A Haiti news/info roundup

[cleolinda]

So far, I'm liking the Breaking News account on Twitter (now affiliated with MSNBC) for a stream of specifics:

#Haiti quake to be one of deadliest disasters in history, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says

#Haiti president now estimates 30,000 to 50,000 died in earthquake - CNN [about 16 hours ago]

Update: International Federation of Red Cross: Up to 3 million people affected by #Haiti quake - AP

Dominican Republic sets aside historic tensions, rushes heavy equipment to #Haiti to help remove earthquake debris http://bit.ly/63ptYY 

Doctors without Borders witness in #Haiti's capital visits 5 medical centers, says all are damaged and not functioning http://bit.ly

Four truckloads of Norwegian rescuers with heavy equipment sighted in Port-au-Prince for #Haiti quake rescue - CNN

Update: Plane arrives in #Haiti with Chinese search-and-rescue crew, medics, and 10 tons of food, medicine and other supplies - AP

Update: Three French planes arrive in #Haiti with aid and a mobile hospital, officials say - AP

Update: U.K. government says it will give $10 million to 'help kickstart humanitarian relief' effort in #Haiti

Update: U.S. sending up to 3,500 troops from Army's 82nd Airbourne to #Haiti; first 100 to arrive today, official says - Reuters

U.S. sending 300 medical personnel to Haiti today, 12,000 placed on alert for possible deployment, accdg to HHS Secretary Sebelius on MSNBC

Pres. Obama says losses in Haiti "nothing less than devastating." Tells Haitians, "You will not be forgotten. The world stands with you."

CNN: Haiti's first lady says "most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed," according to Haiti ambassador to U.S. I got that off their Twitter; the title of the article itself is, "Haiti appeals for aid; official fears 100,000 dead after earthquake."

NYT: Haiti Lies in Ruins; Grim Search for Untold Dead; Haiti Relief Effort Faces ‘Major Challenge’; "Country Without a Net."

Pat Robertson: Thousands Dying Because Haitian Slaves 'Swore a Pact with the Devil' for Their Freedom.

@ebertchicago: Haitian ambassador reminds Robertson: "Pact with Satan" won 13 U.S. states away from France, including Pat's.

CNN has a list of organizations you can donate to; FBI warning of Haiti earthquake scams. 

Something I personally thought was very fitting: Proceeds from January sales of BPAL's Port-au-Prince scent will go to the Red Cross, as well as proceeds from the Orishas blends. The Orisha blends are scattered through the Excolo section, but here's the search result page so you can see the descriptions all together. Port-au-Prince is on the Wanderlust page ("the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras").


Or, perhaps the simplest way to donate--it's charged straight to your phone bill:

@RedCross: You can text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in #haiti.

ETA: I knew I'd forgotten something: Doctors Without Borders; Oxfam; Disasters Emergency Committee for readers in the UK.

ETA: See the comments for more ways to donate and/or help. I saw something about knitting?

Comments

[cellardoor28.livejournal.com]

Can you add in http://www.dec.org.uk/ please? It's a good place to donate for UK people who want to.

[profbutters.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. Another place to donate is Doctors WIthout Borders, which already has a presence in Haiti. Also, no words for Pat Robertson, or rather too many unprintable ones.

[ipomoea.livejournal.com]

Some of the Orishas aren't showing up on the search page for me, for some reason, but here's the list BPAL put up for the ones that are going to count toward that:
Elegba
Obatala
Ochosi
Ogun
Olokun
Osun
Oya
Shango
Yemaya

Also BPTP is sending proceeds from the bath oils to UNICEF.

[cupcakery.livejournal.com]

ATTN; Universe:

STOP FUCKING WITH HAITI.

Kthx.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

"the title of the article itself is, "Haiti appeals for aid; official fears 100,000 dead after earthquake." "

Yeah, CNN always goes for the highest casualty figure anyone anywhere has mentioned. It makes me mad.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Why mad?

[shiroi-yami.livejournal.com]

People in Canada who'd like to help can donate $5 to the Salvation Army by texting 'HAITI' to 45678 or visiting their website (http://www.salvationarmy.ca/). The Canadian Red Cross site (http://www.redcross.ca/helpnow/) is also taking donations, though it seems to be a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

Oooh, thanks for this. Do you know if there are any other donations via text available to Canadians, aside from the Salvation Army?

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Haitian ambassador reminds Robertson: "Pact with Satan" won 13 U.S. states away from France, including Pat's.

HAHAHa, awesome!

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Ok, with that description, I HAD to have a bottle of Port-Au-Prince.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

Rachel Maddow hit the nail squarely on the head: Pat Robertson is "the unintended consequence of your First Amendment rights."

What a waste of breath and space that man is.

[greedyskunk.livejournal.com]

AGREED!

[ipomoea.livejournal.com]

Also, I got these from one of the LJ communities I'm in, it's a bunch of donation-by-text numbers.

United States
“Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Foundation
“Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5 to Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International
“Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee
“Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross in the U.S.

Canada (yes, some of these are the same as the US)
“Haiti” to 45678 to donate $5 to the Salvation Army in Canada
“Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Foundation
“Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5 to Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International
“Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee

Sweden
SMS "akut" to 72900 to donate 50kr to the Red Cross
SMS "STAR" to 72930 to donate 100kr to Hoppets Stjärna
SMS "FN" to 72900 to donate 50kr to Svenska FN-förbundet (same number as Red Cross)

[greedyskunk.livejournal.com]

The one bright spot of news coming out of Haiti seems to be that there really hasn't been much violence. Maybe that'll change once people get over the initial shock, but I'm hoping it won't.

