Islamic Bicycles

As far as I can tell, this is not a joke (via):

Iran is to start manufacturing “Islamic bicycles” for women that conceals their figure, the government newspaper Iran reported on Thursday.

“This bike has a cabin which conceals half of the cyclist’s body,” the newspaper said. Elaheh Sofali, an architect of the project, told Iran it would encourage women’s sports in the Islamic republic.

Nor is this:

Owners of trendy internet cafes, as well as bars and restaurants popular with young Iranians have received a letter signed by national police authorities in which new measures are announced to enforce “the country’s moral health.” “Public places will not be allowed to use dark windows anymore or curtains which make it impossible to view from the outside what is going on inside,” said the letter, which states in particular that men and women must not be allowed inside internet cafes together but in separate days or schedules “to avoid unpleasant promiscuity.”

And this, via b&w, is definitely not funny:

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent arrests of four Iranian student editors of Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran following the publication of newsletters carrying articles deemed insulting to Islam. The students say they had no involvement in the publications, calling them a fraud designed to disrupt student elections. All of the university’s student publications were nonetheless banned by the school administration, according to online reports.

In the run-up to the Islamic Student Association annual elections at the prestigious polytechnic institute, newsletters bearing the names and logos of four student publications were distributed throughout the campus on April 30, according to AUTNews, the Web site of the Islamic Student Association of Amirkabir University. They contained three controversial articles and two caricatures deemed critical of the Iranian regime and insulting to Islam.

One article questions the infallibility of the Prophet Mohammad, the first Shiite Imam Ali, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to CPJ sources familiar with the Persian-language newsletters. Another story criticizes the regime’s crackdown on modern female clothing, and a third ridicules Islamic women’s attire…

“We are outraged by the arrest of these four student editors,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. “Iranian authorities continue to crack down on political and pro-democracy activists. These arrests show the extent the regime is willing to go to silence dissenting voices.”