(I post more on hiatus than when I'm supposed to be blogging, no?)

Gary Farber is in all kinds of trouble. I'm going to do a little to help him out, and ask you, O my tens of readers, to consider doing likewise, because:

1. He asked. Ceteris paribus, what else does one need?

2. He doesn't seem to have anyone else.

The thing here is, one of Gary's problems is intensely personal to me: I, too, have major depressive disorder. There -- in Gary's shoes -- but for the grace of a god I don't believe in, go I. I was lucky: all along, I had family and friends, and now especially I have my wife. These people stood in for me and stood up for me and picked me up and pushed me along, and I'd be dead without their selfless assistance. Really truly not-pining-for-the-fjords dead, and it really is just sheer dumb luck that I had these people in my life; I could just as easily have wound up on my own, and I wouldn't have made it -- or if I did, out of sheer orneriness, it wouldn't have been any kind of a life. So it's very easy for me to imagine myself in Gary's shoes.

I can never repay my debt to those who kept me out of the pit, but I can "pay it forward" -- right now, that means sending Gary a little spare cash. And asking you to consider doing the same.

(Title shamelessly stolen from Cosma. You should steal it from me, if you have a blog.)

The Blogathon is today -- it's been running about six hours, with another 18 to go (on the A schedule; the B schedule starts in about 9 hours).

It's just amazing. Hundreds of people from all around the world take 24 hours out of their routine to make the world a little bit better, a little bit brighter -- because they can. It's an instant community of people who give a damn.

I can't do it justice -- go see for yourself. I'm posting highlights to the front page (though every blog is a highlight, and I wish I had time to feature them all!), and there's a surfing frame that makes it easy to make your way through all the blogs.

Do yourself a favor and have a look around -- maybe sponsor a couple of bloggers. Trust me, you'll like it.

The 2007 Blogathon is underway!

Stay up late, make a difference: that's the Blogathon's slogan and raison d'être. It's a charity drive that started when, on a whim, founder Cat Connor¹ stayed up all night blogging. The next year, she decided to do some good with the idea by inviting others and drumming up some sponsors -- hence "blogathon", by analogy with "walkathon", "telethon" and so on.

That was 2001, and about a hundred bloggers raised more than $20,000 for 77 different charities. Those numbers roughly doubled in 2002 and again in 2003 (500 bloggers, $100K). Project Blog took over in 2004 while the 'thon was on hiatus, and long-time blogathon ally Sheana Director stepped up and ran the 2005 event; Cat and Sheana have been running the 'thon together since then (with the help of an army of volunteers). The 2006 event saw about 300 bloggers raise about $100K, and if the data I've been collecting are anything to go by, the 'thon will be bigger than ever this year:

The mechanics are simple: bloggers sign up to blog for their chosen charity, and sponsors pledge either a lump sum or an amount per hour blogged. The goal is to blog for 24 hours straight, with one post every 30 minutes. The money part is an honor system: sponsors donate directly to the charity. There's a FAQ file and a forum where noobs can go for further answers and advice. The big day is Saturday, July 28; regular kick-off is 6:00 am Pacific, but if you're observing Sabbath or have other commitments, you can start at 9:00 pm Pacific.

Signups are now open for bloggers and sponsors -- so what are you waiting for?

¹My wife. I cannot tell you how proud I am.

This is the third and final favour I'm asking of my readers (for the moment!).

Janet has posted a reminder that the trial of the Tripoli Six is scheduled to resume in just a few weeks, on October 31, so the time for action is now.

Like Janet, I'm asking you to write an actual, dead-trees-and-ink letter. Janet has provided an example letter, and some updates to the contact information that Mike posted earlier; I'm going to try to make it even easier. It's best if you write something in your own words, but even if you copy someone else's letter verbatim (and that fact is noticed) it will still make an impression. So here's a letter you can send:

Dear [name],

I am writing to express grave concern over the upcoming trial in Libya of six foreign nationals, five nurses and a doctor, who have been accused of deliberately infecting children with HIV while working at al-Fateh Hospital in Benghazi in 1998. You have probably seen editorials in Nature¹ and in the NY Times², and a public letter from the UK Royal Society³; all of these prominent persons and publications have condemned the trial in the strongest possible terms.

During the original trial in 2004, a scientific investigation⁴ by pre-eminent HIV/AIDS researchers Luc Montagnier (Pasteur Institute) and Vittorio Colizzi (Tor Vergata University) concluded that the children were infected long before the medics came to Libya. The Libyan court rejected these findings in favour of an investigation by Libyan doctors whose impartiality and scientific credentials are in doubt. A new, impartial investigation is crucial, as is a commitment by the Libyan court to admit its findings as evidence.

