7.0 earthquake rocks Haiti

[The Fake Shemp]

Nope, I just refuse to do whatever Conan tells me to do, because I'm not a hipster puppet.

[TakingBackSunday]

I will cut you

[The Fake Shemp]

With your scarf

[TakingBackSunday]

wouldn't that mean I'd strangle you  :lenowned

[The Fake Shemp]

Haitians are dying and you're talking about Jay Leno

[TakingBackSunday]

Typical jew reverse psychology!

[The Fake Shemp]

I'm very disappointed that you would derail a topic about a serious humanitarian crisis in this manner, even if you did so ironically.

[Boogie]

That sucks, but why were RCMP in Haiti

part of the UN operations there. Training Haitian police officers as part of the International Peace Operations program.

[The Fake Shemp]

Damn, you guys are everywhere.

[Great Rumbler]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_2010_Haiti_earthquake

[Ganhyun]

did my part. donated to the relief efforts.

[CajoleJuice]

Nope, I just refuse to do whatever Conan tells me to do, because I'm not a hipster puppet.

I won't because of that distinguished mentally-challenged Zoolander pic on the site.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Donated $250 to the Red Cross and probably another $250 with the next check (since it will be a long time before things get cleaned up there).

Not to StillerStrong.  Conan fanbabies caught crying into their scarves and ironic tee shirts they bought off the internet?  Most definitely.

[Phoenix Dark]

Donated $50.

Is blood being sent over there? I'm scheduled to give blood in a couple weeks.

[brawndolicious]

Would they really need to import blood?  You would think that they get a lot of willing donors there.

[Crushed]

stop your donations folks

Rush Limbaugh is not backing down from his claim that President Barack Obama is trying to score political points off the earthquake in Haiti.

Challenged by a caller during his show Thursday, Limbaugh said: “If I said it, I meant to say it, and I do believe that everything is political to this president.”

“Everything this president sees is a political opportunity, including Haiti, and he will use it to burnish his credentials with minorities in this country and around the world, and to accuse Republicans of having no compassion,” Limbaugh said in comments flagged by the liberal blog Think Progress.

Limbaugh has come under fire from both the right and the left for saying that the earthquake played directly into Obama’s hands, allowing him to look “compassionate.” The host claimed the White House’s response would bolster Obama’s standing in the “light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country.”

He also appeared to discourage help for the island nation, saying, “We've already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

Critics have characterized Limbaugh’s comments as insensitive and tone-deaf at a time when heartbreaking images of the devastation dominate news coverage.

Confronted with some of that criticism, Limbaugh slammed a caller as “close-minded.”

“What I’m illustrating here is that you’re a blockhead,” Limbaugh shot back. “What I’m illustrating here is that you’re a close-minded bigot who is ill-informed.”

“If you had listened to this program for a modicum of time, you would know it,” he said. “But instead, you’re a blockhead. Your mind is totally closed. You have tampons in your ears. Nothing is getting through other than the biased crap that you read.”

[drew]

i wish someone would donate $5 to me right now so i can go out and get a pack of cigarettes

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Don't donate to Wyclef's charity:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0114102wyclef1.html

[CajoleJuice]

what a scumbag

[Phoenix Dark]

Definitely want to hear him respond to that. He's from Haiti

smh if true, and it certainly looks true 

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Some disturbing photos 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h21_21711211.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h22_21711223b.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h23_21702617.jpg

[close]

[Snuflupagulus]

jesus.  :'(  Those photos.

I couldn't imagine having no shelter, no ready supply of fresh water, scavenging for food, with the grief of losing people for whom you care.  Death, debris, and utter chaos surrounding you.   The easy cynicism and practiced indifference with which pundits, curmudgeons, and parasites view this destruction is still surprising.  Even if expected.

I'm just waiting for libertarians to declare it paradise.

[Phoenix Dark]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/cnns-campbell-brown-fights-back-tears-at-news-that-rescued-haitian-girl-has-died.html

fuck  :'(

[duckman2000]

Was it really necessary to repeat her last words, as if the story needed the extra weight? Drama nation.

[muckhole]

PopCap games is donating 100% of the money from any purchase of their games for Saturday only.

http://www.popcap.com/promos/haiti/?icid=haiti_HP_PLARGE_PC_01_15_09_EN

Dunno if Steam purchases count.

[Phoenix Dark]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34893871#34893871

[Phoenix Dark]

Wyclef responds to the accusations
http://nahright.com/news/2010/01/16/video-wyclefs-response-to-tsgs-accusations/

[Boogie]

Aaand the second RCMP officer is confirmed dead.  This sucks. 

(yes it's just a minute fraction of the total suffering but it's the portion of it that's closest to being personal)

[The Fake Shemp]

That sucks dude.

