Please tweet and facebook and buy our bracelets, WE CAN SAVE AFRICA!!!!!

Slow day, huh?

Facebook proves to me every day how stupid Americans are.

Right?

Actual posts from my feed:

"Just sent off $200 to support the fight against Kony. You should watch this video and send money too."

"Going to wear my Kony 2012 shirt proudly. We can stop this!"

a friend of mine from way back (who admittedly has always been a little conservative) pretty much blasts away with this shit now:



sucks. i used to be in a band with this dude. he's smarter than that.

he is conveniently forgetting one: rice, glen

Never trusted that Kony Tukoc

Beady slavic eyes

It is funny to see people turn into activists overnight because they watched a video, but at the same time it's pretty cynical to immediately shit on someone for supporting a good cause like Stopping Kony. Admittedly I have never heard of the guy until Tuesday, so they must be doing something right...not to say I'm giving Invisible Children any money...It might be smart to do some research before giving away money because the internet said so.

I used to voluntarily work for a charity that helped the blind and partially sighted people. I did it for 2 years and it was a great experience and I met a lot of cool people; out of work lovies and thespians, a guy with no hands, notch on the bed post Sarah, roaring drunk Irish poets, lots of lovely guide dogs (don't stroke me I'm working), the unholy trio of Junior, Smelly Joe and Andy the Bastard and of course the mighty George Galloway - that guy is a dude.

So what I'm saying is if you really want to help people what about getting off your ass and doing something locally? I'm sure in this vale of tears in which we exist you won't have to go far to find people who you could make a real difference for instead of paying for admin workers and You Tube films.

Fuuny, my dad and I had a similar conversation the other day: When I was a kid, my dad used to lead these groups from our church up to small towns in the Appalachians and help people like work on their houses, build stuff, winterize, etc. He said now they don't do stuff like that unless it's in Belize or Peru or some other far flung country. Doesn't have the cache.

Which sucks because my dad is retired and knows how to build and/or fix just about anything--he's done it his whole life and would totally do something like that locally. But he's not going to fucking Belize just to show off and catch the cancer-aids.

Damn.

Yail, you need to tell yr dad to check out places who were hit by tornadoes, etc in the US. There are tons of groups doing things in places like that. Our church did a few trips down to Mississippi as recent a couple of years ago. Also, what about Habitat? There is definitely a slant on going someplace else to work--but there are also websites and groups devoted to doing regional and national work projects.

sig-worthiest of 2012 to date

We did Habitat once and found it a little too cult-y.

The thing you have to understand about my dad too is that he will work his ass off all day to help people, but then doesn't want to sit around and have vespers and play kumbaya. Which was awesome back in the day because the organizers of these things would be like "Let's gather in the meeting room for fellowship after dinner" and my dad would say "Ya know what, these kids worked hard today, everybody jump in the van, ice cream's on me"

I gotcha. The group that went down last to Mississippi to help rebuild some stuff worked all day, then ate seafood and smoked stogies at night. Haha, I should see if the group that organized that is still doing it.

My parents do things here locally--taking sandwiches to the soup kitchen and the like so its not like they are totally off the volunteering wagon.

And FWIW, I'd like to check out another Habitat group sometime. That one we worked with was just SO over the top with their adoration for Habitat and their higher ups and whatnot. It was fucking weird.

You are from Georgia, after all... Carter's influence runs deep.

Pretty sure Carter in '76 is the only time my old man ever voted in Dem. in a POTUS election, so yeah.

I miss Bloor's dad.

One year while living in NYC, i had no plans for Thanksgiving, so I was gonna spend a full day at a soup kitchen. I was feeling 'giving' that day...I called about 10 different places and everyone was already overbooked. I wound up ordering sushi and sitting on my couch for 12 hours...

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Easter...all the major days are the days people come out in droves to volunteer. Hopefully you weren't permanently disenchanted.

Not at all....but for the 24 hours before, it was an obsession and i was feelig so good and positive about myself, to be able to give back in some form....granted i could have tried later in the year or any non-holiday, but thats a whole different story...anyways, in regards to this thread, i'd help out close to home before i worry bout whats going on overseas....

Small point, but there a bunch of other ways you could have helped that day.

One of my favorites that I guarantee will never be overbooked is to visit a retirement center. Ask the people running it if any residents need some cheering up, bring whatever board games you got, order in whatever their favorite meal is, and go spend an afternoon with that person.

true, but the whole idea only came to me the day before i knew i wasn't going anywhere...didn't really put too much thought into it...i think i saw on the news about soup kitchens, and that became my mission.

all good ideas, but that would have allowed me to be personable without being too personable...i'm way to introverted to donate my time on a one to one basis.

Perhaps you have unearthed the identity of @DadBoner.