The Nov. 24 landmark agreement on Iran’s nuclear program has been portrayed as an Iranian victory. Much of the media commentary thus far has focused on how it could clear a path for the eventual resumption of normalized ties between the Islamic Republic and the United States…

But behind this euphoria, sober realities of Iranian politics, which may hinder a genuine U.S.-Iranian rapprochement, pose a dilemma for Khamenei…

Khamenei

First, given Tehran’s bitter experiences with previous attempts at reconciliation, Khamenei has a deep and abiding distrust of the United States…

The second factor is the conflict of interest from the ideological dispositions of Khamenei’s allies in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the sanctions’ impact on their material benefits. The IRGC controls the majority of key smuggling routes, and decades of sanctions have led to the entrenchment of their interests in the black-market economy… However, the issue is also ideological. The upper echelons of the guards were handpicked by Khamenei on the basis of their ideological opposition to and deep suspicion of the United States. Therefore, if serious advances are made toward normalization of relations between the two countries, significant push-back from some within their ranks is expected…

The third factor is a growing fear among government elites that the removal of sanctions and a momentum toward international integration may empower the Iranian middle class at their expense… Despite near unanimous consensus on the need to curb, if not eliminate, the powers of Iran’s unelected supervisory Council of Guardians, the middle class lacks the strength and resilience to sustain a successful challenge, as demonstrated by the quelling of the 2008 Green movement protests…

The regime has another, even more ominous wild card to worry about. The traditionally loyal working class has been severely affected by the economic decline during Ahmadinejad’s eight years in office and the crippling sanctions. There are fears that resentment among the working class could find synergy with the grievances of the middle class. This could lead to a nightmarish scenario of a truly broad-based revolt against the regime…

Finally, Khamenei is acutely aware that the current regime’s power base — loyalists within the working class — is deeply rooted in anti-U.S. sentiment. While the conscripted rank-and-file members of the IRGC may back a popular public call for reform, the same cannot be said of the Basij, Iran’s volunteer militia force. Khamenei has indoctrinated the regime’s ardent and passionate supporters, who are essential to its survival, to view themselves as the embodiment of pure Muhammadan Islam engaged in a cosmic struggle against the “great Satan.” To maintain their loyalty, Khamenei has to keep them energized…

We should not be surprised, then, if Khamenei and his allies rein in Rouhani sharply, should further progress be made toward U.S.-Iran rapprochement beyond a minimally acceptable accord designed to transform the interim P5+1 agreement into a genuine deal resolving the nuclear dispute and resulting in the gradual lifting of sanctions. The real issue at stake is… whether the exigencies of Iranian domestic politics can be finessed in such a way that they do not derail the negotiations — or, should negotiations prove successful, in such a way that they result in a broader normalization of ties with the U.S. While Khamenei may agree to a deal to resolve the nuclear dispute, he will have a much harder time consenting to a broader normalization of ties with the U.S….

Ultimately, Khamenei’s real dilemma might just be the mobilization of an empowered middle class (with possible working-class support) and its potential demand for social and political reforms, including Khamenei’s relegation to the position of ceremonial figure.

If you ever get that feeling you are being watched, well, for once it really is just your imagination – this fleet of surveillance cams is inactive but still startling to anyone caught by surprise. All they are missing is some George Orwell birthday party hats.

Street artist SpY, known for large and thought-provoking interventions, really lives up to his nom de plume in this installation set alongside a side street in Madrid, Spain.

Catching passers by off their guard, the neatly-arranged series features one hundred and fifty security cameras all pointed in roughly the same direction, all causing a cumulative sense of distinct unease that is only slightly irrational upon reflection.

While the prop cams are both inactive in practice and redundant in theory (since they all appear to be looking at the same spot), the effect of feeling watched by many eyes is still disproportionately unsettling.

The construction process was painstaking, involving a crane and the manual attachment and alignment of each camera along a carefully-planned grid.

Aside from their uniform focus, the consistent color and style of each unit adds another level of discomfort to the mix, like a marching army of emotionless robotic agents in some dystopian science fiction film.

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Hanging clothes out to dry is a design problem with a long history and many solutions, making it all the more rare to see something like this clever star-shaped approach that addresses the issue with such adeptness.

In some Asian or European regions with more temperate climates, people string their clothes outside to dry, taking maximum advantage of warmth and airflow. Apartment and condo dwellers in colder places often have fewer options – Aaron Dunkerton of Queensland, Australia, but graduate of Kingston University, in the colder United Kingdom, can relate to both sets of conditions.

The clever twelve-pointed-star design allows for maximum air circulation and hanging area with a minimum footprint when the drying rack is folded up and stored. A compact collection of aluminum rods strung between plywood supports are unfolded and latched to form an essentially circular shape with space in the middle – all part of a low-tech spin cycle that takes up less space in your closet, too.

