Tsunami update

I know I'm supposed to be taking a break from this blogging thing, but there's no way I can let reports from Asia go without comment. The other day I was shocked to find out the death toll had surpassed 20,000. The latest reports put it at between 68,000 and 76,700 - and it hasn't stopped climbing.

Lileks devotes today's Bleat to this horrendous tragedy, touching on the guilt and helplessness we're all feeling right now:

I tossed some money to the American Red Cross tonight (Amazon makes it very easy) and did so with a small amount of self-disgust. At least now I know the death toll that gets me to open up the wallet. From now on my guidelines will be “earlier” and “more.” It’s not for the dead we send the money, of course – it’s for those whose lives have been scoured down to the bone, but you can’t help but think that your contribution somehow mitigates the awful numbers. It doesn’t. And if your money makes its way to a small village, and ends up as a box of clean underwear and toothpaste and batteries and aspirin dropped in the lap of a man who watched his entire family scraped off the face of the earth and swallowed by the brutal, implacable and mindless hand of nature, well, know that it probably won’t make much difference. It can’t. But someone has to get him clean underwear and aspirin. You there, with the drawers full of Jockeys and Bayer: cough up.

If you haven't given anything to the Red Cross, CARE or another relief agency yet, go to it. Sadly, the government of Sri Lanka has decided not all help is acceptable:

Israel has cancelled plans to send a 150-person rescue mission to Sri Lanka after the devastated island objected to the military composition of the team.

The delegation - including 60 soldiers - had been due to set off on Tuesday to help after Sunday's tsunami disaster.

Instead, a smaller team will escort a convoy carrying emergency supplies, Israeli officials said.

Sri Lanka restored diplomatic ties with Israel in 2000, despite objections from the island's Muslim minority.

Neither side has officially explained the change of plan, although some reports say the objection came from Sri Lanka's military.

Sri Lanka Ambassador Diffa Digeratna is quoted by Jerusalem Post as saying that the change was due to the "the lack of accommodations in Colombo".

When the Iranians suffered their horrifying earthquake this time last year, the government pointedly refused any assistance from "the Zionist entity" even while their people were suffocating by the thousands. I expected better from the Sri Lankans.

Tim Blair has devoted his blog almost exclsuively to news about the tragedy these past few days, noting that a certain Upper West Side blogger hasn't written a single word about it - he's probably too busy celebrating Gaia's latest victory over Mankind - and a story alleging that Thai government officials decided not to issue a warning, out of deference to the tourism industry. Just like in a bad disaster movie.

Posted by damian at December 29, 2004 12:50 PM