On selling one's soul with membership dues.

When you lose faith in the very institutions you put your trust in, what hope is there of a better tomorrow?

Such Camus-like existentialism is bred when companies like Bank of America take the names of Iowa University alumni from the very organization that represents that alumni, and keeps the exchange of money a secret.

Now, I didn't go to Iowa, and thankfully I closed my BoA account long ago (after the 0% interest rate expired), but now my own goddamn fraternity is in the business of offering credit cards to members.

That's right: perhaps, if you're a brother, you've received these mail solicitations. I sure as hell have, and each one promises to support my fraternity.

Well I'm calling "bullshit."

For a while now, even Rotary International has customized a credit card for those Rotarians who are foolish enough to believe that MasterCard and Visa have the world's best interest at heart. What they're really interested in is earning that 17% interest above the 1% they give to our Rotary Foundation fund. It's marketing in the mode of philanthropy, and smarter folks than me should be able to see through it.

Using a credit card to help your favorite foundation or organization definitely has a "feel good" aspect to it, but here's an idea: give a charity the 1% yourself, and keep from wasting the other 12-20% in finance charges.

I like the idea of giving a charity I check that I wrote. MasterCard and Visa can send their own damn check.

They can rest assured it won't be me helping them to write it.

On the evil of Bill Gates, and giving what you can

Is Bill Gates an evil man?

With the news of his semi-retirement from Microsoft to focus on his charitable organization, I'm feeling conflicted. Sure, Gates's business practices are Satanic, and he's putting the world's computers at risk by producing virus-attracting software - but he's giving away billions to help the world's poor and underdeveloped nations and people.

Leonard Pitts wrote a column in the Miami Herald saying that, when most guys reach middle age, their crisis usually leads to fast cars and young women. Gates, on the other hand, is giving away his money.

"As midlife crises go, that's not a bad one to have," Pitts writes.

He goes on: "I can't write a billion-dollar check. But I can paint a fence, mentor a child, maybe even endow a small scholarship. Bill Gates has me thinking with fresh energy about those and other things I can do -- the responsibility I have -- to change my corner of the world."

Amen, brother.

Pitts laments that he can't approach all the possible good Gates can do with his richest-man-in-the-world bank account, but even small things can make a difference. Moreover, Pitts says, we have a responsibility to give all that we can to make the world a better place.

"I never knew Bill Gates was a Spider-Man fan. But his stated reason for transitioning out of day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft two years from now to devote his energies to charity work (''with great wealth comes great responsibility'') comes suspiciously close to the creed by which the webslinger has lived since 1962: 'With great power comes great responsibility'...It occurs to me, though, that maybe the lesson of Bill Gates' example -- for hundredaires and thousandaires, at least -- lies less in Spider-Man's maxim than in this one: Do what you can, where you are, now."

You don't have to be Bill Gates to better the world.

So maybe if Gates goes on to inspire philanthropists (corporate or otherwise) to give more, or ordinary citizens to give, say, $5 a month to their favorite charity, then the King of Capitalism could be renewed in the eyes of those that despise him.

We have a program in Rotary called "Every Rotarian Every Year" where, each year, Rotarians are encouraged to give at least $100 to the Rotary Foundation to help improve the world (through programs like clean water and Polio Eradication). For a bit over $8 a month, you can give and be assured that your small contribution is doing good.

And money isn't everything - some organization could just use an extra hour and a helping hand. Sometimes time is more valuable in money, especially with everyone so busy these days.

Creating a fortune and then quitting work to concentrate on giving it all away is pretty admirable. Every religion says to give back to those who need it, but I don't even think you need religion to help out.

It just makes you a good human being.

Kudos, Mr. Gates.

But I'm still not buying Windows Vista, should it ever come out.

What are you thankful for?

"Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." -- Matthew 5:3

- - - - -

What are you thankful for?

I'm thankful that a recent canned/non-perishable food drive we sponsored here at work was such a success.

Some background: One day, when I was a kid, my grandpa filled up a grocery bag full of food and stopped by Jackson's Interfaith Shelter for the homeless. He grabbed the bag from the back seat, told me to sit tight, and headed to the backdoor of the shelter where he handed a man the grocery bag.

I don't quite remember what he said when he got back to the car, but the point was made: do what you can, when you can, and all that you can, for those who can't do for themselves. It's an image that has lasted with me to this day, and speaks more to the giving spirit than any Bible quote.

I recently learned in my Rotary meetings that the shelter was having a tough time collecting food because everyone was giving to the hurricane relief effort. When big, national disasters happen, local charities tend to suffer.

So when my boss and I brainstormed small events we could do at our new Vandercook Branch, I thought we could sponsor a canned food drive to help fill Interfaith's winter stock. We made up flyers and attached them to a local grocer's paper bags, telling our members to fill the bags with non-perishables and return them to the branch, so we could fill our American 1 van up with food.

The van wasn't entirely filled, like I had hoped, but we did collect quite a bit from members and employees.



Our CEO also gave us $200 to go shopping with. I pitched in enough to get two giant coffee cans (hey - no one should go without) and a palette full of baby food. Above is what the van looked like after we filled it.

When we dropped all the goods off last Friday, the folks at the shelter were helpful, friendly, and appreciative. They even helped us unload the food. One old guy even had a "bad ticker," but he climped the two flights of stairs to the pantry just like the rest of us.

I don't mind getting mushy. When we pulled out of the shelter's driveway, I couldn't help feeling proud and thankful that we had the means and the wherewithal to help the homeless in Jackson. It's just a small token - lord knows all of us could afford to help more - but it's something.


Lisa, Kristi, and I outside the Interfaith Shelter.

Mother Theresa said "Never turn your back to the poor. For in turning your back to the poor you are turning it to Jesus Christ." So I think instead of being so concerned with giving gifts to everyone this Christmas, I'm going to concentrate on giving to those who don't have anything ("Where your treasure is, so is your heart," Jesus said).

I've got enough crap. I don't want for anything. So please - any thoughts of exchanging presents this year, just make a donation to your local homeless shelter. Instead of giving your family members a gift certificate in their stockings, give a donation to a deserving cause and let your family member know you made it in their name.

And don't keep your generosity limited to December - keep it going all year.

Even a bag of groceries, maybe every month of so, would help out so much. It's what I learned so many years ago, and it's what I'm thankful for this holiday weekend.