In the news today

Not nearly all the cops here carry them but they surely are getting more and more common equipment all the time. Good thing too, because despite the small danger, they are still a lot more safer than the traditional 9mm guns. Safer to the officer as well, because in this country a cop is in deep shit if he shoots somebody dead and only heavy reasons will help him keep his job.

The cops must also experience being shot with a taser during the training before they are allowed to carry one, so that they know what the target is put through. I think this is quite an important aspect lessening the effect the apparent non-lethality would otherwise have on trigger-happiness.

important: The Iranian government is looking for dissident twitterers, so if you have an account, change your location and timezone to tehran!

This seems to be helping quite a few people, so I'll go ahead and repost it in every threads with some adjustments. Sorry, this has reached the level of TL;DR but I really am trying to cram the most relevant information and speculation only. Everything is updated as events unfold, especially the timeline and what will happen in the future.

Suppression of Dissent - The Players

Currently, there are either two or three groups who are suppressing the students on the ground that you'll read about throughout this thread:

1. The Basij
2. Ansar Hizbullah (which I will refer to as Ansar)
3. Lebanese Hizbullah (Unconfirmed but highly probable. Der Spiegel, based on a Voice of America report, says that 5,000 Hizbullah fighters are currently in Iran masquerading as riot police, confirming the independent reports. Many different independent reports and video point that way. Even in the last hours other independent twitter feeds have declared witnessing thugs beating on people while shouting in Arabic; I will refer to them as Hizbullah)

- The Basij are your regular paramilitary organization. They are the armed hand of the clerics. The Basij are a legal group, officially a student union, and are legally under direct orders of the Revolutionary Guard. Their main raison d'être is to quell dissent. They are the ones who go and crack skulls, force people to participate in pro-regime demonstrations, and generally try to stop any demonstrations from even starting. They are located throughout the country, in every mosque, every university, every social club you can think of. They function in a way very similar to the brownshirts.

They were the ones who first started the crackdown after the election, but it wasn't enough. While they are violent and repressive, they are still Persian and attacking fellow citizens. A beating is one thing, mass killings another.

- Another group was working with them, whose members are even more extreme, is Ansar. There is a lot of cross-membership between the Basij and Ansar, though not all are members of the other group and vice-versa. The vast majority of Ansar are Persians (either Basij or ex-military), though a lot of Arab recruits come from Lebanon and train with them under supervision of the Revolutionary Guard. They are not functioning under a legal umbrella, they are considered a vigilante group, but they pledge loyalty directly to the Supreme Leader and most people believe that they are under his control. They are currently helping the Basij to control the riots, but due to the fact that they are Persians and in lower numbers than the Basij, they are not that active.

- The Lebanese Hizbullah is a direct offshoot (and under direct control) of the Iranian Hizbullah (itself under direct control of the Supreme Leader) and cooperates closely with Ansar though Ansar occupies itself only with Iran's domestic policies, while Hizbullah occupies itself only with Iran's foreign policy unless there is a crisis like right now. However, Hizbullah has been called to stop violent riots in Iran in the past.

(the following paragraph includes some speculation based on reports from ground zero) Hizbullah flew in a lot of their members in Iran, most likely a good deal even before the elections in case there were trouble. They are the ones who speak Arabs and are unleashing the biggest level of violence on the Persians so far. Another wave arrived recently and there is chatter that yet another wave of Hizbullah reinforcements are coming in from Lebanon as we speak. According to Iranians on the ground, they are the ones riding motorcycles, beating men women and children indiscriminately and firing live ammunitions at students.

What will happen

Unless the army decides to intervene in the favor of the Council and to stop the early beginnings of the new Revolution, Ansar & Hizbullah members will be the ones doing the brunt of the killing and repression with Basij as a support while also protecting government buildings and try to do crowd control. The police seems to have for the most part disbanded in centers like Tehran according to all reports, including international media. If the police decides to come back, they will focus less on protection and crowd control, so the Basij will start to crack more skulls).

Currently, this is what is happening.


Timeline
note: I built this through both articles and twitter feeds, so I do not claim that this is a 100% factually correct representation of reality, but this is the general narrative.

- When the first spontaneous riots erupted, the first wave the Iranian Riot Police was called in, and short after the Basij also took the scene. The RP concentrated mostly around public buildings and streets while the Basij took position around student groups, especiallly universities.

- As things got more out of hand, more and more Basij troops were called in, as the police started dispersing. The riot police are less inclined (or, rather I should say the Basij are more inclined) to use violence so they retreated and leaving the place to the Basij.

