Crowds are reportedly gathering at Azadi Square right now. People slowly coming out #IranElection
Thursday 11 February 2010
Overview: Reading 22 Bahman by HAMID FAROKHNIA in Tehran
[ analysis ] February 11 may mark a decisive day for the Iranian regime. Its leaders hope to prove to domestic and international audiences that they are in full control and that the protest movement that arose following last June's election is a spent force. To achieve their objective, they must make sure, in contrast to what took place on Ashura and other recent occasions, that protesters cannot congregate in large numbers and upstage the regime's well-choreographed processions. In turn, all the protest movement need accomplish to register a victory is to produce even a modest display of vigor and vitality.
Background
Ashura (December 27) proved to be a pivotal day all around. First, it forced other governments, beginning with the Obama Administration, to reevaluate the prevailing view of the pro-democratic Green Movement as an ineffectual force. Second, it allowed the hardliners in Iran to claim that the Green Movement presented a mortal threat to the entire regime. Certain moderate conservatives and important traditionalist high clerics in Qom had previously been leaning toward some version of a grand compromise--a trend especially evident after the huge funeral march for the late Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri right in the heart of the holy city.
However, the militancy of the anti-regime protesters on Ashura changed those sentiments, at least temporarily. Many of the centrists were terrified, while others were forced into adopting strong positions against the protesters. Taking advantage of the situation, hardline forces who had been divided and demoralized hastily mounted a large counter-demonstration on December 30, in which calls were made for the immediate arrest of opposition leaders and the execution of those earlier detained. What made this development particularly ominous was the information that seeped out which pointed to the creation of death squads by forces specifically tasked with the elimination of opposition leaders and activists. The death squads would have taken the form of "independent," "spontaneous" lynch mobs claiming to represent ordinary Muslims outraged by the despoiling of Islamic values.
On January 9, Ayatollah Khamenei took a stand against this development, probably under pressure from Qom grand ayatollahs. "Any roguish activity helps the enemy," he told a visiting crowd from the holy city. "The involvement of those without legal status or responsibility only compounds the problem." The result has been an ongoing stalemate.
What is at stake
The main objective of the regime is to announce that on February 11 the people of Iran by referendum have cast their verdict against the protest movement and in favor of the current regime, reaffirming the message of the December 30 counter-demonstration. Once this occurs, authorities would move to arrest Mousavi, assuming that he hasn't already caved in on his own accord, and forcefully clamp down on the whole Green Movement.
To succeed, they must (a) contain the pro-democracy protesters, (b) fill the surrounding streets with their own people, and (c) make things appear calm and orderly to the state media and ideally to the international media (some foreign journalists and television crews have been allowed in for the event).
What is planned
The regime's hopes of maintaining full control over Thursday's events rest on a set of logistical plans. A complex scheme is to be implemented in which the routes to the northern and eastern sides of Azadi Square, from where protesters customarily emerge, will be blocked for several kilometers in each direction. People trying to make their way to the square via those routes will be diverted away from the eyes of the international press, who will be confined to designated areas within the square. The diversion strategy will be executed with dozens of Basij contingents from the provinces that have been brought to Tehran. Each group has been assigned to one section of the city's northeast quadrant, using Azadi Square as the reference point.
At the same time, supporters of the regime will be marshaled en masse from the western and southern ends of Azadi Square. Two days prior to the ceremonies, the square's famous inner ring was already sealed off by special partitions. In the early hours of Thursday morning, the plan is to fill the space with die-hard supporters while checking the bags and pockets of the others wanting to gain entry to the protected zone to make sure they don't carry any Green paraphernalia.
Campaign of Intimidation
In preparation for the February 11 event, a campaign to intimidate potential protesters has been conducted over the past two weeks. Elements of the campaign include:
(A) The execution of two political prisoners, the first such executions carried out in a long time. Nine others have also been given the death sentence.
(B) Tehran's police chief has on several occasions gone on record claiming that everyone's emails, telephone calls and text messages may be accessed, and that those engaged in anti-regime activities will be immediately arrested. Other top law-enforcement officers have claimed that many people have been arrested based on photos taken of them during the Ashura protests. Indeed, a wave of arrests has taken place in the past two weeks.
(C) Those taking part in protests are now referred to regularly as "mohareb," meaning they are engaged in war on God, an act punishable by death.
(D) The regime now asserts that it will respond very harshly to those protesting. It is hard to accurately gauge the exact impact of these threats and the actual use of violence on the protesters.
Analysis
What the protesters may not realize is that most of the gestures are mere bluffs. Why? The government cannot simply choose to apply severe force on a large scale on February 11 -- after all, the Revolution whose anniversary is being celebrated was supposed to have inspired by the reaction to the violence and injustice of an oppressive regime in the first place. It would look monstrous, even to some supporters of the regime, if unarmed civilians were subjected to indiscriminate attacks recalling those seen in the films of the revolutionary period that have aired incessantly in recent days. On Thursday, up to 250,000 ordinary supporters of the Revolution may come out to the rally, including small children and the elderly. When the line between protester and supporter blurs, as is virtually certain, given such numbers, it will be extremely hard for security forces to throw tear gas and administer beatings.
It is important to know that the security forces have not used the same standard riot-control tactics for every protest action in the last few months. In other words, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the issue of quelling unrest. For the security establishment, each protest has its own special dynamic.
For example, on June 20--after Khamenei's first ultimatum--the protesters were considered fair game. This was no official holiday or national day of ceremonies and the Leader had made his threat public. This day, on which Neda was murdered, saw the largest number of casualties of any day in the past eight months. By contrast, on July 17, the day Rafsanjani was the Friday prayer leader, the protesters had virtually full protection against the regime's predations until about one hour after the conclusion of Rafsanjani's sermon. On September 18, Qods Day, the official celebration of solidarity with the Palestinians, there was relative restraint for many hours. The large-scale employment of violent tactics against protestors in broad daylight on the streets of Tehran would have terminated the utility of the Qods Day once and for all. Of course, by mid-afternoon, after the pro-regime crowd had dispersed, it was an altogether different story. On the national students' day, the regime has traditionally tolerated some protest activity on the country's university campuses. During this year's event, held December 7, students were again able to protest and rally relatively unmolested on campus, but those demonstrating outside school compounds were mercilessly beaten and arrested.
Given this history and the circumstances of the February 11 event, severe, large-scale attacks on protesters are quite unlikely, at least until the regime's loyalists have left the demonstration area. That can be expected to take place around 2 p.m. In sum, despite the recent announcements by various government and senior security officials -- clearly intended to demoralize -- we should not in fact expect systematic violence in the early part of the day.
Aside from this, those recently arrested have all been under surveillance for quite some time and were picked up in the past few days only as an intimidation tactic. This had nothing to do with the police forces' alleged ability to monitor all phone conversations and emails.
Finally, the two executed political prisoners had been arrested before the June 12 election. Unfortunately, they were probably involved with a group connected to the bombing of a mosque in Shiraz last April, and their trial and sentencing were postponed for many months in order to implicate the entire protest movement in their rogue act.
The important fact is that there is no consensus within the regime for executing any of the protesters on death row for the crime of "mohareb" before February 11. Had such a consensus been reached, the regime would have almost certainly carried out the ghastly sentences.
However, the cumulative effect still may be to frighten the parents of the young protesters to stop their children from going out on Thursday. Aware of these maneuvers, Mousavi issued his sharpest criticism of the regime yet in an attempt to offset the impact of its terror tactics. Among many observations, he stated bluntly, "Dictatorship in the name of religion is the worst kind of dictatorship."
At this moment it is impossible to know what may happen on Thursday. All eyes will be on the turnout and the resiliency of the green-clad protesters. Will they defy the threats and fulminations of a desperate dictatorship, or will they remain in the safety of their homes while the regime's henchmen prepare for mass reprisals?
Hamid Farokhnia, who is using a pen name, is a staff writer at the Iran Labor Report.
Google users in Iran report problems, as rallies loom
Google says its e-mail traffic in Iran has dropped sharply, amid reports access is being restricted for the Islamic Revolution's anniversary.
The web giant said that the decline had happened even though its networks were working properly. Opposition websites have urged major demonstrations on the most important day of the nation's political calendar.
Iran's police chief said that some activists had been arrested as they prepared for protests.
