on Iraq

(edited to remove wild claims that might be substantiated in fact or might not but i have no confidence to judge)
via David Theroux via Dan Gillmor, the tearing down of Saddam's statue looks different from a distance. my not very educated guess is that inter-ethnic hostilities and the general inclination of the Bush administration to shy away from substantive policy issues make the near-term future of Iraq not look so good. It's a lot easier to tear down than to rebuild.

via bodyandsoul via stoutdem via slacktivist, here's a donor's guide to aid for Iraq.

via Dan Gillmor again, a great suggestion by Jeff Jarvis to support Iraqi freedom of the press by helping Iraqis to start weblog newspapers:

Weblogs give them the chance to publish freely, overnight, with no expense of printing presses and paper, no production equipment needed, no distribution network needed, no investment at all.
The beauty of weblogging is that it is the world's cheapest -- no, history's cheapest -- means of publishing. Weblogging brings the power of the press down to the people. And these people need it...

(of course initially there would not be huge #s of iraqi readers of these weblogs...)
Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo making good points (which you will have to go & read, am not summarizing) on the looting:

...I think it is virtually inevitable that you're going to have some period of rupture -- a window of time when there's an utter vacuum of authority -- when a government like this falls under military assault...