(Image via Turkish Daily News)

A man after my own heart, Sir Richard Branson, spoke at a leadership conference in Istanbul this past Saturday on his very high hopes and socially responsible plans for Virgin in Turkey. He has had his hands in anything and everything ever since his teens, with no signs of slowing at the wizened age of 55.

In fact, slowing down couldn't be further from his mind. Ever a big forward thinker, Sir Branson told of plans including (but by no means limited to) creating much needed jobs in Turkey by launching a mobile phone company there, Virgin Galactic for space travel, and a clean fuel for its airline, among other things.

I just can't help but admire someone who realizes if the government won't invest, the private sector should take up the slack. "The group has vowed to prove that clean fuels with zero gashouse emissions can work with airplanes, but the trick he said will be to find a fuel that doesn't freeze at 30,000 feet."

This week's book picks come from Publisher's Weekly April 16 non-fiction reviews and are heavily abridged to fit your schedule.

My Favorite:

Never Shower in a Thunderstorm: Surprising Facts and Misleading Myths About Our Health and the World We Live In
Anahad O'Connor. Times, $14 paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8312-5

Wive's tales and health rumors exposed. "...everything from the potency of Spanish fly to the cancerous effects of cellphone use [...] whether bicycle seats cause impotence or if knuckle cracking can lead to arthritis [...] All of O'Connor's research is backed by legit scientific studies, but he refers to them only in passing."

I just recently started working at MasterNewMedia.org, and a few tricks of the trade I am picking up over there will start migrating to what I do here. If you have any questions or problems with the changes listed below, please don't hesitate to let me know!



What This Means for You

In short, you might find some of the changes to be a bit annoying. This post exemplifies what I hope to maintain in this blog - so if you find this post annoying, you will find the rest of the blog annoying.

Please don't hesitate to let me know about it, okay?

Secondly, the information you find here is going to change a little. Maybe it will be worse, maybe it will be better - but it will certainly be more on par with what is useful to you, right here, right now.

There are many ways for a charity to mis-use your money, but don't let that deter you from giving. Much like everything else in life, being well-informed is essential to ensuring your next step isn't into a deep, water filled, pot hole.

Of course, you don't have to give just money either. Your time is just as valuable as money. Indeed, I would even venture to say your time is the most valuable asset you could give to any cause, any organization, and any person.

The Value of Time

Someday, I encourage you to sit down with a homeless person for about 15 minutes. In fact, make that day today. Although, it may end up being longer than that because you wouldn't believe how little people actually talk to them. Maybe that moment of empathy will lift their spirits just enough to render them unto the doorstep of a new life.

Simple, isn't it?

Imagine this. It's that time you've been waiting for - the moment you get to find out what is beneath all that wrapping paper and mystery. After holding out for so long, you finally tear away the paper, pop open the box, and find ... half a dozen apples.

Okay, so that's not terribly impressive. But what if it was a beautiful, framed certificate stating you're entitled to receive batches of fresh, organic, family farm grown apples to your doorstep every now and then, for the next year?

In an incredibly innovative approach, Rent Mother Nature has an organic produce leasing program. Basically, you buy a lease, they grow your produce, love it, tell you all about little Johnny Apple's growth, and then deliver the produce to you when it's ready.

Gosh, wouldn't that be the perfect present? There's a lot more where that came from at TreeHugger's 2007 Gift Guide.

The simplest and smallest little things always seem to make the biggest impact. Little gifts to your loved one, calling mom and dad to tell them you're okay - and charitable donations from mid and low income sources.

When comparing people ages 35 and under, the NewTithing Group found that those earning $10 million or more typically give away only 0.4 percent of their annual income, while those earning under $200,000 give away 1.6 percent.

"People earning less than $100,000 a year are the vast majority of Americans, so their charitable contributions have a huge impact," said Tim Stone, president of NewTithing Group. Source: MSNBC

Of course if you understand anything about the psychology of buying, you could have already guessed that. In order for people to give up small amounts of money, it takes a small amount of trust and convincing - and the amount of thought and trust it takes to get someone's money grows proportionately along with the amount of money.

Additionally, since smaller lump sums don't satisfy the lemming buying mind (or "consumer" for those faint of heart) as much as larger sums, people will part with smaller sums more often. Since we have a larger population of people with less money and thus only capable of donating a smaller sum, then of course the little guys are going to dominate the market.

So, in a stereotypically feminine totally-off-topic leap of logic, I would just like to ask - how come most guys don't buy ladies more small gifts?

Anyways, I digress.

My point is - hey you, little guy, you can make a difference in someone's life.

And not just on Holidays

Yeah it's a bit late for this, or early depending on how you look at it, but you don't have to hold out until the holidays to be charitable. You don't have to wait until Halloween to mourn loved ones.

And you don't have to celebrate the fight for liberty only on July 4th. Mid and low incomers have that right too - in the 24 hours of November 5th, they donated over $4 million to Ron Paul.

And although you should "always remember the fifth of November," there's another charitable opportunity coming up on December 16th.



Oh, and you don't have to wait for Valentine's Day either.

Okay, so that wasn't even a discreet plug - but a girl's gotta try!