Haitian Quake and Various Responses

[Kaonashi]

Pat Robertson has done it again! From CNN:

Pat Robertson, the evangelical Christian who once suggested God was punishing Americans with Hurricane Katrina, says a "pact to the devil" brought on the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Officials fear more than 100,000 people have died as a result of Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti.
Robertson, the host of the "700 Club," blamed the tragedy on something that "happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it."
The Haitians "were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever," Robertson said on his broadcast Wednesday. "And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' "
Native Haitians defeated French colonists in 1804 and declared independence.
"You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other." Robertson has previously linked natural disasters and terrorist attacks to legalized abortion in the United States. Soon after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 and wreaking unprecedented devastation on New Orleans, Louisiana, Robertson weighed in with his own theory.
"We have killed over 40 million unborn babies in America," Robertson said on his September 12, 2005, broadcast of "700 Club."
"I was reading, yesterday, a book that was very interesting about what God has to say in the Old Testament about those who shed innocent blood. And he [the author] used the term that those who do this, 'the land will vomit you out.' ... But have we found we are unable somehow to defend ourselves against some of the attacks that are coming against us, either by terrorists or now by natural disaster? Could they be connected in some way?"

[KansaiBen]

. But have we found we are unable somehow to defend ourselves against some of the attacks that are coming against us, either by terrorists or now by natural disaster? Could they be connected in some way?"

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, Americans have had it coming and its payback time? What the US has wreaked in other countries over the last 100 years (. Phillipines, Vietnam, Korea, Panama, Iraq) is now being visited in their own back yards and Americans and getting all paranoid because the heathen masses are now starting to bite back. Who has been able to defend these people in their own countries by marauding Yanks?

Maybe one day Pat Robertson should be struck down by lightning.

[JayHawkins]

That's just really, really mean and cold-hearted. Not to mention crazy.

[rainbowtokyo]

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, Americans have had it coming and its payback time? What the US has wreaked in other countries over the last 100 years (. Phillipines, Vietnam, Korea, Panama, Iraq) is now being visited in their own back yards and Americans and getting all paranoid because the heathen masses are now starting to bite back. Who has been able to defend these people in their own countries by marauding Yanks? Maybe one day Pat Robertson should be struck down by lightning.

I think the OP wanted to highlight the suffering of the Haitians. He was also rightly angry at the hypocrisy of one far right nutcase who happens to be American. Let's not make generalizations about all Americans - I'm sure there are some good ones around. The great p%rnstar King Dong was American, surely he doesn't deserve to be lumped into the same basket with right wing neo-con zealots who tarnish his country's good name. King Dong died tragically, taken too early, a victim of our times. A hero to the end, it's sad nobody remembers him these days. RIP

[kluh]

My thoughts go out to all the people, victims and their families affected b this tragic event.

[Marius_II]

Who has been able to defend these people in their own countries by marauding Yanks?

If only they had an earthquake-making machine...

-

Hopes for a full recovery by the Haitians.

[IamJapanese]

-

Hopes for a full recovery by the Haitians.

Hope has never fed a starving child.

Get over there and give a hand man !

[Jacque_S]

Easy-peasy trivia Q: Which country will be providing the vast, vast, vast majority of all foreign aid that ends up in Haiti?

[rainbowtokyo]

Easy-peasy trivia Q: Which country will be providing the vast, vast, vast majority of all foreign aid that ends up in Haiti?

It has to be Venezuela or Iran for sure. These two countries always do their bit for humanity when disaster strikes.

[Jacque_S]

You forgot the Syrian Baath party, Hamas and Hezbollah. Aren't they always keen to help the poor and downtrodden?

[DeCoR]

Easy-peasy trivia Q: Which country will be providing the vast, vast, vast majority of all foreign aid that ends up in Haiti?

Rhodesia would be my guess? Didn't they recently produce the first trillion dollar bill? Sur they're loaded

[6koala8]

...hands up those who think there is some truth to what Pat Robertson said?

Thought as much.

Pat Roberston is a well known right wing nutter.

Some of his other quotes are available here....

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/f...trobertson.htm

[jinseinosensei]

...hands up those who think there is some truth to what Pat Robertson said?

Thought as much.

Pat Roberston is a well known right wing nutter.

Some of his other quotes are available here....

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/f...trobertson.htm

I don't agree with or condone what Robertson has said, but it's been my experience that you and Kaonashi provide the least reliable quotes of any presented by anyone to date.

[Kaonashi]

I don't agree with or condone what Robertson has said, but it's been my experience that you and Kaonashi provide the least reliable quotes of any presented by anyone to date.

Here you go, Jin: from the horse's mouth.

