Some Haiti Stuff

There’s been a lot of interesting stuff about Haiti this week on the heels of the devastating earthquake.

For starters, Lifehacker gives us a guide to safely donate or help out.  There are going to be scams out there for sure, so be careful.

How and Where to Donate to Haiti and Avoid Scams  (Lifehacker)

Anderson Cooper and CNN report as a 15-year-old girl is rescued from the rubble in Port Au Prince.  Watch the video at AC360 (yeah, that’s Anderson’s blog…I know, right?).

Video: ‘People were dying below me’  (AC360)

Justin Fox (The Curious Capitalist) picks up on an interesting discussion about why Haiti is so poor and goes back to a Professor Jared Diamond book to lay out how these circumstances came about…

Then, in the 20th century, both Haiti and Dominican Republic were ruled for decades by murderous tyrants, but the Dominican murderous tyrant (Rafael Trujillo) was at least interested in industrial development. He was also eventually succeeded by a former minion (Joaquín Balaguer) who, while not at all a nice guy, did turn out to be a patriot and a total tree hugger. Meanwhile, Haiti’s despicable “Papa Doc” Duvalier was succeeded by his only slightly less despicable son. The result: The Dominican Republic, while still poor, is much richer than Haiti—and it still has trees.

Read the rest of the discussion at TIME…

Jared Diamond’s Haiti Story (The Curious Capitalist)