Free Republic

For those interested in why some countries become wealthy while others remain in extreme poverty, Haiti is one of the most important case studies. Despite being only a few hundred miles from the U.S. mainland, and even closer to Puerto Rico, with investment capital readily available and unlimited opportunities for trade, Haiti has essentially no economic development and is one of the poorest countries in the world. And instead of improving, conditions in Haiti only get worse. The past few weeks have seen yet a new extreme low point, with the Prime Minister locked out of the territory and the...

An elder statesman of the Republican party cast doubt about the legitimacy of the presidential election yesterday - three weeks before Americans go to the polls - by declaring the process was already "tainted" by voter fraud. The assertion from John Danforth, a former Missouri senator and ambassador to the UN, dramatically escalates charges by the John McCain camp that Barack Obama and the community organisation Acorn are trying to steal the election by bringing new voters into the electoral system. Danforth said canvassers for Acorn, which has registered 1.3 million new voters - mostly African-Americans, Latinos and young people...