Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:

Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...

Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?

On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
>
> From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
>
> “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> to Muslim clothing for women.
>
> “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> are you showing off to?”
>
> The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> the Western-backed republic in August.
>
> Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
>
> Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
>
> When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
>
> The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
>
> In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
>
> Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
>
> On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
>
> “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
>
> “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
>
> For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> they found the order humiliating.
>
> “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> down her face.
>
> Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> their children to ride carousels.
>
> “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> from moving around the city alone for her safety.
>
> “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
>
> The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> can to keep their children safe.
>
> In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
>
> “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> enjoy this moment together.”
>
> Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
>
> Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> staff have been told not to wear makeup.
>
> Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
>
> While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> to ensure they don’t cross paths.
>
> The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> froze its foreign reserves.
>
> “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> of an amusement park in Kabul.
>
> “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
>
> Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
>
> “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> genders would be segregated.
>
> “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> prostitution,” he said.
>
> https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657

On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
>
> Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.

Ask what your country is doing to you.

> Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
>
> Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?

> On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> >
> > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> >
> > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > to Muslim clothing for women.
> >
> > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > are you showing off to?”
> >
> > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > the Western-backed republic in August.
> >
> > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> >
> > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> >
> > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> >
> > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> >
> > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> >
> > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> >
> > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> >
> > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> >
> > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> >
> > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > they found the order humiliating.
> >
> > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > down her face.
> >
> > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > their children to ride carousels.
> >
> > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> >
> > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> >
> > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > can to keep their children safe.
> >
> > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town..
> >
> > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > enjoy this moment together.”
> >
> > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> >
> > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> >
> > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> >
> > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> >
> > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > froze its foreign reserves.
> >
> > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> >
> > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> >
> > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> >
> > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > genders would be segregated.
> >
> > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > prostitution,” he said.
> >
> > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657

On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> >
> > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> Ask what your country is doing to you.

Excellent question.
Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.

A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."

> > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> >
> > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
>
> > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > >
> > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > >
> > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > >
> > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > are you showing off to?”
> > >
> > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > >
> > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > >
> > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > >
> > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > >
> > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > >
> > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > >
> > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > >
> > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > >
> > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > >
> > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > >
> > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > they found the order humiliating.
> > >
> > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > down her face.
> > >
> > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > their children to ride carousels.
> > >
> > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > >
> > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > >
> > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > can to keep their children safe.
> > >
> > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > >
> > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > >
> > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > >
> > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > >
> > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > >
> > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > >
> > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > >
> > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > >
> > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > >
> > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > >
> > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > genders would be segregated.
> > >
> > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > prostitution,” he said.
> > >
> > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657

On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > >
> > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> Excellent question.
> Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
>
> A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"

Good question.

> A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."

Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.

> > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > >
> > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> >
> > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > >
> > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > >
> > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > >
> > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > >
> > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > >
> > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > >
> > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > >
> > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > >
> > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > >
> > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > >
> > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > >
> > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > >
> > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > >
> > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > >
> > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > >
> > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > down her face.
> > > >
> > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > >
> > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > >
> > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > >
> > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > >
> > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > >
> > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > >
> > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > >
> > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > >
> > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > >
> > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > >
> > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > >
> > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > >
> > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > >
> > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > >
> > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > >
> > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > >
> > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657

On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > >
> > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > Excellent question.
> > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> >
> > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> Good question.
> > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.

Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
of solving people's collective problems?

Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?

> > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > >
> > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > >
> > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > >
> > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > >
> > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > >
> > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > >
> > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > >
> > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > >
> > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > >
> > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > >
> > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation..
> > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > >
> > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > >
> > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > >
> > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > >
> > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > >
> > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > >
> > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > >
> > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > down her face.
> > > > >
> > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > >
> > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > >
> > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > >
> > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > >
> > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > >
> > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > >
> > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > >
> > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > >
> > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > >
> > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > >
> > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > >
> > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > >
> > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > >
> > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > >
> > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > >
> > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > >
> > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657

On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > >
> > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > Excellent question.
> > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > >
> > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > Good question.
> > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> of solving people's collective problems?
>
> Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > >
> > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > >
> > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > >
> > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657

On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > Excellent question.
> > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > >
> > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > Good question.
> > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > of solving people's collective problems?
> >
> > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > >
> > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe.. Now,
> > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it..

