David on January 2nd, 2010
It’s 2010– and a new decade around the world. Here are a few photos of the New Year’s celebration from major cities worldwide. Wherever you may have been at midnight on New Year’s Eve, Jankenpon hopes it was a festive and memorable start to 2010.
Above: New Year’s celebration in Paris. Below: New Year’s celebration in Tokyo.
Above: New Year’s celebration in Beijing. Below: New Year’s celebration in Moscow.
Photo Credits: The New York Times
David on December 29th, 2009
As the year draws to a close, it’s time to say goodbye to 2009 and to the 00’s, a decade that Time Magazine referred to as “The Decade from Hell,” in their cover story on November 24, 2009.
So what happened during the decade? Here are a few reminders:
* 9/11;
* Hurricane Katrina, which left 1,500 dead and $100 billion in damages;
* Collapse of the USA housing bubble, which was fueled by lender greed and derivatives;
* Global economic meltdown;
* Terrorist attacks around the world, including the attacks in Mumbai;
* Great Sichuan Earthquake, which killed 70,000 people;
* Cyclone Nargis, which left 150,000 dead in Myanmar;
* Bernie Madoff
To read the full article from Time.com, click here.
David on December 26th, 2009
Th Global Language Monitor has announced its annual “TOP 10 WORDS” which represent the words that have had the most impact and visibility during the year.
TOP 10 WORDS OF 2009
1. Twitter — The ability to encapsulate human thought in 140 characters
2. Obama — The word stem transforms into scores of new words like ObamaCare
3. H1N1 — The formal (and politically correct) name for Swine Flu
4. Stimulus — The $800 billion aid package meant to help mend the US economy
5. Vampire — Vampires are very much en vogue, now the symbol of unrequited love
6. 2.0 — The 2.0 suffix is attached to the next generation of everything
7. Deficit — Lessons from history are dire warnings here
8. Hadron — Ephemeral particles subject to collision in the Large Hadron Collider
9. Healthcare — The direction of which is the subject of intense debate in the US
10. Transparency — Elusive goal for which many 21st-century governments are striving
The analysis was completed in late November 2009 using GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), the proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet, now including blogs and social media. The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and velocity.
To go to the Global Language Monitor’s official website, click here.
David on October 11th, 2009
The people of Hawaii and Belgium are celebrating the canonization of St. Damien by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome today. Father Damien de Veuster, a much-beloved and revered figure in Hawaiian history, was elevated to sainthood in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Square, culminating a campaign for sainthood that began shortly after his death in 1889 and was formalized in 1955.
St. Damien gained worldwide recognition for his selfless efforts to help residents of Hawaii with Hansen’s disease who were forced to live in isolation on the remote and wind-swept Kalawao settlement on the Kalaupapa peninsula on the Island of Molokai. From 1873 and until his death from complications from Hansen’s Disease in 1889, St. Damien worked to improve the living conditions and quality of life for individuals with Hansen’s Disease who were forcibly moved to Kalaupapa in an effort to contain the spread of the disease.
Today, St. Damien’s pioneering efforts are viewed as an example in terms of helping address and lift the social stigma associated with disease, including HIV/AIDS.
To go to a previous post with additional details about the life and work of St. Damien, click here.
To read more about St. Damien, visit the official St. Damien of Molokai website from the Diocese of Honolulu, by clicking here.
David on October 9th, 2009
San Francisco welcomes the Blue Angels, who will be performing in the skies above the City By the Bay on October 10 and October 11, 2009, as part of annual Fleet Week. Welcome, Blue Angels!
NBC11, the Bay Area NBC affiliate, estimated that up to 1 million Bay Area residents would be watching the Blue Angels during their aerial demonstration over San Francisco skies this weekend.
To learn more about the Blue Angels, go to the U.S. Navy’s official Blue Angels website, by clicking here.
David on September 3rd, 2009
As most residents of the San Francisco Bay Area know, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (which opened in 1939) will be closed to all traffic during the Labor Day weekend in September 2009. During the closure, a 300-foot long double-deck section of the East span will be cut away and permanently removed. In its place, a new double-deck section (already completed and sitting adjacent to the span on Yerba Buena Island) will be moved into place to connect the existing bridge with a short detour. Traffic will flow on the new half-mile detour connecting the East span to the Yerba Buena Tunnel until the new eastern section of the Bay Bridge opens.
This phase of the seismic retrofit effort for the Bay Bridge is reportedly the most complex and technically difficult. The bridge closes at 8:00 PM, Pacific, today, 9/3/09 and will reopen by 5:00 AM, Pacific on Tuesday, 9/7/09.
An estimated 280,000 vehicles pass over the Bay Bridge each day.
Above: Aerial view showing the temporary detour bridge and the “cutaway” section that is poised to replace a section of the existing East bridge connector over the Labor Day weekend.
To learn more about the estimated $7.0 billion Bay Bridge seismic retrofit effort and to watch videos showing the planned work this weekend, go to the official Bay Bridge Informatiob website by clicking here.
Above: An artist’s rendering of the proposed new Eastern span of the Bay Bridge, which is scheduled to open in 2013.
David on August 12th, 2009
In memory of Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009)
“She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more. She taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others.”
— Statement from the Family of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 8/11/09, following the announcement of her death
“When the full judgment of the Kennedy legacy is made — including J.F.K.’s Peace Corps and Alliance for Progress, Robert Kennedy’s passion for civil rights and Ted Kennedy’s efforts on health care, workplace reform and refugees — the changes wrought by Eunice Shriver may well be seen as the most consequential”
— US News and World Report, 11/15/93
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who passed away on 8/11/09, at 88, left a lasting legacy through her lifelong and tireless efforts to remove the social stigma and improve the lives of people with developmental challenges. Among her many accomplishments, Eunice Shriver founded the Special Olympics, which today attracts 3 million athletes in 180 countries.
