All posts from 2010.
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http://scarygoround.com/sgr/ar.php?date=20080325 Elodie explains the story of the Easter bell to Eustace.
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/house_gop_crushes_bill_that_would_protect_against.php?ref=fpa House Republicans stop bill that protects against child marriages.
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http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/09/the-catholic-ch.html The Catholic Church argues that child molestation is path of the Catholic Church’s doctrine, and so protected by the first amendment.
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http://satwcomic.com/language-lesson
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http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=12371796 Cable from wikileaks reveals that the Vatican was offended by Ireland disrespecting their “sovereignty” when an Irish commission attempted to ask questions to Vatican officials as part of an investigation into 170 Irish priests suspected of child rape.
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NYT (courtesy of Marena) A Swedish city of 80000 has almost entirely stopped using fossil fuels for energy.
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(5.81 MB) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Windmills_D1-D4_(Thornton_Bank).jpg off-shore wind power plants
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YouTube TED talk on data visualization. The first example illustrates just how expensive the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been, as well as the world economic crisis.
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Right now, I am writing this status and you are reading it.
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http://www.wimp.com/buildsinstrument/ (courtesy of Doris) Guy plays medley on home-made pvc pipe instrument.
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Airport security has been killing 520 people a year since 2002, more than died in the WTC attacks.
NYT Additional airport security leads more to drive, directly causes increased fatal road accidents, approximately 520 additional deaths a year since 2002.
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NYT Republicans have every incentive to shut down government to harm Obama. Obama buys into Republican talking points.
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“WARNING: TO BE SAID BY A PRIEST ONLY” http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english/p01975.htm (see facebook for context) The original news article was http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1004582.htm , which is about there being a shortage of exorcists in the US for the Catholic Church.
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http://primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/ Zoom out, look only for Earth, Sun, distance between Earth and Sun, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, and distance between Sun and Proxima Centauri….
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I don’t know how you manage without trains I was astonished to realize how big of a difference there is between the US and Europe train systems.
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http://www.waste.org/~oxymoron/cards/ratscrew.html “This isn’t superstition, this is pyromania.”
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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101109.html A galaxy seen edge on.
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YouTube Carl Sagan reading his “Pale Blue Dot”
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090312115133.htm American adults fail basic science – 21% of adults correctly identify how long it takes the Earth to go around the sun, whether or not humans and dinosaurs lived together, and how much of the Earth’s surface is covered by water (answers of 65% to 75% were considered correct).
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NYT The Democrats needed a larger stimulus to avoid these losses in the midterm election.
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Songs stuck in my head YouTube
YouTube Mika - Rain and Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains beyond Mountains)
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NYT Krugman predicting disaster if the Republicans take congress.
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“Vlad the astrophycisist”, performed by Peter Mulvey.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/10/20101027132136220370.html People are falling ill and dying of chemical poisoning caused by the dispersants released by BP during the spill.
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YouTube The Flight of the Valkyries, with animated breakfast foods.
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NYT The deficit is caused by falling revenues, not rising spending.
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NYT (courtesy of Caleb via Brandon) though Friedman shouldn’t make fun of money invested in infrastructure, for it should be a much higher priority right now than it is
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http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/milkyway.html A diagram of the milky way and the evidence we have for its structure.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LI11Df02.html (courtesy of Marena) Prime minister of India decides not to give food that would otherwise rot to the starving.
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YouTube Riven easter egg – opera.
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A good analysis of the question whether not polling cell phones biases poll results in the favor of Republicans NYT
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(4.24 MB) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Guisard_-_Milky_Way.jpg Gorgeous image of the milky way as seen from Earth.
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Wikipedia I learned recently that the solar system is slightly closer to the Canis Major Galaxy than to the center of the Milky Way. Figure showing the Milk Way, with the solar system and galactic center marked, as well as the position of the Canis Major Galaxy and its stream, which trails behind it as it orbits the Milky Way.
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8252705102362324792&q=sdss#docid=4094602439481326500 The image is of the famous “fingers of god” phenomenon. The video is the product of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, showing what is currently known of the surroundings of our galaxy all the way to the edge of the visible universe, the cosmic microwave background radiation.
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“Joanna was two of Charles’ 16 great-great-great-grandmothers, six of his 32 great-great-great-great-grandmothers, and six of his 64 great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers.” From Wikipedia , about the incest in the family of Charles II, who was mentally and physically disabled.
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Wikipedia It’s amazing to think how much detail we know about the activities of the Greeks over 2500 years ago, even the names of the people who won their olympic games.
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http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,720513,00.html “Berlin researchers crack the Ptolemy Code”. This ancient Greek map of Germany was just “cracked”, meaning that it was determined which settlements on the map correspond to which modern day cities. This shows that many modern German cities, whose roots have been lost to time, were far older than previously suspected.
