What a wonderful world we live in! So many things going on. How could anyone be bored?
Politics
Things are heating up between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Trump and Cruz are battling still like school kids. The New York primary is coming up soon. Interesting political situation for all concerned.
I finally got my notice from the Board of Election Supervisors that my application to switch loyalties from "unaffiliated" to "Democrat" was approved. Now I can vote in the Maryland Primary for the "big guns" and their electors, who may, or may not, be bound to their stated candidates at the conventions.
((Speaking of "hot air" I just had to break off because two hot air balloons are going over our house. One is an iridescent ball with colorful stripes; the other consists of two clown faces... similar to the masks that were part of the movie Amadeus... except that these have red bulbous noses, just like my Grandfather's circus friend, Emmett Kelley.. and kind of like my Grandfather's W.C. Fields' nose. Elaine took some pictures, and if they can be downloaded and enlarged, I'll include them in this blog.))
German Saying
I completed a German word puzzle today that had a message hidden within. The message read:
"Er faellt aus allen Wolken." Which, as far as I can make out, is an idiom meaning somewhat like "It hit him like a ton of bricks." Or.. "the dumbbell finally found out that his wife married him for his money." Or.. "He saw the light." Take your pick. (I could be wrong, and probably am.)
What do some Charities do with your Donation?
Reader's Digest in it's December/January 2015, wrote about a few charities that you might have donated to. I suggest reading the article. If unavailable, please note the following:
1. Cancer Fund of America or Cancer Support Services or Breast Cancer Society or Children's Cancer Fund of America: perhaps 3% of the money donated went to prepare questionable "gift boxes" of snack cakes, shampoo samples and batteries to be sent to developing countries. The remaining 97% was used by the charity's staff (mostly family) who purchased things such as new cars and cruises. The (family) CEO of the Breast Cancer Services received $371,000 in compensation in 2010.
I know, I know... I sent them a donation or two a while ago. Shame on me.
2. The American Red Cross: .. may I quote: "Despite having spent nearly half a billion dollars, the American Red Cross had built a grand total of six new homes in Haiti...." They have an explanation for this, but only disclosed the spending in broad categories. Anyway, it sounds like they need to let the public know what their donations are really being used for. Perhaps all is legitimate, but they still need to explain things before I donate to them again.
3. Community Charity Advancement, out of Pompano Beach, Florida showed in its 2013 tax filing that 91% of donations went to overhead, and just 9% for charitable purposes.
4. The Association for Firefighters and Paramedics paid a fund-raising company nearly 90 cents out of every dollar it raised. (Even legitimate organizations pay a bundle to fund raisers. And I suppose they might not get anything if they didn't use such firms.)
5. The National Rifle Association paid a fund-raising firm $59 for every $100 it raised. (ditto to #4 comment.)
The Reader's Digest suggests a few things you can do to allow you to donate wisely:
1. Identify the causes you care most about, and do research to find the best charities that have those causes as ones that they also care about.
2. Give a few large gifts, instead of many small ones. (When you get nickles, dimes and even quarters in the mail, don't let them give you a guilt trip.. keep the money and run.)
3. Never give over the phone. (Don't even answer the phone if the caller-ID indicates that it is a charity calling. Wait for the mail solicitation instead.)
4. Look into the charity's finances. What do they do with the money they receive?
5. Check out the charity at Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org); Charity Watch (charitywatch.org); National Association of State Charity Officials (nasconet.org).
Let's end with something Sexy
Aaron Karo made this observation in a 2011 issue of the Funny Times:
"It's always the people that I never want to picture naked who talk about sex the most."
No comments:
Post a Comment