The Earthquake and Tsunami

It's impossible to generate any levity with the constant stream of horrific video and news from the east coast of Japan. The death toll will almost certainly rise to the many thousands.
We are reminded of how precious a secure house, hot food, and clean drinking water are, and of our personal luck of not now living in Sendai where we lived for 8 years not so long ago. The area where we rented an old house, Wakabayashi, was the hardest hit by the tsunami. Friends are still there and we anxiously wait for word of their safety.
We are also reminded of how the luxury of life's essentials that we enjoy today hang by a thread and remain at the constant mercy of our unsettled and often unsettling planet.
I will post donation access points on FaceBook as soon as possible. Right now all the trustworthy sites (Japan Red Cross etc.) are still not set up to receive donations from English-speaking sources and others (Yahoo!, Goo, etc.) require registration in Japanese. If you read Japanese, I encourage you to search on your own and let me know if you find an easy-to-access point for foreign donations.
Take care everyone.