KOEB PROJECT: Please post news stories that are HOPEFUL in this thread

[Nothing Without Hope]

and when we have enough, we can share them with all of DU in a post in GD. There is positive news, news to lift hope out there - we just need to look for it. There has been so much sadness and focus on death. Let's celebrate life and the resilience of the human spirit.

I'll post the Rwanda story as a starter.

EDITED TO ADD: You don't have to be an "official" KOEB member to post positive news finds here in this thread! Besides, if you're lurking and want to join this project, you're KOEB in your heart already!

To The Ties That Bind!
:toast:

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. Rwandan Hutu Rebels Denounce Genocide, Halt War

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=5&u=/nm/20050331/wl_nm/rwanda_rebels_dc

Rwandan Hutu Rebels Denounce Genocide, Halt War

Thu Mar 31, 5:06 PM ET
World - Reuters
By Crispian Balmer

ROME (Reuters) - Rwanda's main Hutu rebel group announced on Thursday they were ending their war against Rwanda and for the first time denounced the 1994 genocide of Tutsis that has been blamed on many of their members.

A delegation representing the rebel organization, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), made the announcement after secret negotiations at the Sant'Egidio religious community in the heart of Rome.

"The FDLR condemns the genocide committed against Rwanda and their authors," FDLR President Ignace Murwanashyaka said, reading from a statement. "Henceforward, the FDLR has decided to transform its fight into a political struggle."

Hutu rebels are accused of taking part in the massacre of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. Until Thursday, many FDLR fighters had denied genocide occurred, calling the killings tit-for-tat attacks.

(snip - more at link)

(This is a repost from earlier, largely overlooked posts in LBN and in GD. The GD thread is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3403027#3405656 )

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. Here's the NYT writeup of this Rwanda story

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/international/africa/01rwanda.html?ex=1112936400&en=47861442d88c917a&ei=5099&partner=TOPIX

Rebels in Congo Say They'll End Cross-Border Raids in Rwanda
By MARC LACEY

Published: April 1, 2005

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 31 - A group of Rwandan rebels, accused of massacring Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda in 1994, acknowledged Thursday for the first time that genocide had occurred and agreed to halt military attacks against Rwanda from their hideaways in eastern Congo.

(snip)

Rwanda sent troops into Congo in 1996 and 1998 to root out the predominantly Hutu rebels. The incursions prompted a vicious war that eventually drew in six countries. In recent months, citing border attacks by the rebels, Mr. Kagame has threatened another foray.

The Hutu rebel group, which Mr. Kagame says is the instigating force and which is known by its French initials, F.D.L.R., has long refused to label the killings in Rwanda genocide. Members have contended that many Hutu were killed by Tutsi soldiers during the fighting in 1994, making the events there more confused than they are portrayed.

But in a statement after talks organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio, a religious group promoting peace, the rebels said they "condemned the genocide committed in Rwanda and its authors."

(snip - more at link)

[Catchawave]

2. Thank you for this thread Hope!

I've really been on a downer too these past few weeks with all the death threads. Guess it's part of the news junkie addiction too.

I know I nominate many great threads for the Greatest too! As a Bunny Hugger, I also have been mentally strained by the Canada Seal Hunt going on now. So here's my contribution to *positive* and have been feeding these too Team [e-mail] too, I know Keith likes animal stories!

http://shepherd.textamerica.com/

Sidebar: many, many, many DU posts on the seal kill.

[Gogi]

3. Beautician Saves Customer After Missed Appointment

Cindy Edelen wondered why a longtime customer had'nt come in for her appointment so she left work, went to her house and found several days mail in the woman's mailbox. When she could'nt rouse anyone at the house she called 911. Her customer, who has a leg brace due to polio, had fallen and fractured her leg. The poor woman had crawled around on the floor for three days. She is fine now and recovering at a nursing home.

