33 cents each for the victims of the Quake.

by gavel Sun Dec 26, 2004 17:32

so figures available so far are
a little over 4,000,000€
from Eire and the EU and Trocaire and Red X

"abject poverty is shocking isn't it?"

Love is better than Cash.
if you cold afford to buy socks for someone,
you can afford to donate some credit from your bank account that's what the freedom of electronic cash is all about.

pass it on.

by pc Sun Dec 26, 2004 21:57

http://www.dhivehiobserver.com/index.html


maldives highest point 2.4m

by hmmm Mon Dec 27, 2004 08:09

1. CHILE. 22 MAYO 1960 ESCALA DE RICHTER: 9,5
2. ALASKA. 28 MARZO 1964 ESCALA DE RICHTER: 9,2
3. ALASKA. 9 MARZO 1957 ESCALA DE RICHTER: 9,1
4. KAMCHATKA. 4 NOVIEMBRE 1952 RICHTER: 9
(central Pacific Ocean.)
5. SUMATRA. 26 DICIEMBRE 2004
Indian Ocean.

by io Mon Dec 27, 2004 08:20

and outside Trade boasting many "sweat shops" where the clothes and toys we buy are made. It is very densely populated, and many Europeans as well as children are thought to be included in the death toll.

some press are going a bit apocalyptic throughout Europe and the USA comparing the news of a Texan woman who cloned her cat with the latest antics of the Beckham happy family team, and clucking away about sex tourism and so on. But there have been worse tidal waves in the last fifty years, and there was sex tourism then as well. And then you had the Omen on Telly.
We can't stop tectonic plates moving, we can't stop tidal waves. Maybe we could help the Beckham couple but they probably wouldn't welcome our intefering in their affairs.

But We can stop Child Sex Tourism.
And we can make a donationto the AID agencies...

by indo Mon Dec 27, 2004 10:03

SALES fever will grip the country today as consumers get set to spend €1.5bn in a week of frenzied post-Christmas shopping.

The Next chain set the tone by opening several branches at 4am to steal a march on its rivals. And hundreds of shoppers took the bait and left their beds in the middle of the night to try and bag a bargain.

Many other big stores opened earlier than normal reflecting the heightened level of competition in the retail sector this year.

The Small Firms Association (SFA) has predicted that €1.5bn will be spent between now and January 4, by which time most people will be back at work.

"It's a very, very strong trade this year. What happens now is that the level of items being bought moves into hundreds and in some cases thousands of euros," said SFA director Pat Delaney.

SFA means something else as well.

by The Grinch Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:47

So while Ireland (population 4M) donates 1 million.

Somewhere called "Europe" (population 450m) donates 3 million.

Guilt complex disappearing........

by musician Mon Dec 27, 2004 14:56

Ireland has promised to clear 1,000,000€ at short notice.
Nederlands has transfered 2,000,000€ at short notice to the International Red Cross.
Switzerland has cleared 660,000€
Greece has cleared 300,000€
the UK minister for that sort of thing has cleared 76,900€

at 11h11 the Irish red cross issued an emergency appeal.
this morning aid workers and "firemen without frontiers" left Spain to search for survivors under the mud. They bring dogs and specialised equipment.
The German organisaton Agro action has transported clothing and 20 tonnes of rice.
The European Comission has unblocked 3,000,000€ for emergency supplies.

President Bush has gone to Texas, where he shall anounce the efforts of the USA later, it has been one year since the earthquake of Bam in Iran.

For many the clock is ticking.

by redjade Mon Dec 27, 2004 14:56

''India and Sri Lanka, the two nations with highest death tolls from yesterday's devastating tidal waves, are not among the group of 26 countries that comprise the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System. Had they been part of the alert system, say scientists -- lives could have been saved.''

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/12/27/data_alert_network_c.html

- - -

International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System
http://ioc.unesco.org/itsu/

by mathman Mon Dec 27, 2004 15:05

the USA has promised all appropriate assistance!
And is working with the concerned states and organisations.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/003200412271826.htm

UNICEF says it's estimated at least one-third of the reported dead are children. The United Nations agency is urging aid to prevent countless further deaths. As well, help will be needed to rebuild schools and health facilities.

Canadians (and US citizens) wishing to donate aid to quake relief can call the Red Cross at 1-800-418-1111 or UNICEF at 1-877-955-3111. People can also link to their websites; the links are above and to the right.

the US geological dept has confirmed the quake was among the five worst since 1900.
that's a little over a hundred years, not many live that long. There are high possibilities of another quake, the asian and australian antarctic fault line have been going a bit weird of late, and the risk has caused the USA to advise all its tourists to leave the area a.s.a.p. there are 9 confirmed dead.

by ChFr Mon Dec 27, 2004 15:11

The devastation caused by the earthquake that hit southeast Asia would have been almost impossible to prevent, even with warning systems in place.

That’s according to the Swiss Seismological Service, which said the quake registered on Swiss instruments hours before killer tsunamis hit the region’s coastlines

**********
today the financial transfer system ought be quicker. the Swiss have counted over 45 of their citizens "missing" of the 24,000+ (and counting) dead.

by I hate capitalism Mon Dec 27, 2004 15:55

The US capitalist class will use this disaster and the aid to further exploit the people of South Asia and intigrate them further with US imperialism.

Remember the capitalists will not give aid for no reason, they will only do it if it is profitable.

by Mike Mon Dec 27, 2004 16:59

Money pledges can be useful later when it's a matter of buying supplies from abroad. How about immediate aid in the form of materials and emergency teams? Any word about who might be sending what?

I've seen reports that Israel has begun dispatching medical emrgency teams. But surely other countries are doing it too, Yes? The immediate needs would be things like medical teams to help care for the injured (local services that weren't destroyed are surely swamped), military engineers (to clear debris, replace critical bridges, etc. so supplies can be transported to places cut off), etc.

