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<title><![CDATA[Comments for entry "Iran Conspiracy Theory" at Dilbert.com Blog]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/298]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Regular thoughts and updates from Dilbert.com]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from webgrunt]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31613]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[djfelix:

You're right.  Scott has made statements on several different occasions to the effect that he'd never blog about his true feelings on anything he felt strongly about.  The implication is that he just only says stuff on the blog to entertain and also to get people to think.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[ThuAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from vincentberenz]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31549]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[I do not have example of lies in mind (as I am only 95% sure &quot;we do not produce nuclear fuel for weapon&quot; is a lie), but they are shutting off all journalists. So, they will - at best - lie by omission (and at worst just say some direct lies and having nobody checking if what they are saying is right or wrong).]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[WedAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from djfelix]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31516]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Hmm ... how interesting.  I believe this is a test of our ability to pay attention.

In the first part of your article, you make the argument that the Supreme Leader is lying when he says the election wasn't rigged, and that he even knows how it was done.  In the second part of your article, you then make the argument that it was Mossad that spoke to a single person, disguised as a follower of Supreme Leader, and convinced that person to sway the vote by 11 Million votes.

If the first part of your article is true, it disproves the second.  If the second is true, it disproves the first.  

The last part of your article is a classic straw man argument.

Sometimes I wonder if you say the things you say just to provoke a reaction, or if you really believe they are true.  I am hoping it's the former, and based on what I read in your book (and what I believe I understand about you're personality) I'm probably right.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Zuluwarrior]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31509]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[To bomb or not to Bomb, that is the question.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMPDTE_Rrdrd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from harvolson]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31500]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Regarding this story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/20/AR2009062000004.html?1

which says that statistical anomalies in the distribution of digits in the vote tallies are evidence of tampering - I'm unimpressed.

Statistical sampling is completely worthless for samples less than 30.

Reputable polling companies normally use samples of around 1000.

The article's complaint is based on a sample size of 116. I wouldn't give a couple of outliers much weight.

I'm not saying the election wasn't rigged. I'm just saying this isn't evidence that it was.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from BobNL]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31499]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[[How do you know the elections are rigged? I am not convinced]

Don't you people read anything apart from comics?

1 - In 50 cities, more votes were counted then the number of registered voters.
      Here is a link:  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6553843.ece
2 - The outcome of the elections are way off from the outcome of the polls.
3 - The margin of victory is too big.

Merkel (Germany) demands a recount with international supervisors. That makes sense.

As for the conspiracy theory: that does not explain the liars talk of Khameini.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMPDTE_Rrdrd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from rip97000]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31498]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Ahmadinejad - &quot;the holocaust never happened&quot;

anything else he says after that has me convinced he is crazy]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMPDTE_Rrdrd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from cb504]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31492]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Definately Mossad.    
1. Why would a leader responsible for 70 million people lie?  
2. Democracy is a choice, Iran has chosen otherwise.  Authoritarian leaders (aka dictators) are just as compentant and responsible and obligated to their peoples well being and democratically elected leaders.
3. Accountablility? their supreme leader thinks he is accountable to G-d(!), what higher judgement do you want?
]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMPDTE_Rrdrd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Muppet]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31489]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[So you're unaware of the Brad Blog then? 
http://www.bradblog.com/

He's an independent and has dedicated his life to the rights of voters. He too, suggests evidence of voter rigging, not only in Iran but the good ole US of A in his blog. 

Then there's the American working for the BBC, Greg Palast. &quot;If Democrats are to win the 2008 election, they must not simply beat John McCain at the polls -- they must beat him by a margin that exceeds the level of GOP vote tampering,&quot; Palast and Kennedy summarized. http://www.gregpalast.com/the-suicide-girls-up-close-with-greg-palast/#more-2153

See his video about the 2004 US election about voter rigging; 
Steal Back Your Vote. http://vimeo.com/1960006?pg=embed&amp;sec=1960006
Or 
http://www.gregpalast.com/

To avoid this current Iranian situation, I guess the supreme leader of Iran didn't watch these videos or read the blogs. How &quot;so last century&quot; of him.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMPDTE_Rrdrd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from gargamel9]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31485]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Hi there scott. I loved your excellent tip what we do when we lie. I did check and I think I Frequently do that when people ask me something I can tell the truth about! Now I will be able to detect it in other people hehehe. Thx!
As for how to rig an election I suggest reading the last book by Paul Collier called: wars, guns and votes. It explains there quite accessibly how politicians in countries with fake democracies do just that time and time again. Sadly in my country we are already seeing much of the steps that he marks thanks to our glorious socialist party and the non existent opposition (you will be fools to support oligarchies! We did just that here and now were in deep siah!).

The idea of incriminating Israel in that is just a product of leftist crude thinking. After II world war, the norm was to take sides with Jewish because the holocaust gave them a huge argument against the right(that it was a strong argument only denotes their lack of knowledge about history and the current events at that time but that is another story). Latter  when the soviet union started supporting middle eastern countries (arab) the policy took an u turn and it became to demonize Israel.

