Since Christmas night, when I first heard of the massive earthquake off of Indonesia and that several hundred people might have been killed by a massive tsunami, I have watched the numbers climb.

Here is an interesting write-up by Hamid Mir, a well-known Pakistani journalist and editor who has interviewed Osama bin Laden four times. Mir was also speaker at the Al Qaeda 2.0 Conference that I recently helped organize with colleague Peter Bergen and Karen Greenberg, Executive Director of the NYU Center on Law & Security.

I have been through a number of scary earthquakes, including two relatively big ones in Los Angeles, a couple in Tokyo and one in Alaska. But nothing compares to a 9.0 quake.

This was taken tonight on the back lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The tree is magnificent and from Virginia. Speaking of Virginia, some are projecting a 2008 presidential battle between George Allen and Mark Warner. That would be interesting. I stopped by the White House Christmas Tree scene as well.

I got an email today allegedly from John Kerry — but clearly from what’s left of his “Friends of John Kerry” staff — that makes the case that Americans need to support the needs of soldiers with phone cards and other donations. Here is his letter.

There is a remarkable recount story unfolding in Washington State. When so many stories of misdeeds and voter system mismanagement that favored Republicans appeared elsewhere in the nation, it is interesting to see the Republicans making similar statements as Dems in this Washington State race.

There is an increasing pool of cases of active duty military whose nervous systems have responded negatively to the anthrax vaccines ordered by the Department of Defense.

Remember Lt. General William “Jerry” Boykin? He’s the bible-belting general who described America’s campaign in Iraq as a crusade against Satan. Here is a report on some other gems: . . .

I have had a surprisingly strong reaction to what I wrote yesterday about a very anti-competition decision from the FCC that allows Baby Bells to choke off fair access to local facilities under their control.

True to President Bush’s odd celebration of people and policies seemingly at odds with his own administration, Bush has often celebrated Teddy Roosevelt, who broke up America’s big trusts and monopolies — while Bush and his team build them up.