Well, not really.  In fact, it was a rather quaint “storm,” more pretty than dramatic.  Even the radar image was pretty, with various shades of blue, green, pink, yellow & orange…

That radar image is kinda gay-looking, if you ask The IP.  OMG!!  The IP used the word “gay!”  Does he mean that as a pejorative, as a homophobic slight against gays?  Maybe he means it in the neutral, like he’s just saying the colors are “gay” and care-free, like the older definition.  Maybe it’s because those colors and the bar at the bottom are like a gay-pride flag. 

These kinds of questions stalk The IP when he hears (as he did yesterday) Public Service Announcements on college radio stations that give instructions on how to confront people who call things “gay” or “totally gay.”  The ironic thing is that most young males in this country would actually say that a PSA that gives instructions on how to deal with people who call things “totally gay” would itself be totally gay.  Gee whiz.  Some people call The IP a “total douchebag” and he doesn’t freak out.

Sticks and stones?  Or broken bones?  Hurt feelings?  Whatever.

It definitely was a “queer” storm, in the traditional sense of the word.  It’s unusual to have a decent snowfall this far south, and while it was not like the big storms of the NE, The IP will take all the snow he can get, quaint, queer, or otherwise. 

All this sensitivity about words reached its apex this past week in Atlanta.  MARTA had recently color coded its rail lines and named the one that went to Doraville “YELLOW.”  That’s right.  Like the color.  But because of a few outspoken “Asians” (that’s a pretty dumb descriptor as well), a big hub-bub dropped and soon MARTA’s racist transit line became national news; they quickly changed the color of the line to “GOLD.”  That was a classic WTF? chain of events and questionable capitulation.  Don’t you pithecanthropes think so?  Aren’t there already a bunch of YELLOW transit lines in the world?

Well, yesterday’s snow was very WHITE, and, by popular demand, below are a few dumb snow pics from The Quaint Storm of 2010 (please note that The IP is taking care of Beatrix The Wooly Bear again):

In my opinion, the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would very likely create an unacceptable risk to those high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and effective unit cohesion and effectiveness. I’m opposed to this change, and I look forward to a very spirited debate on this issue….

That’s Saxby Chambliss, Georgia’s old-school homophobic lawmaker.  It’s a ridicuolous quoute when you think about it.  It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, especially if you consider what he said just before it:

Today we know we have gay and lesbian soldiers serving. They’ve served in the past. They’re going to serve in the future, and they’re going to serve in a very valiant way.

So, just what is he trying to say?  He’s in favor of keeping the “Don’t ask/Don’t tell” policy, so, for Chambliss, if one is gay and doesn’t declare that he or she is, they serve their country in “a valiant way,” and therefore don’t have a “propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts?”   Conversely, if you say “I am gay,” all of a sudden you are likely to “demonstrate” the same in front of your fellow soldiers?  Logically speaking, it’s all fucked up.  It’s a giant WTF?

Then again, what else could we expect from such a person as Chambliss?  Oh yeah, he also has a problem with ”body art.”  The more Chambliss speaks, the more he makes himself sound like the biggest idiot in the world.

You see, Chambliss represents a large cohort of our population (especially in The South) that just doesn’t know how to deal with the mere existence of gay people.  In fact, Chambliss and his ilk just hate gay people.  He hates gay people more than most servicemen do.  You can’t tell The IP that most soldiers don’t know who is or isn’t gay because of don’t ask don’t tell.  And how about all those fine, heterosexual pillars of moral virtue that come home after a tour of duty only to abuse their wives when they get back?  Or of the thousands of female victims of sexual assualt in the military?   

It’s quite clear that the most problematic sexual orientation in terms of immorality relates to heterosexual men and women.  That Chambliss is just grandstanding (quite incoherently) for his good ol’ boy constituency is beyond obvious.  How about our famous Lyndie England?  Not only did she proudly pose while torturing prisoners, she ”demonstrated” her “propensity” for engaging in heterosexual acts by becoming  pregnant.  Then the dude that impregnated her dumped her for another female soldier.  Talk about morality.  The more you think about it, there would be more unit cohesion (and more fun!) if our armed forces were entirely gay!

Two thumbs up for heterosexuality!  Lyndie and her boyfriend created their own form of “body art” by using bodies of prisoners to form a living sculpture.  Nice.

That’s a rainbow military helmet from WWI.  That was before rainbow colors became those of the gay community.  No doubt, however, there were plenty of gays wearing them without irony.  I bet Chambliss would want gays in military to wear such helmets today so others will know of their propensity to engage in homosexual acts.

OK enough of this depressing discourse.  It’s Carnaval in Brasil and The IP is going to put on a cool Paul Mauriat LP and try to forget about Saxby Chambliss and his never-ending crusade to make Georgia look one of the stupidest states in the Union. 

A special shout-out to Solange Braga who is on her way to Sao Luis to enjoy Carnaval!