Take Your Pick

A slightly different TYP this week. At this link you can listen to the experience of an American who wanted to help build a school in Hiati. The podcast is 22 minutes long but you can listen while you do your usual morning browsing.

Also, sent to me by Edward was the following taken from the Spectator blogs:

Thanks to David Maddox for this gem. During a debate on BBC Scotland last night, marking a decade of devolution, Iain Gray, leader of the Labour party at Holyrood, boasted of the parliament’s achievements:

Has it [the Scottish Parliament] made a difference?" he asked rhetorically. "Yes it has. When the Parliament started one in five children in this country lived in poverty. That’s now one in three. That’s significant progress."

God knows, mind you, how much more of this progress we can take.

Oh, Iain Gray was once a teacher. His subject? Mathematics, obviously…

To think this man was the leader of the Labour party in Scotland!

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Haiti's Children

Many of Haiti's children have had no childhood. They are given away to other families by parents too poor to clothe and feed them, they are supposed to receive food, shelter and a schooling in return. For many the reality is different.

Since the devastating earthquake early last month many agencies have concerned themselves with the care of children and spoken publicly about the help required. It will be a mammoth task to attempt to reunite many of Haiti's children with their families because the collapse of the government will restrict the speed at which international agencies can work.

Last Friday a coach containing 33 Haitian children and 10 American missionaries, who claimed the children were orphans, were arrested trying to cross the border from Haiti to the Dominican Republic. Evidence has emerged that many of the 33 children with the missionaries were not orphans and some had been given by families who could no longer afford to keep them.

The group who call themselves the New Life Children's Refuge, had no paperwork and have been accused of child trafficking.

The Baptists insisted the children were orphans but last night on Channel 4 News, a Haitian pastor who was acting as an intermediary, said the children had been handed over voluntarily by their parents and he had a contact name, address and telephone number for each of them.

Since I heard this story I was uncomfortable with the spokeswoman's words: "God is the one who called us to come here and we just believed that this was his purpose." Sadly not all Christians are good people.

After reflecting on the pastor's words about a name, address and phone number, I realise these children may have had a lucky escape, a very lucky escape. If a family can't afford to clothe and feed their children would they have a telephone?

The official religion of Haiti is Roman Catholicism. Isn't it time the Vatican gained some common sense and permitted the use of condoms rather than have so many children subjugated to a life of hell?

These children will possibly be returned to their families who may well attempt to give them away again. What hope is there for them? The chance that some who offer them a better life just may be telling the truth?

Global Research provides a set of videos which give an eye-witness account of the overall current situation. You may find them worthwhile along with this article.

source

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"Helping Hiati Is a Test of Our Humanity" - PM

Gordon Brown, at a charity poetry reading for Haiti in London on Saturday, said: "Helping Haiti was the test of our humanity."

I completely agree but I'm somewhat concerned about the proportion of monetary aid to be given to help the battered Hiati compared with aid given to certain other countries.

The UK is sending 5,700 corrugated iron sheets to provide shelters for victims of the earthquake. The £35,000 cost will be taken from the £20m the UK government has allocated to the relief effort.

The UK Disasters Emergency Committee's appeal has raised £60m from the public.

Gerald Warner asks: 'Why are we giving India £1 billion in aid if it can afford Moon missions?' He continues: 'What on earth are we doing pouring UK taxpayers' money into the maw of a nation that can afford to send rockets to the Moon?'

'India is engaging in a space race with China that could turn into something nastier, its eventual objective being to corner supplies of helium 3 by claiming tracts of the Moon’s surface, like terrestrial colonisers centuries ago. It goes without saying there will also be a military dimension to the project. Probably more reprehensible than the financial cost to date is the ISRO’s monopolising of 1,000 scientists who could be engaged on work of more service to humanity'.

The UK government can only give £20m to a country ravaged by earthquakes and where thousands of lives are at risk, yet it gifts our money to wealthy countries under the label of 'development aid.'

To quote Mr Warner again : 'The international aid scam is becoming an indefensible caricature. Britain gives £38 million a year to China, which has just spent £20 billion on the Olympics. As in Europe, so everywhere else: the rosbifs are relished as a dripping roast.

Why is donating a relatively small amount to Hiati a 'test of our humanity' when the government is handing massive sums of money to rich countries?

Mark has an interesting post concerning Hiati and Cato has a first hand account of what's going on.

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Haiti Email Scams

The Red Cross estimates that up to three million people in Haiti have been affected by Tuesday's earthquake and the devastation it has caused.

One of my readers sent me this and I thought it would be a good reminder that the world does have people who completely lack compassion or conscience and are utterly unscrupulous.

I know the article is from an American site but, as it concerns email, that's not important. It's worth ensuring friends and family know they should disregard any emails asking for money towards the Haiti disaster.

Here in the UK the agencies are asking for donations to be made to the Disaster Emergency Committee. The Scottish appeal will be launched this afternoon.

Let's do our best to ensure these criminals receive nothing from the UK.

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