Socialist Response to Disaster

[Dean]

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/201013195514870782.html


Before the earthquake struck, 344 Cuban health professionals were already present in Haiti, providing primary care and obstetrical services as well as operating to restore the sight of Haitians blinded by eye diseases. More doctors were flown in shortly after the earthquake, as part of the rapid response Henry Reeve Medical Brigade of disaster specialists. The brigade has extensive experience in dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes, having responded to such disasters in China, Indonesia and Pakistan.
...

One major international news agency's list of donor nations credited Cuba with sending over 30 doctors to Haiti, whereas the real figure stands at more than 350, including 280 young Haitian doctors who graduated from Cuba. The final figure accounts for a combined total of 930 health professionals in all Cuban medical teams making it the largest medical contingent on the ground.
...
But while representatives from MSF and the ICRC are frequently in front of television cameras discussing health priorities and medical needs, the Cuban medical teams are missing in the media coverage.
...
When the US requested that their military plans be allowed to fly through Cuban airspace for the purpose of evacuating Haitians to hospitals in Florida, Cuba immediately agreed despite almost 50 years of animosity between the two countries.
...
In the Pakistan relief operation the US and Europe dispatched medical teams. Each had a base camp with most doctors deployed for a month. The Cubans, however, deployed seven major base camps, operated 32 field hospitals and stayed for six months.

[Che a chara]

and don't forget the somalian pirates :laugh:

Haiti: Somali pirates offer aid

The article below is abridged from Aporea.org. It has been translated by Kiraz Janicke.

Spokespeople for the so-called Somali pirates have expressed willingness to part of their loot captured from transnational boats to Haiti.

Leaders of these groups have declared they have links in various places around the world to help them ensure the delivery of aid without being detected by the armed forces of enemy governments.

The “pirates” typically redistribute a significant portion of their profits among relatives and the local population.

A Somali “pirate” spokesperson said: “The humanitarian aid to Haiti can not be controlled by the United States and European countries; they have no moral authority to do so.

“They are the ones pirating mankind for many years.”

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2010/823/42362

:thumbup1:

[Havet]

and don't forget the somalian pirates :laugh:

Haiti: Somali pirates offer aid

The article below is abridged from Aporea.org. It has been translated by Kiraz Janicke.

Spokespeople for the so-called Somali pirates have expressed willingness to part of their loot captured from transnational boats to Haiti.

Leaders of these groups have declared they have links in various places around the world to help them ensure the delivery of aid without being detected by the armed forces of enemy governments.

The “pirates” typically redistribute a significant portion of their profits among relatives and the local population.

A Somali “pirate” spokesperson said: “The humanitarian aid to Haiti can not be controlled by the United States and European countries; they have no moral authority to do so.

“They are the ones pirating mankind for many years.”

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2010/823/42362

:thumbup1:

Wow, I thought they were just selfish bastards (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1673675&postcount=3)

[Nolan]

Wow, I thought they were just selfish bastards (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1673675&postcount=3)

Who said it was just the pirates?

[Havet]

Who said it was just the pirates?

Nobody, but you included pirates.

[Nolan]

Nobody, but you included pirates.

They are working class like everyone. Most are forced into lifestyles like piracy to survive. It's not surprising that they feel solidarity with Haiti. Both have no functional government. We have to look at evil firstly from the perspective of the system, not individuals.

[Havet]

They are working class like everyone. Most are forced into lifestyles like piracy to survive. It's not surprising that they feel solidarity with Haiti. Both have no functional government. We have to look at evil firstly from the perspective of the system, not individuals.

Define "system". If you mean the collective, it is just an increased number of the individuals. It makes perfect sense to look at individuals first.

[Bud Struggle]

Dean--it's in situations like this I have no idea--and I mean NO IDEA--who is telling the truth and who is spinning lies.

I really don't know.

[Nolan]

Define "system". If you mean the collective, it is just an increased number of the individuals. It makes perfect sense to look at individuals first.

Even though the collective is composed of individuals, it has dynamics of its own. The collective is more than the sum of its parts.

At any rate, common sense tells us there are going to be those forced into doing it - and those who are genuine predators for whatever reasons. The situation in Somalia is conducive to this. The anarcho-statism is what I mean by system. It pays to look at both equally really.