Whenever something bad happens to something that has the leftists good eye it is always because of the US, Israel or any other of the big demons of the left. That is getting way too old, in fact it was already old by the late 30ies IMHO, and we shouldnt fall in their traps.
]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from hbmindia]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31482]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[How do you know the elections were rigged? It is not obvious to me.
On a lot of issues there can be found a very vocal minority and a relatively silent majority.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from burt trub]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31481]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[I love how your post never went on to say that you are assuming that the elections are rigged. Its like you think its a clear fact.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from georgeclinton]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31480]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[I'm of the opinion that the simplest explanation is usually the most plausible.  Nate Silver has a theory which is both simpler and in my mind more plausible than either of yours Scott, especially if you are willing to accept fraud in the election as a given:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/ayatollahs-flawed-logic.html

Here's the gist:  Unlike in the United States where election results are reported at the local level, in Iran election results are reported all at once by the Interior Ministry.  The Iranian election process is opaque enough that the Interior Ministry can essentially make up whatever results it wants with no one being able to definitively dispute them.  I think its much more likely the election was manipulated at a high level than at the local level.  For one thing its a little easier to just make up ballot totals than to manipulate millions of ballot - even if you are very careful about what numbers you make up.  Second you have to include way less people in the conspiracy, only a few at the top, not thousands of bureaucrats across the country.  

So where did the eleven million vote margin come from?  Well if you're making up election results you want to hit a certain sweet spot.  If you make the election too close people will suspect voter fraud and protest.  If you make the margin of victory implausibly high (say Saddam Hussein 99% high) than people will dismiss the results on their face.  Nate draws a curve of this phenomenon (which share of votes ostensibly received on one axis and risk of political unrest on the other) and suggests the sweet spot is probably somewhere between 55% and 75%of the vote (this sounds reasonable to me.)  Ahmadinejad claims to have won 63% of the vote - right in the middle of that range.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from namenotavailable]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31479]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[My thoughts are theres two problems, as you've already stated the Ayatollah doens't need to rig the election he's already chosen the candidates. Personally I think he's already decided the votes that would be announced beforehand.
Now he hasn't updated the votes to reflect public mood (to show a more even race) for 1 of 2 reasons:

A) He's just old and incompetent, supported by the way the establishment is almost surprised that people are protesting

B) For him modifying his actions due to the will of the people is a slippery slope to democracy and although its still rigged, making it less rigged due to the people's votes isn't what a dictator does.


Oh and if the Mossad or outside forces can have that much control why dont they just send an anonomyous message &quot;from the Supreme Leader&quot; to pack all their nuclear scientists in a bus and drive into the deserted desert where theres no radar close to Israel with a GPS transmitter and wait there.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from wkwillis]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31476]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[The signs are in English because Tehran is an imperial capital. Iranians speak Persian, Lur Persian, some other variants of Persian, Arabic, Kurdish, Baluchi, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and god knows what by some three million or so (very or so) Afghan refugees.
Not counting tourists, diplomatic personel, and businessmen visiting a country of 70 million that controls a significant percentage of the world's oil and a more than significant percentage of the world's natural gas.
Then figure that most people in the world that are interested in foreign affairs and are even watching these western channels (because they are not available in Iran) speak or at least read English. They are the ones the forward the video clips with signs in a language that they can understand.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from atola]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31475]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Reposted because the blog software can not handle an apostrophe. Among other things.

Well, after an exhaustive 5 min search on Google, I am not convinced that the election was rigged. I am not even sure that the rigging or lack thereof is the real issue. Imagine living in a country where the rights of the minority are not protected, and the majority had the right to dictate to you what you wear, eat, who you can associate with etc.  It is just like here with the recreational drugs - just slightly expanded. I think that is what they are protesting.  Iran is a young country, and for youngsters in particular looking forward to several more years of social oppression is a living night-mare.
]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from atola]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31474]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Well, after an exhaustive 5 min search on Google, Iâ€™m not convinced that the election was rigged. I'm not even sure that the rigging or lack thereof is the real issue. Imagine living in a country where the rights of the minority are not protected, and the majority had the right to dictate to you what you wear, eat, who you can associate with etc.  Itâ€™s just like here with the recreational drugsâ€¦ just slightly expanded. I think thatâ€™s what they are protesting.  Iran is a young country, and for youngsters in particular looking forward to several more years of social oppression is a true night-mare.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Rockeye]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31473]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[It's also possible that those who manipulated the election results (assuming they actually were manipulated; has that been confirmed satisfactorily?) were suffering from the same general derangement that my friends who are politically on the opposite fringes have.  Namely they mistake their circle of friends for a representative sample of the rest of the population.  Not the self-reinforcing echo chamber that they are.  Does anyone remember the NYT columnist who famously remarked that she didn't know how Nixon could have won an election as she didn't know ANYONE who had voted for him?  
Again, lots of people protesting in the streets doesn't necessarily mean the results were rigged.  It would be much easier logistically to manipulate protests rather than actual votes.  Also, with the perceived history of unfair political process in most theocratic regimes was there ever a belief that Iranian election process was fair in the first place?]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from dsg]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31472]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Do you think people in other countries were contemplating who rigged W's elections so the US would look like morons to the world?

The problem I have with the Iran election is that the 2 biggest whiners about it being corrupt are; 1. The losing politician, and 2. A bunch of young people. Sounds a lot like our first election of George W. Just with fewer fatalities.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from iniquity]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/31471]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Based on past history, the most likely candidate to have rigged the elections is our own government. After all, we're the ones that destroyed their last democratic government.]]></description>
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