Cynical Proverbs 11:23

"Ignorance is bliss"

In that case the United States must be the the goddamn happiest place on earth. We are like the muthafuckin Disneyland of countries in that respect.

Cynical Proverbs 11:14

"Beauty is only skin deep"

Unfortunately too many are ugly to the bone. Not me though! Under my skin is some sexy arousing tendons. And if I'm skinned and you guys saw some of my hot raw and exposed sinews...oh baby!

Veterans Day Etiquette

One of problems with the way we as a country fetishize soldiers is that we tend to treat them as mere a action figures rather than actual human beings. As a result sometimes we (usually well-meaning and unintentionally) rush to invade a sense of decorum when dealing with returning veterans in an effort to treat their experience as a Michael Bay epic come to life or as a result of misguided efforts of Patriotism (tm). So, on this Veterans Day someone was thoughtful enough to compose a handy list on what not to ask returning veterans in order to give them and their experiences the respect they deserve (And as a clarification, let me say that while i advocate that the best way to treat veterans is not to make any more, i concede that these brave men and women are risking their lives in the pointless wars we keep insisting they fight, and they absolutely deserve respect for the courage and perseverance of doing so.) From the Salon (via Alternet) article:

1. Don’t ask: Did you kill anybody or how many people did you kill?Seems like it should be obvious but veterans get this question too much. It is traumatizing and intrusive. Don’t do it.
2. Don’t ask: What was it like over there?You are basically asking someone to relive a traumatizing experience. That’s insensitive, to say the least. According to Iraq vet Jason Moon, “Their mind goes right back to the combat zone, they re-experience the trauma, they retrigger the hyper-vigilance and they begin to isolate again and after enough civilians have said that, they begin to realize that this is not the conversation they can have with civilians.”
Obviously, don’t ask any variations on this question, like what was the worst thing you experienced?
3. Don’t ask: Do you have PTSD?Way too personal and presumptuous of a question. None of your business.
4. Don’t say: I know just how you feel.You don’t. You may know someone who has PTSD and you may have experienced insomnia. But it is not the same. As Moon says, some traumatized vets go sleepless for nights on end, or subsist on two or four hours a night. Even if you have lost friends, you don’t know what it is like for veterans to watch people they know (and don’t know) die in warfare.
5. Don’t ask: How could you leave your kids, or didn’t you miss your kids?Surprise, female vets get this question more. It does not begin to get to the complexity of the experience, and it is obviously thinly veiled criticism, not a real question.
6. Don’t say: I’m glad you made it home OK, or I’m glad nothing happened to you.Not all wounds are visible, and having all your limbs does not mean nothing happened to you. PTSD is not readily visible. As Moon says: “You can’t tell that I regularly get two to four hours of sleep a night, that I have nightmares almost every night, that I have anxiety attacks and that I’ve tried to take my own life—you can’t see traumatic brain injury, you can’t see military sexual trauma and you can’t see PTSD. And when you say to someone, I’m glad you made it home uninjured, you reinforce in their mind that we do not honor the invisible.”
7. Don’t say: I think you should put it behind you, get over it, or move on with you life.PTSD permanently alters the brain physically. It’s not something you can simply put behind you.
8. Don’t say: Did you see the news … and then share news of a gruesome attack in Iraq or Afghanistan.Many vets still have friends over there. This is not just news to them. It is felt and personal experience. They do not need to relive it.
9. Don’t say: What can I do to help?Unless you really mean it.
What to say:Welcome home.
Thank you.
How are you doing? (But be ready to listen.)
Or, just listen.

Update (11-11-15): Just thought this entry from Hullabaloo would make a good companion piece to this. The last paragraph in particular highlights that a big part of actually respecting and supporting veterans is taking proper care of them:

Wars of choice are unconscionable (and we’ve explored that in depth in other pieces), but especially if one supports such a war or really any war, it’s inexcusable not to take care of that war’s veterans. That means not serving up hollow slogans or flag-waving or jingoistic platitudes and instead providing actual help, from physical health care, to mental health care, to jobs programs. (Honestly, all of that would a good idea for the whole country, too.) The vacuous, the rabid, and the dullards might not want to discuss such things – or any of the negative consequences of war – but addressing them remains a matter of basic decency and common sense. 

Cynical Proverbs 11:07

"There are plenty of fish in the sea"

Mostly because, from the looks of many people's lovers, they keep fishing out old boots and tires. Maybe a few octopuses as well (although i think that was mostly hentai.)

Super Cynical Sincere Proverbs 11:02 Ultra Turbo Plus

Speaking of milking the franchise...

Yep you get a double-dose this week, as we get to hear "Cynical Proverbs" less nastier cousin (Even has a "Purity Seal of Approval" stamped on it's naughty bits and everything), Sincere Proverbs. Well now on to my own personal pearls cubic zirconias of wisdom:

"The problem with our society is that our favorite letter is 'I' and our least favorite letter is 'Y.'"

Cynical Proverbs 11:02: Special Championship Edition

And we're back after a brief hiatus for a retool (I was losing young males and the suits up top advised me to get jiggy with something) So after a month of pretty much doing nothing, it's time to return to my blog to...pretty much do nothing.

At least it's a special kind of nothing. And no, despite what the title implies, it would be anything as cool as throwing hadokens or over-milking the franchise. Instead this "special edition" Cynical Proverbs is so because you get it on a Monday. Exciting huh? (And you in the back, stop trying to search around for a gift receipt) Anyway here we go:

"Honesty is the best policy."

The sound you heard was all the people in the service industry laughing hysterically.

We interrupt this program for an important announcement

Just a note to let blog readers (I think i manage to get it up to a whole three people now! Progress!) know that i am taking a month long vacation from this blog to travel to Other-Important-Responsibilities-I-Have-To-Take-Care-Off Land (Hey that game of Dragon Age: Inquisition isn't going to play itself you know! Oops. Er...disregard that last sentence.) Yes I know I'll miss out on a big chunk the tragic predictably of inanity so that by the time i come back to this blog (Looks into Magic 8-ball of Horrors here):

• Kim Davis will be engaging in her sixth legal and Constitutional violation
• They'll be at least two mass shooting that won't (of course) change the dysfunctional relationship this has with guns that will have knocked the current tragedy out of the media loop (and so much for these cretins and losers using carnage to "try to make a name for themselves"), 
• At least three African-Americans will be brutalized and/or killed by the police for committing the crime of existing while black being such hardcore thugs that cops had no choice but to violate their rights and their lives, which will result in nothing more then "debating" on how much the victim is to blame (But they were wearing those gangsta bikinis or driving a BMW or sassing the cops by insisting they have rights or other obvious threatening mannerism that needed violent retribution.) The "good" news about police brutality is the the script for handling it has become so predictable that you can actually read my earlier post on the subject and it will still be just as relevant. 

And yes it is unfortunate that in America, horrifying tragedy seems to work on a more regular schedule then this blog does, and even more so that our country doesn't think it's that big of a problem. In any case, I'm going to begin my break now. Who knows? I might even try that radical "going outside" stuff. See you in a month.