BuzzMachine

Good riddance

Good riddance

: I, for one, am delighted that New York lost the 2012 Olympics. We did not need another security threat; an expensive stadium; drug-crazed athletes; an overdose of reporters; endless gushing features on the 6 pm news; candy-colored banners festooning our city, trying to put us in a good mood; and yet more touurists. New York never needed the Olympics and as they pointed out on the radio this morning -- comparing the crowd of thousands of losers, as it turns out, in Paris vs. the gaggle of reporters in New York -- New Yorkers never wanted the Olympics. Crack do style xp

: LATER: As My World Turns says Chirac may have lost Paris the Olympics with his snarks at the Brits (below):

But -- and here is the Olympics connection -- it was also hinted both in London and on last night’s NBC News that Chirac’s faux pas could only hurt Paris’ bid for hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics. NBC News mentioned that two of the judges who would decide which city was going to host the 2012 Summer Olympics were from Finland! A little revenge on their part might have gone a long way...

Crack do style xp

Live 8.1

Live 8.1

: The Live 8 concerts are being held with the best of intentions, all would agree. But not all agree that they will have the best of outcomes. We're seeing asome cautious questioning of the celebrity strategy for world change in print and online. Crack do style xp

Ethan Zuckerman, the American blogger who knows Africa well, raises some questions and concerns and says, "This is yet another reason why I don’t get invited to cocktail parties." Among Ethan's concerns:

No matter how dumb you think the leaders of the G-8 nations are, they’re not dumb enough to conclude that people are flocking to a rock concert because of their passion for reforming trade policy. Perhaps if thousands of people were marching in the streets to demand an end to EU dairy subsidies rather than to see U2…Crack do style xp

... But in the age of citizen journalism, it’s pretty easy to hear what smart, opinionated Africans think about Live 8 directly from their blogs. I just did a roundup of African bloggers writing about Live 8 over at Global Voices. You may be unsurprised to discover that, generally speaking, there’s less enthusiasm for Live 8 on the continent than there is in the US or UK.Crack do style xp

While it’s admirable that thousands of bloggers have added Technorati badges to their pages to promote Live 8, to support African debt relief or to try to revive Bob Geldof’s career. But it would be a damn sight more useful and transformative if bloggers would go a step further and start reading some African bloggers… perhaps starting with some of the folks who are justifiably skeptical about the value of yet another rock concert. Allow me to recommend Thinker’s Room’s “Live Aid? Please!”, Sokari Ekine’s “Live 8419″ or Gerald Caplan’s brilliant piece in Pambazuka.

Go read those links at the end. Go read this, too on British concern: "This is simply an exercise in white, Western megalomania." And keep up on more links at Global Voices. Crack do style xp

: Even The New York Times issues a dose of skepticism about celebrities change agents:

Aid specialists are not nearly so confident, however. "It's a good thing, in that the focus is on Africa," said Richard Dowden, leader of the Royal African Society, a private policy research body. "The danger is that it concentrates on one big push, and if you don't get what you are asking for, you are setting yourself up for disillusionment."Crack do style xp

Indeed, some fundamental assumptions of the campaign are also being challenged. Will good intentions be thwarted by corrupt governments? Can African administrations cope with a surge of increased aid? "The future of Africa is not going to be decided by rock concerts but by African politicians making good decisions," Mr. Dowden said.Crack do style xp

Sir Bob dismisses those concerns. "I am withering in my scorn for the columnists who say, 'It's not going to work,' " he said. "Even if it doesn't work, what do they propose? Every night forever watching people live on TV dying on our screens?"Crack do style xp

In fact, there are those who argue that doing something for the sake of it can be as damaging as doing nothing. Even the Live Aid concerts 20 years ago "did harm as well as good," said David Rieff, a New York-based writer and authority on humanitarian aid. "The Live 8 phenomenon is part of this Western fantasy of omnipotence," Mr. Rieff continued in a telephone interview, "a politically correct version of the imperial impulse to give some money and all will be well, as if the problems of Africa are just the results of our not paying enough attention."

: I listened in on a conference call about Live 8 for bloggers and I've been reading about the attempts to make it a blog cause. But something bothered me about this, too: Bloggers were offered a chance to cover the concerts but there were conditions: They had to sign the pledge and advertise the concert. But will they require The Washington Post to sign the pledge and promote the concerts before being allowed in to cover them? If not, why should bloggers be treated differently from other media? Doesn't this just guarantee that blog coverage will be sympathetic? Is it sufficient that the bloggers' views on this will be as transparent as the Live 8 badges on their sites? Or is the promise of backstage access an attempt to influence their views?Crack do style xp

: I'm not trying to dismiss Live 8 or the blogging efforts and certainly applaud the motives. But it's good to see that the strategy is open for questioning. Crack do style xp

Speaking of supporting news

Speaking of supporting news

: Newsweek reports on codpiece snuggies. Crack do style xp

Take a memo

Take a memo

: I haven't written about the Downing Street memo because to me it's such nonnews: Of course Bush had decided to invade Iraq long before he said so. No one is surprised by that. The scandal here is not that he invaded Iraq -- a policy decision about which reasonable and unreasonable people can disagree -- or that he was determined to do so as soon as he took office -- what politician doesn't have hidden agendas? -- but that he did such a bad job selling it before and after the fact. Crack do style xp

It is a scandal of bad PR. And apart from outright theft, aren't all political scandals about that: transparency, not telling the truth, trying to game the people, trying to treat us as if we're dumb enough to buy the spin?Crack do style xp

I said from the start that WMDs were the wrong justifcation and a dangerous one at that: What happens when we don't find them? Well, now we know what happens. And the truth is that WMDs were never the real justification. Everyone knows that. So Bush would have been in a stronger position if he'd just told the truth:Crack do style xp

1. He should have said that he needed to finish his dad's job (and clean up his mess) and get rid of the tyrant we let stay in power to murder his own people. This is the humanitarian -- yes, liberal -- justification for war that is harder to argue against, harder to undercut. Crack do style xp

2. After 9/11, he should have said he'd follow the Tom Friedman doctrine (and blame him for it): We have to find a foothold for democracy in the Middle East and why not Iraq? Crack do style xp

3. He should have said that we were going to engage terrorists on their turf instead of ours. That's not to say that the 9/11 terrorists were connected to Iraq, but in the Middle East, you turn over any rock and you'll find terrorists underneath. That has been the real truth of the Iraq war: Coming there to fight us and bomb Iraqis is a regular terrorist tourist industry. Crack do style xp

4. When we took Baghdad, he should have gone on that aircraft carrier not to declare victory but instead to warn of the long, hard, dangerous, costly war ahead. The war wasn't over. it was just beginning. He should have managed expectations. Crack do style xp

But he did none of that. It is a scandal of bad PR. Crack do style xp

: SEE ALSO: Jay Rosen on big news now living by the rhythm of the people's news.Crack do style xp

: JEESH: I am amazed sometimes how literal one has to be in the blogosphere. Yes, I said bad PR. It's a wry way to say he lied -- yes, indeed, he wanted to invade Iraq from the first and we all knew it -- and he would have been better off if he had told the truth. There, is that clear enough?Crack do style xp

Verdict in

Verdict in

: Not that we should care, but the Jackson verdict will be read at 4:30p ET. Crack do style xp

: It's funny: I was at this Annenberg roundtable thing about high-fallutin' topics like press and democracy and no one was supposed to be interested in the verdict but, still, they put the trial up on the big screen above our heads even as I sat there on a panel pontificating about citizens and media. So we're all tacky....Crack do style xp

A case for Supernanny

A case for Supernanny

: A leaked government report in Britain recommends identifying future criminals as early as age 3 and sending them to foster homes. Or perhaps Guantanamo. Crack do style xp

Los Alamos update

Los Alamos update

: Wizbang links to the debunking of the Los Alamos whistleblower's contention that he was beaten up because of his whistling.... and files it under dumbasses. Crack do style xp

Effective immediately

Effective immediately

: Has anyone noted the irony that just as GM touts giving consumers the same benefits it gives its employees, it fires thousands of employees. So will it soon give its former customers severence?Crack do style xp

The person next to you is nuts

The person next to you is nuts

: The NY Times reports today that more than half of us will be "mentally ill" sometime in our lives. Well, if more than half of us will, doesn't that make it normal? We're just screwed up, we humans.Crack do style xp

: LATER: Arianna Huffington -- who's as crazy as a fox -- has her own view of this. Crack do style xp

Strange bedfellows, indeed

Strange bedfellows, indeed

: In a Times of London interview, Mikhail Gorbachev reveals that he is a Blairite socialist and Jesus was the first socialist and he and Pope John Paul were penpals and he thinks Margaret Thatcher should be a model for Vladimir Putin. Crack do style xp

A historic day: I agree with the French

A historic day: I agree with the French

: The French resoundingly defeated the European Union constitution. I didn't much like it when it came out. Says the International Herald-Tribune:

With nearly 83 percent of the votes counted, the French Interior Ministry said the no camp had 57.26 percent, compared with 42.74 for the yes....Crack do style xp

Turnout was estimated at more than 70 percent, far exceeding other recent elections in France. The final figure was expected to surpass turnout in the referendum on the Maastricht Treaty 13 years ago that paved the way to the euro.

"It's a big no," said Bruno Jeanbart, director of political research at the CSA polling station. "It's a twin protest vote against the government and against Europe."

It's about trying to turn Europe in to a faux nation. It's about protectionism. It's about Europe thinking it is a world player when it is no longer. And it's about a bad constitution that made up for in bureaucracy what it lacked in vision. Crack do style xp

It's a conspiracy!

It's a conspiracy!

: Oliver Stone arrested on drug charges. Crack do style xp

Ich bin ein Georgian

Ich bin ein Georgian

: Publius Pundit covers Bush's speech in Georgia:

“You gathered here armed with nothing but roses and the power of your convictions and you claimed your liberty and because you acted, Georgia is today both sovereignty and free and a beacon of liberty for this region and the world.”