From stltoday.com

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Giving a damn saved a life. There is too much underestimation of how

much people care for one another in our country, even for people who are "only" in this kind of relationship. There's too much emphasis on our isolation and the fragmentation of families, but the bonds of human caring are still there and strong.

Thanks for this, Gogi.

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. The single most hope-inspiring story I know: GAVIOTAS

Gaviotas is a three-decade-old village of engineers, dreamers, biologists, artists, architects, musicians... Its ongoing story could not be more full of surprises and what could be called miracles in the sense that there were breakthrough solutions to engineering problems that had been called impossible. Their inventions are world-changing, and there are many of them. They are all intended to make a humane life possible for even the poorest, even in city slums, even where there was no clean water or good soil or an obvious energy source. One of their solar hot water heater designs was installed in the Carter White House but was then removed under Reagan. Figures. Here is some information about Gaviotas:

http://www.pcdf.org/meadows/living_on_sun.htm

Living on Sun, Water, Wind, Grass, and Community

Nearly everyone who has been to the solar village Gaviotas, east of the Andes in Colombia, calls it a utopia. But it isn't, says Paolo Lugari, its founder. That word means in Greek "no place." Gaviotas has existed, however improbably, for more than 30 years now. Lugari says it's a "topia" -- simply a place.

(snip)

His secret weapons were the professors and students of the universities of Bogota. Lugari dropped into the office of a mechanical engineer named Jorge Zapp and asked, "Can you build a turbine efficient enough to generate electricity from a stream with just a one-meter drop?" He went to Sven Zethelius, a soil chemist and asked, "What can we grow in that soil?" He posted notices inviting doctoral theses on how to press oil from palm nuts, how to raise hundred-pound wild capybaras for meat, how to make fiberboard out of llano grass.

Most of these experiments didn't work, but once the engineers got out to Gaviotas, a 16-hour tire-destroying jeep drive from Bogota, they began having other ideas. Necessity surrounded them, and they produced a stream of invention.

(snip)

They attached water pumps to see-saws; kids provided the pumping power. They designed ultra-light windmills to catch the mild but steady llanos wind without being blown over by the occasional llanos gale. They invented solar water-heaters so cheap and effective that Gaviotas started a business back in Bogota, installing them everywhere from the president's house to a 30,000-resident slum housing project. Often engulfed in mountain clouds, Bogota is no ideal place for solar power, but the Gaviotans developed a collector so efficient it could catch scattered sun energy even on cloudy days.

(snip – more at link)

Here is more on Gaviotas:

http://www.dharma-haven.org/five-havens/gaviotas.htm

Gaviotas is Real

Alan Weisman, author of Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World (a thrilling little book, I strongly recommend it), stated in an NPR documentary (link to transcript below) that "Although ecologists originally questioned bringing a Central American species into Colombia's Llanos, something amazing has happened. In the moist understory of the Gaviotas forest, dormant seeds of native trees probably not seen in Los Llanos for millennia are sprouting. Biologists have now counted at least 40 species, which are sheltered by Caribbean pines. Over the coming decades, Gaviotas will let these new native trees choke out the pines and return the Llanos to what many believe was their primeval state, an extension of the Amazon. Already, the population of deer and anteaters is growing.

Elsewhere, they're tearing down the rain forest, but I've come to a place where they're actually putting it back, even as they create more livable space for people. I remember asking Paolo Lugari back in Bogota if Gaviotas is really Utopia." Mr. Lugari replied, through a translator, "Not Utopia, but Topia. In Greek, the prefix "u" signifies 'no". Utopia literally means "no place". It s just an idea; but Gaviotas is real. We've gone from fantasy to reality, from Utopia to Topia."

Lugari recruited engineers from universities in Bogota to develop technology for the rural tropics. Their marvels are found all over the village. The Global Citizen writes "The technical and architectural triumph of Gaviotas is its hospital, cooled by the wind, heated by the sun. The sun also provides hot water, boiled sterilized water, and the heat for six pressure cookers in the kitchen, plus enough electricity for the lights. By the time the hospital was built, Gaviotas had several hundred inhabitants, including the only doctors, nurses, and teachers for hundreds of miles around. People came there for medical care and sent their children there to school."

