I hope that no Synthzone members were caught by the devastating Earthquake & resulting Tsunami that hit in South East Asia on Sunday. Knowing that our very own Synthzone member: "KN_Fan" Jonas' father & family live in South East Asia, I was relieved to hear that Kn_Fan's family are all safe.

I only hope there aren't any South East Asian Synthzone members or other SZ members who might have been vacationing there along the beaches at the time of the Tsunami, that suffered from this horrific tragedy of which took (estimated to be over 58,000+) so MANY innocent lives. I hope you all will join in praying for all the injured, the family & friends of the injuried and families who lost loved ones in this tragedy as well. I have donated a few humble dollars to the relief effort of which I hear is going to take many BILLIONS of dollars. Every penny will help.

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 12-28-2004).]

My condolence goes to them!

Oftentimes it takes a disaster to wake people up. Asia has no adavanced Earthquake warning system in place like the one in the Pacific Ocean and surrounding area has.

Since this devestating Earthquake and resulting Tsunami that has literally wiped villages off the map has occurred, there are now major plans to put in a similar warning system throughout Asia similar to the one that is in place in the Pacific. But unfortunately they're a day late and dollar short.

Asia and particularly around the islands of Indonesia have been a major hub of Earthquake activity for years on end. So even though the Countries of Asia have known this, they have done NOTHING to create a preventitive counter measure like the warning system in place in the Pacific Ocean. So the fault lies with them. No pun intended...

But for the mistakes and lack of foresight of others thousands have paid the ultimate price. It is a real shame, no doubt about it.

God help all of those involved in this disaster and the relief effort that is taking place.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 12-28-2004).]

1) Incredible comment at this moment in time.

2) God????
I can't believe people still believe in him after such disasters. If there were a god, he wouldn't let innocent children suffer in such a way that we've seen both now and in Beslan Russia earlier this year.

------------------
Roy-Andrè

Mike,

I agree with Roy-Andre. I find your remarks totally insensitive and repulsive. I think you should delete them immediately.

I've been to Asia many times and have a great love for the countries and cultures there. My heart goes out to those poor fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, and relatives who have lost loved ones.

I will never question God's plan. He has reasons for all things...even those we can't understand.

If anyone besides God could be blamed with wiping out 60k+ people in such a cruel manner, 1/3 of them children, we'd think them insane and would be sending cruise missles. That's not counting the untold suffering yet to come. We were given free will and intelligence specifically so we could question such insanity... simply chalking a disaster of this magnitude up to a "Greater Purpose" would mean disregarding that. Either God had nothing to do with this in the first place or God had nothing to do with stopping it... either way, we lose. All we can say for sure is that God loves misery and company. Beyond tragic.

There are countless moments in our history of events and tragedies that simply can not be explained. There are risks existing in virtually every location on the globe.

To try and justify or state "there must be a reason God allowed this to happen" defies logic or reason. Which is why religion is based on faith, I suppose.

Even the scientists are trying to fully understand the why's and how's with regard to its enormity.

Bottom line is no one likely has all the answers.

Some turn to their faiths, some turn to science, many try and turn a bit closer to both.

The images get worse and worse, the stories get sadder and sadder. And we know it will get MUCH worse before it gets any better.

Let's also hope that the political turmoil currently going on in that region can take a break and keep its fingers out of the relief efforts that will try to somehow restore some sense or normalcy to life there.

Bill in Dayton

Not to sound condescending, but I don't think anybody here is an expert on religion or G-d for that matter.
Neither is this the forum for such a discussion.
However, as a religious person, I always get a laugh to see people obviously not well read in certain matters discuss it as if they were.
It is one thing to make a "guessumption" about new features being introduced in a new Keyboard. It is quite another matter to guess about critical matters which are the center point and foundation of society, things we are ignorant about, and then just make negative and harsh statements and leave it at that without actually seeking any answer or clarification.

If any of my fellow Zonesters would like to really delve into these matters there is a website I frequent which has loads of articles discussing suffering and explains a plethora of religious concepts. www.aish.org

Otherwise I suggest we stick to things we *do* know about -- Keyboards.


Bill - Your comments are well put.

Matt


[This message has been edited by GoodGuy (edited 12-29-2004).]

Thanks Scott for your concern. Yes, my family is doing well. I don't think I even have any distant relatives in Sumatra at all.

One of our managers overseas (from the company I work for) had four casualties though. His daughter, brother in law&wife, plus the child were washed away in the flood. Tragic. We're working now to provide a relief fund for the country.