Meet Philoblogger

Meet Philoblogger

I'd like to introduce you to Philoblogger (known by some as "the world's sexiest philosopher.") A recent UNC honors grad ( *magna cum laude, Philosophy ) , he has just arrived on the blogging scene, and I know you'll be hearing great things from him. I have heard great things from him myself, including (but not limited to) his Shins and Modest Mouse CDs. I've also once seen a grand fireworks display, which was a mere backdrop to the dark and glorious silhouette of his wisdom-packed head.

Some of My Favorite Films of 2004

Some of My Favorite Films of 2004

After reading Robert Stribley's comprehensive list of 'love-'em'/'hate-'em'/'have yet to see 'em' films for 2004, I decided to jot down some of my own favorites. I haven't seen all that many, and I found that I enjoyed this year's documentaries more than the selection of feature films.

Documentaries:

Control Room - My favorite overall film of the year. A must-see for anyone who doesn't know what goes on behind the scenes at al Jazeera. They are not who many of you may think they are. You get to see a rare glimpse of the human faces behind the cameras.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - The list would not be complete without Mr. Moore's documentary. He may have pissed some people off with his hyperbole and humor, but he certainly made a difference in waking people up to some facts they may have missed had it not been for the film.

Fog of War - I just saw this.


Feature Films:

Finding Neverland - Johnny Depp played JM Barrie with finesse. An enchanting and touching film.

Eternal Sunshine Of The spotless Mind - Jim Carrey was wonderful in this role.

Garden State - Great film. Best music, for sure.

Shrek 2 - My kind of fairy tale.

Napoleon Dynamite - One of my top picks. All the curly-topped Napoleon D had to do was squint and stand au naturelle -- he had me at his deadpan "hello". His chat-room-hangin' brother was pasty, puny, and perfect. And oh, how Napoleon can dance.

Saved - Mandy Moore was hilarious as a Jesus-lovin' evangelical bitch in this comedy produced by REM's Michael Stipe.

Osama (2003, released Jan 2004 in US)- Takes you directly into a young girl's world..in a society much unlike my own. Well done.

Big Fish - A wonderful fantasy; a touching story.

Polar Express - Reminded me of the childhood 'magic' that should never be lost, no matter how old you grow to be.

Ladykillers - Tom Hanks was amusing in a role that was quite unusual for him. His co-actors supported him well.

The Notebook - A sweet film. Sentimental. Reminded me of the way they made films in days of old.

Anchorman - Tim Robbin's cameo as a pipe-smoking PBS Afro-coifed anchorman was enough to make this one of the funniest.

*I haven't seen Sideways, Maria Full of Grace, or Ray yet. Want to.


*I liked Around the World in 80 Days,
even though no one else did.

It's probably because I had a wicked crush on Steve Coogan. ;)



RON BRYNAERT'S BEST-OF LIST IS HERE.

COMMON ILLS HAS A GREAT BEST OF/WORST OF LIST.

Sri Lanka: HEADLINES

Above: Ports Aviation and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera consoling a member of the fishing community in Dondra who broke out with his tale of woe to him when he visited the Dondra Fisheries harbour to assess the damage caused by the tidal wave and make arrangements to reconstruct the harbour. Second: Collapsed buildings and houses in Mullaitivu. Pictures by P. Piyadasa and Ajantha D. Sanjeewa

Sri Lanka: HEADLINES

• --Time for soul-searching

"Distress and disaster very often activates the innate creativity of mankind. Faced by cruel, overwhelming calamities, the more insightful and sage among us rise to heights of wisdom and knowledge which prove a resplendent guiding light for the rest of society..

[..] In the quest for material advancement and self-aggrandizement, social groups of this country have failed to realise that "life is but a walking shadow" and that "it is a tale told by an Idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Ironically, although these thoughts are dinned into the popular consciousness from religious daises, pulpits and even public platforms, it has taken the worst natural disaster so far, in this country, for both the rulers and ruled to realise that they are only momentary phenomenon who need to come together in a spirit of humility and charitableness to work towards the common good - disregarding all man-made barriers, such as, caste, creed, religion and community...."

