I'm fortunate to know of no friends or family directly affected by the tragedies in New York. My uncle and aunt in the DC area live only ten blocks from the Pentagon, and report that all is well with them.

However, I do want to commend this community. I turned to PerlMonks.org at first as a distraction to the events of the day. (We don't have cable, or even regular TV...I was reliant on National Public Radio and the Internet for information today.)

What I found here was an active, thoughtful discussion about the tragedies as they became more clear. I found monks continuously helping to pass information along, with sources and often links. I found people who knew what sites were up, as alternatives to the seriously overloaded US news sites. I found people who could post an 800 number for the Red Cross off the top of their head, encouraging others to give blood.

We also heard from monks who may have lost family and friends, and were offered kind thoughts, condolences and prayers.

Of course this subject is off-topic, but I want to express how pleased and proud I was to see the PM community react.