Going old school for protests,

- Time to go old school in your communications, Iranian protestors. Your government of oppressive, rights-abusing a-holes will now be monitoring your text messages and e-mails in an attempt to stop anti-government groups from encouraging protesters and arranging demonstrations. Time to use carrier pigeons, Morse code and lamps in the windows at night. The government announced that it will screen electronic communications to and from demonstrators and look to enforce severe penalties on organizers of what it deems illegal protests. That’s rich, because what penalties could be more severe that the ones already imposed on protestors who turned out en masse to demonstrate against last year’s rigged presidential elections? Those brave dissidents were beaten, arrested, jailed and in many cases killed for standing up for what is right. Tehran Police Chief Ahmadi Mogadham announced the new measures, which were a) not surprising in the least and b) a continuation of the government’s absolute intolerance of dissenting views since nationwide mass demonstrations erupted after the disputed presidential election. Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rigged the voting and “defeated” opposition candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi, but the Iranian people weren’t willing to roll over and accept the bogus result. They took it to the streets and clashed with police, rioting like their nation’s future depended on it - because it did. Those riots were fueled by texts, emails and posts on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, images and accounts from the riots spread like wildfire by electronic means, further infuriating the government as it attempted to clamp down on the story and prevent the world from knowing and seeing its truly heinous treatment of its own people. In the weeks following the mass arrests, foreign media members were denied access to the streets of Tehran and yet widespread accusations of authorities torturing and otherwise abusing prisoners leaked out. An Iranian fact-finding committee released a report last Sunday stating that 147 detainees held at Kahrizak Detention Center after last summer's post-election protests were stuffed into a small room without proper ventilation, deprived of adequate food and subjected to other mistreatment. A facility normally reserved for rapists and other dangerous criminals was turned into a house of torture for those who dared speak out against their government, showing how Ahmadinejad and his minions truly view the rights of their people. Now, they are further trampling the rights of those citizens by encroaching upon their private communications because there is a chance that those communications might actually be used to organize events that could further call into question the legitimacy and competency of the government. This isn't a normal edition of Riot Watch! Riot Watch!, everyone’s favorite overview of social dissidence worldwide, but it is a sort of call to riot and to protect your right to riot, so hopefully anti-government groups in Iran will take this government maneuver as the slap in the face that it truly is and respond accordingly…………

- SALE! SALE! SALE! EVERYTHING MUST GO! The nation’s major wireless companies are slashing rates on their plans and their prices can’t be beat! Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but Verizon Wireless and AT&T traded rate cut announcements Friday in an attempt to one-up (or one-down, as the case may be) one another. First, Verizon said early in the day that it will lower prices on its nationwide unlimited voice plan from $99.99 to $69.99. It also cut its unlimited family talk and text plan from $229.99 to $149.99. AT&T countered by reducing its unlimited family voice plan from $199.99 down to $119.99 and nationwide unlimited talk and text plans were lowered to $89.99 from $119.99. "Prices either stayed the same or were lowered for unlimited usage," said Brenda Raney, a Verizon Wireless spokeswoman. The new prices will go into effect Monday. Customers already under contract will not be affected, but they may switch over to any of the new plans without a penalty or contract extension. After AT&T dropped both of its unlimited plans by $30, the two companies are virtually even in terms of pricing yet again. "We are committed to providing more value to our customers and staying competitive in the marketplace," said AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook. "These new plans make it even more attractive to choose AT&T." And they also prevent Verizon from beating you significantly in terms of price, which would seriously cut your market share. This move has nothing to do with value and wanting to offer customers more for less money in any way, shape or form and if neither company had cut its rate, then neither of them would have done so. Expect retaliatory rate cuts from Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA in the days ahead because they don’t want to be left in the dust any more than Verizon or AT&T. Even smaller, regional wireless providers are likely to respond to these moves with rate cuts of their own lest they lose even more market share to the dominant national companies in the field. For once, the winner in a business decision might actually be the consumer. How ironic and rare is that…………

- Gotta love the freaking National Rifle Association, defender of anyone and everyone’s right to tote guns around and keep them pretty much wherever they damn well please. That includes Gary Tudesko, a 17-year-old Willows (Ca.) student who was found to have guns in his pickup truck at school one day last October. Tudesko was called to the principal’s office during class because he and a friend had left their guns inside the vehicle after going out duck hunting. "They brought in a private sniffing dog and it alerted on my truck and they found the guns," Tudesko said. He was summarily expelled because, well, bringing guns to school for any reason is a bad idea, even if you were out using them for a legitimate purpose and didn’t bring them with you with the intent to harm anyone (other than ducks). Tudesko was suspended and eventually handed a year-long expulsion because he was judged to be a danger to himself and others. . "I went hunting before school, me and my friend, and I didn't want to be late so I parked off campus at my school," Tudesko explained. His mother, Susan Parisio, countered that her son’s punishment was unjust because his vehicle was parked on a public street and not on school property. Right or wrong, the family will have the full backing of the NRA when it fights the punishment. An NRA lawyer will be by Tudesko's side when he appeals his expulsion Tuesday at the Glenn County Office of Education at 10 a.m. Given the fact that the NRA will defend any gun-loving kook in any situation, the fact that there appears to be a somewhat legitimate line of reasoning for the accused in this case made it automatic that the NRA would support Tudesko. As someone who hates guns, doesn’t own one and never will (and wishes the gun laws in this country were much stricter), I’m not a fan of the NRA and I somewhat doubt they are a big fan of mine…………

