organized and not a full-on general strike. We'll see when we get more confirmation.

23rd of June

- Today is a day of national strike. The massive security forces presence makes it much harder for protesters to join up each others, as the security forces beat up people and force them to separate everywhere in Tehran, including in metro stations.

- The Guardian Council has declared that they will not nullify the results of the Election, and that Ahmadinejad is still the winner. Ahmadinejad will be sworned in as President between July 26 and August 19.

- On the International Front, the Government is getting angry with the international reaction. The Iranian Government issued a formal condemnation of the Secretary General of the UN for involving himself. They also declared that the French riots a couple of years ago were much more violent, yet they were never referred to as a crisis. Finally, they have expulsed two British diplomats from Iran and decided to recall their ambassador from Britain, while Britain has ordered the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats in return.

- The UN has declared it is dismayed by the post-election violence. Journalists are still being rounded up, now the focus seems to be on Iranian journalist who serve as correspondents for foreign newspapers.

- The split now seems to reach ever higher in the Conservative movement as Ali Larijani, speaker of the Majlis, is attacked by Ahmadinejad's supporters for staying neutral and even unofficially supporting the protesters. He is the one yesterday who called for a revision of the Iran-UK ties in light of recent events.

Sickening story of the day: Parents forced to pay a $3,000 fee for the bullet that killed their son

At the crack of dawn, his father began searching at police stations, then hospitals and then the morgue.

Upon learning of his son's death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a "bullet fee"-a fee for the bullet used by security forces-before taking the body back, relatives said.

Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn't amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran. Kaveh Alipour's body was quietly transported to the city of Rasht, where there is family.

Worrying report: Iran is now considering setting up courts in order to streamline the prosecution of all those arrested while protesting.

22nd of June.

- Mousavi announced today that there would be a day of mourning for the martyrs killed since the protests began this Thursday, in sync with the demands of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri. He also called on everyone around the world to show support for the plight of the Iranian people. Tomorrow, a national strike will take place. Karroubi for himself released a statement calling on the Iranian government to provide care to those injured during the violence, release journalists and other political prisoners and return the bodies of those killed to their families.

- Members of the Parliament have commented that they are getting ready to hold Mousavi legally responsible for the protests and ensuing riots. They have also called for a possible ending of relationship with the United Kingdom. In response to Mousavi's calls for a general strike, they have also declared that anyone not going to work tomorrow will be fired. An Interior Ministry official followed-up the declaration that the votes were tampered with in 50 cities, saying the results of each box will be published in the near future.

- The Guardian Council has further clarified its claims about voting irregularities, and declared that there were in fact 3 million extra votes cast total. Qom is still an epicenter of rumours, where discussions about Ayatollah Rafsanjani's behind-the-scene indicate that he possibly has the support of the Army and plans to topple the government. This is still rumours, but a rumour that has been persistent since the beginning of these protests and has now been picked up as real by Al Arabiya.

- Protesters have tried to protest peacefully and hold vigils, but were attacked by security and basij forces the second they were more than a couple of people together. Thousands of them have been roaming Tehran in order to block any protests from happening. IRIB is claiming that the government has quelled the protests and they are now things of the past.

- There are reports that one of the highest commanders of the IRG has been arrested for refusing to follow Khamenei's orders to start a heavy crackdown on protesters. Basij and security forces have stormed one of the biggest newspapers in Iran, arresting members of the Staff. The British Embassy has evacuated all non-essential personal, fearing that the increasingly anti-British rhetoric will lead to another hostage situation at an embassy.

source

in context

2009-06-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

From what I can gather the general strike never took place today, but there has been talk of further planning. Hopefully if Mousavi doesn't take the lead with the strike, the people of Iran will. There is a call to flood a large market in Tehran but not purchase anything to slow the economy down. Further rallies will be announced in the week as well as days of mourning for those who have died.

President Obama condemed the Iranian government's action, but a spokesman cautioned that Obama would not back calls for a general strike. I can't find the context of this, but it will be very interesting and revealing to see how the main stream media reports the general strike. Hopefully people will realize that those on top fear that concept more than the protests already happening.

Yesterday, Democracy Now had Kouross Esmaeli discussing what happened over the weekend. One of the issues discussed was Western influence in Iran.

The Western presence in Iran has been there for about 200 years, from the British and the Russian, who took parts of Iran under control up to World War II. And after World War II, it was the US that stepped in and started supporting the Shah of Iran as their favorite dictator in the Middle East. There was a coup d’état against a popularly elected prime minister that had come in to nationalize Iranian oil. And that has really remained within the Iranian consciousness ever since, ever since 1953, and Iranians harbor deep mistrust for the US, that was seen as orchestrating a coup against their popularly elected leadership. And in 1979, when the Islamic Revolution took place, the biggest sort of fear of the Iranian people was a repeat of the coup d’état. And that’s why the—that’s a large reason why the hostage crisis took place. They took hostages to make sure that the US does not come in, invade, orchestrate another coup again. And that has remained the dynamic within the Iran-US relations: mistrust on both sides.

And at this point that the US does not have diplomatic relations, it really makes no sense for any administration to get political points for seeming like they’re standing up with some demonstrators somewhere in order to score points with their constituents here. Over the weekend—and what’s amazing is the way the media in the US has been really helping spin this for the Republican right wing. I mean, there were images on CNN and Fox over the weekend of President Obama, I think, buying ice cream for his daughters while the demonstrators in Iran were fighting for their democracy. And they were likening that to President Bush when he was playing golf right after he invaded Iraq and equating the two. It was like, how heartless could Obama be, when he could be—I don’t know what he could be doing in order to support Iranians. I think he did the best thing he could do in order to support the Iranians.

The guest also discusses the different players in the power struggle for Iran.

Today's episode discussed deep packet inspection, a method the Iranian government uses to monitor everything on the Internet. It goes into how this technology is used in the U.S. and other countries as well. This is a must see. I hope the situation in Iran brings more attention to this topic.

Lastly, the Socialist Worker has a great article on Iran putting the entire situation in context. Probably one of the most complete pictures of the situation I have read.

how to survive a strike

2009-06-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi has called for a general strike in Iran for Tuesday June 23rd. Hopefully future general strikes will be called with lengths greater than one day in order to destabilize the government. Problems with a longer strike quickly arise where they not only hurt the government but the people themselves. History has provided examples of such situation where workers are able to take control of vital services for the people. The Seattle General Strike of 1919 is a great example of this, lasting a week where workers established distribution systems for food and drinks, trash was still taken out, the sick were cared for, and veterans formed a militia to maintain order (even though crime dramatically dropped during the strike.

A cooperative body made up of rank and file workers from all the striking locals was formed during the strike, called the General Strike Committee. It acted as a "virtual counter-government for the city" (Brecher), somewhat akin to the Paris Commune in 1871. The workers in the committee organized to provide essential services for the people of Seattle during the work stoppage. For instance, garbage that would create a health hazard was collected, and firemen remained on duty. Exemptions to the stoppage of labor had to be passed by the Strike Committee. In general, work was not halted if doing so would endanger lives.

The people of Iran could use this historical example to use the strike to their advantage yet still keep the city going for them. This will also teach them that government bureaucracy isn't required to run a city and that workers can take control into their own hands.

Posters on Twitter also suggested that people pull their money out of banks, stop paying bills, and doing other things to stop the flow of money to the government.

updates from iran and article roundup

2009-06-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today I've posted a handful of Twitter posts, a roundup of various articles about the situation, and a detailed update of the past few days from another source.

The doctor who helped Neda is also a friend of Paulo Coelho http://is.gd/19kHd #iranelection

Unconfirmed: Rafsanjani has votes to remove Khamenei, needs secure support of army. Regime may attack Qom. #iranelection #iranelections RT

Support frm army and Islam Guards and Mullahs for Mousavi growing NWest Iran regions and Khorasan #iranelection #neda #iranelections #gr88

Qom poised to support the ppl and condemn Khameni. Mullahs r joining protest. #iranelection #neda

Clashes today confirmed in Jaam Jam and Mellat Park - militia used tear gas - shooting heard - #Iranelection

clashes in 7 Tir Sq and Valli Asr Ave - street fires & tear gas - shooting heard - many militia #Iranelection

Democrats are urging Obama to stay out of the Iran crisis while Republicans are criticizing him for being too "timid and passive." Senator Dianne Feinstein said the reason to not get involved is due to lack on intelligence, which should be cause of concern. First, this is most likely false and second, it's easy for them to say that they do have enough intelligence if they decide to get involved. It's an easy argument to dispute. Democrat Bob Casey stated Congress should give Obama the power to impose sanctions on Iran if necessary. So as you can see, even though Democrats are being non-interventionist now, they are clearly laying the path to change their minds if they want.

