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The Bird of Dawn: Open Thread

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Tomorrow is the anniversary of the original Iranian revolution, and our friend Kamin Mohammadi has a message for the Moose

Dear Mooses,

On the eve of the anniversary of the Iranian revolution, I wanted to share with you this video and explain it a little.

This song – Morgh Sahar (Bird of Dawn) – is so well known that even I knew growing up as a child in Iran. It dates from the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and sings of our longing for freedom and democracy for over a hundred years. There is a translation of one of the verses below in case you are interested.

The video has been made by a friend, Ahmad Kiorastami. He is the son of the famous film director Abbas but is not a film-maker, rather a computer genius in California. Mohsen Namjoo is our Bob Dylan and Kiosk rock and they have updated the song and Ahmad has filled the video with symbolic images that refer to the lyrics – drops building up to a flood etc. It also features images of our leaders in this long and frustrated fight for democracy and self-determination, ending with Dr Mossadegh.

Please enjoy and circulate. Tomorrow there will probably be more bloodshed and violence in Iran, but the song and video remind us that this longing for freedom will – must – in the end prevail…

Thanks,

Kamin

O Morning bird, sadly sing and remind me

Of my pain afresh with a burning sigh

Break this cage and turn it upside down

Wing-tied nightingale, leave the corner of this cage

Compose the song of freedom for mankind… …

See more

See more

And with a breath, set fire to the battlefield

Of the mass of this earth

The cruelty of tyrants and the injustice of huntsmen

Have broken my nest to the winds

O God, O turning globe, O nature

Turn our dark night into dawn…

Turn our dark night into dawn indeed.

Any other bright thoughts during these long dark nights?


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86 comments

  1. fogiv

    and in the spirit of the open thread:

    The Whitehouse hosted a concert tonight called In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement.  The POTUS even joined in a song:

    At the end, President Obama joined all the performers save Dylan for “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” He ceded the spotlight, saying, “Singers in the front here.”

    http://voices.washingtonpost.c…

    So much great music then.  I think, more than anyone else Mahalia Jackson provided the soundtrack for the civil rights movement.  Anyone who isn’t melted by her voice and saturated with her spirit are made of non-porous stone.

  4. DTOzone

    thanks to schools being closed, it only took me five more minutes to get to work than usual even in the snowstorm, coming home too longer, but we got out at 12:45 and I made it back to Brooklyn before the worst hit.

    BTW, we’re up to 13 inches here in Brooklyn…and it’s still snowing.  

  5. Shaun Appleby

    Nate Silver thinks that Sarah’s going to run in 2012 and has provided some preliminary analysis:


    Among the first four states to vote, both Iowa and South Carolina should be winnable for Palin. Although Iowa is not a perfect match for her — not quite as many no-college voters as she’d like — it holds a caucus rather than a primary, which tends to bring out a more conservative electorate. The most obvious concern for Palin in Iowa, if he runs, is Mike Huckabee, who won there in 2008.

    Nate Silver – A First Look at Palin’s Primary Math Five Thirty-Eight 10 Feb 10

    Early days yet, of course, but Nate’s presentation is well worth a look.  Personally having read it in some detail it seems, given the recent Alabama poll showing Huckabee ten points ahead of her, that his analysis argues more persuasively against her successful nomination than for it.

  6. fogiv

    Police clashed with protesters in several sites around Tehran, firing tear gas to disperse them and paintballs to mark them for arrest. Gangs of hard-liners also attacked senior opposition figures as they tried to attend the rallies – including the wife of the head of the reform movement.

    Plainclothes Basiji militiamen beat 65-year-old Zahra Rahnavard with clubs on her head and back until her supporters formed a human ring around her and whisked her away, according to the Web site of her husband, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201…

    Photobucket

  8. Shaun Appleby

    You can always trust Josh to catch the crazy:


    The latest out of the Republican gubernatorial primary in Texas was that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison wasn’t just behind Gov. Rick Perry but was in danger of being overtaken by the Tea Party entrant Debra Medina. Today on Glenn Beck’s radio show, though, she mentioned she might be a 9/11 Truther.

    Josh Marshall – Postcards from Crazyville TPM 11 Feb 10

    This is gonna’ be fun.  And Hoffman is apparently challenging for the nomination of NY-23 again too.  

  10. Shaun Appleby

    An initiative from Obama’s Organising for America:



    We must show every member of Congress that if they fight for real health reform now, we’ll be there to back them up this election season.

    We’re shooting for 1,000,000 2,000,000 hours pledged to spread the word to fellow voters. And we’ll publish the total hours pledged in USA Today, so there will be no doubt that health reform is both good policy and good politics.

    Your volunteer hours can have a huge impact no matter where you live. You can make calls into critical districts where health reform champions are in jeopardy, write letters to the editor, volunteer for nearby campaigns, or even just talk to friends, family, and neighbors to help cut through the special interest spin.

    Please pledge right away, using the form on the right.

    Commit Your Time to Back Up Candidates Who Fight Hard for Health Care Reform OFA 11 Feb 10

    That’s one way to get a bit of leverage or stiffen a few spines.  And could be a worthwhile investment for the frustrated energy on the whole issue among engaged progressives.  I will be watching this space, how about you?

  11. DTOzone

    I had one pulled this afternoon, it was impacted, but it erupted a couple of years ago and was partially grown in, so it only took a few minutes to pull. I’m still here biting on gauze to soak up the blood.

    and I’m f*cking starving!  

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