Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and more importantly through nominations sent to Top Comments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks. When you send in your picks, please include your username and a word or two about why you nominated the comment, and send 'em in by 6:45 pm Pacific/9:45pm Eastern to ensure they make the final diary.
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The other day, I was hanging around (lurking) at La Vida Locavore and found this really great diary by desmoinesdem, which linked to this amazing article.
And it reminded me of the diary I'd written at La Vida Locavore a year ago about urban beekeeping, colony collapse disorder, and the importance of honeybees to the food chain.
Solutions like this are incredible - and it's approaches like the one Tammy Horn is taking that give these ideas legs - they have appeal to all sorts of people. Working with coal companies to rehabilitate strip mined areas by housing bee hives. Not turning these areas into strip malls or housing tracts that will end up besieged with structural issues. She's even coined a new name: apiforestation. Learn more here.
Anything that will bring jobs to an area, rehabilitate land devastated by the practice of strip mining, and help our threatened honey bee population can be considered a VERY GOOD THING. But this is beyond creative.
I love that her approach is multi-pronged and tailored to fit the area where the mine in question is located. She's covering production, education and research, all while performing the service she set out to perform - rehabilitating these lands. I love that the coal mines are willing partners. It's amazing what the desire for good PR will do, and if it takes shaming these people into good behavior, well, that's fine with me if the results are a more informed, better fed, employed populace as well as a recovering environment.
Now, if only we'd see more of the same with the bat population. We saw some steps in the right direction last month, as covered by friend of Top Comments rserven in this diary.
Between what's going on with the bee and bat populations in this nation, we are in trouble. (And I am aware that this is the tip of the iceberg.) And I have been so incredibly frustrated by even activist friends of mine who prefer ignorance when it comes to contemplating the ramifications of allowing these collapses to continue. So it's really nice to see people like Wendy Cohen using her craft to educate the masses with films like _Every Third Bite_, and people like Tammy Horn and her organization taking concrete steps to turn this around. (Here's a better link to Cohen's film - the one in my LVL diary is outdated.)
When we move to CO (which seems forever away), we're planning to be as self-sustaining as possible. The idea of having my own apiary is very appealing - if I could get over the whole fear of bee stings thing. Still, watching Mary in Every Third Bite goes a long way toward making me feel like I could get over this fear with some education. Another example of knowledge = power.
Without further ado, here are tonight's Top Comments nominations!
From Land of Enchantment:
You'll learn more from this comment by BlueSue than from many of the diaries posted here at Daily Kos.
From A Siegel:
BruceMcF is a hero of mine in many ways, not least of which is a willingness to ride a bike to work in the snow. Thus, several comments from a hero ...
* In an excellent diary by David Brin on Climate Skeptics/Deniers, Bruce explains why young drivers should speed up in foggy conditions.
* Amid my discussion re the need to airlift DC snow to Vancouver for the Olympics, Bruce weighed in with thoughts about how to weight weather records in considering climate issues.
From bronte17:
In indiemcemopants’ diary This is so FULL OF WIN… ivorybill explains with the soft voice of reason the real legacy of our Founding Fathers… progressive guys who “represent everything that the modern GOP is not.”
And some snark in David Swanson’s diary Yoo Lies About Obama … Kayakbiker tells us that Joe Wilson really shouted out Yoo Lies.
my picks:
Melody Townsel shares a GREAT story in incondite's diary about the idiot NH lawmaker's unfortunate comments about anal sex.
mnemosyne educates us about both the proper pronunciation and origin of wingnut Mike Crapo's surname. Heh. (I'd been pronouncing it correctly all along! Woo hoo!) This is from Eileen B's amazing, info filled, action packed diary. If you haven't read it, go NOW! Go on. We'll wait. :)
alizard succinctly sums up exactly how I feel about the DNC after Howard Dean.
Beverage spewer of the day - conversation starts right here. Thank you, Zotz!