Other News:

• --Immediate rehabilitation, relief for tsunami victims
• --Tsunami destroys 37 schools in 13 districts
• --'Foreign troops will engage only in humanitarian activities'
• --Pakistani PM on disaster
• --US$ 500 m Japanese grant for tsunami disaster
• --Relief from the International Community Updated: December 31, 2004
• --UN to make major appeal for tsunami-hit nations - Wahlstrom
• --Sweden helps tsunami victims
• --Quick relief for tsunami disaster from Norway
• --Relief from Bangladesh arrives
• --'Orphaned children should be adopted legally'

Source: Daily News

Democrats are talking about...

Democrats are talking about...

"....Kerry's ultra-cautious campaign made things difficult for Democrats all over. Kerry's campaign was so much about himself. He ran on biography rather than by standing up for Democratic principles. I cannot recall him ever using his position as the nominee to help other Democrats in any meaningful way.

Kerry's campaign was SO the opposite of "You have the power." To the extent that he thought at all about those of us who were drawn to Dean, he thought "you have the money (and I want it)." And that's exactly how he treated us. Pelosi and Reid's support of [Tim] Roemer suggests that nothing has changed and nothing will change unless WE change it."

--Kos commenter known as "JIM IN CHICAGO"...
..in a discussion at Daily Kos about Nancy Pelosi and her alleged "hedging" on her choice for DNC Chair; along with a discussion of the general unpopularity of Tim Roemer with progressive Democrats as the prime choice for the Chair.

The thread is titled What Dems Need to Do.

Top Stories Ignored By U.S. Media

Top Stories Ignored By U.S. Media
from: Independent Media TV


Poll: Most Americans Now Say War Was a Mistake

Earthquake: Coincidence or a Corporate Oil Tragedy?

Emails Reveal More Abuses in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay

US disclosures signal wider detainee abuse

Torture at the Top

What do the CIA, the Pentagon and the UN Have in Common?

U.S. to Take Bigger Bite of Iraq's Economic Pie

Part one: Broken Promises

War Crimes

Newly Released Documents Show Possible Investigation Interference by Commander

IMTV Comment: So Are The New Findings Being Reported On?

The CIA and the Media: A Complex Relationship

Today's Top Headlines

Scalia Says Religion Infuses U.S. Government and History

Asian $$ - Prince Neil Bush Gets Media Protection

2001 Memo Reveals Push for Broader Presidential Powers

Florida Rep. Feeney Implicated in Vote Fraud

...and more..


Also:

PROJECT CENSORED-
Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2003-2004

Hope

Hope

--"Run away!" her husband screamed from a rooftop after he spotted the colossal waves. It was a simple command that smothered Sangeeta in a nightmarish dilemma: She had three sons, but just two arms. She grabbed the two youngest and ran — reasoning that 7-year-old Dinakaran, the oldest, had the best chance of outrunning the giant waves. When the boy didn't follow, Sangeeta was crushed by grief, believing she would never see him again. The family dog made sure she did. Dinakaran had not followed her but ran instead to the safest place he knew — the family's small, concrete-walled hut just 40 yards from shore. While water lapped at Sangeeta's heels as she rushed up the hill, the scruffy yellow dog named Selvakumar ducked into the hut after the boy. Nipping and nudging, he did everything in his canine power to get the boy up the hill.

"That dog grabbed me by the collar of my shirt," the boy said from under some trees at Pondicherry University, where the family waits for relief aid. "He dragged me out." Sangeeta said she wept with joy when she saw her son walking up to her, with Selvakumar by his side. The Tamils of south India believe that talking about the death of a living person can make it so, so Sangeeta didn't want to speak of her decision or speculate how she would have felt had her son not survived. She did say that she believes some special spirit, perhaps her brother-in-law's, resides in the young yellow dog. "That dog is my God," said Sangeeta — with Dinakaran sitting on the ground at her feet. Selvakumar slept on the warm asphalt next to him.


Source- World/AP Yahoo



--Knowledge of the ocean and its currents passed down from generation to generation of a group of Thai fishermen known as the Morgan sea gypsies saved an entire village from the Asian tsunami, a newspaper said Saturday.


Source: Yahoo News


--On India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, a woman who fled the killer waves gave birth in the forest that became her sanctuary. She named her son Tsunami.





--In the historic port town of Galle, Sri Lanka, several Buddhist statues of cement and plaster were found unscathed amid collapsed brick walls in the centre of the devastated city. To many residents, it was a divine sign.


