Can Haiti get a beak?

American Naval Forces yesterday sent sent its amphibious assault ship Kearsarge to Port-au-Prince to assist in ferrying disaster relief to victims cut off by collapsed bridges and flooded towns along the sole road to stricken areas north of the capital. In contrast to the $100,000 in assistance offered to Cuba, Washington upped its aid to Haitian storm victims to $10 million. (ap news)

The government of Haiti more than doubled the death toll from Hanna late Thursday, to 137 from a previous toll of 61. Eighty of the deaths occurred in the flooded region of Gonaïves and 22 others died in areas immediately surrounding the port, according to statements released by the Ministry of the Interior and the Civil Protection Department.

Gonaïves has been almost entirely cut off by Hanna's floodwaters and virtual lakes have formed over every road.

My heart goes out to the victims in Haiti. Haiti has gone through so much in that country, both with political an economical disasters.

Haitains Tired of Being Hungry

Haitians stormed the presidential palace yesterday to demand the resignation of President Rene Preval over rising food prices and U.N. peacekeepers battled rioters with rubber bullets and tear gas. Haiti is a country right now caught in the brink of becoming extinct. “We are hungry! He must go!” protesters shouted as they tried to break into the presidential palace.

'Subsidizing imported goods is not the solution,''President Préval told the people. ``Today, we are paying the price for more than 20 years of bad political decisions. I'd rather today, we subsidize national production.''

Both Préval supporters and critics voiced discontent at the lack of immediate action coming out of his speech. Many said it was long overdue and did not go far enough to quell the demands of protesters who have been calling for Préval's government to resign.