The news becomes grimmer and grimmer with the estimated tsunami death total now at approximately 124,000.

Call World Vision at 888-562-4453 or go online and help them here with the relief.

I couldn't have said it better:

THE political and ideological exploitation of perhaps the worst natural disaster in all our lifetimes is almost beyond belief — were it not for the fact that nothing these days is beyond belief.

Even as tears spring into the most hard-hearted person's eyes at both the unimaginable scope of the tragedy and at the wrenching individual stories of loss, opinion leaders just can't help themselves.

They are using this cataclysm as little more than cheap debate fodder about the nature and character of the United States, its president and its citizens.

Don't misunderstand.

It is fine and proper to have a debate and discussion about the degree of generosity the United States could, should and must show in the wake of this literally earth-shaking event.

But at this moment, the United States is not the issue.

The foreign-aid budget of the United States is not the issue.

Our government should not be the focal point of the discussion right now.

Don't we owe the dead, dying and injured the minimal grace not to convert their suffering into a chat-show segment — the latest left-right clash over the Bush presidency?

And couldn't the editorialists at The New York Times have forborne — even just for a week — making use of the tsunami to complain about U.S. government spending on "development aid"?

Development aid is the blanket term for American grant money handed out to other countries, supposedly to help their economies grow. Development aid has nothing — nothing — to do with what has happened.

The aid at issue now is disaster relief.

Secretary of State Colin Powell found himself in the position of having to remind the world that over the past four years the United States has provided more such aid than all other nations on the planet combined.

It is appalling that he had to mention this, and that President Bush was compelled to cite the same information on Wednesday, because you're not supposed to brag about how charitable you are. But once a United Nations official decried the American aid pledge as "stingy," the administration had little choice.

Any rational person would have understood without having to be told what the president told the world on Wednesday morning, which is that the $35 million pledge "is only the beginning of our help."

But maybe people are looking for a sideshow to distract them from the sickening pictures and the keening cries of the untold numbers of mothers whose babies were swept away.

In these photos released Dec. 30,2004, the shoreline of Banda Aceh in Indonesia, is shown on June 23, 2004, above, and Dec. 28, 2004 below, after the tsunami attack. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)

The death toll from the tsunami catastrophe is approaching 120,000 (Indonesia alone may have more than 100,000 deaths)

5 million lack food, clean water, shelter and sanitation.

Scientists watched helplessly as the tsunami struck.

---------------------------------------------------------

Blogging will be light on Friday...travel day. I'll be enjoying a Southern California New Years Eve/Day.

Michael Moore Hates America (on DVD) is out now. Instapundit says "The Insta-Wife and I have seen it, and it's very good. I hope it'll be showing on HBO, and on college campuses around America, soon."

This site has a compilation of the tsunami videos. Some are the same I had listed here. (via Cheese and Crackers)

Archive.org also has videos. (Hat tip to Wizbang)

And, amen about Hosting Matters. They really are great. My experience has been wonderful.

UPDATE 1/2/04 8:38PM Pacific Looks like the first site is still ok, but the archive.org site is having some problems at the moment. Again, extremely high demand for these videos has been causing sites to go up and down or respond very slowly.

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed is displaying less than a sound touch with reality when he states that he doesn't think the gubernatorial election in the state has been "botched." The election, as Republican Dino Rossi said yesterday, has been "a total mess."

Reed said he doesn't think anybody ought to be conceding at this point, to his credit, but even that undermines his statement above. If the election has not been botched then the person he certified - Christine Gregoire - should be governor-elect and her opponent should concede. He is less than consistent with his statements.

Dino Rossi won the governorship of Washington state. His victory was confirmed by a machine recount. The ever Democratic - and always approaching socialistic - King County found (as everyone knew they would) just enough votes to put Gregoire in the lead.

The ultra liberal media in the Seattle area will now, with an unparalled unity, lay heavy pressure on Dino Rossi to concede. Every story in the Seattle Times, Seattle Post Intelligencer, and those broadcast on television stations in the metropolitan King County area will now be slanted to create a negative impression of Dino Rossi. The stories will be slanted because Gregoire was the media's candidate, and now that she has stolen the election they are not about to let Rossi keep any chance alive - however slim it might be - of reversing the theft.

The deck is most certainly stacked against Mr. Rossi. At some point he will have to decide whether his realistic chances of reversing Gregoire's theft are worth an extended fight, or whether he should now invest his energy and harness public anger at Democrats in the state toward beginning a run to unseat Maria Cantwell in 2006.

Democratic consultant Peter Fenn tells Fox News that it would have been far better if George W. Bush "had spent less time clearing out the brush in Crawford and more time clearing out the crises" in the world such as the South Asian tsunami disaster.

That will be the cheap shot of cheap shots to end the year. Mr. Fenn displays the true heart of the Democratic party these days. Cheap shots, anger, hate, bitterness and a willingness to politicize ANY, ANY issue to hurt the president and gain a foothold in the effort toward their resumption to power.