--The Indonesian Red Cross reportedly dug out a survivor buried since the tsunami struck in the ruins of a house in Banda Aceh. The rescuers heard Ichsan Azmil's cries for help. After being pulled out, he asked for water and was taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts and bruises.

source: Globe and Mail

Misery Upon Misery

Misery Upon Misery


Photo credit - Digital Globe/AFP/Getty Images

This combination of handouts of satellite images shows the before image, top, taken June 23 and the image taken on Wednesday after the tsunami hit Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

At one refugee camp on the grounds of the airport of Banda Aceh, hundreds of people spent a wet night under plastic sheets. Mothers nursed babies while others tried to light a fire with damp matches.

"With no help, we will die," one refugee, Indra Syaputra, said. "We came here because we heard that we could get food, but it was nonsense. All I got was some packets of noodles."

The rain pummelling the corpse-littered provincial capital was creating conditions ripe for cholera and other water-borne diseases to spread. Boxes of aid at Banda Aceh's airport soaked up water, making it difficult for workers loading cartons of drinking water, crackers and noodles onto delivery vehicles.

Rain drenches tsunami victims amid strong aftershocks

After the devastation wreaked by water from the seas, a deluge from the skies deepened the misery for tsunami-stricken survivors shivering in relief centres Saturday and triggered flash floods in Sri Lanka that sent residents fleeing once again.

Update: Confirmed Deaths

Confirmed Death Toll (BBC):

1. Indonesia: 80,246
2. Sri Lanka: 28,627
3. India (inc Andaman and Nicobar Is): 8,955
4. Thailand: 4,812
5. Somalia: 142
6. Burma: 53
7. Maldives: 73
8. Malaysia: 66
9. Tanzania: 10
10. Seychelles: 1
11. Bangladesh: 2
12. Kenya: 1

US Election: Fertik's Open Letter to Sen. John Kerry

The U.S. Election -
Fertik's Open Letter to Sen. John Kerry

Democrat.com's Bob Fertik has written an open letter to Senator John Kerry on leading a challenge to Ohio's electors on January 6th.

Mr. Fertik is not satisfied with a Kerry-Edwards campaign attorney Daniel J. Hoffheimer's follow-up (e-mail) statement to MSNBC after a recent appearance on one of their news shows:

"The Bush-Cheney ticket has won. The Kerry-Edwards campaign has found no conspiracy and no fraud in Ohio, though there have been many irregularities that cry out to be fixed for future elections. Senator Kerry and we in Ohio intend to fix them. When all of the problems in Ohio are added together, however bad they are, they do not add up to a victory for Kerry-Edwards. Senator Kerry's fully-informed and extremely careful assessment the day after the election and before he conceded remains accurate today, notwithstanding all the details we have since learned."

On December 27th, an attorney representing the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign filed two important motions, along with other concerned plaintiffs on the Ohio recount cases, to preserve and augment evidence of alleged election fraud in the November election. Attorney John Bonifaz serves as general counsel for one of the plaintiffs, the National Voting Rights Institute. He has invited the Bush Cheney campaign to join the motion to preserve all of the ballots and election machinery in the presidential election in Ohio and to investigate the potential tampering of voting machines by Triad Governmental Systems, Inc, prior to the start of the recount.

Further Down The Path: War Becomes Unthinkable

Further Down The Path: War Becomes Unthinkable

Why should it have to take the most deadly tsunami in history to lead us to understand how war will soon no longer be a viable option for mankind?

"It is very odd that nations cooperate to help each other in the face of natural disasters. But when they become angry over some minor dispute, they are perfectly happy to inflict far more damage on each other than mother nature ever did. Pakistan and India were seriously contemplating using nukes on each other as recently as 2002. Now Islamabad is sending rupees to Delhi, and Delhi is expressing gratitude.

Now that nukes are becoming so common, humanity has to find a way to move into permanent cooperative and helping mode. War is gradually becoming unthinkable. The massive tsunami's toll has now risen to 150,000, but an Indo-Pak nuclear exchange would have killed 10 million."

---Juan Cole

William Blake: "On Another's Sorrow"

William Blake: "On Another's Sorrow"

Can I see another's woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?
Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrow's share?
Can a father see his child
Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?

Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan, an infant fear?
No, no! never can it be!
Never, never can it be!



And can He who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small bird's grief and care,
Hear the woes that infants bear --

And not sit beside the next,
Pouring pity in their breast,
And not sit the cradle near,
Weeping tear on infant's tear?

And not sit both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
Oh no! never can it be!
Never, never can it be!