David on August 9th, 2009
Congratulations to Wise Latina Sonia Sotomayor, who became the 111th Supreme Court justice on 8/8/09, taking an oath to “administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich.” It’s a landmark day, particularly for Latino Americans and American women of color, and reason for all of us to celebrate.
Above: Sonia Sotomayor, left, takes the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts on 8/8/09 to become the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice and only the third woman in the court’s 220-year history, Her mother, Celina Sotomayor, the woman to whom Sonia Sotomayor attributes much of her success and achievement, is holding the bible, while her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, stands at her side.
Photo Credit: The Los Angeles Times
David on July 22nd, 2009
This century’s longest solar eclipse– lasting 6 minutes and 39 seconds– occurred today, July 22, 2009, across Asia, moving north and east from India to Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China. It is the longest such eclipse since July 11, 1991, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes, 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday’s until 2132.
Millions of people across the region were eagerly anticipating the event and planned to watch it or were superstitious and planning to avoid being outdoors at the time. Regardless of one’s beliefs about the eclipse, it is surely an amazing sight.
Above: A view of the eclipse as seen in China. Photo credit: The New York Times.
Above: Children viewing the solar eclipse in South Korea. Below: Viewers of the eclipse in Ahmadabad, India. Photo Credits: The Los Angeles Times.
Graphic Credit: The Los Angeles Times
Here’s a two-minute video from The Wall Street Journal showing reactions to the solar eclipse.
Video Credit: The Wall Street Journal
David on July 17th, 2009
“And that’s the way it is.”
— Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)
Walter Cronkite, the legendary journalist who served as anchorman of the CBS Evening News for 19 years (1962-1981) and was often cited in opinion polls as “the most trusted man in America,” died today at the age of 92.
David on May 16th, 2009
A year has passed since the 8.0 magnitude earthquake, known as the Great Sichuan Earthquake, struck the Sichuan Province of China on May 12, 2008, killing an estimated 70,000 people, injuring an additional 375,000, and leaving over 4.8 million people homeless. Approximately 7,000 school buildings in Sichuan Province collapsed as a result of the quake, due to sub-standard construction stemming from government corruption and graft. Official government figures estimate the number of school-related deaths at 5,300, although parents strongly dispute that number and claim that the death toll among children is much higher.
Photo Credits: MSNBC
David on May 10th, 2009
This month the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, in Memory of Adam Baran, celebrates its 20th anniversary with the screening of 33 feature- and short-length films at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii’s premier art museum. The festival runs from May 21-24 in Honolulu and from May 29-30 in Hilo and Kona, respectively, on the Island of Hawaii.
Academy-award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (pictured above) will be the keynote speaker during Closing Night of the 20th-anniversary film festival on May 24. Black, 34, won the 2009 award for Best Original Screenplay for “Milk,” the bio-pic based on the life of San Francisco activist and politician Harvey Milk, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Screen Writers Guild of America. The festival will feature a special screening of Milk, which was nominted for eight Academy Awards and won for Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black).
To purchase passes to the film festival, click here. If you want to learn more about the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival or to make a tax-deductible donation, go to their official website by clicking here.
Congratulations to Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival Executive Director (and dear friend of Jankenpon) Jeffrey Davis and Founder Jack Law, as well as the HGLCF, on the 20th anniversary of the film festival.
To go to a previous post featuring Dustin Lance Black’s speech as he accepted the Oscar Award for his original screenplay of Milk at the 2009 Oscar Awards ceremony, click here.
Photo Credit: Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival
David on May 4th, 2009
A year has passed since Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar on 5/2/08, causing catastrophic destruction and nearly 150,000 fatalities, with thousands missing, and over 800,00 people displaced. Damage was estimated at over US$10 billion, which made it the most damaging cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean Basin.
Today, tens of thousands of people across the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar are still homeless and struggling. Forty-percent of the homeless are children.
To make a contribution to UNICEF and to support their efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, visit their official website by clicking here.
To go to a previous post on Cyclone Nargis (from 5/13/08), click here.
David on April 25th, 2009
London is slowing down. Well, at least that’s the hope of the sponsors of the novel “Slow Down London” campaign which is encouraging Londoners to relax, turn off their connected devices, and enjoy life more slowly. The campaign, which officially runs from April 24 to May 4 features a variety of events across London, including:
* A slow group stroll across Waterloo Bridge, the campaign’s official kickoff event;
* Lunch-time yoga events;
* Slow walking programs across London;
* Craft lessons; and more.
Here’s an excerpt from the Slown Down London website regarding the purpose of the campaign:
To learn more about the Slown Down London campaign, go to their official website by clicking here.
David on April 21st, 2009
AIDS Lifecycle 8, the fund-raising bicycle ride covering 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, is being held May 31 to June 6, 2009.
According to the official AIDS Lifecycle website, the annual ride:
… is the official cycling event of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center;
… is about HIV/AIDS and raising money to help the beneficiaries continue to provide the critical services and education needed to meet the growing needs of our community;
… increases awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS among participants, their donors and the general public;
… addresses the widespread misperception that HIV and AIDS are no longer a problem — in fact more people are living with HIV & AIDS today than ever before, which means a much greater need for services;
… provides a reminder that the rate of HIV infection is increasing, particularly in communities of color and in individuals under the age of 25. In California alone there are 60,000 people living with AIDS, and another estimated 91,000 living with HIV, many unaware of their infection;
… requires each cyclist to raise a minimum of $3,000. Each cyclist is assigned to a personal Cyclist Representative for assistance with training, fundraising and emotional and practical support from the moment they register through the event’s completion.
To make a donation to AIDS Lifecycle 8 and/or to support a specific rider in this year’s event, go to the official AIDS Lifecycle 8 website by clicking here.
If you don’t have a specific friend, family member or colleague who is participating in the AIDS Lifecycle 8 this year, please consider supporting Bart McDermott of San Francisco, CA, by making a contribution that will help him get closer to (or surpass) his goal. To visit Bart’s homepage within the AIDS Lifecycle 8 website and to make a contribution online, click here. Any contribution helps and will be much appreciated.
