Haiti's cholera outbreak

HEALTH - UPDATE: Health officials say 105 more people have died since Saturday, bringing the total to 442 as of November 3rd.

Haiti is suffering under an outbreak of cholera, a deadly disease which as of last week had killed 253 and hospitalized 3,015. UPDATE: The number hospitalized is now over 5,000. There has been a 40% jump in new cases in the last 5 days.

Aid agencies around the world are fearing the worst, especially with heavy rains and tropical storms this time of year which are making it difficult to send medical aid and doctors. Torrential rainfall means drinking water is contaminated and the population is extremely vulnerable.

On Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control discovered that all the Haitian patients had the same strain of cholera, a strain from South Asia. Its believed foreigners from southern Asia accidentally brought the disease to Haiti following the recent earthquake and it spread rapidly.

Haiti has not seen a cholera outbreak for approx. 50 years and most Haitians don't know what to do to prevent the disease. Poor sanitary conditions due to Earthquake is the biggest cause since the bacteria is transmitted through contaminated water or food.

Not everyone has been hospitalized. The total number of cases stands at 6,742 (November 3rd).

Cholera causes diarrhoea, vomiting, severe dehydration, and kills within 24 hours if left untreated.

Treatment involves rehydration and antibiotics, which is why medical aid is so important.

The January 12th 2010 Haiti Earthquake killed 230,000 people and devastated Haiti's capitol Port-au-Prince.

Hush Money for Catholic School Boys

RELIGION - In 1998 Reverend Bill Irwin was sent as an emissary by the Roman Catholic Church and the Congregation of St. Basil to deliver a cheque to a former student of sex-offender Reverend William Hodgson “Hod” Marshall, who had been the student's math teacher and basketball coach during Grade 9 at St. Charles College, the local Catholic all-boys school. The student, Tod Holland, alleged the former priest had molested him three times in 1969 when he was 14. Holland had complained to Sudbury police about it 5 months earlier in 1998 and was surprised the order had sent a priest to speak to him face-to-face.

In 1969 Tod Holland told his father and the two went to the principal, Rev. Anthony Lococo, but Lococo merely brushed off the complaints by saying Holland had "a vivid imagination" and made out that it was the boy who was a bad person. The assaults stopped after the visit.

Years later and suffering from depression Holland eventually made a complaint to police, but didn't pursue the matter much beyond that. The Catholic order however got wind of the complaint and 5 months later decided to have Reverend Irwin deliver a cheque for $21,000 CDN. Holland refused it, saying he just wanted an apology from the priest who had molested him in the showers after basketball practice.

Reverend Irwin insisted he at least think about it and gave him the phone number of a Toronto legal firm if Holland changed his mind. The Reverend then called a taxi, asked for a glass of water, talked about the weather and left.

12 years later it is now revealed this is how the Congregation of St. Basil usually dealt with child molestation. The same priest, Reverend William Hodgson “Hod” Marshall, is now facing criminal charges for molesting another 4 boys in Windsor.

Its just one of many sex scandals and allegations of abuse that are coming out of woodwork of the Catholic Church, especially complaints aimed at Pope Benedict XVI who knew about the abuse and was an active participant in covering up the allegations of abuse.

In 1999 the Congregation of St. Basil increased their offer to Holland to $30,000, trying to buy silence once more. The Catholic Church knew Rev. Marshall was guilty and had even sent him for professional psychological treatment in the USA in 1996. Their offer of more money was nothing more than a clear bribe to keep Holland silent.

Holland finally accepted their offer and signed an agreement not to sue the Congregation of St. Basil in court.

According to the Congregation of St. Basil: “It was our normal response to any (sexual abuse) allegation, particularly involving the abuse of a minor, for Father Irwin to offer financial assistance to cover any cost of psychological counseling or therapy required for the healing of the victims,” says Rev. Thomas Rosica.

Bullshit. If it was just financial assistance then there would have been no requirement to sign an agreement covering their own asses in the event of a lawsuit.

88-years-old and retired Rev. Marshall now lives in downtown Toronto. His distinguished career includes 50 years of teaching and coaching basketball teams in Windsor, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Saskatoon and Houston, Texas... and leaving a trail of molested boys behind. The earliests allegations date back to 1955 where he is facing two charges of sexual abuse. Other men have come forward with complaints dating back to the 1960s through to the 1980s.

Earlier this year Marshall's lawyer, Andrew Bradie, negotiated a settlement for 44-year-old priest John Duarte for abusing adolescent boys at a Haitian mission. He was sentenced to a mere 18 months.

He also defended the priest Charles Sylvestre, who in 2006 pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 47 girls over a 40 year period in the London area.

