Does 18 Make For A Shithole?

Esplanade Park in Helsinki. Finland, is the happiest country in the world, according to the newest World Happiness Report. Credit Martti Kainulainen/Lehtikuva, via Associated Press

Esplanade Park in Helsinki. Finland, is the happiest country in the world, according to the newest World Happiness Report. Credit Martti Kainulainen/Lehtikuva, via Associated Press.

According to The World Happiness Report, Ustates has plummeted to 18th on the list. If you really want to be happy and feel secure, you need to go Nordic. Finland made the top of the list.

Finland was ranked number one on the World Happiness Report, compiled by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The country was joined by other Scandinavian nations—Norway, Denmark, and Iceland—in the top four, followed by Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and Australia.

All these nations are based on strong social welfare structures, and look, people are happy! Looks like that evil socialism has a lot going for it. Turns out that when people feel secure, they tend to be happier and much more laidback.

“I think there really is a deep and very unsettling signal coming through that U.S. society is in many ways under profound stress, even though the economy by traditional measures is doing fine,” Jeffrey D. Sachs, an editor of the report, told the New York Times. “The trends are not good, and the comparative position of the U.S. relative to other high-income countries is nothing short of alarming.”

The drop followed President Donald Trump’s first year in office, during which the majority of Americans reported disapproval of the country’s top elected official, and hundreds of thousands protested his regressive policies on immigration, women’s reproductive rights, and gun control—as well as widespread concerns that the president is blatantly profiting off his position in public office.

The past year also saw reports of America’s widening wealth gap, with the average upper middle-class household holding 75 times more wealth than low-income families.

While other countries have focused on social welfare of all their citizens, Ustates has been in the process of removing rights and the very last shreds of social programs. We’re in the middle of dismantling education, nazis are running rampant all over the place, and you never know when you might be walking into a nightmare massacre. Sounds like a shithole to me.

The World Happiness Report ranks countries according to per capita GDP, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and corruption levels.

Going by that alone, seems Ustates should be at the bottom of the list.

Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second year in a row in 2017, with researchers suggesting that the opioid addiction epidemic and inequality are related to the decline.

I expect no health care has a lot to do with that one, along with a hefty percentage of the population living in food deserts and being unable to eat well.

Reigning political ideologies in the highest-ranking nations contrast sharply with that of the U.S., noted the researchers.

The countries in the top 10 tend to “believe that what makes people happy is solid social support systems, good public services, and even paying a significant amount in taxes for that,” said Sachs.

Yep. I’m more than happy to pay taxes, when they are used for the common good. That’s supposed to be the bloody point of taxes.

Every top-ranking country also ensures that every citizen has access to free or affordable healthcare, while millions of Americans remain uninsured despite the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Oh, there it is. Yep, other countries seem to have all figured out that having healthy citizens is to their benefit. That strikes me as simple common sense, but not here in Amerikka, no. I’m quite surprised we ended up as high as 18. Now I can’t get this song outta my head:

Via RawStory.

Gosh, How Responsible!

Dennis Alexander. SOURCE: KSBW.

More students get hurt, by someone who is oh so responsible with guns, you betcha.

A teacher who also serves as a reserve police officer accidentally fired a gun inside a Seaside High School classroom Tuesday, police said, and three students were injured.

Dennis Alexander was teaching a course about gun safety for his Administration of Justice class when his gun went off at 1:20 p.m. Alexander was pointing his gun at the ceiling when it fired. Pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground.

A news release from the Seaside Police Department said no one suffered “serious injuries.” One 17-year-old boy suffered moderate injuries when fragments from the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and lodged into his neck, the student’s father, Fermin Gonzales, told KSBW.

The teacher had just told the class that he wanted to make sure his gun wasn’t loaded, when the gun fired, according to Gonzales. “It’s the craziest thing. It could have been very bad,” Gonzales said. The teacher was about to use the gun for a demonstration about how to disarm someone, according to Gonzales.

Everyone in the classroom was stunned, and the teacher, who is a reserve officer for the Sand City Police Department, apologized.

But no one at the school checked to make sure that all of the students were uninjured, Gonzales said. The school day resumed as normal, and Seaside Police Department officers launched an investigation. The 17-year-old boy’s parents were shocked when he returned home with blood on his shirt and bullet fragments in his neck. The student’s parents rushed him to a hospital for X-rays. “He’s shaken up, but he’s going to be OK,” Gonzales told KSBW. “I’m just pretty upset that no one told us anything and we had to call the police ourselves to report it.”