David on March 28th, 2009
Today an estimated 1 billion people worldwide are expected to observe Earth Hour by turning off their lights for one hour at 8:30 PM local time. Earth Hour begain in Sydney, Australia in 2007, under the sponsorship of the World Wildlife Fund, to raise awareness about global climate change. In its first year, an estimated 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008, the message turned into a broader movement around global sustainability, with over 50 million people participating in the one-hour event, held at 8:30 PM, local time. Global monuments such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome and the Sydney Opera House all stood in darkness.
This year, an estimated 2,100 cities in 82 countries will join in the symbolic event.
To learn more about Earth Hour, visit the official website by clickin here.
David on March 14th, 2009
Happy Birthday to the World Wide Web, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on 3/12/09. Twenty years ago, Tim Berners-Lee, an independent contractor for the European Organization for Nuclear Research, pitched his employers an innovative idea on how to share the lab’s research on an open computer network. That idea is now credited as being, essentially, the basic underlying blueprint for what we know as the World Wide Web.
David on February 26th, 2009
This month, Virgin Megastores announced the closure of three of its six remaining stores in the USA, including the iconic store at Times Square in New York City, the Union Square location in New York City and the Market Street store in San Francisco. The fate of its remaining three stores in Denver, Los Angeles and Orlando is unknown, but the signs are definitely not good.
I know I’ll particularly miss the huge, three-level store at Times Square, where it was possible to roam the music (and DVD) aisles for hours. According to reports published this week, the prime Virgin Megastore space on Times Square will be occupied by Century 21, the discount designer and major-brand fashion retailer.
In 2006, Sacramento, CA-based Tower Records shut its 89 USA stores in a final, sad liquidation sale that ended the chain’s colorful 46-year history.
What’s left? Well, of course, there’s iTunes, Amazon downloads, and online music sharing. But in order to roam the (physical) aisles and browse music CD covers, we’ve now got Borders Books, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, and (yikes!) Walmart, as well as the few, heroic remaining neighborhood independent music shopkeepers, who are probably counting down their final days right now.
And where do we go for comprehensive selections of independent, international, and niche music that was available from Virgin Megastores? I don’t think you’ll find it shopping at Walmart.
It’s sad. Music retailing has been dying for a while now. And so today is just the latest day the music died.
UPDATE: 3/4/09.
The Los Angeles Times published an article today confirming that the three remaining Virgin Megastores in Denver, Los Angeles and Atlanta will close by Summer 2009.
David on January 21st, 2009
”Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”
–President Barack Obama, in his Inauguration Speech, 1/20/09
To go to previous entries in the “Today’s Quote” series, click here.
Photo Credit: Christopher Morris, Time Magazine
David on January 1st, 2009
Revelers around the world celebrated the arrival of the New Year with public displays of fireworks and lights. Here are some of my favorite images from different cities as they welcome 2009.
FROM VIENNA, AUSTRIA…
FROM KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA…
FROM JAKARTA, INDONESIA…
FROM HONG KONG…
FROM RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL…
Photo Credits: The Los Angeles Times, except Rio de Janeiro, Credit: The New York Times
David on December 28th, 2008
December 26, 2004. It’s been four years since an undersea earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered the Great South Asia Tsunami, which killed over 225,000 and displaced nearly 1.7 million people in 11 countries. The quake, which measured between 9.1 and 9.3, was the second largest quake ever recorded on a seismograph.
In spite of the unprecendented humanitarian response following the tsunami, many areas that were destroyed by the massive tsunami still have not recovered and tens of thousands of people are still homeless.
Above: A vigil being held on 12/26/08 on the beach in Phuket, Thailand, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Great South Asia Tsunami and to remember the lives of those who were lost four years ago.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
David on December 27th, 2008
In 2008, we lost many well-known individuals, including the following:
January 15 - Brad Renfro, actor (Mark Shay in “The Client”) age 25
January 17 - Bobby Fischer, world class chess champion, age 64
January 18 - Lois Nettleton, actor (Evelyn in “Crossing Jordan”) age 80
January 19 - Suzanne Pleshette, actress (”Bob Newhart Show” and “Rome Adventure”), age 70
January 22 - Heath Ledger, actor (”Brokeback Mountain” and “The Dark Knight”), age 28
January 26 - Christian Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando, age 49
February 1 - Shell Kepler, actress (Amy Vining on “General Hospital” ) age 49
February 2 - Barry Morse, actor (Lt. Philip Gerard on “The Fugitive”) age 89
February 5 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, taught transcendentalist meditation to the Beatles, age 96
February 10 - Roy Scheider, actor (Police Chief Brodie in “Jaws”) age 75
February 13 - David Groh, actor (Rhoda’s husband, Joe, on “Rhoda”) age 68
February 27 - William F. Buckley, author and conservative commentator, age 82
March 18 - Arthur C. Clarke, writer (”2001: A Space Odyssey”) age 90
March 19 - Paul Scofield, actor (”A Man for All Seasons”) age 86
March 24 - Richard Widmark, actor (”How the West Was Won,” “Madigan” ) age 93
April 5 - Charlton Heston, actor (Moses in “The Ten Commandments”) age 84
May 5- Jerry Wallace,1950’s musician (1950’s country singer) age 79
May 26- Sydney Pollack, Academy Award winning director, actor and producer (”Out of Africa”) age 73
May 29- Harvey Korman, actor (best known for his role on the Carol Burnett Show) age 81
June 1- Yves Saint Lauren, fashion designer, age 71
June 2- Bo Diddley, musician (one of the founding fathers of “Rock & Roll”) age 79
June 7- Jim McKay,sportscaster (anchored ABC Wide World of Sports)
June 13 - Tim Russert, political journalist and host of NBC’s “Meet the Press”
June 22 - George Carlin, Comedian (best known for his use of off color language) age 71
July 4 - Sen. Jesse Helms, (5 term Senator from N Carolina and outspoken conserative) age 86
