It’s been a tough week for anyone with even a twinge of humanity. It has been impossible to not be buffeted by heart-rending images and stories of unimaginable horror. Tonight I would like to offer a brief respite for Kossacks in both camps. For those who want to do something, here is something you can DO – right now, in just a few seconds, for free. And then there is a little something uplifting for those who want to talk about something else.
I love Kossack David Brin’s Uplift saga and some day I intend to write about my favorite Brin novel The Practice Effect. But other than this brief shout-out, tonight isn’t David’s night.
This is, rather, a diary to lighten our spirits for a moment by telling you about something good you can do right now regarding Haiti that won’t cost a cent or take more than a minute and about something good happening in one of the poorest areas of the United States.
Haiti
I am sure you have all been following the wonderful diary series on Helping the Victims of the Haiti Earthquakeand Norbrook's great link-filled diary of ways to help. TexMex led the outstanding efforts of Kossacks to fund Shelterboxes for Haiti. Today Septima has been chronicling the growing total of Shelterboxes funded by Kossacks. The first update to that diary was a remarkable story in itself:
Alice Olsen took the information from DKOS about Shelterbox and went forth and got 15, count em, fifteen additional boxes sent. BRAVO!
And this raises a great point: people want to help and if you download Shelterbox materials and pass them around, folks get excited and want to do something, especially something so comprehensive. $1000.00 is a great goal for nearly any community group and it can be done easily. Great marketing and organization Alice!
After generously acknowledging the hard work of TexMex and the other diarists, Alice – in a comment, of course – explained that a friend responding to Alice's Facebook appeal had used her family foundation to pay for the 15 boxes, telling Shelterboxes that she was inspired to do so by a Daily Kos member. Alice went on to say:
By the way, tomorrow is my philanthropist friend's birthday. I've given TexMex her email address so she can send a personal birthday greeting and thanks on behalf of all of us. She's a private person, or I'd ask you all to do the same. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want her email address floating out there to so many people she doesn't know.
It occurred to me that a few dozen e-mails from us thanking her for her contribution in our name – and wishing her a Happy Birthday – might be a good way to introduce Alice’s friend to the Daily Kos community. I contacted Alice, who graciously agreed to collect the emails and forward them to her friend. It seems the perfect way to express our best wishes while preserving everyone’s privacy. If you would like to acknowledge this generous contribution in our name and wish her a Happy Birthday, you can do so by:
- Sending an e-mail via Alice Olsen. Alice’s email address is: maolson@optonline.net or
- Leaving a comment below. I will collect the comments and forward them on.
Stimulating the Cache River
We haven’t heard much about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus) lately, so I thought you might like to know about a Stimulus project. It didn’t cost a lot and only employed a few people, but it will be a huge economic boost to one of the poorest areas in the United States and provide returns to the public for many years to come.
Fall on Bayou de View
The Cache River winds its way through Arkansas southeast from the White River to the Mississippi. It is one of the few remaining areas in the Mississippi River Valley that has not been channelized or otherwise drastically altered. As such, it contains a variety of wetland communities, including the most intact and least disturbed bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi Valley. It was in the Big Woods section of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge that Cornell orinothologists found the ivory-billed woodpecker, which had been considered extinct since the 1930, and filmed it in 2005. The Cornell Laboratory website has wonderful photos of one of their many Cache River expeditions.
Winter on Bayou de View
The Cache River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1986 to protect these wetland habitats and provide feeding and resting areas for migrating waterfowl. These wetlands have been protected by the RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands as a "Wetland of International Importance." RAMSAR describes it as:
The confluence of four physiographic provinces with high biological diversity, high quality occurrences of rare communities and species, bottomland hardwoods, migratory waterbirds and bird habitat, ancient trees, and mammalian predators -- a site with nationally and internationally significant and unique ecological values. Wetland types include swamps, shrub swamps, open water, wet floodplain forests or bottomland hardwood forests, and wet farmland.
The area is internationally important for numerous species of wintering waterbirds, including up to 10,000 Branta canadensis and up to 100 individuals of the endangered eagle Haliaetus leucocephalus. The site supports numerous species of game and fur-bearing mammals including the endangered bear Ursus americanus. The area is also important for conservation education, outdoor recreation, and scientific research.
Spring on Bayou de View
Most of the Refuge is off-limits to all but authorized conservationists from universities, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Arkansas Fish and Wildlife Department and The Nature Conservancy, all of whom are cooperating under the Big Woods Conservation Partnership. However, all of Bayou de View is open for exploration on foot or in boats, and has been designated for conservation education and outdoor recreation. (The prevalence of bears and cougars, and an abundance of water moccasins, copperheads and timber rattlesnakes, as well as several species of watersnakes including the diamond back, banded, broadbanded and common watersnakes, limits its value for camping, which is not allowed.) Bayou de View offers a unique opportunity to explore a pristine wilderness wetland that includes cypress trees more than 1,500 years old.
Summer on Bayou de View
Typically Bayou de View draws about 120,000 visitors annually. Unfortunately, several years of severe flooding washed out the only public access to put in boats on the Bayou. But, thanks to $20,850 in Stimulus funds, by the end of this month Bayou de View will once again be accessible to the public. The renovated boat ramp near Brinkley, which now includes a parking area, provides a safe all-weather access to launch boats.
And now for something else uplifting, tonight’s Top Comments....
Top Comments ....
From annetteboardman:
This comment by BeninSC comes from my diary. I love stories like this, and when they are placed as comments sometimes very few people see them. I want to make sure this one is seen.
