The oral tradition

Man: Grandma, I'm gay.

Grandma: You're gay? What does that mean?

Man: It means I'm a homosexual. I have sex with men.

Grandma: What do you do in bed with a man? What do you like to do with a man in bed?

Man: I am not telling you that grandma!

Grandma: Would it help you if I told you what your Grandfather and I do?

Man: No grandma!

Grandma: Ya know, I had a gay chicken once.

Man: A gay chicken?

Grandma: Yah. A gay chicken. It was very pretty with white tipped feathers so I should have known. It would avoid the females at all costs and it only
strutted around other Roosters. It was definately gay.

Man: What did you do?

Grandma: I ate it. Even gay, its still a chicken, and you're still my grandson.



FALLS APART

(no subject)

Your Call Radio had an open line to Iraq on Wed. (Real Audio link)

Host Farai Chideya's closing comments pricked me & got me thinking, so I am sharing them:

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Farai's Wednesday Closing Thoughts

Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Men….

Isn’t it that time of year?

You could be forgiven for forgetting.

Forgetting that the United States doesn’t have to live in perpetual war…

Forgetting that we don’t have to incite the hatred of people we’re “liberating.”

And forgetting that soldiers can be allies for peace.

You heard me right—soldiers… the people who are doing the killing, and some of whom are doing the dying.

Let me unload a little bit. I’m sick and tired of self-satisfied liberals bashing soldiers. I’ve had it up to here with armchair peacemakers. They have all the venom and fire of armchair warriors like Rummy, but even less connection to what’s happening in the world.

Two of my uncles fought in Vietnam; my cousin fought in Iraq, and will likely be going back soon. Unless I missed a very big something, they don’t enjoy killing. They are, however, working-class Americans: people who need a job, and people who have a sense of duty to this nation. The military was and is both a job and an expression of loyalty, not just to the government but to the people. Us. And until America stops empire-building, people like my family will pay the price.

So I want to thank them.

I want to thank my Uncle Vance for telling me firsthand about what it was like in Vietnam, to explain to me how he felt as a black American man watching US troops lash out in anger at Vietnamese children; to tell me stories of how troops sent on suicide missions fragged their commanders; to explain what it means to be conscripted into a mission you can’t leave and can’t abide.

I want to thank my cousin Jacob for teaching me that not everyone can have a perpetual adolescence. That sometimes you have to grow up fast and act. If you make mistakes they are big ones, and you keep going because you have to.

And I want to thank myself—I know that sounds strange—for learning to appreciate the sacrifices my family has made, and to still fight to change the system. We Americans need to ensure that good men and women don’t fight and die for unjust causes. We—who have the luxury of not fighting—need to put our self-satisfaction in check, talk to the people on the front-lines, and figure out what’s up.

Think very hard about what ended Vietnam. It wasn’t just protests. It wasn’t just conscience. It was our inability to reconcile the ideas of duty, service and honor with the things our troops did in the name of duty, service, and honor. We as a nation could no longer watch friends and family come home broken and call that a victory. We could not watch a perversion of our values.

So—to victory. To our victory over our baser natures. To the victory of democracy over kleptocracy; to respecting life over ending it. To us… all of us, here and abroad. In the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us every one.”

May we experience peace.

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Exactly who are these people she accuses of "bashing the troops". And what is "bashing" exactly? When someone kills a baby that person becomes a baby killer and facing reality need not be judgement but rather a path to promote healing.

I have seen soldiers spit on antiwar protesters, but I have never seen an antiwar protester spit on a soldier. Just my personal experience, tho.

(update: I did take a bit of offense to the accusation, so perhaps the truth hurts, or perhaps I felt unjustly attacked. Like I said, its making me think. Either way, the concept does have some meaning to me, I don't wish to be painted with that brush.)

Christmas in Bethlehem

violachic posts on her Christmas in Bethlehem.

(hat tip kynn)