Daily Archives: 2009/10/28

Ok, I’m up for a happy place!

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From Ode:

Costa Rica: The happiest place on earth

According to a report published by the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica is the happiest, greenest nation on Earth. The Latin American nation scored highest on the British think tank’s “Happy Planet Index” (HPI), which “shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world.” Costa Rica’s small carbon footprint, protected ecological zones and life expectancy of 78.5 years set it apart from more developed nations. By contrast, the U.K. came in 74th, and the U.S. was No. 114 out of 143 nations surveyed. Learn more about the report at happyplanetindex.org.

Um, yeah, I could go there. Really! I could!



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Everyday is Memorial Day… somewhere… for someone

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Yesterday 8 U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan.

The day before that 11 were killed.

With 53 soldiers killed in October 2009, it has been the deadliest month of the war…

…for the U.S.

When my wife relayed the news to me about the 11 killed on Monday, we both looked at each other and almost exactly at the same time said, “Eleven U.S., that is.”

I’d originally planned on posting the numbers for U.S. and civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as I browsed the various websites, looking for credible figures, I felt a wave of nausea come over me.

Believe me when I tell you that the numbers are startling, sickening, and wading through them and the statements from the various groups claiming their numbers are superior, is like bulldozing through a cemetery.

There are days when I so acutely feel the madness and horrors of war — when it seems to be around every corner, in places that don’t get the kind of media attention that Iraq and Afghanistan do — that it is overwhelming. Today is one of those days.



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