Monday, July 08, 2002

How are the mullahs going to keep them down on the farm?
The AP reports from Shahkoon, Iran:
At first glance, this could be any sleepy Iranian hamlet. Women weave carpets on traditional looms. Tea brews over open fires. Donkeys outnumber cars.

But listen closely: That clacking is fingers on keyboards and that crackling is modems connecting to the Internet.

Welcome to the mountain village that lacks an elementary school, possesses just one central outhouse -- but has gone global.

...

"Dr. Jalali has told us that people who don't know how to operate computers are gradually being considered illiterates," said the farmer, Ali Akbar Malek. "I want to be Internet literate before I die."
Check it out at http://www.shahkooh.com/.