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  • Silvertree

    Mod post: No wishlist posts in blogs

    By Silvertree

    Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101  Thanks!
    • 5 comments
    • 6,606 views
Is Anybody Out There?
 

Beaver Moon update!

Duck Mountain contacted me today, with the intention of clearing everything up and resuming activity on the forum. I do believe she intends to complete the swap and I am ecstatic about that. I am also quite impressed, because it takes guts to own up to something like that, and not everyone would do it. So! As soon as I have Beaver Moon in my hands, I will update the swap feedback, notify the mods, and post here to let you all know. Plus, we get a forumite back! Like I told her, it just didn't seem like something she would really do, so it's a relief to know I wasn't wrong.   I just thought I should pass along the information, in case anybody sees her about.   Welcome back, DM!
smallvoice

smallvoice

5
Do you have a flag?
 

Psychology of Retail Therapy

I'm really enjoying my psychology class. It's Psych 110, just the basics. I resist the temptation to play amateur psychologist armed with only half a quarter of 100-level knowledge (because it ANNOYS THE HELL OUT OF ME when college kids think they're an expert on a subject after taking one semester of it), but my professor has a PhD in cognitive psych from the University of Chicago and she's a damn smart woman to boot, so I trust what she says.   Last night we were talking about motivation and emotion. She was discussing the various reasons why people are motivated for certain behaviors, and she briefly touched on compulsive shopping and hoarding. Her explanation was that people use this behavior to fill the void in their lives that is usually caused by depression. If someone experiences a sadness mood, they are motivated to change circumstances in their lives. Some people misdirect this motivation into changing material things in their lives (selling a bunch of their own crap on eBay and then buying a bunch of other stuff) rather than changing the things that SHOULD be changed (i.e. their partner, their job, whatever). Ultimately this makes the person more depressed because they've just racked up a bunch of new bills and the new material things didn't make a difference to their depression.   I was all set to get defensive and huffy about this because I hoard perfumes and bath/body stuff, and I also sell stuff I don't want and buy things that other people didn't want. I don't think it has anything to do with trying to fill a void that's caused by depression -- I actually LIKE swapping and hoarding. I feel very pleased and happy when I look at all my BPAL bottles. They're little bottles of beauty, and I'm glad that they're in my life.   If I feel particularly sad one day and I try to soothe myself by buying a BPAL bottle from somebody's swap post, I don't think I should feel bad about it from someone telling me that I'm screwed up psychologically for doing this. Dammit that perfume DOES make me feel better, and I love the anticipation of waiting for some lovely BPAL to show up in my mailbox.   So as I was feeling all defensive and ready to raise my hand and tell the professor "You're WRONG, I indulge in retail therapy on occasion and it's not due to depression it's because I LIKE IT."   And then she said, "People who exhibit this behavior will buy 40 sweaters in one day and never even take them out of the bags, they'll stash the bags in hiding places around the house so that their significant others won't see them. They get no pleasure from actually having the things they bought, they just feel a compulsive need to buy something. Then they'll have no money when it's time to pay the rent or the electric bill or the car payment, so their depression becomes even worse."   Oh. THAT kind of compulsive shopping. Um, yeah. That's not the kind that I do.
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

2
Femme_Fatale's Blog
 

The Wild Men of Jezirat al Tennyn

At first I thought that this was going to end up being too masculine for me and that once again another oil was going to huby.   But then I was pleasantly surprised! The vanilla and amber came out and sweetened it. I wish it stayed spicier longer, but it could be that I'm trying it on the top of my arm instead of my wrists. Now I'm going to go wash off the scent I tried before and I'm going to reapply it on my wrists. Either way though, it's quite nice and I'm glad I picked up a bottle.   (yes, that was the most useless review ever LOL)
femmefatale

femmefatale

0
Femme_Fatale's Blog
 

Iambe

Wow, something with rose in it that doesn't immediately go old lady on me.   At first it's mostly warm gardenias but as it dries, I catch a hint of the tea and perhaps amber? I'm not getting much of the patchouli or rose (thank god).   This is a very warm seductive floral. I think I really like it and I will definately be keeping my imps of it. Not sure on a bottle yet.
femmefatale

femmefatale

0
giant squid!
 

oh the conflict...

