Bloggers' Tsunami Attention Turns to Relief Efforts, Aid

As the devastation and death toll in Southern Asia mount, so does blogger coverage of the hard-to-fathom event and of growing relief efforts to help the countries, families and aid organizations that were affected by last weekend's earthquake and tidal wave/tsunami -- now considered one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.

In fact, today's top link is to a Southeast Asian blog called TsunamiHelp, which includes updated news, alerts, names of some of the dead, and links to organization providing relief and aid.

In a short amount of time, Wikipedia has compiled an amazing fact-filled earthquake/tsunami section. Another interesting find (No. 35 on today's top links) is an animation of what the tsunami looked like as it spread and traveled throughout Southern Asia and on to the African Coast.

But what's notable about today's blog traffic is the emphasis on helping the countries in need and the organizations that provide relief. In fact, 15 of today's top links and 10 of today's top 40 phrases mention either ongoing relief efforts or news coverage of the disaster. The links refer readers to a broad list of agencies and organizations that are handling relief programs, ranging from the American Red Cross to Doctors Without Borders, from World Vision United States to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (Many of the links, it should be noted, respond slowly because of heavy traffic and interest).

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, the death of writer Susan Sontag is mentioned frequently, and a Fortune magazine article tittled "Why There's No Escaping the Blog" has jumped into the forefront.

A phrase that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfled uttered on his Christmas Eve surprise visit to Iraq also is being scrutinized, not only by bloggers but by media organizations and others who never have quite accepted the official version of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. When Rummy used the words "shot down the plane over Pennsylvania" to describe the fate of Flight 93 that day, just what did he mean?

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: While the world focuses on the devastation in Southern Asia, casualties continue to mount in Iraq...civilian and military.