- With the second wave of Basij also came Ansar Hizbullah members. This is the point where firearms started being used. There are reports of a few murders but it was mostly fired in the air or on walls in order to scare away protesters in University dorms.

- It's around the time of the second wave that the first reports and videos of an important number of non-Persian thugs shouting in Arabic and violently beating people with chains, clubs and electric batons (similar to cattle prods). The end of the second wave came right before the beginning of the current manifestation. Things were getting quieter with only sporadic reports of dissenters being assaulted. Important to note: at this time. the Supreme Leader has authorized these militias to use live ammunition against the crowd if things get out of hand (source: BBC)

- This brings us to the third wave, which just began around 12:30PM for those of us on the East Coast. According to all reports, plainclothes militia have opened fire on civilians protesting peacefully. Chaos erupted in the streets, with reports of fighting all over Tehran and spreading over Iran. Pictures of people shot, some to death, surfaced and were published in the mainstream media. Things very are ugly and this is spreading in other cities as well. Violent and murderous repression has started. At least a twenty people have been killed so far. Things will spiral down fast, and very soon.

There is a major crackdown on students, especially those with connections to the outside world going on right now. Some people report that the students are fighting back in some areas. Telephones are being bugged and everyone twittering and sending videos outside of Iran are being rounded up. ISPs were shut down, government hackers are threatening people who twitter, and some of them have vanished in the last 24 hours.

Later, the people started to fight back. First, they took over and burned down a Basij base, killing its commander. Later, a Basij shot a young man in the face in front of their HQ, at which point a policeman went to confront them. The Basij beat the policeman, at which point students stormed the compound, throwing molotov cocktails, burning it to the ground. This is very big.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, supporters of Moussavi have a manifestation planned for 5pm, Tehran time. Roughly the same number or more is expected to attend. Plenty of twitter chat about dressing in black.

The pro-Ahmadinejad crowd however are planning a counter-demonstration at the very same place the supporters are supposed to gather at 3pm. Most agree that basically they are simply going to gather for a confrontation. Basij from all over the country are moving to Tehran and supporters are being bused from all over the country.

A major showdown is expected to unfold

The Supreme Leader has also called for a 10-day inquiry into the claims of fraud, but it has been widely dismissed as cosmetic. The Revolution lives on.

Links

For further information on the Basij, Global Security has a good article about the history of the Basij. http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iran/basij.htm

CNN has a good article where eyewitnesses describe the current violence unleashed by the Basij here http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/...ess/index.html

Here is another good article from GS again giving more background information on the ruthless Ansar thugs.http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell...iran/ansar.htm

What can you do?
If you have a twitter account change the location and time to Tehran.
These tweeters also need proxies to use. If anyone wants to help ask and I'll try to search through where I'm getting this to tell you how.
http://blog.austinheap.com/2009/06/1...s-for-windows/

Why should you care?
A peaceful demonstration of students (like you) resulted in mercenaries killing some of them. And storming their dorms, arresting and killing more.
Imagine the Ishbal rebellion, but it's real and going down in Iran.

there are no links in the end. fix that.

Sorry, I dropped the ball in my copy pasta move. Posts now have linky goodness.

Tapeworm infestations from eating raw salmon triples

It's small, only 1 per 100,000, up from 0.32 per 100,000.

The most useful part I found was this:

Quote:

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According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, all fish meant to be served as sushi must be frozen for a specified period of time (usually a week) to kill lurking parasites.

Rennie said no matter how fresh, unless you're buying certified "sushi grade" fish it's best not to try to serve it raw at home.

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Gotta start swiping "fresh fish is good sashimi fish" from my friends' minds.

Quote:

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Symptoms of Tapeworm Infection

The symptoms of tapeworm infection are:

* Nausea
* Diarrhea
* Abnominal pain or discomfort
* Hunger
* Fatigue

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It always made me nervous when I worked the Seafood counter when someone told me they were going to make sushi. I tried to dissuade them as much as possible, or point them to the premade boxes or sets.

I knew none of it was sushi grade, and the people who said they were going to do it didn't look remotely like they knew what they were doing. Most of them ended up getting previously frozen (but asking first for fresh) and very few, if any, actually smelled it first.

Hmm, I don't eat seafood as often, but I am still concerned about the way they are handling things, even if it is a very small chance that you'll get the tapeworm.

