With apologies to Mr. Kos and all of the Front Pagers, I have to express my unreserved admiration for diaries on this site which provide a somewhat universal appeal to the human spirit. We have a multitude of diary series which bring joy, information and spiritual consolation -- I'm thrilled by them. I want to focus on just two -- one a thematically consistent series and the other eclectic but socially and politically informative.
I Got The News Today (IGTNT) is perhaps our longest running diary series. It was started by one of my most beloved members here -- i dunno. It had a slow start, to put it mildly, but i dunno hung in there and put the true sacrifice of war before us. IGTNT is our wake -- it is our remembrance of lives lived and then lives lost. It is a too long memorial to our military who have died in war.
Let me tell you of one personal story regarding the impact of IGTNT. My uncle Skeets (Louis Allan) is buried in Ardennes Cemetary in Belgium. He was killed during the clean up period of the Battle of the Bulge. His body was found 2 years later and my grandparents didn't want to give up hope that he was alive, thus, decided that the remains that were attributed to their son should be buried in Belgium. I was the first in my family to visit the cemetary and was informed that there had to have been a positive ID, otherwise, the body would have been included among the Unkown.
Ardennes Cemetary is a gorgeous tribute to our soldiers. It is lovingly tended by both our military and the Belgians. Memorial Day there is like nothing I've seen here. What does this have to do with IGTNT?
Well, a couple of years ago, there was an IGTNT diary on the identification of two of the Unkowns from that cemetary -- they were returned to their families. I sent the diary to my Mom and she forwarded it to the Superintendent of the Ardennes Cemetary (a die-hard conservative). They both cried at how beautiful and loving that tribute was. That diary link has been sent to countless WWII veterans and families of veterans. My Mom received over 100 emails -- all stunned but full of accolades. Most couldn't believe such a "lefty" site could have produced such a memorial.
The second series -- which is eclectic -- is Liveblog/Mothership. I know I won't give the full attribution for this device but, as I recall, donnamarie, Marcus Tullius and Cedwyn were the braintrust behind the Mothership system. It has been used successfully since the California Wildfires through critical Congressional Hearings and now, the astonishing BP daily updates.
The volunteers for these Liveblogs and their "babies" are selfless. They take time to gather links, post without personal rec-gain, and spend numerous hours updating.
My dear Kossaks who are on the IGTNT team or who have dedicated time to various Liveblogs -- especially this critical BP series -- bless you. Bless you for your devotion to those whom you don't know. Bless you for your devotion to making this a site which is a credit to all that is good in our fragile humanity.
One request: If you see an IGTNT diary or a Liveblog -- offer a tip and a rec even if you don't wish to comment. Thanks.
Mega hat-tip to Pluto: Please rec Liveblog-Mothership: Day-Ten re: BP disaster. Thanks.
UPDATE
Overwhelming gratitude to SisTwo for the Ardennes diary by SpamNunn: Unkown Soldiers No More.