Blogaround

1. This tweet

you miss a lot of the gospel if you think the feeding of the 5,000 was just to prove jesus can do miracles instead of people shouldn’t go hungry

— Mason Mennenga (@masonmennenga) August 8, 2024

2. Pro-Trump Republicans should think twice about ridiculing ‘Tampon Tim’ (August 9) Yeah, apparently Republicans are mocking Tim Walz and calling him "Tampon Tim"? (Because of a law he made that school restrooms need to have free tampons/pads available.) Not sure how many Republicans are doing this- I don't want to misrepresent them and say it's a huge proportion of them, when maybe it's not. 

But anyway. This is just so ridiculous to think that "Tampon Tim" is an insult. Everyone who has periods has been in a situation where you need a pad or tampon and you don't have one, and it's so awkward and embarrassing. You have to go around asking other girls if they have one- worst case is if you don't know anyone and you have to ask strangers. This is a real thing we have all experienced, and it's very obvious how much of a GOOD THING it would be to have free tampons and pads available in public restrooms, and some Republicans on the internet are treating it like it's weird and gross?

This reminds me of that genre of joke about men being embarrassed to go to the grocery store and buy pads/tampons for their female partners. Supposedly that's so embarrassing and unmanly and you should never ask a man to do that for you. Come on, what on earth. Why are some men so weird about this, to the extent that it's a whole genre of joke? My dad was never weird about that- my sisters and I would just tell him which specific ones we needed, and he would do his best to find them, and there wasn't anything awkward about it. It's just a thing that you need. There's no reason to make a big deal about it. There's no reason a man can't go buy it for you if you need it. Come on, are these men afraid that the cashier is going to judge them and think they are unmanly or something? Don't you think the cashier is going to think "oh I guess he has a wife/girlfriend/daughter who needs these" which is completely normal and not a cause for embarrassment at all. (Or, more likely, the cashier does not care even one bit.) Fellas, is it gay to have a girlfriend who menstruates?

Anyway, that's what I think about this "Tampon Tim" meme- it's a very normal boring thing that people need, it's not some salacious scandalous forbidden item. Anybody who thinks "Tampon Tim" is an insult is just announcing to the world how ignorant they are about women's bodies and women's lives.

3. The Paris Olympics in Photos (August 12) Photos of Chinese athletes at the Olympics.

4. Samuel L Jackson invites YOU TO VOTE FROM ABROAD (August 14) Yes! I love this! Samuel L. Jackson is looking out for immigrants like me~ Vote vote vote!

5. More delays for astronauts stuck in space as Nasa ponders return (August 14) "The latter would turn an eight-day mission into eight-month trip." This is WILD. There are literally people stuck in space right now.

6. Apple’s requirements are about to hit creators and fans on Patreon. Here’s what you need to know. (August 12, via) What on EARTH. Apple is going to start taking a 30% cut if you use the Patreon app on iOS. !!!!! That is messed-up! If you subscribe to anyone's Patreon, definitely do it on Android or in a browser, not on an iPhone app.

(Oh hai did I ever mention I have a Patreon?)

7. “In Bible Times They’d Break a Lamb’s Leg–” (July 28) "The single instance story is, admittedly, hard to disprove. There may be some stupid leg-breaking shepherd out there who really did try to tame his sheep through a club to the femur one time. Then he got spotted by some deranged pastor who reported it to his congregation, and, before you know it, the story was off to the races faster than an angry three-legged sheep trying to run away from his stupid shepherd. It’s possible this happened one time, strictly speaking."

Great post from Dr. Laura Robinson about urban legends that Christians repeat about things that supposedly happened in the culture where the bible was written. I'm not familiar with the one about breaking a sheep's leg, which she discusses in her post, but I have heard the one about the camel and the "Eye of the Needle" gate. This is totally made-up and not real, and it's AMAZING to me how it completely changes the meaning and feeling of that bible passage about "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Here's how that might play out in a typical bible study discussion:

"Jesus says that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Wow, that's a pretty striking image. No way a camel can go through the eye of a needle. Sounds like rich people are really in trouble, then. This really worries me because we have a lot of money compared to the average person in this world- millions of people live in extreme poverty."

"Oh, well, what he actually meant was this: There was a gate in Jerusalem called the Eye of the Needle, and it was really narrow, and when people came with their camels all loaded up with stuff, they had to take everything off the camel, and make the camel kneel down and shuffle forward on its knees. So, what he's actually saying is, rich people totally can go to heaven, they just have to be willing to give up their stuff, and they have to love God more than they love their money."

"Oh thank goodness, that's so much better! So instead of a disturbing passage about how I might be unable to be part of God's kingdom because I'm not doing enough to use my money to help others, it just means I have to have the right attitude in my heart, I just have to feel like 'yeah I would give up my money if God wanted me to.' Wow that makes me feel so much better. And it doesn't require me to actually do anything."

8. Joe Biden Will Let You Finally Cancel Gym Subscription You Haven't Used Since The Pandemic (August 14) "Among other things, the plan includes a new Federal Trade Commission rule that will require companies make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for."