What's going on, now that we're out ...?

Really cute - doesn't explain offsides, though.


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Charity begins at home: in your brain

Because other people besides evangelical TV assholes are also evil:

Here is a list of at least slightly reputable organizations which are providing aid to Haiti
Personally, based upon past records, if you feel more comfortable giving to a longer-lasting bigger named institution, try:
American Red Cross
Catholic Relief Services
Doctors Without Borders
Lutheran World Relief
Partners In Health

Caution: Bogus On-Line Scams about Haiti (or anywhere else):
Haitian Earthquake Relief Fraud Alert from the FBI.


More advice on intelligent charitable giving:

1. During disasters, stick to the Oldies but Goodies, give directly to the charity, do your research, don't give to governments known to be corrupt. or in this case, already completely dysfunctional
2. Avoid "new" charity websites registered within 24 hours of the disaster.
3. Pick the charity which has the lowest overhead - i.e., the maximum percent goes to the actual cause, and not administrative costs (read: big salaries for American fat cats)
4. Call the charity and ask questions; never feel pressured to give right now. I assure you, your $20 will not matter if it's right now, or tomorrow.
5. It's your money; give it where you want.
6. Realize that the costs of disasters are looooooooooooooooooong. They will still need your money tomorrow. and the day after and the day after and the day .... don't give till it hurts. Give in smaller amounts over a longer time. This is all about cash flow.
7. Diversification might be good risk management for your 401k; it might not be for charitable giving.


Check out charity groups with other sources:
Charity Watch - rates national (not local) organizations, but the details aren't on-line
Charity Navigator - their tips & resources are well done

Some of these only rate national groups; e.g. Catholic Relief Services isn't rated by Charity Network because they're exempt from certain IRS reporting (because they are the international arm of the Catholic Church, not domestic);
similarly, the Archdioscese of St. Paul isn't rated by Charity Watch because it isn't a national organization.

Websites debunking urban legends or scams should also be considered, if you aren't familiar with a group trying to pry your cold, hard earned cash out of your pocketbook.

Charity Watch listed its top-rated charities serving Haiti: 4 of the 5 I listed above all have A ratings (the highest). The 5th isn't listed with them.



And, by the way ... I strongly recommend finding some charitable organization which supports something you like. And then give to them. Being a routine donor helps the organization plan its budget. Some places have a monthly donation on-going payment plan. e.g. Minnesota Public Radio does, with an option to make it an on-going donation, rather than an annual one. It cuts down on their administrative costs by not needing to pester me or remind me to give them more money. (Although last Spring I did promise to give them more money when I get a job again - - they laughed and said that if I keep giving them worthwhile advice, they'd count it even.)

Partial techno-fix

So, apparently Jeff @ In the Loop is going to see this because they, like others, have a little search-o-matic thing-y that finds blog posts where people mention their show. Hi, Jeff!

This, however, is a follow up to my earlier post, with the link to the story about the 3 Wise Men bringing gifts to the Jr.Gophers. So, here you go, Mom. Still looking for the other interview. God, doesn't that sound so impressive? I'd have thought STFU&GBTW, with his award-winning oh-so-public profession would be getting interviewed on the TV/radio/on-line. Of course, that would be for his personal abilities, not his odd personal opinions.
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Your 15 minutes are up

I just got my 15 minutes of fame. If you want to call it that ...

Minnesota Public Radio contacted me twice last week. Once for In the Loop, a small, slightly odd-ball look at pop culture that's only available on-line. Second by the main News Room. Both of them interviewed me & then decided to use the interviews.

MPR's Christmas Stories
Story of when our house burned down 5 days before Christmas. Aired at 7:20 Christmas Eve morning. Needless to say, I didn't listen to it. Which is sad, because I thought the boys would get a kick out of Mom's voice coming out of the radio.
I was told they'd post the audio on-line. When they do, I'll add it. Here, however, is the text of what I wrote them. Note: the date is wrong, it should have been 1979. C'est la vie.


MPR's In the Loop
Holiday podcast. Skip to about 30:00 min. I'm the first person in the "Santa Alternatives" section. I explained how our Christmas presents are brought by the 3 Wise Men. Our kids believe in Santa, they just know that Santa brings other kids presents (their American cousins), or the Christkind (their German cousins).


technical glitch: the link I put here goes to the most recent podcast, not the specific one I want. Will try to fix. ... and ... I still can't find the link to the 1st interview. Oh, well, you'll just have to believe that it happened (a friend heard it on the radio - I didn't, & I'm curious to hear how they edited it.)

