FLASH NEWS: Iran election, Michael's death, SC Gov.

- Iran is to set up a special commission, including representatives of defeated candidates, to draft a report on the presidential poll, AFP reported. And who will be in that committe, the same dudes insisting there were no irregularities, calling for protesters to be severely punished, and making them confess "the West made me do it" on national TV?

- A hardline Iranian cleric during Friday prayers today demanded the punishment of opposition leaders, blaming the U.S. for their actions, CNN reported. He also said that the demonstrators themselves killed Neda to attract international sympathy. Ugh.

- Michael Jackson received a daily injection of Demerol at 11:30 a.m. yesterday, TMZ reported. Family members are saying the dosage was "too much" and that's what caused his death. Police is interviewing a doctor, Dr. Conrad Robert Murray, who lived at Michael's home. His car reportedly was impounded because it might have "medications pertinent to the investigation," LAPD said. That was quick.

- As expected, more people are coming forward to reveal (not much of a revelation) that Michael had a 20-plus-year addiction to prescription drugs. He was hooked on Oxycontin and received daily injections of Demerol (a drug that like morphine is a highly addictive opioid), LAPD said. The coroner is about to give press conference about the autopsy; however, BNO reported no findings would be announced . The toxicology results will be interesting, to say the least; unfortunately, we'll have to wait six to eight weeks for those results.

- Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of Michael's children, would be the one to get custody of the children because though she tried to terminate her parental rights in 2005, the judge did not grant that because a parental fitness investigation was never conducted. Issues regarding Michael's estate and his kids are likely to be extremely complicated. I don't envy the lawyers.

- People throughout the world are both mourning the death and celebrating the life of the King of Pop. Crowds gather in cities in many countries. U.S. House of Representatives held a moment of silence in honor of Michael Jackson.

- Actress Elizabeth Taylor physically collapsed when hearing that longtime friend Michael had died. "My heart...my mind...are broken. I loved Michael with all my soul and I can't imagine life without him," she said on Twitter.

- Pop icon Madonna (up there with MJ) says, "I can't stop crying."

- Calls for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford to resign gain momentum. Nah...really?

Sources: BNO, TMZ, CBS

Iran doctor tells of Neda's death: BBC

Below is a BBC report (untouched by me) about the doctor seen in the video of Neda's death trying to stop the bleeding from a bullet wound on her chest.

Iran doctor tells of Neda's death: BBC

Dr Arash Hejazi, who is studying at a university in the south of England, said he ran to Neda Agha-Soltan's aid after seeing she had been shot in the chest.

Despite his attempts to stop the bleeding she died in less than a minute, he said.

Dr Hejazi says he posted the video of Ms Soltan's death on the internet and images of her have become a rallying point for Iranian opposition supporters around the world.

He also told how passers-by then seized an armed Basij militia volunteer who appeared to admit shooting Ms Soltan.

Dr Hejazi said he had not slept for three nights following the incident, but he wanted to speak out so that her death was not in vain.

He doubted that he would be able to return to Iran after talking openly about Ms Soltan's killing.

Neda Agha-Soltan

"I was there with some friends because we had heard that there were some protests and we decided to go and take a look," he said.

"Anti-riot police were coming by motorcycles towards the crowd."

Dr Hejazi said he saw Ms Soltan, who he did not know, with an older man who he thought was her father but later on learned was her music teacher.

"Suddenly everything turned crazy. The police threw teargas and the motorcycles started rushing towards the crowd. We ran to an intersection and people were just standing. They didn't know what to do.

"We heard a gunshot. Neda was standing one metre away from me. I turned back and I saw blood gushing out of Neda's chest.

"She was in a shocked situation, just looking at her chest. The she lost her control.

"We ran to her and lay her on the ground. I saw the bullet wound just below the neck with blood gushing out.

"I have never seen such a thing because the bullet, it seemed to have blasted inside her chest, and later on, blood exiting from her mouth and nose.

Neda has become a rallying point for protesters around the world

"I had the impression that it had hit the lung as well. Her blood was draining out of her body and I was just putting pressure on the wound to try to stop the bleeding, which wasn't successful unfortunately, and she died in less than one minute."

