Taliban condemn Pakistan city's first McDonald's: "we don't even consider it as a food."

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The Taliban then proceeded to condemn gluten, GMOs, and called MSG an “excitotoxin”.

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Ok…

That’s more like it.

wait what

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We don’t even consider it as a food.

I guess it’s possible to find common ground with pretty much anyone if you look hard enough.

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This just in, Americans and Taliban find common ground.

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Can anyone elaborate on the “our religious scholars have forbidden us from consuming any Western food and beverages” thing?

I can understand that on a basic boycott-type level; but aside from booze and certain rules related to butchering technique, I’ve never heard that 'Western"(whatever that means, is americanized ‘chinese’ food western, but a super-authentic chinese place in america non-western?) comestibles were a religious issue.

Have I just missed the memo, or does this strike anyone else as a bit unusual?

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I’d suspect there are communities in Pakistan that survive on very little, so a $5.00 value meal is likely a weeks budget or something like that.

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I suspect “our religious scholars” refers to the Taliban’s religious scholars, not the general muslim world’s religious scholars.

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I’d suspect that some people have a much more strict interpretation of what’s Halal and what isn’t… I can see an extreme version not allowing “western” food, especially fast food.

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I get that—just thought McD’s would set their prices differently for the different market.

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I’m still wondering why anyone would consider Pakistan to be a functional growth market for American fast food.

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The per-burger margins are already pretty slim, so much so that you can generally tell whether a country’s currency is over- or undervalued by checking the local price of a Big Mac and using that to figure out the price of the ingredients.

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I’m sure they do, but there has got to be some floor beyond which they can’t afford to go, even in a market with cheaper overhead. I doubt they can make it cheap enough for some communities, no matter how low they can set prices based on their margins, ya know?

I also wonder now if the Taliban’s stance is in part driven by the communities they are seeking to reach out to in the first place? Like have they noticed people who’ve lost a restaurant business because McDonald’s undercut them and are seeking to bring in those people?

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I know its a loooooonnnng back story, but when I read things like this i’m thinking “They’ve got quotes about A TALIBAN GUY COMMENTING ON FOOD???” - I still cant understand how they’re either this ruthless militia no one can seem to stop or a buffoonish cartoon “gang” that just scares the shit out of people 'cuz THEYRE THE TALIBAN!!!..
"We live up in the ruff n’ tuff mountains, we dont eat that crap… unless we need to, it is cheap"
shrug*
Who bankrolls these guys again???

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The U.S. Government, via the War on Drugs.

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I did a double take when I saw that this first McDonald’s in Pakistan is in Quetta.

I spent five days there in 1971, waiting for a train west. It was a lovely little town surrounded by fruit orchards. My friend and I were the only foreigners in town, and the folks were very friendly. As a vegetarian, I lived on fruit, nuts, and samosas (little potato and pea pies) with cholle (garbanzo curry).

And now:

  1. It’s got a mall
  2. It’s got a mall with a McDonald’s
  3. It’s got a mall that gets visits from the Taliban.

Bummer.

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Th US people, via the fossil-fuel addiction.

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I can’t remember the exact date of this Bloom County strip, but…

Pasted image731×272 84.4 KB

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In their defense, they mostly hang out at the Gap looking at the clearance racks.

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Where else are you going to get your fat ass Dockers pants?

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