Max Fisher passes along more absurdity from the Iranian regime – the banning of chicken from appearing on state television:
Like many socialist states, the Iranian government sets a price for chicken. The idea is that everyone should be able to afford it. But the market price of chickens has nearly tripled in the last year alone, meaning that increasingly impoverished can't afford the market price. Special government distribution centers sell chicken at the cheaper, state-pegged price, but because they sell at a loss they can only provide so many. The state is now rationing this most basic food product (which is in even higher demand than usual as Ramadan approaches and consumers stock up), and shoppers are reportedly standing in the food lines for sometimes over 14 hours.
So perhaps you can see [chief of Iran's national police forces, Esmail Ahmadi] Moghadam's concern. People are furious that their economy is so bad that they often can't even buy chicken anymore, and seeing chicken on TV might remind them of this. Of course, while Moghadam is addressing this problem in one of the few ways he actually can, the real cause isn't culinary TV, it's the Iranian nuclear program and the crippling Western sanctions that it has drawn.
Purported video of chicken lines in Iran here.
(Image by the great Iranian political cartoonist Mana Neyestani. The caption reads: "How many times have I told you not to watch a film with chicken in it.")
The Dish 