Possibility of Winter Amusement

Well, our first real snow came last night. 7" at the airport. Supposed to be more today. Jr.Gopher#1 is already asking to go sledding. The boys pulled out the sleds this past weekend.

MPR's Bob Collins is creating yet another fun little sport: the Golden Snowball. The meteorologist who most closely predicts the actual snow fall wins. Wins what? Who knows. Bragging rights.

Just another way for Midwesterners to jaw about the weather, a favorite topic after one picks sides in the "F-'em, get out of town" or "God, Western Civilization will fall" in the battle of which national sports team is whining about the State paying for a new stadium while the State is trying to figure out how to cope with a $1.2 Billion deficit. I'll leave you to guess which side Mr.Gopher & I are on ...

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Hey You! Election Day is Tuesday!!!

While not as immediately apparent in its importance as, say, last November, you

NEED TO GO VOTE!

Election Day here in Minneapolis is critical for two big reasons:

• The City Council is trying an end-run to consolidate power by eliminating the Park & Rec Board. Vote NO.
• The City Citizens will be able to use the Ranked-Choice (or Instant Run Off) Voting for the first time.

GO VOTE!

This method of voting requires a hand-count.

The fact there are no electronic machines involved means the election results won't be in until December. However, unlike the last election to-do here, this won't involve million-dollar law suits.

VOTE!

Here are video explanations of it from MPR. It's brilliant. Voting with Post-Its. Really good visualization.

If only one person gets to win: the Mayor



If more than one person can win: City Council


YOU STILL NEED TO GO VOTE!

If you're confused about how to vote, post your question here & I'll answer it. As long as it is before 10 p.m. Monday night. My civic duty doesn't superceede getting a good night sleep on this topic.

tornado

Extreme weather in Minnesota:

coldest temperature I've ever experienced:
-22F
Jan 2009

closest to path of a tornado:
2 blocks west of Portland Ave.
This afternoon


Apparently max. damage between 35th & 51st Street.
Photo is at 41st & Portland.
The tornado went up Portland to around where I was, popped up and hit right at downtown. Someone got interviewed on the radio who saw the funnel cloud in Downtown. Pretty awe-inspiring. I've never tried writing a term paper in the tornado shelter of a library with no electricity. Do you think my prof will give me bonus points?

Cash for Cretins

Cash for a car? All of the criteria simply drive home the point that this legislation was created by the rich for the rich.

The well-to-do -- who can more easily afford to buy a new car -- get the benefits. I can't afford to buy a new car at all, regardless of my current mpg and regardless of $3000. Can I buy a VW Jetta TDI (capable of passing California's emission standards, 41 mpg highway) for $3k? Uhhhhh ... ... no. They're about $25k. (I would like one, though. Salsa Red.) It is, however, the 4th most fuel-efficient car on the market.

The other 3 models with better mileage also cost more. I notice that none of them are American. I also notice that my 9 year old VW Passat wagon gets 23 mpg around town, which puts it ahead of the brand-new Chevy at #11.

This does nothing to reduce our reliance on petroleum based fuel. In fact, it encourages us to continue to buy it, rather than switch to other engine types or mass transit. If the people don't feel the pain, they won't change their behavior.

And ... what does more for the economy? Me buying a used car outright (i.e., no loan), or me paying interest to some blood-sucking financial institution? I replaced my '99 VW with an '00 VW in January. Yes, I bought an 9 year old car. I was stuck with the insurance check from the ditz who totaled my 25 mpg car (which was 10 years old). Know what? you can't get much for $5400.

Never the less, my money is currently going to pay for food, clothes, school, etc. Where is it going? Into our lagging economy. Or my savings account, so that when my husband loses his job, we can pay our mortgage. Where is the money going for all of these people buying new cars? Into the blood-sucking gaping maw of money lending agencies, who sure aren't putting it back into the economy. Not even paying themselves bonuses puts much money into the economy. Where is this $3000 for a junker coming from? Our taxes. Which are being paid by everyone.

I would rather pay for unemployment benefits to be extended another week rather than for someone to buy a new car. Can't the government find something useful to do with my tax dollars? Like extend unemployment benefits or pay for COBRA? Support programs that refurbish homes in blighted neighborhood to encourage people to move there? Extend the tax write-off you can get by donating your car to charity organizations?