Editor’s Note: Be sure to scroll on down to Ben’s second fascinating comment. It is an interesting and wise assessment.
From trashablanca:
In Saturday Morning Home Repair Blogging claude finished up his chicken coop, which has a combination guest room and meditation space upstairs. In the comments, Frankenoid starts off the inevitable scatological thread. Mirth ensues.
A bit of trivia: claude has a pretty colorful/wonderful history. He was a Digger in San Francisco in the sixties.
From JanF:
Two comments from this morning's Morning Feature: Do Senate Votes "Follow the Money?" Not Exactly. (Non-Cynical Saturday):
Hannah questions the choice of the words "public option" given the public’s dislike of the word public
NcrissieB comments on narratives and data and political discourse in our reality-based community.
From WisePiper:
*G2geek* makes a great comment regarding the proper way to capture and preserve computer screen shot evidence. Great general
purpose info.
From sardonyx:
hannah reminds us that the GOP game is vote suppression, and that they're doing their best to discourage voters right now in Massachusetts.
From me:
In FishOutofWater's outstanding diary, Hope for Haiti:Solar-Powered Rural Health Hospitals Saving Lives Now, Unenergy calls our attention to a request from TED for solar solutions to aid in Haitian recovery and rebuilding. And here's a link where you can find out more about this wonderful organization, TED - Ideas Worth Sharing.
In that same diary Limelite suggests a potential opportunity to help more directly for some Kossacks who are out of work.
AmericanIdeal explains why it is important to call out evil in response to people complaining about diaries "wasting time" ridiculing Pat Roberson. This is a comment in Julie Gulden's wonderful diary Who Needs Journalists? Do not miss this diary.
Top Mojo...
Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and C&J comments:
1 - The Pat Robertson Fan Club.....JekyllnHyde.....251
2 - Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Racist.....JekyllnHyde.....123
3 - ahhhhh, a breath of fresh "constructive,.....left my heart.....114
4 - It Helps to Have a Cartoon Lab.....JekyllnHyde.....102
5 - "Be ashamed to die until you have won.....Uncle Moji.....99
6 - Wonderful! (n/t).....AaronBa.....87
7 - Please see Ojibwa's diary from yesterday.....Deoliver47.....81
8 - So she's not a great campaigner.....blue aardvark.....76
9 - Hi folks, hang on while I try to fix the link to.....Septima.....76
10 - Awesome diary!.....psychodrew.....75
11 - Thank you!.....Kathy S.....73
12 - I was waiting for you!! Great toon as usual!.....Julie Gulden.....72
13 - Derrick Jackson's column today is relevant.....teacherken.....71
14 - What's the difference between.....captainlaser.....68
15 - thus the closing comment..."or we may need to..".....joby.....67
16 - No, a friend, inspired by my Facebook plea.....Alice Olson.....67
17 - Will give another $50 today.....Dallasdoc.....66
18 - can Redstate be charged.....wade norris.....65
19 - I asked you to call for REAL health reform.....slinkerwink.....64
20 - Great line in that diary........MrMichaelMT.....64
21 - I just got off 10 calls for her......randomfacts.....64
22 - Thank you for sharing Molly's story.....Ekaterin.....63
23 - Just adding new numbers......TexMex.....61
24 - Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice.....TomP.....60
25 - that's ok!.....TexMex.....59
26 - They would not want to be a state......Deoliver47.....58
27 - Even the Devil has more integrity than Robertson.....Lefty Coaster.....57
28 - Target audience fail (n/t).....Plutonium Page.....57
29 - AND, some of us like seeing a guy whose.....Catzmaw.....56
30 - It's not "comedy" anymore. Way Over The Line......mrsgoo.....54
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1 - Tip Jar.....Julie Gulden.....733
2 - Tip Jar.....RASalvatore.....512
3 - Tip Jar.....RhodaA.....399
4 - Tip Jar.....Deoliver47.....306
5 - Tip Jar.....Sarge in Seattle.....297
6 - Tip Jar.....Septima.....296
7 - Tip Jar.....pinback.....271
8 - Tip Jar.....blackwaterdog.....266
9 - The Pat Robertson Fan Club.....JekyllnHyde.....251
10 - Tip Jar.....nyceve.....235
11 - Tips for fighting back.....MinistryOfTruth.....203
12 - Tip Jar.....thebluecrayon.....195
13 - Tips to Partners in Health - Haiti.....FishOutofWater.....190
14 - Tip Jar.....slinkerwink.....182
15 - Tip jar........AnotherMassachusettsLiberal.....157
16 - Tip Jar.....Femlaw.....142
17 - Tip Jar.....Norbrook.....132
18 - Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Racist.....JekyllnHyde.....123
19 - Tip Jar.....TomP.....122
20 - ahhhhh, a breath of fresh "constructive,.....left my heart.....114
21 - It Helps to Have a Cartoon Lab.....JekyllnHyde.....102
22 - keep the aid coming.....Turkana.....102
23 - "Be ashamed to die until you have won.....Uncle Moji.....99
24 - Tips for doing more.....Seneca Doane.....94
25 - Mistakes?.....swampus.....93
26 - Wonderful! (n/t).....AaronBa.....87
27 - I lived in the Carribean for several years......Granny Doc.....83
28 - Tip Jar.....BFSkinner.....82
29 - Please see Ojibwa's diary from yesterday.....Deoliver47.....81
30 - So she's not a great campaigner.....blue aardvark.....76