Tune out the Bells-- Just Say No to the Salvation Army

So how have I not seen this before? Apparently it was banned. Either way, it's the hottest thing I've ever seen in advertising, and I would totally buy this product. Wait, what?

Believe it or not, but this is actually relevant to something for once! My novel for NaNo, that is. Well, not the priests. And characters do not get it on with ice cream in their hands. (They're very good about waiting til they get out of the kitchen or finish eating... [LED light bulb flashes over head] O_O ooo, wait!)

"Thanksgiving" is tomorrow. My sister's been home for about 40 minutes now, and already the screaming matches have begun. (Not with me. I'm staying by myself in the basement until it's over. This weekend, that is. My bedroom will be a war zone at some point, I'm sure of it.) But speaking of "holidays" based on the systematic government-sanctioned genocides of innocent people (oh, were you expecting something else?)-- for those of us not participating in the Commercialized Day of Gluttony, a bit of advice for raising our future children to understand the true story behind Thanksgiving.

Moving on to the next Commercialized Holiday - honestly, I have no idea what Christmas is even about anymore, other than shopping and decorating and cooking and screaming at your sibling because she's a total bitch. It's nothing like the magical time it used to be when I was growing up... Anyway, before I get all nostalgic-- one aspect of the holiday season that never seems to change is the emergence of red-capped employees of the Salvation Army outside every store. Pavlov's dogs have nothing on us. I can feel my wallet grow heavier in my purse as the jingle-jangle next to the little red cauldron (*ahem* I mean "kettle") screams "FEED ME!" and my hands automatically begin to rove my pockets for loose change, just as I did when I was little. It's hard to describe the feeling I get when I have to pass by without dropping in at least a few cents, but I can't say that it's a good one. My family has been donating clothes and other items to them for as long as I've been alive. They were my first stop when the tsunami hit Indonesia, and when the earthquake destroyed much of Haiti. I never even thought twice about it. It feels like purposefully ignoring the ringing bells is a one-way ticket to Rush Limbaugh's house (a.k.a. Hell), and he (I mean his "hired help") is making liver and onions and gizzards for dinner. (Excuse me while I go puke up my tofu and beans...) However, as much "good" as they do in the world (and they certainly do a lot of it), they do a lot of not-so-great things as well...

This is going to sound harsh, but hear me out-- I'm about to explain why you shouldn't donate to the Salvation Army.


The Salvation Army is very much Anti-Gay:

• In 2004, they threatened to close down all of their NYC soup kitchens if federal law required the companies they worked with to provide health benefits to same-sex partners of employees.
• They requested to be exempted from local laws that bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, as a religious organization receiving federal money.
• Too many things to list.

But if the subject of LGBT rights isn't enough to make you find a new charity, consider this:

• the Salvation Army is an evangelical international Christian organization, set up like a paramilitary, that denies assistance or jobs to anyone it feels does not perfectly fit into their "Christian values" and "scripture." [Last I checked, Charity and Love were Christian values. But hey, I was born into a Catholic family, and only went to Catholic school for 13 yeas and was forced to read the Bible every fucking day, all while acting as a leader of my high school's annual religious retreat (at which point I was the only agnostic/atheist there). I could be totally wrong here.]
• They believe the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gives them the right to discriminate based on religious beliefs.
• They use taxpayer money to practice religious discrimination against employees-- "The Salvation Army recently began to require all employees in its Social Services for Children division to fill out a form on which they: a) identify their church affiliation and all other churches attended for the past decade, b) authorize their religious leaders to reveal private communications to The Salvation Army; and c) pledge to adhere to the religious mission of The Salvation Army which, according to The Salvation Army, is to 'preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.'"
• They are hardcore followers of "Scripture." So yes, ladies, we are officially still considered inferior to our "husbands," are not allowed to date or marry other women, and deserve to be stoned (and not the hypothetically good kind) if we're not obedient. Yay!
• They function as a billion dollar multinational corporation, but are exempt from taxes, because the government considers them to technically be a church.
• They raised $20.5 million dollars for disaster relief in Haiti. Which is seriously awesome. Except for the fact that only $6.8 million of that money actually went to Haiti. And many people are still displaced, hungry, living in tents, and sick. (Sign this petition @Change.org if you want something to be done about it!)
• The Salvation Army has a long history of sexual abuse cases-- internationally. The most recent involves a swim team. (Yea, who didn't see that one coming?)
• They are "at war" against "social evils." I'm not even touching that.
• Officers are forced to sign contracts stating they can only marry other officers of the "Army." Yes, the Salvation Army tells you who you can or cannot marry...
• But those officers also get a pretty sweet deal-- free housing, in million dollar neighborhoods! Yay! The Salvation Army spends quite a bit of money buying houses... But what's a couple million? The poor and homeless are used to not having any money-- they won't miss it! Surely they would understand how important it is for officers to have a nice hot tub to relax in after spending so much time with the dirty beggars at the soup kitchen...
• Very questionable finances. I mean, I really don't know many people who can buy a $435,000 house with cash, or who lose $400 million dollars a year between income and expenses (source is lost somewhere among the million tabs I currently have open in Firefox... Working on it! Oh, here's one from Forbes)

