The Empire Strikes Back
The protesters didn’t give up and the government has raised their response: Police, protesters clash into evening in Iranian capital
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — As thousands of defiant protesters took to the streets of the Iranian capital Saturday for a seventh day to protest last week’s presidential elections, opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi reportedly said he was ready for “martyrdom.”
By evening, police were using tear gas, clubs and water cannon as they tried to disperse the demonstrators.
A stream of videos posted on social networking Web sites appeared to show demonstrators who had been shot.
It “appears” that CNN is doing its best not to endorse either side in hopes of continued access to the story.
The protesters have figured out that they have to remove their cell phone SIM cards to keep the government from tracking them, as turning off the phone isn’t enough.
The security forces are doing their best to prevent separate groups from merging into large masses. The protesters are starting to use slogans from the 1979 revolution and referring to the security forces as “Israelis”.
For those not familiar with the symbols green is the color of Islam. By adopting green the protesters are saying that this is an Islamic protest.
12 comments
They had been removing the batteries (this went around on twitter several days ago), which also works. I suppose it’s harder to tell that a cell phone doesn’t have its SIM card in and thus easier to hide the fact that you’re trying to hide the location you’re texting from. One thing that helps is that like in most of the world, wireless in Iran is anonymous prepaid pay-per-minute, you find a street vendor and buy a sim card from him with cash preloaded with a certain number of minutes and there you are. It is only in the US that locking phones to carriers, contracts, and post-pay became popular, mostly because of our vicious credit reporting system and legal system that make it possible to handle the “deadbeat problem” combined with vicious wireless carriers who view customer service as what a stallion does to a mare.
.-= ´s last blog ..Saturday Musical Social Commentary =-.
I went to prepaid at the end of my first cell contract and have never looked back. One of the big reason was, at the time the only way to keep the minutes you paid for was with prepaid.
Now have the benefit that the phone is not in anyone’s data base as being linked to me.
The US has a long history of starting trends, and them milking them for every last dollar, rather than upgrading like the rest of the world. This “cash cow” approach killed the manufacturing industry, and is laying every other major American corporation to waste.
i never had a cell phone contract, went with prepaid from the start and have been happy, happy, happy with it.
.-= ´s last blog ..Clearly, this drug had to be stopped =-.
They keep trying to suck me in, but there is no way. None of the super-atomic features they talk about actually work around here, so even if I wanted them I would be out of luck.
When I see locals looking at the iPhone, I think “a fool and his money are soon parted”.
my brother loves his iphone, but he’s a gadgethead, so it can’t be helped. plus, he doesn’t live here in the boonies either.
i love love love my $30 clamshell phone. the buttons are the right size, and it doubles as an alarm clock if i need it to. supposedly it does a lot of other stuff, but mostly i just need it to work when i dial and to not dial itself. the alram clock has been a nice extra.
.-= ´s last blog .. =-.
Mine has all kinds of great features that I have absolutely no intention of using, nor do I intend to text anyone. That is a “burn up your minutes feature” that I have no intention of getting sucked into.
I want a phone that is always with me so a very limited number of people, most of whom pay me money, can reach me whenever they feel like spending some.
It’s a tool, not a toy.
i’m not immune to the lure of toyz by any stretch of the imagination and if i won the lottery, i’d have an iphone [and i’d never shut up either], but cat food has precedence on an ordinary income.
.-= ´s last blog .. =-.
I’ve accumulated too many “toyz” over the years. What I would want if I won the lottery is someone to bring them by when I was interested, and then take them away when it was time to find someplace to put them, otherwise I’d need to add a warehouse to the side of the house.
dude, you’re supposed to give them away to the less fortunate when you tire of them!
or maybe let the cats trade them on ebay for organic catnip.
.-= ´s last blog .. =-.
Are you implying that the ‘nip I grow isn’t organic?
The technology stuff goes to two specific groups that rehab it for the disabled. I send old cell phones to a recycling center.
I generate a minimum of actual garbage, most things go into the recycling bin which is emptied every week, while it may take two or more weeks before I put a garbage can out for pick-up. If I could just convince the yard guy to leave the compost pile alone, I would do it less often. People who have never lived on a farm are a real PITA.
ah, i forgot you were an herb farmer. perhaps they’d like to buy a few cases of canned tripe instead. wev, if your parents brought you up right [or even if they didn’t] you don’t need a warehouse for your cast-off toys.
yep, i’ve done the re-cell thing too. i hated giving up my first cell phone, it was great, but the plug on the charger broke, and the phone was old enough that i couldn’t find a replacement anywhere. i wasn’t enthusiastic about my present phone when i picked it out in the store, but the price was right. now that i’ve had it a few months though, i love it. it’s hugely dependable, and the battery doesn’t drain nearly as fast as the old phone [even when that battery was new; this one is just a more energy-efficient model, waaaaay more energy-efficient].
.-= ´s last blog .. =-.
I really need a warehouse for the books and tools.
I know what you mean about chargers. Early on, fortunately, Excise got caught in the cord to the original charger for my current phone and ran around the house with it wrapped around him. Fortunately the phone wasn’t hurt and I found a new charger that is actually a two-in-one deal, the 110 unit converts to 12-volt, and then you have the second part that works in the car to convert from 12 to the phone’s voltage.
Yes, it is a much small clamshell type with a much longer lasting battery, but it was tough putting the old phone in the recycling mailer. We had been through a couple of hurricanes together.