Shirtless Fridays

Is a symbolic gesture that our deployed soldiers won't see really doing anything to have an impact on them feeling "supported"?

The Red Shirt Fridays campaign was targeted to support deployed troops. Most shirts read: "Red Shirt Fridays: Until they all come home"

It's an extension of my loathing for those little magnetic rainbows of ribbons (for every cause under the sun) you can stick 10" from your exhaust pipe... it doesn't translate to our soldiers. Sadly, they don't see the back ends of our cars any more than they see what color shirt I'm wearing today.

The Canadians got it right when they had a literal sea of people in red (which is a Nationalistic colour for them) during a political speech - which was televised/taped. They sent a strong message to their government, and their troops got to SEE it. That had impact.

I'm thrilled to see military support in many flavours... and so would our deployed troops... if they could see it.

So the question for me becomes: How do we get them to see/feel/know that they're supported and appreciated?

Paying $20 for a t-shirt is kind of like those $2 yellow rubber bracelets that were all the craze for Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG foundation and caught on as a meaningless middle school fashion statement. Originally there was some small percentage of funds from the sale of braceletes/magnetic ribbons going to their respective cause. Right now the majority of people who benefit from from the magnetic ribbons are those people who make and market magnetic ribbons - and most of them are now "Made in China"! It's become a business like any other.

If the intent of Red Shirt Fridays is to support EACH OTHER as military parents here in the States then that's great and I'm all for it!! If the intent is to get Americans on a bandwagon to make a political statment, then how and where do you get enough Americans together to show their "Indivisibility" to have impact? Great thought, but how?

We're years (almost 6 *shudder*) into the war in Iraq and Red Shirt Fridays haven't caught on as a 'statement' yet. Could it be that people don't want to appear to support the WAR (I know I don't) and don't know how to support SOLDIERS? i think that's a valid hurdle in looking at functional "shows of support" for our troops.

Unless "Red Shirt Fridays" catch on en masse and we all send pictures, or as the Canadians did, wear them to a particularly high-profile, televised political event, it seems a 'feel good' measure that our kids/soldiers won't see or feel - esp. those who are deployed.

DO something in support of our troops.

Yes, I agree. Let's all DO something that's more than 'invisibly symbolic'.

For starters... Let's Vote.

Til then I'm all for shirtless Fridays. At least it'll make the news!

The War On Halloween

The War on Halloween
October 11th, 2007
AH! It's that time of year again. The leaves are turning,the pumpkins are blushing orange, and the War on Samhain begins. Let's begin this year's festive 3 month long Season of Religious Bickering (running approx. October 1st throughDecember 26th) with a letter.
************************
Dear America,
As a fellow American dedicated to the worship of my beloved gods, I am personally outraged at the lack of respect given to Halloween, the most sacred day of my religious calendar.
I am sickened by the continued commercialism assigned to this most holy of days, and I can only imagine that the spirits of my Beloved Ancestors feel the same. I am worried about the escalation of this War on Samhain, and I beg you to remember the Reason for the Season, which is the veneration of our Beloved Dead. It is a disgrace to our heritage and an insult to the multiple, splendid and eternal gods of this Land to ignore and/or cheapen this most noble of holidays with bland "Harvest" festivals (ironically possibly more Pagan than commercial Halloween…)or cheap candy.
Every public space should feel free, if not obligated, to display an enormous carved turnip at every turn (boldly and proudly referred to as a Samhain Turnip) and altars to loved ones should festoon the halls of our governmental buildings.
Sincerely,
Sara "Not Afraid to Say Happy Halloween" Sutterfield Winn Gospel Pagan
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*This is (mostly) satire. Satire loses something if one has to tell people that it's satire ... but I am not in the mood to delete 40 comments from outraged people who think I'm serious about the governmental buildings comment, etc. Comments from outraged people who recognize that it's satire but hate satire are okay.
**Also - the word "festoon" is awesome.

Sara blogs at: http://gospelpagan.wordpress.com/

A Smack of Reality

Coming home -- or maybe not
By Franke Gracia
Special to the Star-Telegram 10-13-07

Now that I'm back from my overseas deployment, and now that my deliriously happy honeymoon of having survived is over, I find my native country troublingly different. Although I am positive that my experience overseas did not make me a better man, or a wiser man, I am certain it has made me a different man -- very different.

Something as simple as sitting down and watching sports on television is different. I see a professional athlete score a touchdown or cross home plate and point skyward, as if God has a personal interest in the outcome, and I involuntarily recoil a little.

