Wednesday, October 21, 2009

RECOGNITION FOR (O)CT(O)PUS


About a month ago, I received an invitation from Change.Org to participate in Blog Action Day, an initiative to build awareness for global climate change on the web. I registered for the event and posted my contribution on October 15, 2009.

According to the organizers, 12,000 registered bloggers contributed 32,000 trackable posts reaching 17 million people. Among those contributing: Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the UK, the government of Spain, and President Barack Obama’s White House blog.

Non-government contributors include: The Economist (magazine), Google, Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Federation, and The Nature Conservancy, among others.

Late last night, I received e-mail from Michael Stickings of The Reaction who brought this to my attention: Benno Hansen of Novo Nordisk, posted his review of the submissions. It is a hierarchy ranging from the Ugly and the Bad to the Good and the Best. If you scroll down to the best, you will find my article, Energy, climate change, and the indignant desert birds of willful self-destruction.

The article was also cross-posted at The Reaction where the Blog Action Day organizers found it.

This is the second nod this year. A few months ago, an editor in Toronto noticed my Michael Jackson article and asked permission to include it in an anthology of essays. This book should be out in a couple of weeks.

Not bad for a primitive cephalopod.

18 comments:

  1. I am bursting with pride!

    Really terrific, Octo, and well deserved.

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  2. Congratulations! Well earned!

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  3. I'm delighted to read this 8PUS! [But not surprised.]

    With your permission, I will link to your article when the conference in Denmark commences.

    Complimenti! E tanti auguri!

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  4. Congratulations! I would give you a high 5 but I am not sure how that works with an Octopus...

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  5. Primitive cephalopod? Obviously you've misrepresented yourself.

    That's typical of you Commieliberalfacist sea creatures!

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  6. Does a blush count as a form of camouflage?

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  7. Octo,

    All the dinosaurs extend their heartiest congrats on this recognition of your excellent writing.

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  8. Unfortunately, not all news today was good. This just arrived in my e-mail box:

    ENDANGERED SPECIES: Fla. loggerhead turtle nesting suffers steep decline

    Loggerhead turtles have had one of their worst nesting seasons ever on the Florida coast, a new state survey shows.

    Loggerhead nesting decreased by more than 15 percent this year compared to last, and the 2009 nesting season was the fourth-lowest on record in 20 years of data.

    Florida beaches, which host the world's second-largest loggerhead nesting population, have 90 percent of U.S. loggerhead nests.

    All species of Atlantic sea turtles are considered at risk, including the loggerhead, green, hawksbill and leatherback turtles.

    The data are drawn from nest counts by hundreds of volunteers at designated beaches. The participants receive training and permits from the state agency.

    Other Southeastern states have not yet released their final numbers, but preliminary data obtained by the environmental group Oceana indicate it may also be one of the worst years on record for nests in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina
    .

    Footnote: For years, your hopeful cephalopod was one of those souls trained and permitted to conduct nest surveys. My hope has faded to pessimism.

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  9. Fantastic, Octo! Congrats!

    a primitive cephalopod??

    I think not! First of all, cephalopods are not so primitive, and, second, I'm beginning to suspect that you are as much a real octopus as bloggingdino is a real dinosaur. I can't be sure, of course, but, c'mon, even your picture does not look real. So, just so you know, you are not fooling anyone (OK, some of us) with that "primitive cephalopod" stuff.

    (Primitive! Sheesh...)

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  10. Bloggingdino is living proof that human beings and dinosaurs once roamed the earth at the same time ... and still do.

    Dinosaurs are far more sophisticated than lowly cephalopods. When the going got tough, their imaginations took flight. One need look no further than the lovely birds that grace the air.

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  11. There is nothing primitive about cephalopods except their origins. The eight-legged among us have exactly the brain they need to survive.

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  12. Wait, so you are pleased that an editor asked permission to include your article in an anthology, and yet this site seems to rampantly embed other people's work without linking or a mere whiff of attribution? If you are going to rip-off Oddfish.net, at least give the guy some credit in your post.

    /baffled

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  13. Anon, double click on the image to enlarge. The credit is imprinted on the cartoon itself. (Note: it seems Anon’s ISP address matches a familiar troll in these waters.)

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  14. Mr. Octopus, Sir:

    I am here to congratificate you on your honor. My writings have often had to do with sea creatures, folks wrap fish entrails in them--or so I've heard.

    I just wanted to say that I appreciate your posting at Southern Beale's blog because it can become taxing when one has to deal with, not just shitheads, but prolific shitheads.

    I was sort of hoping that Mr. Kirkpatrick would say something REALLY inflammatory that could be used against him later. So far he is just being sort of WhackjobLite.

    I will come by to visit more, I likes me some smart peoples, even if they have too many arms.

    Tao said:

    "Congratulations! I would give you a high 5 but I am not sure how that works with an Octopus..."

    I asked Mr. Ocotopus, just yesterday, if memory serves, how many of his appendages were left. He told me they all were. So I guess that instead of a "High five", it would be a "South 40".

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  15. "I asked Mr. Ocotopus, just yesterday, if memory serves, how many of his appendages were left."

    Very interesting - you'd think there would be at least one right tentacle.

    Yes, one cartoon where the attribution isn't illuminated in neon orange and it's rampant!

    No hyperbole here, it's just RAMPANT, rearing up on its hind legs like a lion in heraldry. It's outrageous - it's a matter for hysterical condemnation! Oh my GOD how can we tolerate this liberal malfeasance? Theft! Plagiarism! Burn the tortfeasor! Cry havoc! Call Fox! OHMYGOD!!!

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  16. Congrats 8pus. Well deserved recognition for your fine work.

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