Massive Earthquake Strikes Haiti

[chipwich]

Pat Robertson has proved he is nothing but a piece of sh!t!

No one with even a shred of morals or sanity in his head would ever even dare blurt the crazy dribble he spews out of his mouth.  He often speaks of natural disasters, yet he himself is the biggest natural disaster I have ever witnessed.

[chipwich]

Thank God for that!

[Bostech]

Greetings from Rush Limbaugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcq9EpZRFKU

[Reaper man]

I am so going to hell...

[Dog Walker]

I am so going to hell...

Well Reaper, you are going to be in good company then.

[Bostech]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/17/cruise-ships-haiti-earthquake

I guess someone topped him being insensitive.

[chipwich]

Yah, Bostech, it does seem pretty distasteful for Royal Carribean to be partying it up on a private beach while the rest of the country lies in death and ruins.

However, I can't really see how it is hurting Haiti.  The ship is acting in part as a relief vessel by bringing in food and supplies as well as all proceeds from being docked there.  I can't really see how it would help Haiti to steer the ship into Jamaica or the Dominican Republic instead.

As long as the ship doesn't take up any reources while docked, then it is a net good to Haiti, regardless of how inhuman it seems to vacation right next to someone else's great tragedy.

[Bostech]

Well those ports can be used for humanitarian ships to bring aid.
Airport is already packed.
It just seems wrong to party next to devastated area.

Imagine tourists driving on tour bus and snapping pictures on 9-11 and saying how it is good for them to bring money to devastated area.

[chipwich]

You bring up some good points, I agree

[samiam]

I for one will never forget or forgive the fact that some of the people of Haiti were dancing in the street after the 9 11 attack on the U.S.

Its only fair that i changed this to some of the people

[tufsu1]

I for one will never forget or forgive the fact that the people of Haiti were dancing in the street after the 9 11 attack on the U.S.

nice

[Dog Walker]

I for one will never forget or forgive the fact that the people of Haiti were dancing in the street after the 9 11 attack on the U.S.

nice

In Haiti?  Are you sure it wasn't Mecca, or Jerusalem, or Gaza, or Kabul, or Jedda, or Islamabad, or
Cairo, or Khartoum, or Mogadishu, or Baghdad, or Tehran.  There were so very many places it was happening you might be confused.  Or in the crowd, I might have overlooked Port-au-Prince.   

[samiam]

Yes Haiti. It was not the entire population but there was a political faction that was celebrating the attack on the U.S. I was in the military at the time and the crew and myself were sitting on the mess deck when we received the report of it. We were all floored as many of the crew have been to Haiti including myself.
We received a written report and footage of the celebration

[stjr]

Well those ports can be used for humanitarian ships to bring aid.
Airport is already packed.
It just seems wrong to party next to devastated area.

If one reads the entire article, this isn't so straight forward.  Apparently the UN envoy to the Haitian government urged the cruise line to continue its stops there to support the desperate local economy.  And the cruise line is donating all port proceeds plus $1 million to Haiti and bringing supplies.

"In the end, Labadee is critical to Haiti's recovery; hundreds of people rely on Labadee for their livelihood," said John Weis, vice-president. "In our conversations with the UN special envoy of the government of Haiti, Leslie Voltaire, he notes that Haiti will benefit from the revenues that are generated from each call …

"We also have tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti. Simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most."

"Friday's call in Labadee went well," said Royal Caribbean. "Everything was open, as usual. The guests were very happy to hear that 100% of the proceeds from the call at Labadee would be donated to the relief effort."

Forty pallets of rice, beans, powdered milk, water, and canned foods were delivered on Friday, and a further 80 are due and 16 on two subsequent ships. When supplies arrive in Labadee, they are distributed by Food for the Poor, a longtime partner of Royal Caribbean in Haiti.

Royal Caribbean has also pledged $1m to the relief effort and will spend part of that helping 200 Haitian crew members.
The company recently spent $55m updating Labadee. It employs 230 Haitians and the firm estimates 300 more benefit from the market. The development has been regarded as a beacon of private investment in Haiti; Bill Clinton visited in October. Some Haitians have decried the leasing of the peninsula as effective privatisation of part of the republic's coastline.

By the way, I have been to this "port" of Royal Caribbean.  And, it's not a port at all so it isn't blocking any aid.  It's a giant lagoon that the ship turns itself 180 degrees in.  It anchors in the center of the lagoon and drops tenders to the beach.  There is no docking facility except for the tenders.  The tourist area is really a small peninsula or spit of land that forms the lagoon at the base of a mountain.  Very picturesque and totally private.  It's really amazing to see one of the world's largest ships maneuver in this space.

The stop featured a Haitian market with all locally made arts and crafts and other Haitian products sold by many vendors.  They had a pavilion that featured Haitians performing dances and music from their culture.  It seemed to be done very respectfully to the Haitian culture.  They did have the peninsula walled off from the rest of the island with what I thought looked like a "King Kong" wall.  Haitians working the resort all had picture ID badges.  I could see why Haitians would want to keep it operable with over 3,000 passengers disembarking for an entire day to spend money with them with every stop by a ship.  The donations and support of RCL would be an added benefit.  

[BridgeTroll]

Thanks for the clarification stjr...