More on global happiness

by Iva Skoch on

Since Eric Weiner’s book, The Geography of Bliss tops all kinds of bestseller lists, the concept of happiness–and the concept of measuring it–seems to be high priority. Why we are so obsessed with happiness is certainly interesting, but even more interesting, I think, is that–contrary to the spiritual teachings out there–money apparently does buy happiness.

As reported by the Holland Herald, using data from the World Database of Happiness, the top 5 happiest countries are also some of the wealthiest countries in the world, despite their lack of sunshine:

  1. Denmark
  2. Switzerland
  3. Austria
  4. Iceland
  5. Finland

On the flip side, the bottom 5 are some of the poorest:

  • Tanzania
  • Zimbabwe
  • Moldova
  • Ukraine
  • Armenia

The interesting part is that most people experience a happiness dip between the ages of 30 and 50. Those are generally not the happiest years in a person’s life. Those are also, paradoxically, the wealthiest years or a person’s life. Hmmm.

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The happiest fliers in the world are the ones riding on the new Singapore Airlines A380:

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American man stabbed to death by a Prague cop

by Iva Skoch on

It has not been a good week for American tourists in the world. First, an American got attacked by an elephant in China. Then I read the morning news in Prague only to find out that a cop stabbed a 44-year American guy to death near the hockey stadium Sazka Arena in Prague 9.

Apparently, the American tourist was a soldier stationed at the military base in Germany. The Czech press is reporting that he and his friends were driving a car in Prague when the Czech cop (off duty, I think) started making “offensive gestures”, whatever that means. The American got out of the car and demanded an explanation. Instead the cop–who was drunk at the time–pulled out a knife and stabbed him three time into his chest, killing him instantly.

I was shocked. This kind of thing doesn’t happen much in Prague.

But, based on my recent experience with a violent lunatic in Athens, I will say this again: do not underestimate the temper of people in an unfamiliar country. When traveling, it is best to leave your ego at home. You just never know who you run into.

Pilot’s mental breakdown causes emergency landing

by Iva Skoch on

Early Wednesday, an Air Canada flight from Toronto to London Heathrow had to make an emergency landing in Ireland because the pilot apparently suffered a mental breakdown midair. BBC reports that he was shouting he wanted to “talk to God” when they were taking him off the plane.

After an 8-hour delay, all passengers eventually made it back to London. The pilot is now “in care”. Something tells me his career as a commercial pilot is history…

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Ever seen a plane this cool?

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The most tolerant Western countries (and the most racist)

by Iva Skoch on

I recently came across this survey and it caught my attention. It attempts to answer the question “What is the most racist, intolerant, anti-Semitic, homophobic country in the Western world?”

The results would make people, who are not Caucasians, probably want to avoid Italy, Muslims to avoid Greece, Jews to avoid Spain, and immigrants as well as homosexuals to stay clear of Northern Ireland. These countries were rated as the least tolerant in the Western world.

Human Beliefs and Values Survey experts went about conducting the survey by making people in Western countries answer yes/no to the following statements:

  • I wouldn’t want my neighbors to be of “different race” (Least tolerant: 1.Italy 16%, 2. Greece 14%, 3. Belgium 13%)
  • I wouldn’t want my neighbors to be “Muslim” (Least tolerant: 1. Greece 21%, 2.Belgium 20%, Norway 19%)
  • I wouldn’t want my neighbors to be “Jewish” (Least tolerant: 1. Spain 22%, 2. Greece 18%, 3. Italy 13%)
  • I wouldn’t want my neighbors to be “immigrants” (Least tolerant: 1.Northern Ireland 19%, 2. Italy 17%, 3. Belgium 16%)
  • I wouldn’t want my neighbors to be “homosexuals” (Least tolerant: 1. Northern Ireland 37%, 2. Italy 28%, 3. Ireland 27%)

The US, mercifully, ranked average or below average for all questions. Still, a surprisingly high number of Americans are not comfortable living around people who are not “just like them.”

The least racist and homophobic country was Sweden.

The country least concerned about having Muslim neighbors was Canada.

The least anti-Semitic country was The Netherlands.

The country least worried about having immigrants as neighbors was Portugal.

(The survey was conducted in 2000. I wonder how different the results would be now.)

Sarkozy asks news channel for 100% French broadcasts

by Anna Brones on

Browsing through a past edition of the Economist, I came across this article about a French news channel that broadcasts in English and Arabic. The channel was recently shocked when President Nicolas Sarkozy stated that he thought it should only broadcast in French.

France 24 is France’s version of Al-Jazeera, a way to communicate a French perspective on news but at the same time keeping it accessible to even those who didn’t get past their high school vocab list of bonjour and merci. Despite France 24’s difficulties in finding distribution channels in the US, the broadcasting company has offered a fresh perspective in comparison to other global news media.

Sarkozy wants the channel to become French only, because he is “not disposed to finance a channel that does not speak French.” Yes Sarko, blame it on the budget. Foreign Minister Bernard Koucher doesn’t agree with his co-worker, much like most of the managers of France 24 who have already committed to lobbying for their trilingual broadcasts. From a country that has its own academy to protect its language, it will be interesting to see where this goes, just make sure not to judge too hard.

One thing is sure: Sarkozy’s choice does seem odd given his pro-American stance, but maybe some people just want to keep things en français.