News of major earthquakes can make me twitch a little. Though a 7 pointer could never do to Wellington what it did to Port-au-Prince. Poor bastards.

So, herewith a list of charities for your consideration:

UK - The Disasters Emergency Committee is an umbrella organisation with 13 members. Also Médecins Sans Frontières, who are my pick, but go ( Read more... )

For those of you, who, like me, are not reading Unseen Academicals right now... remember Free Rice? The website that donates rice in return for correct quiz answers?

Well, someone posted the link recently and I discovered that the vocab game had been updated. Last time you guys were going for level 50, this time the levels go up to 60! Bonus: if ( Read more... )

When I went to bed last night, there were no confirmed deaths in Samoa from the tsunami. This morning I read bonnie_j's comment that it was quite big there: more than 100 dead. :(

NZ Red Cross Samoa Tsunami Relief.

So much for the nice widget, LJ bans iframes.

It's almost impossible to go running in the UK without raising money for charity, it's like a law of nature or something. One of my favourite comedians has outdone himself however, in raising money for Sport Relief. Eddie Izzard, not the fittest of individuals, embarked on a marathon of marathons around the UK on 26 July. The plan was 52 days, 43 ( Read more... )

More than 750 people turned out for the Himalayan Trust UK's tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary at the Royal Geographical Society last night. The audience could be divided into two groups, young urban hippies and active-looking old folk. The latter observation was confirmed when a speaker asked who'd been to the Himalayas and almost all of them put ( Read more... )

You lot should like this. Free Rice will donate 10 grains of rice for every word you get right on their multi-choice vocab quiz. Here's how it works: you play, the advertisers get eyeballs, the charity gets money and buys rice to be distributed by the UN World Food Program ( Read more... )

My brain's mostly back, I think. Thanks to those who sent their good wishes. True to form, at least half of you inquired after the health of the kitchen cupboard, demonstrating a touching belief in the hardness of my head that was not borne out by the facts ( Read more... )

Charities have become smarter in competing for the donor's dollar. I spotted a new tactic today from an animal charity.

Find a prime spot, like the market near Métro Chevaleret. Put five six-week-old kittens in a box, stand back and wait for the cuteness field to suck the punters in. Yep, I was caught.