Dubya looks so cute lol

like a lil child awwwww

I definitely agree with this.

People (on facebook mainly) have been offended and downright angry with me and other folks who question Yele Haiti. I don't know Yele from the man in the moon, so of course I will question it. Nicely, of course.

Get out of my head!

Yep, I've had a few such discussions myself. I meant to tell you last night how right on you were.

I was going to suggest the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, also
:)

I don't think that anyone is saying this is a duty (though, I haven't been watching t. v. too much). But this is a time of extraordinary crisis and I think that people feel a great deal of compassion for the Haitians. If this moment also provides an opportunity for folks to learn things that they otherwise would not know about this nation, or perhaps a catalyst for more involvement on the international or local level, all the better.

@The bolded, I agree. I think that most of the people who feel compelled to take action in this cause are people that are probably working in their communities all the time. I would imagine that people that are generally indifferent to the need that they see in front of them every day would not be particularly moved by need several times removed from their immediate sphere.

To the rest: I don't guess the contemporary media (particularly most of those folks on any 24 hour news channels) has frequently been lauded for its ability to acknowledge either nuance or complexity. Do like I do; don't watch it.

<----news related rant free since 2008. :)

Everywhere includes but is not limited to the media. My rant wasn't news related.

I watch the news everyday and have been doing so since childhood. That's not going to stop.

Wyclef responds to claims against Yele.

o. k. :)

ETA: I hadn't seen this one. I wonder if he has a publicist?

I often forget that we have to use smileys to denote lightheartedness on message boards. That sucks because I hate it when people smile when they talk about unsmiley topics in real life. LOL.

lol! i thought the same thing.

Actually I was listening to a news show this morning (granted not watching, but listening) and I heard the parents of some students that were missing in Haiti stating that the US HAS to send more rescue troops in, etc. I wonder if their children were not involved if they would feel the same.

Also other nations (France being one) are criticizing our response. So yes people do feel that it is the our duty to save Haiti.

As for not watching the news. I don't watch it that much, because I have a short attention span. But I would not recommend that folx not watch it, otherwise you miss a lot of what is going on around you. And I don't mean the events themselves, but rather the spins that are used by the media or whomever. IMO, that is important to know, because you learn a lot about how the real world works and thinks. And you never know when you may be in a position to need that knowledge. A small example is a newspaper headline. It is designed to draw in the reader. But then you get to the 2nd paragraph and realize it was misleading. If you don't read the article you don't know this, and you may base an opinion on false information.

So that was mostly a joke, in terms of the suggestion that others don't watch. Folks do what they want to do. We are all grown. :)

I do have a genuine and hearty dislike for most televised news though, particularly the 24 hours news channel variety, exactly because I find it to be mostly sensationalism, speculation, and spin without a whole lot of actual journalism. I tend to read or listen to my news, though there are a few news programs (generally public t. v.) that I do watch.

I will say that I have not been running into this sentiment that it is our "duty" everywhere I turn though. So....

ETA: Also, it seems to me that you and Phil are posting about two separate things. I read Phil's initial post as a rant about individual "duty" in this crisis (which is what I was responding to), while the examples that you provided were more about U. S. responsibility. But perhaps I misread.

The "duty" of America often trickles down to the "duty" of Americans.

There wouldn't be this volume of solicitations for donations from GLOs, general service organizations, colleges and universities, churches, barber shops, and so forth if the White House had not made an early statement of American government/government affiliates support. Then they said "if you lazy, spoiled rotten Americans wanna do something, check out whitehouse.gov for a list of charities." The media picked that up, started listing charities on various websites, and thus began the battle of the charities. Then radio cult leaders like Michael Baisden (I like him but he and others have way too much influence both good and bad--it's like some of his listeners were mindless drones before he existed) wouldn't shut up about it--having American-Haitians record pleas for help and stuff. LOL.