Check out Charity Navigator. They haven't rated everybody, but they have rated many (and if you register (at no cost), you can suggest charities that you would like to see rated).
Another place to check out how well (and not so well) non-profits do with your donations, at least in Washington, is the Secretary of State's Charity Search.
Two other items worth noting: Charity Navigator has not yet figured out how to objectively measure a charity's effectiveness in their programs, so can tell you only how much of their revenue goes to programs (I'm willing to believe, until given evidence otherwise, that an outfit with a higher program-to-administrative spending ratio is likely to also have programs that are at least as effective per dollar as the outfits with more overhead); and the Salvation Army is a religion, not a charity, and does not therefore have to file an IRS 990 (and they have declined to make their financial records available).
Matt Groening and David X Cohen talk about the possibility of Futurama coming back. People seem to be taking the interview as indicating that there's something definitely in the works, but that's not how I read it:
"Three months ago, I would have said we were going to start tomorrow," says writer David X. Cohen, who collaborated with Groening on Futurama. "And one month ago I would also have said we were going to start tomorrow. So ..." He pauses. "My current estimate is that we're starting tomorrow."But don't miss our WPA/Futurama poster matches.
Paranoia becomes reality: stinky rings for your phone.
Yet again I am judging Reflections contest entries. To all young writers: read more good writing. Practice. Try to have something to say. Have someone read your writing, comment on it, and then write another draft.
I wasn't going to post any exerpts this year, but this one just cries out:
"The thought of my father leaving me, his only daughter, for another woman made me feel noxious."
Oooh, me too!
Here's my top reads for half of the year, since I've been posting monthly lists. Your mileage may vary considerably.
Best Teen Reads:
Invisible, Hautman
He's just an ordinary dweeb with a popular guy pal. Only not so much.
Good Brother, Bad Brother, Giblin
Riveting true story of the parallel lives of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth.
Diary of Pelly D, Adlington
A novel of a diary found after the "disappearance" of a whole class of people. Based (very well) on the author's research on war diaries.
World's Worst, Frauenfelder
The best worst book I've read.
I Am the Messenger, Zusak (actually, I would put this in the adult list, but I originally read it due to recommendations by people who work with teens)
What does it take to be a hero?
Best Grown-Up Reads:
Van Helsing's Night Off, Mahler
Mostly wordless comics, entirely funny. I hope more of his work gets published in the US.
Poo Bomb, Vogel
Based on the blog, but in a good way.
Working Fire, Unger
This book not just good because firefighters are cool.
Men Who Stare at Goats, Ronson
It's another nice combination of funny and educational, in a creepy way.
Fray, Whedon
I only just this year got around to reading it, and again I know that Joss is God.
Two Wheels North, Gibb
A small press book that deserves wide acclaim. Excellent true adventure.
Late entry: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Foer
In a story of "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" gone horribly wrong, a French man is reported to have dated his mom on-line for six months before meeting her on the beach. The horror, the horror.
So I get a bulk—er, standard—rate envelope, with no return address, and inside it is a plain white card with a weird abbreviation of the name of my bank at the top, and the amount of my original mortgage loan below that. The text reads
Your mortgage with [weird abbreviation of bank name] can be re-negotiated with a 5 year payment rate of 2.00%*. This yields a monthly payment of [Some amount not much less than my current P&I amount].Then there's an 800 number to call and a case number to reference. That footnote? In print substantially smaller than anything else on the card, it reads
4.66 APR/40 YR Term ADJ / P and I / [blah, blah] / excludes taxes and insurance / rates subject to change / certain conditions may applyReally? I can sign up for a 40-year mortgage? With people who are so proud of their company that its name appears only in the smallest type on the card? Oh, happy day!
[Name of outfit making this offer] not affiliated with [weird abbreviation of bank name]
I'm going out of town for a while, so here's some crappy old links (with no glittering commentary) that have piled up in my to post list, just to tide you over. Oooh, I'm so nice.
Chicago Historical Society
A salt of the earth test, the writings of Sir Thomas Browne
Science Groove
Charles Darwin continues to have a posse
List of lists for the year-end roundups, keep an eye on this one as it grows.
Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine, Dendy and Boring (Y)
This was a review book for me: I loved the premise, the title, the cover, and the illustrations at the start of each chapter. But you know a biography isn't so well written if you just get annoyed at your heroic subjects. Bah. Two stars for the graphic elements only.
Invisible, Hautman (Y)
Another mock award nominee, but a really great one. Like Confessions of a Crap Artist, but not written on speed and with an actual ending. Wooo! Five stars!
Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade: How to Survive Life's Smaller Challenges, Browning
The review in Publisher's Weekly said that it was very funny, but hard to take all at once (it was originally a column in The Guardian). How right they were. Four stars, but I'm saving the rest for later.
Hungry Planet: what the world eats
Families from all over the world photographed with a week's worth of groceries. Pictures glorious, text sometimes a little heavy on politics and light on analysis. With recipes. Three stars.
Heavy Metal and You, Krovatin (Y)
The last mock award nominee I have to read. The publisher is Push, which specializes in first-time novelists: this is a good thing, but you can sometimes tell it's a first novel. Not terrible, not great, original premise. Two stars.
Dungeon vol. 1: Duck Heart, Sfar & Trondheim (Y)
Dungeon and Dragon and Duck: a hero-making adventure with great art and a sly sense of humor. Four stars.
Code Orange, Cooney (Y)
Teen finds smallpox scabs, breathes them in, becomes walking time bomb that can be used as a weapon! Three stars for good thriller with not good characterization.
Taylor Five, Halam (Y)
I was expecting another thriller, but ended up with a fairly sophisticated novel with a teen protagonist. Clones, orangutans, tropical politics, and survival. Three stars for a good book that I will have a hard time knowing how to sell.
Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth & John Wilkes Booth, Giblin (Y)
This is (or should be) a future award winner. This is really up there with the best books written for teens I have read. It is the story of Lincoln's assassin and his brother, the world famous actor, but that hardly sums up the intrigue and detail in this book. And excellent illustrations. It was honestly hard to put down. Five stars and a hearty huzzah.
Red Land, Yellow River, Zhang (Y)
When teachers at the Junior High schools that I work with assign the students to read a book about a Pacific Rim country, they actually usually want something involving suffering (the fun and happy books do not seem to be educational enough, I guess), so I've been reading lots of books involving the Cultural Revolution. I like that this one is short, easily accessible, nicely illustrated, and true. This would be a good pick for a junior high or high school student who has some difficulty reading. Three stars.
I'm working from an office without a window today, and I thought that others might enjoy this list of Bellevue Traffic Cams (with links to other local cameras) that can give you an idea if the snow is sticking or not.