In honor of the great god, Ganesh, who hates mice, I had to eat a mouse so that Ganesh would bless my brother Rich, who will be having surgery in two days to repair his shoulder.
The poor sacrificial mouse even loses his tail.
Even in elementary school, I found it strange to pledge allegiance to a flag. Being loyal to my country, fine, but a piece of cloth?
I’m also old enough to remember standing in our schoolyard and being told to add under God to the pledge. Even at that young age I knew it was un-American to mix religion with politics, so when the school principal said that the phrase was not required, I took that to heart and didn’t and don’t say it. Not having to say ‘under God’ makes me proud to be an American.
Since moving to North Carolina 40 years ago, I’ve learned much about our Civil War, when Southern states went to war against the part of the country that bore the American flag.
I’m glad that the Confederate battle flag is not as common here as when we moved here, but I’m puzzled when I see our fascists bearing the American flag, as, for example, when they invaded the Capital of the United States.
Now after seeing their rebel flag, I realize that when they see the American flag, they really see this:
It was published here.
It’s rare that jokes and cartoons make me laugh out loud, but this story from The Metropolitan Diary, one of my favorite features of the New York Times, made me laugh.
This cartoon from The New Yorker did, too:
Back in the 60s, the cinema in Gafsa showed The Ten Commandments. About a half dozen of my girl students recruited me to chaperone them.
Afterwards, I kept asking my best student, Elgia, who lived in a palm-front hut in the oasis, what she thought of the movie. She seemed embarassed and wouldn’t say anything definite. Finally I persuaded her to tell me, and she said how shocked they had been when Moses (Charleton Heston) had kissed his wife on the mouth!
I, of course, had taken that as perfectly normal. Definitely a cultural difference.
Wait! I am their age!
(Of course the videos were made when they were younger and then really well dubbed.)
Found at The New Yorker.