I've not posted about the Indian Ocean tsunami because there's not much I can add that the news organizations or other blogs haven't already covered. But the latest numbers are staggering. Fox News web site today says the number of dead is a mind boggling 114,000. I don't have a good grasp on worldwide disaster death tolls but this may well turn out to be the worst in history--discounting, of course, things like flu, bubonic plague, and other disease related events.

I believe, too, that this shows us how bad things can get. The world's population is spiraling upward, especially in third world and poorer countries. People tend to gravitate to the coast lines because it's easier to make a living in areas where tourists abound. Buildings that, in our country may have easily withstood the quake and subsequent deluge, collapsed easily, trapping or denying refuge to thousands. Tens of thousands die, governments that were marginal in good times are unable to cope, anarchy sets in, and the law of the jungle takes over. Will it happen again? Absolutely. Maybe not for decades but when it does, it will make this one look tame in comparison.