New Orleans Relief Not Enough

The disaster response for Hurricane Katrina has been very unacceptable as you know, but I'd still like to put into perspective what has still not taken place. A fellow blogger Nancy has certainly put that into perspective.

If you look at past history, the hurricane of 1900 in Galveston Texas which devastated more than 8,000 lives is much like Hurricane Katrina. Galveston is still the worst weather disaster in American history, as measured in lost lives. However, I think with the aftermath of Katrina, we might be up for a new record.

There are more than 600 Swiss expatriates living in the three states worst affected by hurricane Katrina. Of course there is a deeper question for most, once they are safe in a shelter or with friends, will they ever be able to return home.

The Swiss Expat Andi Hoffman was fortunate enough to get out safely. He has actually been able to post on his website and has left emergency numbers where friends and family can actually contact him. I know he isn't alone on posting on websites to find people. Some people who aren't as fortunate are holding up signs or putting up post ups for people to read.

According to the International Energy Agency, 26 member countries, including Switzerland, would make a total of 60 million barrels of oil available to the market for a period of 30 days. That is some relief for the US. But will it really help with costs???

According to the IEA's news release:

"The IEA countries plus the European Union Commission unanimously support the measure to make available to the market the equivalent of two million barrels per day of oil for an initial period of 30 days"

There are two great links for finding relatives from Hurricane Katrina.

Go to MSNBC and find the "Safe lists" or the "looking for" lists and they can help point you in the right direction.

I can't Afford My gasoline

With Gas prices soaring out of control in the US, I thought a few facts are in order.

Actual Gas price comparisons can be found here: CNN

The Average Prices included:

Switzerland: $4.56 per gal
Germany: $5.29 per gal
Venezula: .14 per gal (no typo!)

1. If you live in the US, you probably still aren't paying as much as you do in the UK.
2. Gas prices are spiking in Canada but they don't even rely on American Oil.
3. Canadian's pay higher Gas prices than the US.
4. The Swiss have high Gas prices too. The August average gas price was about $1.74 per liter.

I ran into a really cute song today called "I can't afford my gasoline", and think it's really appropriate for a time like this...

By the way - If you want to find cheap gasoline, look at GasBuddy.com for updated areas on where to buy. This is good in US and Canada.

Schumacher in spotlight again

A trade union who was involved with the building of Schumacher's new 35 million dolloar villa found that 6 stone masons were severly under paid. Since voters in Switzerland are due to vote whether to open up the labor market to the new EU member states this controversy has a severe affect on Swiss voters. The EU labor deal is looking like it will gain the yes vote it needs to go further.

Schumaker who was planning on building his villa in Eastern Switzerland decided to move to Canton Vaud after he was forced to abondon the project because of environmental opponents to his plan. His new villa will include 2 indoor swimming pools, an underground 19 car garage and at least 8 bedrooms. Talk about luxury!

Katrina to Cost 20 Billion

Just as Switzerland is cleaning up their severe floods, Swiss Reinsurer who is the number two player in the Insurance business says claims for Hurricane Katrina will cost about $500 million...

Since there was severe flooding after the storm, there is definitely a degree of uncertainty that will loom in the clean up process. The price of insurance really does come into use when a catastrophe like Katrina hits.

Katrina has hit more than just Americans. The Swiss foreign ministry said there were at least 600 registered expats who might have been affected by the storm.

What goes around comes around...

There was an overwhelming number of people who came to aid at the US embassy in Bern for the floods in Switzerland. Let's hope this is the same for the Swiss embassies in the US. Katrina is a sad national dissaster that won't be out of the spotlight for some time.

Lego Leaving Switzerland

Who would have known the ever popular Lego toy almost everyone has played with in some time in their life is having financial problems and set backs. As a result, Lego has announced they are pulling out of Switzerland in order to cut costs. Some 500 or so jobs will be moved to the Czech Republic where production costs are cheaper. Read the entire story from Swiss Info.

Here are a few interesting facts about Lego:

• Lego was founded by a privately held Danish family-owned company in 1932 and is the world's fourth-largest maker of toys.
• The name Lego comes from the Danish words "Leg Godt", which means "Play well." In Latin it means "I put together".