Tag Archive for earthquake

Use Your Brain and Your Heart

August 7, 2019 Comments Off on Use Your Brain and Your Heart

You may want to give in to charitable appeals for recent tragedies, like mass shootings, earthquakes, and fires.  But don’t just follow your heart–engage your brain. Be sure those donations do some real good for real people rather than enriching scam artists or CEOs.  Clark Howard offers some tips:

  • Don’t give cash. Legitimate charities will take a check.
  • Don’t give out your credit card, bank account or personal information to telemarketers. If you want to donate, initiate the call yourself.
  • Don’t fall for Internet appeals if the cause does not look legitimate and doesn’t check out. Make sure to do your research!
  • Expect specific information. Ask what kind of relief this organization is going to provide. Don’t accept vague explanations.
  • Check out the charity with national, state, and local authorities. Established charities register with the Internal Revenue Service. You can search for specific non-profit organizations on the IRS website: irs.gov.
  • Beware of newly formed organizations. If the charity is new, you may have to rely on your relationship with the company or sponsor of the organization to determine whether you trust the group.
  • Report abuses to the nearest Better Business Bureau and the State Attorney General’s office. Both are listed in local telephone directories. You can also report abuses to the National Fraud Information Center at (800) 876-7060. NFIC also has a web-based complaint form at www.fraud.org.

And here’s one of my own:  Check to see how much of your donation will go to charitable work as compared to administrative costs (including CEOs) and fundraising costs.  Look them up at www.CharityNavigator.org or the Better Business Bureau site www.BBB.give.org.

For more tips on donating, check out Clark’s Donation Guide.

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Dangerous Shake-Ups of Our Own Making

February 16, 2015 Comments Off on Dangerous Shake-Ups of Our Own Making

The science is now clear: fracking DOES cause earthquakes.  For an explanation, see “How Oil and Gas Disposal Wells Can Cause Earthquakes”  and “Fracking and Earthquakes.”  Yes, the earthquakes triggered by fracking so far have been either mild or moderate.  However, scientists suggest that it could cause a major, even catastrophic, one (see “Could Fracking Cause a Major Earthquake?“)

This fairly new way to pull oil out of the ground is helping our country toward energy independence and bringing down gas prices.  But at what cost to the Earth and, ultimately, to human life?

 

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Help the Philippines–CAREFULLY

November 12, 2013 Comments Off on Help the Philippines–CAREFULLY

I want to help those poor people in the Philippines who have suffered so much devastation, loss, and heartache because of earthquakes and typhoons.  I bet you do, too. But WAIT!  Don’t give to the next organization who calls or person who shows up on your doorstep.  As usual when there’s a disaster, thieves jump into an emotional situation that enriches them and does nothing or very little to those affected.

There are reputable groups we can donate to, ones that will make sure our donations get to the victims who need it: Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, Red Cross, for example.  Before you donate through a group other than these, do your homework.  Look up the other organization online and see how much overhead-vs-help they actually have.  Some seem to exist only to line the pockets of highly paid executives; others are so shady that they don’t dare list such numbers.

Personally, I think it’s sub-human to take advantage of other people’s misery rather than rolling up our sleeves and doing what we can to help our fellow travelers on this Earth.  Such people exist, however, and we need to guard against them–not by avoiding giving but just by being careful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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