Alan Weisman adds: "For years, Gaviotas has been a non-profit foundation, a model for the United Nations development program; but to finance themselves, the Gaviotans must also market their technology. That isn't so easy, Gonsalo says, since Gaviotas refuses to patent their inventions, preferring to share them."

An "All Things Considered" segment, narrated by Alan Weisman, aired on National Public Radio on August 29, 1994. A transcript of the program, “Gaviotas Rising: A Documentary”
is available here: (http://www.dharma-haven.org/five-havens/weisman.htm).

The phone numbers of the Gaviotas office in Bogota: 286 28 76 or 341 99 67.
Their FAX numbers: 281 18 03 or 342 97 21.
They have no e-mail.
Their postal address:
Gaviotas Community, Paseo Bolivar 20-90
Bogotá, DC, Colombia, S.A.

I urge anyone who feels in need of a boost to their spirits in waging the fight on the neocon empire-builders to get a copy of Alan Weisman’s book, Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World, and feast. Some of the most amazing changes of all were in the PEOPLE, especially in the psychology of the children growing up in that environment. To me, that was the greatest cause for hope of it all – an answer to those who claim that it is human nature to be vicious, so it cannot be fought. I’ve left a trail of copies of this little book behind me, loaned or given to acquaintances and friends.

[WhirlyGirl]

7. Nothing earth-changing . . . just a warm fuzzy story . . .

Refugee rodent wins two rounds against gov't --
BABY SQUIRREL CAN STAY
By Colin Freeze
Friday, April 1, 2005
(Canada) Globe and Mail

TORONTO ~ It's a rare baby squirrel that takes on the government and changes the laws of the land. But Sabrina, the refugee rodent, appears to have done just that.

This morning, Sabrina's handlers will announce in Toronto that they've successfully resisted Ottawa's deportation efforts. The celebrated U.S.-born flying squirrel that was imported as a baby last year can now stay in Canada for good.

The federal government went to great lengths to try to kick out Sabrina. The reasons for its change of heart are as murky as the rules that rendered the animal a sciurus-non-grata in the first place. But it's understood that the rodent got a little helping hand from Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan and Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell.

In fact, three weeks after The Globe and Mail reported on Sabrina's case last fall, the two ministers quietly changed the Health of Animals Act. They signed a regulation allowing squirrels and other recently banned rodents to be imported to Canada for "educational purposes," as long as they arrived in "a regulated fashion that poses a minimal risk to the health of Canadians."

"This was done with a variety of people in mind: researchers, educational people, zoo facilities," Alex Swann, spokesman for Ms. McLellan, said in an interview yesterday. "I can't comment definitively on whether this benefited this particular squirrel, but clearly we were cognizant of the situation that certain people found themselves in," he said.

Steve Patterson, a Mississauga, Ont., nature-lover who purchased Sabrina to help him give talks to children, had been taken to court by federal officials on the grounds that he illegally imported the squirrel. The lawsuit persisted despite the regulatory change, but has recently been settled. The ponytailed squirrel expert is to appear with Sabrina at a news conference today, and would not comment on the case yesterday. But his lawyer circulated a statement saying Sabrina "can now remain in Canada permanently."

Mr. Patterson bought Sabrina for $150 (U.S.) in Indiana and declared his purchase at the border last June. He ended up shelling out thousands of dollars in legal costs to keep Sabrina in Canada. Unknown to him, a monkey pox scare involving imported animals in the United States had caused Canada to ban the importation of rodents.

While Mr. Patterson was initially waved through when he declared Sabrina at the border, federal officials later realized they had made an error and came calling for the banned baby squirrel. By then, Sabrina had bonded to Mr. Patterson, who had grown fond of the squirrel. He rejected the officials who told him to give up the rodent. A couple of police officers came to his home to confiscate the animal, but he refused them, too.

