Students, militia clash in 2nd day of Iran protests

Nick R. Post #8 Students, militia clash in 2nd day of Iran Protests by NASSER KARIMI and LEE KEATH AP http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

This article is about the current state of unrest in Iran. It examines the protesting university students in Tehran over the belief that Ahmadinejad fixed the election in June. The opposition leader Mousavi was the one who lost the election to Ahmadinejad and claimed that fraud had taken place. Students and police clashed as protests became violent. The police were using tear gas and threw rocks at protesters. Many protesters were wearing surgical masks and rags to cover their faces, not only to fight the effects of the gas but also hide their identities from the police. Students burned pictures of Ayatollah Khamenei which is considered to be taboo. Foreign journalists have been barred from covering protests through out Iran. The Iranian government is promising stronger and harsher tactics in dealing with protesters. The number of protests have been present since the elections, occurring about once a month.

This article has to do with social control in a number of different ways. The control of Ahmadinejad over Iran is total. He will not be denied the power. The idea that a public official would rig an election is appalling although not new. The control here is top down but also bottom up. The students led by Ahmadinejad's opponents are gaining momentum in their bid for a democratic union. This is not the first time I have talked about Iran in this blog. There is much going on in that country in terms of social control. Other articles about this same protest said that the government was blocking use of the Internet days before the planned protest in order to lessen support for it. This is interesting because through the use of the Internet one can get out messages to masses that one could normally not communicate with. These protests still rallied tens of thousands of supporters so word of mouth still is a powerful thing. The government is also promising harsher crackdowns on protesters. This is a how of force by the government in order to control the population.