To be more specific, I love that they keep me in touch with Vhera, my sponsored child. I just got a letter from her, the presence of which makes me even happier because she's still writing to me despite me not having answered her the last couple of times. (This time, Vhera, I promise to write back!) Seems like school is very much at the top of her mind now (last time, it was the family business of being small time entrepreneurs and selling sodas). She is now in the third year of high school, and goes there from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM from Monday through Friday. Now, that is a lot of learning!
God bless you back, Vhera. You and your family, who struggle hard to keep out of the mire of destitution that has swallowed many others in your socioeconomic situation. I've never met you, but I love you anyway. If I ever have children of my own*, I hope they are as cute and nice and lovable as you are. And I say that with absolute sincerity, knowing that it makes me sound very gay indeed :P. Not that I care what anyone thinks about me, anyway.
So, Children International is a very cool organization because of the above, and I urge anyone reading this to check them out!
*This statement is somewhat like putting the cart before the horse. First, I need to find myself a woman. I kind of want to give up, but I guess I won't just yet.
Showing posts with label Children International. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children International. Show all posts
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
A couple of new links
Longer update tonight, because I actually have something to say today :)! Got through a group presentation in front of the palliative care case study class this evening, and all three of us did reasonably well, especially Katie and Rebecca. I hate public speaking as a rule, but I knew just enough about the subject (from my own personal experience with loss and bereavement), to wing it, and not feel too much of a fool up in front of the class.
Anyway, just wanted to call attention to two other links I've added to the Activism column on the left side of the blog page. One, is the United Hollywood blog, which is being maintained by members of the Writers' Guild of America (WGA), who are on strike. For those who are not familiar wit their beef, the WGA is protesting the fact that many of them get paid peanuts to write scripts for television shows (like Heroes, 24, Prison Break, and, yes, the Daily Show and Jay Leno) and movies, and don't get paid at all for DVD and digital distribution sales (like on iTunes, Netflix, and through broadband streaming off the show websites, e.g., www.nbc.com/heroes). If it weren't for the fact that the term "sweatshop conditions" should be reserved for the very real problem of people, for example in Saipan, working for much less than minimum wage in slave conditions, I would be calling what the writers were putting up with "sweatshop conditions". Update: In fact, it isn't even close, and wouldn't be a fair comparison. Just wanted to make that clear. The writers are still getting screwed over, monetary wise, and that's still bullshit.
The other link is to Children International, which is an organization I have supported for about three years now. Nothing quite gives me a warm inner glow like getting a letter from the child I have been sponsoring, thanking me for helping her and her family, well not exactly escape poverty completely, but at least keeping them from being completely destitute. Best of luck, Vhera!
One last thing before I sign off for the night. I'm starting to clear out my collection of Facebook links, because it's starting to get unwieldy, and I'm thinking about leaving Facebook anyway. I found this link to a video, called "Killing Us Softly 3", which is a lecture about the effect that advertising has on American women's self-image. Very interesting, and somewhat disturbing, in view of how pervasive advertising is in our very environment. It's a couple of years old, but still just as relevant today. Any female visitors to this blog, please take notes.
Anyway, just wanted to call attention to two other links I've added to the Activism column on the left side of the blog page. One, is the United Hollywood blog, which is being maintained by members of the Writers' Guild of America (WGA), who are on strike. For those who are not familiar wit their beef, the WGA is protesting the fact that many of them get paid peanuts to write scripts for television shows (like Heroes, 24, Prison Break, and, yes, the Daily Show and Jay Leno) and movies, and don't get paid at all for DVD and digital distribution sales (like on iTunes, Netflix, and through broadband streaming off the show websites, e.g., www.nbc.com/heroes). If it weren't for the fact that the term "sweatshop conditions" should be reserved for the very real problem of people, for example in Saipan, working for much less than minimum wage in slave conditions, I would be calling what the writers were putting up with "sweatshop conditions". Update: In fact, it isn't even close, and wouldn't be a fair comparison. Just wanted to make that clear. The writers are still getting screwed over, monetary wise, and that's still bullshit.
The other link is to Children International, which is an organization I have supported for about three years now. Nothing quite gives me a warm inner glow like getting a letter from the child I have been sponsoring, thanking me for helping her and her family, well not exactly escape poverty completely, but at least keeping them from being completely destitute. Best of luck, Vhera!
One last thing before I sign off for the night. I'm starting to clear out my collection of Facebook links, because it's starting to get unwieldy, and I'm thinking about leaving Facebook anyway. I found this link to a video, called "Killing Us Softly 3", which is a lecture about the effect that advertising has on American women's self-image. Very interesting, and somewhat disturbing, in view of how pervasive advertising is in our very environment. It's a couple of years old, but still just as relevant today. Any female visitors to this blog, please take notes.
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