This rebate is superficial, feel-good legislation that lets us pretend our problems are being fixed.

Stop pandering to financial lending-institutions by "giving away" money to encourage people to borrow money. The only agency which benefits is the bank. Because this new car buying spree means more people pay more interest on their loans. More interest to bank = less money for them.

Capitalize on Ethics

This is an interesting interview yesterday on Minnesota Public Radio's Midday Program.

content:
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, discusses the limits of economic markets and the ethics of capitalism.

Reality Check

Reality Check from the Atlantic: I have a soft spot in my heart for Minnesota Public Radio, having spent four years living in Garrison Keillor country back in the early 1990s. If you have that much snow and sub-zero weather in your life, maybe you have to have both an enduring, and slightly wry, sense of humor about things. Or maybe you don't. But ... you betcha ... it certainly helps.

Collins (from MPR) corrected his statistics on his own page: The average student [undergrad] loan debt last year [2008] was not, in fact, $50,000, it was $21,899. The average income for graduating seniors in 2007 was $60,000 $46,000, making the total debt 36.5% 47.6% of annual salary.


The problem facing most of the people I know in the Environmental Health Sciences department here @ Rodent U. is the fact that we're returning to school. This means:

-- Losing your income while trying maintain your mortgage payment
-- totally scrapping your adult life in order to go back to school
-- missing all of the 'social' activities because you actually have other obligations which are inevitably at the wrong time
-- desperately trying to manage to get to the optional-yet-really-important events directly related to your program
-- abruptly finding yourself truly financially dependent upon someone for the first time in your adult life
-- still bearing debt from your undergrad degree
-- being a parent with other financial obligations besides school (read: daycare)

None of this sissy "I just graduated with debt pity me" will be acknowledged by me. Pity them? Balderdash. Sure, if NIOSH wasn't paying my tuition, I'd be sucking up a huge pile of debt doing this. Would I be whining about it? No. Bitching about it, yes. Whining, no.

Why? Because I chose to do this. Because I figured it was a good enough investment based upon the salary increase I expect to get afterwards. Same reason I went to college. For this degree, though? Good-bye $60k, hello $75k with no more promotion ceiling.

What the hell did these kids think was going on, when they kept signing away their souls to the Financial Aid office? What idiot is so totally disconnected from reality as to not know ahead of time that following their chosen course of action would lead to massive debt? Not the students at Hennepin County Technical College (low tuition). Not the students at Berea College (no tuition). Not the students who went for quality, rather than a brand name.

Yes, U of Mn is expensive. Grad school is stupendously expensive. Why am I here? Because Mr. Gopher is here. And, unlike the engineering or English majors at the U, the closest School of Public Health is in Madison & the closest one with an IH program is either Chicago (and next after that is Ann Arbor).

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TV makes you stupid

Mayo Clinic researchers demonstrate that TV makes you stupid, if you think CSI-ETC is vaguely connected to reality.

holy cow ...

It's always nice to know one's professional opinion is valued. Sure, the annual "you didn't totally screw up" review from you boss is the ticket to the "oh, well, you can't have one" bonus.

10 Ten best things about swine flu: #1 is from yours truly.

I'm suddenly struck by the fear that someone is going to write MPR and say "what a total screw up, why did you listen to her?" Although one would also hope that they asked someone else before quoting me..... Somehow the idea of telling my employer/employees this pales in comparison to the biggest radio station in the state quoting me.

I wish I'd ...

There's an ad for the Peace Corps on several of the bus stops around town, with the slogan "Means you'll never have to say I wish I'd ..." A post on the News Cut blog on MPR was The War on Parenthood about how pop culture claims we influence our children's eventual moral and character development.

I thought about this, and my immediate response was there are two major rules to parenting:

Recommendation 1: Do the best you can. What else can the world reasonably expect of you?

Recommendation 2: There is absolutely no way you can possibly control the actions or thoughts of another person (like your children). Don't bother trying.

If my children become self-sufficient men capable of loving others, and respecting and loving themselves, I will have succeeded as a mother. Anything else is icing on the cake of life.

Then I thought about it some more during my 15 minute break from the panic of turning in homework late. and later. and an exam due in a few days that I haven't started ...

This obsession with blaming me for anything wrong in the future with my kids is simply a left over of the eugenics "your children are born with their character already predestined, which is why you're so poor and I'm not".

The journalist did a series of interviews with college students (of all ages) at the smaller colleges in Minn. One of them gave up her dreams of being an artist because her parents said "you can't make any money at it".

