Beware of Greeks (not) bearing gifts!

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Gob
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Beware of Greeks (not) bearing gifts!

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AUSTRALIA is the most charitable nation in the world, a new study shows, with Greece being the meanest.

The Charities Aid Foundation World Giving Index ranked Australia first followed by Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and the US.

The pressure on the household budgets of Greeks was reflected in most of the 146 nations surveyed, with the aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis reducing the amount of time and money people were willing to devote to charity. The survey showed 28 per cent of people gave money to charity last year compared with almost 30 per cent in 2007.

''In large parts of the world, household incomes are being squeezed, prices are rising and job insecurity is on the increase, with the result that many simply have less time and money to spare,'' John Low, the chief executive of the group, said.

In Greece, the share of people donating to charity fell to 5 per cent from 7 per cent in 2010.

Still, 3 per cent of Greeks volunteered time to charitable causes, unchanged from a year earlier, and 30 per cent said they had helped a stranger compared with 28 per cent.

About 165 million Indians, 143 million Americans and 126 Indonesians donated money, the survey showed.

Women donated more money than men last year around the world, although men were more likely to volunteer time and help a stranger, the charity said.

Gallup interviewed more than 155,000 people in 146 countries on behalf of the group, which provides financial services and social finance to charities.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/australi ... z2FXgrJa9M



https://www.cafonline.org/PDF/WorldGivi ... 012WEB.pdf
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Crackpot
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Re: Beware of Greeeks (not) bearing ghifts!

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but they are bearing extra letters
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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Crackpot
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Re: Beware of Greeeks (not) bearing gifts!

Post by Crackpot »

try again
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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Gob
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Re: Beware of Greeeks (not) bearing gifts!

Post by Gob »

Bugger bugger bugger!!!!

Just to clarify, the original title read; "Beware of Greeeks bearing ghifts"
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Rick
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Re: Beware of Greeks (not) bearing gifts!

Post by Rick »

Bugger bugger bugger!!!!
In a thread about Greeks, made me snigger...
Sometimes it seems as though one has to cross the line just to figger out where it is

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Crackpot
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Re: Beware of Greeeks (not) bearing gifts!

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Gob wrote:Bugger bugger bugger!!!!

Just to clarify, the original title read; "Beware of Greeeks bearing ghifts"
....and it took two edits to iron out the errors.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

rubato
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Re: Beware of Greeks (not) bearing gifts!

Post by rubato »

Measured by the percent who gave anything (self reported).

Giving is a good thing and having more people giving is a good thing so I don't want to discourage it but there are other significant measures as well.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/24/americ ... eaves.html

"For instance in the U.S., which is notably religious among wealthy Western nations, about a third of all charitable giving goes to houses of worship. Some of that money, in turn, goes to projects that have an obvious benefit to the needy, like soup kitchens. But some does not, rather going toward paying the church secretary and the rent.

Volunteerism also complicates the picture. The Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project at the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies compiled a ranking of private philanthropy in 36 countries from 1995 to 2002. Based on giving alone, the U.S. comes first, giving 1.85% of GDP, followed by Israel at 1.34% and Canada at 1.17%. But based on volunteerism alone, the Netherlands comes first, followed by Sweden and then the U.S. ...

On the one hand, France, for instance, has less income disparity and less poverty than the U.S. So if people are motivated to give by seeing need around them, it may simply be that the French give less because they see less need. French citizens may also feel that since they are highly taxed, it's the government's responsibility, not their own, to take care of the poor in their community. ... "


yrs,
rubato

rubato
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Re: Beware of Greeks (not) bearing gifts!

Post by rubato »

Our personal charitable giving is up slightly this year at $4,900 (to date). I don't think I have all the receipts in yet but that's probably close.

We give something to the SF Zen center but that is the only religious donation. Both of the patent bonuses this year went to medical things in Ethiopia; Gimbie Hospital and the Tropical Health Alliance Foundation, their cataract surgery group (this is a group started by a family friend, Dr Larry Thomas). Planned Parenthood and UCSC are the other largest things we do.

KUSP, Esalen, and the S.F. Ballet fill out at the bottom. The Ballet pays Helge Tomasson a half-million a year so I don't think they deserve very much over and above the season tickets and champagne my wife spends there.

When I look at history, health and education change the world for the better. I'm happy to support both in many forms. (KUSP and the Zen center for example)

yrs,
rubato

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