For the better part of two centuries, outsiders have been offering explanations that

range from racist to learned-sounding - the supposed inferiority of blacks, the heritage of slavery, overpopulation - for why Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Adam Hochschild

The competition has improved tremendously. In 2003, I could teach a guy how to play poker in an hour and he could win some money. Today, it would take days. The game has gotten so much tougher. So I will spend my time with my family and play when I can.
Chris Moneymaker

I think it's really cool that there are people like Adele on the cover of 'Vogue' and 'Rolling Stone,' and like I think it's really important that people are talking about your body, because if they don't, then you'll never be able to break that barrier.
Beth Ditto

Capitalism is not about free competitive choices among people who are reasonably equal in their buying and selling of economic power, it is about concentrating capital, concentrating economic power in very few hands using that power to trash everyone who gets in their way.
David Korten

In our short walks we passed the kitchen where food was prepared for the nurses and doctors. There we got glimpses of melons and grapes and all kinds of fruits, beautiful white bread and nice meats, and the hungry feeling would be increased tenfold.
Nellie Bly

The Indian economy grew at 5.5 percent, but if you look at the last 30 years - for example, 1960 to 1985 - the progress made by East Asian countries was phenomenal. In a single generation they had been able to transform the character of their economy. They were able to get rid of chronic poverty.
Manmohan Singh

I did four or five years in telly, and by the end of it was drained. I was a bit sick of myself. I didn't feel like an actor anymore. That sounds silly, but when you're doing a play you're using different muscles, and it blew all the cobwebs away.
Matthew Macfadyen

Gemeoss

I fantasised about F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' - I loved it, and then

I read everything J. D. Salinger had to offer. Then I was turned on to Kerouac, and his spontaneous prose, his stream of consciousness way of writing. I admired him so much, and I romanticised so much about the '40s and '50s. Garrett Hedlund When I take a picture I take 10 percent of what I see. Annie Leibovitz I'm convinced that if we don't define ourselves, other people will do it for us, and inaccurately. Hasan M. Elahi There's an army story in me, and I think there's a WWII Brooks film somewhere. Mel Brooks Since being quite young, I've had a very strong sense of independence and survival. As a child, I was on my own two feet emotionally. Lena Headey I'm a leftover junkie. Kris Carr If you are supposed to be villainous and have some sort of agenda, I like the idea of delivering that kind of character in a perfectly well-mannered way. Bill Nighy The flattery is nice, but awards don't add up to writing quality songs. Chantal Kreviazuk...

I served seven years as the chair of the Princeton economics department where I had

responsibility for major policy decisions, such as whether to serve bagels or doughnuts at the department coffee hour. Ben Bernanke Head Start is designed to ensure that all children - regardless of their family's income, race, or ethnic background - are able to enter kindergarten ready to learn. Lucille Roybal-Allard There was a time when meanings were focused and reality could be fixed; when that sort of belief disappeared, things became uncertain and open to interpretation. Bridget Riley The big risk to British lives in 2013 is in Afghanistan. Our troops, diplomats and aid workers have made a big contribution there. But while there is an end date for Western engagement, 2014, there isn't a proper end game. David Miliband Every president becomes a caricature. The press, partisans, late-night shows, and other arbiters of our culture these days boil down complicated and multi-faceted personalities into one-dimensional punchlines. Mark McKinnon My chefs don't ...

I believe, literally, in the God of the Old Testament, whom I understand as the

Lord of the Jews and the Protestants. I'm a Christian Zionist, as well as a Christian feminist and a Christian socialist. Julie Burchill The Question to be considered is, Whether the Government have reason by a Law, to prohibit the taking more than 4 l. per cent Interest for Money lent, or to leave the Borrower and Lender to make their own Bargains. Dudley North I pretend I'm one of the royal family when I'm in a hotel and that the hotel belongs to me - it is a palace. Martin Short Product management really is the fusion between technology, what engineers do - and the business side. Marissa Mayer Mike Tyson would have been a good sparring partner for me and Muhammad Ali because Tyson was a fast fighter and he could punch and throw good combinations. Larry Holmes I went to Catholic school. Do as you're told; don't ask questions and you will be illuminated. Katherine Helmond From an early age, I learned to invest myself emotionally in what unfolded b...

