We've got to admit, this week's tragedy in Southeast Asia has put a damper in our holiday spirit. Yes, we'll be popping the champagne tonight -- not to celebrate the New Year, but to rejoice in the passing of 2004 -- an annus horribilis if ever there was one. But before we go, here's a bit of comic relief  of the cynical variety supplied courtesy of the rambunctious bloggers at Gawker.com. On their site this week, they've outlined the worst, tackiest, shallowest coverage of the century's worst natural catastrophe. Let's see: Tsunami shatter celebrity holidays? Oprah's gay designer survived. U2's Adam Clayton was initially rumored as missing. And CNN's Tucker Carlson -- a bow-tie wearing DC putz -- vapidly asks a seismologist on his show if a volcano in the Canary Islands could send a tsunami toward the Hamptons, the playground for the U.S. East Coast's wealthy elite.

Earlier this week, American essayist, author and cultural critic Susan Sontag passed away after repeated bouts of cancer. To many here in Europe, Sontag was considered the moral conscience of America, and last year she won the German Publisher's Association peace prize for her life's work. She wrote about everything from art happenings to Vietnam. And after Sept. 11, her tone against US political policies sharpened. Speaking in Frankfurt last year, she said: "The US government saw Sept. 11 as a chance to change the playing rules, and they have radically consolidated power."