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Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP
Driving out past the Kabul airport, I see a jumble of wrecked and gutted planes heaped at the edge of the runway. I will later learn that it was American bombs that worked that particular piece of magic, but its my first day in Afghanistan, and I ask the driver if the jets were Russian or of some other provenance, and at what point in the last two and a half decades of warfare they came to be destroyed.
He nods, smiles, shrugs. Yes, he says. They are damaged.
Afghanistan is damaged in starkly visible ways. Endless miles of sunbaked ruins sprawl across the countryside. Overturned tanks dot the rural landscape. In much of Kabul it is a rare wall that is not pocked with bullet holes. Men and sometimes even children without legs crowd the bazaars. Widows beg in the streets, their lined hands protruding like tree limbs from blue, pleated burkas. The statistics are crushing: Four Afghans are killed by land mines and unexploded ordnance each day; 25 percent of infants die before age five; life expectancy at birth is barely over 40.
It is possible, for a moment or two anyway, to forget all this in Kabul. The streets bustle with bicycles, some of them ingeniously rigged to be hand-pedaled by the legless; shiny white U.N. Land Cruisers; horse- and human-drawn carts; motorbikes; too many dented Japanese pickups hauling men and boys with rifles; thousands of honking taxis, Corollas and old Russian Ladas painted yellow and white and swerving every which way. Armored vehicles belonging to the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) cruise by, but not very often.
Music blasts from cabs and storefronts. In the parks boys play soccer and men sit in the shade drinking tea. There are pizzerias, a Thai restaurant, Internet cafes. Birds sing in the trees like in any other place, but its never long before another pickup skids by bristling with Kalashnikovs to remind you that whatever Donald Rumsfeld says, this is a country at war.
The damage runs deep. Except in four major cities, and often not even there, there is no electricity anywhere in the country. Even in Kabul, only about a fifth of the population enjoys running water. In most of Afghanistan there are no hospitals, few clinics and still fewer doctors to staff them. There are no paved roads linking the major cities, and in many places, no paved roads whatsoever. In the majority of the country, the central government has no visible presence at all except for those provided by foreign aid groups and by the U.N., there are no social services; the only authorities are the men with the most guns, and they are far more likely to rob the populace than protect them.
Two years after the Taliban fled Kabul, there is still a lot of hope in Afghanistan. Optimism is frequently voiced, some of it even genuine, though it hardly balances the anger and despair. If there is a single story to be told today, it is a story about uncertainty. Some of that may be resolved (if only for the worse) following the constitutional assembly scheduled for December, and the elections planned for next June, but both of those events will likely be postponed because, well, theres just too much instability. In the meantime, there is no master narrative but disarray, no through line but contradiction.
Two men hastily slice and serve a watermelon before taking their places beside me in a circle of about a dozen gray-bearded men in dusty robes and turbans. We sit cross-legged on a cloth laid out on the shady side of the mosque, the one building in the village of Galabanan the Taliban left standing. Boys huddle round, arm in arm, to watch. The head of the village, a younger man named Sandar Agha, his brow lined but his beard still black, his eyes a shocking blue, tells me how he fled north when the Taliban arrived. He lived in a refugee camp in the Panjshir Valley for three years with his family, enduring the bitter winters with only a tent for shelter. Forty-seven children from the village died. He came back just after the Taliban fell, at the end of 2001. I ask him what he felt when he first returned to the village.
He lowers his eyes and laughs. We were shocked. We thought, How can we ever rebuild? We are very poor. It ate at my liver to see it.
Galabanan is a little over an hours drive north of Kabul, in the middle of the vast Shamali Plain, famed for centuries for its wealth, its lush vineyards and orchards. Today the ruins stretch on for miles. Galabanan is little more than a heap of crushed brick and dust, tarps draped over crumbling walls to provide shelter until the walls can be rebuilt. Theres no latrine yet, and sewage winds through the village in a shallow ditch. For miles around, in dozens of other villages, its the same. Rubble without end. Mud brick walls left half standing, or less than half, like sand castles after the tide has come in.
In the 80s, the mujahedeen fought the Soviets on this plain, and throughout the late 90s the Northern Alliance troops of Ahmed Shah Massoud battled the Taliban, advancing and retreating and advancing again. Many Shamalis fled, but many others joined Massoud. One September, Taliban forces spread out through the villages. They gave everyone 20 minutes to pack. Shamalis left with just the clothes on their backs, the grapes still hanging heavy on the vines. Some escaped. Most were herded onto trucks. The young men were brought to jail in Kabul, the women and children dumped in Jalalabad and the war-shattered suburbs of Kabul. The Taliban burned, bombed and bulldozed nearly every structure on the plain. They leveled the homes and the high brick compound walls surrounding the homes. They burned the vineyards and the orchards. They dynamited the wells. They destroyed even the mosques. The one in Galabanan survived only because the Taliban used it as a base.
In December of 2001, the valley was empty. Today there are people everywhere, living and farming among the ruins. Thousands of refugees have been returning from camps in Pakistan and Iran, Kabul and Panjshir. Boys herd sheep and whip donkeys laden with stones. Men crouch in the dirt along the main road, shoving fistfuls of mud into wooden molds to make bricks. Signs posted by NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) everywhere announce reconstruction projects. Most of the vines have been replanted, the wells restored. Unplaned logs poke from the ruins like primitive antennae. Every day new walls climb higher, homes are slowly pieced together.
An older man squatting beside Sandar Agha tells a story. Ten days ago one man returned from Pakistan. He had buried all his valuables before he left. He returned and saw the destruction, the ruins of his house burying the goods that he had buried. He just died. His heart was broken.
We talk about the difficulties of surviving here now, about the continuing drought, about how rich this land once was. Sandar Agha points to a tree stump to signify all that has been lost. I ask him if he thinks hell ever be able to rebuild completely, to live as he once did.
If the government is active, and the angels too, we will, he says, and smiles.
If the Shamali Plain is the most dramatic example of the progress of reconstruction in Afghanistan (and an unstable one at that, still entirely dependent on the whims of angels and international donors), it is far from representative. The roads in Shamali are safe, the villages close to the capital, easily accessible to the dozens of foreign NGOs based there. More remote areas are not nearly so blessed, particularly in the south and east, where almost daily fighting between government and coalition forces and neo-Taliban militias, as well as not-infrequent shootings of foreign aid workers, has meant that aid groups have had to scale back if not abandon their work altogether. U.N. employees are now forbidden from traveling in much of the southeast.
On the record at least, American and Afghan officials alike do their best to minimize the importance of the violence, characterizing the anti-government forces as ragtag extremists capable only of making clumsy and desperate attacks before scurrying across the border to Pakistan. Recent battles involving as many as 1,000 organized opposition troops have made this image more difficult to sustain, and it remains an open secret that much of the southeast has effectively returned to Taliban control.
Beneath the fluorescent lights of the press room at the sprawling U.S. military base at Bagram, behind multiple layers of sandbagged and razor-wired machine gun emplacements, Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Lefforge explains American military strategy in southern Afghanistan. Hes a tall, pale man with cold, still eyes, dressed in desert camouflage fatigues, a black nylon holster strapped to his chest. To find and identify the enemy, Lefforge says, coalition troops employ what he calls a defensive offense, which amounts, according to his description at least, to patrolling the countryside and waiting for someone to shoot at them. If you point a weapon at me, you are the enemy. Youre a bad guy. I will shoot you, and I will kill you.
After a brief, unproductive digression into the treatment of Afghans detained by the U.S. military (I will not handle any questions pertaining to guests under control), Lefforge gets back on point: Our particular mission right now is to assist with the reconstruction, he says. Our primary goal is to go out and establish a relationship between the people and the government of Afghanistan, and we will do that either through nonlethal civil affairs operations, or through lethal methods.
I ask him whether continuing U.S. cooperation with local militias loyal to commanders at odds with the central government doesnt hurt the reconstruction effort. Not my area, he says. Lefforge dismisses neo-Taliban offensives as an act of desperation . . . Theyre like cockroaches. You turn the light on and cockroaches scatter. But were taking them out one by one. Were patient.
In the weeks after Lefforge and I speak, more than 300 people will be killed in fighting around Afghanistan. Police stations will be attacked by anti-government forces both in central Logar province (a few hours from Kabul and quite far from the Pakistani border) and in Paktika in the southeast the latter by an organized group of 400 pro-Taliban fighters. In a single day, more than 60 people will be killed in separate incidents around the country some by a car bomb, some by a bomb in a bus, some in factional fighting between regional militias, others in a skirmish between the Taliban and the Afghan army. Later, a full-scale battle involving repeated U.S. air assaults on as many as 1,000 insurgents will rage for over a week in the southeastern province of Zabul.
When I talk to Lefforge in August, he tells me the total number of American soldiers killed in Afghanistan since hostilities began in October 2001 is 30. (Well over 100 soldiers in the recently formed Afghan National Army have also been killed.) Since then, that number has gone up to 35.
Most days the power goes down for at least an hour or two, but one evening it stays off for four hours, and more unusual than that, I learn why. I am lodging with an Afghan family, sitting on the patio at dusk talking with the father when the eldest son comes home. He has been stuck in traffic, he tells us, because there was an accident near the citys power station between two pickup trucks: one truck of policemen, ostensibly loyal to President Hamid Karzai, and another filled with gunmen loyal to Marshall Muhammad Qasim Fahim, the defense minister. Men in both trucks carried Kalashnikovs. The accident quickly became a gunfight. Two men were injured, and a stray bullet took out a crucial transformer at the power station. Thus the lights went out in Kabul.
The office of Said Tayab Jawad, President Hamid Karzais chief of staff, is far from the smoke and bustle of downtown Kabul. The only noise is the hum of an air conditioner struggling to fight the heat of the sun pouring in through a high, semicircular wall of windows (Semi-oval, Jawad jokes, not yet oval office) that look out on the rose gardens just outside the presidential palace, idyllic except for the M-16-toting Americans in civilian clothes patrolling the palace grounds. There are inlaid marble floors, a slightly dusty chandelier, framed photos of the president, of Massoud, and of former king Zahir Shah. On the mantle sits a bronze reproduction of a Frederic Remington sculpture labeled Bronco Buster. From a cement post not far from here, it is hard to forget, the Taliban hung the castrated, mutilated corpse of Dr. Najibullah, Afghanistans president until 1992.
Jawad, a 40ish man in a tailored Western suit, spent 20 years in the U.S., most of them as a lawyer in San Francisco. His answers to my questions are polite, circuitous and strategically vague. We discuss the challenges of governing in the absence of trained officials, the difficulties of gathering tax revenue from recalcitrant warlords who govern large parts of the country, continuing difficulties with corruption We are not actually operating at an optimal level and the need for greater foreign assistance. We underestimated the need of the Afghan people, says Jawad, who adds that estimates have risen from an initial $5 billion to between $20 and $30 billion, because even the capacity to estimate how much was needed was not there. He speaks of the importance of expanding ISAF to areas beyond Kabul, and, in the most cautious of terms, the danger posed to the constitutional process by powerful fundamentalists: In the past this has been the case with Afghanistan, where the truly pure and loving feeling of Afghans for Islam have been misdirected for political gain.
Notwithstanding his professional if not quite believable optimism on some issues, such as defense ministry reforms aimed at wresting military control from Fahim and his followers from the northern Panjshir Valley, and the central governments struggles with regional warlords Its a different day in Afghanistan: Now guns and violence do not bring power Jawads overall message is one of thinly concealed desperation. The theme he comes back to again and again is the enormous need for national institutions, without which the government cannot govern. Implicitly, Jawad is admitting Karzais powerlessness over the country he is charged with leading.
He ends the interview with a plea, and a warning: The legacy of the war against terrorism depends on what becomes of Afghanistan. Its important to stabilize Afghanistan and its important to do it fast. The impact of a failure in Afghanistan is just too big this time. It will not be limited to Afghanistan. This has the rehearsed and slightly tired feel of something hes said many times before, to many American ears.
Above Mohammed Fahim Dashtys desk hangs a huge oil painting of Ahmed Shah Massoud looking a bit like a Taxi Driverera De Niro in a felt pakul cap. Images of the same gauntly handsome face are everywhere in Kabul: on a giant billboard towering over the hills on the northern edge of town, on the wall of the soccer stadium where the Taliban once conducted weekly executions, on fliers pasted all over the city bearing these words in English: The Great Massoud Your Way Move Forward. It can be hard to understand exactly which hopes the continuation of his way are meant to kindle. Massoud was not an ideologue, and not a visionary, but a warrior the Lion of the Panjshir who fought first the Soviets, then rival mujahedeen, and finally the Taliban over nearly three decades without surrender or compromise.
Dashty, now the editor of Kabul Weekly, which he proudly announces is the only independent newspaper in Afghanistan, first met Massoud when still a boy. He was in the same room with him on September 9, 2001, shooting propaganda films for the Northern Alliance, when assassins masquerading as journalists detonated the explosives they had disguised as Betacam battery packs. Massoud was killed in the explosion. Dashty was severely burned. One of his light brown eyes is still cloudy. His long fingers, stained by fire, are so thin they seem to be perpetually shaking. He speaks very slowly and carefully, pausing for a good five seconds before answering any question. He has great poise, but exudes also a sense of constant distraction, of real torment stamping every thought and movement.
Of Massoud, Dashty says simply, He was a great man. He was Afghanistans last chance, Dashty believes, of uniting as a nation above ethnic and regional differences, and would never have allowed the humiliation of an American occupation. Shortly before his death, Dashty says, Massoud told a visiting State Department official that so long as a piece of Afghanistan remained to him the size of his hat, he would defend it to his death. This, Dashty hints conspiratorially, is why he was killed.
Only once over the course of a two-hour conversation does Dashtys composure lapse. It is lunchtime, and weve been talking for 45 minutes. I ask him if he is hungry. Dashty slaps the desk with his open palm. Yes! he says. Of course I am angry!
I ask him if he has any hope that, in the absence of a single unifying leader like Massoud, Afghanistan will be able to cobble together some lasting peace. He pauses for longer than usual before answering, his eyes on his tightly clasped fingers.
No, he says softly.
Over green tea and caramel candies in his office across the street from the main CARE compound in Kabul, before settling in to the stories of the years he spent in prison under the Soviets and his years in exile in Pakistan, of the difficulties he faced working for a foreign NGO under the Taliban, and in the chaos that immediately followed their fall, Dad Mohammad Baheer tells me that his house was robbed two days after we last met. He woke in the night and found the locks forced open, his familys jewelry and $5,000 in cash stolen. (There are no banks in Afghanistan; anyone who has any money keeps it in cash.) Even the carpets were gone. He considers himself lucky not to have woken while the thieves were still there. He did not report the crime. The police are one with the thieves, he says. It would be fruitless.
A tall man who prefers Western slacks and collared shirts to the more common Afghan garb of baggy pants and knee-length tunics, Baheer manages Kabuls water system for CARE. A week earlier, while driving from water pump to water pump through the ash-colored rubble of south and west Kabul, in accented but grammatically perfect English, he tells me tales of neighbors homes robbed by soldiers and police, who often enter on the pretext of searching for al Qaeda, then take all they can carry.
Not everyone, it seems, shares Fahim Dashtys devotion to the spirit of Massoud, whose forces occupied Kabul for four years in the early 90s and, while battling the Pashtun fundamentalist (once funded by, now hunted by the CIA) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other former mujahedeen leaders, took part in the destruction of the city. His soldiers did what occupying armies do; they killed and looted. The fact that Massouds photos are glued to the windows of nearly every shopfront in town does not mean that his followers are any more welcome now, only that the Panjshiris are once again the ones with the guns, and few Kabulis dare tear the photos down.
Resentment, though, runs high. Kabulis grumble that jobs, houses, wealth all the spoils of war go to former Northern Alliance commanders, most of them Panjshiris; that Kabulis, and especially Pashtuns, regardless of merit and qualifications, are excluded from circles of power, and routinely preyed upon by Panjshiri soldiers and police.
