OT - MGoBlog Call to arms (update)
A couple of weeks ago I posted a link to an Oregon blog where a member's child was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta which is a very painful disease for these young children that really impacts their lifestyle.
Since then, the UofO board has auctioned off some Chip Kelly goods, but they have also set up a scholarship fund in the child's name. I will donate for sure, and would hope some of my UofM brethren could help as well.
Towards the bottom of this link is a link to donate. Despite it being for a different school, I can't help but feel that us sports fanatics bloggers have a common bond of sorts, and if something like this happened to one of us, I'd ask my Oregon blog buddy to do the same for us.
http://www.addictedtoquack.com/2010/4/19/1432078/oi-foundation-lil-gorby
Stuff like this makes this blog extra-special, ime. Where else can you ask thousands of brothers (and sisters) to join hands to support a person in need, and truly expect to see a strong response?
My donation has officially been made. I encourage others to help as well.
The MGoCommunity is an unstoppable force of positivity (unless you piss us off).
Thanks for posting, UMfan21
but i gave a little ... do the same
"an unstoppable force of passivity." That would be interesting.
But yes, this is one of the great things blog communities can do. It's great to see this sort of community being leveraged for something really meaningful.
This is a horrible thing this kid is going through but I think there are more important things to donate to. There are kids in this country who can't get food or what about the sex slaves they make out of teenage girls. Those are the things that should be donated to over something like this. Again, this is very sad but one life isn't as important as thousands.
They say you owe them some money, as you are a walking copyright infringement of their product.
Fuck U!
In many instances saving one life influences thousands. Q if it were your child you might feel differently.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:00 AM ^
Although the Fuck U was uncalled for I can say I agree with your last sentence. If it were my kid I would do whatever it took. I was wrong in that instance. All I am saying is that we see things like this all the time but nobody cares about the kids growin up in the projects and they don't get the pub this kid got. It's just sad to me that things that don't need research or a doctor intervening aren't helped out enough. No disrespect to the father of the child or his family. I'm just tired of us not helping out the kids who don't need much help. White kid gets sick and everyone comes with their wallets open and it's front page news. A black kid starves or gets shot and it's nowhere to be found. That is racism to me and it keeps the black race down and unable to flourish.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:11 AM ^
While I see your point and fully respect your side of this discussion, you're going to want to stop while you're ahead.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:22 AM ^
So much for that unstoppable force of positivity.
If you don't feel the need to donate, then don't, but you don't need to get political about it and belittle a good cause because you think that there are better ones. This kid's situation, the ones you bring up, and countless others throughout the world are horrible and could use help. It's when people start to rank these causes and push their personal hierarchy upon others that the selfless act of helping people takes a shockingly negative turn.
Be positive.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:39 AM ^
But didnt you push your personal cause and hierarchy on us? Everyone ranks causes, it is unavoidable when we have 1) multiple causes and 2) limited funds. Q's points are logically unassailable. If you call that 'shockingly negative,' well, I think you are again, beyond your first post, trying to use personal emotion and hierarchy to drive us to action. You cannot bring this topic here, essentially pushing your own cause, and not expect others to push theirs.
As for me, having little money, I would rather put my money toward addressing larger systemic problems, such as those Q discusses - problems that necessarily have an impact on many more individuals - than toward one person I do not know. And yes I would feel different if it were my child, but that is the nature of being a parent - it is the classic conflict between the needs of the individual and the group, a conflict that will always occur. But, I think Q ignores an important link between social issues, such as living conditions (e.g., stress, access to medical care) and disease. There is a known link between systemic problems facing low-income people and individual diseases. Taking action on an individual by individual basis alone elides the greater problem, and, while helping individuals, helps the larger-level problems persist. It is when the two levels of effort are mutually exclusive that problems persist.
Yes, I also have a dissenting opinion. So neg away.
April 21st, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
But didnt you push your personal cause and hierarchy on us?No, not at all. For the record, I didn't bring this topic here and haven't really voiced my opinion for or against the OP's cause. I merely commented on it like so many others, so our misunderstanding on the issue might end there. I'm not saying we shouldn't rank the causes we wish to support, as that is what clearly needs to happen if we're going to donate to anyone at all. However, we should also be mindful of our personal hierarchy as just that and avoid introducing personal political beliefs to the discussion in order to influence others (especially on a blog where political discussions are strictly frowned upon). To me, it seemed inherently negative to call out this cause as less important than another cause (and I realize that Q did not mean it maliciously) when it would have been perfectly sufficient not to comment at all.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:06 AM ^
Donate a little bit to the other charities as well.
As stated and implied, you don't have to donate a lot.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:19 AM ^
I guess I came off as harsh toward the kid and that isn't what I intended. I feel bad for the kid. No child should have to suffer or die for that matter. It happens so much more with the black ones, though. Have you ever been scared walking home from school? Have your parents not been able to provide you with food and you don't know when the next time you will eat will be? I read that BooBoo thread and it's all bullshit to me. If someone could've been there for him while he grew up he might've turned out differently. Most sports fans don't give a damn about these black kids comin out of the bad spots. All they care about is whether or not they can perform and help their favorite team win. You can all say, "I sure hope he turns it around", but that's a load of crap too. Not a one of you is going to pray for them or donate let alone go down to the bad spots and figure a way you can create a way of helping.
As someone who is on the "inside" of this it pisses me off everyday. There is so much potential in these kids but a lot of them get beat up just for going to school and trying to learn. How the Hell are they going to make it? There are white ones as well. Money can only do so much in this instances too. Direct contact and mentoring is what really makes a difference. You can't just throw money at a problem all the time, even though it would help to sustain the programs that are there to help, you need to do something to better humankind.
