dagblog - Comments for "Haitian cholera: opening soon in theaters near you... not "

Death and Dancing Coexist on

artappraiser — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 04:09:46 +0000

In reply to Haitian cholera: opening soon in theaters near you... not

Death and Dancing Coexist on Haiti’s Tense Streets
"Reporter's Notebook" By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
November 26, 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/world/americas/27haiti.html

And

State.gov home page headline, November 26:

Haiti's Upcoming Elections

Ambassador Merten (Nov. 23): "We hope to see broad participation amongst the Haitian population in this important election. We urge Haitians to go out and vote and to exercise their right to do so." Full Text» Video.

Excerpt from above transcript of video conference from Haiti:

QUESTION: Oh, okay. I’m wondering what the U.S. has done to deal with the public health challenge of containing the cholera epidemic while still getting people out to the polls.

AMBASSADOR MERTEN: Well, the U.S. has done a great deal in partnership with many NGOs here on the ground, the Haitian Government, UN organizations, and other donors to combat this cholera outbreak. We have been transporting and importing rehydration solution, making sure it gets out to people. Our colleagues from CDC, which there are quite a few here right now, have been training Haitian and other trainers so that people can go out to the countryside and talk to people and help people learn how to get the treatment they need and get the care they need, because cholera is, in effect, a very treatable malady if you catch it in time and give it the proper treatment. We’ve been very active in that regard, as have many of our donor partners.

Again, I go back to my earlier assessment. I think these are Haitian elections. The Haitian Government believes that they don’t see a reason, a public health reason, for these elections not to take place. I think as long as people are informed, as I think they increasingly are, of how they can protect themselves from cholera and what treatment to seek should they be unfortunate enough to be exposed to it, I think that will – that is – should be sufficient to deal with any problems we might have.

I’m not anticipating problems in this regard on Election Day. I think it is important that these elections go forward and then take place.

QUESTION: One other thing, actually, for this election is going to have any impact on what happened or what is happening there, and if anything U.S. can do more or the international community?

AMBASSADOR MERTEN: We meet and discuss on this subject every day and meet with our colleagues to try and determine what more we can usefully do to help the Haitian people confront this issue. This is not a static process. This is not something where we’ve decided we are going to do X and X is all we’re going to do. We continue to evaluate and see what we can bring to bear to be most helpful.

But again, I’m not really sure that discussing this in terms of the election is really all that germane. I see them as two separate issues. We have a cholera problem here, which is something that the Haitians and we are all grappling with, which is a major public health challenge here. And we have the elections which should take place, need to take place, and we are here to support that effort.

Yes, thank you, being on

David Seaton — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:10:13 +0000

In reply to Good post David. Thank

Yes, thank you, being on Wolcott's list is a great morale booster.

Good post David. Thank

oleeb — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 02:19:03 +0000

In reply to Haitian cholera: opening soon in theaters near you... not

Good post David. Thank you!

And congratulations! I was over at James Wolcott's blog not long ago and saw you are on his links list. I hope it has a positive effect on your readership.

Some contrarian views...This

artappraiser — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:41:41 +0000

In reply to What grossly negligent bunch

Some contrarian views...

This one has quotes from the CDC guys on the ground, and the main expert, Afsar Ali, who has been watching for cholera there, and who is familiar with the cholera strain found in Haiti because he researched it in his home country of Bangladesh, where cholera is endemic:

Researchers Tracking Cholera to Understand Haiti Outbreak
VOA, 18 November, 2010, Brian Wagner | Miami

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/americas/Researchers-Tracking-Cholera-to-Understand-Haiti-Outbreak-108998224.html

and this:

Did U.N. Peacekeepers Bring Cholera to Haiti?
Not necessarily.
BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | NOVEMBER 18, 2010

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/18/did_un_peacekeepers_bring_cholera_to_haiti

There's aSpecial Briefing on

artappraiser — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:36:28 +0000

In reply to Haitian cholera: opening soon in theaters near you... not

There's a

Special Briefing on the U.S. Government Response to Cholera in Haiti by Representatives from the Department of State and USAID

today. A transcript should be available at state.gov tomorrow, if not a video. And some of the reporters who attend will no doubt do pieces from the briefing.