Meanwhile, Baheer tells me, only 22 percent of Kabuls population enjoys running water. In some areas as many as 1,000 families rely on a single hand-pumped spout. In the hills, Baheer says, There is no anything. There is no water source, and CARE has to run water up in tanker trucks. Its a sign of the governments impotence that the system must be managed by an NGO Baheer estimates that it will be at least three years before the government is able to take over. At the moment, the city cant even provide electricity to run the pumps, which for now run on generators that burn through 1,100 liters of diesel a day.
Baheer recalls the difficulties of rebuilding the water system some wells were blocked not only with dirt and rock, but even the bodies of the dead. He talks about the night a fragment of an American rocket destroyed his kitchen. No one in his family was hurt, and Baheer brushes off the damage to his home (It was not a modern kitchen), but the rocket destroyed his neighbors house, killing two people, a bride and groom. This was the first night of their wedding party. And he talks about his current anxiety. The water system is funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development that expires at the end of September. USAID has said it will not be renewed. There will be no water, Baheer says. There will be no alternative.
Late one dusty afternoon, I stroll with Babrak, my driver, through the shambles of the Kabul Zoo, past the squalid cages of pigs, vultures and undernourished wolves, through the rubble of what was once the aviary, now stinking of human shit. We pause in front of two lions dozing in the sun. A white check mark has been painted on the high back wall of their cage to indicate that it has been successfully cleared of mines. Babrak tells me how grand the zoo once was. He points to an enclosure containing four small deer. Dozens once ran through the zoo, he says, but soldiers ate the rest.
Were ready to leave when, a few yards from the artillery-battered main building and the tiny cages labeled MUNKY, in which depressed-looking apes nibble at the trash littering their floors, an argument breaks out between a skinny policeman in an ill-fitting uniform, unarmed as most Kabul policemen are, and a man on a bicycle with the distinctly Asian features of the Hazara ethnic minority (who are highly discriminated against in Kabul during the factional fighting of the 90s, Hazaras suffered massacres at the hands of both Tajiks and Pashtuns, and authored some of their own). Their voices rise and they shove each other, but the men praying on a patch of grass a few feet away take no notice, even when the policeman whips the Hazara across the face with a switch. They leap at each other, but are separated by two men standing by. They walk out through the gates, and the fight continues in the street. Babrak and I follow. He explains in broken English that the Hazara had caught the policeman breaking into the peacock cage and had exposed him trying to steal a peacock to sell in the market.
In the street another policeman joins in. They push the Hazara to the ground and begin kicking him. A crowd gathers, and passersby help the Hazara to his feet. The policemen walk off, and the Hazara stubbornly rides off after them. They kick him off his bike, but the crowd intercedes before they can lay into him again. More people gather, and more policemen, at least one of them carrying a Kalashnikov. Things have a way of blowing up quickly, and it looks like it may get very ugly very fast until Babrak pushes his way into the crowd and up to the largest policeman, the only one with stripes on his shoulders. He points to me, explaining that I am an important American journalist, and that this looks very bad. The officer smiles broadly and shakes my hand, then leads the rest of the cops off. The Hazara rides away unharmed.
Babrak and I wander back into the zoo. We watch the peacocks peck at the dust in their cage. Another policeman walks by, no older than 17, laughing with a friend, fanning himself with a single green, gold and violet feather.
A large man with a Kalashnikov sits on the landing outside Sima Samars office. The security seems light given the nature of Samars work. She is the head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. Once the minister of womens affairs and one of Afghanistans vice presidents (another is Marshall Fahim; a third, Hajji Abdul Qadir, was assassinated last July), Samar was asked to step down because her outspokenness riled the fundamentalists former mujahedeen like Fahim, the Pashtun Islamist Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, and Bernahuddin Rabbani, the president of Afghanistan in the years that Massouds troops held Kabul who control many of the important posts in the transitional government, and most of the gunmen around Kabul.
The leading fundamentalist party newspaper once labeled Samar the Salman Rushdie of Afghanistan. It got very serious, she says, though theres humor in her green eyes when she says it. They wanted to kill me. ISAF interfered and I had Turkish soldiers around me for three weeks.
She is not making the fundamentalists any happier in her current job advocating for the rights of women, struggling to bring past atrocities to light, pressuring the government to intervene to fight abuses by gunmen loyal to the fundamentalists. Karzai, she says, is committed to human rights, but We dont have law and order yet. Even in Kabul with the ISAF, there are a lot of atrocities. Many of them were enumerated in a July Human Rights Watch report: robberies, extortion, murders and false arrests, threats and assaults on journalists and independent politicians. She took much of the heat for that report, though she had nothing to do with its preparation.
It is much worse than the report they wrote, Samar says, and though she is quite willing to go into detail about how, I will not do so here. She stops herself at one point. Dont write all these things, she laughs. They will kill me.
Sitting on a dusty plastic picnic bench in the meager shade offered by one of the few trees on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul, Jim Kunder, the acting head of USAID in Afghanistan, assures me that the reconstruction effort is working, bottom line. Just behind us is a razor-wired wall; a hundred yards or so to our right and left, sandbagged machine gun nests. Embassy staff live behind these walls in converted shipping containers and are rarely allowed out of the compound. (In early September, the government imposed a mission-essential-only travel restriction on embassy employees.)
Kunder is a jocular and intense white-haired man with something of the manner of the president of a Southern Baptist university. More than once he begins a sentence by assuring me he doesnt mean to slap a smiley face on the situation, and goes on to explain that the reconstruction is, given the circumstances, going well. The U.S. has spent about $600 million so far (though about one-fifth of that went to emergency assistance like distributing food and blankets, not to reconstruction), and Bush has pledged another billion dollars in aid (about the amount we spend each week in Iraq), though a good portion of that will be spent on the military, not on reconstruction.
The U.S. has delivered only a small fraction of the amount the Afghan government says it needs to have a chance at stability, and it doesnt even come close to approaching the World Banks more modest estimate ($10 billion to $15 billion over five years), but Kunder assures me that there is only so much foreign aid that the institutions of this country will absorb on a sustainable basis. It is not an excuse, it is a fact of life in this environment to know that there is only so much aid you can dump in without distorting the economy or spurring corruption.
This is likely true, but Afghans would insist that it is precisely why they need more resources to help create functioning institutions. That said, the U.S. is doing a lot in Afghanistan. The administration has pumped millions of dollars into rebuilding the countrys ring-road system. USAID is building 1,000 elementary schools around the country and 550 rural health clinics, and plans to spend over $100 million on an agricultural reconstruction project. The problem is, almost everyone outside the embassy walls will agree, its not nearly enough.
Kunder insists that though Afghanistan has dropped out of the headlines, the administrations commitment has never waned: Behind the scenes, people have been working very hard. Progress has been steady, effort has been sustained, resources have been forthcoming. I dont remind him that, though the Bush administration authorized over $3 billion in aid to Afghanistan for 2003, when Bush got around to submitting his budget to Congress, he requested exactly zero dollars. Congress ultimately approved about $350 million, which would have been all Afghanistan received if Bush hadnt promised another billion, which, though Kunder denies it, he presumably did because, given our entanglement in Iraq, he couldnt afford further embarrassment in Afghanistan.
Before I leave Kunder, I ask him if USAID really plans to let CAREs funding for Kabuls water project expire. Bitter experience with past legal trouble, he tells me, has taught him not to talk to the media about grant contracts. Two days before it was set to expire, after months of lobbying by CARE, USAID agreed to renew the projects funding.
The road leading southeast from Kabul looks fairly unremarkable an unpainted ribbon of asphalt no wider than an L.A. side street. A few miles southeast of here it gives way to a rutted dirt track that leads all the way to Kandahar, about 300 miles away. Here, the highway sits at the base of a wide, flat valley, surrounded on all sides by craggy mountains the same color as the crumbling mud ruins that line the road, so heavily bombed that they more resemble geologic formations than any structures conceived by humans. Alongside the highway are all the usual features of the central Afghan landscape: hillside cemeteries bristling with the green flags that mark the graves of martyrs, the occasional herd of camels or rusted Russian tank, the low-slung tents of Kuchi nomads, rocks painted red to warn of minefields. Electric poles stretch along the valley floor, but no wires hang between them.
Today, though, this narrow stretch of tar and stone will be the excuse for a grand and intricately staged performance: The president is coming.
Standing in a small paved enclosure with 18 journalists and a guard of half a dozen Afghans armed with M-16s, Roy Glover, a plump, friendly public affairs officer from the American Embassy, explains why were all here. Bush promised Karzai that the Kandahar leg of the ring road would be paved by the end of the year; USAID is now devoting about 30 percent of its budget to getting the job done. This is just to show that there has been progress on the road, Glover says. Theres an impression in the international media that nothing is happening here.
Several hundred Afghan police officers with Kalashnikovs fan out into the hills. Some line the road, others disappear behind rocks and clumps of trees. Another couple dozen Afghans better fed and much better equipped than the policemen loiter nearby. About 100 flak-jacketed Americans with assault rifles are scattered about as well, a combination of Special Forces, the State Departments elite security unit, and Karzais personal bodyguards private sector mercenaries contracted by the State Department to protect the president.
After a two-hour wait, a helicopter appears from behind the mountains, a Black Hawk. It circles the valley twice before five more helicopters appear behind it. In each one, a gunner leans out the open door. All of them land but the Black Hawk, which flies low and menacing around the perimeter of the valley. If this is a show of progress, it is also a show of something else.
The journalists are bused a couple miles down the road to the work site, where a dump truck filled with asphalt, a couple steamrollers and a few laborers in orange vests await. Karzai follows in a convoy of Land Cruisers, two of them with Americans on their roofs clutching heavy machine guns. Police armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades line the road. The tar is still wet, and sticks to the journalists shoes.
Jim Kunder, beaming, is never far from the presidents side as an engineer gives Karzai a tour of the site. The president takes a few hurried questions from the eagerly huddled press, most of them in Dari, all of them apparently innocuous. Were herded back onto the bus, herded off again, and a grinning Karzai answers another minutes worth of questions (I was very happy to see the road. I was very satisfied . . . ) before hustling back into his helicopter and flying off.
In the presidents absence, Kunder and the engineers stage an impromptu press conference. Kunder sunnily explains that though only about 7 percent of the road has been paved, most of its length has been graded and de-mined. Thanks to the heightened police presence, there havent been any recent security incidents. (Road construction was halted for weeks earlier this year after a mine-clearance crew was attacked: One man was killed and eight injured. Since the Karzai photo op, 12 more people, including road crew workers, police and soldiers, have been killed on the road.)
After four or five questions, Roy Glover interrupts, his voice amiable but urgent: The security detail has to leave now, so if we dont leave, we dont have security. I recommend we leave now. And we do.
It must be the shiniest room in Afghanistan a beauty school concealed behind the well-guarded gates of the Ministry of Womens Affairs, like a scale model of a Western salon, complete with lighted mirrors, swiveling chairs, shampoo sinks, gleaming countertops, shelves lined with sleek, multicolored plastic bottles of hair spray, gel and something called Vavoom Beam Shine Gloss. The school Beauty Without Borders, it seems to be called is the result of a collaboration between an aged American expat and a stylist from New York. Vogue provided start-up money; a handful of big cosmetics companies were happy to pitch in.
This afternoon, the opening ceremony takes place in the garden outside the ministry. Rows of white folding chairs stretch between the rosebushes. Bottles of Pepsi and plastic cups rest on a table set for the reception, but the wind keeps nearly blowing off the paper tablecloth. A couple of camera crews linger, a handful of print journalists, and no less than six men with Kalashnikovs. The first class of students is here, well-coiffed women wearing gold bracelets and glossy violet lipstick, glowing with pride beneath silk headscarves. A relative of the king who spent the bad years in California and is rumored to have his eye on the presidency shakes hands all around and grins from ear to ear. Habiba Sorabi, the new minister of womens affairs (who has been decidedly less confrontational than Sima Samar), attentively smiles and nods. The American organizers ask the students to each plant a geranium in honor of the schools corporate sponsors. Minister Sorabi kneels in the flower bed and plants one too. The organizers present her with a gift bag brimming with products donated by MAC, Paul Mitchell and Revlon.
Wed just like to thank you, says the stylist from New York, a thin and chipper blond woman of about 50, for giving us this opportunity to come here, because it helps us a lot in our lives.
The morning begins with a drive. I am alone in a car with one of CAREs drivers. Two Afghan women employed by the NGO follow in another car behind us. Theyre showing me another project, a job training and food distribution program for impoverished widows raising children on their own. We drive out to the west of the city, past the bomb-ravaged traffic circle 360 degrees of dramatically collapsed concrete buildings, some of them still functioning as government offices despite the wreckage that marks the end of the relatively intact city center and the beginning of the miles of outlying ruins. The old city wall climbs a hill to the left like a chain of broken teeth. We pass the zoo, through block after block of crumbling ruins, past bombed-out mansions and the shattered remains of a high school that once catered to Kabuls elite. Just before the old Soviet Embassy compound a half dozen boxlike apartment buildings, deprived by artillery fire of windows and outer walls we turn down a mud-brick alley, an open sewage channel running through the center of the dirt road. Behind a door in a high wall, we find a bright garden of flowers and vegetables, and just off that, a small unlit room in which about 30 women squat in a circle, taking turns stirring a beige, viscous substance with a huge wooden spoon. This is their vocational training learning to make candy to sell in the bazaars.
I ask them how their lives have changed since the Taliban left. An older woman, her face a map of creases, smiles a toothless smile. Everythings better, she says. The others chime in and nod in agreement: Theres more work, their children can go to school.
Were happy not to wear the burka, one woman adds, and they all laugh. But stacked in the back of the room are dozens of burkas, like blue ghosts, folded and inert but still somehow eerily alive.
I ask them if anything has gotten worse since the Taliban left. They all shake their heads, no. But when I ask if they are still afraid of being attacked in the streets, they all gravely nod. Pressed further, they complain about skyrocketing rents and tell a tale of a woman leaving home uncovered and having battery acid thrown in her face. Some Talibs never left, one woman says, they just shaved their beards.
Before I leave, the widows present me with a bag of their candy. One woman, blushing, asks me to take her to America, and they all begin talking at once, worry-lined mouths pulled wide into smiles. The translator cant keep up, and summarizes. They ask you to build them a factory, she says, so all of them can work.
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We drive down crowded side streets to another class in District Six, a Hazara area, through markets where plastic buckets, propane tanks and the gutted and flayed cadavers of sheep hang from the ceilings of mud-walled shops. We turn up another still narrower alleyway divided by another and still fouler-smelling sewage trench clogged with shit and crumpled plastic bags. Boney, wide-eyed children, their faces dark with dirt, press themselves against the walls to let our car squeeze past.
I am led up a steep mud staircase and into another tiny room, this one filled with rows of women sitting before hand-cranked sewing machines. They are learning to make tote bags, flimsy nylon things with knockoff Reebok and Nike labels. Its a class in sweatshop labor. The women stare up at me, nothing on their faces but blankness and fatigue.
The womens teacher, a thin, jumpy man, asks if I have any questions. All the questions I prepared, that I asked the other women earlier in the day, suddenly seem indecent, stupid, cruel. I shake my head, do my best to smile.
A woman sitting at the front of the room with a wide, heavy face and angry eyes, raises her hand and speaks. I have a question for you, she says. My husband is dead. I have small children. We are very poor. Our life is very hard. What should we do?


