Beyond Imagination

From today's headlines:

China's official toll tops 22,000. as aftershocks continue to rock the country.

Myanmar death toll takes big jump; The official count doubles to nearly 78,000, state TV says.

and from CNN:

Around 436,000 properties were destroyed or badly damaged in Monday's earthquake in southwestern China, leaving at least 4.8 million homeless, according to official figures released Friday. The official death toll now stands at 22,000, with at least 14,000 still buried.

It has always been hard for me to get my head around numbers like this. The images from both countries are heart wrenching. And especially in Burma it is hard for the outside world to help, given the regime in charge there. There is so much pain in those places this week. Our actions as Americans in the coming years are so important.

• Dealing with the climate crisis.


• Rebuilding our economy so we can take care of our country and feel the financial confidence to help others in need.


• Changing the thinking between short term profit and long term safety, accountability and care for citizens

We can not do any of those things under a McCain presidency. We have to all do what we can, where we can, to bring everyone together under a Democratic administration taking over at long last in January of 2009. (and cross our fingers and hope we can keep it together until then)

America is a leader in the world. Time we started to act like one again.

In the meantime- send what you can;
Oxfam

Unicef and Direct Relief International, relief for Burma sponsored by Google

Doctors Without Borders

There's more...

Bad News Around the World

This has been a horrible week, 100,000+ dead in Burma, and now a minimum of 1000-5000 dead in China?! Storms in the USA taking lives. I am sending my sympathies to all those effected by recent tragedies and my love to friends and family everywhere. This is an important time for those who can, to reach out and help those who can't. And take a moment to appreciate our loved ones and our good fortune as we help those in need at home and abroad.

http://www.theirc.org/news/irc-cyclone-emergency-myanmar0509.html

http://www.icrc.org/eng

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

update

The estimated death toll covers just one county - Beichuan - in the south-western province of Sichuan that was worst hit by the quake. Ten thousand people are feared injured in the county. Fatalities have also been reported in neighbouring provinces and the death toll is expected to jump as contact is made with regions cut off by the disaster.- Telegraph

Eighty percent of the buildings in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County collapsed after the quake. Beichuan is the capital of the Chengdu region in Sichuan Province.

update2
Death toll already up to 10,000 in China.
24 in storms in the USA.
100,000+ in Burma.

update3
Quake left 18,000 buried in one city!
Official death toll tops 12,000, but figure likely to rise with the news coming from the epicenter area.

There's more...