PARIS — Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index released Monday but China has made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens.
The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom, just below Afghanistan.
China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy.
Colombia and Peru rose five spaces to rank 77th and 78th while France -- which was not part of the top 10 last year -- returns to the upper echelons by moving up three places to number 8.
The UNDP said the index highlights the grave disparities between rich and poor countries.
A child born in Niger can expect to live to just over 50, which is 30 years less than a child born in Norway. For every dollar a person earns in Niger, 85 dollars are earned in Norway.
This year's index was based on data from 2007 and does not take into account the impact of the global economic crisis.
"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic," said the UN development report's author Jeni Klugman.
"And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."
Afghanistan, which returns to the list for the first time since 1996, is the only Asian country among the bottom ten which also include Sierra Leone in the 180th spot, just below the Central African Republic.
The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.
The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.
13th! hell canada kicks our ass!
k now all you zealots can scream about how the minority's are keeping us down,the devil worshippers,the fact that we are all not believers in whatever it is you insist we believe in ,,it's the president fault even though he just got into office and could not possibly be the reason because we were 12th last year, go at it,,,,feeding frenzy time,,
you tell me why we are so low when arrogant americans insist on the "we are the greatest country in the world" moniker....it's just not true,,,we are though
THE 13TH GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!! 
p.s. names jamie and i am the greatest person in the world ( does that sound arrogant? do the math:)
Copy & paste to friend: (Click inside box; Ctrl + C to copy; Ctrl + V to paste)
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read more blogs!
Blogs by Sternfan69:
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oct_cat
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Oct 7 @ 6:58AM
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The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. This year's index was based on data from 2007 and does not take into account the impact of the global economic crisis. Yeah, 2 years after data is accumulated they announce the results.
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Sternfan69
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Oct 7 @ 8:08AM
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i guess that means they took there time and got it right,,,182 countries and all the different criteria,,makes perfect sense to me
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Koray
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Oct 7 @ 8:12AM
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you tell me why we are so low when arrogant americans insist on the "we are the greatest country in the world" moniker....it's just not true,,,we are though
can you imagine how sick people get of listening to that . Surprised Monocco & Luxemburg are not in top few as they have very high standard of living
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Koray
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Oct 7 @ 8:13AM
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Luxenburg is 11th just looked at the site
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RightWingRepublican
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Oct 7 @ 10:32AM
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I never understood that concept. They really need to explain it a little more.
I can say that Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden were amazing. Low crime rates, peaceful people. As far as being the best places to live, America sadly falls short... by a landslide.
We are the greatest as far as the world looking at us. Of course people hate us, but they also look to us as a leader when something happens. They know we are proactive.
What i find disturbing is that young women in Asian countries are having leg lengthening surgeries, having their eyes "fixed" to look rounder, dying their gorgeous dark hair blond because that's the standard of beauty America has set. Nothing very great about setting such ridiculous standards. It's hurt people worldwide.
As far as crime, state of living and all around happiness, we fall short.
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Sternfan69
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Oct 7 @ 10:42AM
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Of course people hate us, but they also look to us as a leader when something happens. They know we are proactive.
oh we are proactive alright,,mess with us and we will blow you off the face of the earth.
the world fears us because we embrace violence as the answer,,we are a warlike people...
of course you want the biggest bully on your side when the shit hits the fan,,,
does that equate to a "great" nation,,,,or does that just make us the biggest bullies in the playground?
but you make good points and i do not claim to have all the answers,,
i just get irritated when some americans resort to the arrogant claim that we are the greatest,,,as my analogy pointed out,,,how big of an ahole am i claiming to be the greatest person in the world...it's annoying and i never question why other nations dislike us for our blatant arrogance masked as patriotism...
can't we just be AS GOOD as any other nation? why the need to feel superior? are we hiding the fact that we have small penises?
that's usually the clinical definition,,,overcompensating i believe it's called..
