Sunday, June 20, 2010

News Story Sunday: Her Death Gave A Face To A Revolution

***I usually stay on top of current events and news stories, especially when it comes to American politics. This blog post is to discuss the story I found the most interesting the last week. Enjoy!***


So, I've been MIA for quite a while, I know. Between travelling to South Carolina for my cousin's graduation, travelling to St. Louis to visit my friends from college, and applying for jobs and doing family stuff in between, it's been a very busy June. But hopefully now that I'll be staying in Chicago for a while, I'll be able to get back to it.

Today's post is a new feature I've been thinking about doing for weeks. The only thing that has stopped me is not actually getting around to posting on a Sunday. But finally, I'm doing it. There are a lot of interesting things going on right now to talk about. The question is what to talk about. I could go super obvious and talk about the BP oil spill. I could go sports and talk about soccer, hockey, or golf. I could go emotional and talk about the puff pieces in the news in honor of Father's Day. What shall I do? I just don't know.

I'm going to hop over to CNN.com and see what strikes my fancy. I've found it! Americans have such short memories. I'd like to talk about a story that happened a year ago but whose effects are still felt. And no, I don't mean the death of Michael Jackson. I mean the death of Neda Agha-Soltan.

In Iran, there was civil unrest after Iran's bogus election. They tried to make sure the protesters stopped protesting. According to CNN, the protest has just gone underground, which today means online. They are getting help from around the world. Tech-activists are getting them online when the Iranian government tries to stop access. This allows Iranian protesters to convene on websites and chatrooms set up expressly for the purpose of subverting the government and planning a way out of their current situation.

The last line of the article reads, "One year after Agha-Soltan's death, Iranian officials have yet to announce a single arrest in connection with her killing."

It's said when the government cares more about their stranglehold on power than the people they are put in place to serve. But we have not forgotten Neda and we are still supporting those who want a better Iran. I don't want my ideal of democracy forced upon them. I just want them to live in a country where they won't get shot in the chest for standing up against an unfair election.

If you haven't seen the video yet, watch it. Google her and learn about the fight the Iranians still face as they march toward a government that works for them, as opposed to oppresses them.

3 New Hypotheses:

Yes that is a terrible story and those folks there are in a terrible state of affairs for sure. Their main problem is they have no way to fight a tyrannical government. It seems to me that we aren't that far away from the same state of affairs, with the buy-outs, bail-outs, government take overs and social programs, when any government has that kind of control it never turns out good for the regular folks, we here in the US are on a path to serfdom. Every step toward socializing gets us closer to where they currently are. Seldom is the sword used to make governments the way they are most often people want the change in philosophy until they get it.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson

 

I suppose it's a matter of opinion whether or not you think what the government is doing is helping or hurting.

I personally see the government stopping big business from taking advantage of the weakness of the average man. They help people who can't help themselves. Our most recent past government did a lot of helping of people who helped themselves at the expense of others, it's nice to see the pendulum swing back toward the middle.

George Bush definitely would not have held BP accountable for ruining livelihoods, ecosystems, and entire economies. Not to mention the killing of 11 people.

 

So good of you to remember someone other than Michael Jackson. After a year, I'm seriously tired to hearing about what a great person he was or how he faced injustice. There are people like Neda who are much more deserving of our newspaper space.

 
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