This year, the bushfires in Australia has been the deadliest and most destructive ever. In fact, it even made the front page news of Tuesday's "St. Petersburg Times" -- my local newspaper in sunny Florida, where we often have disasters of out own, in the form of hurricanes.

Yes, Aussie fires (as well as those here in the states) have made the news many times before, but, because of its sheer terror, compounded by the fact that I have friends Down Under (including Daniel VanderWerff, the author of the "School Spirit" comic strip who lives close to the fire area), I've been implored to give to the Australian Red Cross, where I gave A$20 toward the relief effort.

How about you?