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CPUfan
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Oct 7 @ 11:14AM
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Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan Apart from the scenery, Norway, Sweden and Iceland are without doubt in the top ten most boring countries in the periphery of the universe.
You can only buy drink in state monopoly booze shops that are closed at the weekend. They are run by abolitionist cranks and have established monopoly state churches you are born into. And they have prolific suicide rates in climates darker and more extreme than the polar circle North of Canada.
I really hope then that their humanistic development is something exceptional (if you can believe a word they write about themselves) because it has to compensate for their polarisation into alcoholic and abolitionist extremists.
You will find the most stupidly drunk individuals in Europe in these countries. There are so many home distillers that still explosions are amongst the top ten causes of fires. Usually they go on forages to neighbouring countries to buy cheap booze though. They are refugees from their own alcohol policies. And they take enormous pride in trivial nationalist narrow-mindedness with absolutely no substance in reality.   More than this, their home-grown media, TV and entertainments since ABBA are suitable punishment for lifers.
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Sternfan69
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Oct 7 @ 11:20AM
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it was a survey of human development,,,not a travel guide,,you may be correct,,but read all the criteria they used ,,,the important stuff i guess...
i don't think boredom or alcohol policies or home-grown media were taken into account,,it was overall quality of life...
listen if you don't like the results ,,complain to the united nations ,,,they would have a better answer than i do,,i just cut and pasted the thing and shared my opinion as did you,,,so party on garth
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CPUfan
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Oct 7 @ 11:46AM
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NP  no reflection on you either lol...
That was my point, there is no quality of life... material yes, apartment quality yes, schools OK hospitals OK but who needs the state running your social and entertainments life, what there is of it there... Who wants life in a guilded cage... heheheh
I'm a great believer in being able to create the quality of my own life. That doesn't necessarily mean alcohol especially but some sort of open social environment is essential to that.
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Koray
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Oct 7 @ 1:19PM
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Who wants life in a guilded cage... heheheh
my guess is a lot of people would quite like the chance to find out , safely knowing they have money , benefits , health care for their kids.
My freind in Norayw has snow mobile , weekend log cabin and weekend ski trips. Sounds pretty cool to me . Oh and fabulous homes .
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CPUfan
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Oct 7 @ 3:04PM
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Just saying... from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance - Far-right extremist 'Progress Party' second largest in oil-rich Norway. Islam a political target in Norway
By Thomas Buch-Andersen
BBC News, Oslo
With less than six months to go until Norway's general election, increasing tensions over immigration and Islam appear likely to play a significant role in the vote.
The headscarf is a bone of contention in Norway, as elsewhere in Europe
The leader of the country's main opposition party has warned that it is facing "sneak-Islamisation", while some prominent Muslims say they face growing "persecution".
The heated debate is a sign that Norway, renowned as one of the most peaceful and tolerant nations in the world, is facing the same issues with its Muslim minority as are now familiar in other parts of Europe.
Siv Jensen, the 39-year-old leader of the opposition Progress Party, has objected to moves to introduce special measures in order to accommodate Muslims' religious sensitivities, traditions and rules.
"The reality is that a kind of sneak-Islamisation of this society is being allowed," she recently told a Progress Party conference. "We are going to have to stop this."
We are portrayed as uncivilised people living double lives - orderly behaved when in public, but at home fundamentalists suppressing and physically abusing women
Khalid Mahmood
Norwegian Labour Party
Opinion polls suggest the party could win as much as 30% of the vote in the election for the national parliament, the Storting, in September.
"If the Progress Party gets to govern Norway, we will enforce Norwegian law and Norwegian rules. We are not going to allow special demands from any single group in society," Ms Jensen added.
'Islamophobia'
Khalid Mahmood, a Pakistani-born member of the governing Labour Party believes Muslims are being persecuted, and Islam confronted with hatred.
Polls suggest Siv Jensen's party could win as much as 30% of the vote
"Muslims are the Jews of our times, stigmatised, generalised and presented as a threat to society" he says.
