Destruction in Haiti Earthquake is Extreme

My heart continues to go out to those in Haiti suffering as a result of last week's devastating earthquake. Of course, hindsight as to what could/should have been done so as to avoid such massive devastation doesn't change the reality of what happened. And it does not help that hate merchants like Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh suggest that the victims - like those shown above - somehow deserved their fate and/or should not be aided by private contributions from Americans. Among the problems facing relief efforts is the fact that so much of the nation's infrastructure was destroyed, thereby making transportation of food, etc. nearly impossible. Here are some highlights from the BBC:
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First reports from the epicentre of Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti suggest the damage is even more dramatic than in the capital, BBC correspondents say. They say the scene in Leogane, west of Port-au-Prince, is "apocalyptic", with thousands left homeless and almost every building destroyed. In the capital, survivors have become desperate as they wait for aid being handed out by international agencies.
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The UN says up to 80-90% of buildings in Leogane, about 19km (12 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, have been destroyed. The BBC's Mark Doyle - who travelled to the town on Saturday - said people had taken refuge in the surrounding sugarcane fields or mangrove swamps.
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The UN has launched an appeal for $562m (£346m) intended to help three million people for six months, while some two million people are thought to need emergency relief.
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International relief supplies have been arriving at the airport. There were aid distributions in parts of Port-au-Prince on Saturday, but deliveries have been hampered by severe logistical challenges. The airport is congested, the port badly damaged, and many roads blocked by corpses and debris. On Sunday the UN also warned about fuel shortages, which it says could affect humanitarian operations.
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A UN official has said aid workers are dealing with a disaster "like no other" in UN memory because the country had been "decapitated". Three ministers and several senators are reported to have been killed. Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said his house had been destroyed and he had been sleeping in his car. "For the moment, we are trying to save our employees who are still stuck under the rubble," he said.
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The US has launched what President Barack Obama called "one of the largest relief efforts in its history" following the earthquake, which killed tens of thousands of people and left many more homeless. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the first senior Western official to arrive in Haiti on Saturday. She told Haitians that the US would be "here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead", asserting that "Haiti can come back even better and stronger in the future".

France Best, USA Worst in Preventable Deaths

The Chimperator and many others will claim that the USA health care is the best in the world. For certain individuals it no doubt is the best. However, in a new study of preventable deaths, the USA ranked last out of 19 leading industrialized nations, as reported by Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080108/hl_nm/deaths_rankings_dc). With over 45 million Americans without health insurance, this low ranking should not be a surprise since hospital emergency rooms and similar facilities that must treat life threatening emergency cases regardless of insurance do not render preventive care. Imagine how the Chimperator (who just recently vetoed an increase in health insurance coverage for childen) would express outrage and engage in all kinds of political posturing if over 100,000 Americans lost their lives to a terror attack. Also, where are the Christianists who want no abortions, yet support Bush and care little for living Americans (especially if they are minorities)? Here are some story highlights:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - France, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on preventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations, researchers said on Tuesday.

If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of those top three countries, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year, according to researchers writing in the journal Health Affairs. Researchers Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tracked deaths that they deemed could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care, and ranked nations on how they did.

Nolte said the large number of Americans who lack any type of health insurance -- about 47 million people in a country of about 300 million, according to U.S. government estimates -- probably was a key factor in the poor showing of the United States compared to other industrialized nations in the study. "I wouldn't say it (the last-place ranking) is a condemnation, because I think health care in the U.S. is pretty good if you have access. But if you don't, I think that's the main problem, isn't it?" Nolte said in a telephone interview.

France did best -- with 64.8 deaths deemed preventable by timely and effective health care per 100,000 people, in the study period of 2002 and 2003. Japan had 71.2 and Australia had 71.3 such deaths per 100,000 people. The United States had 109.7 such deaths per 100,000 people, the researchers said. After the top three, Spain was fourth best, followed in order by Italy, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Germany, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Britain, Ireland and Portugal, with the United States last.