it is amazing that half the island is so poor and then the Dominion
republic is so well off,I found out why when the French left Haiti they
said you owe France 90 million dollars for your Independence plus the
military cost to protect you from outher invaders who may come,so
France is the reason why Haiti is so poor and i would like to know were the
hell is France know when Haiti needs help it really gets me when i hear
what the British and the french did in the early days they should be a shamed of them self’s.
After reading the Ashland Daily, it seems from reports from a couple of journalists that indeed France offered and sent medical supplies and Doctors, one who performed one of the first amputations, to the area. The President of France has been speaking and apparently coordinating aid with President Obama.
Dude…grammar…space bar…shift key…return key…oh…and SPELL CHECK!!
btw, its Dominican Republic… 
The American Sugar Company pretty much owned Haiti until 1987 when they pulled out citing illegal smuggling of sugar from the Dominican Republic.
Conrad Black, having a bit of spare time and an apparent free reign in the prison library, has provided a pretty interesting review of some of the travails of Haiti. Sometimes I find his writing to be rather pompous and imperialistic, but this time around he seems to have a fairly strong storyline to develop.
nationalpost.com/news/world/ … 475348&p=2
As for France, they have had a habit (much like, but more so, than the British at times) of leaving places in a bigger mess, than when they arrived. Frequently offering their opinions as opposed to offering much in the way of tangible help (some of which seems to be happening in Haiti now with some of their complaints).
Hopefully, Canada will somehow shoe horn our way into a larger influence there, able to help steer the country back to some semblance of order, while not trying to colonize the place and maybe give the people there some hope of a better future than much of the past has provided for.
I donated to Haiti today. The level of suffering they are enduring is unimaginable.
France may have been responsible for the early poverty but the Duvalier family was probably responsible for the lack of stable economy and development in the country in hte past 60 years.
The Straight Dope also wrote a very interesting article about this, including answering claims by Pat Robertson that the earthquake was the result of a deal that Haiti made with the devil in the late 18th century.
Anyway, check it out here: bit.ly/5c3psi
Not to mention many of those that followed. The people there have always been the ones to suffer the most while others plundered the nation.
Do you also donate to help the people in your own country?
Interesting story, thanks for the link. 
You’re welcome. I quite like The Straight Dope. Along with Snopes and The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, they’re a great source of bullshit-free, well-researched information. Plus, the have a good sense of humour, which is always a plus.
For what its worth I highly recommend the Jared Diamond book mentioned in the article ( or any of his books for that matter )