July 22- Estelle Getty, actress (best known for her role on The Golden Girls) age 85
August 9 - Bernie Mac, comedian (starred in his own sitcom titled The Bernie Mac Show) age 50
August 10- Isaac Hayes, musician (famous for writing the musical theme to Shaft) age 65
September 26- Paul Newman, Academy Award winning actor, race car driver, philanthropist (starred in 50 films best known for “Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid” and “The Color of Money”) age 83
October 17- Levi Stubbs,Singer (front man for the Four Tops) age 72
October 19- Richard Blackwell, fashion critic (best known for his “Ten Worst Dressed Women” yearly list) age 86
October 24- Merl Saunders, musician/keyboardist (played with The Grateful Dead) age 74
November 4- John Michael Chichton, author (best known for his best-selling book, “Jurassic Park”) age 66
December 1 - Paul Benedict, actor (best known as the quirky neighbor on the Jeffersons), age 70
December 7- Dennis Yost, singer/musician (best known as lead singer with the Classics IV), age 65
December 12- Van Johnson, actor and dancer, age 92
December 16- Samuel “Sam” Bottoms, actor and producer (best known as Lance Johnson in “Apocalypse Now”), age 53
December 18- Mark Felt, retired Associated Director, FBI (best known as “Deep Throat” in the Watergate scandal), age 95
December 24- Harold Pinter, Pulitzer-prize winnning writer, director and actor (best known as the writer of “Betrayal”), age 78
December 25- Eartha Kitt, singer and entertainer (best known as “Cat Woman” in the TV series “Batman”)
December 27- Robert Mulligan, film director (best known as director of the film, “To Kill a Mockingbird”), age 83
Above (left to right): Sydney Pollack, Tim Russert, George Carlin, and Paul Newman
David on December 21st, 2008
Winter Solstice occurs today, December 21, at 4:40 AM, PST. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, as well as the official start of Winter. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Hence the origin of the word solstice, which comes from Latin solstitium, from sol, “sun” and -stitium, “a stoppage.” Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.
For those of you who are missing the long days of summer, the good news is that each day will now get a bit longer.
David on December 16th, 2008
Earlier this week, the New York Times published its TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2008, which were selected by the editors of the Book Review from the list of 100 Notable Books of 2008.
NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2008
FICTION
DANGEROUS LAUGHTER
Thirteen Stories
By Steven Millhauser.
Alfred A. Knopf, $24.
In his first collection in five years, a master fabulist in the tradition of Poe and Nabokov invents spookily plausible parallel universes in which the deepest human emotions and yearnings are transformed into their monstrous opposites. Millhauser is especially attuned to the purgatory of adolescence. In the title story, teenagers attend sinister “laugh parties”; in another, a mysteriously afflicted girl hides in the darkness of her attic bedroom. Time and again these parables revive the possibility that “under this world there is another, waiting to be born.” (Excerpt)
A MERCY
By Toni Morrison.
Alfred A. Knopf, $23.95.
The fate of a slave child abandoned by her mother animates this allusive novel — part Faulknerian puzzle, part dream-song — about orphaned women who form an eccentric household in late-17th-century America. Morrison’s farmers and rum traders, masters and slaves, indentured whites and captive Native Americans live side by side, often in violent conflict, in a lawless, ripe American Eden that is both a haven and a prison — an emerging nation whose identity is rooted equally in Old World superstitions and New World appetites and fears.
NETHERLAND
By Joseph O’Neill.
Pantheon Books, $23.95.
O’Neill’s seductive ode to New York — a city that even in bad times stubbornly clings to its belief “in its salvific worth” — is narrated by a Dutch financier whose privileged Manhattan existence is upended by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. When his wife departs for London with their small son, he stays behind, finding camaraderie in the unexpectedly buoyant world of immigrant cricket players, most of them West Indians and South Asians, including an entrepreneur with Gatsby-size aspirations.
2666
By Roberto Bolaño. Translated by Natasha Wimmer.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, cloth and paper, $30.
Bolaño, the prodigious Chilean writer who died at age 50 in 2003, has posthumously risen, like a figure in one of his own splendid creations, to the summit of modern fiction. This latest work, first published in Spanish in 2004, is a mega- and meta-detective novel with strong hints of apocalyptic foreboding. It contains five separate narratives, each pursuing a different story with a cast of beguiling characters — European literary scholars, an African-American journalist and more — whose lives converge in a Mexican border town where hundreds of young women have been brutally murdered.
UNACCUSTOMED EARTH
By Jhumpa Lahiri.
Alfred A. Knopf, $25.
There is much cultural news in these precisely observed studies of modern-day Bengali-Americans — many of them Ivy-league strivers ensconced in prosperous suburbs who can’t quite overcome the tug of traditions nurtured in Calcutta. With quiet artistry and tender sympathy, Lahiri creates an impressive range of vivid characters — young and old, male and female, self-knowing and self-deluding — in engrossing stories that replenish the classic themes of domestic realism: loneliness, estrangement and family discord.
NONFICTION
THE DARK SIDE
The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals
By Jane Mayer.
Doubleday, $27.50.
Mayer’s meticulously reported descent into the depths of President Bush’s antiterrorist policies peels away the layers of legal and bureaucratic maneuvering that gave us Guantánamo Bay, “extraordinary rendition,” “enhanced” interrogation methods, “black sites,” warrantless domestic surveillance and all the rest. But Mayer also describes the efforts ofunsung heroes, tucked deep inside the administration, who risked their careers in the struggle to balance the rule of law against the need to meet a threat unlike any other in the nation’s history.
THE FOREVER WAR
By Dexter Filkins.
Alfred A. Knopf, $25.
The New York Times correspondent, whose tours of duty have taken him from Afghanistan in 1998 to Iraq during the American intervention, captures a decade of armed struggle in harrowingly detailed vignettes. Whether interviewing jihadists in Kabul, accompanying marines on risky patrols in Falluja or visiting grieving families in Baghdad, Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the “war on terror.”