Money is just "paper".

by - Mon Dec 27, 2004 20:45

by the tidal wave, Russia, China and Japan have sent experts to asses risk issues associated with such tidal waves.

the USA has offered to send troops stationed in Okinawa island. For his part President Fox of mexico has sent his condolence.

The indonesian government has sent 15,000 troops into the isolated region, who are mostly burying the dead according to muslim tradition.

Aid has arrived and more is on the way.

Burying the dead and finding any left living is a priority.
Because of the very high risk of desiese many have been buried as quickly as possible where they died, on the beach.

All tour operators have cancelled holidays in the region. Some small islands have been completely desolated, indeed they mightn't exist now. Most of the known Western dead had arrived by their own means of transport and their deaths were confirmed through various inquiries made on behalf of the states to which they owed citizenship. The estimate death toll of local a third of whom were children is now over 23,000. Everyone will agree that is a horrible loss of innocent life.

"The water went back, back, back, so far away, and everyone wondered what it was - a full moon or what? Then we saw the wave come, and we ran," said Katri Seppanen, who was in Thailand, on Phuket island's popular Patong beach.

by - Mon Dec 27, 2004 21:07

a.s.a.p. and prayers for the dead.

by - Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:21

Sri Lanka 12,000 dead,
India 9,396 dead.

Indonesia provisional estimate 7.912 according to the Minister of Health all of whom died on the island of Sumatra. They believe 25,000 in total will be an approximation of the loss of human life.

In Thailand, the latest figure from the Minister of the Interior is 990 dead of whom 700 were foreign tourists. 1 of the local dead was the grandson of the King.

In Malaysia 60 deaths
In Maldivas 43 and in Myanmar (Birmania) at least 65 people have died.
In Bangladesh 2 dead.
in Somalia 38 dead.

************************
Spain has cleared 1,000,000€ for aid.
USA has cleared 400.000$ for immediate humanitarian and is assisting on as many appropriate levels as is possible.
New Zealand has cleared 500,000$ to the Red Cross.
China has sent 2.700,000$ value of humanitarian aid.
Australia has sent 8,000,000$ in financial aid.
**************************

The obvious risks now are of typhoid, cholera and hepatitis, but thereafter the economy of the region can be rebuilt and the will and money is available to redress the balance.

someone's mother.

by redjade Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:27

...U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.

"It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really," the Norwegian-born U.N. official told reporters. "Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least, [of] how rich we have become."

"There are several donors who are less generous than before in a growing world economy," he said, adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."

by toneore Tue Dec 28, 2004 22:40

U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland rowed back from statements he made on Monday after an annoyed Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was "the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world."

by redjade Wed Dec 29, 2004 14:35

As the death toll surpassed 50,000 with no sign of abating, the U.S. Agency for International Development added $20 million to an earlier pledge of $15 million to provide relief, and the Pentagon dispatched an aircraft carrier and other military assets to the region.
[....]
White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was confident he could monitor events effectively without returning to Washington or making public statements in Crawford, where he spent part of the day clearing brush and bicycling. Explaining the about-face, a White House official said: "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.'

by SDR Wed Dec 29, 2004 16:49

Update

Death toll heads for 100,000
10 to 20 Irish people still unaccounted for

Confirmed death tolls by country:

Bangladesh 2
East Africa 133
India 10,500
Indonesia 36,268
Malaysia 64
Maldives 55
Myanmar 36
Sri Lanka 22,493
Thailand 1,516

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/1229/quake1.html
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/1229/quake.html

by - Wed Dec 29, 2004 19:03

and USA to set up quake task force.

I went walking on the local beach with friends. a lot of people were walking on the beach today. we are lucky to be citizens of a cosmpolitan city, it always was so. One of the few cities where jew muslim christian and non believer found peaceful coexistance.
On the beach the diversity of humanity was represented, the big waves coming in, some caught by surfers, dogs running along, some punkyhippies as ever making sand castles, the council's cubes stacked up which serve as a landmark and meeting point, i saw a japanese couple, and a lot of filipinos with their kids, people from the north of europe, i heard americans and canadians, french and dutch. the seagulls flew in.

When Jason's argonauts came to the sea they fell and cried "thalatta thalatta" sometimes the word is printed "thalassa thalassa". They like all knew the power and risk of the sea. They gave the sea the name of gods, their descendents gave the sea saints and of course Mary. through all this they gave the sea lighthouses to guide the men who crossed them home to see their children again.

Respect the sea. be careful what you bring it.

by redjade Wed Dec 29, 2004 23:09

"The strange thing is we haven't recorded any dead animals," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of the national Wildlife Department, told Reuters Wednesday.

"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit," he added. "I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."

by redjade Wed Dec 29, 2004 23:13

The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation -- shortening days by a fraction of a second -- and caused the planet to wobble on its axis, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday.

Richard Gross, a geophysicist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, theorized that a shift of mass toward the Earth's center during the quake on Sunday caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds, or 3 millionths of a second, faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis.

by redjade Wed Dec 29, 2004 23:18

Hudnut said seismic modeling suggested the quake may have moved small islands by as much as 20 meters (66 feet), and the northwestern tip of the Indonesian territory of Sumatra may also have shifted to the southwest by around 36 meters (118 feet).

"That is a lot of slip," he said.

The energy released as the two sides of the geological fault line deep beneath the sea slipped against one another would have made the Earth wobble on its axis, Hudnut said.

Tapponnier said the quake caused a 15- to 20-meter slippage of the earth's surface along a front extending for 100 kilometers (62 miles).