[fading-october.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really got a bit emotional when I found about Dominican Republic helping out.

[jennnk.livejournal.com]

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a. the Yarn Harlot) Throws up the Knit Signal (http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2010/01/13/the_knitsignal.html)

[tikabelle.livejournal.com]

She also makes the excellent point that while lots of donations are pouring in for Haiti, it's best to send yours marked for "wherever it will do the most good." Right now that is most likely Haiti, but DWB has boots on the ground (as it were) all over the place, and it would be a shame to limit the way that a charitable organization can spend emergency funds.

Thanks, Cleo, for putting up the link list! Ahh, Pat Robertson. I love how he's all, "it's a true story!" As if he were there, chanting along, calling up the man with the hooves and horns. (Isn't that a fun mental picture? You're welcome.)

[r-a-black.livejournal.com]

It's good to see that so many are responding to the disaster. My husband is a Marine, his unit leaves tomorrow for Haiti for three months, so we're told.

[elbales]

Many thanks to him for his service, and I wish you both the best. Be safe!

[julietvalcouer.livejournal.com]

Someone on a board I frequent pointed out the Vatican is saying the Hatian archbishop is dead, and most of the Church's people in PauP are dead, injured or missing right now, and wondered what Robertson made of that. Someone else pointed out "Well, Catholics, the anti-Christ, etc donchaknow."

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

the wrong KIND of Christians, yes.
That's worse than outright heathens.

[elbales]

Pat Robertson needs to DIAF. What a worthless human being. Good comeback from the ambassador, though.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

I kinda want to kiss the ambassador.

[icewyche.livejournal.com]

Attention Pat Robertson: Please to be shutting the fuck up now, kthxdie.

I live in that same area, so "Reverend" Pat's WTF-ery always seems to make front-page news, and a lot of people complain about it. I have to say, as much as I despise the man, I'm glad his insane rantings make the media because it lets the whole world see the loathsome POS behind the godly, pious mask.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

Not much of mask, is it?

[snicks-chan.livejournal.com]

For your Jewish readers, the Federations of North America (http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=213301) have a donation drive going through the Joint Distribution Committee. (https://www.jdc.org/donation/donate.aspx) The aid is non-sectarian, as the Jewish population in Haiti only numbers (numbered?) about 25 people...almost all of whom lived in Port Au Prince.

[piratefanatic.livejournal.com]

Kythryne of Wyrding Studios is also doing a Haiti fundraisery thing. Donate to a Haiti charity and she'll make you a simple pair of earrings or a pendant. More info here (http://wyrdingstudios.com/blog/?p=524) at her blog.

[ohkaye.livejournal.com]

Is it alright if I repost this to a couple of Tumblrs with a link to you?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Sure, no problem.

[firefrorefiddle.livejournal.com]

If you donate through LWR, 100% of your money goes to Haiti. https://community.elca.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=538

Also, a classmate of mine is presumed dead in the quake. My thoughts and prayers are with Ben Larson's family. http://quinfirefrorefiddle.dreamwidth.org/18865.html

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

I don't see this elsewhere in the comments, so I just thought I'd mention:

help_haiti was set up as a fandom charity auction and is growing pretty fast. Tons of stuff to bid on, from knitting to jewelry to fanvids to baked goods...and everything else. Just FYI.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

dittoing help_haiti recommendation.

BPAL question

[demonqueen666.livejournal.com]

Are they including Imps of the designated scents in that as well, or just the full vials does anyone know?

Re: BPAL question

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

Hrm, I'm not sure. You can probably shoot the Lab or Beth a Twitter shout and she'll get back to you pretty quick; she's about all day, usually.

[telesilla.livejournal.com]

Donations made by individual Canadians to eligible Canadian charitable organizations over the period of January 12 to February 12, 2010 will be matched by the Government of Canada through the CIDA-managed Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. (http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Government-Canada-Match-Generosity-Canadians-Response-Devastating-Earthquake-Haiti-1101674.htm)

[edda.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this.

[mazarin221b.livejournal.com]

Donations to the UN World Food Programme would also be appreciated. Clean water and uncontaminated food are going to be critical to prevent outbreaks of cholera and other illnesses.

www.wfp.org

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

Doctors Without Borders is always my go-to. However, yesterday I learned of Partners in Health (http://www.pih.org/home.html) and have been trying to boost them everywhere I can think of. They're an established presence in Haiti and people were already coming into their hospitals hours after the quake. From the comment thread that made me aware of these folks: This is where I'm sending my aid. Ophelia Dahl, Roald Dahl's daughter and the Executive Director of PIH, had an email out by 8:50 last night and another this afternoon. They have 120 doctors on the ground, 500 nurses and community health workers, a working hospital 2 hours outside Port-au-Prince, and a supply chain through the Dominican Republic to move things from the (relatively unaffected) Central Plateau to Port-au-Prince. Also, for those of us who care about such things, they have financial transparency and one of the co-founders won a MacArthur Genius Grant.

Check Charity Navigator's List (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1004) before you donate anyplace. Always a good idea.

[eisoj5]

I did Partners in Health last night too.