BALL STATE Jugglers performed during the juggling championships in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. (Photo: Jose Cabezas / AFP-Getty via The Wall Street Journal)
Sesame Street goes to Kabul:
SUPER, GROVER A familiar TV character walks with Afghans at the French Culture Center in Kabul on Nov. 30. Children in Afghanistan will be able to start their education as millions of preschoolers elsewhere in the world have: by watching the TV show Sesame Street, which begins airing in the country on Thursday. (Photo: Omar Sobhani / Reuters via MSNBC.com)
life:
Genuinely heartbreaking — In Rockford, Iowa, on Aug. 19, a Labrador retriever named Hawkeye lays near a casket holding his owner, Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson, who was one of dozens killed when insurgents shot down a helicopter on Aug. 6 in Afghanistan.
see related — Afghanistan: Treating the Wounded
World’s most isolated drum room.
A Canadian Forces soldier, Cpl. Ben Vandandaigue, plays on a drum kit, on Friday, June 24, 2011, at Forward Operating Base Sperwan Ghar overlooking the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
See more photos from June in Afghanistan at In Focus
Afghans carry balloons to sell, as they walk towards the Sakhi Shrine on occasion of Nawroz, a new year ceremony, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Ahmad Nazar / AP) via Photoblog
An interesting approach, though I’m not sure the reactions are different than those you’d get in the United States (if town-gown relations around college campuses are any clue):
The sounds of Metallica and Thin Lizzy are now being used on the frontline in Afghanistan, according to a report by the AFP. Marines are allegedly blasting heavy metal into villages in Marjah, hoping to subdue the Taliban through ringing ears.
“Taliban hate [this] music,” said a US special forces sergeant. “Some locals complain but it’s a way to push them to choose [sides]. It’s motivating marines as well.” Apparently, when rebel forces start firing on American soldiers in Marjah, an armoured vehicle with “powerful speakers” fires up the tunes, blaring rock and heavy metal so loudly that it can be heard two kilometres away. The tactical playlist continues for several hours.
As the military blasts Offspring’s Pretty Fly for a White Guy, children cover their ears and, it is claimed, insurgents lay down their arms. Mixed in with the songs are messages from the Afghan government and threats to the Taliban resistance. There are no obscenities, the AFP’s contact promises, “but we tell them they’re gonna die”.
I must say, I’m not sure that Metallica is helping us win hearts and minds, but I’m reminded of the various approaches around the world in which classical music is used to deter teen loitering.
On a different note, I wonder how the implications of ”Pretty Fly For a White Guy” translate across language and culture barriers.
Kindling Along -Three Cups of Tea
Just started reading Three Cups of Tea on the recommendation of both of my parents.
I’ve heard the book gets preachy toward the end, but I know that it has inspired a number of people to look beyond themselves, and even beyond some of the wrenching poverty we see in our nation, into the heart of the remote third-world, an area in great need at the moment.
I’ll report back as I make it further into the book, but for now, I can say the first chapter really sets a tone that brings the remote areas of this mountainous region to life.
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