Sunday, August 13, 2006

August Company

Per this article in today's Times, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, has his own blog.

I visited the English-language site (it's also available in Farsi, Arabic, and French) and found it amusing in its similarity to everyday blogs everywhere: He has an RSS feed. He allows you to post comments. He offers a Flickr-like slideshow of his portraits. There's even a poll: "Do you think that the US and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another word ?war" (all sic, both grammatically and politically).

And his content too will be familiar to blog audiences worldwide. A little personal reflection: "My father had finished 6 grade of elementary school. He was a hard-bitten toiler blacksmith, a pious man who regularly participated in different religious programs." A little political commentary: "These terrorist groups with the support and directions from arrogant powers, the leader of them being USA at that time . . . thought that they can undermine and collapse the new government right in its beginning. But, the nation of Iran was not ready to give this precious and great Revolution from their hands so easily." He goes on too long (a fault I'm sure I never have ever). And he promises to post again with more discipline:

I will continue this topic later on as it took long in the beginning. From now onwards, I will try to make it shorter and simpler. With hope in God, I intend to wholeheartedly complete my talk in future with allotted fifteen minutes.

He's an Islamic fundamentalist, a Holocaust denier, and quite frankly a terrifying President of Iran. But as one blogger to another: Welcome to the Web, Mr. Ahmadinejad.

5 comments:

  1. Hey again Cheryl,

    Thanks for the FAQ #2 on being an editor, it's awesomely informative.

    Nice welcome to the web message for Ahmadinejad. I guess he wants to join the world of blogging too.

    -Zuha

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  2. Well, he's welcome to blog as everyone has the right to free speach . . . well, unless you are praying in school or in some cases reciting the Pledge . . .

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  3. Perhaps this is the latter day equivalent of Roosevelt's old fireside chats. World leaders might certainly find themselves more accessible if they blogged regularly. And what a craaaazy world THAT would be!

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  4. Hi,

    Thanks for the great info. My niece August is 13 and just started junior high school and she reads classics and 700-page books in no time and enjoys writing. I'm teaching her some basics about the publishing industry and would love to prepare her for internships by high school or college. I'll send this url to her. Thanks for the lovely post.

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  5. Hi,

    Thanks for the great info. My niece is 13 and just started junior high school and she reads classics and 700-page books in no time and enjoys writing. I'm teaching her some basics about the publishing industry and would love to prepare her for internships by high school or college. I'll send this url to her. Thanks for the lovely post.

    ReplyDelete