Twitter Intelligence

1. political situ in Iran is v/complex - for every decision there are reasons - some we cannot mention here - #Iranelection4 minutes ago from web
2. http://bit.ly/CTpRh - Proxy methods - #Iranelection13 minutes ago from web
3. cannot reply to all our followers but pls be aware that all info we provide is 100% accurate - situation here is serious - #Iranelection22 minutes ago from web
4. برادران و خواهران عزیز - بیمارستنهای ایران کمبود خون دارند - وظیفه شریهٔ همگی‌ کمک رسانی فوری هست - #Iranelection - RT RT RT33 minutes ago from web
5. hospital source - severe shortage of blood supplies accross ALL Iran hospitals - pls donate blood - #Iranelection - RT RT RT42 minutes ago from web
6. hospital source - Tehran hospital doctors are on 24 hour standby - #Iranelection43 minutes ago from web
7. http://bit.ly/1uRaDK - we need more proxys - #Iranelection - do not post on twitterabout 1 hour ago from web
8. http://bit.ly/NU7Cd - #Iranelection -about 1 hour ago from web
9. CONFIRMED - MOUSAVI & KAROUBI ask supporters NOT to attend Friday prayers inTehran - #Iranelection RT RT RTabout 1 hour ago from web
10. The security situation in Tehran is very dangerous - 100's arrested every day - #Iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
11. Thursday Sea of Green was more than ONE MILLION people - #Iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
12. confirmed - the wife of Saeed Rajaie, a prominent Iranian wartime martyr, has been arrested while praying in Qom - #Iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
13. unconfirmed reliable source - several commanders of Revolutionary Guard Force arrested today - #Iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
14. We have unconfirmed reports that there is dissent among commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Force - #Iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
    Link: Twitter

The Enigma Illusion

[S]kewed coverage is the reason why American readers were so flummoxed by the results of Iran's 2004 presidential elections and the sudden emergence of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Instead of searching for flaws within, pundits began to blame Iran for being enigmatic. But this enigma, like most others, was only the product of flawed insight. The Bush years did not help. Any multifaceted assessment of Iran that included an account of the regime's mismanagement or mistreatment of its citizens was taunted as an invitation to another military occupation.

link: Roya Hakakian: The Feast and Famine of Iran Coverage in U.S. Media

A Double Edged Sword in Every Pot

Last night on FNC, former Sec. of State Henry Kissinger became one of the more high profile Republicans to endorse President Obama’s handling of the post election situation in Iran. Kissinger said that any vocal US support behind one of the contenders would handicap that person.

link: Politicususa

O Arizona: A Special Place in Hell for Sheriff Joe

Stephen Lemons writes:

KPHO Channel 5 has picked up on the story of Katherine Figueroa, the nine year-old girl robbed of her parents by the MCSO during its raid on Phoenix's Lindstrom Family Auto Wash last Saturday. Her tearful testimony pleading for President Barack Obama's help in springing her parents Sandra and Carlos from Tent City was captured by local pro-immigrant activist Dennis Gilman in a powerful YouTube video, which I posted to this blog Monday morning.

Channel 5 interviewed the girl again and confronted Sheriff Joe Arpaio with the human misery resulting from his immigration raids. True to his egocentric worldview, his first thought was not for the child, but for how the video impacts him.

"That's what this is all about, to embarrass the sheriff," claimed Arpaio, slipping into the third person of a confirmed megalomaniac.

link: Phoenix New Times

But Some of These Fellows are Hardly Even In the Running!

The World Beard and Moustache Championships 2009 in Anchorage, Alaska.

link: The Telegraph UK

Psychic Justice, Naked at Last (But Was That Really Necessary?)

Occasionally, when [Abraham] Hochman did something really dramatic, news of his exploits would appear in the general press. The New York Sun, among other outlets, reported on an episode in May 1904, when a bushy-haired Hochman waltzed into the Essex Market Police Court and inexplicably paid the bail for Abie Langener, who’d been arrested with seven other youths on a burglary charge. The magistrate asked why Hochman was paying bail for someone he didn’t know.

“I can read the future,” he replied. “I have read this man’s mind and know he is innocent. I can also read your mind. You will discharge him when the case comes up before you tomorrow. If he were guilty, I would know it and I would not bail him out. I will be here tomorrow to show you that my predictions come true.”

Hochman did, in fact, show up the following day. And, sure enough, when Langener and another suspect were brought before the court, the magistrate released them due to lack of evidence.

“What did I tell you?” said Hochman.

The psychic was mobbed outside the courthouse by hundreds of friends of the accused who, according to press reports, practically tore off his clothes. It’s not clear why this would be necessary and, in any case, the courthouse bailiffs came outside to rescue him from his demonstrative well-wishers.

link: Tablet

O Arizona: Senator McCain, Open Up Those Courts!

You don't need to go to Iran or North Korea to find secret courts. They're alive and well right here in the United States. On March 26, 2009, I was denied access to immigration courts in Eloy and Florence, Arizona, even though a federal regulation states, "All hearings, other than exclusion hearings, shall be open to the public" with a narrow range of exceptions--none of which were cited as a reason for excluding me.

I'd heard horror stories about mass hearings and the humiliation of detainees by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorneys and judges, and I wanted to see for myself. But a guard told me only family members or attorneys could be admitted. An attorney in the lobby affirmed the legality of my request and invited me to attend his hearing. After waiting forty-five minutes and missing his hearing, I was told by the head of security to go to my car and call Eloy's ICE office. That's when I learned that detention centers across the country were restricting public access to immigration courts.

link: The Nation

Iran Twitter

1. Tehran is alive with the sound of people on their balcony shouting 'Allah Akbar - Ya Hossein - Mir Hossein ' - #Iranelection RT RT RTabout 2 hours ago from web
2. to protect us all followers pls change your twt location to IRAN GMT+3.30 - #Iranelection RT RT RTabout 2 hours ago from web
3. Hospital source - increase in admission of people injured and beaten by Baseej - all Tehran hospitals in high alert - #Iranelectionabout 2 hours ago from web
   link: Twitter