by Andrew
I know this isn't what readers come here for, so I'll be brief and ask your indulgence on this one. Project Valour IT is a fund drive intended to raise money for troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, purchasing voice-operated laptops for troops with hand and arm injuries or amputations. If anyone has a few dollars to spare and is looking for someplace to spend it, I think it's a pretty good cause. More details can be found at the link above and at my site. Thanks.
Update: If you go straight to the site, please click on the Army's donation button. Not that I'm competitive, but...
Andrew, if you see a donation from Smaller Animals Software, that's me.
Posted by: cleek | October 30, 2006 at 09:39 AM
Thanks, cleek. It's greatly appreciated.
Posted by: Andrew | October 30, 2006 at 09:47 AM
Done. And thanks for the push.
Fwiw, I don't see why you say that this isn't what readers come here for. (I mean, I ran an entire matching donation thingo for Lebanese reconstruction, and if anyone minded, they could scroll right past it.) Though perhaps some actual readers should chime in ;)
Posted by: hilzoy | October 30, 2006 at 09:58 AM
Andrew said: I know this isn't what readers come here for, so I'll be brief and ask your indulgence on this one.
I disagree. I think it's entirely appropriate for ObWing front page posters to use the resources of Obsidian Wings to raise money for causes dear to their hearts. (That said, were you raising money for Focus on the Family, I would throw mocking taunts in your general direction, but I'd accept you had a right to do so providing the rest of the kittenmob didn't object.)
I'm not donating (I don't donate to US medical charities, for entirely political reasons) but I'll drop some money in the SSAFA Forces Help hat, unless there's another British military charity you'd prefer.
Posted by: Jesurgislac | October 30, 2006 at 10:10 AM
This sort of thing is great. I get stuck on giving to charity because evaluating different organizations is such a chore -- having someone whose judgment I trust vouch for a particular charity makes it much easier to give.
Posted by: LizardBreath | October 30, 2006 at 10:27 AM
Hmmm Army trailing Navy even though Army has more sites signed up! That can not stand!
Worth mentioning - your donation is tax deductible.
Posted by: OCSteve | October 30, 2006 at 12:08 PM
Hmmm Army trailing Navy even though Army has more sites signed up! That can not stand!
Well, if only they'd learn how to pass the ball...
...oh wait. It's not Saturday any more, is it?
Posted by: Anarch | October 30, 2006 at 01:38 PM
I would be a more regular reader if this were more common. I pop over when pointed to a story here, but as with most blogs, it's usually a matter of reading through, having my impressions confirmed, experiencing a peak of indignation and moving on. What do we do at the end of the thread other than deciding (again) not to vote republican?
I think that direct action components would be a welcome addition. Sure, we aren't going to agree with all the posters' causes. But moving discussions from pure indignation to action, however small, seems to me a valuable contribution to both the tenor of discourse here and the challenges we tackle.
Posted by: Justin | October 30, 2006 at 03:24 PM
Also worth mentioning, many workplaces have a charity-donation matching program. Check with your HR staff to see if yours does. Makes a little go a lot farther.
Posted by: Phil | October 30, 2006 at 05:31 PM
Andrew, I made a modest donation, and I put up a post about Project Valour on my less-frivolous blog. Maybe one of the three or four people who read that blog will donate as well. Thanks for calling this to our attention.
Posted by: Anthony Cartouche | October 30, 2006 at 07:14 PM
And now that I have time to be less frivolous (though not really the energy), I agree with everyone else that this is a worthy donation-site and a worthy use of ObWi space. I didn't come here expecting this particular bleg, of course, but I don't come here expecting much of anything except civil(-ish) discourse on interesting topics, and this certainly counts.
Posted by: Anarch | October 30, 2006 at 07:39 PM
Done. Not to whine too much, but you can go round and round trying to figure out how to donate for a specific branch. (In the end, I suspect mine was just a general donation.)
Perhaps it'd be worth adding a direct to paypal via the right branch hyperlink?
Posted by: ScottM | October 30, 2006 at 07:56 PM
In case clarification is needed, I didn't mean to imply that my blog was less frivolous than this one, or than Andrew's. Rather, I am associated with two blogs, and one of them is less frivolous than the other. It was on that blog, and not the more frivolous one, that I made the post about Project Valour.
I'll be quiet now.
Posted by: Anthony Cartouche | October 30, 2006 at 08:24 PM
Anthony C: "I'll be quiet now."
Why? Stick around.
(I like your blog.)
Posted by: hilzoy | October 30, 2006 at 08:47 PM
Well, if only they'd learn how to pass the ball...
Cruel :( Is that a TOS violation :) Andrew?
I would be a more regular reader if this were more common.
Bookmark them. It’s a good group here even if I don’t agree with 90% of them 90% of the time. (You certainly won’t agree with me.)
but I don't come here expecting much of anything except civil(-ish) discourse on interesting topics, and this certainly counts
Agreed 100%.
I have donated before, but today I took the time to track down the contact info for the company that makes the speech recognition software.
I emailed ([email protected]) asking (nicely) if they would like to donate their product for this drive. I’ll update here or an open thread if I get a response.
Posted by: OCSteve | October 30, 2006 at 08:48 PM
I'm not an Academy grad, Steve. Army football is of little interest to me.
Posted by: Andrew | October 30, 2006 at 10:00 PM
Cruel :( Is that a TOS violation :) Andrew?
No such thing when it comes to college ball :D
Posted by: Anarch | October 31, 2006 at 01:26 AM