Televised Elections

http://www.rferl.org/content/In_Iran_The_Election_Is_Being_Televised/1752228.html

I thought this article was rather interesting. It talks about the small changes that happened throughout the election(televised debates, open criticism of Ahmadinejad, etc), and how it's slowly leading up towards more transparency and slowly inching towards democracy. It also talked about some of the red flags that had gone up during the election. None of the candidates were willing to question some of the regime's policies, such as the uranium enrichment program, the economic impact of sanctions or the unlimited power of the supreme leader.

Iraq's Feelings

http://www.newsweek.com/id/204333

I decided to bring Iraq up for some conversation and I think the article attached is very interesting. Iraq officials claim not to care about what happens with the election stating that it is an internal issue within Iran. I find this hard to believe and would think they had a lot riding on the election. To make a comparison imagine if a similar situation was going on in Canada or Mexico can you imagine the interest the US would take in that situation. That being said this has always been and remains a very unstable region as we have discussed in class and if these countries ever want to gain control they need to work together and this attitude will not help matters. Being such a small area the decisions of one country can greatly affect another.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124526049259323973.html

I have included another similar article to reinforce the situation.

The Big Picture

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html

The link above contains thirty pictures from after the election in 2009 and i posted this for a couple reasons. The images appear to have been posted by supporters of Mousavi and I only say this because in most of the photos it shows his supporters being beaten but what really intrigued me was the about of anger and, I don't know if its the right word but, passion that these people show for the person they support. The riots are bloody, old men point canes at young women, and it doesn't matter who you are or what you do, just who you voted for. This just reinforces that the country needs a strong leader who is well liked to bring all of these people together. I believe the images are also showing how, if in fact it was posted by Mousavi supporters, that images can have a lot if power over our feelings. These images make us feel for the supporters when in fact during the riots they most likely injured, if not killed, people who supported the opposition.

Iranian Women

Not being from the Middle East I have many questions about the women from that area. I hear stories of women being repressed in Iran. Do the women accept the repression, maybe they feel they are maintaining the status quo, or have they started to change some of the norms of their country to extend their individual rights? When I typed in Iranian women into youtube the first two videos that came up on the page showed different views of Iranian women. The first video shows Iranian women being harassed for not following Islamic Dress Code, and the second video shows the beauty and style of young Iranian women.
The first video shows a news report where an Iranian woman is standing with a police officer and bullying young women into covering up their hair. Although the women were dressed quite conservatively by Western standards, they were breaking the Islamic Dress Code. The fact that a police officer was standing with the abusive woman shows that the Iranian government supports this kind of behavior. To my surprise the next video on the page showed pictures of Iranian women playing sports, particpating in very "non traditional" competitions, and the overall diverse style of Iranian women. It shows Iranian women generally wear clothes that are a combination of traditional and liberal styles. I think they look pretty good. The video changed my perception of Iranian women immensly. Iranian women are not just repressed and traditional, many young Iranian women seem to be very liberal and empowered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgXgpngHf60
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9mn31ESQxo

Bill Maher talks about Iran with Rahm Emanuel.

This is an older video from 2007, but it still has relevance to today as they are talking about Ahmadinejad. Bill Maher makes some good points about the Iranian president here. This guy has always been hated by the people of our country. But how much do you really know about this guy except for what you've heard on the news? Remember when he spoke at Columbia University? He was a big story then. The news was all over the comments he said there. In this brief segment from his show, Maher talks about how the media likes to pick on him, and says some pretty truthful things.

Beautiful Iran

When I search thorough youtube for media related to Iran the majority of videos that I find portray Iran negatively. I typed in the word Iran into the search engine, and the videos that showed up on the page were about why America will go to war with Iran and the violent protests that ensued after the 2009 presidential elections. After further looking I stumbled across a video titled Beautiful Iran. I feel it is really important to watch this video because it shows the poorly publicized "lighter-side" of Iran.
Beautiful Iran does a great job at showing the vast geography of the country. It shows everything from Iran's mountains, plains, deserts, and scenic countrysides. The video also briefly shows what daily life is like for Iranians. It shows men working, mostly herding, people going to the markets, and children hanging out and playing outside. There are also pictures of the gorgeous, elaborate architecture that can be found throughout Iran. Finally I love the music in the background. To my "western ears" it sounds almost Spanish because of how the guitar is played. The guy is like the Iranian Santana or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9oIZpFFyIY

The Daily Show's Jason Jones in Iran

Not sure exactly who is speaking in the background, but I remember watching this on the Daily Show a little while back. Jason Jones actually went to Iran to cover the elections for laughs, but here he talks about some of the things he saw. I put this up because I really enjoyed the Rick Steves video on Iran, and I think it's interesting show Steves and Jones have almost the same feelings toward the Iranian people. All just further proof to show that regular your average Iranian citizen isn't what our media would make us believe. Being a traveler at heart, it just makes me want to go there more to check things out for myself.