I can't help but think back on how, when my missions in Afghanistan were over, it would have been appropriate to dismount our vehicles and point skyward -- but we never did. We were usually too exhausted.
I hear athletes talk about going into "hostile territory" or how "it was a war out there," and I try hard not to smirk, but I always do. It would be nice if pro athletes would realize that they are entertainers -- not anywhere as important as say, a teacher, a policeman or a soldier.
It's tough watching the news these days as well, especially when the lead story is about the preliminary autopsy reports of a former Playboy Playmate, while the reporting of the deaths of more troops overseas comes later. I don't like that too much.

Or when I was told that the Iraqi parliament was going to go on vacation while American troops were going to go right on dying. I figured there'd be rioting in the streets, demonstrations all over the country, congressional offices flooded with calls and letters -- but no. Seems there are more important matters, like why passports are taking so long -- and don't you know I might not get to go on my vacation this year!

Stuff like that makes me take long, long walks. But it never helps.
It also confuses me when politicians and ordinary Americans get so careless with pronouns -- you know, in phrases like "We've got to stay over there and keep fighting" or "I know how hard it is for our troops."

We? I know?

Look, if you can talk to me about "going outside the wire," if you've been used as target practice by religious radicals, if you've looked at the face of your buddy and it's not recognizable because of the IED blast -- if you can discuss things like that with me, feel free to use pronouns like we and I.

Otherwise, shut up - or be more accurate.

Things like that have alienated me from so much of society, made me feel like a tourist in my own country. America is not at war. Only a few are doing the heavy lifting, the sweating, the bleeding, the dying. So many have become numb -- or what's worse, they've never cared at all.

Thousands have died. Tens of thousands have been maimed, burned, scarred for life. Hundreds of thousands have brought the war home with them, and it's not going away any time soon.

And yet countless Americans regard the war as an unpleasant annoyance, like that one credit card with the uncomfortable balance -- the one I don't want to think about, the one I wish would just go away.
But U.S. soldiers keep fighting, bleeding, dying.

Like that young soldier I helped with his citizenship papers overseas. He was so thankful. And yet today, far too many Americans would see his dark skin, his thick accent, and immediately stick a label on him. They'd hope and pray that he doesn't sit near them at a restaurant -- or, worse, at church.

Never mind that he spent a year of his life at the tip of the spear protecting the very blanket of freedom that they sleep under every night.
I try not to think of things like that, but I do. It's not pleasant -- not pleasant at all.

I love America. When I dwell on what she stands for, it never fails to choke me up. But there are plenty of Americans I just don't get. Sometimes I wish they'd all just go away.

I thought coming home was going to be easy. Boy, was I wrong. So wrong.

Franke Gracia of Mansfield served in Afghanistan from May 2005 to April 2006. He is a member of the Star-Telegram Community Columnist Panel.

The First

...person you call when good news comes your way because you know i'll revel in it with you.
...to hear when your child makes a choice you're proud of... or vice versa.
...person you call when there's tickets to an event.
...one you tell things to and rely on to be your sounding board.
...person you're honest with - and who's not afraid to tell you to be more honest with yourself (and lives).
...person you see every morning.
...adult you choose to spend time with no matter what you were doing.
...one you call when tragedy strikes.
...person to hear your 'funny story' of the moment.
...one you think to do things and sacrifice for with a glad heart.
...person you let support you on tough days.
...one with whom you choose to celebrate life.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

The First Full Moon of Autumn

Donald L. Engstrom

September 26, 2007

The first full moon of Autumn

Stirs the awakening of distant deeply sleeping snow.

The first full moon of Autumn

Shines upon the icy bed of the Snow Queen,

Calling Her to arise

From Her long Summer's slumber.

The first full moon of Autumn

Calls Brother North Wind from His coldest cave,

Calls Jack Frost from His glacial home,

Calls the Snow Ponies to begin Their long seasonal migration.

The first full moon of Autumn

Reminds all of the Greenbloods

That their very leaves,

Their summer flesh,

Their verdant dreams,

Will soon be touched and transformed

By the powers of red, orange, brown and yellow.

The first full moon of Autumn,

Reminds all who have the senses of the awake and aware,

To prepare for the coming reunion of the Living and the Dead,

To prepare for the annual Dance

That reweaves the fabric of existence,

To prepare for the shining pumpkins

That will soon fill the Halls of Halloween,

To prepare for the thinning of the veils,

The Great Opening to Opportunity.

The first full moon of Autumn

Touches my red living blood,

Reminding me

Of the long tasks of Last Harvest,

Of the cold rains of transition,

Of the first touch of frozen breath

On the cheeks the waning children of the Sun,

Of my love's warm embrace between cold sheets.

The first full moon of Autumn

Stirs the awakening of distant deeply sleeping snow.

And I am glad,

My heart filled with contentment,

I await expectantly,

Bathed in the magical light of the first full moon of Autumn.