Earthquake in Haiti

[fundamentals]

Reports now that they believe anywhere from 100,000 to 500,000 dead from the 7.0 'quake:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34829978/ns ... arthquake/

[British_Pharaoh]

If the high end of those estimates are true then that's over 5% of their population dead or missing.

What a devastating tragedy

[swerb]

Unbelievable. Just hard to fathom.

I hate asking people for anything, never ask people for anything with this site. But if anyone out there has any money to put towards a great cause, no matter how small the amount, please consider the following.

Jim Liberatore, the President of Sportstime Ohio, has been doing charity work for a ministry in Haiti by the name of Christianville for several years. The area is ravaged by poverty and natural disasters. And is two miles from the eipcenter of this horrifying earthquake. Much of the community is rubble. What's left is being used as med clinics for the injured.

If you have the ways and means to make a donation to help provide relief, please get a hold of me via PM or at richswerb@gmail.com and I can get you the information.

[Shadow Scars]

Unbelievable. I'm sitting here trying to imagine that sort of devastation and loss of life here and I just can't do it justice. Makes me cry to think about it. I don't have a lot of money. I'm barely making enough to keep my family going but God I am alive and healthy. I have a roof over my head and my family is safe. Really makes you think about the stuff we can so easily take for granted. I'm just so grateful for every day I get. Anyways, Im giving what I can. Everyone else should too.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Haiti is already one of the poorest countries on earth. Now they get hit by this. Their only major hospital collapsed, all the Doctors without Borders clinics collapsed. Port Au Prince looks like it got hit by a nuclear bomb.

[peeker643]

Haiti is already one of the poorest countries on earth. Now they get hit by this. Their only major hospital collapsed, all the Doctors without Borders clinics collapsed. Port Au Prince looks like it got hit by a nuclear bomb.

The president of Haiti looked ready to cry.

He's lost members of his cabinet, the presidential palace, his own home, etc. He flat-out said the country cannot sustain itself or rebuild.

It's heart-wrenching. Even for someone as heartless as I am.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Haiti is already one of the poorest countries on earth. Now they get hit by this. Their only major hospital collapsed, all the Doctors without Borders clinics collapsed. Port Au Prince looks like it got hit by a nuclear bomb.

The president of Haiti looked ready to cry.

He's lost members of his cabinet, the presidential palace, his own home, etc. He flat-out said the country cannot sustain itself or rebuild.

It's heart-wrenching. Even for someone as heartless as I am.

That's the thing, Haiti has no natural resources to sell, they can't make a dime on tourism, and they've been in out of civil wars for the last 50+ years.

I don't want to turn this into a anti/pro Obama thread, but it's nice to see him pledge a $100 Million dollars to help out.

[aoxo1]

[Cerebral_DownTime]

What are they going to do with all those corpses? Do they even have space to bury them all? Disease is sure to follow.

[aoxo1]

What are they going to do with all those corpses? Do they even have space to bury them all? Disease is sure to follow.

Yep. Disease, lack of clean water, starvation. The country is in ruins. The port is destroyed. Nearly all roads to the capital are destroyed. All forms of authority are gone. International organizations that were there are gone. How are they going to even get food to the survivors? Just an unfathomable tragedy. It seems like there is something like this every year now.

Eathquakes in China and Turkey. The tsunami. Katrina. The hurricane that hit Indonesia.

[Ziner]

Such an awful situation. This is where the US needs to come through again and get that country back on their feet. It'd be nice if the people of Haiti could keep their differences at bay and come together over something like this.

[leadpipe]

This is just going to keep getting worse by the day. That situation AND Marshall law?

Christ.

[peeker643]

What are they going to do with all those corpses? Do they even have space to bury them all? Disease is sure to follow.

They are loading bodies in front end loaders and dumping them into trailers. No pictures, no documentation. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies in a trailer never to be heard from or known again. "People who will have just disappeared."

Others are being put into crypts that aren't full and sealed off. They're crammed with bodies and then sealed. Again, no pictures, names, documentation. Family crypts are now filled with the bodies of people who (in all likelihood) aren't their family.

Secondary infection may end up killing as many that died in the initial tremors, if not more. All because they lack $0.05 anti-biotics, or can't get them in on their one run way that remains available and in chaos.

Getting worse as desperation, hunger and time keep advancing.

[pup]

Be nice if we could pledge 100 Million to fix problems in this country.

[Larvell Blanks]

What are they going to do with all those corpses? Do they even have space to bury them all? Disease is sure to follow.

