Evil scammers who want your Haiti relief money

Make sure you donate to Haiti relief, not scammers - MarketWatch: "As Americans open their hearts and their pocketbooks to help those devastated by the earthquake this week in Haiti the federal government is warning that scammers are anxious to take advantage of that generosity.

Millions of dollars are pouring in to help those who have been left hurt and homeless after the quake toppled buildings and battered the landscape of the capital of Port-au-Prince Tuesday, killing thousands and affecting upwards of 3 million."

Comment -- The article says that reputable outfits are the American Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, www.crs.org, Doctors Without Borders, www.doctorswithoutborders.org, Mercy Ships, www.mercyships.org, and Partners in Health, www.pih.org.

Be careful you don't get mixed up and give money for disaster relief in Tahiti instead of Haiti (yuk yuk.)

Stop Motion Mario 3

Click on the link below to watch:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1927655

300 frames, 36 hours of work using nothing but paper, colored pencils, glue and cardboard. Pretty fun to watch. And the soundtrack is really cute.

Watching TV and movies on the Wii

Netflix Streaming Coming To The Wii This Spring: "Netflix announced this morning that it will bring streaming to the Wii starting this Spring.

This is a big win for Netflix. It gains access to a new customer base -- 26 million Wii owners. Its current subscriber base is 11 million, so this a chance to grab some new customers.

To get the movies streamed through the Wii, Netflix customers will have to order a free DVD
which will play in the console."

Comment -- I'm excited about this (sort of.) It's cool because we are already Netflix subscribers, and because we own a Wii that's connected wirelessly to our broadband link.

On the other hand, the amount of video that's available from Netflix for streaming is pretty limited. And, it remains to be seen how good the quality will be for the streamed programs.

Still, it's a free ad-on for our Netflix subscription. I'm willing to give it a try this Spring!

Over the holidays we toured the Humane Society of Huron Valley's new facility. I thought this restroom sign was pretty clever.

Interesting commentary on why Avatar is an offensive movie

Op-Ed Columnist - The Messiah Complex - NYTimes.com: "It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace. It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration."

Comment -- It's a terrific adventure movie, but I have to say that I agree with Brooks that it was uncomfortable being "entertained" by watching U.S. Marines being killed. I know, in the movie they were called mercenaries, but Cameron clearly intended everyone to recognize that these are evil American soldiers finally getting their comeuppance.

The plot is trite and cliched, but I guess if it were novel and unique, it might be overwhelming for the audience to comprehend at the same time it's trying to absorb the astonishing special effects.

It's good to have a Prius

Pump prices on pace to top 2009 high by weekend | Comcast.net: "The cost of filling up the car is rising in the wake of soaring crude and by this weekend, pump prices will race past the highs for all of 2009. Tracing the ascension of crude, up 14 percent since mid-December, energy prices across the board are catching up. On Tuesday, benchmark crude prices closed higher than they had on any day last year."

Comment -- It's hard to believe that gasoline sold for about $1.75 a year ago in Lansing.

I heard an interesting podcast this week that talked about oil prices. The economist being interviewed said that we forget how much oil prices have risen in the past decade. He said it was largely driven by demand from China and India.

Unless there are some big changes in Congress this fall, I expect the Obama administration to use taxes and regulations to push gasoline prices even higher.

Lake effect snow on Lake Michigan

I took this photo Saturday at Mary's house on Lake Michigan, north of St. Joseph. By Sunday afternoon, they had an honest two feet of fluffy snow.

I'm not anxious to get that much snow in Lansing, but a few inches for cross country skiing would be nice.