If your goal is to save lives...

The anti-war march on Washington and the Cindy Sheehan bus tour (coming to Pittsburgh on Sunday) are for a good cause and all, but they they seem sort of... OFF right now.


There are other things protesters could be doing that would save more lives. Michael Mastroianni makes the point in today's Pitt News:

This disaster [Katrina] is an opportunity for people to help in the only way they can: with their hands, not their voices. Protesting the government and badmouthing the administration, whether you are correct or not, will not do nearly as much as donating or volunteering to help.

If you protest armed forces recruiting, sweatshop exploitation or justice in the Middle East, you have the energy to spend a few weeks in Mississippi or Louisiana helping people who have lost everything they had. If you can eat out, you have the ability to donate a few dollars to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army or another organization helping with relief efforts.