They are loading bodies in front end loaders and dumping them into trailers. No pictures, no documentation. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies in a trailer never to be heard from or known again. "People who will have just disappeared."

Others are being put into crypts that aren't full and sealed off. They're crammed with bodies and then sealed. Again, no pictures, names, documentation. Family crypts are now filled with the bodies of people who (in all likelihood) aren't their family.

Secondary infection may end up killing as many that died in the initial tremors, if not more. All because they lack $0.05 anti-biotics, or can't get them in on their one run way that remains available and in chaos.

Getting worse as desperation, hunger and time keep advancing.

All this and yet some people in the media are telling us not to donate money or we should not send aid, we need to worry about the U.S. first and foremost. The people in Haiti didn't have anything before so they're beyond help now.

These are the type of people that should be the first flown down to be on the front lines assisting. They just might change their tune

[Ziner]

Be nice if we could pledge 100 Million to fix problems in this country.

Ha, they tried to fix some of them with 700 Billion dollars and haven't got shit from it (more if you add Bush's failed "stimulus" to be fair). This is probably the best 100 Million the US has spent in a while. Give them what they need and do it asap because that is what the US does. Our problems are nothing compared to what they face.

[peeker643]

What are they going to do with all those corpses? Do they even have space to bury them all? Disease is sure to follow.

They are loading bodies in front end loaders and dumping them into trailers. No pictures, no documentation. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies in a trailer never to be heard from or known again. "People who will have just disappeared."

Others are being put into crypts that aren't full and sealed off. They're crammed with bodies and then sealed. Again, no pictures, names, documentation. Family crypts are now filled with the bodies of people who (in all likelihood) aren't their family.

Secondary infection may end up killing as many that died in the initial tremors, if not more. All because they lack $0.05 anti-biotics, or can't get them in on their one run way that remains available and in chaos.

Getting worse as desperation, hunger and time keep advancing.

All this and yet some people in the media are telling us not to donate money or we should not send aid, we need to worry about the U.S. first and foremost. The people in Haiti didn't have anything before so they're beyond help now.

These are the type of people that should be the first flown down to be on the front lines assisting. They just might change their tune

I don't wanna politicize the suffering, but every fucking time I get paid there is money that goes toward helping people right here. Every single time. And yet I listen to people talk about how food stamp recipients with kids are selling their swipe cards for 50cents on the dollar so they can buy alchohol or drugs with the cash. Their kids don't eat on the weekends because school programs ain't feeding them on Sat/Sun and some of their folks are abusing the system set up by the govt and contributed to every single day by working people.

Every one of us with jobs does their part here in this country.

Every single check.

If I have a few bucks to ship to the people in Haiti then fuck anybody who tells me I should be looking closer to home first. Those people there have less than zero today and they don't have soup much less kitchens to cook it in. I'm not some bleeding heart always looking to find a sob story to support. I hate those humps.

But this is ridiculous. This is the survival of literally hundreds of thousands of people that depends on others. And it's a place where the money is directly and visibly put to use immediately as opposed to abused and misspent.

Off the old soapbox.

Next.

[British_Pharaoh]

I've been trying to find out how to volunteer over there and help out in a direct way rather than just donating money.
Most just say to fly over there and find their organisation.
But naturally no flights available.

[Shadow Scars]

I don't mean to sound morbid here but how the F did this many people die in an earthquake? Just from building collapses??

[swerb]

Many, many thanks to all of you who have PM'd or emailed me asking how you can help.

Shoot me an email to richswerb@gmail.com and I will get you the information. Even if it's $10 or $20. Every penny counts, and you can rest assured that your dollars will be going directly to people there on the ground in Haiti, and making an immediate difference.

[leadpipe]

What are they going to do with all those corpses? Do they even have space to bury them all? Disease is sure to follow.

They are loading bodies in front end loaders and dumping them into trailers. No pictures, no documentation. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies in a trailer never to be heard from or known again. "People who will have just disappeared."

Others are being put into crypts that aren't full and sealed off. They're crammed with bodies and then sealed. Again, no pictures, names, documentation. Family crypts are now filled with the bodies of people who (in all likelihood) aren't their family.

Secondary infection may end up killing as many that died in the initial tremors, if not more. All because they lack $0.05 anti-biotics, or can't get them in on their one run way that remains available and in chaos.

Getting worse as desperation, hunger and time keep advancing.