Iran turmoil likely to benefit Israel. My roommate, Mollie, brought this up the other day, although in a slightly different context. Any long lasting instability in Iran will give Israel much more influence in the region. Hamas and Hizbullah will greatly be weakened and Israel may take advantage of the situation in Palestine and maybe other parts of the Middle East.

Dave Zirin comparing the Iran protests to the soccer riots Ahmadinejad called them. Mentions the role of women, minorities, and the working class to the protests.

An article by Pepe Escobar discusses the power struggle going on in Iran and how it is based on a movement by the people.

Iranian crisis widens fissure among clerics from The Seattle Times.

More details from the past two days from Tatsuma

21st of June.

Two major events happened today:

- Grand Ayatollah Montazeri went directly against Ayatollah Khamenei's wishes and declared a 3-day mourning period in Iran, while Khamenei had ordered mosques to avoid making ceremonies in the memory of the fallen victims of governmental violence.

- The Guardian Council admitted that in 50 cities, there were in fact more vote recorded than there are registered voters and said they were looking into the situation. Seeing as the GC is under direct control of Khamenei, this is very likely an attempt at damage control from people who have yet to grasp how deep the schism in Iran is. This could be an attempt to ultimately blame Ahmadinejad for the irregularities and throw him under the bus in order to save their skin, which would be a sign they don't fully realize yet what is happening.

- Aside from that, as expected there were clashes all over Iran, but subsided since the 20th. The Iranian Government went on the offensive, kicking out a BBC correspondent and attacking Western countries for what they see as meddling in Iranian internal affairs. Tomorrow Mousavi has called for a general strike all over Iran. It seems that business activity that the already paralyzed country will be stopped completely.

From the 19th to the 20th of June. post-Khamenei speech.

If anyone doubted this is a Revolution and that this was bigger than the election, there is no such doubt anymore. While Khameini directly called for them to stop, the population took the street more numerous than ever. This is direct defiance to the Supreme Leader. Here are the major events that happened between the end of Khamenei's speech and midnight on Saturday.

- Before the protest even began, heavily armed men were waiting for the dissidents, planning to prevent them from reaching the rally point. It didn't take long for the peaceful protests to turn into full-fledged riots. Security forces had also closed off the Tehran university to prevent students from leaving to protest or entering to take shelter. Basij, some security forces and what is suspected to be members of the Revolutionary Guard assaulted the protesters. The protesters fought back while chanting "Death to Khamenei" and "Down with Khamenei". The security forces used water cannons and tear gas to try and disperse the protesters. While the tear gas was partly successful, the water cannons were mostly useless, as they were quickly over ran by the protesters.

- A lot of eyewitnesses report that the Basij now fighting appear to be barely older than teenagers, most of them between 16 and 20, taking a real pleasure in the violence. Others report that up to hundreds of both security forces and Basij were injured in the last series of clashes. The Basij forces are using pvc tubes filled with concretes, bats, even knives and are assaulting people everywhere, down to metro stations.

- A bomb exploded at the Khomeini Shrine, killing one and injuring at least two. Most believe that the government is in fact behind it. Khamenei was a major figure of the previous Revolution, and they used a similar tactics then, destroying buildings and blaming it on the Shah in order to turn the population against him. The State television is of course blaming Mousavi for it and calling for a harsher treatment of the protesters. This is also very convenient for the Regime, has Mousavi said he would take refuge there if he feared for his safety, but now all access is blocked.

- In return, the harsher the treatment of protesters by the security forces, the harsher the rhetoric and reaction of the protesters. They are calling for the death of the regime, the death of Khamenei, the death of their oppressors and that they will avenge them. Once the gun shots started, the protesters went wild, beating down security forces and basij forces they caught to a pulp, while the Basij and security forces are showing absolutely no restraint, even less than they previously had.

- There are many reports that the security forces and Basij still ever present in hospitals and clinics. Basij are kidnapping some of those injured, while the security forces is identifying those participating in the protest. In order to arrest protesters, security forces raided the Khomeini Hospital in order to arrest injured protesters. There are rumours that Basij forces have hijacked ambulances and use them as a trap to brutally assault already injured protesters seeking help, or shoot at them. Iranian journalists, Reformist intellectuals and feminists are still being arrested and rounded up to prevent from reporting the news or reaching out.

- As the protests grew, extreme measures started to used by those trying to repress the Iranians asking for freedom. Gun shots were first fired in the air, but it did not take long for them to be fired at the protesters. A liquid was dropped from helicopters, creating severe skin burns on protesters. We are unsure what the liquid was. They are also openly opening fire on the crowds, 40 to 60 people at least were killed in a single day, and scores more injured according to protesters. There are also reports that Revolutionary Guard Helicopters dropped firearms crates to 500 Basij fighters, as they are more willing than government forces to use them on civilians.

- The protesters are fighting back, taking over anti-riot trucks and burning them, attacking Basij bases and burning another one to the ground. There are report that a security forces truck was actually blown up by the protesters. In many instances, government forces have been force to fled under the constant assault of the people. Another report mentioned a security forces post was burning as well.

- The Iran Fatemiyeh Hospital in Tehran has confirmed at least 40 dead as well as 200 injured. Other sources report that hundreds of security forces and hundreds of basij fighters were injured as well.

- At night the protesters joined each others on the roofs in Tehran, shouting "Allah-u Ackbar", "Margh Bar Khamenei" and chanting "I will welcome death, I will welcome death, but no subjugation, but no subjugation". None of the rhetoric is addressed to Ahmadinejad anymore, all of it is directed to Khamenei and the regime. Many of the popular chants throughout the day were "I will kill those who killed my brother/sister", "Death to the Government", "Death to Khamenei" and "Seyed Ali Pinoshe, Iran won't be Chile".

- China has been censoring all news coming from Iran. Obama's restraint has been useless, as the Iranian government has shown a video of him with a false translation where Obama declared his support for the protesters, and that they should keep on protesting.

- Mousavi gave a speech and declared that if he is arrested, then the whole nation should strike. He also told the people that he is ready for martyrdom.

- There are unconfirmed reports that the Army is now refusing to follow orders and will not attack the protesters. The newest strategy from the government seems to be arming the Basij, dressing them in riot gear, team them up with IRG soldiers, and try to prevent massive rallies and keep them localized instead, as they are easier to stop spreading.

san francisco candlelight vigil

2009-06-22T00:16:00.001-07:00

Pictures from the candlelight vigil in San Francisco on Sunday, June 21st.

flickr

strike!

2009-06-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

To those in the Bay Area, there is a silent candlelight vigil at Civic Center in San Francisco, tonight (Sunday, June 21st) from 7:30 to 9pm. Bring candles

Mousavi has been calling for general strikes in Iran. His Facebook called for anyone with organizational experience to contact him. This is terrific news since strikes will empower the working class and can lead to a popular revolution. The Autobus Workers Union of Iran has joined the resistance.

Add the bus workers to the auto workers and the industrial union sector that creates the means of transportation has emerged as the vanguard in what - thus speaks The Field - will soon become a coalition of industrial workers with the power to spark a general strike in Iran.

[...]

The regime can take out Mousavi. It can take out every operative in his orbit. But it cannot force an educated and organized workforce - with long memories of 56 years of struggle against Western and Eastern regimes alike - to show up on the job.

The Autobus Workers Union released the following statement:

In recent days we have witnessed the passionate presence of millions of women and men, the old and the young, and ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, people who want their government to recognize their most basic right, the right to freely, independently, and transparently elect, a right that in most societies around the world is not only recognized officially but for whose protection no effort is neglected.

In the current situation, we witness threats, arrests, killings, and naked persecution, which threaten to grow in dimension and lead to the shedding of innocent people's blood thus bringing a rise in popular protests and not in their decline. 

Iranian society is facing a deep political and economic crisis. Million-strong protests, which have manifested themselves with a silence that is replete with meaning, have become a pattern that is growing in area and dimension, a growth that demands a response from any responsible person and organization. 

The Autobus Workers Union in an announcement issued before the elections declared, "in the absence of the freedom for political parties, our organization is naturally deprived of a social institution that can protect it."

"Workers of the Autobus Workers Union consider their social involvement and political activity to be the certain right of each member of society and furthermore believe that workers across Iran as long as they submit the platforms of presidential candidates and a practical guarantee about campaign slogans can choose to participate or not participate in elections."

The fact that the demands of the vast majority of Iranian society go far beyond those of unions is obvious to all, and in the previous years we have emphasized that until the principle of the freedom to organize and to elect is not materialized, any talk of social freedom and labor union rights will be a farce.

