Running — as exercise, I mean, not as in “running for office” — is different from other activities.
Most human undertakings follow a familiar trajectory. At the beginning of the project, you’re full of enthusiasm, and the task is fun (even if it’s also hard work). The same thing happens at the end of the project: you’re enthusiastic because the goal is within sight, and the work is enjoyable.
But the middle segment is tough. The project isn’t new anymore: it’s familiar and boring. And the goal seems far off — too far off to provide much immediate encouragement. So the middle segment of any project tends to be a hard slog.
Not so with running! The beginning can be tough, at least for some of us. The body resists; the psyche resists. It requires self-discipline to get into your running apparel and out the door.
After four or five minutes, I find that my body warms up, my muscles get limber, and I fall into a comfortable rhythm. At that point, I feel like I can run indefinitely. It is almost effortless; I begin to enjoy myself.
But then, toward the end of a typical run, fatigue sets in. It takes an effort to add another stride, and another, and another. The end of the run is near, and that’s the only thing that keeps me going. But fun? Not usually — not for me, it isn’t.
Thus running reverses the usual pattern. Instead of easy/hard/easy, the pattern is hard/easy/hard.
But not this morning, I must admit. I woke up with a headache and a knotted muscle in my back. I went running anyway (Yay, me!) but after five minutes I knew it wasn’t going to get any easier. It was going to be a hard slog all the way through.
Some days are like that. On those days, running isn’t different. It’s just like any other human endeavor: there is no success without sustained, dogged effort.
Before this, everyone was saying the Iranian people are not ready for democracy, but we see now the Iranian people will die for democracy.
— Mohsen Makhmalbaf, a prominent Iranian filmmaker who is serving as a spokesman in the West for opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, speaking to the Washington Times.
LN: How are the Basij trying to suppress the unrest?
Behnaz: They are beating demonstrators in a brutal fashion. They’re hitting people with heavy staves, to the head and to the stomach. Some people have been beaten to death. They have no reservations about attacking children and old people. There’s talk of a pregnant woman having been shot; she then gave birth on the street. Here in Isfahan, one person was first beaten and then thrown from a roof. I was at his funeral today [24 June]. His family can’t talk about the circumstances of his death with anyone; they’ve been threatened. I’m convinced that many more such cases will surface over time.
• I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads – blood everywhere – pepper gas like war…
• saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground – she had no defense nothing -… so many ppl arrested – young & old – they take ppl away
• just in from Baharestan Sq – situation today is terrible – they beat the ppls like animals
The number of deaths is unknown, since the Government of Iran is actively suppressing information:
Several independent sources in Tehran hospitals and clinical centres have counted the dead from Saturday at over 150; yes more than 150. Doctors have been silenced from speaking about it. In fact when less than a week before (16 June) the doctors and nurses of Rasul Hospital in west Tehran witnessed 8 killed and 28 wounded from the day’s demonstration, in their hospital, they came out on the street to inform people.
But on Bloody Saturday, the situation was totally different after Khamenei’s command to slaughter demonstrators. […] Security forces went to all the hospitals to which people themselves had brought the bodies, to gather all the wounded and dead; when paramilitary and military forces gathered the bodies, they sent them directly to military hospitals; they transmitted these bodies to their own centres too.
[…] Now, we have reports that when families went to collect the bodies of their relatives, security forces have urged them to sign appeals against Mir Hossein Mousavi and named him as responsible for the deaths of their relatives.
Upon learning of his son’s death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a “bullet fee”—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said.
I am a medical student. There was chaos at the trauma section in one of our main hospitals. Although by decree, all riot-related injuries were supposed to be sent to military hospitals, all other hospitals were filled to the rim. Last night, nine people died at our hospital and another 28 had gunshot wounds. All hospital employees were crying till dawn. They (government) removed the dead bodies on back of trucks, before we were even able to get their names or other information. […]
This morning the faculty and the students protested by gathering at the lobby of the hospital where they were confronted by plain cloths anti-riot militia, who in turn closed off the hospital and imprisoned the staff. […]
What can anyone say in face of all these atrocities? What can you say to the family of the 13 year-old boy who died from gunshots and whose dead body then disappeared?
When I was a boy, there was no ceremony to mark our graduation from elementary school. Of course, that was back in the day when we used to walk ten miles to school, in a blizzard every day, even in June. Barefoot, and uphill in both directions.
Anyway, here’s Isaac, being honoured for surviving elementary school almost normal:
Unfortunately, he was shot in the throat just as he reached the platform.
(Not really. But his neck isn’t usually parallel to the ground / perpendicular to his body. Honest. Perhaps he was so thrilled about entering high school that he suffered a seizure?)
No lasting damage ensued, as you can see here:
Isaac survived elementary school, and we survived raising a bunch of kids to high school age. We all must have horseshoes up our butts.
Andrew Sullivan is posting tweets commenting on Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech at Friday prayers. Khamenei is the Supreme Leader — he ranks higher than the President.
He has already declared President Ahmadinejad (the incumbent) the winner of the election, notwithstanding any irregularities:
Khamenei: We can talk about 1K, 100K, 1mil cheating but 11milions is not possible
This tweet is particularly worrisome:
The basij will be at Friday prayers today, their 1st public appearance in large numbers
The Basij are an unofficial police force. Whereas the regular police have been passive in their response to the mass demonstrations, the Basij have been cracking heads, and entering the homes of dissenters to arrest them.
The Basij are a tool of the Ayatollahs, but this appearance at the Friday prayers would seem to formalize their role. It’s an acknowledgement, by the clerics, that they condone the operations of the Basij.
Thus it could portend an escalation of the violent clampdown. Particularly when it is accompanied by statements like this from Khamenei, today:
Khamenei: Those politicians who make the situation chaotic, would be responsible for the bloods.
Day Five of the green revolution: another day, another mass protest. An observer in Tehran estimated that 500,000 people marched from from Haft-e-Tir Square to Vali Asr Square.
Here are the Black Eyed Peas, sampling John Lennon’s “Power To The People” and adding their own vocals and music to the mix:
They say we want a revolution We better get it on right away You better get on your feet And into the street Saying, Power to the people …
This video gets rolling a little after the one minute mark. It’s not so dramatic. Just human voices, lifted up in protest. But Lennon would have admired their spirit.
And this video — of injured protesters, with gunfire in the near distance. Paul Wells says, “I just wanted to tip my hat to people who seek democracy in places where it’s harder than here.” My sentiments exactly.
What’s going to happen?, you ask. Nobody knows, even the major actors. The regime has the guns, and the opposition has the numbers.
The opposition has the numbers, indeed! A photo via Paul Wells at Macleans:
And the second, sobering quote, from the New York Times:
I received this note from an Iranian-American with family here: “The bottom line right now is whose violence threshold is higher? How much are the hard-liners willing to inflict to suppress the population and tell yet another generation to shut up? And how much are Moussavi and his supporters willing to stand to fulfill their dreams?”
How much violence can the regime stomach dishing out? How much violence can the people stomach absorbing? The key to a successful revolution — or a successful repression — may lie right there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bonus quotefrom Michael Ledeen. It’s a bit of a tangent, but a worthy point:
As most people have learned, the basic communiations tool is Twitter, which somehow continues to function. Bigtime Kudos to Twitter, by the way, for postponing its planned maintenance so that the Iranians can continue to Tweet. Would that Google were so solicitous of freedom. (emphasis added)
all songs lead back t' the sea 
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