THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ, TENTH THREAD.

Americans will continue to be killed because we try to impose our will upon the world by force.

c.i., his veto of stem cells has nothing to do with his possible insensitivity and probable ignorance of veteran's problems. He is a political animal, swept by the tides of his voting base. His stem cell veto is in line with his conservative base (although I think Bush is more of a Republican than a conservative.) He is perhaps not cognizant, or paying attention to, the burgeoning problems of the returning wounded service people.

xingu, we have always backed up our ideology with our military might. We are not the more powerful nation on earth because of our ideas, which is extraordinary because we could be. But could that happen, without our muscle?

Norway still the world's best place to live

For the fourth year in a row, the United Nations has ranked Norway as having the highest standard of living in the world. Sweden, Australia and Canada are next in line, while the United States is further down the scale.
Norway, also known for its scenic beauty, is once again being hailed as the world's best country in which to live.

Norway tops UN list over best places to live - again - 24.07.2002
The annual ranking is based largely on average levels of education and income, combined with expected length of lifetime.

The report measured standards of living in 177 countries around the world. Other Nordic countries also ranked high, with Iceland in 7th place, Finland 13th and Denmark 17th.

Norway's gross national product per person amounted to USD 36,600, beaten only by Luxembourg. Its men and women are expected to live to an age of 78.9 years and Norway is one of 19 countries in the world with no measurable rates of illiteracy.

Researchers for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) also weighed countries' degrees of cultural freedom in their analysis. They called cultural freedom a "basic human right," and awarded high scores in this year's UN Human Development Report to countries that accept immigrant cultures in addition to their own.

Norway's cultural diversity has blossomed in recent years, and public policies are aimed at integrating various ethnic groups and promoting tolerance.

Norway also was lauded for its high literacy rate in addition to educational levels and material wealth. Norwegians themselves generally point to their country's scenic beauty, recreational opportunities, clean water and fresh air.

The United States landed in eighth place on the list, while France, for example, was 16th.

The worst countries in which to live are all in Africa, according to the UN report. All 23 nations at the bottom of the list were African, with war-torn Sierra Leone in last place.

SODERTALJE, Sweden: Walking down the carpeted aisle of Sodertalje's low-slung St. John's Church one recent morning, Anders Lago's broad, blond features looked out of place among the hundreds of black-clad Iraqi mourners at a memorial service. Lago is the mayor of this scenic Swedish town of 60,000 people, which last year took in twice as many Iraqi refugees as the entire United States, almost all of them Christians fleeing the religious purge taking place amid Iraq's anti-American insurgency and sectarian strife.

So the mourners are now part of Lago's constituency, and their war is rapidly becoming Sodertalje's war - to the mayor's growing chagrin.

Sodertalje, he says, is reaching a breaking point and can no longer provide newcomers with even the basic services they have a right to expect.

About 9,000 Iraqis made it to Sweden in 2006 - almost half of the 22,000 who sought asylum in the entire industrialized world. This year, when the United States has promised to take in 7,000 Iraqis, around 20,000 are expected to seek asylum in Sweden.