An old admonition to writers which seems to have no known source, is to “write what you know”. This advice applies equally well to all types of writing, including a blog.  Perhaps the advice fits no where so well as the medium of a blog; a blog is after all something quite personal, I think. I have no ground breaking world vision which must be shared with the rest of humanity. I have no knowledge to share which cannot be learned more easily elsewhere.  I have no scandalous accounts of the improprieties of celebrities or politicians to reveal or regale.  Nor, for that matter, do I have any incisive social insight to offer as commentary. I have only my own personal story as it has happened and as it has yet to unfold to offer for the retelling. To readers of this, should there be any, I make this promise;  in the future I will try to restrict my comments to that which I know, in the hope that you will find something of value therein. Think

                                                                                                                                                 Mike, Can I call you Mike?  No?  Too Bad. Mike, I’m sure what I am about to tell you will come as a shock to you, but I simply must reach out to you and tell you what you need to know.  With your recent "Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore" you have finally elevated yourself into a place in society that is so incredibly rare that only one person at a time in any given century, in any civilization may occupy. Yes, you have finally taken on the mantle of "Worlds Biggest Inter-Galactic Asshole".  Congratulations! For the foreseeable future, all of mankind may now look to you as the cautionary tale of what happens when an ego exceeds light speed and expands to fill all parts of the Universe at once. All future humans will point to your picture as the very epitome of what an an arrogant, bloviating, pontificating, douche-bag looks like. Mike, please, do us a favor. Just sit down, shut the fuck up, and keep your opinions to yourself. Give someone else a chance to become the next "Worlds Biggest Inter-Galactic Asshole" will you please?  Didn’t your parents teach you to play fair? ThinkObliq

It’s hard to image that death and devastation which the earthquake on January 12th, 2010 has caused in the Haitian capitol of Port au Prince, could also be a catalyst leading to a much deserved new beginning for Haiti.

When I first travel to traveled to Haiti in 1972 I was as naive young sailor with the US Navy. What an eye opener that week was for me!

No matter where I went,  it was impossible to escape effect of the staggering poverty that I found in Haiti;  a place where even the wealthy are poor by North American standards.  But,I did find something quite remarkable amid the all the noise and dirt; I found the people of Haiti.  To me, they seemed to be a brightly gregarious and affable people.  As I traveled around,  small clusters of Hatiains would gather around me and my group.  At first I was put off, enen a little scared by this behavior. But an ex-pat American whom I had befriended, reassured me by telling me that the people thronging around us were only trying to hear us speak English.  Apparently they wanted to learn English so that when they crossed the Windward Passage to Florida in their rickety wooden boats, they would be able to find work more easily.

I lived in Miami for many years after this first trip to Haiti, and Haitians continued to make the perilous trip to Florida. Many died in the attempt.  Cuban refugees also came, but made a much shorter trip across the Florida Straits.  They came in great numbers and were aided where ever possible along the way and were always welcomed with open arms at the end of the journey.

Not so the Haitians.  They were often stopped at sea and towed back to Haiti.  Those that made landfall were rounded up, detained at Krome Avenue Detention Facility for months on end and were ultimately sent back to Haiti; much poorer for the experience.

It is my hope that the same people who have protested so loudly for Sudanese, Bosnian, Ukrainian and Chinese refugees, victims and downtrodden, will pour as much if not more effort and attention into the cause of Haiti as they have for all the other equally deserving but far away causes.

Haiti has gone unnoticed and forgotten for far too long.