I really want to believe that I will never tell my children they shouldn't bother to at least try. The next Steve Yzerman? Go for it. A professional portrait painter? go for it. The next president? You're nuts, but hey, go for it.

Will they actually make it? Maybe not. My brother, STFU&GBTW no doubt heard "there are too many people who all want that job, go do something that you can succeed at". You know what you should do? Go watch his name zooming by on the next James Cameron movie. Or Lord of the Rings. Or whatever it is he's doing.

I read an old Life article when I was about 12 or 13 about a physician somewhere in BFE Appalachia who did housecalls for the destitute (i.e., just about the whole area). I was so inspired. I decided that's what I wanted to do with my life. Not the Appalachia part, but the improving the quality of people's health part. I thought you had to be a doctor to do it. So, I decided to go to med school. (That, at least, generally gets parental emotional support.) After about 3 semesters in college, I realized there was no way in hell I would ever make it through med school. I was so disappointed that I couldn't pursue this career. I didn't know what else to do, so I figured I'd just finish what I started and be a chemist. I am quite certain I would have made a piss-poor doctor.

Fast forward 30 years ...

You know what I really really wanted, back in 1979? I wanted to go into Public Health. A field which doesn't require being a physician (one who deals with the individuals); I wanted the large-scale public aspect of it. Had I ever heard of it? No. Would I have done it then? Yes. Would people have supported my idea of going to some third world country to make their lives better? I'm pretty sure not.

Where am I in 2009? The University of Minnesota School of Public Health. I finally figured out what I wanted. Am I doing it? Nope. I'm sitting in the midst of a good school - (well, I really wanted Johns Hopkins which I would have done, had I not married Mr. Gopher) - with a good global public health infectious disease program. Now that's what I wanted to do with most of my life. Nope, I'm in the Environmental Health Science's Industrial Hygiene program. Most people wonder if I clean teeth.

I'm still stuck in the "I wish I'd ..." If I hadn't been married and forced to confront the reality of balancing my life with someone else? Hell, yes, I'd have popped over to Baltimore for a few years.

But, you know what? That beautiful piece of paper which will say University of Minnesota Masters of Public Health doesn't come with an expiration date. I know what I want. Perhaps one of these days I'll get it. And, unlike the kid nextdoor who idolizes Wayne Gretsky ... at least I'm not too old to pursue what was once my dream.

The Missing LInk

I was told this disappeared off my blog. Then the more I thought about it, the more I think I emailed it to a select audience. Anyway, here it is for public consumption. "It's a send up of the chord combination us music-theory dorks would refer to as I V vi IV"

I admire the scope of the comparison. Although i think the only reason A-ha got such a long segment was to show off the singer's falsetto range. I can only sing that high after warming up. If you got this as an email, the clip here is a "live" version, which is much funnier to watch.




Now, that said ... the options that pop up at the end of the video (scrolling across at the bottom), the poster obviously has an interest in music theory. One of the automatic YouTube suggestions, however, is in a similar vein. This is g.damned funny.





And, in case you're fond of instructional, how-to videos, the band (in the 1st video) also has:
How to Kill a Hooker
How to Bake a Scone
How to Catch a Duck

2016 Olympic bid: Ely

[April Fool's]
>>Why have the olympics in Ely, Minnesota?
Sarajevo.
>>What?
Sarajevo. No one had ever heard of it before the olympics. And it's a lot easier to pronounce Ely.

Now ...
Ely is on the list of "You know you're a Minnesotan when you can pronounce the following cities:
Wayzata, Bemidji, Mille Lacs, and Ely. (the list is longer & none of which is pronounced the way you'd think. No, not even Mille Lacs, regardless of whether you're a francophone.)

Bring out yer' dead!

Who's going to know if you die? ... family, friends, co-workers - but only if you see them regularly anyway. How about that gal you chat with on-line about the economics of microthermal expansion of Russian Sable toenails?

Here's how it works: You sign up for this and configure it the way you want. It sends you an e-mail however often you want to be "pinged," so that the Deathswitch can make sure you're still kicking. If you don't respond, it goes into "worry mode," and eventually, if you don't respond, it announces to the online world that, yes, you've gone toes up.

There's an interview here with its developer.