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Best explanation of the Socratic dialogs: “By pretending ignorance, Socrates lured others into propounding their views on such abstractions. (This is called ‘Socratic irony,’ for Socrates knew very well that he knew a great deal more than the poor souls he was picking on.) Socrates then, by a series of ignorant-sounding questions, forced the others into such a mélange of self-contradictions that they would finally break down and admit they didn’t know what they were talking about.” From an article ( http://hermiene.net/essays-trans/relativity_of_wrong.html ) by Isaac Asimov, which I think adds helpful insight to the theory of paradigm shifts advocated by Thomas Kuhn.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652714/ “Graveyards on the Move: The Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Dead Ophiocordyceps-Infected Ants”. A mildly interesting study on the distribution of ants infected by a particular fungus; the scientists “examin[ed] every leaf in 1360 square meters of primary rainforest” in southern Thailand. I found this via some decently interesting blog on parasites – cool.
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“Consequently, this lemma is sometimes referred to as the lemma that is not Burnside’s.[3] This is less ambiguous than it may seem: Burnside contributed many lemmas to this field.” From the Wikipedia article on Burnside’s Lemma, which was not originally discovered by Burnside.
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http://www.nowscape.com/atheism/Imagine_no_religion_Edgar_Dahl.htm The author has an interesting story about seeing Christians for the first time at the age of 10.
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http://robertreich.org/post/1121362907 “The Republican Threat to Shut Down the Federal Government”. Robert Reich on the Republican plan to shut down the government if they enter power in November.
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http://www.nathanieljohnston.com/2009/06/11630-is-the-first-uninteresting-number/ Apparently 11630 is the first number not to appear in the OEIS.
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http://www.nucalc.com/Story/ The Macintosh Graphing Calculator software was made by non-employees out of sheer determination to make a good product that helps people.
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“The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.” http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/choke-it-starve-it-shrink-it-what-government-shutdown-hints-are-really-about.php?ref=fpblg Really, everytime I read something like this I have no sympathy for any who votes for Republican senators. It’s not a secret what you get.
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http://blog.givewell.org/2010/08/25/our-advice-re-donations-for-pakistan-flood/ In short: If you do donate for the Pakistan floods, give cash and not physical goods, be careful about the effectiveness of the organization that you donate to, and keep in mind that there are other causes that may be able to accomplish more good with your donation.
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http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48794000/gif/_48794122_us_troops_iraq_624.gif Troop levels in Iraq have fallen significantly, as Obama declares the end of the occupation.
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http://www.theonion.com/articles/millions-of-barrels-of-oil-safely-reach-port-in-ma,17875/
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YouTube Endless Flight, from the Babel soundtrack
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YouTube Rachel Maddow: Every Republican Senator votes against unemployment benefits.
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http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-4-2010/i-give-up---9-11-responders-bill John Stewart on the 9/11 responders bill, which would pay for the medical bills for first responders at the collapse of the World Trace Center (many of them suffering from long term medical problems caused by their actions there, which happened at a time that the government intentionally lied to claim that the air was safe). The bill was funded by closing a tax loophole that allowed large corporations to evade taxes by nominally having all their money overseas. Of course, Republicans opposed it.
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plus or minus one and two standard deviations shown
On average, we are losing 3500 cubic kilometers of arctic sea ice per decade, for the last three decades – and the rate of loss has been increasing recently.
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NYT More on Obama’s PR problems – the administration is emphasizing how things are looking up, when everyone knows more economic stimulus is needed desparately.
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http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/netherlands-first-nato-member-leave-afghanistan The Netherlands pulls all forces out of Afghanistan.
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12 distinct Dutch words:
http://www.dutchgrammar.com/sound/fier_vier_wier.mp3
Another 10 distinct Dutch words:
http://www.dutchgrammar.com/sound/gaan_haan_goed_hoed.mp3
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YouTube Daniel Dennett’s TED talk on memes, evolution, and human society.
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“While the highest-paid 400 Americans had an average income of $345 million in 2007, as a result of Bush tax policy they now pay an effective tax rate of 16.6 percent, the lowest on record.”
http://www.thenation.com/article/37889/no-oligarchy
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Wikipedia Why war actually doesn’t help the economy.
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http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-quiet-revolution?page=0,0 Obama’s scientific approach to regulation.
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http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,707231,00.html
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YouTube Ameno
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Washington Post Netanyahu, and manipulating the US.
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http://climateprogress.org/2010/06/09/cheney%E2%80%99s-culture-of-deregulation-and-corruption/ The Bush administration crippled regulation and oversight, a problem far understated.
