Breaking News: 7.0 Earthquake in Haiti

[Josephus]

The sad thing is that Slargos is probably right. If this was London or Paris there would be a lot more shock and awe. If it was New York there would be war declared on God. Haiti? None of us is going to lose sleep over it. Sad but true. This thread will be dead by the weekend.

[derspiess]

Also, you are a fantastically racist fuck and I hope you die in a fire.   

  Way to show that you're better than him.

[Queequeg]

The sad thing is that Slargos is probably right. If this was London or Paris there would be a lot more shock and awe. If it was New York there would be war declared on God. Haiti? None of us is going to lose sleep over it. Sad but true. This thread will be dead by the weekend.

How long did the Tsunami thread last on the old board?

[Queequeg]

Also, you are a fantastically racist fuck and I hope you die in a fire.   

  Way to show that you're better than him.

I pulled a Martinus.  How about "I hope you realize how much of an idiot you are at some point in your life?"

[The Brain]

The sad thing is that Slargos is probably right. If this was London or Paris there would be a lot more shock and awe. If it was New York there would be war declared on God. Haiti? None of us is going to lose sleep over it. Sad but true. This thread will be dead by the weekend.

How long did the Tsunami thread last on the old board?

The 2004 tsunami got press in Sweden because 500 Swedes died. No one cared about 200k people in Aceh or wherever.

[The Brain]

There exists today technology to determine years in advance where the next earthquakes will hit and also get short term warning.

[garbon]

I saw that Obama had said we were standing by prepared to do whatever we could do to help. I thought just get our asses over there already!

[garbon]

I don't know how other news sites are doing but Haiti is pretty much the topic of the top 3rd of yahoo news.

[lustindarkness]

I saw that Obama had said we were standing by prepared to do whatever we could do to help. I thought just get our asses over there already!

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, is under way and expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday. Additional U.S. Navy ships are under way to Haiti, a statement from the U.S. Southern Command said.

[garbon]

Good.

[Tonitrus]

You cannot hug a child with nuclear weapons (or an aircraft carrier).

[lustindarkness]

You cannot hug a child with nuclear weapons (or an aircraft carrier).

But you can make him feel warm and toastie.

[Caliga]

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, is under way and expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday. Additional U.S. Navy ships are under way to Haiti, a statement from the U.S. Southern Command said.

We shall: bomb the fault line out of existence! 

[lustindarkness]

Timmy is slow, so let me post this for him: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100113/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_haiti_earthquake

Obama promises all-out relief effort in Haiti

By MATTHEW LEE and JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee And Julie Pace, Associated Press Writers – 7 mins ago
WASHINGTON – U.S. officials are laying out a massive military response to the Haiti earthquake, saying that ships, helicopters, transport planes and a 2,000-member Marine unit are either on the way or likely to begin moving soon.

Gen. Douglas Fraser, head of U.S. Southern Command, said Wednesday that one of the U.S. Navy's large amphibious ships will likely head to Haiti with a Marine expeditionary unit aboard. Fraser said other U.S. military forces are on alert, including a brigade, which includes about 3,500 troops.

Fraser said during a news conference with other U.S. officials that the Pentagon is "seriously looking at" sending thousands of Marines to assist with disaster relief efforts and security in Haiti.

President Barack Obama promised earlier Wednesday to mount an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort to help the people of Haiti overcome a "cruel and incomprehensible" tragedy."

The president said the relief effort is gearing up even as the U.S. government is working to account for Americans who were on the island nation when the disaster struck late Tuesday afternoon.

The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could be deployed to the quake-ravaged country within the next few days to either help with emergency aid distribution or enforce law in order in conjunction with U.N. peacekeepers already there, Fraser said.

The general said that a U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, is also heading from Norfolk, Va., to the area and should arrive Thursday afternoon.

The dispatched troops would aim to keep the peace in the event of post-disaster unrest as part of a larger international effort overseen by the United Nations, whose peacekeeping operation headquarters was destroyed in the quake. About 100 U.N. personnel are believed to be trapped in the ruins of he building.

"It's going to be our assessments that are going to determine, in conjunction with (the U.N. mission) and the other international partners who are there, how best to deal with any security situations that come up," Fraser said.

"We don't know precisely what the situation is on the ground," he added. "So we're leaning forward to provide as much as capability as quickly as we can to respond to whatever the need is when we get there."

More immediately, Fraser's Miami-based Southern Command is also dispatching a team of 30 people to Haiti to support relief efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake and make way for additional military aid.

Officials said two C-130 aircraft were departing Wednesday for Haiti with the team of military engineers, operational planners, communications specialists and a command and control group. The Air Force is sending people to provide air traffic control and operations at the Port-au-Prince airport.

Coast Guard helicopters early Wednesday evacuated four injured U.S. Embassy personnel to a hospital at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Southcom did not release their names.

Fraser said the military is also sending units to get Port-au-Prince's airport secured and operating again. The airport is considered "operational," he said, but the facility's tower and other operations were damaged.

Fraser appeared with U.S. Agency for International Development administrator Rajiv Shah, the official named by Obama to coordinate American efforts in Haiti.

The president called upon all nations to join in helping stricken Haitians.

Obama spoke Wednesday in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room. Later, spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the president had no plans to go to Haiti.

The president, who has been involved in ensuring a quick response since Tuesday night, said in a statement from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room that one of the government's top priorities is to quickly locate U.S. embassy employees and their families, as well as all other American citizens living and working in Haiti. He urged Americans trying to locate family members to contact the State Department at 1-888-407-4747.

Obama sought to show a swift and united disaster response with the United States as an assertive leader, but he said the effort must be an international one. "We are reminded of the common humanity that we all share," he said, with Vice President Joe Biden at his side.

The president outlined a series of steps to help the Haitian people and said the U.S. commitment to its hemispheric neighbor will be unwavering.

"We have to be there for them in their hour of need," the president said.

Obama adjusted his Wednesday schedule, canceling a jobs event in Maryland to better monitor the situation in Haiti.

Obama encouraged Americans who want to help to go to http://www.whitehouse.gov to find options for contributing to the aid effort.

[Grallon]

...

As for wishing for my death, I think that makes you a pretty horrible person in your own right, but since you feel a sense of moral superiority when you make that judgement you probably don't even see it. 

Slargos and I are also highly moral individuals - we just happen to not shirk from  unpleasant truths.  Haiti was a crummy mess before this latest disaster, is an even crummier mess now, and will remain a crummy mess after the worst of this is behind them. 

He and I simply aknowledge that fact rather than trying to make ourselves feel good about our sudden surge of instant empathy towards those poor people.




G.