On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > >
> > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > Good question.
> > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > >
> > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means.. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens.. Music
> > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders..

On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > >
> > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol.. “Who
> > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages..
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > would drive out awful content.
> > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 3:48:52 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy.. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > >
> > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > would drive out awful content.
> > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> Whatever.

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy.. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > >
> > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > would drive out awful content.
> > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> Whatever.
> Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> Yet Taliban win. Why?
>
> The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 8:56:04 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > > would drive out awful content.
> > > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> > Whatever.
> > Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> > Yet Taliban win. Why?
> >
> > The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.
> The Afghans have relatives and friends in Taliban and hence they love each other too. The Afghans hated their corrupted bull shit government installed by US shared their input and output with Taliban.
>
> Now the leader of the bull shit government ran away when Taliban closed in on the US forces. The US forces got scared of them and escaped in their waiting planes with 13 US troops killed on the final day of evacuation of Afghanistan.
>
> The Taliban loves the Afghans and the Afghan love them too. Since they are friends and relatives on both side of camps, so they cooperate d with each other under the orders of their parents and grand parents to upturn the American occupiers.
>
> They set traps and kill them whenever there is a chance for them. They worked for American intel and yet American Intel got killed by them with bullet in their heads. They ran away and were not found and caught.
>
> This makes American troops scared of them instead. In summary, the unity of the Afghan people and the Taliban people is paramount to the fears induced on US troop to evict from Afghanistan.

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 12:19:40 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 8:56:04 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation..
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days.. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > > > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > > > would drive out awful content.
> > > > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > > > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > > > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> > > Whatever.
> > > Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> > > Yet Taliban win. Why?
> > >
> > > The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.
> > The Afghans have relatives and friends in Taliban and hence they love each other too. The Afghans hated their corrupted bull shit government installed by US shared their input and output with Taliban.
> >
> > Now the leader of the bull shit government ran away when Taliban closed in on the US forces. The US forces got scared of them and escaped in their waiting planes with 13 US troops killed on the final day of evacuation of Afghanistan.
> >
> > The Taliban loves the Afghans and the Afghan love them too. Since they are friends and relatives on both side of camps, so they cooperate d with each other under the orders of their parents and grand parents to upturn the American occupiers.
> >
> > They set traps and kill them whenever there is a chance for them. They worked for American intel and yet American Intel got killed by them with bullet in their heads. They ran away and were not found and caught.
> >
> > This makes American troops scared of them instead. In summary, the unity of the Afghan people and the Taliban people is paramount to the fears induced on US troop to evict from Afghanistan.
> It's kind of awesome how every single sentence you write is false.

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2:14:38 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 12:19:40 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 8:56:04 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > > > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > > > > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick.. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > > > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > > > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > > > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > > > > would drive out awful content.
> > > > > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > > > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > > > > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > > > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > > > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > > > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > > > > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> > > > Whatever.
> > > > Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> > > > Yet Taliban win. Why?
> > > >
> > > > The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.
> > > The Afghans have relatives and friends in Taliban and hence they love each other too. The Afghans hated their corrupted bull shit government installed by US shared their input and output with Taliban.
> > >
> > > Now the leader of the bull shit government ran away when Taliban closed in on the US forces. The US forces got scared of them and escaped in their waiting planes with 13 US troops killed on the final day of evacuation of Afghanistan.
> > >
> > > The Taliban loves the Afghans and the Afghan love them too. Since they are friends and relatives on both side of camps, so they cooperate d with each other under the orders of their parents and grand parents to upturn the American occupiers.
> > >
> > > They set traps and kill them whenever there is a chance for them. They worked for American intel and yet American Intel got killed by them with bullet in their heads. They ran away and were not found and caught.
> > >
> > > This makes American troops scared of them instead. In summary, the unity of the Afghan people and the Taliban people is paramount to the fears induced on US troop to evict from Afghanistan.
> > It's kind of awesome how every single sentence you write is false.
> Which one is false.

