I’m pleased to note that the Match It for Pratchett website has now made it easier to donate to Alzheimer’s research. Via their tip jar, you can donate via Paypal, which allows you to give without entering lots of information and also to give amounts as small as $2.
They still have a link to donate directly to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, for those who prefer that option. That organization takes donations online via credit card, but I’m not sure what their minimum is. (A few days ago I had a $3 donation refused to the American equivalent organization, though someone else says he was able to give $5.) I have good and sufficient personal reasons to want to join this effort, in addition to a shelf-full of well-thumbed Discworld books and a general outrage at the idea of a disease that attacks your identity in such a central way.
While I’m including links, the text of Barack Obama’s latest speech is here. I link to it because at least some of the links I’ve seen elsewhere didn’t work for me. Also, I first heard of this speech in an email this morning from Democrats Abroad, and I think they excerpted the wrong part. They referred to the speech as “courageous”, but the excerpts they gave made it look like just a particularly eloquent example of the usual desperate political speech disowning an associate who has said something incendiary. And that isn’t what this is about, and there really is courage in that speech, in that he decries racism and defeatism in strong terms without disavowing anyone in his past who’s ever spoken them.
If Clinton is smart, she will jump on the same theme, acknowledging the imperfections of her country and her campaign (as well as the other advance? cash loan online payday ?quick payday advance loanfaxing loan no payday requiredloan payday yahooonline no fax payday loanone hour payday loanapple cash fast loan payday,fast loan payday,cash fast loan payday usloan till paydayadvance cash loan payday quickpayday loan easy no faxing,cash faxing loan no payday,faxing loan no paydayborrower dollar loan payday ten,dollar loan payday tencredit dollar loan no payday ten,credit loan no payday,no credit payday loanloan payday say until wordpress,loan payday until,loan until paydaypayday loan onlinepayday loan companypersonal no fax payday loan,no fax loan till payday,fax loan no paydayday loan payday same,day loan no payday same teletrackfaxless instant loan paydayfax payday loan,fax less payday loan,payday loan without faxgeorgia in loan paydaycost loan low paydayinfo loan message payday postonline payday loan instant approvalapplication loan payday,payday loan applicationinstant loan online paydaypayday loan in the uk,loan payday uk,payday loan ukpayday loan calculatoradvance loan payday quickonline payday cash loanadvance cash loan? payday ?fastest loan online payday66 funding loan payday routefast payday loanpayday loan store chicagoamerica cash loan paydaycash loan payday tilfax loan no no payday telecheck,fax loan payday,credit fax loan no no paydaybank loan no payday statementpayday cash advance,payday cash advance new york,payday cash advance idahobad credit payday loan,bad credit same day payday loan,bad credit payday loan loanfast easy payday loanloan until paydaypayday loan cash advance loancanadian loan payday,association canadian loan paydayinstant approval payday loan,approval instant loan paydayline loan payday,payday loan on linefaxless payday loanadvance cash loan loan paydaypayday loan toronto,loan payday toronto,payday loan in torontocash loan payday till two) and vowing to continue to work toward perfection. She might do it: I don’t think McCain will. So much of what happens in the next few years will be a matter of perception driving reality and the decisions people make that I think electing a President who can keep people believing in hope is of utmost importance.
On the more personal front, tonight we went rock climbing. (This typing is really not comfortable on my hands, and neither was the “laundry” I just did in the hotel sink.) Tonight’s climbing was especially fun because of the meeting of worlds: there were Ted and I of course, and one Taiwanese colleague who’s also here for a while and a Dutch friend (my old rowing partner) both came. It was interesting to see the two women climb: the Dutch one has more experience and is in very good shape (between rowing and running she works out 10-11x / week!) but is heavier and doesn’t have as good balance; the Taiwanese woman isn’t in training and had never climbed before but is small, light and generally athletic and probably outclimbed my Dutch friend. Anyway, I htink they both had a good time. We hadn’t climbed for years, and on the first one I could feel how out of practice I was, but after that it came back to me. Now my hands hurt!