Out With the Old? same old same old more like it.....

In less than two weeks into the new year will be the one year anniversary of the devastating Haiti earthquake and in this last year what has been accomplished?

There are warehouses full of relief gear such as portable water purification units, clothing, tools and all sorts of other imaginable things that if let out to the agencies to distribute and organize would be wonderful assets for short and long-term recovery.

That there is right now a huge cholera outbreak and still hundreds of thousands almost a year later living in tents makes me wonder where the fuck are the brains of those who run this corrupt little country? Are your needs to be rich that great that you would rather see your countrymen and women and children literally live in shit so you can drive a Benz 4X4? Is your need for baksheesh that fucking great??? How much more do you need?

I am so disgusted with the state of some countries, with those MEN, yes men, who run these countries.....running them into the ground more like it. Where the hell is the UN stepping in to say enough is enough - open up the warehouses, stop trying to extort the aid agencies and please allow them to do their work? Yeah, that is right, the UN is male-dominated too.....hmmmm....sorry boys but I call bullshit on your entitlement and diplomatic immunity.

Haiti was the first place to divest itself of black slavery (1791-1804) but what has happened since emancipation? Haiti has had since then to unfuck itself so why now, almost one year after a disaster of unimaginable proportions is a status quo allowed to deprive its citizens of the very basic needs of life? Why are these bandits allowed to continue the legacy of the "docs"? I am sickened.

I think back to disasters past that I have covered as a reporter, those disasters that I also in part experienced and the one thing, the one truism that was always painfully there was that unlike those whose suffering I was covering, I could leave their area, go back to a comfort zone and feel somewhat normal.

But do I? Feel normal? What the hell is that? As long as I am painfully aware, months and years later as to what has not been accomplished? Yes, I will remain angry. When I see how simple it is to rectify or rather help and not for huge amounts of money - shit - it makes me bristle to no end. If some folks took the time to step out of their comfort zones and instead of sending donations just instead traveled to some of these places.....wow......there would be so many voices out there saying hey wtf is going on?

I heard the excuses this past year with regards to sending assistance to Pakistan in the wake of the most devastating floods - excuses that yes, in some ways made sense regarding corruption in that country and the possibility of funds trickling into the hands of the Taleban but where do we as those who want to help, genuinely help, where do we make a stand and how do we do as such?

Or better yet, who are we to judge? Charity, assistance - whatever......does it have to have benchmarks? Rules? Purposes?

Aid is aid.....it is about time that those of us who can provide it speak up and force so-called governments to hear our voices and accept our manpower....set aside egos for crying out loud. This world, this precious world - I wonder on this new year's eve just what it holds.....for me - perhaps a semblance of promise for so as long as some folks read these words and maybe put into action in their own lives a proactive sense of caring and doing, then maybe there is hope in this world.

Hey, one street, one hood, one city, one province, one country, one continent and one world - yes.....Feliz Ano Nuevo.

Addition made on January 3rd - here is a link to a disturbing article run in November of 2010 regarding the horrible state in Haiti, focusing on the high instance of rape.

United Nations and Women's Rights - WTF are you idiots smoking anyway?

Moribund and male-dominated, the United Nations has proved beyond a reasonable doubt just how out of touch with reality that body can be. The decision this past week to have a Women's Board, ostensibly operating as a think-tank of sorts regarding women's rights, and have countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (a country famous for its high instance of Rape) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Wahhabist misogynists) be elected to this board has to rank in my eye as probably one of the biggest WHAT THE FUCK moments ever in the history of this agency. And I have seen some real boners pulled off in the name of "humanitarianism".

Canadian writer and muslim feminist Irshad Manji, author of "The Trouble with Islam Today", gives a nice sketch of UN blunders, corruption and manipulation as of late especially regarding women and the political arms of Islam in her recent Globe and Mail article. To Manji this latest action illustrates the loss of integrity in an agency that many of us used to look up to as an example of what we could achieve as a cohesive, caring voice.

I lost faith in the UN years ago when working in the Balkans and it has been downhill from there ever since. Can we say "Rwanda"? I know that some have vilified me for my stance but unlike those professional bureaucrats, some who have become quite adept at kissing ass in order to maintain a particular lifestyle, I do not engage in my profession in order to curry favour or elevate my status. Rather, I do certain things because I seek a set of truths that may or not emerge, based on my observations and interactions with those affected by a myriad of issues, many of which could be easily eradicated if the will was there to do so. And no, I do not travel around on fat expense accounts nor in bullet-proof land Cruisers. I get down and dirty and have never been afraid to open my mouth - not a good quality to possess I suppose if one wants to join the ranks of the foreign service or barring that advance as a professional woman.

It seems that even in the ivory towers of a so-called progressive and proactive agency the agenda of making the lives of women and girls better is nothing but a joke behind certain closed doors.

Seems to me that it is never a good time to get tough on the asshole nations out there who allow Female Genital Mutilation - heaven forbid we offend someone's culture, right? Rape, "honor" killings, kidnapping little girls for sexual services - the list of atrocities committed by men (and some women) against women and girls is increasing and little has been done except the holding of conferences, the writing of position papers and other forms of "lip service" in the name of human rights - the cynic in me calls it JOB CREATION for the well-educated and connected.

This so-called Executive Board is an insult to this woman. This board should be vehemently protested.