World News Random, Random

[mmmm8]

That's too bad... I've been been lending (small amounts) on the site ever since you turned us onto it years ago but, admittedly, have been complacent about tracking the organization and haven't paid much attention to the details.

Is there an alternative microlending service you'd recommend?

Well, FYI, another major change that Kiva made in the past year or so was how it dealt with inactive accounts. At one point, Kiva had about $20 million just sitting in inactive accounts--doing nothing. So it sent out a massive number of emails to users with inactive accounts and informed them that the funds in their accounts would be autolended on their behalf unless they opted out (by turning off autolending in their settings). So if you didn't have autolending turned off, then your funds have been re-lended as repayments come in. So you may want to look into that and see where your account stands.

I actually supported that move for two reasons. One, it was a massive amount of money just sitting in accounts. Two, since Kiva did that, very few loans have failed to raise the amount requested. A few years ago, thousands of loans were expiring each month because they failed to raise the full amount. That doesn't happen anymore.

But even that move had a major downside. Each time Kiva makes a loan via autolending using inactive accounts, it gives itself a 15% donation. THAT's sketchy. And it's not sustainable.

::

As for alternatives, if you don't care about interacting with other lenders, www.lendwithcare.org is good. It's hard to find field partner repayment info, and I don't think they do a particularly good job of keeping that info up-to-date. The site is a little clunky. And since it is based in the UK, they operate in British pounds--not U.S. dollars. But is a good organization and a subset of CARE International, which seems to have an excellent reputation.

Thank you! Re: auto-lending, they actually sent those emails to everyone, I think. I'm an active user and I still get them threatening to auto-lend - I like to pick my own loans and opt to give to the loan vs the donation, so I just log in every time I get one.

Will check out www.lendwithcare.org!

[ti-amie]

Boris Johnson is in a spot of bother isn't he? The report by Sue Gray has hit and the reaction has been swift.

From the BBC home page: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-60147988

Summary

Boris Johnson receives heavy criticism from MPs in the Commons in the wake of Sue Gray's report into lockdown parties
Labour leader Keir Starmer says he is taking the public for fools and "hiding behind" a police investigation
Former Tory PM Theresa May questions if the PM felt Covid rules didn't apply to him
Johnson says he is sorry, that he accepts the report and that he will make changes to No 10
Sue Gray's report identifies "failures of leadership and judgment" in Downing Street
She looked at 16 events in total but the Met Police are investigating 12 of them so she had to leave details out
The police say they have been handed more than 300 photos and will start contacting individuals soon
Gray's findings come as some Tory MPs are still weighing up if they want Johnson to continue as PM

[ponchi101]

Some Tory MP's want BJ to continue as PM?
Ok. Sure.

[the Moz]

'I didn't know it was a party'

'I didn't know what the rules were'

BoJo as British PM =

[mmmm8]

I wish Theresa May were funny, then she could have added the option that "they can't read" as a possibility...

[the Moz]

I wish Ms. May had been able to pass her thrice-rejected EU Withdrawal Agreement. Perhaps then she could have prevented this clown from snatching her premiership.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

Rotterdam to dismantle part of historic bridge so Jeff Bezos’s massive yacht can pass through


A picture shows barges docked on the Koningshaven waterway near the “De Hef” lift bridge and the Koninginnebrug drawbridge in Rotterdam. (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)

By Miriam Berger
Today at 1:21 p.m. EST

Rotterdam has agreed to temporarily dismantle part of its historic Koningshaven Bridge so that Jeff Bezos’s 417-foot-long, three-mast yacht can pass through the waterway sometime this summer, according to a spokeswoman for the city.

The Dutch company Oceano has been building the massive vessel for an estimated $500 million in the nearby city of Alblasserdam. Once completed this year, the ship, known as Y721, will be the world’s largest sailing yacht, according to Boat International.

But to reach the open seas it must first pass through Rotterdam — considered the maritime capital of Europe — and the city’s historic steel bridge, locally known as De Hef, which has a clearance of just over 131 feet.

Originally built in 1927, De Hef was a railway bridge and the first of its kind in Western Europe, with a central span that could be lifted to allow ship traffic to pass underneath. It was decommissioned in 1994 after being replaced by a tunnel, but later declared a national monument. The bridge underwent a major restoration from 2014 to 2017, after which the city said it would not be dismantled again, according to the Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond, which first reported on the yacht agreement.

Although the exact plans, timetable and costs have not been set, Oceano and Bezos will pay to dismantle the bridge, Rijnmond reported.

Frances van Heijst, the Rotterdam municipality spokeswoman, confirmed by phone that the city would not be footing the bill. She said the shipbuilder bears the cost of hiring a company to carry out the bridge’s deconstruction and reassembly, but that she could not provide an estimate or breakdown of the cost as “a lot of details need to be worked out.”

Representatives for Bezos and Oceano did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bezos, estimated to be one of the world’s richest people, owns The Washington Post. Last year, he stepped down as chief executive of Amazon, the online retail giant he founded.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... gn=wp_main

[JazzNU]

Seems like a good time to revive this old Tweet

[Suliso]

I'm sure they'll be making a nice 100 million+ profit from this. Not Bezos profiting from this for a change.

[mmmm8]

But is the yacht shaped like a phallus?

[skatingfan]

But is the yacht shaped like a phallus?

[ponchi101]

But is the yacht shaped like a phallus?

It will be shaped like a...
Nah, I can't ban myself. It is technically impossible.

[ti-amie]

But is the yacht shaped like a phallus?

It will be shaped like a...
Nah, I can't ban myself. It is technically impossible.

[ti-amie]