Nearly two-thirds of young Indian men expect the woman they marry to be a virgin, but nearly half have had sex with prostitutes, according to a poll.
The survey of more than 2,500 men aged between 16 and 25 conducted by India Today magazine across 11 cities found that 49 percent claimed to have had sex with a sex worker while 37 percent said they had had a homosexual experience.
But 63 percent of young men in conservative India said they expected the women they married to be a virgin.
The average age of their first sexual encounter appears to be falling — to 18 years from 23 in a similar survey two years ago, but condom use is on the rise, the report said. More than half of the men surveyed said they always used a condom.
Fourteen percent of those surveyed said they had had sex with a member of their own family.
America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country’s reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.
Carried out as US voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by the war, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an “axis of evil”, but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US.
First of all, I am totally serious about this. Well, I may not be totally serious about anything, but that is neither here nor there. I may not be a politician, but that’s cool. This just means I am not a liar by nature. I see things wrong with my country that can be fixed so easily. If no one else will stand up, I will. You can count me as an enemy combatant right now, Mr. Bush, because I represent not only America, but the rest of the world as well. We are all sick of the way America is going and we hate you.
As of right now, I am running as a write-in candidate. I will not now, nor anytime in the future, accept a nomination from any party. Political parties are part of the problem. I’m running on behalf of the people.
Here is a sample of my stance on some important issues.
Foreign Policy:
Under my administration, US troops will not be sent to foreign countries to do combat. I will not send our boys to die on foreign soil. We will officially take a hands-off policy when it comes to foreign problems. We will only use force when absolutely every avenue of diplomacy is exhausted, and then only when the threat to our soil is clear and present. This does not mean that a country might have folks who would do harm to us. People will be free to hate us. It is their right as it is our right to hate them. If Iraq falls into civil war, I’m sorry, but we got worse problems right here.
Homelessness:
It is a god damn shame we can not take care of our own people. I would institute a new tax on the rich called the “homeless tax”. If you make over 100,000 a year, you can afford to give less than one percent to this program. The money would be used to build affordable housing, create new jobs, and help those in need. Welfare recipients would be placed under close scrutiny. Their children would be taken away if they are deemed to be “Welfare Moms”. Child care would be made available and affordable for all.
Education:
This is the most important of all issues. Our children should be the best educated in the world. I would see to it that every child in this country was offered the same caliber of education as any other child anywhere in the world. Money would be no object. This is our future that is on the line here. We can not take that lightly.
Health Care:
Our health care system is screwed up and needs to be redone. I would use the models of certain successful European countries to assure everyone can afford to visit a doctor if they need to. I believe this to be a basic human right. Privatized hospitals would be subject to massive fines and a new set of rules that would make it nearly unthinkable to deny anyone care under any circumstances.
Police Policy:
I would vigorously prosecute any police officer found to be abusing his privileges. Too many officers these days walk around with a “John Wayne” attitude. This must be stopped. This is a major problem in our society. Every officer would be subject to a review every six months. For good service, they will be rewarded with money. For bad service, they would be punished with a good old fashioned pink slip.
Homeland Security:
There will be no more spying on American Citizens. The fear has gone too far. There will be no more terror alerts. Suspected terrorists who are captured will be treated the same as anyone else who goes to jail in this country. They will receive their due process. This is the thing that separates us from barbarians. We will not sacrifice freedom for security.
Immigration:
Every immigrant will get his or her chance to enter the country. They must have a working knowledge of the English language, some sort of skill, and not be sex offender. Any illegals found to be living in this country that do not fill those simple requirements will have their assets seized and sold in order to purchase plane tickets back to their country of origin. Any left over funds will go to educating our youth. Yes, it may be true that our country will be flooded. That is ok. We have plenty of room. If it turns out that we don’t, we will just build more. This can only help our economy.
Civil Rights:
Racism will not be tolerated in any way. Everyone will be given a fair shake regardless of their race, national heritage, sexual orientation, religion, or any other aspect of their lives that may be different from the norm. Affirmative action will be destroyed. The best person for the job will indeed be the one who is hired. A special task force will be formed to enforce this. Employers will lose their business licenses if they do not comply. Also, if you are a member of the KKK and also happen to be the sheriff of even the smallest town, you can bet you will not keep your job for too long.
At this point, you may be asking “Where will the money come from?” It is simple. It is already there. We spend too much money on bullshit. There will be no more thousand dollar toilet seats. If I find out someone signed a contract to buy anything at a ridiculous price, I will kick their asses myself.
Most of all, above everything else, I will not be afraid to admit that I am wrong., If a better plan comes up, I will take it in a second. My ego will always come after the general welfare of my people. More will be posted on this in the future as it develops.
