Dear Friends, this week's page will be devoted to the enormous tragedy that has affected so many of our brothers and sisters on this little green orb, the Tsunami devastation in South East Asia. Here you will find links to things you may wonder about, and for the first time on my site, links to enable you personally to give assistance to those who have suffered such tragic loses. Yes, I am aware of other relief organizations but these are the ones I chose. This one disaster alone has caused over 145,000 people's untimely and horrifying death according to the count so far. Age, race, color, sex, religion, background mattered not. Thank God that you and your family were not among those in the path of this act of nature. Please, regardless of where you live, or your political, social, or religious beliefs or background, consider donating something to the a relief organization to help in this effort. Thank you for your help. May God protect those remaining from further devastation and heartbreak.

First of all, let's look at what a Tsunami is. There are various sites that give good reasonable descriptions of this natural disaster, and they include the FEMA For Kids Tsunami site, and the Tsunami - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia site, plus the Tsunami Page of Dr. George P.C. - Tsunami, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Volcanic Eruptions and other Natural and Man-Made Hazards site.

News of this terrible tragedy was, of course, shown on various news sources, including 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake - Wikipedia site, and the BBC NEWS In Depth 2004 Asia quake disaster site, as well as the CNN.com - Tsunami death toll tops 56,000 - Dec 28, 2004 site, the Guardian Unlimited , that great UK publication, and of course the The New York Times Breaking News, World News & Multimedia site. Obviously these sites will be updated with further news on this tragedy as it comes to hand.

There is even a blog written about it at The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami that publishes all kinds of info from various sources across the world and across the net.

For those not really familiar with where this took place, and the countries involved, I've turned to the Wikipedia Internet Encyclopedia, the Lonely Planet organization, and the CIA's World Fact Book. In fact, unless the references below specify that they came from the first two, please assume they come from the CIA. Yes, it's legal and yes, their information is pretty much up to date. Interesting what info is known about each country isn't it? Have a look and learn about the areas called Southeast Asia and Aceh - Wikipedia, and of course Burma - (a.k.a. Myahmar) and India as well.

You can also learn about other affected places by looking at the Malaysia site, and also have a browse at the Maldives information as well.

You can continue your investigation of those affected countries at Seychelles site, and then the Sumatra travel Lonely Planet World Guide site, and of course the Sri Lanka site, and the Tanzania site, and finish your look at countries affected by this tragedy by having a look at the Thailand site.

Now that you know what happened, what caused it, and where these countries are and a little about them, please consider donating personally to the a relief organization. The Direct Relief International is one you may not know about, so have a look at that.

Then browse through the Oxfam International United for a more equitable world site.

Plus The Official Save the Children Site which also does excellent work in cases like this.

And don't forget the UNICEF - UNICEF Home site as well, which also does some amazing work to help those in need.

Friends, this is a tragic way to start a new year, and yes, the normal site will resume next week. However, do not be surprised if you see again and again a request for help for our sisters and brothers across the world who so desperately need our help to survive. May God protect you and your loved ones from tragedy such as this. My family sends their regards and best wishes for a more loving, caring, and hopeful New Year in 2005. I will look for your return in a week's time. May you and your loved ones stay safe and well.

Rebecca Game of "Digital Women - Women with their modems running...", is a graphic designer who is superb to say the least. Rebecca designed this "new look" web site specifically for me, and I can't praise her work enough. Her site, dedicated to women on the net, is worth seeing and bookmarking for future reference. If you are looking for links of interest to women, please visit her site. And if you need the best graphic designer on the planet, I seriously can't recommend her more highly. Oh yes, and when you visit her site, tell her Mac sent you. Thank you Rebecca. I am eternally grateful for your assistance and expertise. ;-)