I write therefore to ask you to do all that you can to bring diplomatic pressure to bear on Libya and ensure a fair trial for the Tripoli Six.

sincerely,

[you]

¹http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7109/full/443245b.html
²http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/opinion/14sat2.html?
³http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2401288,00.html
⁴http://declanbutler.info/blog/LIBYA1.pdf

and here are the addresses to which you should send copies:

1. your own representatives; you can find their contact details through Congress.org or Project Vote Smart, using just your zip code. If you don't know your zip code, you can find that out from the USPS using your address.

2. U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Chair: Sen. Richard Lugar
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6225

3. U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on International Relations
Chair: Rep. Henry Hyde
2170 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

4. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

5. Senator Bill Frist
509 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

If you want to do more, Janet has further details, but I have laid it all out as simply as possible. Copy my letter, or write your own, and send it to those addresses (I don't think it matters much if you write it out once, photocopy it and then just fill in the addressee's name and your signature).

I don't know about you, but when the verdict comes in on the Tripoli Six, I want to know that I did what I could to help them get a fair trial.

I'm asking my readers for three favours; this is number two. (It's mainly for US readers, though I do think that the whole world has a stake in what happens here.)

Glenn Greenwald is one of the very best political writers you'll ever read. He's well informed, careful and insightful; whatever the issue, he is one of my go-to sources for relevant facts and useful analysis. Believe me when I say that if we had a few Glenn Greenwalds in positions of some influence in what passes for the media in this country, Smirky the Killer Clown would not be President. I'm not going to bother pointing out any "best of" posts, just add him to your feeds and read him regularly. Pick any post on his blog to see what I'm talking about. Seriously, any post, he's that good.

Glenn recently asked for help keeping his blog running:

One of my principal objectives over the last several months has been to find an economically feasible way to continue to devote the bulk of my time to this blog. I typically blog 7 days a week -- always at least 6 -- and usually spend between 10 and 12 hours a day, sometimes more, on work relating in some way to the blog. Activities such as writing and guest blogging for magazines, along with blog ads, help, but they only produce supplemental income. Periodic support from readers is necessary in order to be able to sustain a blog full-time. Nobody likes to ask: I know I don't. But reader support just is essential to enable someone to blog more or less full-time.

I've had conversations over the last couple of months with various magazines and websites about the prospect of moving my blog to their site, something I would consider only because it provides a model for making blogging more economically viable. But that is something I strongly prefer not to have to do, because I really want to preserve the independence of this blog. Even with an agreement to be able to blog however I want and as much (or as little) as I want -- which is the only type of framework I'd consider -- being merged into some other entity inevitably creates expectations about content that slowly chips away at true independence.

The other alternative is to try to build the site into a super-high traffic blog in order to maximize ad revenue. Traffic for this blog has steadily increased almost every month since it began, but blogs that are within this traffic range (20,000-40,000 visitors per day) can produce some supplemental income but not income that sustains a full-time blog.

At this point, in order to generate blog-sustaining ad revenue, a blog has to be within the highest traffic range (70,000-150,000 visits per day). But blogs within that range are almost all, without exception, group blogs with multiple posters ensuring frequent updates covering every topic, or Atrios-like blogosphere "shepherds" with numerous posts throughout the day designed to guide people to selected posts and news items. To try to transform this blog into a super-high-trafficked blog -- not through natural growth but by changing how it operates -- would change the character and nature of the blog and, for that reason, is an option I do not want to pursue.

I've become a true believer in the blogosphere as a medium. Its ability to affect political discussion and to effectuate political change is unrivalled. It not only scrutinizes national journalism like nothing else can, but also supplements and, at times, even supplants the national media in fulfilling its central function of providing an adversarial force against government power. One of its most potent attributes is its collaborative effort -- the ability to draw on and work with commenters here and other bloggers is an enormous advantage over every other medium. I really believe that the greatest impact can come from devoting my time to my independent blog rather than to other competing activities, and that is the reason I want to be able to continue to do so full-time. But to do that, I need to ensure that it is financially viable and that requires support from readers.

I hope that, if you're reading this, you don't need me to point out the value of an independent media, detail what's wrong with the current state of US broadcast media and newspapers or wax lyrical about the need for trusted sources in our information overload society.

