Interested in giving something different, something meaningful this year? Well, check out some of these charitable giving options, such as using African pouched rats to find landmines in Africa or lending money to a developing world entrepreneur.
All posts by Deb
Yet another reason not to buy products made in China
As y’all know my aunt and uncle have been heavily involved with the fight against asbestos in this country. Their latest endeavor has been assisting with consumer product testing. The results were released to the press this week. Seattle PI ran an exclusive article last Tuesday. Some highlights are below:
Asbestos has been found in a variety of consumer products, including one of this season’s biggest-selling Christmas toys, according to the nation’s largest asbestos victims organizations.
The CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit, two brands of children’s play clay, powdered cleanser, roof sealers, duct tapes, window glazing, spackling paste and small appliances were among the products in which asbestos was found by at least two of three labs hired by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization . . .
. . . The kit, made in China, is one of several items licensed by CBS after its popular “CSI” science-crime shows. This model has an extensive array of plastic tools, inks and three types of very fine powders — white, black and glow-in-the-dark. The analysis done for the victim’s organization found high levels of two types of asbestos in the white and the glow powder
Physicians are especially concerned because of the significant likelihood of children breathing in asbestos fibers as they hunt for fingerprints and use a soft-bristled brush to move the powder around.
On the Birds and the Bees
This is a cute article about how Hollywood gets it wrong yet again. This time with the world of insects and how, well, the social ones are really all female. I mean, must we anthropomorphize even our sexist gender assumptions?
via Feministing
When “a leg up” goes too far . . .
Ok, so this is the biggest, hairiest and cutest spider I’ve ever seen! (Unfortunately, the little freak is not long for this world; story link is here.)
Dinner with Barack
My aunt and uncle have recently had several opportunities to go to DC to speak with Senators and Congresspeople about the issue of asbestos. As a result, they’ve gotten a chance to meet many of the personalities we see in the news, including Barack Obama. Thus, I’ll let my uncle describe this video of Senator Barack Obama in his own words:
The video . . . provides a great sampling of Obama the man, consistent with the two personal interactions that [we] have had with him. In our judgment, he’s genuine, intelligent and exemplifies integrity. If you’ve been waiting for him to state the specifics of his plans, be sure to click on [this] link. . . which will take you to his campaign website, where you can read his policies and plans on various issues and offer your own ideas.
The idea was simple: invite some “regular folks” out to dinner, have a conversation, tape it and use it on the campaign website. But it’s more than that; Senator Obama is actually talking to these people. He could be sitting there pandering to the camera, but he’s actually paying attention to his dinner guests and having a conversation. And listening. It’s enough to give one hope in this jaded day and age.