CNN Reporter Joins the Rescue Effort

I watched CNN last night as hey covered the ongoing tragedy in Haiti. Dr. Sanjay Gupta was reporting from an area where volunteer doctors had been working with survivors. The doctors were told to pull out because of security concerns. The doctors let, but the CNN reporter, Gupta remained behind to treat people who needed help desperately. That is dedication and he deserves high praise for ending to his work as a doctor above his reporting duties.

I know lots of you are tired of me blogging about Haiti, but the situation there is worse than anything we have seen in the western hemisphere in a long time. Even the earthquake in Mexico City in 1985 was not this bad. Mexico City is a highly developed place with lots of infrastructure. The devastation there was heavy and 10,000 dead, but it was localized in fewer areas than Haiti. Haiti is dirt poor and so many people are affected in the capital it will be difficult to rebuild not just the buildings but the countries political structure as well.

Again, please donate to the legitimate organizations trying to help out.

Navy Hospital Ship on Route to Haiti

The Navy hospital ship, Comfort is steaming toward Haiti at this moment to bring much needed medical aid and hospital facilities. The ship has 250 beds and a staff of 560.

Wyclef Jean's Relief Fund for Haiti

Yele Haiti is a movement led by Wyclef Jean, Haitian Hip-Hop artist, that is helping to bring hope back to Haiti. Projects are designed to make a difference in the fields of education, health, environment and community development. Yele Haiti (previously known as the Wyclef Jean Foundation) is a 501 (3) tax exempt charitable organization.

Wyclef is actually in Haiti right now helping to extract survivors and bodies from the rubble. His effort and that of many folks like him may help bring Haiti much needed relief.

Dallasites Return from Haiti

A group of 10 members of the Highland Park United Methodist Church have safely returned from Port au Prince. A few are receiving medical treatment for injuries received during the earthquake. The 10 were members of a medical missionary group sent by the church. Two other members of the group are in Guadeloupe receiving medical attention.

Bodies Piled in the Streets in Haiti

The nightmare that is the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake continues. Bodies are piled in the streets and aids is slow in arriving because of logistical problems with the infrastructure.

Sarah Palin Even Amazes Glenn Beck With Her Stupidity

This clip speaks for itself. Beck even says "bull crap" when Sarah says her favorite founding father was "all of them".

Nightmare in Haiti

Aid agencies all need funds. Help has been arriving but the devastation is so widespread it will take years to rebuild what is left of the Haitian capital.

The clip below was taken just minutes after the quake. Warning:it's pretty graphic.

Teddy Pendergrass - Dead at 59

Another recording great from the 70's and 80's has passed into history. Teddy Pendergrass, the soulful voice that sang with Harold and the Blue Notes and later had a very successful solo career died from complications of colon cancer.

Pendergrass' career was almost cut short in the late 1980's when he was paralyzed from a car accident, but he continued singing from a wheelchair. His deep velvet voice will be missed.

Pat Robertson Claims Haiti Earthquake Due to "Pact With the Devil"

Yes Pat Robertson, that old fart of an evangelist is bringing "good news" again. (I am being sarcastic here, just in case you can't tell.) He has laid blame for the Haitian disaster at the feet of the Haitian people! He claims they made a pact with the devil and now they are paying their due.

Oh puleeze!

Pat claims Haitians were originally "under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. 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, okay it's a deal."

Leave it to a money grubbing televangelist to ignore the suffereing and lay blame on the victims. He needs to just go away!

Bodies Piling Up in Haiti

Latest reports say there may be as many as 100,000 dead in Haiti after the massive earthquake yesterday.

Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive said after touring the rubble, "I've seen so many buildings, so many neighbourhoods totally destroyed, and in some neighbourhoods we don't even see people."

More here from ABC News.

More News from Haiti

This blogger has updates from the scene in Haiti. It is not good, and according to his reports the National Palace, Government Buildings, a Boys Home, Hospital, UN Headquarters are all destroyed.

Livesay Haiti Blog

Video from Haiti

Just found this raw video post from Haiti. News is sketchy but it looks really bad.

Helping Haiti

If you are like me you have wondered how you could help the devastated people of Haiti. Relief is beginning but it will take days. I suggest the following organizations who have mounted Haitian relief campaigns:

Doctors Without Borders

International Red Cross

UNICEF

United Church of Christ Relief Effort

From the White House this morning:

You can also help immediately by donating to the Red Cross to assist the relief effort. Contribute online, or donate $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999."

Families of Americans living in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at 888-407-4747.

From FedEx:

FedEx is working with our designated charitable relief organizations to help ensure aid is on the way to Haiti. We plan to provide transportation services for the American Red Cross, Heart to Heart International, Direct Relief International and Water Missions as soon as conditions allow.

Glad to see American corporations pitching in so fast!

Pictures from Haiti

This just posted on HaitiFeed, The presidential palace in Haiti is gone!

Pray for Haiti - 7.3 Earthquake

Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere was devastated by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake this afternoon. The US envoy to the country calls the event a "catastrophe of major proportions".

Hospitals and other emergency buildings have collapsed and one official from the US who was on the scene says the sky is gray with dust from the destruction. The Haitian Ambassador to the US said, "I just hear a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance".

More as this tragedy unfolds.

Earth to Get Close Shave Tomorrow!

How about a really close shave? Astronomically speaking we are going to dodge a bullet tomorrow, Wednesday, January 13, 2010. An asteroid about 50 feet across called "2010 AL30" was located by the NASA Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research program, and announced Monday by the Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

It will pass closer than our moon to our little blue planet, in fact only about 1/3 the distance of the moon to be accurate. That is close!

Read more here.

Pope Calls Gay Marriage Threat to Creation

And once again the Pope wades into the cesspool of bigotry and takes a stand with the cesspool!

In his address to a group of diplomats, Pope Benedict the 16th framed gay marriage as a threat to civilization. His Holiness joins a long line of fear mongers in trying to demonize same sex marriage.

"Creatures differ from one another and can be protected, or endangered, in different ways, as we know from daily experience. One such attack comes from laws or proposals which, in the name of fighting discrimination, strike at the biological basis of the difference between the sexes,"

This veiled reference is every bit as offensive as the tired "Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" drivel that flows from the fundamentalist pulpits. The Catholic church made a calculated decision when it chose Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope. It decided to turn its back on the tide of history and becomf even more fossilized. Now in an effort to maintain that dusty position, the Pope must resort to name calling and fear. Sad for the "Vicar of Christ" who many call the Prince of Peace to sew the seeds of hatred.

Oh Joy! Sarah Palin is Going to Fox News.

As though her 15 minutes of fame was not up months ago, Ms. Palin, the quitter-governor of Alaska is going to appear regularly on Fox News. I have to assume they will teach her to read a teleprompter, otherwise America will be treated to even more blithering idiocy.

Of course that is assuming Fox viewers can tell the difference between news and crap...oh yeah, they are Fox viewers after all!

Do I sound uncharitable? You betcha!