He doth give his joy to all:
He becomes an infant small,
He becomes a man of woe,
He doth feel the sorrow too.

Think not thou canst sigh a sigh,
And thy Maker is not by:
Think not thou canst weep a tear,
And thy Maker is not near.



Oh He gives to us his joy,
That our grief He may destroy:
Till our grief is fled an gone
He doth sit by us and moan."

The Sea Gods must be angry..so some fables say

The Sea Gods must be angry..so some fables say

Noah's Ark : One of the best recognised stories from the Old Testament.

Matsya Avtaar : According to legend, the Vedas , which helped Bramha with creation, were eaten up by the demon Hayagriva.

Samudra Manthan : Enraged with Indra for rejecting his gift, Sage Durwasa cursed Gods, saying they would lose their powers. Lord Vishnu then advised them to persuade the demons to perform 'samudra manthan' i.e., churn the sea to bring out 'amrit' (elixir of life), which alone could restore their powers. Therefore, the 'samudra manthan' was carried out.

Sethu bandhan : As he led his army to Lanka, Rama reached the shores of the Indian Ocean. Rama then prayed to the ocean to provide him a passage. But after three nights, the ocean still refused to oblige. Enraged, Rama decided to dry up the ocean, and unleashed the Indra astra (arrow resembling a powerful thunderbolt of Indra).

Moses & the Red Sea : As a baby, Moses was put in a basket and floated down the Nile because the Pharoah had ordered that all Jewish male children be drowned. He was pulled out by an Egyptian princess and named Moses because he was drawn (mashah) out of the water.

Poseidon adventures : Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea, is one of six siblings who “divided the power of the world". Poseidon not only ruled the sea, he was also the god of earthquakes. Poseidon was relied upon by sailors for safe voyages. However, he was a moody God, and his temperament could sometimes result in violence.

The Legend of Atlantis : The island-nation of Atlantis is said to have existed over 11,000 years, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Apart from being abundant in natural resources, it was also a major centre of trade and commerce. It's people were described as well-educated, using advanced technology and fabulously wealthy. It is asid to have disappeared into the sea, due to an earthquake caused by gigantic submarine volcanic explosions, triggering off a massive flood.

Source: Times of India

"I saw waves take away my parents."

"I saw waves take away my parents."

One child's story of how he lost his family:

"For a long time, my parents had been planning a visit to Velankanni. They had taken a vow to shave my head at the shrine, a promise they managed to keep this year," Pratheesh says, weeping all the while. He escaped the tsunami but lost his family to it.

"After the tonsuring, we all went down to take a dip in the sea. I don't remember the exact time but I think it was around 9.30 am. As we were bathing, we saw a huge wave coming towards us. It seemed like fun at first; we understood the danger only when it came near," relates Pratheesh. The family fled for to higher ground, but the waves were too strong and fast for for them. The first wave swept over them. Before they could recover, it was receding.

"All of us were clinging to each other. But we got separated and I could see waves taking away my parents.

"Then came another wave, which again pushed me back to the shore. I lost my consciousness. I don't know how many hours passed. But when I opened my eyes, I was lying in a pool littered with dead bodies," says Pratheesh, whose battered body hurts all the time."

Poem for Mothers / Tsunami Charity for Women

Poem for Mothers / Tsunami Charity for Women


AP photo

When she awoke he was not there
She recalls a man with a mask shaking her
To a consciousness she'd wished she'd not regained

For all the pain that followed when memory fell
back in, like the flood that swept him away
from her desperate arms, his cries drowned by the sea

If she'd only been carried along with him
She would not be left here, cursed with knowing
she'll leave without his body, miraculously saved, alone.


--Jude Nagurney Camwell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



There are many agencies ready and waiting to take donations for tsunami relief. I have posted a list of these agencies, with links, at my personal website. Sri Lanka and Indonesia are likely to have the greatest need for humanitarian support. In Sri Lanka alone, over one million people have been displaced. Among them are tens of thousands of pregnant and nursing women, who are especially susceptible to waterborne diseases and require emergency medical attention and trauma counseling.

I want to make readers aware of one of those agencies, which is called MADRE.
MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization that works in partnership with women’s community-based groups in conflict areas worldwide. MADRE specializes in assisting displaced women and families, offering them crucial trauma counseling which will help them cope with the deaths of their children and other loved ones, gradually heal from their trauma, and begin to rebuild.

