Welcome to the World Wide Weird

The line between 2004 and 2005 was/is a fine line. As is the line between life and death; ask the survivors of the Tsunami Disaster, ask the dead, ask the missing (if you can find them).

The sheer immensity of the task of taking care of the survivors must surely be daunting even the most experienced rescue workers. Getting food alone to those that lost EVERYTHING 6 days ago now must be an almost impossible job. Roads, bridges and everything that connected the people have gone, everything is mud. The trucks that would have been used to disperse aid have gone, as are many of the staff of the aid agencies in the region who also perished.

Hungry crowds jostling for aid biscuits besieged those delivering them in the town. Some drivers dared not stop (link). “Some cars come by and throw food like that. The fastest get the food, the strong one wins. The elderly and the injured don’t get anything. We feel like dogs,” said Usman, 43.

Reports have been made of those people who did survive (nobody can call them lucky) in Aceh having to deal with unearthed landmines and venomous snakes.

Most attention is still on the dead and missing, with those in charge of the rescue (whoever that is) saying none of the bodies found under rubble or washed ashore will be buried before being identified. I don’t see how that can be. Unless the United States C.B.S. Television Network is hiding a CSI:Aceh team (and a bloody big team it will need to be) how can they possibly identify bodies that have been lying exposed and in water this long; surely rigor mortis must be advanced by now. There is no refrigeration available or any other way to preserve the remains of that many people. No ability to record dental records, no photographic equipment or processing resources.

Then you have the bodies that will never be found. The children washed away from Sri Lanka while trying to gather the fish lying on the beaches…..

Most of the world has responded with donations of cash and supplies. While the cash keeps pouring in from Government and Private donations, there are some who question this response.

Kofi Anan, head of the U.N. warns long-term commitment needed in Asia. “It is so huge that no one agency or one country can deal with it alone,” Mr Annan said, adding: “We cannot forgive ourselves for not even trying … our common humanity demands it.”

Prez Bush is copping flack for his response to the disaster, or lack of it some would say. The initial $U.S.30Mil donation has been boosted, but some argue that it took so long for him to even make a public announcement that it is clear he cares little for the region. The best way to judge for yourself is to read Bush’s OWN words on the subject. Here is a Whitehouse press conference he held on the 29th, and in particular this Q&A jumped out at me:-

Q Mr. President, are you confident that the U.S. west coast residents — Hawaiian residents, Alaska residents — are well enough protected with early warning systems for possible tsunamis affecting this country and coastal –

THE PRESIDENT: No, I appreciate that question, it’s a — I think that part of the long-term strategy in how to deal with natural disaster is to make sure we have — “we,” the world, has a proper tsunami warning system. As a matter of fact, the President of Sri Lanka also mentioned that to me. She said that one of the things that she and the Prime Minister of India discussed — I’m not sure they discussed it, but they’re both thinking the same way, let me put it to you that way — is the development of a proper warning system. And I think it’s going to be very — I can’t answer your question specifically, do we have enough of a warning system for the west coast. I am going to — I am now asking that to our agencies and government to let us know. I mean, that’s a very legitimate question. Clearly, there wasn’t a proper warning system in place for that part of the world, and it seems like to me it makes sense for the world to come together to develop a warning system that will help all nations.

Does any of this sound like the Prez is on top of things? The U.S. has criticised the U.N. with reports that Bush is ‘Undermining UN with Aid Coalition’. Dubbya’s supporters hit back with claims the U.N. is a corrupt body and has little place on the world stage. Amid all this the question – who is helping the helpless?

Australian Prime Minister Howard’s response has been appropriate (hey – for an unabashed Howard criticizer that is a tough statement to make!) though as he acknowledges much, much more needs to be done.

Although most Sydney-siders probably didn’t feel too much like partying last night, they did anyway and raised a lot of money at the same time. The 9 PM fireworks were preceded by a respectful minutes silence, though I note one of the Scandinavian countries (I think Denmark) even improved on that by observing 3 minutes silence. After watching the wally-with-hair Richard Wilkins on Channel 9 hosting the T.V. coverage of the fireworks, I couldn’t help wondering if after 3 minutes with his trap shut he would need to be re-trained, wound back up, or both.

Last word: Only after seeing this before and after Tsunami Satellite picture of Banda Aceh Shore (courtesy Dave’s Daily – check link in sidebar) did I understand why the disaster is as bad as it is.

A big salute goes out to P.H. for these senational pictures of the Tsunami. They show exactly just how fast and powerful the destructive waves were. Small wonder then that so many are dead and missing.