So I'm just going to flat-out ask you to go give Glenn some money. It may be, second only to voting responsibly, the most important political act you'll carry out this year.

I'd like to ask you, dear reader, to do me three favors; this is the first.

Biting Beaver is a blogger whose emergency contraception, once she finally obtained it, failed. Now she's pregant and facing the costs, financial and otherwise, of an abortion. You can read the story in her own words here (EC denial) and here (EC failure) -- and that's important. It's important that you should be able to read that story, that someone should put a face on the abortion debate and the horrible, indefensible consequences of the laws being advocated (and put in place!) by the punish-women-for-having-sex lobby. Making it available online was a very brave thing for BB to do -- and, naturally, the Moral Majority have taken it upon themselves to assault her for it. Via Lindsay, Plucky Punk is asking readers to step up:

The average cost of an abortion in the United States is 468 dollars. Somewhere, there is a woman in need of this money who doesn't have it.

Let's see if we can get together and raise this amount, either by giving to Biting Beaver, the National Network of Abortion Funds or to Planned Parenthood. Please leave to amount you donated or pledge to donate in the comments (or if you've already donated, leave that amount).

I think BB has probably, by now, been sent enough funds to cover her expenses -- and while I don't know her circumstances, she has a blog so I'm guessing she can cope with the financial burden. Moreover, she didn't really want to ask for donations and has promised to donate any excess to the National Network of Abortion Funds. So, for myself, I'm going to keep an eye on the story and probably not send BB any money directly. What I will do is to renew my membership to the National Abortion Rights Action League and make small donations to the Northwest Women's Law Center and Planned Parenthood, those being women's rights organizations I trust and currently support.

What I'd like to ask my readers to do is:

1. read Biting Beaver's story

2. choose one or more of the following:

• donate to Planned Parenthood
  
• donate to NNAF
  
• donate to NWLC
  
• become a NARAL member
  
• choose another women's rights organization, join or donate, and then send me the reasons for your choice (I may join you)
  
• send BB some money; you'll need PayPal, her email is BitingBeaver [at] yahoo [dot] com

3. drop in on Plucky Punk (or email her, if you prefer to donate anonymously) and let her know how much to add to her running total.

From Lindsay: seven women have been condemned to be stoned to death for "crimes against chastity" in Iran. Ali Eteraz has the details on what you can do.

What I can't stop thinking is: who throws the stones? What goes through their minds as they kill another human being that way?

And where does a society keep people like that when they're not "working"?

*shudder*

Update: to be clear, all death penalties are barbaric and the psyche of anyone who carries out such a sentence is an unhappy mystery to me. I oppose the death penalty everywhere and in all forms, but this particular sentence for these particular "crimes" (do read the background) is especially horrible.

You know things are tight at Casa Coturnix when Bora points to his tip jar. He hates doing it, and he shouldn't have to. There's something wrong with a society that isn't making good use of someone so bright, passionate and energetic. If you have a few dollars that aren't working right now, consider sending them Bora's way (paypal/credit card or Amazon honor system, scroll down a ways on the left). Consider it an investment in the country's intellectual future. (I imagine that anyone reading this already reads Bora, but if you don't then put aside a few hours and start here. )

Last push! Blogathon is this Saturday; if you haven't signed up to blog it's too late for this year, but you can still sponsor a blogger from now until at least 48 hours after the event.

If you sort by funds pledged and scroll down, you'll find (as I write this) 80-some bloggers who don't yet have sponsors. If you've got a few bucks that ain't working right now, how about helping one of them out?

Tell you what: if you do that, come back here and give me the name of another blogger with no sponsors, and I'll sponsor them. Probably only five bucks, because I'm skint -- but the little donations add up, that's how grassroots works. That's the beauty of the Blogathon, too -- a few hundred bloggers you never heard of raising a dollar here and a dollar there, and pretty soon you have a bona fide international community premised on giving a helping hand wherever it's needed.

Try it, you'll like it.

As my online pal, A-lister and Cabalista TheBrad reminds me, it's time for our scheduled Blogathon reminder: it's on, it's fun, you should take part.

Go here for information, here to blog, and/or here to sponsor a blogger.

Do it, or I'll kill a kitten.

(Where "kill a kitten" actually means, you know, "make myself a sandwich".)

The 2006 Blogathon is up and running! Signups for bloggers close July 21, sponsorship stays open through the event itself (July 29). This post is for the Wednesday Publicity Push: if you have a blog, please consider posting about the Blogathon today, next Wednesday, and the Wednesday after, to help inflate our daypop/technorati/etc ratings. And of course, please consider taking part and/or sponsoring a blogger!

