holiday spirit! You know what they say — charity begins at home, which if you work on the Internet is basically your office because the Internet is INESCAPABLE. Which means charity begins at the office — as it should, because building social responsibility into the workplace is an awesome and important thing.

So — with that in mind — our gang at Mediaite led a charge to collect donations for a company-wide drive to support one worthy organization, which our boss and founder Dan Abrams said he would match. Our charity of choice was Robin Hood's "Food For Good" campaign (a favorite here, and for which I was one of the co-chairs) and together a group of Mediaite staffers and contributors, as well as Abrams Research staffers with whom we share an office, chocolate and a happy camaraderie, stepped up and donated to make this holiday season a little bit better for hungry New Yorkers in need.

Our little office raised $500 — which Dan has matched. So! Robin Hood! You are now $1000 closer to your goal of feeding 120,000 people this holiday season.. (more...)

Helping! Thanksgiving is a relatively new tradition for me. Being a Canadian, ours comes a month earlier — with the 10 cm sheet of ice that blankets the country from October to May — and we never had much of a tradition other than sawing ice blocks off for the igloo or wrestling bears to the ground for sport. But here in your country, Thanksgiving is HUGE — the first big family holiday of the chillier months and the gateway drug to a holiday season of massive, gut-busting eating. I have availed myself happily at many a friend's table, worn Pilgrim hats, taken goofy photos with paper turkeys, and, last year after Sarah Palin ruined the whole turkey thing for me, enjoyed a delicious vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner that was served to me between naps. I really, really like your holiday. But not everyone is so lucky. This Thanksgiving, the economy sucks (not to put too fine a point on it. But how else do you describe 10.2% unemployment nationwide?). In New York, where Mediaite is based and where Mayor Bloomberg rules the city with a shaky mandate, there will be a lot of people going hungry on Thanksgiving. Here is the part where you help! (more...)