E:M | Goodbye to America

I can't believe this. Hossein Derakhshan who blogs as hoder.comhad to flee his native Iran. He settled in Canada, in Toronto. He is invited to speak at many events about blogging. His work was instrumental in establishing the strong blogging community in Iran. That community is a strong positive force for democratization in Iran. Hoder was staying for a month or so in NYC at a friend's place. He took the bus to Canada, and on the way back, the border police started examining his blog and decided that he was "living" in NYC as in moving there illegally. Now he can't return to the States for 6 months. This is OUR loss as this articulate young man has a valuable perspective on community building, politics, repressive governments, and how blogs can be tools for those who want to work peacefully for political change. I wanted to invite him to be part of an ethics in journalism and blogging panel, but I guess that won't happen. Check out "Flight of the Creative Class" and its websiteto get a perspective on why this kind of restriction of freedoms may end up harming the USA far more than the physical damage inflicted by terrorists. E:M | Goodbye to America Filed in: creativeclass blogs