Holding charities to business standards

At the perfect time for Christmas giving, Charity Intelligence Canada, which collects an annual list of non-profit organizations that offer donors "the biggest bang for their buck," has released its 2009 recommendations. Twelve Toronto charities have been chosen. Most are well known, deliver measurable services and have influential supporters. They are: Second Harvest, Fort York Food Bank, Evangel Hall Mission, Salvation Army Gateway, Red Door Family Shelter, Barbra Schlifer Clinic, Pathways to Education, Junior Achievement of Central Ontario, East York Learning Centre, Gateway Linens, Eva's Print Shop, TurnAround Couriers. These charities are doing great work and deserve the recognition they are getting. But so do many small, grassroots voluntary organizations that will never win a Charity Intelligence seal of approval. They change lives in ways that can't easily be measured. They know their clients personally and take the time to listen to them. They don't try to be big, businesslike or competitive. They are doing good for the people who need it. To those who normally "write cheques to unknown charities," Charity Intelligence offers a better option. But to those who have been affected by a charity, know its staff and volunteers, see the good work it does in their community and believe there is nothing wrong with traditional giving. Some charities deliver services efficiently. Others mobilize citizens, strengthen communities, combat indifference and solve problems in ways that defy market analysis.

Having these charities contribute donors is something all people should recognize. They are non-profitable, so you can tell that they really care about people that need basic needs. Kate Bahen, the Charity Alliance should be reawrded because she has created a foundation that will change people's lives forever. She works hard to  make sure the company is well run and it is her goal to ensure it happens. She chose 40 charities out of 40,00 that she thought were the best to be part of the alliance, and she is doing a great job.

False alarms prompt space station scare

Astronauts at the international space station and space shuttle Atlantis woke up to a worrying sound - alarms indicating a fire and dangerous loss of pressure, NASA said Friday. But a check revealed tht there was no serious trouble. Depressurization-caution alarms went off around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, waking up the shuttle and station crew. The flight control teams on the ground said there was no depressurization, so they shut off ventilation fans. The crew was never in any danger, NASA said, and teams on the ground are looking into the cause of the false alarm. Flight control teams at Mission Control in Houston, Texas, were bringing the station back to normal soon after the alarms, but it was 10:15 p.m. by the time the crew was able to go back to sleep because they had to wait for the station's ventilation system to be reactivated. The crew members went back to work on Friday when they focussed on preparations for Saturday's spacewalk. They'll have to recharge batteries, switch out spacesuits and review procedures. They also will use the shuttle's robotic arm to grab a second cargo pallet of spare equipment that Atlantis brought up in advance of its transfer to the space station Saturday.

I think it is interesting that thi soccured. Something must have happened for this to occur and I think that the astronauts should be worried about this. I think that there was a decreased amount of pressure in the air and that the alarm went off because of this. NASA is doing a good job by investigating this because if I was there, I know I would want an investigation. I would  not be surprised to see something happen in a few days that has to do with this incident.

U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry

Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop. Froehlich is among the growing number of people across the U.S. fighting for the right to dry their laundry outside against a rising tide of housing associations who oppose the practice despite its energy-saving green appeal. Although there are no formal laws in this southeast Pennsylvania town against drying laundry outside, a town official called Froehlich to demand that she stop drying clothes in the sun. She also received two anonymous notes from neighbors saying they did not want to see her underwear flapping about. "They said it made the place look like trailer trash," she said, in her yard across the street from a row of neat, suburban houses. "They said they didn't want to look at my 'unmentionables.'" Froehlich says she hangs her underwear inside. The 54-year-old is one of a growing number of Americans demanding the right to dry laundry on clotheslines despite local rules and a culture that frowns on it. Their interests are represented by Project Laundry List, a group that argues people can save money and reduce carbon emissions by not using their electric or gas dryers, according to the group's executive director, Alexander Lee. Florida, Utah, Maine, Vermont, Colorado, and Hawaii have passed laws restricting the rights of local authorities to stop residents using clotheslines. Another five states are considering similar measures.

I think it is rediculous that some states are banning the use of clothelines. People own their own land, and it is not like people are making noise or disrupting others, they are just drying clothes. People do not have look at their neigbours backyards to see what they are doing. If they came on to their property, it would be a different story. Plus, Carin said she washed her underwear inside, so only shirts and pants were being washed. This law, in my opinion, is one of the craziest things I have ever heard of. This should not be a law in any state. People should be able to hang clothes whenever and wherever they want, as long as it is on their own property, and isn't disrupting others through noise.

Fast food, coffee to escape new blended tax

The Ontario government is retreating from plans to impose the new HST on coffee, newspapers and fast-food meals. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and Revenue Minister John Wilkinson are expected to announce Thursday morning at a Tim Hortons outlet on Islington Ave. in Etobicoke that restaurant meals costing less than $4 and newspaper subscriptions will begin only having a 5 per cent federal GST. That means the 8 per cent provincial sales tax portion of the HST, which blends the two consumption taxes as of next July 1, will not be added on your Tim Hortons "double-double" or your Wendy's Frosty. The Liberals were concerned that such an in-your-face tax being paid every morning by people in every demographic could be politically damaging.  In that vein, the government is also giving a similar exemption for newspaper subscriptions. Up to this point, books, feminine hygiene, diapers, children's clothing and kids' booster seats had been the only exempted products. However, taxes will still increase on gasoline, home heating fuel, taxis, legal services, golf green fees and hundreds of other items.

I think that this change in taxes is going to be good for the citizens of Ontario. 8% on food, and drinks can really add up for the people who buy fast food and coffee regularily. If people pay attention to this change, I think more more and more people will start buying these products. It doesn't seem like a big difference, but I think it is. A lot of money, each day, will not be speant on fast food and newspapers, because of this decrease in tax paid on these products. I am happy that this change has been made, because I like these foods, I and will coninue to prchase them.

New York Yankees manager wins good Samaritan title

After one of the best days of his life, Joe Giradi helped a victim of a car accident get out of harm's way. According to Jason Zillo, spokesman for the Yankees, Girardi was driving home after his Yankess had just won the world series, when he saw a crashed car on a busy strectch of a highway on the premisis of New York. The car was jutting into traffic. Girardi immediatley stooped to make sure the driver was okay. "He wanted to make sure that if someone was in the car they were OK," Zillo said. "And then he wanted to help her get away from a dangerous position in the highway." Police arrived moments later. The accidnet occured at 2:25 a.m. on Thursday, reported CNN affiliate WABC. Marie Henry, 27, of Stratford, Connecticut, said Girardi sprinted across three lanes of traffic to come to her aid. "She had no idea who I was," Girardi said in a radio interview Thursday. A Westchester County police officer who arrived at the scene described Girardi in the good Samaritan role as "totally surreal." "The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help," Officer Kathleen Cristiano told local news Web site LoHud.com. "A lot of people know him as 'Joe Girardi, the manager of the New York Yankees,' but Joe is someone who puts other people first," Zillo said. "The easy thing would have been for him to just drive by. But I think it shows a lot about his character."

I think that this story should be heard all around North America. After you have just coched your team to winnng the World Series, most people would not be looking out to make sure someone they do not know is okay in a car. Many people would not have stopped but Mr. Girardi did because he cares about other people. This gives me a good idea of what kind of person he is and I know that many people should look at what he did as something they should do in the future.