Voiceless in Iran

[Dr. Richard Grossman]

It is wonderful to witness the uprising of the moderates (or more moderate factions) in Iran—a group that has been voiceless for decades.  This is not a political message board, but I felt it would be remiss not to acknowledge the courage of these people in a site devoted to voicelessness.

Richard

[lizzie20]

Hello Dr Grossman and readers,


I get very excited when I see the raw, sometimes crude, power of 'blogging' in circumstances like those we are witnessing in Iraq at the moment.

I've been able to access so much 'forbidden' information coming out of Iran & Iraq. Information that I otherwise would never have been be able access or even know about.

Iranians are great 'bloggers', apparently. The web has been providing a tremendous level of anonymity & safety to the more experienced 'bloggers'. This has encouraged many to risk publishing their stories & live video footage. Material they otherwise probably would never dare to record, share or voice.

This might just be the highest possible purpose imaginable for the information super highway - a vehicle for providing not only a 'voice' to the oppressed and voiceless, but a megaphone as well. Magnificent, isn't it?

Lizzie20   

[Gaining Strength]

It is extraordinary. 

I have not understood the value of Twitter until now. 

[mudpuppy]

I have not understood the value of Twitter until now.

If the mullahs and their thugs can trace all those tweets back to their sources Twitter may have considerable value to the ayatollahs as well.
The Iranian people are wonderful but I'm not too sanguine about their short term prospects.

mud

[Dr. Richard Grossman]

Hi everyone,

Given the events of the last 24 hours--with the Iranian police firing on protesters, killing 4--I wanted to bump this up to the top again.  I can only hope that the killings foster more and more unrest that further destabilizes the country.  The Iranian protesters are heroes--they deserve far more attention and praise than they are receiving.

I want to wish everyone happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year!  And thank you, as always, for participating on the Board.

Richard

[BonesMS]

Hi everyone,

Given the events of the last 24 hours--with the Iranian police firing on protesters, killing 4--I wanted to bump this up to the top again.  I can only hope that the killings foster more and more unrest that further destabilizes the country.  The Iranian protesters are heroes--they deserve far more attention and praise than they are receiving.

I want to wish everyone happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year!  And thank you, as always, for participating on the Board.

Richard

Thanks, Dr. Richard, and the same to you as well!

Bones

[Sealynx]

I had a close Iranian friend who told me a lot about that country and what happened to the average Iranian when the new "religious" regieme took over. She turned me on the movie "Persepolis" which is essentially an animated history of what happened as told through the lives of one family. I hope those good people can win their freedom before their manical leader causes them to be the target of bombs.

[CB123]

I happen to be reading the book "Reading Lolita in Tehran".  It is about the situation in the 80s but much is still true today.  It is a wonderful book for giving faces to the voicelessness of, especially, the women under the religious regime.

CB

[CB123]

Miss you, Mudpuppy!  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your sweetheart.  I loved your post explaining (patiently, to me--I know I drive you nuts) that there are perfect people and that you found one!  I am so glad that I know someone who has.

Love
CB

[Dr. Richard Grossman]

Hi everybody,

A year has passed since I posted this.  Lest we forget, I wanted to bump it to the top.  The oppression and torture continues:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/30/iran.stoning/index.html?hpt=T2#fbid=a0NdXJrtZG-

Perhaps world opinion can (at least in this case) influence the radical Iranian regime to enter the 21st century and stop abominable behavior such as this.


Richard

[Sealynx]

With the Oil Spill in the Gulf showing us how much power large corporations can have over governments, I think it is good to remember that the Mullahs in Oil rich Iran, largely got their power from the disenfranchised poor. Oil companies have often made "deals with the devil" that unbalanced the health and well-being of large populations as is going on in Africa today. I have had several Iranian friends tell me stories of how big oil armed certain tribes in the early years of oil exploration and helped them to wipe out other groups that held oil rich lands. Once the government became essentially theirs to run, wealth was concentrated in the hands of relatively few. No matter what happens in Iran, the demon of oil riches will have to be addressed. It is a sad fact that there is still more power to be had in greed than compassion.