[loncindawg]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I really like the new dawg. I would like to have a cotton henley with that design on it, or a decal for the wall of my man cave. There could also be hats, T-shirts, mugs, pins, thongs, or what have you. I believe the usual route is to submit designs to outfits like CafePress and they take the orders and print on demand. I'm not sure.

The question is what to do with the proceeds. Can those reasonably be expected to go to the administrators and their supermodels and barbecues and beer and animal sacrifices to use as they see fit? I don't know what really goes into creating and, more importantly, maintaining and improving a forum like this one, or if its success and value depends on regular members who ask good questions and especially those who very generously provide helpful, detailed responses. I can rattle off the user names of many regular members who regularly put a lot of hard work into doing just that for little more than a thank you - not infrequently at the cost of public derision; but it is more likely that success depends on all of the above.

My idea was that it would be great if members and member-vendors could identify sober, responsible, deserving parents in their communities who are having a tough time in this economy ... women and men who can't afford a car and/or gasoline or don't have adequate bus routes to get to a job interview and subsequently commute, and could benefit from owning an inexpensive reliable scooter and appropriate helmet.

Most members live in the US, but a member in Germany or the Philippines could also make a detailed, persuasive, appropriately-verified case for someone they know about in their communities. That end is laudable in itself, but good will towards all scooterists could be created if press releases could be prepared and then sent to local, national, or international (if appropriate) media outlets announcing this activity and making it clear that most scooterists are not licenseless drunks who enjoy holding up traffic.

I have no idea if this is feasible in any of its parts - or even desirable - so I hope that members and administrators (who would implement it) will comment.