Crack do style xp

Runaway (bride) story

Runaway (bride) story

: Aw, come on: The runaway bride story is great entertainment, to be sure. The pictures of that deer caught in the headlights are mesmerizing. The tale of a wedding from hell gone to hell is amusing. But, come on Today et al, is this really the top news story in the country?Crack do style xp

: UPDATE ON THE STORY WITH NO UPDATES: Just saw on MSNBC a press gang the size of Michael Jackson's staking out the cops now wondering whether to charge bright-eyes with anything. Crack do style xp

: NEIGHBOR BLOGS: From the comments: Kingdom2000 happens to be a neighbor wide-eyes in Duluth and blogs about the invasion of the press and about the town. Crack do style xp

Fall or liberation?

Fall or liberation?

: I seemed to notice more coverageon the 30th anniversary of the fall/liberation of Vietnam elsewhere than here. Bill Doskoch noticed the same thing. The Guardian on the 30th anniversary; the BBC on the celebrations in Vietnam. Crack do style xp

Quoted

Quoted

: The other day, I grabbed a wonderful quote from Bill Clinton at the Oklahoma City memorial. Here is the fuller quote:

It seems almost impossible that it's been a decade, doesn't it? The memories are still so clear. Yet, by the grace of God, time takes its toll not only on youth and beauty, but also on tragedy. The tomorrows come almost against our will. And they bring healing and hope, new responsibilities and new possibilities.

[via Carpundit]Crack do style xp

Tab wars

Tab wars

: Bild, the German tabloid, complains about its English tabloid cousins and their Hitler-youth headlines on Benedict XVI: "English insult German pope!"Crack do style xp

: The Sueddeutsche Zeitung has a gallery of front pages on the pope. Crack do style xp

You won't see this on Drudge

You won't see this on Drudge

: Sploid's take on the pope's funeral:

Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law — who resigned in total disgrace barely two years ago for aggressively protecting a gang of amoral pervert priests who answered only to him — is one of just nine lucky ducks chosen to preside over John Paul II’s funeral.

Crack do style xp

The pope has died

The pope has died

: Word came before 3p ET, said MSNBC.Crack do style xp

: I'll continue to add links in the posts below -- the first general links, the second about media coverage. Crack do style xp

Pope links

Pope links

: The Pope Blog, which had gone dormant, is back alive now as its bloggers are taking shifts to cover the news. Crack do style xp

: MSNBC.com started a pope news blog with news tidbits and a citizens' journlist page with people emailing in their brushes with the papacy. Crack do style xp

: The Learning Company puts up downloads of two free lectures on papal elections. [via Dave Taylor]Crack do style xp

: We're also seeing pope press releases: A music company is releasing free material for church services when the pope dies. Crack do style xp

: And getaloada this press release: This one says that San Francisco singer Tricia Greenwood took her song "In Heaven," which she previously rewrote as "In Heaven (911)," and now rededicates it to the death of the pope. I'm surprised there wasn't a Schaivo version in the middle. To quote the flackery: "Tricia says, 'God told me to write this song and I obeyed him.'" And then He told her to send out a press release, apparently. Crack do style xp

: Cable news' tone in this story is, of course, ever-reverent. On MSNBC just now, it was good to hear Jim Maseda at least list the controversies that have surrounded this pope. He had to then get back to reverence. But it's good to keep some journalistic perspective in these stories. Crack do style xp

On blogs, of course, that balance is achieved via different perspectives, some blunt in a way that reverent TV coverage can't be. Most blogs mentioning the pope are also reverent but edstrong, a "radical left" blog, quotes at length from an indymedia blast at the pope:

A picture emerges of a man gripped with hatred for condoms but in practice equivocal about paedophilia. Homosexuality is to him "an objective disorder" and "intrinsically evil", but the rape of kidnapped boys is no bar to Sainthood.

: Tempus Fugit says:

Now that Pope John Paul II has had a feeding tube inserted, the “oh my gosh, it’s just like Terri, Michael Schiavo is going to try to kill the pope!” people are coming out of the woodwork. Come on… that’s just not nice. No matter how brain-dead you think some of his positions are, you shouldn’t compare the Pope to someone with no cerebral function.Crack do style xp

Wednesday’s episode of South Park just might have the best summation of the Schiavo issue so far: one side is right for all the wrong reasons, and the other side is wrong for all the right reasons. Wow. Don’t you hate it when foul-mouthed cartoon characters make you think?

: The other night, I got all confused -- not being Catholic -- about whether the networks were confused about whether the pope had received last rights. A library blog quotes Wikipedia to clear it up:

Currently on the home page: Pope John Paul II reportedly receives the Anointing of the Sick following a serious urinary tract infection.. And the anointing of the sick page explains The former name Extreme Unction was used in the Western (Roman) part of the Catholic Church from the end of the twelfth century until the Second Vatican Council, and was never popular in the Eastern (Orthodox) part. Last Rites is a common but misleading term."

: Via a comment to the post below, Josh Marshall gives us a personal recollection and a political analysis of the pope. Crack do style xp

: Rhiel World View does some research on papal succession in a very good post that brings it all together with this tidbit I never knew:

The camerlengo gently raps the pontiff's forehead with a silver mallet and calls the pope by his birth name three times. With no answer after the third time, the Pope is officially pronounced dead in the eyes of the church; however, prior to this, the Pope's personal physician has already pronounced him dead.

: SILVER HAMMER UPDATE: The Guardian has a correction saying that the silver hammer story is a myth. [via Snopes]Crack do style xp

Nonetheless, I haven't been able to get Maxwell's Silver Hammer out of my head. Dan Herzlich helpfully gives us the lyrics in the comments on this post. Crack do style xp

: Publius Pundit, who has quickly become the leading freedom blogger, gives a tribute to John Paul that seems universal:

Pope John Paul II has been to myself and countless others the spiritual revolutionary that gutted the Soviet Union in its Godless, empty soul. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the unmatched contribution he made toward securing us a freer world than the one he was born to. Thomas Jefferson once said, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” making Pope John Paul II one of His most humble servants.

: Catholic Pages has its explanation of the ritual of succession. Crack do style xp

: The Polling Report quotes an ABC/Post poll showing a growing approval rating for the pope over the years. Crack do style xp

: The Rev. Thomas Reece, editor of the Catholic weekly America, has a papal FAQ here. Crack do style xp

: The Ignatius Press Insight Scoop blog has many good updates. Crack do style xp

: Detroit Funk puts up pictures of yellow-and-white flags hoisted outside churchs to mark open prayer. Crack do style xp

: Here's a Podcasting priest at the Vatican. Roderick Vonhögen is a Catholic priest in Utrecht, The Netherlands. [via Baggas]Crack do style xp

: Pirates wants the next pope to come from China: "Since right now China is the biggest threat to world freedom. No, they’re not terrorists, which is what we are currently cleaning up around the world. They are the biggest totalitarian government." Captain's Quarters is writing about the persecution of Chinese Catholics. Crack do style xp

: Outside the Beltway says the ppe gets too much credit for toppling communism in Europe. Crack do style xp

: FreeBible.com sends out a press release saying it's giving free Bibles in honor of the pope. Except the site is already called FreeBible, no? And they charge you a handling fee of $5.99. Crack do style xp

LINKS AFTER THE POPE'S DEATH...Crack do style xp

: Among the first links coming after the pope died are press releases -- one from the Family Research Council and one from Domino's founder Tom Monaghan:

I will always remember the first time I received communion from him in his private chapel. I'll never forget when his blue eyes met mine just before receiving communion ... In fact, within hours of this encounter, I received the inspiration to found Legatus, an organization for Catholic business leaders with the mission to study, live and spread the Faith.

But enough about the pope. What about me? Crack do style xp

: The Pope Blog gives us the quotes of the moment:

Vere Papa mortuus estCrack do style xp

In Latin, "The Pope has truly died," are the words that the Cardinal Camerlengo Eduardo Martinez Somalo pronounces to verify the death of Pope John Paul II.Crack do style xp

Psalm 130 is also recited by the Camerlengo: "Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. ..."Crack do style xp

Any prelates present with the Pope when he dies join together in saying, "Subvénite, Sancti Dei; occúrrite, Angeli Domini: Suscipientes animam eius. Offerentes eam in conspectu Altissimi." ("Come to his aid, Saints of God; race to meet him, Angels of the Lord: Receive his soul and present it in the presence of the Most High.") ...Crack do style xp

"The angels welcome you," Vatican TV said after the announcement came from papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

: The Vatican announced -- and the AP learned about -- the death of the pope via email!Crack do style xp

: A sometimes-Catholic, Chris Gonyea, remembers a sports trip to Rome and St. Peters:

I will be the first to admit, I’m not exactly a model when it comes to being religious. I have attended only a few masses in the past decade. I rarely pray (single digits as well in the past decade probably). When I do attend mass, I often have no clue on what is going on outside of a hazy memory of going to church when I was growing up and in Sunday school....Crack do style xp

I quickly worked my way through the crowd and while I never saw the Pope, I did see what I thought was the top of his head. I was maybe 50 feet away, but it seemed like I was touched personally by him being there. Later that day, I watched the Pope speak from his window overlooking St. Peter’s square. In my pictures, all you could see is a white dot that was his hat. Just seeing something like that was extremely special and I’ll always remember it.

: Michelle Malkin is updating with lots of links. Crack do style xp

: The Lone Star Times reminds us that al Qaeda also targeted John Paul II. Crack do style xp

: A Lebanese blogger, Element, echoes what many say: They may not have agreed with him but they respected him:

Although I never agreed with many of the things that this man stood for in his life. I truly respect him and consider him a great and brave religious leader. He devoted his life to God and to his followers.... i did not agree with most of what this man stood for since i see myself as a progressive liberal catholic, but this man was truly a messenger of peace and love. Rest in peace John Paul II. We will always remember you.

