John Humphreys is asking for some help for a Khmer friend and colleague whose family is having a rough time.

On a related note, while I was at AARES, I got talking about co-authors and it struck me that mine come from at least a dozen different countries. Going roughly from east to west they include NZ, Australia (obviously), Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Greece, Italy, France, Netherlands, Spain, England and the US. It’s certainly one of the great things about an academic life that this kind of contact is natural and taken for granted.

Thanks to $20 from Alpaca and an anonymous $100, we passed the $1500 target for the South Asia earthquake appeal. I’ve just sent off my matching donation, so that’s $3000 we’ve raised between us. Here are some examples of the benefits this kind of aid can bring (not earthquake-specific, but they give the general idea).

I’d also like to note reader Jess Moulday who’s going to be volunteering in Muzaffarabad for two months, and points to this link. Well done, Jess!

Thanks once again to everyone who pitched in and gave what they could. For those who couldn’t afford to give this time, I hope the appeal has helped to raise awareness of the problems.

The Pakistan earthquake appeal has been a huge success. Generous readers (see over) have donated a total of $1365 so far, easily surpassing the $1000 I promised to match. So, rather than close off early, I’ll raise my maximum contribution to $1500, and match any further contributions up to that limit, up to midnight tonight (blog time).

A few people made cash for comment offers, which I’ll address when I get a bit more free time.

List of donors so far

Harry Clark 100
James Farrell 100
Robert Merkel 25
Wilful 50
Jack & Claire 20
Craig Malam 100
Steve Edwards 100
Tim Dymond 150
Dave 30
Steve Munn 50
Helen 20
Kim Weatherall 50
James White 100
Nabakov 50
Hirvi 30 (20 euros)
dj 50
Peter D 60
rnr 100
Ian 50
Emma 30
anonymous 100
Total 1365

A few people made cash for comment offers, which I’ll address when I get a bit more free time.

As at 4 pm today, donations for the Pakistan earthquake appeal totalled $695, which I will match for a total of $1390. I’m hoping we can raise this to $1000 + a matching $1000 from me, so I’m going to keep running the appeal until Sunday. Thanks to everyone who’s donated, and specially to those for even a small subtraction from the weekly budget is a big effort. Please add your promises to the earthquake appeal comment thread, not this one.

I happened (via Charles Dodgson at Through the Looking Glass) to discover that George Bush rarely goes to church (behind paywall, but the intro gives you the basics).

NTTAWWT – I’m sure he goes more often than I do. But it struck me as a blogworthy factoid.

I happened (via Charles Dodgson at Through the Looking Glass) to discover that George Bush rarely goes to church (behind paywall, but the intro gives you the basics).

NTTAWWT – I’m sure he goes more often than I do. But it struck me as a blogworthy factoid.

As at 8:00 am today, donations totalled $595, and in addition, reader “Spog” advises that s/he had donated $200 the day before the appeal started. Please keep posting donations as comments to the original post, so I can keep track of them.

Over four appeals, we’ve now managed to raise more than $6000, the majority contributed by generous regular readers. The money has gone to relief appeals for the Asian tsunami, Darfur, the Niger famine and the Pakistan earthquake, and also to the Global Fund which supports the continuing work of Medecins Sans Frontiers.

While I sometimes get jaded with blogging, this kind of effort never fails to hearten me. Thanks, everyone!

It’s more than three months since Pakistan suffered a devastating earthquake, with huge loss of life, and still many people are in desperate need of help. Much of the aid promised in the immediate aftermath has not materialised (sadly, this often happens). You can read more here.

So with most people back from the Christmas break, I thought this would be a good time for another fundraising appeal. Given some of the mammoth comments threads we’ve seen lately, I thought about reviving the “cash for comment” idea, but I decided to stick with the simpler plan of matching funds.

Please give as much as you can afford to a Pakistan earthquake appeal of your choice (I’m giving to Oxfam), and send a comment or email advising me of the amount. I’ll match the total amount given, up to $1000.

Remember that all this is tax-deductible, so the final cost to a taxpayer on the top marginal rate is only $50 cents for a final donation (counting my matching money) of $200. Or someone on the 30 per cent rate could give $50 and get $15 back, a net cost of $35 for an effective donation of $100.

Update Tuesday 0830 Already a total of $600 has been raised, with generous $100 contributions from Harry Clarke, James Farrell and (by email) Steve Edwards.

It’s nearly Australia Day, and my local Coles has only just got the Easter eggs and Hot Cross Buns on sale. This slackness was apparently due to delays in clearing out the mince pies from Christmas las year.

In the right light, I certainly am, as has been noticed both by commentators here, and In Real Life. As far as actual ethnicity goes, I’m a mixed bag, but mostly Celt. Quiggin is a Manx name, and my ancestry on my mother’s side is mostly Scots.

None of that signifies anything much except the arbitrariness of distinctions over which a lot of blood has been, and is still being, shed.