The US different names are for the leaves

Oh, I mean the leaves, if this helps.

MILITARY TRUISMS AND HUMOR

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." U.S. Marine Corps

"Any ship can be a minesweeper...once." Unknown

An Air Force cargo plane was preparing for departure from Thule Air Base in Greenland. They were waiting for the truck to arrive to pump out the aircraft's sewage holding tank. The Aircraft Commander was in a hurry, the truck was late in arriving, and the Airman performing the job was extremely slow in getting the tank pumped out. When the commander berated the Airman for his slowness and promised punishment, the Airman responded: "Sir, I have no stripes, it is 20 below zero, I'm stationed in Greenland, and I am pumping sewage out of airplanes. Just what are you going to do to punish me?"

NO CILANTRO IN THE LATKES

Unless you're a Mexican Jew. What? I know some.

That may be so but the marriage exists within the larger culture, separate from what it means to you personally. You are married, and you have a husband and those aspects of your public self are acknowledged as such within the community.

If we made it all MARRIAGE tomorrow the bulk of the people in the community who reject gay marriage would continue to do so. That would be, in large part, how it would exist in the larger culture.

Which is why I'd rather see Civil Partnerships with the same rights and responsibilities (like in the UK) now, and quibble about semantics later. Hell, I'd cheerfully allow my het marriage (non-religious) to be defined as such if it meant that my friends and family could have the same damn rights with one simple license.

And in 15-20 years when the bulk of the people who object to gay marriage have all died you have a couple of simple court cases and bing-bang-boom, its all marriage.

Logistically, I thought that was a better way to fight this fight. You don't end up with DOMA battles popping up all the fuck over the place for the next two decades. You don't have a bunch of laws to weed out before you can proceed once the time has passed.

And those older folks... I think my Uncle is a fairly typical representative. He thinks people should be together, be protected legally, get to have a big ol' ceremony and do what every their heart's desire. "Just don't call it marriage." He's set in his ways. He knows that. He (and anyone like him) are unlikely to put up a fuss against civil unions. The serious bigots aren't going to be able to rally those troops.

But the die has been cast, the battle is joined and its for Full Marriage, Right Now. So I'm in.

ION, my office caff has latkes. I am eating them right now. They have applesauce. I guess our Cuban chef was feeling German.

Ha! I got everything in my suitcase + purse. I just hope the ornaments don't get crushed too badly.

The Biblical case against Santa: Santa Clause: The Great Imposter

The short version: Santa is Satanic.

Where does Santa Claus fit in the life of a young child? What about the teaching of Santa Claus in the psyche of a child? Is there more to jolly old St. Nick than meets the eye? Is Santa a clever, seemingly harmless, subtle (see Genesis 3:1) attempt to question the truthfulness of God? Is Santa the handiwork of Satan?

...

The Devil is a master of disguise. He can make it appear good, pleasant, and seemingly so innocent – and yet it is deadly! The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 11:14, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" He does not appear with horns and a pitch fork breathing fire. He might just appear as a pleasant, friendly, fellow, with "a broad face and a round little belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. . ."

Could Santa Claus be a subtle, clever attack on our children to confuse, doubt and rob their God-ordained "child like" faith? Satan knows, if he can somehow get that child through those fruitful early years without trusting the Lord Jesus Christ – his goal of eternal damnation in hell increases substantially.

There's a shitload more, for your amusement.

In 1994, the satire magazine The Onion carried a parody of Santa Claus titled "Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God". Even though, it was written as a blasphemous parody much truth rings from the article. The article says:

"I love visiting each and every one of your homes, stuffing your stockings with toys, and enjoying the milk and cookies you leave for me. But mostly I love Christmas because it's the celebration of the birth of my son, Jesus the Christ. You see, I'm God. . . Don't I look familiar? I'm old, I have a white beard, I love everyone. I'm the same God as the one you and your mommy and daddy worship on Sundays. . .

Okay, I admit it. I'm not God. But I'm better than God. I'm jollier, and I give you real toys, not boring old psalms and empty promises you can only collect on when you die. Worship me, not Him! Worship Santa! I am God!"

(Santa Claus, "Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God!" The Onion, 29 Nov. - 5 Dec., 1994, p. 7)

And that is EXACTLY the message being preached to these little children! And they believe it!

MILITARY TRUISMS AND HUMOR

Which reminds me the following story, from the time I was in training for the Disengagement plan.

So, they took a lot of female soldiers for this. And there were few of us from each unit, and we didn't know each other, and we trained in groups that weren't the same as the units we came from. On day 2 or 3 of the training program, we tired to remind one of the girls from one of the other units we trained with the name of one of the girls from my unit. The dialog went as following:

Us: short, delicate...
Her: No idea.
Us: Black hair, glasses...
Her: Nope.
One of us: Oh, for the love of God. You kicked and dragged her on the asphalt yesterday and she called you "slut!".
Her: Oh! Now I remember!

::snort:: That's priceless, Shir.

Ple, Slate reviews the NewsRadio box set.

Oh, I might as well throw some context into it: we did simulations for evacuation itself, preparing for the worst case scenario.

Or: how I learned to evacuate people using mild force. I can be useful in demonstrations.

Unless you're a Mexican Jew. What? I know some.

Indeed-- here's one of my favorites. Nice boy by the name of Erick Elías.

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