[poko]

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with next to no infrastructure. The earthquake of yesterday devastated their capital killing and maiming thousands. Their presidential palace has collapsed as has several of their hospitals. This is all the more devastating as it is a country that already had a woefully underdeveloped medical infrastructure. It is a mountainous country and landslides will prevent aid workers and equipment from getting to many communities.

BBC

Quote

"This is a catastrophe. I'm stepping over dead bodies. A lot of people are buried under buildings. The general hospital has collapsed. We need support. We need help. We need engineers." -Elisabeth Preval, First Lady of Haiti

Many, many people will die simply because they will not get care in time.

Donate:
UNICEF
Doctors Without Borders
Mercy Corps
Red Cross

The A. Red Cross donation seems to be down but in the US they receive most of their donations through UNICEF. The Red Cross has already released the entire contents of their Panama warehouse for catastrophe and has set aside $200,000 for the relief effort.

This post has been edited by poko: 13 January 2010 - 11:27 AM

[poko]

I forgot to mention Starthrower This is a foundation that helps Haitians finish high school. It costs $600 to put a student through HS, its all the difference in the world.

[sevnson_71]

This was mentioned on the news this evening by fmr Pres Clinton. It is posted on the US State Dept. website. Text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

[Trek Realist]

I know that over the next several days there will be a massive influx of personnel and material arriving in Haiti to aid in the response to the devistation that has occured there. The United States has dispatched military aircraft to the region that will soon be joined by a carrier group and a Marine Expeditionary Force and Canada has dispatched our Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to help provide medical and communications support to the area. Personally, I find that there is no finer example of the need and necessity for a strong military in every country than that of providing assistance in times like this.

What the world doesn't need is the likes of Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh. It baffles me how these men can look upon human suffering of this magnatude and figure out a way to tie it to their own ambitions.

We'll start with Rev.(?) Robertson's statement that this is God's punishment for "... the deal they made with Satan to overthrow the French slave owners in the 17th century" Now, everyone knows that Robertson's grasp of reality has been, at it's most lucid, tentative at best. Remember, this is the buffoon who has claimed in the past that he has been able to redirect hurricanes using only the power of prayer, blaming 9/11 on the ACLU, blaming Katerina on "The Gays", and blaming Ariel Sharon's stroke as being God's punishment for Israeli peace policy. It is finally time for Mr. Robertson's moment on the stage to finally come to an end. His comments in the face of such tragedy are so mind-numbingly, soul-chillingly stupid that anyone who gives even the barest modicum of credibility to this buffoon should book an adjoining room beside him at The Sunnydale Home for the Permanently Baffled.

As to Rush? What can I say that hasn't been said before? To imply that Pres. Obama would use this crisis to up his credibility with the African-American voters comes from the same mindset that allowed G.W. Bush to capitalize on the anxiety of his nation after the 9/11 attacks to justify invading Iraq. To even suggest such a thing in the wake of this tragedy shows us the true essence of the man ... that he is a self involved, self aggrandizing, heartless individual who is incapable of the slightest iota of human compassion.

[Plazmataz]

Trek Realist, on 14 January 2010 - 12:18 PM, said:

What the world doesn't need is the likes of Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh. It baffles me how these men can look upon human suffering of this magnatude and figure out a way to tie it to their own ambitions.

We'll start with Rev.(?) Robertson's statement that this is God's punishment for "... the deal they made with Satan to overthrow the French slave owners in the 17th century" Now, everyone knows that Robertson's grasp of reality has been, at it's most lucid, tentative at best. Remember, this is the buffoon who has claimed in the past that he has been able to redirect hurricanes using only the power of prayer, blaming 9/11 on the ACLU, blaming Katerina on "The Gays", and blaming Ariel Sharon's stroke as being God's punishment for Israeli peace policy. It is finally time for Mr. Robertson's moment on the stage to finally come to an end. His comments in the face of such tragedy are so mind-numbingly, soul-chillingly stupid that anyone who gives even the barest modicum of credibility to this buffoon should book an adjoining room beside him at The Sunnydale Home for the Permanently Baffled.