Ottawa then took him to Federal Court. Mr. Patterson set up a legal defence fund to hire lawyers Brian Shiller and Clayton Ruby. The Save Sabrina legal team won its first case, but then the government appealed. It was at this point that The Globe featured the case of Sabrina in a front-page story -- causing the case to be discussed at the federal cabinet and prompting media in the United States, Germany, Russia and New Zealand to take an interest.

Shortly afterward, the ministers changed the regulations.
-- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050331.wxsqui31/BNStory/National/

And here's a picture of Sabrina, who reportedly was oblivious to all the trouble she was in --
---------------------------

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. It's good to see such caring for this tiny creature.

They could have tested for monkey pox for a lot less than the cost of all their efforts to confiscate and kill her.

Canadians are famed for their civility relative to the average US citizen, but they are no pushovers, eh?

[Moderator]

18. WhirlyGirl

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.

Thank you.


DU Moderator

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. I'm hoping other KOEBers will post some good news stories

But I have to say, looking through thenews for them really brought home to me the overwhelming flood of unremitting horrible news that is dumped on us constantly. YOU know and I know that the good news is all around us, but the Poodle Press is deliberately censoring it. We are supposed to despair so that we are more manageable. It's part of the propaganda - "fear everything and everyone and let the cartel protect you. All you have to do is give us everything you have, including your children. We'll take care of everything and you'll be safe."

[crispini]

10. Park guards save endangered gorillas in the middle of a war.

Environment
Park Guards Make Growth in Gorilla Population Possible
by John Nielsen

Morning Edition, April 5, 2005 · The world's most endangered gorillas are showing signs of resurgence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The efforts of an unrecognized group of Congolese park guards have made the stunning turnaround possible.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4576626

I heard this story on Morning Edition today and I was quite touched by it. These park guards got caught up in the middle of a war and both sides were running amok in the park and killing the gorillas. Many of the park guards lost their lives in the effort to protect the gorillas. They negotiated with the different rebel factions about the gorillas and were able to save many despite the fact that all the NGOs and other aid organizations were no longer in the area at all; they did it themselves.

This story was really encouraging to me because it was really touching that these people were willing to give their lives in many cases to help the gorillas -- and they succeeded.

[Nothing Without Hope]

11. Read what the police did throughout the replies in this thread

...I especially liked the part about the protesters' signs saying "Police and Firefighters are the True Action Heroes"...the police were going to ask them to move along, but something different happened then, something wonderful. Sounds like a groundswell has begun in California. Arnold was prevented from going to his own fundraiser by the crowds of people protesting his policies. The tipping point?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1372034#1372139
"The Tipping Point" (10,000 in SF Bar Arnold from fundraiser--people win!

Yes, there is much trouble ahead, but this is sweet.

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. Another Sen. Boxer triumph - Senate Votes to Lift Global Gag Rule

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1371772#1372299

Here's just a taste of this excellent news - go to the main thread for more.

DUer FizzFuzz writes:
Senate Votes to Lift Gag Rule

I received this email, Tues 6:40pm, from my subscription to Population Connection--

<snip>
Just a few minutes ago, the Senate voted 52-46 to overturn the odious Global Gag Rule that President Bush imposed in the first days of his first term. The debate occurred with very little advance notice -- or we would have let you know ahead of time.
The vote came on an amendment proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer to S.600, a bill authorizing a number of foreign policy programs. By adopting the Boxer Amendment, the Senate acted to ensure that America's foreign policy reflects America's values. And it stood up for the right of poor women around the world to take control of their own lives and their own futures.
(snip - more on main thread)

[Catchawave]

13. Yushchenko Gets Profiles in Courage Award

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/yushchenko_award



Tue Apr 5, 8:58 PM ET Europe - AP


By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON - Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko, the populist politician who survived dioxin poisoning while forcing out Ukraine's pro-Russian government last year, was bestowed Tuesday with this year's John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award

more.......

