Monday, February 8, 2010

Zirin: WHO DAT?, Quigly: Haiti - 23 Days Later

From: Edge of Sports
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 8:57 PM

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/527623/who_dat_dat_s_the_super_bowl_champs

Who Dat? Dat's the Super Bowl Champs!
by Dave Zirin

The New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl 44. I can't believe I'm even typing
the words. Five years ago this was the team considered most likely to be
moved to Los Angeles. Four and a half years ago, after the levies broke, the
concern was not whether there would be a Saints, but whether there would
even be a New Orleans. Remember that after Hurricane Katrina, the Speaker of
the House, Republican Rep. Dennis Hastert said, "It looks like a lot of that
place could be bulldozed." But now Hastert is on the political scrap heap
and New Orleans is the home of the Super Bowl champs. I'm not sure whether
it feels like a dream or positively preordained. If nothing else, it's an
emotional release from all the idiocy that surrounded the big game. From the
military cheerleading, to Tim and Pam Tebow's vapid Focus on the Family ad,
to the Who's halftime act which clearly violated the Geneva accords: none of
it matters now. We'll go back to building resistance to Obama's wars. Tim
Tebow will go back to being the next Eric Crouch. And the Who will go back
to Madame Tussaud's. For right now, it just doesn't matter because the New
Orleans Saints won the damn Super Bowl.

Quarterback Drew Brees will get a lot of love after a 32-for-39 MVP
performance. But this was no one-man-band. This was about a head coach in
Sean Payton who, with his team down 10-6, exercised a wicked sense of daring
and ordered the first non-fourth quarter onside kick in Super Bowl history.
This was about a Saints defense that bent but didn't break, freezing Peyton
Manning's Colts at 17 points. This was about an offense that was crisper
than potatoes at the bottom of a deep fryer. This was also about a stadium
in Miami that sounded nearly as loud as the Louisiana Superdome. But most of
all this was about a Crescent City that refuses to die.

As Leigh, a friend and blogger from New Orleans, said to me, "The energy in
this entire town is incredible. People here have been ready for this for
decades...but the way the media is treating the Saints as underdogs isn't a
surprise to any of us. The people of New Orleans have been subjected to
those attitudes for a long time ourselves, and we still are in too, too many
ways, but we're still here. And those who are still unable to return here
due to the displacement caused by the storm, or the recession, or other
circumstances - they'll return in one way or another, because this is a town
that can teach the rest of this country how to live. It always has, and it
always will, despite it all."

Leigh's pride runs across NOLA tonight. The same week that Education
Secretary Arne Duncan outrageously called Hurricane Katrina "the best thing
that happened to the education system in New Orleans", the city has
delivered a counterpunch to Duncan as well as any and all doubters. Their
ascendancy means that the arduous post Hurricane recovery work has gotten
more publicity in the last two weeks than it's received in the last two
years. This is maddening but many New Orleans residents wouldn't have it any
other way. As Saints linebacker Scott Fujita's wife Jaclyn said, "The people
of New Orleans love the Saints not because they provide a distraction from
their fall but because they are a reflection of their rise."

Whether you believe that or not, the proof is in the very vibe of the city.
The French Quarter is hopping tonight. The Ninth Ward is hopping tonight.
Algiers is hopping tonight. People in New Orleans are feeling damn good
right now, and to scoff at that is to scoff at the very resiliency that
makes us human. Community activist and former Black Panther Malik Rahim who
has lived in the city for three decades and still works in Algiers, told me,
"I haven't seen people this happy since Katrina. No question about it." That
doesn't mean all – or even some – questions about the future of New Orleans
are solved by a Saints Super Bowl win. Jobs, housing, and the right of
return for displaced residents still need to be at the forefront of everyone's
mind.

But it does mean that folks of the Big Easy are feeling fearless tonight.
Every last person – from Bush to Brownie - that wrote this city off has to
now bend down and kiss the ring. President Barack Obama, who often seems
allergic to saying the words "New Orleans" must now greet the team at the
White House and acknowledge both the Saints and the city that bears their
name. Even if tomorrow is unbearably hard, we have today. And today feels
mighty fine.

[Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming "Bad Sports: How Owners are
Ruining the Games we Love" (Scribner) Receive his column every week by
emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.]

***

From: www.zcommunications.org

Haiti - Still Starving 23 Days Later

By Bill Quigley
Bill Quigley's ZSpace: February 6, 2010

You can walk down many of the streets of Port au Prince and see absolutely
no evidence that the world community has helped Haiti.