For those who don't know what the Blogathon is, here's the press release:

On July 29th, hundreds of bloggers from all around the world will stay up late and make a difference. That's the slogan and the raison d'être of the Blogathon, an online fundraising event that began in 2000 with a case of insomnia and a case of Mountain Dew. Faced with certain sleeplessness, Portland, OR blogger Cat Connor¹ decided, on a whim, to blog every 15 minutes for 24 hours. She made it, and the next year she invited others to join her -- this time, with sponsorships. Hence "blogathon", by analogy with "walkathon", "telethon" and so on. Says Connor: "I've always felt the best thing about the web was its ability to affect the real world. The web can be a major force for good."

The mechanics of the Blogathon are simple: bloggers sign up to blog for their chosen charity, and sponsors pledge either a lump sum or an amount per hour blogged. The goal is 24 hours, with one post every 30 minutes. Sponsors make their donations directly to their bloggers' chosen charities. The Blogathon sends reminder emails but does not collect money, although Connor says that future plans do include registration as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a system for collecting and disbursing donations.

The 2001 Blogathon saw about a hundred bloggers raise more than $20,000 (more than double their initial modest goal) for 77 different charities. The numbers roughly doubled in 2002, and again in 2003 when well over 500 participants raised more than $100,000 for charities ranging from the World Wildlife Fund to Heifer International, from local outreach centers to Médecins Sans Frontières. Project Blog substituted for the Blogathon in 2004, and in 2005 Connor continued her hiatus and Sheana Director of seeworthy.org ran the Blogathon, raising almost $60,000.

It's not all about the money, though. "What really makes Blogathon work," says Connor, "is the sense of community that's grown up around it." Chat rooms, online forums and Radio Blogathon online broadcasts keep bloggers in touch during the event. This year's front page will itself be a blog, continually updated by Connor and a volunteer team of "monitors" with games, contests and news and fun from around the event. Also new this year is a surfing frame which will allow onlookers to surf from blog to blog, and as always there will be a variety of prizes for most money raised, best writing, best visuals, and so on.

Previous projects are even more diverse than the chosen charities. Participants have written entire novels, translated ancient epic poems, recorded albums of original music, and spent 24 hours cooking all their favourite dishes. Others have written 48 posts about chocolate, shoes, toilets or outsider art, shaved their heads live on webcam, solicited panels for a virtual quilt, ridden a stationary bike for 24 hours or blogged by mobile phone live from a road trip.

This year's Blogathon is now open for signups and pledges at www.blogathon.org; the event itself will take place Saturday July 29 at 06:00 Pacific Time, with an alternative Sabbath-observant schedule beginning at 21:00 the same day. Everyone starts at one of those two times, no matter where they are. As founder Connor puts it: "Creating an international community over the course of 24 hours -- one with a single purpose -- is something that can only happen on the web. It makes the web magical."

¹Aka spousal unit mine. (In case anyone was wondering, that's why I won't be blogging: I'll be fetching and carrying behind the scenes.)

If you read this blog, you're probably something of a nerd, so if you haven't seen Joss Whedon's movie Serenity, or the TV series Firefly that spawned it, do yourself a favour: turn off the internets right now and go find a copy of both. Really, do it, you can thank me later.

Now that we're all up to speed on background, June 23 is the one-year anniversary of the third and final advance (US) screening of Serenity, and also happens to be Joss Whedon's birthday. Serenity Now/Equality Now is a worldwide effort to organise charity screenings of Serenity on June 23, proceeds to benefit Whedon's favourite charity, Equality Now.

Regular readers are no doubt aware that the mere suggestion of paid advertising on this site would cause me apoplexy, but b!X never paid me a cent. I applaud the effort and the sentiment behind it, and wish him and his fellow Browncoats well in this. If you live in Portland, I hope to see you at Cinema 21; if you live elsewhere, click the "Screenings outside PDX" link to find the showing nearest you. (And if this idea really floats your boat, it may not be too late to organise a screening yourself.)

One final word: this is NOT the same thing as "Serenity Day", a seperate and entirely selfish endeavour aimed at convincing Universal Studios to revive the Firefly series or make a Serenity sequel or something, by having fans everywhere buy a copy of the DVD. Serenity Now/Equality now is about taking the energy of fandom and doing something positive with it -- something in tune with some of the ideas Whedon's heroes stand for, perhaps. So go ahead and buy an extra copy of Serenity if you like, but on June 23 or thereabouts, spend the money on a charity screening.

