In the U.S., it’s undermining media tyrants. In Iran, it may be destabilizing real tyrants. Here’s a wonderful story about how women’s blogs in Iran are terrifying the ayatollahs and Islamists. It started with one lone blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, blogging from Canada:
Hossein created one of the first blogs in Persian last year. “It’s a good tool to get to know what is happening in Iran,” he told the BBC programme Go Digital, “what the youth are talking about, what are their problems.” He had so much interest from Iran that he decided to write a simple guide in Persian, to help others set up their own blogs. Seven months on, there are more than 1,200 Persian blogs, many of them written by women. “For the first time in the contemporary history of Iran, women can express themselves freely, even if it is not in their real name,” said Mr Derakhshan. “They have found the courage to speak about themselves and how they see the world.”
Isn’t it marvelous that blogs here have helped galvanize support for the war on terror and that in Iran, they’re doing something almost the same – but from within?
THE EU AND HIZBULLAH: The French are still unwilling to designate Hizbullah a terrorist organization. At least they got knocked out of the World Cup.
THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT AND ISLAMISM: They’re natural allies in many respects – the belief that women should be subservient to men, that homosexuality is an abomination, and so on. And they have every right to co-operate at the U.N. But why the Bush administration should want to ally itself with Islamist states in this fashion is beyond me, except pandering to their extremist wing. How can the First Lady champion women’s rights in Islamist countries, while her husband blesses those in America who find such repression of women something to admire and aspire to?
PITY THE PRIESTS: An interesting take from Australia.
The Dish 