From Sunset to Amnesty International to Ramin to Charity Navigator

Shot this sunset pic walking home from the University locker room, where I had to empty my locker before the new semester. Got home and got the mail. No, we don't have Sunday delivery, just forgot it yesterday.




In the mail was a donation request from Amnesty International. Which reminded me that there are people around the world sitting in prison because they said or did things, that we, in the U.S., take (or used to take) for granted. While I can enjoy the sunset, I thought about Ramin whom I met in Goa. Ramin was in an Iranian prison for four months in 2006 - without a view of the sunset. I wrote a long post about our conversations, but he aked that I not post it since he still has to face trial in Tehran this year. I mentioned him in an earlier post, that you can read here. There's a link at the previous post to more information about him. I also won't post his picture until he says it's ok.

So, now that I've asked you all to send stamps to India in the previous post, I'll also request you think of those less fortunate than you and do a little something to help them out. Being a political prisoner is one of the grimmest situations. (Yes, I know there are other equally grim situations, so we needn't waste time arguing over what is the grimmest.) You could be in isolation, you don't know how long you will be there, you don't know if your family even know where you are or even that you are alive. Your whole world is controlled and dominated by your captors. Amnesty International works to find out who is imprisoned and to get word to them that the world knows they are there. Also to pressure governments to get them out of prison and until they are out, to treat them more humanely. Their site also shows they do a lot more. And for those Americans who go to the site and get upset about their Guantanamo Bay campaigns, just remember that the Chinese, the Burmese, the Sudanese all react similarly when outsiders point out their flaws. Except, of course, for the victims and their families.

And I've talked about giving to charity smartly and mentioned Charity Navigator in an earlier post. Amnesty International got an overall rating from Navigator of 49.43, which sounded pretty low, but then I looked at how they did their ratings and the specific numbers for Amnesty. Amnesty got two stars ** out of four possible. Two stars means "Needs Improvement: Meets or nearly meets industry standards but underperforms most charities in its Cause." But since 50 points is the cutoff for three stars, Amnesty was just .57 points from *** which is "Good: Exceeds or meets industry standards and performs as well as or better than most charities in its Cause." The highest rated charity got 69.53 (The American Friends of I.D.C). **** (over 60 points) means "Exceptional: Exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its Cause" Amnesty did well on administrative costs (2.9%), but their fundraising costs (20.6%) lost them points in the ratings. The cutoff for fundraising is 20%. Had they raised another $1,366,700, (they did raise $40,612,588), they would have gotten a few more points and been in the 'good' category.

Charity Navigator's ratings. according to their site, are based exclusively on IRS Forms 990. There is no evaluation of how well the charities carry out their missions. Amnesty did win the Nobel Prize, so they have been pretty carefully scrutinized. I haven't investigated Charity Navigator the way they investigate charities.. Their website is extremely transparent. They tell you their exact methodology for rating. They also acknowledge that they are just one source of information that you need when donating to charity. They do give points differently to different kinds of organizations, based on various factors, But they don't seem to evaluate whether, say, a charity has one or two major regular donors, thus keeping down their fundraising to almost nothing. They also don't consider whether staff get health benefits. A charity that gives health benefits will clearly have a lower administrative efficiency (on Navigator's scale) than one that doesn't. (Thanks Monica for that point.)

But when you donate, visiting Charity Navigator will make you a far more sophistifated and effective donor. So go there now so you can bookmark the site. There are lots and lots of interesting things there. Here's their list (I've only copied the headings, not the explanations) of:

Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy Donors

1. Be Proactive In Your Giving
2. Hang Up The Phone / Eliminate The Middleman
3. Be Careful Of Imposters and Sound-Alike Names cover the difference.
4. Confirm 501(c) (3) Status
5. Check The Charity's Commitment To Donor's Rights
6. Obtain Copies Of Its Financial Records
7. Review Executive Compensation
8. Start A Dialogue To Investigate Its Programmatic Results
9. Concentrate Your Giving
10. Share Your Intentions And Make A Long-Term Commitment


The ten best practices of Savvy Donors (above) is at the top of their Tips list which also includes:

6 Questions To Ask Charities Before Donating
Tips For Older Donors
What To Do When A Charity Calls
How To Stop Solicitations By Mail
Protecting Yourself From Online Scams
Tips For Giving In Times Of Crisis
Evaluating Charities Not Currently Rated by Charity Navigator
Tax Benefits of Giving
Guide To Donating Your Car
Guide to Donating Noncash Items
Guide To Volunteering
Guide To Giving In The Workplace
Giving Statistics
A Donor's Bill of Rights
Giving Calculator

Stamps II

I got a beautifully addressed envelope from Geeno thanking me for the big envelope of stamps I sent him. His letter was very appreciative. Geeno's the guy (click here for the previous post with picture)) we met in Kumarakom who collects stamps. So, again, take out an envelope, put his address on it, and when you throw away envelopes, tear off the stamps and put them in the envelope. When you have a good bunch of stamps in there, take it to the post office and send it. Remember to ask for nice stamps to send it, not the automated strip. You can click on the picture and enlarge his address, print it, then tape it onto an envelope.

Under 30 at Out North

Under 30 is Out North's annual production of local actors (and often people with no acting experience) performing their own work, which has to be under 30 minutes long. What was particularly interesting was the influence of Lisa Kron on two of the pieces. Kron's performance in October which I discuss in the linked post, was a one woman show with three story lines intertwined, including a slide show of the trip she and her father took to Auschwitz. In her case, the slides were imaginary, but she used a pointer to point out all the details to the audience. All three stories were told simultaenously, so she had to move around the stage as she switched from story line to story line. The spot light would go out in one place, the come on to capture her in another spot on the stage picking up that story line.

Pam Cravez' "The Art Show", which she began to develop before Kron's performance here in October, reminded me immediately of Kron. She too talked about her father. Instead of imaginary slides, she had actual paintings of her father on easels on the stage. As Kron used the imaginary slides to help get into her stories, Cravez used the real pictures.

In "Three Continents" Kristina Church, Vicki Russell and Mark Muro each told their own travel story using the same Kron technique of interweaving the stories but here each story had its own actor. In some cases the two other actors would slip into supporting roles for the other two stories.



At the post show discussion, the actors thanked Kron for helping them work on their productions while she was here. It really is a great example of how a tiny regional theater can benefit from importing national talent for short runs of their show AND for workshops with local actors. Her influence was very visible in last night's performances.

The final piece, "Merrow" by drama therapist Joan Cullinane transformed the audience. After slithering in as a mermaid, she used puppets and the audience to run through a damning indictment of modern bureaucratic pychology professionalism. It was deeply moving, funny, and she raised important issues about mental health and mental health care. Her character's persona took over the small theater and the mesmerized (a word used by two audience members in the post-show discussion) audience. When she asked audience members to find the cards with the DSM Code Numbers of different mental illnesses under their seats, and then called to the stage all those who had the 'winning' diagnoses, no one hesitated to join her on stage and act out their symptoms. This piece should be seen by lots and lots of people, particularly those health care professionals.

AAUG - Goodies, Prizes, Auction, and Info

The Alaska Apple User Group met last night. While there are tons of places on line to get information, there is something nice about being able to ask a live person questions. This picture shows the table of books, software, and accessories that you can take and keep if you do a review. Last night I took a Mouse Pad with a gel wrist rest, a book on podcasting, and "internet cleanup" - software to 'Protect Your Privacy on the Mac.' So far, I've tried the mouse pad and I'm not sure there is an improvement. The book looks good because my wife - who has a strong audio background - is looking for a digital recorder, with possibly podcasting in the future. Haven't loaded the software yet.

I also talked with an ichat video conference user whose going to help me work out the connection to my mom. I've got a friend with a pc and we haven't been able to make that connection work. What I downloaded from the web said he needed to disable his firewall and he wasn't willing to do that. But my mother has a Mac and we haven't been able to make that work either. This guy is also exploring Skype as an alternative cross platform video chat forum. We'll see.




This other picture shows the library, where you can check things out for a month. And then there is a raffle and auction. All the goodies are donated by manufacturers who obviously want some exposure for their products. Seems like a good deal all around. Even my skeptical nature sees this all as a good thing. Am I missing some lurking evil here? Again, this is a community, like the automaticwashers.org, that exists pretty much below the radar of most people, but has proved to be a real help. Oh, did I mention their free weekend seminars? Actually, I may have in a previous postabout our first AAUG meeting. And also the post on Naked Conversations, a book on blogging I reviewed.