: Similarly, Flaschenpost says:

An unexpected sadness about his imminent passing despite the fact that I don't agree with his conservatism on birth control, women in the church, and homosexuality. I figure I must just like the man. He comes from Poland, not far from where I'm from, his history linked closely to what I think of my history (the history of my family, my region, my country). His vigour, studiousness, smile, gusto, and approachability impressed me. His stance against communism.

: And still in a similar vein, here is a very nice post from a Polish blogger, Kinuk:

Crack do style xp

There is a hush over the country. It's as if everyone is walking a little softer and moving a little gentler. When I went to bed last night just around 2am, there were still a lot of lights on in the apartment blocks next to ours. We all held our vigils in some way. I didn't want to talk to anybody, I didn't really want to go to church, I just wanted to sit in front of the television and watch. Almost every single Polish channel carried films, news, recollections and photographs of the Pope. There were reporters in most large churches across the country, talking to bishops and archbishops and the faithful. Men got teary on national cameras and some women wept openly. We know he's dying and that breaks our hearts....Crack do style xp

I'm probably not the right person for this commentary. My opinions differ dramatically from those of the Catholic Church. I disagree with their stance on women's rights, reproductive rights and homosexuality. I disagree strongly. But, when it comes to the Pope, the man who cements these views and beliefs in the Church, I cannot help myself.Crack do style xp

I tell myself that it must be his Polishness and his incredible pull on my fellow Poles. I tell myself that I value him and his work because of his large role in bringing down the Communist regime. I tell myself that he has travelled so much around the world and brought happiness to so many. But I think my outpouring of emotions are rooted in a simpler reason: a good man is dying. It's that simple.

: Here is the Religion News Service obituary. Crack do style xp

: Here is the official Vatican bulletin...

Crack do style xp

: Arthur Chrenkoff writes his tribute. Crack do style xp

: Tom Watson writes a very neat post about John Paul II as the blogging pope -- or at least the networked pope:

Poet, author, diarist, commentator, reader, writer. Karol Wojtyla of Poland was a blogger at heart. And his Papacy earned early adopter status amidst the cobwebs and Latin scrolls of the Church. Hidebound to tradition in many ways, progressive in many others, Pope John Paul II embraced new technology to the fullest, and used the Internet as a tool for evangelism from its earliest days of consumer adoption. Not only was he the most traveled Pope, he was the most wired Pope, and he understood the power of the worldwide network of digital information and opinion.Crack do style xp

Very early on, the Church became a strong Internet player under John Paul II. It understood the intrinsic value of its vast collections of art and texts, and gradually made much of it available online - thereby drawing in Catholics and non-Catholics. Almost immediately, the Holy See created versions of its Website in many languages and was among the first major worldwide institutions to use database-and-object technology online to publish, moving quickly away from the flat html pages of the mid-90s.Crack do style xp

Moreover, the Pope understood the power of networked communication, especially for the young. He pushed the Church to adopt technology, to open communications. Here's a quote from one official statement on World Communications Day (2002):Crack do style xp

For the Church the new world of cyberspace is a summons to the great adventure of using its potential to proclaim the gospel message...I dare to summon the whole Church bravely to cross this new threshold, to put out deeply into the Net....Crack do style xp

Note the humor in the pun. The Blogging Friar Jack calls John Paul "the most media-savvy pope ever." As late as last year, in failing health, he continued to urge the Church to invest in - and embrace - the Internet....Crack do style xp

Modern technology has created the kind of death watch we all witnessed over the past few days. In most ways, it is useless and crude. But the spread of information - the more open Church - that John Paul II encouraged will not be reversed easily. Visit the Vatican online today and you'll find a vast and nearly complete database of his thoughts: homilies, speeches, letters, messages - a record of his Papacy online.Crack do style xp

And that instinct toward transparency, remarkable for this Church, should be considered a major portion of the legacy of this blogging Pope.

: Joe Gandelman has one of his patented roundups, but over at Dean's blog. Crack do style xp

Meanwhile, in other news

Meanwhile, in other news

: Chickenman Frank Perdue is dead. Crack do style xp

Bad taste award

Bad taste award

: FinkTank3000 discovers that the American Family Association puts up Terri Schaivo merchandise. Get your bumperstickers: "Remember Terri Schaivo. www.stopliberaljudges.com".Crack do style xp

Oh, and by the way, if the judges strictly interpreted law and supported state's rights, what makes them liberal?Crack do style xp

Terri Schiavo dies

Terri Schiavo dies

: She has died. I'll be doing the MSNBC blog roundup at noon. I'm seeing many prayers but also much anger.Crack do style xp

: MSNBC just reported that Bush will make a live statement about Schiavo at the start of a statement about WMD. He doesn't make live statements about the soldiers who die in Iraq but he makes a statement about this. Crack do style xp

Her death is political to the end. Crack do style xp

: A few of the links I'm finding:Crack do style xp

GlennBeck.com goes all black: R.I.P. Terri.Crack do style xp

This site has a photo, graphic tributeCrack do style xp

Blogotional.com prints the lyrics from the hymn What Wondrous Love is This.Crack do style xp

RobBushway.com says: "Our society has shown its true colors for allowing this to happen and the true after effects of 25 years of Roe v Wade."Crack do style xp

EternalPerspectives.com says: "Truly, the death of Terri Schiavo diminishes us all."Crack do style xp

Mobyrebuttal.blogspot.com says that Terri's will prevailed. 'I believe that you prevailed. I will not say rest in peace, you have rested in peace far too long, bound to this earth in a broken mind and body. But now you are free to soar, to walk again and talk with your maker."Crack do style xp

Keepstumblin says: "I suspect she will posthumously become the poster child for the cause, her husband will continue to be demonized by these people, and her parents will be portrayed as long suffering (which they are, but not for the reasons they should be) and saintly. It's my hope that everyone involved in this unfortunate situation will come to terms with both Terri's death and the actions of those on both sides of the debate. It would be too bad if this entire saga only resulted in more misunderstanding, mistrust, and anger."Crack do style xp

On media coverage:Crack do style xp

A comment at Catch.com: "And perhaps some mention is warranted that regardless of what her wishes may have ultimately been -- I strongly suspect that to spend her dying days at the centre of a media circus was not among them."Crack do style xp

Tributaries says: "May she rest in peace. GOd knows the living shan't from now on."Crack do style xp

A lonely impulse of delight at getifa.com:
"I’d like to go a day without seeing a woman who has been brain-dead for 15 years on the front page of the newspaper and the MSN home page on my computer."Crack do style xp

The Bull Speaks says:
"Perhaps now Terri’s parents can let her go and perhaps the Nation can begin to heal from this media-driven horror story."Crack do style xp

: LATER: Intolerant Elle quotes Bush on the death of Terri Schaivo: "The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak."Crack do style xp

A good reason to support universal health insurance. Crack do style xp

Getting past the shouting

Getting past the shouting

: MSNBC's Connected has a good show on right now trying to get past the shouting and have on experts who debate the issues, ethics, and facts about whether there is a chance of recovery in a case like Schiavo's and whether a feeding tube is medical treatment.Crack do style xp

Just finished watching the whole show. It was good because it used the form -- talk -- to get past opinion and shouting and tried to find the facts and inform (ain't that journalism?). Of course, there was disagreement. But the show was grounded in an effort to inform. Crack do style xp

: LATER: See also Cathy Young getting down to facts at Hit & Run. Crack do style xp

A response from the right

A response from the right

: Just got back to a connection and saw that this morning, Hugh Hewitt responded to my Jumping the shark for Jesus post. Crazed doing important things like eating dinner so I don't have time to respond but wanted you to see the link.Crack do style xp

Quake

Quake: 'Bloggers are morons'

: Peter Tan blogged during the earthquake, reporting that "my apartment is shaking." More:

I had just finished posting my latest entry when I felt my wheelchair moving. I thought I was dizzy because I have not been getting enough sleep lately. A short while later, I realised that it was another earthquake when I heard my door rattling. I quickly woke the maid up.Crack do style xp

My neighbours were fast. They had already locked their apartment door and were waiting for the elevator. I chose to stay in the apartment. There was no point rushing to get down since everybody else will be waiting for the elevator too. This is in fact a bad move since they could get trapped in the lift should the building tilt.Crack do style xp

This temblor is stronger than the one on Boxing Day and lasted longer. It began at approximately 0011 and lasted a good two minutes or more. When the taskbar clock showed 0013, the apartment was still swaying. The water in the tank in my toilet sloshed about and spilled over the edge. I looked down from my window and saw many neighbours lingering in the driveway, barely 5 meters from the buildings that are 22 storeys high....

And this great post:

Bloggers Are Morons
Blogging has fried our brains. Instead of evacuating after the tremor, we, bloggers staying in high rise apartments, sit here n blog about it, oblivious to the risk should the building topple over or collapse. I, for one, was furiously typing away as the floor swayed under me instead of making plans to leave my apartment. Should I laugh or cry at this stupidity that has befallen me?

: Amazing how quickly news from ground-level comes up on the internet. Shortly after the earthquake off Jakarta, blogs started updating. See this:

I've just been messaged by my mom who's with Oxfam in Sri Lanka and she says that the tsunami warning sirens have been sounded 2 hours ago. The country's emergency serivces have been put on standby. I've phoned my volunteer coordinator at VolunteerSriLanka in Habantota on the South Coast of Sri Lanka - and some IDP camp residents have been evacuated about 5km away from the coastal areas - thats about 3 camps I've heard so far.Crack do style xp

Meanwhile Peter Griffin & Dina Mehta have rallied and sent out an email to all current SEA EAT volunteers in the region and those still involved with the relief operation to standby to start blogging alerts via txt msgs & email....Crack do style xp

Phone lines have apparently got jammed once again in Sri Lanka & everyone is just panicking instead of remaining calm until we all know what's going on. Shall keep you all posted as i get news....Crack do style xp

UPDATE - 10.18PM - Bahrain Time (+3GMT) :
All Sri Lankans living on the coast have been asked to move away from the coast within an hour. This was about a half an hour ago. The information has been distributed fairly widely. The Commissioner of Police has also stated that they are taking steps to stop traffic on the Galle Road. People fleeing also asked to watch out for looters.
-SMS from Sanjaya with the Daily News in Sri Lanka ...

