Exciting Times

The tension in the world has me on the edge of my seat! The Ayatollah gave his big speech, and it was just what we expected - no more protests, or we're going to spill some blood. The last I heard, between 8 and 15 protesters had been killed, and between 500 and 1500 have been arrested. With all the reporters and the internet shut down, it is hard to get reliable information. As I understand it, the Republican Guards haven't been called to the scene yet, but a group of thugs called the Masij, acting on behalf of the government, are the ones who are beating up on people and causing the violence. My favorite poster on the Al Bawaba Forum thinks these protests might actually lead to something. I don't know where he gets his information, but he says that there is considerable evidence that the armed forces can't be relied upon to do Khamenei's bidding. Twitter messages show quite a bit of friendly interaction between the police and the protesters, and the police have arrested a number of the Basij. If this is all true, the reign of the Ayatollah may be coming to an end. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Speaking of Iran - last night Iowa Public TV presented a Rick Steeves travelogue on Iran that about knocked my socks off. His tour covered Tehran and other cities and historic places. To my surprise, I saw bustling cities, a lot of cars and traffic, happy and friendly citizens, and lush green public areas. Rick has a real knack for interacting with people, and his interviews proved that the average person on the street doesn't hate us at all. They would like to see our governments get along so we could all be friends. If you missed it, you can Google Rick Steeves Iran, and you will be able to see the whole 56 minute show. It is worth seeing.
The drama of the rustbucket laden with who-knows-what is still unfolding off the coast of China. We now have added a destroyer to the observing forces, so now we have the teeth to do some serious intervening. The ship is currently following the China coast southward, which is a smart move. The U.S. wouldn't want to cause a stir in Chinese waters, because the Chinese didn't seem completely on board with the idea of stopping ships out of North Korea, and we wouldn't want to add another situation to deal with. Some pundit thought that there is a possibility that the NK ship wouldn't be able to able to refuel, and after it ran out of fuel, we could attach a rope and tow it to a port of our choice. Now, that is pretty fanciful. It would never happen. The next day or so could be interesting.
Closer to home, a great injustice has been done. Congress passed a resolution stating that there will be no investigation of Nancy Polosi's calling the CIA a bunch of liars. Where are the indignant Repulicans when we need them? I can't believe we are going to let this one get away.