I took a quick look at our Food Safety website, and it appears rice (sushi rice anyway) had to be at pH 4.6 or below. Like who the hell checks the pH of rice? No doubt it has a reason, probably to do with microbe sustainability, but still.

Well at least my neighbour got that part correct. My last sample was like....corrosively acidic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by extra info found

Acidification of sushi rice normally occurs when the rice is warm, to facilitate appropriate
mixing. The NSW Food Authority has identified 4.6 as the critical pH level in its Food Safety Guidelines for the Preparation and Display of sushi (NSW Food Authority, 2007). At this pH, the rice is no longer considered a potentially hazardous food as the pH will not allow the growth of pathogens. In the United States, the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management (HITM) and University of Florida also suggest that cooked rice should be adjusted to a pH less than 4.6 (Snyder, 2000; University of Florida, 2004).

Research by the University of Florida (2004) found that properly acidified rice (pH ≤ 4.6) could safely be kept out of temperature control for up to 8 hours. If a sushi outlet intends to store sushi rice out of temperature control, or for prolonged periods of time, it must ensure that the appropriate control measures are applied to minimise the opportunity for growth of the primary pathogens of concern, B. cereus and S. aureus.

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Soldier filmed himself raping friend

When I read that, I just kept thinking stuff like this probably happens all the time. It doesn't make it any better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

I took a quick look at our Food Safety website, and it appears rice (sushi rice anyway) had to be at pH 4.6 or below. Like who the hell checks the pH of rice?

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You don't really have to check it. Adding a little acid would quickly lower the pH to measly 4.6. Aren't the Japanese anyway adding vinegar willingly to stuff?

I once heard a crazy statistic like 1 out of every 3 japanese residents have some sort of digestive parasite in their body.

Anyway, didn't find an article about it, but found something else interesting:
http://www.livescience.com/health/09...mans-sick.html

The absence of tapeworms in our digestive systems might make us more prone to illnesses.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/riaa-p2p...news-4098.html

Woman sued for $80,000 per song downloaded illegally for a total of $1,920,000.

I think if they wanted people to pay they would at least make the judgement fit the crime.

My friend went to college with one of the first guys to get hit by the RIAA. I think he owes them like a billion dollars or something. Anyway, the RIAA already announced that they will stop actively terrorizing torrenters, and switch to a warning system in collaboration with the ISPs. Any open court cases will still be pursued, however, as in the case with that woman.

They were warned...

If you download a song and get sued, but you can prove you purchased the music afterward (but before the lawsuit), can you get the case thrown out? I believe downloading music as a demo is fair use, as long as you buy a legal copy if you actually keep the song and listen to it regularly.

If you have a legal copy of anything you download, it's not a crime.

So would someone care to explain why these people are eating up taxpayer dollars to file a lawsuit with someone who can never afford to pay them? Over 24 songs? The horrible thing here is the state of juries. If someone like me with balls who could think for himself could actually survive the jury selection process, this woman would not have to pay anymore than what she would pay on Itunes for these songs. But a jury decided, even though the minimum fine an illegal file carries is $350, she needs to learn her lesson by paying 80k per file. This doesn't serve any other purpose than for the RIAA to flex its muscles and show America how big its dick is, and the mindless saps who are approved for jury duty are going to swallow the damn beast whole. Seriously? Who in their right mind thinks someone should go bankrupt because they participated in a victimless crime?

I wouldn't call it a victimless crime, since it does incur loss for certain parties, but that won't stop me agreeing with your statement.

such a great way to ruin two people's life, RIAA.

what are the odds they'll keep a normal life? slim, I'm sure.
who in his right mind will keep a steady paying 'job' (if they have one) just to spend 1.8 million dollars (roughly 20 years of earnings? if they got a good job) to pay to some social jerk.

I'd become a drunk in the moment I'm out of court, let's see them get anything out of me then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

I wouldn't call it a victimless crime, since it does incur loss for certain parties, but that won't stop me agreeing with your statement.

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On a larger scale I agree it has a negative impact. But in this instance, sharing 24 songs, two albums, that's not hurting anyone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Heretic Azazel

On a larger scale I agree it has a negative impact. But in this instance, sharing 24 songs, two albums, that's not hurting anyone.

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No single raindrop believes it is to blame for causing the flood...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Heretic Azazel

Who in their right mind thinks someone should go bankrupt because they participated in a victimless crime?

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Really, the woman is the victim in this crime.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Animeniax

No single raindrop believes it is to blame for causing the flood...

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But ruining the life of this one woman wont even stop a majority of leechers. It really just ruins her life.