Some Thoughts from a Rude Reader (Sent from the Dominican Republic):
DS writes to the Rude Pundit:

"I was actually about 20km from the Haitian border when the quake happened. Surreal experience....I think you're missing some key facts about Haiti. The bottom line is this has been a long time coming.

"The roads were un-driveable before the quake. There's no infrastructure. No electricity. There's no forest. Nothing to hold back mud and rocks. It's impossible to just show up in Haiti and get around...Aside from the roads, towns with over 100,000 people haven't had electricity in years.

"Look up Pedernales [in the Dominican Republican, where DS was during the quake] on the map. The fact that I was that close to the epicenter and was completely unaffected by the quake should explain how long Haiti has been fucked. I don't even think any nation has taken steps to absolve their debt. Haitians were slaves, and in many respects still are. Part of the reason you don't see many Dominicans talking about it is probably because of the tremendous overt racism Haitians face here. Unbelievable."

DS offers a link for more information from scientists who have worked in Haiti.

Clarification: Earlier this week, the Rude Pundit said that MSNBC went forward with the programs of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow instead of going to earthquake coverage. According to reader Derrick B., the 11 p.m. ET edition of The Rachel Maddow Show was not a rerun (as it usually is) and was instead "devoted to the earthquake."