Haiti Update

There's a ton of articles out there now. We are starting to get into the "Talking Head" part of the media process. I urge everyone to remember that speculation and argument in T.V. studios is far, far away from the truth. At the disaster, these policy choices and opinions are shoved aside to save life and preserve humanity.

Some good news sources:
1. Reuters Alertnet is an international news wire that is very good on foreign aid.
a. This article on the logistical nightmare. It tells what charities are doing and what they are out of.
b. "Money is worth nothing, water is the currency", also at Alertnet. This same article estimates 45 to 50 thousand dead.

2. Why Haiti always seems to have catastrophe at the Washington Post: bad weather, bad placement, bad government, and bad building standards.

3. Urban Search and Rescue from the U.S.
a. The Virginia Task Force 1 has a Web site. They promise news, but beyond deployment, they haven't given it yet. That's because they're working. They'll have news in a day or so. In the meantime you get a sense of how aid and emergency preparedness is set up in the U.S. for our benefit and for others.
b. Report on Conditions tells us that California Task Force 2 was airborne yesterday evening.

4. The South Kansas City Observer has made a list of wise places to donate. It's possible to be generous and prudent at the same time. She's done a wonderful job finding great links. I notice some of hers are what I had found already, so I won't duplicate--.

5. Blogs on the ground Gwenn Mangine and  Livesay are both saying they want volunteers, but not right now. They need money now. (H/T CNN)

5. Canada is conducting evacuations. The first 100 evacuees went to Ottawa via the Dominican Republic. All over the world, generous impulses are being acted upon.

6. The Big Picture blog at Boston.com has a new entry for 48 hours on. Heartbreaking pictures. Since my first post was on MINUSTAH, this is members of the stabilization force working rescue. The U.N. Peacekeeping Force has not accounted for 200 members. The head of the MINUSTAH mission has died in the quake.