Perhaps you should reach out beyond Faux News to discover what's going on. Exiting the box can be enlightening.

[6koala8]

I don't agree with or condone what Robertson has said, but it's been my experience that you and Kaonashi provide the least reliable quotes of any presented by anyone to date.

Just file us under as 'Fifth Columnists' and so we can all be happy.

[jinseinosensei]

Here you go, Jin: from the horse's mouth.

Perhaps you should reach out beyond Faux News to discover what's going on. Exiting the box can be enlightening.

Perhaps it would help for YOU to stop pretending that I denied something which I clearly didn't (Robertson's comments regarding Haiti) and misrepresenting my opinions. Other than excerpts, I don't watch FOX News. I couldn't if I wanted to. However, compared to CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and especially MS-NBC, I'd say FOX is kicking a$$, as proven by their being the ONLY profitable news organization of the lot. The biggest problem with the way you guys quote and cite is the dishonesty with which you intentionally misrepresent the intended meanings and the intentions themselves. I've watched that video coverage several times now and I'm certain that he meant that the past leaders of Haiti made a pact and it has affected the entire nation/community. He doesn't seem to have anything but sympathy for the average Haitian or the average Hurricane Katrina victim for that matter. I'd be willing to bet that Robertson's charitable contributions and activism has done more for the Haitians than you'll ever do for ANYONE. I don't need to agree with him or anyone else to know that they believe what they do and state what they think. That's more than I can say for most of you Liberals. You'll back your guys no matter how guilty of crimes, how heinous those crimes, or often they repeat those crimes. I'll never be ashamed of people who condemn and purge those who unrepentantly behave badly. And I'll always be ashamed of those of you who pretend that YOU have chosen the lesser of two evils when you've knowingly done just the opposite.

[6koala8]

Perhaps it would help for YOU to stop pretending that I denied something which I clearly didn't (Robertson's comments regarding Haiti) and misrepresenting my opinions. Other than excerpts, I don't watch FOX News. I couldn't if I wanted to. However, compared to CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and especially MS-NBC, I'd say FOX is kicking a$$, as proven by their being the ONLY profitable news organization of the lot. The biggest problem with the way you guys quote and cite is the dishonesty with which you intentionally misrepresent the intended meanings and the intentions themselves. I've watched that video coverage several times now and I'm certain that he meant that the past leaders of Haiti made a pact and it has affected the entire nation/community. He doesn't seem to have anything but sympathy for the average Haitian or the average Hurricane Katrina victim for that matter. I'd be willing to bet that Robertson's charitable contributions and activism has done more for the Haitians than you'll ever do for ANYONE. I don't need to agree with him or anyone else to know that they believe what they do and state what they think. That's more than I can say for most of you Liberals. You'll back your guys no matter how guilty of crimes, how heinous those crimes, or often they repeat those crimes. I'll never be ashamed of people who condemn and purge those who unrepentantly behave badly. And I'll always be ashamed of those of you who pretend that YOU have chosen the lesser of two evils when you've knowingly done just the opposite.

This is one hell of a crack-driven rant.

[thefan]

You can make a donation online if you have a credit card at places such as
Save the Children, who have a good ratio of aid to administration costs.

Or here, who are specifically concerned with Haiti.

As a hard core liberal f@g I oppose reliance on charity, believing we pay tax to help those less fortunate than ourselves, but I make exceptions for natural disasters.

I was rather surprised to see missionaries leaving the country on the news last night, surely they are needed now more than ever. Perhaps they decided they would be better out off the way while the professional rescue teams arrive, but it did seem they were traveling in the wrong direction.

[Jacque_S]

I was rather surprised to see missionaries leaving the country on the news last night, surely they are needed now more than ever. Perhaps they decided they would be better out off the way while the professional rescue teams arrive, but it did seem they were traveling in the wrong direction.

And the imperialist soldiers are on their way in. Goes to show that against real hardship and suffering, pretending that belief in fairy tales will help or confers meaning isn't worth a dead archbishop's limp d!ck. I think the real tragedy of Haiti was that it was a French colony, rather than a British one. Can't wait for the reactionaries to "remind" us that Haiti was occupied by the Marines for 20 years early in the last century. I can imagine a John Kerry-esque "Never should've arrived, never should've left" canard.

[thefan]

You have to hand it to the Americans on this one, they have got there as quick as they could and have boots on the ground and an aircraft carrier off the coast already, pretty impressive response in my opinion.

I think the Beeb and other media are being a little too critical, they do seem to have a hard wired negative slant on everything that happens.

[Jacque_S]

Did they complain about the slowness of the Iranian or North Korean or Burmese response?

