Category: Connecting

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Connecting

Kudos to the Australian government

Jonathon just posted a note that the Australian government will cover the medical costs for Rick and the other victims of the Babli bombing. That’s exceptionally good news.

The Australian government has also said that it will depend on diplomacy to catch the Babli bombers. It will work with Indonesia rather than running in, guns blazing. By taking this action, by not letting the feelings of the moment carry it away, the Australian government has shown that it’s taking the long view to solving the problem, not the quick fix that only postpones the problems until another day.

We can learn from this.

In the meantime, Rick and his family will still face considerable costs for Rick’s treatment back in Canada, as well as costs associated with the family being with Rick now during this difficult time. Until a PayPal account is setup, please send donations to:

 

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Connecting

Hands

Chris’ friend Rick is hurt quite badly from the Bali explosion. He has burns over 45% of his body, and has received injuries to his head, lungs, and other organs.

Rick could be in intensive care in Australia for a couple of months before being allowed home to Canada. Once he returns home, he’ll need to have additional treatment, considerable treatment. An added difficulty is that Rick is far away from his family and friends, who have to fly back and forth to be with him, most likely having to stay in hotels when they visit him.

I can’t stop Bush wanting to wage war, and I can’t stop terrorists from wanting to blow up innocent people, and I can’t stop people wanting to kill each other, but there is one thing I can do:

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Categories
Connecting People

Slow waking from a nightmare

Chris’ weblog has become a clearing house for information about his friend, Rick who was seriously hurt in the Bali explosion. As people who knew Rick leave comments, the person who Chris knows becomes someone we know. He’s isn’t faceless. There is no insulation from the pain and the horror of the Bali blast through emotionless news broadcasts, and political speeches.

Our sorrow and our grief for the families of those impacted by this act against humanity transcends old, stale borders of “warblogger” and “peace blogger”, and when I read Meryl and Dawn I am reminded that we all ultimately want the same thing in the end: peace.

Jonathon wrote today:

I can hardly bear to watch TV. Every time I switch on a television news or current affairs program, I cry.

And I read that, and I wanted to cry again.

Now is not the time to talk of war and revenge and anger and hatred. Now is the time to grieve and sorrow and hold each other and give each other comfort. Next week is next week, and we’ll go our politically separate ways, again.

But for today, today, it’s time to grieve.

Categories
Connecting Weblogging Writing

Bali

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Dave Winer starts a posting today with the title Whining Matilda, in response to the — legitimate — complaints of lack of coverage of the Bali bombing in the American press. He writes:

There are plenty of Australian weblogs. The Web is worldwide. Cover it, explain it, grieve it, if the US press isn’t covering it, route around them. Use the tools.

Dave, I’m sorry, but you sadly missed the point.

The vast majority of the people in this country have never heard of weblogs. It isn’t up to weblogs to provide the news because the American press focuses only on American pain. And by focusing only on American pain, we complete a picture that most of the world has of us: that we’re shallow, self-centered, egotistical isolationists who only care for our own dead, our own pain.

Dave, It isn’t that webloggers aren’t getting news; that’s not the point. It’s that the world sees that Americans don’t care.

But we do care. And we care even more every time we see a new face among the dead, read about someone else’s loss.

I’ve wanted to talk about this bombing for the last two days, but just didn’t know what to say. The words wouldn’t come. Today, though, I was reminded that, sometimes, it doesn’t matter that we speak eloquently, just that we speak.

To my friends who live in Australia and in Indonesia, and to all of those in the world who have lost loved ones, my deepest and most sincere sympathy. To all those who have been injured, my strongest hopes that you heal quickly, and find peace from the pain and the fear.

Categories
Connecting

Five words or less

Michael Barrish:

 

I am alone

 

Mark Pilgrim:

 

I am blessed.

 

Karl

 

Never tell me the odds.

 

Jonathon Delacour:

 

Life is a beautiful dream.

 

Shannon Campbell

 

I reap what I sow.

 

Steve Himmer

 

How did I get here?

 

Bearman

 

I have what I need.

 

Frank Paynter:

 

I continue to grow.

 

Euan Semple:

 

What I am is enough.

 

Dorothea Sala

 

I’ll get by.

 

Will Raleigh:

 

False risk is almost enough.

 

Stavros the WC

 

Somewhere there’s a place I belong.

 

Robert Brown

 

A work in progress.

 

And my own story, the story that Michael Barrish says …we try all of our lives to prove is true and that can be summarized in five words or less?

 

 

I am a writer.

 

Update:

And so the tapestry unfolds, woven from words which come simply and gracefully across the screen from each writer. Whatever the tapestry is called, though, one thing is certain: it sure as heck isn’t named “meme”.