More about this unconventional clotheshorse: “The dimensions of my clothes horse are 56cm long, 32 wide and 23cm high when it is collapsed so it is much easier to store than a conventional clothes airer which are normally awkward sizes and hard to hide when not in use. When in use its dimensions are 56cm deep, 112cm wide and 112cm tall. The shape of my clothes horse when erect allows for good air circulation around the clothes, which will help them to dry faster.”

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London could become much more bike-friendly with SkyCycle, an elevated route for bicycles only that runs along the existing rail network and would enable commuters to see the city in a new way. Never mind sitting in your vehicle inhaling exhaust while you’re stuck in traffic, or battling the perpetual jam of vehicles on your bike, which has proven to be a dangerous proposition. 14 cyclists died in traffic accidents in London in 2013 alone.

Designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Exterior Architecture and Space Syntax, SkyCycle is a 136-mile route with over 200 entrance points that can accommodate 12,000 cyclists per hour. The fact that the route follows the train system is actually ideal, since the railway lines were built for steam trains and follow contours that avoid steep ups and downs.

The route could speed up treks across the city by up to half an hour by avoiding traffic and taking more direct lines from one busy area to another. If approved, the routes could be in place within 20 years or so.

The High Line in New York City, an elevated pedestrian route built along disused railroad tracks, is a great example of what can happen when a project like this is integrated into a busy city. Not only is the High Line a popular route for foot traffic, it also helped revitalize large swaths of industrial land that wasn’t living up to its potential.

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The New York Times’ Guideline on Integrity is clear about when anonymous information should be used: “The use of unidentified sources is reserved for situations in which the newspaper could not otherwise print information it considers newsworthy and reliable.” NPR’s Ethics Handbook says—in large, bolded text at the top—“Don’t let sources offer anonymous opinions of other.”

Each journalism school and media entity has their own handbook or guidelines. While most places aren’t as thorough as The New York Times or NPR, best practices are similar everywhere.

• Reporters are supposed to push sources as hard as possible to speak on the record.
• Failing that, they are supposed to identify confidential sources as specifically as possible without risking their anonymity.
• Finally, they must determine that the source has a justifiable reason for not speaking on the record AND that their information is important enough to warrant publishing anonymously.

We could have the “ethics in journalism are slipping” conversation, but that’s boring and overdone. What is notable is that whatever the state of journalism ethics may be, consistently the most blatant offenders are the sports departments.

There are a couple of systemic reasons why the usage of anonymous sources in sports is done so terribly. Because anything can be construed as tampering and therefore a league offense, sources are given carte blanche to speak anonymously. The sports universe is small enough that even small descriptors of the source could jeopardize their anonymity, so most are referred to as a “league source” and thus the reader doesn’t have a good idea of the person’s possible motivations. Are they an agent, executive, player, league official? Who knows.

I brings this up because of reports last week that the Cleveland Cavaliers had suspended Andrew Bynum indefinitely. The Cavaliers took a low risk, high reward flyer on Bynum before the season by signing him to a two year, $24 million contract with only $6 million guaranteed. It was a bold move with the possibility of a big playoff if Bynum came close to returning to his All-Star form. Alas, in the midst of a terrible season for both Bynum personally and the Cavaliers as a team, it seems things didn’t quite work out.

The first part of the story is the what, that Bynum was suspended indefinitely. The second part, the why, is where things went awry.

In sports breaking news, there’s almost always only two sides to a story. In the NBA, things are rarely multilayered or complex. In trade talks, there are two opposing teams that attempt to advance their agenda through the media. In free agent talks, there is the side of the team and the side of the player. A good reporter, to the extent possible, talks to both camps to try and divine the “truth” of the situation. Instead, sports reporters rarely do such a thorough job.

A quick example of how the “league source” sausage is made.

Awhile back a prominent basketball reporter told me a story. A fringe player was having a good Summer League, and this player’s agent called the reporter and said something like, “Team X is scouting my guy and considering signing him”. This reporter looked at Team X’s depth chart, salary cap situation and the players they were thinking of inviting to training camp and knew there was no way in hell Team X would sign the Summer League standout.

The reporter ended up writing a story that said something like, “a league source tells me Team X has been scouting and is intrigued by Player Y”. It is a win-win situation all around. The agent has gotten buzz for his player that will perhaps lead to a minimum contract. The reporter has curried favor with the agent that will perhaps pay off in the future, without reporting anything untrue. After all, it’s Summer League, and every team is scouting every player. Perhaps the only person “harmed” here is the reader that doesn’t understand that the report, while technically true, will never come to fruition.