Dr Hejazi said he first thought the gunshot had come from a rooftop.

But later he saw protesters grab an armed man on a motorcycle.

"People shouted 'we got him, we got him'. They disarmed him and took out his identity card which showed he was a Basij member. People were furious and he was shouting, 'I didn't want to kill her'.

"People didn't know what do to do with him so they let him go. But they took his identity card. There are people there who know who he is. Some people were also taking photos of him."

Dr Hejazi said he knew he was putting himself in jeopardy by talking about what happened.

"It was a tough decision to make to come out and talk about it but she died for a cause. She was fighting for basic rights... I don't want her blood to have been shed in vain."

He added: "She died on the streets to say something."

Dr Hejazi said he did not believe he could now return to Iran.

"They are going to denounce what I am saying. They are going to put so many things on me. I have never been in politics. I am jeopardising my situation because of the innocent look in her (Neda's) eyes."

Source: BBC

Techonolgy wins in Iran, revolt continues...

Neda Agha-Soltan has became an icon of Iran unrest after she was shot and killed during a protest in Tehran this weekend. (Photo is a still from a YouTube video that captured her last moments before dying.)

All eyes and ears are on Iran, and for the first time it's not because of the award-winning coverage of the media.

Technology has turned average citizens into reporters and photojournalists whose real-time correspondence can be seen and heard throughout the world on computer screens, blackberries and cellphones via text messaging, blogs, emails and social network websites such as Facebook and Twitter. This steady stream of manic reports and images has made every person on the other side of the source an eye witness to these events.

The value of Twitter, a fun and "cute" website set up to enable friends and strangers to be in constant, instant communication with each other and to entertain them in the process, shoot up at rocket speed when it became the news source this weekend, with so-called tweets flowing at a rate of dozens per second, hundreds per minute.

Without these reports, news networks such as CNN would've been lost in the aftermath of the June 12 presidential elections, when confronted with increasing violence stemming from clashes between protesters and security forces the Iranian government banned foreign press coverage of the events.

Well, it didn't work.

Rather than decrease exposure, the communication blackout increased it by encouraging people to seek out information rather than wait for the media to feed it to them.

Without technology in the hands of ordinary people, the world would've never learned about Neda Agha-Soltan (right)--a 26-year-old woman described by family and friends as a "beam of light,” a music and travel lover but never an activist--shot by militia during a rally whose death was captured by a cellphone camera, the graphic images disseminated throughout the world turning her into the movement's first martyr.

Neda Agha-Soltan has become an icon of Iran unrest. In less than a minute, amateur footage shot using a cellphone and later posted on YouTube for all to see, shows Neda bleeding and dying after being hit by a bullet on the neck. This is one of many examples, possibly the most powerful yet, of civilians' ability to document and report events inside Iran despite government restrictions on foreign media as well as Internet and phone lines. (Getty/Handout)

What now?

The public outcry for democracy, justice and freedom has not been silenced despite the government's efforts to crush the masses of people that have taken to the streets of Tehran to protest the election results they claim were rigged to declare incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

The question, for me at least, has been, will it make a difference? Will their efforts to call attention to their cause spark long-term change in Iran or just lead to more of what we have already seen? How long before they give up? If the uprising produces nothing but more violence, why continue to put their lives in danger?

And danger is what they're facing everyday in Tehran--ongoing protests, rallies, fires, clashes, batons, rocks, tear gas, opposers, supporters, riot police...more violence and chaos.

I wonder if there's a point of no return, and if they have reached it.

A tanker would end this. But now that Iran knows a ban on foreign press coverage is useless, would it unleash such military force on its people while the world watches?

A leaderless revolution with many captains

Earlier today, one of the CNN anchors said he's been in contact with a 19-year-old young woman in Iran who has been sending him messages and photos via email. Soon after she was on the phone live from Iran.

The girl reportedly was badly beaten Saturday but returned to the streets today.

Below are some of her statements, some paraphrased and some in quotes, most of which were replies to questions from the anchor.

