Spring Break
Iran's protests strike chord in US
Madison Shelton
Issue date: 7/3/09 Section: Ed-Op
Events that affect both society and the world at large in life-altering, unprecedented ways are rare to witness. For previous generations, the influence came in the form of depression, war, liberation of the society on political, social and sexual levels, the power of free speech and being able to change the world with direct action. Our generation has been thought of the information generation where all of our contacts, media and products are interpreted and directed by our technology. Just the way information is transferred around the world at lightning speed is a testament to the general knowledge that we are able to absorb and distribute every second of every day. I can find out about a devastating earthquake in Japan while sitting in my small dorm room in West Philadelphia minutes after it has happened. I can send an e-mail to my friends in Belgium and Paris telling them a funny story and have it spread to their friends all across Europe just by word-of-mouth. In the U.S. we have the ability to move mountains with the click of a mouse and the tap of a button. However, mountains are moving in front of us, and people are taking the effort to do something about it.
On June 12th 2009, the nation of Iran conducted its second presidential election with the highest percentage of country participation in history. Unfortunately, this positive moment in history has been clouded by protesting and backlash from voters over the election results after conservative candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the victor with 62.6 percent of the vote. The reform candidates have launched complaints that the votes were "manipulated" and that these results are not just. This has caused the Iranian people on both sides of the political spectrum to protest in the capital city of Tehran. With this protesting there has been violence, destruction, police brutality and an unreported number of deaths. The controlling political forces have placed a news media ban on the protests but that has not stopped footage of these moments leaking out onto the Internet with the usage of cell phones showing the true state of Iran.
On June 12th 2009, the nation of Iran conducted its second presidential election with the highest percentage of country participation in history. Unfortunately, this positive moment in history has been clouded by protesting and backlash from voters over the election results after conservative candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the victor with 62.6 percent of the vote. The reform candidates have launched complaints that the votes were "manipulated" and that these results are not just. This has caused the Iranian people on both sides of the political spectrum to protest in the capital city of Tehran. With this protesting there has been violence, destruction, police brutality and an unreported number of deaths. The controlling political forces have placed a news media ban on the protests but that has not stopped footage of these moments leaking out onto the Internet with the usage of cell phones showing the true state of Iran.
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Yeil
posted 7/03/09 @ 9:41 PM EST
"Stand by Me"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RASKaZFZtS8
On June 24, Iranian Superstar Andy Madadian went into an LA recording studio with Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and American record producers Don Was and John Shanks to record a musical message of worldwide solidarity with the people of Iran. (Continued…)
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