Next Time Don't Blame the Kids for Taking Stuff From the Back of Your Pickup

.Ravens just like to have fun.
They don't care if it's only 5 degrees Fahrenheit
And sometimes they leave a calling card.

Dianne And The Cookie Dough Prophy Paste

This is Dianne's normal view of me. Just a mouth. I see her two or three times a year when she cleans my teeth. She chides me for not flossing more, she tells me about her family, she makes gently snide comments that always carry a smile. Today she started off by telling me the previous two patients had cancelled and so I was gonna get the lectures she had left over from them as well as my own. And, of course there is little I can say back, and even when I can, I have to be careful since she's holding sharp instruments in my mouth. But the final reward for an hour of guff and poking is Cookie Dough Prophy Paste - the stuff they polish your teeth with at the end. It tastes so good, I don't even rinse it out. Dessert at the dentists.

Having my little Canon with me, means I can take pictures of the people who, over the years, play a small, but important part in my life. Knowing that Dianne is the one who will clean my teeth, makes going to the dentist something to look forward to. Thanks Dianne.

And, coincidentally, we had dinner last night with another Dianne, but I couldn't find my camera, so that will come another day.

Carving a Parking Space or White on White

It's hard to see much here, because the snowplows just keep pushing the snow to the sides of the street. We now have about a ten foot snow berm in front of the house. My car is in the garage because if I parked it in the street it would block the road. But my wife would much rather have hers there than have to go outside to a cold car. So my exercise these days is digging out a parking place between the mailbox and the street. The picture is from the driveway. The mailbox is to the left of the picture. The street is barely visible in all the white. I'll leave a protective wall of snow between my car and the drivers. It appears it will be a while before the city starts clearing the snow.

Slow, but sure, gets the job done. I've already made a lot of progress!

In the name of blogging research only

I started this blog to find out about the blogging world. Now I've run into this particular blog several times and so I have put up a link and filled out their form. The Bestest Blog Ever is another of those blogs set up just to increase blog traffic. I'm really not sure if this is a good thing or not. Visually, it's the used car lot of the blogosphere. It's a guy in the green plaid suit that never fit. Maybe it's the weather affecting me.

By the way, based on the sitemeter referrals, so far the site that has generated the most hits (not counting the new stream coming in from Google) was from my Maytag repair thread on automaticwashers.com.

Google finally kicks in

I started this blog just to see how blogs work. One of my early questions was about how the giant search engines, especially Google, find you and then get you reasonably close to page one. I read some of the Google help information, did get confirmation they knew this blog existed, and even was able to find myself through Google if I used the right combination of very particular search words. But after a week or so even that didn't work. When I learned about the specialized blog search engines, I resigned myself to being found that way.

But as I was looking at the site-meter report yesterday, there were suddenly 'lots' of people getting to the site through Google. Not sure how or why.

About site-meter. I got that up mid-October and anyone can check out the site traffic. Just click on the counter number at the bottom of the right hand side of the blog. You can see all the information that sites get about their visitors.

Infamous versus Capote

We saw Infamous tonight at Bear Tooth. It isn't too often that we get to see two different contemporary takes on the same story. Yes, we have remakes of old films, and copies of successful non-English films by American film makers, but not two crews working on the same story, independently at the same time. And getting both out into theaters. Both these movies follow Truman Capote's trips to Kansas to cover the murders for his book In Cold Blood. I thought the first one to come out - Capote - was a strong movie. But Infamous seemed significantly better. I'm still trying to figure out why. I think it just felt more natural. The photography wasn't as dramatic, and Toby Jones as Capote seemed to become his character and make it believable that this unusual man could win the trust of his informants. In comparison, Philip Seymour Hoffman seemed to be working hard throughout the movie to keep in character.

The story also raises questions about the relationship between the writer and the subject - a relationship I've been keenly aware of while writing a blog and one my daughter raised questions about the other day.

Ultimately I was struck by this opportunity for film students to see the final products of two good crews working on the same story.