Deep under the now scenic, placid blue seas of southeast Asia, a geological horror is forming of gargantuan proportions. One which will leave its novel signature for eons in the rocky column. A new layer of strata has been laid down, but this deposit is uniquely macabre. It's a hominid bone-bed. Mixed in with the newly forming sandstones, limestones, shales, and chalk, are the remains of a civilization. Homes, trees, crops, cars, factories. And the unthinkable human toll: 300,000* dead men, women, and children. The last thoughts they had must have been rife with stark raving terror. At least tonight they lay peacefully, no longer wide eyed in fear, the final echo of their lives flickering through their oxygen deprived psyche. At least that part is over, for them; back in the earth from which we all, ultimately, arise and then return.

On the altered coastlines of Sumatra, Indonesia and nearby countries, whole villages are missing; there's just water, sand, and debris where entire towns once stood. To estimate the dead, local officials, the few who are left, are having to consult maps with GPS coordinates and then looking to see if there's still a community at that location. If there is nothing but rubble, or, even more startling, a pristine clean beach with no trace of survivors or homes, shops, and streets, they take the last population reported, and add it to the growing list of victims. It's that bad.

And, it's not over. This tragedy isn't over by a long shot. More will die, perhaps as many as have already perished in the blink of one bright Sunday morning, perhaps more. There are tens of millions of stunned, injured, and homeless people, some dying as I write this, stumbling around aimlessly in mosquito-infested swamps looking desperately for food, for clothing, for their loved ones; hoping against hope to find anyone they know. They are looking for a way to live. They are fighting for their very right to exist. Sadly, those survivors are going to be cut down in great numbers from the ensuing starvation, disease, lack of medicine, and the inevitable, panic-induced violence.

Many of the affected countries have a high population of Muslims. These tend to be the moderate Muslim nations. The cultures which have helped us the most in the fight against Al Qaeda. These are the very people who we would like to enlist in helping us fight international Islamic Militants, and the ones who are most likely to cooperate in doing so. They are industrious people, known for their commitment to science and education. But the real reason we have to help is not because of what they can do for us, but because of what we can do for them; our brothers and sisters, our grand nieces and maternal nephews, in our great family. They need help.

Wouldn't you think this catastrophe would be the kind of thing we, as a nation, would want to reach out to and soften, anyway we can? Even if it's not something that's going to directly benefit us? That we'd want to lend a hand, no matter who the victims are? If not now, when? If not for this, what for? If not for political gain, for simple humanity? For decency?

FOR VALUES?

Because we are all human, and this is utter human devastation. This could have been us. It's human misery on the scale of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is 100 Titanics. This is twice the Vietnam War. And it's something we could make an enormous difference in, the most serious kind of difference, the difference between life and death, for thousands of our fellow travelers rocketing around our local star on this small world we all share.

I don't want to sound like I'm trying to make a political statement here, this isn't the appropriate place for that kind of thing. This disaster transcends petty politics, no doubt. But, I have to say honestly, I'm effin ashamed of my country. We first pledged 15 million, and then increased it to 40 million. Forty-Million dollars ... Sounds like a lot? To put that in perspective, we're going to spend 40 to 50 million in Washington, DC, in one afternoon, on the Presidential Inauguration. To give our pledge some context, we're spending about 100 to 200 million dollars a day in Iraq. We spend damn near 40 million for beer, chips, and soft drinks in this country every day.

Our leaders, the leaders of the richest, most prosperous nation on Earth, could have been flown in on Air Force One and other senior executive aircraft to the region in a few hours, check-book in hand, to respectfully represent our sorrow, our grief, and most important, our life-saving generosity. Surely that would have made a better photo-op than a carrier landing. They could have shown the Muslim World and the international community what the America you and I know is really about, and done so in a positive, charitable way. Instead, our White House is on vacation ... Godamn, our response so far makes me feel ashamed to be an American. It's not just poor leadership and poor PR, it's immoral.

And you know what? I don't have to put up with that shit. I don't have to let those assholes speak for me. I just gave 50 dollars to Red Crescent, earmarked to save my brothers lives, and I feel pretty damn good about doing it! I felt so good about it, I gave another fifty for those of you who may be struggling. It's a few days after Christmas, it would be truthful for me to say that things are a little tighter than usual around DarkSyde Manor. But that's a cop-out. I can easily afford it. Hell, by not eating fast food at lunch for a month I can afford it. Save lives and avoid fast food for a month? That's a bargain I can't pass up.

I realize we have a lot of students, single moms, single dads, folks who are sick, and on fixed incomes, reading this site and making up this wonderful zany community we call Pharyngula. But if you can give a little, please think about it. Not everyone can afford to give a hundred bucks, not everyone can afford to give anything at all, but if you can spare ten dollars, get off your duff and do it. Just because our leaders think billions in corporate welfare, and mega buck weapons systems to kill people, are better ways to spend money than saving the helpless victims of disaster, doesn't mean I have to let them speak for me. And I won't.

Lots of ways you can contribute are being tracked by The Command Post. They're really on top of this, and I think they deserve some recogniton. Even if you can't spare the change, maybe some of us could go visit their Blog and say howdy to them, and let them know how we feel.

Update: Crooked Timber has a deal up concerning Amazon for donations. Hat Tip: Isabel who also has some additional donation info
on her Blog.

UPDATE: Death Toll now estimated at over 200,000, expected to rise to perhaps 400,000. Several medium sized cities in Indonesia cannot be located reliably. No survivors see in aeriel surveys.

Update: In comments JBarker asked: I’m still seeing 124,000 dead on the BBC. Are these extrapolations taking into account starvation and disease in the coming weeks? Or are they still just referring to the immediate tsunami death toll?

Last night on MSNBC's News Program Countdown with Keith Olbler, several local reporters were discussing an aerial reconnaissance survey of the hardest hit area in Indonesia. Apparently, at least three medium sized cities, with population in the 100,000 or so each, are basically ... gone. They reported no structures left standing, no survivors sighted. The affected urban centers cannot be reached at this time by land; the roads are gone, the terrain is treacherously swamped out marshland. It is unknown if the residents had time to flee in large numbers, but the reporters and officials are assuming the worst.