As to Rush? What can I say that hasn't been said before? To imply that Pres. Obama would use this crisis to up his credibility with the African-American voters comes from the same mindset that allowed G.W. Bush to capitalize on the anxiety of his nation after the 9/11 attacks to justify invading Iraq. To even suggest such a thing in the wake of this tragedy shows us the true essence of the man ... that he is a self involved, self aggrandizing, heartless individual who is incapable of the slightest iota of human compassion.

Complaints like this are the reason people like Rush Limbaugh say all of their garbage. They thrive on the fact that there will be negative backlash against their comments, and their listeners tune in in response to hearing the backlash. The only way to shut them up is just to ignore these people. They may be cretins, but they're just practicing free speech and capitalizing on it (which is legal, even if it's a dirty trick). Making people furious with them despite the fact that they're just windbags is their job, and when you get worked up like that, they've succeeded.

So. In other news. Haiti.

[Russell Crowe]

The Center for International Disaster Informationis a good resource, although their website seems to be (understandably) swamped right now.

[sevnson_71]

Plazmataz, on 14 January 2010 - 03:21 PM, said:

Complaints like this are the reason people like Rush Limbaugh say all of their garbage. They thrive on the fact that there will be negative backlash against their comments, and their listeners tune in in response to hearing the backlash. The only way to shut them up is just to ignore these people. They may be cretins, but they're just practicing free speech and capitalizing on it (which is legal, even if it's a dirty trick). Making people furious with them despite the fact that they're just windbags is their job, and when you get worked up like that, they've succeeded.

So. In other news. Haiti.

QFT.

[Trek Realist]

Yeah, I know. But in the face of the Herculean efforts being mounted by the world community to give aid and comfort to those people who have had their world turned upside down it just gets me down when I have to witness such monumental stupidity and crass behaviour.

[Disconnected Drone]

I don't know if any of you have gone through severe earthquakes -or any earthquakes at all- but they are very scary, and very devastating. I was present when the big earthquake happened in Chengdu, China a while back. I actually received donations and things like that from people all over the world, as did my friends.

It's my turn to give back. I simply cannot donate money; I'm ashamed of that, but it's the truth. I would if I could, but there is just no way. It's out of the question. I'm wondering if any of you guys know an organization that would accept hand knit/crocheted items, and would donate them to the relief in Haiti. I love to knit and crochet; and I would love it if I could use my talent to help out. I also have some experience with writing, so if there's anything I can do with that to help out, I'd be most willing to do so.

[poko]

Disconnected Drone, on 15 January 2010 - 12:34 AM, said:

I don't know if any of you have gone through severe earthquakes -or any earthquakes at all- but they are very scary, and very devastating. I was present when the big earthquake happened in Chengdu, China a while back. I actually received donations and things like that from people all over the world, as did my friends.

It's my turn to give back. I simply cannot donate money; I'm ashamed of that, but it's the truth. I would if I could, but there is just no way. It's out of the question. I'm wondering if any of you guys know an organization that would accept hand knit/crocheted items, and would donate them to the relief in Haiti. I love to knit and crochet; and I would love it if I could use my talent to help out. I also have some experience with writing, so if there's anything I can do with that to help out, I'd be most willing to do so.

Ah, Disconnected Drone, it is good to see a helpful heart. I do not know much about the donation based charities in your country. In the US you could give donations to the local Red Cross or Salvation Army.

Here in Houston the local Haitian community center is taking tons of donations. Food, water, and medical supplies are the primary needs right now. See if you can find any sort of local group putting together packages to send to Haiti. If you can't find one, consider starting a donation drop off point yourself! I'm sure there are plenty of like minded people in your area who want to donate. You can then contact the "Red Cross Society of China" to help with sending it over seas.

Haitian Multi-Center Address:
9819 Bissonnet St.
Houston, TX 77036-8362
713-271-8988

[Disconnected Drone]

poko, on 15 January 2010 - 12:54 AM, said:

Ah, Disconnected Drone, it is good to see a helpful heart. I do not know much about the donation based charities in your country. In the US you could give donations to the local Red Cross or Salvation Army. Here in Houston the local Haitian community center is taking tons of donations. Food, water, and medical supplies are the primary needs right now. See if you can find any sort of local group putting together packages to send to Haiti. If you can't find one, consider starting a donation drop off point yourself! I'm sure there are plenty of like minded people in your area who want to donate. You can then contact the "Red Cross Society of China" to help with sending it over seas. Haitian Multi-Center Address:9819 Bissonnet St.Houston, TX 77036-8362713-271-8988

Thank you for responding! Like I said, my experience with the Chengdu earthquake has led me to want to help out with 'quake reliefs in several different countries. It's actually quite shocking; my city has absolutely no charity installment of any kind. I think the closest would be in Beijing...which is 24 hours away.

