The shit keeps hitting the fan in Iran, where the government seems determined to put the people down and the people seem determined to keep up the fight for what Darya, our correspondent in Tehran, describes as:
1. critical thinking about anybody and anything (results: respect for the law, freedom of the press, and etc.), 2. access to modern technology, especially internet and books, 3. respect privacy
But here's where the fight gets ugly:
In response, the government unleashed what witnesses said was an extraordinary number of security forces to violently battle the crowds. Witnesses said mobs of anti-riot police and plainclothes Basij militia lined the streets and on several occasions fired directly into the crowd and beat protesters with steel batons. In one neighborhood, the Basij took over a commercial building and dropped tear gas canisters from the roof onto the protesters, witnesses said.
Then Darya, without explanation, sends me a joke:
In a wine factory the regular taster died and the director started looking for a new one to hire.
A drunkard with ragged, dirty look came to apply for the position.
The director of the factory wondered how to send him away.
They tested him.
They gave him a glass of wine. He tried it and said, "Itâs red wine, a Muscat, three years old, grown on a north slope, matured in steel containers."
"Thatâs correct", said the boss.
Another glass.
"Itâs red wine, cabernet, eight years old, a southwestern slope, oak barrels."
"Correct."
The director was astonished. He winked at his secretary to suggest something. She brought in a glass of urine. The alcoholic applicant tried it.
"Itâs a blonde, 26 years old, pregnant in the third month. And if you donât give me the job, Iâll also name the father
I asked her for some exegesis, but she went silent. I like to think that Darya sent me this message just to affirm that, despite all the fire and brimstone, the revolutionaries of Iran are keeping their humor.
