HAITI: Some Uncomfortable questions for the developing world.

As Haitians and the rest of the world mourn the great loss of life and suffering, some uncomfortable questions need to be asked. The intention here is not to criticize or grand- stand in the aftermath of such a tragedy. Rather, it is an attempt to spark discussion and hopefully aid in the disaster preparedness of other nations of the ‘developing’ world.

First is what happened to the Haitian government in the week following the earthquake? The president of Haiti was nowhere to be seen. The Haitian police and military also were absent while chaos ruled the streets. Instead, discussions were centered on US and United Nations peacekeeping troops as the ones to restore order. No mention of local police or activation of the military or National Guard equivalent. Somehow all the media corps treated this as an acceptable state of affairs. It is only days later that Haitian police started making headlines for using live ammunition on looters.

Why would foreign troops take over the airport and capital city of another sovereign nation in the absence of a coup d’etat? That is unacceptable. The people of Haiti deserve better. God forbid the nation had been under attack. What would have been the government’s reaction?

The other more important question is will this serve as a wake-up call for other developing nations to put plans and resources in place for natural disasters? It would be heart-breaking to see this scene repeated again a decade from now in another part of the world. Of course the truth about all this is that the people in these countries must demand responsible governance. No amount of foreign aid (more than 50-80% of which is embezzled) will lead to self reliance on the part of these nations. History has shown this be true. For all the billions of dollars in foreign aid that flowed to developing nations since the early seventies, the vast majority of the recipients are still as poor or worse than when the aid started flowing.

Little Things Your Bank Does to Rip You Off

I just found out that something I always suspected my bank practices is actually true. I always thought it was interesting that whenever my checking account balance was low, there seemed to be an uptick in activity. So I found out that I am not crazy. Banks do actually have software programs designed to process debit card payments in a way that depletes your balance the quickest. Here is how it works.

When you purchase something via your debit card, the bank has no obligation post the payments to your bank account in the order in which the purchases are made. They therefore process the largest amounts quicker than smaller ones. Additionally, if your account happens to be overdrawn, the bank now has the opportunity to process those little trinkets you bought at the dollar store for as much as $35 a pop. hence the famed '40 dollar latte'.

By the way there is no reason for a bank with their long 'conservative' tradition to insist on honoring a payment on your depleted account other than to rip you off. While the consumer is ultimately in charge of tracking their balances, this goes beyond good faith. Of course that overdraft fee is really a loan but they would never call it that because the 'Truth in lending act' requires banks to disclose the APR on all loans. If they did that they would have to tell you that they just charged you over 350% APR on those little charges.

This is all legal of course because the bank do actually own Washington. You are likely to hear politicians say the banks 'own Washington'. The banks have very 'powerful' lobbies. But no one will name names. An easy way to control this so called 'power'? Just ban the lobbyists from making campaign contributions. Now what senator could control something like that?

Laptop Crash

My now-vintage Toshiba laptop crashed last week. I have discovered its now almost impossible to live without internet. No wonder the US govt now considers it a necessity just like utilities. No longer a luxury.

The said laptop is now resuscitated for which I am grateful. I expect to be furiously blogging in the coming days and expect no less from my two readers. I take care of my readers!

My heart goes out to Haiti. As we mourn and pray we should also ask some tough questions. Will the rest of the third world countries learn anything from this? Will they do anything to prepare? Unofficially, a quake of similar magnitude hit San Francisco. Death toll? Less than 70.