I can't remember how many

David Seaton — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:47:30 +0000

In reply to Rene Preval Blog > 60 Minutes

I can't remember how many times over the last hundred years the US armed forces have installed themselves as the government in Haiti for the most spurious of reasons. Now it would be an improvement... Certainly the UN peace keepers are not up to the job and it looks like the creole leadership is stealing a lot or most of the aid.

Rene Preval Blog > 60 Minutes

artappraiser — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:38:17 +0000

In reply to Haitian cholera: opening soon in theaters near you... not

Rene Preval Blog > 60 Minutes SundayTells It All!

Tiba Says...

I hope some of you watched 60 Minutes Sunday.

The television news reporting program "validated" what I have been criticising the Haitian government for for a longtime "Incompentence & mediocrity".

It should take the "blanc" to go all the way to Haiti to tell these morons that those tents that were promised to build for the Haitians sleeping on the streets cannot be built fast enough because those cargos with all of the materials have been sitting on the port unable to get delivered due to their stupid bureaucracy.

And the so-called primer minester, Bellerives, had no shame to say that he was NOT aware of this problem.

My question is, how could he not know/be aware of such problem?

Isn't he the government?

Last time I checked, the prime minister was in charge of all the ports in Haiti, the transportation, and all the government affairs.

It's been almost one(1) year since the earthquake left over a million people on the streets and the Bellerives had no clue the materials had been held on his ports for delivery?

This is a government with NO heart and empathy of its people and the country, period.

This is the classic Incompetence and Mediocrity of Haiti.

Posted 11/16/10 6:24 AM

more pages @

http://www.prevalhaiti.com/messages.php/25007

To see what she's talking about, it's from 9:15 to 11:40 of this 12-minute "60 Minutes" segment from this last Sunday:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7054223n

A suggestion, though, for David: watch the whole thing. Because apparently you presume what is being covered (or not) in the liberal blogosphere is the same thing many Americans are watching on broadcast teevee.

Would you rather the U.S.

David Seaton — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:25:33 +0000

In reply to Lord, you have to be kidding

Would you rather the U.S. military go back in for the umpteenth time?

Frankly, yes... if that is what it takes... They'd be a lot more use there than in Iraq.

Lord, you have to be kidding

artappraiser — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:12:24 +0000

In reply to Haitian cholera: opening soon in theaters near you... not

Lord, you have to be kidding me. This is exactly what missionaries do, for hundreds of years, they really get moving into countries when there's a disease outbreak.

From a quick google:

Baptist missionaries fight cholera outbreak in Haiti

http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id...

Christian relief agencies respond to Haiti cholera outbreak

http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/christian.relief.agencies.respon...

Request for prayer after Haiti's cholera death toll passes 900

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/request.for.prayer.after.haitis.ch...

Catholic Relief Services is providing Haitians with soap, water purification tablets and related guidance to prevent the outbreak from continuing to spread

http://crs-blog.org/cholera-outbreak-spreads-in-haiti/

Samaritan’s Purse Racing The Clock Against Cholera In Haiti

http://www.everydaychristian.com/blogs/post/8762/

Passionist Fr. Rick Frechette: Fighting Cholera in Haiti

http://thepassionists.org/whats_new/2010/11/16/passionist-fr-rick-freche...

CRWRC Working to Prevent the Spread of Cholera in Haiti

http://www.crcna.org/news.cfm?detailid=3556&newsid=2284

NWHCM Responds as Cholera Spreads through Northwest

http://www.nwhcm.org/nwhcm-responds-to-cholera-outbreak

Christian Aid
Haiti appeal

http://www.christianaid.ie/emergencies/current/haiti-earthquake-appeal/i...

Would you rather the U.S. military go back in for the umpteenth time? More empire? I thought you were against that kind of thing.

Why not just draw attention to the problem rather than making it an occasion for U.S. bashing? Yes, Americans are highly religious; they are also known to be extremely charitable givers, especially the religious ones. True that they don't always agree about their government getting involved in other countries.

Unfortunately, your rant is

artappraiser — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:01:21 +0000

In reply to What grossly negligent bunch

Unfortunately, your rant is not going to help David blame the US.

It's interesting though, thank you for the links.

I used to be a UN groupie, a big supporter. After the last few years revelations about Congo Haiti etc., I've gone 180 degrees on them. It's not just one mistake, it's scandal after scandal, there are major major management problems, I am a big skeptic towards anything they do now. Certain agenices still seem to do well, but overall, there is breakdown from their original mandates. It is very sad, I am not happy about it.