MADRE has chosen to partner with INFORM. They are part of a regional network of women’s groups that can reach out immediately to many different communities at at time such as this.

MADRE can be found on several websites (including Charity Navigator and GuideStar) that rate the business practices and overall effectiveness of charities.

Donation information can be found HERE.

Mosul: Independent Electoral Commission Walks Away

Mosul: Independent Electoral Commission Walks Away

Al Jazeerah is reporting that the entire staff of Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission in the northern city of Mosul, amounting to about 700 employees, have resigned amid growing violence in the country.

Also, Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr's political office announced it was taking legal action against the interim Iraqi government for alleged torture and murder of its members.

Sorrow Beyond Words

A father found the body of his eight-year-old son today on the beach in Cuddalore, India.
Photo credit: NY Times/Arko Datta/Reuters

Sorrow beyond words

One year ago...

Tsunami Blogs You Can Rely On

Tsunami Blogs You Can Rely On

At The American Street, Kevin Hayden has compiled some comprehensive information about the latest in blog technology and how, side-by-side with mainstream journalism, the blogosphere is positively effecting the efficiency and speed of relief for the tsunami victims through on-line activism.

Tsunami Blogs you can rely on, Pt. 1
Tsunami Blogs you can rely on, Pt. 2

Kevin Sites is Blogging Again

Kevin Sites is Blogging Again

This time he's in Thailand. His latest blog is a must-read.

Tsunami: "Mysterious Forces"

Praying for a lost loved one in Thailand
AP photo

Tsunami: "Mysterious Forces"

"There are mysterious forces out there that are not fully understood by our oh-so-rational selves. I am reminded of the strange signs and omens that historians recorded before calamities: for instance the rain of frogs in Vietnam preceding the cataclysmic war. Or the odd celestial signs that preceded the death of Julius Caesar.

It is said that the very elements can be affected by the mystical powers of sages who have acquired superhuman powers through meditation and sadhana. I think we should all tread carefully, for now we are treading on things we do not know."

--Rajeev Srinivasan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There is no drop of water in the sea—not even in the deepest part of the abyss—that does not respond to the mysterious forces that create the tides. No other forces that affect the sea are so strong."

--From The Sea III—Wind, Sun, and Moon by Rachel L. Carson, where she considers the science of waves, and the relationship between the earth and the sea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One can almost hear the Hindu gods in one editorial from the Times of India. "Such stupendous forces beyond conception can inspire only awe," the paper wrote. "And ultimate humility in the face of a mysterious creation which, to make itself complete, must inevitably contain the seeds of its own eventual dissolution."

...."If you have seen the swirling, swelling and churning waters of the ponds on that fateful day you would have understood that it was nothing but the workings of the supernatural forces. We rushed to the local soothsayer and he said it was all because of our sins of this age of indiscipline and hedonism."


..."If today I talk about God's fury, I would be ridiculed," the priest says. "But in our Hindu religion there is 'karmaphal,' the result of our actions, good or bad. There is a constant human effort to tame nature in the sky, land and water. We are cutting trees, we are destroying the mangroves.... Our actions unleash an imbalance in the ecology and then such things perhaps happen.

--from: Eco-Disaster, or God's Wrath? Indians React to Tsunami by Sujoy Dhar and Sandip Roy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


In the news:


'Earthquakes don't kill; human error does'

"the death toll in Chennai and towns is high because without regard to elementary rules, people have been settling down on the beach and this has been encouraged by the politicians."

'Earthquakes do not give prior warning'

"The Indian Meteorological Department today cautioned that after-shocks of the massive earthquake that struck Indonesia and Andaman and Nicobar islands would continue in the coming days."

Tsunami Updated Information, Collected Stories, Death Toll

BBC News image

Tsunami Updated Information, Collected Stories, Death Toll

"The BBC's Rachel Harvey, in Banda Aceh, reported seeing ten truck-loads of bodies delivered to one mass grave in just 20 minutes..."

News Trove (Indonesia)

New York Times: The year the earth fought back by Simon Winchester

India Daily- Tsunami effect: Days get shorter


I learned about an excellent piece of journalism by the WP's Michael Dobbs from Roger Mellen via Anonymoses.
Thanks to both. This is a first-hand accounting of a nightmare-turned all too real.




BBC News photo

BBC- Survivors tells of tsunami train horror "The Queen of the Sea was nearing its destination when the waves knocked it sideways.."