text:
Previous Lecture
Complete and continue
Beginner's Guide to Self-Publishing
Course Overview—Start here
Welcome! Get the MOST Out of This Course (1:31)
Getting Up to Speed on the Process
Getting Up to Speed—Section Overview (3:05)
Identifying and Connecting With Your Ideal Reader (12:06)
Scouting Out Your Competition (13:25)
Copyright—What is it and how can I file? (21:18)
Recommended Tools (14:04)
True Costs of Self-Publishing (15:47)
When to Hire Help (15:41)
ISBNs and Barcodes (16:57)
E-books Overview (1:48)
E-Book Cover Design Tips (12:31)
Intro to Kindle Direct Publishing and Other E-book Formats (13:30)
Scrivener Walkthrough—E-book Creation (16:36)
Reedsy Walkthrough—E-book Creation (10:37)
Exploring Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) (5:02)
Upload Your E-books to Kobo (5:30)
Paperbacks Overview (1:54)
Intro to Print-On-Demand Publishing (10:22)
Interior Layout and Formatting (25:54)
Setting a Smart Retail Price (For Your Book) (11:00)
Cover Blurbs—Reader Testimonials (10:28)
Creating a FREE 3-D Mockup of Your Book Cover Using Pixlr and Canva (8:56)
Launch it, Baby!
Ready to Launch? Overview (1:27)
Reward Your Readers with Juicy Pre-orders (15:07)
Getting into Bookstores (9:06)
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Carmichael Lynch, the ad agency behind Harley-Davidson's "Screw it, Let's Ride" campaign, has just announced that it will be parting ways with the Milwaukee motorcycle manufacturer. In a pair of "it's not you, it's me" press releases, the two companies, which have partnered together for the past 31 years, cite different reasons for their mutual departures.
Harley-Davidson CMO Mark-Hans Richer said in the company's statement that, "our strategies have been moving away from a singular consumer target and a one-size-fits-all agency solution. Rather than accept this new reality, Carmichael Lynch chose a different path and we respect that." Meanwhile according to Advertising Age, President of Carmichael Lynch Doug Spong said that, "Our agency leadership came to the consensus that we've taken the Harley-Davidson brand as far as we can. It's in our best interest to part ways."
We just think that Harley-Davidson is on Step 1 of our three part strategy on How to Save Harley-Davidson.