Given these facts, the Autobus Workers Union places itself alongside all those who are offering themselves in the struggle to build a free and independent civic society. The union condemns any kind of suppression and threats.

To recognize labor-union and social rights in Iran, the international labor organizations have declared the Fifth of Tir (June 26) the international day of support for imprisoned Iranian workers as well as for the institution of unions in Iran. We want that this day be viewed as more than a day for the demands of labor unions to make it a day for human rights in Iran and to ask all our fellow workers to struggle for the trampled rights of the majority of the people of Iran.

With hope for the spread of justice and freedom,

Autobus Workers Union

violence on the streets of tehran

2009-06-21T00:56:00.000-07:00

it was a nightmare, I can barely breath & my face is burning, Masood got shot in the arm & Shayan's brother is missing

I don't know where to start with, first they attack our peacful memorial gathering in front of the university with water gun

the university's doors were close, we couldn't run everywhere! & then they start shooting tear gas at us

they were so many! riot police, normal police, intel, IRG, Basij! I managed to scape, but they captured so many people

all routes to Azady square were blocked & if anyone stopped walking or walking slow they hit him/her brutally

there was no safe path, people were walking in cycles between all variety of security forces

I think they made fun of people, don't go here, go this way, not that way & for no apparent reason suddenly attacking random people

we tried our best using all known shortcuts for reaching Azady SQ were mousavi was, but ended up in face to face with IRG

they weren't just the ordinary police or motorcycle riot guard, they were soldiers holding MP5 supported by reinforced military cars

we didn't realize for a moment they started shooting at people, the gun's sound was like a toy gun, not loud & the soliders were smiling

I was going to tell masood they are using fake guns for scaring people! until people started screaming in agony

we were at Nosrat st, and that part of that damned street had no were for covering

we ran as fast as we could in the opposite direction, at the same time basiji bastards started to hit fleeing people

I think I saw 2 or 3 people lying on the ground in blood & IRG started to move them, probably hide them.

I lost masood in the crowd in upper streets of Nosrat the irony was everything was calm there & people overthere shocked by the looks of us

it was the biggest disadvantage for us today, police & basij managed to cut off people and prevent them from gathering

they also attacked & arrested anyone with any green symbols or mousavi's pictures

damned government also armed street thugs & Afghan workers with anti riot shields & wooden or electric batons

most of them wearing in house clothings & I think they were really enjoying attacking people

apprently when I was wandering in Laleh Park searching for water Shayan managed to take Masood to a local Doctor

The site from the Fark poster I previously linked has been updated with more info about the Iranian government structure.

sound!

2009-06-21T00:51:00.000-07:00

picture i took last weekend. really like how it turned out. my flickr

the fight for iran begins!

2009-06-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

after today Iran will never be ruled over by a Supreme Leader again, the ppl will be the Supreme Leader.

As expected protesters hit the streets Saturday afternoon to meet resistance from the Basij, a paramilitary group under the clerics. There were reports of them blocking off the path to the rally site and using tear gas and water canons on protesters. Due to a stronger government clampdown and many Iranians in the street, updates are more difficult to get and confirm as the situation unfolds. There were reports of helicopters dropping boiling water or other chemicals, but can't confirm. There was also a report of a bombing of Khomeini's (first Supreme Leader after 1979 revolution, not to be confused with Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader), but most people believe it was done by the government to make Mousavi look anti-Islamic.

I'm watching streaming video from Iran and saw a video with gunshots and what looked like a street battle. Hard to say because it was from a distance and low quality, but definitely heard gunshots. Can't confirm the video is from today, though.

Mousavi has released statements saying he has prepared for martyrdom. He also called for Iranians to strike indefinably if he is arrested.

Scientific analysis proving voter fraud. I only skimmed it so can't judge if it's sound reasoning, but probably true.

Here is a video from the streets. Links to other videos are below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0-CcQfiPac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhYNAkdeq4M

If you have the capabilities please set up a proxy server for the Iranian people.

I changed the background to green in support of the Sea of Green! Stand strong people of Iran, the world is with you!

the beginning or the end

2009-06-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

Khameni drew a line in the sand Friday, Today the Iranian nation will cross it and say 'we are in charge'. #Iranelection #Iranelections

Tomorrow (today in Iran) will be a defining moment for the movement. On Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not back down at all from previous statements, calling the election fair and holding support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He threatened no more protests will be accepted. Reform leaders are calling for a rally Saturday in opposition to Khamenei. The question now is if people will back down due to fear of retaliation or continue going strong. If a majority back down this will be the end of the movement. If they continue the question will be to see what the response of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard will be. Will they respond with violence? How will the Army respond? So far they have stayed neutral but have stated they will not shoot Iranian citizens. But will they side with the people or continue to stay on the sidelines. There have also been mentions of Revolutionary Guard commanders being arrested for not obeying orders. Will a part of the IRG side with the population? This could lead to civil war. There is definitely a power struggle going on. A number of reformist leaders are former high position government officials. The mullahs (basically high clerics) have also condemned Khamenei's speech.

In other news, SMS (text) services are finally back in Iran. This could be a huge advantage for the opposition if the government decides to not turn it off again. The U.S. has also passed a resolution supporting the protesters and Obama is expect to sign. Purely symbolic but will be ammo for the regime.

More about Khamenei's talk from Tatsuma.

A relatively large crowd was present to hear Khameini declared during the prayers, while Reformist leaders called on their supporters to stay home. It was very easy to notice that this crowd was also much older than those we have seen revolting.

There were two sermons, a religious one and a political one.
- The religious sermon itself was rather short and stayed on topic. It concentrated at first on peace and tranquility, leading into the fact that the Revolution was the Will of Allah, that it was sacred and its goals were the goals of Allah. He continued by asking Allah victory over their common enemies, and that people who went against the Revolution were enemies of Allah.

- The policial speech was much longer and disjointed. He started by thanking everyone for the election, then he proceeded to blame the West, claimed that Iran was one of the most democratic country on Earth and that the results were not rigged. He claimed that while yes, there is some corruption in Iran, it's nowhere near the UK MP expenses scandal. He then directly threatened the pro-Reformists leaders, saying that all the violence will be their responsibility. This is all the works of Zionist spies and British radio, and Hillary Clinton was responsible for Waco so Iran is better than America and the West.

There are three major statements to be gleaned from these speech, with further confirmation of a fourth. However boring and long-winded it might have been to the Western ear, it was a major milestone of this revolution, and its implications are far-reaching:

1- His declaration that the Islamic Revolution sacred, that its goals were the goals of Allah and that those who went against it were the enemies of Allah. He then asked Allah victory over the enemies.

This is major. He has in fact painted the entire reformist movement as being anti-Islamic. Due to his position, and the tone that he adopted, this is basically a death sentence delivered to those who will keep on protesting. Not unexpected, but a bold move nonetheless.

2 - He fully supports Ahmadinejad.

This is not a surprise, but he did not back down one inch. He does not give credibility to any of the Reformist claims, and says to either toe the line, or suffer the consequences.

3 - He has put the responsability of violence on the shoulders of the Reformist leaders, and openly declared that he is not going to tolerate it anymore.

This means that the repression from now on will be much more violent, and has more or less openly threatened the leaders of the Revolution that they will pay with their lives if they continue.

4 - As confirmed by Stratfor, the Revolutionary Guard has taken over from the police in all matters of domestic law and order. This effectively means that they are going to start crushing dissent as well, and that they have allied themselves to the regime.

Out of all major developments, this is the biggest one. Will the army stay Neutral, toe the line or side with the Reformists?

It seems that in reaction to being relegated second in the Satans category, the U.S. House has decided to pass a resolution supporting the protesters and Obama is expected to endorse it, which will most likely lead to further delegitimization of the Reformist movement.

In other news, things are not rosy for the Basij and there are increasing signs that they are starting not only to lose ground, but to fear for their safety. There are many reports that most Basij forces are now hiding their identities with masks for fear of reprisal. There are websites being created featuring images and often identities of Basij who have been violently repressing students, calling for actin to be taken against those men.

The Internet and International Solidarity

2009-06-19T11:03:00.001-07:00

The recent events in Iran, dubbed the Twitter Revolution by some, have been unprecedented in which the Internet has been used during such events. In a country where the theocratic regime blocked nearly all access to the press, baffling mainstream media outlets, social networks, Twitter in particular, have become the main sources of information. While CNN could barely figure out what was going on, users on news website Fark.com give up to the minute updates deduced from a handful of Iranian “tweeters” they have deemed reliable from the past days events. By the time the mainstream media caught on it was difficult to separate truth from lies by the Iranian government trying to undermine the service. By this time the Fark users knew who provided factual information.

