Prayers for Paulin Ngobobo and the Mountain Gorillas

This is a bit far afield of the red table. But it is something I feel very strongly about.

I don't know where to begin to write. I'm filled with joy, gratitude, sadness, anger and disgust. In the past two weeks, I've learned of valiant courage of one man and his dedication to protecting endangered Mountain Gorillas and their habitat. Only 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild and none in captivity. I've also learned of a horrible massacre where at least 4 gorillas were killed execution style at close range. Paulin Ngobobo and the rangers who protect these wonderful animals from destruction put their lives on the line daily. In the past ten years more than 150 rangers have been killed in the line of duty. At great personal cost many of these brave men have not received a paycheck in months. They do it because it is the right thing to do. Putting himself in peril, Paulin has stood up to a corrupt mafia of charcoal merchants who have recently begun harvesting Virunga's forests to fuel a $30 million-a-year industry. Six months ago Paulin was flogged and beaten by government authorities. They burst in while he was lecturing villagers about the threat the charcoal industry posed to Virunga and the gorillas. A little over one month ago a female gorilla who was under his charge was murdered. This came just 2 days after Paulin posted a blog entry in which he accused the charcoal merchants of being complicit in the destruction of the gorillas' habitat. Paulin was again arrested on July 18th and must daily go to tribunal. Just two weeks ago, 4 gorillas were murdered execution style.

And now the happy part. In response to these horrible massacres, there has been an outpouring of help. Many people responded by spreading the word about this tragedy and by donating. As of today, $50,000 has been raised so that more rangers can be trained and in the field to protect the gorillas.

Paulin has had to relocate so he can attend the tribunals. He is now monitoring a different sector of D R Congo's park land. Please remember him in your prayers.

Here's what you can do to help.

Donate to WildlifeDirect. They are funding Congo's rangers 100%.

Spread the word, email your friends and family, write a blog. You may also post a bulletin to your MySpace friends. The html is located on my page for you to cut and paste.

If you're an Artist: At present I am working on putting together an ebay art auction to benefit the Mountain Gorillas and Wildlife Direct. Please email me if this would be something you'd be interested in participating in.

For More Info:

Newsweek Article

National Geographic Video

The Guardian Weekly Article About Paul Ngobobo

Paul Ngobobo's Blog

The picture above is of Ndeze one of the surviving family members. It was taken from Paul Ngobobo's blog.

Directing Traffic in Nazi Uniforms and an Alien Vortex called Red Mountain

I was at the tables twice this last weekend and each time it got a little bit weirder. I don't know but it seemed like a mass exodus from L.A. and a full moon were making things a bit more strange . When I arrived on Saturday afternoon to get my soda and watch the traffic go by, there was not a table to be found. The minimart parking lot was full with several cars with their hoods up. All of the locals were sitting on the brick wall in front of the Post Office and on the tailgate of their trucks. I found a spot and sat down. Conversation was in full swing. The topic; Red Mountain and Alien Abductions. According to one of the old fellows that's why there are so many tweekers in the town of Red Mountain. It's well known that the mountain itself is some sort of vortex. Last year, two tourists stopped by from Tennnessee. The man went into the minimart and bought a 1 lb brick of cheese and began to devour it in less than 5 minutes. In between gulps of cheese he bagan to tell us that he was good friends with President Bush and was running for senator. He said he was drawn to Red Mountain by his friend's dream. She began to tell us that the end of the world was near and Red mountain will be a safe area. The aliens would come and take us all to their planet when the world ends. The whole time she was staring at Randy, from Randsburg. He is a rather large, very red, sun burnt man. Then she said that he was her red mountain. They got in their car and left.

Now you're probably wondering where do the Nazi Uniforms and traffic direction come in. Well the next day, I went down to the minimart and sat down with the old guys. One of them was talking about volunteering to direct traffic at some sort of charity function. He said that it would be cool if if he directed traffic in an SS uniform. I said Little Bo-Peep would be better and got up and left. I'm now rethinking my position on television.

Quote of the Day:

"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box." ~ Anonymous

Pic of the Day: