More and more details are emerging that suggest this whole thing was a sham. From Muhammad Sahimi: At the same time, the reformist newspapers were also informed that they can prepare their Saturday edition to declare Mr. Mousavi the winner, but were not allowed to use the word pirouzi (victory) in their articles, in order [...]

Numbers and accusations are flying fast and furious right now, but the following seem to be the most plausible I’ve seen so far. Do note that the following has been pulled out of a VERY long post with a ton of updates, so the usual caveats apply. From NIAC Insight: We’ve been very hesitant to [...]

I’ve heard many on this blog dismiss the current uprising, but I genuinely think this is the real deal and something that won’t be able to be successfully repressed by the government. Also note around the 2 minute mark that the protesters literally chase away the police so the BBC can continue reporting. More as [...]

I don’t know how powerful these folks are, but it’s encouraging to see some of them speak out. From Tehran Bureau: The Association of Combatant Clerics, which consists of moderate and leftist clerics and includes such important figures as former president Mohammad Khatami, Ayatollah Mohammad Mousavi Khoiniha, and Grand Ayatollah Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardabili, issued a [...]

I missed this yesterday… The international community should not recognize the results of Iran’s 12 June 2009 presidential election, which gives all signs of having been manipulated by government authorities to produce a massive victory for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The Campaign further recommended that the [...]

The more I’ve read about election results coming out of cities that NEVER would have voted for Ahmadenjihad, the more I’m convinced that this one was rigged. And the Iranian people are mad as hell… Here’s more… Not only that, Twitter is being used a ton to get the message out. Andrew Sullivan sums it [...]

This has been a long time coming, especially when you consider that the tobacco companies have never had to share the ingredients in their products with the public. From NY Times: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, as it is called, stops short of empowering the F.D.A. to outlaw smoking or ban nicotine [...]

It started in Flint, Michigan, but it could be extended to other blighted communities across the nation. From Telegraph: The radical experiment is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint. Having outlined his strategy to Barack Obama during the election campaign, Mr Kildee has now been approached by the US [...]

But it’s not over…yet. Although I’m not sure what recourse the challenger will have given the wide margins. The “irregularities” argument only works if you’re somewhat close, and this margin is nearly 2 to 1. From Reuters: State media declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of Iran’s election but challenger Mirhossein Mousavi alleged irregularities and [...]

This nifty little video provides a good breakdown of what went down and why. Basically, it boils down to what we all suspected: grossly irresponsible lending brought about by deregulation. It seems so obvious in retrospect. (h/t: The Crisis of Credit)

And this guy (Mirhossein Mousavi) won hands down. Why? Well, the buzz has been tremendous about this election, especially after Lebanon was taken back by the moderates. Iranians are more excited about this election than any in recent memory. They’re out in the streets actively campaigning, and, oddly enough, I see some pretty interesting parallels [...]

Because we overreached so much during the past eight years, the practice of stop-loss was an unfortunate and common reality for many soldiers who would have otherwise left the military. Now we’re honoring their forced service with more than a pat on the back. From AP: WASHINGTON -The House and Senate reached a compromise Thursday [...]

House Dems are bound and determined to make a public option their first priority, and I can understand why. This has been a long time coming and they’re convinced that only the federal government can compete with private industry. But what she’s missing is the idea that Kent Conrad brought up…which is the public option [...]

From AP: Gen. David Petraeus said the number of attacks in Afghanistan over the last week hit the highest level since the December 2001 fall of the Taliban. “Some of this will go up because we are going to go after their sanctuaries and safe havens as we must,” Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, [...]

And they pull no punches. Somebody’s getting fired today. :-)

A couple of days ago, I read a piece in Politico about the Republican’s strategy in 2010. Long story short, it’s all about blaming Obama for the current deficits. In fact, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas actually said this (I’m presuming with a straight face) … “This was not an inherited situation. This was a [...]

That’s right. We locked him up when he was 14 years old. End result? No evidence could be found that he was an enemy combatant. More from BBC: After Mr Gharani was arrested at a mosque, his lawyer said he was accused by the US of being a member of al-Qaeda in 1998, when he [...]

Earlier, I wrote about the AMA coming out pretty forcefully against a public option, but apparently they’re clarifying their previous statement since they don’t want to appear as if they’re against health care reform. The Huffington Post shares this key bit: Today’s New York Times story creates a false impression about the AMA’s position on [...]

Simply put, because heath care reform may not happen without it. They simply don’t have the votes to reach 60. Ezra Klein interviewed Conrad today, and this is the gist: Maybe it would be most useful to tell you how I got into this. The G-11 group, which is the members of the Senate, Republicans [...]