Twitter allows users to give updates to their followers in 140 characters or less. The service, often called more a novelty than practical form of communication, has proved invaluable for organizing and giving the outside world a glimpse of what is going on in Iran. Tweets are mostly factual information. “News: Eyewitness confirmed arabic speaking riot polices "definitely NOT Irani-arabs"” says a post by StopAhmai. Others show hope and astonishment; “Thursday Sea of Green was more than ONE MILLION people,” posts another user. Sometimes the wear of the struggle comes out; “I'm sorry about being negative, we're are doing all we can and still we have zero progress & I'm feeling bad about it.” Some users request their user names are not revealed in fear of retaliation by the government. Due to the nature of the service the government would have to shut down the Internet to silence Twitter, as was done in Moldova a few months ago. With the use of proxy servers set up abroad, tech savvy Iranians are able to go around government filters.

The most amazing aspect of the service is not the information it brings but the people it connects. Even workers on the political right, that months ago would have agreed with a U.S. strike against Iran, stood with Iranians. Users on Fark shared concern, support and anger, deep emotions, with people they had never met nor even held a conversation with. Users would worry when a tweeter had gone hours without posting, discuss wearing green armbands to work, help each other with setting up proxy servers, and pass along any information they can to help the movement. For many, this broke their assumptions of Iran as a backwards country behind the times. Historically this is the first time such an event has been told from the strugglers' perspective. Maybe more importantly this is the first time the working class of the world has united in solidarity through such direct personal means.

US interests

2009-06-18T23:06:00.001-07:00

I'm going to keep this short, which maybe isn't such a great idea, since it'll lead to some yelling conspiracy, but if you've really read up on your recent US history, and not talking about your standard history books, you'd know that we've done more than our share of toppling of governments. Back in the day (Kennedy and before) we'd just go in full force with the military. But then people started protesting so the CIA got involved. Here is an article I found from two years ago discussing CIA plans to destabilize the Iranian government through economic means.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.

This is in no way proof and let me make a few things clear. What is going on in Iran is in no way something started by the CIA. People don't just hit the street in those numbers unless they have true motive, and as a modern society living under a repressive theocracy Iranians have the motive. At the same time the US has great interest in removing Ahmadinejad and to say something like this is going on without any US involvement is, in my opinion, a naive statement (one of the things I wanna write is a quick history of Iran which clearly shows how it got to where it is in large part due to the US and Great Brittan). Iran has been suffering economically more than the rest of the world. Iran has a large, educated middle class. Mousavi, being a moderate, would be more open to relations with the US than Ahmadinejad, especially with talks of removing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US has realized its foreign policy with the Middle East is failing. Obama's Cairo speech shows this, unprecedented in the way it was so honest with the way the US has dealt with the Middle East in the past (I'm talking pre-Bush II here). Therefore the big bad boogy man (Ahmadinejad) is no longer needed. But what Iran now has to offer is a market. And with Mousavi as president, and possibly with Khamenei out of the picture, this will happen.

At the same time something unexpected can happen, and that is if the people don't back down after the election and actually demand accountability from their leader, or worse yet (from the US point of view), the working class takes power of some industry. Another thing against their interest is how the internet, Twitter particularly, has connected the average American with the average Iranian in solidarity. I've seen this even from people who would have agreed with our government bombing Iran a year ago (I'll have more on this aspect in my next post). I have no idea how deep the CIA is, and reason being that it's a very sensitive issue as any showing of this will strengthen the regime. The state department has already intervened by asking Twitter to reschedule their server upgrade to be during the night in Iran. Of course what really matters is what's best for the Iranian people, and that will be determined after the regime is overthrown. Sure you might say that if the US is involved it's trying to bring democracy to Iran, but if you think that, you really need to read up on true US history.

Another site with good info on how the election unfolded. Only gave it a quick glance myself.

And from twitter...

the mobile phone and the computer replaces the gun as the waepon of the revolution #IranElection #IranElections

We have unconfirmed reports that there is dissent among commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Force - #Iranelection

http://bit.ly/1uRaDK - we need more proxys - #Iranelection - do not post on twitter

That last one is particularly important. If you could set up a proxy server it would help greatly.

the twitter revolution

2009-06-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

UPDATE:

Very worrying report: Supreme Leader Khameini has called for Friday Prayers where he will be present. There are fears that the IRG is going to have a massive presence and that this might be a trap, but on the other hand not attending makes the reformists enemies of Islam and worthy of the death penalty. There are also reports that other Reformist candidate Karoubi and his entire party leadership were arrested.

Nothing much has happened in the last hours aside of that. There are reports of clerics and ayatollahs meeting in the holy Shiite city of Qom in order to plan to overthrow Khameini as supreme leader, as well as a more and more pro-dissenters stance from the army, but we have nothing substantiated so far. I will yet update this tomorrow, adding further information about various other groups operating in Iran right now and relevant to this revolution.

I really am trying to cram the most relevant information and speculation only. Everything is updated as events unfold, especially the timeline and what will happen in the future. If you want to link this, here is the website, updated as the situation changes:

https://sites.google.com/site/tatsumairanupdate/

Some more updates directly from twitter:

Hezbollah & Hamas of Lebanon Helping Iranian Security forces in Tehran is what I meant, sorry for the confusion

Be careful about fake Iran security forces tweets, but don't block as it might be real tweeter Iran #Iranelection #gr88 #Iranelections

When we get new elections we must allow candidates not of approved lists. Real democracy this time. Iran #Iranelection #gr88 #Iranelections

and the rumor about Hezbolah & Hamas helping Basij, until today I never believed it but I saw them today with my own eyes

Next Ahmadinejad will turn water into wine, votes in 30 cities more than the people who live there let alon able to vote #Iranelection

can we block the airport so they can't make the foreign journalists leave? #Iranlection #gr88 #Iranlections

The Christian Science Monitor has an article explaining the inconsistancies in the Iranian election pointing toward fraud.

Results from 39.2 million handwritten ballots came much more swiftly than in previous votes, emerging within hours. Detailed election data typically released has not been made public.

Iran's Supreme Leader sanctioned Ahmadinejad's victory after a day, instead of the customary three.

Ahmadinejad made a surprisingly strong showing in wealthier cities, where he is known to have less support, and in the ethnic strongholds of his rivals. Results from cities and rural areas normally vary, but this time were remarkably consistent.

Democracy Now had Arang Keshavarzian, Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University, on the show discussing the lead up to the election and the disputed results.

Another set of pictures showing the size of these protests. Some are graphic.

On another topic, Salon blogger and constitutional law attorney Glenn Greenwald was also on Democracy Now talking about President Obama's embracement of Bush's policies on government secrets even though it was one of the cornerstones of his campaign. A great overall view of how Obama is no different than Bush on this issue.

rumors to overthrow the government

2009-06-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

There have been rumors of clerics, Ayatollahs and the Army plotting to overthrow the government. If it happens, you heard it here first... maybe. I've been following 3 people from Iran on twitter:

Moves being made to force Generals to support Ahmadinejad, I am told they will not give the order to shoot. #Iranelection #Iranelections

If you carry Koran it will be difficult for Basij to attack. Imagine picture batton wielding Basij with Koran under his foot. #Iranelection

Khameni has no authority left and Grand Ayatollahs cannot afford Ahmadinejad getting more power. they will back Green - #Iranelection

unconfirmed - several Generals have been arested - #Iranelection

news from tuesday::: our march was big success!! militia are now frightened of us - they know world is watching - #Iranelection

I wonder if Admiral Shamkhani makes a move tomorrow, marines already prevent IRG from arresting him. he's also a war hero & ex-def minister.

It's really interesting getting these updates right to my phone. Makes me feel really connected to what's going on over there. It's almost noon in Tehran and I haven't heard anything from the people I'm following so I wonder if anything is up. It's been tougher and tougher to get internet connections over there. If the government is overthrown I hope the people don't just stand down and it doesn't go from one theocracy to another.

Other links:
on going timeline from the Guardian
news from iran

Daily show had pretty good coverage the past two days. Mostly making fun of CNN.

iranian revolution(?) update

2009-06-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

UPDATE AT BOTTOM

Pulled this from Fark posted by Tatsuma. Great update on what's happened and what's going on in Iran.

Major timeline overhaul, including what has unfolded in the last few hours.

This seems to be helping quite a few people, so I'll go ahead and repost it in every threads with some adjustments. Sorry, this has reached the level of TL;DR but I really am trying to cram the most relevant information and speculation only. Everything is updated as events unfold, especially the timeline and what will happen in the future.