Proof that lawyers and Catholic priests both belong in Hell.

Castro accuses USA of seeking nuclear war

POLITICS - Fidel Castro turns 84 next week but he is as feisty as ever. In a speech before the Cuban parliament Saturday, his first official visit in 4 years, Fidel Castro accused the United States of seeking nuclear war with North Korea and Israel of seeking nuclear war with Iran.

Surprisingly healthy-looking despite his recent health problems Fidel Castro appealed to President Barack Obama and other wealthy nations in his 11-minute speech to prevent a global nuclear war. It was a short speech compared to his normal hour long speeches he has given in decades past.

Castro has been writing and talking about the topic of nuclear war in recent months, believes that the United States and Israel will attack Iran and North Korea and suggests such a war will have dire consequences.

After the speech the floor was opened up to questions. One parliamentarian asked if Obama would be capable of starting a nuclear war and Castro replied, “No, not if we persuade him not to.”

“Fidel, Fidel, Fidel! Long live Fidel!” participants later chanted. Fidel Castro has been absent from politics since his emergency intestinal surgery in 2006 and his younger brother Raul has been leading the Cuban government in his absence. After the speech Fidel didn't sit in his normal chair, which had been reserved for him while he was gone, but instead sat beside a minister.

Fidel Castro has been the leader of Cuba for 50 years, ever since his band of revolutionaries toppled Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista on New Year’s Day 1959.

Barefoot bandit captured

POLITICS - American 19-year-old skilled woodsman Colton Harris-Moore (aka "the Barefoot Bandit") was captured by police in the Bahamas off the coast of Florida while trying to escape on a speed boat.

On the run since he escaped from a halfway home in 2008 Colton gained his "Barefoot Bandit" nickname for stealing cars, boats and airplanes while shoeless and barefoot. Living in the Washington state back woods for 2 years Colton Harris-Moore eventually migrated across the country leaving a trail of stolen vehicles behind.

His capture on Sunday has outraged 58,000 fans on Facebook (including many young women and men who aspire to be like him). After his capture he was flown to Nassau where he now faces possible extradition to the United States. His hair looked like he recently got a haircut and he was, of course, barefoot.

The wily woodsman had been eluding police searches in the American north-west for most of two years now, embarrassing Washington state police with their inability to find him. This didn't stop the Bahamanian police however who managed to shoot out the engine of his boat when he was trying to escape.

With no pilot's license or formal training Colton Harris-Moore is already considered a pro at eluding people in the woods. He honed his skills while growing up in the woods of Camano Island in Puget Sound, 50 kilometres north of Seattle.

Supporters say the US military would be smart to hire Colton Harris-Moore as a consultant to help train special forces on eluding capture by enemy forces.

20th Century Fox has already bought the movie rights.

Earthquake strikes Ontario, Quebec & New York

CANADA/ENVIRONMENT - A 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Ontario-Quebec border near Ottawa Wednesday afternoon at 1:41 PM with tremors felt as far away as Montreal, Toronto, New York and Detroit.

For people in Toronto it felt like buildings suddenly lurched 4-6 inches back and forth in a North-South direction, shaking walls and furniture alike for approx. 5 seconds. Many Toronto buildings were evacuated while people speculated about the cause.

The epicentre of the earthquake was 45 km north of Gatineau, Quebec where the earthquake was felt for about 30 seconds. No injuries were reported.

According to the Prime Minister's Office a picture fell off the wall just outside the PMO, but there was no evacuation of Parliament Hill. A geological fault line runs through the Ottawa Valley. The last big earthquake in Ontario was in October 1998, when a 5.4 earthquake struck southern Ontario.

The recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, China and other locations has some scientists speculating that the earth might be entering a period of more widespread earthquakes that happen more frequently.

“Be reassured,” a visitor joked on the Radio-Canada website. “It's just Quebec separating.”

Bahamas rife with Organized Crime

By Ai Lung Nguyen - June 2010.

POLITICS - If you're thinking of visiting the Bahamas think again. The country is so filled with billionaires and the equally rich and powerful that life is pretty cheap there (and easy to cover up a murder).

The tiny group of islands off the coast of Florida is home to 330,000 people and its economy relies mostly on tourism... which is thankfully high due to the number of wealthy Americans and foreigners who visit every year.

The rich buy up tracts of land in the Bahamas, hire staff to clean and maintain their multi-million-dollar homes...

The wealthy are so plentiful in the Bahamas they have corrupted the local government, resulting in very few taxes on the rich. There is no income tax, no corporate tax, no capital gains tax, no value-added tax (VAT), and no taxes on the wealthy. The government survives on import tariffs, license fees, property and stamp taxes.