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would take a player like this over Iheanacho any day of the week
I imagine iheanacho would do as much damage in the championship as Abrahams
Big hypothetical here:If Lukaku moves to Chelsea, and we let Valencia go back to West Ham, and we also move on Kone and Niasse, and bring in £85m, would we be happy signing Batshuayi, Sandro, Abraham, and Iheanacho for £65m-£80m?
Yes, but i cant imagine theyd be happy with that.
I'd just like to sign someone who's name I can spell correctly to not look like a dick on here when typing it
Heard he had many sons
.............we'll just call them Batsho and Nacho for short.
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Burst Of Color
Dominick M. Dimacale 3/30/2009 6:42:12 AMLovely florals and colours here, Donald.
Dominick #1106199
Kelly S. Cavanaugh 3/30/2009 6:45:51 AMExcellent colors and detail, Donald! #7352044
Jessica Jenney 3/30/2009 6:52:02 AMGorgeous color, detail and composition, Donald! #7352071
Joze vauh 3/30/2009 7:16:09 AMNice shot.
Usman M. Bajwa 3/30/2009 7:21:02 AMBeautiful colors and light here, Donald. The flowers just pop!!
Usman. #7352175
Janet Daniel 3/30/2009 9:38:24 AMAbsolutely gorgeous floral, Donald! #7352637
Don Christiana 3/30/2009 10:32:31 AMDominick, Kelly, Jessica, Joze, Usman, and Janet, thank you all for your very gracious comments. I hope you all have a great day. #7352788
Melissa G. Meiselman 4/22/2009 3:33:27 PMCongratulations on your exquisite finalist!!! #7434031
Freddy Bland 4/22/2009 3:38:24 PMSooo beautiful! Congratulations on this well deserved finalist! #7434071
Lois Adomite 4/22/2009 3:39:27 PMSuch vivid colors, congrats on your finalist. Lois #7434080
Leslie McLain 4/22/2009 7:31:49 PMCongrats on your wonderful finalist. #7436040
Kelly S. Cavanaugh 4/22/2009 7:49:16 PMCongratulations on this beautiful finalist, Donald!!! #7436131
Don Christiana 4/23/2009 8:07:10 AMMelissa, Freddy, Lois, Leslie, and Kelly, I truly appreciate your comments. I hope you all have a wonderful day. #7439419
Debra R. Harder 4/23/2009 8:54:50 AMWOW, Donald! This is truly BEAUTIFUL! Congratulations on your outstanding finalist! Deb #7439696
Carrie M. Groseclose 4/23/2009 9:02:37 AMAbsolutely gorgeous, Donald! Congratulations on your
Jessica Jenney 4/23/2009 9:08:21 AMCongratulations, Donald on your beautiful finalist! #7439765
Leslie McLain 4/23/2009 9:28:42 AMCongrats on your wonderful finalist. #7439901
Don Christiana 4/23/2009 9:51:06 AMDebra, Carrie, Jessica, and Leslie, thank you for your gracious comments. I hope you all have a wonderful day. #7440056
Cheryl E. Molennor 4/23/2009 7:45:52 PMCongratulations on your well deserved finalist! #7442311
Don Christiana 4/24/2009 7:48:21 AMCheryl, thank you. I hope you have a great day. #7444237
Vladan D. Djordjevic 4/24/2009 7:50:00 AMCongratulations on your finalist!
Don Christiana 4/24/2009 8:01:40 AMVladan, I appreciate the comment. I hope you have a great day. #7444307
These small clover wildflowers are a nonstop surprise on where they will pop up in my garden with their colorful display. Aperture 5.6, Shutter 1/125, ISO 100. Photo taken on 3/29/09 at 11:01 AM. Cropped, sharpened, and curves applied.
Exif: F Number: 5.6, Exposure Bias Value: -0.67, ExposureTime: 10/1250 seconds, Flash: did not fire., ISO: 100, White balance: Auto white balance, FocalLength: 130.00 mm, Model: NIKON D80
Uploaded on 3/30/2009 6:39:32 AM
Camera: Nikon D80 Digital SLR Camera
Copyright for this gallery photo belongs solely to Don Christiana. Images may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Log in to follow or message this photographer or report this photo.


