<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/e404ba83-a597-43b3-82b1-42224b8711ad/B852B395-B7A7-45E7-B421-E8777C70296D/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57F0BL20090816?sp=true" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57F0BL20090816?sp=true" style="font-size: 11px;">www.reuters.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57F0BL20090816?sp=true">Like many a village elder campaigning for a seat on a provincial council in rural Afghanistan, Okmina begins each day donning a black turban, strapping on a pistol and heading out to talk to neighbors.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57F0BL20090816?sp=true"><P>The difference is she is a woman, dressed as a man.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57F0BL20090816?sp=true"><P>Watching Okmina meet with villagers in traditional Afghan men's baggy trousers and long shirt, with a few strands of red henna-dyed hair poking out from the black turban coiled around her head, it is hard to tell she is not a man, until she speaks.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57F0BL20090816?sp=true"><P>She says she started wearing men's clothing, ditching the all-enveloping burqa worn by many women in Afghanistan, when she was made a tribal elder in her community, settling disputes among tribes in Tani and neighboring districts.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57F0BL20090816?sp=true"><P>Male villagers in Okmina's remote province seem to relate to her just as they would to a man, discussing their problems with her while their children scurry about her feet.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/B852B395-B7A7-45E7-B421-E8777C70296D/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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