[Havet]

Even though the collective is composed of individuals, it has dynamics of its own. The collective is more than the sum of its parts.

At any rate, common sense tells us there are going to be those forced into doing it - and those who are genuine predators for whatever reasons. The situation in Somalia is conducive to this. The anarcho-statism is what I mean by system. It pays to look at both equally really.

I think this makes even more sense:

However, "the debate about whether or not the whole can be predicted from the properties of the parts misses the point. Wholes produce unique combined effects, but many of these effects may be co-determined by the context and the interactions between the whole and its environment(s)." (Corning 2002 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFCorning2002)) Along that same thought, Arthur Koestler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Koestler) stated, "it is the synergistic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergistic) effects produced by wholes that are the very cause of the evolution of complexity in nature" and used the metaphor of Janus to illustrate how the two perspectives (strong or holistic vs. weak or reductionistic) should be treated as perspectives, not exclusives, and should work together to address the issues of emergence.(Koestler 1969 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFKoestler1969)) Further,

"The ability to reduce everything to simple fundamental laws does not imply the ability to start from those laws and reconstruct the universe..The constructionist hypothesis breaks down when confronted with the twin difficulties of scale and complexity. At each level of complexity entirely new properties appear. Psychology is not applied biology, nor is biology applied chemistry. We can now see that the whole becomes not merely more, but very different from the sum of its parts."(Anderson 1972 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence#CITEREFAnderson1972))

[Dean]

Dean--it's in situations like this I have no idea--and I mean NO IDEA--who is telling the truth and who is spinning lies.

I really don't know.

What are you talking about?

[Bud Struggle]

What are you talking about?

I'm saying why should I believe Al Jezerra spin anyomore than anyone elses? Why should I believe this story as true?

[Red Commissar]

I don't see what's the spin, it's been described in other news sources that Cuba has sent medical aid to Haiti. It's also their way of supporting a nation which has voted against the US embargoes against Cuba in the UN.

I've read in some other places that contrary to the "spin" of Fox News claiming that Cuba wasn't initially sending anyone because they didn't want to, that they were restrained by legal and political issues that prevented them from deploying their full contingency of medical professionals.

If I'm not mistaken Cuba was prepared to do the same for the US after Hurricane Katrina as well.

The only thing they can really "spin" is the impact or extent of the Cuban aid, but the fact is they are there...

[Dean]

I'm saying why should I believe Al Jezerra spin anyomore than anyone elses? Why should I believe this story as true?

Why shouldn't you? What they are saying is that facts were omitted, which is true, and they're not actually contradicting any other news report except for one specific entity. Why do you suddenly start to question the media only when it is being analyzed by an independent source?

[Bud Struggle]

Why shouldn't you? What they are saying is that facts were omitted, which is true, and they're not actually contradicting any other news report except for one specific entity. Why do you suddenly start to question the media only when it is being analyzed by an independent source? I'm saying is why do you think Al Jezerra is any more "independent" than any other news source?

Everybody's got an ax to grind.

[Dean]

I'm saying is why do you think Al Jezerra is any more "independent" than any other news source?

Everybody's got an ax to grind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera

By its funding through loans or grants rather than direct government subsidies, the channel maintains independence of its editorial policy[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-3)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-4).



