Wake up and watch Iran.
Yeah, yeah. There's an LJ election coming up.
Well, another election just happened over the weekend in Iran, and it'd be easy to insert some joke about how it sounds like LJ ran the thing, but I'll refrain. (Okay, I kinda refrained.)
There are a ton of news stories on this, but I'll just try and sum it up for you guys: there was a presidential election. The interim ministry reported 85% of eligible voters coming out. The unofficial results from the ministry reported that Mir-Hossein Mousavi came out with 54% of the vote, Mehdi Karoubi with 31%, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president, with 13%.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner by the Iranian government with 66% of the vote, with Mousavi coming up with 33%.
Read that again. Seriously. Read it a few times.
Analysts cry foul. (This isn't even getting into multiple accusations of burned ballots or ballots that were thrown out.)
Protests, violent and non-violent, erupt all over. Multiple arrests are made, people are shot and killed.
The Iranian government begin to block all media, and now the only news that is coming out of Iran are from bloggers who have figured out how to get around Iran's censoring techniques.
Maybe you've heard about it? Maybe seen some headlines, or perhaps a few other blog posts about it? Maybe you've skimmed past them, thinking "oh, it's a shame, but I can't really care about what's happening in that part of the world right now. I can't help them, anyway." It's okay if those thoughts did pass through your mind; it's an attitude often ingrained into people. You don't have to tell anyone you did, and it's never too late to start paying attention to the world outside of your immediate view.
I've been following this since Sunday. I haven't said much about because I did have that attitude - that I just can't do a damn thing to help. I'm aware, and that's something, right? I can pay attention, I can wear green, but what can I do?
Let me put it this way, though: there ARE ways to help. Yes, they are little ways, but lots of little people helping out may be able to make a huge difference. It's better than doing nothing, right?
First, go read this post, which is very helpful for the 'little help.' (If you know how to set up proxies, you can especially be of help.)
1. If you have a Twitter, change your location to Tehran, and set your timezone to GMT +3:30. This is not a sign of protest; this actually is helping people. Iranian forces are hunting for bloggers by searching for them by location. They can't find them if everyone is in Tehran. If you don't have a Twitter account, consider finally setting one up with the Tehran location. The more there are, the harder they are to find.
2. Sign the petition. I usually don't put much stock into online petitions, but they do sometimes catch attention.
3. Spread the word. It will take all of five minutes of your time, and maybe one or two more people will listen, and that is making a difference.
Well, another election just happened over the weekend in Iran, and it'd be easy to insert some joke about how it sounds like LJ ran the thing, but I'll refrain. (Okay, I kinda refrained.)
There are a ton of news stories on this, but I'll just try and sum it up for you guys: there was a presidential election. The interim ministry reported 85% of eligible voters coming out. The unofficial results from the ministry reported that Mir-Hossein Mousavi came out with 54% of the vote, Mehdi Karoubi with 31%, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president, with 13%.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner by the Iranian government with 66% of the vote, with Mousavi coming up with 33%.
Read that again. Seriously. Read it a few times.
Analysts cry foul. (This isn't even getting into multiple accusations of burned ballots or ballots that were thrown out.)
Protests, violent and non-violent, erupt all over. Multiple arrests are made, people are shot and killed.
The Iranian government begin to block all media, and now the only news that is coming out of Iran are from bloggers who have figured out how to get around Iran's censoring techniques.
Maybe you've heard about it? Maybe seen some headlines, or perhaps a few other blog posts about it? Maybe you've skimmed past them, thinking "oh, it's a shame, but I can't really care about what's happening in that part of the world right now. I can't help them, anyway." It's okay if those thoughts did pass through your mind; it's an attitude often ingrained into people. You don't have to tell anyone you did, and it's never too late to start paying attention to the world outside of your immediate view.
I've been following this since Sunday. I haven't said much about because I did have that attitude - that I just can't do a damn thing to help. I'm aware, and that's something, right? I can pay attention, I can wear green, but what can I do?
Let me put it this way, though: there ARE ways to help. Yes, they are little ways, but lots of little people helping out may be able to make a huge difference. It's better than doing nothing, right?
First, go read this post, which is very helpful for the 'little help.' (If you know how to set up proxies, you can especially be of help.)
1. If you have a Twitter, change your location to Tehran, and set your timezone to GMT +3:30. This is not a sign of protest; this actually is helping people. Iranian forces are hunting for bloggers by searching for them by location. They can't find them if everyone is in Tehran. If you don't have a Twitter account, consider finally setting one up with the Tehran location. The more there are, the harder they are to find.
2. Sign the petition. I usually don't put much stock into online petitions, but they do sometimes catch attention.
3. Spread the word. It will take all of five minutes of your time, and maybe one or two more people will listen, and that is making a difference.