I was dismayed when a friend texted me that beards were once again being required by the Taliban in Afghanistan. I cranked up my old aol search engine (diesel fuel only, please) and found this headline on the world wide interweb.
Not just mandatory beards, but also a music ban! I’ll have you know that my New Music for Old Rockers blog feature ranks #63 in Afghanistan! I may have to work in more beard-related posts to stay relevant there. I do understand the beard edict. Beards look so awesome when you’re a Taliban fighter taking a boating selfie.
Not! I guess I get it just a bit. The Taliban wants beards, but they don’t want bearded people being negatively influenced by rock and/or roll and becoming like this jerk.
That, of course, is bearded musician Ted Nugent. Oh, you may recognize him quicker from his mugshot.
There may be a practical reason for the Taliban to require beards. For example, Afghanistan may be dealing with a bowl shortage.
Or the new Taliban government may be encouraging Afghan citizens to take the flaming beard challenge and post to Tik Tok and Facebook.
Or was that a video for the loose dentures challenge?
Regardless, the Taliban appears headed for more oppression of the Afghan people like the last time they were in charge. There is nothing funny about the Taliban. I hope the world refuses to recognize the Taliban government as legitimate unless they change how they govern. And for God’s sake, the US should never disgrace itself again by “negotiating” with the Taliban like Mike Pompeo did under Trump.
The resulting deal was bad for the Afghan people, the US, and the world.
I was also worried that there may be a band named The Tally Band. If so, it might be time for a name change. Fortunately, all I could find is this.
I am thankful that I can honestly say that I have no idea about what any of that means.
What is easy to read and understand is my award-winning book of (mostly) hilarious short stories about the afterlife. Click this link to check it out.
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 