With the angry, despicable comments of Mr. Fenn we are witness firsthand to the inner core of the Democratic party.

Looks like he may be.

George W. Bush was just yesterday accused of doing too little to assist with the South Asian tsunami catastrophe, and now that he has set up an international coalition to help coordinate efforts he is being accused of "undermining" the United Nations with the plan:

United States President George Bush was tonight accused of trying to undermine the United Nations by setting up a rival coalition to coordinate relief following the Asian tsunami disaster.

The president has announced that the US, Japan, India and Australia would coordinate the world’s response.

But former International Development Secretary Clare Short said that role should be left to the UN.

“I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up,” she said.

“Only really the UN can do that job,” she told BBC Radio Four’s PM programme.

“It is the only body that has the moral authority. But it can only do it well if it is backed up by the authority of the great powers.”

Ms Short said the coalition countries did not have good records on responding to international disasters.

She said the US was “very bad at coordinating with anyone” and India had its own problems to deal with.

“I don’t know what that is about but it sounds very much, I am afraid, like the US trying to have a separate operation and not work with the rest of the world through the UN system,” she added.

A little worried over there at the UN, huh? Sorry, but right now the United States has far more important concerns than your worries. We have people to help.
(Hat tip to Little Green Footballs)

It sure didn't take long:

On eBay, sellers are hawking Pez dispensers, a gold necklace, a stuffed mouse, and a "hand-carved" Buddha statue with the promise that proceeds from the auctions will go directly to charities assisting the victims of the tsunami in Asia.
Visitors to tsunamireliefaid.com are directed to a crudely constructed Web site with photographs of those who appear to be tsunami victims and instructions urging users to send relief packages and $10 checks to a P.O. box in Germantown, Md.

As major aid agencies around the globe undertake what could be the costliest and most complex relief effort ever, the catastrophe in South Asia has also given rise to hundreds of newly born charities purporting to raise money for victims. ...

Many of these charities are anonymous and don't have the imprimatur of philanthropic associations. It's unclear if the fund-raisers mentioned above are legitimate. But according to those familiar with online fraud, people looking to donate to the tsunami victims ought to be extra wary of unfamiliar Internet sites and individuals collecting money or goods.

It's now above 100,000:

The death toll in the tsunami disaster soared past 100,000 today - and is set to climb higher.

A total of 50 Britons are now confirmed dead and at least 100 are unaccounted for after tidal waves swept away resorts in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and around the Indian Ocean.

Officials in every country today warned the final number of dead will be even higher as rescue teams reach remote areas.

The UN said there were now strong grounds to believe that the toll in the Sumatran province of Aceh, the worst affected area, would be as high as 80,000. The number dead has now climbed in every country affected, including:

Thailand: 1,700 confirmed dead, including 43 British tourists.

Indonesia: more than 42,000 confirmed dead.

India: nearly 7,000 dead, and many coastal areas including parts of Kerala still to be searched.

Sri Lanka: 22,500 are confirmed dead and there are fears for hundreds of independent British travellers on the east coast.
Aid agencies today warned disease will also cause massive casualties among the survivors as the biggest relief effort in history began.

The British toll climbed as a new alert was sounded over the number missing. Abta, the tours operators' association, said there were 100 Britons unaccounted for. There are no confirmed numbers for missing backpackers.

Today more dramatic accounts emerged as hundreds of Britons flew back to Heathrow from Thailand.

Businessman Neil Tennant, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, told how he and his family had to flee to the roof of their hotel in Khao Lak as a giant wave swamped the building.

He said: "We ran up to the roof from our room just a few seconds before the water swamped it. I have no doubt we would have been killed if we had stayed where we were."

Amy Davies, from Camden, who was staying at Ko Phi Phi in Thailand, arrived home still in her swimming costume. She said: "I saw a drowned child in the water below me."

First Choice said six of its 248 customers in Phuket were still unaccounted after Sunday's tsunami.

An official at the British embassy in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, today said the confirmed British death toll there stood at three.

First Choice had 584 holidaymakers in the Maldives. One died and all the others have been accounted for.

MyTravel said it had between 850 and 900 clients in the affected area. Most had been accounted for.

The vast majority of the 3,500 foreigners still unaccounted for in the disaster region are from Scandinavia. The missing include at least 1,500 Swedes, 800 Norwegians, 214 Danes and 200 Finns.

Families across Britain were today in mourning and hundreds waited helplessly for news of their loved ones. Film director Lord Attenborough was among those grieving after it was confirmed his granddaughter, Lucy, 14, was dead and his daughter, Jane Holland, 49, was missing, feared dead. Jane's mother-in-law, also called Jane Holland, was also missing in Phuket. The family, who live in London, have asked for privacy "at this terrible time".

The south-east Asian communities of London watched in horror as the tsunami destroyed the lives of their relatives. Moulana Mazahir, from Harrow, lost 50 close relatives when a wall of water destroyed his home town of Hambantotain southern Sri Lanka. The 45-year-old chef 's only solace is that his wife and three sons, who had been on holiday in the resort, escaped with their lives after leaving just three hours before disaster struck.

