please help victims of tsunami

[Anonymous]

hey folks, hope everyone is well.

as i am sure all of you know there has been a horrible
disaster in asia in the form of a tsunami that has
left more than 120,000 dead and millions more
homeless, injured, with everything from their families
to their businesses and homes literally annihilated.
thousands more are in danger of dying from starvation,
dehydration and disease.

i have been quite saddened in the last few days about
how unaffected America collectively as a nation has
appeared about this catastrophe. our president didn't
really feel the need to respond for 4 days and only
after a UN secretary accused us of being a little
stingy. however during our tragedy of 9-11 it took
weeks for it to be socially acceptable to crack a
joke...even though the death toll in New York was
merely a drop in the bucket in comparison to the
devastation in Asia.

while i am sure most of you have already made
donations, i urge you to please give what you can, and
ask EVERYONE you know to give also. many of these
people have NOTHING left, their lives have been
destroyed. please open your heart and help and ask
others to help as well. at the very least please pray
for the dead and for the relief from suffering of the
survivors.

there are hundreds of relief operations and funds that
you can donate money to. below are the links to UNICEF
as well as a page with the numbers for the red cross
and other organizations. the cnn page has many links
on it.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapc...nami.aidsites/

http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp...LdP0G&b=276341

http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/events/tsunami.html

thank you for your time. may all mother sentient
beings be freed from suffering.

[Michael Moorcock]

Thanks, pard.
I think we're all on the case (see elsewhere).
We're giving to Medecins Sans Frontieres and we're discussing what to auction here in aid of the victims.
I suspect the American people have responded rather better and more swiftly than their President. What shocked me was how Bush once again tried to push the responsibility of responding onto others and how little, in comparison to some countries, the US is donating. However, I really do suspect Americans will demand more from him and his people as well as making private donations to the various organisations already doing such extraordinary work out there in our name.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Is that death toll correct!?

According to an AP article in the Seattle PI this morning, "at least 114,758 people were killed in 11 countries."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...20by%20Country

The article has a country-by-country breakdown, should anyone be interested in the statistics.

America and it's people will come through I'm sure of it!

Wouldn't surprise me if the people of America ended up giving more than our lousy President has agreed to send. Bill and Melinda Gates have personally sent about $3,000,000 and the collection being taken at Amazon.com is currently at $4,743,659.39!

[PsychicWarVeteran]

I can't even imagine that many people dead.

Oh, I know! And health officials say that the number that will die due to the successive spreading of disease will match or exceed the number killed by the tsunami itself. Very sad.

[Doc]

That kind of death toll puts a lot of things into perspective.

I don't mean to politicize this thread, but I heard an interesting figure on today's news. President Bush has pledged to the disaster relief effort an amount equal to what the US spends in four hours in Iraq. :( :?

[PsychicWarVeteran]

I don't mean to politicize this thread...

I'm probably already to blame for that with my "lousy President" comment. :roll:

...but I heard an interesting figure on today's news. President Bush has pledged to the disaster relief effort an amount equal to what the US spends in four hours in Iraq. :( :?

I heard that, too, Doc. I just about blew Cocoa Puffs everywhere! Nice to know we're willing to spend more on ending lives than we are on saving them, huh?

[Governor of Rowe Island]

One of the telling things about this disaster is that it will be the first time many of these regions will have been heard of by many people. There were endangered stone age tribes in the Andamans which may have been wiped out. It is possible that whole cultures have been destroyed!

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...55E663,00.html

Something good may come from this eventually, though - the Sri Lankan government have invited the Tamil Tigers in on the aid program and the Indonesian goverment have signed an immediate truce with seperatist rebels in Aceh province.

[Michael Moorcock]

A gallon of blood still costs a lot more than a gallon of oil.
We're getting ready to auction some rarities in aid of the victims.
Stand by with your wallets, pards!

[L'Etranger]

How sick can people be?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4142147.stm - Story about a man who sent fake emails to people telling them their relatives or friends had perished.

One should send the guy out there to see what he's joking about!

[Rookie]

The sick b***ard!!! What could he possibly get out of a stunt like that? Hopefully someone will leak his name and address over the 'net so those he emailed can pay him a little 'visit'...

The last paragraph of the article was a little concerning too- people phoning the emergency contact line for travel information?!? Sheesh! :roll:

Here's another example for you...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050101/D87BFNJG0.html

[L'Etranger]

BBC does now say his name:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/l...re/4142463.stm
(which I wouldn't have done, regardless of what he did, because he again has children who will now be on the receiving end ...)

[Mikey_C]

Father-of-two

What a waste of carbon. Makes you wonder.

Of all the human tragedies emerging from the worst natural disaster in decades, sexual abuse of vulnerable children in refugee camps must be among the most shocking.

But experts say it's not uncommon in times of conflict and trauma.

What is it with the human race; "in the image of God", eh? :x

[Anonymous]

How sick can people be?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4142147.stm - Story about a man who sent fake emails to people telling them their relatives or friends had perished.

One should send the guy out there to see what he's joking about!

There is something wrong with some people - that they seem to get some sort of kick out of doing things like this. There was a whole slew of them during 9/11 when telephone switchboards were jammed with calls from relatives trying to find out if their relatives were ok.

You'd expect it from some teenager perhaps, but a 40 year old father of 2? I hope they throw the book at him! What an idiot.

Perhaps the judge will fine him a few thousand, they can donate it to the relief appeal.

[xidrep]

Frightful, but almost certainly a form of mental disorder.

Mind you, you could probably say that about Adolf H. :?

[L'Etranger]

Imagine what evil the latter could have wrought had he known email!