Google said users of its Gmail had experienced difficulties following a newspaper report about official restrictions.
'Permanent suspension'
"Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possible," the California-based company said in a statement.
 |  We are closely watching the activities of the sedition movement and several people preparing to disrupt the rallies were arrested  Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam Police chief  |
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran's telecommunications agency had announced "a permanent suspension of Google Inc's e-mail services".
Washington - which on Wednesday extended sanctions against Tehran - said any efforts to keep information from Iranians would fail.
US state department spokesman PJ Crowley said: "Virtual walls won't work in the 21st century any better than physical walls worked in the 20th century."
The 31st anniversary of the revolution could see protests from opposition supporters who say last June's re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged.
Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have called on their supporters to rally on Thursday.
Anti-government websites have urged marchers to display green emblems or clothes - the colour adopted by the opposition movement after the disputed election.
Fatal violence erupted after the poll, and sporadically since then.
The micro-blogging site Twitter and other social networking sites were used extensively during the post-election protests.
Tehran rally
Official events will be held across Iran but the main gathering will be at Tehran's Azadi square, where President Ahmadinejad is expected to speak.
 Opposition supporters have been urged to wear green as they did last June |
Ahead of the commemorations, police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam said the Revolutionary Guards and Basij Islamic militia were ready for any trouble.
"We are fully prepared for holding a safe and glorious rally," he told Fars news agency, according to Reuters news agency.
"We are closely watching the activities of the sedition movement and several people who were preparing to disrupt the 11 February rallies were arrested," he said.
The anniversary comes a day after the US extended Iranian sanctions, aimed at the Revolutionary Guards.
The US Treasury will freeze the assets of a senior Guard commander, as well as four subsidiaries of a construction company he runs.
The move follows the announcement by Iran of its decision to further enrich uranium for its nuclear programme.
Tehran insists it is a civilian energy programme, but the West suspects it of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Wednesday 10 February 2010
The Revolution Will Be Mapped (What discrimination looks like)
(Click to enlarge)
To get to the headquarters of the Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, visitors have to navigate a lengthy dirt road past white picket fences, grazing horses and a variety of outbuildings in various stages of disrepair. Set in a one-room former Primitive Baptist church on a 43-acre spread in rural Orange County, N.C., the institute holds a collection of old, ergonomically incorrect wooden desks and metal filing cabinets. The only signs of modernity are computers atop the desks.
Institute founders Allan Parnell and Ann Joyner, who live in a modest country house a stone’s throw from this office, are dressed in their everyday summer attire, T-shirts and shorts. But when they begin pulling maps off printers, Parnell and Joyner step decidedly out of the last century. “Our daughter tells people we work for the CIA, because what we do is so hard to describe,” Parnell says, only half-joking.
Joyner displays a series of maps showing the Coal Run neighborhood, a handful of streets located just outside the city limits of Zanesville in central Ohio. The first map provides a simple baseline, showing the city water plant and the boundary between the city and Coal Run, a part of Muskingum County. The second map adds water lines, which serve only the northern half of Coal Run. Successive maps add the residences in Coal Run, note which residences have water and which don’t, and break down their occupancy by race.
The last map puts all the data together, and the picture suddenly comes into sharp focus: Almost all the white households in Coal Run have water service, while all but a few black homes do not...
Continue reading
Top 100 - Music w/ Highest Selling Price from Discogs
Being record collectors ourselves, we've paid our fair share of hefty sums for long sought after records that were pressed in shamefully low numbers. We were curious to see if anything we've purchased ranked amongst the highest priced items that have sold in the Discogs Marketplace since we launched in 2005. While we won't say whether or not our purchases made the cut, for the sake of our relationships, we thought you might be interested in seeing this list.I've also added this as a list within Discogs. If you haven't checked out the recently added lists feature, here's a good example of how it might be used.
This list of 100 releases are items that were actually sold and paid for. All prices have been converted to $USD based on exchange rates at the time of sale.
1) $4143 Mistafide - Equidity Funk (12")
2) $2000 Mütiilation - Vampires Of Black Imperial Blood (2xLP, Ltd)
3) $1250 Concept Of AL.P.S., The* - Unknown (12", EP)
4) $1200 Ryvon D.J.* - I'm Gonna Dance (Take Me Tonight) (12")
5) $1200 Weldon Irvine - Time Capsule (LP)
6) $1125 Keefy Keef - Cause I'm Keefy Keef (12")
7) $1051 Les Joyaux De La Princesse - Exposition Internationale - Arts Et Techniques - Paris 1937 (Box, Ltd + 7", Blu + 2xCDr)
8) $1000 La Paris - One Night Lover (12")
9) $999 Cobra MCees - The M-Go / Blow This Town (12")
10) $982 La Monte Young - The Well-Tuned Piano 81 X 25 6:17:50 - 11:18:59 PM NYC (5xLP + Box)
11) $950 California (2) - Volerei (12", Maxi)
12) $885 Throbbing Gristle - Live From The Death Factory (LP, Pic)
13) $851 Phase N' Rhythm - Brainfood / Hyperactive (12")
14) $833 Various - Back To The Lab (LP)
15) $831 Jennifer Warnes - The Hunter (LP)
16) $831 Genocide Organ - Klan Kountry (7", Ltd, Spe)
17) $826 Clarence* - Hyperspace Sound Lab (12")
18) $814 Bill Brandon / Lorraine Johnson - We Fell In Love While Dancing / The More I Get, The More I Want (12", Promo)
19) $799 Pet Shop Boys - Yes (11x12" + Box, Ltd)
20) $796 Throbbing Gristle - Desertshore Installation (12xCDr, Ltd)
21) $754 Genocide Organ - Leichenlinie (LP, Album, Ltd, Han)
22) $750 Mystie - Have I Lost You? / Chains Of Passion / Deception (12")
23) $740 Boards Of Canada - Twoism (LP)
24) $733 Various - Equinox Chapter One (12")
25) $712 Cloud One Featuring Margo Williams - Don't Let My Rainbow Pass Me By (12")
26) $699 Intergalactic Orchestra, The - Super Nova (LP)
27) $697 Death In June / Les Joyaux De La Princesse - Östenbräun (LP + 7" + , Ltd, Bla)
28) $691 Tool (2) - Selections From Ænima (12", Pic, Promo)
29) $685 Stella Steevens - Butterfly (12")
30) $667 M.C. Price & D.J. Trouble* - My Life Story / The Price Is Right (12", Single)
31) $667 Concept Of Alps, The - Intensity (12", Blu)
32) $666 Proiekt Hat - Resolution 3379 (5xLP + 12" + Cass + VHS + Box)
33) $663 Kluster (3) - 1969-1972 (6xLP, Album + Box, Ltd)
34) $661 Pierce Brothers (2) / Starbirth - Party Person / Jammin (12")
35) $653 Ernie Ranglin and DXJ - Phantoms Of The Bass (12")
36) $652 Les Joyaux De La Princesse - Aux Petits Enfants De France (Cass, Ltd)
37) $650 Sensitive (2) - Driving (12")
38) $650 Indikator (2) - The Vision (12", EP)
39) $650 Phill Most Chill - On Tempo Jack (12")
40) $650 Keek & Qagee - Don't Say It Sing It (12")
41) $642 Genocide Organ - A Case Of Ortophedic Fetishism (Acetate, 7", Single, Ltd)
42) $641 Grand Wizard Theodore & Fantastic Romatic Five, The* - Can I Get A Soul Clapp "Fresh Out The Pack" (12")
43) $633 Various - MASK 100 (12", Ltd)
44) $620 Merzbow - Merzbox (50xCD + 2xCD-ROM + Box, Ltd)
45) $620 Gatsby - Love Sign (12")
46) $617 Various - The House Of Hits - The History Of House Music (11xCD, Comp, Ltd, P/Mixed + Box)
47) $609 Corner 2 Corner - Anyday / Corners 2 Corporations (12")
48) $605 Prodigy, The - Scienide (12")
49) $600 3'Da Hard Way - A Dirty Cop Named Harry (12")
50) $590 Various - Music (2xLP + Box)
51) $589 Jack Sass Band* - Save My Life (12")
52) $589 Kraftwerk - 12345678 (Box, Promo + 8xCD, Copy Prot.)
