PSSSST NOT FOOTBALL RELATED

Mangino was said to have last been seen purchasing a one-way ticket to Haiti.

HA HA… wait, where’s Kiffin?

Thanks, Orson. Pulling out my credit card right now.

Then there’s this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAFLgfQrjZA

One could do worse, in my humble opinion, than sending sending a few bucks to Doctors without Borders. Their clinics are all down, and are setting up hasty clinic to treat the injured.

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

Never been through anything more shaky than a Seattle rumbler, but I have had the experience of staffing mobile medical clinics in the third world. It can be a logistical and emotional nightmare even when your surroundings don’t consist of rubble and death.

Anyway, if you can, give ’til it hurts more than Mangino stepping on your manhood.

I am alarmed there are earthquakes so close to Florida. I can handle the hurricanes, thanks.

I’m under quite a bit of financial pressure these days. Don’t have much.

But I have way, way, way more than these people, even on a good day. And in the wake of an earthquake…dear Lord.

Let’s all do what we can.

Orson,

You did well today. Good on ya.

Thank you, Orson for the guidance and the reminder that there are more important things than the comings and goings of 35 year old children.

Just make sure you do solid research on the activities of the organizations. There are many corrupt ones, as you all well know, that send the money to the top to pad their Carrol-esque incomes.

World Vision donations here.

Some may see it in poor taste, but it would be a nice for you to do a tally again where we donated in the name of our respective teams or against others again.

I agree with Mr. Briggs – if competition means more donations, bring it on.

i went through one in 2007 in Chile. if my dog jumps on my bed i loose all bowel control. give. give. give. give. give. give. give. give.

Partners in Health is also an excellent charity to donate to for earthquake relief. This is Dr. Paul Farmer’s organization (he’s an anthropologist and MD who has been working in Haiti since the 1980’s). Their clinics in Haiti were non-functioning as of yesterday and they were organizing to get the clinics up and running to treat the urgent care patients. http://www.pih.org/home.html

This weekend is the anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake out in L.A. Having lived through that I will take a hurricane ANY DAY. It took years after I moved back to Florida not to constantly be figuring escape routes out of any building and always worrying about things on shelves above me suddenly falling on my head.

At least hurricanes don’t have aftershocks…an earthquake…it’s the gift that keeps on giving!

The human cost will continue to mount in the coming days and weeks. Lack of water, food and sanitation will all take thier toll. This is not Katrina but something far worse. For all the mistakes in New Orleans there was at least rapid action and enough infrastructure to coordinate the most immediate response for the most immediate need.

In Haiti such a response may be well beyond the capability and capacity of the local or national government, port facilities and air port. Any outside help will be hindered by innumerable barriers, both physical and political, and the situation will likely be very, very bad for some time.

God bless those donating, but remember those heading to help and giving support in your prayers. Here’s a shout out to my brother (and Gator fan) on the Miami-Dade Task Force 1. Godspeed, Rob.

Sullivan013

I heard on NPR today that any air-lifted equipment is having to be flown to the Dominican Republic and then driven across Hispaniola to the affected region. The situation is so bad that airplanes can’t land in the whole damned country.

I’m giving to Red Cross right now. If every reader of this site comes up with $10, that would go an incredibly long way towards helping.

You might take a look at Geohazards International

A non-profit run by a former MacArthur ‘genius’ winner to mitigate earthquake hazard in poor countries by reinforcing schools and hospitals. Haiti was not on the list as far as I know, but there are plenty of other places at risk.

http://www.geohaz.org

Another fantastic organization: Partners in Health, founded by the amazing Dr. Paul Farmer (if unfamiliar, wiki the man). PIH has one of the best hospitals on the ground in Haiti, and might be the way for your donation to make the quickest impact. You can learn more about PIH and donate here:

http://www.pih.org/home.html

If you’re interested in learning more about Haiti, or getting a different perspective of the country, there’s a great book called “Mountains Beyond Mountains” which I would highly recommend to anyone. It follows Dr. Farmer’s efforts in Haiti and many other third world countries to fight public health crisis.

“A stumble is not a fall.” – Hatian Proverb

And that’s what I get for not reading the comments. Listen to Erica, she knows her shit.

Seriously though, “Mountains Beyond Mountains.” Good book. Inspiring.

I saw the footage this morning. I live on the edge of the San Francisco bay. I said about 44 Hail Marys and some stuff I made up, and hit up the Red Cross right away.

All you folks headed down that way…God bless, you make us proud.

I’ve been through one minor earthquake (4.7) and two serious hurricanes (Alicia and Ike).

Give me the hurricanes any day. At least you have some warning.

WPL’s family has been hit hard:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gator_clause/2010/01/university-of-florida-gators-football-player-and-students-affected-by-earthquake-in-portauprince.html

$2 million donated via text messages according to the NYTimes. Keep giving folks.

Just gave to PIH, in my head, I gave in honor of hatred for all things crimson/white.

Surely someone has enough hate for me and “my kind” to trump my gift!

Just texted $10 in the name of my team and alma mater, The Citadel Bulldogs.

Max Jean-Gilles, former UGA and current Eagle, and his wife are also from Haiti. They were on the local news last night and reported that they also hope to organize some sort of contribution campaign. Currently, they have an organization that was in the process of building a school in the countryside, away from the capitol so they may just use that organization for relief efforts.

http://www.yele.org/

Donations via text is probably the best idea since sliced bread and the death metal rooster

I’ll never tell someone to not give to a particular charity organization, because even the ones top-heavy with administrative expenses are better than nothing. However after Katrina, we all learned a lesson or three about how charities work. I’ll echo what others have said…do your homework, and pick a charity that will best utilize the dollars you donate. And beware the charities that drag out pop stars or Hollywood types to beg for donations. You shouldn’t be pulling out a credit card because an Irish guy with bug-eye glasses asks you to.

/soapbox

As for the hurricane vs earthquake debate…maybe I’m still gun shy, but I’d prefer neither, thanks. Been through both. Have no desire to go through either again. Doesn’t matter which is worse…shit’s getting fucked up either way.

Well, since Haiti lacks the proper bulding codes to handle a earthquake, even a minor quake would have brought tremendous damage.

Wish I could say I would have definitely sent something had you not mentioned it. But you did and I and more than a few others did because of your thoughtfulness.

Still, I’m not switching my home page from BBC World News to EDSBS, though. Might come up in a job interview question one day.

Long time listener, first time caller.

I was going to buy a few bottles of my new favorite beverage, “The Dead Arm”, but I sent the money to Partners in Health instead.

RTR

“Just gave to PIH, in my head, I gave in honor of hatred for all things crimson/white.

Surely someone has enough hate for me and "my kind" to trump my gift!"

Consider it trumped by the Crimson and White as of a few minutes ago.

God Bless PIH and everyone else in Haiti…just heartbreaking.

MB

O -

Guilty-feeling and lurking paragraph fivers thank you for giving us a way to assist from our desks/hovels.