NOAA REACTS QUICKLY TO INDONESIAN TSUNAMI



BBC-Swallowed Up by the Savage Sea by Soutik Biswas-

"Within five minutes, Khan and his team work through the debris to bring out Pakirammal, cover her face with a red jumper, daub her with DDT and cart her off to the hospital.

"You have left me, you have left me," howls a disconsolate Shanmugham. His son weeps for the first time during the day.

Then, father and son follow their decomposed mother on her last journey.

There is even less dignity in death for the poor than in life.

After tagging her in hospital, a track will dump her inside a big hole in the ground on top of other bodies and the earth poured in hastily.

About NOAA and Tsunamis



An excellent website: INDONESIAN TSUNAMI AIDS

Some facts from CNN:


CNN photo

- Death count from tsunamis at 80,427, more than half of those in Indonesia
- One in four in some parts of Indonesia’s Aceh province killed, according to United Nations
- About $220 million in cash donations received or pledged so far for the relief effort, U.N. says
- Two tourists killed for every one Thai, according to Thai government
- As many as one-third of the dead may be children, aid workers say
- Aid workers say clean water the priority, and warn of threat of typhoid, malaria, cholera

LINK
via sketches of the mind

Devastating Quake Redraws Map

Rare Tribes May Have Been Lost Forever in Tsunami


Tsunamis and Nuclear Power Plants
by Russell D. Hoffman
t r u t h o u t



CONFIRMED death toll

Sri Lanka: 22,493
Indonesia: 45,268
India: 3,500
Thailand: 1500
Maldives: 67
Malaysia: 65
Burma: 90
Bangladesh: 2
Kenya: 1
Tanzania: 10
Seychelles: 3
Somalia: 100

Source BBC
and The SEA-EAT blog.

Emergency Action Blog Update

Emergency Action Blog (EAB) Update

LATEST NEWS

We think Jon Lebkowsky summed up the goal of EAB best as "a go-to resource for blogger coordination when disasters/catastrophic situations occur." In addition, his post at Global Voices provides a good background for those who might have just stumbled upon this site.

After the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, bloggers from India quickly set up The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog for news and information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts. This blog’s an invaluable coordination effort, and it pointed to the need for a more robust and permanent site for ongoing coordination of bloggers and other online resources in response to other catastrophic situations that might occur in the future. Nick Lewis of the Progressive Blog Alliance is working on such an “Emergency Action Blog” site. We’ve set up an email list (eab at activist-tech.org) for a collaborative effort to define requirements and taxonomy and produce the site using something like CivicSpace. To subscribe, send a blank email to eab-subscribe at activist-tech.org. This will hopefully be an international collaboration of bloggers and techs, therefore a good early project for those who support the Global Voices intiative.

Site creator and founder Nick Lewis states:

"...if the internet in fact has the potential to build a new world, what is the next step in fufilling that potential? My answer: we need to start building more bridges, taking a more experiemental approach to our work (to put it another way, not launching projects because we want them to be successful, but rather launching projects because we’re curious as to what will happen), embracing pockets of low level bloggers that would normally be ignored (you wouldn’t believe how willing many of them are to give hours to a project, if you just bother letting them know that you recognize their work, and appreciate their thoughts.), Taking ourselves less seriously (we’re monkeys with keyboards after all) .And finally instead of asking ourselves “how do we create the movement?” we should be asking ourselves, “how can we discover the movements that aren’t even aware that they are a “movement” yet – and what tools, and strategies can we use to facilate their rise?"

Emergency Action Blog: Reviewing Our First Day

The Blogs & Music that Healed the World

We are living in Kuhnian times. Revolutions are happening by the hour. Blogpolitics is already ancient history, even while having a much greater future. Now blogs are tying together newspapers, artists, musicians and such that can and should be marshalled to create, very rapidly, a vast amount of financial and informational relief.

Newspapers can give free advertising for a Tsunami Aid concert, featuring local, national and world acts, which is then carried over blogs, with links for charitable giving. In exchange, the blogs can carry an ad for the newspaper, bla bla bla. Work it out. It's for a good cause. And an urgent one at that.

--Anonymoses

At the Global Voices blog, Ethan comments:

"I think it’s critically important to connect with someone personally affected by the disaster as a way of understanding it better."

This is something I think we bloggers should aspire to accomplish, along with putting forth effort to ease the pain of this disaster by advertising, coordinating, and supporting all related relief efforts.