THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DAY OF RAGE

Back in the 20th century, I spent the nights before a couple of major demonstrations in eerily quiet contemplation, wondering if the end of the following day would find me beaten, bloody, or worse. In many ways it was like the eve of a battle, except that, in a battle there is some semblance of matching the enemy weapon for weapon, while – as Jim Morrison pointed out – in a political demonstration, they have the guns and all we have is the numbers. It seems that Iran's opposition will go ahead with a planned rally on Saturday in Tehran despite a government warning against new protests, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s intimation that heads would be broken. The rally will be held at 4:00 pm (11.30 GMT/3.30 PST) at Tehran's Enghelab square, so we do not have long to wait to learn the outcome.

The secret breath is Bated