Folks, there's a serious weather emergency going on in the middle of the United States that needs your help and further attention. We were fortunate to have a recent post here from navajo to bring our attention to it, now I'd like to remind folks to go to the ongoing effort that is contained within a diary at DailyKos in order to do what you can to help our Native American brothers and sisters -- our fellow Americans -- in need. Even more snow has arrived, making things that much more desperate.

From the current DailyKos diary, updated by TiaRachel:

Background:Centuries of abuse and neglect of the original inhabitants of what is now the United States has not ended. Our reservations are still like third world countries. When massive ice storms and high winds hit the reservations in the Dakotas mid January poor housing, weak heating systems, sparse cupboards, lack of warm clothing and health problems make it difficult to survive. Add to that a utilities infrastructure that was brought to its knees on the Cheyenne River Reservation when 3000 poles and power lines came down from 6 inches of ice weight also crippling the water system. Ongoing storm conditions hampered repair. The reservation has been without power since Jan. 21st and Federal funds are still weeks away.

update Feb 5 11-ish PM EST: News reports are saying that 'most' of the power has been turned back on, but water (& keeping that power from being shut off) continues to be a problem.

Please help in any way you can, even if only by helping to spread this information and link back to the DailyKos piece for updated news, information and ways to help.

Thank you.

The Thanksgiving holiday in the US has now ended; if you celebrated it with family, friends or in solo form, let us know how it went. (We live vicariously through the experiences of others.)

In terms of interesting news that occurred over the holidays, apparently Dubai World is in danger of defaulting on a $60 billion in loan repayments (hat-tip Jimdotz @ DailyKos):

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Just a year after the global downturn derailed Dubai's explosive growth, the city is now so swamped in debt that it's asking for a six-month reprieve on paying its bills — causing a drop on world markets Thursday and raising questions about Dubai's reputation as a magnet for international investment.

The fallout came swiftly and was felt globally after Wednesday's statement that Dubai's main development engine, Dubai World, would ask creditors for a "standstill" on paying back its $60 billion debt until at least May.

This, of course, is not something the financial sector would give thanks for, as it gives the term "Black Friday" a more ominous shade of meaning (hat-tip Moby for the analogy).

[Update: For more information and a useful update about why this isn't a reason to panic, go here.]

In other news,

• In Space (where no one can hear you scream1, 2), China readies a second lunar mission and may be ready for a manned mission by 2017, while NASA finds new evidence for life on Mars
• Sustainably speaking, living buildings could help clean up the atmosphere according to Dr Rachel Armstrong of UC Barkley in London
• For computer enthusiasts, DRAM prices have fallen -- now might be a good time to increase memory in your computers if they aren't already maxed out, and a Japanese firm has launched a new product -- a dual-screen notebook that weighs in at 1.84 Kg and has about 4.5 hrs o battery life
• On the home front, a man shot four relatives at a Florida holiday party and a manhunt is underway way, while on the foreign affairs front Iran has been censured by the UN's nuclear watchdog agency for being less than forthcoming with more information about their nuclear program.

That's it for now. What's eating you?

Thanks to our wonderful and mystically-endowed-in-the-cyber-arts webmistress Roxy, we're back!

Our toolset and underlying core software has been updated, and our DB backed up, all in a little under an hour.

Kudos to Roxy! Huzzah!

(Please direct all donations to our PayPal account, or send lots of flowers to Hawaii. Don't worry about an address -- just include a note that they're for Roxy, and the islanders will make sure they get delivered.)

There is a season* - And a time for every purpose under heaven

Here we are almost into fall -- dog days of summer are upon us. It was a busy summer for all of us ePluribus Media, with conferences, conventions and other "busy work." We will do our best to get you all caught up, but if we missed something, or someone, please give us a shout out!

The image at the right is a screenshot of a recent ePluribus Media Journal front page. Over the next couple of months you will be noticing some changes to the look and feel of the various sites, as lefty, Roxy and standingup begin an "integration" project to tie the sites more closely together. Some of you may have already made note of the changes Lefty, Roxy and wanderindiana have made to the community site.