: The TsunmaiHelp blog is keeping up on the news. Crack do style xp

: Jeff Ooi, the Maylasian blogging wonder, is on the story again. Crack do style xp

: Another eyewitness blog report:

So I’m in bed with Hubby, when suddenly I felt my world start to rock.Crack do style xp

We’re mid-way through an episode of Frasier when suddenly we felt the tremors. It was pretty freaky! We were watching telly in bed and I heard loud creaks and felt my bed swaying back and forth. For a nanosecond I almost thought my cat was playing under the bed again — yes, and she had gained super strength… Look, it’s past midnight, I’m sleepy, my brain’s not all there, ok?Crack do style xp

Turns out there’s a quake measuring 8.5 on the richter scale near North Sumatra. And we felt it all the way here in Punggol....Crack do style xp

I hear dogs barking incessantly. I’m remembering all the movies and tv shows about animal instincts and I’m getting weirded out. Meanwhile, Hubby goes “hey, this is so fun”. I stare at him like he’s grown a third eye....Crack do style xp

brown suggests I get a camera phone, so that : “can snap pic with phone, send via email to flickr plus also to blog. Too cool. macam ‘Live from Mordor’ ”

The "brown" she refers to is a blogger here. Crack do style xp

: Eyewitness reports on an MSNBC community blog. Crack do style xp

Not again

Not again

: A large, 8.2 quake has hit near Jakarta. Tsunami warning issued. Command Post is on the case. GoogleNews feed here. Crack do style xp

Against the grain

Against the grain

: Conservative radio talk-show host Neal Boortz breaks from the pack on Terri Schiavo with a religious argument that we have rarely heard:

Where do your concerns truly lie, with the eternal soul of Terri Schiavo, or with her earthly body?...Crack do style xp

Is it possible that the soul of Terri Schiavo has been floating – held in some prolonged and excruciating limbo – waiting for doctors to stop interfering with the process of her death? I believe that this is so, and that is why I have supported her husband’s desires to have her feeding tube removed. Terri Schiavo isn’t being murdered. She’s being allowed to die. Death will not be an end for Terri Schiavo, it will be a beginning. She will finally be allowed to claim the reward that ultimately we all seek, a reward she’s earned and deserves.

: LATER: Nuclear Dann corrects me and says he is a libertarian and not a conservative and is, indeed, staying with the grain of libertarians who say that government imposition of medical treatment violates individual rights. Boortz, though, put himself in the club of nonliberal talk-show hosts and is certainly against the grain among them. I quoted it less for the political graininess than for the religious view we've seen infrequently. Crack do style xp

It ain't over when it's over

It ain't over when it's over

: If you think media has overdosed on coverage of the Schiavo case, just wait until she dies. What should be a sad moment in a tragic story, a private mourning for her family -- yes, all the family -- will become, instead, a most public spectacle, you can be sure. Crack do style xp

The rhetoric of the people before the cameras in Florida and Washington has gotten hotter and hotter. The crowds in Florida are growing. I fear the Schiavo riots, I really do. Crack do style xp

There are a lot of ministers and people trumpeting Christianity down there. I hope some of them remember that this is a religion of forgiveness, grace, and peace -- remember that turning the other cheek thing, folks. Unfortunately, though, it is the men of the cloth who've been the angriest on TV. Crack do style xp

I'll bet we'll see shrines beyond those for Elian Gonzalez. This story will not end soon.Crack do style xp

What I'm really afraid of is that Fox will bring back John Edwards, the flim-flam TV man who says he talks to the dead -- yes, they interviewed even him on this story. Then we'll hear Terri speak. Crack do style xp

Jon Stewart says: "The Schiavo feeding tube will soon be removed from the cable news networks." (Make sure to watch it.)Crack do style xp

Now, of course, I was part of that feeding frenzy, doing reports on what the blogs said about Schiavo for MSNBC. I did that once, earlier in the story, and found lots of prayers and really nothing being said on the other side; there wasn't an other side online TV wants another side. They asked me to do it again, later, and I protested that we wouldn't see anything new, just more prayers; we wouldn't see two sides and cable news wants two sides. But I was wrong. In the meantime, Congress got involved; the story was now not just a media spectacle but also a political spectacle. Now there was plenty of talk on the blogs about the politics, the ethics, living wills, media. The comments in this blog alone exploded with discussion. The people were indeed talking about the story. So I reported it... more than once. (I leave it to you to judge my culpability in adding to the spectacle.)Crack do style xp

Last night on Connected, I was glad to see Ron Reagan go after the people who've issued the most inflammatory rhetoric, accusing the judges in the case of wanting to murder Schiavo. Ron also asked one of the guests during the same segment in which I reported, again, on what the blogs were saying: Is media overdoing this; is this spectacle media's fault? I think he was as shocked as I was at the answer: The guest said no; the people were talking about this case and so it's OK for media to talk about it. Crack do style xp

Hmmm. Chicken: Meet egg.Crack do style xp

This, we are learning, is the nature of 24-hour news. It's no longer about picking the top stories and packaging them in a paper or a show. I've said before that we used to wait for the news to come to us and now the news waits for us to come to it. So now we turn on the TV and expect to see the hottest story. And each cable channel fears being the one on right then without the hottest story. So we all get the hottest story all the time. And the problem is that all "hottest stories" become equal: war = Terri Schiavo = Michael Jackson.Crack do style xp

I'm not sure what the solution to that is. I'd like to see one of them try a format that guarantees the rest of the news, what else is happening in the world. I'd watch that. Crack do style xp

In the meantime, in the Schiavo story, I hope we see some restraint from the participants and from the media. We'll see....Crack do style xp

Schiavo

Schiavo

: MSNBC just said that the Supreme Court refused to order reinserting the tube. Crack do style xp

Schiavo today

: The judge refuses order that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube be reconnected. Crack do style xp

One moral to this story: You can't game the system. After all the grandstanding in Congress and at the White House and on TV news, it still came down to one judge charged with following the law. It's a system and most of the time, it works. If you don't like the outcome, that doesn't mean you can win by gaming the system. Crack do style xp

The illusory political appeal of the Schiavo case

The illusory political appeal of the Schiavo case

: An ABC poll shows strong opposition to Congressional and Presidential interference in the Schiavo case:

The public, by 63 percent-28 percent, supports the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube, and by a 25-point margin opposes a law mandating federal review of her case. Congress passed such legislation and President Bush signed it early today.Crack do style xp

That legislative action is distinctly unpopular: Not only do 60 percent oppose it, more — 70 percent — call it inappropriate for Congress to get involved in this way. And by a lopsided 67 percent-19 percent, most think the elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or for the principles involved.Crack do style xp

This ABC News poll also finds that the Schiavo case has prompted an enormous level of personal discussion: Half of Americans say that as a direct result of hearing about this case, they've spoken with friends or family members about what they'd want done if they were in a similar condition. Nearly eight in 10 would not want to be kept alive.Crack do style xp

In addition to the majority, the intensity of public sentiment is also on the side of Schiavo's husband, who has fought successfully in the Florida courts to remove her feeding tube. And intensity runs especially strongly against congressional involvement.Crack do style xp

Included among the 63 percent who support removing the feeding tube are 42 percent who "strongly" support it — twice as many as strongly oppose it. And among the 70 percent who call congressional intervention inappropriate are 58 percent who hold that view strongly — an especially high level of strong opinion.Crack do style xp

Views on this issue are informed more by ideological and religious views than by political partisanship. Republicans overall look much like Democrats and independents in their opinions.Crack do style xp

But two core Republican groups — conservatives and evangelical Protestants — are more divided: Fifty-four percent of conservatives support removal of Schiavo's feeding tube, compared with seven in 10 moderates and liberals. And evangelical Protestants divide about evenly — 46 percent are in favor of removing the tube, 44 percent opposed. Among non-evangelical Protestants, 77 percent are in favor — a huge division between evangelical and mainline Protestants.Crack do style xp

Conservatives and evangelicals also are more likely to support federal intervention in the case, although it doesn't reach a majority in either group. Indeed, conservative Republicans oppose involving the federal courts, by 57 percent-41 percent.

[via Joe Gandelman]Crack do style xp

More Schiavo

More Schiavo

: See Mark Kleiman on the irony of other cases involving the Texas Futile Care Law signed by Gov. George W. Bush himself. Crack do style xp

: Matthew Yglesias sends us to a good post by Rivka on the medical claims in the case; see another on the ethical issues. And Rivka recommends a post by Hilzoy, which includes a picture of a scan of Terri Schiavo's brain. Crack do style xp

: Barbara O'Brien says (relevant to the economic points I made below):

We need a list of politicians and commentators, including bloggers, who have been calling for cuts in Medicaid but who now have joined in the "save Terri Schiavo" cult. These people need to be challenged to take her off Medicaid and pay for her maintenance themselves.

