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This week on Uprising:

* Iranians Rise Up Against Presidential Election Results
* Empire Notes on the Iranian Elections
* What Explains the Rise in Right Wing Extremist Violence?
* Black Agenda Report on the Cuban 5
* Travel as a Political Act – Rick Steves Speaks Out

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Iranians Rise Up Against Presidential Election Results

Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was declared the winner of last week’s Iranian presidential elections, sparking angry rebellion and counter-rebellion on the streets of Tehran for more than a week now. The main opposition candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi challenged the result, claiming massive vote fraud to account for the 64% victory by the incumbent president. Nearly every single province, including Tehran was won by Ahmedinejad despite a growing and vocal sector of Iranian society tired of harsh domestic social laws and a faltering economy. Iran’s Guardian council, dominated by supporters of Ahmedinejad has offered to recount some of the votes in an effort to quell the largest uprising since the Revolution which overthrew the Shah thirty years ago. Demonstrators have taken to the streets in the tens of thousands, with 7 unarmed protesters being killed by government-allied militias earlier in the week. In addition to street demonstrations, the reformist opposition and it’s supporters have used the internet’s social networking sites to get the word out, including Facebook and Twitter. In response, Ahmedinejad’s government has begun monitoring the websites as well as cracking down on foreign and domestic journalists.

GUEST: Sasan Fayazmanesh, Professor of Economics at Cal State Fresno, and co-Director of it’s Middle East Program, and author of United States and Iran: War, Sanctions, and the Policy of Dual Containment

Empire Notes on the Iranian Elections

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is on the Iranian elections.

GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade.

Visit www.empirenotes.org for more information.

What Explains the Rise in Right Wing Extremist Violence?

Three recent incidents bring to sharp relief what seems to be a growing trend of right-wing reactionary gun violence: the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in Kansas, the shooting at Washington DC’s Holocaust Museum, and the home invasion and murder of a Latino mother and son in Arizona. All three incidents were perpetrated by white, gun-toting extremists, and seem to confirm conclusions by the Department of Homeland Security and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which in separate reports warned of a spike in extremist groups and their potential hate crimes. A deadly confluence of factors is cited for this spike: the nation’s first black presidency, the economic recession, and an increase in immigrant populations. Added to that the striking ease of obtaining guns, and the perception that Obama plans on tightening gun control. The right-wing blogosphere is rife with conspiracy theories about Obama’s country of birth, urgent calls to stockpile ammunition, gas, and food, and even disturbing hints towards the President’s assassination. Are we entering a new deadly phase of right-wing extremism?

GUEST: Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst with Political Research Associates

Read Chip Berlet’s blog at www.publiceye.org.

Black Agenda Report on the Cuban 5

Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report. This week’s commentary is about the Cuban Five.

Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Travel as a Political Act – Rick Steves Speaks Out

What started as a career in tour guiding and teaching people how to travel Europe on a dime has taken a political turn for acclaimed travel expert and PBS series host Rick Steves. For decades, Rick Steves has encouraged Americans to travel outside of their comfort zones by choosing destinations that are both challenging and thought provoking over mainstream (fun in the sun) vacation spots. But his travel journalism has not overtly exposed his political views, until now. In a book published by Nation Books called Travel as a Political Act, travel guru Rick Steves wears his progressive politics on his sleeve. According to Steves, through travel we can learn why Europeans incarcerate fewer people than the US, how Muslims view the US and it’s wars, and why immigrants cross borders. “We travel to have enlightening experiences, to meet inspirational people, to be stimulated, to learn, and to grow” says Rick Steves. His book Travel is a Political Act also provides a powerful antidote to the fear and insulation that many Americans feel about the rest of the world.

GUEST: Rick Steves, author of Travel As a Political Act

Find out more at www.travelasapoliticalact.com

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“…[N]o society should fear another society simply because their leaders and media say they should” –- Rick Steves