@MichaelRosenYes@FbpeReynard@Invicta77 I play you on You Tube reading your poems to my SEN class, they howl with laughter. We have 178 special needs children in my school
and they all know Chocolate Cake!
An Iranian man left this comment on my YouTube channel. This is without a doubt the single best explanation of the reality facing Iranian people today👇
"As an Iranian, I can tell you the situation is no longer just political—it's existential. We are trapped between two collapsing structures: one internal, one external. On one hand, we face a deeply dysfunctional government, led by the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Republic’s unelected institutions.
Decades of economic mismanagement, suppression of dissent, and brutal ideological control have alienated multiple generations. No one believes in reform anymore—because every attempt has either been co-opted or crushed. But here's the paradox: We are also terrified of regime collapse—because we've watched the aftermath of Western intervention in countries like Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan. Each was promised freedom; each descended into chaos, civil war, or foreign occupation.
So no, we don't trust the U.S. or Israel. Not because we support our regime—but because we know how imperial powers treat ‘liberated’ nations in the Middle East.
Freedom, in their language, often means vacuum, fire, and permanent instability. Right now, many Iranians live with three truths at once: The Islamic Republic is morally and politically bankrupt. The alternatives offered by foreign actors are not liberation—they’re collapse.
A bad government is survivable. No government is not. We are not silent because we agree. We are cautious because we’ve learned—too well—what happens when superpowers decide to "help." In a sentence: Iran is a nation held hostage by its own regime, but haunted by the fate of its neighbors. We are stuck in a house we hate, surrounded by fires we fear more."
@CarlBovisNature I’ve been diagnosed with lymes disease, where did you probably get bitten by a tick? Bird watching for me is also a wonderful world to escape to and your photos are brilliant!
@John_Dabell I once read from a young lady who was in a similar predicament to you, despite all her difficulties to ‘power on and live life better’. You do that every day x
@RE_McGEE Very jealous! I went there when I was 30, travelled round India for a year to take a break from teaching and I’m 60 soon, always longed to go back!