“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is every wasted.” – Aesop

A big thank you to all that donated to the China Earthquake Relief Fund, either through my sidebar donate button, or your own means.

With your help, and that of my colleagues, we have raised just over $200 US. It will be forwarded today, with the rest of the funds the school has raised. This isn’t the end of the appeal. I’ll leave the button up for a few more days and forward any contributions to the Chinese Red Cross for their continued work during in earthquake relief.

The older students are a little “freaked out.” Seeing destroyed schools on the news, something concrete they can relate to, has them feeling sad and worried. We can listen, console, and muddle on.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain

UPDATE: The students and staff of my school raised more than 400,000 Yuan (more than $57,000 USD) for the relief fund.

The Vancouver Sun printed an article about the outrage in China over comments made by a CNN commentator. The following is my letter to the editor of said publication.

Dear Editor:

I take issue with a statement made in your article:

China livid over CNN comments
Jack Cafferty criticized Chinese products, government
Aileen Mccabe, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, April 18, 2008

Ms Mccabe said in her article: China Daily, the government’s official mouthpiece for the English-speaking world, revealed earlier Wednesday…..

Is “mouthpiece” an acceptable term to use when describing a newspaper? Should I refer to the Vancouver Sun as the official mouthpiece for Vancouver’s semi-literate?

Your lack of objectivity in this matter only exacerbates an already difficult and explosive situation. Perhaps your editors should edit for offensive terms as well as grammar before articles are published.

Sincerely,

The Stevo

Note: In my part of Canada, The Sun chain of newspapers is famous for their lurid stories.