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Notes Photo May 1, 2010

Heckuva Photo Op, Janet!

Look familiar?

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Notes Photo April 23, 2010

Earth, You're Scaring Me

Herding stray cattle, or welcome the apocalypse?

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Notes Photo April 1, 2010

The Presidents of Haiti

It almost looks like a good news/bad news quiz the way the Clintons are coming to take another pass at Haiti.

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Notes Photo March 2, 2010

On the Ground in Chile: A Civilian’s View

It's curious to see where the public goes in documenting the massive earthquake in Chile

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Notes Photo March 1, 2010

Reuters Calling People Crooks Over … Toilet Paper??

How many times must we suffer through this same kind of character assassination by the media in criminalizing behavior that, under catastrophic circumstances, is normal and expectable.

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Notes Photo February 10, 2010

More 9/11 Gut Punch

My own take is that the display of these photos out-of-the-blue only reinforces America's near-fetishistic obsession with 9/11.

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Notes Photo February 4, 2010

It Feels So Good To Help

"What happens to poor countries when they embrace free trade? In Haiti in 1986 we imported just 7000 tons of rice, the main staple food of the country. The vast majority was grown in Haiti. In the late 1980s Haiti complied with free trade policies advocated by the international...

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Notes Photo February 1, 2010

Bottom Line, I’d Much Rather See Haitian Uniforms Wringing Haitian Necks

  ...but there's no way this would be circulating if it didn't evoke a lot of other meanings, too -- about U.S. power and also our longstanding local "influence."

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Notes Photo January 31, 2010

Keeping Priorities in Order

Let the rest of the world worry about Haiti. It's Superbowl Week.

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Notes Photo January 30, 2010

Haiti: As We Approach Week Four

From the pictures and reports of continuing ineptitude distributing food and water, many Haitians -- far from any opportunity to "get in touch" with their despair -- continue to be traumatized.

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Notes Photo January 29, 2010

Haiti: Convoy to Nowhere

  How FUBAR is the process of delivering aide accumulating at the Port au Prince airport? And, why -- after seventeen days -- isn't there more basic coordination taking place between the US Military and the UN? The slideshow at WSJ by Peter van Agtmael is a must see.

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Notes Photo January 26, 2010

What The Haitians Did With All That Stuff They "Stole"

I can't help wondering how many of those scenes in which Haitians were construed to be stealing might have had something to do with the near-miraculous overnight tent cities they've been lauded for constructing.

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Notes Photo January 25, 2010

Haiti, 1915: …Or, I Have Often Walked Down These Streets Before

Given America's 20 year occupation of Haiti starting in 1915; it's hand (not so publicized these past two weeks) -- through Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2 -- in ushering in and out the various dictatorial, military as well as democratically-elected regimes; and the push now to take a...

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Notes Photo January 23, 2010

Your Turn: Those Haiti Cruises — The Fun Is Just Beginning

  You knew the newswires were bound to publish photos like these soon enough. They involve passengers from a Celebrity Cruise ship docked Friday in Labadee, Haiti, enjoying themselves while, to the south, the country has been devastated by a massive earthquake.

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Notes Photo January 22, 2010

Seeing the Haitians

Of course, what the photo raises, as much as anything, is the uneasy role of aide provision and how much America (captured in the vector of this soldiers gaze) can actually see the Haitian people at all.

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Notes Photo

Why and How I Lost It Yesterday (Over CNN "Getting Off" On a Haitian Victim Rescue)

I confess. I lost it yesterday. If you saw my post (Please Stop, Anderson. Just STOP), I appealed for readers to contact CNN and use the Twitterverse to complain about Anderson Cooper's visual exploitation of the Haitian people. Because many of you wrote for more explanation, let me explain what...

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Notes Photo January 21, 2010

Please Stop, Anderson. Just STOP.

This is a message to Anderson Cooper and CNN... As American citizens concerned about the humanity of the Haitian people, the sensationalist and self-promoting tendencies of American media and the power of pictures, we urge you to: Please stop using the camera to rob people of their dignity when...

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Notes Photo January 20, 2010

Beyond Burning Bodies, High-Impact Mobilization and Those Haitians Down There

On the surface, this doesn't seem to have much to do with Haiti. Nothing is collapsed or broken, and there is no blood, no open wounds or stumps instead of hands or feet, no burning bodies. But then you read the caption: "Alex Alexis collapsed when he learned that...

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