Minute Rave: Muslims Raise Money To Rebuild Burned Churches

Muslims are terrorists. We all know that. Muslims flew plans into the Twin Towers; Muslims crashed into the Pentagon. Muslims, Muslims, Muslims. Okay, I kid, because I know that Muslims aren’t terrorists — terrorists are terrorists — and Muslims are just people of a different faith than maybe yours, or mine, or whomever.

But one thing Muslims, some Muslims, are doing that maybe some other people, some other faiths, some other churches, might want to try is raising money to help rebuild the eight black churches that have mysteriously burned since the Charleston shootings.

So far Muslim charities, using LaunchGood, have raised over $20,000 for the repair and rebuilding of those churches:

“All houses of worship are sanctuaries, a place where all should feel safe, a place we can seek refuge when the world is too much to bear.

We are calling on you to help add our support to faith communities across the country pooling their resources to rebuild these churches.

As Muslims we know the importance of protecting the vulnerable and respecting people who call on God in their various tongues.

We must always keep in mind that the Muslim community and the black community are not different communities.

We are profoundly integrated in many ways, in our overlapping identities and in our relationship to this great and complicated country.”

This makes me happy, because I remember those days after 9/11 when people who were assumed to be Muslim were attacked; Muslim–owned business were torched; Muslims were the new ‘them,’ people to fear, people to hate. People of the Muslim faith could have just sat by, watching these churches burn and done nothing, remembering how people of other faiths attacked them 14 years ago, but they didn’t. They stood up and gave because it was the right thing to do.

Where was the charity back then? Perhaps we should have thought more like Muslims and been more open and willing to help and understanding of the fact that one’s faith does not automatically make you a criminal.

Being a criminal makes you a criminal. 

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Minute Rant: Ageism

Impulse Group South Florida is a community outreach group dedicated to spreading HIV awareness and education throughout Miami-Dade County and South Florida. And as most groups do, they hold fundraisers throughout the year to raise money to promote their cause.

Sadly, this group’s recent fundraiser  wasn’t so welcoming.

The group hosted a massive pool party in Miami meant to spread word about the recently renovated Vagabond Hotel, a local landmark. The party was free to the public … if you were under forty years of age.

Yes, up to thirty-nine-and-364-days old and you could just saunter right in, but once you cracked the big four-oh-my-god you had to pay a $50 cover fee.

Wrong on so many levels, but when you consider the party was being promoted, and hashtagged, on Instagram and Twitter with #JudgmentIsDirty, many felt as if judgment, and ageism, were in full effect.

Since the pool party, many angry members of Miami’s LGBT community have taken to Impulse’s Facebook page expressing their concerns that the organization is more interested in throwing parties that cater to the young rather than addressing the health needs of the community as a whole.

Impulse responded in a press release:

“The primary strategy is to organically establish a following of socially active, young gay men through engagement at large, organized events, such as Evolution, which occurred in Miami on April 18. The purpose of events like Evolution is to create a lively, fun atmosphere where these men can interact while simultaneously being exposed to information about HIV in a non-judgmental environment.”

Now, Impulse also suggests that tiered pricing for community — free for the youngsters, fifty bucks for the oldsters — is done because the younger, less economically established gays would benefit from discounted tickets.

Oh that all sounds so PC, but I have a suggestion. Rather than charge the Over-Forties fifty bucks to enter, and the Under-Forties nothing, maybe lower the price to twenty bucks for everyone? Then everyone feels equal, less judged — based on age — and more apt to want to attend.

Not the right move, Impulse. Good cause, bad execution.

The Mittsy Chronicles: Support Me, But Don't Ask For A Picture With Me

Proving once again that he is a pandering dipstick, who will do and say anything—except share those pesky tax returns—to get elected, Mittsy Romney went out to Wyoming last week so that the Grand Dragon of the GOhP—the Grand Old hypocrite Party—Dick Cheney could help him raise some money.

And a lot of folks, who fall into that right-wing-nut bent, saw this moment between Mittsy and W’s Hellhound-In-Chief as a kind of symbolic passing of the torch from the last Republican administration to perhaps....excuse me if I giggle...the next one.

And it would have been lovely, in kind of a horror movie way, except the Romney folks thought the torch shed too much light, so they threw a bucket of water on it; and, ‘No,’ Dick Cheney didn’t melt when hit with the liquid.

Since Dickie Cheney remains unpopular with Americans with more than half a brain, and since Mittsy’s people know this, but pander nonetheless, the Romney team went to great lengths to avoid any public images of the two men together.

That’s right. No photo op between The Mitt and The Dick.

As Mittsy arrived, he greeted the Cheney’s, but reporters who were within view were quickly removed from the area before flashbulbs could capture the moment.

Mittsy’s not entirely stupid. He’ll take Dick Cheney’s money, and use Dick Cheney’s house, to fatten his wallet for the campaign ahead, but he will not allow any of us to see him do it.

So shady, Mittsy, so shady.

Cheney, trying to stay relevant, offered a strong endorsement of Mittsy, even though if Mittsy had his way about things, like if he were ever elected president, he would work to overturn Dickie’s daughter Mary’s same-sex wedding.

But, politics does make for strange bedfellows, only you won’t get any pictures of Mittsy and Dickie canoodling.

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Hey Mittsy Fans? COMMON Folks Vote, Too

Mittsy had a big fundraiser in the Hampton's recently, at the home of conservative billionaire David Koch, who never met a political office he didn’t want to buy; and make no mistake, you Mittsy supporters out there, Koch has said he will buy the presidency and once these kinds of deals are made then you can forget about having any say at all in politics unless you have a monster bank account.

And a great deal of Mittsy’s base—those with huge bank accounts, those with huge bank accounts, like Mittsy, who pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than a school teacher pays, those with huge bank accounts who, like Mittsy, keep their money out of the country, in Swiss accounts and Cayman banks, rather than invest in their own country. Those with huge bank accounts who, like Mittsy, think $375,000 a year isn’t a lot of money.

Yeah, those people; the One Percent.

They came with high hopes for the GOP candidate; high hopes, some words of advice, and, well, not their names because……

One man, a “money manager,” said it was time for Romney to "up his game and be more reactive." He said Romney has been very “timid” so far. He also said, well, that was all he said because he wouldn’t give his name because he said it would hurt his business.

He supports Mittsy, but he doesn’t want to announce it. That’s real support people.

So was a woman who also would not give her name; she said Romney needed to do a better job connecting with, um, common people. Direct quote from nameless, faceless, lady with a full wallet, Romney supporter:  "I don't think the common person is getting it."

Common. Schoolteacher paying more of their income in taxes than Mittsy common.

She goes on, blathering:  "We've got the message, [but] my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies—everybody who's got the right to vote—they don't understand what's going on. I just think if you're lower income—one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact."

Common folks are dumb. That’s Mittsy’ base. Remember when W made that lame ‘joke’ about the elite wealthy being his base? For Mittsy it is no joke.

See, to drive out to the Hamptons and rub shoulders with Mittsy costs a lot; and not just in the fat check you might write, but in how this country will change, better for the 1%, worse for the rest of us, if Mittsy takes office. Romney's luncheon with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor cost $25,000 per person. At the evening fundraiser at the Koch estate the suggested contribution was $75,000 per couple.

That’s a lot of money for common folk. And any way you look at it, we can’t afford it.


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The GOP's Newest Fundraising Attempt.....

Funny Link