Donate to Oxfam:

 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatyoucando/donate

Donate to the International Red Cross:

 http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList2/Help_the_ICRC?OpenDocument

Catholic Relief Organisation of Canada:

 https://www.sos.devp.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/wdevpaix/donation

Catholic Relief:

 http://www.catholicrelief.org/make_a_gift/index.cfm

I gave $100. What have you given?

Catholic relief?

Yes, let's give money to some organization that thinks condoms are evil!

The last thing you need to do is give money to some imperialist organization trying to expand the vatican's empire into South Asia.

How many people are dying of AIDS right now because of the backwards policies of the Catholic church? A lot more than 40,000.

Why don't you give money to a Buddhist or Hindu relief group? Or are you being an imperialist on purpose?

...to non-Catholic sectarian or non-sectarian donation sites or volunteer sites.

Mobilize your friends and family. Most of the nations affected have very limited resources and skilled personnel for a catastrophe of this magnitude: Time is of the essence.

now giving to catholic relief fund is imperialist. knock the catholic church all you want, but it is reliable and will give all of the aid it gets regardless of religion without any conditions. these people need help - if you want to make sure they get your dollars give to reliable orgaizations - if you don't like the pope, give to the red crescent or some other organization, but don't scold people for trying to help, it is so stupid.

 http://www.afsc.org/

Instead of spending any money on Iraq or any inauguration, and before spending money on the rest of the world, all of the money that now goes to the military, prisons, police and to inaugurations should be spent on the workingclass communities here in the US. There are many ghettos in the US that rival the poverty of the affected countries of this latest disaster, which was partially caused by the lack of inclusion of the Indian Ocean countries in an early-warning system, and partly by nature. Our school system, housing, public transportation and health care system for the workingclass are either a disaster or non-existent.

As to what the US government can do, without sending any money, it can simply load US military planes with tents, cots & medicine to send to the affected areas. We have enough planes and the named supplies to provide for hundreds if not thousands of people in terms of tents and cots, and all of the affected people in terms of medicine.

If you want to give money, you can, but be sure the group you give to will actually buy the needed materials. If you do not make enough to itemize on your income taxes, chances are you cannot give much. In that case, try giving to the poor right here in the USA. That will go a long way toward promoting world peace as it is the poor who are joining the military for 3 square meals a day.

 http://www.wvi.org/wvi/donation/donation.htm

The magnitude of this disaster is awesome. The earth hiccups and more people die than in Hiroshima.

Some people wonder what the obligation of the USA is to provide disaster aid, well here it is: the USA consumes over a third of all the goods produced in the world with only 5% of the population. The wealth of America is the looted riches of the planet.

But what gets my goat, especially in times like this is how evangelical organizations target the weak. They aren't providing significant aid -- they are attempting to approach people at their weakest moment in life in order to sell them a rotten bill of goods.

Can anyone else think of a belief system that specifically targets those who are suffering?

Mother dead? Try Jesus. Poor? Try Jesus. Lonely? Try Jesus. It's disgusting and parasitic.

Those who suffer don't need god. They need liberation. The backwards and semi-feudal relations of India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia kill this many people every year from starvation and preventable disease. But to the evangelicals, this is all just a part of God's plan. The poor must suffer so they can be redeemed. Well, their day is coming -- just not how they think.

Before giving a dime to a charity, I'd give every cent I could to organizations dedicated to building the power of oppressed people, not selling them snake-oil. Whatever your vision of the world, give your funds to people who fight, not those who give out blankets for the price of spiritual submission to a god that doesn't exist.

"Some people wonder what the obligation of the USA is to provide disaster aid, well here it is: the USA consumes over a third of all the goods produced in the world with only 5% of the population. The wealth of America is the looted riches of the planet."

Burningman apparently does not understand economics. We purchase the goods from these countries (not loot) -- that is a GOOD thing for them. If you've ever worked for a living, you'd know that you need revenues to survive. If we don't buy their products, then their economy suffers. Learn something before you start pontificating about the evil empire.

So Burningman thinks Jesus is "disgusting". Way to be tolerant of other beliefs. Now you understand when no one ever takes your rants seriously.

