Our neighbor Haiti

As I write this- at 12:05 on Wed. morning Tucson time--nobody knows how many have died in the huge 7.0 earthquake.that hit Port au Prince at 5:30 p.m. The epicenter of this shallow quake was only a few miles west of Haiti's capital city.

Reports say that thousands sit in the streets in the rain and darkness. The BBC says at least hundreds have died, another source says maybe thousands.

How much can one poor and devastated country withstand? Especially when it is the poorest in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world.

54% of the Haiti's 8.2 million people are impoverished and live on less than a dollar a day. 76% live on less than two dollars a day.

While earthquake relief is already on its way from the US, it is staggering to realize that Haiti lies only 681 miles south of our country--a country where Wall St. employees rescued by taxpayers are receiving billions of dollars in annual bonuses. On Monday, Democracy Now reported: "Wall Street firms are preparing to give out billions of dollars in annual bonuses. The average employee at Goldman Sachs is expected to receive a bonus worth nearly $600,000. Many executives will earn far more. At JPMorgan the average bonus is expected to top $450,000. But the Wall Street Journal reports many employees at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and other firms are grumbling because much of this year’s bonus will be in stock instead of cash."

Something is colossally rotten, and it's not in Denmark.