Alexander was placed on administrative leave from his teaching position at Seaside High School, and he was also placed on administrative leave at the Sand City Police Department.

There you have it. A cop. A teacher. And a gun in school ends up hurting students, go figure. One of these days, I’m going to eyeroll so hard my spine’s gonna pop out. The full story is here.

Space Force!!1!

Spaceballs.

The fucking moron has decided the military is not bloated enough, no. We need…SPACE FORCE!

Donald Trump addressed Marines at Miramar Air Station in San Diego on Tuesday.

In addition to touting record-breaking military spending and promising a raise to the military he also laid out plans for a space army.

“We should have a new force called the Space Force. It’s like the Army and the Navy, but for space, because we’re spending a lot of money on space,” he said. “I said maybe we need a new force, I was not really serious, then I said ‘what a great idea.’ Maybe we’ll have to do that.”

“My new national strategy for space recognizes that space is a war-fighting domain, just like the land, air, and sea,” he said.

Right. As if funneling yet more money into the military machine that is Amerikka isn’t bad enough, the Tiny Tyrant has come up with Spaceballs, because that’s what it would be, if we’re going to pretend this would actually go anywhere. Thankfully, it won’t, but fuck knows just how much money will be blown on such idiocy. I’ll bet NASA just can’t wait for a phone call from the Tiny Tyrant and his genius ideas for Space Force. Ah well, let the mockery begin! You can see some select responses at Raw Story.

Word Wednesday.

Mordant

 
Adjective.

1: biting and caustic in thought, manner, or style: incisive.

2: acting as a mordant.

3: burning, pungent.

-mordantly, adverb.

[Origin: Middle French, present participle of mordre to bite, from Latin mordēre; perhaps akin to Sanskrit m dnāti he presses, rubs.]

(15th Century)

Mordant, noun:

1: a chemical that fixes a dye in or on a substance by combining with the dye to form an insoluble compound.

2: a corroding substance used in etching.

(1791)

Mordant, transitive verb: to treat with a mordant.

(1836)

“Neither of us was pleased to leave Bancroft behind. There was always a chance that he might decide he’d recovered sufficiently to be interviewed while our backs were turned. Maitland, of course, didn’t have an evening with Maeve as consolation, and he was mordant company all the way back to the nick.” – The Reckoning, Jane Casey.

What Does A God Need With A Government?

Seems there’s a group, or organisation or something called Intercessors for America. So, a bunch of people praying, but praying apparently is not enough anymore, no. People need to vote, because Jehovah needs a government!

“You probably know the midterms are coming up,” Kubal said. “We believe God desires to align His watchmen alongside these candidates. Intercessory activism is not about mixing the role of the church with the role of government to create some form of spiritual nationalism, it is all about proper alignment between God’s people and government … God created government to punish the wrong and protect the right, [but] a government cannot know what is wrong or what is right without the church.”

Erm…so you’re not about mixing up church and government, you’re about mixing up people in the church and government, do I have that one right? Jehovah created government? Huh. Okay, just the Amerikkan version, or all governments? If it’s all governments, which one is best? Perhaps it’s just me, but I think you’re confusing the justice system with government.

“Intercessory activism is the correct alignment between God’s people bringing His values to our government,” Kubal added. “We are in a specific season where we can ask God to move greatly through the authority of our government. This is really important, this is kind of the crux of what I am talking about. In the past few years, we have prayed defensively for protection from our government, but now we are in a season to pray offensively to see great advances of the kingdom of God to be advanced through our government.”

I’ll give you credit for some grand bafflegab there, Mr. Kubal. So Jehovah has to work through the authority of the government? I guess bureaucratic red tape swallows everyone. Once again, I’m struck by the christian vision of a god, such a weak little critter, unable to do one damn thing on its own. From a christian point of view, there’s no fun at all in being a god, just another powerless being adrift on the seas of life. Tsk. I’ll be making offerings to all the art gods later this day, any one of which could whip Jehovah’s poor, powerless arse.

Kubal said that it is imperative that conservative Christians use the elections to connect with candidates with the goal of implementing “kingdom values through relationships to our government” and utilizing “the U.S. government to have His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Yeah, y’know, I’d think an all powerful god could push its agenda through without having to “utilize” anyone or anything. Interesting that you basically admit that all the intercessory crap is worthless.

The full mess is at RWW, with video.

And a bonus today, in the category of silliest damn prophecy ever: Prophecy: Paramedic Angels Dispatched.