Giving Day translations
Having boycotted black friday and cyber monday for anti-consumerism reasons, next up is a new ploy called giving day. A better name would be gimme day. Obviously there are worthy causes needing public support. But to shame us into draining personal funds by inventing another halmark holiday smells of another greed themed trap. The timing is suspect. Promote giving before the masses go broke buying the perfect gift for jesus birthday. Sheesh.
On the domestic political front, The Sanders Institute in Vermont is hosting a gathering of progressive minds next week. The 'bold' agenda being discussed is a 10 point wish list to focus on:
~ minimum wage
~ medicare for all
~ climate change action
~ criminal justice reform
~ immigration policy
~ tax reform
~ infastructure spending
~ perscription pricing
~ higher education costs
~ social security benefits
These are all worthwhile platforms. I would argue campaign finance and military budgets should be included to make it an even dozen. Make it a bakers dozen and throw in (fill in your passion here) too. One can hope.
Comments
Good morning, Q ~~
It's my grandson's birthday, so since it is giving day and he is a 23yo charity case, I'll give to him!
I boycotted Black Friday by shopping in a small border town and giving my money to Mexico. I don't cyber-shop much (vitamins, grow lights, you get the picture) so no money spent yesterday except on a few groceries.
We haven't exchanged gifts for years. Such a waste of money. Instead, I take my grandkids shopping for clothes and shoes, etc. My grandkids are 20-somethings, living on their own, so have many needs. This year, both asked me to pay their community college tuition instead, which isn't much. Thoughtful children....
Have a beautiful day, folks!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Charity cases
Good morning RA. You are a generous grandma. They are lucky to have you. Good day!
Bakers dozen, indeed.
I would suggest a baker's dozen, 13. Anti-trust should be on the list too.
~ minimum wage
~ medicare for all
~ climate change action
~ criminal justice reform
~ immigration policy
~ tax reform
~ infastructure spending
~ perscription pricing
~ higher education costs
~ social security benefits
~ antitrust
~ military budget
~ campaign finance
Why does Bernie keep leaving the military out of his list of reforms? It is where all the money is to pay for the rest of the agenda.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Trust busting
Hey DK. Agreed on the anti-trust. There used to be legislation on that. Remember Ma Bell? Guess our new, improved corporate govt. no longer bothers with those quaint old customs of competition. Free market monopoly is the new game.
Cheers!
I more critical one if I may be so bold as to add to your
list. Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine of 1949. Media should be required to serve the public good by presenting facts.
O.k. When is the next meeting for the revolution?
-FuturePassed on Sunday, November 25, 2018 10:22 p.m.
Future of computer programming: a global software sweatshop?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2018/11/19/how-a-mysterious-tec...
Interesting article Lot
The vulture capitalists are flying in the clouds it seems. These billionaires paying pennies are a blight to workers here on earth. It's tough to fight the bosses when they own everything everywhere. Sheesh.
RA - Giving to grandkids . . . wonderful
That's where we should be giving. I agree.
The "giving day" thing has always turned my stomach, without even giving it much thought. It's a distraction. An out of focus meme.
Good day to all!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I so agree with you, Marilyn ~
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
An alternative look at "Giving Tuesday":
The "Network for Good" has a "Giving Tuesday" Matching program. I first learned of it through one of the Bat conservation, preservation, rescue and rehab orgs. The Network for Good set up an umbrella site with an umbrella donate button whereby one could donate to specific organizations through their site on "Giving Tuesday" and they would match, in some proportion, gifts given to those organizations. Obviously, this attracted some not-too-widely-known and/or not-too-widely-funded orgs to sign up and even shift the focus of their fundraising to that date and process. Since the whole day and idea was separate from that platform, there are a multitude of "Giving Tuesday" solicitations and such being thrown about out there which are not part of this process and/or gimmick.
So I dunno if it is counter-productive or not, but if you have a group to which you plan on donating this year, but have not yet done so, giving via the matching site may or may not be a way to go. Every year I give small donations to a handful of specific orgs and have scheducled them throughout the year so they don't all bunch up on me. That means that I can use the NFG "Giving Tuesday" button for the Nov (and even Dec if I cheat) orgs on my list and maybe get them some extra bux in the process. Why not. (The webpage for doing the org search is https://www.nfggive.com/charity-list?query=bat%20conservation&page=1&sorted_by=relevance)
Possibly unrelated, though they are on that list, is the fact that The Internet Archive is having its annual fundraiser right now. If you are unfamiliar with them, you should explore their resources - they have a ton of free resources - and learn about what they do and their purpose. (https://archive.org/about/ Note the upper left corner, with the link buttons for WEB, Texts (books), Video, Audio, Software and Images, browse and try not to get lost for too many days.
I am a supporter and hence got an "annual fundraiser" e-mail stating that they had a donor providing match funds at the following link https://archive.org/donate/?iax=SmDonor1Em%7CDonate&amt=5&contrib_type=once Instead of, or in addition to, "Giving Tuesday", maybe give them a thought and a few bucks, then get one of the free e-readers floating around out there and dive into their book library for some instant payback.
Just a thought.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
A good thought
Thanks EL. Did a double take when I saw NFG. Means something different in these parts.
Make something
With your hands (edit) from something you already have and gift it away -day- or just repurposed gift-away day.
thanks for the ot and have a good one...
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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I like that idea magi
Today I am giving away bird seeds like there is no tomorrow. Frantic flocking for the sunflower seeds, every kind of feather flutter from the neighborhood. Some even wait their turn!
Best..
Yes. When I first started as
Yes. When I first started as an engineer in the semi conductor industry there were recruiters jumping out of the bushes in front of my car at the company property line. That is not the case for the new recruits. I used have to beat the bushes for folks to work on my crew, now I have 5 applications for each job. Their job is tweaking programs for the machines that complete the steps of building a computer chip. I employ 120 people over 4 shifts. It is high stress work so I lose a few every year. Right now the global chip market is in decline that is almost a nose dive.
The problem we have to face in the worker world is the cost of living for the average person is far less in most other countries than it is here. The problem is easy credit I think. Reagan was good at smoke and mirrors. Killing unions and deregulating the credit industry really went hand in hand. People really didn't realize their wages weren't keeping up with inflation because just 5 easy payments....
I have been considering retiring to Mexico where I can live very well on less than $30,000. I have noticed the credit industry moving into Mexico though and prices beginning to rise, so maybe not.
There is this psw
They know about the financial aspect. I found some good info here.
https://thunfinancial.com
Family, local folks, and disaster victims . . .
I can never give much . . . no personal income at this point . . . but I like to shoot a few bucks off to reputable disaster relief.
I am a sporadic reader these days, depending on the day's work. Have not seen a link for fire victims. Surely it has been posted, but I was not reading that day.
My cousin in Houston gave me a dependable link for Harvey relief. Other hurricanes I have used wunderground.com. What's a good local link that will serve our friends in the fires?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Try local chamber of commerce
https://www.chamberofcommerce.com/paradise-ca/1076814-paradise-ridge-cha...
for instance.