illusive? around the corner? where the grass is greener? living in Scandinavia?
The US has fallen out of the top 20 happiest countries to live in for the first time ever, according to a new report.
In findings released on Wednesday, the World Happiness Report revealed that the US has slid from its 15th place last year to 23rd place this year.
The report, created via a partnership involving Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the World Happiness Report’s editorial board, pointed to happiness decreasing in all age groups for the US. It also found a significant decline among young people, who are now the least happy age group.
“This is a big change from 2006-10, when the young were happier than those in the midlife groups, and about as happy as those aged 60 and over. For the young, the happiness drop was about three-quarters of a point, and greater for females than males,” the report said.
Among people below the age of 30 from 2021 to 2023, the US ranks 62nd in happiness. Meanwhile, among those who are 60 and above, the US ranks 10th.
“In comparing generations, those born before 1965 are, on average, happier than those born since 1980. Among millennials, evaluation of one’s own life drops with each year of age, while among boomers life satisfaction increases with age,” according to a summary of the report.
Finland, for the seventh straight year, has been ranked the world’s happiest country. It is followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Israel. The least happy country is Afghanistan, the report said, followed by Lebanon, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The report’s rankings are not based on any index of factors including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. Instead, the scores are based on individuals’ own assessments of their lives, according to researchers.
https://youtu.be/Kxln1IiyKls?si=AW2OJ-yVpWn7RHeK
Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin was the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was released in 1988
March Madness is ramping up, Trump asked the Supreme Court to grant him “absolute immunity” in the case related to the events of January 6th, he scored five primary wins last night but not as bigly as he was hoping for, a Trumper named Derek Myers who is running for a congressional seat mistakenly sent out a concession email hours before the polls closed, Mike Lindell is not running low on crazy life stories, the United States is not among the 20 happiest countries according to the World Happiness Report, and we head out to Hollywood Blvd for a round of Hostel La Vista!
Happy Scandinavians might mean Socialism works.
The only reason socialism doesn’t work here is because the billionaires and corporations pay billlions out to insure its failure. Just imagine what could be accomplished with all that money.
The bigot piggies don’t want “happiness”.
Sunrise canoeing in Finland
Charles Dickens created this wonderful night where Ebenezer Scrooge dreams stuff which causes him to become “woke”.
It’s fiction.
They not only never become enlightened—they make sure their children carry on the tradition. Or, they end up like Mary Trump’s father.
Midnight sun in Finland messes up your sleep schedule. 8 pm feels like mid-afternoon.
I know some Finns who left because they weren’t happy.
lol
Of course, the far right has convinced people that Socialism and Communism are the same animal. Most of the countries that practice some degree of Democratic socialism are quite happy and economically stable.
The quote isn’t “Money is the root of all evil”. It’s “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil” and GREED is one of the deadly sins.
There is nothing wrong with enough or more than enough. It’s when you deprive others to get the more than enough plus a whole lot more that it becomes destructive.
I wish I had been born in Denmark. Things weren’t so great there when the ancestors left around 1900, but things weren’t so great here then, either, what with children like my great-grandma working in a sweatshop in Chicago.
Imagine everyone paying into the system and having your tax dollars go to pay for your healthcare, and parental leave, and education through college.
It’s too bad the US House is busy wasting time and money with political theater instead of working to keep the government open.
Ah, but there’s a big Sunday coming up. Easter is where the Republican MAGAts all cosplay being Christians.
Yep, Jamie.
As Jon Stewart said, they socialize their losses (too big to fail), but privatize their profits (and then don’t make them pay their fair share of taxes).
