Annoyance

By now, most of us would've heard about the disaster that has struck New Orleans and the other various towns and cities that have been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. We'd also have heard about how the people of the world's richest country had to wait for a full 5 days before the powers that be were galvanised into action. President Bush was too busy holidaying and entertaining business guests. Vice-President Cheney was... what was it? Oh yes, on holiday. And Ms Rice, defender of minority rights, was particularly busy. She was catching a musical and shopping in NY.

Then there's also the fact that the Bush administration has ignored warnings of the possibility of this catastrophe happening from as far back as 2001, the fact that the environment was pretty much left to (literally) burn as money was pumped elsewhere and how the Department of Homeland Security pretty much fucked things up. My prayers go out to the survivors - I can't quite imagine how it's like to live in a city's accumulated filth with no place to go for refuge.

There are 2 things that have really annoyed me though.

1. A Christian organisation said that New Orleans' destruction was part of God's punishment 'cause a number of abortion clinics were destroyed and from certain satellite pics, a shape of a foetus can be discerned. This is similar to claims from certain mullahs that the tsunami was an event engineered by God to punish irresponsible Muslims.

I mean, what the fuck?

It's really easy to say that so-and-so deserved to be punished by God especially when the accusations come from people with no vested interests in the places that were destroyed or to conveniently forget that the disasters might have been on a much smaller scale if the human element of stupidity was addressed on a more critical basis. But no... obviously these people know how God thinks and would like to hark back to times akin to ancient China, where natural disasters were seen as signs of God's displeasure. And the poor souls who're left have to suffer this bit of added nonsense on top of all their personal sufferings.

Oh, and that mosque that was still in standing in Aceh when everything else was destroyed; it wasn't a divine sign. It's just the only building in the area that was built with stronger material since the people didn't mind spending that extra bit of money on religious purposes. Which kinda contradicts the whole you're-being-punished-'cause-you're-bound-for-hell theory.

2. In the aftermath of the tsunami, the oil-rich country of Kuwait gave the relief fund an initial sum US$1 million. This was raised to US$10 million (the same amount Schumacher donated) following an outcry by its own press (Saudi also raised its donation after the press' outcry). Qatar was marginally better, with a sum of US$25 million.

Bear in mind that this tragedy occured to a 3rd world countries - countries that were brought to their knees during the economic crisis of the late 90s, countries with barely enough money to keep their economies afloat. Countries who had no warning about the tsunamis and had to cope with the unexpected.

Now compare these countries with the States, the world's richest country whose leaders deliberately pumped money in ventures that resulted in a lack of funds for the protection of areas like the Mississippi basin which are known to be vulnerable to hurricanes and the likes. A country who has more than enough money to handle this emergency, although Bush's initial reaction was to reject any financial assitance for fear of being perceived as 'weak'.

Qatar has donated US$100 million without being asked and Kuwait is donating a fine US$500 million worth of oil products and other humanitarian aid to its ally - yes sir, that's half a billion US dollars. I don't mind, but why the double standards? Besides the obvious aim of kissing some ass? So much for all the bullshit about Islamic co-operation and the such. All this talk about helping fellow Muslims around the world and giving for charity just irks me 'cause the needy don't necessarily get what they deserve. That's one of reasons I hardly give any money for people collecting for the Palestines 'cause something's wrong somewhere when the Palestinians are suffering but Yasser Arafat's widow lives as a millionairess in Paris.

Actually, there's a 3rd annoying event - John Bolton's (the American ambassador to the UN) role in reducing the final draft to be presented at the UN on Friday to pieces of paper that are probably worth less than the toilet papers you find in NHS hospitals. For all the talk about addressing imbalances in the world and taking steps to decrease poverty, rein in the arms' race or protect the environment, the meeting of 149 world leaders to commemorate the UN's 60th anniversary will be filled with the usual hot air and empty promises.

Oh, and another annoying thing... Neil Gaiman (yup, he of Sandman fame aka one of my all-time favourite authors) will be signing his books in Newcastle in November. Yup, in Newcastle! And what happens? It's on a weekday and that means I'm working. Sigh...