China Earthquake

• Austria Cellar Daughter Awake: Kerstin Fritzl, the 19-year-old woman, and the oldest daughter kept in the cellar in Austria, has regained consciousness. Her illness in April tipped Austria's authorities to the incest scandal. Kerstin is the oldest of seven children fathered by Josef Fritzl, her grandfather, during the 24 years he kept his daughter Elisabeth in his cellar, captive while raping her repeatedly. Doctors say Kerstin still requires intensive medical care. Let out of the cellar because of her illness, Kerstin has been unconscious and in intensive care since then.



• China Drains Quake Lake: China declared victory today over the brimming lake formed by landslides from the massive earthquake, threatening to flood downstream communities. Sichuan province's top official claimed a "decisive victory" over the potential crisis. A manmade channel caused the water to pour out and into the mostly evacuated town of Qinglian, a resident who remained in the area said. More than 250,000 people downstream had moved to high ground due to fear that the lake could breach its banks entirely. About 1.3 million people total live downstream.
• Phillipine's TV Crew Captured: A TV news team from the Philippines’s largest network along with one of the country’s most famous journalists is believed to have been abducted by members of the militant group Abu Sayyaf. The journalist, a cameraman, and driver were on their way to meet with Abu Sayyaf when they were intercepted on Sunday by armed men in a province where Abu Sayyaf, which is fighting for a separate Muslim state in the southern Philippines, are known to operate. Abu Sayyaf is notorious for its kidnap-for-ransom activities and has terrorized Filipinos and foreigners alike. The militants have been blamed for several major terrorist attacks across the Philippines in recent years. The abductors have not yet made contact.

• Bush Goes to Europe: President Bush has just departed for a farewell trip to Europe's major capitals, taking news of both concern for and confidence in the US economy. His first stop is Slovenia for his final US-European Union Summit. He will also visit Germany, Italy, France, England and Northern Ireland. Expressing concern about the economy and soaring energy prices (which hit $4 a gallon over the weekend and could go higher) Bush said in a departure statement that a strong dollar is in the US interest and the interest of the global economy.



• Spainish Truckers Strike: While Europe waits for Bush, tens of thousands of Spanish truckers have begun an indefinite strike over the soaring price of diesel, which has risen by 20 percent this year. They stopped work at midnight and began disrupting traffic at one of the border crossings between Spain and France. The protesters prevented other trucks from passing, and shut down car traffic. Most of the 90,000 truckers participating have warned that many supermarkets will run out of goods within days. The head of the transportation association said, "we are the ones who move the goods that this country needs to keep working. If we stop because we haven't got the money to buy fuel then the country will stop."
• Quake Lake Still Rising: The water level in an earthquake-formed lake in China is still rising, despite efforts to drain it. Early this morning, the water level was more than 6 feet higher than the man-made channel created to solve the problem. Experts say the lake could burst at any time, flooding the homes of more than one million people. A quarter of a million people have already been evacuated from the area since the earthquake that caused the quake lake to form. Government estimates now put the quake death toll at 69,136 with another 17,686 people missing.

There's been a lot of chatter about Sharon Stone's insensitive remarks regarding the massive earthquake that recently struck China. I believe the actress said something along the lines of, "They're not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then the earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma?" Mind you she said this at the Cannes Film Festival — not very classy, indeed.

Well Sharon, karma's a bitch and her China Dior ads have been pulled as a result. As well, the house of Dior is distancing itself from the actress, who has since apologized. Her words: “In the course of the interview I made inappropriate remarks and for any harm created towards the Chinese people I am extremely sad and apologize,” Stone said. It is still to be determined if the actress will continue to represent the house.

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Sharon Stone has become a bit of a Karma Chameleon, and apologized for her statement that the earthquake was China's Karma coming back to haunt them.

She said, "Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people." She's been removed from Dior ads in China following the incident.

Karma is an important concept for Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs — but what is it exactly? The word translated simply means "action". The doctrine of karma developed and taugh by the Buddha, a spiritual teacher thought to have lived about 2,500 years ago. It simply means, whatever comes into existence does so in response to the conditions at the time, and in turn affects what comes after it. How was Sharon Stone wrong? To find out, read more

Since the earthquake, Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao has made a bunch of friends. Over 13,000 of them to be exact — according to his hopping Facebook profile. He's become wildly popular for his fast and feeling response to the May 12 earthquake. At one disaster site, a collapsed school, the 66-year-old politician called out these touching words of comfort: "This is Grandpa Wen Jiabao, hang on child, we will rescue you!"

Since the creation of his page two days after the quake, Wen has gotten messages posted on his wall like "I love you, oh my God," "a model Premier for the world!" and the text-rageous, "it's so great 2 see u here!" For wasting no time rolling up his sleeves and heading to the worst hit locations with a bullhorn and hard hat, he seems to have eclipsed President Hu Jintao (who has no Facebook page of his own). Is an popular profile the answer? To find out, read more

Chinese officials have announced that families, whose only child was killed or critically injured in this month's earthquake, will be exempt from the one-child policy, a decision that appears to be only fair.

The reprieve, which at first seems compassionate, highlights the unnatural quality of China's entire family-planning policy. A couple, dealing with the loss of their legal child, will have to apply for permission to have a "legal replacement." If the family already has an illegal second child, the parents will no longer be responsible for outstanding (and hefty) fines; but, fines already paid will not be reimbursed.

Recently China has been considering a modification to its three-decade-old one-child policy, which has prevented as many as 400 million births. As of now, however, reproduction is almost always limited to one child, unless a family is prepared to pay the price in fines.

Will permission to create a "replacement" life bring hope to these grieving parents? Does the government have any right to interfere with a citizen's reproductive rights, even if the society doesn't have the means to support overpopulation?

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Following the recent earthquake, China plans to rebuild one of its worst-hit cities, Beichuan, in a completely different location. Of the city's 161,000 residents, at least 7,227 died in the quake. The region's Communist Party Chief said:

Safety is the top priority in selecting a new location and reconstruction. We plan to build a monument and a memorial to commemorate the quake victims on the previous location.

The questions of when and where to rebuild devastated areas often comes up after a natural disaster. Following the wildfires in Southern California last Fall, actress Jamie Lee Curtis summed up one line of thought:

We live in a drought, we build houses too close, and then we're shocked when this happens? This is not an act of God. This is an act of man.

After Hurricane Katrina hit low-lying New Orleans, some critics spoke out against the idea of rebuilding the city, which could eventually be hit by a similar hurricane. They argued that New Orleans, built like a bowl and located bellow sea level, is geographically susceptible to similar flooding in the future.

Are humans foolish to build cities in places that are prone to natural disasters? Would China's plan to choose a new location work for a place like New Orleans? How should we mitigate risks of destruction and death, when every place is susceptible to some form of random devastation? How risky is too risky?

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Donating money for the victims of the Myanmar cyclone and the Chinese earthquake has not been an easy sell. Americans have given $12.1 million so far to the Myanmar cause, compared to the $1.92 billion that was collected for the 2004 Tsunami, and $5.3 billion for Hurricane Katrina. Donation amounts for China are not yet known.

One AP writer suspects that Americans have come down with "disaster fatigue." The article explains that the more bad news there is, the less likely Americans are to give. Americans, who unconsciously clump distinct occurrences as "faraway disasters" may feel helpless when hearing of mounting, and incomprehensible death tolls. Thus, by competing to be disaster of the moment, China and Myanmar have unknowingly dissuaded charitable individuals.

There may be other factors leading to a light trickle of donations. For some other explanations, read more