Today, three days after the Aceh tsunami slammed across the Pacific Rim, the official death toll has reached 80,000 and continues to rise as rescue teams reach more remote areas.

President George Bush, reacting to charges that the world's wealthiest countries were being "stingy," pledged $35 million in support.

According to Jane's Defence, that's just under the price of two Apache gunship helicopters.

Links for disaster relief organizations:
* http://www.lonelyplanet.com/tsunami/
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1139932.stm
* http://www.medair.org/en_portal/features.php?news_id=87
* Donate to the American Red Cross through Amazon.com

Footnote added 30 Dec:

American-based multinational corporations have already outdone the government's initial pledge, with Pfizer alone matching the initial $35 million pledge. Other big names include Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Cisco Systems, Motorola, and Microsoft. Time-Warner has set up a matching fund for employees who donate to the relief effort (so if you work for them, chip in and let your boss know).

The President now says the U.S. pledge is "only the beginning of our help," and promises to coordinate a coalition of nations to, uh, rebuild the shattered countries. Perhaps he was embarrassed when Spain, the country that dropped out of that other coalition, offered almost double America's tsunami support by pledging $68 million in aid.