Like everyone else I’ve seen the horrendous damage caused by the Tsunami, and heard the ever increasing guesstimates of the death toll. The news is, expectedly, full of little else and in Sydney the news casters are all jumping over each other to try and out-shock their audience. Cap Slog being the cynic he is thinks those behind the news are all crying in their coffees that the worse thing about this disaster is that it came at a non-ratings period. Thankfully however, for them, it didn’t ruin something REALLY big like the Olympics.

Channels 7 and 9 have been trying to outdo each other with the same cute computer graphics of a Tsunami, explained the term a zillion times, run all the footage they have of the event over, and over, and over. They are now bombarding us with clips from ‘Sudden Impact’, and ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ saying “this could happen to Sydney”. Maybe, but we’d have to build us a replica Statue of Liberty first. Oddly though, it isn’t the 100 foot wave special effects as shown in these movies that do the damage. Most of the dead were caused by people being swept away by the 5 or 10 foot waves receding after the first big wave. As you see in the pictures the first big wave attracts people to the shore, and the second and third big waves wash them out to sea.

Listening to the radio on the way to work I hear the Australian Government has increased it’s aid to $35 Million. To keep this in perspective, the U.K Government has promised 20 Million Pounds, Sweden $200 (I don’t know what currency but I think we’re talking the equivalent in Aussie Dollars) while the good old U.S. of A. have found $30 million. This figure of course should have been much higher, but perhaps Dubbya’s Foreign Affairs advisor reminded him there is crap-all oil in the region.

Of course the figures for donations, like the guesstimate death tolls will increase. People have suggested that this is no time to celebrate the New Year while perhaps a million or more people have no food or fresh water, and have lost everything.

As pointed out by the producer of tonight’s New Years Eve celebrations, Ed Wilkinson, it has already been paid for, so canceling it would only cost more money. “It’s not going to achieve a lot, canceling the fireworks,” he said. “People should celebrate. We are in a very fortunate society, but we will be encouraging people to donate.”

Of the many well-known charity and aid agencies asking for donations is one I hadn’t heard of before, Oxfam. A little net digging at http://www.oxfam.org.au finds that Oxfam Community Aid Abroad Trading is a Fair Trade Organisation, providing better trading conditions and capacity-building support for marginalised producers. We offer their exotic Fair Trade homewares and gifts.

Just a month or so ago there were stories here that some charities were keeping all but 6 cents in the dollar of donations received for expenses. I have no idea who Oxfam is, or how long they have been around, but when it comes to donating, I’ll skip the trade organisations and stick with Red Cross or the Salvation Army

Your mood caught by computer



When I first saw this story I mentally filed it under “Why Bother?” Now after giving the matter some more thought (and after making another cuppa) I think a better description for the story is “What a Stupid Idea! – Why Bother?”

Scientists have developed a computer that can determine a person’s mood simply from the sound of their voice.

Why? What’s the point? Those of us employed in cube farms are already able to ascertain which co-workers to avoid. It’s more the objects that are thrown rather than the tone in a person’s voice that indicates mortal peril.

“When you are depressed or sad, the pitch of your voice drops and your speech slows down,” said Dr Christian Jones, chief executive of Edinburgh-based Affective Media, the company behind the high-tech product.

Yes, and you throw things, (or at least want to). Also, you bash the monitor when there is a PC problem, yell “bloody spyware!!” and swear allegiance to the Prince of Darkness if he will only cause Bill Gates to suffer a painful, slow death.

Curiously, this mood recognition software doesn’t take into account exactly WHAT is said, just how.

“It ignores the words you use and concentrates exclusively on the sound quality of speech.

“It can tell your emotional state the very first time it hears your voice.”

So what? Anyone who cuts me off in traffic also gets to see first-hand my emotional state. So too do bank tellers and department store staff more interested in their fascinating verbal exchanges instead of silly things like customers.

What would make sense is for someone to develop a computer program that can tell us when a woman’s mood is about to turn ugly based on the look you get.

He: “You don’t mind if I go play golf and get on the turps with my mates instead of having Christmas lunch with your mother do you dear?”

She: (Burning Glare)

Device: BEEP BEEP BEEP – Warning, run for your life!!!!!

When you get anything like this, that has buttons labelled ARM and LAUNCH

Oh Christmas, time of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men. Really?

Then explain the case of Santa being beaten up by a teen candy grabbing gang; or two women who sexually assaulted a man with a pair of cooking tongs; the story of a High School dean of students and a 17-year-old boy wrestling and falling down an elevator shaft; not one but two intruders shot dead by elderly homeowners; and finally, this story: Grand Island standoff ends in suicide by chain saw (link)

To all WorldWideWeirders, may your Christmas be totally devoid of chainsaws!

Oh, and one more point. I see Sharon Osborne has announced she is battling bulimia. May your Christmas table be free of THAT sort of festive display. Yewww!

What do you get for the single Japanese guy this Christmas? Link