Teleidoscope

Thu, May 15, 2008

Disasters

Posted at 5:42 pm MDT to Miscellaneous

This week was a payday, so I sent some money to Medecins Sans Frontiers, on the theory that they might have ways to get help to the Burmese population despite the evil men running the country.

Failing that, there is the aftermath of the earthquake in China, and no doubt plenty of other places where the money would be useful.

I'm just watching BBC World News America, (reportedly watered down from the REAL BBC World News, but still better than most of the alternatives I have available) and they had a long segment on both disasters.

The Burmese government is still not allowing aid in, two weeks after the typhoon.

It's not clear whether China is accepting foreign aid, but the proportion of their country that was affected was smaller, and they are taking serious steps to try to get help to people who have been cut off by landslides.

There were films of paratroopers jumping into mountain valleys and people shoving cases of food and bottled water out of low flying planes. And it is reported that the Chinese government has sent 100,000 thousand troops to the affected area to help digging out and dealing with the destruction.

The latest reports, three days after the quake, are that all the areas that were cut off have been contacted, that 60,000 people have been dug out and rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings so far, and 20,000 are known dead. (I expect both numbers

I don't generally approve of the Chinese government, but at least they do not seem to be skimping on helping their people. They look really good compared to the Burmese, who have shown no sign of trying to help their people and have been blocking offers by others to help them.

Actually, the Chinese government looks pretty good compared to the Bushies' response to Katrina, too. That's a depressing thought.

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