Monday, May 3, 2010

War is Gaga

Good article at Slate on military humor in the electronic age. Many links.

A brief history of soldiers posting ridiculous dance routines on the Internet.

We've posted lots of 'em.

It's also safe to say that soldiers in drag dancing to Lady Gaga wasn't what the Pentagon expected when it recently revised its social media policies. [...]

The Pentagon has never had a clue what goes on in the 'other ranks'. On the one hand, I kinda wish we'da had the internet and video cameras in my service days. On the other hand, I'm damn glad we didn't. Heh. I have no idea what went on in the other services although I've heard rumors, but we didn't dance much, so all there would have been on YouTube was thousands of videos of us lighting farts. Hint: wear skivvies or apply lots of anti-flashback cream.

[...] But a humorous guide on "How To Prepare for a Deployment to Iraq" offers the best insight into the psyche of troops there. Tip No. 24 helpfully suggests:

Wash only 15 items of laundry per week. Roll up the semi-wet clean clothes in a ball. Place them in a cloth sack in the corner of the garage where the cat pees. After a week, unroll them and without ironing or removing the mildew, proudly wear them to professional meetings and family gatherings. Pretend you don't know what you look or smell like. Enthusiastically repeat the process for another week.

Another e-mail forward gives a good idea of how troops in Afghanistan perceive their Islamist foes. A sample: "You maybe Taliban if … You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer" or "You have more wives than teeth." [...]

Taliban, shit. Sounds like fundies with a meth lab and Mormons.

Enjoy. I've got things to do today. There's a shipping container on my front lawn that mysteriously appeared overnight and I must investigate...

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