World Food Program (U.N.); world's largest hunger relief agency:

 http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=4

You can direct donations to the "earthquake emergency in South Asia" at the Doctors Without Borders site.

 https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?c=foIJKQMFF&b=89844

"Burningman apparently does not understand economics. We purchase the goods from these countries (not loot) -- that is a GOOD thing for them. If you've ever worked for a living, you'd know that you need revenues to survive. If we don't buy their products, then their economy suffers. Learn something before you start pontificating about the evil empire."

Burningman understands economics. His point is this is only mandatory under the perverse calculus of capitalist economics.

I'm sure 150 years ago you would have been argueing that blacks are better off as slaves since their master provides them with food, clothing, shelter and study work as well as Christian salvation instead of living in a jungle somewhere.

Same racism, different century.

That's a pretty bizzare analology - equating free market customers with slaves. 'splain.

By definition, the slaves had no choice. Whereas in a free economy, these countries can either sell to the US or not. They choose to sell to us to their own economy can grow. Therefore, xxx's response is just another case of racebaiting on this board - equating anything you don't like with either slavery or the nazis.

 http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/tsunami/ngolist.html

Look, just give some money - don't start thinking about how much money Bush and Blair, Warmongerers, plc should be giving. Just give - and then next month, if you've never donated before, then give to someone else, maybe more local - give time if you're local - these folk aren't local, but they're in deep trouble - and the big guys will make gestures, and their money is useful - but we're all human beings, and if/when we're ever in this situation, we'll remember when we gave some money/time to people who needed something from us, and hope that someone will be generous to us. Yes, the world needs changing; too much money goes to just a few people - but tonight, tomorrow, the next few weeks, there are just too many people all at once who are seriously in trouble for us to engage in the obvious arguments. If you won't give money/time, then get on the phone and yell at your MP to lobby for cancelling the trade debt - that would at at least give these devastated coutries a boost. And if/when we can show it works for them, then we can show it'll work for other countries not struggling post-tsunami, but struggling post-'restructuralisation'. Tsunamis are bad news, but the IMF/WTO is evil.

Using electronical sensing equipment that I am able to employ from beyond the grave, exactly 454545 days after my death, I have been able to determine with my Etherealradionecroscope that ned is an idiot.

To IMCNY- Your post is misleading since the money for the inaugurations is donations and not from the gov't, as opposed to the $35 million we've already offered (far exceeding any other countries contributions.) And that number will grow thanks to the generosity of the american people.

The truth is the Europeans give more money per capita and just in dollar amount than America does.

From Today's New York Times:

"According to a poll, most Americans believe the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent.

Bush administration officials help create that perception gap. Fuming at the charge of stinginess, Mr. Powell pointed to disaster relief and said the United States "has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world." But for development aid, America gave $16.2 billion in 2003; the European Union gave $37.1 billion. In 2002, those numbers were $13.2 billion for America, and $29.9 billion for Europe.

Making things worse, we often pledge more money than we actually deliver. Victims of the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year ago are still living in tents because aid, including ours, has not materialized in the amounts pledged. And back in 2002, Mr. Bush announced his Millennium Challenge account to give African countries development assistance of up to $5 billion a year, but the account has yet to disperse a single dollar."

So as usual the majority of American's are totally mislead and misinformed. But that's no suprise really. The world already knows American's believe any crap their government tells them.

There's no obligation to give aid actually. Entitlement to other people's property or resources is a concept of leftism that has resulted in huge successes like the Soviet Union.

The United States will increase its aid from $35 million to $350 million for tsunami victims, CNN has learned.

"Entitlement to other people's property or resources is a concept of leftism..."

Oh?

booboo
is just a little uneducated, you know brainwashed by the consumerist discourse, maybe a few books, just a couple, some traveling, not glueing eyeballs to foxnews, perhaps will have some hope

Nice non-existent counterpoint.

Try the link below for organizations that are working to help right now. Many organizations on the list are not religeous ones, so no need to give to them if you're trying to avoid that. Yes the page is from reuters, but it is a good list.

 http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/110409431212.htm