NOTHING TO BE FRIGHTENED OF
By Julian Barnes.
Alfred A. Knopf, $24.95.
This absorbing memoir traces Barnes’s progress from atheism (at age 20) to agnosticism (at 60) and examines the problem of religion not by rehashing the familiar quarrel between science and mystery, but rather by weighing the timeless questions of mortality and aging. Barnes distills his own experiences — and those of his parents and brother — in polished and wise sentences that recall the writing of Montaigne, Flaubert and the other French masters he includes in his discussion.
THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING
Death and the American Civil War
By Drew Gilpin Faust.
Alfred A. Knopf, $27.95.
In this powerful book, Faust, the president of Harvard, explores the legacy, or legacies, of the “harvest of death” sown and reaped by the Civil War. In the space of four years, 620,000 Americans died in uniform, roughly the same number as those lost in all the nation’s combined wars from the Revolution through Korea. This doesn’t include the thousands of civilians killed in epidemics, guerrilla raids and draft riots. The collective trauma created “a newly centralized nation-state,” Faust writes, but it also established “sacrifice and its memorialization as the ground on which North and South would ultimately reunite.”
THE WORLD IS WHAT IT IS
The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul
By Patrick French.
Alfred A. Knopf, $30.
The most surprising word in this biography is “authorized.” Naipaul, the greatest of all postcolonial authors, cooperated fully with French, opening up a huge cache of private letters and diaries and supplementing the revelations they disclosed with remarkably candid interviews. It was a brave, and wise, decision. French, a first-rate biographer, has a novelist’s command of story and character, and he patiently connects his subject’s brilliant oeuvre with the disturbing facts of an unruly life.
Source: The New York Times
David on December 16th, 2008
“Change” is the Top Word of 2008 according to the annual global survey of the English language by Global Language Monitor. Meanwhile, the estimated number of words in the English language has increased to 998,751, just 1,249 from the million-word mark.
According to Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor, “Global English has been driven by three notable events during the course of 2008: The US Presidential Election, the Financial Tsunami, and the Beijing Olympics.” He added, “For 2008 our words were culled from throughout the English-speaking world which now numbers some 1.58 billion speakers and includes such diverse cultures as India, China, Philippines, and the EuroZone.”
The analysis was completed using GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), a proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet. The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and velocity.
TOP 10 WORDS OF 2008
1. Change – The top political buzzword of the 2008 US Presidential campaign.
2. Bailout – Would have been higher but was not in the media until Mid-September.
3. Obamamania – Describing the worldwide reaction to Barack Obama’s campaign and subsequent victory in the US presidential race.
4. Greenwashing – Repositioning a product to stress its Earth-friendly attributes.
5. Surge – Military and political strategy often cited as reducing violence in Iraq.
6. Derivative – Exotic financial instruments used to cleverly package junk-grade debt.
7. Subprime – Mortgages that were packaged as derivatives.
8. Foreclosure – The end-result of the sub-prime mess.
9. Phelpsian: New word coined to describe the Phelpsian Pheat of winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
10. Chinglish – The often amusing Chinese/English language hybrid that Beijing tried to stamp out before the Olympics began.
Source: Global Language Monitor
David on December 15th, 2008
Researchers at University of Oxford have announced their list of TEN MOST IRRITATING WORDS AND PHRASES FOR 2008. According to Jeremy Butterfield, lexicographer and author of Oxford A to Z of English Usage, the ten words and phrases were identified based on results from the Oxford University Corpus, an extensive and dynamic database that compiles texts—both written and spoken—in electronic form. Containing over 200 billion words of 21st century English, the Oxford University Corpus provides evidence of actual and contextual language usage worldwide. The database documents various forms of the English language ranging from literary novels, specialist journals, magazines and newspapers to blogs, chatrooms and emails.
The database alerts them to new words and phrases and can tell them which expressions are disappearing. It also shows how words are being misused.
In an interview, Butterfield said “We grow tired of anything that is repeated too often – an anecdote, a joke, a mannerism – and the same seems to happen with some language.”
TOP 10 MOST IRRITATING WORDS AND PHRASES FOR 2008
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It’s a nightmare
8 - Shouldn’t of
9 - 24/7
10 - It’s not rocket science
What do you consider the most irritating word or phrase for 2008?
David on November 29th, 2008
“Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”
–Mahatma Gandhi
In memory of the 163 people who lost their lives in the tragic terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India this week.
To go to previous entries in the “Today’s Quote” series, click here.
Photo Credit: Arko Datta/Reuters
David on November 5th, 2008
Happy days are here again.
In celebration of Senator Barack Obama’s stunning, history-making victory in his bid to become the 44th President of the United States, here’s a video of one of Barbra Streisand’s early live performances of “Happy Days are Here Again,” written by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen, which is best remembered as the campaign song for Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s successful 1932 Presidential campaign. [This song appears on my list of Top 10 Favorite Songs. Click here to see the full list.]
And, here are some of the jubilant faces of Obama supporters in New York City and Chicago following the announcement of the November 4th election results and the decisive win by Senator Baack Obama.
Photo credits: The Wall Street Journal
David on November 5th, 2008
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.”
–Senator Barack Obama, in his Presidential Campaign Victory Speech, delivered in Chicago, 11/4/08
To read the full text of Senator Obama’s speech from Forbes.com, click here.
Photo credit: Time Magazine
David on October 8th, 2008
In a surprising change in public opinion, the results of a CBS 5 poll released yesterday indicate that supporters of Proposition 8, which seeks to amend the California Constitution by redefining marriage as between a man and woman only, now lead by a 47 to 42 margin–a stunning reversal in opinion in less than two weeks. Opponents of Proposition 8 cite a recent TV advertisement by supporters of the initiative as influencing public opinion, particularly among younger voters, who previously had been expected to strongly oppose the proposition.
