Words’ End

Picture here. It’s Obama’s team-to-be, the people being considered anyway. What’s wrong with it?

You know how they say “every donation counts, no matter how small”? Well, historically I have felt silly donating small amounts of money. I’d like to change that, and am seeking suggestions.

The idea is to donate $10/month to different organizations (so, not a monthly pledge to a specific organization). I can afford to donate more, but that will be occasional, and I know the ways in which I want to target that. I’ve paid lip service for a while to socially liberal (and yet Responsible!) ideology — so, you know, time to contribute something, even if small. Donating my time is another way to participate in the world, for sure. Right now that’s a scarce resource, and is going to a smaller subset of the world.

I care about, in no particular order: health care reform, immigration issues, drug policy issues, education (mostly primary and secondary, for these purposes), reproductive choice, gay rights, racial equality issues, environmental crises, disaster relief. This isn’t an exhaustive list.

There’s always Kiva, or Heifer Int’l, but right now I’m interested in finding donation targets within this country. I realized, thinking about this, that I know more venues for helping poor people in Indonesia than here in the States. I’m particularly interested in organizations with very low administrative overhead.

So, suggestions?

“We’ve found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems.”

Once again I fall a little bit more in love with the 21st century.

What’s your favorite web resource for a decent, concise discussion of basic scientific facts and phenomena – like what a pulsar wind nebula is, what role specific chemical elements play in our life, how circulation works in octopi? Anything, as long as it’s interesting, diverse and fairly fast (30m or less) to read up on.

Wikipedia doesn’t count, for the purposes of this exercise.

It looks like I’ll be in Baltimore soon. I’ll be flying in on Sunday 11/16, and leaving Tuesday evening 11/18. On Sunday I can travel in the morning, or in the evening. If I get there in the morning (or around noon), I’ll have the rest of the day to kick around.

Worth it? What’s there to do in Baltimore? I don’t know that city at all.

If you’re reading on LJ, please to leave any comments on Words’ End and not on the LJ feed. Thanks in advance for any advice!

A Los Angeles residing person whose blog I read, and whose life I admire, writes:

I did not realize it was possible to be simultaneously deliriously happy and bitterly disappointed until tonight.

Why, California? Why do you hate some of your residents so much that you would take away the civil rights they were given enough time ago for you to have seen that marriage between two people who love each other doesn’t hurt you in any way?

…gods.

*giant sigh of relief and amazement*

Today, the U.S. presidential election has drawn a record number of voters. Ever since I got to this country and began thinking about civic engagement, I’ve been appalled by the voter turnout; and, gods help me, I am already proud of my fellow voting-eligible citizens this time around.

(Not that I voted yet; the line totally defeated me this morning, and laughed in my face too, what with being three blocks long. Going to cast my ballot after work, when it doesn’t matter how long I stand in line.)

Today, people are twittering and blogging and talking about hope, and I’m afraid to hope but so, so excited.

Today, like some others,, I’m feeling pragmatic – about the U.S., about the world in all its polluting, genocidal glory, about my own little life and where it’s leading me. It’s leading me in some scary-exciting directions.

I like today. It’s electric.