ShowMeBlog

If I had $25 (The Kiva Song)

Using the tune "If I Had $1,000,000" by the Barenaked Ladies, here's Yassie and John’s tribute to the microlending website kiva.org--a place where you can make $25 loans to poor people around.

I wanted to let you know about Kiva (www.kiva.org), a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur across the globe. You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It's a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.
  I have six people that I have loans out to at this time.  It is very easy to do and it helps people and makes you feel good.

CERT class

  My grandson found out today that he is going to start getting un-employment money again.  He will get it until October.  I am not sure if this means that FL did accept the federal money or not.
  Russell is talking about going in the military.  He wants to go in for a number of reasons.  One is that he can not find a job and one is that he wants some of the benefits of going in the military. 

  I put a Joomla! site back up again. I just wanted to pay with the Joomla! software again.  It is a lot of work but it has so much power and if I was a little smarter I could do some pretty neat things with it.

  I am feeling a little better now.  I did not take the Doxazosin Mesylate last night.  I said I was not going to take it anymore but I am worrying about Sunday.  Sunday I will  have my first CERT class and it is 8 hours.  I have to get there by bus without a bathroom visit and then I will be in class for 8 hours and I do not want to be running to the bathroom all the time.

  I am not in CA, I am in FL, but here is a little video that gives you a little idea of CERT training.


 

"Neda, don't be afraid...don't be afraid my child."

“Exact Location: Kaargar (Amir Aabaad St.), Khosravi and Shahid Salehi Intersection, 7:20pm

Saturday June 20th protests
At 19:05 June 20th
Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st.
A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes.
The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St.”

WARNING do not watch this video if you are under 18 years of age or if you are upset by things like this… again..this is not pretty… But it needs to be seen by the world.

  The people of Iran just want some freedom.  I fear all you and I can do is pray that the leaders of Iran will decide to allow some freedom for the people.

Microfinance

  I am a poor person but I believe in Microfinance.  I been doing Kiva for months now.  I am happy with them and will be making a another loan via Kiva in 3 days.  I do a $25.00 loan each month.  I think Micro-loaning is a great idea but I am surprised that it works.
  After I have made 12 Kiva loans I think I will sign up with a different microfinance site and use them for a time.  Just so I can see how it works with a new company.
  I am thinking of going with MicroPlace as the next one.  
  I might go with Grameen Foundation. 
  I wish I could afford to loan more than $25.00 a month.  If I won the lottery I would do a large sum for each of them.
  These loans are made to very poor hard working people in third world and it helps the people and they pay back the loans.
  I think Grameen is now loans in the United States!

 

“…In the United States, more than 37 million people live below the poverty line; approximately 74 percent of them are located in major metropolitan areas. A wide variety of social, historical, cultural, educational and structural factors contribute to the persistence of poverty in the world’s richest nation. Despite these obstacles, poor people are embracing microentrepreneurship as a pathway out of poverty. In fact, many clients of U.S. microlenders break out of dead-end jobs, unemployment and dependence on public assistance to become successful entrepreneurs, creating jobs for their families and their communities.
Our partner microfinance institutions in the United States:

• Project Enterprise, New York City
• The PLAN Fund, Dallas, Texas …”

    I do not think micro-loaning will work as well in the United States.  I hope I am wrong.  I just see those people in other nations working harder. 
     Grameen says that 37 million people (12.6 percent) live in poverty. 

Pixar Grants Girl’s Last Wish to See Up

  I have never heard of Pixar or of “Up” but I just found this story on the Internet:

 A child's last wish
10-year-old Colby Curtin died of cancer this week, but before she passed away, her final wish was fulfilled. The child had desperately wanted to see the new Pixar movie, "Up." Unfortunately, she was too ill to go to the theater. According to various articles within the Buzz, Pixar was told of Colby's illness. The company sent a representative to deliver a DVD for Colby to watch in her room. Though she could no longer see, her mother narrated the action. Colby died several hours after the movie ended, and searches on "up movie make a wish" and "colby curtin up" both soared.

