Pretty On the Inside

Kanye West just went live on NBC during the Hurricane Relief and stated that there has been orders to shoot black people and said off script:

George Bush Does Not Care About Black People!

Kanye West

Hurricane+Katrina

flood aid

PLEASE IF YOU READ THIS: POST TO ANY CRAIGSLIST "GARAGE SALES" SITES SO PEOPLE CAN SEND THEIR LEFTOVER ITEMS TO THESE ORGANIZATIONS!

Inkind Donation Addresses via hurricaid

HOUSTON FOOD BANK

*PAPER GOODS
*CLEANING SUPPLIES
*BOTTLED WATER
*HEAT AND EAT FOODS
*SINGLE SERVING FOODS

TELEPHONE: 713.223.3700
ADDRESS: The Herzstein Center
3811 Eastex Freeway
Houston, TX 77026
WEB: WWWW.HOUSTONFOODBANK.ORG

KATY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

*GENERAL GOODS AND SERVICES

TELEPHONE: 281.828.1100
ADDRESS: 2501 S. Mason
Suite 230
Katy, TX 77450
WEB: WWW.KATYCHAMBER.COM

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

*NONPERISHABLE FOODS
*CLOTHING
*NEW UNDERWEAR
*PERSONAL HYGEINE ITEMS
*PET FOOD
*SLEEPING BAGS
*PILLOWS
*SLIPPERS
*CRAYONS
*COLORING BOOKS

TELEPHONE: 713.741.8234
ADDRESS (ALL HOUSTON, NO ZIPS LISTED):

WASHINGTON THRIFT STORE
2020 WASHINGTON

BELLAIRE THRIFT STORE
5236 CEDAR

OZANAM OUTLET
610 MEMORY LANE

HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY

*PET FOOD
*BLANKETS
*TOWELS

TELEPHONE: 713.433.6421
ADDRESS: 14700 ALMEDA ROAD
HOUSTON, TX
WEB: WWW.HOUSTONHUMANE.ORG

Hurricane Katrina
inkind donations

"NO NORE GODDAMNED PRESS CONFERENCES!"

http://metachat.org/index.php/2005/09/02/nagin_interview_from_wwl_am


Hurricane Katrina

Here's a link to another address that is accepting inkind donations.


http://www.punditeria.com/2006/08/to-donate.html

Universities are responding to the crisis by allowing students to enroll on a part-time basis. I'm proud to say that my university, Bentley College, is participating:

Because institutions of higher education in New Orleans are unable to accept students for the fall semester, Bentley and other colleges and universities around the country are getting calls from students who wish to enroll on a one-semester basis. Bentley plans to accept those who need assistance as "visiting students."

We as a faculty can make this accommodation possible by agreeing to admit one or two students into our classes above the enrollment cap if need be. This request pertains only to those students enrolled for the fall semester at an institution located in what has become a disaster area. Someone will be in touch with you directly when a need arises. If called upon, please make every effort to take on an extra student or two. It represents a concrete way we can lend a hand.

Bentley College

hurricane katrina

Hurricane Katrina


MoveOn.org is organizing the nationwide effort to provide housing for displaced refugees:

http://www.hurricanehousing.org


Pass It On.

My frustration with the new philosophy of donation led me to submit this op-ed piece to the Boston Globe:

Capitalism and Relief Aid

I’m fed up. This latest disaster is the last straw. Every time there is a natural disaster, my instinct to help kicks in. But, apparently, my kind of giving is not only discouraged, it is flat out rejected. I’m talking about in-kind donations. You know frivolous things like baby diapers, clothing, and toys. It used to be that when disaster struck, families, churches, and civic groups would initiate donation “drives” from the community to gather things that people had already in their possession to donate to people adversely affected. These drives weren’t junk roundups; they were designed to redistribute things from those of us who have plenty (and maybe too much) to those of us who had little (or nothing as illustrated in this most recent disaster). They also served as a valuable “teachable moment” for parents to instill the importance of giving in their children as unused toys and outgrown clothes were rounded up, put in boxes, and dropped at a central location.

But, and I hate to use 9/11 as the critical event that changed everything but this is when I noticed the shift in thinking, but after 9/11 I noticed a difference in how Americans were asked to help. Remember the volunteers who showed up to participate in bucket brigades? They were shown some appreciation by the workers there but for the most part they were told that they were in the way, were hindering the progress of the sanctioned workers, and to get back in their cars and drive back to their hometowns. Instead, the dominant message geared to those who wanted to help was, “Come to New York. Spend Money.” Rudy Giuliani was seen saying this over and over. Spending money in New York would help heal the scars left by the terrorists. Even Carrie Bradshaw supported her city by buying extra pairs of Jimmy Choos.

Then came the tsunami. Again, I had this urge to round up the things in my house that I knew we could live without and ship them to people who had nothing. And again, I got the same message: don’t send your stuff, send your money. At the time, I kind of got it: shipping costs, distribution issues, and lawlessness made shipping stuff impractical. And even though I understood it intellectually, giving my $100 to a relief fund did not satisfy my craving to help. It felt hollow, unfinished, and unthoughtful. It was like the $100 I gave to a friend for her wedding: I knew the gift would be appreciated but it felt shallow and unthoughtful to give it.