53) $587 Coil - The Restitution Of Decayed Intelligence (Acetate, 12", Ltd)
54) $584 Throbbing Gristle - TG24 (25xCD)
55) $583 Jean Tinguely - Méta (7")
56) $581 Hipnotic (2) - Are You Lonely? (12")
57) $577 Fugatives From Hell - Biz With The Skillz (12")
58) $575 Der Blutharsch - Der Sieg Des Lichtes Ist Des Lebens Heil! (Box, Ltd + 5x7")
59) $560 Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (LP, Album, Ltd)
60) $554 James "Jack Rabbit" Martin - There Are Dreams And There Is Escape (12", Album)
61) $553 Nurse With Wound - Flawed Existence (4xLP, Comp, Ltd + 10", Red + 5", Red + Box, Sou)
62) $550 Dope And A Gun - Who Got The Flava? / I Get Open (12")
63) $550 Coil - Astral Disaster (LP, Album, Ltd, Red)
64) $547 Ruthless Rod & M.C. Dollar - Loud As A Banshee (12", EP)
65) $540 Acen - Trip To The Moon (Omar Santana Remix) (10", Promo, Ltd, S/Sided)
66) $538 Various - 20' To 2000 (12xMinimax, Lim + 12xCD, Ltd, Com)
67) $533 Michael Jackson - Smile (12")
68) $525 Brothers, The - Brothers Theme (12", Promo)
69) $523 Various - Equinox Chapter One (12")
70) $520 Oasis (2) - Lp Box Set (Box, Ltd + 14xLP)
71) $520 New Sin - Black Fantasy (12")
72) $516 André Szigethy - André Szigethy (LP, Album)
73) $500 Coil - Absinthe Coil (CD, Ltd + Box, Ltd, Woo)
74) $500 Da Minds Of Sol - Blinded By Da Light / Holocaust Part II (12")
75) $500 Derrick May - In 87 (Acetate, 10")
76) $500 Carl Craig - Untitled (Acetate, 10")
77) $500 K-A-T-A - Fires In The Night (12", Maxi)
78) $500 Le Cop - Le Roc / Law (12")
79) $500 Full Body - You Got To Dance (12")
80) $500 Scratch Zone Symphony With M.C. Clock - So Smooth (12")
81) $500 Jackie Stoudemire - Invisible Wind (12")
82) $499 Lord Aaqil - Check It Out (12", EP)
83) $498 Dario Dell'Aere - Eagles In The Night (12")
84) $497 Die Tödliche Doris - Chöre & Soli (8x4", Col + Box)
85) $493 Grand Master Chilly-T & Stevie G (3) / Keeling Beckford Connection - Rock The Message Rap / Back To Back (12")
86) $492 Taj-Mahal Travellers, The - July 15, 1972 (LP, Quad)
87) $492 Phill Most Chill - The Be Intelligent E.P. (12", EP, Ltd)
88) $491 Limit Eccitation - In The Dark (12")
89) $491 Genocide Organ - Save Our Slaves (12" + 7" + , Ltd)
90) $491 Ronnie Love - Let's Make Love / Nothing To It (12", Promo)
91) $491 Jo.Boyer* - Isabelle And The Rain / Milady (12")
92) $491 James "Jack Rabbit" Martin - Only Want To Be (12", Ltd, W/Lbl, Promo)
93) $491 Carl Marshall & S.D.'S, The - I'll Give My Heart To You (LP)
94) $489 Isis (6) - Shades Of The Swarm (Box, Ltd + 12xVinyl, Album, RE, RM)
95) $485 Xymox - Subsequent Pleasures (12")
96) $475 D.J. Baby J & E. Rock Cometh - Tales From The Lite Side (12")
97) $474 SpeedyQ's & Armaguet Nad - Untitled (12", Ltd)
98) $470 High Fidelity (2) - High Fidelity (LP)
99) $469 Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (LP, Album)
100) $461 M.C. Outloud* - Clean And Sober (12")
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Gearing up for Thursday...
Iran's hard-line government and the green-themed opposition are gearing up for another confrontation Thursday, this time on the 22nd day of the Persian calendar month of Bahman, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
This weekend the Coordinating Council of Reform Front, a coalition that brings together 17 moderate political groups, called on supporters to head to the streets Thursday, traditionally a time of pro-government rallies.
"We’ll come on 22 Bahman to show that the green movement is intertwined with national and religious values and it insists on its rightful demands stipulated in the constitution," said a notice in Persian posted to several websites.
"We’ll come to make our voices heard by our comrades, friends, rivals and enemies -- to tell them that the green movement is independent, and it will spare no efforts to revive and protect the values, implement the law, ensure liberty for the nation and save the society. ... We’ll call for return to ideals and principles instead of jail, violence and confrontation with the nation."
Supporters of the opposition have issued a list of suggestions about what protesters should bring, wear and do Thursday.
Still, many wonder what will happen. Will the protesters come out en masse? Or will the government be able to squelch any opposition demonstrations with a combination of dire threats, harsh police tactics and deafening loudspeakers?
"We oppose hooliganism, disturbing public order and insulting religious sanctities," police chief Brig. Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said, according to the Persian-language PGNews.ir. "I've already said that police will no longer tolerate lawbreakers. ... Police feel obliged to confront anyone threatening national security, insulting sanctities and crossing red lines."
Ahmadi Moghaddam also warned that police have "highly sophisticated security systems" that allow them to "identify anyone calling for rioting through text messaging."
This weekend, security forces arrested seven people allegedly cooperating with "counterrevolutionary satellite networks and Zionist media," according to a statement broadcast by state radio.
"Some of them had been officially recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency," the statement said. "They had relayed news to their bosses and instigated riots. They were expected to carry out similar programs on Feb. 11 before leaving the country for the United States."
Iran's prosecutor-general, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, told Fars News this weekend that the Tehran prosecutor's office is now "handling the complaint lodged by a group of lawmakers" against opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the latest in a series of threats to have him and other opposition figures arrested.
But a wave of mass arrests of activists and journalists and the threats have failed to silence opposition voices. The Kargozaran party, which supports the relatively moderate cleric Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, issued a statement condemning the government.
"Undesirable and bitter events plunged Iran into unrest," said the statement, published by the Iranian Students News Agency. "A large number of those who were celebrating 31 years ago their contribution to the triumph of the Islamic Revolution have unfortunately been arrested or pushed into isolation."
The statement demanded that the government "respect basic freedoms and civil rights, and tolerate political activism within the framework of the law."
Otherwise, it warned, "people's demands and political differences will be followed up in the streets."
Opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, who ran and lost against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in last summer's disputed election, lashed out this weekend at the mass detentions of activists and journalists during a meeting with the families of prisoners.
"Such behaviors are irrational and mismanagement of state affairs has plunged everyone deep into surprise," he said, according to his website, Sahamnews.org. "The continuation of these behaviors will be detrimental to the regime."
He said the accusations of connection to foreign-based opposition groups were an attempt by hard-liners to "revive these dead grouplets."
He vowed to secure the release of prisoners regardless of the restrictions imposed on him and his colleagues.
Meanwhile, hard-liners showed no signs of brooking compromise.
Extreme right-wing lawmaker Ruhollah Hosseinian, told ISNA that the critics of the government had no place in the system. "They are in no position to be taken into account," he said.
The extremist cleric Ahmad Khatami told the Iranian Labor News Agency that there was no middle ground in the current political crisis.
"Today, we have only two fronts and no third front is recognized," he said. "The first front brings together the revolution and people. The second front regroups the United States, Britain, Zionists, hypocrites, monarchists, communists, fugitive singers and dancers. There is no third way."
Anthrax alert for heroin users in London
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) and NHS London can confirm that a drug injecting heroin user has tested positive for anthrax and is being treated in a London hospital.
This is the first case of anthrax seen in an injecting drug user in England since similar cases were first seen in Scotland in December 2009. Nineteen cases have so far been confirmed in Scotland. Similarities to the cases in Scotland suggest that the heroin, or a contaminated cutting agent mixed with the heroin, is the likely source of infection.
Dr Brian McCloskey, Director of the Health Protection Agency in London, said:
"We are working closely with NHS London to monitor the situation. There is no evidence of person to person transmission in this case and I'd like to reassure people that the risk to the general population, including close family members of the infected patient, is negligible. It is extremely rare for anthrax to be spread from person to person and there has been no evidence of a significant risk of airborne transmission associated with the current situation in Scotland.
