Amid the mass of aid agencies piling in to help Haiti quake victims is a batch of Church of Scientology "volunteer ministers", claiming to use the power of touch to reconnect nervous systems.
Clad in yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of the controversial US-based group, smiling volunteers fan out among the injured lying under makeshift shelters in the courtyard of Port-au-Prince's General Hospital.
A wealthy private donor provided his airplane to fly in 80 volunteers from Los Angeles, along with 50 Haitian-American-doctors, in a gesture worth 400,000 dollars, said a Parisian volunteer who gave her name as Sylvie.
"We're trained as volunteer ministers, we use a process called 'assist' to follow the nervous system to reconnect the main points, to bring back communication," she said.
"When you get a sudden shock to a part of your body the energy gets stuck, so we re-establish communication within the body by touching people through their clothes, and asking people to feel the touch."
Next to her lay 22-year-old student Oscar Elweels, whose father rescued him from the basement of his school where he lay with a pillar on his leg for a day after the deadly January 12 quake.
His right leg was amputated below the knee and his left leg was severely bruised and swollen.
More than half of his fellow students died in the rubble of his school, although the rest of his family was unscathed, he said, thanking God.
"One hour ago he had no sensation in his left leg, so I explained the method to him, I touched him and after a while he said 'now I feel everything'," said Sylvie.
"Otherwise they might have had to amputate his other leg. Now his sister knows the method and she can do it."
Asked about the method being used on him, a smiling Elweels described it as "a sort of harmony between the nerves, a kind of exercise. I couldn't feel at all, but then I could."
Does he know Scientology? "Yes, it's a French organization," he said.
"All the patients are happy with the technique," said Sylvie. "But some doctors don't like the yellow T-shirts. It's a color thing," she insisted.
Another group of Scientologists distributed antibiotic pills. "The doctors said give everyone with wounds antibiotics," said Italian volunteer Marina.
Some doctors at the hospital are skeptical. One US doctor, who asked not to be named, snorted: "I didn't know touching could heal gangrene."
When asked what the Scientologists are doing here, another doctor said: "I don't know."
Do you care? "Not really," she said, wheeling an unconscious patient out of the operating room to join hundreds of others in the hospital's sunny courtyard.
Patriotism is as fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave, blind as a stone, and irrational as a headless hen.
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Scorpions Announce Breakup
Posted: 11:23 AM ET 1/25/2010
The Scorpions, the German metal band whose biggest hits include "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change," will no longer be stinging.
The band, which has been together in one combination or another for more than 40 years, announced Sunday it will be breaking up. They're in no rush to go, however: besides a new album, "Sting in the Tail," due out in March, the band is embarking on a three-year world tour.
First, they're still making 'music'?!?!
I mean, I loved the Scorps of twenty years ago, but come on.
And Second, THREE YEAR WORLD TOUR!!
The headline reads 'Scorpions Announce Breakup', not Scorps hold out for their AARP/Senior benefits!
What a fucking PR move, way to milk a 'farewell' tour.
Royal Caribbean faces more scrutiny on cruise ship calls in Haiti
Royal Caribbean's quick return to Haiti is facing another round of scrutiny in the media this week as the first photos emerge of its customers kicking back in the earthquake-ravaged country.
The Huffington Post's Michael Shaw today is among bloggers making note of the seeming incongruity of new Associated Press images showing cruise passengers enjoying a fun-filled day at the beach along Haiti's north coast even as a humanitarian disaster is unfolding fewer than 100 miles to the south.
The photos, taken Friday at Royal Caribbean's private beach destination, Labadee, have been picked up by a number of online blogs and news outlets such as the Christian Science Monitor, which today posted its own story on the topic of Royal Caribbean's resumption of Haiti calls.
Royal Caribbean's quick return to the country -- its first ship arrived just three days after the Jan. 12 earthquake -- has been drawing media attention from hundreds of news outlets as far-flung as the Middle East's Al Jazeera (which sent a reporter Friday by boat to try to get into Labadee to interview passengers visiting on the Royal Caribbean-owned Celebrity Solstice).
n addition to vacationers, Royal Caribbean's vessels are bringing relief supplies to Haiti to be distributed by Food for the Poor. The company also has promised $1 million in humanitarian relief for the country and says it will donate 100% of its net revenue from the visits to relief efforts.
Royal Caribbean's return continues to draw both praise and criticism. Dallas Morning News' Jacquielynn Floyd, for instance, wrote Friday that her immediate reaction to Royal Caribbean's return is "that a sun-and-fun day trip to anyplace with a Haiti address right now seems like a violation of good taste and decency."
As Floyd notes, public relations executives are saying Royal Caribbean has done lasting damage to its reputation. Still, it's a tough situation, she adds.
"What would I do? I don't know," Floyd writes. "I'm glad it's not my call to make."
__________________ And everything's over when your grandma walks in, "get that dick outta the fish tank! Time for supper!"
Did you see the frightened ones? Did you hear the falling bombs?
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You lot can fucking keep him. He's a cunt.
Jeremy Kyle Show to launch in the US
British daytime TV hit The Jeremy Kyle Show is heading for the US this summer.
Kyle is hoping his show will prove successful in the US, where his style of "confrontation TV" was spawned by the likes of Jerry Springer.
Following a test run, the plan is to launch the US version of ITV1's talk show nationwide in 2011.
"I am particularly looking forward to meeting ordinary American people and hearing about their extraordinary lives," Kyle said.
"This show isn't about me; it is about their issues and problems and how we can face them together - with complete honesty and openness - in front of US audiences."
ITV Studios is teaming up with US company Debmar-Mercury to create a test run later this year.
"ITV Studios' creative vision convinced us that Jeremy Kyle can conquer another continent," said Debmar-Mercury co-president Mort Marcus.
"We believe American viewers, stations and advertisers will wholeheartedly embrace Jeremy Kyle, who is such a great talent and brings his unique sensibility to a proven format."
Assault case
The Jeremy Kyle Show has been a solid performer in the daytime ratings for ITV since it launched in 2005, but it has courted much controversy.
Last year, the show found itself in trouble with media regulator Ofcom after broadcasting one of the "most offensive" swear words.
The watchdog said its use on an edition of the show aired on 2 July on ITV2 was "highly offensive and unacceptable".
In 2008, Labour MP Kerry McCarthy described it as a "modern day freak show" which must stop revealing the identity of babies' parents on air.
On that occasion, ITV said the show adhered to the Ofcom broadcasting code, and its rules and guidance on protecting under-18s.
The previous year, a judge branded The Jeremy Kyle Show "a form of human bear-baiting" at a court case in Manchester.
The judge made the comments while sentencing one of the show's guests - who head-butted his love rival during filming - for assault.