Sometimes I love it here, sometimes I hate it. I really wish I could make up my mind. I talked to Mario today (he actually had a free minute, what a surprise) about how I was disappointed in the lack of lessons I was getting, and also about the problems with my other teacher being such a royal bitch to me for no reason (that I know of...). I have to say, just talking about it to him made me feel a lot better. It was a lot better than holding my thoughts inside for one more week. He actually said it was ridiculous that I had the in tandem lesson slot and that next quarter I will switch to him full time. I hope he actually means it. Sometimes he is too busy and forgets his promises.   That being said, my lesson went quite well today. We actually talked about what I have wanted to talk about all along- artistry. No technique, no stupid requirements, just the philosophy behind the pieces I am working on. Perhaps that is because I had really busted my ass to learn all of the notes and etc. so that we would have no choice but to work on what I wanted. note to self: do this more often Actually I think it was because I just tend to play low flutes better, they fit with me naturally, I suppose. He has so many amazing thoughts on artistry and musical philosophy, it is a shame that many of my earlier lessons were wasted with us arguing whether or not it is valid and beneficial to perform from memory. Or whether or not I should play Paganini violin music on the flute. ew.   I got asked to sub for the "most in demand" flute player in Strasbourg. I am pretty excited. I am going to play a Xenakis piece for flute and three guitars, and I adore his music! I feel so lucky to have gotten asked to do this, it makes me feel so guilty for being in a bad mood and wanting to leave just yesterday. But I guess that is the rollercoaster that is my feelings and/or life.   Ok enough about my work! I spent the good old V-day drinking beer by myself and watching the L Word on You Tube. Go me. I have such an Alice fixation, it's not even funny. And you know, that was fine for me, I never liked to make a big deal out of VDay anyway (although I read Ah Xia's post somewhere in the forums about the carnations and totally had a sad moment remembering that I too had to deal with the "no carnations for you" thing on VDay in high school. ick. I so wanted to forget about that memory...).   This evening was also good. More beer drinking and pizza eating with friends. A good way to finish off an improvement of a day, in my opinion. Although, my ever expanding waistline did not consider this an improvement. Although I better go to sleep and gear up for a weekend of crap, prelude to giant week of crap that is about to smack me in the face quite soon. At least it will be followed by vacation and the much anticipated trip to Paris with a good old friend from my undergrad (who is conveniently on a fulbright in Germany quite close by). I can't wait...                  
euterpe414

euterpe414

0
circe_blue's Blog
 

Birthday

For my birthday, the boy came up to spend the weekend. He came bearing gifts Yay!   I recieved- A live recording of the last Pixies show in DC from 2004. This was one of our first dates   Audiobook of The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, read by the author. I've been looking for this for months and months.   A box of yummy chocolate from Schakolad. The box itself? Chocolate   The chocolates!     The boy (+ chocolate)   Me!
circe_blue

circe_blue

2
Birdsongs
 

Evil Retail Conspiracy Day

I've always thought Valentine's Day was stupid, even before I started working in retail. Which helps when you have no one special to spend it with. I bought myself some dark chocolate squares with caramel filling at work (50% off!), though I haven't eaten any yet. Talked to the roommate for a while (she gave me some of her Girl Scout Samoa cookies - true friendship!), surfed online, & watched Office Season 2 on DVD, which was fun. Still being awake to hear the ex come home at 4:30 am after spending Valentine's Day in Denton with the new girlfriend he took up with immediately after breaking up with me three weeks ago? Not so much fun. Bleah. That did puncture my hard-won feeling of peace & hopefulness that had finally come over me this week.   No worries, though. I went to the eye doctor today (to use my insurance in case I leave Borders & it runs out next month) & will be getting contacts & new glasses soon. The glasses guy seems very pro-plastic frames, anti-metal. I did end up getting plastic frames, but the black or heavy-framed ones he picked out at first were all rejected. It takes a certain force of personality to take something from gaudy or ugly to adventurous & fun, & I don't think I have that. I'm all about the subtle ... I liked the ones I chose, even if they weren't a bold statement. And soon I'll be seeing better, because my prescription has changed some. Yay for better vision!
spanishviolet

spanishviolet

5
What ever happened to Generation X?
 

Changing the definition

I miss living in the city. When I lived in Chicago, in Rogers Park, it seemed like I was only a short walk, bus or el ride from fun and good times. Even on nights I chose to stay in my apartment, I had the knowledge that I could be out the door and into a bar, coffeeshop, or other public place within minutes, if I so chose.   Maybe my problem is that I can't accept the reality of my life. I'm a 39-year-old mother of two (with a third on the way). I live in the suburbs; I have a mortgage, a job, and a host of responsibilities. I'll never live that young, carefree, urban lifestyle again. And I find this depressing. Is everything "fun" over? Or do I just have to get used to a new idea of fun? Is the "fun" of my life supposed to center around being a parent and doing family things, instead of hanging out with friends? If so, how do I adjust my perceptions to find that these family activities are "fun" and not just a lot of work?
parrot_suspect

parrot_suspect

3
Sourball Ho!
 

Let's have a Crab-In!