Lifted directly from Bitch PhD: Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi is an 18-year old Iranian who has been sentenced to death for stabbing a man to death because he and two other men were trying to rape her and her niece. Her case is being reviewed by the Iranian Supreme Court this week. Things you can do:

• Help spread the story about Nazanin! Tell everyone you know, family, friends and others who might be interested. Direct them to this web page and ask them to take action for Nazanin.
• Contact newspapers, TV-channels, blogs and other media and ask them to report this story. US residents can contact local or national media via NOW.
• Write about Nazanin in your own blog, homepage, or in internet forums or chat rooms you frequent.
• Put a link to this page in your email signature or at your homepage.
• Put one of these banners on your website.
• Write the Iranian government or the Iranian embassy of your country , and demand that Nazanin's death sentence is commuted immediately. Read more.
• Contact politicians/representatives and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in your country and ask them to pressure Iran to commute the death sentence and free Nazanin. US representatives can be contacted via NOW.
• Contact the United Nations Office of Human Rights and ask them to protest.
• Sign and spread this petition, started by the Canadian model Nazanin Afshin-Jam.
• Buy a T-shirt in support of Nazanin, designed by Lily Mazahery.

I talk a lot about community -- the blog community, the local community, the community of science. I think of "community" as a way to help create, and to be part of, something larger than oneself, something capable of more than one could achieve alone. I suppose, though, it's equally valid to see it as a kind of insurance: by contributing to the maintenance of a network of trust and mutual assistance, we assure our own access to assistance when we need it. Either way, a community is, among other important things, a means of spreading risks and costs so that no single incident should be catastrophic to any given individual.

Which is why it is exceeding remiss of me not yet to have mentioned that Bora could use a hand. He's a grad student with a thesis in the balance and a family to help support, and the bills have piled up enough to be a hassle right now. As Abel Pharmboy says in comments there,

This is nuts [...] but sadly all too common among the academic world these days. [Bora] should have a tenure-track position at a major scientific or liberal arts university but [is] stuck in the cycle of teaching-on-demand for far less than [he deserves].

More to my point, Bora's a member of my community: inter alia, a researcher and a science blogger. And if you happen to be a blogger, teacher and/or researcher, consider this: Bora is the sort of person we want in our community. It will not take much reading of his main site, or his associated teaching and research blogs (Magic School Bus and Circadiana, respectively), to convince you that he has talent for science and for science teaching; nor will it take more than a glance at the support he has given various blogging carnivals to demonstrate that he understands and values community; nor is it necessary to look beyond his writing about science blogging itself to see that he has a forward-looking, can-do way of thinking about science and community and what the two can do for each other.

So: Abel and I have sent a little beer money Bora's way, and now I'm asking my readers to do the same if they possibly can (PayPal and Amazon links are on the right hand side on Bora's site). Please also consider passing on the request if you have a blog of your own.

Prof B, Rob, Amp and Hugo all point to Pinko Feminist Hellcat's coverage of the OC rape case. For those of you living under a rock or outside the US, here's Rob's brief summary:

Three young men in Orange County videotaped themselves raping an unconscious 16 year old, and then left the video in a rented beach house. Because they were extremely wealthy, they were able to hire a lawyer who after three years of slandering and harassing the victim, got them off with only a conviction on sexual assault. Now the victim is suing the lawyer for harassment, slander, and libel. The lawyer responded by calling her "trash" and said "What I did to Jane Doe in the criminal case was child's play compared to what I can do to her in a civil case."

One of Hugo's readers, Catty, has a connection to Jane Doe's legal team and is collecting emails of support. Catty's address is ihiroeATyahooDOTcom, and letters should be addressed to "Jane Doe"; they will be printed and sent to her attorney's office. Here's mine:

Dear Ms Doe,

I write to thank you for your courage and determination. In standing firm against your assailants (in which category I include their counsel) you are forging a path for all the other survivors of violence who will, as a matter of unhappy certainty, come after you. By refusing to be intimidated into giving up your demand for justice, you are bringing a spotlight to bear on the flaws in our legal system behind which the perpetrators of sexual violence so often shelter. I wish you success in your fight, and in all things. I hope it helps to hear from one of your supporters; you should know that we are many, and you are a hero to us.

Jane Doe is nineteen years old, people. She's already endured three years of horror (to say nothing of the initial assault), and she's just put herself in for another long stay in the emotional meatgrinder. I can't know her mind, but whatever her reasons she is doing the right, the incredibly brave, thing.

