Earthquake in Haiti

**gibran** · January-18-10, 01:03 PM

I see him [[BUSH) as a counter balance to the teabaggers and others whose vile is capturing the minds of many... and a demonstration of our United States stand s united in their concern for Haiti. The extremist Christians and others [[Robertson et al) like to bring up "end of days" scenarios..deals with the devils and other clap trap to dehumanize the suffering...blaming the victims is an easy way of saying I don't want to get involved...

see past the hype and help....see past the chaos and understand...[[logistics of such an event can't happen in 24 hours when the world is not prepared to cope)...see past the politics and see the humanity...and see past the sheer complexity and donate. your dollar does make a difference...

Retroit · January-18-10, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by maxx

Yes, they've got Bush the lesser going around with Clinton now trying , no doubt, to repair his image and counting on the short memory of the U.S. voters.

Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly Obama's intentions.

**oladub** · January-18-10, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by Stosh

There are efforts attempting to paint the USA in a bad light within this rescue effort. Actually the attempts are to smear the Obama administration more than anything else. Not surprising.

How are these two links which you are referring to an attempt to specifically smear Obama? One is by the Guardian, hardly a conservative voice, and the other is by a guy siding with the Red Cross, Doctors without Frontiers, Cuban, and other foreign help who are frustrated that the US is, for now, delaying their aid.

US accused of annexing airport as squabbling hinders aid effort in Haiti [[Guardian 1/17)

Disaster Capitalism Headed to Haiti [[baltimorechronicle 1/18)

**gnome** · January-18-10, 02:21 PM

Maxx you are playing the role of bomb throwing partisan with little to add in the form of content or substance. A penchant for bumper sticker philosophy does little to advance the conversation and is demeaning to those who actually think about what they post.

Ravine · January-18-10, 07:45 PM

Most inspirational line, yet, this from a woman who was dug out after being buried [[in darkness, of course) since the quake, in reply to the question, "Did you think that you would ever get out of there?"
"Yes. Why not?"

**Pam** · January-19-10, 04:14 PM

Sounds like things are getting more organized:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100119/...iti_earthquake

During the weekend, U.S. officials also began dropping food and water by air — in some cases kicking small rations off the back of helicopters direcly into heavily populated areas.
Military officials had initially ruled out such airdrops because of fear it would incite riots. But with time running out and limitations on how quickly troops could reach certain areas, some airdrops were allowed, officials said Tuesday.

The military has separately dropped some 15,000 liters of water and 14,500 meals into a large field near the Port-au-Prince airport that is controlled by troops. The troops have distributed those rations to the population, officials said.

The chaotic airport was taken over by U.S. officials on Friday and is now accommodating some 120 flights a day.

Allyn said a runway in the town of Jacmel will open for C-130 flights in 24 hours. Another field in the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic will also be used, though the timing remains uncertain.

**Papasito** · January-19-10, 09:29 PM

meanwhile over 1 out of 10 Americans still doesnt have a job

if we continue on this crash course to a 3rd world country, The citizens in both Haiti and the USA could be about the same standard of living in a couple decades

**Jimaz** · January-19-10, 09:32 PM

Papantonio: Limbaugh the Hyena

Retroit · January-20-10, 10:55 AM

I wonder: if a earthquake destroyed Detroit, would the rest of the world care?

Or would they blame it on auto executives riding around in corporate jets and union workers being paid $72/hour?

**Gistok** · January-20-10, 03:46 PM

Here's a sobering thought that I heard on NBC News last night [[something that Limbaugh and Robertson can choke on)... the number of American citizens who likely have died [[most of whom will end up in mass graves) in this Haitian tragedy will likely exceed the number of Americans who died in the World Trade Center tragedy....

The American families of most of these people will never know what exactly happened to their loved ones, nor where their remains are...

**gnome** · January-20-10, 07:17 PM

Who here has donated so far? And how did you do it? the new text method? I don't want to know $dollar figures, just methods of donation.

**Pam** · January-20-10, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

Who here has donated so far? And how did you do it? the new text method? I don't want to know $dollar figures, just methods of donation.

I donated via the Oxfam America website.

