President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Whoever is in charge of this guy's Public Relations could teach Karl Rove a thing or two.

"Last week the president revealed his seldom-seen softer side by ordering an end to a decades-old ban on women entering stadiums for major sporting events, including football matches"

Now, before all you propaganda-believers out there start bitching and moaning about how women aren't treated fairly in Iran and they have such a horrible record when it comes to womens rights, I would like to point out that gender equality is still a major problem in countries all over the world. I know full well that women are treated quite poorly in general in Iran, more so than in most western countries, but in fairness women's rights is a worldwide issue, and the propaganda campaigns against Iran that have highlighted degrading treatment towards women specifically do so to hurt the country's stature in the international community. Lets just take a moment and think about how much more equal things could still be in many other countries in the world, and how many countries are doing (pardon my language) sweet fuckall about it. America, for one, still has a long way to go before women are treated the same as men. For a middle east example, lets have a look a Kuwait. Does anyone out there remember Kuwait, the country that America went to war to protect in 1991 against the "terror" that was Saddam Hussein? The country that the U.S. government seems to love oh so much? The close ally of america in the "war on terror?" Women are now allowed to vote in Kuwait, and have been allowed to vote now for ONE WHOLE YEAR. I'm sure those Kuwaities are patting themselves on the back for that, but if I were in touch with people in the American government, and I cared enough about womens rights to make my opinion heard as far as Iran was concerned, I would ask them why such a close ally of america didn't let women vote until 2005. But it's Iran's record that gets picked on, not the record of an ally, I forgot, allies can do no wrong. My mistake, sorry.

Anyway, Pres. Ahmadinejad has gone and pissed off the Iranian hard-liners (same as he's pissing off the U.S. government these days, boy he's good at that) by stating that

"Any distinction between men and women that leads to their separation hurts women. In places where women are present, the atmosphere is healthier,"

and, responding to critics of the plan, remarked that

"sadly, when we speak of corruption the finger is pointed at women. Are men without reproach?"

So the guy is not only fighting for Iran's right to use Nuclear Power (so they can have more oil to sell and have more money in their budget), but now he's fighting for women's rights in Iran as well.

I know the western press keeps telling us that we should hate the guy and that he's a danger to the world, but I've gotta admit, I quite like the guy. He's got panache.