"It is not any longer immigrants who are targeted, but simply Muslims", he adds.
"We are portrayed as uncivilised people living double lives - orderly and behaved when in public, but at home fundamentalists suppressing and physically abusing women."
Last month, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the racism watchdog of the Council of Europe, published a report warning that Islamophobia was on the rise in Norway.
Specifically, the commissioned highlighted the increasingly aggressive rhetoric of the Progress Party.
With an estimated 150,000 of Norway's almost five million population being Muslims, Islam is the second-biggest religion in the country.
But while Norway was ranked the most peaceful country in the world by the World Peace Index in 2007, it is struggling to integrate its religious minorities.
In some places, Islamic traditions clash with the largely non-religious Scandinavian way of life.
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DRACULA_VwV
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Oct 7 @ 3:11PM
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America's the greatest thief, stilling the atomic bomb from Germany, So America wasn't smart enough to build the atomic bomb, but they were diabolical enough to steal it. The same with stepping foot on the moon, it wasn't American technology that placed man on the moon, that technology belonged to Germany. The only people whom look at america as great, is the ones selling military weapons and machines to them, because after all america never stops using these weapons of war, they are constantly at war, and constantly buying war machines. I don't see why Eurasia doesn't bring war to america, yet allows america to continually use, test and advance weapons of war on Eurasia. America ranks number 1 in overall killing of Eurasians. So Eurasia need to drop america down a peg and bring war to america.
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Koray
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Oct 7 @ 3:31PM
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from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance -
wonder how USA would come out in the Racism & Tolerance stats . 
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CPUfan
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Oct 7 @ 3:40PM
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Not well I guess... nor would these guys.> MD Thread <
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Roverboy
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Oct 7 @ 4:20PM
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Granted, I may be a little biased here, since my mom's from Norway, but - what's so bad about Norway?
Bars are open until 6:00 A.M.(    ) Everybody's friendly, high standard of living/low cost of living, practically no crime at all.
Can't say that about the majority of places here in the U.S., can you?
I was watching a thing on the History Channel just yesterday, about our crumbling infrastructure: they had a video taken in Oakland upon completion of a Interstate in the 1950's, and there was a woman in a bathing suit holding a sign that said "Oakland, an All-America City"
OAKLAND!?!?!?!?!?
NEVER! Oakland is worse than South-Central L.A. EVER was, so far as crime is concerned!!! Yet it's true - Oakland once held that title.
Actually, Norway had been at/near the top of that list for the past 20 years.
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bardnsage
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Oct 7 @ 4:56PM
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Every one has great points. Sometimes though,,, I like to step back and take a look from far away,,,, standing on the beach,,, watching the sun rise over the water,,, hearing my buddies tell me to get out of the open,,, I was thinking of home,,, and how many of the people I had met over the previous 4 weeks,,, and none of them said,,, I wish I could live in Norway.
Very non-scientific,,, but more convincing to me than a bunch of well fed, well protected, studious types, crunching numbers over their stacks of papers and statistics.
I guess the statistics are important,,, Norway,,, 27,000 immigrants in 2006,,,
United States,,, 1,266,264,, legal immigrants in 2006.
But,, they still are not nearly as convincing as a mother asking if you can take her child with you,,, when you go home,,, to America.
AMERICA - Ray Charles - 1991
Perhaps,,, Gorden was right,,, back in the 70's,,,
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bardnsage
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Oct 7 @ 4:58PM
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Opps,, that's 27,000 net immigration for Norway,,, hate to not give them full credit. 45,800 immigrents,,,, and 18,800,,, who left.
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Koray
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Oct 7 @ 5:08PM
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I guess the statistics are important,,, Norway,,, 27,000 immigrants in 2006,,,
United States,,, 1,266,264,, legal immigrants in 2006.
stats would be more impressive if they were linked to the size of the country
& the population .
