My days writing a blog seemed filled with catastrophe, war, and outrage at those who do not stand up for what is right. But when the history of last month’s cataclysmic earthquake in China is written, the story of Ye Zhiping will be remembered. Hopefully, it will not only be remembered in China.

I can’t say for sure that Principal Ye knew the story of  the "The Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountains," but I suspect that he did, as well as the Sangzao Middle School students and their parents. This ancient Chinese folktale dates back to the Han Dynasty and is well known throughout China.  

When I first read about Principal Ye, I thought of this story. I realize that it is not ecologically sound—the image brings to my mind actual scenes of mountains in Appalachia decimated by coal mining—but I hope that doesn’t get in the way of appreciating the old tale. This is the way I remember it:

As I sit here in Florida awaiting the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, I am watching the latest news coverage of floods wreaking devastation on local communities in the Midwest.  I can’t help but wonder:

a) Are these people insured?
b) Is their coverage worth the paper the policy is printed on?
c) How will they re-build their lives?

The scale of disasters overwhelm us. Whether it is in China, Myanmar, Katrina or now Iowa, it can be difficult to understand the plight of others, to know what to do in response. Being human, we are limited. Being human, we do the best we can -- sometimes all we can do is to try.

Here is an example, I think, from an organization and a group of people who are doing some very good, much needed work on the ground in China. Just one group among many who have come together, in response to the earthquake one month ago.

Half The Sky is an NGO whose goal is to improve the lives and prospects of orphaned children in China. They provide material aid, but also provide training for the special care and needs of orphans. Since the 8.0 earthquake, they have worked closely with local governmental agencies overwhelmed by the needs of thousands of newly orphaned children.

Following are clips from letters from Jenny Bowen, and it provides a point of view on the ground with the kids. Reprinted with permission.

For more Half the Sky Journals and pictures, please go here:
http://www.halfthesky.org/...
http://www.halfthesky.org/...

I am located in Tokyo, and we just felt a long duration earthquake of average intensity starting at 8:43 a.m. local time Saturday morning, June 14, 2008. (Not enough to cause damage here.) However, the Japan Meteorological Agency reports that in the northern part of the main Japanese island the earthquake is of a very significant intensity.

BBC News has this breaking story on their front page, as do all the other major news sources. Sadly, at least three people are reported dead, at least seven missing, and at least 110 injured, some badly. Reports continue to pour in, and it is very likely there will be significantly more casualties.

More details below the fold....

It has been 10 long days since the devastating 8.0 Sichuan earthquake and although there have been several recent rescues of people that have been trapped for 9 days, the mission has moved into the recovery stage.

According to China Daily Online, there are 5 million homeless in the region and 32,666 still missing. There are 25,681 still in hospital.

Many children have been orphaned but all have been adopted.

Today marks the first of three official days of mourning in China for the victims of the (newly-uprated) 8.0 earthquake in Sichuan. All "public entertainment activities" are suspended, as is the Olympic torch relay.

As the search for survivors has now turned into body recovery and burial, China is fast becoming "old news." More significantly, and more sadly, is that news about the on-going Burmese typhoon tragedy has been "old news" for several days now for the majority of American news outlets. The Sudan? Zimbabwe? Palestine? India? A google search will have to suffice.

We need to take a minute to mourn with those who mourn this day.

Last Monday, a 7.9 8.0 magnitude earthquake devastated areas of Sichuan Province, crumbling roads and buildings, laying waste to entire towns and villages. The death count is now over 32,000, and they expect it to rise to above 50,000.

According to Bloomberg, over 200,000 people have been injured, over 220,000 have been evacuated. 4.7 million homes have been destroyed in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. 4.8 million people have been displaced. 12.5 million animals and livestock have died, and their decomposing corpses threaten outbreaks of disease as people struggle for clean water, food and shelter.

Today China begins three days of mourning. I ask you to join me in a simple, humane gesture, wherever you are, whatever time zone you are in, whenever you read this.

The people of China will observe three minutes of silence in recognition of the widespread grief and devastation wrought by the quake upon millions of lives, as yet unfolding...

Just before the Chinese nation was to start a 3-day period of national mourning for the  estimated 32,000 dead in Sichuan, the latest in a series of aftershocks has shaken the region and killed three more.

New Tremor Hits China on Eve of Three-Day Mourning

This diary is a series of brief impressions about the effect of this tragedy on the Chinese--and its lack of effect in the US?

I remember when the World Trade center was bombed in New York City. I lived there at the time. It was shocking, but what blew my mind more was the response from all over the world--the photographs from almost every country of people gathering in candlelit ceremonies to grieve with the US, to support the US.
What also kind of blew my mind was how long the situation was "milked" in New York and DC for sympathy. Many people may find this offensive, but there will be more after the fold...