On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 1:19:49 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2:14:38 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 12:19:40 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 8:56:04 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy.. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment..
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > > > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > > > > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > > > > > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > > > > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > > > > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > > > > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > > > > > would drive out awful content.
> > > > > > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > > > > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > > > > > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > > > > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > > > > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > > > > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > > > > > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> > > > > Whatever.
> > > > > Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> > > > > Yet Taliban win. Why?
> > > > >
> > > > > The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.
> > > > The Afghans have relatives and friends in Taliban and hence they love each other too. The Afghans hated their corrupted bull shit government installed by US shared their input and output with Taliban.
> > > >
> > > > Now the leader of the bull shit government ran away when Taliban closed in on the US forces. The US forces got scared of them and escaped in their waiting planes with 13 US troops killed on the final day of evacuation of Afghanistan.
> > > >
> > > > The Taliban loves the Afghans and the Afghan love them too. Since they are friends and relatives on both side of camps, so they cooperate d with each other under the orders of their parents and grand parents to upturn the American occupiers.
> > > >
> > > > They set traps and kill them whenever there is a chance for them. They worked for American intel and yet American Intel got killed by them with bullet in their heads. They ran away and were not found and caught.
> > > >
> > > > This makes American troops scared of them instead. In summary, the unity of the Afghan people and the Taliban people is paramount to the fears induced on US troop to evict from Afghanistan.
> > > It's kind of awesome how every single sentence you write is false.
> > Which one is false.
> All of them, as I said.

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 8:57:25 PM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 1:19:49 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2:14:38 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 12:19:40 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 8:56:04 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > > > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > > > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > > > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > > > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > > > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > > > > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > > > > > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > > > > > > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that..
> > > > > > > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > > > > > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > > > > > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > > > > > > would drive out awful content.
> > > > > > > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > > > > > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > > > > > > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > > > > > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > > > > > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > > > > > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > > > > > > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> > > > > > Whatever.
> > > > > > Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> > > > > > Yet Taliban win. Why?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.
> > > > > The Afghans have relatives and friends in Taliban and hence they love each other too. The Afghans hated their corrupted bull shit government installed by US shared their input and output with Taliban.
> > > > >
> > > > > Now the leader of the bull shit government ran away when Taliban closed in on the US forces. The US forces got scared of them and escaped in their waiting planes with 13 US troops killed on the final day of evacuation of Afghanistan.
> > > > >
> > > > > The Taliban loves the Afghans and the Afghan love them too. Since they are friends and relatives on both side of camps, so they cooperate d with each other under the orders of their parents and grand parents to upturn the American occupiers.
> > > > >
> > > > > They set traps and kill them whenever there is a chance for them. They worked for American intel and yet American Intel got killed by them with bullet in their heads. They ran away and were not found and caught.
> > > > >
> > > > > This makes American troops scared of them instead. In summary, the unity of the Afghan people and the Taliban people is paramount to the fears induced on US troop to evict from Afghanistan.
> > > > It's kind of awesome how every single sentence you write is false.
> > > Which one is false.
> > All of them, as I said.
> You talk cock. Ask your sister to bring you to a doctor to see if you understand an educational topic or not. If not, you should go to school to learn some skills in critical thinking.
>
> If you spent your time waiting to interject and run down a poster's opinion without your own writing of opinions, then you are a cock teaser looking for a slap.
>
> You should not come here to accuse and make derogatory insults on posters who have very high education than you. When one reads a person's post, one can see the depth of the person's critical thinking skills behind in their analysis. Posters who can see are those who have the in-depth knowledge of their own too.
>
> But unfortunately, you have been waiting to prowl around like a rat trying to make a snack at posters when you have nothing to give in your analysis at all. You have a tumor in your brain, and so you have to see a doctor to get your medical snack, instead.
>
> If you can write 5 lines of your thoughts on the title of the article here, we can give you a grading and if you can get a good grade, we can give you a candy to slurp. You can ask for mail service.