That's my personal view I would say most in my caucus agree with that but

there are some who don't and I've always said that on these kinds of moral issues, people have the right to their own opinions. Stephen Harper When you're not blond and thin, you come up with a personality real quick. Kathy Najimy The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit. William Temple I would hope they would be our fellow artists, rather than trying to emulate or idolize clowns like us. Maynard James Keenan Let me give you a definition of ethics: It is good to maintain and further life it is bad to damage and destroy life. Albert Schweitzer The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority. Stanley Milgram Life is not over because you have diabetes. Make the most of what you have, be grateful. Dale Evans I am certainly not an intellectual relativist, nor a moral relativist. Edward Tufte

America and the world are paying a high price for devotion to the extreme anti-government

ideology embraced by Donald Trump and his Republican party. Joseph Stiglitz Bitcoin is probably the most portable money in the history of the world. I can download any amount onto a thumb drive and walk across any border without any problems. Or, I could commit to memory a line of code that I can then input into the network and save or spend Bitcoins. Max Keiser You can laugh at anything. It depends on the joke. Ricky Gervais When you make a film, you never know how it will turn out, especially when you improvise it. Thomas Middleditch For any writer, a red pen is such a trigger. Jason Isbell For me, my music is fun. I don't really take my music that serious. Selena Gomez I can tell you I have dealt with mania my whole life. Juliette Lewis If given a chance, I would like to work with Surender Reddy. Varun Dhawan If you actually hang out in the countryside, which I did, it's actually quite peaceful. John Sandford I think, as an artist, I wear a lot of different hats, and people...

Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in

the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? Michael Bloomberg Sometimes, when I have a lot of ideas and I want to do a lot of things, or when I'm traveling, I lose energy and I can't do as many things as I want. So I have to plan days when I'm not doing anything. I find that a bit boring, but it's necessary. Bjork And let me make this very clear - unlike President Obama, I will not raise taxes on the middle class. As president, I will protect the sanctity of life. I will honor the institution of marriage. And I will guarantee America's first liberty: the freedom of religion. Mitt Romney The intention was to shoot short films that can exist as shorts independently, but when I put them all together, there are things that echo through them like the dialogue repeats; the situation is always the same, the way they...

I love the way this sport has evolved and impacted every segment of society.

Now you have cross training and weight training in every sport and from middle school kids to senior citizens. Lee Haney People make a mistake thinking that two people with identical mindset gel well. Gautam Gambhir If money is tight, or you're on a limited budget, then consider DIY or used gifts. DIY could be something like baked goods for your friends, family, and neighbors. Plus, if you have children, it's a great activity to do with them during the holidays. John Rampton The custom of clasping hands is thought to date back thousands of years, as proof of not holding any weapons. Faith Salie I believe in term limits. I believe the country would be hugely better off if we had more turnover in Congress. Bill Flores When we demand Woman Suffrage, we can only do so on the ground, not that it should be a right attached to the possession of a certain amount of property, but that it should be inherent in the woman herself. Clara Zetkin I stopped acting a long time ago and my prim...

I go back and research, say, every reference to the Gorgons, and I find what

the classical writers said about them and it's so much richer than you might get in an average Greek mythology text. I feel like an archaeologist - I'm dusting off these things that people have not seen for thousands of years and bringing them into the modern world. Rick Riordan The bust of Colonel Sanders stands as a monument to cruelty and has no place in the Kentucky state Capitol. Pamela Anderson I'm a big cardigan sweater guy. James Franco Science exists, moreover, only as a journey toward troth. Stifle dissent and you end that journey. John Charles Polanyi I thought, 'If I'm going to die, I'm going to videotape it.' So I got out my little video recorder and was taping goodbyes to my family. Estella Warren On a scale from 1-10, my ambition is probably 11 or 12. T. Boone Pickens I consider myself to be a good guy so it's not hard for me to play that. Seann William Scott My only worry is the painting I'm doing. Nothing else. David Ho...

The music is just so rich and part of the culture there. I suddenly felt

like I needed to go on this mission to make sure we save New Orleans because - not that I can save anything - but it's so much part of what this country is, this whole mix of people coming together and doing this thing. Harold Perrineau What I think is fair to say is that, coming out of the Republican camp, there have been efforts to suggest that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith - something which I find deeply offensive, and that has been going on for a pretty long time. Barack Obama A variety of factors contribute to the price of gasoline in the United States. These factors include worldwide supply, demand and competition for crude oil, taxes, regional differences in access to gasoline supplies and environmental regulations. Gary Miller It's helpful for me to get ideas - the physical action of painting. Sometimes it frees up your writer brain. It's nice for me now that the writing has become a serious career that painting can become mor...

I always thought of myself is a private-sector person. I was a reluctant candidate. I

put in my time. Now it's somebody else's turn to take charge. But I am still very interested in politics. Steve Largent I had no inclination to perform as a kid. I was a shy child - I always had my nose in a library book. I didn't start acting until I went to college. Once I started, it seemed to fit like a glove. I felt completely at home on stage. It was the perfect way for me to express myself, even better than writing. Colman Domingo If a kid is being bullied at school, my advice to them is to punch the bully in the face. The government can create as many boards, commissions, and informational sessions on sensitivity that it wants. The fact is, we still have bullies, and we still have victims who are trained not to stand up for themselves. Joe Wurzelbacher We believed that there's no such thing as good art or bad art. Art is art. If it's bad, it's something else. It was a much, much harder line in the '50s and '60s than it is now, because th...