He said there may also have been vertical movements that possibly pushed the island of Siberut, 100 kilometers west of Sumatra, one or two meters higher, although it would be impossible to check this scientifically because of guerrilla activity in the area.

by iosaf Thu Dec 30, 2004 13:58

the Earth wobbles on the back of four elephants which themselves stand atop a turtle which patiently travels through space.
= Don't be gullible please.
Better and worse men and women than any of you, did unspeakable things for the folly of wealth, power and failing their very first tests.

Do your bit for your fellow men and women.
All you need is love.
Be kind to your animals.
Tend to your garden which is earth.
Get to know your neighbours.
simple stuff. Einstein stuck his tongue out @ you.
Shakespeare and Cervantes made you laugh and cry and wonder about spelling.
Da Vinci gave you notebooks of machines that don't work.
Joyce gave you a million academics who wasted their brains and taxpayers money on crosswords clues.

"all together now".
in President Bush who is the legitimate elected leader of a very rich but very isolated bunch of states with a big army has said-
"we can work together to help those victims rebuild their communities".
I don't believe he's in charge anymore than you do.
;-) but we should get him "and his" into the Good project don't you think?

****************

The following is a list of agencies collecting for the victims of the humanitarian disaster.

Trócaire: Hopes to raise €2.3 million at Mass collections in four dioceses. Has already donated €500,000 to its Caritas partners in India and Sri Lanka. Donations online at www.trocaire.org or callsave 1850 408 408

Concern: Has donated €250,000, while a three-person team visited Tamil Nadu, one of India's worst-hit states, on Monday and Tuesday to make an initial assessment.

A local partner has distributed 4,000 emergency kits in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu, with another 16,000 to be made available. Donations to www.concern.net or at 1850 410 510

GOAL: Had received €200,000 in donations by yesterday. Has team working in Nagabattinum, capital of Tamil Nadu, where it hopes to be feeding 10,000 families by the weekend. A GOAL team left Dublin yesterday for Colombo in Sri Lanka. Donations to www.goal.ie, or GOAL at PO Box 19, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, or phone 01- 280 9779.

Irish Red Cross: Received €50,000 on Tuesday alone. Immediate focus on Sri Lanka. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has begun a worldwide appeal for €32.3 million.

Donations to www.redcross.ie or 1850 50 70 70

Bishops' Appeal Fund: Donations to Church of Ireland Bishops' Appeal, at Church of Ireland House, Rathmines, Dublin 6, or Church House, Donegall Street, Belfast 1.

(that's copyright by the irish times, but I know they'll never sue me for breaching it)

by redjade Thu Dec 30, 2004 14:18

from 'skippy the bush kangaroo':
http://xnerg.blogspot.com/2004/12/lets-face-it.html

''how much money is the gap donating....or better yet, how much is its' ceo. i suppose it's a secret of victoria's folks about how much they are donating...perhaps $300+ million? (victoria's secret sourced over US$350 million worth of merchandise from Sri Lanka in 2003) ...or nike, et al...

we use these countries for their cheap labor. we must no longer look at human lives as cheap in this time of dire need. take the money you would have spent buying clothing at the gap or banana republic and donate it to aide fellow human beings.''

- - -

Those same Corporations are paying for Bush's Inauguration on Jan 20 2005....

Eric Alterman:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6762237/

''Next time you hear some politician or conservative pundit blather on about what a generous country we are, remember this; we’re devoting less than half of what Bush is planning to spend on his own inauguration to helping people recover from one of the worst natural disasters in human history.''

by redjade Thu Dec 30, 2004 14:30

For Florida's hurricane victims, a generous Christmas after all
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1223/p01s03-ussc.html

The four hurricanes that hit Florida this year - Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne - caused an estimated $42 billion of insured damage and left 42,000 in the state homeless. Many are still living in damaged homes, or in the 11,000 mobile homes and trailers so far provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was swamped by 1.18 million applications for emergency aid and has approved payments of $3.17 billion to date.

- - -

How FEMA delivered Florida for Bush
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1104/110304cm1.htm

It's impossible to know just how much of an effect FEMA had on the Florida vote. Many of the citizens the agency served there presumably had more important things to worry about. It's also hard to imagine that, even with its shock-and-awe hurricane response, a bureaucracy like FEMA pleased all its customers. Even so, in a closely contested state where hundreds of thousands of voters suffered storm-related losses, it's equally hard to imagine that they didn't notice the agency's outreach.

by Kevin Sites Thu Dec 30, 2004 15:59

note: Kevin Sites is the guy who filmed the US Soldier shooting the wounded Iraqi in a mosque in Fallujah

- - -

Paradise Tossed
http://www.kevinsites.net/2004_12_26_archive.html#110436685268779983

''On the sides of the coffins are photographs of the deceased as they were found, special attention paid to jewelry or tattoos, anything that can help in identifying who they once were.

The pictures are grisly-- bruised, blackened, bodies misshapen from the ferocious force of an angry ocean and all that travels with it. Old, young, small, large, South Africans, Australians, Canadians, English, Thais –all victims of the earth's unrest on a day when she seemed to have precious little mercy.

A German man flips through a clipboard with the same pictures. He is looking for his brother. When he gets to a certain page he stops. This was not how he wanted to remember him. He puts down the clipboard and walks to the corresponding coffin number. The lid is removed and he nods.''

more photos on kevinsites.net

by writer "thanks to our technology of internet" Thu Dec 30, 2004 19:50

Duncan (the FUSPEY european architect dude) and 4 friends did a piece of fun and peace and love art on the beach of Lahinch on Dec. 9 2003 on the shore of the Atlantic.
they called it "playing with phi".
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=62618
and loads of people in BCN have badges with the mathematical formula of beauty the pythagorean golden rule, after it was put above the door of the Museum of Science which was opened by HM Don Juan Carlos Bourbó rey de España on the 23rd of September 2003.
& I made a formulatic name which means different things depending on how its pronounced which attempted to express what ought be the work of humanity to uplift all when i started using this new technology to write to you all about using this new technology to defend creation and redress balance.
But "phi phi" means something different in Thai.
Just like "phuket" means something different in Thai.

