Charities

by | Sep 14, 2021 | Finance, Society, Taxes | 268 comments

The end of the year is traditionally when most people give to charities, because as a free people we live our lives to the IRS’s schedule.  Mrs. Dean and I give to a number of charities every year; we know there is no end of people out there doing good work in all kinds of ways who could use a little help.

We have a pretty strong bias toward local charities.  At some point, charities that get too big become all about fundraising, not the mission, and fill up with bureaucrats whose focus is the organization, not the mission.  So we try to focus our giving locally.  And yes, its money at this point because I don’t have a lot of free time, although when I retire I expect to volunteer my time as well.

Still, the Glibertariat’s thoughts on good organizations and people to support would be welcome, even though “give local” and “ask an internationally dispersed group of cranks and misanthropes who would be good to give to” seems, well, inconsistent.

So, here’s our list:

My employer’s foundation.  C’mon, I’m going to make you work a little to dox me.  They will likely stay on our list even after I retire, although probably not at their current level.

United Way.  Another work thing, really, since we have a big drive and all that every year, and my boss is watching.  Whether they stay on our list after I retire, I can’t say.  Maybe, but there’s nobody they support locally that I can’t give to directly.

The Institute for Justice.  Needs no introduction around here.

Salvation Army.  I believe that they are an exception to the rule of big national charities, and actually do spend most of their money on their mission.

Angel Charity for Children.  Tucson-based organization that has good programs for kids, including education, etc. on life skills, which is really what I want to support.

Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.  Tucson has a lot of poor people.  A whole lot.  I’m sure a fair amount of their food goes to people who could afford to buy their own, but I think a lot of it goes to people who really need help to put food on their families.

Therapeutic Riding of Tucson, Inc.  Horses and sick kids.  Enough said.

Tucson Rod & Gun Club.  They are trying to build a shooting range out my way, kinda.  Of course, they have all kinds of opposition, from the usual college-town guns-r-bad-mmkay crew, NIMBYs and eco-nutters, and even cheap shots from other gun clubs and ranges.  When I retire, I may join them in a more active role, mostly because they have all the right enemies.

AGR Foundation Sol Dog Lodge & Training Center.  Trains rescue dogs to be therapy and assistance dogs.  We know the owner, also.

Tucson Wildlife Center.  Rescues and returns wild animals, many of them injured, to the wild (mostly, some can’t go back).

Ironwood Pig Sanctuary.  They rescue potbellied pigs who are abandoned or injured.  Because people are idiots, they get potbellied pigs as pets.  Then, they wake up one day to a rather substantial pig living in their house.  Or, they put it outside, where the local wildlife is delighted to see dinner delivered. Honestly, I found it just too quirky to resist.

Smiling Dog Rescue.  Pit bull rescue/foster operation.  There’s a ton of these mom-and-pop pit bull operations around; I may do another round of research to see if I find one I like better.  Or, just another one to add to the list.

Who do you give time or money to, and why them?

About The Author

R C Dean

R C Dean

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268 Comments

  1. Yusef drives a Kia

    I devote my spare time and meagre funds to my Disc Club, the kids had so much fun today! I smiled, and I felt God smile upon me,

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      I forgot IJ, which I contribute to through Smile,

      • one true athena

        “I like drinking from the big bottle in the corner!” lol

        Thanks. Good to be reminded of days when the Onion was actually funny.

  2. Timeloose

    We donate to a local no kill dog shelter, Salvation Army, the USO, and St Jude’s children’s hospital.

    I also try to donate daily to people who feed me food and drinks by tipping very well to regulars. The same goes for appliance and other people who deliver heavy things.

    • Fourscore

      I too, have started tipping service people. I have cement poured today and 3 loads of gravel for my driveway. I’ll pay the concrete contractors by check, then a cash bonus for an evening out at the local watering hole, the gravel dealer will be paid in cash and rounded up.

    • Ted S.

      Just one more favor?

      • MikeS

        *nods knowingly and smiles approvingly*

    • Not an Economist

      Saw this on the side.

      Some protect their own. Others don’t care.

  3. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    Besides IJ (proud member of the Merry Band), I’m on a monthly contribution to The Innocence Project and Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue

  4. Plinker762

    Some wise ass was going to say it so it might as well be me: The Human Fund

    For charity, I usually give to people I know that need help.

    • Chipping Pioneer

      Money for people

      • Ted S.

        And your chicks for free?

  5. db

    I also give to the United Way, primarily because my employer matches donations up to a certain level, but I make sure to direct every dollar to specific organizations, mostly local. They include local charities that provide help to cancer patients who need assistance with things like home modifications (think bathroom mods and stair chairlifts for mobility); a local charity that a friend of mine runs (they deal with child abuse situations and getting kids into good foster situations); and other local charities.

    I also give to Patient Airlift Services and Angel Flight East, two charities that work to organize free transportation for people and their families who must travel for medical treatment. There are many conditions that preclude people being able to fly on commercial airlines, and these charities (among others) organize travel from door to door via private aircraft and automobiles.

  6. JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

    I usually donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation because both of my wife’s parents died from those diseases. I donate to the Prostate Cancer Foundation because that’s what killed my dad. In addition I usually donate to the local food bank, St. Jude’s, a veteran’s organization (Fisher House or Wounded Warriors), Year Up, which trains young people in IT so they don’t need to go to college, and to a university in Zambia that my brother has been working with to set up an engineering school.

  7. Tulip

    Institute for Justice and St. Jude.

  8. Chipping Pioneer

    My employer’s foundation

    The Clinton Foundation?

    • Chipping Pioneer

      If I never post here again, you’ll know what happened.

  9. Hyperion

    I prefer #WhoresRpeople2.

    I mean in this environment and economy, there are lots of hoes who are on the streets and are down on their luck.

    And you never can tell, for your donation of a 6 pack of cheap beer or bottle of Skidrow wine, you never can tell when you might get lucky and not even get a sexually transmitted disease.