  That is so sad but it is so nice that her family worked so hard to get her last wish for her.  I know nothing about Pixar but that is so great of them to do that for the girl and her family.  God bless them.
  The story was on Yahoo! Buzz and written by Mike Krumboltz. 

World Events and News and Twitter

  I do not think anyone should get their news from Twitter.  Most of all I do not think that CNN or any news media should report anything that appears on Twitter.
  I use Twitter and you can follow me on Twitter:  n0uwy

  But you never know who someone is on Twitter and you never know if anything they say is the truth.  They may say they are reporting from Iran and they may be sitting in their living room in Kansas City watching TV.

  Twitter is great to keep up to date on when a blog is updated or if a new program is out or what is on TV and things like that …but you should not get “news” from Twitter.

 

Kiva

  I am making one Kiva loan a month.  I have done it for four months so far.  I am doing $25.00 a month.  It is hard for me to come up with that money each month but I been doing it.  I wish I could do more. 
  They have teams were people join a team and pool their loan money.  Some of us could do something like that.  I noticed that the number 1 team in the amount of money is “Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanist and Non-Religious” and they have made 19177 loans in the amount of $580,125.00 to help people. The “Kiva Christians” have made 14637 loans in the amount of $438,900.00 so it looks like a close contest.  Smile

How do Lending Teams work?:

Members of Kiva Lending Teams continue lending as individuals, but they have the option to count each loan they make towards the overall impact of one of their teams.

Terrorism Attack

  I am not sure if the news media will call the killing of Dr. George Tiller an act of terrorism or not.  It is terrorism.  He was medical director of an abortion clinic in Wichita KS.  He was shot and killed at his church today.  A few years ago he was shot in both arms. 
  I am no fan of abortions.  I do not think many people are fans.  I guess Dr. Tiller did “late term” abortions and those sort of abortions are even less popular.

 

The United States has defined terrorism under the Federal criminal code. 18 U.S.C. §2331 defines terrorism as:

…activities that involve violent… or life-threatening acts… that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State and… appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping…."

  We should deal with this murder that committed this act of terrorism in the same hash terms as we deal with other people that commit terrorism.
  
  Not having anything to do with this…but we need to try and reduce the number of abortions.  We need sex education.  We need to work with people to try and cut down on people having sex with out using good protection.

  There is no excuse however for killing doctors or bombing clinics.

Loans that change lives

  Tomorrow I will be making my monthly $25.00 loan via Kiva.  I been doing that for about five months now.  If you want to help people I think Kiva is a good way to do it. 

Bike-to-Work Week

“Bicycle Friendly States Rankings Announced (5.8.09) The League released the second annual ranking of Bicycle Friendly States in conjunction with Bike to Work Week. View entire state ranked list. Click here to read more.

Smart Cycling Conference: Setting New Directions (5.8.09) Come to San Jose this June 18-20 to talk about the best way to teach cyclists; to help the League continue to improve our curricula; and to hear news and updates from the foremost cycling educators in the world. View agenda.

2009 spring Bicycle Friendly Communities and States (5.01.09) The League is proud to announce the 2009 spring Bicycle Friendly Communities and States in celebration of Bike Month 2009. The League is recognizing 13 new Bicycle Friendly Communities and three BFC renewals. Notably, five states have their first BFC designations. Read more.

DOT Sec. Wants “Sustained Engagement” from Bike Advocates (4.23.09) DOT Sec. Ray LaHood posted on his blogthat "When I told the League of American Bicyclists National Bike Summit that 'Cyclists are important users of America's transportation systems,' I meant it. Read more.

Where is Your Money Going? (4.22.09) On February 17, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 became law. ARRA provides $48.1 billion for transportation infrastructure projects to be administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Of that, $27.5 billion is for highways and bridges (3% of that for Transportation Enhancements). View specific state transportation funding info.” 
League of American Bicyclists