I have the worst attitude towards others sometimes, and it’s difficult to blame on Aunt Flo when it happens at any time during the month. I guess I’m not a very social person. I could do without interactions most of the time; the whole farcical song-and-dance is a big energy-suck.   --you come into work on Monday, and are asked about your weekend --every morning you’re asked about the previous evening --on Friday you’re asked about your weekend plans   I understand that people are just trying to be polite, and the big picture is that we’re all here just killing time until we die. I don’t initialize these exchanges, I just say “fine, how was yours?” I’m a hypocrite. Maybe if I was “brutally honest” like others so proudly call themselves, people wouldn’t ask me anymore. Spoiler “My weekend was great! I sat around on my fat butt, drank too much and blew my husband. How was yours?”   There are a few people who as they’re walking by need to say “Hi Dawndie!” every time they walk by, even if they walked by before and it’s later the same day. Can’t you just smile or nod? I don’t like interrupting people when they’re trying to work, but I don’t get the same courtesy. The secretary desks are basically in the walkways in front of the attorney offices, and sometimes people will knock on my desk as they’re walking by -- I guess if I don’t pay enough attention to them. :curses under breath:   Then there’s one person here who will go out of her way to butt into the conversation if she’s nearby. Does she do this with everyone, or am I just lucky? My desk was near Noseyperson previously (not recently, like 4 years ago) and if you were having a phone conversation and then hung up, she would usually have some comment about your phone call. Seriously, what was I supposed to say? It’s impossible not to hear when our desks were so close together, but can’t you try to ignore it? Isn’t it rude to insert yourself into someone else’s work or personal life without invitation?   I do have a friend here at work, and I don’t mind eating lunch with him most of the time because he’s funny and very dry. I guess we’re anti-social together. We were in the lunch area recently talking about suck-in movies -- the ones you flip by and you end up sucked-in watching, even if you’ve seen it 20 times before. I said DH was watching one of his suck-ins last night, Ocean’s 11 (yes, with the ARGH BLARGH!! at the end, although he had flipped it by then). Noseyperson at the next table (not even sitting with us!) pipes up, “Which one?” I mumbled “the newer one” and Noseyperson comments for a few moments on how none of those “hunks” “do anything” for her. (Noseyperson, if any of those “hunks” saw your Jabba the Hutt’s Grandma ass, they’d run in the other direction.) She then blew her nose really loudly and I had to put my head down to keep from busting out laughing. GROSS. But I won’t say anything to her, unless Brutally Honest Dawndie blurted out, “Noseyperson, we weren’t talking to you. We don’t care what you think. Please go far away, especially when it’s time to empty your sinuses.”   OK, I actually feel better after my crab-in. I know a big part of this is I went from semi-working-from-home back to a big office, and I just need to build up my tolerance, or Zen Out like Valentina, or be like Snarky’s meditating turtle. Ommm…
dawndie

dawndie

7
Forget Everything And Remember
 

Happy whatever.

UGH. I am sick. My head feels like a huge, slightly dried-out ball of snot, and I need a shunt to get rid of the crud. This makes me cranky.   Oh yeah, and happy whatever holiday. Hope it was tolerable.   *shuffles off to infect someone*
Kitrona

Kitrona

0
Eoywin's Blog
 

V-Day

This was meant to be a LJ entry, but LJ is being stupid   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Valentine's has never been important to me at all, so today was just another day.   I did make the mistake of getting up and saying hi to Todd when he got home. I was awake, and I missed him. Of course 'hi' turned into talking for about a 1/2 hour, and when I got back to bed, I couldn't get to sleep, and mostly just tossed and turned the rest of the night.   So, I was very sleepy when I dragged myself out of bed this morning, especially since I dragged myself out of bed a 1/2 early so I could get to work early and leave work early (I had to go to the PO which annoying closes the same time I usually get out of work).   Work was fine, though busy. I went to Sonic for the very first time for lunch, and that was pretty good.   I get home (after the PO of course) and I have a white (maybe yellow, I can't tell) rose waiting for me. I thought this was very sweet since I told Todd about a month ago not to get me anything.   I've been cleaning and trying to deal with the flea situation after I got out of work, and now it's nearly time to go to choir.
Eoywin