All this and yet some people in the media are telling us not to donate money or we should not send aid, we need to worry about the U.S. first and foremost. The people in Haiti didn't have anything before so they're beyond help now.

These are the type of people that should be the first flown down to be on the front lines assisting. They just might change their tune

I don't wanna politicize the suffering, but every fucking time I get paid there is money that goes toward helping people right here. Every single time. And yet I listen to people talk about how food stamp recipients with kids are selling their swipe cards for 50cents on the dollar so they can buy alchohol or drugs with the cash. Their kids don't eat on the weekends because school programs ain't feeding them on Sat/Sun and some of their folks are abusing the system set up by the govt and contributed to every single day by working people.

Every one of us with jobs does their part here in this country.

Every single check.

If I have a few bucks to ship to the people in Haiti then fuck anybody who tells me I should be looking closer to home first. Those people there have less than zero today and they don't have soup much less kitchens to cook it in. I'm not some bleeding heart always looking to find a sob story to support. I hate those humps.

But this is ridiculous. This is the survival of literally hundreds of thousands of people that depends on others. And it's a place where the money is directly and visibly put to use immediately as opposed to abused and misspent.

Off the old soapbox.

Next.

But many of the people who bitch the loudest....don't work.

So they aren't going to grasp your concept.

Again, a horrible situation which I'm afraid is going to keep worsening by the day.

[CarolinaTribe]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/201001 ... tico/31539

“We've already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.” - Rush Limbaugh

What a piece of shit. Here's the newest thing to blame Obama for--helping Haiti!

Great post, Peek.

[bookelly]

I don't mean to sound morbid here but how the F did this many people die in an earthquake? Just from building collapses??

In the Caribbean, you build your buildings stiff and strong to resist hurricanes (rebar if your rich enough, and concrete)...exactly the wrong formula for earthquakes (wood - which might as well be paper in a CAT 3).

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Pat Robertson knows who is to blame. Haitians, for making a pact with the devil to be liberated from the French.

[British_Pharaoh]

Pat Robertson knows who is to blame. Haitians, for making a pact with the devil to be liberated from the French.

Wow. sure are a lot of wankers in the media over there in the States.

[British_Pharaoh]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

Gotta love 'Zo

Hope more follow their example

[Huge0126]

I spent 4 months in Haiti when I was in the Army, mostly in Petionville and Croix de Bouquet (sp). Great people living in just terrible conditions. If ever there was a country ill equipped to deal with a natural disaster of this magnitude, it's Haiti. Hopefully, all the aid and people trying to help can get in quickly enough to help.

[hebner20]

I hear the NFL and Union are donating 1 million. That is better than nothing but just based on the 53 X 32 teams that comes out to about 590 per man. is that all they can do? the top tiers guys should be shelling out high 4 figures or even 5 figures and #53 better be giving at least 2 grand - especially for a disaster like this so close to home. I know they get asked all the time for hand outs but I feel that blowing their horn about 1 millioin is just BS.

A lot of the "Joe six pack's" out there that work for 10 bucks an hour will be giving a couple hundred. In relative terms way more than "Joe NFL" I guess they are too busy shooting themselves in the leg are waving guns in the face of a teammate. Screw pro sports.

[peeker643]

I hear the NFL and Union are donating 1 million. That is better than nothing but just based on the 53 X 32 teams that comes out to about 590 per man. is that all they can do? the top tiers guys should be shelling out high 4 figures or even 5 figures and #53 better be giving at least 2 grand - especially for a disaster like this so close to home. I know they get asked all the time for hand outs but I feel that blowing their horn about 1 millioin is just BS.

A lot of the "Joe six pack's" out there that work for 10 bucks an hour will be giving a couple hundred. In relative terms way more than "Joe NFL" I guess they are too busy shooting themselves in the leg are waving guns in the face of a teammate. Screw pro sports.

Those contributions are just from the organizations themselves. 'Corporate' contributions if you will. Similar to Progressive making a donation but still seeing many Progressive employees donate personally. I know in addition to what the NFL and NFLPA donated the Redskins and many other teams donated separately. Likewise, numerous players have been giving individually, independent of what their employers gave.

I was actually going to put some Twitter posts in here about how the sports world is responding but just didn't have the time to gather them all.

[skatingtripods]

Can't wait to see how this disaster relief money lines somebody's pockets instead of going to the people in need.

I love how the Haitian people live in shit conditions damn near every day and most people don't care. Now, a major disaster wrecks their country and people suddenly give a fuck. Hilarious. And then they all try to compete with each other to prove who is better and more generous by giving money.

