Sidetrackedery

(From June 22, 2009)

Sidetrackedery, n.: the weird, interesting, and/or fun stuff I find via my ever-behindness in my LJ flist, from Twitter, emails, going back through friends' LJs, and elsewhere.

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:: From zevshir, Under the Hood: Oleo Strut History

The coffeehouse was given the name "The Oleo Strut." An oleo strut is a shock absorber, and we saw this as a metaphor for what we hoped the place would be for the soldiers we hoped to work with. We had no idea what a shock we were about to absorb.

Within a week of opening, soldiers were coming in at night to tell us of riot control training they were taking part in during the day. They'd been told they were going to Chicago to "fight the hippies and the commies" who were going to show up for the Democratic Convention the next month. They were terribly upset at the thought of having to possibly open fire on Americans who they agreed with about the war and the need for change here in America. Soldiers were talking about deserting, about running away to Mexico, about "doing something."

Our response was a little yellow sticker, two inches by two inches. On it was a white hand flashing the "peace sign," backed by a black fist. We printed up 1,000 of them and passed them out. GIs said they would put these on their helmets if they were called into the streets, to identify themselves to the protestors. At this point, the Army got very upset with us.

The Monday of the convention, 5,000 troops were ordered to board the transports. They were headed for the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Chicago, as backup for the Chicago Police Department. As the soldiers were preparing to board the airplanes, the bravest act of antiwar protest I ever knew of happened.

43 Black soldiers, all combat veterans, refused to board the airplanes. Due to the self-separation of the races on the base, we had no idea this was going to happen. The Black troops had organized themselves. They knew what they were going to get for this. The minimum qualification to be one of those who would refuse was the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, so the Army wouldn't be able to call them cowards.

:: From @ObamaNews, A Town Hall on Fatherhood
:: Cheesy title, good article. From @PaulReikhoff, Hey Lindsay Lohan! Did You Hear About the Major Victory for Thousands of Stop-Lossed Troops?
:: From ontd_political, this made me cry for reals (and not just because I'm a crybaby).
:: Accessibility FAIL. Man, service dog turned away at fairgrounds (from wthr.com)
:: From @USArmy, Alaska supports Army kids, NCOs Right on! :D
:: From @zestylime, Shep Smith Mocks 'Glenn Beck Friday,' 'I Don't Even Know What The Heck the Thing Is' (YouTube) THAT is fucking awesome. And so, clearly, is Shep Smith. His hour is the only hour of FNC I can watch without my blood pressure going through the roof.
:: Also from @zestylime, Smith gives Fox News even-tempered voice
:: WHAT THE PFFUCK? From @Meggion, Senator: 'We're allowing gays to exist' (from thenewcivilrightsmovement.com) **FUMES**
:: From trialia via Facebook, How to Be a Good Friend to Someone With Chronic Pain (from thetramadoldiaries.com) tl;dr: be there, and don't be a jerk.
:: From postsecret.com, Anonymity Project: The PostSecret Effect. (YouTube) Warning: tearjerker.
:: Awesome! From @Scoop44, Texting for Humanity.
:: Well, fuck. From @newsminer, Fewer jobs in Alaska than a year ago
:: From @newsminer, List of ethics complaints filed against Alaska Gov. Palin
:: From (I can't remember) on Twitter, With Plan and a Rope, Captives Fled from Taliban (from nytimes.com)

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