Re: Windfalls

1

Don't do chasing windfalls.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 6:22 AM
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2

Done of those really seemed more like "people with irregular jobs finally getting paid" than a windfall.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 6:37 AM
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3

Done of them.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 6:44 AM
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4

There's no way of knowing what I meant.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 6:46 AM
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5

Do way at all.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 6:52 AM
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6

Is it the stories they chose, or is it just me? Pretty much every story seemed to have the subtext "Here's why the rich have success that is beyond your reach. It makes EVERYTHING BETTER when you can just hire someone to [run your company, fix your kids meals, put out a glossy magazine]. Welcome to the success you so richly deserve. All it took was 250K and you lifted yourself up by your bootstraps." OK, that doesn't apply to the poker playing writer. Or the poor Puerto Ricans. Or those who gave it away, mostly. Still, this and the college admissions scandal aren't helping to disperse my "everything is terrible all the time"* mood today. *copyright gin and tacos


Posted by: chill | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 11:25 AM
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7

6: This speaks to one of my pet annoyances. Rich people (I'm talking normal rich, not billionaire rich) who congratulate themselves on being "problem solvers" or "knowing how to get things done" when in fact what they know how to do is throw money at problems until they go away. I mean, it's great to be able to do that, but obnoxious to suppose that this means your some kind of hyper competent person.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 12:09 PM
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8

your should be you're.


Posted by: Opinionated Rich Person | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 12:13 PM
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9

It's really hard to hit a problem with money, the bills flutter so.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 12:14 PM
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10

8: You probably paid a professional proof reader to catch that.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 12:18 PM
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11

I wonder when it was that $27,000 was enough to help someone rent apartments in both New York and LA.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 12:39 PM
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12

Pretty sure I know the first person profiled, though she doesn't seem to have an active FB presence. We surely have friends in common.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 3:26 PM
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11: Maniac came out last year, so not that long ago. No, I'm not sure how it's supposed to work either.


Posted by: Micah | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 6:37 PM
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14

Helps you rent them for a month.


Posted by: Kreskin | Link to this comment | 03-15-19 6:50 PM
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15

6: well, yes, of course having money makes everything easier. That is pretty much the definition of money.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 03-16-19 12:32 AM
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16

The MacArthur one is interesting because she used it in a way people wouldn't consider traditional (or maybe even appropriate) for a grant, but which was probably the most effective use to keep her productive. Also MacArthur is one of the few grants that actually works the way a lot of people think grants work- if you tell someone you got a 250k NIH grant they think you're rich.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 03-17-19 5:35 PM
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17

If someone says that to me, I just ask them if they need a data analyst.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-17-19 5:46 PM
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18

Honestly, mostly with bigger grants.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-17-19 5:47 PM
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19

The spam is on topic now, this is an alarming development.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 03-17-19 11:17 PM
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20

||
Quick request: any particular/localized recommendations for disaster relief in southeastern Africa after the cyclone? Or should I just go with the usual generalists?
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Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 8:54 AM
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21

https://www.africanews.com/2019/03/18/90-percent-of-mozambican-city-of-beira-destroyed-by-cyclone-idai-red-cross/


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 2:07 PM
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22

Give up lurid! No-one cares about brown people, I've tried.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 3:05 PM
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23

http://www.giftofthegivers.org/disaster-relief/mozambique/1197-mozambique-cyclone-2019


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 3:32 PM
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24

Thanks. I really have no idea about specific charities in Africa.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 3:34 PM
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25

Africa is a country!


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 3:35 PM
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26

That'll simplify things.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 3:40 PM
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27

Thanks so much and holy shit.

Gift of the Givers are on high alert and will respond depending on the degree of devastation but more importantly, only if a call is made by the Mozambican Government for urgent assistance. Our intervention includes 70 personnel (aquatic rescue, rescue technicians, rescue divers, advance life support paramedics and doctors), 22 vehicles (4×4), 10 power boats, 4 jetskis, 14 inflatable, non-motorised 2 man rescue boats, a range of rescue equipment and access to an 8 seater plane. . . . This is Gift of the Givers largest water rescue preparation in its 26 year history.

Think they got called in yet? Ten power boats and four jetskis. (I got an email from Partners in Health about Malawi, but there has been less on the radar than usual. The cyclones can work so much faster than I can, though, it's really dispiriting.)


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 3:53 PM
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28

They called SANDF, so probably yes.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 4:01 PM
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Anyway, what they'll need is cholera control and food for crop failures. That's probably WHO and WFP, but I'm not seeing useful links right now.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 4:08 PM
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30

What they'll need is support for years.... actually I just picked up this book on something of a whim; maybe you'd be interested? (Content warning: contains the word "neoliberalism." Other content warning: possible hobbyhorse of its author.)

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti was one of the deadliest disasters in modern history, sparking an international aid response--with pledges and donations of $16 billion--that was exceedingly generous. But now, five years later, that generous aid has clearly failed. In Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti, anthropologist Mark Schuller captures the voices of those involved in the earthquake aid response, and they paint a sharp, unflattering view of the humanitarian enterprise.

Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 4:16 PM
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31

-itarian


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 4:18 PM
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No you're a human aftershock. "Support for years" sounds shitty; I just meant the obvious point that every disaster area needs more focus on long-term strategic aid and advocacy, not just giving money 24 hours later to check a box, as a way of reminding myself to think about it more.


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 4:25 PM
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Well they need to cure for the resource curse, keep RENAMO on side, snuff the Cabo Delgado insurgency, find some kind of industrial plan, and build 2500km of seawall. Peachy.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 4:39 PM
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34

Do you have any links where I can sign up to do one of those things thx I like to help


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 03-18-19 4:52 PM
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35

Thoughts and prayers are always popular.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 03-19-19 7:37 AM
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36

||

Weird family history DNA thing that might be of interest to, say, Mr Carp. Yesterday, a distant cousin contacted me and invited me to join an fb group relating to the genealogy and DNA of this tiny little corner of southwest Cork where my mother's maternal people came from. This place is wild and beautiful and remote, and is pretty much on the outer edges of the known European world...I mean, I'm saying that Bantry is the metropole for this area, and Bantry has a population of about 2,700 souls.

So I joined; and then, within 20 minutes of my joining, a member of this group had found my gedmatch info, and posted a chart showing my DNA matches to 11 or 12 other members of the group. And I definitely recognized the surnames (there aren't that many of them in southwest Cork), and anyway, this DNA stuff is just, you know, real. Made me question my having posted to gedmatch in the first place, though, what with the potential privacy issues.

Good thing I'm not a serial killer! I would be totally busted, either as a Donovan or a McCarthy, no doubt.

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Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 03-19-19 9:00 PM
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37

You mean there are people from round there who aren't serial killers?


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 03-20-19 1:23 AM
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