This from my friend Han’s blog, whose family lives in the region, and who is herself an NU trained scientist:
USGS reported the quake to be of M7.9, 90 km WNW of Chengdu. The death toll has exceeded 8000 :(…. The epicenter is located at a scenic rural area 汶川, occupied mainly by ethnic minority groups. Six years ago, I travelled there and saw a lake which was formed after some earthquake (M7.5, 1933)-induced landslides blocked the local river channel. Extremely beautiful region and extremely friendly people.
Here’s an American exchange student’s description in English from Chengdu. Here’s a video taken by a student at Sichuan University. I can’t believe at the end of the clip the psyched dude was declaring the “absolute realness” of his video with such excitement (that made my laugh—people from my hometown all tend to be a bit “off”, but in an adorable way). My parents’ house is near their university’s back yard! They’re fine!!
Donate through Chinese Red Cross: 中国红十字会总会 www.redcross.org.cn
Please give. Also, keep in mind the aid work attempting to get into Burma, where the first air shipment of American relief has just touched down.
I don’t have much to say about either, they’re just too tragic. The Burmese situation being criminally mismanaged by the dictatorial regime. This piece in Slate, however, offers the right understanding of the regime’s position but doesn’t provide any real solutions. The Coalition of the Willing, an idea woefully underdeveloped, is unlikely to work without garnering real military resistance.
But it is an interesting idea- is there any amount of “humanitarian force” that can open up a closed border? If so, can we use it in North Korea, whose citizens are likely to be facing another year of famine as food prices skyrocket in the rest of the world?
This is too depressing, I’ll have to continue later.
Recent Comments