On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 12:08:06 PM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 8:57:25 PM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 1:19:49 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2:14:38 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 12:19:40 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 8:56:04 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > > > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > > > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > > > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > > > > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > > > > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > > > > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > > > > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > > > > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > > > > > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > > > > > > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > > > > > > > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > > > > > > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > > > > > > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > > > > > > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > > > > > > > would drive out awful content.
> > > > > > > > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > > > > > > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > > > > > > > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > > > > > > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > > > > > > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > > > > > > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > > > > > > > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> > > > > > > Whatever.
> > > > > > > Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> > > > > > > Yet Taliban win. Why?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.
> > > > > > The Afghans have relatives and friends in Taliban and hence they love each other too. The Afghans hated their corrupted bull shit government installed by US shared their input and output with Taliban.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Now the leader of the bull shit government ran away when Taliban closed in on the US forces. The US forces got scared of them and escaped in their waiting planes with 13 US troops killed on the final day of evacuation of Afghanistan.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The Taliban loves the Afghans and the Afghan love them too. Since they are friends and relatives on both side of camps, so they cooperate d with each other under the orders of their parents and grand parents to upturn the American occupiers.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > They set traps and kill them whenever there is a chance for them. They worked for American intel and yet American Intel got killed by them with bullet in their heads. They ran away and were not found and caught.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > This makes American troops scared of them instead. In summary, the unity of the Afghan people and the Taliban people is paramount to the fears induced on US troop to evict from Afghanistan.
> > > > > It's kind of awesome how every single sentence you write is false..
> > > > Which one is false.
> > > All of them, as I said.
> > You talk cock. Ask your sister to bring you to a doctor to see if you understand an educational topic or not. If not, you should go to school to learn some skills in critical thinking.
> >
> > If you spent your time waiting to interject and run down a poster's opinion without your own writing of opinions, then you are a cock teaser looking for a slap.
> >
> > You should not come here to accuse and make derogatory insults on posters who have very high education than you. When one reads a person's post, one can see the depth of the person's critical thinking skills behind in their analysis. Posters who can see are those who have the in-depth knowledge of their own too.
> >
> > But unfortunately, you have been waiting to prowl around like a rat trying to make a snack at posters when you have nothing to give in your analysis at all. You have a tumor in your brain, and so you have to see a doctor to get your medical snack, instead.
> >
> > If you can write 5 lines of your thoughts on the title of the article here, we can give you a grading and if you can get a good grade, we can give you a candy to slurp. You can ask for mail service.
> Oh, you are from Singapore?
>
> That explains why you place a high value on education. Very good. I have a PhD.
>
> The Taliban are awful. Pay attention.

