Obama,Clinton Court Iowa Activists

I was just reading a story about the Supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton who are once again ardently courting Iowa Democratic activists as they vie for the support of delegates pledged to departed rival John Edwards.

Edwards finished second in the state's leadoff precinct caucuses on Jan. 3, but those caucuses are only the first step in a complicated process of picking the state's 45 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.

The next step in that process are the conventions held Saturday in each of the state's 99 counties, where 13,000 activists gathered to elect delegates to congressional district and state conventions, and sending best wishes to my friend Teresa, who is participating in the conventions, and wants to be chosen as a state delegate!!

It looks like Iowa may end up being important at the beginning and the end of this process, and how "cool" is that for our small state!!


conventions

Iran Arrests Activists

As many of you may have seen the Iranian's are cracking down on their dissenters ever harder with each passing day that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains in power.

It was just in December of 2006 that President Ahmadinejad claimed to be happy when reformist students disrupted his visit to their university, as they burned his image and shouted, "Death to the dictator" as reported by the BBC in a reminder after the crackdown this past month. Shortly after the visit Ahmadinejad wrote on his website that it showed the world that Iranians can protest with absolute and total freedom.

Since May, eight of the students from Amir Kabir University have been arrested . Activist's inside and outside of Iran are reporting that these eight are among hundreds who are being rounded up throughout the country. Those arrested are being charged with crimes against the Iranian system, and Iranian officials merely say that the judiciary is simply prosecuting crimes.

Many people forget that two years after the election of President Ahmadinejad, the so-called Tehran Spring is a fading memory. This referred to the thaw in relations attempted by former President Mohammad Khatani, who relaxed many of the rules during the spring of 2000, was probably at the height of becoming "moderate" as they tried to ease into better relations with the rest of the world. By January of 2001, the thaw was losing its' appeal with the important people in Iran, i.e., the clerics, mullahs and other hardliners who saw any easing of relations with the West or even on the rules applying to Iranians as going in the wrong direction, and ended it.

The annual spring enforcement of Islamic dress codes in Tehran was stricter this year, spawning hundreds of arrests. Amnesty International said the number of executions rose from 94 in 2005 to 177 last year, most for nonpolitical offenses.

At least 33 women have been arrested in recent months at rallies seeking change on issues such as legalized polygamy, child custody, and a marriage age of 13, said Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer for some of the women. About a third received suspended prison terms of several years.

Even the smoking of waterpipes in teashops, a beloved tradition, has been banned, officially for health reasons.

Campus poetry nights have been canceled, along with commemorations of past student uprisings. Bus drivers and other workers have been fired and arrested for union organizing, and nearly 300 teachers were arrested after demanding higher pay.

So the Iranians are going through a new dangerous time in their country and we should let them know that even as we may despise their government, that we support them as a people, and we hope that they can regain their "freedom" from these madmen who are currently in power.