Annoyances (slightly less trivial)

Oh, for goodness sake! Martin "I've been to Singapore and I've seen the light" Jacques is at it again with his "Western democracy as imperialism" line.

Norm reminds us again of the questions Mr Jacques and his ilk have never answered - simple ones like, what exactly do you mean by "Western-style" democracy?

Also one never gets an answer to the question: if democracy is such a culturally-specific product like jeans and coca-cola, why do some of the most brutal dictatorships invariably feel the need to arrange some kind of charade of democracy to provide their regime with a cloak of legitimacy?

Scroll down from the Jacques' piece and you'll find some shrewd comments. Soru's was particularly good.