Getting back to Andrew Bynum, reporters failed on reporting the why. Nobody got Cavaliers officials or Bynum and his agent on the record to comment on the suspension. Seemingly, reporters did not get anybody associated with Bynum to even speak off the record. Instead, they sought out (or where sought out by) every Tom, Dick and Harry with an axe to grind, and let themselves be propaganda mouthpieces.

A collection of reporters let themselves become the vehicles for anonymous sources to slander Bynum.  What happened to NPR’s edict to not, “let sources offer anonymous opinions of other”? Bynum was anonymously called “disruptive”, described as “reckless”, it was reported that he “doesn’t want to play basketball” and that teams were worried about his “desire to play”.

What we saw precious little of was actual follow-up reporting, or stories offering depth to the initial reports. What did he actually do to cause the suspension? Would the behavior have been tolerated if he had been playing well? Does Bynum think he was being disruptive? If teams were to trade for Bynum, what assurances would they need? Was Bynum frustrated with his teammates, his coach, his team’s record, his own poor health, or a combination of these factors? When did things change, considering early reports were that he had lost 30 lbs. and was working hard in practice? What effect did Bynum and coach Mike Brown’s previous relationship in Los Angeles have on the situation.

A week later, just about the only thing we learned is that there are a lot of people in the NBA who dislike Andrew Bynum, and that there are a lot of reports who are willing to let anonymous sources impugn somebodies character. Let’s try and do better next time.

Photographer Christoffer Relander combines nature and human faces to create preternaturally beautiful portraits. The double and triple exposures blend aspects of the natural world and the grace of the human form.

More than a few artists have compared the grace of nature and the beauty of humanity, but Relander’s interpretations imagine a world in which we, the animals, are as delicate and fragile as nature.

Many of the artist’s portraits add an extra dimension to the humanity of the subject. There are others, however, that all but erase the human portion of the composition. Leaves, branches and blossoms take the part of skin, veins and muscles.

The truly amazing part of Relander’s work is that he doesn’t use Photoshop to create these masterpieces of multiple exposures. He creates them all in-camera using a Nikon DSLR.

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While we are all familiar with motion-detection technology in controlled indoor environments, the technology problem is much more complex when you add stray animals, wind-blown trees, weather-strewn debris and other dynamic variables into the mix.

This high-tech solution designed and developed by Tvilight involves eight sensors and includes recognition software that can distinguish people and cars from other environmental factors that would trigger normal detectors.

Recognition information is relayed between the various independent light posts to account for the trajectory and velocity of pedestrians and automobiles, allowing both reaction and anticipation. Fine-tuned control options allow off-hours intersections to have the lights turned down by 30%, and mostly-empty areas like parking lots to be dimmed up to 70%.

The statistics are staggering – cities, states and countries could save up to 50% on maintenance costs and 80% on energy by illuminating streets on an as-needed basis rather than continuously. In Europe, 40% of government energy spending is on street lighting, so cutting down the cost and pollution of lights can have an incredible impact.

Engineer and entrepreneur Chintan Shah’s company developed this dynamic system such that it can be applied to street lamps of all kinds, both new and old, in various places – sensors can be added to existing lights with traditional or LED bulbs. Already active in Holland and Ireland, Tvilight is looking to expand into the German, Canada and the United States.

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Diss Guy: Anyone who’s still standing

I was braving the frigid temps, icy roads, and biting winds of Des Moines, Iowa for most of the past two weeks and missed a lot of NBA goings on. The continued assault of injuries didn’t escape me though as we added Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul to the ever-expanding NBA infirmary. So instead of focusing on a single topic for this week’s Diss Guy, I’m sending a wink, a nod, and a hat tip in the direction of a few players and performances that have managed to either avoid, return from, or benefit from this merciless plague of injuries:

• Kendall Marshall: Perhaps someone has a voodoo doll of Lakers point guards. Or maybe it’s just a residual bad luck lingering from David Stern’s unnecessary and unjust veto of the Chris Paul trade. Whatever the case or cause, Lakers point guards are in a class of their own when it comes to injuries. Steve Nash’s career is fading into an unknown translucent memory that will be nothing but pixels. Steve Blake’s elbow is malfunctioning in a way that prevents him from playing. Jordan Farmar’s hamstrings are being attacked by invisible microorganisms insistent on tearing and ripping at the tissue every time opportunity knocks. And that leaves us with the reject, Kendall Marshall. Were it not for all these cursed injuries, Marshall wouldn’t be in the position he’s in now: starting for the Los Angeles Lakers. But there he was on Friday night going against Utah’s darling rookie point, Trey Burke. And there he was putting up a mind boggling 20-points, 15-assists and 6-rebounds with just one turnover in over 40 minutes of court time. We’ve seen Mike D’Antoni squeeze magic out of point guards before, but I was happy to be surprised by Marshall acting as his latest vehicle last night.
• Andre Iguodala and Joe Johnson: Iguodala is mostly recovered from his own hamstring injury and Johnson’s managed to stay healthy although one could forgive him for taking a couple of mental days if he so chose. So it was nice to see each of these vets hit huge game winners this week – Iggy in Atlanta on Friday night and Johnson in Oklahoma City on Thursday. In an NBA where we over-obsess about who is and isn’t clutch and what constitutes clutch, it’s fun to note that over the past nine seasons, Johnson’s hit the most buzzer beaters (six) and Iggy’s next (five).

