An update on previous stories of mine, after-the-jump:
But first: Top Comments appears nightly, as a round-up of the best comments on Daily Kos. Surely ... you come across comments daily that are perceptive, apropos and .. well, perhaps even humorous. But they are more meaningful if they're well-known ... which is where you come in (especially in diaries/stories receiving little attention).------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send your nominations to TopComments at gmail dot com by 9:30 PM Eastern Time nightly, or by our KosMail message board. Please indicate (a) why you liked the comment, and (b) your Dkos user name (to properly credit you) as well as a link to the comment itself.
Three years ago, I noted the election of a young, new president in the central European nation of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová— a genuinely democratic figure in a region where xenophobic far-right politicians are increasingly the norm (and where her own country has been a laggard). She is pro-EU, pro-NATO, strong environmental activist, supports allowing adoption by gay couples and would support legalizing same sex marriage. You can read my original essay at this link.
Now …... an update
Later that year of 2019, she was awarded the European Prize for Political Culture in recognition of her efforts for European democracy, and is the most popular elected official in Slovakia.
With many Ukrainians fleeing to Slovakia (on its southwestern border, far from Russia), Zuzana Čaputová is among those calling for the admission of Ukraine to the European Union, saying that "What Ukraine is fighting for now is not just Ukraine and its territorial integrity, but it is our European democratic values,".
Importantly, Slovakia historically was one of the more pro-Russian countries in Europe, with many surveys from prior years showing some support for Russian policies or Vladimir Putin (and the country’s membership in NATO since 2004 had always been a divisive issue). Like many others in Europe, attitudes are changing. Just last month as concern over Russia was mounting, its Parliament approved a treaty allowing the U.S. military to use two Slovak air force bases for 10 years while Slovakia will receive $100 mill from the U.S. to modernize them — a similar arrangement to what the US has with Hungary, Poland and other NATO members.
When she was elected, I was concerned that the values she was trying to instill might collapse rapidly … in that region, it would not be surprising. Here’s hoping.
Just over two years ago, I noted the tragic 1972 shooting death of trumpeter Lee Morgan (by his common-law wife), eight years after his landmark recording The Sidewinder, with a 2017 documentary profiling his life cut short at age thirty-three.
My original profile can be read at this link.
Now …... an update
Last year, a jazz fan named Tommy Maguire (after seeing that documentary) went to look for Lee Morgan’s grave in suburban Philadelphia.
Maguire had gathered some information about the precise location of the plot, but as he walked around the cemetery, he couldn't find it. He made a couple of repeat visits, still to no avail. Then, just after Christmas, he returned and managed to enlist the help of a groundskeeper, who shared in his puzzlement, studying a map that showed where the grave should be. After plunging a spade into a few rugged spots along the hillside, they heard a muffled clang. A half-hour or so of determined digging uncovered the grave marker that Lee shares with his father, Otto Morgan. It had somehow been swallowed by nearly a foot of earth.
With the release of a live boxed set last year: fifty years after his death, the final chapter of the Lee Morgan story … may have yet to be written.
And finally, regular readers of mine know that I am an enthusiast of Antarctic exploration in general, yet until near the beginning of the 21st Century, I had focused on a few figures. First, the two expedition leaders who reached the South Pole in 1911 — the Norwegian Roald Amundsen (whose crew made it back successfully) and the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott (who perished with his crew). The English biographer Roland Huntford (still alive at age ninety-five) was the first to suggest to the British public that Scott’s mission — help-up as a noble one — was less than a tragedy and more of a failure on the part of Scott — which Alastair Cooke said it took awhile for him to accept (although in time, he did).
Add to that the Antarctic flights of Admiral Richard Byrd, and the Englishman Sir Vivian Fuchs, who led the first team to cross the Antarctic continent in 1958. In the 1999 obituary of Fuchs, it was mentioned that his team stopped at the South Pole station where he was greeted by someone who five years earlier had made his mark as an explorer: Sir Edmund Hillary.
“Hello, Bunny,” said Edmund Hillary, greeting Vivian Fuchs at the South Pole in 1958. “Damn glad to see you, Ed,” replied his fellow adventurer.
