Heigh ho Europe! Yesterday I came in contact with a rankings chart which I fell in love with immediately. Most of the statistics are dominated by Finland, Iceland, <3>, and other European countries here and there. Then it shows where the USA stands in those rankings, which in most cases is about 30 countries below the top few. Here it is (enjoy or weep):
******Link if you want it******So what do I do with amazing things like this? Bring it to school! ^_^ Rita fell in love with it like I did, and wanted to keep it. Aha! But I came prepared! I had printed 10 copies of this to bring so I gladly let her keep it. I kept the train going by passing it through English class.
I couldn't really see what my English teacher was thinking about it. He said he wasn't going to have "propaganda" in my class. He also included that I was far too young to be this cynical. I had to inform him that cynicism was the basis of my life. And I've had enough of any sort of "too young" bullshit, if you know what I mean. The thing is, I sensed a hint of agreement in his tone, as if he was saying all this but only because he had to. A couple people wanted some of my handouts but Mr. teacher made sure I didn't spread word.
I continued my parade in math where a few people came over to see what the pretty looking chart meant. A couple kids were trying to find a way to disagree but since they didn't know anything about society they just stood baffled.
Robotics! Hands on work with programmed machinery! Behind the wheel of a robot doing slave work!... Oh... Wait.... Talking. Oh I see. 3 hours of nonstop speech from the Robotics teacher. How could he have not gotten tired? Chris had fallen asleep and I couldn't blame him, though I saw by his face he was peeking through undetectable slits in his eyelids.
Swallow and Smile. The completely non-sodomizing digestion camera. It was a little camera in a pill that was an ass-safe way to get a Colonoscopy, and they had to screw it up by naming it something even worse than an anal probe. I guess your digestive system is too sexual to not laugh about... I know I did.
Chris told me he was stalking me during lunch and me, Misha, and our friend Anita blew him away quickly....
______________________
I was ready to finish off this post when I got a phone call. It was Brian.
"Hey um, I'm coming back to Massachusetts. But Um, I need a place to stay. Would you mind letting me stay with you for the weekend?"
Like that's even a question. Why miss the chance to see him after almost half a year?
"Sure but I have to check it out with my folks."
Now I immediately expect to get a "no" since mum had to check it in with dad and I know how he is with sleepovers. Especially one with the opposite sex, and in my case boys. Not to mention he'd be staying until Monday and that was a school day. But he was quick to say yes. And shockingly my mom was the one leaning toward a no.
I did wonder why he would be staying with me and not with family. He told me his dad was going to Connecticut, and he didn't want to go with him. I don't think he's very tight with his dad. So if he could get a place to stay he'd be able to stay in Mass. with a friend.
He's coming here Friday night around 8 so I might still be on my way home from work when he gets here but it's no big deal. Plus I can go into school late tomorrow. He sounded different over the phone, guess it's been too long. I can't wait to see him again. I don't really know where he'll be sleeping though but we can figure that out when he gets here.
Live.
I couldn't really see what my English teacher was thinking about it. He said he wasn't going to have "propaganda" in my class. He also included that I was far too young to be this cynical. I had to inform him that cynicism was the basis of my life. And I've had enough of any sort of "too young" bullshit, if you know what I mean. The thing is, I sensed a hint of agreement in his tone, as if he was saying all this but only because he had to. A couple people wanted some of my handouts but Mr. teacher made sure I didn't spread word.
I continued my parade in math where a few people came over to see what the pretty looking chart meant. A couple kids were trying to find a way to disagree but since they didn't know anything about society they just stood baffled.
Robotics! Hands on work with programmed machinery! Behind the wheel of a robot doing slave work!... Oh... Wait.... Talking. Oh I see. 3 hours of nonstop speech from the Robotics teacher. How could he have not gotten tired? Chris had fallen asleep and I couldn't blame him, though I saw by his face he was peeking through undetectable slits in his eyelids.
Swallow and Smile. The completely non-sodomizing digestion camera. It was a little camera in a pill that was an ass-safe way to get a Colonoscopy, and they had to screw it up by naming it something even worse than an anal probe. I guess your digestive system is too sexual to not laugh about... I know I did.
Chris told me he was stalking me during lunch and me, Misha, and our friend Anita blew him away quickly....
______________________
I was ready to finish off this post when I got a phone call. It was Brian.
"Hey um, I'm coming back to Massachusetts. But Um, I need a place to stay. Would you mind letting me stay with you for the weekend?"
Like that's even a question. Why miss the chance to see him after almost half a year?
"Sure but I have to check it out with my folks."
Now I immediately expect to get a "no" since mum had to check it in with dad and I know how he is with sleepovers. Especially one with the opposite sex, and in my case boys. Not to mention he'd be staying until Monday and that was a school day. But he was quick to say yes. And shockingly my mom was the one leaning toward a no.
I did wonder why he would be staying with me and not with family. He told me his dad was going to Connecticut, and he didn't want to go with him. I don't think he's very tight with his dad. So if he could get a place to stay he'd be able to stay in Mass. with a friend.
He's coming here Friday night around 8 so I might still be on my way home from work when he gets here but it's no big deal. Plus I can go into school late tomorrow. He sounded different over the phone, guess it's been too long. I can't wait to see him again. I don't really know where he'll be sleeping though but we can figure that out when he gets here.
Live.
Sadly but true the United States tries to live in the glory of post WWII when the world loved Americans. But unfortunately america's politicians let the glory go to their heads and they self imposed America to be the world's policeman. Do what we say and do what we do or we won't like you and we won't give you any of our money which today has about as much value as Monopoly money. I've often wondered why the U.S. politicians feel a need to run around the world sticking their noses into every countries business.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. can't handle it's own problems, let alone taking on the worlds problems.
I think your chart is excellent. It shows the best places in the world to live, and it sure ain't in the U.S.! What I found fascinating about your chart is the prison population. In the U.S. prisons are a big money making business. The more people they can put into prison, the more taxes are generated by employing more and more tax paying prison guards. Compare the U.S. prison population with that of India. The U.S. has a population of around 350 million people. India has a population approaching one billion. The U.S. suffers from over crowded prisons and India with nearly a billion people has the lowest prison population. Does India with nearly a billion people have a lower crime rate than the U.S. I doubt it. But the problem isn't the crimes, it's dumb ass politicians who enact stupid non sensical laws with the sole purpose of creating a larger prison population. For example. In Santa Monica California a new law was passed that prohibits smoking in your own house within 25 feet of any window or doors!! And if your neighbor smokes cigarettes on their patio or near windows or near doors, you are required to take that person to court! The United States has gone completely fooking nutty!
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IMO, having the most mobile phones per capita is noting any country should be proud of, so that's one that I'm glad we don't lead on.
ReplyDeleteBut the rest of it is pretty bad.