Dirt cookies

[shereads]

That's what the poor are filling their stomachs with in Haiti tonight.

Dirt instead of flour. Mixed with butter, salt and water and baked in the sun. Dirt cookies.

What's wrong with us?

 

[sethp]

Actually it's what's wrong with them.

they have a tangle of red tape at the docs ..designed to make things more modern but that can leave tons of food rotting in thier cargo bins before anyone even opens it. We send them tons of free food but the people dont' get it.

If you remember some odd years ago we sent military there to sort out the relief effort ..we were shot at and then left cause this was right after somalia and black hawk down times so we said fine if you don't want help and want to shoot at us we won't force you..

whats wrong with the haitian people?

 

[neonlyte]

That's what the poor are filling their stomachs with in Haiti tonight.

Dirt instead of flour. Mixed with butter, salt and water and baked in the sun. Dirt cookies.

What's wrong with us?

I'll pass it onto the Missus, she collects 'bread' stories. Do you have any reference that might be looked up?

Bread has been made from bones, bark and chalk. The 'body of christ' seems to be something we cannot live without.

 

[sethp]

christ was made out of bread? fuck.

 

[shereads]

Actually it's what's wrong with them.

they have a tangle of red tape at the docs ..designed to make things more modern but that can leave tons of food rotting in thier cargo bins before anyone even opens it. We send them tons of free food but the people dont' get it.

If you remember some odd years ago we sent military there to sort out the relief effort ..we were shot at and then left cause this was right after somalia and black hawk down times so we said fine if you don't want help and want to shoot at us we won't force you..

whats wrong with the haitian people?

Ever hear of the Duvaliers? They raped their country with the assistance of a little outfit called the CIA. Read a history book someday. You'll be shocked.

 

[shereads]

I'll pass it onto the Missus, she collects 'bread' stories. Do you have any reference that might be looked up?

Bread has been made from bones, bark and chalk. The 'body of christ' seems to be something we cannot live without.

The story was on NBC Nightly News just now. I googled the topic and found this months-older version at the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/world/la...itians_trick_empty_bellies_with_dirt_cookies/



http://thumb17.webshots.net/t/63/663/4/81/37/2428481370103332217gslUQb_th.jpg

 

[shereads]

so we said fine if you don't want help and want to shoot at us we won't force you..

Funny how "we" say that so selectively, isn't it?

 

[neonlyte]

The story was on NBC Nightly News just now. I googled the topic and found this months-older version at the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/world/la...itians_trick_empty_bellies_with_dirt_cookies/



http://thumb17.webshots.net/t/63/663/4/81/37/2428481370103332217gslUQb_th.jpg

Thank you.

 

[china-doll]

Thank you.

There was also an article about it, I believe on Amnesty Intl.'s website, some time ago.

 

[sethp]

Ever hear of the Duvaliers? They raped their country with the assistance of a little outfit called the CIA. Read a history book someday. You'll be shocked.

I understand that but..what's the problem now?

 

[sethp]

If we were starving in america or canada or europe.. we wouldn't eat dirt now would we? we would over run the government and military and take the food. we would ask for help if we couldn't do it ourselves ... America sends them food..we aren't the problem here.

 

[shereads]

If we were starving in america or canada or europe.. we wouldn't eat dirt now would we? we would over run the government and military and take the food. we would ask for help if we couldn't do it ourselves ... America sends them food..we aren't the problem here.

Stop while you're behind. Your ignorance of our involvment in the politics of the third world, on behalf of U.S. corporate interests, makes debating you utterly futile. A population of desperate people has long been considered a boon to business. In the case of Haiti, the poverty we helped create got out of hand. We have been, in fact, a major part of that country's problem.

 

[tickledkitty]

If we were starving in america or canada or europe.. we wouldn't eat dirt now would we? we would over run the government and military and take the food. we would ask for help if we couldn't do it ourselves ... America sends them food..we aren't the problem here.

Hard telling what we would do if we were starving, since most of us never have been.

 

[shereads]

Hard telling what we would do if we were starving, since most of us never have been.

Sethp reminds me of something the late Ann Richards said about one of the Bushes:

"He was born on third base and thought he'd hit a triple."

Some people are simply incapable of understanding how lucky they are; they enjoy the delusion that if they were ever faced with starvation or military oppression, they would overcome it because of their superior character.

 

[tickledkitty]

Sethp reminds me of something the late Ann Richards said about one of the Bushes:

"He was born on third base and thought he'd hit a triple."

Some people are simply incapable of understanding how lucky they are; they enjoy the delusion that if they were ever faced with starvation or military oppression, they would overcome it because of their superior character.

He seems very young to me. I often think people who talk that way are tempting fate.

 

[sethp]

Stop while you're behind. Your ignorance of our involvment in the politics of the third world, on behalf of U.S. corporate interests, makes debating you utterly futile. A population of desperate people has long been considered a boon to business. In the case of Haiti, the poverty we helped create got out of hand. We have been, in fact, a major part of that country's problem.

I know enough to debate you. It's not what caused the problem that the haitian people really care about now. it's about eating and surviving..

I'm sure that the CIA and corporations did cause much of it. I don't like big corporations either but the point i'm making is what do we do now what do they do now. they are being sent food. There have been numerous newspaper, internet and television news stories about how the food just sits and rots on the ports there.

and how they shot at us for trying to go in and provide some relief.

 

[shereads]

He seems very young to me.

I don't think I was ever that young. Thank God.

 

[sethp]

Tons of Food Aid Rotting in Haiti Ports




CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti (AP) - While millions of Haitians go hungry, containers full of food are stacking up in the nation's ports because of government red tape - leaving tons of beans, rice and other staples to rot under a sweltering sun or be devoured by vermin.

