7.0 Earthquake Tuesday in Haiti

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[judi]

Future...it did make me cry too

I just cannot speak re the pat robertson's of the world, or the rush, which by the way I just dont get what he meant by light and dark skins..but did get his why it took obama three days to respond to bomb threat on the plane...but immediately took action for haiti ....or the person I read on another thread saying it was due to voodoo just like katrina was....EVIL EVIL EVIL....

[futurexpat?]

Sorry, but I wanted to smack that younger woman who just sat there nodding in agreement while he spewed forth his evil garbage.

At the 11PM EST air time, Rachel did a different program. She gave quite an enlightened history of Haiti.

[Sister Artemis]

Just an idea to contribute some drops in the bucketfulls of aid needed in Haiti right now:

Went out to breakfast this morning with a couple of gals, and the restaurant had CNN (with coverage of Haiti) on in the background.  We were talking about many things, included how lucky we are to be able to go to a restaurant, with water, lights, food, roof over our head, a home to go home to and so on.  We are truly blessed, however the recession may be hitting our nation. 

The conversation wound around to "what can we do? is anyone contributing?" and so on.  Right there and then, my friend Marie started collecting $5 (or more) from everyone at the table, the waitress, the restaurant owner, the other customers (the cafe only seats 13), and she'll keep going on through the weekend.  In about 30 minutes, she'd already collected $45 (I lost track after that). On Monday, she'll buy a money order, and hand it over to Doctors Without Borders.  Marie figures she'll be able to collect AT LEAST a couple of hundred of bucks, and hopefully more.

Like I said, a drop in a large bucket of need, but it's something.  And simple.

[futurexpat?]

Nothing makes you think of disaster relief like GW Bush.

Republican politicians and pundits have been doing their level best to rewrite history, glossing over the disaster that was the presidency of George W. Bush. Now, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, The Heritage Foundation's Jim Roberts suggests that President Obama needs to reach out to none other than Dubya himself to tackle the relief effort:

http://crooksandliars.com/logan-murphy/heritage-foundation-suggests-obama-sh

This suggestion is from The Heritage Foundation, the best reason I can think of not to do it.

[Lani]

Sorry, Future, but I think Dubya was contacted yesterday by the White House.  Consider it paying back a little on his karmic debt.  Obama tapped him for helping with the effort much like Bush II  contacted Big Daddy and Clinton for the tsunami relief efforts.

[futurexpat?]

Sorry, Future, but I think Dubya was contacted yesterday by the White House.  Consider it paying back a little on his karmic debt.  Obama tapped him for helping with the effort much like Bush II  contacted Big Daddy and Clinton for the tsunami relief efforts.

I think so, too. I don't mind his paying back some karmic debt, but I do mind anyone without an R behind his/her name helping him polish the turd of a reputation he has. Actually, I mind anyone helping him polish that turd. 

[futurexpat?]

What's not being talked about in all the coverage of the earthquake:  why the people and the counry are so desperately poor, and it's not a pretty picture.

So Haitian historian Patrick Bellegarde-Smith writes, accurately describing the terror in the slave state next door, which was not relieved even when Haiti's successful liberation struggle, at enormous cost, opened the way to the expansion to the West by compelling Napoleon to accept the Louisiana Purchase. The U.S. continued to do what it could to strangle Haiti, even supporting France's insistence that Haiti pay a huge indemnity for the crime of liberating itself, a burden it has never escaped -and France, of course, dismissed with elegant disdain Haiti's request, recently under Aristide, that it at least repay the indemnity, forgetting the responsibilities that a civilized society would accept.
The basic contours of what led to the current tragedy are pretty clear. Just beginning with the 1990 election of Aristide (far too narrow a time frame), Washington was appalled by the election of a populist candidate with a grass-roots constituency just as it had been appalled by the prospect of the hemisphere's first free country on its doorstep two centuries earlier. Washington's traditional allies in Haiti naturally agreed. "The fear of democracy exists, by definitional necessity, in elite groups who monopolize economic and political power," Bellegarde-Smith observes in his perceptive history of Haiti; whether in Haiti or the U.S. or anywhere else.

And

The punishment of Haiti became much more severe under Bush II-there are differences within the narrow spectrum of cruelty and greed. Aid was cut and international institutions were pressured to do likewise, under pretexts too outlandish to merit discussion. They are extensively reviewed in Paul Farmer's The Uses of Haiti, and in some current press commentary, notably by Jeffrey Sachs (Financial Times) and Tracy Kidder (New York Times).

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Haiti/US_Haiti_Chomsky.html

These people had the only successful slave revolution in the world, and it has done them no good.

[daMamma]

Perhaps it is just me, but I feel as though the whole problem can be summed up thus:

1. Bunch of uppity [insert bad word here] thought they were all equal and all so they overthrew their rightful masters.  First, there is no such thing  as a "rightful master" unless you are referring to a dog.
2. They ain't nothing but a bunch of blacks  Second, skin colour is irrelevant.  Period.
3.  They are poor 'cuz they are too lazy to work.  Third, if there were jobs to be had, they'd be working.