Norways population is under 5 million so relatively that would make the
immigration ( if Norway was same size ) 1,620,000
so they take more immigrants per capita than USA
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Koray
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Oct 7 @ 5:12PM
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Immigration Statistics > New citizenships (per capita) (most recent) by country
# 1 Canada: 6.54169 thousand per 1 million p
# 2 Belgium: 5.9919 thousand per 1 million p
# 3 Sweden: 4.83226 thousand per 1 million p
# 4 Switzerland: 3.83229 thousand per 1 million p
# 5 Australia: 3.52414 thousand per 1 million p
# 6 Denmark: 3.46097 thousand per 1 million p
# 7 Netherlands: 3.04748 thousand per 1 million p
# 8 United States: 3.03651 thousand per 1 million p
# 9 Austria: 3.0055 thousand per 1 million p
# 10 France: 2.47296 thousand per 1 million p
# 11 Germany: 2.26492 thousand per 1 million p
# 12 Norway: 2.06836 thousand per 1 million p
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SallyF
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Oct 7 @ 7:33PM
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and then there's health....
We're #37
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bardnsage
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Oct 7 @ 8:28PM
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Weighting the statistics to the population of the receiving country,,, shows the ability of the country to absorb the immgrants.
But,,, if you are going to measure the desire to go to a country,,, then the immigration numbers should be weighted against the entire population of the world that does not live there.
Granted,, this does not take into account,,, the immigration laws, restrictions, etc. etc. etc. Also,,, the statistics do not count illegal immigration either.
Statistics,, like studies,,, or reports,,, are important. But in no way are the entire picture.
For example,,, using your statistics on weighted immigration to current population,,,the people in the country,,, then the 18,800 people who left Norway would be equal to 1,128,000 leaving the US every year.
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DRACULA_VwV
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Oct 7 @ 11:38PM
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I want to see 1,128,000 dying in the US every year.
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DRACULA_VwV
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Oct 7 @ 11:45PM
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But not you bard, I'll have you genetically altered to live a thousand years, put you in a steel box with holes in it, and periodically throughout every 24 hour period, have flames blow through holes in the floor, walls and ceiling, not enough to kill you, but make you very uncomfortable. And then you can tell the christians that hell is real.
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DRACULA_VwV
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Oct 7 @ 11:51PM
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CPUfan
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Oct 8 @ 5:39AM
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Good blog anyway Stern, you made us think and I made you and myself work for yer kudo lol...
Well of course we all realised that economic criteria are not the only way of measuring the desirability of residence. But if after 300 years the United States has 300 million residents is it? and after 2,000 years Norway has 5 million, then the direction of traffic is clearly a matter of population choice - of voting with their feet. Of course this traffic has economic consequences. If a country absorbs a large number of poor immigrants as did the United States, this is sure to place a greater burden on their economic environment in terms of setting wages low and creating a cycle that is hard to break from one generation to the next. On the other hand, if a country like Norway has experienced pretty much stable population growth for a century then the likelihood of rust zones and poverty traps is smaller. Especially if said country has an oil zone without like in Europe, in relation to population.
"So you have to ask yourself one question." Is Norway's "no. 1" position a reflection of its vast linguistic, reproductive and cultural impact on the world or are they just sitting by a wide pond with lots of oil wells in it? And at the same time electing xenophobic parties to make sure they have to share this with as few refugees as possible, just like most European countries do?
So then you have to ask yourself is the relative economic condition of Norway and the United States in general a result of economic and cultural progress? And what is the cultural standing of said countries in the world and its history?
Taken from that sort of angle the global cultural impact of Norway - musical, TV, movies, entertainments, linguistic, scientific, academic or other criteria after 2,000 years - is equivalent to a well-off middle-sized oil town in Texas but without the immigration. 
