Emergency Appeal for China - Updated

The International Red Cross has issued an updated appeal for help for the Sichuan Earthquake. The emergency appeal seeks 92.7 million USD to assist around 100,000 families (up to 500,000 people) affected by the earthquake for 36 months.

Just to give an idea of the scale of this disaster, as of 27 May, 68,109 people had been left dead, 364,552 injured, 20,790 missing and 15 million displaced of which five million are homeless. Five million homeless. Wow.

The massive earthquake also spawned the formation of 34 "quake" lakes, formed by rivers blocked by landslides. Water levels are rising, rains are coming, and an additional 1.3 million people in these areas are now threatened by floods.

The IFRC has issued a report, which is about 15 pages long, includes photos, the budget, and various other facets of the recovery plan.

Give while you can. Donations can be channeled through your national Red Cross societies. Click here to donate through the American Red Cross.

Helping China's Earthquake Victims

I got an email yesterday with a bank account number, informing me I could "wire transfer" funds to the account to help the China earthquake victims. The email was from someone I know, but I'm always suspicious of an email that gives instructions on wire transfer of funds, even if the email doesn't begin with, "ATTN: Dearest One of God..."

I wrote to one of my buddies who is an executive with the American Red Cross, and here is his response, with guidance on how to donate.

Like you, I’m always a bit suspicious of anyone who tells me to “wire the funds” As you can see from news reports, the RCSC [Red Cross Society of China] has collected over a ½ billion USD’s thus far and fundraising hasn’t really started yet. American Red Cross had such a huge surge of donations for China that they’re not asking for, or establishing a campaign to raise money.

The complexities of these relief operations are staggering. Global interest peaks for about 3 weeks, and then the disaster is relegated to just another terrible tragedy. The readiness capability of each Red Cross Society often reveals itself when a huge event like this occurs. China is in relatively good shape with a strong Red Cross infrastructure and literally millions of volunteers. They consistently operate within Sphere, IFRC [International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies] and WHO standards. The Burma Red Cross is less fortunate having to operate under military rule and limited access to outside resources.

Personally I would give to the IFRC directly. They can then push the funds to China in a manner that makes sense. One advantage of giving to the American Red Cross is that the donation would be tax deductible. I don’t think the IRS provides this benefit to a donation made directly to China or through the IFRC.

Xu Jinglei - The World's Most Widely Read Blogger

Have you guys seen this?! This woman is getting 50 million visits to her blog in under a year! She just hit 100 million visits in 600 days. Here is the story, from the 'China Daily'.

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Chinese actress-turned-director Xu Jinglei became the world's most widely read blogger this month when her blog logged 100 million page views within about 600 days, the Beijing News said on Thursday.

And Xu, who has a reputation for a high intellect and integrity, has done it without writing about sex or providing a catalogue of kiss-and-tell stories -- but focusing on her work and day-to-day life.

The 100 millionth hit occurred on July 12, according to www.sina.com.cn, a popular Chinese Web site which provides blog services to many Chinese entertainers, including Xu who started hers in October 2005 and published a book of her blogged articles in March 2006.

The 33-year-old blogger has invited 20 fans, selected from online submissions, to her party to celebrate her latest success.

Xu won international acclaim when she won the best director award for "Letter From An Unknown Woman" at the 2004 San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.

Leading blog search engine Technorati has said Xu's blog recorded last year the most incoming links of any on the Internet.

Huang Ke, an analyst with Sina, told Reuters Xu's Web site has had 2 million more hits since July 12 breakthrough.

Writer Han Han, ranked second by Sina, will soon exceed the 100 million mark too, the analyst added.