"We are working closely with NHS London to monitor the situation. There is no evidence of person to person transmission in this case and I'd like to reassure people that the risk to the general population, including close family members of the infected patient, is negligible. It is extremely rare for anthrax to be spread from person to person and there has been no evidence of a significant risk of airborne transmission associated with the current situation in Scotland.
"While public health investigations are ongoing, it must be assumed that all heroin in London carries the risk of anthrax contamination. Heroin users are advised to cease taking heroin by any route, if at all possible, and to seek help from their local drug treatment services. Heroin users in London are strongly encouraged, as soon as possible, to find out more about the support services in their area. They can be put in touch with local drug services and receive advice by contacting Talk to Frank."
Professor Lindsey Davies, Regional Director of Public Health from NHS London, said:
"I urge all heroin users in London to be extremely alert to the risks and to seek urgent medical advice if they experience signs of infection such as redness or excessive swelling at or near an injection site, or other symptoms of general illness such a high temperature, chills or a severe headache or breathing difficulties, as early antibiotic treatment can be lifesaving. This is a very serious infection for drug users and prompt treatment is crucial.
"I urge all heroin users in London to be extremely alert to the risks and to seek urgent medical advice if they experience signs of infection such as redness or excessive swelling at or near an injection site, or other symptoms of general illness such a high temperature, chills or a severe headache or breathing difficulties, as early antibiotic treatment can be lifesaving. This is a very serious infection for drug users and prompt treatment is crucial.
"Drug injecting is an extremely risky and dangerous practice and users are vulnerable to a wide range of infectious diseases, both from the action of piercing the skin, as well as contaminants in the drugs that they use.
"Health professionals and drug action teams in England had already been alerted to the situation in Scotland in December and we will continue to work closely with colleagues who work with drug users to monitor probable cases and raise awareness of the risks."
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- Further information about the cases of anthrax in Scotland is available at:
www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/anthrax - Heroin users in London are strongly encouraged to find out more about the support services in their area. They can find drug services or seek advice from Talk to Frank: 24-hour helpline: 0800 77 66 00 / website: www.talktofrank.com
- The outbreak in Scotland began with the identification of cases in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde in December 20009, with cases now having been identified in six NHS board areas across the country, and represents the first known outbreak of anthrax to have occurred in conjunction with drug use. It is important to note that there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission in this outbreak.
- The Health Protection Agency has produced advice for injecting drug users and guidelines on the clinical evaluation and management of people with possible cutaneous anthrax in England. These are available at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/HPA/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/1191942145749/
- Recent public health alerts issued by the Department of Health through the Central Alerting System are available at: https://www.cas.dh.gov.uk/Home.aspx
Media enquiries:
Health Protection Agency:
020 7759 2834
020 7759 2824
020 8327 6647
020 8327 7750
020 7759 2834
020 7759 2824
020 8327 6647
020 8327 7750
NHS London:
020 7932 3911. Out of office hours, please call 0844 822 2888 and ask for pager number LON01.
020 7932 3911. Out of office hours, please call 0844 822 2888 and ask for pager number LON01.
Anthrax in drug users: Q&A
Q1. What is anthrax?
Anthrax is a very rare but serious bacterial infection caused by the organism Bacillus anthracis. The disease occurs most often in wild and domestic animals in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe; humans are rarely infected. The organism can exist as spores that allow survival in the environment, e.g. in soil, for many years.
Anthrax is a very rare but serious bacterial infection caused by the organism Bacillus anthracis. The disease occurs most often in wild and domestic animals in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe; humans are rarely infected. The organism can exist as spores that allow survival in the environment, e.g. in soil, for many years.
Q2. How does anthrax usually affect humans?
There are three classical forms of human disease depending on how infection is acquired: cutaneous (skin), inhalation and ingestion. In over 95% of cases the infection is cutaneous, generally caught by direct contact with the skins or tissues of infected animals. Inhalation anthrax is rare and is caught by breathing in anthrax spores. Intestinal anthrax is very rare, and occurs from ingestion of contaminated meat or spores.
There are three classical forms of human disease depending on how infection is acquired: cutaneous (skin), inhalation and ingestion. In over 95% of cases the infection is cutaneous, generally caught by direct contact with the skins or tissues of infected animals. Inhalation anthrax is rare and is caught by breathing in anthrax spores. Intestinal anthrax is very rare, and occurs from ingestion of contaminated meat or spores.
Q3. How has anthrax been affecting drug users in Scotland?
There is an ongoing outbreak of anthrax in heroin users in Scotland. Since December 2009, a significant number of heroin users have been found to have anthrax infection. Sadly, a number of these people have died. It is thought that they contracted anthrax from taking heroin contaminated by anthrax spores.
There is an ongoing outbreak of anthrax in heroin users in Scotland. Since December 2009, a significant number of heroin users have been found to have anthrax infection. Sadly, a number of these people have died. It is thought that they contracted anthrax from taking heroin contaminated by anthrax spores.
Q4. How common is anthrax?
The disease was also known as 'wool-sorters disease' and was a recognised occupational hazard for some workers, including woollen mill workers, abattoir workers, tanners, and those who process hides, hair, bone and bone products. However, anthrax is now uncommon in humans in the UK, only a handful of cutaneous cases have been notified over the last decade. A death from anthrax occurred in Scotland in 2006; this was a case of atypical inhalation anthrax which probably followed exposure as a result of playing/handling animal hide drums. Human infections are more frequent in countries where the disease is common in animals, including countries in South and Central America, southern and eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.
Anthrax in drug users appears to be very rare; prior to the current outbreak in Scotland, only one previous case had been reported in Norway in 2000.
The disease was also known as 'wool-sorters disease' and was a recognised occupational hazard for some workers, including woollen mill workers, abattoir workers, tanners, and those who process hides, hair, bone and bone products. However, anthrax is now uncommon in humans in the UK, only a handful of cutaneous cases have been notified over the last decade. A death from anthrax occurred in Scotland in 2006; this was a case of atypical inhalation anthrax which probably followed exposure as a result of playing/handling animal hide drums. Human infections are more frequent in countries where the disease is common in animals, including countries in South and Central America, southern and eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.
Anthrax in drug users appears to be very rare; prior to the current outbreak in Scotland, only one previous case had been reported in Norway in 2000.
Q5. How long can you have the infection before developing symptoms?
This is dependent on the dose and route of exposure and may vary from one day to eight weeks. However, symptoms usually develop within 48 hours with inhalation anthrax and 1-7 days with cutaneous anthrax. It is not known exactly how long symptoms can take to develop following the use of contaminated heroin, however in most cases during the current outbreak, symptoms started within 1 to 7 days of taking heroin.
This is dependent on the dose and route of exposure and may vary from one day to eight weeks. However, symptoms usually develop within 48 hours with inhalation anthrax and 1-7 days with cutaneous anthrax. It is not known exactly how long symptoms can take to develop following the use of contaminated heroin, however in most cases during the current outbreak, symptoms started within 1 to 7 days of taking heroin.
Q6. What are the symptoms?
Early identification of anthrax can be difficult as the initial symptoms are similar to other illnesses.
Symptoms vary according to the route of infection:
Early identification of anthrax can be difficult as the initial symptoms are similar to other illnesses.
Symptoms vary according to the route of infection:
Anthrax in drug users
Drug users may become infected with anthrax when heroin or the cutting agent mixed with heroin has become contaminated with anthrax spores. This could be a source of infection if injected, smoked or snorted. The clinical presentation is likely to vary according to the way in which the heroin is taken and might include:
Drug users may become infected with anthrax when heroin or the cutting agent mixed with heroin has become contaminated with anthrax spores. This could be a source of infection if injected, smoked or snorted. The clinical presentation is likely to vary according to the way in which the heroin is taken and might include:
- Swelling and redness at an injection site, which may or may not be painful
- Abscess or ulcer at an injection site often with marked swelling (oedema)
- Septicaemia (blood poisoning)
- Meningitis
- Symptoms of inhalational anthrax (see below)
Cutaneous anthrax - Local skin involvement after direct contact.
