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Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts

Friday, September 24, 2021

Horsefeathers

Just want to say I think this uproar over the mounted Border Patrol in South Texas is a whole lot of hooey - a mindless, kneejerk reaction by a lot of la-de-da city types who wouldn't know which end of a horse to talk to.  I've looked at the video of the alleged "horrific" incident and I don't see anybody being whipped or "run over" or injured.  One guy fell back in the river when a horse bumped him, but the water was only knee deep - he wasn't hurt.  And if anybody was popped - this point is not certain - with the end of a pair of reins, that might sting a little bit, but that's not at all the same as being whipped.  

(To break it down for the horseless:  reins are attached to the horse; there's only a foot or two of loose rein to twirl; you can't get enough swing or leverage to really whip some one that way - it's geometry.)

In other words, this is fake news, in my opinion.  Here's a report from a fact-checking team at WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida, that shows and tells what really happened:

   

Mounted police, by whatever name they may be called, are nothing new - they have been and are regularly used for crowd control not only in the wide-open spaces of Texas, but also in most big cities - like New York and Washington, to name but two. Horses can go, and go quickly, where bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles cannot go, especially on uneven terrain. Seems to me what the Border Patrol was doing was a very reasonable and, yes, humane method of coping with a difficult situation.  It's nothing new, and nothing horrific, people. Grow up. 

Mention should be made that the Border Patrol are federal, not state employees, enforcing the law of the land.  Now whether it is morally right or wrong to expel those particular illegal immigrants, most of them homeless families in desperate need, is a different question, and worthy of humanitarian concern - which should have already been carefully considered by the powers that be in Washington before this crisis arose.  Though really, it's a moot point, now that the encampment has been cleared.

But I will say I am very, very disappointed in President Biden's ranting response to a misleading line of uproar in the press. "They will pay for this!" he says - who will pay?  For what, exactly?  How?  Sounds a lot like the mindless, emotional stuff we used to hear from his predecessor. Seems to me Old Joe doesn't quite have a grip on the facts of the matter, which are perfectly obvious to me and probably to most other Texans, and to most everybody who's ever ridden a horse, for that matter.  

But now the President has taken away the Border Patrol's horses.  That is just a damn dumb thing to do.  They need those horses down there for all sorts of reasons.  I wouldn't be surprised if all the BP agents quit.

Don't let me down, Joe. I voted for a smart President, or at least smarter than the last. Be one, please. 

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

Valentines from All Over


Honk to Joe.My.God., where I swiped borrowed these from.

First up:  a gay kiss-in for Valentine's Day from the Place St. Michel in Paris, where demonstrators assembled after a couple hundred Christianists threatened to bash their heads in at their original venue, in front of Notre Dame.  Way to go, mes amis.  Vive la France!



And here's the official release of We Are the World 25 for Haiti.  Your Head Trucker is getting to be so antique now, I haven't got a fucking clue who the vast majority of these people are.  Streisand I recognize, of course, and the obviously immortal Tony Bennett, and Celine Dion, and maybe Stevie Wonder?  Aretha? 

Some of those young folks can sing pretty good, it's a fact; they should keep up with that, maybe they'll get a career in the music business one day.



Worth noting:  Canadian lesbian kd lang opened the Vancouver Winter Olympics with this rendition of a Leonard Cohen piece.  She also sang at the Calgary games back in 1988.  Hmm, has there ever been an out performer sing at a major sporting event here in the US of A, I wonder?  Not embeddable, but see the clip on NBC here.

Finally, a slap-you-silly valentine to all the military homophobes.  Never heard of Bryan Safi before, but the boy gives the definitive answer to the fear that has all them big, tough, macho soldiers peeing in their pants:  the prospect of what Joe Jervis laughingly calls "a non-stop homo rape-a-rama" if DADT is repealed.  Which btw, even Dick Cheney came out in favor of overturning today.  He may be a fascist, but he does have a gay daughter, you know.




So what did your Valentine give you today, huh?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Haiti versus Katrina

 Hundreds Of Thousands Still Displaced As Recovery Efforts Continue In Haiti

Downtown Port-au-Prince suffered some of the worst damage in the city during the January 12th earthquake in Haiti

Alex Eichler in the Atlantic pulls together the conflicting views of the disaster, and American response to it, and shows that it may be a false comparison.

Hundreds Of Thousands Still Displaced As Recovery Efforts Continue In Haiti

Monday, January 25, 2010

Survival and Suffering in Haiti

Hundreds Of Thousands Still Displaced As Recovery Efforts Continue In Haiti
Two weeks on, heartwarming stories of survival and reunion; and also of utter cluelessness and stupidity.  Oh my, does the world ever really learn anything from past mistakes?  Can you say Katrina?  God help them all.

First, check out this revealing photo essay from Haiti on "Life Beyond the Headlines."








Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sunday Drive: Still in My Heart

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.

