The New York Times agrees with Egeland about the US being “stingy,” once again citing the only statistic available that allows the United States’ generosity to be cast in a negative light.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s private, online relief drive alone currently totals over $5 million, or nearly a fourth of the total France has most recently pledged.

The current front-runner in the tsunami effort is Spain, with a $68 million dollar donation.

But seeing how American citizens give a total of over $56 billion (that’s billion with a “B”) in foreign aid each year, I wouldn’t be surprised if these 50 private US charities collecting for this emergency (among others) surpass Spain’s total.

Even if that doesn’t happen in this case, calling the U.S. stingy — that is unhelpful and inappropriate — or, to put it another way, that is exactly what you should normally expect from the New York Times.