They do.

Secretary of State Colin Powell visted South Asia’s tsunami scene and was shocked at what he saw — a sight, he said, worse than any he had seen in his career in war. "I have been in war and I have been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I have never seen anything like this," America’s former top soldier said, according to Reuters.. "I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through families and all of the people who heard...

The Sadaam-Al Jazeera link that we wrote about several days ago is now finally being covered by the wires. It’s nice to see them  catching up with us. So we’re offering our post again today: These are troubled days for Al Jazeera, the Arab news channel. It now appears as if a link has been found between the Arab news channel and former Iraqi dictator Sadaam Hussein — a month after Iraq’s interior minister charged the station with allegedly helping fund terrorists. None...

Yesterday I had lunch with one of my best friends who is also my printer (and a mentor). He mentioned that he’s depressed a lot lately — and the devastating reports of South Asia’s tsunami have a lot to do with it. This tragedy that took 150,000 lives — and climbing — is having the impact that 911 had on many people. It’s nature’s version of a nuke or terrorist attack. Even if you don’t think about it, you think about it because it’s there, buried,...

To MD: Get a life. (This is the last time in the history of this blog we will ever link to that site. Oh: and we wonder how many "insiders" there are. Bet you there aren’t a bunch. This is PC crap.)

When the tsunami in South Asia swept some 6 countries, killing 150,000 people — one third of them kids — it unleashed something else: Scams involving children. There are many reports but perhaps the most troubling of them come from India and Sri Lanka. From India, New Delhi’s Hindustan Times (where The Moderate Voice interned in 1972) reports that relatives are splitting up orphans so they can spread the wealth on relief money: Aid groups and government officials are concerned that...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has gotten into a lot of hot water for saying — among other things — that South Asia’s deadly tsumani "tests faith." That statement alone opens a theological can of worms. And London Calling’s George Miller doesn’t shrink in dissecting many of the worms that crawl out. He says the Archbishop’s statement makes his eyes roll and explains why. A few excerpts (read his post in its entirety): This was a "natural" disaster....

An Israeli compay plans to gift a small device to Asian companies that it says will help detect future tsunamis. It sounds…novel. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reports: An Israeli company said on Monday it planned to distribute free to Asian countries hit by last week’s tsunami a device it says could save lives by warning holiday-makers directly that a tidal wave is coming. The system developed by Israeli inventor Meir Gitelis uses land and water sensors, smaller than a shoe box...

It can be done…and it can be done so it’s (relatively) affordable…but it will require countries to make some critical adjustments: JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A tsunami warning system could be built in the Indian Ocean in just a year and cost as little as $20 million, a scientist said Tuesday. But experts warn the high-tech network of sensors and buoys would be useless unless countries like Indonesia beef up communications links to the coastal communities that would be hit by...

You can tell the Iraqi elections are getting close because the "insurgents" have stepped up their efforts to destabilize the country — this time by murdering the new Governor of Baghdad. ABC News reports: BAGHDAD, Iraq Jan 4, 2005 — Insurgents assassinated the highest-ranking Iraqi official in eight months Tuesday, gunning down the governor of Baghdad province and six of his bodyguards, and a suicide truck bomber killed 10 people at an Interior Ministry commando headquarters,...

….and control what you think about when you’re in a park: no email allowed.

The House Republicans did an about face and rejected political self immolation by nixing the idea of revising ethics rules so House Majority Tom DeLay wouldn’t have to step down if he’s indicted. And  — was it a face-saving  ploy because there were fears this would be a ticking political time bomb? — Delay himself reportedly played a role in it: WASHINGTON – House Republicans suddenly reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough standard for lawmaker...

There’s speculation on who’ll replace Pope John II but I can’t understand one thing: why do they always pick a Catholic to be Pope? Don’t they believe in diversity? Just wondering…and if you’ve been wondering about who may be the next Pope, Time offers this: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the chief architect of Pope John Paul II’s traditionalist moral policy, has long been a bugaboo for liberal Catholics. But they had stopped worrying that the German might one...

