The pictures emerging from Haiti are so horrifying, and I see so little evidence of organized assistance that it looks like a mass die-off is inevitable.

The only solution I see to avoid further catastrophe would be to temporarily de-populate Haiti with a massive airlift evacuation. Literally get all those people out of there and transport them to neighboring countries, where they can stay until their country's roads are repaired and at least temporary houses can be built.

Of course we must realize that whatever we call "temporary" housing that is built in Haiti will become permanent. Haitians are dirt poor, and it won't get better until American and European corporations are forced to stop disrupting Haiti's domestic economy.

A Marshall Plan for Haiti is needed to rebuild that country from the ground up. It will take years and billions of dollars, but in the end Haiti could become a viable nation again.

Otherwise, start digging trenches. Make them big enough to bury half a million people.
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Cows get milked, rubes get bilked,
And fat cats dine on fools and cream.

was very revealing. Although the resolution was poor, you could see that the harbor is a long way from being truly functional. Piers were all busted, and the whole waterfront area was strewn with rubble from collapsed buildings. Roads between the pier and the city were blocked in many places, and roads along the coast were similarly wrecked.

What this means is that any major construction work will have to begin with air-dropped heavy machinery. I'm sure engineers have already figured out an approach to starting the rubble removal process.

Unfortunately, efforts to un-block roads will not keep alive the many thousands of Haitians that right now are standing in the streets and sleeping on hillsides. That's why I think every helicopter that arrives to deliver water should then depart with a full load of human beings to get them out of there.
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Cows get milked, rubes get bilked,
And fat cats dine on fools and cream.

"[Rajiv] Shah, the newly minted USAID administrator, has wowed the White House and State Department in his maiden turn in the spotlight, with top officials in both departments praising his steady leadership and command of the evolving operations in Port-au-Prince.

"Dr. Shah has been excellent," said Denis McDonough, National Security Council chief of staff, who has worked closely with Shah since the earthquake struck Tuesday. "Focused. Calm. Facts-based."

Sounds like a person that should be in charge.
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Cows get milked, rubes get bilked,
And fat cats dine on fools and cream.

Limbaugh: Haiti earthquake "made to order" for Obama, along with "private sector fundraising efforts"

otherwise, as "Think Progress" remarks: "The person who suggested sending Bush to Haiti must be the same genius who decided not to fight for a public health insurance option. ..."

Clinton's only use (perhaps) is to teach Obama about Haiti:-)

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there are still people who like him and his admin and if he can help raise money and equipment - I'm all for it.

DOn Gainor:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/01/14/dan-gainor-haiti-earthquake-america-help/

cdcruce

Minnesota

This is a tough situation, indeed. It's great that the world wants to help, but I think Haitians need to help Haitians first and foremost. They'll figure it out. Let them figure it out. How can they get stronger if the entire world just bails them out, takes in all their orphans, etc etc? They weren't the first to experience such tragedy, nor will they be the last. Pick up the pieces and move on.

from those who post comments there :(

at least imo, nothing else gets close right now.

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coverage has been broad and appears to be updated regularly.

allowing some tortuous prose: " most people killed in an earthquake die within the first 72 hours."

Plus as it stops being new news the quality will get worse as in
Katrina. But the BBC doesn't have very much.

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from http://abcnews.go.com/WN/HaitiEarthquake/haiti-earthquake-tensions-mount-supplies-stuck-airport/story?id=9573873&page=1

earlier, I thought- where were they hanging out just before- how the hell did the Chinese get to Haiti that quickly? Some Chinese were in Haiti, part of the already existing International Relief Fund- for the already existing humanitarian crisis that in itself is a pretty sad statement.

Some of the Cubans reported as aiding Haitians were there when the earthquake hit.

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in Katrina vs this : it's a big difference when it happens in your own country-

The Chinese are certainly technically prepared by history:

July 28,1976 Tangshan, China: worst earthquake to hit China in 20th century; devastated 20 sq mi of city, leaving 255,000 (official) dead. Estimated toll as high as 655,000.

but they didn't handle the humanitarian/political fallout well in the last big one:

May 12, 2008 China: over 67,000 people die and hundreds of thousands more are injured when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan Provinces in western China. Nearly 900 students were trapped when Juyuan Middle School in the Sichuan Province collapsed from the quake.

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CBC -

...Finally, rightly or wrongly, the NDP is taking full credit -- no pun intended -- for the decision by Mastercard, Visa and American Express to waive fees for donations to approved humanitarian organizations. Yesterday, the party's consumer affairs critic Glenn Thibeault challenged credit card companies to do just that. ..

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