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 9:42:32 PM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 12:08:06 PM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 8:57:25 PM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 1:19:49 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > > > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2:14:38 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > > > On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 12:19:40 AM UTC+8, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 8:56:04 AM UTC-7, stoney wrote:
> > > > > > > On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 6:48:52 PM UTC+8, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 9:30:10 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 10:57:51 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, April 15, 2022 at 5:07:43 AM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 8:29:08 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 5:16:09 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:24:58 PM UTC-4, bmoore wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 1:19:43 PM UTC-7, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Let me channel President Kennedy's famous saying:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask NOT what other government can do to make you happy.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what your country is doing to you.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Excellent question.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Everyone should ask this kind of question more often.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > A general question is "What your country is doing to you to earn your trust or distrust?"
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Good question.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > A more specific question is "What your country is doing to you to make you think it is a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > democracy but constantly failed to solve the people's problems."
> > > > > > > > > > > > > Solving people's problems is not the job of a democracy. The job of a democracy is giving people the room to do the work themselves.
> > > > > > > > > > > > Solving individual or a group of people's problem is indeed not the main task of a democracy. But solving the
> > > > > > > > > > > > people's collective problems is what make a democracy a democracy. But IF political leaders need to raise money
> > > > > > > > > > > > for the next "democratic" election, would they not spend more effort to solve their donors' problems in the expense
> > > > > > > > > > > > of solving people's collective problems?
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > Would you deny such the existence of such "democracy"?
> > > > > > > > > > > > For argument's sake, would you consider such "democracy" real democracy?
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ask what you can do to help the people, be they Americans,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghans, Ukrainians, or ...
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Anyone flying to Afghanistan to help soon?
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Monday, April 11, 2022 at 1:22:20 PM UTC-4, David P. wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Taliban Crack Down on Social Freedoms With Even Stricter Policing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > By Rasmussen and Stancati, Apr. 5, 2022, WSJ
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From a white pickup truck crawling through a busy street in west
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Kabul, members of the Taliban’s religious police, dressed in white
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > tunics and black turbans, admonished fellow Afghans through a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > loudspeaker mounted on the roof of the car.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, hijab and implementation of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Shariah law is the duty of every Muslim,” they shouted, referring
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to Muslim clothing for women.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “You, girl, fix your head scarf. Your hair is showing,” another
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policeman scolded a woman during another patrol. “Who
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > are you showing off to?”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban have in recent weeks introduced draconian social
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > restrictions, which in particular curb the freedoms of women,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > even as the group seeks international recognition after toppling
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > the Western-backed republic in August.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Most notably, the Taliban last week decided to uphold a ban on
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > secondary and schools for girls. They also banned live music at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > weddings and barred international media outlets such as the BBC
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > and Voice of America from broadcasting in local languages.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Women must be accompanied by a male relative when traveling beyond
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 48 miles. In parts of Afghanistan, women are required to be accompanied
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > by a male guardian to receive medical treatment.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > When the Taliban took over in August, they sought to project a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > softer image than during their first time in power, for instance
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > promising to respect the rights of women within the framework of
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Islam. Since then, the Taliban have hardened their position on a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > range of issues, a reflection that the group’s ultraconservative
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > members are prevailing over moderates, at least on social policies.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > While the Taliban collectively adhere to a hard-line interpretation
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Sunni Islam, there are disagreements within the group about how
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > harshly to enforce rules such as gender segregation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The more pragmatic members of the Taliban are worried that allowing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > religious policemen to aggressively enforce social rules could
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > alienate the population and prolong their international isolation.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ideologues within the Taliban—including Haibatullah Akhundzada, the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > movement’s supreme leader—appear less concerned about a possible backlash.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > In recent weeks, uniformed members of the Taliban’s religious morality
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > police deployed by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Promotion of Virtue—a much-feared institution during the group’s rule