"My life will never be the same. It was a miracle my wife and sons are still alive - but they are terrified."

Mohammed Samsudena and his wife Nirusha, 29, also from Harrow, say they have lost 40 family members and are desperately trying to contact other relatives in Hambantota. The 36-year-old petrol station sales assistant said: "Yesterday morning we heard that the body of my sister-in-law, Fatima, had been found. She was only 18."

Relatives of London newlyweds Christopher and Gaynor Mullen, from Richmond, now fear the worst - last hearing from the couple on Christmas Day, when they simply said they were "on the beach" in Thailand.

Fashion photographer Simon Atlee, 33, from London, most famous for his photograph of Rugby World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson in the Hackett advertisements, was also swept away in the tidal wave as his holiday bungalow in Khao Lak near Phuket was destroyed. His girlfriend, Czech model Petra Nemcova, 25, survived by clinging onto a palm tree.

Louise Willgrass, 43, from Colney, near Norwich, was washed away after she had got out of the rented car her family was travelling in to buy suncream at a Phuket supermarket.

The car, being driven by her husband Nigel and containing their four children, Emily, 16, Ben, 14, Michael, nine and Katie, six was overwhelmed by the tidal wave. Mr Willgrass managed to pull the children free and they survived by clinging to floating debris.

Conservation volunteer Lisa Jones, 31, is feared dead on the tiny Thai island of Koh Phra Thong, where she had been helping research sea turtles.

UPDATE: Early data on the earthquake was unnoticed.

George W. Bush announces an international coalition to help deal with the crisis:

President Bush yesterday announced the formation of an international coalition to deal with the catastrophic effects from the deadly tsunami that swept across South Asia and rebuked a senior United Nations official for calling the United States "stingy."

"The person who made that statement was very misguided and ill-informed," Mr. Bush said in his first public remarks on Sunday's underwater earthquake and subsequent tsunami that has killed about 77,000 people. "No, we're a very generous, kind-hearted nation."

More>>>

You will be startled - absolutely startled - to find out that after the Green and Libertarian parties paid a whopping $113,600 to have the votes recounted in Ohio, that John Kerry gained a monumental....

...285 votes.

Hehe.

(Hat tip to Wizbang)

This is an incredible video of the tsunami approaching and overtaking the shore. You need to right click on the link and click "save target as," save it and then open it with Windows Media Player. It may already be associated with the Player if you have it. (UPDATE: Readers inform me that this link has gone bad, and now simply leads to a page with text on it.)

This and this video can simply be clicked and viewed as is.

(Hat tip to Wizbang)

UPDATE: More videos here, here and here (Sri Lanka)

This one is startling, from Patong Beach in Thailand.

Here is what a Tsunami actually is.

This video is from a different angle than the other one above. (UPDATE: This site is temporarily down.)

(Thanks to Cheese and Crackers)

UPDATE: 1/2/04 8:30 Pacific I've been checking in on these sites periodically, and some of them are still working and some have temporarily gone down due to very high server load. For instance, the first and second links to the Sri Lanka video above is not working at present, but the third is. The video from Patong beach appears to be still working as well. Load times are often slow because of extremely high demand right now.

Dino Rossi and the Republicans in Washington state are not backing down. Rossi tonight has called for a revote in the governor's race.

Good for him!

If the Democrats and Gregoire refuse they will create the impression that they fear a certain loss and reinforce the impression that they have stolen the governor's race. The Democrats can only lose in the court of public opinion, regardless of how they attempt to spin it, if they refuse a revote.

Here is Rossi's letter to Gregoire.

Here it comes...the media spin on the tsunami catastrophe. Andrea Mitchell, substituting on MSNBC's Hardball tonight, asked if this was a "missed opportunity" by the Bush administration to "reach out to Muslims." Leslie Gelb, right on cue, answered that "I think it was."

Sadly, this is not at all surprising. I think that many of us have now gotten used to Old Media blaming George W. Bush for just about everything. If they don't blame him fully outright then they implicitly suggest that he bears either some culpability or - as in this case - could have acted faster and with greater resources to assist with the recovery from this monumental tragedy, which everyone is attempting to cope with to the best of their abilities at present.

Programs like Hardball, and other predictable parts of Old Media, are why there is an information revolution going on at this very moment and why many, many people are very interested in this.

UPDATE: Bill Clinton, true to form, just had to get out and criticize George W. Bush before the dust has even settled. It's always about Bill Clinton first, regardless of what the consequences might be. The White House appropriately remarked that "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts [before speaking out]. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.'"

A direct and appropriate slap at Bill Clinton. Very nice.

p.s. Bill Clinton let how many die in Rwanda, while doing nothing?
(Hat tip for that from Charles Krauthammer on today's Fox News roundtable)

UPDATE 12:48 PM Pacific, 12/30/04: Patrick Leahy, not to be outdone, has promptly gone on CNN and parroted the "missed opportunity" Democratic party line.