Suppression of Dissent - The Players

Currently, there are either two or three groups who are suppressing the students on the ground that you'll read about throughout this thread:

1. The Basij
2. Ansar Hizbullah (which I will refer to as Ansar)
3. Lebanese Hizbullah (Unconfirmed but highly probable. Der Spiegel, based on a Voice of America report, says that 5,000 Hizbullah fighters are currently in Iran masquerading as riot police, confirming the independent reports. Many different independent reports and video point that way. Even in the last hours other independent twitter feeds have declared witnessing thugs beating on people while shouting in Arabic; I will refer to them as Hizbullah)

- The Basij are your regular paramilitary organization. They are the armed hand of the clerics. The Basij are a legal group, officially a student union, and are legally under direct orders of the Revolutionary Guard. Their main raison d'être is to quell dissent. They are the ones who go and crack skulls, force people to participate in pro-regime demonstrations, and generally try to stop any demonstrations from even starting. They are located throughout the country, in every mosque, every university, every social club you can think of. They function in a way very similar to the brownshirts.

They were the ones who first started the crackdown after the election, but it wasn't enough. While they are violent and repressive, they are still Persian and attacking fellow citizens. A beating is one thing, mass killings another.

- Another group was working with them, whose members are even more extreme, is Ansar. There is a lot of cross-membership between the Basij and Ansar, though not all are members of the other group and vice-versa. The vast majority of Ansar are Persians (either Basij or ex-military), though a lot of Arab recruits come from Lebanon and train with them under supervision of the Revolutionary Guard. They are not functioning under a legal umbrella, they are considered a vigilante group, but they pledge loyalty directly to the Supreme Leader and most people believe that they are under his control. They are currently helping the Basij to control the riots, but due to the fact that they are Persians and in lower numbers than the Basij, they are not that active.

- The Lebanese Hizbullah is a direct offshoot (and under direct control) of the Iranian Hizbullah (itself under direct control of the Supreme Leader) and cooperates closely with Ansar though Ansar occupies itself only with Iran's domestic policies, while Hizbullah occupies itself only with Iran's foreign policy unless there is a crisis like right now. However, Hizbullah has been called to stop violent riots in Iran in the past.

(the following paragraph includes some speculation based on reports from ground zero) Hizbullah flew in a lot of their members in Iran, most likely a good deal even before the elections in case there were trouble. They are the ones who speak Arabs and are unleashing the biggest level of violence on the Persians so far. Another wave arrived recently and there is chatter that yet another wave of Hizbullah reinforcements are coming in from Lebanon as we speak. According to Iranians on the ground, they are the ones riding motorcycles, beating men women and children indiscriminately and firing live ammunitions at students.

What will happen

Unless the army decides to intervene in the favor of the Council and to stop the early beginnings of the new Revolution, Ansar & Hizbullah members will be the ones doing the brunt of the killing and repression with Basij as a support while also protecting government buildings and try to do crowd control. The police seems to have for the most part disbanded in centers like Tehran according to all reports, including international media. If the police decides to come back, they will focus less on protection and crowd control, so the Basij will start to crack more skulls).

Currently, this is what is happening.

Timeline (updated and revamped!)
note: I built this through both articles and twitter feeds, so I do not claim that this is a 100% factually correct representation of reality, but this is the general narrative.

14th of June - While the previous day had been witness to some protests, they were for the most part peaceful. However, as time grew the protests turned more and more violent. When the first spontaneous riots erupted, the first wave of violence was unleashed. The Iranian Riot Police was called in to support the regular police officers controlling the protests, and shortly after the Basij also took the scene, moving from a passive to active role of repression. The RP concentrated mostly around public buildings and streets while the Basij took position around student groups, especiallly universities.

- As things got more out of hand, more and more Basij troops were called in, as the police started dispersing. The riot police are less inclined (or, rather I should say the Basij are more inclined) to use violence so they retreated and leaving the place to the Basij. The repressive forces concentrated their assault mostly around the main Iranian universities, while the riot police were concentrating on protecting various government buildings such as the Interior Ministry. At least two people had been killed already.

- On the telecommunication front, this is when we started to hear more and more from twitters while videos were being freely updated to youtube (while youtube started to delete the more violent ones a few hours later). This is also the moment where the government realized what was happening, and ordered for the internet, phone lines and cellphones to be cut off, in order to avoid people communicating with the outside world.

late 14th, early 15th of June - This is the second wave of violent repression. At this point, violent riots had spread all over the main cities of Iran. The violence against citizens was not only the fruit of the Basij anymore, but also came from Ansar Hizbullah members. This is the point where firearms started being used. There were reports of a few murders but it was mostly fired in the air or on walls in order to scare away protesters in University dorms. It's also around the same time that the first reports and videos of an important number of non-Persian thugs shouting in Arabic and violently beating people with chains, clubs and electric batons (similar to cattle prods), which led to many speculating that lebanese Hizbullah members were now in Iran. Der Spiegel, through Voice of America, later claimed that 5000 Hizbullah fighters were passing off as Riot Police, validating the claims of many independent sources and twitter feeds.

- Universities have been the hotbed of protests, serving as a hub of anti-government demonstrations and preparations. 120 teachers from the Sharid University resigned in protest over the election results. Perfectly away of this, the Basij, Ansar and possibly Hizbullah members concentrated their attacks on University Dorms all over the country, storming them and beating students, destroying everything, especially computers.

- The end of the second wave came right before the beginning of the current manifestation. Things were getting quieter with only sporadic reports of dissenters being assaulted. Important to note: at this time. the Supreme Leader authorized the plainclothes militias to use live ammunition against the crowd if things were to get out of hands. By the end of the first two waves of protests, hundreds of people had been arrested.

midday, 15th of June - This brings us to the third wave, which just began around 12:30PM for those of us on the East Coast. Plainclothes militia opened fire on civilians protesting peacefully. Possibly up to 2 million protesters took the street. Chaos erupted in the streets, with reports of fighting all over Tehran and spreading over Iran as the news circulated. Pictures of people shot, some to death, finally surfaced and were published in the mainstream media. Violent and murderous repression has started. At least a twenty people had been killed at this by the end of the 15th of June.

- There is a major national crackdown on students, especially those with connections to the outside world going on right now. Students are fighting back in some areas. Telephones are being bugged and everyone twittering and sending videos outside of Iran are being rounded up. ISPs were shut down, government hackers are threatening people who twitter, and some of them have vanished in the last 24 hours.

- Eventually, the people started to fight back. First, they took over and burned down a Basij base, killing its commander. Later, a Basij shot a young man in the face in front of their HQ, at which point a policeman went to confront them. The Basij beat the policeman, at which point students stormed the compound, throwing molotov cocktails, burning it to the ground.

- During the night, the police entered certain neighbourhood to arrest public servants and force them to appear at tomorrow's pro-Ahmadinejad manifestation, but the people went out in the street and forced them out of their neighbourhoods. The Basij have kept on storming dorms. So far the reports are conflicting, but it appears that the death toll could be as high as 40 for the protesters, with two dead on the side of the repressive militias. This is the end of the third wave.

16th of June - Supporters of Moussavi have a manifestation planned for 5pm, Tehran time. Roughly the same number or more is expected to attend. People are dressed in black and told to protest silently.

- The pro-Ahmadinejad crowd however are planning a counter-demonstration at the very same place the supporters are supposed to gather at 3pm. Most agree that basically they are simply going to gather for a confrontation. Rumours are that they are taking position in buildings next to the parade and in bunkers to attack. Basij from all over the country are moving to Tehran and supporters are being bused from all over the country. A major showdown is expected to unfold.

- The crackdown on people using telecommunication is as strong as ever. Anyone with a laptop, camera or cellphone is attacked in the street by plainclothes militias. Tehran hotels are under lockdown to prevent the members of the foreign press not yet expulsed from reporting what is happening.

- As for the Iranian Government and different branches, there are rumours that many Army Generals have been arrested for plotting a Coup d'État, but this is still speculation at this point. The Supreme Leader has also called for a 10-day inquiry into the claims of fraud, but it has been widely dismissed as cosmetic. Moussavi and his supporters have rejected this, claiming that they want new elections. Khameini is now using the armed Basij as his own bodyguards, hundreds of them are surround him and his residence to protect from attempted assassinations. Ahmadinejad himself is in Russia right now, for a planned visit, and tries to pretend that everything is good as usual.

- The fourth wave of violence has yet to start, but it is expected to flare up once the Basij and Supporters see each others at Valli Asr, most likely attacked without provocation once again.

The Revolution lives on.

