Catastrophe in Christchurch

How many times have we had catastrophes this year? Massive flood in Brisbane? Earthquakes in Chile and Haiti? And now ... earthquake in Christchurch, NZ?!?! Tragic news indeed. What has the world turned into? What could have caused these catastrophes? It was not like it was beyond our control. It was unavoidable, whereby humans could only prepare for the worse.

The current death toll is 98, with 226 people missing. According to SMH, Prime Minister John Key stated that the Kiwis are absolutely fearful that the death toll could increase beyond their expectations. Mr Key also stated that DNA and fingerprint samples are being checked in order to identify the burnt bodies, for the purpose of returning them to their respective families.

This is absolutely disastrous. What could be worser than this? Think about the victims' families. How would they feel? It would be too hard to accept. Think about it. What would you do if you were in their shoes?

Santi Santamaria Dies?

Oh, this is extremely tragic. Why? This is why!!! According to Sydney Morning Herald, one of Spain's best known chefs, Santi Santamaria, passed away in Singapore. If you haven't heard of Mr Santamaria, he was well known as one of the seven celebrity chefs; whereby Sydney's Tetsuya Wakuda was included in the list too.

Apparently, Mr Santamaria's death occurred after giving tours of his new restaurant in Singapore. He was only 53 years of age, and after talking to a group in the kitchen, his collapse occurred. A post-mortem examination will be done in order to discover the cause of his death. Oh, dying at such a young age. Okay, maybe not that young, but too early of an age to collapse. What could be the real cause of his death? Sigh, I wonder.

Moreover, Mr Santamaria was the first Catalan self-taught chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. Impressive indeed. I look forward to hearing from SMH in regards to the real cause of Mr Santamaria's death. It really is one big mystery for me. According to Wakuda, Mr Santamaria's legacy is his passion for cooking. To me, Mr Santamaria is a legend. I love cooking and I absolutely love Mr Santamaria's passion and enthusiasm for food. It's absolutely fantastic, he can be considered as one of my cooking idols, someone I look up to, other than Jamie Oliver or Poh.

May you rest in peace, Mr Santamaria. Your achievements and passion for cooking deserves all praise. You will always remain a legend.

Extra Costs in Australia

According to SMH, working households are paying extra costs of 4.5 per cent, aged pensioners 3.1 per cent, and welfare recipients 4.5 percent. The CPI was even reported to grow 2.7 percent.

According to SMH, Bureau stated that there a few reasons to why the extra costs above mentioned exist. According to the Bureau, aged pensioners spend most of their income on utility bills and food such as fruits and vegetables, whereby the cost have increased. Welfare beneficiaries on the other hand, as a group, spend most of their income on alcohol and tobacco, whereby the prices have increased vastly, due to the 25 percent increase in cigarette tax. Working families however, are dealing with mortgage payment, that have increased by 30 per cent due to the four Reserve Bank rate rises.

In regards to the reports mentioned above, it seems to me that everything seems to be increasing in terms of prices. This isn't some issue that can be simplistically avoided. We can only save money by not spending unnecessarily and spending on things you need and not on things you want or desire to own. Unless you own two jobs to enable you to be able to spend lavishly.

This issue is a revolving issue and it seems to me as if prices are increasing, yet not decreasing. Yet, this information would have been more useful to hear some comments from the Government; for example, PM Julia Gillard. Or the government's response towards this issue on what they might possibly do in regards to this issue, in order to help the public. I'm sure all Australians are keen to know in order to help planning for their living costs.

Mubarak resigns

According to SMH, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has finally resigned and handed his power to the army. In accordance to that, the Swiss government has given an order to freeze all assets owned by Mubarak and his gang, stating that this particular freeze was to prohibit any risk of embezzlement of Egyptian state property. I suppose protests do really work. This is a good example to show that if you have the persistence and patience, anything is possible.

This was the moment of victory for all Egyptians who protested at Cairo's central Tahrir Square. Moreover, according to Vice-President, Omar Suleiman, Mubarak has officiated the Armed Forces Supreme Council to run the state. The vice-president would be in-charge then till the September elections.

Much to my amazement, these protestors have forced Mubarak to surrender and give up his post. Their hard work and sweat in protesting against Mubarak, were worth while. It wasn't a waste of time, for it produced a satisfying result that brought rest to the country, which has brought everlasting peace.