According to state-required financial reports filed as of 9/30/08, groups supporting Proposition 8 have raised over $25 million, compared with $19 million for opponents of the measure.
Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, which is opposing Proposition 8, said ”We’ve seen a real shift since (Prop. 8 supporters’) massive ad buy. People who have supported us in the past will have to step up again, and those who haven’t will have to give.” In an email to supporters this week, Geoff Kors wrote, “This is crunch time. With less than a month before the election, we must get on the air now to answer these lies and swing votes back to our side. And the only way to do that is to raise more money. The generous $15.8 million that our supporters have given isn’t enough. Not when the other side has nearly $10 million more than we do and the fundraising gap is growing.”
Last week, Equality California released its first TV advertisement opposing Proposition 8, shown below:
To make a contribution to Equality California and their “No on 8″ campaign, click here. To purchase offical ”No on 8″ merchandise, including signs for your yard, click here.
To read more about the results of the latest poll in the Los Angeles Times, click here.
To view the most recent previous post on this topic, click here.
David on September 18th, 2008
Honey, I Shrunk the Dollar! This week’s visit to London provided another opportunity to experience the effects of the shrinking value of the US dollar up close and real. As of yesterday, the US dollar was equivalent to 0.54984 British pounds. This means that a product priced at 1 British pound costs $1.82.
So, here’s a sampling of what the US dollar will buy in London today:
* Canned beverage (e.g. Coke) from typical vending machine: $2.73
* Grande Cafe Latte from Starbucks: $4.40
* Pint of typical British beer from local pub: $6.50
* One-way taxi fare from London Heathrow Airport to Central London: $112.00
* Small pitcher of Sangria from La Tasca, a neighborhood tapas restaurant: $18.20
* Continental breakfast (juice, fresh fruit, yogurt, pastry and coffee), from Room Service, at Churchill Hotel: $40.95, including 12.5% service charge
* Top ticket to Billy Elliott, The Musical, at Victoria Palace Theatre: $109.20, plus service charge
David on September 15th, 2008
“Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance.”
–The New York Times, 9/14/08
Click here to read the full New York Times article, entitled “Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes.”
To go to previous entries in the “Today’s Quote” series, click here.
David on September 11th, 2008
Today’s video features San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom speaking to a group on 9/6/08 regarding Proposition 8, which will appear on the November ballot in California. Proposition 8 seeks to amend the California Constitution and remove the right of same-sex couples to wed.
“On November 5, the day after the election, I don’t want to have any regrets. I want to know that I did everything I could to defeat Prop 8, to stop the elimination of the fundamental right to marry for all Californians.”
–Gavin Newsom, Mayor, San Francisco, 9/6/08
To learn more about Proposition 8, visit the No on 8, Equality for All website.
And, here’s a public service announcement from Power Up for the Equality Campaign urging California voters to vote no on Proposition 8.
Click here to see a related previous post at Jankenpon.
David on September 11th, 2008
Seven years have passed since the terrorist attack on 9/11/01, which killed 2,974 people.
David on August 25th, 2008
China put on a great show. The 2008 Olympics closed yesterday in Beijing with a roar and another stunning spectacle intended to formally usher China into the modern world and demonstrate its ability to serve as host to one of the world’s largest and most prestigious events. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies featured a jaw-dropping mix of high-tech wizardry, clever storytelling, flying acrobats, spectacular aerial fireworks, elaborate costuming, and amazing choreography. Of course, a lot can be accomplished with a record-breaking ceremony budget (estimated at up to $300 million) and a singular national obsession– to dazzle the world with the grandest Olympic event ever.
Zhang Yimou, the visionary force behind the Beijing ceremonies certainly deserves all of the credit that has been heaped upon him. As China’s most-celebrated film director (Raise the Red Lantern, To Live, Hero, Ju Dou), Zhang Yimou had a near-impossible task– plan and execute a flawless live production with a cast of thousands for a worldwide audience of 2 billion people (based on estimates from the Wall Street Journal).
By selecting Zhang Yimou as the central creative force for the Olympic ceremonies, the Chinese government has clearly vindicated the highly-acclaimed director for some of his early films, including Raise the Red Lantern, his 1991 Oscar-nominated film, which was banned in China.
In a recent interview with The London Telegraph, the director offered this assessment of his huge cast for the Olympic ceremonies– “The actors listen to the orders, and can carry them out like computers. Foreigners admire this. This is the Chinese spirit. We can make our human performance reach the level it achieves through hard work and being smart. This many foreigners cannot achieve.”
Of course, there was some controversy during the Opening Ceremony about the lip-synching of the song “Hymn to the Motherland” in which a pretty nine-year old girl lip-synched to the voice of a singer who was deemed “not pretty enough” for an Olympic audience, and the computer-generated images of aerial fireworks over Beijing. But those complaints seem relatively petty when viewed in the context of the massive, complex Ceremony performances that involved a cast of 15,000 on opening night and an all-new cast of 7,000 for closing night.
So, congratulations to Beijing on a spectacular national coming-out party and to Zhang Yimou on a stunning production that likely will never be equaled.
Above: Zhang Yimou. Below: Closing Ceremony, 8/24/08.
Below: Opening Ceremony, 8/8/08
Here’s a 5-minute video, from CCTV (China), featuring an interview with Zhang Yimou and background information about his selection as Director of the Beijing Olympic ceremonies.
This is a good time to re-visit and watch Zhang Yimou’s films, many of which are known for their ravishing and saturated colors and studied, formal framing. A partial list of his films includes:
* Curse of the Golden Flower, 2006
* House of the Flying Daggers, 2004
* Hero, 2002
* Shanghai Triad, 1995
* To Live, 1994
* The Story of Qiu Ju, 1992
* Raise the Red Lantern, 1991
* Ju Dou, 1990
* Red Sorghum, 1987
My personal favorites are Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, and House of the Flying Daggers.
David on August 13th, 2008
What was Spain’s olympic basketball team (and their publicist) thinking when they posed for this photo, used in an advertisement for Seur, a Spanish courier company, that appeared in a full-page ad in Marca, the country’s largest-selling newspaper just prior to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing?
