Ok, I'll dig deep into your wallet and help.
Thanks for the link, I have been curious about admin overhead of charities for a while. Some of these are just shocking.You can see how organizations allocate their money through this site:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
At what point can we still classify them as charities? Admin overhead approaching 70%? ack...1 American Tract Society 68.0%
2 Boys Choir of Harlem 66.3%
3 National Council of Negro Women 64.0%
4 Union Rescue Mission, Little Rock 62.1%
5 Bay Area Discovery Museum 60.7%
Robertson, the host of the "700 Club," blamed the tragedy on something that "happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it."
The Haitians "were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever," Robertson said on his broadcast Wednesday. "And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' "
"I was reading, yesterday, a book that was very interesting about what God has to say in the Old Testament about those who shed innocent blood. And he [the author] used the term that those who do this, 'the land will vomit you out.' ... But have we found we are unable somehow to defend ourselves against some of the attacks that are coming against us, either by terrorists or now by natural disaster? Could they be connected in some way?"
According to CNN, noted Evangelical Christian and geological expert Pat Robertson has a theory as to why Haiti is suffering from this natural disaster:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/13/haiti.pat.robertson/index.html
He goes on to say:
I think Mr. Robertson is on to something here, and he backs up his theory with hard evidence by pointing out something that someone who wrote some book about what God had to say in the Old Testament. The international community needs to take what this man has to say with the utmost seriousness.
The most helpful thing most people can give is $ donations, because the humanitarian aid organizations can pool the money to buy & transport emergency supplies in bulk.
You can see how organizations allocate their money through this site:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Take UNICEF, for example:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4617
Organizational Efficiency
Program Expenses 90.5%
Administrative Expenses 2.8%
Fundraising Expenses 6.6%
I look at it this way: a big earthquake that levels a city is not going to choose its victims. Gangsters and thugs are probably among those who are crushed, trapped in rubble, or dying in the street... being a criminal takes a measure of strength and mental alertness, which are probably in short supply among the victims. I am not that concerned that shellshocked criminals are suddenly going to want to steal plastic tents and rehydration salts.
Any partially-intelligent criminal would use the confusion to loot stores for jewelry, electronics, and money.
According to CNN, noted Evangelical Christian and geological expert Pat Robertson has a theory as to why Haiti is suffering from this natural disaster:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/13/haiti.pat.robertson/index.html
He goes on to say:
I think Mr. Robertson is on to something here, and he backs up his theory with hard evidence by pointing out something that someone who wrote some book said about what God had to say in the Old Testament. The international community needs to take what this man has to say with the utmost seriousness.
My condolences to those impacted by this horrific tragedy.
Thanks for the link, I have been curious about admin overhead of charities for a while. Some of these are just shocking.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=topten.detail&listid=20
At what point can we still classify them as charities? Admin overhead approaching 70%? ack...
Nice links. I waited till wife got home to discuss. We decided Salvation Army. We will give 10% of what I set up for the exspected diasters this year. 2010
According to CNN, noted Evangelical Christian and geological expert Pat Robertson has a theory as to why Haiti is suffering from this natural disaster:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/13/haiti.pat.robertson/index.html
He goes on to say:
I think Mr. Robertson is on to something here, and he backs up his theory with hard evidence by pointing out something that someone who wrote some book said about what God had to say in the Old Testament. The international community needs to take what this man has to say with the utmost seriousness.
I haven't been following the story that closely, but as far as the death toll - aren't most of the dwellings just shanties? i.e. if the roof fell on your head, you'd survive? I've seen the pictures of the larger buildings in Port au Prince, but are most dwellings built that way? Or just a minority?
Scary facts about Haiti, especially the Port au Prince population density figures:
* In 1998, there were 2.4 physicians per 10,000 population and in 1996 there was 1 nurse per 10,000.
* 1.8 million people were already food insecure before the earthquake (Source: UN WFP)
* Poorest country in the western hemisphere (one of the poorest in the world).
* Four out of five Haitians live in poverty. (Source: UN)
* Annual per-capita income is $560 (more than half live on less than $1 per day.)
* Two thirds of Haitians rely on small-scale subsistence farming on tiny plots of land.
* Port au Prince is one of most densely populated cities in the world: it was built for 40,000, but 2 million live there now. Area: 10,714 square miles (slightly smaller than Maryland).
* 2008 hurricanes killed an estimated 800 people (Source: New York Times)
* Life expectancy is 61 years (US: 78 years). (Source: UNICEF)
* Literacy rate: 52.9 percent
This has got to be a nightmare for a country that was in this condition. I think the death toll will top 100K.
- wolf
I've donated, and I feel sorry as hell for these people, but geez is that country ever a pile of shit. I don't for a second support the weird "they deserved it" notion some people are floating, but I really really hope with all the aid coming in and rebuilding money they're sure to receive that there's at least some vague motions towards actually improving the place.
I'd rather live in a locker room permanently filled with cheerleaders pointing at my dick and giggling than that Godawful place.
is this the start of the earthquakes signalling the end of the world? Or do we really need to wait until 2012?
Name calling is rare in my repetroire, but I feel I must make an exception here. Pat Robertson is a scumbag whose value to human civilization is significantly less than zero.
- wolf
Yep, hopefully the dumbshits running the GOP will dump extremists like Robertson at some point. We need rational, pragmatic leadership, not hyperbolic people who want a theocracy.
Not trying to be a troll, but how much of the aid being sent over there will be stolen from the street gangs and thugs and not make it to its intended victims?
It really sucks that you even have to think about something like that after a major disaster has occured...
Do you just throw as much money as you can to try and help as many victims as you can while these street gangs will profit or take as much as they can for themselves? it is definitely a shitty proposition...
is this the start of the earthquakes signalling the end of the world? Or do we really need to wait until 2012?
That's just human nature - people will surely profit from this disaster in one way or another [news reports indicate a prison collapsed = escaped convicts = your concern]. You just need to have a "leap of faith" in hopes your donation will actually be used for whatever cause you are donating to/for.
I think it's great the "world" is willing to donate $$$ and resources for this disaster - but why not help these impoverished countries when they aren't in the aftermath of a terrible natural disaster?
Quoted for truth. That's why I'm saying the US should take it over, have a Marshall Plan for Haiti. The illiterate half would probably sit in a classroom and learn to read and write if there was a square meal in it for them. Disarm the militias (meaning the whole damned country), set up farms in suitable country, set up some light manufacturing (preferably something now made in China), pay people to plant a buttload of trees, pay people to rebuild their country. Send a double buttload of hired teachers, construction supervisors, etc. to help our own unemployment. (Hey, if we're going to bankrupt our own country let's not spend it all on high-priced ad agencies and ACORN.) Rather than spending millions every year let's spend a billion once and maybe get Haiti off the dole.Dude, are you serious? Literally half of Haiti's budget comes from foreign aid. A bunch of their debt got cancelled. The US and other governments have directly intervened several times when the entire country was on the brink of collapse due to yet ANOTHER coup. The sole reason Haiti still existed as a country is because of the generosity of developed nations.
This is a thread about an earthquake, so I won't continue to derail, but don't act like Haiti was some bubbling cauldron of potential and happiness that was being ignored by the developed world. That place is a festering shithole on the most extreme scale and the sole silver lining that may be gleaned from this tragedy is that the earthquake might act as a kind reboot button and they'll get it right this time.