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Last week, President Isaias
Afeworki of
Isaac and nine other
editors of now-banned private newspapers have disappeared in government custody
since a brutal 2001crackdown on dissenting voices. Asked which crime
Isaac, the one-time co-owner of
In a 2004 interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in response to a question about the late journalist Fesshaye Yohannes, Afeworki said, "I don't know him." Yohannes died in prison.
But the president
claimed better knowledge of
What is media in Eritrea
today are government-run outlets producing propaganda under tight supervision.
Many state media journalists have fled the country citing intense censorship,
intimidation or arbitrary imprisonment, and some, like Paulos Kidane have even
died while trying. In late 2007, authorities expelled Peter
Martell, a foreign correspondent based in
For Afeworki, however, "no one is prevented from freedom of speech." Authorities even recently published an editorial on the Eritrean government's Web site called "The Culture of Openness: Unique and Fabulous Eritrean Value."
The president told his Swedish interviewer: "The fight is always between those who want to control the media and control freedom of speech for their own end and the people at large who would like to have free ways of expression."
And when asked whether Isaac would be released or taken to court, Afeworki declared: "No, we don't release him. We don't take [him] to trial. We know how to deal with him and others like him and we have our own ways of dealing with that."
You can watch the full interview here.


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3:00 pm
The Electric Company "Electric Accompany" Annie hypnotizes Keith to sing an annoying jingle. The Electric Company needs to cure Keith in time for him to perform the song he wrote for his dad's birthday. D
3:30 pm
WordGirl "The Meaty Dimension/The Case of the Copied Mrs. Botsford" THE MEATY DIMENSION - The Butcher discovers the portal where all of his meat is stored and concocts a plan to trap Huggy and WordGirl so that he can take over the city. Will WordGirl and Huggy be able to outsmart the butcher and get rid of his meat portal for good? Vocabulary Words: Portal, Overpower. THE CASE OF THE COPIED Mrs. BOTSFORD - LRW has made copies of all the important city officials and has sent them out into the city to do all of her dirty work. D
4:00 pm
Wild Kratts "Bass Class" Martin and Chris are in the middle of a friendly competition to find Small-mouth and Large-mouth Bass when they meet Wild Kratts Kid, Gavin, who is fishing. Before they can join him, Zach Varmitech arrives and challenges them to a fishing contest. The Wild Kratts team must use their knowledge of bass biology to win the tournament fair and square. D
4:30 pm
Cyberchase "The Poddleville Case" (topic: Patterns) - The diabolical Hacker wreaks havoc when he steals the power pods of Poddleville, a cybercity filled with patterns. Our heroes must use math and logic to crack the double pattern that unlocks the Poddles' cyberpower vault before Hacker and his henchmen do! The Big Idea: Patterns are sequences that repeat or change in an orderly way. You can use patterns to predict the next step in solving a problem. D
5:00 pm
Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman "When Home Is A House of Cards" Ruff sends Sammy and Sam to the MSPCA to make a promotional video. Noel and Jay meet up with a famous card stacker to build a tower of cards. D
5:30 pm
5:56 pm
NewsHour Promo NULL
6:00 pm
PBS NewsHour NULL
7:00 pm
Antiques Roadshow "Salt Lake City, UT - Part 1" At the Salt Palace Convention Center, experts evaluate a 1920s to 1930s-era folk art quilt depicting scenes from Mormon history, and materials documenting the career of actor Philip Margetts valued up to $150,000. Part 1 of 3G
8:00 pm
Market Warriors "Antiquing In Springfield, OH" The four treasure hunters are at the Springfield Extravaganza and challenged to sift through the 2,000 vendors to find the best piece of cast iron to sell at auction. Picks include a Jazzboy Jim toy, a Salvador Dali lithograph and a pair of chairs made of skis.G
9:00 pm
Globe Trekker "Globe Trekker Food Hour: Brazil" Merrilees starts her journey in the Afro-influenced coastal city of Salvador.G
10:00 pm
Mara - River of Death The river in East Africa runs through two of the continent's important nature reserves: the Masai Mara in Kenya and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The film showcases the Mara in its entire length, documenting events that unfold during the migration season.G
11:00 pm
Charlie Rose NULL


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Welcome to the Department of Physiology and Biophysics!
Welcome to the Department of Physiology and Biophysics! We are over 460 faculty, fellows, students, and staff. Building on strong traditions, we strive to be a world leader in our parallel missions of research, teaching, and service. Our founding chair John Macleod was a future Nobel Laureate, Corneille Heymans was another laureate trained in the Department, and a Lasker Award winner Carl J. Wiggers chaired the Department for a generation. Our research mission benefits from a rare combination of faculty who address important translational problems in physiology and biophysics across a broad spectrum of integration—from the level of the atomic structure of molecules, through living cells and organ systems, and up to the whole organism. The major programmatic foci of our research are cardiovascular, renal, and neuronal function in health and disease. Our educational mission includes a strong PhD-training program as well as a new Master's program in medical physiology that has attracted considerable interest. Our service mission has a strong impact at the local, national, and international levels.
- Mission: research, education, service
- Research Interest: integration of physiology and biophysics from atom to whole organism
- Former President of FASEB, Secretary General of the IUPS, Co-director of Case's MSTP
- Co-home to textbook Medical Physiology


