Via Teresa at Making Light:

The South-East Asia Earthquake is an instant blog focusing on “short news and information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts.” They’re blogging everything: news updates, theoretical articles on tsunami, contact numbers for relief agencies, current death tolls, and, especially, information on how to help.

Please help. This is dreadful beyond words. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the entire island of Sumatra was moved 100 feet to the southwest. In the lightly populated Andaman and Nicobar islands alone, there are three thousand confirmed dead, 30,000 missing, 15 villages still under water, and several islands nobody can raise on the radio. The extent of the damage around the shores of the Indian Ocean is like thousands of miles of 9/11, in some cases stretching miles inland, from Sumatra to Somalia. Children were hit hard. So were the small indigenous fishing fleets, which would have been out doing early-morning fishing when the waves came. This is world-class bad.

The South-East Asia Earthquake says:

Update: The New York Times also blasts Bush, noting he has "finally roused himself from his vacation" to call the leaders of the affected countries. The Times criticizes Bush for trying to distance himself from the measly $15 million offer, says U.N. relief aid chief Jan Egeland was right on target in calling the U.S. stingy and that Colin Powell should be embarassed:

Mr. Egeland was right on target. We hope Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when, two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate, he held a press conference to say that America, the world's richest nation, would contribute $15 million. That's less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities.

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Original Post:

From an editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Al Jazeerah is reporting that former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has joined Saddam Hussein's defense team.

Clark arrived in Jordan yesterday.

Clark said in the Jordanian capital Amman that his principle concern was protecting the former president's rights, who only saw a lawyer for the first time this month - a year after his capture.

"In international law, anyone accused of crime has the right to be tried by a confident, independent and impartial court, and there can be no fair trial without those qualities," he said.

"The special court in Iraq was created by the Iraqi governing council, which is nothing more than a creation of the US military occupation and has no authority in law as a criminal court," he said.

Who's going to foot the bill for Saddam's trial, estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars? Probably us, if Iraq seeks the death penalty. Wouldn't you rather see the money go to the Tsunami relief effort? Think about it. The U.S. might donate $35 million to benefit thousands of lives and hundreds of millions to kill one man.

We mentioned here that the Bangkok nation reported a few days ago that the Thais did not send out warnings of the Tsunami because of fears it would hurt the tourism industry. Today, the Financial Times reports:

Thailand's meteorological department knew by 8.10am (local time) on Sunday about an hour before the first waves hit that a powerful earthquake had struck near Sumatra, and they discussed the possibility that the quake could cause large sea disturbances. The department had already distributed information pamphlets several years ago explaining the risks of tsunamis around southern Thai beach resorts.

But without definitive proof of an imminent tsunami, the meteorological department dared not issue a national warning lest it be accused of spreading panic and hurting the tourism industry if the disturbances did not materialise.

Raw Story has more.

Update: Here's a Tsunami weblog addressing the warning issue.

Update: Fafblog is great on Romney's plan.

Mass. Governor Mitt Romney is dreaming. He thinks he has an innocence-proof death penalty bill. He's trying to get it passed in his state which does not have a death penalty.

The Mass. legislature is controlled by Dems. It looks like Romney will have a tough time getting his bill through.

"I don't believe it's possible to be 100 percent certain no matter what you do. Humans are fallible," said state Rep. Elizabeth Malia, a Democrat.

Rep. Michael Festa, a Democrat, said Romney should focus on crimefighting tactics that work, like a proposal to support community-based drug treatment programs. A member of the Criminal Justice Committee, he said he hopes Romney's death penalty bill makes it to the floor of the House for a vote - so it can be defeated.

"I think we should stand up as lawmakers and say we don't want this in our state," he said.

Actor Jerry Orbach, a star of the hit tv show "Law and Order" died last night at 69 following treatment for prostate cancer. We're not much of a "Law and Order" fan since it's so prosecution oriented, but Mr. Orbach made it watchable the few times we have seen it.

Our favorite role of Mr. Orbach's was that of Baby's father in "Dirty Dancing."

R.I.P. Mr. Orbach.

Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager hasn't appeared in court to prosecute a case since she was elected in 2002. But she's decided to personally prosecute Chai Vang, accused of murdering six deer hunters. She says she decided to take the case herself because of her "personal interest" in crimes against people. Like this is the only case of violent crime in the state of Wisconsin? Why doesn't she just admit she's doing it for the glory and the media attention? This feeble excuse puts her credibility at issue in our book.

Mr. Vang pleaded not guilty today and waived his preliminary hearing, which is not uncommon. Trial is set for September 12.

Closing arguments are underway in the trial of New York defense lawyer Lynne Stewart, charged with providing material support to terrorists by passing along messages from her imprisoned client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. Here is what the prosecutor said. We will wait to comment until we read what Michael Tigar had to say for Ms. Stewart before commenting.

On January 5, the Senate will hold a hearing on the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. His participatiion in the "torture" memos is widely known and available. His Texas Clemency memos advising then Governor GW Bush on death penalty cases also deserve close scrutiny. The actual memos are available here.

It was Gonzales' responsibility to brief Bush on pending executions. In Texas, executive clemency is a two-pronged process. The Board of Pardons and Paroles, whose members are appointed by the governor, must recommend clemency. And the governor of Texas must accept the Board's recommendation.

Unfortunately, the record shows that Gonzales did a shoddy and incomplete job in briefing the governor. He ignored or glossed over claims of innocence, severe mental illness or mental retardation and claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. In short, he didn't do his job.

Many of the soldiers returning from Iraq are experiencing mental healh issues. Their loved ones say the military is not helping to the extent it could or should be helping.

The psychological toll from the war in Iraq is climbing, according to new research and experts who cite the severe stress of fighting a deadly insurgency. Though the Pentagon says mental health care, including battlefield counseling, is expanding, critics counter that military suicides and post-traumatic stress disorder cases have exposed gaps in how treatment is delivered to soldiers.

"There have been improvements..... "But it's still the military's dirty little secret that lives are shattered and often we don't do enough when the war is over and these people have to deal with the consequences of what they saw and did."

According to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine, one in eight returning soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms include "flashbacks, feelings of detachment, trouble concentrating, sleeplessness and more." Many of those afflicted don't seek help because they fear it will negatively impact their military careers.

The death toll climbs to 63,000 from the Asian Tsunami. CNN tv reports that islands with hundreds of thousands of people have not been heard from as communications are still down.

Hundreds of Americans are still missing.

Nathan Newman spent some of his Christmas vacation in Phuket, leaving for Bangkok before the Tsunami hit. He has some pictures of Phuket.

I spent a week in Phuket here in the late 1980's. It was beautiful. The Meridian chain, which now owns the resort, reports that none of its guests were seriously injured or killed and it did not sustain any structural damage. It remains operational.