The Sounds of Silence

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/about/mpr/central_corridor/

For those of you here in the Twin Cities, or just in Minnesota, or ... hell, anyone of you:

please write to the Light Rail authority and tell them that putting a train line 12 feet from a recording studio is stupid. The met council finally, after years of haggling, has approved extending the rail line into St. Paul. This will go 12 feet from the Minnesota Public Radio station's building, which also houses American Public Media (a.k.a., MPR). I think I'd be pretty annoyed if I was a parishioner at one of the churches in question - ooops, sorry, you can't pull the hearse up to the front steps of the church any more, there seems to be a train platform there.

If nothing else, please tell them that they need to perform the assessment required by the Fed. Transport Auth, which they haven't done.

Met Council
Chair Peter Bell
e-mail: peter.bell@metc.state.mn.us
phone: 651-602-1390
mail: 390 Robert St. N.
St. Paul, MN 55101

other addresses are in the link for Mayor Coleman & Gov. Pawlenty


Thank you, for any of you who can do this. I appreciate it.

MPR's suggested text: although I know all of you are intelligent enough to write your own ... since you likely don't even live here, it's a simple cut & paste job.
"Please listen to Minnesota Public Radio's concerns regarding the Central Corridor Line and consider all options, including an alignment change, to protect this vital institution!"

Fahrenheit = Celcius

from Monday
There is a point at which the Fahrenheit and Celcius temperature systems cross: -40

The weather is a constant topic of interest to most Midwesterners. It's the guaranteed safe-topic in any social function. Did you hear how cold it was up in Duluth this morning? [today's answer: -30) And, of course, if they don't sound like they're from here, you can extend the meterological discussion: "Did you grow up here? No? Was it this cold where you used to live?"

After experiencing the bitter cold this morning (today's high was minus 3 F) ... the weather man on MPR said we failed to break the record low temp by a few degrees this morning. So, of course, out of curiosity, I wondered what sort of record lows the Twin Cities get:

December 25, 1879: -39F
so, yes, this is basically -39C

of course, balanced by
December 25, 1922: +52F


Today's frigid expedition was to a sporting goods store for the Jr. Gophers' new & improved Winter apparel. And 2 sleds. New hat, balaklava, thermal socks, and super-warm mittens. The snow boots & snow pants were last week.

As long as the temperature is above 20, we'll be hitting the slopes: well, the hill at Powderhorn Park, 4 blocks from home.

From the BBC World News

Hello, this is Claire Bolderson with the BBC World Service ...

The BBC's Claire Bolderson and Minnesotta Public Radio's Kerri Miller co-hosted a debate on the challengest ahead for America's next president. The debate took place in front of a live audience.

Yes, that live audience would include Peter & Elizabeth - both of whom can be heard on the broadcast.

It was a fairly interesting event. We got to see the upper level of the Gutherie, which I'd not seen before. A stunning view over the Mississippi. There was socialization time before & after the show. The refreshment option was moved to after the show; since it was a co-production with the BBC, high tea was offered. One of the fellows we chatted with is an election official, and was quite informative of the inner workings of the Minnesota election system.

One of the panelists was my US congressman. It was interesting to hear him speak. It was far more interesting to watch his non-verbal response to the questions and other panelists' answers (particularly the rabid mindless businessman). His facial expressions and body language were a very clear commentary on the other speaker's words.

I got a chance to speak with him afterwards. I also got a chance to speak to both Kerri Miller (whose show I listened to practically every day until I started grad school) and Claire Bolderson (whose show I listen to whenever I'm in the car late enough in the day to catch the BBC World Service News Hour). It's odd seeing someone one normally only hears. I often wonder if the radio personalities at somewhere more professional (like the BBC) show up at work in their cut-offs and t-shirts (e.g. Mr. STFU) or in the professional attire they wore today.

One of the BBC producers said the show here was fairly similar to the other stops in their cross-country tour of the US. We're the last one before D.C. on Monday. He did mention ours was the first group which didn't mention Sarah Palin. He sounded sort of relieved.

When I said "sure, that sounds great, I'll come" to the invitation from MPR, I didn't realize it was going to be a live broadcast over the BBC. Taped for MPR or PRI, sure but the BBC?.= Wow - Kenya to Kalamazoo got to hear how offended I am.

News Cut Quiz of the Week

Question 5:

What happens if you actually try to put lipstick on a pig?

* They break out. Pigs are allergic to lipstick.
* You can't. Pigs don't have lips.
* They look kinda sexy, in a political kind of way, of course.
* They have a sudden urge to drive their piglets to hockey practice.