    Don’t even say I don’t have empathy and a big heart. Just shut up!

    • blackjack

      Man, that’s like pouring money down a hole.

      • Hyperion

        You have to take risks to make the world a better place.

      • Hyperion

        Note, I did not say ‘Blackjack, uuuhhhwuutttrrrruuuudoineerre? Just get on the 10 and don’t come back!’.

        More proof that I’m an upstanding dude.

    • The Last American Hero

      Charity Navigator is shit. I work with nonprofits and their crap ratings system places waaaayyy too much weight on program vs mg and fr costs. I’ve seen them rate good charities poorly and give shit ones great ratings because they are trying to use tax filings as a performance measure.

  10. blackjack

    I give a lot of money to my local liquor store. A lot! Mostly I just tip well at bars and restaurants. I also help a number of individuals in many different ways. I don’t really have a regimen for donations to avoid taxes. There’s a bunch of things I could do to reduce my “contribution” to the government and I should look deeper into them.

    • R C Dean

      Unless you are itemizing deductions, giving to charity won’t reduce your taxes.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        And the standard deduction is so high now it doesn’t make sense to itemize unless you are giving a whole lot of money.

      • Bobarian LMD

        I still itemize my state taxes, which saves some coin there.

  11. Jerms

    I give both time and money to camp Paquatuck which is a camp for kids with all types of disabilities. In the Summer kids stay for a week and in the winter they have whats called respite camp on Saturdays. I help cook and clean up after the kids. I was also helping out at East End Hospice but they told me I need to get the vax to continue to be a volunteer.

    • Ted S.

      If you don’t get the vax, you’ll kill all those people in hospice care!

      • db

        Interestingly enough hospice care isn’t necessarily a death sentence. My grandmother went into hospice care many years ago and bounced back, eventually they told her she didn’t qualify anymore because she was getting healty.

        In addition, my Mom was in hospice care for a while–they made it clear to us that it was not considered necessarily terminal, although, in her case, it turned out to be, sadly.

  12. Chipping Pioneer

    I maintain an excellent lawn so that my landscaoing-challenged neighbours have something nice to look at beyond their meagre weed patches.

    • Ted S.

      I don’t have neighbors.

      • Chipping Pioneer

        I don’t either. I have neighbours.

      • R C Dean

        I’ve had neighboors.

      • Zwak, jack off, all trades

        I would have thought you had coyotes. And bones.

      • Animal

        I have neighbors but I can’t see their houses from my property.

      • Hyperion

        In general, neighbors are a very undesirable thing. If you don’t believe it, you’ve never lived in America and had neighbors. The typical nature of humans is asshole. Anything else is an exception.

        From some of my very first memories, when I was 4-5 years old and we lived in Simi Valley, we had these neighbors on the right (west side) and this kid about my age or maybe a little older would throw bricks or pieces of bricks and rocks at me for no reason at all. He actually hit me in the back with one once and I kept telling my parents about it. I mean he wouldn’t even say anything, as soon as he saw me, he’s just start throwing stuff at me. We never had any real verbal interaction.

        I kept telling my parents and I guess they’d go over there and talk to them and they’d tell my parents what a saint he was and that I was a troubled child making stuff up. One day he hit me again in the side of the head with a chunk of brick and I lost my temper and went over there and smashed a cinder block on his back. He cried and ran to his parents and told them and I got in trouble. And he had been doing this shit for months.

        In general, people suck and they are that kid.

    • Tulip

      The only place grass (instead of clover and weeds) grows in my yard is in the flower beds.

  13. Fourscore

    In the past I have helped locals with projects or small repairs. I cut, split and hauled wood to a neighbor/friend for a few years, until he died. Did the same for another friend, until he couldn’t continue to burn wood. Did electrical repairs. Give money at funerals to those of lesser means.

    Most recently I’ve had to ask favors from others, transportation, etc but I always feel guilty.

  14. The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

    • CKUA (available on the Web at http:/www.ckua.com), our regional Alberta-based listener-supported radio network with the coolest most eclectic music.
    • The Sally Ann. Those folks actually help people.
    • The Alberta SPCA. And FUCK the Alberta “Humane” Society, those anti-human, pet-murdering fucks.
    • Habitat for Humanity. ’Nuff said.
    • Also this weird website called “Glibertarians.com,” as well as some GoFundMe stuff they do. Crazy, man.
    • And, very occasionally, stuff that tickles our fancy (for reference, our fancy’s somewhere between our kneesy and our chesty, in case you’re wondering).

  15. Animal

    Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Ducks Unlimited. We usually float a few bucks to the Special Olympics every year. Mrs. Animal kicks in a few bucks to the Destination Imagination program now and then.

    • Tulip

      Best license plate I ever saw was a Ducks Unlimited plate that said “CONFIT”.

      • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

        “Exxxxxxcellent, Smithers!”

  16. DrOtto

    I4J and St. Judes.

  17. Sensei

    Not a fan of the way the United Way wormed its way into my industry. Essentially you are basically forced to donate to it and only “approved” charities are matched.

    I get around it by donating to the Institute for Justice through my employer. This counts for my “voluntary” contribution as if I did so through the United Way, but no match.

    • RAHeinlein

      Aligned – United Way is an odious organization and I shun accordingly. Understood for those directing to specific charities.

      • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

        Yep. UW was TELUS Corp’s only option for employee giving for many years, until the employees staged a revolt. Now, TELUS (the Canadian regional telco my SU used to work for) maintains a large and growing list of charities which employees can give to and which TELUS will match. Everyone’s happier. Well, except UW. ;-)

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        We moved to a similar model, and I bitched at them when planned parenthood got matching status but Compassion International didn’t. Murdering babies was okay, but supporting poor kids wasn’t. Thankfully they came around on the issue and started matching religiously affiliated causes, too.