Do they do great work? Absolutely. But to me, that's not enough. I'm rather disgusted by all of this. So I'll be in search of a new charity, and I hope this has convinced you as well. If you know of a good one, now's a great time to share! (I know there's some reason why I also avoid the Red Cross if possible. Someone needs to remind me... Oh, I remember. Less than 10 cents out of every dollar donated ever actually goes towards something. Or was it out of every $5... I don't remember.)

Republicans Object To Bill For Homeless Veterans (VIDEO)

After you read the article (which I'm assuming you probably won't... but I embedded the video anyway), take a look at Sen. Coburn's (R-OK) letter. (These are the comments McConnell was referring to in the video.) As much as I dislike Coburn's usual comments, I have to say I actually agree with him on this - not on objecting to the bill (as I find it difficult to find reasons not to support it...), but to many of his suggestions for cutting wasteful spending so that this bill is paid for. I'm a bit surprised actually-- his ideas would be wonderful, earth-friendly changes that I think Congress should implement regardless of how how it effects the passage of this bill or any other.
Coburn suggests:
- eliminating nonessential government travel, which he believes will save $10 billion over the next 10 years (saves gas, reduces pollution, and saves wasted time AND money. Sounds like a plan to me, as long as we can establish that Palin leaving the confines her house and/or her usage of any form of media counts as nonessential government travel -- and just for this, we can pretend she's a part of the government.)
- reducing unnecessary printing which would save $4.4 billion (again, over the next 10 years... that's a lot of wasted paper!).

Other money-saving/raising suggestions he mentions that I think are probably worth exploring:
- collecting $3.4 billion in unpaid federal taxes from gov't employees (how he knows that, I'm not sure, but frankly, I wouldn't be one bit surprised if it were true);
- disposing of unneeded, unused government property (I'm assuming he means land moreso than items, but either way, land could be opened up to organic farming or clean energy development a.k.a. solar & wind farms, and items = recyling! YAY, SENATE YARD SALE!!!);
- & finally, eliminating bonuses for government contractors who go over budget or are behind schedule. (Maybe I've only taken 1 formal HR class, but I could've sworn my professor said that most bonuses were supposed to be based on merit, which includes timeliness and staying within one's allotted budget... If they do a great job, by all means go ahead, but I'd like to see maybe just a little discretion here. So from a business standpoint, this one is kind of a given. Bonuses are supposed to be earned-- hear that, Wall St?!)

It's a rare day when I stand up for a Republican, especially one I don't particularly like. But I think in this case, it's really worth hearing what he has to say (which again, so surprising, after his comments on the health care legislation...). He also suggests cutting spending to government programs; perhaps some, however I adamantly believe that the Pentagon's budget should be the first to get cut. I do believe that we should get this bill passed, and it would be an auspicious gesture indeed if Democrats and Republicans would work together to do something great to help out our vets in need.

Why is this bill important? Well, let's see- vets are far more likely to develop PTSD and other stress & trauma related disorders. (Imagine reliving the worst thing that you've ever experienced, every day, causing a complete mental breakdown. And even if you think you're "cured," even decades later, any memory, any trigger, can send you right back to that point at any time.) Add to that the high rates of substance abuse among vets, plus coming back from war and attempting to jump back into the job market, and you have all the makings for a lifetime of misery, homelessness, poverty, and poor health. As many of us know, homeless shelters and programs can only do so much, and millions of people (vets and civilians) are often without any help at all. Vet programs in our country attempt to give our servicepeople mental health & substance abuse counseling, health care, employment assistance, housing, and food. It takes quite a lot of help for many to be "reintegrated" into civilian society.

This bill seeks to enhance and expand these programs, prevent veteran homelessness, expand a grant fund for veterans with special needs (including having dependents), assist veterans with obtaining housing, extend eligibility for health care for vets with disabilities, etc.

For more information about the bill, veterans services, or what you can do to help veterans (or get the bill passed...), check out these links:
S.1237 - Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act of 2010

United States Department of Veteran Affairs
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
Senator Coburn's Letter to Minority Leader McConnell (pdf)