perfidy

This year has been a really hard year for disasters. From the giant tsunami that struck Asia just after Christmas last year to the recent earthquakes and hurricanes that have spread misery almost as fast and wide as humankind could have done if left to its own devices, many terrible things have befallen the hapless and helpless populations of Earth of late.

But I have been hearing rumblings of "disaster fatigue." Indeed, the Red Cross reports that, in the wake of the massive relief efforts mounted for Indonesia and Louisiana, relatively little charity has been left over for the Red Cross' efforts in Pakistan, Guatemala, etc. Although money can only do so much, it can do a damn sight more than nothing at all.

So I have a proposition. If you, meaning "you right there with a Diet Coke, a gas station burrito and a Star Trek t-shirt riding up over your belly (I mean... with the snifter of brandy, the great hair, and the air of nonchalant cool that some would kill to possess)," donate at least $15 to the charity of your choice to help fund relief efforts in these relatively needful areas: e.g. the Pakistan/India earthquate, Hurricane Stan, or indeed any one of the thousands of worthy and underfunded causes out there in the world trying to do their part, I will send you, meaning "you right there the benighted soul whose life is enriched incrementally each day as our perfidious electrons bathe your benumbed eyes," two mix cds I have personally compiled from songs selected from among the 1,500 albums in my collection. I cannot guarantee each song will be new to you, but I can guarantee that you have never heard them in that particular order. So how about it?

(Offer expires November 31. Offer not valid in Albania, Uzbekistan, or Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan.)