[via Kevin Drum]Crack do style xp

: My views today here. Crack do style xp

: Below, I said that the connection would not be made between this case and the death penalty. But right now on MSNBC's Connected, Sister Helen Prejean talks about the Catholic church coming out strongly against the death penalty. Crack do style xp

Schiavo fallout

: As Congress and the President rushed into their exploitation of Terri Schiavo, they set off a bomb that will have considerable fallout, I think:Crack do style xp

: Without incredibly explicit instructions directly from the patient -- and even with explicit instructions from the spouse or guardian -- I can see doctors and hospitals refusing to take people off life-support for fear that some family member can come forward and start suing. Crack do style xp

: Not that moneyu should be a factor in matters of life and death -- though, of course, it is in the insurance industry -- but we are going to end up with who-knows-how-many-more vegetative patients who will be kept alive out of fear of litigation and the high cost of maintaining them will fall to the people through insurance and taxes. Crack do style xp

: We now have the federal government -- and not just the federal goverment but both houses of Congress and the President himself -- inserting themselves into an individual medical, legal, family dispute. Watch the avalanche of individual cases that will now fall upon Washington: You did it for Terri, why not for my cousin?Crack do style xp

: The Republicans set some odd precedents in matters of state's rights and government interference in individuals' lives that may come back to haunt them. Crack do style xp

: You can bet there will be attempts to extend what happened last night as a principle of life into the debate over abortion. Crack do style xp

: You can bet you will not see attempts to extend this principle into the debate over the death penalty, however. Crack do style xp

: You will see Terri Schiavo continue to be used as a political hostage as any Democrat who dared question the wisdom and legality of this action will be accused by opponents in the next election as being against life. Crack do style xp

What else?Crack do style xp

This is not the result of deliberative government and the rule of law. This is the result of the fog of media and cynical politics. Crack do style xp

: MORE: I also believe that this will have an indirect impact on the issues surrounding right-to-die and euthenasia. I do agree that starving a person to death -- or choking them by withdrawing a resperator -- is potentially cruel (the arguments about whether a person without a brain feels pain are, of course, inconclusive). I would be scared of agreeing to die that way. But if I were eased into death with drugs, that might be a different matter. [Note to the future: Do not take this as my living will. I'm not sure yet.] But to ease me into death with drugs -- in other words, to kill me with medication -- is illegal in all states but Oregon. And so we are forced to choose what certainly seems to be a crueler means of ending life. It's not wrong to draw the parallel many have (one commenter on this post, one blogger I quoted on MSNBC last week) to death-penalty treatment: We also cannot be sure whether they suffer (there is debate about that) but even if they do, it is for a far, far shorter time than starving someone to death or choking them (which is terribly frightening to me). So more fallout of this case -- quite unintended by those who set off the bomb -- could be more liberalization of laws regarding medically assisted death. Or put it this way: If I wrote my living will with explicit instructions [again: I'm not going that yet] saying that I would want life support removed but only with sufficient narcotics to cause death, what would doctors and courts do then? Crack do style xp

: Joshua Claybourn discusses the constitutionality of the legislation just signed. Here's a link to the Senate bill. See also Joe Gandelman's analysis of the politics.Crack do style xp

Cuff 'im

: We're wasting an ankle bracelet on Martha Stewart.Crack do style xp

How much better it would be if we slapped that ankle bracelet on a sex offender. Crack do style xp

The slime who confessed to kidnapping and murdering Jessica Lunsford was a sex offender who was not where he was registered; he was across the street from the poor little girl and that's where he killed her. Crack do style xp

Registration, unfortunately, is not enough. Something more needs to be done. So shy shouldn't sex offenders be cuffed with electronic bracelets and tracked for the rest of their lives? Crack do style xp

Boys vs. Girls is so third grade

: Maureen Dowd can't get out of the playground. Crack do style xp

So much for Bono

: Paul Wolfowitz will be the next head of the World Bank. To his seething detractors, look at this way: He won't be armed. Crack do style xp

So much for the Duh Defense

: See the picture on the right column in The Times' story about Bernie Ebbers' guilty-guilty-guilty verdict. This is a man who know's he's toast. Crack do style xp

: Speaking of toast: Ken Lay. Crack do style xp

The Purpose-Driven Hostage Negotiator

: The amazing woman who soothed the homicidal soul of the Atlanta judge-killer read him The Purpose-Driven Life. No surprise: The self-home tome is now No. 3 on Amazon. Crack do style xp

Boy, I bet Dr. Phil is jealous!Crack do style xp

Neuter

: I hope you've all seen the ridiculous Norwegian PC argument that the figures in Ikea's instructions should not all be male, while Ikea argues that it can't have women in instructions in Muslim countries. Wow: a PC war. Crack do style xp

From now on, all Ikea furniture will be built by Pat. Crack do style xp

The danger of insanity

: As I came through Jersey City's Journal Square -- a kind of reality-show version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- early this morning, I heard some guy shouting and singing and dancing wildly. Of course, I charted a course around him. I didn't want to get anywhere near him. He could be dangerous. He's a nut. You know it. I know it. But society won't admit it. He's out on the street. We think that's his right, to be insane -- though, of course, he's too insane to be able to judge that he wants to be sane. We have no idea what to do with the insane. And that hurts them -- and the people around them. It's even dangerous. Crack do style xp

I wrote about this a few weeks ago when we thought that a homeless person had started a fire in the subways in New York that was going to take years to fix (and none of that turned out to be true: they couldn't show that's how the fire started and the subways were back in days). Crack do style xp

Now there's a better case to discuss this issue: The murders of Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow's husband and mother by Bart Ross who, it turns out, was quite insane.

The man, Bart A. Ross, 57, had sued the federal government and a raft of others for $1 billion, saying they persecuted him with "Nazi-style" and terrorist tactics as he pursued a medical malpractice claim stemming from the severe disfigurement of his cancerous jaw....Crack do style xp

Neighbors of Mr. Ross, an electrical contractor who changed his name from Bartilomiej Ciszewski upon emigrating from Poland a quarter-century ago, said he was an angry loner whose huge black dog terrorized children on their quiet street in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago. They recalled his disrupting a block club meeting several years ago to solicit support for his suit, and said that early last month, facing eviction, he asked neighbors to adopt his dog and cat because he could no longer afford to feed them.Crack do style xp

Soon after, they said, he packed his belongings and left.Crack do style xp

"When I looked out this morning and saw all the police tape, I said to my husband, 'It has to be Bart Ross,' " said Jennifer Fernandez, a neighbor. "He obviously had a chip on his shoulder about this."Crack do style xp

Lawyers involved in the case, in which Mr. Ross represented himself, said that his physical and mental condition had deteriorated through the years and that they had fretted for their own safety around him.

That's not the usual neighbor quote, is it -- the "he was quiet; we're surprised" spiel. Crack do style xp

Everybody knew he was nuts. He was dangerous. The danger turned out to be all too real. But nothing was done to help him or protect others. Crack do style xp

Now, of course, we say we can't find ourselves in in a real-life version of Minority Report, preemptively arresting people before they've committed the crimeswe somehow knew they'd commit. Crack do style xp

But look at the case of Ross: He was clearly insane; he was dangerous; nothing was done; the only way this story could end was the way it ended: in needless tragedy. Yes, society failed him. But it sure as hell failed Judge Lefkow's family more. The priorities are wrong. Crack do style xp

Look at today's tragic shooting of a judge in Atlanta. I doubt that this is about insanity; it's about raw criminality: A man on trial and facing forever in jail with nothing to lose is able to grab a gun because he was dressed in civilian clothes without handcuffs or shackles, they're saying on TV now -- so he wouldn't look guilty to a jury. Two good people are dead and others are injured when their safety should have come first; they needed to be protected from a dangerous and deseparate man. The priorities are wrong. Crack do style xp

I'll even bring Michael Jackson into this -- not on a legal basis but on a cultural basis. The guy is clearly nuts. You know it. I know it. But we won't say it out loud. It wouldn't be politically correct. Now I'm not saying that Jackson should be arrested because he's nuts or even forced into treatment -- God knows what kind -- just because he's nuts. I wouldn't know how to adjudicate that. But I am saying that our treatment of him in his family, among his handlers, in his industry, and in media does him -- and possibly the children he has entertained -- no good. To use a bit of PC language myself, society has enabled his obvious insanity by not daring to call him insane. To me, this, too, is about the wrong priorities. Crack do style xp

This is not just about getting help for the insane or keeping the dangerous in handcuffs. It's about an attitude that gives priority to the safety of the sane. Crack do style xp

Hell non

: Yesterday, the NY Post gave Lance Armstrong hell for siding with Paris to get the Olympics. Then last night, John Gibson on FoxNews turned to Armstrong for his ending commentary and I thought he'd follow the same company line. But, no: He said Armstrong's right. I agree. Let the French have the steroid festival. Let the French deal with the disruption and expense of security for the terrorists. New York doesn't need the Olympics. New York doesn't need the publicity. New York doesn't need a stadium, either. So right on, Lance. Right on, John. Crack do style xp

A small step toward civilization in America

: The Supreme Court outlawed executing minors... at last. Says Kevin Keith at LeanLeft says:

This is a great relief, shamefully overdue. The Times notes that all the countries that until recently executed juveniles have since outlawed the practice, leaving the US the last remaining country in the world to practice this barbarism - behind Iran, China, Pakistan and other garden spots. (Interestingly, with Iran’s change in policy the entire “Axis of Evil” now shuns juvenile execution while the US - until yesterday - still practiced it. The Bush administration supports juvenile executions, and Bush himself presided over the killing of at least 4 teenage offenders in Texas as governor. He now travels the world lecturing other governments on morality.) Since the death penalty was reinstanted in 1976, the US has killed 22 prisoners who were teens at the time of their crimes - one was 16 when the crime occurred....Crack do style xp

Nothing makes the inherent savagery of the death penalty more clear than the insane drive on the part of its supporters to kill children.

One True Tami says:

Good going Supremes!

Crack do style xp

Numbers

: The toll from the tsunami has now passed 228,000. Crack do style xp

The ethics of tourism

: Some are appalled at tourists reappearing in Phuket after the tsunami. But others, starting with the head of Lonely Planet, say that getting tourist dollars to those economies are vital. I was reading a story at Australia's The Age and another Jeff Jarvis (not me, not the jazz musician, the Australian Jeff Jarvis I run across on eGoogles now and again) says:

Jeff Jarvis, a Monash University academic and tourism industry researcher whose particular interest is how the largesse of Western tourists impacts on developing countries, has no doubt. "This is a time for people to be foot soldiers for development aid - to get off the sofa and book their next holiday to Thailand or Sri Lanka," he says. "To support the people in the bar and selling T-shirts on the beach and working in the restaurants."Crack do style xp

Jarvis, director of the graduate tourism program at the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash, argues that tourism is a major force of development worldwide - and becoming ever more important. "People don't realise what happens to the money they spend on holiday. That for them to go and spend a couple of thousand dollars in a developing country would be the equivalent of someone spending tens of thousands of dollars in Australia. Tourism can be a vital weapon in the war against poverty."

