Hundreds of thousands in Iran protest vote result - Los Angeles Times

           Ben Curtis  Associated Press

The supreme leader orders the hard-line Guardian Council to examine challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi's claims of fraud in the vote reelecting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
8:12 PM PDT, June 15, 2009

Reporting from Tehran -- Hundreds of thousands of Iranian protesters defied authorities Monday and marched to Tehran's Freedom Square, as the Islamic Republic's supreme leader ordered an investigation into allegations of voter fraud that the opposition described as little more than an attempt to dampen anger over the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Hundreds of thousands in Iran protest vote result - Los Angeles Times

Technorati Tags: Iranian protesters,Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Election battle moves to streets

One has to wonder about the integrity of the Iranian election this week. In the days leading up to the vote the size of rallies in support of opposition candidate Mir Houssein Mousavi were amazing given the risks many were taking to be out front in opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Many of the nations young people and the intellectuals have come to see Ahmadinejad as a liability to the nation and feel further isolation from the west.

The last 48 hours since the election results were announced has seen unprecedented protests in the streets.  Mobile phones, text messaging, the Internet and  social networking sights like Facebook and Twitter were suffering outages or running slow cross the region and it is likely safe to assume that the government has had a hand in trying to block to swift exchange of such information.

I have to wonder how long such protests will continue?  How much dissent and how long the government will allow it to grow? Already there are indications that there have been a number of arrests and swift action in the streets to try to curb the crowds.

Technorati Tags: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,Mir Houssein Mousavi,Iranian elections,protests,integrety of Iranian election

This is an interactive post - please feel free to participate!

There is an old Chinese adage, “He who reads 100 poems writes like 100 poets. He who reads 1000 pomes writes like himself.” It's with this in mind that I am seeking to broaden my poet horizon. I'm looking for some recommendations as I build a new list of poets to check out.  I'm not looking so much for the likes of Wallace Stevens, W.S. Merwin, or Ashbery, Plath, Sexton, Olds, etc.  I'm looking more for contemporaries or perhaps some lesser known deceased poets.  So if you have some poets you are particularly fond of that you;d like to recommend, the comments section is open for business.

Technorati Tags: contemporary poets you recommend

Dodge Foundation CEO to step down in 2010 - NJ.com

Dodge Foundation CEO to step down in 2010 - NJ.com

Dodge Foundation CEO to step down in 2010
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
BY PEGGY McGLONE
Star-Ledger Staff


After 12 years of leading one of the state's major philanthropic organizations, David Grant, the chief executive of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, is resigning from his position. He will stay on the job through next June to ensure a smooth transition of leadership.

The last words of John Updike, poet | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/07/2009

 

The last words of John Updike, poet

Endpoint
and Other Poems
By John Updike

Alfred A. Knopf. 112 pp. $25

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Reviewed by Frank Fitzpatrick

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On Dec. 13, 2008, just 45 days before his death, fearful that his recently diagnosed lung cancer had metastasized, John Updike bid a poetic farewell to the tiny Pennsylvania town that had nurtured him and provided a lifetime of literary substance.

The last words of John Updike, poet | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/07/2009

 

Technorati Tags: Endpoint and other poems,John Updike

Aspiring Author

To Twitter or Not Twitter - that is the question...


Aspiring Author

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When is The Tipping Point for an author to go digital? | The Creative Penn

 

When is The Tipping Point for an author to go digital?

An article last week examined whether The Tipping Point has come for the publishing industry.

When is The Tipping Point for an author to go digital? | The Creative Penn

This subject keeps coming up....  the point at which e-books and print-on-demand become viable in the market place.  The Creative Penn link was an interesting find on Twitter. [yes, I bit the dust and started using Twitter]

I already see print-on-demand as having a viable impact.  I really think we are still a couple years away from universal acceptance of e-books.

Technorati Tags: digital publishing