DUH!!!

my 2nd name is katrina, which makes my name pretty famous these days, especially to americans, and most especially to those affected directly by the category 5 hurricane that has dubya declaring the last 5 days as one of the worst national disasters. infamy is truly part and parcel of my life, even in something as mundane as a name. [trivia: another hurricane is developing over the atlantic, lee, which is the same name as my brother naman. 'la lang, napaisip lang ako]

these have been my thoughts the past week while following the coverage of bbc, euronews, and cnn on hurricane katrina.

• now that the states has been exposed to a natural disaster of this magnitude, i can't help but think that with all the foreknowledge that a huge disaster is coming, the response of people to prevention has been very slow. in light of all the satellite feeds (something that the tsunami victims did not have, take note), the exhortations from highly placed officials for people to do what they can a week in advance, still, still, hundreds of thousands of people were caught flat-footed by the hurricane, and i mean not only the victims in the affected areas, but by the federal authorities themselves. the response has been horrifically slow, and i say this as a third world citizen, who is used to seeing hundreds of my countrymen suffer yearly from at least 10 typhoons that will visit our shores.
• i thought dubya looked too smug during his consolation speech. first, his vacation was cut short when katrina struck. he knew a week before katrina arrived that this would happen, and yet he went onwards with his vacation. the chief executive of the nation is expected to be empathetic to his countrymen, something that seemed sorely lacking in his response to sheehan, a grief-stricken mother to a marine who died in iraq, who camped outside his vast ranch in texas. then there he was, in his armani suit, surrounded by his equally well-dressed cabinet members with unsmiling faces, speaking in a cocky tone, "i am confident that we will triumph and america will be stronger after this." what of the now, you imbecilic president? what are you doing to address the needs of your people who need you to be visible to them now??? where are you when they need to see you, touch you, hear you? i told my husband, to gma's credit, no matter how much i dislike her, she shows more empathy towards our people when tragedy strikes. after 9/11, bush's image was splattered all over the media in his suckseer coat, communicating the message, "i'm ready to buckle down and work with you." too bad then new york mayor guillani [sorry for the typo, if ever] beat him to the draw and was very visible to the public as a hands on chief who cared for his people. i find that the same illness amongst politicians is staring us in the face: the rich and pampered elite officials are pulled out of their expensive vacations while thousands of their poor countrymen suffer without food and water, among lawlessness and lack of order.
• fuck cnn. this eastern european anchor based in the states was accusing a UN official of the slow response of the international community to this american tragedy, while the US of A is always expected to be at the forefront of international aid when some ailing nation is affected by some disaster. what the fucking fuck??? i want to thumb my nose at these idiotic anchors and do the monkey dance. duh!!! critical thought is certainly not ingrained in this cnn anchor!!! (bring in veronica pedrosa please) the united states is the wealthiest nation in the world, it is the most powerful nation in the world, it can do pretty much what if fucking pleases when it fucking chooses. if that texan president had so willed it, he could have dispatched thousands of troops and resources to the affected areas within a DAY of the hurricane's landing. he can have congress pass $10.5 billion in emergency aid for the simple fucking reason that the united states HAS the funds at its immediate disposal, unlike impoverished 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th world nations like sri lanka, indonesia, india, and what have you out there. how can anyone draw this comparison???

i have lived in the first world for two years and i have seen the gaping disparity in the quality of life of people here and those in my own third world country. i have been blessed to live a sheltered middle fucking class life in the philippines but i have not been detached from the extreme poverty and hopelessness of the people there. in simple matters like water consumption, food choices, or leisure activities, there is truly a great divide between citizens of nations such as the united states and the european union and citizens of southeast asia and africa. the simple fact is: people in the first world have, while people in africa and southeast asia have not.

take this, you arrogant cnn reporter: venezuelan president chavez, that same man your wacko pat robertson ordered "to be taken out because the US has the capacity to do thus" has offered humanitarian aid to be sent to the states, this in spite of his being a staunch critic of bush. chirac, another leader who is often at loggerheads with the policies of the american government, has expressed his sympathy for the american people. if you would only have eyes to see and ears to hear, there do exist pockets of decency, if you would only have the grace to accept such "offers" and not look for money from others where there is none.

so my bottom line is: how can you expect there to be instant aid in $$ terms when most of the $$ in the world are already in the united states??? one big fucking DUH!!!

shit.

post script: to people who cannot understand my point above due to my expletives, get this one thing clear --- i am not writing this against the plight of people who have suffered due to hurricane katrina.