Tip/Wag

[bruorton]

Rant of the Day: Mitch McConnell is such a putz.  After the spending bill was pulled from the floor, he said he couldn't believe Democrats tried to push through a bill so bloated with earmarks -- never mind that he was himself responsible for $85 million worth of them in the bill.  (And never mind that earmarks don't cause any more money to be spent, they just direct money already budgeted.)

Reason for Hope: On Ashura, many devout Shi'ite men publicly whip and cut themselves to remember the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali (Muhammad's grandson).  Part of his tragic story is that he died because there were none to help him, so leading Afghan clerics are calling on Afghans to donate blood instead -- pivoting the holy day's commemoration from one of grief over the past to help for those in need today.  (It's also a practice that women can directly take part in.)  This actually seems to have been spreading across the Muslim world for a while, taking down a myth that giving blood was against Islam as it went.

Comments

[kaph.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is putzy. Did you see the recent letter in the Valley News in which the Democrats are taken to task for using "offensive language" and being uncivil? Made me laugh out loud.

The blood donation story rocks - way to make religion relevant to the community in a positive way! We need more of those.

thank you, Herr Colbert

[emusnare.livejournal.com]

I esp enjoy the tip. Those are some good sorcerers to have pulled that trick out of their hat. I can relate, in my own much much much (continue much-ing) smaller way.

And "putz" is far too kind a word to wag at MM.