How long will it take to get South Asia back to what it was before last week’s tsunami? Most likely: a generation. Note this AFP report: The drive to help nearly two million desperate survivors of Asia’s tsunami catastrophe made inroads on Monday but aid groups warned the worst-hit communities would take "a generation" to rebuild. The sheer scale of the disaster wrought on 11 countries across Asia and Africa by the December 26 undersea earthquake has shocked even hardened relief...

and did you ever wonder WHY? Jim Calhoun has some ideas.

The next time you hear about someone flippantly pooh-poohing how elephants may be endangered (they are) tell them to shut up: KHAO LAK, Thailand (Reuters) – Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves. "I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before," mahout Dang Salangam said on Sunday on Khao Lak beach at the eight-elephant business offering rides to tourists....

The tally of tragedy keeps rising in South Asia’s tsunami: BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) – Some 150,000 people are now known to have been killed by Asia’s tsunami, U.N. officials say, as helicopters and elephants are used to find and feed survivors and shift the rubble of razed towns. Aid workers on Monday struggled to help thousands huddled in makeshift camps on Indonesia’s northern Sumatra island, where the tsunami claimed two-thirds of its victims eight days ago, and...

When the brutal tsunami crashed into South Asia last week it marked a milestone in human tragedy — and for the Internet as well since it hammered home how weblogs can instantaneously communicate images. Images from other media, to be sure but, as the Wall Street Journal Online notes (story linked above) — a menu  of compelling (and depressing and tragic) images were quickly slapped on the Internet due to video-offerings on sites such as Cheese and Crackers and Punditguy.  WSJ...

Links to various topics and posts. Links are NOT selected on the basis of any political ideolgy and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice. IS THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE WAY OUT THERE, LIKE ON MARS? Scott Shields thinks they are (and so by the way does The Moderate Voice) due to their stance on aid to tsunami victims. (We read the same piece and at first thought it HAD to be a satire out of The Onion, but we were wrong). DID THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION BUNGLE IT ON THE TSUNAMI AID...

Serious predictions for 2005 from Oxblog’s Josh Chafetz: Only a fool would make definite, falsifiable predictions on a short time scale, but I’ll play the quasi-fool and make a few very general ones. I think we’ll see remarkable progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front, resulting from a combination of the Gaza withdrawal, the January Palestinian elections, and a general Palestinian weariness with violence. I think European-American relations will return to pre-2003 levels of friendliness....

The Bangladesh-based The Third World View reminds us here that Bangladesh faced several catastrophes over the years: The 1970 cyclone that killed from 300,000-500,000 people but they still don’t know how many. It was the greatest tropical storm of the 20th Century. As Rezwan notes, the then-central government in what was then West Pakistan was bitterly criticized for doing little. (The anger helped propel East Pakistan’s breaking away from West Pakistan and becoming Bangladesh under...

…at two websites that effectively use the Drudge Report format. First, Take A Peek at The Drudge Retort, a liberal weblog. It has been around for a while and has gotten quite a nice following. Next, look at conservative blogger Wes Roth’s new site. He converted his traditional blog into a Drudge-like site less than a month ago and has been getting lots of readers. In a sense, it’s puzzling why Matt Drudge’s format of just links, coupled with some original reports (in Drudge’s...

The Moderate Voice has been honored with being inducted into the council of The Watcher Of Weasels. Here is the WofW website. When The Moderate Voice was The Moderate Child his camp bus driver Dave "B.O." Katz once screeched at him: "Sit down, you little weasel!!"  Well, nyah nyah nyah B.O.; you said I was one, and now I WATCH THEM. Each week we’ll link to the Watcher site so you can see the posts that the council is considering for the week’s favorites. And...

U.S. Presidents are uniting to show solidarity on the tsunami relief issue — and to urge Americans to kick in: President Bush is asking the nation’s two most recent chief executives to help raise money for the tsunami victims. The president was joined by his father, the 41st President and former President Clinton at the White House Monday morning to announce the formation of a nationwide fundraising effort. "In the coming days former presidents Clinton and Bush will ask Americans...

Plans are underway by Indonesia to try to avoid the kinds of mass deaths that occured during last week’s South Asia tsunami by setting up an early warning system. It won’t be easy — or cheap. But according to the Globe and Mail: Indonesia said Monday that it plans to establish an early warning system for disasters with its neighbours, as its death toll from last week’s earthquake and tsunami jumped to almost 100,000. Confirmed deaths from the disaster reached 139,253 after...