Pedophilia a Way of Life in Afghanistan Ruling Tribe

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[Reprinted from the SF Gate, online home of the San Francisco Chronicle]

Afghanistan's Dirty Little Secret

Joel Brinkley

August 29, 2010

Western forces fighting in southern Afghanistan had a problem. Too often, soldiers on patrol passed an older man walking hand-in-hand with a pretty young boy. Their behavior suggested he was not the boy's father. Then, British soldiers found that young Afghan men were actually trying to "touch and fondle them," military investigator AnnaMaria Cardinalli told me. "The soldiers didn't understand."

All of this was so disconcerting that the Defense Department hired Cardinalli, a social scientist, to examine this mystery. Her report, "Pashtun Sexuality," startled not even one Afghan. But Western forces were shocked - and repulsed.

For centuries, Afghan men have taken boys, roughly 9 to 15 years old, as lovers. Some research suggests that half the Pashtun tribal members in Kandahar and other southern towns are bacha baz, the term for an older man with a boy lover. Literally it means "boy player." The men like to boast about it.

"Having a boy has become a custom for us," Enayatullah, a 42-year-old in Baghlan province, told a Reuters reporter. "Whoever wants to show off should have a boy."

Baghlan province is in the northeast, but Afghans say pedophilia is most prevalent among Pashtun men in the south. The Pashtun are Afghanistan's most important tribe. For centuries, the nation's leaders have been Pashtun.

President Hamid Karzai is Pashtun, from a village near Kandahar, and he has six brothers. So the natural question arises: Has anyone in the Karzai family been bacha baz? Two Afghans with close connections to the Karzai family told me they know that at least one family member and perhaps two were bacha baz. Afraid of retribution, both declined to be identified and would not be more specific for publication.

As for Karzai, an American who worked in and around his palace in an official capacity for many months told me that homosexual behavior "was rampant" among "soldiers and guys on the security detail. They talked about boys all the time."

He added, "I didn't see Karzai with anyone. He was in his palace most of the time." He, too, declined to be identified.

In Kandahar, population about 500,000, and other towns, dance parties are a popular, often weekly, pastime. Young boys dress up as girls, wearing makeup and bells on their feet, and dance for a dozen or more leering middle-aged men who throw money at them and then take them home. A recent State Department report called "dancing boys" a "widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape."

So, why are American and NATO forces fighting and dying to defend tens of thousands of proud pedophiles, certainly more per capita than any other place on Earth? And how did Afghanistan become the pedophilia capital of Asia?

Sociologists and anthropologists say the problem results from perverse interpretation of Islamic law. Women are simply unapproachable. Afghan men cannot talk to an unrelated woman until after proposing marriage. Before then, they can't even look at a woman, except perhaps her feet. Otherwise she is covered, head to ankle.

"How can you fall in love if you can't see her face," 29-year-old Mohammed Daud told reporters. "We can see the boys, so we can tell which are beautiful."

Even after marriage, many men keep their boys, suggesting a loveless life at home. A favored Afghan expression goes: "Women are for children, boys are for pleasure." Fundamentalist imams, exaggerating a biblical passage on menstruation, teach that women are "unclean" and therefore distasteful. One married man even asked Cardinalli's team "how his wife could become pregnant," her report said. When that was explained, he "reacted with disgust" and asked, "How could one feel desire to be with a woman, who God has made unclean?"

That helps explain why women are hidden away - and stoned to death if they are perceived to have misbehaved. Islamic law also forbids homosexuality. But the pedophiles explain that away. It's not homosexuality, they aver, because they aren't in love with their boys.

Addressing the loathsome mistreatment of Afghan women remains a primary goal for coalition governments, as it should be.

But what about the boys, thousands upon thousands of little boys who are victims of serial rape over many years, destroying their lives - and Afghan society.

"There's no issue more horrifying and more deserving of our attention than this," Cardinalli said. "I'm continually haunted by what I saw."

As one boy, in tow of a man he called "my lord," told the Reuters reporter: "Once I grow up, I will be an owner, and I will have my own boys."