Crack do style xp

First-class tragedy

: Australia's The Age says visits of VIPs are interfering with tsunami relief:

World leaders visiting the region said they were shocked by the devastation, but humanitarian workers complained that their aid delivery was being hampered by the stream of VIP visitors....Crack do style xp

In Aceh, the visits by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Mr Powell have shut the only airport at Banda Aceh, the capital, for hours at a time, so incoming shipments have not been able to land and injured survivors have been forced to wait to be evacuated.

On the other hand:

"VIPs come in and see the destruction for themselves and then aid follows," the diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said.

Crack do style xp

Oh, Gawd!

: England is turning into America. The red states are spreading. Church attendance rises in London.Crack do style xp

: More evidence of red-state seepage into England: An outcry of prigs and prudes against the BBC airing of the Jerry Springer play. Crack do style xp

Ingratitude

: Australians are worried about attacks on aid workers by angry Muslims:

Fuelling the volatility of the region, fundamental Islamic activists are also flooding into the region in a bid to guard against what they regard as dangerous Western influences....Crack do style xp

Indonesian sources say the chief concerns for the safety of aid workers and unarmed defence personnel are Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists looking for publicity, criminal gangs attached to GAM, and Islamic fundamentalists concerned about the influx of Westerners.Crack do style xp

One hardline Islamic group took aim yesterday at an Australian Catholic charity, Father Chris Riley's Youth off the Streets, planning to set up an orphanage in tsunami-ravaged Aceh, warning it not to try to convert Muslim children.

Nutjobs. Just plain nutjobs. Crack do style xp

I ridiculed the NY Times when it said the reason for us to give aid to Indian Ocean victims was because we should make nice to Muslims for our PR. No, I said, the reason to do it is because it's the right thing to do. Period. Crack do style xp

And attacking aid workers who are doing the right thing is the wrong thing. Period. If these nutjobs attack the good souls who are there to help them... well, let the world and God judge them.Crack do style xp

Up the down staircase

: Dateline is doing a panic piece on a tsunami hitting New York. So we had been thinking about ways to get down fast and now we need to get up fast. Or move to Kansas. Crack do style xp

The tsunami's map

: Ralph Peters draws a compelling view of the political importance of the tsunami's path:

No region of the world is so complex, or so thick with both threats and opportunities. The Indian Ocean region is not only critical in detail, but has an overall importance even greater than its parts. From the vital sea lanes that once carried spices and now carry oil, to the competing civilizations on its littorals, the Indian Ocean binds together the world's great passions, needs and dangers.Crack do style xp

This is where Islam must — and can — change; where nuclear weapons are likeliest to be used; where the future economic potential is vast; where the bulk of the world's heroin is produced; and where the heroin of the world economy — oil — could be cut off with a handful of nuclear weapons (think Iran, the Suez Canal and a few Arab ports).Crack do style xp

We have failed to see the forest for the palm trees. Nature recognized what our government consistently fails to understand. The earthquake centered off the coast of Sumatra triggered deadly waves that struck Thailand and Somalia, India and Indonesia, Burma and the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Africa's Swahili coast.Crack do style xp

The tsunami drew a strategic map of the 21st century.

I'm not really sure where he goes with that, but I liked the description of that part of the world. Crack do style xp

Generosity

: Australia is offering $1 billion in aid to Indonesia and also subsidizing volunteers' airfare and health insurance. We like this guy.
Later: But he's not for debt relief. Crack do style xp

Who's stingy now?

: Blogger Franco Aleman exposes Spanish stinginess -- and sneakiness. Much of its "aid" is essentially in the form of discounts on buying Spanish products, he says. Crack do style xp

More equivalencies

Rex Hammock says:

Like Jeff, I'm tuning out the misguided attempts by some to come up with moral or monetary equivalences to the tsunami and to suggest that we should cancel this or that and give the money to relief. Stop with the politicizing of this tragedy, people. Even Mark Cuban, my favorite billionaire blogger, has called for the cancellation of the presidential inauguration festivities so that funds can be diverted to tsunami relief. Huh? Why not call for the cancellation of the NBA season and take all the dollars advertisers have committed for broadcasting it and send those funds to tsunami relief? What, the advertisers won't do that? Have you asked?

OOPS! I messed up a tag and the attribution of this good post was lost. It is Rex Hammock's, not mine. Credit and flaming where credit and flaming are due! Sorry, Rex. If you came here because of the Instalanch, please go to Rex to (a) give him the traffic love and (b) read the whole post, which is even better....Crack do style xp

Coming together

: Bush has appointed his father and Bill Clinton to lead a private fundraising effort for tsunami relief. This begins to make up for the foolish move the White House made attacking Clinton for expressing his sympathy for the victims when tragedy struck. Crack do style xp

Catastrophic equivalencies

: We've been hearing a lot about equivalencies lately: People are comparing the money pledged to tsunami relief to the money spent on the inauguration. People are equating the money dedicated to tsunami relief to the money spent on the occupation of Iraq. Crack do style xp

Well, let's look at this tragic equivalency, too: Crack do style xp

By the latest count, 160,000 people have died in this tsunami. Crack do style xp

A month ago, Tony Blair said that 400,000 victims of Saddam Hussein's tyranny and murder have been found in mass graves in Iraq. Crack do style xp

Both are humanitarian tragedies, humanitarian issues, humanitarian needs. Crack do style xp

But, of course, we heard little outcry demanding support, sympathy, and American resources brought to bear for Saddam's victims; quite the contrary. Neither do we hear sufficient outcry about the scores of Iraqis killed day after day by the terrorists in their midst. Instead, we hear that everything in Iraq is America's fault. And we hear that America is stingy. We hear political equivalencies. Crack do style xp

It is wrong to politicize the tragedy in south Asia as if it should be seen as anything other than a humanitarian crisis without sides. And it is wrong to ignore the long-standing humanitarian issues in Iraq as if it were nothing more than a political football. Crack do style xp

Could we have handled and be handling Iraq better? Of course. But remember that fighting a war, defeating terrorists/insurgents, and building democracy are not inexpensive.Crack do style xp

Could we do more to help the victims of the tsunami? We could never do enough. Crack do style xp

What's the point of comparing all these tragedies except, each in its own way, to exploit them to make a political point?Crack do style xp

There is one equivalency that matters: human suffering and the need to help. Crack do style xp

: See also Matt Margolis. Crack do style xp

: UPDATE: A commenter corrected me and I was away from the Internet until now to update this. I heard a BBC show this weekend on which Tony Blair said there were 200,000 Iraqis found in mass graves; this was cited in a larger discussion about new geopolitical realities of dealing with tyrants and terrorists without countries. When I went to find the comment, I found the USAID link above and did not realize it was from a year ago, not a month ago, and since then the number has changed. Crack do style xp

: LATER: See much discussion in the comments on the accurate number of bodies in the mass graves in Iraq. It's somewhere between 5,000 and the unknown. The complainers are right to push me on the accuracy but they are wrong in that they miss the point: It's not about numbers. It's not about equivalencies. It's not about competition. It's about individual human lives, no matter how many. So pick your number: 5,000 in a mass grave or 290,000 disappeared and presumed dead. Does freedom matter? Is freedom worth money? Is humanitarian relief worth money? Yes. Crack do style xp

Gone

: On NBC News tonight, an ITN reporter went to a town that was gone, simply gone: only the mosque left standing, not a single soul left. He couldn't find out the name of the town and said it didn't matter now anway. Crack do style xp

: Later... Ann Curry is in south Asia reporting on the tragedy for Dateline. I might have dreaded that; as nice as Curry is, she can drive me nutty with her theatrical concern. But she's doing a very good job here. The tragedy is so apparent that there is no need to amplify it for TV. Crack do style xp

360

: Hans Nyberg's panorama site has a downright magnificent 360-degree-view of New Year's Times Square by Jook Leung here. Crack do style xp

Stingy this!

: Sitting in the MSNBC newsroom, I saw a bulletin come across saying that the U.S. government had just pledged $350 million. This is turning into a worldwide Israel Bonds dinner: a competition to top this! And that is a wonderful thing. Crack do style xp

MSNBC links

: Here are links I plan to use on MSNBC on Friday:Crack do style xp

EYEWITNESS BLOGGERSCrack do style xp

: Evelyn Rodriguez posted very personal and heartfelt moments from Phuket at Crossroads Dispatches. A commenter now tells me she just arrived back home. She tells of sitting next to people whose lives are thrown apart: a boy who has lost his family, a man who lost his wife, another man who found his wife after their children back home told the father he'd just seen the mother on TV looking for him. Crack do style xp

: Mark is another blogger who just arrived home. He found that he and his girlfriend made news as her father told the Scotsman he was praying for her safety. They are safe. Crack do style xp

: Rick Von Feldt writes an amazing blog about everything he saw in Phuket. Crack do style xp

: Fred blogs from Sri Lanka at Extra, Extra. Crack do style xp

: From ChiensSansFrontiers, one of the more remarkable blogs:

The first thing I saw in Mullaitive town was a board hanging outside a battered building. I aksed our guide what the board said. He said says Senthalil Children's Home.Crack do style xp

The Home was home to 150 war orphans. They had lost both their parents to the war or had been abandoned or separated from their parents during the fighting. When the Government and the LTTE signed the ceasefire agreement 3 years ago it looked like at least some of these children were going to get a good deal in terms of their future.Crack do style xp

Now only 5 of them are alive.Crack do style xp

A wroung iron bed that was wrapped around a mango tree was for me the most telling thing about the force of the wave. I can't even imagine the force required to bend something like that. It looked like a straw wrapped around a bottle of coke. I tried to bend it back. I couldn't even move it.

