Soapbox

Warning: This post is not about knitting and touches on political and charity viewpoints. You have been warned.

I love some charities. Hand up, not handout types. Like, I hate welfare, but I love scholarship/vocational learning/teach a man to fish type programs. Which is why I love Heifer International. They give families in poor areas animals that will provide food, labor and young that can be sold. They have to go through a training program so they know how to best care for and utilize their animals. They're given the types of animals that make sense in their area, be it chickens, llamas, goats, pigs, or what have you. There was a girl on Oprah who was able to go to college because of the hand up her family was given through this program. If I had graduated already and was working in a real job, they'd be getting a hefty donation. If you are interested in donating, and would like to be entered into a drawing to maybe win something for your good deed, Spin Out 2007 is still holding their raffle. Tickets cost $10 each, and that $10 (or more) is your donation to Heifer International. After donating directly to Heifer, you send an e-mail with the amount donated, and your name is put into the raffle. If you have the money and are willing to part with it for a good cause, please do!

Another charity I like is Sustainable Harvest International. They teach farmers in rain forest areas how to best farm the land so they don't have to keep mowing down forest to get more fertile grounds. Another one where they don't hand out money, they teach people how to better keep themselves and the environment in a better way. Also, Stonyfield Farm yogurt is donating to charities. They are splitting $100,000 between three charities based on the votes they get. Sustainable Harvest is one of them. How do you vote? You can vote online here and get a free yogurt. If you then get your free yogurt and buy nine more, you can send in all ten lids and it counts as ten votes. You also get a free box of Stash tea and Terra Nostra chocolate bar. Okay, so you get coupons to get them from your local store. I eat yogurt anyway, so I bought this brand for two weeks and sent in my ten votes yesterday. Very easy way to get some delicious products and help a good charity get money.

Now for the political part. I am not registered for any party. However, for the primaries, I'm going to register republican. If you're not specifically hoping for a democratic candidate to win their primaries, I suggest you do the same. I really like Ron Paul. He knows what he's for, and is a traditional Republican, not a war mongering debt-inflating moron like the current administration. Basically, I figure that if it's Ron Paul vs. either Obama or Hillary (which seems likely for the Dems) then either way, we win. So for all of you Independents or Democrats out there who don't feel the need to vote in the primaries, register Republican for this one. Sure, you may not agree with everything Ron Paul says or does. But he doesn't say one thing then do another. He has a lot of support, but the problem is that most of his supporters are not registered Republicans. So, if you'd like to make a difference in the future of our country and make sure we have a choice between candidates who are for getting the troops out of Iraq (and maybe Iran), vote Ron Paul in the Republican primaries. I know I will.

Okay, stepping of the soapbox. Next time: Yarn dyeing!