Haiti earthquake

[Tricky]

Is anyone else getting the impression some of the Haitian people are being a tad ungrateful about the aid effort being made? They seem to have no concept of the massive logistical difficulties in getting help to them, and they also seem to be acting as if the world owes them help, rather than accepting that the help they are getting is done out of moral decency from other nations. I dare say if the same thing happened to the UK, Haiti wouldnt be sending us any help...
I definitely agree that we should help them because we can, and that all the images coming from there are shocking & heartbreaking, but damn those folk need to back off a bit & accept that it takes time to ship all the stuff they need in!

[deadpunk]

Meh...it's Haiti, what would you expect? :|

[krakenslayer]

Is anyone else getting the impression some of the Haitian people are being a tad ungrateful about the aid effort being made? They seem to have no concept of the massive logistical difficulties in getting help to them, and they also seem to be acting as if the world owes them help, rather than accepting that the help they are getting is done out of moral decency from other nations. I dare say if the same thing happened to the UK, Haiti wouldnt be sending us any help...
I definitely agree that we should help them because we can, and that all the images coming from there are shocking & heartbreaking, but damn those folk need to back off a bit & accept that it takes time to ship all the stuff they need in!

I don't know exactly what signs of ungreatfulness you are referring to, but I imagine they see it from a slightly different viewpoint and you probably would too if your home was flatted, some of your relatives had just died, you couldn't get clean water, etc. etc. We're talking about a life and death situation here Tricky, this is not like asking your neighbour to help jump-start your car. Sure, we can sit here and calmly, logically, and correctly say that delays are to be expected, but there's people with still-living kids buried under collapsed houses who need machinery to dig them out but can't get it, while time is ticking away. Is it at all surprising that they come across as a bit desperate? Of course, there's nothing that can be done any faster, but you can't expect people in life-and-death situations to calmly sit back and weigh up the pros and cons of the situations. They're not being out of order, any more than it would be out of order to scream obscenities in polite company when you've just been impaled.

The problem is the Haitian government is a shambles and always has been. But that's nothing to do with the individual man on the street - country/government does not equal citizens and vice versa - who is basically dying for help from anyone and doesn't care who. Pretty much the same as you or I would be.

[Arcades057]

I don't know exactly what signs of ungreatfulness you are referring to, but I imagine they see it from a slightly different viewpoint and you probably would too if your home was flatted, some of your relatives had just died, you couldn't get clean water, etc. etc. We're talking about a life and death situation here Tricky, this is not like asking your neighbour to help jump-start your car. Sure, we can sit here and calmly, logically, and correctly say that delays are to be expected, but there's people with still-living kids buried under collapsed houses who need machinery to dig them out but can't get it, while time is ticking away. Is it at all surprising that they come across as a bit desperate? Of course, there's nothing that can be done any faster, but you can't expect people in life-and-death situations to calmly sit back and weigh up the pros and cons of the situations. They're not being out of order, any more than it would be out of order to scream obscenities in polite company when you've just been impaled.

The problem is the Haitian government is a shambles and always has been. But that's nothing to do with the individual man on the street - country/government does not equal citizens and vice versa - who is basically dying for help from anyone and doesn't care who. Pretty much the same as you or I would be.

I remember survivors of Katrina acting in much the same way, honestly. Were I to begin pointing out the obvious similarities I'm quite sure I'd become the victim of white guilt in short order.

[krakenslayer]

I remember survivors of Katrina acting in much the same way, honestly. Were I to begin pointing out the obvious similarities I'm quite sure I'd become the victim of white guilt in short order.

Hell - I dunno about you - but I'd act the same way in their shoes.

[Mike70]

I remember survivors of Katrina acting in much the same way, honestly. Were I to begin pointing out the obvious similarities I'm quite sure I'd become the victim of white guilt in short order.


you mean the katrina survivors that were left stranded on the tops of their houses for days on end while politicians congratulated each other on tv? you mean those ungrateful bastards, stranded without food, water, medical care, whose govt. apparently had more important things to do.

anyhoo,

i think we are all more interested in how you plan on honoring MLK day.

http://www.avclub.com/assets/images/articles/article/22774/anarchy_jpg_300x1000_q85.jpg

[thxleo]

you mean the katrina survivors that were left stranded on the tops of their houses for days on end while politicians congratulated each other on tv? you mean those ungrateful bastards, stranded without food, water, medical care, whose govt. apparently had more important things to do.



To me the biggest culprit involved with that cluster fuck was the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. Nagin made sure that he got himself to safety, while at the same time allowing hundreds of school buses to go unused and of course end up under water. Those buses could have saved countless citizens of his self described "Chocolate City". How much blood does that guy have on his hands? Then he uses the media to criticize the slow response from the Federal government! And like the fools that they are, the people of New Orleans re-elected him their mayor less than a year later. One of our very own hpotd members, Ronnie Sevin, had to leave New Orleans. I'm not sure if he ever moved back, but I wonder what his thoughts are on this topic?
Now that President Obama has decided to take charge with aiding Haiti, I wonder if he will be ready to take on the criticism that should come if that situation goes out of control. The news reports coming out of there certainly are pointing in that direction. And for the record, I have donated money to help those poor people.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6991810.ece

[Mike70]

To me the biggest culprit involved with that cluster fuck was the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin.

yet, he still has a political career, which might be one of the greatest travesties ever. and they say it is cats who have nine lives...