: Stuart Lock writes about his honeymoon at the disaster.Crack do style xp

: Scott Raderstof gives us an incredible moment-by-moment recollection of how he and his family survived the wave. Crack do style xp

: Good roundup of eyewitness blogger quotes in the Guardian (some reduntant). Crack do style xp

NEWS BLOGGERSCrack do style xp

: Blogger and journalist Kevin Sites has left Iraq to cover the tragedy in Thailand; he is blogging it here. Crack do style xp

: Many good articles on the impact of this -- on, say, fishing -- at WorldChanging.org. Crack do style xp

: JavaJive writes about media coverage, local and international, and wonders why Thailand is getting more attention (so far) than Sri Lanka. Crack do style xp

: Insignificant Views says the Sri Lankan prime minister and delegation met with protests while the PM's office made no mention of it:

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha and leaders of the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna visited Jaffna Thursday amidst strong protests by refugees from the Tsunami destroyed coastal villages of the peninsula. Jeering refugees, demanding relief from Colombo, got into a tussle with the PM’s delegation at the Puloly American Mission School near Pt. Pedro. Earlier, the PM and his entourage were turned back by refugees in Valvettithurai protesting against Colombo for not sending relief or medicine to them since the Tsunami devastated their villages four days ago.Crack do style xp

Meanwhile a press release by the Sri Lankan government Thursday states: “Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse travelled to Jaffna today (30 December) and met many people who have survived the tidal waves. The purpose of his visit was to formalise the distribution of essential the distribution of essential items in Jaffna”.

Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan online paper says the protesters were terrorists acting as locals. Crack do style xp

: Wikipedia has a new and comprehensive entry on the earthquake and its aftermath. Crack do style xp

HELPCrack do style xp

: The ever-more-amazing SEA-EAT blog has no end of helpful suggestions. The latest: Where to donate your airline miles to charities helping in South Asia.Crack do style xp

: The Amazon gift page is up to $6 million tonight. The Red Cross reports that as of noon Thursday, the total from Americans was $18 million. Crack do style xp

More figures about the generosity of people around the world here. Crack do style xp

The Times of London says Britons gave 20 million pounds in 24 hours. Crack do style xp

: Here is the Red Cross Family Links page where people are trying to find each other. Here's a Phuket forum where people are posting notices. They're doing likewise at travel site Lonely Planet. Crack do style xp

: The Times of London gives us a chart showing what nations of the world have pledged to disaster relief. Crack do style xp

: Apple, like Amazon, hands over its home page to raising funds for relief. Microsoft does. Walmart does not. What other companies are following suit?Crack do style xp

VIDEO AND PHOTOSCrack do style xp

: Video bittorrents here. More mirrors here. Crack do style xp

: Punditguy got hit with a #1,000 bandwidth bill for showing the videos. Help if you can. Crack do style xp

: A comprehensive list of videos and photos. Crack do style xp

: Flickr photos under the tags tsunami, earthquake, Thailand, Phuket, disaster.Crack do style xp

SMSCrack do style xp

: SMS messages at ChiensSansFrontiers:

: We can pray later. Keep the food, water, clothes and medicine going. SAVE LIVES NOW!PRAY LATER! Pass this on. Message phones, word of mouth, any way.Crack do style xp

: All those who can help SHOULD help. All of us working to provide aid let's not waste time at religious ceremonies tomorrow. Praying's not going to help anyone right now. Let it not disrupt our work. EVERY MOMENT COUNTS! Saving lives IS god's work. We can pray later! Keep the food, water, clothes, and medic *SOME TEXT MISSING*Crack do style xp

: The Holy Family Convent, children's home and school are completely destroyed. Debris covers the entire compound and the stench of rotting flesh is everywhere. There are obviously bodies under the rubble. There's no one to remove them. Mother Superior Ambrosine covers her nose as she tries to salvage what she can. She hasn't slept in 3 days.]Crack do style xp

: Mullaitivu: The central college, about a km away from the coast is almost completely gone. Only 2 buildings remain. Children were home because of the holidays, but out of the 1100 students, over 400 are dead says principal Antony Jeganathan. His house is between the school and the beach and he survived by hanging onto a tree as he was being swept away

MORE...Crack do style xp

: I'm seeing stories from around the world saying in one way or another that having a big New Year's party would be poor form so soon after this tragedy. A story from London here. Crack do style xp

The Jakarta Post reports that New Year's parties are turning into charity events. Crack do style xp

: The founder of Lonely Planet says tourists should continue go to go these nations. Crack do style xp

This report says tourists are doing just that. Crack do style xp

And here are pictures from the German paper Bild showing tourists sunning themselves amidst the debris in Thailand. UPDATE: A commenter corrects me; I mistook an earlier story at Bild as connected to these photos; they are not from after the wave. Thanks for the correction. Crack do style xp

: Thailand's The Nation reports that Thai officials are implanting chips in the bodies of the dead to make identification easier. Crack do style xp

: Thailand's the Nation joins The New York Times in editorializing against and excoriating America for its "meager" response. Crack do style xp

: An Indonesian paper reports problems with disease and anger over the lack of food. Crack do style xp

: And the crackpots come out of the woodwork: Astrologists say it's the end o' the world: "Top astrologers in the country are hinting that the tsunami strike might indeed be a step towards Nostradamus' prediction - End of the world in 2010."Crack do style xp

LATER....Crack do style xp

: From MSNBC, I'll add links as I can, more randomly....Crack do style xp

: There are local sites popping up to serve local audiences. The web is, after all, local at heart. See Waves of Hope, One Thailand, and a Penang site. Crack do style xp

: JerseyEric says Jeb Bush is starting his 2008 presidential campaign in south Asia. Crack do style xp

: Evelyn Rodriguez is interviewed in the Mercury News. She needs someone near San Jose to help her set up a wireless router so she can keep her tsunami-injured leg elevated. Volunteers?Crack do style xp

: Walmart update: They now have up a link to the Red Cross and good for them. MSNBC asked me a question opening the door to criticize Walmart and I didn't; it's a holiday week and it takes time for people to get these sorts of things to happen. Good on all those who do. Crack do style xp

Tsunami links

: I'm going to be on MSNBC at regular intervals throughout the day tomorrow giving continuing reports on weblogs' and the web's response to the tsunami tragedy. Will Femia was doing that today. Crack do style xp

Please leave new links in the comments below -- any new stories of survivors, new resources for help, new and compelling responses to the tragedy, new photos and videos....Crack do style xp

Tsunami: the political angle

: Of course, it took no time at all for media to find the celebrity angle to the tsunami tragedy (see the pathetic NY Daily News cover on how the tsunami affected a model). Crack do style xp

But it took three days for the pundits to find the political angle of the story, criticizing Bush for taking three days to speak out on the tragedy from his vacation. The NY Times argues today that the reason for Bush to take action is to make friends with Sri Lankan Muslims. Matt Lauer parrotted that on Today this morning.Crack do style xp

Isn't helping people the reason to take action?Crack do style xp

Getaloadathis

: The Pacific News Services proposes an American tsunami surtax.Crack do style xp

: Speaking of dumb ideas, Sen. Patrick Leahy proposes redirecting money earmarked for Iraqi rebuilding to South Asian rebuilding. It's as if he is admitting that he does not care about the Iraqi people. Crack do style xp

Connected charity

: Witness the phenomenal response to Amazon's call for tsunami charity -- $3.5 million at midnight -- the Washington Post notes a fundamental shift in how charity works, thanks to online.

Like never before, people are turning to the Internet to donate money, the latest step in a revolution that has altered everything from shopping to presidential campaigns.Crack do style xp

"This is like 1951, when television really took off,'' Paul Saffo, director of the Silicon Valley-based Institute for the Future, said yesterday. "We are in the middle of a fundamental shift from mass media to the personal media of computers and the Internet, and charitable giving is a logical progression.''Crack do style xp

At Amazon.com alone, more than 53,000 people had donated more than $3 million by yesterday evening after the company made an urgent appeal on its home page. Catholic Relief Services was so overwhelmed with Web traffic that its site crashed. Online donations to the Red Cross outstripped traditional phone banks by more than 2 to 1....Crack do style xp

Much of that giving came from people sitting at their computers. That has happened before, primarily after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But relief officials said the scale of online giving has grown dramatically since then....Crack do style xp

"It definitely came as a groundswell from our employees,'' said Amazon.com spokesman Craig Berman. "As soon as it went up, we started seeing donations kick in. It was virtually instantaneous."Crack do style xp

The only other time Amazon.com made a similar posting was after Sept. 11, when it raised more than $6.8 million.

Crack do style xp

The toll

: The toll rises to 82,000 so far. Crack do style xp

: More than 5,000 Australians are still missing. UPDATE: A commenter says I'm wrong and it's 5,000 foreigners. I can't find the original story (and neglected to link to it late last night, messing up in every way). I stand corrected. Crack do style xp

: Here is a frightening story of a mother who had to choose one child to hold and one to let go. I will not make you suffer suspense: The child she let go survived and all escaped. Crack do style xp

Who's stingy?