I'll get off my soapbox now but these things just show me that there are people out there who can help but it seems like it's always directed at the white kids with problems. I can tell you this and it brought my black ass to tears. I was helpin out a kid and doin the Big Brother thing and he told me he wished he was white. I asked him why and he said "because then I wouldn't have to be afraid". It still bothers me now thinkin about it.
April 21st, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
But, the problems that I have personal experience with are much more important than the problems that you know about.
I have first hand first hand experience of living in an extremely poor industrial area of China. Therefore, the problems of Chinese people are instantly more important than those of black Americans.
I could go on and on, but --
See, instantly political. Posting about a cause isn't political. Arguing that one cause is underfunded or more worthy because it affects people in more need promotes your geo-political view. I mean, do you really need to push people away from one problem to one that you think is superior?
Post some links to some well-vetted charities.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^
Isn't that last sentence from the Communist Manifesto? You should really cite Marx if you use his thoughts in your post.
April 21st, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
..........I am absolutely speechless....... Q are u fuc*ing serious? Ragging on peoples generosity is despicable and I really suggest that you reassess your overall moral compass. seriously DUDE WTF?
All ya'll who think it is necessary to bash me can go to Hell. Most of you have never had to deal with any of the hardships I've described. It does come down to white and black because it's the white ones that get the press and the sympathy. Why do you think the prisons are crowded with blacks? They grow up in horrible circumstances. They don't know any better and join gangs just to stay alive, steal food because they are hungry, and commit crimes so they can live a gang life (which they think is cool)
Whoever was talking about China, well you're point is moot. I'd rather have us help our own people first and get things straightened out in OUR OWN COUNTRY before we try and fix everything in others. There are all of these celebrities who want an African baby but won't walk down the block and grab an American one.
This is going to get me negged out of the blog but it needs to be said. None of you give a flying fuck about any of these kids until they're on your precious recruiting sites and you drool all over them. It just perpetuates the thought in the black community that the only way to make it out is through sports. In some ways it may make sense because without blacks sports would be boring to watch. The NBA would be like the WNBA. Lay ups everywhere.
I guess I'll close in saying that if we can afford to pay all of this money for useless materialistic things while we know there are people not 50 miles from us who are starving and need a good person to show them what being a man is all about then things will never change. I do what I can and I could probably sacrifice more so I'm no saint but I just wish that the black kids in this country would get some more guidance so the process of kids not graduating from school and throwing their lives away would stop. If you've never been a Big Brother to a kid then I say you should give it a try. It's a good start, anyway.
https://aim.bbbs.org/einquiry/einquiryzip.aspx
But you're coming across as intolerably self-righteous. Look, if you think that there are better causes, then donate to them. But you can't expect to sign on to a message board and anonymously call everyone who disagrees with you about what's the most important issue that has to be dealt with a racist without people being irritated by it.
For you, it's helping underprivileged African-American kids improve their lot. That's a good cause, and nobody is disagreeing with that. But it's not the only good cause.
My wife and I are foster parents. In case you care, my last foster baby was a 16 month old African American child. His mother left him at home in his house all day at 16 months old because according to her "he just sleeps all day anyway". When the police showed up he was naked and screaming in the front window of the home. We gave our time, money and home to help this child to live a better life, if only for a few weeks. Don't come in here preaching to me about how noble it is that you were a "Big Brother" to a child for a couple hours a week. So unless you're going to take action. I don't want to hear it. I give my time. 90% of the children that we take in the foster care system are from minority families and 95% of the foster families are white. I don't do this for recognition. I do this to give a chance to some child that may not have one otherwise. If you can't say the same, don't preach at us, assuming that we are all the same.....There's a word for that, it's called stereotyping...it's okay when you do it though..
Another thing, I still found time and extra money to donate to this child, because I'm a human being, not because I'm white.
It is not moot, because it expresses a political opinion. I would rather help planet earth first before just America. And in my opinion we should start with Chinese kids because there are more Chinese kids on planet earth. At least I'm not a horrible xenophobe like you.///
Oh wait, I was actually pointing out that you were stating a political/geo-political opinion on Mgoblog (harping on that opinion in fact) and that ---
politics are verboten!
But yeah, promote worthy causes. Please do.
Q - How do you know the child isn't black? I donated because it's a child in need, not because he could be white/black. The OP is just making us aware of a cause, if you don't want to donate, don't. If you feel there are better causes, that's great, start a new thread with links to those foundations and maybe people will donate to those as well.
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:04 AM ^
Hey everyone, I'm the guy from ATQ (addictedtoquack.com) that put together the post for people to be able to donate. First, I would like to say that I have seen some donations come in from across the country and if you are someone that donated, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart I thank you.
Second, I think from reading some of the comments I'd like to clarify a couple of things. The child with OI that inspired this cause by some bloggers is not receiving a dollar of money from the donations. The money is going strictly to people who are in need. The child was merely an inspiration for a bunch of meat-head, sports loving, bloggers to get off their butts and do something for people in need.
I would hope that if you feel compelled to help you will do so. If not, please pass on by and no one would be the wiser.
Lastly, I neither have OI, nor a child with OI, I will get not one dollar out of doing this and I will never even see the people we are helping, only hearing the stories of gratitude they have for doing so. I have learned what amazing things a small community can do when they have the will.
Thank you for reading and donating. You have made me a fan of the Maize and Blue. Oh yeah, and Ohio State can go to hell too!