Failing Afghan girls and women

Afghanistan is an enigma... and a tragedy.

Let me tell you something you may not have known about this landlocked Asian country.

From the 1950s through the mid-1970s, Afghanistan was a VERY modern Islamic country. Metropolitan even, and then came the Russian invasion in 1978. From there, the nation descended into a religious quagmire that propelled the Afghan people back to the 14th century. With the Russians defeated and exiled, the Afghans became embroiled in governmental corruption that led to the Taliban gaining a toehold in the Afghan’s day-to-day life.

The Afghans are a beautiful people.

For those of us servicemembers who served there (I served in Afghanistan from February 2008 through April 2009), seeing the collapse of the Afghan government in 2021, brought on by a treaty that former President Donald Trump negotiated with the Taliban, I mourn the fall. To be fair, President Biden's order for a hasty exit only served to worsen an already horrible scenario.

While the coalition's 18-year presence was of missed successes and failures, perhaps the biggest failure was to the Afghan girls and women. While we were there, girls were allowed to go to school once again. Women could once more have careers outside their homes once more. Women became women again, not just slaves to their men.

Today, women are forbidden to speak in public. Young girls are prohibited from attending school beyond middle school, i.e., no secondary or post-secondary education. While out in public, women are forced to wear a burka, clothed head to toe. To show their faces could endanger their lives.

Afghan women have no voice nor any rights. Per Wikipedia, "The Taliban, who took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, have banned girls and women from attending secondary and higher education, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to do so. The Taliban claim that this ban is in line with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, but no other Muslim country prohibits girls from receiving an education."

It is easy to throw your hands in the air, and please pardon my French, but fuck religion. It is the bane of our existence. It is all too often the cause of pain, suffering, strife, violence, and death.

While I served in Kabul, I interviewed a female major in the Afghan National Army. She was an educated pharmacist. She thanked me for being there. When I told her I was merely doing my job, she said, "No, not just you, but your people. Before you, the Taliban required me to stay home, and ignore my education. Your presence has given my daughters hope for a better future."

I have wondered where this woman and her daughters are today. I mourn their present existence.

Take a look at the photographs from the 1960s; they give cause for tears. I assure you what you see (then) is not what you will see in Afghnistan today.

Guns, guns, guns

 

There have been at least 15 known assassination attempts on our American leaders in the past 150 years.

A would-be assassin fired a weapon at Teddy Roosevelt while he was campaigning in Milwaukee in 1912. Roosevelt was struck but by a stroke of supreme luck the bullet was slowed by Roosevelt’s eyeglasses case and a copy of his folded-up speech in his pocket. The bullet was never removed from Roosevelt’s body.

Two attempts were made on Gerald Ford’s life.

Presidential candidate George Wallace was paralyzed for life after being hit by an assassin’s bullet.

John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Gabby Gifford, James Garfield, Warren Harding, Andrew Jackson… should I go on?

Yep. America sure loves its guns. Especially crazies who have no business having access to a gun. We loves our guns even more than our leaders, even more than our precious children.

Where ?

 

* "I'm just going to the Super Bowl celebration tonight. I'll be safe there."

* "My children are at school. Who doesn't love children? Who would want to harm them?"

* "Honey, I'm going to the grocery store. Be back soon."

* I am going out for a jog. I won’t be bothering anyone."

* "Hi, Dad. I love it here at college."

* "Postage stamps are up again. At least it's safe here."

* "I cannot wait to get home from work, but yeesh, the traffic is at a standstill."

* "This concert in Las Vegas is so great! I'm having a ball!"

* "Hey Susie! Wanna go to the mall?"

* "The Godzilla movie is coming out tonight. Wanna go early? It's going to be packed!"

* "Honey, I'll be late tonight. Don't forget tonight is our men's league baseball game at the park."

* "I love my job at the Capitol Building."

* "I'm minding my own business."

* "We're going to the Black Lives Matter rally."

* "My car broke down. Can I use your phone to call for a tow truck?"

* "Honey, do you need anything from Walmart?"

* "(knock knock) "I'm lost. Can you tell me where the nearest (fill in the blank) is?"

* "I just heard gunshots down the street. Thankfully, we're safe in our home."

* "I'm walking home from my friend's dinner party." **

* "Man, work has been so intense of late. They just fired Tom."

* "Church services were great last Sunday. Can't wait to go back tomorrow."

* "What are you doing in this neighborhood?"

* "My gun is tucked safely away under my bed where no one can find it. Johnny, you stay out of my room!"

* "Not sure why, but the Proud Boys are protesting at the library."

* "Can you show me your driver's license?"

Tell me, what has happened to our country, our world?

** My friend Eric's son was killed walking home one summer night on a "safe" Philadelphia street.

Happy birthday, son!

 

47 years ago this afternoon (even though it seems like yesterday) I was at work at Pike Lumber Company when my (then) wife Phyllis called me and said, “Now be calm. I’m not sure but I think I’m in labor.” I asked if she wanted me to come home, and she said, “No, not now, but if I need you, I’ll call.” I worked with her Dad so I crossed over to his workspace to let him know.

You have to know her Dad Abe, and also my boss Tony—both pranksters supreme. For the rest of the afternoon, every time the sawmill phone rang, I was sure it was Phyllis. Little did I know our plant manager was sitting in the bunkhouse calling and Tony would not answer the phone. He just let it ring and ring and… I was going crazy!

When I got home, Phyllis was pretty certain she was in labor but all we could do was wait. Late that night, around 3 am Phyllis was awake and had called the hospital to let them know her condition. Somehow I slept through all of this, but she awoke me, as I recall around 4:30 am. We arrived at Rochester’s old Woodlawn Hospital, a ten-mile drive from home, just after 5. She was wheeled into the delivery prep room where we waited for the doctor.

Just around 5:50 we were escorted to the delivery room… our bundle of joy, our baby boy Wesley Adam, was born at 6:16 am on February 1st, 1977.

During delivery, I almost got thrown out of the room. When the needles came out (for a local) I covered my eyes. The doc said, “If you’re going to get squeamish, you should leave.” I was fine, I said… once you put the needles away. So brave I was (haha).

The nurses told Phyllis afterward that that was one of the quickest deliveries they had ever seen, and if we planned on having any other kids we should camp out at the hospital.

Soon, all of our parents arrived (mine, that is). We lived with Phyllis’ parents at that time so they actually drove us to the hospital.

Anyhow, the most precious moment of our 19-year-old lives arrived that morning, and our lives were never the same after that.

These are, of course, my recollections. I’m sure Wes’ Mom Phyllis has even more stories to tell. This is my story of becoming a Daddy; it is Phyllis’ story of becoming a stupendous Mommy. A story about the happiest moment of our lives.

Happy birthday, Wes. Your parents love you!

Good bye, 2023 Welcome, 2024