Normally I do not like to take part in [OT] discussions. Anyway, this is just to show you some of the reports from official Chinese Media. There were two very strong typhoons in China recently as well. The recent one passes my home town as well but luckily it did not cause much damages. It did cause serious damages to other provinces. By the way, accoding to CNN, 300 troops with kin in Katrina zone have been sent home from Iraq. However Bush orders more troops (7000) to Gulf Coast. National interests are above all! Of course different people have different interpretation of so called "National Interests". Anyway, this is a disaster and hopefully things will get better as soon as possible. Whoever high high high above, please bless the poor souls. Regards, Xiaofan PS: Some news website links if you do not want to read only CNN (CNN is fast though). http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ Singapore http://news.bbc.co.uk/ UK BBC http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/home/index.html China http://www.scmp.com/ Hong Kong SAR, China http://www.voanews.com/english/portal.cfm VOA, USA http://www.cnn.com/ CNN, USA http://www.npr.org/ National Public Radio, USA --------------------------------------------------- http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/home/index.html New Orleans left to the dead and dying A once-vibrant city of 480,000 people overtaken days ago by floods, looting, rape, was now an empty tomb. President Hu's visit to the US postponed China offers US$5 million to hurricane victims ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-09/03/content_474810.htm Coastal China evacuates nearly 600,000 people as Typhoon Talim approaches (AP) Updated: 2005-09-01 15:33 Nearly 600,000 people have been evacuated as Typhoon Talim, packing winds of up to 184 kilometers (114 miles) per hour, headed for southern China on Thursday, the Associated Press cited Xinhua News Agency as reported. ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/home/index.html China offers US$5 million to hurricane victims (Xinhua) Updated: 2005-09-04 08:04 BEIJING., Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The Chinese government has decided to offer disaster relief up to 5 million US dollars along with emergency supplies to the people in the the United States victimized by Hurricane Katrina, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said here Saturday. The Chinese government will also send rescue workers to help inmedical treatment and epidemic prevention in the disaster-stricken areas, if needed, said spokesman Qin Gang. China will keep close contacts with the United States on the disaster relief work and join the international community in assisting the local people restoring their homeland, the spokesman said. Hurricane Katrina hit the southern part of the United States on Aug. 29, causing heavy casualties and damages. On Aug. 31, Chinese President Hu Jintao a telegram to US President George W. Bush, expressing sympathy and condolences to President Bush, the US government and people for their suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina, on behalf of the Chinese government and people. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sean Schouten" Newsgroups: gmane.comp.hardware.microcontrollers.pic Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 2:30 AM Subject: Re: [OT] New Orleans What happened to the thousands of troops that should be delivering aid and such on the home-front in the us? I would of thought that the mighty military would be busy with full-scale rescue and aid operations, which they don't seem to have running. In my eyes it's more like the odd soldier has been sent on some field trip in which they have been instructed to shoot anything that moves and has some personal item in it's arm, there for remotely resembling a looter. I don't even seem to spot too many 'troops' on television. Whenever I do, they seem to be busy shooting looters rather than helping people. ... Anyhow. I do wish all the poor souls lots and lots of luck and hope that this is an eye opener for others. Sean. -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist