My esteemed fellow Amherst Town Meeting members will love this:
Yesterday morning my overworked wife performed an international live lecture presentation over the Internet to about 100 academics concerning research techniques used in entrepreneurship from our little home nestled in the People’s Republic of Amherst.
The GEM Project (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), a joint collaboration between Babson College, the London Business School and "teams" from numerous other countries, collects economic data worldwide and uses it to measure the role entrepreneurship plays in a country’s economic growth.
And like the recent sports spectacle in China, this academic pursuit transcends political bounds—as indeed it should.
Donna’s enthusiastic audience was located at the University of Tehran, in the People’s Republic of Iran. (Yeah, I half jokingly asked if she had cleared this with the State Department or Homeland Security.)
University of Tehran website reports
Some of you may remember one of the more recent “Only in Amherst “ episodes where our Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved a resolution declaring the US should never attack Iran. In response we received a “thank you” from their ambassador.
I’m so glad this Boston TV Channel 4 has bandwidth to burn, so you can still see this upload from January 2007. Kind of ironic to see then Selectman Robie Hubley (now absconded to South Hadley) use the term “Democratic Republic of Amherst”. Yikes!
Channel 4 reports
Perhaps even more ironic, the “thank you” is dated December 7 and has the subheading “In the Name of the Almighty.” Double Yikes!
EMBASSY OF PAKISTAN
INTERESTS SECTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
2209 Wisconsin Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 965-4990 Fax (202) 965-1073 www.daftar.org
In the Name of the Almighty
December 7, 2006
Ms. Sandra J. Burgess
Amherst Town Clerk
4 Boltwood Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Dear Ms. Burgess:
We would like to express our appreciation for the courageous stance of the participants of the Amherst Town Meeting in urging diplomacy with Iran and expressing opposition to any U.S. military action against our country. Your letter along with the attachments was submitted to the office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Upon receipt of any response, this office will notify you accordingly. The staff of this office would be more than happy to respond to any questions you might have.
Sincerely,
A. Mohzabadi
for Mostafa Rahmani
Director
The Amherst Bulletin Reports
International Media reports this "weird" story
We can show our best face to the world. Thank you, Donna Kelley.
ReplyDeleteRich Morse
Good to see somebody making good use of her time rather than spending her day blogging or complaining about everything and everybody like so many other people. Go Donna.
ReplyDeleteI think that someone else has a good thing, blogging, bringing people to notice what is going on in this non-perfect town. Go Donna and keep on truckin, other person.
ReplyDeleteUntil later..............
Every now and then, I'm pleased that I set my format to allow Anonymous comments.
ReplyDeleteEarth to Larry:
ReplyDeleteWhen reading the Amherst Bulletin police log, try to remember: the presumption of innocence is not just for you.
Earth to Anon (if you consider the Peoples’ Republic of Amherst a member in good standing of the planet Earth)
ReplyDeleteThat was his third offense. Three strikes and you’re out. But hey, if that it the type of individual you want representing “the face of Amherst” then feel free to vote for him. At least he will keep Dave Keenan from coming in last.