- Commonly seen on hands, forearms, head and neck. The lesion is usually single
- 1-7 days after exposure a raised, itchy, inflamed pimple appears followed by a papule that turns vesicular (into a blister). Extensive oedema or swelling accompanies the lesion - the swelling tends to be much greater than would normally be expected for the size of the lesion and this is usually PAINLESS
- The blister then ulcerates and then 2-6 days later the classical black eschar develops
- If left untreated the infection can spread to cause blood poisoning
Inhalation anthrax - symptoms begin with a flu-like illness (fever, headache, muscle aches and non-productive cough) followed by severe respiratory difficulties and shock 2-6 days later. Untreated disease is usually fatal, and treatment must be given as soon as possible to reduce mortality.
Intestinal anthrax is contracted by the ingestion of contaminated carcasses and results in severe disease which can be fatal. This is found in some parts of the world where the value of an animal dying unexpectedly outweighs any fears of contracting the disease.
Q7. Can anthrax be treated?
Cutaneous anthrax can be readily treated and cured with antibiotics. Mortality is often high with inhalation and gastrointestinal anthrax, since successful treatment depends on early recognition of the disease.
Prompt treatment with antibiotics and, where appropriate, surgery is important in the management of anthrax related to drug use.
Cutaneous anthrax can be readily treated and cured with antibiotics. Mortality is often high with inhalation and gastrointestinal anthrax, since successful treatment depends on early recognition of the disease.
Prompt treatment with antibiotics and, where appropriate, surgery is important in the management of anthrax related to drug use.
Q8. How is anthrax spread?
A person can get anthrax if they inject, inhale, ingest or come into direct physical contact (touching) with the spores from the bacteria. These spores can be found in the soil or in contaminated drugs. It is extremely rare for anthrax to spread from person-to-person. Airborne transmission from one person to another does not occur; there have been one or two reports of spread from skin anthrax but this is very, very rare.
A person can get anthrax if they inject, inhale, ingest or come into direct physical contact (touching) with the spores from the bacteria. These spores can be found in the soil or in contaminated drugs. It is extremely rare for anthrax to spread from person-to-person. Airborne transmission from one person to another does not occur; there have been one or two reports of spread from skin anthrax but this is very, very rare.
Q9. How do drug users become infected with anthrax?
Heroin or the cutting agent mixed with heroin may become contaminated with anthrax spores from the environment. This could be a source of infection if injected, smoked, or snorted.
Heroin or the cutting agent mixed with heroin may become contaminated with anthrax spores from the environment. This could be a source of infection if injected, smoked, or snorted.
Monday 8 February 2010
Still can't believe how bad that Marianne Faithfull gig last night was...
But Faithfull soldiered on, the sweet girly voice that began her folk-singing career metamorphosing into a cigarette-ravaged husky drawl.
Despite middling musical success, Faithfull became, like others of her era, famed for her collaborations and, later, as with her latest album, Easy Come, Easy Go, her ''interpretations'' of songs. Always a risky conceit.
Faithfull, at least at Friday night's performance (the first of three), lacked both the charisma and the voice to pull off covers such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Salvation, Dolly Parton's Down From Dover, or Billie Holiday's Solitude.
It wasn't only that Faithfull's once-sexy voice seems to have very little range - it was a sell-out show and many fans seemed appreciative just to be so near to her - or the fact she had to read the lyrics to many of the songs (her own included; she even forgot the name of the song she co-wrote with Nick Cave), but the fact she seemed so ill at ease on stage.
Faithfull rarely smiled, looked decidedly bored during a couple of the guitar solos, and seemed to have little to no rapport with her seven-piece multi-instrumentalist band.
The musical direction lent a distinct cruise-ship feel to the evening - while tight, the band made the down and dirty Stones song Sister Morphine (co-written by Faithfull) sound like an MOR Robert Cray number.
Even during her big hits - Broken English and When Tears Go By - Faithfull looked as if she'd rather be anywhere but on stage.
Worse still, some of her audience members looked as if they felt the same way.
Still can't believe how bad that Marianne Faithfull gig last night was...
MICK Jagger's former muse, '60s icon, drug abuse survivor Marianne Faithfull is rarely defined by her musical career alone, even after the release of her most successful album, Broken English, back in 1979.
But Faithfull soldiered on, the sweet girly voice that began her folk-singing career metamorphosing into a cigarette-ravaged husky drawl.
Despite middling musical success, Faithfull became, like others of her era, famed for her collaborations and, later, as with her latest album, Easy Come, Easy Go, her ''interpretations'' of songs. Always a risky conceit.
Faithfull, at least at Friday night's performance (the first of three), lacked both the charisma and the voice to pull off covers such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Salvation, Dolly Parton's Down From Dover, or Billie Holiday's Solitude.
It wasn't only that Faithfull's once-sexy voice seems to have very little range - it was a sell-out show and many fans seemed appreciative just to be so near to her - or the fact she had to read the lyrics to many of the songs (her own included; she even forgot the name of the song she co-wrote with Nick Cave), but the fact she seemed so ill at ease on stage.
Faithfull rarely smiled, looked decidedly bored during a couple of the guitar solos, and seemed to have little to no rapport with her seven-piece multi-instrumentalist band.
The musical direction lent a distinct cruise-ship feel to the evening - while tight, the band made the down and dirty Stones song Sister Morphine (co-written by Faithfull) sound like an MOR Robert Cray number.
Even during her big hits - Broken English and When Tears Go By - Faithfull looked as if she'd rather be anywhere but on stage.
Worse still, some of her audience members looked as if they felt the same way.
5 reasons why the Internet shouldn't get the Nobel Peace Prize
Wired Italy's efforts have paid off: the Internet has been shortlisted as a candidate for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize (along with dissidents and human rights activists from Russia and China). Here are five reasons why the Nobel committee should not give the award to this quirky candidate:
Reason 1: It doesn't deserve it. Simply put, there are worthier technologies. Why not award the prize to the book, the telegraph, the radio, the syringe, the mobile phone, the Xerox machine, the pacemaker, or the water pump? Arguably, they have had a much greater impact on society - and many of them are still changing the lives of many people all over the world, particularly those in the "bottom billion". How about 5 billion people who are not yet online? Aren't there technologies which are more universal and life-changing?
Reason 1: It doesn't deserve it. Simply put, there are worthier technologies. Why not award the prize to the book, the telegraph, the radio, the syringe, the mobile phone, the Xerox machine, the pacemaker, or the water pump? Arguably, they have had a much greater impact on society - and many of them are still changing the lives of many people all over the world, particularly those in the "bottom billion". How about 5 billion people who are not yet online? Aren't there technologies which are more universal and life-changing?
In short, if the impetus behind the Internet's nomination is to recognize technology's (often) positive role in development and democratization, there are much better candidates. Discussions of the Internet's social and political impact in the popular media and the blogosphere are already so ahistorical - it's as if it's so unique we don't need to know anything about history, anthropology or sociology of societies which technology is supposedly remaking - that bestowing a Nobel prize on the Internet would only make matters worse.
Reason 2: It could kill Internet activism in authoritarian states. Scared by the prospect of yet another Twitter revolution, authoritarian governments are already getting very suspicious of Internet users. If in the past, bloggers were written off as some "geeks and freaks" - at best irrelevant, at worst kind of crazy - now Internet users are primarily perceived as a threat. Democratic forces would arguably have much more success with the Internet if they were still perceived as "geeks and freaks'. Now, of course, they can't do it as the government sees them as a political force. Most of these fears are, of course, bogus: the only reason why authoritarian governments are so scared is because of overblown reports in the Western media.
Reason 2: It could kill Internet activism in authoritarian states. Scared by the prospect of yet another Twitter revolution, authoritarian governments are already getting very suspicious of Internet users. If in the past, bloggers were written off as some "geeks and freaks" - at best irrelevant, at worst kind of crazy - now Internet users are primarily perceived as a threat. Democratic forces would arguably have much more success with the Internet if they were still perceived as "geeks and freaks'. Now, of course, they can't do it as the government sees them as a political force. Most of these fears are, of course, bogus: the only reason why authoritarian governments are so scared is because of overblown reports in the Western media.