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AVB: Bale can reach Ronaldo level
Andre Villas-Boas feels that Gareth Bale can replicate the career of Cristiano Ronaldo, and that becoming a forward like the Portuguese can accelerate that process.
• Blog: Bale saves Spurs again
Bale recently spoke of his admiration for Ronaldo, and continued his prolific scoring rate with a goal in his country's 2-1 win over Austria on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old has an average of a goal a game this season and, although that is still some way off Ronaldo's record, his club boss believes he isn't far away.
"Both of them are extremely technical players and extremely powerful and pacy," Villas-Boas said. "Obviously it is funny to see how in some ways both players compared growing up as a striker and move to wingers.
"Gareth started at left-back and moved to a winger position, now going to a more advanced role, and Ronaldo also able to play that rule up front.
"Obviously Ronaldo is now 28, has gone and achieved so much in his career. He is an example to what Gareth wants to achieve in his career too. Yes, you can see some similarities in between the positions."
Villas-Boas also admitted that Bale could again appear up front this weekend against Newcastle in the absence of Jermain Defoe - but may well benefit from having someone like Clint Dempsey or Emmanuel Adebayor alongside him.
"I think when we played him in preseason up front we played him alone. I think playing up front with somebody else can help his game too in terms of space that the other can create and then link up play.
"I think Gareth is such a phenomenal player that he is able to do that kind of role. He has been scoring a crazy amount of goals coming in from the right wing or through the middle, rather than from the left or assisting from the left, so it means a player can explore his full potential through the middle.
"After the Norwich game [which Spurs drew 1-1 thanks to a Bale goal], our test came from the change at half-time where we played him from the left and then put him up front with Defoe. After that, we decided to try it in the game against West Brom and it worked fine.
"I think the most important thing is to get the players feeling well about what they do for the team. And I think Gareth feels well in that position. If he's able to fulfil his full potential it's something we have to consider for the future. We know that he has grown out on the left. On the left he becomes a different type of player. I'm not sure if it limits his full potential.
"In the way we play we give him the freedom to change positions anyway. It's something that at least is having a positive impact on him."
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Brand Label: Roja Parfums
ITEM MOVED TO ARCHIVE: On January 30, 2018 11:06 am, Fashion Stylist Online noted this item may be out of stock at Bergdorf Goodman because it was not referenced in their latest online catalog. If this item is out of stock at Bergdorf Goodman, you may be able to find similar fashions sold there or elsewhere on our Roja Parfums Designer Brand Directory.
Available for Purchase Online at Bergdorf Goodman for $485.00Pin It
Top: Lime, Bergamot, Lemon Heart: Rose, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Fig Base: Saffron, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Birch, Sandalwood, Aoud Wood, Oakmoss, Orris, Civet, Musk, Ambergris.
Shop other brand label items from Roja Parfums on FashionStylist.com.
This item was published for sale online by Bergdorf Goodman on January 30, 2018 10:54 am and last updated by us January 30, 2018 11:06 am.
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text:
Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Bye Peep, hope you have a great "off-season!" Hey Ugot and TL, here we go.....
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The Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City wants its female cocktail waitresses to be thin and attractive. And it turns out, that's perfectly legal.
Continue Reading Below
Twenty two former "Borgata Babes" filed a lawsuit saying were discriminated against and treated as "sex objects" under the resort's periodic weigh-ins and rule not to gain more than 7% of their body fat. Last week, Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson ruled the weight limits were reasonable.
In his ruling, Johnson said the waitresses signed a contract agreeing to the weigh policy and that they knew what they were getting into when applying for these jobs. The positions were described as "part fashion model, part beverage server, part charming host and hostess. All impossibly lovely."
Weight Protections State by State
The Borgata Babes don't have bargaining power in this lawsuit because weight is not a protected class in the New Jersey, according Brian Koncius, Bogas, Koncius & Croson P.C., adding that Michigan is the only state in the country with such a policy.
"These waitresses looked at the contract and agreed to it before signing anything. It's kind of difficult when you are in a time where so many people need jobs, and you are contracted to be a 'babe' and you can't get out from underneath that."
Michigan's protections stem from a Hooter's discrimination lawsuit from 2010, explains Koncius, that put a server on probation for gaining weight. The suit challenged the 1976 Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which includes height and weight discrimination.
"The Hooter's case is one of those instances where you see the weight discrimination, it's right out there—it's very sad and hard for people, because it can be devastating," Koncius says.
Gender and Disability Discrimination in Play?
Diane Pfadenhauer, president of Employment Practices Advisors, says the Borgata decision is twofold since its hits on both disability and gender discrimination issues.
"The disability issue is refusing to hire someone who is overweight with the idea that they are disabled—that they may have some disease or a health-insurance risk," Pfadenhauer says. "Most states cover disability discrimination laws. "
And gender discrimination has long been protected, says Pfadenhauer.
"The roadsides are littered with Hooter's cases, and airline [weigh-in] cases dating back into the 1960s. They required hires to be good-looking and thin," she says. "The problem is that those decisions are based on gender."
The judge's ruling in this particular case was that these women technically signed in agreement to be discriminated against in more ways than one, so they had no grounds to sue, she says.
More Weight Discrimination to Come?
The scope of this ruling is narrow, says Pfadenhauer, and any broad interpretations would be misguided and likely shut down in courts.
"A person who would take this case as 'Now I can discriminate against fat people,' would probably be crossing the line into disability discrimination," she says.
Koncius feels differently and says more employers may take the liberty to bolster their own discrimination or motives with this Borgata decision.
"The judge is giving employers a pretty wide berth, frankly, to discriminate against employees and fall back on this ruling," he says. "They can say 'these employees agreed to be discriminated against,' and I think that is flat out wrong."


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June 30, 1997
June 10, 1997
- Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Notices [OSERS] (66K)
June 3, 1997
May 22, 1997
May 16, 1997
May 9, 1997
May 6, 1997
- Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities National Programs--Grants to Institutions of Higher Education (Validation Competition) [OESE]
April 11, 1997
- Research in Education of Individuals With Disabilities Program: Notice of Final Priority and Notice Inviting Application for New Awards for FY [OSERS]
- Educational Research and Development Centers Program: Notice of final priority for fiscal year (FY) 1997 [OERI]
Final Regulations, Priorities, and Other Rules from:1997: January - March;
1996: January - March; April - June; July - September;
October - December.
1995: October - December.
Last Modified: 07/11/2006


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I've never been into Halloween, but my kids are a different story. They start planning their costumes around Memorial Day and if they haven't settled on something by the 4th of July they really start to feel the crunch.
Last year as the Halloween season descended upon me I discovered to my horror the fatal error I made the year before. Grace had been in her American Girl phase (the series of books that go with the dolls that go with the clothes that go with the cars and vacation packages and summer homes) so I'd made her a Felicity dress, a colonial dress complete with lace trimmed sleeves and bodice. That set the standard by which all other costumes were to be measured, I had been to the summit and had nowhere left to go. Grace now wanted something better, a medieval princess, and would accept nothing less. I couldn't believe my foolishness, a mistake of a novice. Andrew was no help, he just wanted to know why she wanted to be an "evil princesss."
As soon as Spencer heard Grace wanted to be a princess he chose to be Spiderman. This had been a source of competition between them as Grace was constantly trying to lure him into playing princess of which he wanted no part. I came downstairs one day to hear her sweetly asking him while they were coloring "What is Spiderman looking for in a wife?"
One year Spencer chose Luke Skywalker as his costume inspiration. He had received a light saber for his birthday which he wore at all times (lucky those things are water proof). If the subject of Jedi weaponry came up he was ready in an instant to discourse on the history and theory behind each light saber ever seen on film. His was blue, so he would recite every screen appearance of blue light sabers, illlustrating the versatility of his own.
"Mine's blue, that means it can be Obi Wan's light saber, or Luke Skywalker's light saber, but only his light saber in Star Wars #4, not #5, because he uses a red one then . . ." Don't quote me as a solid source on this, as I'm making this up, but Spencer knows. He knows.
Last year David was Spiderman and had a little Spiderman outfit he wore 24/7: the library, Fred Meyer, Walmart, everywhere but church (I put my foot down on that one). I didn't see a problem with this, no moral issue was involved--maybe if he'd wanted to be the Green Goblin or something on the other side of the law, I might have objected. I just assumed it was a good security measure, who would snatch a kid in a Spiderman outfit? They'd just be asking for trouble. So I told him to "wear it in good health my son," and figured it would give me something to hold over his head when he was older.
But this spring David played the lead role in his kindergarten play "Bugz." The smash hit (ha) about a stink bug that no one wanted at their picnic which drew rave reviews--Andrew asked David at the cast party what his motivation had been but David was just confused. Anyway, they don't call the cost-umes for nothing, I paid enough for those googly eyes, six legs, antennae and leathery wings that I assured him that come October he'd be trick or treating as a stink bug.
He looked so darn adorable in the whole thing but by June he was so thoroughly sick of the outfit that I had to pay him a dime to put it on for family or friends. By October it was up to a quarter and he was quite put out when his buddy Marc got to be Zorro while he had to endure the ladies cooing over how cute he looked.
But like it or not I suited them up and let them loose on the neighborhood (which in Alaska means full winter gear with costumes over the top, making David look especially cute with his puffy arms and legs) to go trick or treating door to door. They returned from the hunt raving about the spoils and so hopped up on candy that I had to peel them off the ceiling. After the obligatory Counting of the Candy I finally got them brushed and into bed and Grace's last words before drifting off were, "Mom, you know what I'm going to dress as next year?"
Technorati tags: Halloween, costumes, children, trick or treat
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Halloween Horror
I've never been into Halloween, but my kids are a different story. They start planning their costumes around Memorial Day and if they haven't settled on something by the 4th of July they really start to feel the crunch.
Email this post Labels: family life
9 comments:
- Carmen said...
i had an entire conversation with a 3 year old about the different color light sabers and whose was what. the sad thing is that i kept the conversation going. sigh
- Haley-O said...
All my friends are buying little costumes for their toddlers....I'm skipping it this year --because look at all the fun I have ahead of me. :) Love the pic!! :)
- Michael - Lover of Amy said...
We are considering a cotume for our Basset Hound. New to blogging, my wife makes me do a TT. :)
- Leslie said...
LOL! My Spenser knows all about the colors of the light sabers too! He was Darth Vader this year-- Clone Trooper last year, Obiwan the year before.
- Susan (5 Minutes For Mom) said...
Isn't it funny how Halloween is such an enormous deal in the life of a child.
- Christine said...
We had full winter garb under our costumes here in Iowa too. The kids were so bundled up they could barely bend their arms. But they were warm.
- Angie said...
I am trying to find a stink bug costume for my cousin who is in play. Any suggestions on how to get this costume constructed? Or would you be willing to sell the one you made?
- scribbit said...
Angie, email me and get in touch and I can arrange something. I kind of forgot your request in the hassle of the week and have no link to get back to you. scribbit at gmail.com
- Andrew said...
You have an amazing blog! Hehe I wish my mom let me trick-or-treat when i was younger!


