Battlefield Haiti!
Well, that’s just what Haiti needs right now—Scientologists!
John Travolta has announced that he will fly “volunteer ministers” from the Church of Scientology to Haiti, to help victims of the country?
Well, that’s just what Haiti needs right now—Scientologists!
John Travolta has announced that he will fly “volunteer ministers” from the Church of Scientology to Haiti, to help victims of the country?
Dangerous Minds pal Matt Dunnerstick sent word of this wonderfully appropriate way to raise money for the people of Haiti: a voodoo doll of none other than bigoted, senile, Christian right-wing fucktard Pat Robertson. A man so stupid he blames natural disasters and terrorism on “deals with the devil” and people’s sexual orientation! You can bid for the voodoo doll on Ebay and 100% of the money raised will go to the Red Cross.
Ever wanted to cause Pat Robertson a massive headache? Give him back pain? Jab him in the crotch? Of course you have! Well then BID NOW to own your very own physical representation of the dark, dark soul of Pat Robertson.
Accessories included with the doll are Pat’s very own “HOLY” BIBLE and BAG OF MONEY taken from real Americans! WOW!
(When we first saw this Ebay listing, there were 51 bids and the price was $500. A few hours later, it’s up to 58 bids and $750)
Vinay Gupta’s Hexayurt, a semi-permanent structure that can be built to house a family of eight from about $100’s worth of cheap material, is a critical solution for the mess in Haiti. If implemented in the current situation, hexayurts can house the brunt of displaced survivors until more permanent aid is forthcoming. Ask your local government and NGO bodies to consider using the hexayurt as part of their relief effort.
The Hexayurt is a new kind of sheltering solution. To make the simplest hexayurt, make a wall by putting six sheets of plywood on their sides in a hexagon. Cut six more sheets in half diagonally, and screw them together into a shallow cone. Lift with a large group on to the wall, and fasten with more screws. This shelter will last for several years and costs less than $100. It may be ideal for a variety of disaster relief situations.
Here are the key points.
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Last night Naomi Klein, author of “No Logo” and “The Shock Doctrine,” spoke on how Haiti is being handled. Click the link below for her speech. She makes one incredibly crucial point: Aid sent to Haiti needs to be in the form of a grant, not a loan. Loans to the third world from the first are the primary way in which these countries are kept under thumb. The payback becomes impossible and the country on the receiving end of such “charity” becomes a debt slave to the policies and decisions of the one doing the loaning. This is a crucially important meme to spread: Grants, not Loans.
Journalist and author Naomi Klein spoke in New York last night and addressed the crisis in Haiti: ?
Here’s Bill Quigley on the history of American intervention in Haiti. One of the ugliest stories never told. (Note that Haiti has essentially become a plantation for Disney.)
Why does the US owe Haiti Billions? Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, stated his foreign policy view as the “Pottery Barn rule.” That is - “if you break it, you own it.”
The US has worked to break Haiti for over 200 years. We owe Haiti. Not charity. We owe Haiti as a matter of justice. Reparations. And not the $100 million promised by President Obama either - that is Powerball money. The US owes Haiti Billions - with a big B.
The US has worked for centuries to break Haiti. The US has used Haiti like a plantation. The US helped bleed the country economically since it freed itself, repeatedly invaded the country militarily, supported dictators who abused the people, used the country as a dumping ground for our own economic advantage, ruined their roads and agriculture, and toppled popularly elected officials. The US has even used Haiti like the old plantation owner and slipped over there repeatedly for sexual recreation.
Here is the briefest history of some of the major US efforts to break Haiti.
Related links:
Good roundup of information on Haiti, how to best help, who’s not helping, who broke it, and who might continue to break it. List’s been going around on Facebook?
Here’s a good article (from the Republican American, of all places) on making sure your donation money makes it to Haiti. Good information; apparently people are getting scammed left and right on their donations.
If you plan to donate to relief organizations working to help the victims of last week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, certified public accountants have some suggestions.