I wouldn't mind sending my packages back to the US, but shipping costs have shot up lately; it would cost about $75 to ship a box that was 10 lbs back to America. I could rally up about 100 people who would want to donate things; but we're all broke. Heck, every one of us lives off of donations made from churches/families back in the States.

I will have a few of my Chinese friends on the job of contacting China's Red Cross to see what they can do to help us out. It's at times like these that I hate living in China...

[Disconnected Drone]

poko, on 15 January 2010 - 12:54 AM, said:

Ah, Disconnected Drone, it is good to see a helpful heart. I do not know much about the donation based charities in your country. In the US you could give donations to the local Red Cross or Salvation Army. Here in Houston the local Haitian community center is taking tons of donations. Food, water, and medical supplies are the primary needs right now. See if you can find any sort of local group putting together packages to send to Haiti. If you can't find one, consider starting a donation drop off point yourself! I'm sure there are plenty of like minded people in your area who want to donate. You can then contact the "Red Cross Society of China" to help with sending it over seas. Haitian Multi-Center Address:9819 Bissonnet St.Houston, TX 77036-8362713-271-8988

Thank you for responding! Like I said, my experience with the Chengdu earthquake has led me to want to help out with 'quake reliefs in several different countries. It's actually quite shocking; my city has absolutely no charity installment of any kind. I think the closest would be in Beijing...which is 24 hours away.

I wouldn't mind sending my packages back to the US, but shipping costs have shot up lately; it would cost about $75 to ship a box that was 10 lbs back to America. I could rally up about 100 people who would want to donate things; but we're all broke. Heck, every one of us lives off of donations made from churches/families back in the States.

I will have a few of my Chinese friends on the job of contacting China's Red Cross to see what they can do to help us out. It's at times like these that I hate living in China...

[sevnson_71]

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

Simply spread the word amongst your friends. Simple word of mouth advertising can be far more powerful than the greatest armies on earth. Passing the links you have found here and asking others to do the same has the potential to raise far more money than you or I could do individually.

[Allee]

Trek Realist, on 14 January 2010 - 07:13 PM, said:

Yeah, I know. But in the face of the Herculean efforts being mounted by the world community to give aid and comfort to those people who have had their world turned upside down it just gets me down when I have to witness such monumental stupidity and crass behaviour.

Yeah, stupid people suck. If it makes you feel better, just know, the other stupid people listening to this crap weren't being talked out of helping, they weren't going to help no matter what. So it's not like these jackasses are actually accomplishing anything with this bull.

[poko]

Boston, as always, has an amazing collection of Photos. As for the photos with warnings... they have warnings for a reason, just an fyi.

Keep donating!

[sevnson_71]

BIG Kudos to the rock star medics of the IDF Medic Corps and the USCGC Tahoma. Between the two they've treated hundreds and delivered three newborns into the world from the ashes of Port Au Prince

[Trek Realist]

Extra Kudos to Canadian Soldiers who want to deploy to Haiti

The Van Doos, Canada's Francaphone 22e Regiment, just freshly returned from their rotation in Afghanistan are pestering their commanders to be deployed to Haiti to assist in relief efforts. Members of the Regiment are willing to sign waivers in order to participate in this deployment because Canadian Forces Regulations require a specific amount of time elapse between overseas deployments (usually 1 year).

[sevnson_71]

^ The fact that they actually speak both French and Creole would be a tremendous help I'm certain.

USNS Comfort steams into Port Au Prince harbor, 4k troops of USMC 24th MEU diverted from deployment in the Middle East and Europe to Haiti. Between the Comfort and the USS Nassau that is tantamount to plopping a fully staffed 1200 bed medical center with full trauma facilities complete with staff and air support in the middle of their port harbor.