Isfahan: it should be the capital! Often I wonder, is that shaking a couple bonking next door or is it the BIG ONE, and it's time to dive under my desk?

Because of all these earthquakes, there are important religious questions to consider! A story all Iranians know concerns Ayatollah Gilani and his television show. (paraphrased from an article there:)

There's a two-story house, a woman is sleeping on the first floor and her
nephew on the second floor. Now if there is an earthquake and the second floor
collapses onto the first floor and the nephew falls on the aunt and she gets pregnant, is
this child a bastard or not?

More Islamic wisdom from Mr Gilani.

Nothing to say now. I know the next crisisweb report on Iran is coming out before October 31. If you read news articles, they say Iran won't make the October 31 IAEA deadline. Sanctions (tahrimha) are coming. Before then is a good time for me to leave Iran, then. I'm going on holidays for a week now...

yas-e-no closed. In Iran now "they" can close papers based on what the paper doesn't publish and where it is not published!

US Government Bill to stop Iranians and others ever coming to US. I couldn't believe it was true so I searched with google "site:gov gresham barett 3075", hmm it was true. It just sounds ridiculous, doesn't the USA want olympiad winners to study at Harvard or MIT anymore? The only prescription I have for people like Mr Barrett is to visit Iran for themselves... it makes as much sense to block people with "hatred in their eyes" or "large, Khomeini-like beards". There's enough stupidity with the passport application process in Iran. I met a guy who said that he grew a beard for his passport in the hope that they would process his application faster! Now he says he really does look like a "terrorist" on his passport!

Don't set understanding of each others' cultures back... people who are motivated enough to try to leave their home country are the people most likely to accomplish the most in their new society. (bill link from comments on freethoughts.)