From AbbeNormal I got some links about about real life superheroes including a yahoogroup you can join if you're interestig in joining. Karl Steyart blogs "I recently returned from the hurricane-devastated areas of southern Mississippi and New Orleans. There, I joined a group of people called the Superheroes, who take on superhero names, put on costumes with capes, and ride around on bicycles looking for ways to help people." It sounds fascinating to me.

If I wasn't busy being a superhero to Little T and Special K, I'd seriously consider it since many volunteer organizations seem so deadly serious and filled with missionary zeal and I do mean missionary as in Christian mission and I'm just not. However I guess the thing I don't like about is that a superhero implies you are better than someone else. Though from the names they chose, it sounds like they're just being silly.

According to SJMerc, Keplers will reopen on Saturday. "Kepler's will ask customers to sign up as ``members'' with financial pledges of support, a tool often used by public television stations and other non-profits, but uncommon among retailers. Depending on their level of support, Kepler's members will receive gifts or other perks such as reserved parking, invitations to book signings and chances to dine with prominent authors."

Kepler's is too far away to be a big part of my life. And I doubt I'll buy a membership. However I do like having a bookstore within walking distance of my house, so it does motivate me to start buying books at my local bookstore more often.

The reopening of Kepler's as a charity illustrates how wealthy and yet geeky Silicon Valley is. Enough people have thousands of dollars they want to spend on a bookshop to keep Kepler's afloat. Of all the charities I'd want to spend my money on, it wouldn't be a bookshop, but still it makes me glad to live here. It also struck me as slightly absurd. One of the things that keeps me going when things are bad is how absurd life is. I certainly donate dollars to absurd things. Most of my absurd donation dollars go to opera.

An email from Jim Frey

In addition to the important work being done by the American Red Cross and other relief agencies, there are a number of special efforts we thought writers might be particularly interested in:

• The Katrina Literary Collective has been created to collect and distribute books to victims of the hurricane. For more information, contact the Amber Communications Group at amberbk@aol.com.
• A Louisiana Disaster Relief Fund has been established to receive monetary donations to assist libraries in Southeastern Louisiana at the American Library Association
• The American Booksellers Association has created a Bookseller Relief Fund to assist independent booksellers affected by Hurricane Katrina.
• The Southern Arts Federation has set up an Emergency Relief Fund to assist arts organizations and artists in those Gulf Communities most devastated by Katrina.
  

I read this searing BBC Op-ed that begins:"The only difference between the chaos of New Orleans and a Third World disaster operation, he said, was that a foreign dictator would have responded better." Well also writes "If journalists were there with cameras beaming the suffering live across America, where were the officers and troops?" It's rather harsh, but it is true that suffering could have been averted with better planning. Wells writes about the levees but the real culprit is the devastation of the wetlands which allow flooding to take place.

If you want to help, you donate to Second Harvest, which according to Charity Navigator, and Forbes is a more efficient charity, but smaller charity than the Red Cross. Of course you can also donate to the Red Cross and specify Katrina relief fund. You can also donate to various Live Journal people who will donate to various charities. shadesong compiled a list here.

Mary Anne asked in her blog how you decide how to give to charity. So I decided to answer the question here.

C and I take a rough look at our finances and see if we have any leftover to give. Lately we've been giving less, because although currently our insurance pays Little T's medical and therapy bills without too much hassle, sometimes we do get denied for the odd thing. This may continue as he gets older, so we need to make sure we have enough saved for his needs.

In general I prefer charities that empower people to help themselves such as through microloans or better health care or preserving their environment. Then I look over their finances. Unless it's a microloan charity (microloans are expensive to distribute) I want less than 15% to go to fundraising costs and another 10% to admin costs. I look at Charity Watch and Charity Navigator which both monitor charities' finances. Charity Watch just provides a top-rated list online while Charity Navigator provides rating for every charity. Unfortunately Charity Navigator's rating system seems somewhat broken if the charity's revenue or expenses decreases although their raw stats are great. I also support museums and the SF opera. See below.

• Freedom From Hunger - They give microloans primarily to women. They also provide basic education to women to help them start their own business. It's top rated by Charity Watch



• Nature Conservancy - They buy land to prevent it from being developed and work with developers to save land. IMO working with businesses is one of the best ways to save the environment if it's done properly. Their finances always seem to be in excellent shape.



• Planned Parenthood Mar Monte - When C and I first started dating, I wanted him to get STD tested just to be on the safe side. PP was the only place he could go with no insurance. They tested him, and asked for no money in return. Free health clinics are one of the best ways to help improve sexual health. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte is an affiliate of the national charity Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which I accidentally gave money to once. Unfortunately the PPFA president is #24 in terms of total compensation earning over $500k, so I should probably look elsewhere for a good national health clinic charity



• Sierra Club - One of the few truly grassroots environmental organizations. Highly rated



• Doctors Without Borders -Also highly rated by Charity Watch. I used to give to Oxfam, but it's lower rated and I've realised that I'd rather give medical aid than food to someone.



• Bryn Mawr College - My alma mater. I'm impressed with how many students there are the first ones in their families to go to college. Getting a good education is one of the best ways to help someone out of poverty.



• Various museums and the SF opera - None of them are important in general, but I do feel that if I go to a museum or artistic venue regularly then I should support them with membership.

I wrote previously that I was anti Blogging Marathon. I changed my mind...a little. shadesong is blogging for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in honor of a LJ person who died from the disease. I think it's fitting to have a blogathon in that particular case. Perhaps there are others that I don't know about.

I read on another blog that she's going to participate in a Blogging Marathon. I'm not telling you who, because I don't want to encourage her. She's not the only one. 215 people have signed up. I think it's very silly. Basically folks give you pledges if you blog every 30 minutes for 24 hours. I'm already available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I hope it doesn't break your heart that it's not for you. I hope 24 hour marathons are not a new trend. A couple months ago, I was asked to donate and run for a 24 hour relay for some charity that I don't remember. I liked the charity, but I refused to donate or walk, and I've tried to block which one it was, so I wouldn't be prejudiced against them. I guess my mind block worked.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against sacrifice. And I'm all for exercise marathons, because they give people motivation to get into better shape and also fundraise. But meaningless sacrifices just give people the false sense they're doing something great. Instead they could have done the same thing with less effort and spent the extra time making a meaningful sacrifice. If your charity is for sick children, why not spend just a fraction of the time you would have spent blogging 30 minutes for 24 hours to bring a meal to your local Ronald McDonald house. Or if it's for homeless people or a anti-hunger charity, serve soup at a homeless shelter.

No I'm not doing any of these things. If you've been reading, you'll know that dealing with my special needs son's day-to-day needs is about all the sacrifice I can handle right now. But you can bet that when I have the bandwidth to make other sacrifices, I will not consider blogging to be one of them. C disagrees with me. What do you think?