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September 29, 2004

Unrest in Iran?

Don't get too hopeful. I remember linking to similar stories when I started this blog, and the "unrest" and "fighting" just turned out to be fireworks set off during some sort of Zoroastrian fire-festival.

But Ogre Gunner tips me to this unconfirmed report, probably by student activists who have a vested interest in inspiring unrest (not that that's a bad thing), saying that fighting is breaking out in Iran.

I don't believe it myself, and I won't until less-interested parties post similar reports.

But the guy who sent this to me is named is Ogre Gunner, and when Ogre Gunner sends you a tip, you link it. That's my rule, and it's kept me out of trouble so far.

Update: JohnD. points to this VOA article indicating that there is in fact some protesting in Iran right now.

But it's not violent unrest:

According to press reports, about two thousand people milled around streets in downtown Tehran, many of them driving cars up and down major avenues, honking their horns and flashing victory signs. Hundreds of volunteer militiamen arrived on the scene, but there were no violent clashes.

And remember that last time it was all soem Zoroasterian fire-festival? Well, there seems to be a Zoroasterian connection again:

The demonstration on Sunday appears to have been catalyzed by the statements of a Zoroastrian mystic, Ahura Pirouz Khalegi Yazdi. Dr. Ahura, as he's known, has been appearing regularly for the last three months on a Los Angeles-based Iranian expatriate TV channel, saying he has the spiritual power to heal Iran's problems. He promised to return to Iran on October 1, along with thousands of other expatriates, if Iranians in the country showed their support for him.

I don't know much about Zoroasterism, except what I've picked up from an album I own, with lyrics and music by the Zoroasterian Farouk Pluto Bulsara.

posted by Ace at 06:21 PM

Comments

Credit Rockingham over at Free republic for this:

"There is another, less breathless and more credible report of demonstrations in Iran available through the VOA.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectid=87732099-EDA2-4B53-A1E327B946F601B0&title=Analysts%3A%20Rare%20Demonstration%20in%20Iran%20Hints%20at%20Momentum%20for%20Change&db=current

Posted by: johnd01 on September 29, 2004 07:00 PM

hehe Ogre Gunner

Posted by: Digger on September 29, 2004 07:47 PM

All I know about Zoroastrianism is that Mazda is one of their gods.

Which is kinda cool, actually, as it means I drive a god-car.

Of course, it makes me wonder if there's a car being sold in Iran under the name Christ Corvette.

At least it answers the question, What Would Jesus Drive?

Cheers,
Dave

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on September 29, 2004 08:45 PM

Freddie Mercury was a Zoroastrian too. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

By the way, I have a new site up Ace. its www.senatorpundit.com. All the beels and whistles arent working (like my links) but stop by some time and let me know what you think of the new layout.

Posted by: senator philabuster on September 29, 2004 08:51 PM

Farouk Bulsara=Freddie Mercury

Posted by: zetetic on September 29, 2004 09:40 PM

Zetetic,

Phew! I'm glad someone out there knows Queen.

Senator,

I'll check it out.

Posted by: ace on September 29, 2004 09:44 PM

This says it was a run on a bank and someone got killed.
http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=09&d=29&a=1

The mullahs are pretty good at supressing riots. Oddly enough they like to use foreign fighters too.

Posted by: Iblis on September 29, 2004 11:08 PM

A few mobs of rioting college students should not cause us to think things are falling apart there. A few mobs of rioting progressives here doesn't mean we're falling apart, now does it?

Posted by: The Sanity Inspector on September 29, 2004 11:09 PM

Yeah, except 30 years ago there a mob of rioting college students created the Theocracy we love and enjoy so much now.
You know if there was so much unrest, you'd figure an opportunistic foreign power might try to, I don't know, stir-the-pot a bit?

Posted by: Iblis on September 29, 2004 11:21 PM

Check it out at NRO today from Mchael Ledeen

IRAN [Michael Ledeen]
I just got a long fax, in Farsi, from friends following the events in Iran. The bottom line is that, once again, the extreme instability of the country has been demonstrated. It seems that more than two thousand people have been arrested. Several members of the Revolutionary Guards have been killed. Depending on your point of view the catalyst for these clashes was either appeals from outside Iran, or the continued collapse of the mullahs (banks closed, salaries unpaid, teachers locked out of schools, etc.) or the incredible tempo of executions, notably of young people, on charges that seem preposterous. It is clear that opponents of the regime are increasingly armed, there are gunfights in the streets of several cities, and the clashes are going on all over the country. It is not just Tehran, or Tehran and Isfahan.

I'm leaving soon for a college weekend with #2 son, and probably won't get the full translation until we return on Sunday. By then there may be more, and I'll get back on it, natch.

Posted by: Nomorelies on September 29, 2004 11:33 PM

Well, _that_ would be an October Surprise to remember.

