February 8, 2011
More than 6000 arrests were made in Iran following the flawed elections in 2009
“Twenty years is a lifetime for a filmmaker. It’s like prison.“The Iranian cinema guild wrote a letter to the Minister of Justice saying that to tell a filmmaker he can’t do his job is like killing him. We’re awaiting the results. Panahi has asked all his friends not to contact him or to talk about him to any festivals … because he doesn’t want to create any problems for anyone else.”
In brief, Tunisia has made people, not only in Egypt but all across the region, to believe that the ousting of any totalitarian regime is within reach, if people actually march into the streets, not only on the internet. Signs of releasing anger has spread all across Egypt by tearing Mubarak’s pictures in several areas.Events in Egypt can be followed live on Al Jazeera and Crowdvoice is also keeping track of events. Continue reading...
Over the past 48 hours it seems the Great Persian Firewall is updating to attempt to block a number of circumvention tools, including Tor. Iranians and their diaspora have been reporting to us that Tor, Hot Spot Shield, UltraSurf, and Freegate are all experiencing connectivity problems from inside Iran to the outside world.Read more on their site.
Like other young Iranians, the late Alireza Pahlavi and before him his late younger sister, Leila Pahlavi, who also committed suicide in London in 2001, must have wanted to be a source of good for their homeland. There is no reason to doubt that possibility no matter what our politics might be. But historical circumstances and the ending of monarchy in Iran did not allow that to happen, and in exile the former queen and her four children have not been able to find a viable way of having a positive impact in their homeland.