high-energy biscuits for emergency relief

During the past week, I've been following the Myanmar crisis. One particular term that stands out when listening to online news or reading small articles is "high-energy biscuits". Foreign aid relief is slowly entering into the country due to high government restrictions....thx god.

But I became curious about what does kind of supplies is included in the aid packages. So far, I've seen materials listed like tents, medicines, water purifiers and of course food. Two of the main foods that will be distributed will be rice and high-energy biscuits.

It got me wondering....what do these biscuits taste like. Obviously they're not buttermilk with a fluffy inside covered by a flakey shell....i'm not that dumb. But what do they taste like? Anyone ever try these or something similar? I was able to find some that blogged about his high-energy biscuit-tasting experience and he explained it as,"The second item I tried was a package of High Energy Biscuits. The foil package said that it's a gift from Iceland to the World Food Programme. I guess this qualifies as the first Icelandic food I've ever tried. These biscuits are not entirely awful either. I'd say they are rather inoffensive tasting stuff, sort of taste like what you think a biscuit would –albeit slightly stale, and obviously suffered a bit in transit." (link here) I also found the WFP Emergency Network (click) . Here you will find some of the main resources that are distributed in crisis time.

Please share stories about tasting these biscuits!

Let help into Myanmar

What's that Family Guy saying? "Grind my gears?" The fact that the government of Myanmar is denying foreign aid and humanitarian teams from several countries is really grinding my gears. Day by day, more people are dying in the area due to last week's horrendous cyclone. The country needs help. Countries are standing at the door ready to enter Myanmar and start helping, but Myanmar's government is not letting them in.

Obviously there is a dilemma of trust between the government of Myanmar and certain other countries. Even UN officials are being denied visas to enter the country. Luckily the government is accepting foreign aid from certain countries like India, China and Bangladesh. It's a start. It's great to know that finally some foreign assistance is entering the country. But let's think about this:

China is offering $500,000 in cash; materials including tents, blankets and biscuits worth a further $500,000.

India is pledging Two naval ships loaded with food, tents, blankets, clothing and medicines sent to Yangon.

Will this aid significantly help? Of course. And wouldn't the country benefit more if they had even more resources from other countries? No doubt. Here's a list of aid commitment by other countries:

European Commission: $3m for fast-track humanitarian aid.
US: $3m, up from initial $250,000 immediate emergency aid.
Japan: $267,570 worth of emergency aid in tents, power generators and other supplies.
Australia: Initial $2.8m in emergency aid, with $1m going to aid agencies to help provide shelter, water purification and food.

Freaking take the aid....now!

I know that this may be a question of politics or maybe pride, but come on. If someone is offering $3million in aid and waiting at the door to enter....if the disaster is creating more food shortages and health hazards each day.......if the estimates of people that are possibly dead are as high as 23,000 (Myanmar) and 100,000 (US diplomat in former Yangon), why wouldn't the government accept all the help it can get?

The people are in desperate need of help. Complete article here