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Excellent choice. I'll post on the awards they gave to American heroes

Not only is he a hero, but we can be proud that people in our country are recognizing him with this award. Not the neocons, of course, but the people who know what honor and courage are.

Here's the thread on this in LBN, which is sinking like a stone, unfortunately:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1371686
KENNEDY HONORS VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO WITH PROFILE IN COURAGE AWARD

The LBN thread has a lot of information on this award of Yushchenko and makes good reading.

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. Three real American heroes are recognized- read their stories and be proud

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1372025
Thread title: "2005 Profile in Profile in Courage Award Recipients"

Two of these heroes are politicians and one is a soldier. Here is a brief summary of their stories, excerpted from the more complete version at the linked thread:

(snip)

Shirley Franklin, the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major U.S. southern city, was recognized for her courageous leadership in restoring fiscal stability and ethical government to Atlanta. Facing an $82 million deficit upon taking office in 2001, Mayor Franklin formed an unprecedented alliance between Republicans, the business community and state government, raised taxes, cut the city payroll, and imposed a strict code of ethics. Four years later, Atlanta enjoys a budget surplus.

Bill Ratliff, former Texas Lt. Governor and state senator, was honored for a distinguished career as a courageous bipartisan leader in his state. Senator Ratliff’s most recent act of courage was to fight for a fair and democratic electoral process, becoming the only Republican legislator to object to his party’s redistricting plan. This principled action was the culmination of a distinguished career in Texas politics. Ratliff largely wrote and secured passage of landmark education legislation. He also worked to improve health insurance and access to Medicaid, while maintaining an inclusive style of governing in an era of sharp partisan politics.

U.S. Army Specialist Joseph M. Darby has been awarded a Special John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Darby is recognized for standing up for the principles imbedded in the rule of law when he took action to expose the torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. The Profile in Courage Award Committee recognized that although the courage demonstrated by Darby was somewhat different than that required by elective office, it was nonetheless deserving of recognition.

Franklin, Ratliff and Darby will be formally presented with the Profile in Courage Award by Caroline Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Monday, May 16.

(snip)

I urge you to read the more complete stories available at the main thread. There is much more there and it is well worth reading. For example, as you might have feared, Joseph Darby and his family have been subjected to death threats, but they remain steadfast with the view that "what else could he have done?" And please consider VOTING IT UP - the thread is all but invisible now but there is still a little time left.

[CC]

16. A nice story about a nice person

I can't send a link because 1) story won't hit the paper until tomorrow and 2) the paper isn't online. But tonight I went to our local library (town of 1500) to honor Mrs. Betsy G. (96) and her son (75). I took a pic. of Mrs. G. to hang in the library (along with her late husband's) and she was presented with it and had a very mice little ceremony of thanks. Mrs. G donate $10,000 to the Friends of the library to be spent there. She saved from her SS and late husband's pension for years and was going to leave it in her will. Her son said they need it now so why not give it now. So she did. Then her son matched her gift with $10,000 in stocks. Mrs. G's late husband had started the library in the basement of a local Methodist Church back in the early 50's. He was also instrumental in getting them their first building in 1963 (why they had his picture hanging in there). They are both very nice people. Mrs. G also donated to a homeless shelter/rehab and another place that is a group of churches that help out those that fall through the cracks with food, clothes household items and heating oil. There are still some very nice people in this world. Oh and Mrs. G. hates blivet* and all those of his ilk.

[Nothing Without Hope]

17. Great story, these people really thought through what they wanted to

give to the community. That takes long-term community involvement, research, and planning as well as the generosity of the gift. Warm, kind people like this don't make the news nearly as often as the criminals - bad news sells. So thanks to you, we are seeing a story that would be hidden otherwise.

Thank you, CC.

[crispini]

19. You guys would like this:

www.HeroicStories.com

Sign up for an email subscription to get a weekly story of good news and positive occurrences.