Eoywin

0
Femme_Fatale's Blog
 

Tezcatlipoca

Wet: Wow, COCOA with a hint of incense. Not sure about this one. Drying: the leather is coming out with a hint of the flowers. Not much of the patchouli. This is starting to remind me of a smoking room: deep, rich, slightly sweet but very good pipe tobacco and leather.   Not sure if I would wear this, I'll try it again, but I'm defaintely going to have hubby try this one!
femmefatale

femmefatale

0
Is Anybody Out There?
 

Registration

My bio class was all full, so I had to sign up to take it from someone else, later in the day. Ugh. So here's my schedule, for now:   9-10: Intro to Linguistics 11:30-12:30: Cell Biology 12:40-1:40: History of Modern Middle East   I don't know if that's what I'll keep, though.
smallvoice

smallvoice

2
snowfox090's Blag
 

National Zombie Movie Day.

I think I prefer that to the other holiday taking place.   So remember when you were a kid, and every year at school people gave out valentines? And the day before, the teacher would take out the craft supplies, and you'd make boxes or bags or whatever to hold all of the good wishes and candy (mostly candy) you got? And on V-Day, everyone would go around the room delivering their valentines?   Remember that one kid, way back in the corner, who was a little overweight, or maybe smelled funny, or had that dad that worked at the gas station and harassed pretty high-schoolers? The one who always got less than everyone else in the class, even though the teacher said you had to give one to every kid in class so no one was left out?   I was that kid. So if you don't like reading pointless angst about things that happened many years ago, now is the time to click over to another blog. Maybe they have some funny cat pictures or something.   I remember once, in third grade, we had a contest to see who could make the best valentine box. I made one with fabric, lace, and ribbon scraps from my mom's sewing pile. I spent all night on it. When I was done, it was absolutely beautiful--I'm not kidding when I say it looked like it could have been done professionally. I was an artistic kid. That year I didn't get any valentines.   Finally, in fourth grade I just stopped accepting valentines. If I refused them all, then it wasn't their doing that I had less. It was no longer a passing of judgement. It was just me being weird. I preferred being laughed at for weirdness, instead of being laughed at for the pettiness of others. (This is my blog, I can angst about grade school as much as I please. )   I've only had two real boyfriends. Both have been in the past year and a half. This is only the second Valentine's Day in my life that I've had anyone to care about, or who cared about me, besides my parents. I'm still a little shocked by that. Doesn't he know that I'm weird, and fat, and unacceptable? His friends will make fun of him for talking to me. If he wants to be popular, he'd better laugh like everyone else.   It sounds petty and whiny. Hell, it -is- petty and whiny. That doesn't change the fact that it took me ten years of school and a move of 2500 miles to actually find a real friend, and a larger group of people that wouldn't spread nasty rumors about me, throw things at my head, and stick sharpened pencils into my butt or thigh when I wasn't looking. When people ask me why I'm so afraid of social interaction, I really have to try not to laugh. What isn't scary about it? The first thing I learned in school was that there were two groups of people--the Acceptable and the Unacceptable--and that you stayed in either one group or the other. The second thing I learned was that I was Unacceptable. This didn't change, not even for a single day, until I moved across the country. Even now I catch myself looking at my friends and wondering when the other shoe is going to drop, and they figure out that I'm not worth the trouble.   Yeah. I kind of hate this holiday. Bring on the zombies.
snowfox090

snowfox090

5
Goth Hobbit's Blog
 

Another GSSS entry...

