Catching Up with Old Friends

On a rainy Friday in the Northeast (but not a snowy one--I was on one of the last planes last night leaving Chicago), let's catch up on a few items we've commented on over the last year or so:

• The Red Cross was fined, again, by the FDA for problems with blood collection. I wrote about this before, and like then, I'm less troubled by the collection issues (I know nothing about blood) than I am by the PR aspect of it (when the public doesn't trust the Red Cross, it has a trickle down effect for other charities) and by the fact that the FDA seems to have it out for an organization that is supposed to serve as the government's official first responder.
• The writer of this blog proposed an SEC for non-profits back in 2002. He was mocked and ridiculed. Now, others are proposing it. It is apparently now a good idea.
• The CFC, in response to criticisms that they are not vetting the charities on the list they provide to government workers for possible donations, decides to make it easier to get on the list! This may be the largest betrayal of trust regarding charities ever perpetrated by the U.S. government. And that's saying something.
  
• The Gates Foundation decides to close its doors. In about 80 years.
  
• Stanley Anderson, the "philanthropist" who pledged $150 million to the Presbyterian Church, and received a ton of PR for it (and some skepticism from me), announced that he will not fulfill the pledge by November 30, as promised, but should have some news "early next year."