Philippines.
Typhoon Haiyan is a thing of the past but not the suffering it has caused. You heard of different names in the media since the Philippines were hit and probably none rang a bell? The problem is that it is not just how hard a given region is hit but after the fact is mostly where the survivors are. The Philippines being a nation of islands from big to small and relatively poor to boot, the effects of a major catastrophe are not felt equally. Major towns have better buildings and found on bigger islands, two factors that contribute to lesser overall destruction and much easier relief of those affected. The worse comes to either small towns or small islands that are away from the best support routes. If you want to help the people over there, find a reputable organization and make a donation or send money directly to the local authorities.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/typhoon-haiyan-how-you-can-help-1.2423429
Tacloban is one city hit hard by looting and unrest as seen in the link below :
http://www.euronews.com/2013/11/12/philippines-supplies-looted-and-aid-convoys-mobbed/
In such a place, the best delivery is done by the military as it has the means to safeguard its cargo.
Coron however faces less disturbances but has to get the help in by civilian aircrafts and lacks the money to pay them :
The U.N. for all its faults, almost always combines amassing funds with the presence of envoys on the terrain as a way to ensure the proper arrival and use of the cash!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24910918
The alternative looks like this :
http://news.yahoo.com/tons-aid-philippines-not-where-needed-113706754.html
and reminds me of an organization better left unnamed that once sent powered milk to an African nation just as lacking in water as it was in food? *Facepalm*
What can be noted is that China is the big loser of this crisis situation. Not only as its aid proposals been rather modest so far or only through ASEAN and other multinational groups that commonly send it with enough delay to be used to embellish cemeteries but it also lost a great chance to downplay its recent belligerent and hegemonic posturing over the China seas.
Having checked Xinhuanet and the People’s Daily, I found no reference to the Chinese Military Hospital boats that are so often otherwise used as propaganda tools to show the Celestial Empire’s good side?
http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/news-channels/photo-reports/2013-09/12/content_5489675.htm
They did notice the ships and planes from the US, Japan and UK though?
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1354154/us-and-britain-sending-warships-haiyan-relief-efforts
Selective myopia? Still, I am not the only one to have noticed the ambivalent position :
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/12/us-china-philippines-aid-idUSBRE9AB0LM20131112
http://world.time.com/2013/11/13/china-to-philippines-here-have-a-measly-100000-in-aid/?hpt=hp_c2
And Xinhua still has this pictorial comparison to show why help is needed :
Click for source webpage!
Syria.
The talks in Geneva about Syria are going on … and on, and on. I did tell my readers when the russian proposal was made that it would likely result in delays more than results and so far so good. For my point of view and being right but not for Syria though?
http://definitivelapseofreason.com/2013/09/16/russia-usa-on-syria-triple-a-deal-or-pixie-dust/
So that this :
where the Syrian National Coalition agreed to join the discussion if some pre-conditions get approved is now heralded as good?
Of course it remains to be seen if the pre-conditions will be met or met enough or … you get the idea. When the US diplomacy has to hail a tentative position as good it means better than nothing, nothing more? Meanwhile on the ground, the Syrian army makes gains for Hafez daily and … loses them just about on the same tempo? I’ll repeat my point, action was to have taken place on that subject roughly 12 to 16 months ago. Now, things will likely drag on just as much as the talks?
Brazil.
Demonstrations have recently stopped a preparatory conference for the 2014 Football World cup! On top of which many problems plague the construction of the stadiums needed for the event? The talks and the construction have a December deadline on them. Why, you may ask? Because on December 8, the second period of ticket buying will start on the FIFA Website? And selling tickets to an event that cannot be prepared on account of rioting and whose infrastructures may not be completed for economico-social reasons might not be tops? Dabbling in professional sports is not a habit of mine on this blog but heck, Brazil is the most crowned country in football history? So that defaulting on the organization by any margin when aficionados are awestruck by its elegant proficiency on the terrain would be quite sad? Of course, I’d rather see Brazil mess the World Cup and lose if it could fix its social problems, a simple matter of priorities?
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html
http://www.enca.com/sport/brazils-soccer-world-cup-plans-are-no-carnival
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/10/14/fans-vandalize-brazilian-world-cup-stadium/
And last for the day are the amazing antics of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Toronto is Canada’s metropolis. It faces Detroit where another ( better ) Ford made automobile and industrial history at the beginning of the 20th century? I’ve been there, it is a rather nice place and, if a bit too North American big town for my taste, it deserves better than Rob Ford as a mayor? The guy is fighting allegations of his having been a crack cocaine user by sending everyone packing. Apart from smacking of denial, he small problem with this attitude is that the allegations are rather substantiated by a ( now infamous ) video? So that Rob Ford who thinks its all small stuff is now playing a redux version of the moronic Weiner the boner in the US : yes, no, maybe, never, maybe, it wasn’t me but I did but its not true, a rumor … blah blah blah?
I could expand in a multitude of puns but there are excellent local media to cover the whole thing better than I could so here a link :
A nice succession of videos ( what else? ) that lay the ( crack ) pipe down on the whole affair?
This WordPress co-blogger has a nice piece on it too :
Sad world, huh?
See you all tomorrow hoping the Sun will rise on a better day, Tay.
Definitive Lapse of Reason 
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