f the odds of being in an aircraft crash are in excess of 14 million
to one, the odds of two aircraft departing the same airport on the
same day, within 40 minutes of each other, both involving inflight
catastrophic loss.

i have no idea how many zero's the odds would involve !

The odds have now become moot, with the announcement that explosive residue has
been found among the debris. Its inevitable that the other impact site will
reveal some similar agent at work. We're counting angels on the head of a pin
while Islamist 'soldiers' strike civilians the world over - I have no doubt
they will be found to be the culprits in this case. During the Yugoslav wars
of succession, I supported the hard-pressed Muslim civilians and I still do.
But when I pass a middle eastern man on the street, I see him now as a
potential enemy soldier, someone to be wary of. That this alienates me from a
billion of my fellow men bothers me, however I understand we are at war.
These airliners were downed by enemy action.