This also means someone who is into the stock market for example can do all sorts of things they wouldn't be able to do in the United States or Canada because its illegal in those countries. And better yet its a tax haven. You can make oodles of money doing illegal things on the stock market and get away with it. Insider trading is just the tip of the iceberg.

What we have in the Bahamas therefore is a toxic environment where the rich are all powerful, the government is corrupt, murders are covered up (dismissed as missing persons, accidents, etc), and organized crime goes unseen.

According to the U.S. Department of State (which tracks criminal activity both in the USA and abroad for potential threats) the Bahamas has a very high crime rate. Not just organized crime, but in general. Everything from petty theft, muggings of tourists and pickpocketing to more serious crimes like kidnapping, extortion and murder. The Bahamas also has the highest incidence of rape of all Carribean islands.

Two American citizens were murdered in Nassau in 2009.

Gang crime is also rampant. In 2009 three separate groups of tourists were held at gunpoint and robbed at popular tourist sites in Nassau.

Another incident in 2009 was at a major resort where two security men were shot.

Exchanges of gunfire on busy streets are not just unheard of, but surprisingly common.

Several days ago a 54-year-old caretaker was found dead in the jacuzzi of billionaire financier Louis Bacon who lives in Lyford Cay. Police didn't even report the death until local media learned about it. The cause of death was not confirmed, but the body was quickly cremated and flown out of the country in only two days. Bacon is not accused of any wrongdoing in the mysterious death.

Louis Bacon meanwhile is embroiled in a commodities scandal for manipulating platinum and palladium prices and so far has had to pay a $25 million penalty to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Pocket change to a billionaire.

Neighbour and fellow Lyford Cay resident Peter Nygard insists Louis Bacon is innocent. Peter Nygard himself is a figure of scandal, with allegations of abusing his employees, running sweatshops overseas, human trafficking, slave labour, raping a 17-year-old girl and murder. Peter Nygard is hardly a good character witness.

Nygard's walled compound in Lyford Cay (complete with shark tanks) would make a James Bond villain jealous. Guests at his home are described as "dubious at best". Part of his Lyford Cay home was burned down in December 2009 from unknown causes.

The known crimes (the ones that get reported) are mostly in Nassau. The outlying islands are even more dangerous because when crimes happen there is no police around. No authority. No consequences.

And in a country where billionaires have their own 'security' men and own shark tanks its considered wise not to piss them off.

Earthquakes becoming more common, scientists admit

By Ai Lung Nguyen - April 2010.

ENVIRONMENT - The number of earthquakes in recent years has been going up. The most recent was today's 6.9 magnitude earthquake in China which has killed over 400 people, but there is a lot of scientific debate about what has caused the recent increase.

If you've been keeping track of the earthquakes in China, Haiti, Chile and even huge tsunami/earthquake from 2004 you might start to wonder if earthquakes are becoming more common. There has also been an increase in tremors in the United States, Mexico and Japan.

This is actually true says seismologists, earthquakes in recent years have become more prevalent, but the cause is still being debated. Below is several different theories being tossed around by noted seismotologists.

#1. The recent seismic activity may simply be a temporary jump in earthquakes due to a variation in the Earth's lithosphere (The lithosphere is the outer solid part of the Earth.), but still within the acceptable range.

"Relative to the 20-year period from the mid-1970's to the mid 1990's, the Earth has been more active over the past 15 or so years," said Stephen S. Gao, a geophysicist at Missouri University of Science & Technology. "We still do not know the reason for this yet. Could simply be the natural temporal variation of the stress field in the Earth's lithosphere."

#2. Its just a coincidence that all these quakes happened in a short time period.

"From our human perspective with our relatively short and incomplete memories and better and better communications around the world, we hear about more earthquakes and it seems like they are more frequent," says J. Ramón Arrowsmith, a geologist at Arizona State University. "But this is probably not any indication of a global change in earthquake rate of significance."

#3. Melting polar ice caps caused by climate change has shifted the weight of ice on the polar regions of Earth's lithosphere. This causes the pressure in polar regions to buckle upwards while regions around the equator experience a downward effect.

#4. Overpopulation in seismically active regions.

As the human population skyrockets and we move into more hazardous regions, we're going to hear more about the events that do occur, says J. Ramón Arrowsmith. When large earthquakes strike in populated regions, news travels faster, especially with cellphones.

"What happens is when a lot of people get killed there's a lot of reporting of it, and if an equally big event occurs somewhere out in the middle of nowhere it doesn’t attract the attention," said G. Randy Keller, professor of geophysics at the University of Oklahoma.