[Himu]

This is nuts. I'm donating money later today.

[Cormacaroni]

Was quite distressed to find that our donation box at work was about the size of a coffee can.

investment bankers

(I gave, and the company matched my contribution at least)

[Beezy]

Some disturbing photos 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h21_21711211.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h22_21711223b.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h23_21702617.jpg

[close]

How do people die in Earthquakes? I don't understand this. How can 100K people die like that in 20 minutes? Either they fall down to the bowels of earth or get crushed by falling buildings right?

yep

[Great Rumbler]

Some disturbing photos 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h21_21711211.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h22_21711223b.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/haiti_01_14/h23_21702617.jpg

[close]

How do people die in Earthquakes? I don't understand this. How can 100K people die like that in 20 minutes? Either they fall down to the bowels of earth or get crushed by falling buildings right?

Lots of buildings were built on top of other buildings on steep hillsides and they were all built of unreinforced concrete. Buildings just completely collapsed and crushed everyone inside.

Nevermind that conditions were already terrible in Haiti, I'm sure a lot of people died in the first day from their injuries because of not having any medical care and people since then are dying from infections and lack of food and water.

[Mr. Gundam]

Was quite distressed to find that our donation box at work was about the size of a coffee can.

investment bankers

(I gave, and the company matched my contribution at least)

My wife's company matched as well, so our $100 donation turned into $200.

[Cormacaroni]

In a city like Tokyo, falling glass from the windows of tall buildings is a major killer. Also, fires from broken gas pipes/power lines. Elderly people are frequently killed by things as small as a teapot falling from high shelves. Flatscreen TVs can crush small children. Not to mention the long-term killers: disease & exposure.

Too many ways to think about, in other words.

[Mandark]

Apparently the big problem in Haiti right now is translating all those donations into actual help.  Island nation + bad infrastructure + quake = huge bottleneck issues in getting aid into the country.

[Ganhyun]

Apparently the big problem in Haiti right now is translating all those donations into actual help.  Island nation + bad infrastructure + quake = huge bottleneck issues in getting aid into the country.

Add the roaming gangs armed with weapons taking everything they can and air drops don't help either.

[Beezy]

[youtube=560,345]XnDqK-8OwtU[/youtube]

[Third]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

We were covering another story when we heard shots being fired. We ran toward the sound and found a store being looted. Two Haitian police officers were occasionally firing into the air to try to keep order, but that only worked for a few moments, then the looting would begin again.

They were stealing boxes of candles. An American businessman named Tony who owns two stores nearby barricaded one street to keep looters away. He had armed the two Haitian police with automatic weapons, and they were assisting him, but they were not able to control anything beyond their barricade.

It quickly became a free-for-all. Young men began fighting one another for the stolen items. A number of young men had knives, and planks of wood, screwdrivers and rocks. They were using their improvised weapons to threaten and injure others who had stolen items from the store. The robbers were now being robbed. One group of looters whipped another man with a leather belt. They punched him as well, and they stole the sack of goods he'd just stolen.

I was in the midst of the melee with Charlie Moore, my producer, Neil Hallsworth my cameraman, Vlad Duthiers, my translator, and there was a still photographer from Getty Images with us, photojournalist Jonathan Torgovnik. As things got really out of control, I saw a looter on the roof of the store they'd broken into throw what I think was part of a concrete block into the crowd. It hit a small boy in the head.

I saw him collapse. More chunks of concrete were being thrown at the looters on the roof. The injured boy couldn't get up. He'd try and then collapse again. Blood was pouring from his head. He was conscious but had no control over his body. I was afraid someone on the roof would see him lying there and throw another cinder block piece onto him. I was afraid he'd get killed. No one seemed to be helping him.

I ran to where he was struggling, and picked him up off the ground. I brought him to a spot about a hundred feet away. I could feel his warm blood on my arms. I stood him up, but he was clearly unable to walk. He wiped his bloody face, and I tried to reassure him. He had no idea where he was, and he clearly couldn't walk, so I picked him up again and handed him over to someone behind that makeshift barricade. Tony, the American businessman, gave the boy a wet towel. He was then taken away by someone else. We don't know what happened to him.

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/anderson-in-the-midst-of-looting-chaos/

Repost of the pics:

There's some blood, but it's not very graphic.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Tinfoil hats already claiming that it's staged. 

[Yeti]

I wish Anderson Cooper would carry me off in his arms. 

[Brehvolution]

AP is reporting today that Haiti's government claims 150,000 bodies have been buried. 

[Beezy]

goddamn

[brawndolicious]

Well we probably do, but not everybody has enough buying power for those things.