This weekend in summary

I won't be blogging as frequently for the next two weeks. Twice in a year (April and September) I will escape work for one or two weeks. You would probably think 'Wow, that's great!'. The truth is, I am preparing for my exams.

Anyway, just to release a bit of stress, I would like to sum up some of my thoughts for this weekend.

Hurricane Katrina

Because of Katrina, the first place I zoomed in at using Google Earth was New Orleans. I was curious about the unique geographical feature of this city - lying in a basin below sea level between Lake Pontchartrain and Mississippi River.

It has been a sad week for the Americans. The whole city was totally wiped out by the hurricane. 80% of the city is still submerged in flood water due to the unique geographical feature.

The catastrophe reminds us that the force of Nature is so powerful that even the most advanced nation on Earth is equally as vulnerable.

What has happened since Katrina left is disturbing - rapes, looting, murders, suicides. Despite being one of the most civilised nation, Katrina had managed to bring out the ugly side of human race.

Rotting bodies are lying at the place where they fell, the stench filling the air. Babies are delivered in filthy conditions. Human faeces are everywhere. There is neither clean water supply nor electricity. Traumatised citizens are accidentally killed by troops due to misunderstanding. Such is the scene in the aftermath of Katrina.

Some say the chaos in Katrina's aftermath has exposed deep divisions in both the city and US society.

Images from the stricken city of New Orleans show that many of those suffering in its streets and shelters are mainly black and poor.

The plight of those stranded amid the filth and the dead has highlighted a side of the city most tourists did not see - one in which two-thirds of its residents are black and more than a quarter live in poverty.

Anger is mounting among African-American leaders that this section was left behind when others fled.

Black members of Congress have also criticised the pace of relief efforts.
Some say the response was slow because those most affected are poor.

"George Bush doesn't care about black people," rapper Kanye West told viewers of an NBC benefit concert for hurricane victims.

I guess Katrina has shown us that Americans are no better than the citizens in the poor Asian countries hit by the tsunami not long ago. It's a sad but true fact.

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Poor Kimi

Even though I'm a Ferrari supporter, I was disappointed that Kimi Raikkonen did not manage to win in Monza today. He had been outstanding during the race, and could have won it if not for the tyre problem which forced him to make an additional pit stop. This unfortunate event also mean that Fernando Alonso has strengthened his lead in the drivers' Championship, and it will take a miracle for him not to land the title.

As for team Scuderia, we've thrown in the towel long ago. Hopefully Bridgestone will improve next year so that we can wrest back the title.

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Malaysian Idol: Goodbye Ash!

For the first time I voted - for Daniel. My wife voted for Nita. She did really well in Big Spender, but not in the other song. As for Daniel, he really connects well with the audience. He has also proven that he is a versatile singer. The only minus side is that he is probably too boyish looking to be a Malaysian Idol. Both my wife and I did what most Malaysians did as Daniel and Nita managed to garner the most votes this week.

I was quite worried for Farah tonight, since she has been in the bottom 3 for the last few weeks despite performing better than some others.

Faizull? Too one dimensional. Good voice for rock songs but too kampung in every other areas. But the kampung people kept on voting for him!

But in the end, it was Ash who got the boot. Goodbye Ash. Your improvement might have come a bit too late.