Author: Sam Kornstein

More on Fried Tarantula Eating

Posted on by in Food

I received quite a few questions and reactions in response to my fried tarantula posting. To address some of them: Yes I really ate it, no it wasn’t that gross, it was in fact fried and not cooked with an aerosol can and lighter, it cost me about three cents, and the legs tasted like a combination of sweet and sour chicken (it must have been marinated in something) and soft shell crab. It’s actually a very common snack in certain parts of Cambodia. When you sit down in restaurants, people come around before you order with a stack of them in a bowl. As I observed this, at least half the tables in the restaurant  purchased a few. I

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The Dragon’s Awake

Posted on by in History

The other day in a conversation, someone reminded me of a famous Napoleon quote: “Let China Sleep, for when the Dragon awakes, she will shake the world.” I looked it up to double-check. That was in 1803. And then this morning, via Chris Blattman, I read this: “When the presidents of China and the United States meet next week in Washington, neither will likely be aware that, measured in terms of purchasing power, it is Hu Jintao not Barack Obama who represents the world’s largest economy. Some time in 2010, the Chinese economy overtook that of the United States.” Somehow I think Hu Jintao is all too aware of his country’s economic position. And then while I was waiting for

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A Cambodian’s Perspective on American Politics

Posted on by in History

Earlier today I had a slightly serious, slightly humorous, but mostly enlightening conversation with a Cambodian man who’s been generous enough to spend the past two days teaching me about rural economic development here. Here’s what he had to say about American political history: He really likes John McCain and John Kerry because they fought communists. He thinks Bill Clinton won the presidency because he’s good looking and all the American women must have voted for him. But he’s glad that Clinton won, because he’s a good man and the economy grew while he was in office. He believes Ronald Reagan was a bit old to be President. In fact, he thinks John McCain is too old to be president too,

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Various Links

Posted on by in Links

For anyone who’s interested (mom?), I enjoyed these: 1. Great article on momentum investing, an approach I tend to agree with. Kid Dynamite had a good post on the same topic a couple years back. 2. Scott Sumner compares happiness with utility. I’d skip part three, unless you’re really craving some macro economic commentary. 3. From Ezra Klein: “If you only read one John Kerry speech today…” 4. Thunderstorms Shoot Antimatter Beams Into Space!