[talibanana]

ooopps.......see post below

[talibanana]

Rush Limbaugh said some interesting things

and by interesting, i mean retarded

but I think Olbermann sums it up best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-PEaWUduCM

[talibanana]

u can donate here

http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/

[talibanana]

so far......gaiijin potters have contributed a grand total of 5 US Dollars!! Way to go!! That is almost more than Japan has given!!

[rainbowtokyo]

You have to hand it to the Americans on this one, they have got there as quick as they could and have boots on the ground and an aircraft carrier off the coast already, pretty impressive response in my opinion. I think the Beeb and other media are being a little too critical, they do seem to have a hard wired negative slant on everything that happens.

Spot on! It's great to see the US military doing something useful. They are out there saving lives and lets give them the kudos they deserve. It'd be a lot harder without them.

[Jacque_S]

It would not happen w/o them.

On a more ethereal note, I wonder if the immense suffering witnessed by these rescued Lotus Landers will cause them to question their foolish beliefs:

Military mission to rescue group of B.C. students stranded in Haiti in the works

"The Canadian military is set to launch a rescue mission for a group of teenagers and an injured adult stranded in a remote town outside Port-au-Prince.

...

The group of 26, including 17 high school students from Mount Sentinel Secondary School in southeastern B.C.'s Slocan Valley, arrived in Haiti only 45 minutes before the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck last Tuesday [for some kind of religious mission]. They are in a village 75 kilometres northeast of the capital.

In an email sent Friday, group chaperon Jim Reimer, pastor of Kootenay Christian Fellowship, said more and more Haitians are seeking refuge in the group’s compound in Grand Goave. Group members are sleeping in a barn without walls. Concerns of looting and potential violence outside the compound are growing, Reimer said."

[NorthByNorthwest]

It would not happen w/o them.

On a more ethereal note, I wonder if the immense suffering witnessed by these rescued Lotus Landers will cause them to question their foolish beliefs:

Military mission to rescue group of B.C. students stranded in Haiti in the works

"The Canadian military is set to launch a rescue mission for a group of teenagers and an injured adult stranded in a remote town outside Port-au-Prince.

...

The group of 26, including 17 high school students from Mount Sentinel Secondary School in southeastern B.C.'s Slocan Valley, arrived in Haiti only 45 minutes before the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck last Tuesday [for some kind of religious mission]. They are in a village 75 kilometres northeast of the capital.

In an email sent Friday, group chaperon Jim Reimer, pastor of Kootenay Christian Fellowship, said more and more Haitians are seeking refuge in the group’s compound in Grand Goave. Group members are sleeping in a barn without walls. Concerns of looting and potential violence outside the compound are growing, Reimer said."

The moment someone leaks the fact that Canadians taste like chicken, that group is doomed...

[talibanana]

http://omg.yahoo.com/videos/access-a...aiti-trip/9700

[Scot27]

Christ almighty, Pat Robertson needs put down.

Limbaugh was being a total c__ as well. What goes through these weirdos mind making comments like that during a crisis?

[timely response]

It would not happen w/o them.

Is that so?

Just outa curiosity, I wonder what the US reaction would be to 10,000 Chinese combat troops and a Chinese aircraft carrier landing in Haiti? They weren't too fond of the Soviet influence in Cuba from what I've read.

But it looks like the Chinese got some help there pretty quick regardless. Quicker than some others who are much closer.

1.
Bless the President for having rescue teams in the air almost immediately. That was President Olafur Grimsson of Iceland. On Wednesday, the AP reported that the President of the United States promised, "The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could be deployed to the quake-ravaged country within the next few days." "In a few days," Mr. Obama?

2.
There's no such thing as a 'natural' disaster. 200,000 Haitians have been slaughtered by slum housing and IMF "austerity" plans.

3.
A friend of mine called. Do I know a journalist who could get medicine to her father? And she added, trying to hold her voice together, "My sister, she's under the rubble. Is anyone going who can help, anyone?" Should I tell her, "Obama will have Marines there in 'a few days'"?

4.
China deployed rescuers with sniffer dogs within 48 hours. China, Mr. President. China: 8,000 miles distant. Miami: 700 miles close. US bases in Puerto Rico: right there.

5.
Obama's Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "I don't know how this government could have responded faster or more comprehensively than it has." We know Gates doesn't know.

6.
From my own work in the field, I know that FEMA has access to ready-to-go potable water, generators, mobile medical equipment and more for hurricane relief on the Gulf Coast. It's all still there. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who served as the task force commander for emergency response after Hurricane Katrina, told the Christian Science Monitor, “I thought we had learned that from Katrina, take food and water and start evacuating people." Maybe we learned but, apparently, Gates and the Defense Department missed school that day.

