Philippine news

Some clueless headlines complain about the "lack of preparedness", which was true, but considering the width of the typhoon and the number of people affected, the death toll is quite low. I mean, Burma's cyclone killed 100 thousand (partly due to the gov't blocking aid), so if the Philippines lost less than 10 thousand, it is a miracle.

International help is here, and welcome.
and locals are doing their own part, with local aid being sent, and families carrying food etc. to relatives

The main problem was that the mayor of Tacloban, like the mayor of New Orleans/LA governor, didn't get his people evacuated. PNoy, unlike Bush, is pointing fingers to the real culprit, but unlike Bush has actually gone there to visit right away.

Slate has an article about what Americans should donate.

Boxes filled with Santa costumes, 4-inch high heels, and cocktail dresses landed in tsunami-affected areas. In some places, open tubes of Neosporin, Preparation H, and Viagra showed up. The aid community has coined a term for these items that get shipped from people’s closets and medicine cabinets as SWEDOW—Stuff We Don’t Want.

I suspect a lot of these donations will end up in the ukayukay (used clothing kiosks)...which is okay...In the US, this made me upset, but now I realize that the poor can afford 20 to 70 cents for high class used clothes that will last (in contrast to spending 70 cents to 4 dollars for new ones made in China of poor quality).
Once in awhile, Joy will find clothing that will fit me in the Manila kiosks...here the kiosk owners tend to sell smaller clothing, especially for kids.

It's a problem for me: when some of the professional beggars asked me for clothing after our typhoon, I was stuck: I'm a size 18 and most of them were size 6...but I did give them a few smaller teeshirts and blankets.



And then there is this headline: Japanese forces back in Leyte.