Well, as of yesterday, Pittsburgh appears to be in the running.   There's no official offer on the table yet, but after talking to the department chairman, the Grad Student is reasonably certain that there's an acceptance / admissions letter on the way. Downside is that said chairman hasn't actually looked at D's application, and therefore doesn't seem to realize that he will have two Masters degrees under his belt, should he chose to enroll there; one of which is in statistics. This makes a difference; Pittsburgh's first year PhD students are usually relegated to standard TA / RA positions, rather than the higher-level floating RA positions, so that they can pick up statistical experience. The RA rotation program has PhD students working on different research projects, much like a med student doing different department rotations during their internships. It also has PhD students taking on some teaching positions, which looks really good on the resume. Needless to say, this is the program option that D. wants; not only does it give him the experience that he needs, the pay is a bit better.   Upsides: good school (hey, he didn't apply to any that weren't), puts him in contact with the East Coast mathematical biology network, close to Baltimore and good friends there, interesting topography, and the housing market is such that we might be able to afford a decent-sized, non-fixer-upper, non-rental house.   Downsides: neither one of us knows anyone in Pittsburgh, neither of us has been there (I might have driven through a couple of times, but that does not count), moving two households to terra incognita would be a logistical nightmare, we have no idea which neighborhoods to look in (housing prices might be great in an area, until you figure in the cost for the Kevlar lining for the walls), we have no idea what the local arts community looks like, we would have no social network or safety net, and did I mention that neither of us has ever been to the city to have a first-hand opinion?   He still has confidence in U of M, and has a good feeling about the interview weekend with University of Colorado. CU-HSC's communications are along the lines of "let us sell ourselves to you", rather than the other way around, and he still has some contacts in CU-Denver's math and computer science departments. U of M hasn't been the most communicative about the review of PhD applications, but he hasn't gotten any feedback that gives him reason to be nervous about his chances.   One drawback is that I can't give him any preference for anywhere except Denver, LA, or Minneapolis, simply because I don't know the cities in question. Denver we both know like the backs of our hands, especially the Capitol Hill neighborhood; that is where the streets know our names, and it is Home. Minneapolis is a place that he really liked before moving there; he was there to visit Lexi and Michael often enough that he came to know the city, and after multiple visits, I know and love it as well. I've been to LA enough times to get something of a feel for the place. The rest? I have no idea.   I didn't mean to make him sad by saying this, but I've become rather resigned to the notion that I can't allow myself to fall in love with any location if I'm going to take up the life of an academic adjunct. A career in academia is much like having a career in the military; you are very unlikely to spend most, let alone all, of your career in a single location. He feels guilty about it, too, but I knew what I was letting myself in for. I was an Air Force brat, albeit part-time, so I know something about being a professional gypsy. Eyes wide open, and all that. I'm not saying that I'm thrilled by the prospect; if I were the type who liked moving around a lot, I wouldn't have so damned many books. Denver has been my home for 20 years. That being said, a certain amount of itinerancy is going to come with the package; I'm not particularly comfortable with the notion of packing up a house and a business every few years, but I have to look at the bigger picture. And that bigger picture is Us.   But still ...Pittsburgh.
goth_hobbit

goth_hobbit

2
Korshka's BPAL Ramblings
 

Out of Town

Ug - yesterday was a very bad day. That is all have to say about that.   Today, was mildly better. I'm in Naples for work. Yes - more fun with Wastewater this time. However, I must mention that this is an excellent wastewater plant that barely has any smell at all. The work itself was much slower than expected. Bleh. I worked until almost 7pm, and I'm still disappointed with my progress. I also still need to write up a few emails. Bleh and double Bleh. I can't decided what to do about tomorrow night. I'm not sure if I'll stay another night. I just don't know. I guess I'll see what happens tomorrow.   Oh well...due to braindeadness - I think that's all for now.
korshka

korshka

0
Femme_Fatale's Blog
 

Mock Turtles Lessons

In the bottle: Yummy yummy appletinis, which happens to be my favorite drink right now.   Wet: sweet (not tart) apples and aquatic flowers. As it dries the apple scent fades and it is mainly the beautiful aquatic flowers with a very very faint hint of mint perhaps. The lime doesn't really come out, which is actually ok even though I was hoping for it. This ended up perfect the way it is. It reminds me of something of when I was younger. Something I can't quite remember. It evokes a mix of excitement, longing, and a bit of sadness and regret. I absolutely LOVE this and I am so glad I took a chance to get a bottle. It's not something I normally would've tried but decided to take a chance. I am soooo glad it did.
femmefatale

femmefatale

0
circe_blue's Blog
 

Random Thought

"Here Comes Your Man" by the Pixies must be one of the most cheerful songs ever to me.   A nuclear holocaust could be happening right outside my window, but if I hear this song it'll immediately be puppies and rainbows.   How did I find this out? I'm having a bad day (deciding whether or not to drop a class for which I will get *no refund/or anything back* bye bye $800, it's cold, wet, snowy, and we're all being unexpectedly kicked out of our apartments at the end of May), and this song comes on iTunes and for 3min13seconds life is okay.
circe_blue

