Monday Morning News and Views

Good morning!! I’m beginning my news browsing a little late this morning. Here the most interesting stories right now from my point of view. Please add your own links in the comments.
Afghanistan
The Hill: McChrystal not backing down from request for more troops
Speaking on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, the new U.S. [...]

Why NewsCorp Silenced O’Reilly’s Attacks on GE

At the end of my post on General Electric’s control over MSNBC and NBC yesterday, I asked why Newscorp and Rupert Murdoch ordered Bill O’Reilly to stop trying to get at Keith Olbermann by revealing information about NBC’s corporate owner, General Electric. I never watch O’Relly, so I hadn’t heard that he was doing [...]

Thursday Morning News Links (with a little help from my friend Katiebird)

News from the Boston Area
Good morning, Conflucians! It’s another gray day in New England, but at least the Red Sox are still in first place.
Kansas City Royals play Red Sox this weekend.
José Guillen returned to the lineup — but as the designated hitter — and could spend time this weekend battling the Green [...]

Friday Morning at The Confluence: News and Views

Good morning Conflucians! It’s another cold, rainy day in the Boston area. I’ve gone through the stages of grief, from denial to anger, and so on, and I think I’ve almost reached acceptance. Summer is just not coming to New England this year. It’s 57 degrees on July 3. So [...]

Thursday Morning at The Confluence: Going to Carolina in My Mind

Can’t you see the sunshine, can’t you just feel the moonshire?
Here in the Boston area, you can hardly tell day from night anymore. The gray skies and rain have been with us day after day for more than a month. July 2, and it’s 57 degrees outside my house. [...]

Mousavi is Being Watched Around the Clock by Security Forces (and Other Updates on Events in Iran)

John Litchfield of the Independent UK reports that according to Mohsen Makhmalbaf, a film director and long-time close friend of Mir Hossein Mousavi is “under 24-hour guard by secret police and no longer able to speak freely to supporters.”
In a telephone interview, Mr. Makhmalbaf, the director of the 2001 film Kandaha, denied suggestions that the [...]

“Neda” Was Buried Today, Her Memorial Cancelled by “Authorities”

Via Hot Air, it appears that “Neda,” the young woman who was shot at a rally and has become a symbol of the Iranian protests, has been identified. Her name was Neda Agha Soltan. She was not 16 years old after all, but 27. She reportedly was a philosophy student who attended [...]

Iranian Government and State-Run Media Escalate Conflict

It appears that the Iranian government is getting increasingly desperate. Earlier today several relatives of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashimi Rafsanjani, including his daughter, were arrested and detained for a time. According to The New York Times,
Mr. Rafsanjani, one of the fathers of the Iranian revolution, has been locked in a power [...]

Witnessing the Courage of Iran, Part 2

Here is a new thread on the courageous Iranian protesters and their fight for freedom. Please use the comments to post any news you have and to discuss the ongoing situation.
Roger Cohen has a new report from Iran at the New York Times. He thinks Ayatolla Khamenei may have miscalculated with yesterday’s hardline [...]

Saturday: Witnessing the courage of Iran

Update: I am going to sticky this post for the rest of the day.
President Obama has worked up enough emotion for a statement.  Here it is:
“We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost,” he said, adding: “Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions [...]