visibility

Derek Boogaard

by on May 14, 2011

Derek Boogaard was one of the most well-loved players in the brief history of the Minnesota Wild. The impact he had on this community reached far outside the boards of the Xcel Energy Center ice. sure, he was a tough guy on the ice, but Boogaard’s 24 jersey was one of the best selling in the NHL, covering the backs of hockey fans young and old. in his charitable works, Boogaard reached out to those who asked, any and all. He supported kids stricken by terminal diseases at Children’s Hospital, gave money ,hockey equipment, time and visibility to the families of our country’s armed forces.

Beloved in the State of Hockey, Boogaard brought crowds to their feet in support of him, his teammates and each other. a tough guy on the ice, a caring and compassionate one off it. a family man, who was looking so forward to his two younger brothers coming to stay with him. a family who had the unfortunate experience of having that family gathering ending in an unforseen way.Boogaard’s role was an enforcer. He had the back of each and every one of his teammates. It’s hard to think that in this situation, nobody was able to have his back. I will miss seeing his grin, his charisma, his undying love of the game of hockey, his teammates and fans.

Derek Boogaard

Media Takes Aim at Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

by on May 30, 2010

Issues like mountaintop removal coal mining — a type of mining that is both environmentally and visually horrific — were made for television. but we’ve only scratched the surface with it. Diane Sawyer’s piece on Appalachia (see her discuss the piece on “The View”) about a month ago gave America a preview, but green bloggers raised a few issues with it here and elsewhere.

Ecorazzi wrote that Kentuckian Ashley Judd hinted at some — pardon the energy pun — megawatt star power that could raise awareness of mountaintop removal coal mining: Oprah.

On this afternoon’s live Q & a over on the DailyKos, the actress let slip that Oprah has potentially expressed some interest in a piece on the topic. in addition, Judd is also trying to get ABC’s Diane Sawyer to do a special with her. “You can absolutely help raise visibility of this issue,” she said in the Q & a. “Diane Sawyer’s piece on the children in hollows aired to much national conversation recently. I phoned her producer about a MTRCM piece. Contact ABC and let them know you want to see her do segment with me about it! also, there is a possibility Oprah is interested in a piece. I have also spoken with Anderson Cooper about it; if they public wants stories on it, they are more incentivized to do them.”

I love seeing Judd rallying these great media personalities to become involved in the issue. Anderson Cooper and Diane Sawyer would be great — but my hope lies with Oprah. I think a show dedicated to the topic would do wonders for organizations like Sierra Club, ilovemountains, or Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

The salient bit of the Judd Q&A is here:

You can absolutely help raise visibility of this issue. Diane Sawyer’s piece on the children in hollows aired to much national conversation recently. I phoned her producer about a MTRCM piece. Contact ABC and let them know you want to see her do segment with me about it! also, there is a possibility Oprah is interested in a piece. I have also spoken with Anderson Cooper about it; if they public wants stories on it, they are more incentivized to do them.

If you’ve never seen mountaintop removal in action, here’s a quick preview from our friends at Assignment Earth:

And here’s Ashley Judd, working with the Sierra Club, speaking out:

::Listen to an NPR piece on the Bush administration’s role in spreading Appalachian mountaintop removal