Twitter Unleashes Deluge of Sarcasm on Republican Congressman -- Daily Intel -- New York News Blog -

GOP/IRAN MEME
I must be the last person in the world who doesn't tweet. But this may get me to sign up. If you missed Jon Stewart's parody of this, it's bound to be on the Comedy Central website and is worth a quick peek. But it seems some congressperson's tweets comparing the GOP's travails to those of the Iranian dissidents has provoked the proverbial sandstorm of parody. The Twitter community, deeply immersed in the Iranian conflict, was appalled and the mocking began. A new blog devoted to the meme has already sprung up. Here are just a few:

I got a sunburn last weekend. Makes me think of Hiroshima;

my softball game was rained out today. Now I know what Hurricane Katrina felt like;

fell off my surfboard in Malibu today, now I know what D-day felt like;

someone walked in on me while I was in the bathroom. Reminded me of Pearl Harbor.

(NEW YORK MAGAZINE, suggested by LEE-ANN WATERRS CAMP)

VIRTUAL WALLS AND GREEN TSUNAMIS
It's The Matrix, but real. A hearty group of freedom fighters parrying a formidable machine, living by their wits and besting the evil menace though their ubber-techno abilities. On one side is a powerful monolith firing bullets and on the other side are young protesters firing "tweets". What's not to love? This piece touches on a real question that the media has left largely unexplained, how the hell are the Iranian dissidents doing it? Can we help? Despite the Iranian government's efforts to curtail it, a secret Internet lifeline remains, and it’s a tribute to the crazy, globalized world we live in that the lifeline was designed by dissident Chinese computer engineers whose mission it is to battle against the Great China Virtual Wall in their homeland.

Be sure to check out the GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM CONSORTIUM mentioned in this piece. Geeks will especially love their white papers.

CHECK THIS OUT TOO!

(NEW YORK TIMES, suggested by JOHN FURMAN)

World | AlterNet

SOLIDARITY
The stars of Iran’s soccer team wore green wristbands in support of the anti-government protesters, during a game broadcast live on Iranian state TV yesterday. “State television, which has been broadcasting Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s competing rallies, has steered clear of images of Mr Moussavi’s protests,” the Financial Times notes. “But given the popularity of football in Iran, keeping the match off the air would not have been an option."
(ALTERNET)

The Secret Love Letters of Afghan Women | Mother Jones

LOVE IN RUINS
"There is no room for love in Afghanistan," the young teenage girl said to me as if it were true and had been true for years, for as long as she could remember. In the twilight of that evening and for several years after, her remark caused me to reflect on the kind of space that love itself can consume. In the tiny precipice of this Afghan girl's heart, where love and all of its beautiful unknowns should have blossomed, it didn't, it couldn't....And then one day, a surprise. A young man brought me a stack of letters. More than 600 pages, it was a secret correspondence of love, one that allowed the imaginations of two lovers to wander, for it was only in those pages and in their dreams that they could walk together. To disclose their love would mean the end and perhaps worse. That day I realized that love existed in Afghanistan - in a single glance, a certain tone, the shadow of a school yard - but not without grave risk or consequence.
(MOTHER JONES)

HEALTH REFORM DEBATES START HEATING UP
ABC News has responded to the Republican National Committee's "pushback" that the network is excluding "opposing voices" during next week's White House conversation on President Obama's national health care plan. An ABC representative characterized the RNC letter as containing "a number of false premises." Explaining, she wrote that "ABC News alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president." And, further, "ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience."
(TV NEWSER)

Repeat the Question

CAN HEALTH CARE REFORM FAIL?
Sixteen years ago Stanley Greenberg conducted polling for Bill Clinton on the issue of health care reform. Recently, he has been reviewing old surveys and focus groups and memos to the president. He has returned to the field, posing the same questions to the public, to determine how the mood has shifted and how the forces that oppose reform can best be countered. He's looked at each question, remembering how it all went badly wrong. As he reached the last of the questions, he exclaimed: "Oh no. It can't be. Nothing's changed."
(NEW REPUBLIC)

Urban Art Thriving in Berlin | Demotix.com

BERLIN'S STREET ART
Street art has a long historic and culture in London, New York, Sao Paulo, and in many metropolitan centers around the world. However in Berlin, it especially seems to be thriving since the wall came down in 1989.
(DEMOTIX)

WERE ELECTIONS RIGGED?
Middle East experts are falling into two broad camps on the Iranian election. One argues that numerous irregularities are de facto evidence supporting claims that a presidential coup has taken place in Iran. A second camp argues caution, suggesting that many in the media had come down with a case of "wishful thinking" that raised expectations beyond reason, and the gap between the expectations and results is leading to an eagerness to embrace the opposition's claims of massive fraud. Into that debate, a new statistical analysis of the election results is making the rounds that suggests that the numbers reported by the Interior Ministry are evidence of large-scale vote-fraud. But polling by our political guru Nate Silver finds the analysis unpersuasive. (CLICK HERE)
(ALTERNET)

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

KATZENJAMER
I'm a world music fan, with - as you might expect - a heavy concentration on Latin sounds. I don't know how the hell I came across this Norwegian (yes, Norway!) rock band, but I've become infatuated with this "girl" rock group that is kind of a cross between the Dixie Chicks and Spike Jones. Make sure you check out:

A BAR IN AMSTERDAM

AIN'T NO THANG

MOTHER SUPERIOR

THIS

AND THIS