Greetings From America!

As I ring in the holidays with my family down in southern California, the warmth of my sunny Christmas tan is not all that has given me warm fuzzies today. I learned that this is also the greatest season of giving to great global causes by many individuals like you and me! So Christmas is not just a season of capitalism and extravagant frivolous spending after all. People all over North America are also giving back and giving more each year to good causes. 

Here are some factoids I found from here in the US……

christmas-money.gif• $260 billion: Charitable giving in the U.S. in 2005, up 2.7 percent.

• 50 percent: Of the charitable giving of individuals is done between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

• 77 percent: Charitable giving in the U.S. by individuals, (or $199 billion).

So if you haven’t thought about it already, maybe this is a season where you too can give back in some way! Help spread a little love around the World!

Happy holidays everyone!!

Allow Me to Suggest the UnSuggester

UnSuggester is a great tool to find things that you hate! I love it!

Type in a book that you really enjoy and the unsuggester will let you know what book you will find torturous. For example, here are unSuggestions Brave new world : and, Brave new world revisited by Aldous Huxley, perfectly it unSuggests that I read the Devil Wears Prada.

Things Are Getting Better

Kathryn has written in to tell us about an article in the Toronto Star about how things around the world are improving.

“How dare a conservative American economist tell us things are getting a whole lot better as if global warming wasn’t happening, as if Africa wasn’t being ravaged by AIDS, and if what’s happening in Iraq wasn’t an utter catastrophe.

Goklany, though, has assembled persuasive evidence that the state of the world is indeed, “improving.””

Solar Power Tower

towerOver at Gear Factor there is a short and sweet post on a tower that uses solar energy to power itself, and to make it rotate.

“We didn’t want to build just another building or tower, we wanted to create something unique – a precious place to live – a genuine contender to be one of the great buildings in the world,” said Tav Singh, director of Dubai Property Ring, the Dubai arm of UK-based property investors UK Property Group.

The Grinch Strikes Hollywood

Gift baskets at the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards will become a thing of the past, according to recent news reports.   Ceremony reps for both shows confirmed that, starting in 2007, presenters will not be given extravagant grab bags, which have totaled up to $100,000 (US).

A Golden Globes rep alleged that all attendees (even in the audience) would receive gifts “valued at less than $600.”  A rep for the Oscars stated that “the Academy would like to thank presenters in a way that doesn’t carry a tax burden.”

Taxes are one reason why gift baskets are being nixed.  Under U.S. income tax law, the baskets are seen as income, not gifts, and are subject to heavy taxes.  The IRS reached an agreement with the Academy for previous extravagant gifts, including sending tax forms to 2006 Oscar presenters.

Another reason why celebrities will take home less next year: Edward Norton.  The actor criticized the practise, describing it as a waste.  He is quoted in a future edition of New York magazine as saying: “I’m sick of this. It’s not who we are – it makes us look ridiculous and out of touch. If these evenings are going to be a celebration of our craft and what we express about what’s going on in the world, then picking through $35,000 gift baskets is disgusting and shameful.”