A Supreme Leader Loses His Aura as Iranians Flock to the Streets

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/opinion/21tehran.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

“Can’t the United Nations help us?” one woman asked me. I said I doubted that very much. “So,” she said, “we are on our own.”

The world is watching, and technology is connecting, and the West is sending what signals it can, but in the end that is true. Iranians have fought this lonely fight for a long time: to be free, to have a measure of democracy.

( text for preservation )

her name was Neda

Thursday morning was great. I went swimming in brienze's awesome pool, didn't sunburn myself, and ate a ton of delicious sushi. (Made with real sushi rice, thank heavens.) I went home to roast some corn on the grill for Mike's snack Thursday gathering. That's when I discovered water seeping out of the ground next to the house. I proceeded to have a small meltdown, imaging the worst catastrophes involving plumbing and the slab and the foundation. It was not helped by our asinine home warranty that does not want to cover anything.

A visit from a plumber, an air conditioner repair guy and many phone calls later it turns out the water is seeping out from the drain of the AC unit. While not insurmountable, it is a pain in the ass, uncovered and required digging a trench through the yard. Joy. It is not as bad as I first thought thankfully.

I'm sick, and I don't know why. I wonder if it is a psychosomatic reaction to following the news from Iran all week. I've run out of green shirts. I need to do laundry. Her name was Neda, by the way. The girl we watched bleed to death on our computer screens and on CNN - her name was Neda.