1. Haiti cut its colonial ties too early, rebelling against the French in the early 19th century and achieving complete independence. Guadaloupe and Martinique are still riding the gravy train and French aid is a huge chunk of their GDP.

2. Haiti was a French colony in the first place and French colonies do less well.

5. Hegel was correct that the “voodoo religion,” with its intransitive power relations among the gods, was prone to producing political intransitivity as well. (Isn’t that a startling insight for a guy who didn’t travel the broader world much?)

6. For reasons peculiar to the history of the slave trade, Haitian slaves came from many different parts of Africa and thus Haitian internal culture has long had lower levels of cohesion and cooperation.

7. Haiti has higher than average levels of polygamy

Now, this wouldn’t be a big deal, except for the fact Cowen is an Economics professor. Yes, someone who teaches Economics for a living listed “polygamy” and “voodoo religion” as a reason for Haiti’s underdevelopment. And who says Economics is a respected intellectual field?

“Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded.”

Apparently BeautifulPeople is the Sizzlers of the internet: susceptible to the unending appetite of the overweight.

“Imagine a world where everyone is a sea lion, and then imagine that world if the only way sea lions can get around is on a bicycle. You see where we are headed? Sea lions don’t have feet, so we cant peddle the bicycles. If we don’t solve this smokiness problem, we are all in for a tough bike ride.” Friedman confirmed his observations of the world during a late dinner on the 2nd floor of the Hilton: “Why does everyone here look Chinese?” he asked himself. “I thought I was in Dubai.”

Read the whole damn thing. If you are anything like me, it will make your angry heart flutter.

There are many kinds of truth. There are truths based on facts, truths based on faith, and truths based on something that sounds as if it should be true (truthiness). Then there’s the kind of truth we find in Sarah’s book: stories and concepts that become truths simply because she states them. She’s a lot like our Lord and Savior, Glen Beck, in that respect.

Sometimes, she states truths that would be considered ludicrous if uttered by someone else. Her claim that the McCain campaign forced her to spend $150,000 in RNC funds to dress her family in designer clothes is one example of that. Although it might be easier to believe that she acted like a trailer park Zsa Zsa who’d found a credit card left behind at a possum feed, she blames McCain staffers. That’s good enough for us, because we have faith; we want to believe her truths.

But the book isn’t perfect. As much as I enjoyed the few short paragraphs in which Mrs Palin laid out her policy objectives, she could have condensed it all into one sentence: “I’m going to grab an Oxo Good Grips Stainless Serving Spatula and go all mavericky on your non-white, non-Christian and non-heterosexual butts.”

The book also fails to expose Mrs. Palin’s intellectual brilliance and keen grasp of foreign policy issues. Why wasn’t the text of her recent speech in Hong Kong included? Although it remains secret, it’s rumored that she viciously rebuked the Vietcong king for his assault on the Empire State Building. That’s a speech we’ve been waiting for nearly 75 years to hear. It’s big news and should have been included.

As you read other reviews of this book, please remember that Mrs. Palin has many enemies who are eager to pan her work. The Palin family’s most potent nemesis, Levi’s johnston, is no doubt fully erect and ready to spew globs of misfortune upon them for a third time. And reason-adoring intellectuals are certain to point out that an interview on Good Morning Topeka doesn’t qualify as a policy summit in the Far East.

But a few bad reviews won’t stop her. She’s seen much worse from her kitchen window. It can’t be pleasant to gaze upon Antichristograd every morning as you brew your coffee.

My review isn’t complete, but I think I’ll quit anyway, because writing reviews, like governing, is just too darned hard to finish.

[via PBH2 & PBH3]

See Also: Adam Bellow’s Fact-Checking, Ctd, Palin, like, totally pwn3d by Canadian comedian or something, Sarah Palin “bus tour” a hoax, more like “private jet tour”, Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin, Palin Populism Is Just Another Kind Of Elitism, Scariest Sarah Palin Moment Ever?, David Solway: Redeeming Sarah, Palin Throws Self Under Bus, Dems Hoping To Raise Cash Off Success Of Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue, Formatting The Palin Effect, Lady GaGa’s LaLa Land, Ctd, Palin Quits……………………………………Again, and Glenn Beck on Sarah Palin, “Get back in the Kitchen.”.