- The Book of Eli is an awesome movie with great reviews and plenty of star power, but even Denzel Washington couldn’t break Avatar’s stranglehold on the top spot at the box office. For the third straight weekend, James Cameron’s film about CGIed blue aliens reigned supreme, charging back after Book of Eli opened as the top film on Friday. Avatar earned a 3-day take of $41.3 million, bringing its domestic take to a robust $491 million and marking a mere 18 percent decline from last weekend. Meanwhile, Book of Eli secured the No. 2 spot with $31.6 million, very much on par with expectations for the end-of-the-world thriller. It was unable to hold off Avatar to be the top-grossing film of the weekend, but it’s a far superior movie and I’d pay to see it ten times before I’d pay to see Avatar again. In third place was the latest movie to resonate strongly with teenage girls, The Lovely Bones. After studio Paramount delayed its wide release by a week, the film hit home with its target demographic to the tune of $17.1 million. Fourth place went to another animated flick, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which grossed another $11.5 million, pushing its total domestic gross to a hearty $192.6 million. Rounding out the top five was Robert Downey Jr. and Co.’s Sherlock Holmes, which made $9.8 million and raised its total to $180 million. Overall, it’s a solid top five with at least two recommendable movies, which is more than I can say for most weekends at the local multiplex…………

- Phil Jackson is the absolute best in more ways than one. The obvious side of that is his ten NBA championships as a coach, the most in league history. The second side of that sentiment is Phillip’s wily, peyote-fueled antagonistic side that he veils every so slightly with his Zen-influenced approach to life. During games, he often sits quietly on the bench with arms folded across his chest, refusing to call timeouts when his team struggles because he wants them to work through the adversity on their own. He gives his players philosophy books and embraces a variety of Zen and Native American philosophies in life and coaching. Armed with his 10 NBA titles and the accompanying smugness they warrant, Jackson feels pretty confident in expressing his opinions on most any topic and the sad state of affairs for Los Angeles’ other professional basketball team was on his mind after his L.A. Lakers squared off with their Staples Center co-tenants the L.A. Clippers, Friday night. The Lakers b*tch slapped the Clips 126-86, exacting revenge for a loss a couple weeks ago that was the first time the Lakers lost to the Clippers in their past 10 meetings. Before Friday’s beatdown, Jackson ruminated on the notion that there is a "Clippers curse" haunting Los Angeles' other professional basketball team. There has long been talk of the Clippers being cursed. In fact, that talk has been going on pretty much the day they landed in L.A. from San Diego three-plus decades ago. A string of injuries to top draft picks and prominent players has fueled that talk and the fate of No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin, selected by the Clippers in the 2009 draft, add plenty of gasoline to that fire. Griffin suffered a fractured kneecap in the Clippers’ final preseason game on a routine play, landing awkwardly after a dunk and missing the first half of the season following surgery and rehab. He was doing everything he needed to do to get back on the field and help his team, making progress and looking to prove right everyone who labeled him a “can’t miss” prospect coming out of Oklahoma. That changed when Griffin suffered a setback in his rehabilitation and the team learned Wednesday that he will require season-ending knee surgery before ever playing a regular-season game in his rookie year. In light of that announcement, Jackson scoffed at the idea of a curse but had another theory as to why the Clippers are perennially snakebitten. "I come from a generation that believed in karma," Jackson said. "I do think there is karma in effect ultimately." Jackson was referring to Clippers owner and noted racist Donald Sterling, who agreed in November to pay a record $2.73 million to settle allegations by the government that he refused to rent apartments to Latinos, blacks and families with children. "I can't claim anybody else's karma," Jackson said. "That's their own making, whatever it is. If you do a good mitzvah [a Jewish term for an act of kindness], maybe you can eliminate some of those things. You don't think Sterling's done enough mitzvahs to eliminate some of those?” Jackson was then jokingly asked about the awards Sterling has received for his humanitarian efforts in the city of Los Angeles. He retorted: "How about all those other incidents [of his] that we have on file?" Owned. Way to take unprovoked shots at a true scumbag, Phillip. That’s why this guy is the best and why the NBA is just better with him around. And as always, if you don’t want people suggesting that you are a disliked douche bag who deserves bad karma, then don’t refuse to rent apartments to Latinos, blacks and families with children……………