Demands from the protesters

1. Dismissal of Khamenei for not being a fair leader
2. Dismissal of Ahmadinejad for his illegal acts
3. Temporary appointment of Ayatollah Montazeri as the Supreme Leader
4. Recognition of Mousavi as the President
5. Forming the Cabinet by Mousavi to prepare for revising the Constitution
6. unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners
7. Dissolution of all organs of repression, public or secret.

Who is Grand Ayatollah Montazeri?

Ayatollah Montazeri is a pro-Democracy, pro-Human Rights Ayatollah who was at one point on the short list of possible successors of Khomeini, but became marginalized as he adopted what was seen as a too pro-Western, pro-Democracy stance.

Since the beginning of the Revolution, he has been one of the fiercest critics of the Regime, and one of the biggest proponents of women and civil rights for ALL Iranians, including much-maligned minorities like the Baha'is. In fact he goes further than the protections afforded to them under Sharia.

He is also a big critic of Ahmadinejad and has been seen for years as the best hope for Iran if he ever was to come to power, something that was unthinkable a mere week ago.

Links

For further information on the Basij, Global Security has a good article about the history of the Basij.

CNN has a good article where eyewitnesses describe the type of violence usually unleashed by the Basij.

Here is another good article from GS again giving more background information on the ruthless Ansar thugs.

BBC profile of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri

important: The Iranian government is looking for dissident twitterers, so if you have an account, change your location and timezone to tehran!

UPDATE: More from Tatsuma

early 16th of June - The fourth wave of violence has started, and was expected to flare up very soon. It surprisingly was quite mild. Pro-Moussavi supporters said that there were even more people today protesting against the regime, though raw numbers are hard to get. If this is true, it means there are more than 2M protesters in the street right now. They are dressed in black and protesting silently and without violence so far. Other reports that only 250,000 were in the street, possibly scared by the Basij and propaganda.

- The Basij, surprisingly, did not attacking the march itself but rather assaulted dorms again. It looks like they are using the march as a diversion. In Tehran proper, 2000 Basij are waiting to storm the male dorm, and they are backed by IRG helicopters, which seems to send the message that the IRG has broken from their undeclared neutrality toward tacitely supporting the Regime.

- The crackdown on telecommunications is starting to suffocate all of Iran. As of now:

* Gmail and GTalk are shut down
* Yahoo is shut down
* AIM is most likely shut down
* Phone lines are down
* HTTPS and other such protocols are down
* Iranian ISPs have been shut down
* They are trying very hard to close down the Iranian connexion to twitter and giving proxies they control in order to track down people
* Cellphones and SMS are shut down

People are also receiving phone calls from the government saying "We know you were in the protests".

Night has fallen on Iran, and the Basij are roaming, attacking passerbys at random. They have also surrounded dorms and waiting to storm them once again.

The Revolution lives on.

some links:
Leading Iranian Reformist Arrested, His Office Says
forum with up to date info

possible election results leaked showing fraud

2009-06-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: A quick timeline of events. Workers strike called for Tuesday. BBC ordered to leave Iran and officials attempt to arrest BBC crew but are stopped by protesters. Hospitals being surrounded by Iranian forces not allowing treatment to injured protesters.

Twitter is the main source of information coming from Iran now. From what I read the only way to shut down twitter is to shut down the internet itself. I don't know why but I'm really curious to the technical aspects of this. There are lots of proxy servers being set up outside Iran to help the cause. From reports SMS is down and the internet is extremely slow. Here are some other things I've gathered up, mostly from Fark. They appear to have database issues now, but there is a new thread superseding the one I posted earlier. Check Fark Politics for the latest thread.

From Telegraph:

The statistics, circulated on Iranian blogs and websites, claimed Mr Mousavi had won 19.1 million votes while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won only 5.7 million.

The two other candidates, reformist Mehdi Karoubi and hardliner Mohsen Rezai, won 13.4 million and 3.7 million respectively. The authenticity of the leaked figures could not be confirmed.

I'm sure in time we'll find out if these are valid or not.

More photos

what you can do to help

twitter feed on iranian elections

tweeters in iran

I wonder what the US response will be to this. Obama is being impartial now. Mousavi would likely open Iran up to new foreign markets which would be in US business interests, but then Iran wouldn't be the great threat they are now. Although I don't know what Mousavi's stance on Israel is. This could go much further though. There has been a call for Supreme Leader Khamenei to step down. I'm not sure which organization this is coming from, but the demands are:

1. Remove Khamenei from supreme leader
2. Remove Ahmadinejad because he took it forcefully and unlawfully
3. Put Ayatollah Monazeri as supreme leader until a review of the constitution is set up
4. Recognize Mousavi as official president
5. Let Mousavi rule as the constitution is reformed
6. Free all political prisoners, immediately
7. Call off all secret militia and offices

What would the reform of the constitution mean? How big of a part do the working class play in these protests? Could this be a workers revolution? If it looks like the people are trying to take power, and not one bourgeois group from another you will probably see the US get involved to 'assist' with the revolution. We'll see how this unfolds.

more from iran

2009-06-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

Fark has an ongoing thread that has a lot of on-the-ground information from Tehran. Twitter is being used to get information out. The Iranian government is trying to crack down so it's been suggested to switch your location to Tehran and time to GMT +0330. I'm not sure how they're looking for users (since I think twitter is blocked, so it might be accessed through proxies, but don't know the technical details) so I suggest doing the same in case it helps.

Twitter also rescheduled downtime due to the Iranian protests. The downtime was initially scheduled for tonight US time, but was moved to 1-2pm PST which is 130am Tehran time. The situation is supposed to escalate Tuesday (so already today in Tehran).

mass protests erupt in Iran over election results

2009-06-15T12:20:00.001-07:00

Mass protests have broken out after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the Iranian presidential election with more than 62 percent of the vote. Ahmadinejad needed over 50 percent of the vote to prevent a runoff election between him and top contender, reformist candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed the results despite many claims of election fraud. There were expectations of neither candidate acquiring the required 50 percent of the vote and a runoff election taking place. It is estimated that over 100,000 anti-Ahmadinejad protesters have claimed the streets of Tehran, sometimes sparking violence in confrontations with police. The media has been blocked from leaving Iran so size of protests outside Tehran is unknown. Internet websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube along with pro-Mousavi sites have been blocked by the government. An AP photographer has reported that at least one person was killed as the militia fired on a rally. More than 130 prominent Mousavi supporters have been rounded up by police including Mohammad Reza Khatami, the brother of former President Mahmoud Khatami, a former speaker of the parliament, and the son-in-law of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of the 1979 Islamist revolution.

The protests can be seen not just as a challenge to Ahmadinejad but also to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Moderate youth in Iran see a disconnect between their lives and ideas and the Ayatollah's hard-lined religious views. Ahmadinejad was elected as a populist, with policies helping the poor. But constant inflation, harsh penalties against unions, and rollbacks of government subsidies on staples has alienated the working class and poor. Mousavi has called for greater women's rights and political freedom strengthening his support among students and the middle class, but has made no outreach to the working class and poor living the group open to Ahmadinejad.

Even though neither candidate is truly the best choice, mainly due to required approval from the Supreme Leader to run, Mousavi's election would give Iranian people greater freedom to organize and have more control over their country. More importantly, this mass rising is a great opportunity for organization to be formed among the people for sustained grassroots control to not just elect a leader but hold them accountable, something I wish would happen with Obama's presidency. It is unknown if Khamenei will compromise with Mousavi some way or just wait for the protests to die down or crush them if they don't.

UPDATE: James sent me a link with some really good photos from Tehran.

what is socialism?

2009-06-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Mission Branch ISO invites you to a discussion on:

"What is Socialism?"
an ISR Article Discussion
(The article "What is socialism?" can be found here:
http://www.isreview.org/issues/65/feat-socialism.shtml)

Wednesday, June 3 @ 7pm
110 Capp St. (b/t 16th & 17th Streets, near 16th St. BART)
San Francisco

Socialist ideas—however confused and distorted—have found their way into mainstream discussion in a way that would have been hard to imagine before the right wing started accusing Obama last summer of being a follower of Karl Marx.

This new opening allows those of us with a commitment to a radical transformation of society to shed our ingrained defensiveness after years of being told that socialism was passé, and to come out swinging. Internation Socialist Review author, Eric Ruder, begins by analyzing the distorted definitions of socialism, and finishes by reviving the much more attractive vision of socialism as fought for by workers’ movements of the past and given theoretical expression by its most famous proponents, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.

Be a part of this discussion which will continue in a broader meeting on June 17th: "What is Socialism? Can it Happen Here?"

All are welcome. For more information, email missioniso@yahoo. com.

