(no subject)

The recruiting ads say there are 'over 200 ways to be a soldier.' Being openly gay is still not one of them.

Three students as part of "Right to Serve" challenge the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy:

"They said we were morally and administratively ineligible for the U.S. military," said Jarrett Lucas, 20, of South Philadelphia, a recent Drexel University engineering student.

"They were very courteous, but they said that if we were truly interested in enlisting we'd have to conceal our sexual identities," Lucas added.

Lucas, joined by Shane Bagwell, 18, a high school graduate from Wyndmoor in Montgomery County, and Marissa Cotroneo, 19, an aspiring psychology major from Scranton, spent about an hour talking with Army recruiters and taking a practice qualifying test before leaving part of an Army of none.

The commander of the Army's Philadelphia recruiting station, Sgt. First Class Bell - she refused to give her first name - confirmed the trio's account of the meeting but declined to comment further.

In WWII we relaxed the anti-gay policies and looked the other way because we needed warm bodies to join. I wonder when the U.S. military will get desperate enough, given they're 40% short of their recruitment goals in all branches?

Percy Fic-A-Thon 2006

Hello, Percy fans.

*Icarus listens to loud resounding echo.*

Hmm.

Okay. Now that I have no one's attention.

Back in 2004 people really loved the Percy Fic-A-Thon. It was such great fun to torment molest shock play with our favorite prude. Folks said, "Hey, Icarus, let's do it again!"

The trouble was, I sucked as a mod.

Oh, I could pimp mightily and line up story requestors and requestees with untold care. But *cough* when it came to the deadlines and lining up back-up authors and the den-mother stuff tboy had always done so well in the SSFQF, well...

I had all diplomatic patience of Severus Snape ("What do you mean they can't be bothered to write their stories? They said they would!"), the careful follow-through of Prefect Ron Weasley ("Oh, bloody hell. It's not like it matters much. You. Er. Stop that. Good enough, right?"), coupled with the level-headed calm of Hermione Granger ("Eiiiii! The deadline's today andfifteenpeoplehaven'tsentintheirstories and I have five excuses and thisperson's notgettingbacktome and--!").

The fact that we got 50-some odd Percy fics out of it was due only to the hard work of the authors themselves.

Well, believe it or not, we are doing it again: percy_ficathon

Fortunately for you, floweringjudas is the mod, not me. I will do what I do best and remain strictly ornamental, pimping away. Because we do want to pimp Percy, now don't we?

He would be absolutely horrified. But that's why we love him.

Sign up today. Stories are due October 26th.

science_beta and military_beta

Oh, look at the cool stuff I found last night. This is what John and Rodney would be doing if they were in fandom.

science_beta

and

military_beta

Answering your fanfiction needs.

Of course, if John were answering questions on military_beta, I'm not exactly sure I'd trust the answers. "Oh, yeah, sure we have gay sex rituals all the time. And then we sacrifice a Lieutenant at dawn. But only if we didn't like him." (If you're lucky you'll get Caldwell.)

But Rodney could be counted on to give you good answers, even if he mocks you behind your back. "Can you believe these people? A pulsar and a black hole are not the same thing. They're worse than the writers of the show!"

"Cut 'em some slack, Rodney. At least they're asking," John drawls, sprawled behind his computer.

"Oh right, weren't you the one who just told them your new leather jacket is standard issue for Lt. Colonels?"

"It should be."