In an effort to continue avoiding simple rhetoric and instead bring you more fantastic examples of how freedom works in our everyday lives, LoveHateLife is opening the floor to your suggestions on the next great “Real Charity” story we should write about…

Of course we’re already aware of the huge well-established sometimes-global organizations: from Habitat to the Red Cross.  These ALL have a special place in our hearts for what they do provide to people all over. And, no, we don’t see these as any less “real.” It’s just that we want to spotlight the myriad combined efforts to help one another and do our best to demonstrate their exponential impact in aggregate. (go fancy words!) (more)

Maybe you’ve already heard of Marilyn Mock.  She’s the woman who, out of the kindness of her own heart, purchased a home at a foreclosure auction only to turn around and offer it back to the family it was just taken from.  All she expected in return was that they “pay when they can.”  Now, Ms. Mock is by no means a money-rich woman.  She simply had a big heart and strong enough credit score that when confronted with the situation could think only of how to help her fellow neighbor.  No questions asked. This was back in October and, at the time it generated a fair amount of attention on its own, including a feature on Oprah’s “Hometown Heroes.” (more)

“…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security…”
It is quite rare that I ever get off my “fix America first” soapbox to pay attention to world news, but after Neda and then the whole $3000 bullet incident a couple days ago I just can’t stay silent about Iran.  You have to admit, it is a hard thing to avoid, and honestly it’s something I think we all need to be conscious of. And, no matter where we stand on the issue, we need to have hearts open to the Iranian people – putting their necks on the line to speak out against something clearly atrocious.  Fighting against what many agree is a blatant violation of their natural-given rights.

I am sure you already noticed the quote at the top of this post, and I can only pray that you know where it came from.  I hope that you can also see the parallels between what is going on in Iran today and what our ancestors struggled against so many years ago.  It is the best light I have found in this turmoil that shows how I truly feel, and I hope you can agree.

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So I originally thought my MetroBank troubles would have been over by Sunday as promised … then Monday rolled around.

And then it wasn’t over yesterday.

And, considering my missing plane ticket and at least one bill payment, it’s apparently not over yet, today, either.

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Have I mentioned my plane tickets, yet? I think I must have yesterday … And I imagine you are otherwise familiar with what I have decided to call FailBank 2009, an homage to the #googlefail of last month …

Anyway.  On top of a plane ticket that remains UA, I’ve just discovered at least one missing pre-scheduled payment I had arranged with that particular credit card company.  That means they tried to run my Visa check card and got nowhere with it.  Still unable to reach any one on hold (I’m beginning to think there’s no one there at all) … I can only sit and wait for tomorrow to come.

Meanwhile I can’t help but tumble over the details of this whole debacle … as a programmer and project manager myself, I find it incredibly hard to grasp some reasoning on why things were executed in this manner: (more)