A Mother Returns After 7 Months in Iraq

I can't imagine what this kind of separation would do to a person. Bless our soldiers for everything they sacrifice, willingly or unwillingly.

Let's bring them home.

Six Years On

May the victims of the September 11th attacks, both direct and indirect, as well as the soldiers that at this very moment work to protect our country forever be in our hearts.

I would normally ask that today not be misused for political gain, but I do ask people to be mindful of the abuse it has already suffered.

Human-Animal Hybrids Could be Coming True...

Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ! Bush was right!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14191423

Kiva.org

A friend showed me this site today, Kiva.org.

Kiva is a micro-finance or micro-loan organization, but with a critical difference that separates them from others in their category: They allow you to make the loans yourself. You choose what amount you wish to donate (though currently, due to heavy site traffic, they are restricting loan amounts to a maximum of $25 per person per business), and to what business.

What do these micro-loans pay for, you might ask? The loans pay for just about everything a business owner might need: raw materials, merchandise, tools and equipment, even education for themselves and employees (which are usually family in small close knit communities).

So, if it's a loan, how does it get paid back? Well, the same way they recieve the money: Local groups called Field Partners, who also go out to visit the businesses and help determine loan amounts and worthiness, also facilitate repayment of the loans. Being that these are no-interest loans to honest hard working people, the loans are almost always repaid on time and in full.

Since this is a loan, you will also get your money back if the loan is successfully repaid. Also, there is no hidden costs that drain your money before it reaches your borrower: Every dime you give helps the person you choose directly.

So how does Kiva.org operate? Through charitable donations directly to them. At the time of your loan, they will add an optional 10% donation to your checkout.

If the donation is optional, why do they add it for me? Well, they don't. I misspoke. They bring you to a page that explains what the donation is specifically, and they let you either skip that page in its entirety, or change the amount to any amount you wish. (I recommend donating, of course, especially with the increase in business they've been seeing, which adds to their operations costs.)

Anyway, over the course of the loan's life, they will repay it slowly, and as the money becomes available, your account will be repaid. Usually, the life of the loan is only 6-12 months, but some will become available slower.

What if they don't repay the loan? Well, unfortunately you do lose any money you gave to that borrower. It's the risk you take. That's why I don't recommend, as it were, putting all your eggs in one basket. You should spread the amount you loan around, and allow the rest of the community to fill in the void.

For those of you on Facebook, I've created a group for it, and we hope to use this to spread the word about Kiva and increase its support. Here's our group: The Helping Hands at Kiva.org

Our goal in our group is to increase the awareness of Kiva and similar organizations, and to get all of our members to make at least four loans per year (of any denomination that Kiva accepts). If you want to help meet this goal, please join us. If you can't meet that commitment, well, that's ok, we'll still take you. Just help us spread the word.