Haiti,
Palestine And Louisiana: Land Of No Cement
24 January 2010By Jane Stillwater
The main difference between Cuba and Haiti seems to be
that Cuba finally gave up waiting around for the
powers-that-be in Washington to do right by it and
decided to go its own way -- whereas Haiti was pretty
much forced to stay sheltered under the wing of
American corporatists' benevolence for the past
century. Cuba now offers all of its citizens a free
education up to and past university level and there is
no one starving in Cuba. Just compare that to the
shape that Haiti is in now -- and was in even before
the earthquake.
It's the little things that count I guess.
The main difference between Vermont and some of our
less fortunate states -- states like Mississippi,
Louisiana, California and others that had bought the
whole "privatization" package and now appear to be on
the verge of bankruptcy after having given a bunch of
corporatist con-men all of their money -- seems to be
that Vermont didn't fall for all that
private-businesses-can-do-it-better corporate welfare
propaganda crap being pumped out by the media.
Instead, Vermont simply developed its own healthcare
system, remained solvent and went its own way.
No matter what they may tell you, no one can make a
profit from performing necessary-but-unprofitable
functions that benefit the public -- unless of course
you either charge extra money to cover your profit
margin as well as your goods and services or else deal
out shoddy merchandise. Duh.
The main difference between Israel and Palestine
appears to be that parts of Palestine have no cement.
Israel apparently played ball with the American
globalization rich kids and Palestine didn't. And as a
result, now no one is allowed to import CEMENT into
Gaza. Cement? Can you imagine life without cement? If
you can't, stop by Gaza and see for yourself -- if you
can get in.
There's a moral here somewhere and I personally
believe that the moral is this: If you play ball with
the Washington-driven "Ugly American" globalization
One-World-Order get-rich-quick-at-any-cost
privatization profit machines, then sooner or later
you too are gonna end up looking like Palestine, Haiti
or post-Katrina Louisiana. But if you don't play ball
with the rich kids, you may risk ending up with no
cement. Either way, the rich kids win and the rest of
us lose.
PS: If anyone has any suggestions on how I can be
allowed into Haiti (or even Gaza or Afghanistan or
Louisiana!) as a journalist or as a volunteer (I have
knowledge of and experience with emergency pain
relief, infant nurturing and hospice care), please let
me know.
PPS: Speaking of states that have fallen for
corporatist propaganda to their own peril, I'd really
like to recommend that a hand-recount of the ballots
in Massachusetts be undertaken immediately. We all
know who brought that electronic vote-counting
software to the Boston tea party on January 19 -- and
it wasn't We the People.
But if Scott Brown did win the January 19 election
fair and square (which I doubt), then the people of
the great state of Massachusetts have just cut off
their noses to spite corporatist Barack Obama's face
-- by electing yet another one of the corporate foxes
who helped invade their hen house in the first place.
It's a lose-lose situation for yet another American
state. And it's a good thing that Massachusetts isn't
prone to earthquakes.
****
From Smirking Chimp: Why Is The Haiti Disaster
Response So Screwed Up?: ...Lacking outside support,
civilians have worked communally to try to save their
own families. Supplies were sent but many have yet to
get out of the airport. Troops have not been assigned
to help deliver water or guard medical facilities.
There is a fear of the wrath of a people that are
pissed off at hearing about aid and money donated, and
then seeing nothing trickling down into their
neighborhoods.
And there is a deeper fear -- a political fear. With
President Aristide, the man the US considers too
radical for its tastes, anxious to return, there is
fear that a possible revolt against the lack of help
could turn angry and political. Hillary Clinton keeps
telling the Haitians that we are their friends -- but
many doubt it. They know that Aristide's Lavalas party
is the most popular in Haiti and wants a more profound
transformation than the US wants to allow. It had been
banned from taking part in scheduled elections next
month, that are likely to be canceled now. Haiti's
president Preval is weak and dependent on US largesse.
Let's admit it, this disaster response is itself a
disaster. And it's helping promote a new disaster to
come.
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/26151
From Larry: For all the crazies who have been touting
"no Global Warming" (because they don't understand
CLIMATE CHANGE) because of all of the snow and cold
this year --- well, here ya go.
Climate Change means that, as the world warms, the
climate gets more extreme; the warms are warmer, and
the colds are COLDER. Extremes! Get it? (sheesh --
having to explain something that a child could find
out by Googling is really frustrating)
Crazies ---- er... deniers also ignore the lake levels
in the huge reservoirs of the West and how, in the
near future, they will go dry. How about a pic?http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/LakeMead/.
Gad. Morons.
****
From Arla: Palestinians in Gaza donate to Haiti
http://www.euronews.net/2010/../earthquake-in-haiti-palestinians-in-gaza-donate-to-haiti/
: It might be one of the world’s poorest areas,
besieged by its neighbour Israel, but Palestinians
living in the Gaza Strip have been donating what
little they have to help those struck by the
earthquake in Haiti. Among the donations collected by
a Red Cross representative: toys, toiletries and
sweets – small luxuries that Gazans know only too well
can brighten spirits in the face of devastation. Some
also gave money.
Dr Jamal Khudari, from the Palestinian Committee
against the Siege said: “It’s a symbolic donation for
the people of Haiti, for the children of Haiti, to
tell them that we feel the suffering.” There are ruins
in the Gaza Strip reminiscent of the scenes in Haiti.
These were not caused by a natural disaster, but by
bombs and shells in Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza,
which drew to a close a year ago. Israel blamed
attacks by militants for sparking the offensive. The
reason for the destruction might be different, but
Palestinians say they understand Haiti’s pain.
By Magbana: HAITI: Is the US Setting Up a Military
Jump Out Squad Focused on Cuba, Venezuela, and
Nicaragua?: I love it when I run into analyses that
flesh out in detail what I have been surmising in my
head. Here is another case. When I got back from a
delegation trip to Haiti after the 2004 coup, many
people asked me why the US would be involved in the
overthrow of Aristide. Of course, there are many
reasons. Aristide had doubled the minimum wage,
expanded literacy programs enormously, and was
resistant to privatization of state-owned companies.
The elite of Haiti are primarily involved in the
manufacturing business and many Americans companies
own sweatshops there — the last thing they need is a
better-paid, better-educated workforce. There are also
interests in various mineral resources and off-shore
oil.
BUT, I have always thought that one of the unspoken
reasons for US intervention in Haiti is strategic
positioning. If you look at a map, Haiti, Cuba,
Venezuela, and Nicaragua sit on the shores of the
Caribbean Basin (see below). Also, Haiti is very
accessible to COLOMBIA as well. I happened to find
someone on the Media Lens discussion forum, who I
think has outlined a plausible scenario for what might
be going down (see further below). More on this topic
later, but chew on the following info for now. Stay
tuned!
http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2010/../
haiti-is-the-us-setting-up-a-military-jump-out-squad-focused-on-cuba-venezuela-and-nicaragua/
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