Forgive me if I don't think about WV today

My heart is on the other side of the world right now.

After all, everyone knows what will happen today in West Virginia, and I'm no longer in the mood for the kabuki theater of a "race" already over.

My thoughts are with the peoples of Burma and China.  When I heard about the monsoon in Burma, I knew that the casualties would be high, and that the junta would botch it as badly as they could.  I knew that the US and UN would flap their arms about, and yet very little would get accomplished.

And when I heard about the earthquake in Sichuan, I knew again that the suffering would be immense.  I knew that, while the Chinese government would doubtless spring to the rescue with its massive army and also accept international aid without hesitation, the endemic corruption, lax oversight, and the relentless drive to develop had already sewn the seeds of death.  Unfortunately, this too was true.  Pictures of the pancaked buildings, including schools, built in a rush with cheap concrete and a smattering of rebar, meant instant death for tens of thousands.

The parents of children killed at a school are now raising their voice in protest:

Li Dachang, whose 16-year-old daughter was later pulled dead from the rubble, tells the Journal. "The quality of the construction was so poor. There are so many corrupt officials. They take the money and build shoddy buildings." This morning, the official Xinhua news agency said another 1,000 students and teachers were dead or missing at another school, a six- or seven-story building in Beichuan, that had been reduced to rubble.

In 1999, I survived the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan, where 2400 people died.  I remember walking the streets of Taipei in the days afterwards, through the smoke of people burning paper money for their dead family and friends, the ashes silently falling at my feet.

The news from Sichuan is bringing back memories that are almost ten years old - of sitting in a door frame, watching a fish tank throw its flipping contents across a room - of wondering who built the building swaying beneath me, and going for three days without running water.  And I'm remembering my fury when China prevented international teams to come to Taiwan and aid in relief efforts.  

And, surprisingly, I'm not furious now.  I'm glad that they're allowing the west in, I'm thankful that we're getting media reports, and, while I won't trust the casualty figures, I'm hopeful that more Chinese will be rescued in the days to come.

So I'm not thinking of West Virginia today.  My thoughts and prayers and hopes are with the Chinese and Burmese citizens who are the victims both of nature and of man today.  I can't get worked up over percentage points and another handful superdelegates.

If you're thinking like me this morning, consider supporting Mercy Corps and their efforts to help those in need.

Otherwise, I have no other words left.