    • SandMan

      Agree about United Way, they got way too political, and that was 20 years ago. It sucked realizing this because my daughter was actually used on our company’s UW promotional poster one year.

      So now give to St. Jude, Special Olympics, a few others I can’t remember right now. Sure, Ducks Unlimited and Elk Foundation, but I don’t consider those charities.

    • MikeS

      I’ve not been a fan of the UW for all the same reasons listed here ever since my first “real” job 30+ years ago.

  18. trshmnstr the terrible

    Hey Dean, I saw your request from the last thread for a shirt vendor with a shirt sporting my avatar.

    Here’s one i found via DDG. I have no clue how good they are. link

    • R C Dean

      Awesome. Ordered. Will submit a written report.

  19. DEG

    Ever since the Lil Rona Panic started, just about all of my charitable contributions have gone to activist groups and legal defense funds for pushing back against the insanity.

    • commodious spittoon

      Millions going to bail out arsonists and looters, tens of millions going to the shitheads who vouched for same.

      The GOP is saddled with responsibility for all non-vaccinated Americans, only half (?) of whom actually vote for Republicans and none of whom their donors will shell out a cent to defend.

      No wonder Dems win on all fronts.

    • Mojeaux

      Rae’s Cafe

      Yesterday on FB, somebody posted a pic of the sellout crowd for the Chiefs game and a pic of Rae’s Cafe (both in the same county), with the caption, “So grateful Jackson County shut down that superspreader Rae’s Cafe.”

      • DEG

        I hope the cafe wins.

  20. commodious spittoon

    I gave five bucks to the lady outside the grocery store. It was the least I could do, I didn’t have any singles.

    • Chipping Pioneer

      Was it Winston’s Mom?

      • commodious spittoon

        She pulled out a spray bottle from her purse to clean my windows and I told her no, that’s fine.

        On the one hand, I’m guessing that’s part of the presentation. She’s down on her luck and she wants to be productive and she has a spray bottle prop to back it up, if it comes to it. On the other hand, she’s down on her luck and she sprays my windshield with God knows what, and swipes at it in some way that’s meant to mollify me.

  21. Zwak, jack off, all trades

    Shriners hospital. They took care of my son when he was diagnosed with pectus excavatum, or sunken chest.

    • DrOtto

      I’m thinking of adding them this year to my giving.

    • Mojeaux

      My nephew has that.

      • Zwak, jack off, all trades

        It ended up not being that bad, though it does displace internal organs. He calls it his soup bowl.

      • Mojeaux

        My nephew’s was not that bad, but bad enough that it caused him some problems that it took forever and a day to figure it out and properly diagnose it. I think he was 17 when he was dx’d.

  22. Chipping Pioneer

    OT: Vaccine passport starts here next week. I’m going to get some red felt and safety pins and stick a triangle on me when I go out.

    I’m also going to make a point of being more disagreeable to people who support / enforce the bullshit measures.

    Voting day is next Monday. I wonder if they will refuse to let me vote if I refuse to wear a mask.

    • Hyperion

      No. I will not do business with anyone who requires this. You want my business? Nope. As far as things like interstate travel is concerned, I won’t comply, try to stop me.

    • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

      That could be an interesting court case. Mebbe I should try that.  ;-)

      Sadly, I fully expect The Hair That Walks Like A Man™ to be returned to the PMO, possibly with a smaller minority and perhaps even forced to work with both the Dippers and the Bloc to maintain power, which will show everyone who cares to notice just what a flaming shitshow the Libs have become.

    • blackjack

      Yeah, if they ever get around to starting them here (they’ve already decided to, but they are dragging their feet on it), I will specifically go to neighboring counties to dine and drink. Often. I want to see everything packed across the county line and empty over here. I think the whole thing out here is just bullying. I don’t think they have any intention of punishing anyone for any of this. Still kind of stressful about the whole work mandate thing.

    • dbleagle

      According to the chart that makes you a “political enemy”. You could combine it with a black triangle upside down and under it and mark yourself as an “asocial” as well. You know, your garden variety Glib.

      • R C Dean

        I think the “political enemies” were mostly commies.

      • dbleagle

        “Political enemies” certainly included commies but it was a catch all. Anarchists, social democrats, mouthy newspaper men, religious leaders*, and many others all were lumped into wearing red triangles.

        *Jehovah’s Witnesses were the only religious group besides Jews to specially identified. The JW had a purple triangle. And gay men had a pink triangle, hence the adoption of the pink triangle by the gay rights movement in the 1980’s.

  23. trshmnstr the terrible

    Compassion International
    Salvation Army
    Special Olympics
    IJ
    Habitat for Humanity
    Glibertarian foundation

    That’s where our charitable giving in going on the regular. Since we’re not members at a church at this moment, our tithe is going to these organizations. If any particular need happens in the community (physical or internet), it takes priority over organizational donations.

    Eventually I’d like to get to the point where tithe and charitable giving are two separate buckets (tithe to church, giving to those in need), but we’re not there yet.

    I really appreciate the “donate local” sentiment and should be better about that. I’m really freaking picky about who I give charitable contributions to. 503(c) non-profits are worse than corporations at being skeevy, scammy, poorly managed, and shells for nefarious causes. I’ve ranted a few times about Big Non-Profit here, and every word of what I’ve said has been personally observed and researched. Don’t just toss cash into a group without doing your research. Many innocent sounding charities are either being skimmed by management, doing activism under the guise of charity, or are front groups for major leftist non-profits. Caveat progtor.

    • egould310

      I’ve audited a certain Arizona charity. I was continually like “What the fuck?!?” What a scam.

      But private foundations, businesses, and governmental bodies are lining up to donate. Because if they don’t; racist.

    • Gadfly

      I really appreciate the “donate local” sentiment and should be better about that.