**gibran** · January-20-10, 08:18 PM

i have organized over two hunderd people to pledge /donate to a WFP [[UN sponsored) and Red Cross... tommorrow by having a "save your lunch money save a life"...

you want to do something that brings us all together join me tommorrow and instead of buying a big mac; pack a lunch and send to an aide organization...of your choice or the WFP or Red Cross

**gibran** · January-20-10, 08:24 PM

Papasito; crash course to third world ..whose kool aid are you drinking ..or are you saying America doesn't have the skills and ability to figure this out...man I'm glad Beck and Rush have so much influence over some ..it sure keeps Murdoch in high cotton.

can we leave politics out of this and concentrate on the suffering of other humans...this is what is so bizarre about these debates ..the complete disregard that people are suffering and dying [[who cares what the politics of Haiti, the Sudan or Gaza is..these are humans, children and old people... and Rush has to play mind games with his minions and the result is this cognitive dissonance..

**gnome** · January-20-10, 08:40 PM

impressive gibran, wow 200 folks, outstanding.

I did the text thing with the Red Cross and have avoided Wycliff Jean at all costs. Seems like his heart might be in the right place, but it takes much more than a good heart to pull off aid on a massive scale. Or even a small scale.

**gibran** · January-20-10, 09:59 PM

Thanks to you gnome for educating us on Haiti... I hope to exceed this since more and more groups are getting on board... two churches and another social service club....i also have asked students to spread the word through facebook etc...

**gibran** · January-22-10, 05:21 PM

To all who donated to "save a meal save a family" day yesterday...Good Job...My students and friends asked me to repeat it again next thrusday...and of course I will...

you will never see your footprints of commpassion on the sands, but it is as if they were cemented into the hearts of those who needed it most.

**gnome** · January-22-10, 05:26 PM

well said gibran... for those who are interested, the US congress passed a law the other day that will allow you to deduct your cash donations off your 2009 taxes to approved haiti relief organizations. You and check www.whitehouse.gov for the list.

**Whitehouse** · January-22-10, 10:59 PM

Last night in the Netherlands there was a telethon for Haiti. The people of the Netherlands coughed up 83 million Euros. Not bad for a country with a popularion of 16 million. [[If that were relative to the US population it would be about 1,5 billion dollars!)

**gibran** · January-23-10, 02:35 AM

the key is what will we be doing in six months...remember Sudan and Gaza...so it is very important that poverty reduction is a long term goal/

**Whitehouse** · January-23-10, 07:54 AM

Incredible 360 degrees view of Port au Prince.

**gnome** · January-23-10, 10:51 AM

whitehouse, amazing stuff, especially when they walk through the park. For anyone who didn't click on the link above, it is like the Street View from GoogleMaps, except it is in video. pretty interesting when they strapped the camera to the guy and had him walk around the park.

Since they stream audio you can hear the locals ask for help, translated they say, "hey whiteguy I'm hungry" oh, one other thing, that park is across the street from the destroyed Presidential Palace... which just so happens ... was built by the Marines with Haitian labor when we occuepied Haiti from 1915 - '34.

**gibran** · January-26-10, 03:36 PM

I think the concept is those who can afford to give give...we still are a vastly rich country and I for one do not have any problem helping our neighbors...we don't have a problem helping countries like Israel who can afford to carry their own weight why should we gripe about Haiti....ummm

**Papasito** · January-26-10, 03:53 PM

Homeless die in the USA every year due to the cold Winter.
Some parts of Detroit look as bad as post-earthquake Haiti.

Maybe if the government, the politicians, and our fellow Americans cared as much about the homeland as they do about earthquake and tsunami disaster areas abroad, we wouldn't have so much of our own nation looking like a third world country.

Now don't get me wrong, helping Haiti is wonderful, but look at our own backyard.

A quick point to make is this: We help Haiti and other countries out of our generosity.
Generosity, not responsibility or obligation. Anything and everything our government and citizens do should be appreciated and not taken for granted.

Those people do need help from the so-called evil capitalistic greedy pigs who supposedly do nothing for anyone on the globe and care nothing for anyone but themselves. So I encourage all of my fellow evil Americans to help Haiti with whatever you can contribute. I personally have donated several blankets, some clothing and a little bit of money.
Every little bit counts

**Mikeg** · January-27-10, 06:37 PM

We help Haiti and other countries out of our generosity.

That is true for the private donations from US citizens, which currently totals $470 million for Haiti earthquake relief.

So far, the US government has committed $379 million of taxpayer funds to the Haiti earthquake relief efforts. Those funds were not given to the government out of generosity. However, those funds are being put to a good humanitarian use. [source of $ amounts]