From the Washington Post:

Sen. John McCain hasn’t had good luck joking about Iran. But he tried it again Tuesday.

Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to
Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, “Maybe thats a way of killing them.”

He quickly caught himself, saying “I meant that as a joke” as his wife, Cindy, poked him in the back.

Sign Petition Here Activists Call For End To Practice Of Stoning  

PRAGUE, October 25, 2006 (RFE/RL) — Women's rights activists in Iran have called on the head of the country's conservative judiciary and the parliament to end the stoning to death of convicted adulterers. Under pressure from the European Union, Iran was said to have introduced a moratorium on stonings in 2002, under pressure from the European Union. But activists accuse judges of perpetuating the practice.

Reports suggest that two people were stoned to death in May and at least eight women currently face stoning sentences.

Ordinarily, I'd leave posting on the front page to our other, more erudite contributors, but this just put a great big grin on my face.

BBC is reporting that everyone's favorite Iranian, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged President Bush* to a live TV debate on world affairs. The White House is calling this a "diversion" from global concerns over Iran's nuclear program.

That's right, folks! Iran's own has launched a blog. His first entry reportedly clocks in at almost 2,000 words (available in Farsi, Arabic, English and French). Ahmadinejad says he will use the blog to tell the world about his childhood in Iran, as well as his experiences during the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War. Maybe we'll finally find out whether he was one of the students who participated in the taking of the American Embassy in 1979. The blog has a forum in which questions can be submitted.

This seems to be the next step in the creation of a warmer, fuzzier image for the Iranian president; last Sunday he appeared for a one-on-one interview on Sixty Minutes dressed in a shirt with a collar. (It's only one short step to a tie, friends, and there goes the Islamic Republic…) Mike Wallace, who came out of retirement to do the interview, described Ahmadinejad—or Mahmoud, as we may now call him—as intelligent, good-looking and possessing a sense of humor. He came under fire for his remarks, but has not retracted them.