Related to this “give money, not things” is the unfortunate retooling of Christmas Toy Drives. Have you noticed that in the last few years it is no longer about donating any toy for an underprivileged child but an unopened toy. A brand new toy. Again, my desire to give something already purchased and involving my children in the process was thwarted. I have never bought a brand new toy for toy drives. It just seems ludicrous to me.

And now Hurricane Katrina. Whereas the tsunami was halfway around the world, this disaster is about 1000 miles away. There are citizens from New England driving there right now to help out. But again, we are being informed by the large relief organizations that they are not accepting in-kind donations. They give the same old reasons: hard to distribute, creates more work than benefit, exacerbates the confusion, expensive to administer. And yet, this morning, my daughter and I went around the house and collected diapers, toys, and clothes to send to the people of the Gulf Coast. I spent about an hour on the internet trying to find someone, ANYONE, who would take our things. Nothing. No one would take them. Only money and shares of stock (!). Then Bush got on the air and solidified this overwhelming message by urging Americans to donate money to relief aid.

Every Saturday in the summer, there are hundreds of yard sales in New England. And every Sunday, there are large boxes of things left on the sidewalks labeled “free.” If these things were instead donated and transported to the disaster area, whole families could be refitted with furniture, clothes, books, TVs, microwaves, even art. I know, these things are small compared to the houses that need to be rebuilt and the roads that must be repaired. But they are important things nonetheless and are things that will help a family make a new house feel more like a home.

Why are we stifling this instinct to give in favor of donating money? Money is cleaner and it allows people to keep a safe distance from the problem. Money represents a financial sacrifice but not an emotional sacrifice. Donating money just isn’t as fulfilling as giving a part of your past, history, self to others in need. Money donated is money spent. Things already purchased and then donated don’t add to the production stream that is often considered the way to stimulate a broken economy. We’ve become a nation where help is measured in terms of money given not the number of hands held out to lift up an ailing neighbor, even if they are 1000 miles away. It is difficult to teach my daughter about giving when all she sees is me pressing “enter” on my computer.

Susan Dobscha is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Bentley College.

Because most of the large charity organizations (Red Cross, Salvation Army) are refusing to take inkind donations (diapers, toys, clothes, etc), individual communities are using Craigslist to solicit much needed items. THEY ARE NOT TAKING FOOOD OR WATER. But if you want to clean out your closets, enlist your children in gathering up old toys, or have leftover baby formula, consider sending them to either of the addresses below.

CoffeeCup Software
c/o Hurricane Aid
226 South Tancahua Street
Corpus Christi, Texas 78401
(this is a business that is organizing the items sent and coordinating their distribution with local organizations)

Marksville City Hall
Attn: Myron Gagnard /Hurricane Relief Coordinator
427 N. Main Street
Marksville, La. 71351
Phone # to the mayor's office for verification: 318-253-9500
(items sent here may take a while to be delivered and distributed)

i couldn't think of what the empty streets of boston during the dnc reminded me of and then it dawned on me -- rome 1990 during the world cup.  the sound went around the world, avoid rome it will be crazy during world cup.  so my boyfriend at the time and i went to rome only because we had a place to stay (a lithuanian monastery) because everyone kept saying that the whole city would be booked and hotel rooms would be impossible to find. 

well, it was a ghost town.  everyone got the message and avoided rome like the plague.  and their economy suffered tremendously.  we got off the train and were barraged by pensioners begging for our business at huge discounts.  it was pretty sad really. 

the only good news is that we got to go to the audience with the pope and the u.s. - italy match where the u.s. wasn't humiliated with a 1-0 loss.

 

gotta new drinking game to go along with the c-span coverage:  chug a beer every time they play the song 'dirty water.'

the kerry fundraiser at the fleetboston pavilion will feature jackson browne and michelle branch. anybody know the wifi situation there?

any other kerry bloggers attending?

According to Salon.com, the GUY who owns curves fitness salon for women is a staunch supporter of anti-choice organizations and donates 10% of profits to them:

Just so you know: Gary Heavin, the founder of the Waco, Texas-based chain of exercise studios called Curves, is a heavy contributor to several organizations allied with Operation Save America, the rather more muscular successor to Operation Rescue, the anti-choice group.

The organizations he funds are spreading the lie that abortions lead to an increased risk of breast cancer. Planned Parenthood says its operations in Texas are being threatened by Heavin-funded clinics based on the old therapeutic model "you must carry your child to term."

In an article in Christianity Today, Heavin expressed pride in his involvement with anti-choice groups, to which he donates 10 percent of Curves' profits. You may do with this information what you will.

this according to the urban legends website, snopes.com.

Stop the Madness!

according to his website, "mike" is starting to blog. seems to me he should have started this already, as the horse is out of the barn.