© 2010 Joel Brinkley

This article appeared on page E - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/29/INF21F2Q9H.DTL#ixzz0yQPnkAxl

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President “Sovietizing” the Country!

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The leader of the Republican Party called it a "fraud on the working man" and "a cruel hoax." The New York Times, in an editorial, said it was "ill-considered" and "very questionable." The president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, warned that it would result in "more unemployment in the future, killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."

A Republican Congressman from New York proclaimed that "Never in the history of the world has any measure been brought here so insidiously designed as to prevent business recovery, to enslave workers and to prevent any possibility of the employers providing work for the people." His GOP New York colleague warned that if it passed "the lash of the dictator will be felt." The American Medical Association denounced it as a "compulsory socialistic tax." The former president of both the American Bar Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce described it as "economically preposterous and legally indefensible." It was, he said, part of [the President’s] attempt to "Sovietize the country."

Holy crap! What IS this horrendous threat to American prosperity, freedom, and democracy?

Social Security – signed into law by FDR 75 years ago on August 14, 1935.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/lessons-from-fdr-when-the_b_682293.html

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Off the Cuff – 8/14/10

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Baseball

Baseballs are as live as ever, bats & gloves are more sophisticatedly designed, and athletes are bigger, stronger and faster. Yet the dimensions of the field and scores have remained constant producing the same game as in the earliest days of professional baseball. Why? Chalk it up to the design of the playing field and the game itself. Baseball has remained virtually unchanged – fitting today’s athletes as well as it did players at the turn of the 20th century.

Snail Mail

Why anyone would use snail mail to send a letter these days is beyond me. I figure it’s either to show a more personal touch or for impact, like “see the effort I made by snail mailing”. Snail mail is also a retronym as there had never been a reason to distinguish among types of mail with the USPS cornering the market. The US Post Office is experiencing a huge drop off (no pun intended) on mail volume. Ya’ think?

Amending the 14th Amendment

If this isn’t an overreaction to the immigration issue, I don’t know what is.

Amendment XIV

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Yes the original purpose of drafting that language was to guarantee the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 granting the same rights of citizenship to Black people. Nowhere in the Amendment’s language, though, is this constitutional provision limited to Black citizens. It has always applied to any person born in the United States no matter the mother’s nationality. How should the Amendment be amended? “Oh, and no drop babies, terrorist babies, Mexicans, Muslims …” Well see there’s the rest of section 1 of the 14th Amendment which guarantees equal protection under the law.

This exercise in rhetoric by members of Congress is just that.

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Socialnomics – The Social Media Revolution

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Is social media a fad? I think not!

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Off the Cuff – 8/1/10

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Afghanistan

As some commentators have been mentioning, the release of the Afghan War memos is reminiscent of the Pentagon Papers leak. All along I’ve been praying that the Afghan War doesn’t turn into Obama’s Vietnam which brought down LBJ. The Iraq War, short-sightedness and other ineptitude during the Bush years set us back in Afghanistan by many years. The Pakistanis can’t be trusted. The government in Afghanistan is a corrupt joke. I don’t know what victory looks like in Afghanistan. I mean last time we wiped out the Taliban they just fled into Pakistan. And now we’re back to maybe square 2 with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The nature of Afghan society is such that they will always be nearly immune from formal, lasting conquest. It will always be the tribal leaders that run the country under some, if any, guise. Then there’s that troublesome border mountain area in Pakistan supposedly hiding Bin-Laden which no one will touch. I’d guess that’s where the Taliban went after being pushed out of Afghanistan the first time.

At some point NATO has to get out. Obama has set summer 2011 for some sort of an initial withdrawal. Once we’re out of there the country will revert to where it’s always been. Maybe the Taliban will gain control; maybe another group equally as nuts. It’s Al-Qaeda we’re after and they move around at will. If this is to be a global war on terror then civilized nations must agree to attack Al-Qaeda wherever they have strongholds. Invading a country is pointless as once eradicated there, they will move elsewhere. The only quick solution is to grab all their money. That’s what it comes down to – money & power.

