Yes -- this IS a dog -- and his hair does this NATURALLY! He is a Hungarian Puli. Charles Darwin has a lot to explain here.
The Day of Destiny (Robert Fisk) from the Independent [of London]
"A million of its people marched from Engelob Square to Azadi Square – from the Square of Revolution to the Square of Freedom – beneath the eyes of Tehran's brutal riot police. The crowds were singing and shouting and laughing and abusing their "President" as "dust". ... The cops, horribly outnumbered by these tens of thousands, smiled sheepishly and – to our astonishment – nodded their heads towards the men and women demanding freedom. Who would have believed the government had banned this march?"
Obama's Message to Iran (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"The stormy Iranian elections are one more sign of how the world has been shaken up in the age of Barack Obama. The ruling mullahs are nervous about a threat to the regime; the opposition is in the streets protesting what they assert is a rigged election. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is claiming a new mandate, but what the world sees is the regime's vulnerability."
Recount Puts Pressure on Iran's Supreme Leader (Julian Borger) from the Guardian [of London]
"Trappings of democracy put Ali Khamenei in awkward position despite his far-reaching powers. ... He has been forced to announce an investigation and there is now to be some form of recount. There is no guarantee this will be transparent or accurate, but there is equally no doubt that the supreme leader's mystique, and therefore his authority, has been compromised."
Michael Tomasky's comments provides an interesting variation in The Psychology of Democracy from the Guardian [of London]
"If you come from a democratic society that's accustomed to free elections, over time you get a sense of scales of victory. ... The old Tammany Hall men understood this stuff precisely a century before. They fixed elections, but they fixed them ... skillfully."
As well as in Iran's Lesson: Even in a Tainted Election, Voting Still Matters from Time Magazine
"Seemingly overnight, Iranians sloughed their cynicism, and began to follow the campaign avidly. Whatever you attributed this to — a delayed realization of what was at stake, the contagious energy of a youthful campaign that began taking to the streets — the sense of responsibility Iranians began to feel for the election's outcome was tremendous and unprecedented."
Dispatch from Tehran: Blood and Defiance in Azadi Square (anonymous) from Salon
I think you only need to look at previous news nuggets over this last week to know who "anonymous" is.
"That they are coming to Azadi, a place where 30 years ago the Revolution pivoted towards victory, was fitting, for as much as the election campaign had been about who best represented the revolutionary values of Iran, Islam, and the late Imam, the push and pull of the past few days between opposition and Ahmadinejad forces has been a struggle to lay claim to authenticity."
Will Iran's Protests Succeed? from the BBC
"The 1999 and 2003 disturbances involved thousands of protesters, rather than the millions it would take to shake the Islamic regime seriously. They petered out after about 10 days, and achieved nothing, in the face of stern repression. Will that be the fate of the current protests, too? Perhaps. But there are some fundamental differences that might lead events in other directions."
Iran on a Razor's Edge (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
As we noted yesterday, Cohen is in Tehran this week.
"For the first time, I saw traffic police smiling at the crowd. Even the black-clad elite riot police were impassive. “Raise your arms, raise your arms,” one man murmured to them. If the regime had hoped to quell Iran’s powerful democratic stirring with a massive show of force since last Friday’s vote, it failed to do so."
Troops Mass for Onslaught on Taleban in 'bin Laden's Mountain Stronghold' from the Times [of London]
"Pakistan was mobilising troops and artillery today to launch a massive offensive against Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taleban, in his mountain stronghold of South Waziristan — also believed to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden."
Iran's Growing Societal Chasm from Der Speigel [of Germany in English]
"Thousands of Iranians took to the streets in Tehran to protest the results of Friday's presidential election. The opposition may abhor re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is also a target -- the result of a growing split in Iranian society."
In Iran, an Iron Cleric, Now Blinking from the New York Times
"Few suggest yet that Ayatollah Khamenei’s hold on power is at risk. But, analysts say, he has opened a serious fissure in the face of Islamic rule and one that may prove impossible to patch over."
Obama Engages by Not Engaging from True/Slant
"That’s what liberal internationalism of the kind Obama practices believes in: Measured, thoughtful consideration of our complex world, in which responsible policymakers are torn between the legitimate desire to see democracy take root elsewhere and the basic security need to respect others’ borders."
Obama Gets an 'A' from Senior Senate Republican from USA Today
"President Obama may be taking a beating from former vice president Dick Cheney but the commander-in-chief gets high marks from the top Republican on Senate Foreign Relations Committee."
Who's Afraid of Bibi? from The Root
"It used to be that the hard line Jewish right could torment Democrats who did not follow their pro-Israel playbook. Not anymore. President Obama and Jewish moderates are providing cover."
How Long Can Israel Resist US Pressure? from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"As US President Barack Obama presses ahead with his Middle East peace intiatives, America's new tone and new modesty are going down well in the region. Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is finding it hard to resist the pressure to compromise on the Palestinian question."
You Be Obama (David Brooks) from the New York Times
WHAT A HOOT! Check it out.
"[On health care,] you are daunted by the challenges in front of you until you remember that by some great act of fortune, you happen to be Barack Obama. This calms you down. You conceive a strategy."
Obama at AMA: Flattery Plus Hardball Might Get Him Somewhere from Politics Daily
"More surprising than the boos or silence was the smattering of applause for a central point of contention in the larger health-care debate: Obama's call to add a government-run insurance plan to the private options people already have."
With Saviors Like This (Howard Fineman) from Newsweek
"How lost are the Republicans? They're looking to Newt for answers."
Attack of the Zombie Republicans from the Daily Beast
"The GOP’s living dead won’t stop haunting their party, says lifelong Republican John Batchelor. Now Rush, Newt, and Dick are doing what zombies do best: laying waste to everyone’s brains."
A Troubling Lack of Pure Evil in the Age of Obama (Mark Morford) from the San Francisco Chronicle
"It used to be so easy. Every day, every headline, every pronouncement or misunderestimation from Dubya brought a new opportunity for your colon to clench and your breath to turn sour and the universe's skin to crawl. A single glance at Karl Rove and you were instantly swarmed with visions of tiny worms eating through the flesh of a sweet little bunny until it turned black and rotten and Rick Santorum."
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