No surprises here:
Via No pasaran, the World Bank notices that France is not business-friendly (article in French). According to the report, the BBC says
In Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez’s government has sought to expand the state’s economic role, the report found it had become harder for firms to set up, obtain credit and register private property.
Singapore, New Zealand and the USA are the top three countries. Puerto Rico, which is a Commonwealth of the US, ranks 33rd. Listen to me, and listen well: there is absolutely no reason other than governmental incompetence and corruption for Puerto Rico to rank so low.
You can purchase the report here.
At the blogs
Read No secret place, at Belmont Club. The Anchoress asks Can the Dems get serious, soon?
Meanwhile, wonders never cease: David Broder calls out Rove-bashers.
Hugo continues to degrade his country: “Borrachos con Chavez” (Drunks with Chavez), via Sigmund, Carl and Alfred. Update: Hugo Chavez is so detested by average Venezuelans that he’s reduced to passing out great big bottles of rum at his campaign rallies.
SC&A has an excellent post on Insight and intransigence
Your inner ‘best self’ will not ever replace your outer best self. In other words, if you are a lawyer or a doctor, reaching that inner ‘best self’ will only make you a better lawyer or a better doctor. Actualizing your best self does not mean you have to wear orange robes and hang out and airports with conga drums. Actualizing your best self is about making the small world around you a better place. If you elevate the world around you, then you elevate yourself.
And don’t miss The Fixer And The Fixed, Maxed-Out Mama’s post on healing and redemption.
A few items in the news:
Tony Blair has confirmed he will be stepping down as prime minister within the next 12 months
‘Jad’s dropping by for Kofi, or so he thinks: Iran’s Leader Declares Intent To Speak at U.N.
Diplomats at the United Nations were sent into disarray yesterday when President Ahmadinejad of Iran declared that he intended to attend the General Assembly of the world body on September 19 and to debate his country’s nuclear program with President Bush, who is due to address the Assembly that day.
Will he bring his halo, like the last time?
More blogging later if time allows.
The Manolo says that the ‘Jad, he is content to expound upon his paranoid conspiracy theories while exercising his petty autocratic powers over the dull kids who sit in the back of the class.
And the robes of the Mu’amar remind me of the capes of the Walter.
The American learning system, h/t Instapundit.
(technorati tags World Bank, France, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Iran, Tony Blair, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)
there is absolutely no reason other than governmental incompetence and corruption for Puerto Rico to rank so low.
¡Exactamente!
Every single one who comes to the States from the island can testify to that.
Unfortunately, some among those who stay behind don’t seem to care about the reasons the others leave. They’d rather call them “traitors” or “unpatriotic.” They don’t seem to think there is a real problem there.
I am making this observation after reading the message boards at endi.com. It would all be funny if it weren’t so sad to behold.
I was in PR last year. The very same problems that existed when I left 20+ years ago are still there right now. It is sad.
And it will never change.