I don't get this whole treating Haiti badly.  There is no excuse for it.  I think with a little support to get their infrastructure in place, jobs could follow and they could become quite prosperous while gaining a much lower crime rate at the same time.

[futurexpat?]

Thirty years ago, they were quite prosperous. It's world and our monetary and trade policies and neo liberal (read neocon) interference that got them in this mess.

They once were rice and sugar exporters; now they cannot feed themselves.

[gratedcheese]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/285680

The 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship, USNS Comfort, is being activated and readied for service in earthquake devastated Haiti. The 894 feet-long ship includes more than 1,000 medical and support personnel

It takes 5 days to get this amazing ship ready, it will leave sometime this weekend.

Anybody know how long it will take to get there?  edit...nevermind 
 http://dailyme.com/story/2010011400005648/navy-hospital-ship-comfort-prepares-respite.html
...3 days,
...hoping for smooth sailing for all aboard  

[Writing from Alaska]

I just received this email concerning the young Alaskans who were in Haiti during the earthquake. I thought I would put it here to share, I think these folks won't mind and wanted you all to be a part of this story. There is also a piece with video up on the ADN site - it is easy to find so please forgive the lack of link.

Dear Friends,

A quick note to say that both Christa and Julian have now been safely evacuated to Miami.

Christa's orthopedic surgeon called us last night to say that she showed remarkable spunk in accommodating herself to the life-changing loss her right leg below the knee. The surgery went well and the doctor is confident.  Additional surgery is planned.

Julian arrived in Miami this morning, with only superficial cuts and bruises. I just burst into tears when I heard his voice on the phone this morning.

Terry and I leave shortly to be with our children in Miami.

We are eternally grateful to the angels in Haiti who saved our daughter and brought our children safely home to us. Specifically, Wenson Georges, Gerald Lumargue, and Job Crème helped Julian to free Christa. Gerald and Wenson brought her to the small UN Peace Forces camp.  Major Sujith Kulasekara and the Sri Lankan contingent at the camp cared for Christa and secured the ambulance transport to Port-au-Prince.

This is an extraordinary miracle: from being trapped in a collapsed building 50 km from Port-au-Prince to evacuation to the Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital in less than 36 hours.

We want to thank all of you for your kind expressions of support. We have been buoyed up in some terrifying dark moments of fear by all of the kindness of our friends and colleagues.

Please join with us in rejoicing, and please please join in the remarkable outpouring of humanitarian aid to help in the recovery. Every hour counts, every day counts.

Our family is deeply connected to the Quaker Peace and Justice organization, the American Friends Service Committee, but there are many effective humanitarian aid groups where even the smallest donations can make a huge difference. If you are interested, here is a listing:

        http://www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti

With Full Hearts and Profound Gratitude,

Taylor and Terry

 

[futurexpat?]

That's wonderful news. The worst thing would be the not knowing.

[pacos_gal]

So glad to hear that they are both alive and have been evacuated and Christa is getting good medical care.  Great news WfAk.

[futurexpat?]

Well, this puts faux noise into perspective as a news organization.

On January 13, Fox News' three top-rated programs for 2009 -- The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity, and Glenn Beck -- devoted a combined total of less than 7 minutes of coverage to the earthquake in Haiti

http://mediamatters.org/research/201001140029

[Gramiam]

The simple and totally disgusting fact is, these Haitians suffering and dying in a disaster were cursed with the "wrong" skin color for these vicious wingnuts. It is time to vote for who we want to be, folks. I vote for compassionate, progressive and dedicated to the destruction of prejudice as a political weapon.

[boodog]

Such great news WFAK! Good luck to them.

[Lani]

WfAK, hugs for you and your friends! 

I hope this will be good news as well.  Our president can explain to those who don't understand why Haiti is important to all of us. Obama to Pen Cover Story on Haiti and the Earthquake for Newsweek http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/01/14/obama-to-pen-cover-story-on-haiti-and-the-earthquake-for-newsweek/

[Lani]

Meanwhile, God has something to say.

Pat Robertson 'A Public Relations Nightmare,' Says God

In the wake of his comments about the earthquake in Haiti, televangelist Pat Robertson has become a "public relations nightmare" and a "gynormous embarrassment to me, personally," God said today.

In a rare press conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, the usually reclusive Almighty said that He was taking the unusual step of airing His feelings in public because "enough is enough."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/pat-robertson-a-public-re_b_423524.html

In a related story, Pat Robertson: Haiti?! I Thought They Said "Hades"
Televangelist Explains Misunderstanding

Rev. Robertson said that he had heard the report of the earthquake on the radio and had misinterpreted its location: "For the life of me, I thought God was punishing Hades, which does in fact have a pact with the Devil."

Apologizing for his "goof," the televangelist told his TV audience, "Golly - people must've thought I was being an insensitive @sshole." 

http://www.borowitzreport.com/index.aspx

[Sister Artemis]

Lani, thanks for the chuckle in the midst our mutual outrage over the infuriating remarks by Robertson.

[Lani]

Thanks, Sister.  I was hesitant to post those, but they put a much needed smile on my face.  I hoped they would for others as well.