I love anyone who takes the time to call out the fact that hypocrisy = being Republican, and Ladyhawk does a great job here, in list form.
Tonight's Top Mojo Hero is brillig. Thank you, brillig for doing what I have yet to learn how to do! :)
Top 30 (plus ties) Comments excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first comments:
1) I wrote these lyrics on my helmet by Zwoof — 119
2) sigh . . . by bumblebums — 118
3) Or just show the list by vets74 — 103
4) truthfully by peace voter — 92
5) Any teacher who hurts a student by Noor B — 83
6) "As a progressive living in Birmingham".. by hcc in VA — 80
7) I have begun calling them by LynChi — 79
8) as a progressive living in a small by left my heart — 71
9) So, a story I now feel compelled to share... by Melody Townsel — 70
10) You Were a Teabagger, Huh? by JekyllnHyde — 70
11) Gay men aren't the only ones who enjoy by rexymeteorite — 69
12) What sponsors want = by LNK — 68
13) The whole thing is beautiful by James Robinson — 64
14) These people are sick by FishOutofWater — 63
15) I hope people in the straight community by Clarknt67 — 61
16) This diary by LeftHandedMan — 59
17) And here are active sponsors in U.S.A. by vets74 — 58
18) why on earth was he burning anything by SuperBowlXX — 57
19) Speaking as someone who lost his dad 15 yrs ago by Blue Boy Red State — 52
20) They normally call it "Appearing on Fox News" by blue aardvark — 52
21) Completely illogical by FishOutofWater — 51
22) Freshwater has been a whackjob for years by mph2005 — 50
23) Happy Friday everyone! by dopper0189 — 50
24) i have a feeling that the Brits will watch Beck by erratic — 49
25) Because they aren't Christian by FishOutofWater — 49
26) HR if you must. by Spider Stumbled — 49
27) It has been a rough year for him and the rest of by testvet6778 — 48
28) OMG... by ptolemynm — 47
29) even for BofA by Mnemosyne — 47
30) It's an absolute honor :) by SeanChapin — 46
31) See I Have A Much Bigger Issue With Shelby by webranding — 46
32) cute, Colorado! by nyceve — 46
33) Wow... by droogie6655321 — 46
First 30 (plus ties) Comments with no exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by Grady in DC — 714
2) Tip Jar by RogerShuler — 410
3) Tip Jar by indiemcemopants — 402
4) Tips for Panda's Thumb by FishOutofWater — 310
5) Tip Jar by ericlewis0 — 292
6) Tips? Flames? by Something the Dog Said — 250
7) Tip Jar by blackwaterdog — 248
8) Tip Jar by Chuck Schumer — 217
9) What do you need to apologize for? by Colorado is the Shiznit — 207
10) Tip Jar by incondite — 203
11) Donations are still needed by Land of Enchantment — 192
12) Tip Jar by nyceve — 178
13) C'mon, Kossacks, we can't let teabaggers win by Eileen B — 169
14) Tip Jar by slinkerwink — 159
15) Scritchie Jar by triciawyse — 128
16) I wrote these lyrics on my helmet by Zwoof — 119
17) sigh . . . by bumblebums — 118
18) Or just show the list by vets74 — 103
19) Mojo Mug by TexDem — 100
20) Tip Jar by TexMex — 96
21) One Whisper Away by winterbanyan — 95
22) truthfully by peace voter — 92
23) Tip Jar by Melody Townsel — 91
24) Some things bear repeating by teacherken — 88
25) Any teacher who hurts a student by Noor B — 83
26) I'm.....off to see the wizard..... by Hedwig — 81
27) Friday Tip Jar........ by Bill in Portland Maine — 81
28) Thanks For Stopping By by TexDem — 80
29) "As a progressive living in Birmingham".. by hcc in VA — 80
30) I have begun calling them by LynChi — 79
31) He's Sneaky! by Ex Con — 79