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Sternfan69
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Oct 8 @ 5:50AM
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Good blog anyway Stern, you made us think and I made you and myself work for yer kudo lol.
thank you sir,,i do my best,,there's just so much crap floating around in my head and i feel the need to ,,,,divest myself of it now and again,,,and if i can make other people think at the same time,,then all the better.
ty for the kudo as well,,,and your well thought out and interesting comments ,,which i should include all who commented as well,,and amazingly enough ,not one fistfight!
so far
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Koray
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Oct 8 @ 6:20AM
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More of world's talented workers opt to leave USA
More skilled immigrants are giving up their American dreams to pursue careers back home, raising concerns that the U.S. may lose its competitive edge in science, technology and other fields.
What was a trickle has become a flood," says Duke University's Vivek Wadhwa, who studies reverse immigration.
Wadhwa projects that in the next five years, 100,000 immigrants will go back to India and 100,000 to China, countries that have had rapid economic growth.
"For the first time in American history, we are experiencing the brain drain that other countries experienced," he says.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-20-brain-drain_N.htm
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Sternfan69
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Oct 8 @ 6:50AM
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More skilled immigrants are giving up their American dreams to pursue careers back home, raising concerns that the U.S. may lose its competitive edge in science, technology and other fields.
uhoh!!!!!! blame obama alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and those nutjobs will! you know who you are!
i will not even tolerate such an asinine comment so don't bother,,,obviously this report,,if true ,,would be the culmination of long held fears about the american economy declining,,
so blame it on the aholes who borrow to much,,make bad deals,,and managed to bankrupt the country,,,it was not the current president....it was the aholes on wall street and the incredible greed of the already wealthy...
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Koray
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Oct 8 @ 7:16AM
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was happening BEFORE Barry - so dont let them blame him
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=17578
AS U.S. JOB OPPORTUNITIES FADE, MORE MEXICANS LOOK HOMEWARD
Feb 2009
After a historic immigration wave, many Mexicans and other Latin Americans are preparing to return to their homelands amid the deepening recession here. Mexicans who reside in the United States sought Mexican citizenship for their U.S.-born children in record numbers last year.
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DRACULA_VwV
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Oct 8 @ 7:27AM
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America's too poor for the Mexicans, now that some funny shit.
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sloriver
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Oct 8 @ 7:42AM
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Work ethic is alive in the top countries. It's that simple.
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DRACULA_VwV
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Oct 8 @ 7:50AM
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Simple, there ain't one thing in life that's simple, if it's simple, it's a sample, once you take the whole thing in, it gets complex as fvck.
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bardnsage
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Oct 9 @ 12:49AM
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But not you bard, I'll have you genetically altered to live a thousand years, put you in a steel box with holes in it, and periodically throughout every 24 hour period, have flames blow through holes in the floor, walls and ceiling, not enough to kill you, but make you very uncomfortable. And then you can tell the christians that hell is real.
Sounds like my first marriage. If you think having a demon shoot flames up your ass is bad,,, try sleeping with one that has access to your checkbook.
You are going to have to get much meaner than that,,, to convince me you are in charge of hell. I've seen the compitition,,, up close,,, and you are strictly minor league.
Now,,, if you had said you were going to put her in the box with me,,, and tell her the flames were all my fault,,,, then I would be afraid. VERY AFRAID.
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DRACULA_VwV
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Oct 9 @ 3:23AM
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Always_Striving
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Oct 9 @ 4:10AM
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Americans are best at getting angry and bombing people in an attempt to persude them to do as we wish. No one will ever take that #1 spot from us.
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mkcsks
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Oct 9 @ 4:19AM
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Maybe if the US spent money on improving it's own citizens standard of living, instead of helping every other country that has a disaster, or participating in wars that noone gives a damm about, our country could / would be higher up on the chain of quality of life. All the top countries look out for their own, and ignore other country's problems. WE should follow their example.
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Koray
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Oct 9 @ 4:33AM
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Actually if you divide the annual amount of aid given by population you come to following numbers:
Norway: $600 / capita
Luxembourg: $560 / capita
Netherlands: $310 / capita
UK: $177 / capita
Germany: $120 / capita
Canada: $113 / capita
US: $92 / capita
Australia: $82 / capita
most generous maybe another myth
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