Trump’s Theme Song
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/19/far-right-fraternal-order-sacr “New documents have shed light on the origins and inner workings of the shadowy Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR), including methods for judging the beliefs of potential members on topics such as Christian nationalism, and indications that its founders sought inspiration in an apartheid-era South African white men-only group, the Afrikaner-Broederbond.” “– use biblical references that suggest a preparedness for violent struggle against the current “regime”. “The SACR is a secretive far-right men-only organization with an emphasis on Christian nationalism and a desire to open branches across the US.” SACRilege “The Guardian has previously reported on SACR’s close links to the Claremont Institute, an influential rightwing thinktank with fellows who have participated in attempts to overturn the 2020 election and promoted the idea that an authoritarian “Red Caesar” might redeem a US republic they see as decadent.” He’s Orange Julius Caesar, but message received. “First published in 1978, Super-Afrikaners exposed the workings of South Africa’s Broederbond, a secretive, exclusive, men-only network that promoted the interests of white Afrikaners in that country and which is credited with a significant role in bringing the National party – the architects of apartheid – to power.” “…Skyler Kressin, a tax consultant based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, appears to play a central administrative role in SACR. Idaho and Texas company records show that Kressin incorporated lodges in Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Dallas; serves as a director of the Coeur d’Alene and Dallas lodges; and was named as the principal officer of the parent organization on its 2020-21 tax return.” “On 30 October 2020, Kressin wrote an email to Yenor with the question “that good?”, along with a screenshot of an Amazon listing for Super-Afrikaners, a book by the investigative journalists Ivor Wilkins and Hans Strydom.” “In spelling out SACR’s rules, the document reveals the high value the organization places on secrecy. It says that “all discussion is confidential unless clearly noted otherwise”; and “all names of attendees are strictly confidential”. The document even says that members should withhold information from prospective members, instructing that members should “never… Read more »
Donald Trump $355M GoFundMe Stalls At $1.3M After A Month Amid Legal Battles (yahoo.com)
If they have money for their gas and groceries and enough left over to donate to a grifter, they must be doing okay.
Both sides will spend the week-end getting frenzied about the seizure of Trump Tower. Come Monday, Putin and the Saudis will come through. Our excitement will have been for naught.
This seems unsustainable
There will be a lot of scrutiny of any money used to post tRUMPsky’s bond, even if any dollars through a GoFundMe. If there are foreign players, it will be traced back to them.
Further indebted, tRUMPsky will be even more if a security risk.
Hard to believe as this year runs away from us, but it is almost time to start thinking about the Kentucky Oaks and Derby on May 3 and 4
Oaks Contenders
Kentucky Oaks 2024 Fillies (horseracingnation.com)
Derby Contenders
Kentucky Derby 2024 Contenders (horseracingnation.com)
Links so you can look at the pretty animals are within the above lists. I’ll start asking you for picks once the field narrows substantially in about a month.
So his leadership PAC has raised a net -$.6M? Dumbass’ legal fees are only at $5.6M? I want to see the billing statements because I highly doubt they are that low.
Happy – in a perverted sort of way – handing a support deadbeat his ass and settling a particularly difficult case all within half an hour. Means I get tonight and the weekend off. As the old saying goes, a good day in court.
New Biden Campaign Ad: “Are you better off than you were four years ago? We’re glad you asked”..
https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1770848104310259749?s=01
That’s just one month, Pogo. $5.6 million just in February.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/21/politics/trump-calls-ny-attorney-generals-bond-suggestions-impractical-and-unjust/index.html
“The New York attorney general’s office has filed judgments in Westchester County, the first indication that the state is preparing to try to seize Donald Trump’s golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, known as Seven Springs.”
Poobah, that sounds more like it.
pogo,
maybe the FL lawyers are writing off some of it as pro bono credit for their annual Bar report. you know, helping out the little guy.
Attribution: Hello Jared, It’s Me by Bruce Plante, PoliticalCartoons.com
Could Ivanka and Jared Kushner Pay Donald Trump’s Legal Fees? (newsweek.com)
I’m ready to kill myself. I e been trying to eFile for days and it keeps rejecting for some unknown number. An AARP tax aid filled it out last year. There are zero appointments available within 50 miles, so I did it myself but they want some number. I have no idea what to do except fucking paper file. So disgusted that I don’t live in Denmark right now.
Also, my Obamacare policy that won’t even cover a yearly physical at 100% like it’s supposed to, so in addition to the premiums I pay, it ate up any refund and cost me even more to the federal government. I’m about to drop it and become a ward of the county or state if anything happens. I hate my life.
bId – I would love to see a video of when someone tells him that there is action on his golf club and his special pricing home. This Monday deadline is becoming real. Which will be next? Another golf club or two? Perhaps someone wants a golf club for the memories buried there?
