IRAN UPDATE - AT 7:26 P.M. ET:  From CNN:

Bloody attacks and midnight arrests, combined with a regime growing more technologically savvy, have begun stemming the flow of online information from dissidents in Iran, activists and human rights officials say.

Access to some social networking sites has been blocked in Iran since the June 12 election

Once emboldened by their ability to dodge the government and spread news about their protests to the world, many in the youth-driven protest movement, they say, are now scared of the consequences of getting caught.

"It's absolutely chilling," said Drewery Dyke, a member of human rights group Amnesty International's Iran team. "The level of fear that has permeated society now, in terms of this issue, is palpable. It's striking."

COMMENT:  The dissent will not end, although it may take a different form.  Still to be explained - how President Obama intends to negotiate with the Iranian regime over nuclear weapons, while that regime beats down its people, and has already said it will demand full nuclear freedom.  The speaking skills that win the Iowa caucuses are not the same as those that defeat the Iranian fascists.

July 2, 2009