circe_blue

0
This Old Snark
 

Change of Fools

Snarky mishears and misremembers lyrics with enough frequency to almost make this flaw an endearing character trait.   "By why would anyone want to play Twister in the sun? And what has that got to do with auto-erotica?" (Not that blisters in the sun make any more sense, really...)   So this morning her brain radio was going "chay-chay-chaaaaaange.... change of fools".   Snarky has been having some slightly disturbing dreams, no doubt because of the mild turmoil swirling around her lately.   A few nights ago it was another one of those school dreams - the ones where you either have missed half of the semester, or campus has reconfigured itself overnight, or the paper is due this afternoon and you don't have anything but the abstract completed. That dream wasn't so awful, but Snarky woke up in a state of near-panic for not having her graphs in order.   Last night Snarky dreamed she was on a school field trip (her old nerd school used to ferry students around in stretch vans that were like rolling perpetual-motion experiments fueled by that heady melange of teenaged angst, lust, irrational exuberance, and anxiety) that was held up in traffic because a large commercial airplane had exploded on the freeway.   There wasn't really any sense of panic - except for the fact that Snarky was going to be late to class again. Weird and kind of... misanthropic?   Snarky hit a bad funk-patch yesterday. The Mister has returned to work today, and she had trouble mustering up supportive enthusiasm for him. She has settled with hopeful, yet cautious stand-by-your-manism.   She has also been working long hours the last two weeks, which can't be helping with her internal rhythms.   Tonight she'll probably self-medicate with a hot, frothy bath and some deep dark chocolate. Sometimes the old stand-bys are the best.
darkitysnark

darkitysnark

3
Is Anybody Out There?
 

I don't feel good

I am so sick. Aaand... I'm about to go to school.   I swear, I have the plague. Ugh. And the crazy thing is that my doctor didn't even give me a decongestant- he gave me cough syrup with codeine, which I can't take during the day, because I'm going to be driving to school, and I'm already not feeling good enough to do that.   I know.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Femme_Fatale's Blog
 

Embalming Fluid

YES! As soon as I smelled it, that's exactly what I thought of. I used to wear the green tea perfume all the time and loved it.   As it dries it becomes less sharp, but doesn't morph all that much. Not really getting any of the musk, mostly green tea with a hint of aloe and lemon. Will be great during the summer!
femmefatale

femmefatale

0
Diplomatka
 

Full of Talibs

Last week at a staff meeting, one of the Program Managers was talking about how one of the districts where we work is “full of Talibs”.   Well, apparently, the provinces outside of Kabul are not the only place. Consider this warning from the National Defense Service:   NDS sources report that HiG (Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin)are becoming the dominant group within Kabul district. The source reported that the grouping had been conducting a successful recruiting campaign in the districts surrounding Kabul. As a result an increase in attacks is expected with HiG expected to operate in Police Districts 12, 7 and 6 of the capital. TB are traditionally strong in the Dih Sabz area (PD9) which accounts for the concentration of attacks on Jalalabad road. (Recall the Jalalabad Road is the road one has to travel to get liquor, as well as being the road the Coalition uses in and out of Kabul.)   For those of you who are unfamiliar with HiG: "Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) has long established ties with Osama Bin Ladin. (HIG) founder Gulbuddin Hikmatyar offered to shelter Bin Ladin after the latter fled Sudan in 1996. HIG has staged small attacks in its attempt to force U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA) and establish a fundamentalist state."   Gulbuddin Hikmatyar is the one who castrated Najibullah (the President of Afghanistan under the Soviets), shot him and hanged his body in Ariana square.   So the Taliban is in Kabul and ready to fight.   Not really news, but now people are talking about negiotiating with the Taliban. My organization has been in Afghanistan for a while, so we negotiated with the Taliban to have access to provincial areas pre-2001. Last year, while implementing a shelter program in the East, we also met with Taliban leaders in one district so that supplies could be carried in. I am not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, talking to the Taliban is a necessary evil; we are non-partisan and are working in the interests of the people. On the other hand, I feel like it lends them some legitimacy and reinforces the notion that they are the decision makers. Moreover, this could possibly undermine the fragile Afghan government in areas where their power is waning; having to ask the Talibs for permission to do our work might tip the balance.   Anyway, after one month this is NOT MY PROBLEM.
Confection

Confection

0
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