Funny all that high tech industries they have in Singapore and their high standard of living (check where your hard drive is made).

The producers are incorporated in California. I can't see where it's physically assembled without getting at the drive itself, but if I had to place a bet, I'd wager South Korea or Taiwan.

I only wanted to point out that small nations can benefit from trade and commerce as well as large nations.

It's funny how Singapore and Hong Kong are the two examples repeatedly trotted out by free-market-enthusiasts. The only two examples. Sure "do like Singapore" is a good prescription for wealth - assuming that you're located smack dab in the middle of one of the most highly trafficked straits in the world. Oh, and assuming that you're a city-state that doesn't have to worry about a rural population.

Thanks for your invitation to explore those avenues of intellectual thought. I have enough on my plate now. Maybe you can start a thread with what information you have accumulated so far. Might be interesting.

I have a couple of diaries on a back burner that I consider more interesting and informative than comparing and contrasting Amnesty International with some two-bit think thank operating out of the US State Department.

I have found some reports from Amnesty International of some validity but other times there seems to not know between genocide and limited rights of people.

They report, you decide. But they report everything, to the best of their ability.

And lastly Jake, I do not see any ranking from AI. Is there a section that contains quantitative data for comparison purposes?

Maybe I'll see about finding it if and when you explain what criteria Freedom House use to derive their numbers. For all I know, they could have pulled them out of their ass.

Until then, I suggest that you look at the number and severity of incidents reported by Amnesty and make an informed judgement. I'll give you a very broad hint: For three out of four concerns about Venezuela, the entry for Colombia raises equal or greater concern about the very same issues. Add to that the laundry list of offences by the Colombian government that has no match whatsoever in the Venezuelan entry.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.