• When asked about beatings she said: "I have been beaten so many times...and this time it doesn't matter...I just want to help my brothers and my sisters...". She said she saw an old woman and three others being beaten at a bus stop by Basij (Iranian militia) who were telling them to leave, "but the old woman said this is her country...and she's waiting for husband to pick her up and would not move...they beat her and three others."
• About Neda, the woman who has become the symbol of this movement, she said she tried to go to the memorial but police stopped her. She added that people are chanting: "We don't want you to kill another Neda--we are all Nedas today."
• When questioned about a 5-year-old boy who was hurt by the Basij, she said they "hit him with motorcycle...a woman over him was crying for help and we went to help her but police would not let us."
• Regarding whether or not she thought the elections were a success, she replied: "I don't know why they make a fool of themselves because everyone knows...everyone took part in this election because we don't want Ahmadinejad to be president...that's why we all went out...we wanted Mousavi to be our president."
• When asked why she kept going back and risk being beaten again or worse, she said: "because I think it's my, um, responsibility, because many of my friends are in this situation, then I stay at home I worry about my friends other women other boys that are hit, then i think maybe I should go and help them."
• To a question about what she and others say to the police who beat them, she replied: "If you're Iranian you should not beat your mother, your brother, your sister."
• Regarding the role of women in the protests she said: "If you want the truth, I think that women are more than men...the women are all together...they are so more than men...the women, they don't have a chance to express themselves to say that we're important in the future of our country...and now we can play a role...it's a good chance for us."
• And, finally, when asked how she feels about the current state of affairs in Iran, she replied: "I'm absolutely optimistic because history has taught me that every revolution is fought like this...some people die, but nothing stays the same forever...this is how revolutions are...unfortunately we don't have a leader, and that's not good."

At the end of the call, she thanked the anchor for listening to her.

Former Crown Prince Pahlavi on Iran

Former Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Former Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi said Monday the protests in his country were supported by much of the military and clerical establishment and could end up bringing down the entire Islamic government.

Pahlavi, who has sought an end to the Islamic regime since his father was deposed in the 1979 revolution, said he had sources within the military and intelligence that were ready to switch sides, with some refusing to carry out orders to suppress the protests.

"It's almost a revolutionary climate," an at-times teary-eyed Pahlavi told reporters in Washington.

He said "a movement" was born on June 12, the day the presidential elections were held.

"It is not Islamic or anti-Islamic, it is not for capitalism or socialism, nor any other ideology or specific form of government. It cares little about historical squabbles before its birth. It is about the sanctity, even more, the sovereignty of the ballot box. It may not succeed immediately. It may have ebbs and flows. But, let me assure you it will not die, because we will not let it die," he said.

He noted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sealed his own fate by backing Ahmadinejad.

"A week (after the elections), the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic decided to stand erect as a dam in front of this movement, sanctioning theft of the ballot box and flagrant fraud, all in the name of Islam," he said.

"It was an ugly moment of disrespect for both God and man. It will not stand. The citizens of Iran will not stand it. And at the end, he will not stand."

Pahlavi, who was exiled from Iran and now lives in the U.S., warned that a failure of the protest movement would encourage more "extremism" in Iran and urged foreign governments to not fall for the "foreign interference" trap the Iranian regime would use to further crush human rights.

"Your governments have insisted that they would not interfere in Iran's internal affairs. I applaud that," he said. "Any such attempt will give the tyrants the excuse they need to paper over their own differences, and target every man struggling for freedom as a foreign agent. But that is not all they do. They are painting every statement in defense of human rights as foreign interference, benefiting from the confusion between the two."

"It is vital that the free world not fall for such cruel cynicism in the name of realpolitik," he added.

He said that Moussavi, who was part of the 1979 revolution, would soon have to decide whether he will seek a complete overhaul of Iran's regime.

"You can't at the same time hold allegiance to the regime and at the same time hold allegiance to the people," Pahlavi said. "This is no longer tenable."

If you ask me, I believe we won't be seeing Ahmadinejad any time soon because an assassination attempt is all but sure the moment he steps on any street of Tehran.

Sources: CNN, My Twisted Mind; Pahlavi story: mostersandcritic,PR Newswire
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