Before yesterday I would have simply described Haiti as one of the worst hell-holes to live in with some of the worst people in the world running the government. I don’t know what to say now except that life on this planet can be disproportionately cruel. I’ve always been thankful I wasn’t born there, but I’m extra double glad of this today.

If there’s a Haitian relief fund of any kind I’ll probably drop some money in. And you know that the same Haitian thieves who’ve been stealing all along will take a chunk of that relief fund and send it to their bank accounts in Bern.

My third or fourth reaction is that the worst may not be over. The authorities have said they don’t have facilities to handle the wounded, much less deal with the 100,000-plus bodies. The latter poses a terrible potential for an outbreak of disease and more death if it’s not taken care of quickly. I’m thinking of Humphrey Bogart‘s second reaction to the death of Robert Morley in The African Queen. After expressing regrets to Katherine Hepburn, he says, “Sorry to mention this, ma’am, but with the climate and all the sooner we get him into the ground, the better.”