[Arcades057]

i think we are all more interested in how you plan on honoring MLK day.



Let me dig it out of my fridge...:

http://hdiddydollar.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/black-fried-chicken.jpg

[SymphonicX]

I don't know exactly what signs of ungreatfulness you are referring to, but I imagine they see it from a slightly different viewpoint and you probably would too if your home was flatted, some of your relatives had just died, you couldn't get clean water, etc. etc. We're talking about a life and death situation here Tricky, this is not like asking your neighbour to help jump-start your car. Sure, we can sit here and calmly, logically, and correctly say that delays are to be expected, but there's people with still-living kids buried under collapsed houses who need machinery to dig them out but can't get it, while time is ticking away. Is it at all surprising that they come across as a bit desperate? Of course, there's nothing that can be done any faster, but you can't expect people in life-and-death situations to calmly sit back and weigh up the pros and cons of the situations. They're not being out of order, any more than it would be out of order to scream obscenities in polite company when you've just been impaled.

The problem is the Haitian government is a shambles and always has been. But that's nothing to do with the individual man on the street - country/government does not equal citizens and vice versa - who is basically dying for help from anyone and doesn't care who. Pretty much the same as you or I would be.

I agree, its an emotional situation - there are bound to be emotional responses and outcries from both government and public...Same thing happened during the Tsunami...

[Tricky]

My point is that the world doesnt have to help them, but we are because countries like ours are good like that, & im wholeheatedly behind the help we are sending! But the thing with the UN biscuits where some Haitians trashed the shipment because one person read the packaging wrong & thought they were out of date, and a few of the Haitians that have been interviewed on the news has just made me think that they dont appreciate what the rest of the world are trying to do for them & the difficulties involved in getting help to them, they just seem to think we should be instantly there & that we can instantly magic all the devastation away, and it doesnt work like that...

[Mike70]

Let me dig it out of my fridge...:

http://hdiddydollar.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/black-fried-chicken.jpg

:lol:

ok. i wasn't expecting that.

touche.

---------- Post added at 08:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:27 AM ----------


My point is that the world doesnt have to help them, but we are because countries like ours are good like that, & im wholeheatedly behind the help we are sending! But the thing with the UN biscuits where some Haitians trashed the shipment because one person read the packaging wrong & thought they were out of date

no, we don't have to help them but we should for two reasons: it is the right thing to do and there is the self interest angle. if haiti were to collapse into a giant heap, where do you think all those people are going to go? that's right, florida and toronto. that's the last damn thing either country needs to deal with. thousands upon thousands of ignorant (in the original sense of the word) refugees, who have no education, no real job skills and nothing really to offer. folks who would do nothing more than increase the line at the welfare office.

let's feed them, help rebuild the country and keep them where they are at.

[kortick]

Rich it comes down to the old sayings:

"Let no good deed go unpunished"

and

"May they forgive us for giving them their daily bread"

They should let Corporate America lead the relief efforts.
The supplies would get there in time, but they will also
have to deal with this:

http://i45.tinypic.com/b5s6yu.jpg

[Mike70]

as i predicted, the attempt to flee to the US is already underway.


People have been continuing to flee the capital and many are seeking US visas.

The BBC's Mark Doyle in Port-au-Prince says perhaps 5,000 people have lined up outside the US embassy, desperate to join relatives among the large Haitian-American community in the US.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8466698.stm

[darth los]

as i predicted, the attempt to flee to the US is already underway.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8466698.stm


There go all the nursing jobs in NYC. :(

:cool:

[mista_mo]

They are doing the same thing at the Canadian Embassy as well Mike. I do believe that it is only temporary, and those that are allowed into the country are being sent back when Haiti is in a decent state of repair.

I hope so anyways. Not to sound rude or anything, but that is the last thing we need.

[darth los]

I hope so anyways. Not to sound rude or anything, but that is the last thing we need.

What's rude about not wanting charity cases?

It's not P.C., but it's also not rude.

:cool:

[DubiousComforts]

To me the biggest culprit involved with that cluster fuck was the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin.
Hey hey hey, there is plenty of blame to go around in the Katrina circus: ineffectual populist mayor, equally-ineffectual Democrat governor, supremely ineffectual Patriot Act-authoring DHS chief, completely ineffectual President of the United States. No one is ever held accountable, so why not shoot for the moon? :D

[SRP76]

as i predicted, the attempt to flee to the US is already underway.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8466698.stm

At least they're trying to go about it legally this time, instead of just floating a fucking refrigerator across the gulf like the last major Haitian exodus.

[Mike70]

,instead of just floating a fucking refrigerator across the gulf like the last major Haitian exodus.

:lol:

i wonder which brand floats the best?

[DubiousComforts]

as i predicted, the attempt to flee to the US is already underway.
The BBC's Matt Frei, in Port-au-Prince, says looting is now the main industry in the city and is being run by rival gangs. Especially prized is toothpaste, which people smear under their noses to fend off the stench of decaying corpses, the Associated Press news agency says.

Damn refugees! A little decaying corpse stench never hurt no one.


They should let Corporate America lead the relief efforts.
Don't worry, I'm sure Barbara Bush will be along anytime now to tell us how well the situation is working out for them Haitians.