Haiti: WTF?

still think we should send him into the sun once we have the technology

I WAS KIDDING TOO

shhhh kenan the feds are watching u

Not really sure why this thread has become 2/3 devoted to Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson. Seems kind of besides the point.

xp "Guns don't kill people, the government kills people." -- Dale from King of the Hill

My first destination for international disaster related charitable giving is always the Red Cross. Is this in fact the best place to give?

Seems kind of besides the point.

You get a patch for honor. But what are we going to do? Besides give money? Which I have to believe helps.

Not really sure why this thread has become 2/3 devoted to Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson. Seems kind of besides the point.

pls allow me impotent rage

Yes, give to the Red Cross.

I didn't do myself any favors by going to Rush's website :\

it does help Kenan.

give to: MSF, PIH, Red Cross

I agree there isn't much to do, or say. I just hate the idea of talking about these fuckers and their smallness.

xpost

What really galls me is how big they are, though.

PIH is probably my choice, fwiw, but anything helps

gave $10, thanks for links and info upthread

kenan, haiti IS a christian country.

freaking out that there's not more i can do :(

xp I realized soon after I posted that I had used an unnecessary comma. I said "white, Chiristian country" when what I meant was "white Christian country."

Nevertheless, the perception persists that all Haitians practice voodoo.

And anyway they're rally poor! Something must be wrong with them.

I read the archdiocese of Port-au-Price died in the quake.

xpost

Archbishop that is.

kenan, haiti IS a christian country.

Also -- big difference between a Catholic country and a Protestant one, at least from where Pat Robertson sits.

enough

The Port-au-Prince Cathedral was destroyed

Before
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Papcathedrale.jpg

After
http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/56934134.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1263432095&Signature=NXNNUpIb7f%2FdIwFwCLQhwok73t4%3D

holy

btw kenan, not to be pedantic, but many haitians actually DO practice some kind of syncretic version of christianity and voodoo. my bro spent a lot of time down there (and in benin, where voodoo is thought to have originated, as well as in queens, where many recent immigrants live) the boundaries are blurrier than you might think

beside the point, however

jesus :C xp

oh wow

http://10.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw738qewt51qzpwi0o1_500.jpg

but many haitians actually DO practice some kind of syncretic version of christianity and voodoo.

The western version of Christianity is filled with paganism, too. So, of course. But that's not a line that most western Christians would draw, and in fact would balk at.

well yeah but bear in mind that western christianity was pagan long before it was introduced to haiti

true, true. We still observe Druid holidays, ffs.

But yes, very beside the point.

Those pics, god.

btw kenan, not to be pedantic, but many haitians actually DO practice some kind of syncretic version of christianity and voodoo. my bro spent a lot of time down there (and in benin, where voodoo is thought to have originated, as well as in queens, where many recent immigrants live) the boundaries are blurrier than you might think

beside the point, however

― everybody's into weirdness right now (gbx), Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:12 PM (25 minutes ago)

and even if the don't themselves practice it, they may believe in it - as you probably know, gbx, lots of these people are loath to have bloodwork for this reason

I'd like to read something suggesting that the U.S. is sending loads and loads of help. Something approaching the scale of the problem.

And I'm reading that the European Union has pledged...4.4 million dollars?

4.4 million dollars?

This is fucking ridiculous.

The Pitt-Jolie foundation gave $1m.

I really hope there's some non-depressing reason for the EU's contrib being so pathetic (ie like the member states having separate budgets that limit them)

if you think that's bad wait til you hear about the grant from The Inter-American Development Bank.

$200,000!

wtf EU

Maybe the EU number is a very preliminary step. Like an immediate step followed by much more significant support coming very soon.

God, I hope so.

i earnestly hope that we see the same kind of global mobilization like we saw after the tsunami, but i'm pessimistic. no one gives a fuck about haiti.

― everybody's into weirdness right now (gbx), Wednesday, January 13, 2010 5:32 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I appreciate a lot of the work that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation does, but it would be nice if they'd rise to the occasion during times like these and just donate, I don't know...2 billion dollars.

OTM

The pictures of Haiti running on the Miami Herald website are heartbreaking.

Andrew Sullivan links to this article with advice about donating to aid organizations for Haiti.

from their website:

Global Health--
Diarrhea CHECK
Health Science & Technology
HIV/AIDS BIGTIME
Malaria maybe? probably dengue, tbh
Maternal, Newborn, & Child Health yup
Neglected Diseases uh-huh
Nutrition poorest country in the western hemisphere iirc
Pneumonia & Flu
Polio
Tobacco
Tuberculosis totally
Vaccines probably?

I don't know much about this stuff, but I would imagine there are limits to the amount of aid and assistance that can reach people in the early stages. Haiti must have a weak infrastructure to start with, and perhaps little infrastructure at all now. I have no idea if these limits would be reached or even approached, but it is something to consider. My understanding is that aid drops off pretty quickly after the initial period and medium and long-term rebuilding doesn't get properly financed, which is a total tragedy.

xpost

One of the points made is in that article Sullivan linked to is that you should donate money to places that already have offices established in Haiti, rather than those who will have to get in and get setup before they can begin to be useful. Red Cross already had an office in Haiti...right? I assume and hope they do, because I just threw them some cash.

out of NYT just now Germany said it would make available 1.5 million euros, or about $2.2 million, for emergency assistance. so maybe the EU doesn't donate as much as individual countries do