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It's official: The Neo-Classic Legion is a flop.
Hey you! Reader! Want to be a part of the GREATEST COMIC BOOK AND GEEK COMMUNITY on the web?! Well, they're not accepting new members, but we'll take anyone here, so why not sign up for a free acount? It's fast and it's easy, like your mom! Sign up today! Membership spots are limited!*
*Membership spots not really limited!
Hey you! Reader! Want to be a part of the GREATEST COMIC BOOK AND GEEK COMMUNITY on the web?! Well, they're not accepting new members, but we'll take anyone here, so why not sign up for a free acount? It's fast and it's easy, like your mom! Sign up today! Membership spots are limited!*
*Membership spots not really limited!
by Juan Cena » Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:02 pmThe latest numbers on the current Legion series. They officially are below 20,000
I think it's time for a few of the Legion fans out there to finally admit that screwing Mark Waid over and bringing in the neo-classic Legion has been a disaster. This has been one of the worst re-launches in DC history.
by ElijahSnowFan » Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:11 pmWait, what?
You can't be seriously saying that the Legion isn't selling because Mark Waid's vision didn't take with the old-schoolers?
Bottom line: Some books do better than others in relaunches/reboots. I don't pretend those numbers are pretty -- they aren't. But here's the thing: Whatever delusion you hold of going back to some era of the Legion that lasted fewer than 50 issues -- sorry, man. That ship has sailed.
DC made the right decision in restoring the original timeline. Either they'll figure out a way to get this thing fixed, or they won't. But it has nothing to do with "Neo-Classic Legion." It can EASILY, and I mean EASILY, be argued that the reason the Legion has been damaged so severely is because of what they did to the original Legion's timeline, way back when.
No version has ever sold better than this one. NONE. Is it struggling now? Sure. But, again and for emphasis: NO VERSION OF LEGION HAS EVER SOLD BETTER THAN THIS ONE.
by Zechs » Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:40 pmWhy post this when there's a thread for this already?
by Juan Cena » Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:44 pm
No, I'm saying the Legion isn't selling because DC balked when it didn't need to.
The fact it didn't last has to do with DC's mishandling it by a)Undermining it with the Lightning Saga and John's use of the "old" team in Action. b)Handing the book over to Shooter, which was a bomb.
The fact remains that DC's decision to go back to the "old" team didn't work.
I won't argue with you with how DC handles LSH after COIE. That has a lot to do with Levitz not really willing to fix continuity issues with Byrne's Supes in a logical way (like having Clark involved with the team between the time he left Smallville to his first public appearance), or Giffen and the 5YG (which reportedly led to the directive from Carlin to remove Supes from LSH continuity altogether.)
That was then, this is now. This version has failed to A) Bring back large numbers of old fans, and B) Bring in large numbers of new fans.
Comparing what the sales numbers were at the peak of the Levitz-Giffen years of 82-84 is easy. The direction the book went afterwards (both in story, art, and format) has failed.
One of the reasons I believe this current series has bombed is because of the Levitz and DC's unwillingness to make the necessary tweaks to make the title work. Instead, it's compounded continuity issues, cut the book off almost entirely from the Superman titles, and just not being up to the quality of the "classic era."
What does DC need to do now? Get Levitz off the book, get a writer with a good handle on SF to take over, and get an artist who has a style more in like with Grell or pre-vacation Giffen, and be willing to fix continuity issues or just do a "soft" reboot that retains continuity, but de-ages the team a little bit to where the old guard is in the college-age years or younger.
by Juan Cena » Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:45 pm
That thread asked a question that no longer needed to be asked.
This thread needs to be more about what to do to go forward.
by Punchy » Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:45 pmThis is like the 5th time you've declared it 'officially' a flop.
by The Old Doctor » Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:57 pm
Sorry, needed to be posted, bro.
by BubbaKanoosh » Fri Aug 03, 2012 7:46 pm
He has OCD. He has to make a thread bout the legion once a quarter.
Before he does, he washes his hands 6 times and turns tge lights on and off 12
by habitual » Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:20 pmThis takes beating a dead horse to a whole new level.
by fieldy snuts » Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:26 pmAfter all this time, people still don't give a shit about the Legion?!
/points at the avatar
by alaska1125 » Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:35 pmShould someone be concerned about the level of obsession that seems to be apparent here?
by S.F. Jude Terror » Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:38 pm
Yes. Fieldy Snuts needs to get over his avatar.
by Lord Ice » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:00 pm
It's not Liefeldian level of obsession yet.
by fieldy snuts » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:53 pm
Deal with it.
by Juan Cena » Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:53 pm
No, I think this is the first thread where I can officially say it's a flop. Sales under 20k don't lie, twig.
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How Missouri and Florida Met in the 1966 Sugar Bowl
Less than two weeks after Jim Nance endorsed New Orleans, an American Football League All-Star game was moved from the city to Houston because of discrimination charges. This civic embarrassment stemmed from black players being refused cab service and admittance to French Quarter nightclubs.
There was no problem whatsoever with the better establishments. Indeed, the New Orleans hotel, restaurant, and motion picture associations agreed to accommodate all citizens and visitors. Players were welcomed into places like Al Hirt's, where Buffalo end Ernie Warlick was introduced and applauded. It was some less-fashionable spots that were in question, a detail that steamed the ire of Orleanians. The black professionals voted 13-8 to pull out, and AFL Commissioner Joe Foss complied.
New Orleans suffered a huge black eye, one that would affect the next Sugar Bowl, and one that the northern press predictably emphasized. Only Dick Young, the respected sportswriter of the New York Daily News, peeked beyond the obvious for eastern readers. Young wrote: "…What I mean is, you don't judge an entire town by some slob cab driver because there are a lot of good cabbies, and you don't say an entire city stinks just because some guys in a lousy ginmill insult you, because there is something about a ginmill that makes it very easy to be insulted, whether you're black or white, and when that happens you either fight your way out of the joint or you find another ginmill…
"There were many fine places in New Orleans willing…Some AFL Negroes stayed away from Bourbon Street. They ate in the Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel, and in Antoine's, and in other swank, respectable places, and apparently they were well-treated…"
The walkout was to play a role in the 1966 bowls, and New Orleans was made to pay further. The rules were changed in the 1966 postseason jousting tournament. Because so many outstanding teams were still in the running, the Associated Press decided to name its national champion after the bowls so the top teams were looking for the match that would best help their chances. Alabama-Nebraska was the match-up for which both of the "open" bowls (Orange and Sugar) were angling. The Cotton Bowl, with No. 2-ranked Arkansas, had the highest-rated team either 'Bama or the Cornhuskers could play in their quests for the national championship. Razorback Coach Frank Broyles, however, wasn't interested in putting his team's long winning streak on the line against either one.
Largely due to the effect of the AFL walkout, Nebraska wasn't coming to New Orleans.
Intrigue characterized the bowl cast after it became apparent Alabama and Nebraska were to play in Miami. Southeastern Conference Commissioner Bernie Moore became the middleman in providing SEC teams for the Sugar and Cotton Bowls. Missouri, who lost a 16-14 heartbreaker to Nebraska and held only a 5-2-1 record with Oklahoma and Kansas remaining to be played, had moved into the Sugar Bowl picture.
It appeared that Kentucky would host the Sugar Bowl, and Florida was headed for the Cotton. But Kentucky had beaten Missouri and agreed to accept a Cotton Bowl bid if it defeated Houston. (It did not.) Florida, meanwhile, agreed to take the Sugar Bowl bid if it beat Tulane (which the Gators did). LSU, with a 7-3 record, eventually filled the spot for the desperate Cotton Bowl. And Florida later lost to Miami, also falling to an unexciting 7-3 record. Florida under Ray Graves, who had played for Tennessee in Boston College's monumental 1941 upset, had a spectacular passing combination in quarterback Steve Spurrier and receiver Charlie Casey. Missouri, with a horde of pro prospects, was a more conservative but very steady team offensively and defensively. But in some ways the 1966 Sugar Bowl was the lowest point of the Mid-Winter Sports Association.
Recap excerpted from the book "Sugar Bowl Classic: A History" by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.


