Rating the Charities

Trying to figure out what charities to support with your holiday / year-end philanthropy? Charity Navigator uses information reported by charities on Form 990s to rates hundred of American non-profits on organizational efficiency and capacity, among other things.

Here are a few of Gopher Girl’s favorite charities and how they rated (out of 4 stars):

• Initiative Foundation: 4 Stars
• Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: 4 Stars
• Amherst College: 4 Stars
• American Refugee Committee: 3 Stars
• Minnesota Public Radio: 3 Stars
• Lance Armstrong Foundation: 3 Stars
• The Nature Conservancy: 3 Stars
• Girl Scouts (National): 3 Stars
• Carleton College: 3 Stars
• American Cancer Society: 2 Stars
• Minnesota Historical Society: 2 Stars
• Public Radio International: 2 Stars
• Rails to Trails Conservancy: 2 Stars
• League of American Bicyclists: 1 Star
• Emergency Foodshelf Network: 1 Star

Note: The standards they apply to food shelves seem particularly rigorous. Also, there are a lot of reasons that a charity may rank 1 or 2 stars, not just excessive fundraising expenses. For example, charities that report a decline in revenues are penalized. However, to me this may signal that (provided it’s a worthwhile organization) they have a greater need (See Morehouse College.)

Crawford County Iowa Bans RAGBRAI

This is just wrong on so many levels:

RAGBRAI has been banned from rolling through Crawford County.Stinging from a $350,000 settlement paid to the widow of a RAGBRAI rider who died in Crawford County, the board of supervisors on Tuesday passed a resolution that prohibits the bicycle ride or "any event of like kind and nature."Crawford County officials say their roads are not designed for bicycle travel, so they are too risky for use by participants in the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

How bad is the housing market?

More grim news about the U.S. housing market today.

• Home prices slumped 4.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier, matching the second quarter’s record decline. And if that doesn’t make you want to deleverage the real estate exposure in your portfolio, consider this: The S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index also fell 1.7 in the third quarter alone, marking the largest quarterly decline in the index's 21-year history.

• That certainly doesn’t sound good, but the news that made me want to run for the hills came from a report released today by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Council for the New American City. The study, prepared by forecasting firm Global Insight Inc., predicts that the value of U.S. homes will fall by $1.2 trillion, and that "at least" 1.4 million homeowners will lose their properties to foreclosure in 2008.

Meanwhile, back in Greenspanland things look pretty rosy. According to press reports, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that he had "no particular regrets" and that the faltering U.S. housing market is not a result of his policies.

"The housing bubble is a not a reflection of what we did, as it is a global phenomenon," Mr. Greenspan told an audience in Oslo last week.

Right, free money had nothing to do with this asset bubble. Do I look as credulus as Larry King? Earlier this month, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, said Nov. 16 that there is a 50% probability that the U.S. will tumble into a recession after the ``mess'' left by Mr. Greenspan. Defending his record in a statement the same day, Mr. Greenspan said that the criticisms were "inaccurate or incomplete." On the housing front, Mr. Greenspan said that investors are realizing that the drop in U.S. house prices has yet to abate after the ``shocker'' of the subprime mortgage market slump. ``Markets are becoming aware of the fact that the decline in house prices is not stopping,'' said Mr. Greenspan. ``The sub-prime was a shocker because no one expected it. It was the weakest link in the international financial sector.''

Twins Fan Thanksgiving Reflections

Hunter's gone. No shocker there, but the timing is certainly poignant. We will certainly miss Torii, who is not only a local favorite but probably the most charismatic player in the league. As Kurt Streeter writes in the LA Times,

"If you haven't been paying attention to Torii Hunter, then you've been missing out. He is everything a baseball player should be, particularly in an era when the game needs to sell itself to a younger generation looking for more sizzle."

Or to quote a glowing PR piece from major league baseball, "There is no question but that Torii Hunter, the new center fielder of the Los Angeles Angels, is a very special player." As I try to get the cranberry stains out of my holiday best, let me enumerate the ways in which I am thankful that Torii Hunter once donned a Twins uniform:

• He gave Twins fans a reason to come to the Metrodome in the dark seasons of 1998-2000
• He gave Twins fans a reason to believe in the comeback seasons of 2001-2004
• He behaved with class when he was sent to AAA in 2000
• He hit 9 Grand Slams as a Twins
• His awesome defensive play bolstered awesome pitching
• He won 7 Golden Gloves
• He rejected the White Sox's offer!

Stop the Treeicide!

I think this is supposed to be some sort of a feel good, human interest story but instead I just find it kind of depressing.

A tree standing more than seven stories tall and 27 feet wide is being donated and heading today to St. Paul's Rice Park as the park's second annual Christmas tree.

Bear Stearns 'Tokin' CEO

Those of you who are fortunate enough not to know what a CDO, CDO squared, or CDO cubed is may have missed the hilarious Wall Street Journal front page story that inventoried the transgressions of Bear Stearns beleaguered and beloved CEO, Jimmy Cayne. Weekday afternoons playing golf instead of managing risk. Ditching crisis management meetings for bridge tournaments. YAWN. Sounds like usual senior executive self-indulgence. But wait, what's this? In addition to being an avid golfer and bridge player, he was an avid dope smoker? (Thew NewsCorp influence on the Journal is already shining through.) For more on this developing story, check out this irreverent satirical editorial allegedly penned by Stephen Schwarzman (CEO of Blackstone, the private equity giant).