Yet it was not until a year-or-two earlier that I either learned (or perhaps, had paid attention) to the mission of Ernest Shackleton, who had attempted to do in 1914 (what Sir Vivian Fuchs finally accomplished forty-four years later). And I suspect it was in part because Shackleton’s mission (with twenty-seven men on a wooden sailing ship The Endurance) never even reached the continent of Antarctica. Instead, the ship was crushed by pack-ice and sank. The mission had failed.
Yet the story of the incredible rescue of all of his crew began to become noticed as the end of the 20th Century dawned (and in the UK as Scott’s star no longer shone as brightly). Having been merchant marine (and not Royal Navy) he had a more caring attitude towards his crew members. Indeed, in 1909 his expedition came within 100 miles of the South Pole, and was certain his crew could reach it .. yet doubting they could return safely, they turned back. When the Endurance crew returned, Shackleton famously wrote to his wife, “Damn the Admiralty”.
A main reason for this newfound respect was the 1998 book The Endurance by Caroline Alexander — not written for scholarly types or historians, but the general public. The following year, the Museum of Natural History had a wonderful exhibition, including the James Caird lifeboat that saved the crew.
From 2011 at this link, I wrote my first Top Comments diary on the subject — plus another Caroline Alexander book about the ship’s mascot cat, Mrs. Chippy. A 2014 update can be read at this link and over the years, I have added so many updates I can’t keep track.
Now …... a further update
Several weeks ago, I was delighted to read of another mission (with a South African icebreaker) to locate the sunken ship The Endurance — in such forbidden waters — and noted it in my weekly wrap-up diary. Then on February 22nd, reports that the icebreaker itself was stuck in pack-ice— the condition that sank The Endurance — though it had the tools to free itself, which it finally did.
Next, radio silence … and was hoping that my stalwart T/C colleague gizmo59 had news of the mission with his heading, An Unexpected Discovery in Antarctica this past Sunday .. which was about a different, fascinating discovery of plant life in those deep, icy waters. I began to wonder if this mission would have no luck.
It turned out that the day before: the mission had located The Endurance — and simply did not release details (and photos) until yesterday morning. Last night, a diary by the intrepid ericlewis0 was the first on this site …. and goodness, was there ever a discussion (in the comments) not just about the discovery … but also the mission, the morals and people involved in it. You can read it at this link.
I’ll just add four notes (plus photos) about the 107 year-old discovery.
1) Everyone associated with the mission is astonished at how well-preserved the ship is, as wooden ships tend to be eaten by underwater sea life. Whatever sea life is at the waters off Antarctica, it has not harmed the ship.
2) And while many ask about raising the ship — besides being in such difficult waters (and at such a depth) as to make the mission daunting — just locating the Endurance had not succeeded before. Plus, international treaties would forbid it.
3) A Vermont furniture maker named Charles Shackleton is the cousin of Ernest Shackleton — who as you can imagine is thrilled by the news.
4) Finally, despite the intense debate over Shackleton and his mission (he left out four members of his crew for Polar Medals, which is controversial today), I must agree with the comment made in last night’s Endurance diary, which was the final exhibit in the Museum of Natural History exhibit (attributed to Raymond Priestly):
“For scientific discovery, give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of travel, give me Amundsen; but when you are in a hopeless situation, when you are seeing no way out: get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton”
Now, on to Top Comments:
(Nothing from the field tonight)
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the front-page story about the nonpareil press secretary Jen Psaki not dignifying the comments of Madison Cawthorne with a response — in a thread noting his numerous traffic violations (and responding to a legal question posed by polecat, Near futurist wonders if one possibility might harm his standing with other far-right colleagues.
Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful (and now eternal) *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment featuring that photo.
TOP PHOTOSMarch 8th, 2022
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And lastly: Tuesday’s and yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
2) LOCK! HIM! UP! by PvtJarHead +1245) I wish to live in boring times. by DLup +1026) Amen, Mark. … by Onomastic +10111) www.buzzfeednews.com/... … by Recluse +9424) #internationalwomensday … by Onomastic +74
And now from Wednesday:
6) Thanks for posting this. … by Love the USA +10412) No way should Zelenskyy resign. by hester +9113) Scream! Sigh. … by BLM92553 +90