It is a sad truth that in disasters like these, the natural disaster is often compounded (abetted?) by political concerns.

In my (admittedly amateur) study of the history of how weather has been regarded, I see example after example of the most atrocious lack of action, leading to deaths--whether from freezing, flooding, starvation, etc--that could have been prevented had some government or agency thereof not been standing in the way, preventing aid (or often warning) from arriving in time.

The junta that calls the shots over there sees it as incredibly threatening when monks quietly protest. Cops hit the street!

But when tens of thousands are dead and dying, with more almost certainly on the way . . . well, why do anything about that?

It is sick-making.

The UN may be all flawed and warty, but that doesn't mean we should not urge that body to do something about this. People are suffering needlessly. Human beings every bit as endowed by their creator with the right to life as anyone you personally love.

Herring405