I'm not discrediting the situation or the severity of it, just saying.

[jfiling]

Can't wait to see how this disaster relief money lines somebody's pockets instead of going to the people in need.

I love how the Haitian people live in shit conditions damn near every day and most people don't care. Now, a major disaster wrecks their country and people suddenly give a fuck. Hilarious. And then they all try to compete with each other to prove who is better and more generous by giving money.

I'm not discrediting the situation or the severity of it, just saying.

The sad thing is, what you said is both impolitic and correct. For example, it's so nice to see that Janet Napolitano has decided to not kick Haitian illegals out of the country. It would be even better if the U.S. didn't have such a messed-up policy regarding people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families from third-world hellholes like Haiti so they could just move here in the first place. It would be far cheaper just to craft a policy to let them easily legally emigrate here, and the entire history of this country shows that immigrants make it cheaper for us all to live here in the long run.

I've probably taken this too far, and may get some flames. I do think that the U.S. should take a major part in the rebuilding of Haiti, but at the same time I hope we rethink the policies that helped to create the situation there.

[aoxo1]

"]

Can't wait to see how this disaster relief money lines somebody's pockets instead of going to the people in need.

I love how the Haitian people live in shit conditions damn near every day and most people don't care. Now, a major disaster wrecks their country and people suddenly give a fuck. Hilarious. And then they all try to compete with each other to prove who is better and more generous by giving money.

I'm not discrediting the situation or the severity of it, just saying.

You are absolutely correct. Anyone who donates money, for any cause, needs to find out how the organization they are donating to spends its money. This information is available on the internet. I remember a few years back, when Katrina happened, I looked for this and started using AmeriCares, which spent nearly all the money on relief.

A site I just googled looks like it has this info http://www.charitynavigator.org

We rate charities by evaluating two broad areas of financial health, their organizational efficiency and their organizational capacity. We use a set of financial ratios or performance categories to rate each of these two areas, and we issue an overall rating that combines the charity's performance in both areas. Our ratings show givers how efficiently we believe a charity will use their support today, and to what extent the charities are growing their programs and services over time. We provide these ratings so that givers can make intelligent giving decisions, and so that the philanthropic community can more effectively monitor itself.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Wow. sure are a lot of wankers in the media over there in the States.

I don't consider Robertson part of the media, he's just a religious nutjob with a huge pulpit. He raised money for aid in Africa and they found out he used some of the donations on helicopters for his diamond mines. Nice, eh?

So yeah, it's porbably best to make sure money goes to people in need and not to people looking to profit off human misery. Like was said upthread

[fundamentals]

Nice to see the country of France contribute to the aid effort in Haiti. Really?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... od-in.html

[Erie Warrior]

What if they posted a "Needs List"- water, canned food, band aids, gauze etc and set up a shipping container at an airport or ship port and people could just drop off a case of water or box of band aids. Load it into the container and ship it to Haiti. That way you know where your money went to. Obviously they need money for things, but how many cynical SOBs aren't donating anything because the are worried about lining someone else's pocket? Just a thought.

[jfiling]

Nice to see the country of France contribute to the aid effort in Haiti. Really?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... od-in.html

France should be leading the way, since Haiti is their former colony.

[fundamentals]

Nice to see the country of France contribute to the aid effort in Haiti. Really?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... od-in.html

France should be leading the way, since Haiti is their former colony.

Circle gets the square. France smells. Me no likey.

[FUDU]

Can't wait to see how this disaster relief money lines somebody's pockets instead of going to the people in need.

I love how the Haitian people live in shit conditions damn near every day and most people don't care. Now, a major disaster wrecks their country and people suddenly give a fuck. Hilarious. And then they all try to compete with each other to prove who is better and more generous by giving money.

I'm not discrediting the situation or the severity of it, just saying.

The sad thing is, what you said is both impolitic and correct. For example, it's so nice to see that Janet Napolitano has decided to not kick Haitian illegals out of the country. It would be even better if the U.S. didn't have such a messed-up policy regarding people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families from third-world hellholes like Haiti so they could just move here in the first place. It would be far cheaper just to craft a policy to let them easily legally emigrate here, and the entire history of this country shows that immigrants make it cheaper for us all to live here in the long run.

Hey I want a better life too, why is that your problem?

All I am going to say about it in this thread about a natural disaster tragedy.