--The Book of Common Prayer


Jennifer Crestol Still in my Heart - dedicated to Haiti victims

Jennifer Crestol


MySpace Music Videos

The Slow Progress of Haiti Relief

Some of today's news clips before I go to bed here; heartbreaking scenes.  I know there's only one airport, but you know during WWII and at other times, we built airports out of practically nothing in every far-flung corner of the globe, and quickly too.  And as far as ferrying in surplies by plane, one need only recall the miraculous work of the Berlin Airlift, 1948.

Much can be done with little, if Americans put their minds to the task.








Saturday, January 16, 2010

Haiti Still Desperate for Help

Maybe 200,000 dead.  Rachel reports on the bottleneck keeping supplies and medical help from those who need it in Port-au-Prince.

I'm not a military man, and no experience in such a huge logistical problem, so I can't criticize anyone at this point.  But it sure is sounding more and more like New Orleans after Katrina:  thousands of people stranded in baking heat without water, food, or other necessities.

Hillary is enroute to Haiti today to view the destruction and relief efforts in person.  Is it just me, or does she look 15 years older than she did in the campaign?  Wonder why that is.





Friday, January 15, 2010

Dire Needs in Haiti

Lots of help on the way; but only one airport, one runway, and one road out.  Rachel provides a good overview of the current situation and the horror of it:



Meanwhile, Pat Robertson is sticking to his devil-worshipping story:



The inane remarks of the dithering Robertson need no further comment.  But your Head Trucker will supply here the words of the guy that Robertson claims so devoutly to follow, and you can make your own judgment:
There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”  (Luke 13)

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"  (Matthew 7)
See also Matthew 25: 31-46 if you want to know what "the will of my Father" is.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

About that Haitian Pact with the Devil

Big thanks to my truckbuddy Frank for passing along this post from Matthew Yglesias, with source links:
But was there a pact with the devil? I would also note that the Haitian Revolution began in 1791, years before Napoleon took over France as Consul. Napoleon III didn’t come to power until 1848. So clearly Robertson is confused on the basic history. But I believe that Robertson is referring to the Bois Caïman Ceremony that in Haitian national mythology initiated the revolution. This was a Vodou ceremony and the following text is normally attributed to its leader, Boukman:
The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The god who holds up the ocean; who makes the thunder roar. Our God who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds; who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man’s god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good. Our god, who is so good, so just, He orders us to revenge our wrongs. It’s He who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It’s He who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men’s god who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts.
If you were a white, Catholic French person or Haitian plantation owner, I can see why you would characterize this as a prayer offered “to the devil.” The black Haitians are postulating the existence of two Gods, one for the whites and one for the blacks. The whites regard the God they pray to as the one true God. So if the blacks are praying to some second god, and doing it with a Vodou ceremony, it stands to reason that they’re engaged in a satanic ritual of some sort.

But there’s no reason for 21st century Americans to accept this interpretation of the story. From the Haitian perspective, I think you’d say they were just praying to God for his assistance and asserting the justice of their cause. This is what pretty much everyone does before heading into battle.
I also found this short clip about the Bois Caïman ceremony, presented by some American scholars:


Bois Caïman and the Vodou Revolution from Conversations With the Living on Vimeo.

Also available on YouTube here, if Vimeo doesn't play well on your computer.

Now class, after reading and viewing all of the above, compare and contrast this incident with the emotionally unstable Glenn Beck's adoration of his "fiery warrior mother spirit of love" Sarah, as shown in the next post.

Alternatively, discuss what kind of slaveholder Pat Robertson would have been in 18th-century Haiti.  Completed essays, with footnotes, are due by Monday.

Bonus:  Muchas gracias to truckbuddy Gary for posting this brilliant and utterly devastating riposte to Robertson and Limbaugh by Olbermann:


Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Haitian Ambassador Pukes on Pat Robertson

Well, okay, so he probably just felt like doing that, after this brilliant piece of batshittery:  God sent the big earthquake yesterday to punish Haiti for signing up with the Devil more than 200 years ago. 



Pat Robertson is filthy rich - damn, that preachin' stuff is a good business to be in - but did you hear him say one word about how much he was going to send to help people who are dying in the streets at this moment?  I didn't either.

The ambassador's actual response:




You do remember, don't you, that the day after 9/11, Robertson and Jerry Falwell jointly blamed that on the ACLU, abortion, feminists, pornography, and of course . . . the terrible, unholy gays.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

7.0 Earthquake in Haiti

The biggest ever in that region.  As bad as the 1989 quake that stopped the World Series in San Francisco, they say; huge destruction is reported in Port-au-Prince, the capital.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


You can make a donation for Haiti disaster relief to the American Red Cross, or choose another relief agency at Charity Navigator.

Rachel also has a list of relief providers, along with the State Department's locator number for Americans in Haiti, and numbers for small, quick donations via your cell phone.
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