Recent 'acts of God' have gone unclaimed by US televangelists

If you have watched any news programming or read a newspaper over the past two weeks, you would know that a recent spate of natural disasters so far this month have plagued residents in separate areas of the planet.   On May 2nd, Cyclone Nargis assailed the nation of Myanmar (formerly Burma).  This storm had sustained winds of 135 miles per hour (comparable to a weak Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and swept just south of the capital of Yangon (Rangoon).  It is estimated that over 100,000 people may have lost their lives due to this cyclone.  

The scale of the devastation in Sichua Province, China has been tremendous. Reports can't keep with the news of more wounded, dead and dying residents of this largely agricultural region. The earthquake that struck was especially deadly because it was shallow, 6 miles in depth, and a fairly powerful magnitude 7.9.  It was felt strongly in the capital with office workers running into streets in Beijing 930 miles to the north.  With over 50,000 estimated dead (and rising by the day)it is already in the top 15 deadliest quakes since records were kept.

The scale of the tragedy and pain is hard to grasp but we can only cry when we hear of the pain of the people of Dujiangyan whose Xinjian Elementary School collapsed and killed about 400 kids. The horrible tale in Dujiangyan City at the Juyuan Middle School where most of the 900 teens lost their lives as the building collapsed entirely over them. The scale of the destruction will only be known after weeks of recovery.

The screams of the moms and dads will hover for centuries over these places of sorrow.

ORIGINAL POST ON STREET PROPHETS

A friend of a friend of a friend put together this information.

Somehow, I don't think anybody in the chain of transmission would mind me posting any of it.

"Communist China".

I've been hearing those words ever since I can remember--often linked together just that way.  It used to run a distant second to "Communist Russia".  But there's no question who the new big kid on the block is these days.  There's no question who the next superpower will be, if the world as we know it makes it that far.

Thus has China become the new great American bogeyman, the new rising empire that, in years to come, some of our leaders (especially our good Republicans) will attempt to incite us to hate and fear.

History tells us something about the handoff of global power from one state to another: it very rarely comes without a greal deal of bloodshed between the old power and the new one.  

With that, please come with me across the jump...

While I should be grading papers, I just cannot seem to put all the earthquake headlines out of my mind. So I decided to toss this up to hopefully get some more information out about the earthquake and where everything stands at the moment in Chengdu.

First off, I'm not in China, but I've taken a few trips there and my partner lived there on and off for five years. She taught in Chengdu and we spent a lovely couple days at Qingcheng Shan (Mount Qingcheng). She is supposed to be going back to that area in a month, so you can probably guess that I'm a little frantic finding out how things are on the ground there. I've been relatively depressed since I can still see my partner's students yelling out answers in English when we team-taught some courses in Chengdu. I only knew the kids for an entire day, I cannot imagine how she feels.

Anyway, time for me to do some grading, but here are some informational links:

I read a fascinating article on how blogs and social networking sites helped to get the word out in the earthquake in China this week, and will probably help keep the Chinese government honest in their assessments.

They worked all night in the darkness digging without rest. You can't save everyone. Maybe you can't save anyone. But if you can it means a second chance even if you can only save yourself.

Another day has passed and they're still struggling alone because no one knows where they are and time is running short. But to live is better than to die so you keep trying. Or you lie helpless and wait wherever you are.

:: Update at the end following the fold ::

Sorry for the short diary, but just want to keep this at the top of people's minds...the scale of this disaster in Sichuan and elsewhere in China is only now beginning to unfold.  The latest headline on Sina.com (Chinese language site) is that across 8 provinces/municipalities there are over 9200 confirmed dead and an estimated 500,000 structures collapsed.  

There are some items up on News Unfiltered that may interest the community.

McCain prioritized campaign over the environment:

While Senator McCain is now trying to change his rhetoric after months of running to the right on the campaign trail, he can't change the facts. He has consistently put the interests of his key campaign contributors ahead of environmental protection. His campaign is being directed and funded by the same oil company lobbyists who crafted President Bush's energy policies. Leading environmental watchdog groups have given his voting record dismally low ratings, and just last week Senator McCain promised to nominate more of the same right wing judges who would gut environmental protections. Senator McCain's double talk on the environment even extends to the venue for today's remarks. He is speaking at a wind turbine manufacturing company, despite consistently opposing efforts to invest in wind and solar technologies.

Read more.

In Sichuan Province today we had a 7.8 7.9 scale earthquake at 14:28 that was felt across the country and all the way south-west to Vietnam and Thailand and east to Taipei. Needless to say it was a busy day and we will be working all night to help our staff from the region contact familly and prepare supplies, but I just want to report some basic information and will try to update later.

:: Continue after the fold ::