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Justice department defies Beaumont voters' intent
The U.S. Department of Justice has denied the Beaumont Independent School District voters who elected to change the trustee make-up of the school board from seven single member districts to five single member districts with two at large representative seats (a 5/2 plan) when called to the polls in May 2011. According to the decision letter penned by Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, the reason for the DOJ decision is due to the retrogressive effect of instituting the change and in his opinion, racist motivations that potentially led to the change proposal in the first place.
"It is not likely that a black-preferred candidate would successfully be elected in an at-large contest. Based upon that analysis, I cannot conclude, as I must under Section 5, that the district has met its burden of establishing the absence of a retrogressive effect," Perez stated. "Accordingly, I must interpose an objection to the proposed change in method of election for the Beaumont Independent School District from seven single-member districts to five single- member districts with two at-large positions. Because the district has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that this proposed change will not have a retrogressive effect, we do not make any determination as to whether the district has established that the proposed change was adopted with no discriminatory purpose."
Perez further stated that since only three of the five single member districts in the 5/2 plan provided for African-American representation, BISD would need to prove that one of the at large seats would prove favorable to an African-American candidate, thereby, continuing the 4/3 board of trustees makeup to provide for a majority African-American board. Perez looked to Beaumont City Council elections for reference as to the likelihood of the citizens of Beaumont electing an African-American at large candidate.
"In the past 10 years, numerous black-preferred candidates have sought municipal office in the city. With the sole exception of one candidate, African Americans have been unable to elect candidates of choice to the city's at-large council positions," he stated, further adding that, "Our analyses showed that this candidate only received about eight percent of the non-black vote in both the 2007 and 2011 elections, placing second to last among non-black voters in 2011. And anecdotal evidence suggests that even this minimal level of crossover voting was the result of an out-of-the-ordinary public endorsement and television appearance by white voters on behalf of this candidate; other black-preferred candidates have failed to achieve more than three percent of the non-black vote in at-large city council elections."
Additionally, Perez concluded, "There is overwhelming evidence that both the campaign leading to the (May 2011 referendum) election as well as the issue itself carried racial overtones with the genesis of the change and virtually all of its support coming from white residents.
"A statistical analysis of the election confirms the extreme racial polarization that the issue created: Black voters cohesively voted to maintain the current method of election and white voters voted cohesively for the proposed change. We estimate over 90 percent of white voters, but less than 10 percent of black voters, supported the change."
Perez was also steadfast in DOJ opinion that the 5/2 plan would most likely not be able to conform to the rigors of what is required for the department's approval, and offered no preferred method of bringing the plan to adoptable status.
BISD board member Zenobia Bush said she is unsure of how the following weeks will change the DOJ ruling, and what the outcome will mean to voters and the makeup of the board. According to her, it is likely that the upcoming May 2013 election will have voters electing their representation under the current seven single-member districts plan.
"The citizens have voted one way and the Justice Department has voted another way," she said. "The 5/2 plan has been shown to be retrogressive throughout the years; elements of retrogression are built on the 5/2 plan.
"I'm not sure exactly what we'll do now that we have this ruling. This is all new for all of us, so we have to meet with our attorney to see how this will work out."


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Inside Higher Ed
The president of Bowdoin College has endorsed a faculty committee's finding that an economist engaged in misconduct in research — research that he continues to maintain the college examined only because it made Bowdoin look bad.
The complicated and contested history of Jonathan P. Goldstein's dispute with Bowdoin was examined in an article on Inside Higher Ed two weeks ago. The gist of it is that Goldstein wrote a scholarly article that, he said, showed that Bowdoin overemphasized athletics; ran afoul of the college's dean and other administrators when he sought to distribute it to parents and prospective students (interrupting college tours and intimidating a student employee, Bowdoin officials charged); and became the subject of a series of accusations and campus investigations.
Although several of the charges originally made against him — including harassment and plagiarism — did not stick, the second of two campus panels that examined the allegations against him recommended that he be censured for misconduct, on two fronts: failing to fully cite the source of data about student grades, despite having characterized the paper as "complete and fully documented," and for breaching confidentiality by publishing the data despite the original paper's warning that it was not to be replicated.
The committee also acknowledged, however, the "distinct" possibility that none of Goldstein's errors had been intentional, which the professor and his supporters at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education insist should have cleared him of any wrongdoing, per the guidelines in the Faculty Handbook. The matter was left to the college's president, Barry Mills, who sent Goldstein a six-page letter on Tuesday.
In his letter, Mills backs the committee's findings and the contested process, led by Dean Cristle Collins Judd, that resulted in those findings. "In sum, you have been found guilty of research misconduct and violation of confidentiality by a faculty committee of your peers in a process conducted in strict compliance with the Faculty Handbook," he writes. "No amount of obfuscation of the fact and misdirection of the arguments relieves you of these violations." Mills says the censure recommended by the investigative panel "should be afforded great respect because it was rendered by your faculty peers," and warns Goldstein that he is "hereby on notice that similar offenses in the future will yield more severe sanctions."
The president also chastises Goldstein for discussing details of his case with Inside Higher Ed and other publications. "The Faculty Handbook is explicit in its requirement that all parties involved in the investigation should 'strive to maintain confidentiality.' Your willful violation of this provision is regrettable and shows profound disrespect for your faculty colleagues," Mills told Goldstein. "I believe you owe them a personal apology."
That last point especially troubles Goldstein and Adam Kissel, a FIRE lawyer who has advocated for him. "I think the faculty might be surprised to learn that Bowdoin's president believes that the administration can charge a faculty member with an infraction and then ban the faculty member from discussing his or her own case," Kissel wrote on a blog post about the case' outcome. "This is an easy recipe for abuse, scaring professors who are charged with infractions into keeping quiet on penalty of further punishment. We have seen this pattern all too often. When a faculty member believes he or she has been charged unjustly, it compounds the injustice when the faculty member is banned from seeking additional help from FIRE, the American Association of University Professors, or the faculty member's professional association."
More broadly, Kissel writes, "it is important to remember that there is no way Goldstein's paper would have been investigated at all if it had not been so embarrassing to the college and had not been distributed to prospective students and their families. There is no way it would have received footnote-by-footnote scrutiny. … The result of all this investigative brouhaha is a chilling effect on faculty members who might want to publish results that are embarrassing to Bowdoin College."
View this article at Inside Higher Ed.
Attached Files
- Bowdoin punishes professor who provoked, PDF, 41.5 KB , Inside Higher Ed


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Agnes M. Higgins Flaherty
October 30, 2010
"Married at St. Augustine Church in Chilton, on Monday, May 13, 1884, Mr. James Flaherty of this city to Miss Agnes Higgins, daughter of James Higgins, Esq., of Chilton Town. After the ceremonies, the happy couple bid farewell to their relatives and numerous friends and took the train for Minneapolis, Minn., where they will begin to fight the battle of life together. This couple have been brought up in our midst and have always stood very high in society. The Times wishes them success in their new home." –The Chilton [Wisconsin] Times, May 17, 1884.
The witnesses at the wedding were Frances McGrath and Anna Flaherty, James us the son of Michael and Mary Carey Flaherty. Agnes is the daughter of James and Maria Forkin Higgins. Prior to her marriage, Agnes was a teacher in Calumet County.
2 Responses to "Agnes M. Higgins Flaherty"
November 30, 2013 at 12:51 pm
Thanks for the information–Agnes was my great grandmother.
March 17, 2014 at 4:13 am
Wow! Thanks for posting this photo. She is my great grandmother too, from her son George.


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Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra; December 12, 1915 -- May 14, 1998[6]) was an American singer and actor.
Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers". His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (for his performance in From Here to Eternity).
He signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums (such as In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records (finding success with albums such as Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Sinatra at the Sands and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and statesmen, including John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".
(extract from Wikipedia 2011)
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra; December 12, 1915 -- May 14, 1998[6]) was an American singer and actor.


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Feb. 7, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The MIT women's indoor track and field team finished sixth out of 12 teams at the Tufts University Invitational on Saturday. Christine Fanchiang claimed first in the pole vault with a height of 10'6", a six inch improvement of her previous personal best. Gwen Johnson placed fourth in the 5000, setting a new freshman record at 19:11.61, besting Alisha Schor's mark from last season by eight seconds.
Fanchiang also finished seventh in the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.36 and placed eighth in the long jump with a distance of 14'10.75". Meri Silberstein captured fifth place in the long jump (15'5") and seventh in the 55 dash (7.81). Cassandra Gibbs was the only top-ten finisher in the 200, logging a time of 28.82. In the 400, Leanne Veldhuis placed fifth (1:02.38) while Brita Mittal was ninth (1:05.79). Veldhuis also finished in 10th place in the long jump with a distance of 14'5.75".
Andrea Staid and Teagan Andres finished right behind each other in the 600, with times of 1:45.37 and 1:47.55, for eighth and ninth places, respectively. Alisa Lehman paced the Engineers in the 800, taking eighth place in 2:29.55. Caroline Gorman logged a team-best 3:17.61 in the 1000 while Betsy Eames led the way in the 3000 with a time of 11:42.82. Jennifer Gaugler joined Johnson in the top-ten of the 5000, taking eighth place in 20:22.55.
Allison Brown and Melinda Dooley brought additional success in the pole vault with fourth and ninth place finishes, respectively. In the triple jump, Didi Eze and Karen Davie took sixth and seventh on jumps of 32'9.75" and 31'11.50". Aline Thomas, Cynthia Bossard, and Kay Furman each represented MIT in the top-ten of the weight throw. Thomas captured fifth (39'3.25") while Bossard was ninth (34'8.25") and Furman was 10th (34'3.5").


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Three of the eight people who contracted invasive meningococcal disease this year have died, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which did not initially report those deaths.
All three were men who died in February and March. Two had been HIV positive, said a public-health spokesman.
The health department issued a new vaccine recommendation Wednesday for men who have sex with men but failed to disclose the deaths to the public.
It was unclear Thursday morning why they were not reported.
County health officials emphasized the eight cases do not reflect an outbreak.
Invasive meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that develops quickly and can lead to meningitis. While it is considered a serious public health emergency and is fatal in about 1 in 10 patients, it is relatively uncommon and spread by proximity to sneezing and coughing or contact with saliva or mucus.


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