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“If [Dick Cheney]’s not listed for a heart transplant, his days are seriously numbered. Life on an LVAD [Left Ventricular Assist Device] isn’t something I’d wish on my worst enemy… an axiom that this situation really tests.” –tpm
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http://www.bprepublicans.com/page/content/bprepublicans Republicans who see nothing wrong with BP.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h2f5f1yyGD-mTk_3xFIpWm_RyWoQ It may cost Britain 20 million pounds for the pope to visit for a few days. The Catholic Church is a 250 million euro/year business.
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http://www.theonion.com/articles/obamas-weekly-video-addresses-becoming-increasingl,17649/ Courtesy of Caleb Obama’s weekly addresses becoming surreal.
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“The worst heatwave in recent years happened in August 2003 when record-breaking temperatures led to 2,000 excess deaths in the UK. Northern France bore the brunt of the hot weather that year when three weeks of unprecedentedly high temperatures resulted in 15,000 excess deaths. By the 2080s, it is predicted that an event similar to that experienced in England in 2003 will happen every year.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/10567678.stm
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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/829921--i-will-not-forget-what-they-have-done-to-me Accounts of police abuse at the Toronto G20 summit.
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BBC Frustration with unreliable electricity in Baghdad.
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http://www.financialpost.com/Avertible+catastrophe/3203808/story.html The Netherlands offers substantial help with BP spill, the US declines it, and the coast suffers.
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http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/6/29/880179/-Research-2000:-Problems-in-plain-sight “Research 2000” shown to be producing fraudulent polling data. Cool statistical analysis!
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YouTube Rachel Maddow: What has Obama done so far?
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-last-post-mcchrystals-bleak-outlook-2011730.html Obama fires McChrystal.
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http://climateprogress.org/2010/06/01/record-heat-wave-may/ Heat records increasingly common.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-other-side-of-the-gaza-blockade-1992076.html Israel’s inhumane blockade
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http://www.alternet.org/story/147115/the_gaza_blockade_is_illegal_and_the_flotilla_attack_was_an_illegal_act_of_war?page=entire Israel’s inhumane blockade
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– Introduction to The Art of Expressing the Human Body Quote by Bruce Lee
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Israel’s inhumane blockade.
Ctrl-Alt-Shift film “No way through”.
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Bush’s policies and the deficit.
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“…War on Arithmetic” http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2010/05/19/gop_doesn_t_get_car_keys_back/index.html Obama needs to stop yielding to the Republicans.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7119887.ece Medvedev denounces Stalin.
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The New Yorker (courtesy of Paul) Death of an ant colony.
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Best ghc error message: Parser/Pass3.hs:155:4: parse error on input `parse_failure’
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http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2010/04/28/how_gop_gets_away_with_it/index.html How the Republicans get away with lying through their teeth all the time
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8639769.stm Great Pacific Garbage Patch
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NYT Arizona requires people to carry immigration documents at all times
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http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100503/hari The coming climate crisis and the uselessness of the media
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“He was rather given to sneering at anyone who wrote about what he did not fully understand: I remember praising Whewell’s History of the Inductive Sciences to him, and he answered, ‘Yes, I suppose that he has read the prefaces of very many books.’”
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“Ground troops can usually tell combatant from non-combatant because the former are shooting at them.”
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http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/04/evolution-big-bang-polls-omitted.html NSF report on scientific literacy in US omit poll results about acceptance of big bang and evolution.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7076431.ece Binyamin Netanyahu humiliated after Barack Obama ‘dumped him for dinner’
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http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100321/FOREIGN/703209910&SearchID=73385481225936 Arab family denied right to rent home (in Nevatim, Isreal)
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/24/gop-senators-refusing-to_n_511639.html GOP Senators Refusing To Work Past 2PM, Invoking Obscure Rule
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From my Philosophy of Science book: “I have paid particular attention to the challenge posed by Quinean epistemological holism, which takes the post-Kantian revolutions in geometry and mechanics (among other things) as grounds for a naturalized empiricism in which there is nothing left of the a priori at all; and to the challenge posed by Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolutions, which has led, in recent years, to a new style of historical and conceptual relativism based on the incommensurability or non-intertranslatability of succeeding revolutionary paradigms.”
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http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=242 Gorey covers
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“It looked as though the real problem of man in the sea was not because of his breathing, but because he’s man.” http://davidszondy.com/future/underwater/menfish2.htm
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Many interesting reads here… http://www.monbiot.com/
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Meanwhile in Finland
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“The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developed democracies, sometimes spectacularly so, and almost always scores poorly.” Skip the text and just look at the y-axis of figures 2,6-8. http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html
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“We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada,” Palin said. “And I think now, isn’t that ironic?” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/08/palin-crossed-border-for_n_490080.html
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