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > in the 1990s—have become more visible in the streets of the capital.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Efforts to police the population intensified ahead of Ramadan, which
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > began Saturday. On a recent day in Kabul, religious police instructed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > taxi drivers not to play music inside the vehicle or to pick up
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > intoxicated passengers or women who they deemed improperly covered.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Friday, Taliban members hung banners in central Kabul reading:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “My sister! Your hijab speaks louder than my blood.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Women should have better hijab for Ramadan,” said Abdullah Omari,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a morality police chief overseeing seven central provinces.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Hijab” is a catchall term that for many Muslims refers to a head
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > scarf, which all Afghan women already wear in public. But the word
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > can also refer more broadly to female clothing that covers parts or
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > all of the body in accordance with Shariah law. The Taliban, Omari
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > said, will enforce this broader view, saying the hijab is a religious
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > code that mandates women cover their entire body in a loosefitting
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > garment that ideally obscures the face as well, as burqas do.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > For some women who still have active roles in society, the pressure
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of having to abide by the Taliban’s restrictive rules is unbearable.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > At Indira Gandhi’s Children’s Hospital in Kabul, a government letter
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > pinned to the notice board instructed female staff to wear Islamic
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > clothing, without elaborating. Some female health workers there said
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > they found the order humiliating.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “If we don’t wear a proper hijab, we may be fired,” said one female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > doctor who is her extended family’s sole breadwinner. She was wearing
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a tightly wrapped head scarf, a long dress over a pair of pants and a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > lab coat. “But I don’t know what that means. What kind of hijab do
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > they want? We can't work in a burqa,” she added, tears streaming
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > down her face.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Last week the Taliban said that men and women must use Kabul’s parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > popular sites for family picnics, on alternate days. From the first day
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of Ramadan, the Taliban imposed similar segregation on amusement parks,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > making this past Friday the last day that parents could jointly take
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > their children to ride carousels.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I feel like, from tomorrow, I'll be in prison,” said Sedarah Afzali,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a 20-year-old high-school graduate wearing a tooth gem and a nose stud,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > nail polish and a bright orange head scarf. She has barely seen her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > girlfriends since the Taliban takeover because her family kept her
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > from moving around the city alone for her safety.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “I begged my brothers today to take us here,” she said, gesturing at
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > her two sisters, Neda, 23, and Nazi, 17, who were with her at the park.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban takeover ended 20 years of war, Ms. Afzali said, but she
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > preferred life under the former republic: “Back then, security wasn’t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > good but we could enjoy life. We had freedom.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Taliban say they are merely advising Afghans on how to behave
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > and have yet to reinstate the widespread corporal punishment they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > used to rule the country in the 1990s. But fear of the group’s past
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > leads many Afghans to self-censor and drives parents to do what they
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > can to keep their children safe.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > In a coffee shop in central Kabul, where she and two girlfriends
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > were drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes, 25-year-old
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Fatima Hashemi said her family tried to keep her from going around town.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is the only place we can have a little bit of freedom,” Hashemi,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a former journalist, said of the coffee shop. Her friend stubbed a
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > cigarette on the floor, out of sight. “But we are too afraid to even
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > enjoy this moment together.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Until recently, men and women were allowed to mix in the cafe. Now,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > women have been relegated to a corner behind bamboo screens. Music
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > has been turned off, the only soundtrack supplied by a customer’s
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > iPhone playing a pop song. When Taliban morality enforcers enter the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > coffee shop, the usher sounds an alarm on the upper floors to give
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > female patrons a chance to fix their headscarves or put out cigarettes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Men feel the restrictions, too. Male govt workers say the Taliban bar
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > them from the office if they don’t grow long beards, while female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > staff have been told not to wear makeup.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Basset Zewari, a 23-year-old bitcoin trader wearing bluejeans and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a red polo T-shirt, said the Taliban want men to wear traditional
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Afghan clothes—a long tunic and baggy trousers. “My father told me t
