Certain subjects are immune to logic?

[Christ]

Liberty is when that sheep arms himself and violently opposes the majority.

[gone-ot]

...the subtle difference between assertive and aggressive behaviors...and attitudes.

[roflwaffle]

Hmmm.. Lamb chops.

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

Hmmm.. Lamb chops.

...shouldn't that be? "Hmmm...Donuts."

[roflwaffle]

Only if the sheep is too well armed.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

It's in one of my previous posts, but since you don't seem interested in those...

Let's see: there are I think 16 pages of posts in this thread, many other more-or-less interesting threads on this forum, which is only one of several that I read - in addition to which I average 6-8 hours of paid work on weekdays, work on the dissertation research, hike with the dog & horse, and occasionally manage to read a few books, as well as deal with all the other minutae of life. If in all this I somehow manage to lose track of some few items which you considered important, I most humbly apologize.

...it's based on a survey of business people, academics and risk analysts by TI.

And seems, from that link, to be fond of the sort of reasoning which assumes the conclusions it wants to reach. Take for instance this quote from the article:

"A mostly mountainous country with a tropical climate, Haiti's location, history and culture once made it a potential tourist hot spot.

However, instability and violence, especially since the 1980s, have all but destroyed this prospect."

Notice that "corruption" is not mentioned at all, and in fact the instability and violence seem to have followed on the overthrow of the corrupt Duvalier dictatorship.

So perhaps it's time to apply a little logic to the idea of corruption. Now if we look at American history (not to mention present-day politics), we find plenty of examples of corruption. What we don't see much of are instability and violence, because your sensible corrupt official wants to keep his place in a working system in order to continue raking off his graft. So places like New York, Boston, and Chicago became prosperous despite plenty of official corruption.

So if there was corruption in a stable & non-violent Haiti (as is the case in many other Carribean nations), so what? As long as the bribes are stable and not onerous, it's just another cost of doing business, not much different from the common American practices of offering tax breaks to attract businesses, or forcing voters to pay for stadiums or Olympic games.

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

... another cost of doing business, not much different from the common American practices of offering tax breaks to attract businesses, or forcing voters to pay for stadiums or Olympic games.

...Touche' ! (or "touchy" if you don't speak french)

[Christ]

I used to think it was "Toucher"... I was wrong. *Silent "r"*

[blueflame]

Its sad when kids suffer in the third world, especially when ours have it soo good.

I remember how cheerful low income children were in South East Asia.

Some countries have been dicked around by various regimes for centuries.

Some tribes of Maori have a more recent pre European slave history, after being invaded and males eaten by other conquering tribes.
Fortunately, today's male has adapted, and learnt the fundamentals of 'capture bonding' by following the example of the passive females.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by blueflame

Its sad when kids suffer in the third world, especially when ours have it soo good.

Well, there's another "immune to logic" topic for us. I think typical (and we could argue about what's typical, but let's not :-)) have pretty crappy lives. Mostly stuck in cities or suburbs, spending most of their time watching TV or playing video games, stuffed to the gills with junk food. If they do get to go out and play, it's usually some organized sport with over-protective "soccer mom" chauffeuring them around in the family SUV...

I think the most telling point is watching my neighbors' grandkids at Christmas. They spend an hour or more opening packages, getting just about every advertised-on-TV toy, then have more fun playing with the discarded wrapping paper.