EDIT: Here's one cool way to help! Iranians need safe internet proxies to communicate through. This site: [link] explains how to set one up, if you're using Windows. I believe it's free, and you'll be helping a brave nation.

EDIT 2: As commenter =Dub-T has pointed out, the link has been getting a lot of traffic, and may take a couple tries to get through to. If you're up for setting up a proxy, be sure to follow the instructions to the letter, including security precautions. Thanks again, guys. Citizens like us are why governments should be afraid of their people.

EDIT 3: Also, if you're on Facebook, I've made a group called Go Green for Iran. Yes, I know, joining a facebook group to save the world seems pretty shallow/silly. But the point right now is to get this the attention it needs, and in a bizarre twist, Facebook and Twitter have been the flagships for spreading the word. If we can get a million strong for Colbert, I think we can at least get a couple hundred for Iran. (Plus, if anyone ever wanted to know my secret identity, there's a quick way to find out. xD)


Hey guys. I've got a pile of notes to answer, and I've been in the car for a good while of today, and I just graduated from college, so things are a bit hectic. But this is something I think we should all be paying attention to, especially Americans.

Iran's presidential election took place on Friday. Their current leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "won" with 62% of the votes. However, popular support was truly, by a wide margin, for the reformist candidate, Mir Houssein Mousavi. And the people are not happy.

Most of the mainstream American media has had poor coverage, if any. This is partially because Iran has erupted into pro-Mousavi riots, led by students much like most of us. Ahmadinejad has sicced armed police on unarmed protesters, and called in forces from outside the nation to bring down the riots. Mousavi has been imprisoned in his home; senior officials are condemning the election as rigged, while interior workers have reported that no ballots were even counted. Text messaging, internet - as many forms of communication as possible have been shut down. Incredibly, somehow, Twitter still functions. Mousavi's supporters have used it as a way to organize themselves, report what they're witnessing, and communicate when all else has been cut off. Mousavi himself has asked his nation to not accept the results of the election, but to keep their protests peaceful and nonviolent. Ahmadinejad has made no such request for his police.

Especially for Americans, this should hit home. These people have been caught up in a revolution, a war we fought over seven years compressed into three days, and it isn't over yet. These people are putting their lives on the line to take their nation back from a dictator, and some of them have already lost, beaten to death by police, and/or blocked by police from seeking treatment at hospitals. They are every one heroes. And they need help.

Right now, the situation on the ground is too dangerous, and too far from resolution, for anyone but Iran to handle. What can we do? Not much, for many of us. However, we can watch. And we can make sure more people know. We have phones that work, and computers that work, and we know where are friends and family are. All I ask of you is to see follow this incredible story for yourself, and spread the word. The most important thing now is to make sure this gets the attention it has more than earned. Humanitarian organizations are going to need help when the situation has calmed enough to move in, and they're not the only ones who can help - we can organize things like food and medical supply drives ourselves.

I just ask that we all watch. You want V for Vendetta? This is it, folks. This is the real deal. It's not nearly as glamorous as dominoes and Red Carsons, but it's real, and the courage of the Iranian people should not go unnoticed.

If anyone wants to follow this via not-CNN, I recommend checking out Andrew Sullivan's blog, the Daily Dish: [link] He was one of the first major political bloggers to start really following the Iranian election, and is now providing as much coverage as possible for the developing story.

Furthermore, if any time has been a good one to join Twitter, it'd be now. If you're already on, the #iranelection channel is aggregating the tweets from on the ground. The user change_for_iran is a student, I believe in the capital city Tehran, and is reporting what he's seeing, which is nothing if not sobering.

This is something I've been trying to do personally, and I think it'd be neat if it caught on stateside - if you can wear green, please do, even if it's just a bit of ribbon around your wrist. Green was Mousavi's campaign color, and it's a visual sign of support, which may draw more attention to what's going on. Just a thought.

This is big stuff, folks. Let's not let it pass over us.