Self-Help Books

Radio, TV – everywhere – you hear commercials for self-help books to conquer drug addiction and depression/anxiety. Well, how ridiculous is that?!

You’re a longtime drug addict? Read a book. Depressed & anxious? Read a book. Lemme tell ya’ – I’ve been both places and reading a book is about the last thing I wanted or even could do. Neither condition is conducive to curling up with a book. Trust me – it’s not.

The people getting better with books are their authors and publishers. Those who buy them are left holding their dicks with a book.

Blame Obama

We want everything now. I mean everything! It didn’t take 2 years to create the economic situation we’re dealing with in this country and around the world. It won’t take just 2 years to fix it. Sure people are angry – being unemployed for years will do that. President Obama is a convenient target for anger. While he’s been far from perfect, he is not the one who is responsible for the mess he took on January 20, 2009. The economic collapse is a unique problem, obviously without a clear answer. The best economic minds in the world don’t agree on "THE" solution. The president is responsible for fixing it but he’s not prescient. Patience, folks – that’s what it takes. Sadly, the citizenry is short on patience. Makes me wonder how FDR would have been viewed in today’s age of instant information and communication.

BP

Why is everyone so surprised by BP having cut so many corners in safety? It’s not profitable to put safety as a #1 (or 2, or 3) priority. End of discussion.

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Weiner Blasts GOP for Blocking 9/11 First Responders Aid Bill

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In an impassioned speech, the likes of which is rarely seen in Congress, Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York tore into Congressman Peter King (R. NY) and the Republican House minority for blocking the passage of a bill providing relief to first responders still suffering from the aftermath of their rescue efforts on 9/11.

The GOP insisted upon adding amendments to the bill unrelated to its focus. To get around this partisan politicking, the bill was presented to the House floor using a procedure requiring a 2/3 majority to block amendments. Republicans objected and this bill to aid those who rescued thousands on 9/11 went down to defeat.

Congressman Weiner’s impassioned plea is a brilliant snapshot of our Congress at work.

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GOP = Grand Obstructionist Party

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Tired of hearing this? Well, sorry – the GOP, like RNC Chair Michael Steele, is a gift that keeps giving.

1

Let’s take the Oil Spill Commission. Now I ask you – who would oppose investigative power for this commission in order to determine how and why BP flooded the Gulf of Mexico with oil? The Republican Party. Yup – Republicans are opposed to giving this commission investigative power. Why? Well let’s see. It was President Obama who formed the commission. Hence, the Republicans oppose it. Paraphrasing Groucho Marx in “Horse Feathers”, “They’re against it!” What are they against? Anything proposed by the Obama administration. Do they have better ideas that they’d like to debate? No. They’re just against it.

2

The GOP rallying cry in obstructing administration economic policies is “Stop increasing the deficit with so much spending; cut taxes instead!” I see – so lowering taxes doesn’t increase the deficit? I think not.

Tax revenue minus spending = deficit (or surplus)

You can’t reduce taxes without adding to the deficit. It’s simple math.* The infamous Bush tax cuts, including massive cuts for the wealthy, are set to expire December 31, 2010. The battle over extending them has already begun with the latest voice to chime in being Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chief who previously supported the Bush $1.1 trillion tax cuts which turned a Clinton surplus into a Bush deficit. Greenspan now urges Congress not to extend those cuts.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-16/greenspan-calls-for-congress-to-let-all-bush-tax-cuts-expire.html

Despite all the ranting and raving, the Republican Party doesn’t disagree with increasing the deficit but rather how to increase it. Yet the masses flock to the rallying cry of “cut the deficit and cut taxes”. Nonsense.

3

Finally (for now) there’s Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter who has joined the birthers. Yes, a sitting senator is publicly questioning the legitimacy of the Obama presidency, joining the moronic fringe element which questions the fact that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/07/13/2010-07-13_sen_david_vitter_supports_birther_lawsuits_over_obamas_birth_certificate.html

The 2010 midterms are still nearly 4 months away; the 2012 presidential election nearly 28 months away. Stand by for more Republican crap.

*Hat tip to Rachel Maddow for doing the math.

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