http://vatul.net/blog From Kuwait To Katrina And Beyond Wed, 14 May 2008 23:57:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en * In another display of his infinite wisdom, our president recently stated that food prices are going up because ... wait for it ... India's growing middle class is getting richer and eating too much.  First our jobs, now our food?  How dare those incorrigible browns! In response, Indians folded ... http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1767/ NOT FUNNY: I've got your "education and training" right here, John McCain, you awful, misogynistic douchebag. Now make employers pay me what they pay a guy for doing the same work! And thanks for setting women's rights back about half a century in the minds of your ... http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1766/ IFRC: Aid moving out but more needed [As of May 9th,] over 220,000 people have received some form of aid from government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), other organizations and the general public. Over 80,000 of them have been served by Myanmar Red Cross ... “Food, hygiene kits, water purification tablets, mosquito nets, ... http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1765/ This one's for Alli: http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1764/ In my last post, I mentioned the possibility of travelling to Myanmar later this year to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis rebuild.  Thanks to the latest actions of the military "leadership" there, Americans may not be let in until then.  http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1763/ Last week, D and I watched a Discovery Channel program which traced the Ganges all the way from its Himalayan headwaters to the Brahmaputra delta of southern Bangladesh.  While talking about the Sundarbans, the fertile estuarine environment where the river meets the sea, much like Southern Louisiana and the Mississippi ... http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1762/ NYTimes: Changes at New Orleans Schools Bring Gains in Test Scores ... Nonetheless, more than half the students who took the test in those grades did not pass, and 60 percent of high school students got an unsatisfactory ranking in standardized English and math tests, a figure three to four times ... http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1761/ Never a dull moment during this mix of makeup, theatre, beats, friends and bliss. D saw them two times in the last ten days, once at One Eyed Jack's and then at Jazzfest with me, lucky dog. http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1760/ D and I turn into hermits after Mardi Gras and Jazzfest, so we did not make it out to Renard Poché's debut as a solo artist at the Maple Leaf last night. I love telling people that, aside from being the boyfriend of the beautiful LisaPal, Renard played with ... http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1759/ On our way to and from Jazzfest, many of us have the opportunity to walk through formerly-flood-ravaged portions of MidCity.  Do you notice in the spraypainted Xs that many houses were not visited by boat until September 11th, 2005, almost two weeks after much of New Orleans was submerged?  How would you ... http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1758/