My friend is from Aberdeen but he lived mostly in Edinburgh. He's a good guy and he surely knows his whiskey.
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Can't beat quality of life in Scandinavia, says world ranking (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter HelterSkelter
- Start date
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http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jvZ5lm24hvzcs2JR4z4nEg4KtwRg
PARIS (AFP) — Nordic countries take the greatest care of their environment and their people, according to a ranking published on Thursday by the publication Reader's Digest.
Finland comes top of the 141-nation list, followed by Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and then Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia.
At the bottom of the list is Ethiopia, preceded by Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Chad.
The United States comes in 23rd, China 84th and India 104th.
The ranking combines environmental factors, such as air and water quality, respect for biodiversity and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as social factors, such as gross domestic product, access to education, unemployment rate and life expectancy.
The statistical basis is the UN's Human Development Index and the Environmental Sustainability Index drawn up by Yale and Columbia universities and the World Economic Forum.
European countries -- again, led by Scandinavia -- also top the Reader's Digest assessment of 72 cities for their quality of life. The criteria for this include public transport, parks, air quality, rubbish recycling and the price of electricity.
The winner is Stockholm, followed by Oslo, Munich and Paris.
Asia's mega-cities fare the worst. At the bottom is Beijing, preceded by Shanghai, Mumbai, Guangzhou and Bangkok.
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I wana work in Finland
PARIS (AFP) — Nordic countries take the greatest care of their environment and their people, according to a ranking published on Thursday by the publication Reader's Digest.
Finland comes top of the 141-nation list, followed by Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and then Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia.
At the bottom of the list is Ethiopia, preceded by Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Chad.
The United States comes in 23rd, China 84th and India 104th.
The ranking combines environmental factors, such as air and water quality, respect for biodiversity and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as social factors, such as gross domestic product, access to education, unemployment rate and life expectancy.
The statistical basis is the UN's Human Development Index and the Environmental Sustainability Index drawn up by Yale and Columbia universities and the World Economic Forum.
European countries -- again, led by Scandinavia -- also top the Reader's Digest assessment of 72 cities for their quality of life. The criteria for this include public transport, parks, air quality, rubbish recycling and the price of electricity.
The winner is Stockholm, followed by Oslo, Munich and Paris.
Asia's mega-cities fare the worst. At the bottom is Beijing, preceded by Shanghai, Mumbai, Guangzhou and Bangkok.
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I wana work in Finland
Like the time Places Rated Almanac rated Pittsburgh as the best place to live in America for two years in a row ... only for people to notice that it's published in Pittsburgh.
Talk about subjective...
Doesn't really matter, though. Someone picks some biased criteria for what they like in a place to live, come up with some rating system out of the air, then passes judgements like this, and ranks a list as if anyone has any authority on the subject.
And the navel-gazing public often eats this up as if standing in front of a mirror to say, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who has the prettiest cock of all? Oh, pick me! Pick me!" (I know Burke does this as a morning constitutional, but most people I mean...)
The whole exercise is not just lacking any reasonable foundation, it's pointless. It's developing a fictitious numbering system to justify why you think Justin Timberlake is a better singer than Christine Aguilera.
And the navel-gazing public often eats this up as if standing in front of a mirror to say, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who has the prettiest cock of all? Oh, pick me! Pick me!" (I know Burke does this as a morning constitutional, but most people I mean...)
The whole exercise is not just lacking any reasonable foundation, it's pointless. It's developing a fictitious numbering system to justify why you think Justin Timberlake is a better singer than Christine Aguilera.
I don't think a splitting up will happen in the near future, but there is a tendency towards a confederal state, and that's what the Walloon politicians fear. The Flemish parties that are now negotiating with the Walloon parties want to delegate some federal competences (don't know if that's the right word) to the regional level, that means that Flanders and Wallony can have independent policies regarding this competences. So the biggest fear for the Walloons is, if they agree with this reformation, where will it end?
Jack, even if Finland only ranks 12th, your problem isn't solved. The world's happiest country ranks 12th when it comes to suicide rates? Isn't that odd? You'd expect no one would kill himself in a country that is obviously great to live in. Let's face it, it's subjective and it's a load of bullshit.
What should have been said in the article is that Finland is a great place to live in when you want a lot of public transport possibilities or anything of the sort. The fact it's dark half the time of the year is conveniently left out. I like light, I like heat, so Finland would pretty much suck for me. No matter what this lousy article says.
Ah, but the difference is I never claimed anything about the quality of life in Belgium. And Finland ranks higher than Belgium by the way.
What should have been said in the article is that Finland is a great place to live in when you want a lot of public transport possibilities or anything of the sort. The fact it's dark half the time of the year is conveniently left out. I like light, I like heat, so Finland would pretty much suck for me. No matter what this lousy article says.
Ah, but the difference is I never claimed anything about the quality of life in Belgium. And Finland ranks higher than Belgium by the way.
Then we go back to your first argument in this thread when you said that Scandinavian countries have the highest suicide rate in the world. They don't. Then again ONLY Finland ranks 12 and I've never been to Finland so I can't judge the quality of living there. Subjective? I can't say no but this doesn't mean that it doesn't suit a lot of people. Other subjective studies might agree with another bunch of people.
