Category Archives: Charity

The Oroville Dam Flood Plain Evacuation: Resources

I have many things to say to California State government officials about the current crisis with the Oroville Dam spillways. Because many of you failed to heed explicit warnings twelve years ago, 200,000 people were forced out of their homes … Continue reading

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Ebola: What Average People Can Do

The ebola epidemic has reached the United States and at least one country in Europe, although so far it does not look much like an epidemic in either place. (Four people confirmed to have fallen ill in the United States … Continue reading

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On Donating to Charity After a Disaster

People tend to be generous in the wake of a disaster, whether it be a hurricane (Sandy) or a massacre (Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut). Unfortunately criminals know this, and take advantage of it. Neil Schwartzman, a friend and … Continue reading

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On Making the Best of Bad Things

Elisabeth and Stephen Alderman lost a son in the terror attacks on 9/11. It’s tempting to call it the worst thing imaginable, but (of course) it isn’t. Their son Peter was by all accounts a wonderful, loving, decent human being … Continue reading

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In Memory: Sally Kristen Ride (1951-2012)

Dr. Sally Ride — astronaut, scientist, and teacher — was one of my heroes, as she was for many women of my age/generation. Dr. Ride died yesterday, at 61 years of age, of pancreatic cancer. I posted the following on … Continue reading

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Proud to Be a Texan (Expatriate, but still)

At least, when I read this blog describing how two east Texas women set up emergency services for firefighters fighting a local wildfire. With a little bit of help from their friends and (I hate to admit it) Facebook, they … Continue reading

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CrowdSourcing and Space Exploration

Yesterday I read a blog by Ruth Suehle, an employee at Red Hat and blogger on OpenSource.com, that suggests that crowdsourcing and other forms of voluntary collaboration could replace taxes for funding some or all of the costs of space … Continue reading

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Craigslist Founder up to Some Good

Craig Newmark, founder of CraigsList, has a new project — connecting the world’s non-profit and educational institutions together for the common good of humanity. You can read about it, and participate, here.

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Mohamed Yunus Forced Out of Grameen Bank

For the past few weeks I’ve been following talk that Nobel Laureate Mohamed Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and the guy who mostly started the micro-credit revolution, was under pressure to retire. The talk is that this was due to … Continue reading

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Earthquake in New Zealand

New Zealand’s capital city, Christchurch, was hit by an earthquake Tuesday at around noon local time.  Various media sources report that a number of buildings collapsed.  Over sixty are known dead, and others are missing and likely trapped beneath the … Continue reading

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