signs of life?

miracles and tourniquets

i was really struck by the convergence of headlines this morning, especially after thinking all weekend about this image:

let me go home, let me go to him.

if you were trapped under 150 feet of mud, who would you want working up above?

Enthusiasm wanes for people power
MANILA It was 20 years ago this month that Corazon Aquino coined the term "people power" to describe the thrilling popular uprising that drove Ferdinand Marcos from the presidency of the Philippines.

In its iconic image, nuns knelt in the paths of huge tanks as hundreds of thousands of people massed in the streets of Manila with prayers and songs and courage to face down a dictator.

"A new life starts for our country tomorrow," said Aquino, who took office as president when Marcos fled to the United States on Feb. 25, 1986, "a life filled with hope and I believe a life that will be blessed with peace and progress."

It is almost painful to look back today at that moment of celebration and optimism. After two decades of continuing political turmoil - partly fueled by repeated attempts to recreate people power - this nation of political romantics seems to have sunk into a mood of weariness and disillusionment.

A new term has been coined for it: people power fatigue.

"I'm not getting emotionally involved any more," said Sheila Coronel, the country's leading investigative journalist, who was among those who faced the tanks 20 years ago. "It makes me too angry."

"It was miraculous," said an American diplomat who was in the streets during the people power uprising against Marcos. "But you can't live on miracles."

i'd like to believe in miracles, but maybe they only come into play when you've lost your arms and legs and all you've left to live for is to see the person you love one more time before you die. or perhaps they keep you breathing for four days under a mountain of mud. i'm more concerned with what happens when the people with two arms and two legs digging stop believing.

Philippines Rescuers Hear 'Signs of Life'
GUINSAUGON, Philippines - Rescue workers refused to give up hope of finding survivors in an elementary school buried by up to 100 feet of mud, digging into the night Monday after detecting what the provincial governor called "signs of life."

Sounds of scratching and a rhythmic tapping were picked up by seismic sensors and sound-detection gear brought in by U.S. and Malaysian forces.

"To me, that's more than enough reason to smile and be happy," South Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias said. "The adrenaline is high ... now that we have seen increasing signs of life."

Still, it was hard to imagine survivors under the wet muck nearly four days after a mountainside collapsed and covered the farming village of Guinsaugon, killing up to 1,000 people. No one has been pulled out alive since just a few hours after the disaster Friday morning.

you can read more about the complications associated with arterial tourniquets. you can also make all the anagrams you can out of tourniquet and leave them as a comment.

i have ongoing, growing appreciation for the arcade fire. wake up:

something filled up my heart with nothing, someone told me not to cry. now that i'm older, my heart is colder and i cannot see that it's a lie. children, wake up. if the children don't grow up, our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up. i guess we'll just have to adjust.