Internet activists would have a much easier and safer existence if the Internet got "Nobel Cutest Cat Award" and regained its reputation as a hangout place for "geeks and freaks". Let's work towards that goal. Yes, this would also involve the US State Department being somewhat less vocal about all the great work they do with social time; at times, it looks as if the State Dept's social media team interprete the term "open government" just a tad too literally - can't they act without leaking everything to the press for a change?
Reason 3: It would undermine the reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize. Why reward people who were acting solely in commercial interest and it just so happened that their product/invention was used for some noble purpose? Take Twitter: when the "Twitter revolution" in Moldova happened, most of Twitter's senior executives probably couldn't place that country on the map. A few months later, however, they were already saying inane things like "Twitter has become more a triumph of humanity than a triumph of technology". I wouldn't be surprised if Twitter would now take an even more aggressive line and try to rewrite history, arguing that they helped to spearhead the protests in Moldova or Iran.
Reason 3: It would undermine the reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize. Why reward people who were acting solely in commercial interest and it just so happened that their product/invention was used for some noble purpose? Take Twitter: when the "Twitter revolution" in Moldova happened, most of Twitter's senior executives probably couldn't place that country on the map. A few months later, however, they were already saying inane things like "Twitter has become more a triumph of humanity than a triumph of technology". I wouldn't be surprised if Twitter would now take an even more aggressive line and try to rewrite history, arguing that they helped to spearhead the protests in Moldova or Iran.
But the Voice of America Twitter isn't: commitment to world peace does not rank high on the list of Twitter's objectives (for all the good reasons - they are in the business of making money, after all - leave the world peace to Bono). Don't we want to award this prize to someone who at least WANTS a more democratic and peaceful future and WORKS towards it? I'm all for leverage the unexpected consequences of technology - especially the positive ones - but we are not awarding "Nobel Most Random Good Deeds" prize.
Reason 4: It would stifle a very important and still unfolding debate about the Internet's broader impact on society. If the Internet gets the Nobel, it would further advance techno-utopian babble about the "hive mind" and ultimate peace that already occupies so many of the pages of Wired magazine (not to mention blog posts and tweets!). The debate about the democratizing potential of the Internet - both in authoritarian and democratic contexts - is far from over, and while I tolerate the possibility, however abysmal, that the Wired school of thought may be right, I think we've got good 20 or 30 years of debate ahead of us before we can say anything conclusively.
Reason 4: It would stifle a very important and still unfolding debate about the Internet's broader impact on society. If the Internet gets the Nobel, it would further advance techno-utopian babble about the "hive mind" and ultimate peace that already occupies so many of the pages of Wired magazine (not to mention blog posts and tweets!). The debate about the democratizing potential of the Internet - both in authoritarian and democratic contexts - is far from over, and while I tolerate the possibility, however abysmal, that the Wired school of thought may be right, I think we've got good 20 or 30 years of debate ahead of us before we can say anything conclusively.
The dangerous rise of direct democracy, the paralysis of the political process under the pressure of over-empowered grassroots movement, the polarization of public debate, the end of the national conversation, not to mention new opportunities for surveillance and control - the Internet may be directly or indirectly responsible for all of these activities (the original assumption of Wired Italy - that the Internet will "destroy hate and conflict and to propagate peace and democracy" - is even more contentious). We don't know for sure - but this is no reason to stop the inchoate debate. If anything, we are not spending enough time talking about these issues in an intelligent manner; chances are we'd be talking about them even less if the Nobel goes to the Internet.
Reason 5: It would convince world leaders that politics is secondary to technology. In one of my columns about Google's decision to pull out of China, I brought up the concept of 'computational arrogance': Google's unshakable belief that given enough engineers, all global problems are solvable. In Google's case, it's probably a healthier ideology to have than 'philanthropic arrogance' - a naive belief that throwing enough money at an issue would eventually solve it, so prevalent in Western governments and international development institutions - but it's still false (this, probably, explains the failure of Google.org). But it's not just technology companies who inhabit this dream world.
Reason 5: It would convince world leaders that politics is secondary to technology. In one of my columns about Google's decision to pull out of China, I brought up the concept of 'computational arrogance': Google's unshakable belief that given enough engineers, all global problems are solvable. In Google's case, it's probably a healthier ideology to have than 'philanthropic arrogance' - a naive belief that throwing enough money at an issue would eventually solve it, so prevalent in Western governments and international development institutions - but it's still false (this, probably, explains the failure of Google.org). But it's not just technology companies who inhabit this dream world.
Let's face it: most people in positions of power don't get the Internet. We definitely don't want some World Bank bureaucrat drawing false conclusions from the Wired-like enthusiasm about what the Internet can do. It may ultimately be an inept comparison, but I am increasingly noting similarities between the rhetoric of open government folks and those who were pushing for the establishment of elections as the means to democratize authoritarian states. Elections, like open data, are necessary but almost never enough.
Chances are that given enough time and resources, authoritarian leaders will learn how to trick their "online monitors" just like they have learned how to trick their "electoral observers". It does not mean we shouldn't be trying to make authoritarian regimes more transparent (and, hopefully, even more accountable, hardly the same thing) - but the success of those campaigns depends on factors that have nothing to do with the Internet - and this is where we need to concentrate most of our effort. Technology is the easiest (and most predictable) part of this equation.
Sunday 7 February 2010
AAAAGH!!!
Computer Malfuction!!
PANIC!!
Hmmm! What started as a bug on my Facebook page ended with me losing my Firefox profile - and this all happened while my tech assistant (Son#1) was asleep so...much banging away later it is fixed...
PANIC!!
Hmmm! What started as a bug on my Facebook page ended with me losing my Firefox profile - and this all happened while my tech assistant (Son#1) was asleep so...much banging away later it is fixed...
Massive Attack's art of darkness
"We can't use any of the Heligoland artwork I've painted for the posters on London Underground. They won't allow anything on the tube that looks like 'street art'. They want us to remove all drips and fuzz from it so it doesn't look like it's been spray-painted, which is fucking ridiculous. It's the most absurd censorship I've ever seen. We're hosting pop-up galleries [on] tour this year. We've got UnitedVisualArtists; Steve Bliss's No Protection artwork which was like an early prototype for his Grand Theft Auto stuff; and all the extras from Mezzanine and 100th Window."
Full article @'The Guardian'
Saturday 6 February 2010
The Red Riding Trilogy
Based on David Peace’s cult novels about the far-reaching tentacles of the corrupt West Yorkshire police force in the ’70s and ’80s, Red Riding hits theaters as an anomic, must-see trilogy.
“Dickens on bad acid” is the phrase used by screenwriter Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) to pithily describe the sprawling, paranoiac nature of the telefilms he wrote for Channel 4 in the UK. This inky triptych nears Bacon-esque nightmarishness and ravishment, with each part helmed by a different talent shooting in a different format. Together, Julian Jarrold (gritty 16mm), James Marsh (elegant 35mm), and Anand Tucker (immersive widescreen) magnificently exhume a past in which the cutthroat police have a members-only toast: “To the North, where we do what we want.”
See more clips from the trilogy, learn more about author David Peace, and read an interview with a few of the cast members, including young 1974 star Andrew Garfield.
The story of Neda Soltani - A story of what media can do to an innocent person
She who was presumed dead sat opposite me. She talked, she laughed, but sometimes I could feel her fear. Neda Soltani had to flee, she had to leave her homeland. Everything seems so different here at this obscure address near Frankfurt am Main - the snow, the frost, the rain, the inclement streets. It is a foreign country for this young woman.
Almost everyone in the world knows Neda Soltani’s picture. It appeared on TV and the Internet and in the newspapers in almost every house as the picture of someone who had died. This well-known portrait shows a young brown-eyed woman carefully made-up. The veil, obligatory in Iran, is pushed back slightly. One can see the beginnings of luxuriant hair. She smiles, gently, a bit innocent but friendly.
But right now, here in a café somewhere near Frankfurt Neda Soltani has become harder. She’s not wearing a veil anymore. One can see grey strands that are growing on her forehead. “It was a misunderstanding,” she says, “a mistake, an error with terrible consequences.” Neda Soltani got caught up in the tumult between the fronts after the fraudulent election in Iran. She was hounded, hunted and had to flee. Her old life fell apart like a shattered mirror. Her photo, that picture with the gentle smile, was torn from her.
