| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Mahmoud, I need a weblog |
| 2006-08-14 |
| INTERNET users have slapped down Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his own online poll which went live with the fiesty leader’s blog overnight. Iran state-TV encouraged Iranians to visit President Ahamdinejad’s blog, announcing that it had gone live on Sunday night. Early voting was split, with 65 per cent voting “no”, but hours after US site Fox News ran a story on the President’s blog, only 2 per cent of voters agreed with Ahmadinejad. An online poll on the President’s blog asks visitors: “Do you think that the US and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another word (sic) war?”. The President’s first post is not for the time-challenged. In a 2300 word tract, Ahmadinejad veers between autobiographical snippets “During the era that nobility was a prestige and living in a city was perfection, I was born in a poor family in a remote village of Garmsar,” and occasional takes on Iran’s history. “I was born fifteen years after Iran was invaded by foreign forces - in August of 1940 - and the time that another puppet, named Mohammad Reza – the son of Reza Mirpange- was set as a monarch in Iran.” He talks of himself as a gifted intellect. Despite being only in first grade at the time, Ahmadinejad writes of the late Ayatollah Khomeini speeches: “His message was invitation to the belief of monotheism - Unity and Oneness of God - and also justice, elimination of oppression, injustice and sedition in the world.” It was towards the end of his schooling that his intellect began to shine: “I prepared myself for university admission test-conquer,” he writes. “And later on that year, I took the test. Although I had nose bleeding during the test, but I became 132nd student among over 400 thousand participants.” He is scathing of the United States, not suprisingly, usually choosing to use the phrase “Great Satan USA”. Iran has come down heavily on bloggers in the last six months, with some reports suggesting up to 50 have been jailed since President Ahmadinejad announced the crackdown. Blogging experienced huge growth in Iran under the moderate regime of President Mohammad Khatami. After 2300 words, many typos and oddly translated grammar ("Our Revolution was unique in its own kind"), President Ahmadinejad promises: “From now onwards, I will try to make it shorter and simpler,” and assuring readers that there will be more, but not as much as his opening post: “I intend to wholeheartedly complete my talk in future with(in) allotted fifteen minutes.” |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 Depends on the Firewall. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-08-14 19:22 |
| #1 Can you run a blog from hell? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-08-14 16:11 |