The New Dark Age

28 January, 2010

Venezuela Steps Up Aid Effort to Haiti, Questions U.S. Military …
Kiraz Janicke – Venezuelanalysis.comCaracas, January 20th, 2009 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela has stepped up its aid effort to Haiti as a second …
www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/5086

A day in the life of a Haiti tent city
Los Angeles Times
By Mitchell Landsberg Reporting from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti – Morning arrives with the melody of the Haitian streets. A rooster crows, and two street …
www.latimes.com/la-fg-haiti-tent28-mod,0,1004620.storylink

Scientology efforts in Haiti raise questions for some
Newsday (subscription)
But his piloting of his own Boeing 707 to bring relief supplies to Haiti this week is focusing attention on the Church of Scientology, to which he and other …
www.newsday.com/long-island/scientology-efforts-in-haiti-raise-questions-for-some-1.1728113

Adopting a child from Haiti a ‘battle of endurance’
Deseret News
By Elizabeth Stuart The floor was shaking, the walls were crumbling and the babies at Ruuska Village Orphanage in Haiti were bouncing out of their cribs. …
www.deseretnews.com/article/705361596/Adopting-a-child-from-Haiti-a-battle-of-endurance.html

Stars Banding Together to Record New “We Are the World” for Haiti
E! Online (blog)
Jones confirmed to me today that he’s helping spearhead a new recording of the charity song with the proceeds going to help Haiti. The new version will be …
www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b164438_stars_banding_together_record_new_we.html

Haiti’s problems run deep
Dallas Morning News (blog)
The real disaster in Haiti is as much man-made as the earthquake. After years and billions of dollars of foreign assistance, Haiti remains the poorest …
dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/01/haitis-problems.html

Emergency grants offered to Haitian students in US
Washington Post
The Institute of International Education announced Wednesday that it is offering grants of up to $2000 to undergraduate and graduate students from Haiti …
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/27/AR2010012703806.html

NASA Sends Airborne Radar to Map Haiti Faults in 3-D
Wired News
By Betsy Mason NASA is sending a radar-equipped jet to Haiti to make 3-D maps of the deformation caused by the magnitude 7 earthquake on Jan. …
www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/nasa-radar-to-map-haiti-faults/

Blige, Bocelli to Sing for Haiti at Grammys
ABC News
All proceeds will go to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. The performance is also intended as a anniversary tribute to “Bridge Over Troubled Water”,
…
abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9678832

Problems With Food Distribution in Haiti – The Lede Blog – NYTimes.com
By By ROBERT MACKEY and ROGENE FISHER
Two weeks after the devastating earthquake that left much of Haiti in ruins, food distribution to desperate Haitians remains limited and often chaotic.
thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/food-distribution-problems-documented-in-haiti/

Global Voices Online “Haiti: Endurance
By Janine Mendes-Franco
“Over and over mind-numbing injuries that are now two weeks old — yet the people are stoic, strong, long-suffering, graceful … resilient beyond comprehension”: The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog is convinced that “against
the odds, …
globalvoicesonline.org/2010/01/27/haiti-endurance/

Clemens on Haiti, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics …
By Bryan Caplan
Currently, we allow a trickle of about 21000 Haitian immigrants, on average, to enter the United States legally each year; most of them are able to come only because they are lucky enough to have a relative already here. …
econlog.econlib.org/archives/2010/01/clemens_on_hait.html

Redeem Credit Card Points For Donations To Haiti
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Credit card companies are now letting their customers trade in their card rewards points to make donations to Haiti, the New York Times reports.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/27/redeem-credit-card-points_n_439478.html

Adam Lambert Auctions Off His Underwear For Haiti On ‘Ellen …
By Robbie Daw
I love Adam and think putting up his underwear for Haiti relief is hilarious and will help the cause. As for Kris, he is GOING to Haiti to help out so I think he is doing his part also. Go Adam AND Kris! They are both amazing singers …
idolator.com/5380642/adam-lambert-auctions-off-his-underwear-for-haiti-on-ellen

Eric Holt Gimenez: Haiti: Roots of Liberty, Roots of Disaster
The success of relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti will depend in the short and long term on rebuilding its food system as an engine for local …
www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-holt-gimenez/haiti-roots-of-liberty—r_b_431724.html

Haiti homeless reach 2 million | World news | guardian.co.uk
Quake survivors in makeshift camps face disease • US prepares to send 4000 more troops.
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/21/haiti-homeless-reach-2-million

Haiti – HHS Relief and Support Activities
Medical supplies, support equipment and several teams have been deployed to Haiti; these include an International Medical Surgical Response Team, …
www.hhs.gov/haiti/