Sponsored by the Mission Branch of the International Socialist Organization.
Check out the calendar of events for the Bay Area:
http://www.norcalsocialism.org/

Save the Date! Register Now!
http://www.socialis mconference. org
West Coast Socialism 2009 in San Francisco, July 2-5
A weekend of political debate, discussion, and entertainment.

flickr

2009-05-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to reactivate my Flikr and use it as a place to put my best photos.

Check it out here. You can always find the link on the right hand menu, too.

photos from day of decision

2009-05-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

Here are photos I took from the protests on the Day of Decision, when the California Supreme Court ruled to uphold Proposition 8.

prop 8 upheld, ca to cut welfare

2009-05-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

The California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8 yesterday, outlawing gay marriage in the state. Hundreds of protesters marched into the street after the 10am ruling and 175 were arrested for blocking the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street. The civil disobedience was organized by One Struggle, One Fight. Two litigators who argued against each other in the Bush v. Gore case filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court hoping to bring it to the Supreme Court.

Update: Just found a recent Gallup poll on same-sex marriage. Even though majority of Americans continue to oppose gay marriage, the following graph can simply be called inevitability.

In response to the failed propositions of last weeks special election, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released a budget plan that would "eliminate welfare, drop 1 million poor children from health insurance, cut off new grants for college students and shut down 80 percent of state parks."

tuesday may 26th

2009-05-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

I just got the announcement that the decision will be made on TUESDAY MAY 26th at 10am. Spread the word! Meet at 10am at the California Supreme Court at 350 McAllister St at Civic Center Park. There will be a rally at San Francisco City Hall at 5pm. If you can't make it to San Francisco that day, there are events all over the state and country so check the Day of Decision website. For info on civil disobedience that may be going on check out One Struggle, One Fight.

some interesting statistics on wealth

2009-05-22T00:48:00.000-07:00

Just picked up a new book and found this in the intro. This brings me up to 5 books I'm currently reading. I should start prioritizing because I've barely started all 5. The book was printed in 2006.

-The assets of the world's top three billionaires are greater than those of the poorest 600 million people on the planet.
-Globally, there are seventy thousand people who possess more than $30 million in financial assets. Half of the world's 587 billionaires are Americans, whose wealth increased collectively by $500 billion in 2003 alone. They posses the same amount of wealth as the combined gross domestic product of the world's poorest 170 countries combined.
-More than a third of the world's people, 2.8 billion, live on less than two dollars a day.
-1.2 billion people live on less than one dollar a day.

And some stats for the U.S.
-The average compensation in 2004 for the CEOs of the top 367 U.S. companies was $11.8 million, up from $8.1 million in 2003. On average, CEOs in 2004 made 431 times what a production worker made, up from a 107:1 ratio in 1990 and a 42:1 ratio in 1982.
-CEO pay has increased by 300 percent over the last fifteen years, whereas wages have increased in the same period by only 5 percent (and minimum wage workers have seen their pay fall by 6 percent). If wages had kept up with the percentage increase in CEO pay, in 2004 the average pay for production workers would have been $110,136, instead of $27,460.
-The top 20 perfect of American households control 83 percent of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 80 percent of Americans control only about 17 percent of the nation's wealth.
-A total of 34.6 million Americans in 2002, 12.1 percent of the population, lived below the official poverty line, and 8.5 million of them had jobs. Overall, black poverty is double that of whites.

election results

2009-05-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of the California Special Election

Proposition 1A: Rainy Day Fund - Yes: 34.2%; No: 65.8%
Proposition 1B: Education Funding - Yes: 37.5%; No: 62.5%
Proposition 1C: Modernize Lottery - Yes: 35.4%; No: 64.6%
Proposition 1D: Child Services Funding - Yes: 34.3%; No: 65.7%
Proposition 1E: Mental Health Budget - Yes: 33.6%; No: 66.4%
Proposition 1F: Elected Official Salaries - Yes: 73.9%; No: 26.1%
[source]

Good thing California voters didn't pass these budget cuts.

Day of Decision

2009-05-20T23:57:00.000-07:00

Sometime in the next two weeks the California Supreme Court will rule on the challenge to Proposition 8. The decision will be either next Monday or Thursday, or Tuesday or Thursday of the following week. You can sign up for a mobile alert here, which we will get 24 hours prior to the ruling. If the ruling upholds Prop 8 there will be civil disobedience organized by One Struggle, One Fight. Otherwise there will be a celebration. Come show your support! For more information visit the Day of Decision website.

torture used to tie 9/11 to Iraq

2009-05-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

According to Colin Powell's former Chief of Staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, the Bush administration used torture to link Al Qaeda to Iraq. Wilerson states, "The detainee had not revealed any al-Qa’ida-Baghdad contacts yet. This ceased only after Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, under waterboarding in Egypt, “revealed” such contacts. Of course later we learned that al-Libi revealed these contacts only to get the torture to stop." As we now know there was no Iraq/Al Qaeda link. Could the Iraq war been started without this link? Either way, this was one of the main arguments to start the war in Iraq. This man was tortured until he gave the information the administration needed to start an unjust war. With all the information coming out I hope Obama has no choice but to start a criminal investigation about torture and Iraq. Certain people should be punished for war crimes but I doubt anyone of importance ever will. More on what can be summed up as this week in torture.

First the "War on Terror" ended, now it may be the "War on Drugs." In an interview White House Drug Czar, Gil Kerlikowske said, "Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them." The Obama administration has spoken of more sensible drug policies, we'll just have to wait to see how they're implemented. Will this be a drastic change or just a different choice of words? Operations in Afghanistan didn't change with the end of the "War on Terror."

An activist from Texas was sentenced 24 months in prison for preparing Molotov cocktails that were intended to be used for the 2008 Republican National Convention. I don't know what the guy's intention was, but it's people like this that really hurt progressive movements. This is fodder for the main stream media just so they can focus on the few violent people of any movement in an attempt to discredit it. Just like people who mindlessly start riots and protests, why can't these idiots realize they're doing more bad than good for the cause they claim to be supporting?

from the city where you put flowers in your hair

2009-05-15T21:00:00.001-07:00

I spent most of the day sorting through pictures I've taken over the past month. Some of my favorites, all from various parts of San Francisco.

swedish socialist hell

2009-05-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Max sent me this Daily Show clip. I gotta get back to watching Daily Show, this is fucking hilarious. Even though Sweden isn't really socialist. Still... watch.

roundup: i wish Obama would listen to MLK

2009-05-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try a more organized format for my roundups. And maybe something else to call it other than roundup.

Howard Zinn on Democracy Now: I Wish Obama Would Listen to Martin Luther King"
Some U.S. soldiers forced to ration water due to shortage
Homeless advocate caught eye of police Homeland Security coordinator
New York moves to be added to list of states cooler than California. Assembly passes gay marriage bill
Guns may be allowed back in national parks as part of credit card legislation
UCSB professor investigated for being critical of Israel

Historian and peace activist Howard Zinn is interviewed my Amy Goodman. One of the topics discussed is how Obama, like many, commends Martin Luther King on the civil rights movement, but does not take into account his ideas on peace and poverty. Zinn discusses how Martin Luther King, along with historical figures including Mark Twain and Helen Keller were radicals, yet history rarely mentions these parts.

Instead of Theodore Roosevelt, tell them about Mark Twain. Mark Twain—well, Mark Twain, everybody learns about as the author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but when we go to school, we don’t learn about Mark Twain as the vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League. We aren’t told that Mark Twain denounced Theodore Roosevelt for approving this massacre in the Philippines. No.

We want to give young people ideal figures like Helen Keller. And I remember learning about Helen Keller. Everybody learns about Helen Keller, you know, a disabled person who overcame her handicaps and became famous. But people don’t learn in school and young people don’t learn in school what we want them to learn when we do books like A Young People’s History of the United States, that Helen Keller was a socialist. She was a labor organizer. She refused to cross a picket line that was picketing a theater showing a play about her.

He goes on to say that presidents can't be relied upon. The people have to push leadership to get things done. On a side note, this is exactly what happened with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal. History class would have you think he did it out of the goodness of his heart. It's true that he had more compassion to the labor movement than many other presidents, but it was organization and strikes that brought upon the New Deal. The same thing happened with the Civil Rights movement.

AMY GOODMAN: When Barack Obama was running for president, asked in the debates who would MLK endorse, who would Dr. King endorse, he said, “None of us.”

HOWARD ZINN: Yeah, that’s true, because King believed—and this actually is one of the themes of our people’s history, is that you cannot depend on presidents, and you cannot depend on elections and voting to solve your problems. People themselves, organizing, demonstrating, clamoring, they are the only ones who can push the President and push Congress into change. And that’s what we have to do now with Obama. We have to point to what Obama said in the course of the campaign, when he said we not only have to get out of Iraq, we have to get out of the mindset that brought us into Iraq. Obama, himself, has not gotten out of that mindset yet. And I think we, the people, have to speak to him about that.

