I first mentioned Captain’s Quarters “World Relief Day” here.

Captain Ed now has a post asking people to donate one day’s take-home pay to World Vision. He’s calling for January 12th, a day chosen because it’s in the middle of the month, and therefore should be spaced away from most bills.

If you can’t make it that day, though, make it another. And if you absolutely can’t make it a full day’s pay, make it a half day, or a quarter day, or whatever you can afford to give.

The victims of this tragedy could use our help. Let’s step up to the plate.

The celebration of the New Year never really made a lot of sense to me. Like Christmas, it’s essentially just a celebration held on an arbitrary date, but unlike Christmas, the New Year’s celebration is purely a celebration of an arbitrary date. New Year’s Day is another day, just like New Year’s Eve, except that there’s just a bit more “day” to it. Given that, I’m not really prone to making New Year’s Resolutions. After all, if you see a need for something to change, why change it on that day instead of some other day?

So, it’s with a little bit of shame that I announce my resolution for this year.

It will come as no surprise to my readers (all two or three of whom know me very well outside of my blog) that I’m not the most responsible financial manager.

I’ve done better since graduating college and getting a “real” job, but that’s like saying Alaska is warmer than absolute zero. Technically true, but that doesn’t change the fact that Alaska is still darn cold. Because the improvement in my financial management was mostly superficial — I wasn’t missing payments, but I wasn’t paying much above what I absolutely needed to, and I occasionally made the mistake of thinking “due dates” were simply friendly suggestions — my financial health hasn’t really improved that much.

I’ve taken stock lately, and I’m very disappointed in myself for the way I’ve allowed myself to be as irresponsible as I have been. So, starting with the New Year, I’m going on a budget.

Why wait, you ask? Well, My next paycheck comes on December 31st, so the actual budgeting will start then. Also, I really haven’t been waiting. I worked out a formal budget a couple of weeks ago, but some bills were coming due that needed paid then (and, thus, I had to pay more than the half that my budget called for me to set aside from that paycheck). The budget for that particular paycheck, therefore, was a little less structured than the budget for paychecks from here on out.

That, combined with my habit of deciding to clean up my finances without ever really doing anything, has had a couple of family members rolling their eyes whenever I mention my budget. They’re right to do so, actually. Knowing me, I suspect fear that this budget will end up much like my new bike. I’ll use it a couple of times, and then put it aside while I go back to the way things were. I’m big on knowing what needs to be done, but not so much on following through with doing it.

Captain Ed has a post about fake charity pages being set up to take advantage of people’s good will. He urges people to only give to well known and established charity organizations, and then proceeds to post the following:

CQ reader Jeff Carlson has an interesting suggestion — one that could make a verifiable charity very happy:

How about a “World Relief Day” where Americans can pledge/donate 1 days take home pay to relief of the disaster victims? A lot of employers might match it as well …

I suggest January 12th …

How about it, CQ readers? Does January 12th sound like a good day for our own World Relief Day, where we pledge our take-home pay for that day to tsunami relief? Jeff suggests Red Cross as a beneficiary (the Amazon link), but I think CQ readers might be more comfortable with World Vision. Post your comments and I’ll make the decision based on the feedback received. I’ll also have a blogroll posted on January 12th of the blogs that link back to it.

Let’s see what good we can do here.

I have an issue with those who sit back and say that America’s not giving enough, especially when they list the cash donations from the government as the only thing we’re giving. Non-cash donations (time from our troops) counts for something, in my opinion, but I can understand why some people wouldn’t really think so.

But, the money the government gives? That comes from the exact same source as the more than 4 million dollars that Amazon.com has raised for the American Red Cross. Private donations aren’t somehow different from governmental ones (except for the fact that they’re not in a morally gray area by the government’s bizarro Robin Hood policies). I, for one, am helping Captain Ed out with this movement, and hope that others will, too.

As a complete aside, I’m sick of people turning everything into an opportunity to assume the worst of America. We say we’re going to start out by giving $35 million, and we’re being stingy and greedy. We go to war, and we’re being imperialistic.

You want to argue that we’re going about things the wrong way? Fine. Stop impugning our motives. At least give the benefit of the doubt that those of us who are proud to be Americans and support the government’s actions

Several of the blogs I read on a fairly regular basis are “gunblogs,” blogs whose authors often speak out and/or stand up for their second amendment right to keep and bear arms.

As I’ve remarked a few times recently, these bloggers are, in most cases, very good at making their point. It’s rare that I read a long post by Kevin Baker and don’t feel either stupid or guilty (usually a combination of the two) for my failure to exercise my Second Amendment rights on a regular basis. Though, other posts of Kevin’s, as well as most posts over at Publicola, just serve to make me angry about the state of things in our nation (and our world) today.

While I’m mainly going to comment on the second post here, titled “Workplace Violence vs. Workplace Defense” the top post on the page, “Don’t Start None, Won’t Be None“. (I can’t really determine why it’s the top post on the page titled “Workplace Violence v. Workplace Defense Archives“, but the links above should point to the correct posts…)

Go. Read. I’ll be here when you get back. (If you come back. Really, his blog’s better reading than this one. I won’t be upset if you stay.)

The main post that I referenced, Workplace Violence vs. Workplace Defense, Publicola’s conclusion is that, while the government shouldn’t ban the carrying of handguns on private property, the owner of that property should be allowed to do so. However, they should do so with the knowledge that if a crime is committed, and someone who would ordinarily have had the means with which to defend themselves doesn’t have those means because of the ban, the property owner is liable.

Smallest Minority has a set of posts (check out the Dangerous Victims trilogy of posts on his sidebar) that cover the fact that the government is not required to protect you. There are rulings that (rightly) say you cannot hold the state (read: police) liable if it fails to protect you. So, whose responsibility is it? Yours. Others (agents of the state, or other civilians) might very well step up to protect you, but ultimately, if you have no protection, it’s your failure.

As Publicola says, a private company should be allowed to forbid you to carry your weapon onto their premises. (I feel obligated to note here that I’m also in support of a company’s right to allow or ban smoking as they wish, and that I feel that city/state bans on indoor smoking are also in violation of property rights.) In doing so, however, they are essentially saying that they are taking the self-protection responsibility from you.

Of course, it’s possible that what they’re saying is that they would prefer that you remain unarmed, and that if any hooligans wish to disobey the law (and most criminals preparing to commit a robbery or murder will disregard store policy, I’d wager), well, you’d best start praying. In fact, maybe that’s the whole goal — to get people closer to God.

I doubt it, though.

Not long after I arrived at work this morning, my office neighbor complained of smelling gas. After a few minutes of determining that it wasn’t all in her head and that my nose is apparently defective, the fire department was called and we evacuated the building.

There was apparently a gas leak downstairs, which was promptly fixed, and we were returned to work, much colder but in one piece, which was alright with me.

I subscribe to RSS feeds of several blogs that I enjoy, and given the events of the morning, this post over at Captain’s Quarters really caught my eye.

There was an explosion in Ramsey, Minnesota, where an office building apparently fell prey to a gas leak, and the local news media ignored requests to provide some privacy for the victims. Captain Ed writes:

Remember this when the media spouts off about supporting local responders in the war on terror instead of military action. The fire captain wanted the area cleared to maintain at least a few moments of dignity for the victims of the blast, and the various Twin Cities news organizations treated it like a Hollywood wedding. The truth is that the media only gives a damn about local responders when it suits their political purposes; otherwise, the media routinely ignore them. Everyone involved in this should be ashamed of themselves.

I don’t have much (else) to add. Read the whole thing.