While prior to 11 September 2001, the United States government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government) had lauded Al Jazeera for its role as an independent media outlet in the Middle East, US officials have since claimed an anti-American bias to Al Jazeera's news coverage.[42] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-iraqwar-41)[81] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-differentwars-80)
The station first gained widespread attention in the West following the September 11, 2001 attacks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11,_2001_attacks), when it broadcast videos in which Osama bin Laden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden) and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulaiman_Abu_Ghaith) defended and justified the attacks. This led to significant controversy and accusations by the United States government that Al Jazeera was engaging in propaganda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda) on behalf of terrorists. Al Jazeera countered that it was merely making information available without comment, and several western television channels later followed suit in broadcasting portions of the tapes.
On November 13, during the US invasion of Afghanistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_%282001%E2%80%93present%29), 2001, a U.S. missile strike destroyed Al Jazeera's office in Kabul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabul). There were no casualties.[40] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-news.bbc.co.uk-39)
At a 3 October 2001 press conference, Colin Powell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell) tried to persuade the emir of Qatar to shut down Al Jazeera.[82] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-81)[83] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-82)[84] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-83)
On 12 October 2008 Al Jazeera broadcast interviews with people attending a Sarah Palin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin) 2008 United States presidential election (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008) rally in St Clairsville, Ohio (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St_Clairsville,_Ohio&action=edit&redlink=1), with interviewees making comments about Barack Obama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama) such as "he regards white people as trash". The report got over 2 million views on Youtube (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube)[85] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-84) and elicited comment by Colin Powell: "Those kind of images going out on Al Jazeera are killing us."[86] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-aljazeera_to_wp-85) Following this the Washington Post (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Post) ran an op-ed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op-ed),[87] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-Post181008-86) claiming the news channel was deliberately encouraging "anti-American sentiment overseas",[87] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#cite_note-Post181008-86) which was criticized by Al Jazeera as "a gratuitous and uninformed shot at Al Jazeera's motives", as the report was just one of "hundreds of hours of diverse coverage".

Considering that their employees have been direct targets of US and NATO violence, I can imagine that they may have an "ax to grind," but its a far more realistic "ax" than that of the corporate shrills at NBC, Fox and other such trash outlets.

AJE is the only honest, independent channel with a worldwide english broadcast. The bias seen in most western sources is incredible and the mere fact that AJE has a show devoted to discussing alternate views and bias in media, as well as programs which directly confront issues of political and economic power, it is a much more reliable and useful source for English news.

[Bud Struggle]

Considering that their employees have been direct targets of US and NATO violence, I can imagine that they may have an "ax to grind," but its a far more realistic "ax" than that of the corporate shrills at NBC, Fox and other such trash outlets.

AJE is the only honest, independent channel with a worldwide english broadcast. The bias seen in most western sources is incredible and the mere fact that AJE has a show devoted to discussing alternate views and bias in media, as well as programs which directly confront issues of political and economic power, it is a much more reliable and useful source for English news.


See--I don't KNOW that. I understand their point of view--but their lack of honesty in taking on their own bugaboo--Moslem Fundamentalism is troubling.

Here from the pretty honest Accuracy in Media:

http://www.aim.org/aim-column/al-jazeera-invades-canada-and-threatens-america/

Dean--it's ALL spin.

[ls]

See--I don't KNOW that. I understand their point of view--but their lack of honesty in taking on their own bugaboo--Moslem Fundamentalism is troubling.

Here from the pretty honest Accuracy in Media:

http://www.aim.org/aim-column/al-jazeera-invades-canada-and-threatens-america/

Dean--it's ALL spin.

Correct, that's why Al-Jazeera can be trusted on stuff except for about Qatar. The same is true for for RT and Xinhua - except for stuff that geopolitically concerns Russia or China respectively.

[Ele'ill]

There will always be much to gain from biased reporting and it will never stop. Ever.


It's not the end of the world but it's something that needs to be acknowledged.

Reporting is the cheapest way for the common woman or man in a society to become important to another group of people. (who they may not know or even ever meet)

It's the reason that independent reporting is so important at demonstrations. Seattle - Iran - You can go from being a hourly worker to being a nationally known in house name - frequently questioned by your country's secret service- rabble rouser - with just a camera and an average grip on journalism.

Consider Cop Watch.

[RGacky3]

I'm saying why should I believe Al Jezerra spin anyomore than anyone elses? Why should I believe this story as true?

Al Jezzerra, if you look at the types of stories they do, and their discussions of the different sides, and the actual facts, its clear that they spin a lot less than at least American news stations.

[Dean]

See--I don't KNOW that. I understand their point of view--but their lack of honesty in taking on their own bugaboo--Moslem Fundamentalism is troubling.

Here from the pretty honest Accuracy in Media:

http://www.aim.org/aim-column/al-jazeera-invades-canada-and-threatens-america/

Dean--it's ALL spin.
[/URL][URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_in_media (http://www.revleft.com/vb/5720%20Capitol%20Blvd%20Suite%20M%20%28Rear%29%20R aliegh%20NC%2027616)

AIM is a right-wing mouthpiece. try again, bud.