Here's this week's:

The Thankful Father Story Editor:
by Dave FlorCruz Joyce Schowalter
Virginia, USA

The second day of August 2004 was much like any slow summer day in the
hospitality business in Washington, DC. I work in a medium sized hotel
for a well-known hotel company. We had some small excitement due to a
"suspicious looking package" left out on the plaza atop the Metro
station -- the terror alert had been elevated, naming some targets in
DC. It was in all other regards a slow, sleepy August Sunday. Because
this is a convention and business traveler's hotel, summer is our slow
season.

As evening descended a woman arrived at the front desk. She asked the
recently promoted Front Desk Supervisor, Jason, if she could extend her
stay. He pulled up her room account and noted that she had checked in
under our company's "Friends and Family" rate. He willingly extended her
stay under that discounted rate for the evening, as it was Sunday and
there weren't too many guests in the hotel.

He then informed her that, regrettably, being as the business week began
the next day, Monday; he would be unable to extend that courtesy to her
further. Hotels generally offer discounted rates unless business
dictates that there will be customers willing to pay the full rate.

more....

http://www.heroicstories.com/backissue1.html

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. Cell phones are changing the lives of farmers in the developing world

Found this at today's AllHatNoCattle.net site. Here's the caption:

A Bangladeshi farmer speaks on a mobile phone from the fields near the village of Khoksa, some 180 kilometer from Dhaka. Mobile phones have allowed farmers for the first time to sell their crops direct to the highest bidder.
(Photo by Farjana Godhuly)

[RevCheesehead]

21. Methodist Appeals Court Reinstates Gay Minister's Credentials

Beth Stroud, of the Eastern PA conference, had her ministerial credentials removed because she was found in violation of the Book of Discipline (a "self-avowed, practicing homosexual").

This decision by the appeals court is important, because it calls into question the rule in the Book of Discipline as being in conflict with the Church's General Rules.

Link to DU post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3571549&mesg_id=3571549

THIS IS SO VERY IMPORTANT!!! WE ARE FIGHTING, AND WON'T GIVE UP!!

[Nothing Without Hope]

22. Helen Thomas is back in her old seat in the front row at WH press conf

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1757960#

Here is a transcript and location of video:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1757960&mesg_id=1758243

She asked Scotty the first question, and it was on nuclear proliferation. No softballs from Helen! The WH must feel some heat from the JimmyJeff scandal. Now the WH lies and evasions will be harder to hide - she is NO poodle!

Do any of you have a contact where she can be emailed a congratulations? I want to tell her to put her warrior gear on and GO GET 'EM!

[crispini]

23. Here's a local one, but it makes me proud

about what our city is doing:

White Rock conservation honored

07:09 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 11, 2005

By KATIE MENZER / The Dallas Morning News

Refusing to mow the grass for a year would usually draw sneers from neighbors and angry calls to the city's code-compliance department.
Janet Smith and other parkgoers are getting the chance to enjoy White Rock Lake Park's original landscape. But at White Rock Lake, it's gotten city officials a prize.

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is giving Dallas a Lone Star Land Steward Award, which honors groups for outstanding efforts at wildlife conservation. White Rock is the first city park to receive the 10-year-old award that is usually bestowed on ranches and private property in rural areas.

The city has been working for years with local biologists and environmentalists to preserve and restore White Rock's acres of blackland prairie – the area's original landscape – while still serving the needs of park visitors.

About 250 of the 2,115 acres have returned to their natural state, where native grasses such as little bluestem, Indian grass and Eastern gama grass reign.

Nest boxes for wood ducks, purple martins and bluebirds have been built along the lake's shore. There's a bat house. And the city has been nabbing poachers and hunters who illegally take or kill animals.

more...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/051105dnmetwildlife.96358279.html

This makes me very, very happy. There's actually DEER in the park! In the middle of our big city! How wonderful.

[WhirlyGirl]

24. Gets a thumbs-up from me, crispini ... anything anyone does for wildlife

. . . is a plus -- esp. in a city setting. :thumbsup: