Aces Full of Links

Thanks for posting this, James.

The count is now up to 76,700 dead from the tsunami itself, and is expected to reach
100,000. That figure is predicted to double as those who have survived die from
cholera, dysentery, malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, respiratory infections, and
starvation.

I just read an article on SFGate.com that said Sri Lanka was getting its first reports of measles and diarrhea. I hadn't even thought of measels. Good lord.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2004/12/29/international1007EST0497.DTL

Thanks for sending it along to me. This tragedy is pretty damn overwhelming.

A few months after the Apollo 13 crisis there was a tsunami and cyclone in Pakistan. It is the largest recorded natural disaster (as far as I know). Some 200,000 people were recorded as dead and another 100,000 went missing. I don't know when those numbers were settled on, but this disaster looks to be getting close to that scale.

Simply horrible.

One more thing I hadn't thought of. I read this in today's Boston Globe (see http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2004/12/29/as_needs_mount_relief_agencies_mobilize/):

"Sri Lankan survivors faced an additional threat from land mines dislodged by the tsunami, UNICEF said.

"There are an estimated 2 million land mines in Sri Lanka.

"'Mines were floated by the floods and washed out of known minefields, so now we don't know where they are and the warning signs on mined areas have been swept away or destroyed,' UNICEF's Ted Chaiban said in Colombo."

The more I hear, the worse this tragedy gets, if that's possible. And then, when you factor in the long term economic effects on top of the short term human toll...these people are going to be suffering for quite some time. I was planning a Red Cross/Red Crescent donation, but I'll read the article and see what they recommend first.

Bob made an interesting observation the other day: how will they grow anything now that their soil has been heavily salted from sea water?

You know, I figure this: if millions of dollars can be raised via the internet like with Howard Dean's campaign, the same can be done with respect to these aid organizations.

We can do it. We can make a difference. Streams that join together can make a mighty river.

I do wish there was some analysis on which organizations are the least top-heavy. You know, where is my money doing the most direct good?