Afghanistan - unseen

Would love to claim credit for stumbling on this, but thanks to Popbitch..... check out the US troops having their nails done at Bagram with techno in the background.

You know what, I don't mind paying a licence fee for this sort of stuff one bit....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/

Are you a homophobe or something?

Believe it or not, some dudes don't know how to cut their own nails, so big deal they "get" it at a spa and looked after that way rather than biting that shit off.

Sometimes it's a stressful time for those dudes, so if this is the way for them to downwind.. Be it.

Quite quite the opposite (re: homophobe) just think it's a fascinating insight into how guys who put their lives on the line every minute of every day find ways to relax, not something you'd usually see on the 10 o'clock news..... I love the fact it challenges the sterotype, and the insight it gives.

Same way that a good FOOC (From Our Own Correspondent) can also provide insight you wouldn't get to see any other way.

:-)

Fair point

I've had quite a few Manicures and Facials. It's bloody nice.

The first time I had my nails done I couldn't stop looking and kept feeling them for days. Sure some people might find it queer, especially some friends of mine. But all I can say is they're missing out :P

Bagheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeraa! Bagheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeraa!
BALOO!

I've never had a facial.
Given a few though.

Oh, good grief...

Oh come on. Somebody had to say it.

I've never had a facial.
Given a few though.

I believe it's called the money shot.....

I'm actually a fully qualified beauty therapist.
You people have got me so wrong.

And to anyone who questioned the behaviour of the US and coalition soldiers, watch the next video down. I think it is impossible for anyone (myself included) to comprehend the strain they are under, knowing that things like this could happen at any time. I'm not condoning their behaviour, just stating that it was the product of hugely unnatural states of stress.

I remember see this video [warning, hugely distressing, NSFW ...]
YouTube- Hey Ma...

which is James' song He Ma set to footage from Iraq of car bombs, and it is something we don't see on the news, and for the soldiers to live in this environment deserves huge huge respect

A shameless plug:

My friend and current flatmate is a journalist and filmmaker. After time spent in Afghanistan writing for different newspapers, he has also made a film about the Afghan cricket team and their rebirth in the wake of the current mess in the country. The website has the trailer:

http://www.outoftheashes.tv/

The film was shown at the Edinburgh film festival recently and they are currently looking for distributors. It will be shown on the BBC later this year. Having watched it myself, I can recommend it as a great piece. Very involving and not at all political. Just a great story of human endeavour. He (my friend TIm) is currently holed up at my house finishing the book of the film.

I found out six weeks ago that a friend of mine died in a plane crash in Afghanistan. He was no longer a serving soldier, but had been drafted in to "escort" high ranking officers around the country. Ironically, he was killed in a civilian air-crash. His family are having a terrible time trying to repatriate his body because it's a country where there's virtually no official kind of order. The British Government are offering no assistance whatsoever because he "wasn't military personnel" and won't be investigating the crash site either.

We have no idea what these men and women are experiencing on a daily basis in this completely unnecessary conflict.

Unnecessary?
We're in this war for the same reason we started many other wars.

http://boingboing.net/2010/06/15/afghanistan-is-mirac.html

All this talk of fighting terrorism and keeping our country safe was bullshit from the start.

The general population see the war in Afghanistan as unnecessary.

The government sees it as vital.

Vital for getting rich.

I'm actually a fully qualified beauty therapist.
You people have got me so wrong.

I'm sorry, but beauty therapists don't pull lengths of onion out of their arseholes...

They do.
That's what keeps the stars looking so beautiful.
My patented Onion Colonic™ is the only way to beat aging, attract French women and soften Brooks saddles.
I've booked you in for a session.
I've got a whole Spanish onion with your name on it, Superprecise.
PM me.

.