World News

The response to the plea for funds for the Bali tsunami effort has been great. The Ubud effort managed to rent a boat thanks to the generosity of Rip Curl Indonesia (note to self: when needing surf gear in Indonesia, support Rip Curl), and continued collection donations to build more kits. Thanks to those of you who inquired about donating - I hope the info about making wire transfers was easy and adequate.

Been thinking a lot about the Middle East of late, thanks to my class. We've been assigned to read a handful of Arab and international news sites each day - it's been a fantastic exercise. I highly recommend using the Internet for actual world-wide purposes. Been particularly fascinated by Arab News, the Middle East Times, and the Toronto Globe and Mail. Canada just relieved some African debt - oh, the case for northern migration becomes stronger every day.

Saw today that the Red Cross is starting to license its marks to marketing entities. Very interesting.

Also: check out the On The Media radio show about bloggers and the Internet in the wake of the tsunami. Totally fascinating. As OTM posits, the Internet has come of age. Of course, I agree.