      Giving to the Salvation Army can be done both nationally (such as when disaster strikes somewhere) or locally (if donating on the reg), so you may already have the local covered with your current list. I know the north Texas chapter of the Salvation Army has a lot of different community programs that they run (IIRC you are also in north Texas).

  24. Hyperion

    What about the Clinton Foundation? They seem honest. Did you see what they’ve done for Haiti?

  25. Raven Nation

    Friends who work as missionaries. A guy back in Oz who works in outback communities. We’re looking at some other options as well.

    Alcohol fund for stressed faculty.

  26. Urthona

    A donation in your name has been made to the Human Fund.

    • Hyperion

      Don’t listen to him, it’s a cookbook!

  27. Hyperion

    I just saw a photo of Harris without the goiter. That photoshop is like magic. Did anyone tell her about iodine in your diet? Too bad the US does not have healthcare.

    • commodious spittoon

      Are we calling Biden “the goiter”?

  28. Chipping Pioneer

    Is there a charity to help people who have drugs fall out of their asses?

    • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

      You’re posting on its website.

  29. Spudalicious

    It’s been a few years, but I’ll start it up again this year. I like to go to Walmart and pay off Christmas lay aways on December 23rd. I give to pretty much every military organization in front of the grocery story. Give blood, Toys For Tots, yada yada yada.

    As for organized charities, I give to Mercury One, and Tunnels to Towers. Also the Idaho Food Bank.

    • DEG

      I give to pretty much every military organization in front of the grocery story.

      That reminds me.

      Around Christmastime, if I see Salvation Army bell ringers, I’ll drop some money into their buckets.

    • Mojeaux

      I like to go to Walmart and pay off Christmas lay aways on December 23rd.

      That is a spectacular idea. How do you go about it. “Hi, I’d like to pay off some people’s layaways”?

      • Spudalicious

        Go to Customer Service and say just that. The last time I did that, there were ten people in line behind me. They called a manager to help me. I picked out lay aways less than $150 and paid off a few of them. I felt great when I was done.

      • Spudalicious

        My guess is in Kansas, you can find some fairly small layaways. Those are the people most in need.

  30. Gender Traitor

    Our local Humane Society, whence came Little Black Kitty who adores me (and vice versa,) and as I’ve mentioned before to great hilarity, usually at least once a year I buy some of the excellent products of the Women’s Bean Project. Their 10-bean soup mix is the foundation for our traditional New Year’s Eve & Day Hopping John.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I buy some of the excellent products of the Women’s Bean Project.

      That’s hardly even a euphemism.

      • Spudalicious

        I wonder if they’ve made any flicks to advertise their products?

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        God I hate that term, it’s Fucking disgusting,

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      I’m not sure I want any Hopping John. TMI,

  31. hoof_in_mouth

    IJ
    Eli’s Place
    Big Brother’s/Big Sisters
    The Long Now (I like their bar)
    The Land Institute (working on perennial wheat and similar things)

  32. egould310

    Glibs.com
    WFMU radio
    MAINfm radio in Australia
    Wikipedia whenever the pop-up pops up
    My wife’s cousin whenever she calls with a sob story

    I’m an extremely generous tipper. So I facilitate charitable giving through hundreds of waiters, waitresses, and bartenders.

  33. Trigger Hippie

    I dont donate to organizations. I donate when and where I can at embarrassingly small amounts of money when possible. I throw money to people here when I can but It’s a paltry sum at best.

    My most generous recent example is buying my cousin and her husband a pound of bacon, a pound of pasta, some sauce, a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk to get them by for about four days until they get paid. Not much but they’re a little chubby, they’ll survive.

    • Gadfly

      I donate when and where I can at embarrassingly small amounts of money when possible. I throw money to people here when I can but It’s a paltry sum at best.

      That reminds me of this old story:

      Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
      Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

      • rhywun

        Ha one of the few stories I remember from the dim mists of Sunday school.

      • MikeS

        Amen.

  34. Shpip

    My mom spent over a year in the Shriner’s Hospital in Springfield, MA when she was a young child, and they’re a highly efficient charity to boot, so they get a chunk of my change.

    I also give annually to the National World War II Museum. Most of the vets of that war are gone, now, and someone has to tell their stories.

    My financial situation is improved over what it was just a few years ago, so two local animal charities are being added this year: one for bats, one that’s devoted to elephants (the website for the latter is a bit trunkated).

    • egould310

      Don’t just throw peanuts at that elephant charity.

    • Plinker762

      Funding the next Vid Variant?

  35. dbleagle

    Salvation Army always gets a donation along with The Wounded Warrior Foundation. I’ll also donate to other groups on a rotating basis.

    In the past I’ve donated sailboats to the Girl Scouts. I am working with a friend to get a nice sailboat back to useful condition and we will donate it to the Hawaiian Youth Sailing Program so they can have a mid sized racing boat for their older sailors.

  36. Urthona

    I’m really not gonna give anything to you Glibs,, but just know on your death beds you will receive total consciousness.

    So you got that going for you. Which is nice.

    • Zwak, jack off, all trades

      Gunga Ilunga.

  37. LCDR_Fish

    A couple churches
    Several mission organizations
    Voice of the Martyrs

    Periodic one-offs to other organizations.

    • MikeS

      *standing ovation*

    • db

      That’s gold.

      “So you don’t know whether the guy who was killed was an aid worker or an ISIS-K agent.”

      “we’re investigating that”

      “You can’t sort of have an investigation after we kill people, we ought to have an investion before we kill people.”

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        “You can’t sort of have an investigation after we kill people, we ought to have an investigation before we kill people.”

        It’s almost as if the 5th Amendment due process clause wasn’t some magical privilege bestowed solely on Americans, but the formal recognition of a right of all people under the natural law.

  38. gbob

    I don’t have much in cash, so I keep my money to smaller and direct charities.

    That said, I donate my time to drive for Meals on Wheels. I don’t know their Financials, but I love the clients on my route.

