My head was spinning with thoughts, worries and hopes as Room 3 sat down and waited for assembly to start. But this was no ordinary assembly, because it was then that the House Captains and Class Councillors were to be announced! Well, most of the other classes already knew who their councillor is, but ours didn’t so I was very nervous because I had applied for both jobs. It seemed like forever waiting!

But finally, Mr McCabe told us that we were about to hear the names of the House Captains. It turned out that my best friend Megan had gotten Puniu’s, and my other friend Georgia got Waipa’s! I was very happy for them! But then, Mr McCabe said that the councillors would get their badges next week, because they already knew who they were. I was very confused. I looked at Mrs Crowe but she gave me an expression saying ‘don’t worry, you’ll find out!’. So, after the assembly, she came up to us, and said, ‘this year’s Class Councillor is… Hayley!’ I was very happy- I had been hoping for that moment for weeks! I felt very proud as I went to join the other Class Councillors in the library for our first meeting. =]

“Thousands of pet cats in Beijing are being abandoned by their owners and sent to die in secretive government pounds as China mounts an aggressive drive to clean up the capital in preparation for the Olympic Games. Hundreds of cats a day are being rounded and crammed into cages so small they cannot even turn around. Then they are trucked to what animal welfare groups describe as death camps on the edges of the city. The cull comes in the wake of a government campaign warning of the diseases cats carry and ordering residents to help clear the streets of them. “

- http://www.antifursociety.org/CHINA_MISSION.html

I was searching for pictures of China before, and I came across the above image. I clicked on it, and found this information. I just had to write a blog post about it, so my readers know the extent of Beijing’s Olympic Games clean up acts.
Others include spray painting grass green and killing homeless people. (Although I’m not so sure on the homeless people fact).
Anyway, doesn’t it make you feel sick? Hundreds of thousands of poor cats are being killed, just so Beijing looks good for the Olympic Games. Me being an avid cat lover,the horrific photos struck hard.
The cats are hauled of the streets and crammed into cages, to travel to their doom. If only I lived in Beijing, then I could try and rescue them! I wish there really was more I could do to help, but for now all I can do is spread the word.

“Myanmar’s state media said Cyclone Nargis killed at least 22,980 people and left 42,119 missing.

American diplomat Shari Villarosa, who heads the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, said the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because safe food and water were scarce and unsanitary conditions widespread.

The situation is “increasingly horrendous,” she said in a telephone call to reporters. “There is a very real risk of disease outbreaks.”

A few shops reopened in the Irrawaddy delta, but they were quickly overwhelmed by desperate people, said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program in Bangkok, Thailand, quoting his agency’s workers in the area.

“Fistfights are breaking out,” he said.

A Yangon resident who returned to the city from the delta area said people were drinking coconut water because there was no safe drinking water. He said many people were on boats using blankets as sails.

Local aid groups distributed rice porridge, which people collected in dirty plastic shopping bags, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared getting into trouble with authorities for talking to a foreign news agency.

U.N. officials estimated some 1 million people had been left homeless in Myanmar, which also is known as Burma.” – http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/609158.html

Cyclone Nargis, which hit near Thailand, struck on the 2 & 3 of May 2008. I think this is a really horrible thing to happen. Cyclone Nargis was worse than Hurricane Katrina (for more info click here), which is saying quite a lot! It is horrible to think about the fact that now 1,000,000 more people are homeless due to this disaster. It’s even more horrible to think that at least 20,000 were killed too. I read at www.stuff.co.nz that New Zealand has donated $500,000 to aid the relief agencies in Myanmar. I was actually quite proud when I saw that! It’s great to know that our country is contributing to the funds. My heart goes out to the people in Myanmar who are suffering because of this terrible cyclone. I hope the rest of us can pull ourselves together, to do everything we can to help.