Susan Howe, a CPA and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant’s National Financial Literacy Commission, offers these tips to ensure your donation will actually be used toward helping victims:
Donate to established organizations: Reputable nonprofit organizations are providing relief in Haiti, such as the International Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and The Salvation Army. All have experience in dealing with these types of disasters and are well-established, with a solid reputation of monetary and volunteer relief that will go directly to Haiti.
Research other organizations before you give: Many credible charities were operating in Haiti before the quake hit and are now in desperate need of financial aid. Check the Better Business Bureau Web site, at www.bbb.org/us/charity, for information about a charity’s mission, compensation, expenses, and rating. You also can check to see whether the charity is a 501(c)(3) organization by visiting this link: www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96136,00.html. The designation means the organization has been set up under federal tax rules for charitable purposes.
You also can visit Guidestar.org and type in the charity name, which will allow you to read about the charity and confirm your donation will go to the right place. It’s also a good idea to search the Internet for a charity’s name to see what news articles have been published and what the public is saying about them.
Be an educated donor: Do not give out personal or financial information freely. If you give a credit card number, address, or birth date, you can easily become a victim of identity theft. Do not respond to unsolicited e-mails, since they could be a scam or contain a virus. The safest way to give is to call an organization and ask for the best way to donate.
(Not sure I would trust the Red Cross or Salvation Army, though. Do some research, see “progressive links” provided above.)
(Republican American: Tips to make sure your donation actually helps victims in Haiti)
Have you seen this man? The above, digitally enhanced photos of Osama bin-Laden were just published by the FBI and the US Department of Defense:
In a first “aged progressed” mugshot, he is portrayed in Western clothes with wavy grey and black hair and a trimmed beard; a second shows the terrorist leader in his traditional outfit, with a white turban and a flowing, but greyer, beard. Forensic artists used digital enhancement to modify Bin Laden’s features in an attempt to show what he might now look like.
FBI Issues Digital Mug Shot Of An Aged Osama bin Laden
Sadness in the streets! The Bodhi Tree, one of the best bookstores, period, and THEE very best New Age and Spirituality bookstore anywhere on the planet is closing. Although in recent years I’ve not gone there nearly as much as I used to, in the mid-90s, I went to the Bodhi Tree every single Saturday morning without fail and poured over the shelves of the used books annex. There I found Leary first editions, tons of rare Crowley and even signed firsts of Terence McKenna’s The Invisible Landscape and True Hallucinations. I’d comb through this store sometimes twice a week. For book hounds into the occult and weirdo culture in general, the Bodhi Tree was like an intellectual candy shop. I felt great pride to see my own books and DVDs for sale there. But sadly, those days have passed. With Amazon and Barnes & Noble taking massive bites out of the profits of niche booksellers—Shirley MacLaine probably shops on Amazon—it’s hard to run a business on fumes. Even storied operations like the Bodhi Tree, in the end have their life cycles. I wonder what it will reincarnate as?
From the LA Weekly:
Owners Phil Thompson and Stan Madson informed their staff last Wednesday that the cozy Melrose Avenue shop, a nationally renowned and much beloved spiritual center, will be shutting its doors in a year’s time.
After some eight months of discussion, Thompson and Madson decided to sell the property to a local business owner who leases space to several other nearby retailers. The Bodhi Tree opened in 1970. Land values in the area have risen dramatically since then. Meanwhile, the business of selling print books has been on a steady decline. For years, real estate agents had been circling the Bodhi Tree like vultures. In the end, selling the property became a much more profitable option than continuing to sell books.
Thompson and Madson started the bookstore when they were in their 30’s. They are now both in their early 70’s. They were aerospace engineers who left a life of science for one of contemplation and meditation.
“Twenty years ago we felt like it was an expanding situation,” says Madson. “We were concerned the store was getting too big. We had a staff of 100. Publishing was expanding. Spirituality was expanding. But what changed was that the market became widely dispersed.”
