And here comes the aftermath...

This here is a good article.
This one here pissed me off no end.
I have a rather simplistic view of the world, I'm sure, it comes from being a simple creature. I have a fairly strong view of what I believe is right and wrong, and all this religious crap just serves to muddy the waters, and offers people ways of justifying their actions to some external power to save them having to justify their actions to themselves. I really have no problem with God, its the religion that really bites.
By definition, the Christian God is omnipotent and benevolent. That is what they would have us believe, and its what we were taught at school in chapel services. So, if God is omnipotent, he would have seen the tsunami coming. If he is benevolent, he would have done something to stop it. So, either the God they would have us believe in saw it coming and did nothing and is therefore not benevolent, or didn't see it coming and is therefore not omnipotent.
I know, its a simple argument, and I'm sure those who have swallowed the lie have ways of explaining this to me.
All I can say is that those affected by this horror don't need your prayers. They need your money. They need vaccinations, fresh water, food, medicines, new houses, new clothes, trauma counselling, doctors, new schoolbooks, nappies, mosquito nets. They also need to rebuild their economies so they can afford tsunami warnings.
This disaster serves to demonstrate the poverty in the Asia Pacific region. They need our help, more than anyone has needed it before. What they don't need is people telling them that its all part of God's plan, and that their loved ones have gone to a better place. They may well have, but you try telling that to the women who watched their children drown, and those who are still watching their children die of disease and hunger in the aftermath.
Perhaps I am overly sceptical, but I'm having a hard time finding any miracles here.

Normal programming will resume eventually.

Addendum: When I was 17 and Emma 20, we always said we were twins, which is why only she had ID in pubs. Here is how we got away with it.