D Monday, January 18, 2010 mail 21 Eyes front! Participants carry a portable shrine into the sea during Coming of Age Day festivities at Katase Enoshima beach in Fujisawa, Japan. The annual holiday celebrates the transition from youth to adulthood Picture: Getty The Big Picture Lets blame America As President Barack Obama and the US supports one of the largest relief efforts in its history following the Haiti quake, one reader claims America is to blame JJ, to blame the people of Haiti for building on a fault line shows unbelievable ignorance. San Francisco is on a fault line, but the same 7.0 tremor hitting San Francisco wouldnt kill nearly as many people as in Port-au-Prince where cinder block houses are barely held together. Earthquakes are random events, how many people they kill is not predetermined. In Haiti, dont blame tectonic plates 98 per cent of the death toll is attributable to poverty. If you want to know why Haiti is so poor and unsettled, look no further than US involvement. The US supported tyrants Francois Papa Doc Duvalier and Jean- Claude Baby Doc Duvalier until 1986 and, in 2004, supported a government formed by former Tonton Macoutes (Papa Docs henchmen) in a coup against the democratically elected one. This helped maintain the wages which US multinationals (which cant be named here other than to say they are far from snow white) paid Haitians 28 cents an hour The major fault for the death toll lies with US foreign policy, and not with any plates. Mary, Wicklow JJ, after reading your words of wisdom on Haiti, Im not sure whether to respond with sarcasm or contempt, so Ill use both. The world is in desperate need of great thinkers such as yourself, so I request you contact both the Japanese and American governments, given they also build on fault lines, Dublins best-read letters page Mail E-mail letters to mail@metroherald.ie with a name. Or text us. Text MAIL followed by comment and name to 53131. *Texts cost 30cent per message + standard network charges. SP. Opera Telecom, Hospitality House, Cumberland Street South, D2. Customer service number 0818286606 talk to us Danger, danger: Shin, would you rather Dublin Bus drivers put your life and their own at risk by driving on black ice? Quit whinging over a bit of disruption in treacherous conditions! And thanks to the lovely drivers who did their best to keep services running! PL Va va f**k off: I just cant help but smile when I hear that new Renault ad on the radio. The French must really be worried that when they deprived Ireland of the chance to play in the World Cup, it might have had an effect on car sales. So, they now have a guy with an Australian accent promoting Renault... They must really think the Irish are stupid! The Mouse Dog Hottie or nottie? Niall S, perhaps the reason for using models to advertise 3s sponsorship of the Waterford GAA team is because nobody outside of Waterford knows or cares who Ken McGrath, Eoin Kelly and John Mullane are! And I prefer to look at a couple of gorgeous girls in shorts, over some hairy, ugly GAA player when Im on my way to work, do you not? J In Brief and warn them of their folly. In addition, I ask you to visit Haiti, the poorest nation in the western world, and help them all to move house, perhaps to Ireland where everyone loves foreigners... you muppet! Outraged, Dublin 9 To everyone moaning about having had no water over the last while and comparing our countrys infrastructure to that of a third- world country, look at what people in Haiti have had to deal with! Get some f**king perspective and count your blessings! Alex S The earthquake in Haiti which has left as many as 200,000 people dead is a horrible tragedy. So far, this great little island has donated up to 2million in aid, whereas France and Germany have sent 1million each. This shows the great spirit this country has in times like this, even when money is no longer around! However, I reckon the last thing Haiti needs right now is money, more likely a few dozen JCBs and heavy machinery! Forty Four Sendusyour txt Could someone explain to me please how it can be that the Government brings down VAT but a certain supermarket increases the price for a bottle of water by ten cent, from 39c to 49c? To whom should I complain? Bewildered I found an Olympus xD memory card alongside the canal near Portobello Bridge on January 10 and would love to locate its owner. Please contact Metro Herald if its yours. Julie Niall S, the advert used models instead of the Waterford hurlers as 3 mobile believed more people would recognise them over Eoin Kelly and co! Mac Steven, one day Greystones will have its own monorail monorail monorail, and that will be the end of Bray! James, Greystones Anyone else having the time of their life watching Rafa Benitez make a fool of himself and Liverpool this season? Long live Alex Ferguson! Cian txt MAIL to 53131* The best pictures are in Metro Herald index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html