The print ad features two large photographs, one of the men’s basketball team, above, and one of the women’s team. Both squads pose in full Olympic wear on a basketball court decorated with a picture of a Chinese dragon. Each player appears pulling back the skin on either side of their eyes, in order to create “slanted eyes.”
Needless to say, the ad has created a whirlwind of controvery about possible racism and cultural insensitivity, not to mention poor taste. Spain’s basketball team member Jose Manuel Calderon said the team was responding to a request from the photographer. “We felt it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as an affectionate gesture,” he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, numerous groups representing Asian-Americans have condemned the photo.
I wonder what effect, if any, this incident will have on Spain’s campaign to serve as the host city for the 2016 Olympics? If nothing else, I think the Spanish Olympic team needs to hire a different publicist.
David on August 5th, 2008
It’s so great to read good news once in a while. Yesterday, the Wildlife Conservation Society released results of a landmark and exhaustive survey, performed in collaboration with the Republic of Congo, which indicate that there are now over 125,000 western lowland gorillas in the country’s northern forests– a number that is nearly double the previous estimates of their population worldwide. The new survey discovered 73,000 gorillas in the Ntokou-Pikounda region of the Congo and another 52,000 in an area called Ndoki-Likouala landscape — including a previously unknown population of nearly 6,000 gorillas living deep in the swamp.
This is exciting and encouraging news, given that the gorillas have been the victims of decades of deforestation and warfare in Central Africa, in addition to being hunted for their meat. Plus, the gorillas are highly susceptible to the deadly Ebola virus, as well as human-introduced diseases.
In 1997, The World Conservation Union classified the western lowland gorilla as “critically endangered,” a status that means they are expected to suffer a reduction of at least 80 percent in the next three generations.
While the western lowland gorilla is still at risk, this is an incredibly promising finding, and a signal that conservation efforts can make a difference– and potentially save a species from extinction.
If you wish to make a donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society, click here for a direct link to the donation page of their official website.
And here’s a 3-minute video on the Wildlife Conservation Society’s finding, prepared by Andrew Revkin for The New York Times.
David on July 17th, 2008
WalkScore.com, a service designed to help those seeking a less automobile-dependent life, announced yesterday that San Francisco has been ranked as the Most Walkable City in the USA. WalkScore evaluated the nation’s 40 largest cities based on residents’ proximity to grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, movie theaters and other amenities. Hills were not taken into account in the rankings, just distance and concentration.
After San Francisco, the next top-ranked cities were New York City, Boston and Chicago, in 2nd, 3rd and 4th Place, respectively.
Among San Francisco’s neighborhoods, the following eight areas received the highest scores:
1. Chinatown
2. Financial District
3. Downtown
4. North Beach
5. Mission
6. Nob Hill
7. Pacific Heights
8. South of Market
Source: WalkScore.com
David on July 4th, 2008
There is great jubilation in Hawaii over the news that Rev. Damien de Veuster (1840-1889), or Father Damien, as he is best known, will be named a Catholic Saint, following a declaration on 7/3/08 by Pope Benedict XVI that Father Damien had performed a second miracle, a prerequisite for sainthood.
Father Damien is a much-beloved and revered figure in Hawaii for his extraordinary work and compassion in caring for Hawaiians who were afflicted with Hansen’s disease (aka leprosy) and quarantined by government order on the remote Kalaupapa peninsula on the Island of Molokai. The quarantine settlement at Kalaupapa, now a USA National Park, is surrounded by the world’s highest sea cliffs (3,300 feet), which provided a natural barrier to access, except by sea.
For 16 years, Father Damien devoted his life to serving and caring for the residents at Kalaupapa. Under his leadership, a church was built, basic laws were enforced, shacks became painted houses, working farms were organized and irrigated, and schools were erected. Prior to his arrival, Kalaupapa was considered a lawless “colony of death,” where people were forced to fight each other to survive. He contracted the disease in 1884 and died of its effects, at Kalaupapa, in 1889, at the age of 49.
Today, Father Damien holds a unique position in the hearts of the people of Hawaii (and Belgium, his birthplace) and campaigns have been underway for many years to recognize him as a Catholic Saint. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II as Blessed Damien in 1995. Statues of Father Damien are on display at the USA Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu. Damien Memorial School, a private Catholic school in Honolulu, HI, is named in his honor. Blessed Damien is also the unofficial patron of people with HIV/AIDS.
Canonization is expected to occur in late 2009 in Rome, with celebrations in Hawaii and Belgium.
Mahatma Gandhi claimed that Father Damien was an inspiration for his social campaigns in India that ultimately led to the freedom of his people. In 1971, Gandhi was quoted in M.S. Mehendale’s account called Gandhi Looks at Leprosy as saying, “The political and journalistic world can boast of very few heroes who compare with Father Damien of Molokai. It is worthwhile to look for the sources of such heroism.”
In April, 2005, I visited the Island of Molokai and had an opportunity to go to the Kalaupapa National Park, which has been operated by the National Park Service since 1980. Access within Kalaupapa is controlled and limited by the National Park Service via guided tours only. The tour included a visit to the Saint Philomena Church where Father Damien was buried in 1889. (His remains were subsequently transported to Belgium in 1936, although a relic of Damien’s right hand was returned to the original grave in Kalaupapa in 1995.)
Although the isolation policy at Kalaupapa was officially abolished in 1969, Kalaupapa still serves as home to a small number of residents who chose to remain on the property.
Kalaupapa is place of exceptional beauty and the National Park now provides an environment well suited to contemplation and quiet reflection.
Photos: Taken April, 2005.