This is neither here nor there.
The tidal wave was a natural disaster.
the plight of humanity in that zone is a human disaster.
It is the responsiblity of civilised nations especilaly the rich states to help the poor.
Of all the states who have so far been listed above as sending help, only the richest Arabic states have so far not been included.
Of the nuclear powers, the "big armies" all have offered assistance except Pakistan, India of course was a victim.

If the elephants got out of the way, maybe they are more in tune with "acts of God". Because it was an "act of God" wasn't it?

What can we do?
blame Dunk?
blame Osama?
blame God?
blame the temple of Chaos in Thailand?
blame the tectonic plates?
blame the President Viktor of the Ukraine?

We don't need to blame anyone, we just need to rebuild those communities in a proper way with sensitivity to their cultures, free of exploitation.
And if that means western society going without swish clothes and toys next "Xmas" then so be it.
we will all be the better for it.
Amen.

by ipsiphi - i've no credit card like many of you, so i'll be donating in a bank or a post office. Thu Dec 30, 2004 20:55

The United Nations World Food Programme - www.wfp.org - is seeking donations to feed victims of the earthquake.

Medecins Sans Frontieres - www.msf.org - is sending aid workers to the region, focusing on medical care for survivors and displaced people after the rescue operations.

The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef - www.unicef.org.uk - is working to meet the "urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of people" affected by the tsunami disaster.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR - www.unhcr.ch - which has been helping victims of conflicts in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, is delivering relief supplies to tsunami survivors in both countries.

Save the Children - www.savethechildren.org.uk - has already flown a plane out to Sri Lanka carrying plastic sheeting for temporary shelter, tents to run children's services from and essentials such as clothing and cooking utensils.

Anti-poverty organisation Care International - www.care.org - has already provided food for thousands of affected people in Sri Lanka.

Cafod, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development - www.cafod.org.uk - is working with partners across Asia to provide shelter, food aid and medical assistance, and assessing what further relief is needed.

The Red Cross, with its sister charity the Red Crescent, is supplying blankets, cooking utensils and other crucial goods. It has had to set up a new site - www.ifrc.org - because of the unprecedented demand from people wanting to make donations.

The Hindu Forum Disaster Relief Task Force - www.hinduforum.org - comprises 50 organisations and is raising money, clothes and medicines. Donations can be made online or by calling the ISKCON Disaster Appeal on 01923 856848 or Sewa International on 0116 261 0303.

Christian Aid - www.christianaid.org.uk - has already allocated £250,000 from its emergency fund to help the victims of this disaster but says more money is needed.

Christian charity Tearfund - www.tearfund.org - and its partners in Sri Lanka and India are helping devastated fishing communities and coastal villages get back on their feet.

Islamic Relief - www.islamic-relief.com - has also launched an appeal to provide medical supplies, tents and sanitation facilities for those affected.

The Islamic Aid Emergency Relief Fund - www.islamicaid.org.uk - aims to provide immediate relief and long-term support to people in the affected areas.

Another Islamic charity, Muslim Hands - www.muslimhands.org- is collecting money and sending volunteers to help in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Medair - www.medair.org - is providing emergency support to agencies with a long-term presence in Sri Lanka and its medical experts are assessing the likelihood of malaria and diarrhoea.

World Vision - www.worldvision.org.uk - has also launched an appeal and has already delivered relief goods to thousands.

Concern - www.concern.net - is working with local partners to meet the needs of families in the devastated coastal villages of Tamil Nadu, the worst-affected state in India.

The International Rescue Committee - www.theirc.org - is providing emergency supplies and materials to "people most affected by the crisis".

The Salvation Army - www.salvationarmy.org.uk has local teams working in a number of affected areas and is sending a team from its international headquarters on Wednesday evening.

Muslim Aid - www.muslimaid.org - has already donated £100,000 towards the purchase of food, clothing and medicine in the region but wants to raise more.

Action Aid - www.actionaid.org - is the biggest charity working in south India. It is focusing its relief work on the coast of Tamil Nadu, where 7,000 people died. It is working on providing medical assistance and sanitation for the survivors.

Oxfam - www.oxfam.org - is active in Indonesia, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka and India. Their relief operations include distributing food packs and hygiene kits and setting up water and sanitation facilities.

Asia Quake Relief Appeal UK, a UK-based Sri Lankan organisation, is also raising money and can be emailed at [email protected]

Hindu NGO Baps Care International - www.bapscare.org - is working in villages around Chennai in Southern India distributing food, drinking water, tarpaulins, utensils, stoves, clothes and blankets.

he Disasters Emergency Committee - www.dec.org.uk - is an umbrella group of UK aid organisations - including Action Aid, British Red Cross and Oxfam - working to provide clean water, food and shelter to thousands. To call from the UK, dial 0870 60 60 900.

The United Nations World Food Programme - www.wfp.org - is seeking donations to feed victims of the earthquake.

Medecins Sans Frontieres - www.msf.org - is sending aid workers to the region, focusing on medical care for survivors and displaced people after the rescue operations.

The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef - www.unicef.org.uk - is working to meet the "urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of people" affected by the tsunami disaster.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR - www.unhcr.ch - which has been helping victims of conflicts in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, is delivering relief supplies to tsunami survivors in both countries.

Save the Children - www.savethechildren.org.uk - has already flown a plane out to Sri Lanka carrying plastic sheeting for temporary shelter, tents to run children's services from and essentials such as clothing and cooking utensils.

Anti-poverty organisation Care International - www.care.org - has already provided food for thousands of affected people in Sri Lanka.

