More Stuff....

Let's Just Say I Have Very Good Taste

Newsweek did some country rankings, and Australia is #4.

Go Australia!

Sweden isn't #1. I thought it usually was.

Finland gets the honor in this ranking.

And Switzerland beats Sweden as well. Really? That kind of surprises me, personally.

United States is not too low at #11...probably because Newsweek is an American magazine. Lord Wiki says that the magazine has been accused of having a liberal bias. That might be true. If it didn't have that liberal bias, America would probably be rated as #1.

One of the most frustrating things I have to endure is listening to conservative Americans proclaim that America is THE best country...period.

I try to tell them that it's fine to LOVE America the most, because America is YOUR country. I love my child the most, because he's my child. That doesn't mean he's the best child in the world. Although I think he'd be ranked pretty high. Jack IS a very exceptionally awesome kid.

The conservative Americans I know don't seem to feel this is enough. They argue that America IS the best.

Not that one magazine article can prove them wrong. In the end, it's an opinion thing, and what you personally value.

I think most of these country rankings look at various statistics, and then come out with a score. It's opinion, but opinion based on numbers and facts.

Newsweek gives scores for each of the countries. Australia is #3 in health. That's where it gets his highest honors.

Where is Newsweek's best place to live in terms of health? Japan. Andrew says that place has really awesome fruits and vegetables. Maybe this is their key to longevity.

Australia's lowest ranking is in education. But that's at #13. It's not too low. And I don't care much about the school thing, anyway.

Finland has the highest education ranking. And homeschooling is legal there. That's pretty awesome. It's nice when people can choose between two good things. Well, I mean it's better than feeling you pretty much HAVE to homeschool because the schools around you seem awful...or at best, mediocre.

Now I'm going to look at America.

It IS rated highly in economic dynamism. I'm not sure what that means, but it seems to be business related. It gets #2 there. So maybe that's why conservatives believe America is so fantastically superior. Republicans tend to put a lot of emphasis on businesses.

Singapore is #1 in this economic thing, but it doesn't do very well in quality of life and political environment.

The United States gets a fair rating in quality of life. It's #9.

It doesn't do so well with education and health...not surprising.




How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-beloved to talk to us via the Internet?   

The Dead are Online, a novel by Dina Roberts