Breaking: Venezuela to cancel Haiti debt | ONE
By Chris Scott
According to our sources, Venezuela plans to cancel their share of Haiti’s debt. As we’ve reported, Haiti’s debt to Venezuela is approximately $295 million. This is an enormous step forward in Haiti’s path to full debt cancellation. …
www.one.org/blog/2010/01/27/breaking-venezuela-to-cancel-haiti-debt/

Venezuela’s Chavez Forgives Haiti’s Debt “ Did You Know
By Rainbow Warrior
Chavez made the announcement at the closing ceremony of a meeting of foreign ministers from leftist countries with the ALBA trade alliance, a Cuba and Venezuela-supported regional common market founded in 2004. …
rainbowwarrior2005.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/venezuelas-chavez-forgives-haitis-debt/

Censored News Page 2: Venezuela forgives Haiti debt; CITGO ships …
By Brenda Norrell
Venezuela, we at CITGO are working very hard to offer additional assistance to the Haitian people at this time of need. Because of this, I am very pleased to witness today the sendoff of this first 20-ton shipment, out of 120-tons of …
censored-news.blogspot.com/2010/01/venezuela-forgives-haiti-debt-citgo.html

Latin American Herald Tribune – Chavez Writes Off Haiti’s Oil Debt …
“Haiti has no debt with Venezuela, just the opposite: Venezuela has a historical debt with that nation, with that people for whom we feel not pity but rather admiration, and we share their faith, their hope,” Chavez said after the …
www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=351054&CategoryId=10717

27 January, 2010

Freedom Rider: Useless Aid
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“The time has come for a new paradigm: No donation without agitation.” The United States has succeeded in plunging mainstream disaster “relief” into disrepute. “No donations to groups like the Red Cross, who sit on millions of dollars but do nothing but hand out blankets and move victims away from their homes in order to convenience the powerful.” And, especially, no donations to any group associated with George Bush or Bill Clinton.
www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/freedom-rider-useless-aid

US Military’s Haiti “Relief” Ops A Rehearsal For Troop Deployments in Latin America
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
When the U.S. sent thousands of troops into Port au Prince airport, earthquake relief was clearly not the primary mission. Otherwise, ships and whole military units would not have arrived with only supplies for themselves.
www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/us-militarys-haiti-relief-ops-rehearsal-troop-deployments-latin-america

Boojum Hunting in the Caribbean
by John Maxwell
The United States is historically and culturally primed to commit atrocities against Haiti, it seems. “It is the place where apparitions like Pat Robertson, Roger Noriega, Otto Reich and Luigi Einaudi flourish and have their being, sustained by vicious fables invented 500 years ago to justify human slavery.”
www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/boojum-hunting-caribbean

“We Talk of Assuming Protectorate Over Haiti.”
by Frederick Douglass, 1893
Even in Frederick Douglass’s day, American “sharks” circled Haiti, hoping to steal her people’s land, liberty and sovereignty. “Men in high American quarters have boasted to me,” said Douglass, “of their ability to start a revolution in Haiti at pleasure.”
www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/”we-talk-assuming-protectorate-over-haiti”

Analysis: Helen Scott
HAITI UNDER THE EAGLE
The U.S. media’s coverage of the earthquake in Haiti leaves out any mention of an older disaster—the long and bloody record of U.S. intervention.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/26/haiti-under-the-eagle

Interview: David Wilson
VICTIMS OF FREE TRADE “VOODOO”
An immigrant rights activist who was in Haiti when the earthquake hit describes how U.S. and IMF policies contributed to the suffering.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/27/free-trade-voodoo

Comment
UNION NURSES RESPOND FOR HAITI
National Nurses United put out a call for volunteers, and the response was overwhelming—despite the attitude of the U.S. military.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/27/nurses-respond-for-haiti

Comment: Ashley Smith
HUMANITARIAN AID OR MILITARY OCCUPATION?
Instead of rushing food, water and rescue teams to help the victims of Haiti’s earthquake, the Obama administration has organized an occupation.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/19/humanitarian-aid-or-occupation

Analysis: Rachel Cohen and Alan Maass
THE SIEGE OF HAITI
A ring of U.S. warships on patrol off Haiti’s coast to stop desperate people from trying to flee is a stark symbol of Washington’s attitude toward refugees.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/22/siege-of-haiti

Comment: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
THE MEDIA’S SCAPEGOATING REFLEX
The earthquake that rocked Haiti has brought back hard memories of the racist atmosphere whipped up after the Katrina disaster in New Orleans.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/22/media-scapegoating-reflex

