Broken Finger and the Quake
I don’t know which thing to lead off with. Given the size and devastation of the earthquake in Haiti I should probably start with that. What a bad spot to have such a violent and powerful quake. Basically the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and right by the most populated area. I’ve read some stuff like “well that’s what happens when you build really shitty houses” and, to a certain extent, that’s true. I’d like to see some criminal prosecution of those in charge of building codes (if they were not up to standards), contractors in Haiti who built houses with things like diluted concrete and engineers who didn’t follow code when designing buildings. I know the country was too poor to be able to afford things but that doesn’t mean they need shitty multi-story buildings in an area that is prone to earthquakes. The simple answer is to build them right or just not build them. Humans have gone millions of years without multi-story buildings… there’s no reason that we need them. Sadly, though, I’m pretty sure no one is going to pay the price for being pretty much directly responsible for the death of maybe over 100,000 people.
I want to make one thing clear: I am not broadly blaming the people of Haiti for this. I am blaming the Haitians and foreigners who knew better, had control over these things and made very very bad decisions. I don’t think the death penalty is out of line for the few people who were the most responsible for Haitian building codes and implementation. That may seem harsh but given the human toll and suffering they’re significantly responsible for, I don’t think it is. Hopefully that would force people in power around the world to wake up and realize what can happen when they disobey common sense and neglect their duty in such a blatant manner.
Obviously the focus for now is to get help to Haiti and hopefully rescue people who are still alive. People in Cayman are sending a container of goods this weekend and, luckily enough, I have a ton of clothes from losing weight over the last year. I am giving away all of my big clothes because I don’t anticipate needing them for awhile and someone in Haiti can probably use them. Although I don’t think many people in Haiti wear XXL I’m sure they don’t care about size. Here’s a picture of some of the stuff I’m giving away:
I’m also going to try to find a good charity online to give money to. I guess the default is the Red Cross but I want to do a little research before I commit. I’m wary of large organizations because I feel like a lot of them waste a lot of money on bureaucracy (see Parkinson’s Law) and don’t get a high enough % of my money to the people who need it. Anyone know of a good resource to tell me what % of money makes it to the intended recipients?
Anyway, for the less important news, I have a broken left ring finger. I hurt it playing football on Tuesday night. The doctor says I should feel better in a few weeks and I should have a perfectly good finger when it’s done healing. That’s a relief because I’m a lefty and I would prefer to have a healthy left hand down the line. Here is a pic of my ring fingers side-by-side. I couldn’t get the scale down perfectly but you can use the nail to figure out which one is zoomed in more — obviously there’s a lot of swelling on the left finger though. I’m not embedding it so anyone who clicks on it is basically saying they want to see a close-up picture of my two ring fingers side-by-side. You’ve been warned. I broke the bone near the nail where you can see the bruising. Annoying but I’m dealing with it. Already typing pretty well without it.
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Comments
Ariel did a buncha research on this a year or so ago, you might wanna shoot him an email, seemed to conclude that psi.org was the best/most efficient charity
salvationarmy.org
I’m not big on religion but they do good work and have a limit on overhead. I think 10%. The RC is top heavy and a mixed bag.
I donated last night and can happily report their site was very slow.
You talk about the substandard structures being the fault. Well, that is only partly true. The economic disadvantages that is their governmental philosophy is the fault. Yes, there are people involved but the problem is far more pervasive.
And, the alternative to substandard structures is no structure — that given their economic plight.
I just read in today’s local paper that the country of Haiti has no building codes. Also, if you take two cinder blocks and beat them together the cement almost instantly becomes powder. That’s how bad their concrete is. But with no building codes, it’s impossible for anyone to be prosecuted. Maybe the “World Bank” should have donated their $100 million twenty-thirty years ago during the development of the country instead of after the country is in shambles. Although I doubt $100 million could do much because my local school system in the middle of nowhere Ohio just put up a $35 million school. I’ll go ahead and rack up this tragedy as life variance. I don’t think it’ll long before the entire Earth gets wiped out. It’s a scary thought that there’s enough nuclear bombs in the world right now to basically take out everyone at the switch of one finger. Within 1000 years, human life on Earth will no longer exist. I mean think back 1000 years ago, The year was 1010. Look how far we’ve came in the past 1000 years. If we continue at this rate for the next 1000 years, someone will blow up the world in some type of war.
you should check out Partners in Health http://www.pih.org/home.html they have done some incredible health work in Haiti and have a lasting presence and not just immediate relief. since they have worked there for years, i would hope that they effectively allocate funds for relief efforts.
I’m not sure about what % of the money goes where but I donated to doctors without borders. I just felt better donating to a group that had a specific goal, instead of the broad “Help Haiti”. Needless to say I would’ve donated something with or without a specific goal.
Hrmm, found this linked on 4… http://www.charitynavigator.org