Posted by: Al on September 30, 2004 12:56 AM

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Funniest thing I've read about the Virginia mess. Back when they were hustling the referendum through the assembly both Senators, Warner and Kaine, advised them to go slow and play by the rules. Louise Lucas said she respected them but didn't need advice from the "cuck chair" in the corner. The gerrymandering was overturned and Louise is heading for the big house. Edward G. Robinson voice "where's your cuck now?"
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I posted his post on twitter and it's gotten 25K views so far. Thanks, Smell the Glove

Chris
@chriswithans

"Ahhhhh ahh I put my career on the line for Louise Lucas and Jay Jones thinking they'd vault me into presidential contention and we ended up costing Democrats 20 House seats and unleashing a Reverse Dobbs ahhhhh ahhh"

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click That Sums Up the Democrat Communist Party Today
Something is wrong as I hold you near
Somebody else holds your heart, yeah
You turn to me with your icy tears
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TJM wonders about world building in stories, mostly The Hunger Games

"It's f**king f**ked."
-- reportedly a genuine comment offered by a "senior Labour source"
Correction: I wrote that Labour is losing 88% (now 87%) of the seats it is "defending." I think that's wrong. The right way to say it is the seats they are contesting -- that is, they don't necessarily already hold these seats, but they have put up a candidate to run for the seat. It's still very bad but not as bad as losing 87% of the seats they already held.

Basil the Great
@BasilTheGreat

🚨ED MILIBAND [a Minister in Starmer's government] SAYS KEIR STARMER WILL RESIGN AS PRIME MINISTER

He has reportedly reassured Labour MP's that Starmer will be resigning following the disastrous results tonight

It's over

"The end of the two party system in the UK" as first the Fake Conservatives and now Labour chooses political suicide rather than simply STOPPING THE INVASION
Incidentally, the only reason this didn't already happen in the US is because of the Very Bad Orange Man (who is right on 85% of all policy calls and extremely, existentially right on 15% of them)

No political party that is NOT also a doomsday religious cult would EVER choose a cataclysmic loss -- and possible extinction as a party -- to support a toxically unpopular favoritism of NON-CITIZEN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS over actual citizen voters.

Only a cult does this.

Now they've lost 84%.

Annunziata Rees-Mogg
@zatzi
If this continues Labour loses 2,148 seats tonight.

That is much worse than the worst case predictions I’ve seen.

Cataclysmic

Update: They've now lost 88% of the seats they're defending. As I mentioned earlier, I think I heard that London will not bail them out, as many of those Labour seats will probably flip to "Muslim Independent" or Green. Detroit's 5am vote will not save them.

Yup, Labour is losing 80% of its seats...

The British Patriot
@TheBritLad

🚨 BREAKING: Labour have lost 80% of all seats contested as of 2:25 AM.<
br> If this continues, Keir Starmer will be out of office next week.

Reform has surged and projected to pick up between 1700-2100 seats.

Wow, up to 1700-2100 seats. It's not incredible that this is happening. It's incredible that the Davos crowd is so absolutely determined to privilege Muslim "migrants" over the actual native population who elects them, no matter how loudly the natives scream that they want to be prioritized, that they will gladly self-extinguish as a party rather than simply representing the interests of their own voters. Astonishing.
Remember, when they call other people "cultists" -- they are the ones so imprisoned in their social reinforcement and discipline bubbles that they will choose political death rather than dare upset the Karen Enforcement Officers of their cult.
Update: Now they've lost 83% of the seats they were defending.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges

Reform are basically wiping Labour out in the North. It's not a defeat. It's not even a rout. Labour are simply ceasing to exist.

Nick Lowles
@lowles_nick

Tonight’s results are calamitous for Labour. Not just for Keir Starmer's leadership, but for the very future of the party

STARMERGEDDON: In early returns, Reform gains 135 seats, Labour loses 90, the Fake Conservatives lose 36 (and I didn't even know they could fall any further), the Lib Dems lose 4, and the Greens gain 6. Note that the only other party gaining seats is the Greens and they're only gaining a handful of seats.
Update: Reform now up 145, Labour down 98.
Labour projected to lose Wales -- where they've ruled for 27 years.
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Update: REF +156, LAB -107, CON -45
Brutal: In four out of five council seats where Labour is defending, they've lost. 80%.
I'm sure it's not this simple, but Reform is straight taking Labour's and the "Conservatives'" seats. They've lost almost exactly what Reform gained. If understand this right (and warning, I probably don't), all of London's council seats are up for election, and Labour might lose hugely there, as their old voters abandon them for Reform, Muslim Indenpendents, and the Greens.
REF +190, LAB -134, CON -56.

Updates on the Labour collapse in council elections -- which wags are calling #Starmergeddon -- from Beege Welborne. There are about 5000 seats up for grabs, Labour is expected to lose 1,800, Reform will probably gain 1,580, up from... zero. So this would be more than that.
People claim that while Labour has adopted the Sharia Agenda to appeal to the million Muslims it allowed to migrate to the country, those voters are ditching Labour to vote for the Muslim Independent Party or the Greens. Delicious. This shadenfreude is going straight to my thighs.
Oh, and if Starmer loses about as badly as expected, Labour will toss him out of a window Braveheart style and replace him. He will announce he is resigning to spend more time with his Gay Ukrainian Male Prostitutes.

Media bias and senationalism are as old as, well, the media:

That was written by Denny O'Neill and illustrated by, get this, Frank Miller. Editor to the Stars Jim Shooter was in charge at the time.
I always thought the gag was original to the comic book, but in fact the "Threat or Menace" headline was a satirical joke about media bias and sensationalism for a long while. The Harvard Lampoon used it in a parody of Life magazine: "Flying Saucers: Threat or Menace?"

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[Hat Tip: TC] [CBD]