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Sunday, December 26, 2004Thousands Dead After Earthquake in Southeast AsiaMother Nature in rare and awful form. It looks like, unlike usual disasters, the third world and first world are on pretty much equal footing here, with India (borderline first world) as hard hit as some far from advanced areas. Bottom line, there's not much to do in the face of a wall of water short of praying. (Update: Instapundit has some info suggesting this is not the case, that the first world would have done better if it had taken the risk of tidal waves seriously. Of course, we could also reduce speed limits to five miles per hour for a zero traffic fatality rate; it's hard to know where the line between "doing enough" and being a safety loonie is to be drawn.) Post-disaster, of course, that will change. One would not like to be living, for example, on Sri Lanka, where whether soldiers are coming to rescue you depends on your being in an area where they have enough control to move freely. The Red Cross is of course preparing to go on scene. Their efforts, true, are a mixed bag in war-torn areas: like reporters, they tend to be awfully nice to the bad guys, lest their efforts be hindered by these, but awfully unpleasant for the good guys who will let them do their work in spite of their bad attitude. However, they usually do some good in these areas. No specific funds yet, as far as I can see, but I did stumble across this: Red Cross Sudanese refugees fund You'll have to decide what you think of their work in that particular war-torn area. 
posted by gbarto at 10:05 AM |
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