Kudos to Twitter

Google caved to Chinese censors. But Twitter is actively helping the Iranian protesters retain free speech.

As Fox reports:

Iranian Twitterers, many writing in English, posted photos of huge demonstrations and bloodied protesters throughout the weekend, detailing crackdowns on students at Tehran University and giving out proxy Web addresses that let users bypass the Islamic Republic's censors.

By Monday evening, it had become such a movement that Twitter postponed maintenance scheduled for the wee hours of the morning, California time -- midday Tuesday in Iran.

"Our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran," wrote Twitter co-founder Biz Stone in a blog posting.

"Tonight's planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran)," he added.

I have signed on to Facebook, but I've resisted Twitter. Obviously, I may have underestimated the importance of the service.

Sandstorm In Iran

With all the bad news at home, I was inspired to see a photo of mass demonstrations in Iran, posted by Fox.

There are also plenty photos of blood and fire. Police forces have brutalized many and killed some. So the news is also tragic and frightening.

And yet, people are marching, people are speaking out, and -- sometimes -- for the right reasons.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is doing as little as possible to support reform.

Obviously, the protests are much larger than the presidential elections in Iran. Yet Mir-Hossein Mousavi is better than the tyrant Ahmadinejad. For example, Mousavi wants privately owned media, rather than state-owned propaganda machines. He has his serious problems; for instance, he pledged to "not suspend uranium enrichment," and he says he does not recognize Israel. Yet he also says, "I also believe that the abolition of the religious police is possible."

So Iran is hardly on the brink of a resoundingly pro-liberty revolution. And this could end very, very badly; some speculate that Ahmadinejad left the country so that escalated violence "would not reflect on him."

Still, it's good to see that many Iranians have the heart for something better. What can ultimately save Iran is the same thing that can ultimately save the United States and the world: a philosophy of reason and individual rights.

Here's my favorite line from the protests: "Ahmadinejad called us dust, we showed him a sandstorm."

Persepolis, Virgin Territory

Recently my wife and I watched two films on DVD that we quite enjoyed.

The first is Virgin Territory, very loosely inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron. Completely ignore the stupid publicity blurb that accompanies the movie. This is pop comedy, nearly soft-porn with its nudity, yet beneath it all there is a sweet love story. The cast is lovely and talented; for the first time ever, I'm convinced that Hayden Christensen (of Darth Vader fame) can act. If you approach it as a sexual fairy tale, rather than as a period piece, it can be fun.

The second film is considerably more serious in tone and content: Persepolis tells the story of a girl who grows up in Iran as witness to revolution and war. It is based on the life of Marjane Satrapi, who also co-wrote and co-directed the film. Again I am reminded of what went wrong in Iran, a nation torn between tyrants, Marxists, and theocrats. Be sure to watch the special features, which I found as interesting as the film, as they show what happened to Satrapi after she moved to France. One thing that struck me about this film is the strong American influence it reveals, even as told by a woman from Iran living in France who doesn't seem to have any special sympathy for the U.S. We watched the French-language version with English subtitles (the default on the video we rented), which I recommend, as I'm not persuaded the English dubbing was as good. I really like the original voices, and the animation was completed around the French recordings.