A government attempt to clean up a corrupt port system that has helped make Haiti a major conduit for Colombian cocaine has added new layers of bureaucracy - and led to backlogs so severe they are being felt 600 miles away in Miami, where cargo shipments to Haiti have ground almost to a standstill.

The problems are depriving desperate people of donated food. Some are so poor they are forced to eat cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable oil to satisfy their hunger.

An Associated Press investigation found the situation is most severe in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city. One recent afternoon, garbage men shoveled a pile of rotting pinto beans that had turned gray and crumbled to dust as cockroaches and beetles scurried about.


i try to tell you guys the truth and you just try to insult me? wouldn't it serve you better to tell me why i'm wrong or what you think is the solution?

 

[tickledkitty]

i try to tell you guys the truth and you just try to insult me? wouldn't it serve you better to tell me why i'm wrong or what you think is the solution?

I wasn't trying to insult you. I merely took exception to the post below. NOT the part about us sending them food. The rest of it.

If we were starving in america or canada or europe.. we wouldn't eat dirt now would we? we would over run the government and military and take the food. we would ask for help if we couldn't do it ourselves ... America sends them food..we aren't the problem here.

I merely pointed out that we don't know what we would do if we were starving. I think saying we'd just overrun the government or ask for help is a pretty childish response. It's not that simple.

And I would eat dirt to survive if I had to. I can say that with certainty because I have a child to care for. I think just about any parent would say the same.

You DO seem young to me, just based on your comments here and other posts of yours I've seen. That wasn't meant as an insult. It's the truth.

 

[shereads]

Sethp, I know you're proud of your googling here, but you're missing the point.

No one here has disputed that there is corruption and ineptitude in Haiti. Your assertion that "they" - presumably the people who are being starved - are implicitly at fault for their own situation is arrogant, simplistic and uninformed.

God help you if you're ever faced with a similar challenge. You might learn that you and they are not as different as you'd like to believe. You're just far, far luckier.

 

[Darkniciad]

He does have one very much valid point, though. What more can we do, if what we're sending isn't getting to the people who need it? Congress has already passed a preferencial trade bill. We're the largest donor of aid, both from government sources and private ventures, if I remember correctly.

What's the solution? Highlighting the problem is certainly necessary, but it's only the first step.

 

[sethp]

Sethp, I know you're proud of your googling here, but you're missing the point.

No one here has disputed that there is corruption and ineptitude in Haiti. Your assertion that "they" - presumably the people who are being starved - are implicitly at fault for their own situation is arrogant, simplistic and uninformed.

God help you if you're ever faced with a similar challenge. You might learn that you and they are not as different as you'd like to believe. You're just far, far luckier.

i know you think i'm young and dumb but my IQ isn't for you to decide. I truthfully believe and this is the american dream that you can overcome anything if you so desire. I think americans in particular are very "can do" oriented and I would not eat dirt for more than a few days before I figured out how to rally some people steal some food steal a boat and escape haiti etc.

The problem with haiti and so many other third world countries. And please research this if you don't believe me and think that this is only an opinion is that....there is an overwhelming feeling of despair and hopelessness. they don't think that there is anything that they can do about it ..so they don't. I and many americans(and to be fair many people of all countries and cultures) would not give up and in essence commit a sort of living suicide. I would never give up like these people ...and I doubt that you would either.

that's what differentiates people like those in haiti and other third world countries and us. I know i'm lucky but luck aside. I know that I would never give up. I would be like ghandi or jesus or MLK or the thousands of leaders who have made a differnce in third world countries.

these people have given up. they have reaped what they have sown.

 

[shereads]

i know you think i'm young and dumb but my IQ isn't for you to decide. I truthfully believe and this is the american dream that you can overcome anything if you so desire. I think americans in particular are very "can do" oriented and I would not eat dirt for more than a few days before I figured out how to rally some people steal some food steal a boat and escape haiti etc.

The problem with haiti and so many other third world countries. And please research this if you don't believe me and think that this is only an opinion is that....there is an overwhelming feeling of despair and hopelessness. they don't think that there is anything that they can do about it ..so they don't. I and many americans(and to be fair many people of all countries and cultures) would not give up and in essence commit a sort of living suicide. I would never give up like these people ...and I doubt that you would either.

that's what differentiates people like those in haiti and other third world countries and us. I know i'm lucky but luck aside. I know that I would never give up. I would be like ghandi or jesus or MLK or the thousands of leaders who have made a differnce in third world countries.

these people have given up. they have reaped what they have sown.

I'm embarrassed for you.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Funny how "we" say that so selectively, isn't it?

"Fine, you don't want our help and you want to shoot at us, but you've got oil, so you're getting our help anyway.

Oh, did we KILL you? So sorry!"

...and how they shot at us for trying to go in and provide some relief.

Which "They" was it, do you know?

Was it the people who are starving? The starving people who are at the same time being mowed down by the very corrupt military, and the ganglords that are the legacy of Duvalier's regime? Are those the they who shot at us?

 

[shereads]

What's the solution? Highlighting the problem is certainly necessary, but it's only the first step.

I wish I knew, D.

I do know, the solution to hunger in the third world doesn't begin with shrugging off "their" problems as a consequence of some inherent inferiority, as Sethp seems to do.

Think about it, Sethp: what horrible obstacles have you had to overcome? Were you starving at the time? Have you lived under a government whose corruption was virtually assured by decades of foreign for-profit intervention - a government that sends death squads into your community to support a status quo that favors a wealthy elite?