It’s Comin’ on Christmas—What’s Your Plan?
I know, there’s still more than a month before we even hit Halloween. Why am I rushing the season by talking about Christmas already?
I’m No Superstar
I’m No Superstar is a blog for people like me who want to make a difference in the world but know they aren’t activists. Each post contains a social action idea that most of us could do, a book that’s worth reading, or a link to a website that offers other ideas. Oh, and it’s all introduced by a sometimes quirky story from my life.
fair-trade
On Being (and Voting) Fully Pro-Life
I am pro-life. Fully pro-life. Because I am fully pro-life, I want to prevent babies from being killed while still in their mothers’ wombs. Because I am fully pro-life, I want to stop 8600 children from dying today and tomorrow and the day after and the day after that from poverty-related diseases (that’s 3 million
Don’t Panic—Great Gifts in a Minute!
It’s crunch time! Do you still have people to buy Christmas presents for? Likely they are people who “already have everything” or “really don’t want anything.” I’ve got the perfect solution. Give them something heartwarming that they don’t have to store, use, clean or display. Give them an alternative gift. Give a woman in Burundi fabric
Use Your Power for Good
Last week I posted the 2 Euro t-shirt video below on Facebook: (If you haven’t watched the video yet, take a moment to see it; this blog post will make way more sense if you do.) It’s fascinating to see the shoppers choose the “donate” option over the “buy” option once they meet “Manisha” making 13¢ an
Will The Sacred Year Affect My Life (or Yours)?—Book Review
I thought The Sacred Year—with its subtitle that talked of “contemplating apples [and] living in a cave”—would be a fun read on the order of A. J. Jacob’s book The Know-It-All, on reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from beginning to end, or his The Year of Living Biblically, where he tried to live the Old Testament laws, including stoning
The Summer Job that Wasn’t
In early spring I found out that I would not be receiving a huge project I’ve gotten every summer for the last eight years. When I contemplated the loss of income, I decided it might be time to take a summer job, at least if we wanted to eat. My original pursuit was a seasonal
What’s a Woman Worth?
In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the answer to that is apparently 68.6% of a man. An article last year in the Lancaster newspaper quoted a study by 247WallSt.com that showed Lancaster, where I live, as having the third largest gender pay gap in the country. I’m not surprised, actually. I think the traditional-values orientation of Lancaster
My Bargain = Someone Else’s Pain
I stopped at McDonald’s the other morning after physical therapy. There wasn’t really enough time to go home before I needed to be at the elementary school to tutor. So I went into MickeyD’s for a snack. My order: The largest ice tea they could give me and a yogurt with fruit and granola. My
What’s the real cost of your clothes?
I love clothes. I love to buy new clothes. I also love a bargain. But my bargain isn’t a bargain for everyone. Last week a building collapsed in Bangladesh, a building where clothing was manufactured that ended up in retailers like WalMart, DressBarn, J.C. Penney, and The Children’s Place, along with British and Canadian retailers.