: The NY Times headline this morning says: "Irate Over 'Stingy' Remark, U.S. Adds $20 Million to Disaster Aid.'
Now that makes a direct cause-and-effect relationship; the headline says we added $20 million because of the U.N. "stingy" crack.Crack do style xp

The story does not back that up. I don't believe the facts back that up. Crack do style xp

: Somebody tell me when France decides to add to its $170,000. [That's in Australian dollars, I'm now told. The amount in U.S. dollars: $135,000.]Crack do style xp

: Donations to Amazon's relief fund passed $1 million before 7 this morning. Crack do style xp

: UPDATE: Bush responds to the "stingy" crack. He says it was misguided and misinformed. He said that in 2004, the U.S. provided $2.4 billion in government relief -- not including private relief -- and that was 40 percent of worldwise aid. "We're a very generous and kind-hearted nation," he said. Crack do style xp

: UPDATE: The Washington Times says it went over the transcript of the first Egeland briefing:

Despite his claim of being "misinterpreted," a review of the transcript of Mr. Egeland's initial press briefing confirms that he asked reporters at the United Nations why Western countries are "so stingy" and specifically cited the United States as an example of a country whose citizens want to pay more taxes so that foreign aid can be increased.
"An unprecedented disaster like this one should lead to unprecedented generosity," Mr. Egeland said in his Monday briefing.
Mr. Egeland complained that the United States gives only 0.14 percent of its gross domestic product to foreign development aid, compared with 0.92 percent given by his native Norway. In this category, Norway ranks first and the United States ranks last on a list of 22 industrialized nations compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
"The foreign assistance of many countries now is 0.1 or 0.2 percent of their gross national income," Mr. Egeland said on Monday. "I think that is stingy really. I don't think that is very generous."
He pointed out that only Scandinavian countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as the Netherlands and Luxembourg, give at least 0.7 percent of their gross national income, a level suggested by the United Nations 25 years ago.
Mr. Egeland — a former journalist, deputy foreign minister of Norway and head of that nation's Amnesty International chapter — did not mention that the U.S. government gave $15.8 billion, more than any other nation, to development aid last year, compared to $2 billion by Norway.
The U.S. figure does not include massive infusions of cash to Iraq and Afghanistan. Nor does it include the category of food aid, where the United States is the largest donor in the world, or charitable contributions by private American individuals, churches and other organizations.

I have not been able to find that transcript on the UN site.Crack do style xp

: AMAZON UPDATE: Now up to $2.5 million about 24 hours after going up. Crack do style xp

A wave of destruction and death

: We try to make sense of what we do not know by relating it to what we know. So pardon me for making an obvious connection, obvious for me. But watching the videos of the tsunami coming onshore reminded me of too much of escaping the wall of destruction and death that came as the first of the towers collapsed on September 11th. Crack do style xp

Same beautiful, cloudless day. Same shock. Same speed, running faster than any man could run. Same power. Same sound. Same deadly debris carried along by its force. Same images of the helpless at their last moments. Same color of gray in its wake. Crack do style xp

Of course, one was caused by evil man, the other by uncaring nature. One cost thousands of innocent lives, the other many thousands more. Crack do style xp

But I think I understand the emotions of those who shot these videos and were there and were lucky enough to live. Crack do style xp

Tsunami notes

: Among the casualties: 1,700 people on one train, qualifying this as the worst rail disaster ever amidst what may become the worst natural disaster ever.Crack do style xp

: On NPR tonight, I heard a satellite expert say that most people would have been safe if only they'd walked one mile inland or gotten to higher ground (on videos, we've seen people on higher floors safe). There is no formal warning system but once the earthquake hit and once the nearby islands were hit, it's hard to believe that media could not have been alerted. Radio DJs panicking the way American weathermen panic at one inch of snow could have saved countless lives. Crack do style xp

: See the first before-and-after satellite images. Crack do style xp

: The BBC has started one of its logs of quick reports from correspondents around the globe. Crack do style xp

: Among the victims are those tied to the famous. Sir Richard Attenborough lost three family members, including his granddaughter. An Australian rugby star and his bride were lost on their honeymoon. A model lost her boyfriend (in a story painfully overplayed in the New York Daily News). Crack do style xp

: The Times of India lists entire tribes that may have been made extinct by the wave. Crack do style xp

: The Guardian tells the story of the South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog (but without a link or address). Crack do style xp

: LATER: Glenn Reynolds writes about the internet and disasters.

The Internet accounts have given the disaster an immediacy and a personal dimension that traditional news accounts lack, and the self-organizing character of the blogosphere has allowed for rapid response as people who want to help have been put together with ways to help.Crack do style xp

That won't replace traditional efforts, of course: Despite being criticized as "stingy"
by Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, the United States has sent an aircraft carrier and a Navy expeditionary group that was supposed to go on holiday leave to help with the recovery effort. It'll be a long time before the Internet crowd can dispatch resources like that.Crack do style xp

But nonetheless, a lot of human capital has been brought to bear on this problem in very short order, through voluntary cooperation.

Crack do style xp

Stingy like a frog

: At 5 p.m., Glenn Reynolds reported that Amazon had raised 112,000 for tsunami relief. Less than three hours later, the total is over $360,000 -- which beats the amount the French were reported to have pledged to tsunami relief this afternoon (as a UN official called America's first offer -- of many, no doubt -- of $35 million as "stingy"). Crack do style xp

: UPDATE: Five hours later, the total is over $585,000 at Amazon. Crack do style xp

Numbers too big to bear

: The number keeps growing bigger and more incomprehensible. They always do. The latest says 59,000 died in the tsunami. Crack do style xp

For perspective, this is rising almost to the number of all people killed in natural disasters last year, which itself was multiples over the totals in years before:

According to an annual survey by the German reinsurance giant Munich Re, 75,000 people were killed in natural disasters last year - up from 11,000 in 2002 and 25,000 in 2001. Most devastating were the Bam earthquake (40,000 dead, 30,000 injured) and heatwaves in Europe that claimed more than 20,000 lives. Economic losses were put at $US65 billion, up $10 billion on the previous year.

: UPDATE: An Italian official says the toll could reach 100,000.Crack do style xp

Tsunami: envisioning the horror

: TVNewser reports that TV networks are falling over themselves to buy tourist video that captures the instant power and horror of the tsunami. Crack do style xp

: These pictures at News.com.au come close: look at the sequence of unexpected destruction on a beautiful, sunny day. Crack do style xp

Help

: Southeast Asian bloggers are putting together a blog with information on helping or finding information on victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Crack do style xp

The tsunami

: The Independent has a helpful if horrifying country-by-country report on the impact of the earthquake and destruction. Here's a map from The Age in Australia. Crack do style xp

: The Age asks readers to send in their stories and this comes from an Australian near Phuket:

We came to Koh Tao on a two week holiday to relax in the sun......
AdvertisementAdvertisementCrack do style xp

I was standing on the beach about 30 meters from the shoreline at a dive shop when I heard raised voices and looked around. The deck chairs that were lining the beach were floating toward me. It was a bit confusing at first as nobody had any idea what was going on. There was no loud noise or wind, just all of a sudden the sea had risen a good 10 meters. Crack do style xp

Then the wave sucked out away from the shore a few hundred meters, exposing the coral reef that I had dived on a few days earlier. That's when people really realised something was terribly wrong. All of a sudden all the dive instructors and staff of the nearby restaraunt ran down the beach to see if anyone was pulled out, only to find themselves faced with a surging ocean at least 15 meters high. At this point I was standing on a small cement wall at the top of the beach and watched as they scrambled up the beach and up the steep hillside on the edge of the bay. Crack do style xp

When the second wave came in it simply tore apart the wooden buildings that sat at the top of the beach, the water came up to my knees and very neally took me off the wall. When the second wave sucked out, everyone who could bolted for the slopes on the sides of the bay.Crack do style xp

The third and probably largest wave came surging forward and simply ripped apart the cement buildings like they were made of balsa wood. I saw a friend of mine scramble onto a roof about 5 meters from me as the water reached its peak - only to hear a loud crack and see the roof lurch badly. I couldn't believe my eyes when the entire roof - with my friend on top, floated to the side and was sucked out into the bay and out of sight.Crack do style xp

It just seemed so impossible, 10 minutes earlier we had been sitting down on the beach drinking a coffee, and now the entire beach had been ripped apart and my friend and all the buildings were simply gone.Crack do style xp

The waves continued for a good hour after, gradually getting smaller only to reveal the complete devastation left behind. There was complete confusion as people were running around trying to find each other - or simply sitting in the wreckage with vacant looks on their faces. Later I found out that my friend had been rescued by boat with a mild concussion and lacerations from all the wreckage in the water and is at this moment in Phuket hospital....

: The dramatic first-person account of a Washington Post reporter who swam through the tsunami off Sri Lanka:

I was a quarter way around the island when I heard my brother shouting at me, "Come back! Come back! There's something strange happening with the sea." He was swimming behind me, but closer to the shore.Crack do style xp

I couldn't understand what the fuss was about. All seemed peaceful....Crack do style xp

Then I noticed that the water around me was rising, climbing up the rock walls of the island with astonishing speed. The vast circle of golden sand around Weligama Bay was disappearing rapidly, and the water had reached the level of the coastal road, fringed with palm trees....Crack do style xp

Instead of the ark, I grabbed a wooden catamaran that the local people used as a fishing boat. My brother jumped on the boat next to me. We bobbed up and down on the catamaran as the water rushed past us into the village beyond the road.Crack do style xp

After a few minutes, the water stopped rising, and I felt it was safe to swim to the shore. What I did not realize was that the floodwaters would recede as quickly and dramatically as they had risen.Crack do style xp

All of a sudden, I found myself being swept out to sea with startling speed. Although I am a fairly strong swimmer, I was unable to withstand the current. The fishing boats around me had been torn from their moorings, and were bobbing up and down furiously.

: The science of a tsunami:

“The effect of the earthquake is like throwing a stone in a pond, except that you are throwing it from below. You get the equivalent of a splash and water is displaced with waves spreading outwards,” he said.Crack do style xp

Over the ocean, the waves of a tsunami are small, probably no more than a few centimetres to a metre high. Fisherman 20 miles out at sea barely notice their passage.Crack do style xp

Their speed depends on the depth of the water, but is typically several hundred miles an hour. The deeper the water, the faster the waves travel and at the bottom of the deepest ocean they can keep pace with a jet aircraft.Crack do style xp

As yesterday’s tsunami approached the coasts of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives, it slowed. The more it became compressed, the more it grew in height. As it reached the shore it grew into a monster.

: The official USGS data: 9.0. Crack do style xp

: I went to the United Nations' site earnestly expecting to find some update on relief efforts and I find nothing (save for a link about Iraq). You might think I"m being unfair but I don't. Shouldn't they of all agencies in the world be prepared on a moment's notice to at least suggest how people could help people in disasters? Crack do style xp

: Jeff Ooi continues to link to news and other bloggers' reports. Crack do style xp