    • Chafed

      That’s a really decent thing to do.

  39. trshmnstr the terrible

    OT: If anybody has some time for proofreading, tone checking, and generally providing feedback on a vaccine religious exemption request document, I’m posting it up in the forum for people to review (https://www.glibertarians.us/community/covid-19/comprehensive-religious-exemption-proofreading-request/#post-1925). I’d be much indebted to anybody who takes the time to read and suggest improvements.

    This is going to be a doozie (tracking to be 50+ pages sans Appendix), so I’m trying to get extra eyes on it in smaller chunks as I complete them. I really hope for this to become a valuable resource that puts the best foot forward for the “vaccine hesitant” and, whether or not it convinces any company to change their mind, convicts some people as to the ghoulishness of all this.

    • rhywun

      I appreciate the effort but TBH I think shorter is better. No HR department is going to read 50 pages plus an appendix. Maybe create an alternate version that fits into 1 or 2 pages?

      My 2¢

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I get it, but the real audience isn’t the HR department. Its directed to two audiences. First, a court hearing a Title VII civil rights complaint. There are plenty of 1-2 pagers out on the internet that will be summarily shot down and ignored by HR, and it’s plausible that HR has even read them. There’s no way that HR is going to read this one, but they are required to by law. This puts them in a bind when they summarily reject the exemption but don’t follow the Title VII requirements for handling an exemption request. Not saying that this is “checkmate” or anything like that, but it changes the way they’re forced to analyze the request and adds substantial burden to them if they want to reject the accommodation.

        Second, it’s directed to the unvaxxed people like me, who struggle to find comprehensive info and arguments as to why it’s such a bad idea to take the shot. There are plenty of conspiracy theories around, but not much argument from a religious/conscientious/rational point of view. I’m aiming to provide such a thing.

      • rhywun

        My company makes you sign some nonsense about how you can’t sue them but can only go to arbitration. I am not a law-ey person so I have no idea how that impacts this situation.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Left completely unexplained is how it is in any way ethical to mandate a medical treatment that grants the mandater and the manufacturer freedom from liability.

  40. rhywun

    Wow. Operation Greaseball Recall getting crushed by 40 points with 41% of the results in.

    I can’t even.

    • straffinrun

      Californians seem to think they are voting against Alabama when the have state elections. That thinking is working out really well for them

    • Brochettaward

      Voting against Newsome would require too many voters to look into the mirror and ask uncomfortable questions about the things they have believed.

    • one true athena

      This state is so dumb and useless.

      • rhywun

        AP has called it. Looks like it’s over.

        Utopia is saved.

    • KSuellington

      I knew it was going to happen, but at least hoped that it would be close to make him think twice. Looking like a blowout in favor of central casting. I weep for the state of my birth. A fucking paradise that they have let slide into a shithole with little enclaves of massive wealth that keep themselves largely at bay, behind gates and heavy doors, masks for the help, the progressive dream for America.

      • Chafed

        I moved here in 1991. Back then, the state seemed free wheeling. Anything was possible. Today, it’s a stultified mess. I’ll be here at least a few more years. But when retirement arrives, I am out of here.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      What was Gruesome so worried about, then?

      • KSuellington

        He is only going to get worse after the recall. He looks to get close to Kim Jong numbers.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I don’t think he was worried but he took a gamble to hammer that wedge deeper between his faithful and the unclean and unruly peasants that dared confront him

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Well, irritable about, at any rate. Cornholio Beavis seems more reasonable.

  41. straffinrun

    Anytime someone owes me money, I just tell them to donate it to charity. I’ve done that a few times for glibs. I just trust they actually do it.

    • MikeS

      That’s really, really good, Straff. I like it a lot.

    • Sensei

      Matcha matcha praise!

      Kimono looks on point too. Impressive.

    • hayeksplosives

      I can’t get it to display!

      Will have to look on a real PC.

    • KSuellington

      Wow, that is great stuff. You are a legit artist. Try putting your stuff up with high dollar amounts on art sale sites and see if you can make a sale. If you’d like to do that thing of course. I am not kidding.

      • Chafed

        Sign it Hunter Biden. You’ll make a fortune.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Impressed by both your and Mojeaux’s advancements. My drawing (and calligraphy*) plateaued long ago.

      *hey, it’s better than that Markle curlicue crap, to damn myself with faint praise

    • robodruid

      That’s really impressive

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      If only your dad were Prez.

  42. whiz

    IJ, of course.

    Various animal welfare organizations, especially the local animal shelter. We also foster dogs and cats until a permanent home can be found, which is kind of a donation — four times that permanent home has been us! (Also known as a foster fail.)

  43. hayeksplosives

    For tax deductible donations, I do:

    * Charity Navigator (yes, it is a charity itself)
    * Wikipedia (because I use them at least once a week)
    * Cure Alzheimer’s Fund
    * Lutheran Bible Translators

    This last one deserves a little background. I’m not even Lutheran. Back in Minnesota, a young man named Andrew served as a worship leader for our tiny church (husband was in the band too). Kind, generous kid. He has a gift for learning languages, and I’m talking obscure tribal languages in Africa. He picks them up in nothing flat. He is now a missionary in Africa on an island (Ukerewe in Tanzania) that doesn’t have a Bible in their own language (Kerewe); this is problematic because even though the people are nominally Christian, they still do some “old religion” things like killing people with albinism, over represented there, and harvesting their organs.

    Andrew is there with his wife and three daughters—we watched them get married and now we follow their story on their website.

    Even if you don’t value the idea of the Bible translation, here’s the rest. This guy is also a gifted tinkerer and has build many devices and systems to provide clean water, generate electricity, and improve the lives of the people there including the locals who are on the translation team. Many of them are learning to read for the first time now that they have some materials (the whole Bible isn’t ready yet).