Cafod, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development - www.cafod.org.uk - is working with partners across Asia to provide shelter, food aid and medical assistance, and assessing what further relief is needed.

The Red Cross, with its sister charity the Red Crescent, is supplying blankets, cooking utensils and other crucial goods. It has had to set up a new site - www.ifrc.org - because of the unprecedented demand from people wanting to make donations.

The Hindu Forum Disaster Relief Task Force - www.hinduforum.org - comprises 50 organisations and is raising money, clothes and medicines. Donations can be made online or by calling the ISKCON Disaster Appeal on 01923 856848 or Sewa International on 0116 261 0303.

Christian Aid - www.christianaid.org.uk - has already allocated £250,000 from its emergency fund to help the victims of this disaster but says more money is needed.

Christian charity Tearfund - www.tearfund.org - and its partners in Sri Lanka and India are helping devastated fishing communities and coastal villages get back on their feet.

Islamic Relief - www.islamic-relief.com - has also launched an appeal to provide medical supplies, tents and sanitation facilities for those affected.

The Islamic Aid Emergency Relief Fund - www.islamicaid.org.uk - aims to provide immediate relief and long-term support to people in the affected areas.

Another Islamic charity, Muslim Hands - www.muslimhands.org- is collecting money and sending volunteers to help in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Medair - www.medair.org - is providing emergency support to agencies with a long-term presence in Sri Lanka and its medical experts are assessing the likelihood of malaria and diarrhoea.

World Vision - www.worldvision.org.uk - has also launched an appeal and has already delivered relief goods to thousands.

Concern - www.concern.net - is working with local partners to meet the needs of families in the devastated coastal villages of Tamil Nadu, the worst-affected state in India.

The International Rescue Committee - www.theirc.org - is providing emergency supplies and materials to "people most affected by the crisis".

The Salvation Army - www.salvationarmy.org.uk has local teams working in a number of affected areas and is sending a team from its international headquarters on Wednesday evening.

Muslim Aid - www.muslimaid.org - has already donated £100,000 towards the purchase of food, clothing and medicine in the region but wants to raise more.

Action Aid - www.actionaid.org - is the biggest charity working in south India. It is focusing its relief work on the coast of Tamil Nadu, where 7,000 people died. It is working on providing medical assistance and sanitation for the survivors.

Oxfam - www.oxfam.org - is active in Indonesia, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka and India. Their relief operations include distributing food packs and hygiene kits and setting up water and sanitation facilities.

Asia Quake Relief Appeal UK, a UK-based Sri Lankan organisation, is also raising money and can be emailed at [email protected]

Hindu NGO Baps Care International - www.bapscare.org - is working in villages around Chennai in Southern India distributing food, drinking water, tarpaulins, utensils, stoves, clothes and blankets.

You can donate to all the campaigns via their websites.
or just get yourself along to a bank and give something, or oooo go into your your local place of worship.

Whoever's fault it was it's not the poor's.
That is one of the lessons of basic ethics we are all supposed to have learnt.

by toneore Thu Dec 30, 2004 21:13

I would like to know how much relief money the following are donating"

* Naomi Klein
* Michael Moore
* Noam Chomsky
* The people behind Counterpunch.org
* Moveon.org

by iosaf mac d. Thu Dec 30, 2004 23:47

one thing i can tell you is Susan Sontag won't be giving any coz she died in the last few days = .:. rest.
haven't had tie to give her an obit.

here is the Bush statement in which he has promised to work with the UN and the EU and the nations effected "I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say welcome to the community of civilised nations"
:-
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=372091

Kofi Anan has confirmed that international aid pledges has reached 500,000,000$
as the death toll is now being estimated at over 135,000.

Colin Powell who is voice of america till he is replaced by Condolence Rice has visited Thailand
and confirmed that US personal are doing all that is expected of them at this time. He has said - "
"A donor conference is being planned for the very near future," he said. "The European Union called for it and it's now being pulled together for, I think, sometime next week."
Attentive readers will remember that Condolence Rice had visited India last week to intervene personally in an incident relating to the very strong reactions of Indians to the desemination of pictures of Indian teenagers engaging in "safe sex acts" by a US IT CEO. For which she had demanded his release.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/124953/1/.html

Helping the victims of this natural disaster will be the subject of an international conference within the next six days. And naturally has overshadowed the Ukranian election and the news of a tentative coalition between Sharon and his Labour opponents, much in the same way that the death of Arafat at Percy hospital and his subsequent funeral in Cairo and spontaneous display of mass emotion in Ramallah overshadowed the election of George Bush.

as Bill Clinton once joked (we hope) "what does someone have to do to get in the top 100 men"?

answer being - learn.
make your mistakes, admit your mistakes,
atone.
meet your neighbours, love them.
respect them. Go into their houses and eat their food, learn their languages (it will take you some years) don't put your feet on their tables, don't break their taboos. Offer them a cup of sugar when they need it. Ask them how they're feeling.

all together now.
all together now.

b.t.w. you might like to learn the words of our
€uropean anthem, (now that we are getting to the global stage of squeezing blood out of the stone, remember 500,000,000$ is worth less than 300,000,000€) by Shiller or at least the tune
by Beethoven, two very nice men who made mistakes, suffered disabilities but weren't in any way monstrous and kept their feet on the ground most of the time, and left to posterity their notebooks with details of their money worries and debts. Well they must have been special.
.:. we like to think so.

by Teresa - a mammy Fri Dec 31, 2004 00:02

Mr President?

by pc Fri Dec 31, 2004 18:30

THE FULL SHILLING FINGLAS THUR 6th JAN The RAGS GEORGE MURPHY JOVE Q(COLM QUEARNEY) Tickets \20010 **OUT NOW** >From The Full Shilling / MUSIC BOX, Finglas & NOW.

by strio Sat Jan 01, 2005 14:47

'Hundreds of sites have been set up, mainly by volunteers, to identify victims and to coordinate rescue work. Yesterday a website was launched in Hong Kong enabling internet users worldwide to upload pictures of missing relatives which can be automatically scanned against a database of photographs of victims in Phuket, Thailand. It may be expanded to cover other affected areas.'

by ZXbarcalow Sat Jan 01, 2005 16:15

toneore said:
"I would like to know how much relief money the following are donating:

* Naomi Klein
* Michael Moore
* Noam Chomsky
* The people behind Counterpunch.org
* Moveon.org"


Why dont you ask them then? Though i wouldn't be surprised if they said "none of your business".

