Say hello to..

an interesting new find, an English version blog called Doxdo which features Iranian Weblogs and blogs about Iran.

And wait, before some member of the "if you say anything even neutral about Iran you're helping Satan defeat Bush and America" crew pipes up, I'm a B-I-G believer in people communicating with one another.

Normal mortals can achieve something heads of state cannot: understanding, opening a dialogue, finding common ground.

While my dad - who was a decorated WWII veteran who did many things in WWII, including as part of an elite squad that would raid Japanese POW camps to try to free as many prisoners as possible - died when I was just four (I came along 13 years after the war ended), I can remember one thing distinctly that he said:

The more I got to talk with and know the people of Japan,

the more respect for them I got.

These were incredible people.

You know, if I could've sat down with Japanese GIs

and talked out our differences,

there wouldn't have been any damned war.

And this was from a man who was almost rabidly Republican, an uber patriot.

So yeah, I'm very interested in what the people of Iran have to say, just as I have been with Iraqis and others. I'd be more interested in listening to the leaders of my country if they didn't lie to me so damned much.