I think too many people think electing Obama was end game. They have to realize it was just an opportunity, one that has to be taken advantage of.

The reports were shocking enough when it was revealed that soldiers in Iraq had shortages of body armor and unshielded hummers, but now reports come out that some are forced to ration and steal water leading to cases of dehydration. Some have gotten sick from drinking tap water. Camps have also had issues with water, with filthy water coming out of showers and sinks. Another shocking issue mentioned in the story, but not elaborated on, is how some of these camps look more like shopping malls, where "[y]ou can eat Subway, Burger King, you can buy a $1,200 Oakley watch, but you can’t have clean water to brush your teeth with? What's the real priority here?" Is it really appropriate for corporations to be making money off soldiers that are putting their lives in danger for the country? Another example that corporatism has gone too far where these companies see these troops as simply another market.

Another example of the "War on Terror" being used to target activists. In Fresno a homeless advocate was sent a letter from a Homeland Security coordination team with the Fresno police for taking pictures around the City of Fresno Corporate Yard, where belongings of homeless people were brought after a cleanup effort. The letter advised him to contact them next time he plans on visiting the grounds.

The New York state assembly passed a same-sex marriage bill. The bill will now move to the senate for a vote. New York governor David Paterson said he would sign the bill.

The amendment is bad enough, allowing loaded guns to be taken into national parks but how could a such a thing be attached to credit card legislation, something it has nothing to do with? Just another example on what's wrong with our legislative process. Completely unrelated things like this should not be grouped together.

Professor William Robinson has been targeted by the Anti-Defamation League for criticizing Israel's position on Gaza. Noam Chomsky states, "The course structure is up to the professor. Charges of “anti-Semitism” are part of the ADL’s long-standing strategy to equate any criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish bias."

roundup

2009-05-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

First I'll start with a compelling, well written story on the Angola Three, members of the Black Panther Party who were put under solitary confinement for over a combined 100 years for their peaceful protests and organization in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace were convicted of killing prison guard Brent Wallace even though there is no physical evidence linking them to the killing according to NPR.

An 18,000-acre former slave plantation in rural Louisiana, Angola is the largest prison in the US. Today, with African Americans composing over 75% of Angola’s 5,108 prisoners, prison guards known as “free men,” a forced 40-hour workweek, and four cents an hour as minimum wage, the resemblance to antebellum US slavery is striking.

[...]

Prison authorities sanctioned prisoner rape, and according to former Prison Warden Murray Henderson, the prison guards actually helped facilitate a brutal system of sexual slavery where the younger and physically weaker prisoners were bought and sold into submission. As part of the notorious “inmate trusty guard” system, responsible for killing 40 prisoners and seriously maiming 350 from 1972-75, some prisoners were given state-issued weapons and ordered to enforce this sexual slavery, as well as the prison’s many other injustices. Life at Angola was living hell—a 20th century slave plantation.

The Angola Panthers organized non-violent hunger strikes and work strikes in retaliation to these conditions. Prison authorities put them in solitary confinement to break their influence.

U.S. manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies have dumped at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that are often municipal sources for drinking water.

As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Currently municipalities do not test water for trace pharmaceuticals. Last year the Associated Press did an investigation finding trace pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas. They concluded that 46 million people have drugs in their drinking water. Now it goes a step further, with these claims that companies are dumping these chemicals in waterways. Scientific studies have proven the effects these chemicals have on wildlife. Even though there are only trace amounts, you have to consider this is a mixture of drugs and trace amounts over a lifetime add up. For these reasons I try not to regularly drink tap water. Your Britta filter won't do a thing. Of course most bottling companies are no better and it's very difficult to find their filtering process. I recommend reverse osmosis which will filter these chemicals, as well as things like fluoride that you shouldn't be ingesting. I found that Alhambra drinking water is filtered through reverse osmosis so I purchase their 2.5 gallon jugs. The ultimate goal is to get my own reverse osmosis filtration system going, or purchasing drinking water from Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley, Ca that sells reverse osmosis filtered water, therefore reducing the use of disposable plastics.

U.S. media was all over criticizing the Iranian government for detaining American/Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi. Saberi was sentenced for 8 years, accused of being a U.S. spy. An order will immediately release her. Salon's Glenn Greenwald compares this case to cases of journalists being detained by the U.S. and how little media coverage there is. The media is the first to criticize a foreign government, but when it comes to criticizing the U.S. where they have some influence, they remain silent.

In another unwelcome move the Obama administration is leaning toward a decision to make it up the Federal Reserve when a firm is "too big to fail." This is worrisome since the Federal Reserve is a private/public institution with personal interests in the financial market. I see this as consolidating this power even further from the hands of the people than it already is. Not that the people had the power already, but at least the representatives that were elected could technically be held responsible for their decisions.

Law Professor Jonathan Turley stated that intervies Dick Cheney has done can be used against him in court by admitted the Bush administration knew about the details of the torture program and authorized it. Obama has mentioned he won't prosecute Bush officials but the political winds can always change.

Lawmakers in the lower house in France have passed a bill that would allow Internet connections to be cut of those who repeatedly download illegal music and movies. This is the first time such a bill has been passed. Critics say the bill would not allow offenders to challenge charges against them.

A U.S. soldier gunned down 5 fellow troops at a stress clinic in Baghdad. Hopefully this will further bring to light the stresses soldiers are facing these days from lengthy deployments. Will we see a resurgence of the post Vietnam years where soldiers are thrown to the streets to deal with their PTSD by themselves? I recommend watching Battle for Haditha which addresses this topic and stresses U.S. troops are under.

Conservative talk show host Michael Savage has been banned from Britain. What I find most interesting is that Savage is based in San Francisco and was part of leftist circles in his youth and at one time discussed medicinal benefits of marijuana. I think this shows how he is just an opportunist playing an act to make money.

After a year of President Medvedev Amnesty International says there have been no improvements with justice in Russia despite Medvedev's commitment to restore the rule of law. More interestingly, Medvedev has a LiveJournal. I would totally add him as my friend if it weren't all in Russian.

libertarian paradise

2009-05-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

star trek socialists

2009-05-11T18:01:00.000-07:00

I found this article questioning when the Federation in Star Trek became socialist. In a lot of ways the author complains how such a system being portrayed might give people the wrong idea of where the future is headed and even goes as far as stating that if a pop culture icon had portrayed a fascist government that did not show loss of personal freedoms or oppression, it would have been ridiculed. It becomes clear that the author really has no understanding of what a socialist system is and how it operates. I'm not even clear if the Federation is a true socialist system, since of all the topics Star Trek covers, politics is one it rarely goes into.

The author is under the impression that state controlled industry constitutes a socialist system. Socialism is a bottom up political system, where production, industry, distribution and land are owned by the people. Industry is controlled by workers, and decisions are made through councils in which representatives can be instantly recalled if they are not acting in the will of the people. Systems in the Soviet Union, Cuba, and most other "socialist" countries are really systems of state capitalism, where a small group of individuals who control the government control business and industry. Both these nations started with socialist revolutions that quickly turned into state capitalist systems for reasons I won't get into here. The truth is it's difficult to criticize a capitalist system for not working because there has never been a functioning one for any lengthy period of time. Of course a functioning socialist system has the same problems as a functioning democracy in where it relies on an educated populous to keep the power so it does not get consolidated into the hands of an elite few.

In The Next Generation Jean Luc Picard states that humanity has evolved beyond money. All needs are provided for the people. No one is homeless or poor regardless of their situation. The thing that was never made clear is if industry is worker controlled. The show only focuses on Starfleet, a military organization, which is top down in its structure very much like our current military system. The show rarely goes into civilian aspects of life and to my knowledge doesn't address the political structure of the Federation. How are leaders chosen? How is industry controlled? All that is known is that resources are plentiful so everyone gets what they need. It could be a representative democracy, where similarly to our government, politicians are elected by the people, who in effect make decisions on industry and production. Or maybe Starfleet itself controls these things. All that is known is that the corporate capitalist system that is responsible for much of the worlds problems today has been eliminated.

Even before being exposed to Marx and Engels I adopted their view that society would eventually evolve into a socialist system. Through a historical view the average citizens standard of living and education has risen and their freedoms increased. If this trend continues eventually citizens will take power of their government and a socialist system will be created. I do not know when humanity as a whole will be civilized enough for this model to work, but I see it happening one day. If the author of this article really had an understanding of socialism maybe he wouldn't be complaining so much how a TV show can show such an example of this system.