    The life isn’t easy, but he doesn’t complain. He gave a video tour of their house online recently and glossed quickly over the guard house, the existence of which gives an idea of potential danger. He’s gotten very sick with malaria twice but not given up.

    So we give money to LBT and earmark it for his mission and his family directly. Kind of random, but there it is.

    For non-deductible giving, we do the GoFundMe, Patreon, donation of goods & time, silent auctions, etc.

  44. Winston

    So Californians overwhelmingly voted for tyranny. How do we explain that?

    • hayeksplosives

      The media and government successfully scared them to death first of Covid, and then of “white supremacist” Larry Elder.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Your average Californian is more afraid of being identified as a Republican than being oppressed into poverty.

      I’m quite serious about that.

  45. Winston

    https://unherd.com/2021/09/are-we-heading-for-another-winter-lockdown/

    Going out to restaurants, meeting people, sending my kids to school or to their gymnastics class and football — all that stuff of life is great and important. I want to have as much of it as possible over the winter. So we need to start talking about some relatively minor adjustments – stuff like bringing back masks in shops, encouraging working from home where possible, backing proper vaccination certificates. I prefer the world where I can play silly nerdy games in sweaty rooms, even if I lose all my games and come dead last, to the world where I sit on a park bench in the cold for two birthdays in a row.

    Yes because the masks or lockdowns arguments have worked out so far…

  46. Winston

    New Zealand also willingly voted for its own enslavement. Freest country in the world…

  47. Ownbestenemy

    The young girl that beat cancer and going up on the civvie mission with SpaceX is a Rockstar. On her jet training she asked the pilot to pull as many G’s as he could and wanted some stick time. That is taking life by the balls

  48. Ownbestenemy

    Our donations are more spur of the moment and local. Old clothes to women’s shelters, donate some bucks to a local little league or other sports, take the time to be at a community event. Stuff like that

  49. one true athena

    Most of our giving right now is donating to the kids’ school. Nope, it’s not just tuition!

    We also give to Children’s Hospital LA since that’s where my son had his surgery when he was little, Feeding America, and some local animal places like Sea Lion Rescue. I do some fan-based donations as well, like two years ago when Star Wars fandom fundraised for Arts in the Armed Forces, the non-profit group Adam Driver founded after his service in the Marines.

  50. Winston

    https://medium.com/the-radical-center/bamboozling-gen-z-republicans-78e80cb96cbd

    In my opinion that means Gen Z libertarians — in fact, all libertarians — only have one option, which is to do their damndest to elect moderate Democrats and push them in a pro-market direction. It’s being done in regards to housing and can be accomplished in other areas as well. Both God’s Own Party and the formerly Libertarian Party should be put out with the trash as quickly as possible.

    A Centrist Caucus in the Democrats is needed, to push both economic and social freedom. Now, if that doesn’t work, at least we’d have social freedom. With Republicans we’d have neither social freedom nor economic freedom. And with the Libertarian Party, if we aren’t throwing up, we’ll be laughing at the clowns who are taking over.

    • Winston

      https://medium.com/the-radical-center/send-in-the-clowns-oh-theyre-already-here-f07828c04cfa

      The fact is that mitigation efforts in this country failed because at every step of the way the lunatic Right has sabotaged it. They have intentionally held super spreader events. They have packed their churches with maskless morons and they are surprised when people — including the grifters in the pulpits — get sick and die. Then it’s just the “will of the Lord” not the ignorance of the fringe right.

      He is a lockdowner of course…

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        The second is from March. Why are you reading this guy — masochism?

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s like reading the ravings of Mensheviks before they got their bullet.

        Later: Oh shit, those Bolshies really do mean business after all….

      • Winston

        I found him while googling liberals who support change and found his “radical centrism” is just as terrible as I suspected. A gay atheist South African who lives in Frisco and supports lockdowns.

      • Winston

        Oh and he is a liberaltarian too.

        Anyway the whole “liberaltarian” always struck me as nonsense. Who are these Democrats who oppose most of their Party’s agenda since the 1890s? Do Modern Democrats even care about Grover Cleveland? There are actual fiscal conservative Republicans but they never made any headway since 1940s.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you — you’re cool* — and fuck you; I’m out!”

      I nearly dropped out of college due to mere dissatisfaction, and that was when it was cheap: this would definitely tip me over the edge.

      *?

    • Akira

      These fuckers have lied, lied, lied since day one of the pandemic. From “just 2 weeks to flatten the curve” to “get your freedom back if you get the vax”.

      I’m at the point with them where if they said the sky was blue, I’d peek out the window to check.

    • grrizzly

      Some folks here accepted this idea, too. They are not posting anymore. Must be a coincidence…

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I don’t remember whom you mean, Grr.

      • grrizzly

        Playa was arguing with Alex Berenson on Twitter a few months ago about the vaccine effectiveness. Before the vaccine manufacturers and public health authorities admitted the need for boosters–acknowledging that the vaccines were no longer effective.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Hm. I had been wondering what happened to the South Bay dudes, or 2/3 (?) of them. Not up to me to infer any connection, though.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Think that’s why he’s gone?

        That would be unfortunate.

      • Winston

        I didn’t visit here for a few months (I know, such a shame!) So who are you referring to?

        Anyway has Heroic Mulatto been around lately? Hope nothing happened…

      • Festus

        He mostly hangs out in the ass-eating Forum, as is his wont…

  51. Akira

    The Doe Fund – A charity for men who are in the cycle of prison and homelessness. If they sign up and agree to the rules of the program, they are given a room in a dormitory the day they get released. They work as street cleaners and get paid an actual wage. They complete courses in money management, job interview skills, etc. and can enroll in career training. The program also offers drug rehab if they need it. They are considered “graduated” when they are fully employed, supporting themselves in their own residence, and not taking any welfare (other than SSDI or Medicaid). I like that it teaches them to be self-sufficient rather than just giving endless handouts (which I believe incentivizes being a bum). This program has no appeal for loafers; it’s only useful for those who are willing to work and make positive changes in their lives.

