I Speak of Dreams

The United States and Private International Philanthropy

"The Bush administration pledged $15 million to Asian nations....U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised. " What? What?

If the entire American people were sending only $15 mil, that would indeed be stingy, but Amazon alone has raised (as of 9:00 pm PST 12/31/04) $10.5 MILLION . That is just one of the many relief efforts organized, as summarized at SEA-EAT

The individual American citizen, on average, donates 7-8 times as much money to charitable works as does the average individual French or German citizen

Smart Marriages

Fighting isn't predictive of divorce. Stonewalling, avoidance, disengagement, contempt, criticism, and the silent treatment are.

I still think that parents who divorce are not as good parents as those who manage to stay together.  And yes, that includes me.

Merlin's Fives My Fave

Five things I'd like to see corner drug dealers suddenly start selling

1. balsa wood toy airplanes
2. long grain and wild rice
3. Golden Books®
4. novelty gifts, magic tricks, and small puzzles
5. motivational posters and cassette tapes

Yeah, that would be a great world

Proprietary Private Schools: A Risk

Private (non-government schools) in the United States come in various models.  One is religous--the familar parochial school, part of a Catholic (or less often, Episcopal) diocese.  (There are other religious-based private schools too, which often have church support and financial oversight).  One is secular, independent, and not-for-profit.  These types of schools have a board of directors, whose two primary jobs are to hire the head, and to provide financial oversight and managment.  Both the religious schools and the secular schools operate at a deficit, and rely upon charitable donations to make up the difference between operating costs and operating revenue.

The third type of school is called proprietary, and may be a chain (Challenger Schools are an example) or a stand-alone.  The stand-alone proprietary is the most vulnerable to financial problems, as the story below illustrates.

Underage Victim Wasn't Drunk and Stuporous, Just Drunk, So Rapist Found Not Guilty?

In South Dakota, a rapist can be acquitted if the underage victim isn't drunk enough.

Dangers of the Harry Potter Series

If I could figure out a way to screen this video without paying the $20.00, I would. Just to educate myself, you know?

Cowboy Clip Art

I found this list of black & white line art of cowboys ways. You may like it too.

Pryhill Mania

I keep forgetting to go call on the Pryhills. If I put this here instead of in my email I'll remember to put them in the blogroll soon.

Forest of Rhetoric

I wish I had the opportunity to be trained for debate when I was in high school. I have the fantasy that I might have learned to understand things earlier. I have a fascination with Hadin Elgin's work, and also with rhetoric.

The formal study of rhetoric is laid out elegantly here.

Balanced Stride

Bob Bob Burdekin is a farrier and horseman who has a "Balanced Stride" approach to shoeing. He works around the Sacramento, California area.