Jet lag undoubtedly has something to do with CHORE’s reaction to the news. Traveling 27 hours over 12 time zones can play tricks with your senses, so at first reading we were skeptical that Hawaii state government was actually asking Indonesia for assistance with its response to future emergencies. But there it is again today in the Star-Bulletin (“ Lingle inks Indonesian disaster partnership ”) and the Advertiser (" Partnership augments disaster readiness "). Give us another day to get over the lag and we’ll probably have questions about what it all means. In the meantime, we’ll rely on Larry Geller’s Disappeared News blog to ask them, and as usual, Larry asks some good ones. Setting our initial skepticism aside, maybe some real good can come from the budding relationship. As noted today at The Jakarta Post.com , the deal includes civilian-to-civilian activities that will “focus on domestic emergency readiness, search and rescue operations and improvements in democratic
CHORE was launched in 2006 after officials responding to an earthquake emergency obviously didn't measure up; see CHORE's earliest posts. Their performance left an opening for average citizens to weigh in with experience-based suggestions to improve crisis communications. The many deaths recorded after California's wildfires also revealed gaps in officials' ability to communicate effectively. Visitors are invited to comment with their own ideas.