Spent the past two weeks up in Chaghcharan doing my business. Had a great time. Got to see the town and the countryside and had a nice little adventure. Part of the job is that I get to meet the folks of the town. Police Chief (General) and I give instruction to his logistics staff. Along the way, I evaluate them and send a report back to MoI and the ISAF Command as to their readiness, competence and any other observations that I might make while on the ground. Can't share that here.But I
Last year some time, France banned the Burqa. I agreed with this ruling wholeheartedly. Some argued that France should not meddle in cultures and customs of the various immigrant peoples who inhabit their country. Still others argued that the burqa and by extension the hijab or veil is part of the right to "freedom" of speech a part of the expression of the culture of Islamic peoples. I simply can not agree with this.To me the hijab/veil and the burqa is a symbol of oppression. It's a reli
This little bubba is the son of Wahid who is one of our drivers. His name is Mansoo. As you can see from the pics, he's a lively little dude.
The Chapel receives donations and care packages from the States on a fairly frequent basis. Since I have fairly frequent interactions with local Afghans, I always scour the donations for toys to give to local kids. A few days back, Wahid showed me pics of his son. I happened to stop by the Chapel and found some toys that night. So I picked them up
To all those with whom I have discussed politics and various other subjects.I have learned much from some of you and others of you have strengthened my convictions. It's always good to have an outlet/voice that gives another side of a story, idea, philosophy. Other views are invaluable and that, as much as anything else, keeps me coming back to TF. I know some of you do not like the constant political talk. I know others do not like the style of debate/argumentation that I deploy sometimes o
Has any Thai person successfully applied for a tourist VISA to the States? If so, any pointers that you can give would be greatly appreciated.Thanks, Dave
OK. Another one of those people came along..."When thai people say America they talk about the USA" This is an absurd statement.When 99.99 % of the world say "America" or "American," they are speaking about those person who dwell in the United States of America. China, Israel, Jordan, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Peru, France, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Dubai, Greece, Italy, Canada, India, Cambodia, Vietnam and, yes, even Thailand considers the people from The US of A to be American. They call the
During an address to the World Economic Forum, Secretary of State Colin Powell was asked a somewhat long and involved question by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, which ended with the following interrogative: And would you not agree, as a very significant political figure in the United States, Colin, that America, at the present time, is in danger of relying too much upon the hard power and not enough upon building the trust from which the soft values, which of course all of ou
( Though I would love to be able to make the claim , I did not take this photo.)
They made me invisible, shrouded and non-being A shadow, no existence, made silent and unseeing Denied of freedom, confined to my cage Tell me how to handle my anger and my rage?
Zieba Shorish-Shamley, from “Look into my World” published on the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
“When we are together, everyone here is talking about how the Taliban has destroye
“Whatever countries I conquer in the world, I would never forget your beautiful gardens. When I remember the summits of your beautiful mountains, I forget the greatness of the Delhi throne.”
Ahmad Shah Durrani Founder of the Afghan Empire, (1747-1773). Many Afghan historians consider Ahmad Shah as the true founder of modern Afghanistan.
Dost e see ~ three bros lunching together on Nan--the tastiest bread on the planet
Three on a bike. Nothing. They'll put 7 on one of these babies.
Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.
Mohandas Gandhi
A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie.” — Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
OK. This is about a 3 weeks or so ago. I returned to the RHQ to mentor Colonel Zahir. I talked with him for about an hour. We discussed training for his Logistics Staff. I attempted to get the staff to implement regular inventory procedures (this would cut into their monthly extra-occupational pay-kick backs...corruption). I may have made an impression. Leveled a couple of not so veiled threats. lol Then we all ate lunch together.Luckily, I've built up an immunity in my travels. So I don
I came across some balloons and saved them for my next trip to the RHQ. Figured that I could give them to the Nahida and Jalil and their little brother. It takes me two trips to remember to bring the balloons along. When I finally give them to the kids, they just kind of stare at them. I realize that they have no idea what they have. So I break open the package. There are three colors inside--blue, pink and white. I ask little Nahida which one she wants. Of course, she points to the pin
A tour bus driver is driving with a bus load of seniors down a highway when he is tapped on his shoulder by a little old lady. She offers him a handful of peanuts, which he gratefully munches up. After about 15 minutes, she taps him on his shoulder again and she hands him another handful of peanuts.She repeats this gesture about five more times. When she is about to hand him another batch again he asks the little old lady,
'Why don't you eat the peanuts yourself?.' 'We can't chew them because
Camo net used for cover from the sun. Weighs a good 100 lbs. The wind blew it around like it was paper. You could actually bend into the wind and it would hold you up. lol The sand was so thick in the air that it obscured the Sun and made it look like the moon. The sun is in the West. It was around 5 PM. Close up of the Sun. When I walked out, I actually thought it was the moon. lol The next morning...clear skiesSee the mountains in the background. The water tower off in the dist
I think this one speaks for itself.lolOut at 4th Zone Border Patrol HQ. We stay for about a week at a time. It's right at the end of the mountains the name of which excapes me right now.Beautiful scenery out there. I just thought these might give a laugh.
Well, I sent Shoaibjan downtown to get the pictures printed out. Got the family pic framed and took them to the little store. We gave the framed pic and a few other pics to Nahida and Jalilahmads father. Little Jalil took his picture and carried it around and wouldn't give it up. Cute little bubba.I, also, had Shoaib grab a doll and a toy car for the kids. Nahida wasn't there so I wasn't able to see her adorable little smile when she got her doll. But, Jalil was all kinds of excited to ge
We stopped by to see how the little ones were doing. Today, Baba Khan was there. We chatted and I asked if I could take a family photo for them. He acquiesced and I shot a few photos. Then I decided that I needed a pic with the two little ones. So I kneeled down beside them and Shoaibjan snapped a few shots. I snapped a couple of close ups as well. Little Jalil was still repeating over and over "hello, fine thank you, hello, fine thank you" with that cute little grin.So I taught him how t
Today was a bit of a stressful day in class. My students were particularly rowdy and the class was a bit too long and the subject complicated . Every ten seconds or so it seemed, one student or another would raise his hand to ask a question about something that I would cover in the next segment or so. It gets to be a bit taxing. But it's still fun and I enjoy the give and take of the class that I am privileged to instruct. It's not rocket science that I instruct. It's simple policy and pro
