Free for All Friday
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It’s Free for ALL Friday!
Yes, we’re bringing it back. Each week I keep track of some of the off-the-path things I've found, and work extra-hard to make sure you never hit a paywall, using my own subscriptions, gift links, and other (100% legal) hocus-pocus.
Thanks for being here as we get Understandably and Big Optimism up to their full power again! (Monday next week is a Big Optimism Day; sign up here if you’re not a subscriber!)
Are We Actually in the Middle of a Generosity Crisis?
Charitable giving in the US is down. But generosity goes beyond dollars.
Did you donate to charity in the past, but no longer do so?
If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. For the second year in a row, the philanthropy research foundation Giving USA reported that fewer Americans are donating to nonprofits than they used to, and the total amount of giving is declining once inflation is taken into account.
Some in the philanthropy world are calling it a “generosity crisis” — fewer than half of American households now give cash to charity. Twenty million fewer households donated in 2016 than in 2000. And the money that is being given is increasingly coming from a small number of super-wealthy people.
America’s New Catholic Priests: Young, Confident and Conservative
Newly ordained priests overwhelmingly lean right in their theology, practices and politics.
In an era of deep divisions in the American Catholic Church, and ongoing pain over the continuing revelations of sexual abuse by priests over decades, there is increasing unity among the men joining the priesthood: They are overwhelmingly conservative in their theology, their liturgical tastes and their politics.
Priests ordained since 2010 “are clearly the most conservative cohort of priests we’ve seen in a long time,” said Brad Vermurlen, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, who has studied the rightward shift of the American priesthood.
Surveys tracking the opinions of priests have found that, starting in the 1980s, each new wave of priests in the United States is noticeably more conservative than the one before it, Dr. Vermurlen said.
I Lost My Wallet. Here’s What Experts Say I Should Do to Protect My Identity and Money
I searched every nook and cranny ... Eventually, tired from my frantic searching, I accepted defeat and contacted the bank to lock my cards.
As a CNBC intern who recently joined the personal finance desk, I spend most days speaking with finance experts to inform the stories I write. After losing my wallet, I decided to ask a few sources what course of action I should take to protect my money and identity.
The experts I spoke to validated some of the things I had already done and provided extra security steps I hadn’t considered.
The Pimple Patch Becomes a Breakout Fashion Statement
No longer just a skin-care tool, the patches have become chic accessories — and a form of currency in lunchrooms and locker bays.
For a few years now, pimple patches — opaque, whimsically shaped, in conspicuously nonhuman hues such as bright yellow, jet black, magenta and even rainbow — have been showing up on more and more faces in workout classes, in classrooms, at workplaces and online.
Many are medicated with hydrocolloid or salicylic acid; they treat pimples while also covering them up, protecting them from both idle fingers and strangers’ stares.
As a skin-care tool, pimple patches, which gained traction in the late 2010s, were a game-changing development in skin-care technology. But they’ve also become a fashion trend. And although their proliferation heralds a shift in attitudes toward acne — one of the most universal discomforts of being a human — they’ve also begun to act as a social signifier.
Rich People Can Buy Their Way Into Hong Kong Residency, and the Majority of Applicants Come From 2 Tiny Countries
Hong Kong's latest sales pitch involves a cash-for-residency program targeted at wealthy investors — and most of them come from just two countries.
The plan, which began in March, offers two-year visas in exchange for an investment of 30 million Hong Kong dollars, about $3.8 million, into the city. Investors can extend their visas and eventually apply for permanent residency.
What's fascinating is that of the 250 applicants so far this year between March and May, 80% came from just two countries: Vanuatu and Guinea-Bissau. Most of them have never been to either place, but are instead Chinese nationals who buy citizenship in those countries as a stepping stone to Hong Kong, which otherwise prohibits mainland Chinese residents moving there.
When You Move, What Do You Do With All Those Books?
If you have a large collection of hardcover and paperback books, it can be hard to get rid of them — but not impossible.
Unfortunately, because so many people are now reading on phones, tablets, or portable reading devices like a Kindle, it can feel more difficult than it used to be to sell or give away physical books.
But there are still places out there where you can pass on your used books. Here are some ways you can move your reading material along to someone else.
Summer in the Hamptons Means $30 Berries and $120 Lobster Salad
The exclusive summertime playground also offers an $8.50 kimchi-cheddar croissant.
The status symbol of the summer: a $10 tomato from the Hamptons.
With vacation season under way, one percenters are noticing higher prices across their already expensive seaside playground outside New York City. Inflation is everywhere, but it’s got an extra kick in these Long Island locales, where a dirty vegetable can startle even customers rich enough to buy the entire farm stand—and the land it’s sitting on.
“I was pretty shocked when I spent $20 on two tomatoes,” said Tita Loyek, 27, a content creator who goes by “TitaTots” on TikTok and is chronicling her 100 days in the Hamptons while renting a house with her banker husband. “I was even more shocked to find out that they weren’t even locally grown.”
Before I made my radical transition to a totally different country, I had to make huge decisions about my many books. Since I have a Kindle, I decided which ones I really wanted to read and bought them again on my reader. All my books then went to the local Hospice resale store. They love used books and have found some real gems in collections that have just been boxed up and donated.
As for those poor Hamptons inhabitants, my heart bleeds. They come across as being a bit spoiled to my way of thinking. How would they ever survive if the bottom fell out of the world?
Being the VP of a local non-profit, we are finding it harder and harder to find and keep donors. One of the big issues is that our corporate donors now have more stringent rules regarding what they're allowed to do. Our golf tournament, which typically raises the most money for us annually, is now becoming harder and harder to find golfers to attend. It's expensive, but for an event that used to have us doubling up foursomes, we are now struggling to get the required minimum of 72. The needs of our members haven't changed. In fact, they've gotten more dire with the insurance co-pay accelerator and other financial strains, we are working hard to provide for them. I'd love to find a solution that taps into a new target donor pool. Anyone have ideas? My ears are open.