Interview: Jesse Hagopian
WITNESS TO A NIGHTMARE
A Seattle activist and writer who was in Haiti when the earthquake hit talks about the desperate situation gripping the country, and how the U.S. made things worse.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/18/witness-to-a-nightmare

Interview: Olden Polynice
WE ARE A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE
A former NBA player and longtime activist and advocate for his homeland talks about the post-earthquake calamity in Haiti.
socialistworker.org/2010/01/18/the-forgotten-people

Video: Women struggle in Haiti aftermath
Aljazeera.net
January 26, 2010 – While aid distribution in the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake has improved, many are still fighting to survive and some of the most vulnerable are pregnant women. Haiti already had the worst maternal mortality rate in the Western hemisphere and now, with the country’s hospitals in ruins, pregnant women face even more dangers..
www.uruknet.de/?p=62609

“Reconstructing Haiti” on starvation wages
Bill Van Auken
January 26, 2010 – Government ministers, international bankers and aid agencies gathered in Montreal Monday to discuss plans for reconstructing earthquake-ravaged Haiti. At the heart of their proposals is the exploitation of Haitian workers at poverty wages. The conference offered nothing concrete in terms of new assistance, instead scheduling a donors meeting at the United Nations in March. Much of the rhetoric coming out of the gathering seemed to bear little relationship to the situation on the ground in Haiti, where 150,000 people have been confirmed dead, hundreds of thousands more are wounded and over 1.5 million are homeless…
www.uruknet.de/?p=62592

Haiti: Human Trafficking On The Rise After Earthquake
Eve Blossom
January 26, 2010 – Some groups (UNICEF) are now stating that thousands of children in Haiti are being trafficked out of the country. UNICEF has even reported children taken from hospitals. During such chaotic times with many international groups, planes, supplies moving in and out of the airport and borders, there is a greater opportunity for human trafficking. Security in and around Haiti is relaxed to move goods and aid in as fast as possible but that also allows trafficking to occur more easily…
www.uruknet.de/?p=62607

Less than 1 cent of US quake aid dollar goes in cash to Haitian government:
Graphic shows breakdown of U.S. aid to Haiti
www.courant.com/news/nation-world/sns-ap-lt-haiti-us-aid,0,2489632.story

The Kidnapping of Haiti
By John Pilger
The theft of Haiti has been swift and crude. On 22 January, the United States secured “formal approval” from the United Nations to take over all air and sea ports in Haiti, and to “secure” roads. No Haitian signed the agreement, which has no basis in law. Power rules in an American naval blockade and the arrival of 13,000 marines, special forces, spooks and mercenaries, none with humanitarian relief training.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24519.htm

Believe It or Not!
Haiti Gets a Penny of Each U.S. Aid Dollar
By The Associated Press
Of each U.S. taxpayer dollar, 40 cents is going to the U.S. military, paying for security, search and rescue teams, and the Navy’s hospital ship USNS Comfort. Another 36 cents funds US AID’s disaster assistance – Getting the food to Haitians – paying for freighters, trucks and distribution centers, and the people to staff them, took another 10.5 cents from each dollar.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24518.htm

Focus on Haiti
The Politics of Rice
Video Report By Al Jazeera
How a fertile country became dependent on food aid.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24520.htm

US Marines in Haiti: Back to colonialism
Bill Van Auken
January 27, 2010 – The US media’s coverage of the catastrophe in Haiti has increasingly included articles and broadcast reports extolling the supposed humanitarian role of US soldiers and Marines in the Caribbean country. They generally describe how “combat-hardened” veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are lending a helping hand to the survivors of the earthquake. Some of this reporting seems aimed at countering growing international criticism of the US militarization of the response to the Haitian disaster, which has given priority to rushing in combat-equipped troops over the provision of medical supplies, food and water desperately needed to save lives…
www.uruknet.de/?p=62621

Haiti On Our Minds
Mumia Abu-Jamal
January 27, 2010 – … Haiti, we are informed by the corporate media, is the poorest nation in the West. We are never told however, how it got that way. How many of us know that the U.S. brutally occupied Haiti, and stayed there for over 20 years? Or that Haiti, which had the temerity to defeat not one, not two, but three colonial armies (the French, the British, and the Spanish), was forced to pay France billions of dollars in reparations for 200 years — the first and only time in history that a victor in war had to pay back the nation it defeated!? Haiti isn’t just poor; it’s been impoverished by a global system of exploitation and a plantation capitalist economy that was designed as a sanction for Black Liberation…
www.uruknet.de/?p=62632