An ancient tradition or despicable exploitation? As in ancient Greece and Shakespeare's theatre, boys dress as women to entertain men. A hint of Afghan homosexuality was included in the movie The Kite Runner. An Uzbekistan theatre group is presenting two plays on this theme in Seattle this month. The homosexual element of Afghan culture has waxed and waned depending on who is invading their country at the time.
posted on Apr 1, 2008 - View this thread

The 100 Most Powerful Women in the world has been an education in showing me the beauty inherent in strength, particularly when a woman has embraced her own sense of power. Look at these red lips, these kohl lined eyes, this frank face full of mischief. These are Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Heads of State, powerful government officials, CEO's and more. Just reading their bios tells you so much about who they are and what they believe in. Would a similar collection of 100 men offer as much to ponder over and respect?
posted on Nov 23, 2006 - View this thread

Mukthar Mai's blog has been making waves in the news. A young pakistani woman from a remote village, she was gang raped. Her attackers were meting out justice. In a patriarchal conservative culture like hers a woman's honor or izzat is her sole possession. Once lost, there is little left to live for. A BBC reporter transcribes her story into an Urdu language blog. Here are the first, second and the most recent excerpts of her story. To truly comprehend what her action means, consider this story of young Afghan women committing suicide by setting themselves on fire to escape from lives of sexual, physical and other abuse.
posted on Nov 15, 2006 - View this thread

American cult actor is an Afghan prince...
Scott Reiniger, who appeared in the 1978 movie Dawn of the Dead, is the great, great, great grandson of Josiah Harlan, the first American to set foot in Afghanistan.
posted on May 27, 2004 - View this thread

IN AFGHAN PROVINCE, POPPY PLANTING HAS STRONG APPEAL It isa good to be freed from the constraits of the Taliban and to engage in capitalism at the global level. Chhers for the family farmers.
posted on Nov 10, 2003 - View this thread

Bizarre results showing elevated levels of NON-depleted uranium in Afghan civilians who showed symptoms of uranium poisoning following Operation Enduring Freedom. "Uranium levels found in the Afghan civilians’ urine are 4-20 times higher than those of a control group and the isotopic signature is that of Non-Depleted Uranium. The only explanations of this finding are either anomalous geological and agricultural conditions (fertilizers) or the presence of uranium extracted from the front-end of the fuel or weapons production cycles. [...] There are no geological, commercial and agricultural phenomena or activities and uses in the environs of the contaminated populations that might explain the contamination." This is very odd. [via wrh; these preliminary results are unpublished but UMRC’s Gulf War Veterans’ studies are in peer-reviewed journals]
posted on Jun 29, 2003 - View this thread

A petition to give the Nobel Peace Prize to Afghan Nuclear Scientists for hiding radioactive material that could have been used for a nuclear bomb by Al Qaeda. I think it's an inspired and appropriate suggestion, and the petition could be of great use in attraction the attention of nominators and Nobel committee.
posted on Apr 13, 2002 - View this thread

Hearing Voices Fascinating stuff... Sights, sounds and stories; a photo-audio-essay, with excerpts from Scott Carrier's Harper's article and ambient recordings of the streets, songs and prayers of the Afghan people.
posted on Mar 20, 2002 - View this thread

Operation Infinite Mercy : Emergency relief for Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban rule and/or threats of American attack. Amid the scores of funds, accounts, websites, banner ads, and buttons that have popped up advertising ways to 'help the victims', it's been near-impossible to find somewhere online to make a donation to assist some of the other people affected by the aftermath of September 11th...
posted on Sep 25, 2001 - View this thread

A heartening story about the increased patronage of an Afghan restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area. Have you heard/seen/been a part of reaching out to Afghans and Muslims who are as shocked and against the terrorist attacks? "Ahmad and Rahimi say they are living in an extraordinary moment. When they expected suspicion, they found trust. When they worried about rejection, they found the embrace of friends and customers."
posted on Sep 25, 2001 - View this thread

Taliban Magic Trick: $43m...now you see it, now you don't! "Afghan farmers are ready to swamp world markets with heroin amid signs that the Taleban has dropped its ban on opium growing."

Okay...can we please end the War on Plants now?
posted on Sep 24, 2001 - View this thread

Afghan Cabby Beaten Into Paralysis in London: This after two white men pounced on a 19-year-old Asian woman in Swindon on Friday and repeatedly hit her in the head with a bat.
posted on Sep 18, 2001 - View this thread

The Australian HMAS Manoora is taking hundreds of Afgan asylum seekers to the island of Nauru after they were rescued by a Norwegian freighter. Many Australian's supported the Government's move not to let them into the country but much of the rest of the world (and a few Australian do-gooders who took the Government to court and won) think we should let these people in.

Today on the radio I heard the mother of one of the sailors on the Manoora saying that the majority of these "refugees" cheered and celebrated when they heard the news of the WTC and Pentagon attacks. And these are the people that the do-gooders want in our free country???
posted on Sep 16, 2001 - View this thread

And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps." Despite the barrage, I think this is worth posting. It's a post from the DaveNet mailing list, by an Afghan American writer (via Mark at boing boing) I don't know if I would trust the opinions on military actions in the second part - but the first part is well worth reading. I know many MeFiers are knowledgeable about world affairs, but this is a nice concise account for those who don't know about Afghanistan - or perhaps to pass along.
posted on Sep 14, 2001 - View this thread