Most people dont feel the need to advertise their generosity.

by redjade Sun Jan 02, 2005 13:36

Nonviolence International is sad to report that nearly all of our full and part-time staff are still unaccounted for in Banda Aceh after the recent earthquake and tsunami. Program Director, Dr. Asna Husin who flew to Kuala Lumpur just 1 day before the tragic events is accounted for. Still missing and feared dead are: Abdul Azis Muslim, Deputy Director Sayed Subhan Almabrur, Curriculum and Training Coordinator -Armia Abdurrahman, Administrative and Financial Officer -Aruni, Administrative Assistant -M. Yusuf, Night Security

http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1230-05.htm

http://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/

by dot Sun Jan 02, 2005 17:54

''....the whole tsunami/earthquake crisis also had a dampening affect on celebrations this year. It is a tragedy that will haunt the area for decades. To lose so many people so swiftly and violently is horrific. Watching all that chaos and death kind of makes you feel that maybe Baghdad isn't the absolute worse place to be.''

by rooster Tue Jan 04, 2005 00:33

THe marxist/socialist losers on this board might want to look at the news these days, they will see aid flooding in from all over the developed ie capitalist World.
Also, for the anti military types, have a look at the aircraft carriers and the military helicopters(there the ones with the blotchy green and brown colors)
To say that there is 33 cents for each survivor is simply untrue, in the last few days more and more people have subsrcibed to the aid agencies and each day the amount of aid s growing and growing.
Happy new year!

by cockadoodledooo Tue Jan 04, 2005 15:28

now there is a lot more.
The first EU states to commit aid were-
Ireland, Netherlands, Greece and the Czech republic.
Since then days have gone by, the world has gone back to business and almost every state has committed aid. Not all according to their responsibility or ability to assist the poorest on earth.
It has seemed that quite a lot of embarassing stuff had to be said and criticism levelled.
all for an appropriate response to an Act of God.

by redjade Tue Jan 04, 2005 18:09

Could the tsunami disaster be a turning point for the world?

As the international aid effort grows and George Bush launches a fresh appeal, we ask politicians and commentators if 2005 might see a new determination to tackle global poverty...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=597488

-- -- --

An Indian helicopter dropping food and water over the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been attacked by tribesmen using bows and arrows.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4144405.stm

-- -- --

But UN OCHA spokesman, Robert Smith, told the Guardian: "We should be very cautious about these figures. Let's put it this way. Large-scale disasters tend to result in mammoth pledges which... do not always materialize in their entirety. The figures look much higher than they really are. What will end up on the ground will be much less."

Rudolf Muller, also of UN OCHA, said: "There is definitely double accounting going on. A lot of the money will be swallowed up by the military or will have been been diverted from existing loans."

[....]

The disparity between government promises and the delivery of emergency and rehabilitation aid can be extreme. Iranian government officials working to rebuild Bam, destroyed by an earthquake exactly a year before the Asian tsunami, last week said that of $1.1bn aid promised by foreign countries and organizations only $17.5m had been sent.

-- -- --

a recent study by Tearfund, a Christian relief agency, that found that less than 10 percent of the money spent on disaster relief by government agencies and institutions like the World Bank goes to preventive measures. According to the study, Mozambique, anticipating major flooding in 2002, asked for $2.7 million to make basic emergency preparations. It received only half that amount from international donor organizations. After the flood, those same organizations ended up committing $550 million in emergency assistance, rehabilitation and reconstruction financing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/weekinreview/02revk.html?ex=1262408400&en=bbddddadc2473c06&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

-- -- --

Guess what? That $350 million for Tsunami relief is not going to be new money in the budget, but is going to be subtracted from other aid programs.

So the help for southeast asia will come at the expense of aid to the rest of the world.

http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/001973.html

by Marxist Tue Jan 04, 2005 21:24

"THe marxist/socialist losers on this board might want to look at the news these days, they will see aid flooding in from all over the developed ie capitalist World."

The fact is most of the money raised is directly from ordinary working class people or because workers have put pressure on their own bourgeoisie.

This shows up right-wingers argument that people are inherently individualistic. You're friend Bush only gave $35m initially when his own inauguration will be €25m. This is what capitalism thinks of the people of South Asia and Somalia.

by rooster Wed Jan 05, 2005 00:54

Somalia? Do you really think the somalis will be getting any aid from us? THe last tim ewe sent aid there they pulled out there AK's!

by miaow Wed Jan 05, 2005 17:53

Australian Prime Minister John Howard (not leader of the UK opposition Mr Howard) said Wednesday that his country would provide 1 billion Australian dollars (about 764 million US dollars) in loans and grants to assist Indonesia in its rebuilding after the Dec. 26 earthquake-tsunami disaster.

This was the biggest single aid package in Australia's history, Howard told a press conference in Jakarta.

"This is a historic step in Indonesian-Australian relations in the wake of this terrible natural disaster,"

=

Sir Cliff Richard, Boy George, Ronan Keating (you're gorgous) , Jamie Cullum and the Bee Gees' Barry and Robin Gibb are amongst the pop stars that will appear on the single Grief Never Grows Old, a charity single rcorded to raise funds of the South Asian tsunami devastation.