    Discover Classical radio station – What can I say? I get a lot of value out of it. I’ve discovered countless new composers and learn a lot about their lives and works.

    I also make efforts to donate any items that can be of use to anyone (clothing, unwanted appliances, etc.)

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      So far all I do is #3, and the occasional glib GFM.

      My mom donated to St. Jude’s (or was it Shriners?) and hasn’t received any junk mail from them. I haven’t seen any Shriners ads in a while. Dear old Alec and Caleb.

      • Akira

        My mom donated to St. Jude’s (or was it Shriners?) and hasn’t received any junk mail from them. I haven’t seen any Shriners ads in a while. Dear old Alec and Caleb.

        Hmm, I’ll have to remember that. We gave a gift donation to Doctors Without Borders in our mother’s name (she likes gifts like that a lot more than material goods) and they have bombarded me with letters ever since then.

        Actual footage of me receiving MSF letters every damn week

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Any mail that I’ve seen, anyway. I think the former, but they both seem to be on the angels’ list.

        I also like places that take small anonymous cash donations.

      • Gender Traitor

        I haven’t seen any Shriners ads in a while.

        Yeah, I miss that kid who looks like a baby Buddy Hackett. Hope he’s OK.

      • rhywun

        I see them *all the time*.

        That kid is doing fine. He has his driver’s license and is going to college.

    • rhywun

      Perfect.

      And nothing else happened.

  52. Sean

    On topic: this is private info between me and my tax professional. Fuck off, fed!

  53. Sean

    https://www.megamillions.com/

    Up to $405m

    Guess I’m buying more tix this week. With coin like that, I could buy some 5.56!

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Meh, a mere three sources.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Great, not just here.

  54. Toxteth O'Grady

    Not telling others things one wouldn’t want repeated: what a concept.

    • Gender Traitor

      ???

      Good morning, TO’G.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Urr, re Norm’s secrecy, that is. Quite a feat in this age.

        Mawnin, Miz GT. All OK in CU land?

      • Gender Traitor

        Indeed!

        Yes, thanks – all’s well. This is a bit of a lull in the month for me, so unfortunately, the main thing I have to do at the moment is plod through more returned mail. (We don’t allow mail to members – statements and such like – to be forwarded, since that’s sometimes used for ID theft.) It’s the sort of task that puts the tedium back into monotony.

        How’s things in your neck of the woods? (Other than…you know… the ::mumbles:: recall results?)

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Aw, nothin. Just wondering if you had heard anything more about this $600 thing.

      • Gender Traitor

        I have not. The current Bank Secrecy Act crap is bad enough, forcing financial institutions to report cash transactions of $10K (? – I have to know this once a year for mandatory BSA training, then I try to put it out of my mind) or more. Lowering the threshold that much – or possibly having to report even more than that – sounds like a nightmare in the making. So glad I don’t have to deal with it directly with what I do.

      • Tres Cool

        I just now realized what CU meant.

        I mean, her hair IS kinda copper colored.

  55. Stinky Wizzleteats

    *checks news*
    Huh, the California recall went from a shot across the bow to a confirmatory attaboy of what that slimy and corrupt piece of trash has done for the past couple of years. Get the hell out of there if you’re there and your circumstances allow because this result will have him doubling down. Whip me beat me make me write bad checks is no way for an electorate to behave.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Either the fraud was so massive that the Democrats will never be toppled in that State again or the populace is truly under Stockholm Syndrome.

      Either way, California is well and truly fucked. Run for the hills.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Too wide a margin for fraud although I’m sure there was some. Stockholm Syndrome of a sort maybe but I just don’t get it. The French Laundry hypocrisy alone would have had him tossed in my state.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I think they’ve done such an effective job of making the concept of Republican a toxic idea in California that it assures Democrat control.

        There are simply too many people in California who will not vote for a GOP candidate because the social cost is too high or they’re actually convinced they want to push granny off a cliff. I’ve seen it up close and it’s really quite bizarre and frightening.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I cancelled out a vote. ?‍♂️

      • Sean

        Too wide a margin for fraud

        LOL. I don’t believe that for a minute.

        It’s fraud all the way down.

        With an estimated two-thirds of ballots counted, “no” on the question of whether to recall Newsom was ahead by a 30-point margin. That lead was built on votes cast by mail and in advance of Tuesday’s in-person balloting, with a strong showing by Democrats. While likely to shrink somewhat in the days ahead as votes cast at polling places are counted, Newsom’s lead couldn’t be overcome.

        https://www.newsmax.com/politics/gavin-newsom-california-democrat-recall/2021/09/14/id/1036447/

        Emphasis added.

    • rhywun

      That is one beaten-down electorate, if the results are accurate.

      • Sean

        Narrator: “They’re not accurate.”

  56. Tres Cool

    suh’ fam

    whats goody

    • Gender Traitor

      Insurrection at Chez GT/TT!! One of the regular neighborhood strays got up on the outside sill of our living room window, and my kitty boys took extreme umbrage at this blatant encroachment upon their turf.

      Other than that, not much. Howzabout you?

      • Tres Cool

        Guess it rea

      • Tres Cool

        ..lly rained last night

      • Gender Traitor

        Yup, and a bit more on the way, from the looks of the radar. Traffic-wise, so far it looks as if all the hot action is on NB, so fingers crossed and knocking wood. (NOT a euphemism!)

      • Tres Cool

        All night long I wanted a nice, rare, ribeye, cooked over charcoal. With mushrooms and onions, of course.
        I walk out and the heavens had opened, and G_d and his angels were pissing down upon us.

  57. Stinky Wizzleteats

    I didn’t realize Israel is now considering a fourth shot (second booster):
    https://hamodia.com/2021/09/12/israel-looking-at-possible-fourth-covid-shot/

    I guess they’ll just continue to do the exact same thing over and over until they either succeed or fail spectacularly but it should be obvious to the big brains over there that this thing isn’t going to be stopped.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      They survived the Holocaust and being attacked from all sides only to self-immolate in an orgiastic spasm of medical panic.

