Iranians in Tehran and countless other cities are testimony; Ahmadinejad’s gamble has failed. What ever the result of the political turmoil that has unfolded in Iran, Iranians have proved to themselves – and the world – that the spirit that moved mountains 30 years ago is still living.

Street signs can give us insight into a character of a place– reflecting the instructions of local authorities or indicators of commercial interests or something else altogether.
Sometimes informative, sometimes downright strange.

Share the street signs from where you dwell or roam.

These are my people, and yet there is an unreality about being here that occupies most moments. I feel as though time and place are suspended. I never know what time it is, either here or at home, and my head spins from the difference in time – day feels like night, and my stomach growls while I sleep.

We trawl the news media so you don’t have to.

FOCUS ON :: THE ELECTION IN IRAN

Landslide or Fraud? The Debate Online Over Iran’s Election Results :: The New York Times

Iran’s Ex-Foreign Minister Yazdi: It’s A Coup :: The Nation

Protests Flare in Tehran as Opposition Disputes Vote :: The New York Times

The Iranian political system :: Al-Jazeera English

Ahmadinejad Vows New Start As Clashes Flare: U.S. Waits for ‘What the . . . People Decide’ :: The Washington Post

Bored by the main street, I wandered off into a labyrinth of back lanes housing street side food stalls and tiny children running around on the dusty paths…Landmarks that I thought I were markings in my head disappeared, and the sun’s rays started to beat down hotter and hotter. I realized there were no street names, and precious few women around.

Street signs can give us insight into a character of a place– reflecting the instructions of local authorities or indicators of commercial interests or something else altogether.
Sometimes informative, sometimes downright strange.
Share the street signs from where you dwell or roam.

On June 12, Iranians will go to the polls to elect a President. On the ground, this is one of the most contentious elections in the thirty-year history of the Islamic Republic. With glitzy campaign videos, a so-called green wave taking the over Tehran’s streets, nightly riots between the supporters of the two frontrunners, and brazen accusations of corruption and lies unfolding on the first-ever televised debates between candidates, election fervor has gripped Iran.

We trawl the news media so you don’t have to.

Czechs Cool to Presence of Workers From Asia :: The New York Times:

Meet Toronto’s little poet man :: The Toronto Star… Watch the Video!

The Intersection of Islam, America and Identity :: The New York Times… See the art pieces

As much as President Obama’s speech in Cairo has been branded as one “to the Muslim world”-whatever that might mean-it is certainly a speech whose audience spanned across a much larger swath of the world. In terms of signaling substantive policy changes for the peoples of that world, there is not much to count on. Much of the lip service is the same as that of the Bush era. We are not fighting Islam, but rather extremists-yes, Bush said that. We want the Muslim world to prosper-yes, Bush said that. We care about the oppressed sectors of your society-women, religious minorities, etc. Yes, Bush said that too. The main difference thus far is that not enough time has yet passed for the disparity between words and action to become irreconcilable (the disparity between words and words, though, is another story, as Obama dubbed the misogynist and racist monarch of Saudi Arabia to be full of wisdom just a single day before he went to Cairo).

We trawl the news media so you don’t have to.

Tiananmen: two men, two countries, one tragedy :: The Globe & Mail
50 days of protest and one massacre in the Peruvian Amazon :: Rabble.ca
Court orders Ottawa to let Abdelrazik return to Canada :: cbcnews.ca ; The Globe & Mail
Is The Media Or Gay Community To Blame For LGBT Activists Of Colour Being Invisible? :: GayBlackCanadianman
Akwesasne under siege :: The Globe & Mail
For Lebanese-Canadians, a free flight to the poll :: The Globe & Mail
Teacher Transfers Linked to Influx of Black Students :: Education Week
Africville: Nova Scotia’s string of broken promises :: Rabble.ca