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April 27 "Idol Gives Back" Creates Boom for ONEONE.org got a lot of great airtime during the Idol Gives Back shows this week and it is resulting in a boom in membership. With the growth here, a nice dose of donations and the ongoing efforts of groups like Unitus and its Empowering Women campaign a good mixture of treatment, education, care, and opportunity will begin to show in these dark corners. April 26 Idol Gives BackThis was outstanding. Over $60M raised and a great surfacing of poverty in Africa and the US. Gross poverty exists through out the world and while teaching a kid in the appalachians to read might not end up getting him out of poverty, it creates the opportunity. Providing people with a chance a possibility, it is a great thing. I hope that this will become a regular event and that people will continue to be generous with their time, talent and money. January 11 Should a Developer be Liable for Wind Damage?A few weeks ago, Seattle was dealt the Big Blackout Friday punch with a huge wind storm. One of the things I think it interesting is looking at wind damage in planned development areas. I live in one of these called Redmond Ridge and near us is another called Trilogy these are two large developments that cut broad swaths of trees out on the top of the Novelty Hill area. This is a one of many 600-700 foot high hills as you move east of Seattle toward that mountains. These developments cause a few interesting issues for the trees though.
I think these all create the potential for damage to homes that could be avoided with better planning up front. Behind our house (at the end of one of those slot canyons we have what looks like a couple acres cleared (like a bulldozer came through) that used to be heavily wooded -- fortunately none hit the house but some neighbors weren't so lucky and another neighbor next to a "horn" has been hit two years in a row. A home over in Trilogy, right next to one of these thin strips of trees was feature in the papers because 10 trees hit their home.
The positive end is the developed area has all underground wiring so we were back on power about 1 1/2 days later and neighborhoods around us went 1 week plus because of trees across power lines. But damage to homes has to hit insurers hard and I would expect a little more vulnerability control as they seek to recover damages from potentially liable parties.
December 17 Storm RecoveryThursday night as the news has covered the winds through the Seattle area wreaked a good bit of destruction. We used to have a dense woods between us and the houses next to us, now we have an almost clear cut view. Fortunately no damage to the home though 4 other houses in the development all were hit by trees. Power was restored in our area Saturday morning but much of the area around us is blacked out still and it is going to be a long time for them to get it all fixed. Poles are down, wires are broken all over the place and there are still trees leaning on lines in many places. This is the downside of living in a heavily wooded area with above ground wiring. The good thing about the storm has been the outpouring of neighbors helping each other. People have been out with chainsaws clearing roads and back yards, people are helping with food and heat. Still it has been really tough on many who are without heat still as the temperature drops.
Cel services were wiped out for most, analog lines have been up but cable is out and a lot of people we know with voip are reconsidering a move away from standard telephone lines. It is making everyone in the home a little internet itchy and it is the first time on dial-up I have had for some time. December 03 The Holiday SpiritAs we wind to the end of the year it is always interesting to see the balance between consumerism and caring. The food and gift drives are on, many good works will occur and thus I have added the book Compassionate Capitalism to my list. I read this a couple years ago and it is a nice outline of how companies can give back, encourage their employees to be involved and take a little bit of a break from the battle to beat each other out in the market. Microsoft, lead by BG has a pretty solid focus on this with lots of options for employees to be involved with the community but this book strives to go beyond with the idea of weaving into the mission of the company a culture of philanthropy.
Other great things happening in the world on this front are the growth of micro-finance institutions and companies that are working to support them. I am friends with some of the people at Unitus and I love this effort to have a positve impact against global poverty. This is a great key to driving greater peace on earth. January 31 Congratulations IraqAwesome to see the large numbers that chose to execise the right to vote in Iraq. Overcoming terrorist driven fears and enduring lines that none of us would put up with millions cast votes. I hope this step towards self-determination can lead to a positive direction for the region and that we can begin an exit sooner rather than later. Dramatic changes always come at great expense but letting the people decide and take control is the best course of action. May the area return to its roots of academic and artistic achievement. |
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