If you're at all like me, you try to do your part as a reasonable human being, but it's easy to feel that your donations are drops in an ocean and your letters go straight to /dev/null -- well, not this time. This time there's a human being on the other end; she's been through hell and she's looking down the barrel of worse, she must be tired and frightened, and I bet she'd like to hear from you -- just to be reminded that she's not entirely alone. This is one case in which the much-hyped blogosphere can do some real good; please write, and if you have a blog please spread this story.

Finally, if anyone knows anything about a legal defense fund, please send me details.

Dammit, I'm late with this, but you still have a day to help Creative Commons meet their year-end fundraising goal. If you don't know what CC is, you should. Seriously, you should. They are important for anyone who has any interest in any kind of art or creative endeavour (including science -- PLoS Biology, the flagship Open Access journal, is published under a CC licence). Briefly:

Creative Commons is a new system, built within current copyright law, that allows you to share your creations with others and use music, movies, images, and text online that's been marked with a Creative Commons license. If you're looking for more in-depth information, our About section contains more about the history, concepts and people behind the organization. To see the Creative Commons in action, try out our Find, Create, and Share sections, or one of the sections devoted to Audio, Video, Images, Text, and Education.

There is also, of course, a FAQ. Right now, CC needs less than $10K to meet their fundraising goal. They need to raise $225K from public donations by the end of the year in order to secure their public charity status and retain foundation funding; Lessig explains, and talks about what they plan to do with the money, here. If you can, please help out.

Update: target met. The need for donations is not so critical now, but it's not going away, so please consider supporting Creative Commons when you're deciding where to spend your philanthropy budget.

Digby is skint, and Jeanne's computer died. Both have been blogging for about three years, and both are mainstays of the progressive blogosphere. The online world would be a much poorer place without either of these two lively, insightful, important voices.

I know things get tight at this time of year, but if you have any spare scratch at all, please consider dropping some on Digby (PayPal button at top left or snail mail to the address in this post) and Jeanne (tip jar, or if you can't/won't pay online email me and we'll work something out).

If you're reading this you should already be reading 3 Quarks Daily on a regular basis. If you're not, do yourself a favour and start. Whether you've been reading or not, Abbas has a request that I'd also like you to consider:

There is a very vivacious and intelligent young woman (she is 22) that my wife and I are friends with. She moved to New York City from a small town in the south to pursue her ambition to be a painter and illustrator. She had exhibited prodigious artistic talent from an early age, and after finding a job as a waitress and an apartment in the city, had no trouble gaining admission to an art program in a New York City college by showing her portfolio. She has been going to school full-time, and also working as a waitress full-time, and she has done tremendously well in school. [...]

The last time my wife and I saw her, she was in tears because she had just received a letter from her college saying that her financial aid is being cut off because she made $1,000 too much in income to qualify. Now, it turns out that it would have been better for her all around if she had sat on her ass and collected welfare the whole year, since she would then be eligible for aid. As it is, she reported her income absolutely honestly, and now she cannot afford to attend school in the spring. She is from a modest family and they cannot help her.

I asked her how much her tuition is, and she cutely told me a rather exact amount: $1,533.85 (I have a good memory for numbers). I decided I would try to help her, but cannot do this by myself. My wife Margit and I have made a contribution of $200 to a fund to help her continue with college in spring. I ask you to give what you can to make up the difference.

A student working their way through higher education is a cause very near to my heart, not least because my parents generously funded, by gift and loan, my entire schooling. I had it easy, and since one cannot pay back generosity or family support in the way one repays a loan, I feel obliged to "pay it forward". On top of that, the student in question is being penalized for honesty -- oy. It's a situation tailor-made to get me to put my hand in my pocket, and I hope it will jar a few bucks loose from your Christmas stashes as well, O my tens of readers.

As Abbas points out, he has enough readers that $5, or $1, or whatever you can spare, will be plenty. Small donations add up fast on the web; that's one of its greatest strengths.

At the time of writing, the appeal was up to $540. Just five bucks per from another 200 readers and an honest and deserving student can stay in school. Be a mensch.

Update: Amount collected as of 12/13/05: $1,115. Nearly there!

Update:Amount collected as of 12/18/05: $1,412.85 So close!

Update:Target met as of 051219. If you contributed, the student in question has thanked you very prettily here, and some of her latest work can be seen in the same post. Well done all, especially Abbas.