[British_Pharaoh]

What do you expect from the French

I wish i could cut out the 25% of me that is Francais.
They should know there's no oil in Haiti

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Pat Robertson knows who is to blame. Haitians, for making a pact with the devil to be liberated from the French.

Wow. sure are a lot of wankers in the media over there in the States.

Robertson is hardly part of 'the media'

He's a snakeoil salesman that sells hate and preys on the fears of ignorant people in the name of God

...and Diane Sawyer is an asshole

In any event, only a military can deal with events such as this by filling the skies with helicopters and troops on the ground for law and order and no one does it better than US




.

[British_Pharaoh]

Pat Robertson knows who is to blame. Haitians, for making a pact with the devil to be liberated from the French.

Wow. sure are a lot of wankers in the media over there in the States.

Robertson is hardly part of 'the media'

He's a snakeoil salesman that sells hate and preys on the fears of ignorant people in the name of God

...and Diane Sawyer is an asshole

In any event, only a military can deal with events such as this by filling the skies with helicopters and troops on the ground for law and order and no one does it better than US




.

Yeah well i was lumping that Rush Limbaugh in with him as well

[skatingtripods]

Yeah well i was lumping that Rush Limbaugh in with him as well

I'm sure you've listened to Limbaugh, right? You aren't just regurgitating what the British media tells you about him?

[British_Pharaoh]

Yeah well i was lumping that Rush Limbaugh in with him as well

I'm sure you've listened to Limbaugh, right? You aren't just regurgitating what the British media tells you about him?

We've never heard of him

I'm just regurgitating what all you guys say about him

[bw]

Pat Robertson knows who is to blame. Haitians, for making a pact with the devil to be liberated from the French.

Wow. sure are a lot of wankers in the media over there in the States.

Robertson is hardly part of 'the media'

He's a snakeoil salesman that sells hate and preys on the fears of ignorant people in the name of God

...and Diane Sawyer is an asshole

In any event, only a military can deal with events such as this by filling the skies with helicopters and troops on the ground for law and order and no one does it better than US




.

Yeah well i was lumping that Rush Limbaugh in with him as well

Robertson is an old-time throwback. "Do this or the Devil will get you." "Obey God's Laws or you'll go to Hell." "Go to Church every Sunday or you're not a good person." blah, blah, blah.

This has only been going on for........ All of human history. We can even see shards of it in the AGW hoax that has been recently exposed -- "Use less gas or the Earth will warm and kill us all. "Turn down your thermostat down or you're a bad person." "Use no more than one square of toilet tissue or you're a selfish turd."

I mean, Danny Glover just blamed the earthquake on AGW, didn't he? Yes, he did.

Trying to frighten people into thinking the way you do is as old as humanity itself. Nothing new to see here.

As far as Limbaugh goes, he was advising people to not donate through the White House. He opined that you might end up on a political mailing list (hmmm, seems plausible) that some of the money would be siphoned off by political activists and/or gobbled up by the bureaucracy. Not sticking up for him, just trying to set his statement correct.

I concur. Even if it was a Republican in office, I'd agree. I don't send crap to the Government other than what I'm forced to send. If I want to contribute to a charity (and I do fairly often) I make certain that the charity is one I approve of. One I trust. And the words 'trust' and 'government' should not be used in the same sentence.

[e0y2e3]

And bw, after many months off and bannings or timeouts from at least four forums around the internet makes his proud return to posting about politics.

The slippery slope has began, yet again.

Will the old man pop his pulmonary artery over internet poltics this go around?

Will his head explode?

Will tOC find him?

Will he get another timeout, continuing an incredible and unprecedented run of bans/timeouts from internet boards?

Buckle your seat belts boys and girls. Mid term elections are nearing, Obama is still in office, etc, there is finally a reason to read this forum again....

[Ziner]

e0y, head over to your polling place and toss in a vote for Brown for me will ya

[bw]

e0y, head over to your polling place and toss in a vote for Brown for me will ya

I think he's busy snorting blow out of a street walker's belly button.

[e0y2e3]

e0y, head over to your polling place and toss in a vote for Brown for me will ya

I think he's busy snorting blow out of a street walker's belly button.

Good one bw....

[Erie Warrior]

I think he's busy snorting blow out of a street walker's belly button.

Is that extra? Everyone trying to make a buck...

[e0y2e3]

e0y, head over to your polling place and toss in a vote for Brown for me will ya

I don't support voting. This country needs a good facist to take over and send a large chunk of the population to containment/salve camps. Until that happens it's pointless to vote.