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > oday, ‘Be careful when you go outside in those jeans,’” Zewari said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > While women are allowed to study at university, male and female
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > students must be taught in separate shifts or separated by partitions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > according to the Ministry of Higher Education’s official guidelines
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Female students must take a seat
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > in classrooms 5 minutes before male students and leave 5 minutes later,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to ensure they don’t cross paths.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The restrictions also deal a blow to local businesses already suffering
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > under a crushing economic crisis. Following the Taliban takeover,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > foreign countries including the U.S. imposed economic sanctions,
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > halted foreign trade, suspended aid to the Afghan government and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > froze its foreign reserves.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “These parks depend on families and children. The new restrictions
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > will stop most of our customers from coming here,” said the manager
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > of an amusement park in Kabul.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “All other Islamic countries have amusement parks,” he added.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “Islam tells you to laugh and have fun. We have never allowed
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > anyone to behave in an un-Islamic way here.”
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Saeed Jelani, a member of the Taliban’s police force visiting the
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > amusement park on his day off, said it wasn’t forbidden in Islam to
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > have fun, as long as women wore clothing that only revealed their eyes.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “This is our Islamic rules and tradition: Women must stay inside
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > the house,” Jelani said, as families milled around him eating ice
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > cream, an hour before the park closed for the last time before
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > genders would be segregated.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > “When men and women are close together, it leads to adultery and
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > prostitution,” he said.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-crack-down-on-social-freedoms-with-even-stricter-policing-11649156657
> > > > > > > > > > > OK, somewhat agree. Getting back to the Taliban though, they are really awful. Imposing their perverted form of religion on people who don't want it.
> > > > > > > > > > Awful, as well as its opposite, beautiful, is in the eye of the beholders.
> > > > > > > > > The beholder who sees beauty in the Taliban's brutal ways is sick. Can you really support a government that treats women like that? I can't. You would be horrified if they treated your mother or sister like that.
> > > > > > > > > > For individuals, the answer is still "Ask not..."
> > > > > > > > > > For nations, the answer is two folded:
> > > > > > > > > > 1. Providing the nation with new content. Hopefully new and supposedly better religio-cultural
> > > > > > > > > > would drive out awful content.
> > > > > > > > > > 2. Provide the nation with connectivity with the rest of the world. Hopefully such connectivity
> > > > > > > > > > would improve trade flow, idea flow, and cultural flow.
> > > > > > > > > So you deny that some governments are brutal?
> > > > > > > > > > Too much ink has spent on human rights. May be people should talk more about human
> > > > > > > > > > productivity and capability. A productive and capable people will NATURALLY fight for their own right.
> > > > > > > > > > After they have done the reform wholesale and outsiders could suggest reform retail.
> > > > > > > > > Silly. When the Taliban bomb little girls trying to go to school, something is wrong. Very wrong.
> > > > > > > > Whatever.
> > > > > > > > Taliban has gun. US military stationed in Afghan and US trained Afghan soldiers also has gun.
> > > > > > > > Yet Taliban win. Why?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The Afghan people have spoken. Afghans, like all other people, have their history and their dream.
> > > > > > > The Afghans have relatives and friends in Taliban and hence they love each other too. The Afghans hated their corrupted bull shit government installed by US shared their input and output with Taliban.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Now the leader of the bull shit government ran away when Taliban closed in on the US forces. The US forces got scared of them and escaped in their waiting planes with 13 US troops killed on the final day of evacuation of Afghanistan.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The Taliban loves the Afghans and the Afghan love them too. Since they are friends and relatives on both side of camps, so they cooperate d with each other under the orders of their parents and grand parents to upturn the American occupiers.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > They set traps and kill them whenever there is a chance for them. They worked for American intel and yet American Intel got killed by them with bullet in their heads. They ran away and were not found and caught.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > This makes American troops scared of them instead. In summary, the unity of the Afghan people and the Taliban people is paramount to the fears induced on US troop to evict from Afghanistan.
> > > > > > It's kind of awesome how every single sentence you write is false.
> > > > > Which one is false.
> > > > All of them, as I said.
> > > You talk cock. Ask your sister to bring you to a doctor to see if you understand an educational topic or not. If not, you should go to school to learn some skills in critical thinking.
> > >
> > > If you spent your time waiting to interject and run down a poster's opinion without your own writing of opinions, then you are a cock teaser looking for a slap.
> > >
> > > You should not come here to accuse and make derogatory insults on posters who have very high education than you. When one reads a person's post, one can see the depth of the person's critical thinking skills behind in their analysis. Posters who can see are those who have the in-depth knowledge of their own too.
> > >
> > > But unfortunately, you have been waiting to prowl around like a rat trying to make a snack at posters when you have nothing to give in your analysis at all. You have a tumor in your brain, and so you have to see a doctor to get your medical snack, instead.
> > >
> > > If you can write 5 lines of your thoughts on the title of the article here, we can give you a grading and if you can get a good grade, we can give you a candy to slurp. You can ask for mail service.
> > Oh, you are from Singapore?
> >
> > That explains why you place a high value on education. Very good. I have a PhD.
> >
> > The Taliban are awful. Pay attention.
> Don't talk cock anymore here. You don't have any PhD. Your cannot write a 5 lines analysis on your own on the subject article.