Twenty three days after the earthquake jolted Haiti and killed over 200,000
people, as many as a million people have still not received any
international food assistance.

On February 4, the UN World Food Program reported they had given at least
some food, mostly 55 pound bags of rice, to over a million people. The UN
acknowledges that it still needs to reach another one million people.

The 55 pounds of rice are expected to provide a two week food ration for a
family. Beans and cooking oil are scheduled to come later.

The Associated Press reported that people in Haiti at small protests were
holding up banners reading "Help us, we're starving."

Over a million people are displaced. About 10,000 families are in tents,
the rest are living under sheets, blankets and tarps.

One of the people living under a sheet is a brand new mother with her one
day old baby. The New York Times reports that Rosalie Antoine, 33, and her
one day old baby were living in a neighbor's yard with puppies and chickens
under a sheet in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Port au Prince.

Haiti and the United Nations estimate 250,000 children under the age of 7
are living in temporary housing. Most need vaccinations.

Flavia Cherry, of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and
Action, this week witnessed a pregnant double amputee give birth on the
ground in one of the tent camps without any medical assistance at all.
"This poor mother had nothing, no milk, no clothing for the baby, nothing!"

Even people who can afford to purchase food are having a difficult time. A
55 pound bag of rice costs 40 percent more today than it did before the
earthquake. Dr. Louise Ivers, a Partners in Health physician in Port au
Prince, reports a 25 kg (55 pounds) bag of rice that sold for $30 US dollars
(1,207 Haitian Gourdes) before the quake, now costs $42 US dollars (1,690
Haitian Gourdes).

The World Food Program reports prices are still rising and people outside
the earthquake zone are having difficulty meeting their basic food needs.

Twenty three days after the quake.

Bill Quigley just returned from Haiti. He is Legal Director at the Center
for Constitutional Rights. His email is Quigley77@gmail.com

From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
http://ruby.zcommunications.org/haiti-still-starving-23-days-later-by-bill-quigleyCommentaries:http://ruby.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/Comment:http://ruby.zcommunications.org/haiti-still-starving-23-days-later-by-bill-quigley***From: www.zcommunications.orgHaiti - Still Starving 23 Days LaterBy Bill QuigleyBill Quigley's ZSpace: February 6, 2010You can walk down many of the streets of Port au Prince and see absolutelyno evidence that the world community has helped Haiti.Twenty three days after the earthquake jolted Haiti and killed over 200,000people, as many as a million people have still not received anyinternational food assistance.On February 4, the UN World Food Program reported they had given at leastsome food, mostly 55 pound bags of rice, to over a million people. The UNacknowledges that it still needs to reach another one million people.The 55 pounds of rice are expected to provide a two week food ration for afamily. Beans and cooking oil are scheduled to come later.The Associated Press reported that people in Haiti at small protests wereholding up banners reading "Help us, we're starving."Over a million people are displaced. About 10,000 families are in tents,the rest are living under sheets, blankets and tarps.One of the people living under a sheet is a brand new mother with her oneday old baby. The New York Times reports that Rosalie Antoine, 33, and herone day old baby were living in a neighbor's yard with puppies and chickensunder a sheet in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Port au Prince.Haiti and the United Nations estimate 250,000 children under the age of 7are living in temporary housing. Most need vaccinations.Flavia Cherry, of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research andAction, this week witnessed a pregnant double amputee give birth on theground in one of the tent camps without any medical assistance at all."This poor mother had nothing, no milk, no clothing for the baby, nothing!"Even people who can afford to purchase food are having a difficult time. A55 pound bag of rice costs 40 percent more today than it did before theearthquake. Dr. Louise Ivers, a Partners in Health physician in Port auPrince, reports a 25 kg (55 pounds) bag of rice that sold for $30 US dollars(1,207 Haitian Gourdes) before the quake, now costs $42 US dollars (1,690Haitian Gourdes).The World Food Program reports prices are still rising and people outsidethe earthquake zone are having difficulty meeting their basic food needs.Twenty three days after the quake.Bill Quigley just returned from Haiti. He is Legal Director at the Centerfor Constitutional Rights. His email is Quigley77@gmail.comFrom: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives http://ruby.zcommunications.org/haiti-still-starving-23-days-later-by-bill-quigleyCommentaries:http://ruby.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/Comment:http://ruby.zcommunications.org/haiti-still-starving-23-days-later-by-bill-quigley

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