Vote Zero in 08. I can’t fuck this country up anymore than the last bunch of presidents we have had.
There was a time, not too long ago, when I was a staunch supporter of the American way. Yes, I admit it; I was one of the flag-waving idiots who blindly pledged their support after seeing what I believed to be a foreign entity smash a couple of buildings and kill thousands of my fellow countrymen. Doom on me. However, I wasn’t alone.
I, like millions of others, was suffering from a disease called “Patriotism”. We were the unknowing victims of propaganda. Extreme thoughts began to come to the forefront of everyday conversation. “Let’s annex Mexico and Canada, nuke the Middle East, and build a wall around our borders!’ Otherwise civil and intelligent people were making crazy proposals. The brainwashing of the American people was very nearly a complete success.
It was wrong. It was all wrong.
It is funny how hindsight is always 20/20. In the days after 9-11 our country became a plethora of raving lunatics. Not only were we pledging support to our monkey of a commander, but we were also giving our money without question to anyone on the street corner with a fireman’s boot and a sign. We proudly sent our young soldiers halfway across the world to die in the desert in the name of all that was red, white, and blue.
Somehow we ended up in Iraq. “A few weeks,” they said, “and we will leave the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates triumphant!” They promised us we would not have another Vietnam on our hands. For a short period of time, a lot of us forgot that politicians lie. We were still drunk from the fear and anger of 9-11. “Kill them all!” we screamed, while stumbling around looking for a couch to call home. The hangover would rear its ugly head all too soon.
The Patriot act. “In order to protect freedom we must take it away!” With that, George W. Bush became our dictator, whether we liked it or not. Sure, it was supposed to be repealed as soon as we were out of danger, but the people who created it knew something we didn’t; we would never be out of danger. There will always be someone who hates us. If not, they could always make someone up.
Abu Ghraib. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; well, these pictures were worth millions of them. We were no longer liberators in the eyes of the world; instead we had become worse than the ravenous dogs we replaced. No self-respecting American could see those pictures and still hold his head high. The patriotism party had officially ended. “Welcome to the Republic”, the signposts read.
It didn’t stop there. For a while, it seemed as if every other week we were learning some new and interesting fact. Bush had a domestic spying program, Cheney was trigger happy, and Michael Moore ate too many big Macs. If one did not know better, one might have thought civil war was imminent. However, change was not to come. Bush stole his second election in four years as Americans carelessly watched football and drank beer.
Now we find ourselves at the end of 2006. A nuclear war with North Korea looms in the not so distant future. Our way of life is about to end. Our train has just about reached its station. Those of us who are spared will be left to defend what once was a really good idea that turned foul in the blink of an eye.
This is the land in which we killed Kennedy but let Bush live. For that alone we deserve to burn.
Note: I have no intention to do any harm to Bush. However, I would like to see him get kicked in the ass.
In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from College. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.
The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully, got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot, and found a large thorn deeply embedded in it.
As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.
The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on Its face, stared at him. For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.
Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later he was walking through a zoo with his teenaged son and as they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the huge creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the ground then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and jumped down into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.
Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of the man’s legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him.
Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy — almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall.
General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armored car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana.
“The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It’s very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices. … And as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don’t dodge in and out of those marijuana forests,” he said in a speech in Ottawa, Canada.
“We tried burning them with white phosphorous — it didn’t work. We tried burning them with diesel — it didn’t work. The plants are so full of water right now … that we simply couldn’t burn them,” he said.
Even successful incineration had its drawbacks.
“A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those [forests] did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action,” Hiller said dryly.
Time Magazine has a great letter sent to friends and family from a Marine in Iraq. Its honest, from the heart and even funny in parts. For or against the war, it’s a great read. Some of my favourite bits…
Most Surreal Moment — Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility and unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. We had put the word out earlier in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we were looking for Bad Guy X, who was described as a midget. Little did I know that Fallujah was home to a small community of midgets, who banded together for support since they were considered as social outcasts. The Marines were anxious to get back to the midget colony to bring in the rest of the midget suspects, but I called off the search, figuring Bad Guy X was long gone on his short legs after seeing his companions rounded up by the giant infidels.
…
Best Chuck Norris Moment — 13 May. Bad Guys arrived at the government center in a small town to kidnap the mayor, since they have a problem with any form of government that does not include regular beheadings and women wearing burqahs. There were seven of them. As they brought the mayor out to put him in a pick-up truck to take him off to be beheaded (on video, as usual), one of the Bad Guys put down his machinegun so that he could tie the mayor’s hands. The mayor took the opportunity to pick up the machinegun and drill five of the Bad Guys. The other two ran away. One of the dead Bad Guys was on our top twenty wanted list. Like they say, you can’t fight City Hall.
