Of Katrina, George and other stuff.

Hurricane Katrina’s hit New Orleans. Land of Gumbo and other interesting things. The city is flooded. There’s raping and pillaging. The Mayor of New Orleans is ready to declare independence from the United States because of the bang up job that Dubya’s been doing. All this time, I’m wondering all of two things.

Firstly: The Asian Tsunami brought out some of the best in people. People banded together and helped out. They took care of each other and in Indonesia and other developing countries, there were no widespread reports of chaos, anarchy and raping / pillaging. Why then is there such devastation in 1 city of the pinnacle of civilization when a hurricane hits it? And the devastation’s not by natural forces either. It’s by the people of said civilized nation. I think that what’s happened in New Orleans is bad enough. What makes this a tragedy is the fact that this brought out the worst in people.

Secondly: George W. Bush. Elected. Twice. Look on this disaster and ask yourself how that happened. Katrina struck and he hesitated to end his holiday. (erm…do presidents get holidays by the way?) He’s back in office and who does he call? Daddy, and a former president from the opposing camp! (This isn’t the first time that Junior’s done so by the way, daddy or Clinton) What the heck were Americans thinking in 2004? The travesty! How incompetent do you have to be when you need to get former presidents back to help you run the country? Isn’t the PotUS supposed to have a cabinet of able minded men and women helping him do that? Isn’t the most powerful man in the world supposed to have a plan? According to the news, Katrina was anticipated but never acted upon. What happened? Did Dubya decide that Katrina sounded like a kindly aunt coming to visit? Was he more concerned over dealing with questions about Iraq from his heckler / stalker? Did he decide that there wasn’t enough of a budget to deal with both Iraq and domestic issues?
To borrow a phrase from Robert Rankin, “What a complete gormster.”

Presently, the National Guard is in New Orleans with “shoot to kill” orders. (And we know how well that usually turns out)

Oil prices hit USD$70.85 a barrel. Where are the cars of the future? The hybrids? The fuel cells?

On other (more mundane…well, absolutely mundane and nonsensical compared to the devastation of the little hurricane who could) news, Teachers’ Day has just passed and I have got to show for it:

1. A die cast B-52 bomber from M.L.
2. A little balloon tulip that looks like a cross between a mini-sausage roll and a blue condom.
3. A little cushion from Y.Y.R. (Who I swear will probably kill me someday in a twisted manner involving much torture)
4. A bottle of authentic French lemonade from my crazy class. (Cool glass bottle with stopper)
5. A pillow from Aussino, courtesy of my form class.
6. Chocolates, biscuits and brownies. (Touched that I got a packet of biscuits from ye olde OM team, Thanks guys)
7. Many cards.

Yes, Teachers’ Day has come and gone and I have the spoils to prove it. I have also:

1. Cleared the hurdle of presenting a “new teacher” item during staff dinner. (To my credit, I think that our batch of teachers drew the most laughter and praise from the audience with our spot-on portrayal of student types, Thank you thank you. [Cranium enlarging…])
2. Finished the fact sheets for the school.
3. Almost completed my batch of marking for the prelims.

It’s been a good week. Stressful but good. By Wednesday (the day of the presentation) I was ready to go postal. (Good thing for strict gun control laws in Singapore) By Friday, I was severely lacking in sleep and painfully aware that I had neglected my Blog. But Saturday’s here and I’m vindicated. My efforts have been appreciated and I am ready to sleep.

Meanwhile, let's drop a prayer for New Orleans