      For all they know, they could be sterilizing an entire generation.

      • Tres Cool

        “…only to self-immolate in an orgiastic spasm of medical panic.”

        Mr Lamar, you use your tongue purty-er than a $20 whore.

    • Ghostpatzer

      About a year ago my (((manager))) and I got to discussing the jab. Not actually a discussion, more like a lecture on why don’t you get the jab, Guy? Back home in Israel everyone is vaccinated and we’re open now!

      Over the last few months his attitude has started to change. Can’t imagine why.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He lost his mind when he went to not fat. Either that or he was always a grifter.

      • straffinrun

        Watch me pull a fascist out of my ass.

      • rhywun

        His brains were in the fat.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      What a fucking disappointment he turned out to be. JFC indeed.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Further proof that “libertarian fascist” is not an oxymoron, apparently.

    • Festus

      Penn just got stacked on the ignore this guy pile.

      • rhywun

        Been there for a while but this seals it.

  58. Festus

    On topic – I donated to the Glibs once, everyone else can go fuck themselves. Norm died yesterday but we had that fine-assed Supervisor show up for one night so it it was sort of a wash. Do you realize how difficult it is to ear uniform trousers and have your bottom look fetching? I try not not donate money but I will donate sweat equity to people in need. I always help where and when I can. Especially for fine-assed women!

    • Festus

      “wear” but “ear” sorta works if you’re into that poly-cotton swishing sound.

    • Ghostpatzer

      On topic at this hour? End times are near, indeed.

      Mornin’

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Ciao, my dear Festus Levant. What’s going wrong in the real world?

      • Festus

        Mostly everything. Thanks for asking, though!

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Aw hell.

    • Tres Cool

      Find a tailor and get those baggy-ass uniform pants fitted.
      Then you’ll be the belle of the ball in dickies workwear.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Shit, My dickies are cut well, I’m a Fashion Queen of the HVAC scene!

      • Festus

        I don’t wear a uniform but some of the young tomatoes do so. I dress like Aqualung.

      • Tres Cool

        Sitting on a park bench? Eyeing little girls with bad intent ?

      • Festus

        Uh, yeah…

  59. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Shit just got real for Milley

    https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1437833953289940992

    Jack Posobiec Flag of United States
    @JackPosobiec
    BREAKING: Several Pentagon officers present in Milley’s secret meeting are willing to testify against him under oath, per WH official

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Ultimately this comes down to politics and nothing will happen. Where were these brave officers when this was happening?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Milley’s fucked. The administration is going to throw him under the bus faster than a two-dollar whore can jump through your car window.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        The admin will do what they think is popular among their base which they apparently ascertain from Twitter and MSNBC. Aren’t the usual suspects spinning this as an act of bravery and foresight on Milley’s part?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The neocons want his head, and they still hold some sway in the agencies.

      • Festus

        Milley is Legion.

    • Festus

      This is also known as a sacrificial lamb.

  60. PieInTheSky

    I do not have a stable set of charities. I do donate yearly to some projects organized by the company I work for. Besides that I donate to whatever feel right at various moment. Only human stuff though, no animal charities.

    Also, and this is probably a bad idea, I also give to homeless / beggars on the street, mostly elderly. One can never trully tell which are pro beggars and which are in need, but I can see some homeless in various areas which are clearly homeless and I avoid giving in areas with lots of foot traffic because those spots are clearly owned by the mafia which controls begging.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I’d bet you have quite the BS meter.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Not meant snarkily….

      • PieInTheSky

        I have rules more like. I don’t give to people who I see all the time in a spot. Also I do not give much to children as they are generally owned by the mob and I don’t want to encourage that. But in Bucharest there are pensioners which are not professional beggars and cannot probably make ends meet so I try to identify those. But also with charities there are lots of fake ones.

  61. Don Escaped Texas

    Much thanks to everyone who donates to St Jude.

  62. UnCivilServant

    I don’t outsource my good works, and I don’t advertize them. I prefer them to remain anonymous and unacknowledged.

    • Don Escaped Texas

      That thine alms may be in secret: and
      thy Father which seeth in secret
      himself shall reward thee openly.

      • Festus

        Wisdom.

  63. Don Escaped Texas

    “big drive”

    fuck the United Way for the pressure direct management puts on working class people in their name: oh, we’re a 100% shop for three years in a row and you don’t want to be the reason Mr X gets told we didn’t get there a fourth year

    in fact, fuck all employers who can’t deal with an arm’s length transaction and just pay a man for what he does without getting into his vax status, where he goes to church, what bumper stickers he has

    * walks away . . . again . . . . starts new job . . . . . again . . . . . sighs “whatever” *

    Perhaps the most revolting character that the United States ever produced was the Christian Businessman – H L Mencken

  64. Tres Cool

    Norm, with (Super) Dave Osborne:

    Norm: “I think some gold-plated chains would make a great retirement present for a really, really, good, slave.”

    Dave: “Oh my God! You cant say that. Whats wrong with you?”

    Norm gave 0 fucks.

    • Festus

      Norm was the Ur-Glib so far as the funny bone goes. We are all just walking in his footprints.

    • Festus

      Vindman? That cunte wants to start talking about honor and the chain of command? That guy?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That’s Lieutenant Colonel Vindman to you, buddy.

      • Tres Cool

        or as we called them, “telephone colonels”

  65. Gustave Lytton

    Mike Boorda had more personal honor in his pinkie than Milley does in his entire body.

  66. waffles

    All Milley had to do was stfu. This book deal is a massive self-own.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      As Kurt Schlicter is fond of saying “These people are self-absorbed morons.”

      • Sean

        He’s not wrong.