Neda Soltani lived in Teheran up to half a year ago. She taught English Literature there. She speaks this language fluently, precisely and intelligently. In summer she completed a work on feminine symbolism in the works of Joseph Conrad. For that reason she had no time to take part in the protest in Iran. She had to do proof reading in June. “My aim was to become a professor one day, should I prove good enough for it.”
Her parents belong to the Iranian middle class. She does not want to say exactly where she grew up or what her family do. She is afraid. She is aware of the problems. She knows that things are not going well. But she was diligent when it came to learning. I was an academic, she says, “I worked hard for ten years to get a position as a lecturer in the university. I earned money, I went out with friends and I had fun.” She has none of that today. No work, no money and no friends to go out with. Nada Soltani is now 32 years old.
The story of her photo began on June 20th 2009. That day a young woman was shot down near Kargar Avenue in Teheran at 7 p.m. local time. She fell on her back and blood ran out of her mouth. On doing so she stared into a mobile camara, wounded, terrified and helpless. She died shortly afterwards on the way to hospital. The pictures of the dying woman appeared on Youtube.
The big TV stations soon got wind of the dying woman from Bloggers and Twitter. Editors tried to identify the woman. Pressed for time, they looked for pictures. Neda, her first name could be heard on Video. The internet quickly turned up a surname: Soltan, student at the Azad University in Teheran. Sombody used these data to search in Facebook.
Nada Soltani also had a profile there. There is not much accessible to the public in it. Only Nada’s friends had free access to the contents. But her photo was accessible at that time to every body.
It is not possible, anymore, to reconstruct who it was exactly who first gained access to the international portal for students, managers and housewives. It is also impossible to identify who it was who mistook the photo of Nada Soltani (below on the right) for that of the murdered Neda Soltan(below on the left).
But the fact is that on the night of June 21st 2009 someone copied the photo of the living Nada Soltani from her Facebook profile. It was sent to all the social networks, blogs and portals. Soon it was being used by CNN, BBC, CBS, ZDF, ARD and every other conceivable station. It was printed in the newspapers and magazines of dozens of countries. It all happened simultaneously world wide.
The photo of this young woman became the symbol of the freedom fight in the Persian Gulf. Furious people carried the picture of this alleged martyr before them in demonstrations. They carried it on their T-shirts and built alters to her. “The Angel of Iran” they called her.
How could it come to this photo swap? Soltani is a common name in Iran. Something like Miller probably. Neda is also not unusual. Somewhat similar to Sonja. The murdered Neda studied at the private Islamic Azad University, the living Neda Soltani was a lecturer there. Shouldn’t the media have done better research on the photo they were using instead of coping it directly from a Facebook profile and sending it around the world? Time was pressing, true, but one thing should have made them pause. The full name of the dead women was Neda Agha-Soltan. The name of the living Neda was simply Neda Soltani.
On the morning of 21st June 2009, the day after the shooting Neda Soltani was surprised by the number of people who wanted to register on her Facebook profile, allegedly as friends. There were hundreds from all over the world. They kept coming. There were telephone calls. A professor, a close friend, broke down in tears when he heard her voice.
At first Neda Soltani thought it was all a bad joke. Something that could be cleared up with two or three phone calls. A mistake that shouldn’t happen but then did. She began to write. She wrote that she was still alive. She wrote to the ‘Voice of America’, a popular broadcasting station in Iran. She told them that there had been a mistake, they had the wrong photo. She sent them her real photo as proof and asked the editors to make a comparison. Her photo was her. Neda Soltani never expected what then happened.
“Voice of America” broadcasted this new picture as a new picture of the dead Neda and CBS took it up. Neda Soltani got frightened. Everything she did to get back her true picture seemed useless.
She took her photo out of her Facebook profile so that nobody could make more copies of it. The next stone began to roll. Suspecting a censure her photo was copied in dozens and hundreds of Facebook pages all over the world. Blogs fixed it and Twitter sent it.
It was as if her own identity was subtracted from the photo and replaced by the longings of thousands of people. The smiling face of one presumed dead became the icon for an innocent victim in the freedom fight.
It was no help that on 23rd June 2009 genuine photos of the dead Neda Agha-Soltan were made available to all and sundry by her parents. Neda Soltani’s picture was still used.
Friends of Neda Soltani in Foren tried to correct the mistake. They were reviled with the words, “you bastards, you are not going to take the ‘Angel of Iran’ away from us.” It is as if a once believed-in mistake cannot be corrected.
This story is not just about a fiasco by the media in the artificial hectic they create when news gathering. This story also describes a cock-up created by the social media. The masses have the power in internet not only to expose lies, the masses can also create their own “truth” and defend it no matter how wrong. Few blogs bother to report the mistake. None of them had profile enough to be taken seriously.
The point came when it became clear to Neda Soltani that something had gone terribly wrong. Only a few journalists wrote to her about her Facebook profile and asked about her identity. None of them could or wanted to stop the deception.
Pressure was put on Neda Soltani in Iran. She was threatened. She feared for her family, for that reason she is not willing to say what exactly happened. Only one thing was clear: the mistake made with her photo should be used by every means possible against the opposition, the people on the streets should be revealed as instruments of western agents. Odious reproaches were made that could have meant death. Neda became ill, panic attacks and helpless fear became part of her life.
She couldn’t stay any longer. She had to disappear out of Iran. She fled to the west on July 2nd 2009 without saying farewell to her parents. She had to use her savings to pay her helpers. She fled with nothing in her hands except a rucksack, a small rucksack. She fled via Greece to Germany. She had a cousin here in Bochum. That is now her family.
Eventually the BBC Online reported the false identity on 3rd July 2009 in a weekly column about social networks. It was published directly after a report on the conspiracy theories about Michael Jackson’s death. The BBC commented, that this case was an excellent example of the danger involved when the mass media use pictures taken from the social networks.
One would have thought that that was the end of it. “My friends said, wait a day and all will be well. But days passed and nothing was good,” said Neda Soltani.
Her application for political asylum in Germany is in process for months. Neda says she never wanted to go abroad. She had never been in the west. She has homesickness. She gets about Euro 180 a month from the German state. That is barely enough to buy salads, fruit and bread which is what she was used to. She lives somewhere in a home for refugees. Her room, number eleven, is small, has two beds and a shelf. She lets nobody in. She wants to forget these months ‘in camp’ as quickly as possible. As soon as she is out she wants to completely forget it. The metal fittings on her door have been patched with plaster. There is no window in the kitchen for the two dozen people on the whole floor. The water tap clings to a shelving construction. There is a satellite dish attached to a broken metal bar on the balcony above the yard. The bar is stuck into a shabby sauerkraut bucket full of sand and stones, an improvised contraption for the connection to the homeland.
Although the photo of the dead Neda has been known for months the wrong picture still appears in Spiegel-Online, in the New York Times and in the Online edition of the Süddeutschen Zeitung. Even the AFP news agency used a version of the picture.
Almost all of these pictures have one thing in common: often they are photos taken by photographers. They show people inserting an icon into a camera. They are photos of a wrong picture.
Neda Soltani remained silent about this for a long time. She wanted to get her feet on the ground again, to collect herself.
In November CNN made a report on Iran; they used Neda Soltani’s picture again. She wrote to CNN and asked them to erase her picture.
The answer she got was an automatic Email asking for her understanding that not all enquiries could be personally answered. The Email was signed “CNN, The Most Trusted Name In News.”
Her picture doesn’t belong to her anymore. It belongs to CNN and all the others.
Almost everyone in the world knows Neda Soltani’s picture. It appeared on TV and the Internet and in the newspapers in almost every house as the picture of someone who had died. This well-known portrait shows a young brown-eyed woman carefully made-up. The veil, obligatory in Iran, is pushed back slightly. One can see the beginnings of luxuriant hair. She smiles, gently, a bit innocent but friendly.
But right now, here in a café somewhere near Frankfurt Neda Soltani has become harder. She’s not wearing a veil anymore. One can see grey strands that are growing on her forehead. “It was a misunderstanding,” she says, “a mistake, an error with terrible consequences.” Neda Soltani got caught up in the tumult between the fronts after the fraudulent election in Iran. She was hounded, hunted and had to flee. Her old life fell apart like a shattered mirror. Her photo, that picture with the gentle smile, was torn from her.