Funds raised by sales of the single will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee charity body.

A benefit concert at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, fashioned after the historic Live Aid event, is also planned for Jan 22.

U2 are rumoured to be thinking about playing as well!!!!

=
the Paris club of creditor nations are to meet to discuss a moratorium on debt for the affected nations. Coz you never know, it could happen again whereever there are tectonic faults under the water and after all the special effect movies lots of people might just think it was an USA plot to destroy the muslim world.

by rooster Thu Jan 06, 2005 00:15

The fact is most of the money raised is directly from ordinary working class people or because workers have put pressure on their own bourgeoisie.


Complete rubbish, 80% of the people in a capitalist based economy are working class, your confusing working class, (like me) with automatically being communist.

by redjade Thu Jan 06, 2005 16:07

Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050105/ap_on_re_us/tsunami_us_victims&cid=519&ncid=2337

The death toll of Americans from the tsunami more than doubled Wednesday, to 36, as the State Department announced 20 other U.S. citizens were presumed dead. Thousands more are missing.

[....]

Eleven days after the earthquake and tsunami, some 3,500 Americans still have not been located, Ereli said.

The State Department has received 26,000 inquiries and was able to resolve about 18,000 of them by Monday, he said. Since then, Ereli said, the number of unresolved calls has been reduced to about 3,500.

-- -- --

Powell says 5000 Americans unaccounted for
January 4, 2005
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11847519%255E1702,00.html

AS MANY as 5000 Americans are still unaccounted for a week after the world's deadliest tsunami pounded a dozen countries across the Indian Ocean, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said today.

--- ---

above links found at
http://amsam.org

by redjade Thu Jan 06, 2005 16:25

ExxonMobil has contributed $5 million to the Tsunami relief efforts. In Aceh, the company operates one of the largest gas fields in the world and they're being sued for gross human rights violations. We speak with a lawyer who has just returned from Indonesia where he was interviewing witnesses against ExxonMobil from Aceh.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/04/160250

by Raymond McInerney - Global Country of World Peace Thu Jan 06, 2005 16:30 raymond.mcinerney at ul dot ie Limerick 0860638611

By Vaiju Naravane



PARIS JAN. 3. India's decision not to accept international aid, initially criticised as being "false or misplaced pride," is now being grudgingly saluted by the press and the international community.

by redjade Thu Jan 06, 2005 19:54

more info here...
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=68143

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics - Please Thu Jan 06, 2005 23:44

The second week has added to the shock, horror, fear at the terror wreaked by nature in South Asia.

Let not these emotions be lost to numbness due to saturation of news.

Country Heads meet and argue as to who is best placed to deal with the Crisis. I would urge that they pay heed to the saying 'Justice delayed.....is Justice denied'

Let us remember that at all times this is about people and children and their needs are as acute as within the day........in the unexpected wilderness that is now their home.

We do not want countries turning this awful misfortune 'to say personal opportunities'. What countries say they will contribute; they must contribute. Governent leaders must push out the boat in relation to the contributions they make......

Let us not forget Corporatism and Globalisation. Corporate companies in the extractive industries, plantations of tea, coffee etc, the tobacco companies - let's keep alert to their contributions and practical assistance, if based in Asia.

Having lived in Zimbabwe and spent time with the Little Company of Mary Sisters in Harare who worked tirelessly with women who were HIV, their children and orphan children, I would ask people to spend a little time on their website and explore the work of Missionaries in Asia, Africa and other Continents.

Take some time out as a family and explore one of these sites and learn to be one so that you can invoke the prompt to maintain contribution to these people; we are talking about long time commitment.

Gordon Brown, Chancellor for the Exchequer in the UK made an excellent comparison, he spoke of the Marshall Plan post World War II.
Logistics is a key contribution and is a word Governments need to keep in mind presently. Also at the time of the Marshall plan; missionaries worked in liaison with each others. Many of these missionaries would have come from Ireland in the 1950's along with Doctors and Nurses.

I will make a suggestion of a site to view: Ireland as a country benefitted from the services of the Medical Missionaries of Mary so as it stands we have a link.

The site opens: 'A TIME TO MOURN'
The photo shows the devastation of the Sri Lankan coastline.

Just look to the index: the healthcare; the education fund; development; in over 19 countries. These people are there at grass roots; the organise things looking for water and constructing wells.

This site as a donation option and there are over 300 pages to explore...


www.medicalmissionariesof mary.com
www.littlecompanyofmarysisters.ie

PLEASE LINK; PLEASE DONATE;PLEASE REMEMBER THEIR WILDERNESS AND A NEED FOR AN INFRASTRUCTURE

Michelle It might be an idea to give up a birthday presie or even look at a social contribution.....................

by rooster Fri Jan 07, 2005 02:38

THe marxist/socialist losers on this board might want to look at the news these days, they will see aid flooding in from all over the developed ie capitalist World.

Also, for the anti military types, have a look at the aircraft carriers and the military helicopters(there the ones with the blotchy green and brown colors)

To say that there is 33 cents for each survivor is simply untrue, in the last few days more and more people have subsrcibed to the aid agencies and each day the amount of aid s growing and growing.

by redjade Fri Jan 07, 2005 14:05

Ancient Tribe Survived Tsunami
Fled Into Forest And Survived On Coconuts
http://cbsnewyork.com/water/watercooler_story_006163151.html

JIRKATANG, India (AP) Armed with bows and arrows, seven men from the ancient Jarawa tribe came out of the forest Thursday for the first time since India’s isolated Anadaman and Nicobar islands were shaken by an earthquake and battered by a tsunami.

In a rare meeting with outsiders, the men said all 250 members of the tribe escaped inland and were surviving on coconuts.

“We are all safe after the earthquake. We are in the forest in Balughat,” said one of the men, Ashu.