Technorati Tags: sarah palin, sara palin, going rogue, review of going rogue, levi johnston, sarah palin going rogue, sarah palin book, review, book review, hilarious, funny, amazon, best review on amazon

[via The Onion]

Spurred by an administration he believes to be guilty of numerous transgressions, self-described American patriot Kyle Mortensen, 47, is a vehement defender of ideas he seems to think are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and principles that brave men have fought and died for solely in his head. “Our very way of life is under siege,” said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination.

“Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: ‘one nation under God,’” said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. “Well, there’s a reason they put that right at the top.”

“Men like Madison and Jefferson were moved by the ideals of Christianity, and wanted the United States to reflect those values as a Christian nation,” continued Mortensen, referring to the “Father of the Constitution,” James Madison, considered by many historians to be an atheist, and Thomas Jefferson, an Enlightenment-era thinker who rejected the divinity of Christ and was in France at the time the document was written. “The words on the page speak for themselves.”

A prominent Columbia architecture professor punched a female university employee in the face at a Harlem bar during a heated argument about race relations, cops said yesterday…

The professor, who is black, had been engaged in a fiery discussion about “white privilege” with Davis, who is white, and another male regular, who is also white, Friday night at 10:30 when fists started flying, patrons said.

McIntyre, who is known as “Mac” at the bar, shoved Davis, and when the other patron and a bar employee tried to break it up, the prof slugged Davis in the face, witnesses said.

Also, this is what ‘Mac’ looks like (and if I could photo shop, it would say ‘BARACK OBAMA’D!!!’):

[via NYPost]

#1 Go to Exploding Dog.

#2 Look at all his comics.

#3 Feel blown away.

Human Rights Watch has lost critical perspective on a conflict in which Israel has been repeatedly attacked by Hamas and Hezbollah, organizations that go after Israeli citizens and use their own people as human shields. These groups are supported by the government of Iran, which has openly declared its intention not just to destroy Israel but to murder Jews everywhere…

Yet Israel, the repeated victim of aggression, faces the brunt of Human Rights Watch’s criticism.

What don’t you idiotic genocidal human rights reporters get? Israel and Jews everywhere are always the victim. I don’t care how many civilians Israel kills, how many war crimes it commits, or how many wars it starts. Israel is a free, democratic nation that does everything to protect civilians from its bombs of peace, and if you don’t agree, I will bend the truth, then call you an anti-Semite when my logic collapses on itself.

PS. NEW YORK TIMES?!?!

See Also: Quote For The Day, Bernstein on Human Rights Watch, Investigating Bernstein’s Claims Against HRW, Bernstein: HRW Should Engage In Moral Relativism, ‘NYT’ continues to justify dropping white phosphorus on school children, Time for Honesty, Bernstein on HRW, It’s about time somebody said something, and Founder Of Human Rights Watch Speaks Up For Israel.

Technorati Tags: robert bernstein, hrw, human rights watch, robert l. bernstein, new york times, nytimes, israel, human rights, war crimes, victimhood complex, non-profits, NGO reports, anti-israel bias

“It’s kind of an American Apparel ad come to life,” said Terence McFarland, 40, the executive director of the Los Angeles Stage Alliance, who is a regular.

On a recent Sunday, Christopher Kreiling, a 33-year-old visual artist, was among the first to arrive. It was his first time, but he already had the look down: a pair of very short white corduroy shorts, a pink-and-white striped tank top and the all-important headband.

“I just had 10 cigarettes and a coffee,” he said. “I’m like, ‘O.K., let’s go.’ ”

Good job, New York Times — Your public crusade to make everyone aware of the latest bourgeois fashion trends really makes for quality journalism! I’ll try not to laugh too much at your funeral.

“A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company’s owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” and that Prince’s companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”

And that’s just the start of it. Read Jeremy Scahill’s great article in the Nation, Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder.

AlaskaReport has learned this morning that Todd Palin and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin are to divorce. Multiple sources in Wasilla and Anchorage have confirmed the news.

A National Enquirer story exposing previous affairs on both sides led to a deterioration of their marriage and the stress from that led to Palin’s resignation as governor of Alaska.

[via Alaska Report]

One can only hope this true and since Sarah Palin is such a strong believer in the nuclear family and family values, she’ll be seeking a male suitor in the near future. I’m gonna have to get me some of that sweet candy.

Technorati Tags: sarah palin, divorce, sarah palin divorce, sara palin, getting divorced, todd palin, sarah palen, sarah palin is getting divorced from todd palin