• Steph Curry: Steph’s ankles are still a matter of anxiety for hoop fans everywhere. Whether it’s a legitimate fear or just paranoia, it’s still there which makes his superstar performances this season all the more enjoyable. That Iguodala play I referenced above was only possible because the existence of Curry and the skin-crawling panic he brings out in opponents. With 3.5 seconds on the clock, Curry caught the ball about two steps inside the half court line where he was well-defended by Shelvin Mack. Atlanta’s Pero Antic panicked at the sight of Curry holding the ball – despite him being over 40-feet from the hoop. Fear in his eyes and dripping from his pores, Antic sprinted to Curry and left Iggy all alone. None of this is possible without the threat of Curry dropping a bomb on Phillips Arena.
• The Toronto Raptors: One of Bill Simmons’s cleverest gifts to the sports world was “The Ewing Theory,” which posits that a team performs better without a certain player. The latest candidate for this theory has to be Rudy Gay. Last year when the Grizzlies traded him, they immediately improved. Now we see the Raptors moving Gay to the Kings and what do you know, they’re on a 10-3 run since his departure. But this isn’t about Gay as much as it is about this Raptors team being an exceedingly scrappy, entertaining, overall fun team to watch. I have no idea how sustainable this joyride is, but as long as the Raptors are having fun, they’ll continue to climb my completely informal, mentally-noted League Pass Power Rankings.

Miss Guy: David Harrison and the Blurred Lines of the Non-Conformist

A recent piece in The Denver Post by Benjamin Hochman described the outdated approach of most sports leagues to marijuana usage and used the plight of former Pacer and Colorado Buffalo center, David Harrison as a casualty of this heavy handed approach. Harrison was a fringe big, a legit 7-footer with a big body who likely had the ability to make a career in the NBA, but tested positive for marijuana use in 2008; proceeded to apologize for the blemish it left on the Pacers franchise in the wake of the Malice at the Palace and took an outspoken stance on player privacy and marijuana decriminalization.

Unlike most first round picks (he was the 29^th overall pick in 2004), Harrison didn’t garner much NBA interest after his contract expired and has spent the past few years playing in China. He believes he’s been blackballed by the league for his views on marijuana:

“You show disdain for the government or the rules, they’re going to make an example out of you the best they can, to teach the thousands of people watching on TV the lesson they’re trying to teach you.”

For context, Harrison also compares his situation to The Hunger Games, but his point was more clearly articulated in a radio interview that occurred after his suspension:

“Is (marijuana) that bad? That’s the question I really want people to ask themselves sometimes.”

Former Minnesota Vikings punter and social activist, Chris Kluwe, published a well-written article on Deadspin a couple days ago describing his experiences as an outspoken member of the Vikings and his belief that his activism resulted in his eventual release. Kluwe makes a coherent case and, as of yesterday, the Vikings have responded by hiring two outside attorneys to conduct an independent investigation into his claims. After this latest piece on Deadspin, even if Kluwe wanted to get back in the NFL, it’s unlikely he’d be picked up.

The past year in the NBA we’ve seen Jason Collins come out of the closet and witnessed the very public challenges of Royce White to find a team capable of accommodating his anxiety and mental health issues. Each of these four players has three specific traits in common:

1. They’ve challenged an existing idea or unwritten code – directly or indirectly
2. By pro standards, their talent is mediocre
3. They’re no longer employed by the NBA or NFL

With the exception of Kluwe, there’s no smoking gun or evidence pointing to an intentional discrimination occurring. What makes the question all the more difficult is the mediocre talent of these players. As I’ve written before, Collins has been a fringe guy his entire career. White has never played in a regular season NBA game. And Harrison’s four seasons with the Pacers revealed below average ability. When asked if he was fired for his activism, Kluwe writes, “I honestly don’t know, because I’m not in those meetings with the coaches and administrative people.” The same can likely be applied to the three NBA players here as well and muddies up the already murky waters of transparency when it comes understanding how or why a team decides to release or not sign a particular player.

My interpretation of the message derived from the stories above is that pro athletes who reside on the fringes of employability would be wise to get in line with their leagues’ corporate-friendly views and keep their mouths shut on social topics that elicit powerful emotional responses. This is a sad, unfair, and unacceptable approach to take, but it’s one that appears to have some semblance of reality.