"The [8.8-magnitude] earthquake down in Chile, that's an unusual event, those don't happen too often," Keller says. Seismologists would expect such an event at some point. "It sounds cold-blooded but it's an earthquake that occurred in a place that you'd expect it to sooner or later."

#5. Its normal for earthquakes to happen around the Ring of Fire (the Pacific Ocean). Over 90% of the world's earthquakes are felt in this region. The next most popular location is the Mediterranean Alpide belt (6%).

#6. Its a natural cycle to have quiet periods and busy periods when it comes to earthquakes. We could be entering a busy period. Usually busy periods are also accompanied by either an ice age or an extremely warm period.

"If you look at it globally the occurrence of earthquakes is confined to zones we already know have earthquakes but it's a largely random process and so sometimes it's a little quieter than normal and sometimes it's a little more active than normal. But it doesn't mean anything, because on a global basis these things aren't connected," says Keller.

"We're having a few more than the average, but nothing particularly remarkable. This was a magnitude 6.9 earthquake so on the bigger scheme of things it's not that big." If we get some really BIG earthquakes then we can have cause to worry.

So can we expect more in the near future? Yes, say scientists, although you have better odds of winning the lottery than predicting a big earthquake.

Clean Water is Haiti's new currency

ENVIRONMENT/HEALTH - The gourde is the currency of Haiti, but the paper notes are basically worth nothing in the aftermath of last Tuesday's earthquake. Water is the new currency in Haiti, specifically clean water for drinking, cooking and cleaning.

Its now estimated that over a quarter of a million people died in the earthquake and more bodies keep piling up. Initial estimates are now considered wildly premature as its evident this has been a catastrophe on the scale of the 2004 Tsunami and one of the largest natural disasters in human history. Already 70,000 people have been buried, but vast numbers of bodies remain to be found and buried. The scale of the disaster is such that all the bodies will never be found.

For the survivors now the real challenge is finding food and water. The water pipes all across the city have been ruptured, the buildings that distributed the water destroyed. Finding clean water is thus a real challenge for the approx. 750,000 people still living in Port-au-Prince.

“Money is worth nothing right now, water is the currency,” one foreign aid worker said.

The irony that the gourde is named after a plant typically used for carrying water is not lost on Haitians, but its a very sad and bitter irony.

Convict burns to death in a Haitian street

POLITICS - WARNING! WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING.

Yesterday the man on the right was tortured, stripped naked and eventually lit on fire when police caught the man looting.

The order of events:

1. The earthquake leveled the local penitentiary in capitol Port-au-Prince.
2. Many convicts escaped from the collapsed building.
3. The man on the right was caught by police, placed in a truck and was being transferred to a jail when a mob of people saw him.
4. They swarmed the police truck, dragged the convict from the truck while the police radioed for help.
5. They bound him with rope, stripped him naked, tortured him and then took turns beating him with a long wooden stick.
6. Then they lit his body on fire.
7. When police sirens were heard someone yelled: "Get away! The police!" and the mob blended into the rest of the crowd, leaving his body burning in the street.

People have been looting and scavenging for food for days now as food is scarce and relief supplies are slowly trickling in to some of the worst locations. Many of the roads were destroyed by the earthquake and are now impassable.

Decades of government corruption in Haiti has resulted in a bitter scared populace. Since the earthquake the government is barely functioning and control is now more or less in the hands of international aid organizations and the American military which has stepped in to render assistance.

One can only hope that international attention might actually help Haiti to pull itself from the ruins and rebuild, throwing off the shackles of corruption, but history suggests government corruption is virulent everywhere.

See Also:
Profiteerism as Haiti suffers

Earthquake in Haiti kills 50,000+

HEALTH - The death toll for yesterday's earthquake in Haiti keeps rising, with current estimates over 50,000 dead. Outside Port-au-Prince's General Hospital at least 1,500 bodies were stacked and waited to be picked up by trucks. More bodies keep filling up the streets as people search through the rubble for survivors.

UPDATE: Approx. 230,000 people died during the January 12th 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince Haiti.

Police gather up the bodies and take them to hospital parking lots where they wait to be picked up and eventually identified.

Approx. 3 million Haitians are now injured and/or homeless and the country is growing desperate as foreign aid slowly trickles into the country. The US military is managing the landing of planes, but in typical American fashion they seem to have miscalculated and bungled the attempt. Many of the planes carrying aid have been forced to land elsewhere to refuel as they circle the capitol and wait for the signal to land.

The 7.0 quake struck Tuesday night and was the worst earthquake to hit the island in 200 years. Four Canadians are already among the dead and many more Canadians are missing.