Neda Soltani lived in Teheran up to half a year ago. She taught English Literature there. She speaks this language fluently, precisely and intelligently. In summer she completed a work on feminine symbolism in the works of Joseph Conrad. For that reason she had no time to take part in the protest in Iran. She had to do proof reading in June. “My aim was to become a professor one day, should I prove good enough for it.”
Her parents belong to the Iranian middle class. She does not want to say exactly where she grew up or what her family do. She is afraid. She is aware of the problems. She knows that things are not going well. But she was diligent when it came to learning. I was an academic, she says, “I worked hard for ten years to get a position as a lecturer in the university. I earned money, I went out with friends and I had fun.” She has none of that today. No work, no money and no friends to go out with. Nada Soltani is now 32 years old.
The story of her photo began on June 20th 2009. That day a young woman was shot down near Kargar Avenue in Teheran at 7 p.m. local time. She fell on her back and blood ran out of her mouth. On doing so she stared into a mobile camara, wounded, terrified and helpless. She died shortly afterwards on the way to hospital. The pictures of the dying woman appeared on Youtube.The big TV stations soon got wind of the dying woman from Bloggers and Twitter. Editors tried to identify the woman. Pressed for time, they looked for pictures. Neda, her first name could be heard on Video. The internet quickly turned up a surname: Soltan, student at the Azad University in Teheran. Sombody used these data to search in Facebook.
Nada Soltani also had a profile there. There is not much accessible to the public in it. Only Nada’s friends had free access to the contents. But her photo was accessible at that time to every body.
It is not possible, anymore, to reconstruct who it was exactly who first gained access to the international portal for students, managers and housewives. It is also impossible to identify who it was who mistook the photo of Nada Soltani (below on the right) for that of the murdered Neda Soltan(below on the left).
But the fact is that on the night of June 21st 2009 someone copied the photo of the living Nada Soltani from her Facebook profile. It was sent to all the social networks, blogs and portals. Soon it was being used by CNN, BBC, CBS, ZDF, ARD and every other conceivable station. It was printed in the newspapers and magazines of dozens of countries. It all happened simultaneously world wide.The photo of this young woman became the symbol of the freedom fight in the Persian Gulf. Furious people carried the picture of this alleged martyr before them in demonstrations. They carried it on their T-shirts and built alters to her. “The Angel of Iran” they called her.
How could it come to this photo swap? Soltani is a common name in Iran. Something like Miller probably. Neda is also not unusual. Somewhat similar to Sonja. The murdered Neda studied at the private Islamic Azad University, the living Neda Soltani was a lecturer there. Shouldn’t the media have done better research on the photo they were using instead of coping it directly from a Facebook profile and sending it around the world? Time was pressing, true, but one thing should have made them pause. The full name of the dead women was Neda Agha-Soltan. The name of the living Neda was simply Neda Soltani.
On the morning of 21st June 2009, the day after the shooting Neda Soltani was surprised by the number of people who wanted to register on her Facebook profile, allegedly as friends. There were hundreds from all over the world. They kept coming. There were telephone calls. A professor, a close friend, broke down in tears when he heard her voice.
At first Neda Soltani thought it was all a bad joke. Something that could be cleared up with two or three phone calls. A mistake that shouldn’t happen but then did. She began to write. She wrote that she was still alive. She wrote to the ‘Voice of America’, a popular broadcasting station in Iran. She told them that there had been a mistake, they had the wrong photo. She sent them her real photo as proof and asked the editors to make a comparison. Her photo was her. Neda Soltani never expected what then happened.
“Voice of America” broadcasted this new picture as a new picture of the dead Neda and CBS took it up. Neda Soltani got frightened. Everything she did to get back her true picture seemed useless.
She took her photo out of her Facebook profile so that nobody could make more copies of it. The next stone began to roll. Suspecting a censure her photo was copied in dozens and hundreds of Facebook pages all over the world. Blogs fixed it and Twitter sent it.It was as if her own identity was subtracted from the photo and replaced by the longings of thousands of people. The smiling face of one presumed dead became the icon for an innocent victim in the freedom fight.
It was no help that on 23rd June 2009 genuine photos of the dead Neda Agha-Soltan were made available to all and sundry by her parents. Neda Soltani’s picture was still used.
Friends of Neda Soltani in Foren tried to correct the mistake. They were reviled with the words, “you bastards, you are not going to take the ‘Angel of Iran’ away from us.” It is as if a once believed-in mistake cannot be corrected.
This story is not just about a fiasco by the media in the artificial hectic they create when news gathering. This story also describes a cock-up created by the social media. The masses have the power in internet not only to expose lies, the masses can also create their own “truth” and defend it no matter how wrong. Few blogs bother to report the mistake. None of them had profile enough to be taken seriously.
The point came when it became clear to Neda Soltani that something had gone terribly wrong. Only a few journalists wrote to her about her Facebook profile and asked about her identity. None of them could or wanted to stop the deception.
Pressure was put on Neda Soltani in Iran. She was threatened. She feared for her family, for that reason she is not willing to say what exactly happened. Only one thing was clear: the mistake made with her photo should be used by every means possible against the opposition, the people on the streets should be revealed as instruments of western agents. Odious reproaches were made that could have meant death. Neda became ill, panic attacks and helpless fear became part of her life.
She couldn’t stay any longer. She had to disappear out of Iran. She fled to the west on July 2nd 2009 without saying farewell to her parents. She had to use her savings to pay her helpers. She fled with nothing in her hands except a rucksack, a small rucksack. She fled via Greece to Germany. She had a cousin here in Bochum. That is now her family.
Eventually the BBC Online reported the false identity on 3rd July 2009 in a weekly column about social networks. It was published directly after a report on the conspiracy theories about Michael Jackson’s death. The BBC commented, that this case was an excellent example of the danger involved when the mass media use pictures taken from the social networks.
One would have thought that that was the end of it. “My friends said, wait a day and all will be well. But days passed and nothing was good,” said Neda Soltani.
Her application for political asylum in Germany is in process for months. Neda says she never wanted to go abroad. She had never been in the west. She has homesickness. She gets about Euro 180 a month from the German state. That is barely enough to buy salads, fruit and bread which is what she was used to. She lives somewhere in a home for refugees. Her room, number eleven, is small, has two beds and a shelf. She lets nobody in. She wants to forget these months ‘in camp’ as quickly as possible. As soon as she is out she wants to completely forget it. The metal fittings on her door have been patched with plaster. There is no window in the kitchen for the two dozen people on the whole floor. The water tap clings to a shelving construction. There is a satellite dish attached to a broken metal bar on the balcony above the yard. The bar is stuck into a shabby sauerkraut bucket full of sand and stones, an improvised contraption for the connection to the homeland.
Although the photo of the dead Neda has been known for months the wrong picture still appears in Spiegel-Online, in the New York Times and in the Online edition of the Süddeutschen Zeitung. Even the AFP news agency used a version of the picture.Almost all of these pictures have one thing in common: often they are photos taken by photographers. They show people inserting an icon into a camera. They are photos of a wrong picture.
Neda Soltani remained silent about this for a long time. She wanted to get her feet on the ground again, to collect herself.
In November CNN made a report on Iran; they used Neda Soltani’s picture again. She wrote to CNN and asked them to erase her picture.
The answer she got was an automatic Email asking for her understanding that not all enquiries could be personally answered. The Email was signed “CNN, The Most Trusted Name In News.”
Her picture doesn’t belong to her anymore. It belongs to CNN and all the others.
(Indebted to HerrB for this!)
Regular readers may recall that this blog was one of (if not the first) to publish a real picture of Neda (22 June) (Full photo here) I do know now who sent me the photo and the circumstances of how they got it but at the time I didn't.
I had provided numerous exclusive stories to The Huffington Post last June previous to this but they decided not to run with the story that the wrong photo had been used by us all.
Of course when the BBC finally did use this photo later it was accepted that it was genuine!
Regular readers may recall that this blog was one of (if not the first) to publish a real picture of Neda (22 June) (Full photo here) I do know now who sent me the photo and the circumstances of how they got it but at the time I didn't.
I had provided numerous exclusive stories to The Huffington Post last June previous to this but they decided not to run with the story that the wrong photo had been used by us all.
Of course when the BBC finally did use this photo later it was accepted that it was genuine!
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