-- -- --

Mickey Z comments...

http://www.mickeyz.net/news/mickeyz/fullarticle/tsunamis_tribes_and_tossing_your_cookies/

Let’s take a second to digest (sorry, couldn’t resist) this situation:

1. Ecocidal buses are driven through indigenous peoples’ land so tourists can gawk at the savages.
2. It’s acceptable—or at least tolerated—for said tourists to throw packages of cookies from the buses onto that land.
3. The processed food makes the indigenous people sick.

Goddamn...I could write an entire book based on those three sentences alone.

by redjade Fri Jan 07, 2005 16:48

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (IPS) - The United Nations is admitting that its policies in Sudan have failed following a rash of new problems, including renewed fighting between government and rebel forces, an escalation of violence against displaced persons and a possible flood of new refugees.

The situation has also been made worse by the withdrawal of a leading humanitarian organisation from the troubled province of Darfur, whose people face the ''the world's worst humanitarian crisis,'' according to U.N. officials.

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics Please Sun Jan 09, 2005 02:02

TO CONTRIBUTE IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE TO TSUNAMI

Having spoken to a man (a missionary Catholic priest from the 1950's who was sent to Japan. I listened as he said that the Tsuanami tragedy surpasses Nagasaki and Horishima Having time today, I called up again the Medical Missionaries of Mary home page (www.medical-missionaries.com).

The frightening part is that the recovery is only starting.....the key is to keep the support momentum going.

Background (MMM):
The Medical Missionaries of Mary (MMM) is composed of 400 women who come from 19 different nationalities......they form multi-cultural religious groups, and are committed to HEALING AMONG PEOPLE IN GREAT NEED. They are assisted by a growing number of associate members, open to men, women, single, or married. There is a renewable annual Spiritual Covenant made.

History - the Foundress:
Mary Martin 1892-1975 was born in Glenageary, Co. Dublin. During the Great War of 1914-18, she served as a volunteer nurse in Malta, France and England. Having identified with the need 'To Heal' she moved to Nigeria. Two words are enough; a silent contributor

The world of the MMM is a world greatly impeded by problems of war, land-mines, refugees; international debt, denial of human rights, drug draffic, slave labour and moral issues. Princess Diana is missed for her passion to seek out these silent contributors to overall society. Princess Diana was one of the first humanitarian people that highlighted the plight of AIDS in Africa; the Human Rights Atrocities; the horrors caused by landmines etc.

Princess Diana in the 1990's visited the HIV centre, Mashambanzou, Harare estabalished and run by Sr. Noreen and Sr. Margaret (and many other contributors). I was not there for that visit but I heard how at the human contact level, she tried to acknowledge the harsh circumstances of those afflicted with HIV and the children (some orphaned).

MMM refer to the debt crisis as a 'silent holocaust'. They moved towards 'human development' recommending funds be put towards basic health and education needs before having to make any repayment.

Multi-denominational Challenge to all:
General Secretary of Britain, Sahib Mustqim Bleher says:

'The Qur'an encourages debt cancellation WHENEVER A DEBTOR IS UNABLE, due to his particular circumstances, to repay the debt'.

He explains that Islam is a religion which counts REGULAR CHARITY AS ONE OF THE 'FIVE PILLARS' on which it is built. Islam must be practised with due regard to its social dimension. There must be reference to ECONOMIC JUSTICE.

More interesting to consider,
Islam categorically forbids the taking of interest to prevent the accumulation of large funds.

Also
To tolerate wrong-doing or opression, is considered as unacceptable as the perpetration of it.

Unaware other than at emotional level, this has drawn my attention........

Accumulation of funds.......some thought here will yield why some 1% CEOs in the US now earn over US$10 million p.a.......how do they spend this money along with other holders of vast sums of wealth.

John Hume talks about 'Diversity in Unity'......the time is here perhaps to think and act in accordance with what is Just.

There are many ways people can contribute as proven by the immediate response to the needs of Tsunani.

Good Night


Michelle

by Raymond McInerney - Global Country of World Peace Mon Jan 10, 2005 15:57 raymond.mcinerney at ul dot ie

KOLKATA: The five aboriginal tribes inhabiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, our last missing link with early civilisation, have emerged unscathed from the tsunamis because of their age old "warning systems".

"The tribals get wind of impending danger from biological warning signals like the cry of birds and change in the behavioural patterns of marine animals. They must have run to the forests for safety. No casualties have been reported among these five tribes," ASI Director Dr V R Rao told newsmen today.

This has promted the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) to propose its immediate documentation to save coastal populations from similar disasters in future.

"We have proposed to the Centre to take up immediate documentation of these systems and geomorphological changes triggered by the tsunami since these would be fresh in the memory of the tribals now," Rao said.

by redjade Mon Jan 10, 2005 16:02

this story still amazes me

the animals ran in-land
the humans rushed to the sea (carrying digital vid-cams)

so much for bigger brains.

yet, humans in touch with the animals knew what to do.

what's to be learned from this?

by Tom Dooley Tue Jan 11, 2005 20:33

GET ON BOARD AND SAVE LIVES!
The people of South Asia have suffered 150000 deaths and millions are homeless in desperate need of food and shelter. Many of these especially children are in danger of dying from disase in the wake of the catacyclism. They need YOUR help!
Thankfully the nations of the world led by the US have risen to the challenge and have put together billions of dollars in aid. This is most welcome and much more is needed and I am sure will be provided.
But governments alone cannot provide the resources for the victims in need. This must come from the pocket of everyone both rich and poor.
Follow the lead of celebrities such as Leonardo Di Caprio and Sandra Bullock who have each donated one million dollars. Several well known multi-billionares have give huge portions of their wealth. Ordinary individuals have given thousands in many cases. Everybody must give something. No matter how modest it can save lives.

JUST DO IT