7.
Send in the Marines. That's America's response. That's what we're good at. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson finally showed up after three days. With what? It was dramatically deployed ― without any emergency relief supplies. It has sidewinder missiles and 19 helicopters.

8.
But don't worry, the International Search and Rescue Team, fully equipped and self-sufficient for up to seven days in the field, deployed immediately with ten metric tons of tools and equipment, three tons of water, tents, advanced communication equipment and water purifying capability. They're from Iceland.

9.
Gates wouldn't send in food and water because, he said, there was no "structure ... to provide security." For Gates, appointed by Bush and allowed to hang around by Obama, it's security first. That was his lesson from Hurricane Katrina. Blackwater before drinking water...

http://www.gregpalast.com/the-right-...ian-holocaust/

[Sterling]

If or when a major earthquake finally fells Tokyo, I would fully expect Pat Robertson to say something like the following:

Pat Robertson, the evangelical Christian who once suggested God was punishing Haitians for making a "pact with the Devil" with an earthquake in 2010, says a "emperor worship" brought on the devastating earthquake in Japan. Officials fear more than 1,000,000 people have died as a result of Monday's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Japan.

Robertson, the host of the "700 Club," blamed the tragedy on something that "happened a long time ago in Japan, and people might not want to talk about it." The Japanese " to a man, were completely obedient to a false god. You know, Hirohito, Akihito and whatever," Robertson said on his broadcast Tuesday. "And, even after their surrender in 1945, they continued to worship this Kingpin of all Class A War Criminals - Hirohito. They never stopped worshipping him as their God even after he supposedly made claims that he was 'no longer God'. Little do the Japanese realize that Hirohito has been burning in Hell since he died in 1989- and will for eternity. Only by turning to Christ Lord the one true God can one be truly saved."

[thefan]

2.
There's no such thing as a 'natural' disaster. 200,000 Haitians have been slaughtered by slum housing and IMF "austerity" plans.



4.
China deployed rescuers with sniffer dogs within 48 hours. China, Mr. President. China: 8,000 miles distant. Miami: 700 miles close. US bases in Puerto Rico: right there.

It may turn out that the poor in the shanty towns escaped because their homes were built of light materials, it is the people in the poorly built concrete housing which had the greatest risk of fatality. Japan could perhaps export its technology & techniques here, both old and new.

The Chinese were first to arrive, they also took 6 hours to unload their plane, causing other flights to be turned back. Why did they take 6 hours I wonder ?

I think the US would be criticized however they responded, too much, not enough or not the right sort, but at least they are there.

[Hijinx]

Frolicking in the face of disaster:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...iti-earthquake

[thefan]

Frolicking in the face of disaster:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...iti-earthquake

that is basically the modern world shown in stark perspective

[Hijinx]

that is basically the modern world shown in stark perspective

I guess. But, damn! Very in your face. Well, I guess after Kobe, there were folks in nearby areas of Kansai drinking up in izakayas having fun.

[thefan]

I guess. But, damn! Very in your face. Well, I guess after Kobe, there were folks in nearby areas of Kansai drinking up in izakayas having fun.

"No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

John Donne

[Jacque_S]

Bless the President for having rescue teams in the air almost immediately. That was President Olafur Grimsson of Iceland. On Wednesday, the AP reported that the President of the United States promised, "The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could be deployed to the quake-ravaged country within the next few days." "In a few days," Mr. Obama?

Yer funny. How long do you think your Eurobuddies will stay, and how much will they bring with them?

There's no such thing as a 'natural' disaster. 200,000 Haitians have been slaughtered by slum housing and IMF "austerity" plans.

And just when it seemed we were in agreement that no one sound more batshit than Pat Robertson. Now we have IMF austerity plans causing the Earth's tectonic plates to shift? Sufficiently large and shocking death toll, pulled right out of his Robertson, for good measure.

To paraphrase Tolstoy, developed countries are mostly alike; every basketcase is backwards in its own way.

[Supergaijin]

I guess. But, damn! Very in your face. Well, I guess after Kobe, there were folks in nearby areas of Kansai drinking up in izakayas having fun.

I doubt people were openly having fun in izakayas in Kansai. I don't know if anyone has had much fun in Kansai! *
Check out this twin towers pic though. Lady in the middle especially looks like she's enjoying catching some rays while downtown NY burns:







*smiley to denote sarcasm for those who don't habla the internet

[Jacque_S]

Cayman Islands experienced a 5.8 today....altho not the same magnitude as Haiti's, it figures the neocons would've made sure the tectonic plate shifting spared their banking haven but not a country populated by poor French-Creole speaking blacks. Definitely a genocidal war crime...the Caribbean Plate needs to go before a tribunal at The Hague.