1. Franklin Graham really doesn’t know how to party:
A major celebration is planned next month for the 95th birthday of the Rev. Billy Graham.
Graham’s son Franklin said Tuesday that between 600 and 700 people have been invited to the Nov. 7, party in Asheville, N.C. The Rev. Franklin Graham says among the invitees are President Bill Clinton, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and real estate mogul Donald Trump. The elder Graham will attend, but won’t give a speech.
Donald Trump? Nothing honors the legacy of a great evangelist more than inviting a pompous, racist, philandering billionaire to his 95th birthday party.
See also: “Tea Party Kills Billy Graham”
2. After emergency heart surgery, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe remains stupid and cruel: “The 79-year-old senator is apparently unaware that millions of people his age are using government-run healthcare systems called Medicare and the Veterans Administration; doctors have so far withheld that information as he is still recovering from heart surgery.”
3. Christians might seem less dishonest if they stopped referring to things that are not abortifacients as “abortifacients.” Not lying is always a good way to appear less dishonest.
4. Meliorism! “I am surrounded by the 21st century, and I just don’t want to live in it. That’s nuts.”
5. Al Mohler predicts that Mormons and Southern Baptists “may go to jail together.” He is unable to articulate any specific reason why this might be true.
Mohler’s theory, apparently, is that one day, perhaps, an obsessive need to perceive oneself as beleaguered, aggrieved and “persecuted” will be grounds for actual persecution. Or something.
All Al Mohler is really sure about is that gays are getting married and that upsets him so much that you might as well just throw him in jail. And the Mormons, too, I guess.
6. At Think Progress, Scott Keyes reports on “The Most Innovative Homeless Service You’ve Never Heard Of.”
An innovative program from San Francisco is changing the game with a simple idea: bring all the service providers under one roof for an all-day fair.
Project Homeless Connect (PHC) began in 2004 under then-Mayor Gavin Newsom. If someone doesn’t have an ID for a bus pass, she doesn’t have to schlep across town to get one and come back tomorrow, because the DMV has a booth set up at the event. She doesn’t need to sign up for an appointment with a doctor or optometrist or dentist weeks in advance; she can walk up and be seen immediately. It’s a one-stop homeless shop, and it’s helped over 70,000 people in San Francisco alone over the last decade.
This is something other cities and communities could replicate. And there’s plenty of ways that churches, ministries and other faith-based agencies could contribute.
7. “Do not take vaccines if you’ve chosen to die from the mumps.”
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