Print out the paper worksheets from the .gov site and use a pencil to figure it out, i prefer writing implements, myself
BiD, I had to find my eFile pin number on the IRS web site one time, wasn’t easy but I eventually got it. They call it Identity Protection Number (IP Pin)
craig, are you prepped for your surgery tomorrow – both emotionally as well as that whole gi system ordeal – or have you been spared that discomfort and only doing local anesthesia?
i can whistle this entire composition, it’s possible i miss a few notes 🤷♂️
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2023/05/crying-good-for-you-daily/674043/
Which clueless frwnj, maybe maga, used Don’t Worry, Be Happy song thinking it was “conservative”? Was it blue pill guy who cooked his hearing? SFB? He did his schtick for a week or so and was buried for using a liberal song. This is another one of those down a deep path we go questions I am afraid.
Word Salad, Hold The Dressing
Trump lawyer Alina Habba, asked by FOX host if “any efforts to get money through another country, Saudi Arabia or Russia” for appeal bond:
translation: “as soon as we figure out how”
Hi
Peekaboo already filing liens
Daily Beast investigative reporter Jose Paglieri: “Two court clerks tell me that the New York AG has effectively placed liens on everything Donald Trump owns in Westchester County. Her target? Seven Springs, his 212-acre forested family estate.”
George Conway: “The employees at the clerk’s office explained that the move effectively means that the AG has placed liens on all properties that belong to Trump, Don Jr., Eric, the Trump Organization, and two of their other listed corporate entities. The ‘blanket lien’ now in place means that if Trump tries to sell any property in Westchester County, a title search will reveal that there is a half billion dollar judgment hanging over his head.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/attorney-general-prepares-to-seize-trumps-massive-new-york-estate
The Trump campaign is so broke they’re just running the same ads from 2020.. https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/03/21/election-2024-campaign-updates/
Habba Dab a do.
Blue
Sorry about your insurance and tax problems. I’ll get you to move to Washington yet.
We’ll find out how much those properties are actually worth.
Jamie, Thanks. Denmark sounds like heaven.
https://time.com/6870090/kate-middleton-event-attendance-removed-army-website/
“The British Army has removed its claim that Kate, Princess of Wales will be attending its annual Trooping the Colour event.”
“Until Tuesday, tickets for the military parade on June 8 were on sale alongside an image of the royal. It was anticipated that Kate would review the display as part of her role as Colonel of the Irish Guards — the regiment trooping its color this summer.”
The rabbit hole is deep and long and meandering.
“Planned abdominal surgery” has had some unplanned consequences.
https://www.livescience.com/space/cosmology/james-webb-telescope-confirms-there-is-something-seriously-wrong-with-our-understanding-of-the-universe
“James Webb telescope confirms there is something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe”
“Depending on where we look, the universe is expanding at different rates. Now, scientists using the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes have confirmed that the observation is not down to a measurement error.”
“This problem, known as the Hubble Tension, has the potential to alter or even upend cosmology altogether.”
I am thinking that the Brit royals need to be creative in leaking info. Modern life is you stay a day or two, unless you have some weird thing, then out the door you go. The Royals can have whatever specialist and equipment in whatever room they want. Not haven dug through the intertubes for info, my guess is she had a double mastectomy and possibly a hysterectomy. Yeah, I went there.
The Royals deserve privacy, but, they are the head of England and should let the masses know if something is wrong.
I just stumbled on a video of the celebrity deaths of 1974. So many died young of diseases that are regularly treated today. Fifty years ago is a long time ago. Science marches on.
BB
My first thought on Kate was the possibility of severe uterine fibroids given her previous difficult pregnancies. If she had a myomectomy, the recovery time is six weeks.
Could be something simple but “embarrassing.” When you cut into the abdomen, it can take weeks or months for the pipes to flush again.
Intriguing hypothesis: it’s not the royals but the palace press office that’s causing the communication problems.
https://www.msnbc.com/katy-tur/watch/-puzzling-frenzy-around-princess-kate-suggests-cracks-between-her-and-will-joanna-coles-206458949902
I’ll be off line tomorrow getting a new hip. Reporting at 5:30am for 7:30am surgery.
i read “abdomen” as a euphemism for “plastic/cosmetic”
gonna have a hearty lol if i’m right, but only due to the media circus created by secrecy
i only hear positive hip-replacement stories, Mr. C 🫡
Best wishes, Craig. You’ll be hopping around again soon.
Craig – All the best & speedy recovery!
Poobah, I have the T-shirt. Best med decision I’ve made – other than vaccinations. Can’t speak for everyone but it was life changing for me. Best wishes for an easy recovery.
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