If you want to learn more about the life of Father Damien, check out the following:
1. Molokai: The Story of Father Damien, 1999 (DVD)
2. Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai, by Gavan Daws (paperback)
3. Leper Priest of Moloka’i: The Father Damien Story, by Richard Stewart (paperback)
4. The Father Damien Story: An Uncommon Kindness, 2003 (DVD)
David on July 4th, 2008
The Equality for All campaign, a coalition comprised of over 50 civil rights, faith, choice, labor and community of color organizations, is working to defeat the November ballot measure to amend California’s constitution to only recognize marriages between “a man and a woman.”
In May, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s discriminatory marriage laws banning marriage for lesbian and gay couples. That landmark decision was a huge victory for all Californians who cherish fairness and opportunity. The November ballot initiative is attempting to nullify that court decision.
Conservative groups, including ProtectMarriage.com and the National Marriage and Focus on the Family, one of the largest and most well-funded anti-LGBT organizations in the country, are prepared to spend millions of dollars to influence public opinion and enshrine discrimination into the State’s consitution.
Equality for All is committed to helping defeat the ballot initiative and needs your financial support. To make a donation, click here.
David on July 3rd, 2008
In honor of Independence Day, here are two quotes in response to the California Supreme Court’s landmark decision on 5/15/08 which struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstituitional.
“The California Supreme Court’s ruling is a momentous decision for our state and nation that marks a giant step forward in our march toward true equality for all our citizens. We all owe Mayor Gavin Newsom a debt of gratitude for his visionary leadership on this crucial civil rights issue, along with the courageous plaintiffs in this case. But our march for justice and equality is far from over. We now must re-focus our efforts on fighting the divisive and discriminatory proposed constitutional amendment that would take away marriage equality for same-sex couples. Working together, we can ensure that once again, justice and equality will prevail.”
–Art Torres, California Democratic Party Chairman
”What a day in San Francisco. What a day in California. What a day for America. What a day for equality. This is an extraordinary moment and an extraordinary time. It’s about human dignity. It’s about civil rights. It’s about time. And by the way, as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation.”
–Gavin Newsom, Mayor, San Francisco
David on May 21st, 2008
On May 12, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit Sichuan Province, a mountainous region in Western China. The toll from the quake includes over 50,000 dead and over 5 million people homeless (roughly equivalent to the populations of Chicago and Houston, combined).
To make a contribution, call or visit the website of any of the following organizations. (List Source: New York Times).
AMERICARES
88 Hamilton Avenue
Stamford, Conn. 06902
(800) 486-4357
GIVE2ASIA
China Earthquake Relief
P.O. Box 193223
San Francisco, CA 94119-3223
(415) 743-3336
HALF THE SKY FOUNDATION
Room 2703, 27/F, Shun Feng International Centre
182 Queen’s Road East
Wanchai, Hong Kong
+86 (10) 8532-3042
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES
P.O. Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland
+41-22-730-4222
MERCY CORPS
China Earthquake Relief
Dept. W
P.O. Box 2669
Portland, Ore., 97208-2669
(888) 889-7146
THE SALVATION ARMY
615 Slaters Lane
P.O. Box 269
Alexandria, VA 22313
1-800-SAL-ARMY
SAVE THE CHILDREN
China Earthquake Relief
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880
(800) 728-3843
WORLD VISION
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, Wash. 98063-9716
(888) 56-CHILD (562-4453)
David on May 20th, 2008
The Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), founded by baseball manager Tony La Russa and his wife, Elaine, in 1991, sponsored the 8th Annual Animals on Broadway event in downtown Walnut Creek on 5/18/08. The day-long festival included contests, dog washes, entertainment, and dozens of booths from retailers and other firms serving the pet industry. Although it was a hot day (around 90-degrees), there was a large, enthusiastic crowd– and lots and lots of dogs. Plus, there were plenty of complimentary doggie treats and samples of different dog foods from the booths. Who could ask for anything more?
Lucy and Peggy are busy trying to decide which booths to visit at the Animals on Broadway celebration.
David on May 14th, 2008
As I read about the recent (and continuing) tragedies in Myanmar, I thought about the Burmese people and their long and difficult struggle for political reform, freedom of speech, and a better life. I also remembered the wonderful experiences I had while visiting Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan in 2005, where these photos were taken.
Two young monks seated outside a temple in Mandalay.
Taking a bicycle taxi ride in Mandalay.
Waiting to board a boat to cross the Ayeyarwady River (formerly called Irrawaddy River) in Mandalay.
Opposite one of the hundreds of maginificent old temples in Bagan.
Refer to my earlier post for information about making a contribution to help the survivors of Cyclone Nargis.
David on May 13th, 2008
An estimated 2.0 million people across the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar are now facing a huge hunger and health crisis due to lack of water, food and medical aid following the devastating effects of Cyclone Nargis which struck the region on May 3rd. The following agencies are providing assistance and contributions may be made by mail or online. (List Source: New York Times)
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
247 West 37th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY
U.S.A. 10018
(212) 967-7800
AMERICARES
88 Hamilton Avenue
Stamford, Conn. 06902
(800) 486-4357
AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE
Myanmar Cyclone Relief
P.O. Box 530
132 East 43rd St.
New York, N.Y., 10017
(212) 687-6200
AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
45 West 36th Street
New York, N.Y. 10018
(800) 889-7146
CARE
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, Ga. 30303
(800) 521-CARE (521-2273)
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
Southeast Asia Natural Disaster
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, Md. 21203-7090
(877) 435-7277
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS/RED CRESCENT
P.O. Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland
(011) 41-22-730-4222
INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES
P.O. Box 630225
Baltimore, Md. 21263-0225
(877) 803-4622
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Myanmar Cyclone Response
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880
(800) 728-3843
U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
For U.S. residents: USA for UNHCR
1775 K St., NW
Suite 290
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 296-1115
(800) 770-1100
U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF
125 Maiden Lane
New York, N.Y. 10038
(800) 4-UNICEF (486-4233)
WORLD FOOD PROGRAM
Friends of the World Food Program
1819 L Street, NW
Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20036
(866) 929-1694
WORLD VISION
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, Wash. 98063-9716
(888) 56-CHILD (562-4453)