UPDATE: 6 confirmed Canadian deaths and 1,362 Canadians are still missing in Haiti.

Over a hundred Canadians have already been evacuated from Haiti, suggesting its easier to get out of the country right now than to get in. Injured Canadians are the first to be evacuated so they can receive medical attention in Canada.

There are approx. 6,000 Canadians living in Haiti, with about 100 currently taking refuge at the Canadian embassy. The Canadian government says it will match every dollar Canadians give to the relief effort in Haiti, up to a max. of $50 million. So far donation websites for the Haiti relief fund have crashed due to sheer numbers.

The United States so far has pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid and have called upon the American military to swiftly deliver it.

Right: The Haitian Presidential Palace lies in ruins, before and after.

Two Canadian warships carrying humanitarian aid left for Haiti today and another aircraft, a Hercules airplane, are already on its way.

Nearby Cuba already has 300 doctors in Haiti providing assistance, a rare opportunity for Cubans and Americans to work together (something which hasn't happened since WWII when Cuba helped fight the Japanese, the Germans and the Italians).

Canada refuses Gitmo inmates

CANADA/POLITICS - The United States is looking to get rid of another 10 Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) inmates who have turned out to be innocent of terrorism. So far 10 former inmates have been returned to their homelands or resettled in new countries. Another 203 inmates are awaiting trial.

The problem is where to send them? Some of them would be tortured or killed if they returned to their homelands... and for a variety of reasons its not safe for them to stay in the United States, thus the USA is looking for countries willing to take in the former suspected terrorists and give them a new home as refugees.

In Canada's case we were asked to take in Algerian Djamel Ameziane, who wants to be resettled in Montreal, but has been refused entry. Stephen Harper's office says Canada won't take any inmates, sparking rumours that Harper and Obama aren't as friendly as photo ops depict.

Australia and several other countries are also refusing to take inmates. So far inmates have been resettled in Bermuda, Portugal, France, Ireland and Belgium.

Obama extends Cuba embargo for only 1 year

POLITICS - In the United States today President Barack Obama extended the U.S. trade embargo on the Communist nation of Cuba for one year.

Usually U.S. Presidents renew the trade embargo for four years, the length of their presidency, but Obama renewed it for only a single year, a symbolic gesture which gives Congress another year to solve their differences with Cuba.

There have been numerous signs of a thaw in U.S.-Cuban ties. Early last year Raul Castro took over as president from his brother, Fidel. Fidel Castro has been the Cuban head of state since leading the revolution that ousted the corrupt U.S.-backed Batista regime on January 1st 1959.

Under existing U.S. law, the Helms-Burton Act, Congress is required to take action specifically ending the trade embargo, but diplomacy is often a slow process and the easing of U.S.-Cuban animosity is bogged down in negotiations and red tape.

The last extension by former President George W. Bush ran out on September 11th 2009.

When the trade embargo does end it means the United States and Cuba will finally be able to explore options that would create cooperation between their two nations. Currently Cuba serves as a cheap vacation spot for Canadians, British and other nations.

Cuba's economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism. Its only other economic virtues is sugarcane, tobacco, nickel, citrus fruits and coffee.

USA to release 30 terror detainees

POLITICS - About 30 detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay have been cleared for release, United States Attorney General Eric Holder said today as he tried to persuade European allies to take some of them. Holder also signalled the Obama administration might co-operate with a Spanish investigation of former Bush administration officials over the mistreatment of suspects.

The Guantanamo Bay military detention facility at the U.S. naval base in Cuba is set to close in January 2010 and all the detainees have to be either be put on trial, or released due to sheer lack of evidence, between now and then.

"We have about 30 or so where we've made the determination that they can be released. So we will, I think, relatively soon, be reaching out to specific countries with specific detainees and ask whether or not there might be a basis for the moving of those people from Guantanamo to those countries," says Holder.

There are 241 prisoners at Guantanamo and Holder says "Mistakes were made" when the Bush administration created the program in the wake of September 11th.

The problem is what to do with people who have now turned out to be innocent. Yet when it comes to the prospect of having former international terror suspects living free, the Obama administration is trying to overcome the not-in-my-backyard sentiment that exists both in the USA and overseas.

There is also worry if new homes cannot be found for them, they may be given new status as Americans and sue the United States over their mistreatment.

So far only Portugal and Lithuania have said they will consider taking former suspects. France has agreed to take in only one symbolic Guantanamo detainee. Others are divided on the issue.

Pressed on whether that meant the U.S. would co-operate with a foreign court prosecuting Bush administration officials, Holder said he was talking about requests, and would review any such request to see if the United States would comply. Several countries want to see George W. Bush tried for alleged war crimes.