Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Do you live in the worlds happiest country?
Denmark, with its democracy, social equality and peaceful atmosphere, is the happiest country in the world, researchers said on Monday.
Zimbabwe, torn by political and social strife, is the least happy, while the world's richest nation, the United States, ranks 16th.
Overall, the world is getting happier, according to the U.S. government-funded World Values Survey, done regularly by a global network of social scientists.
It found increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries analyzed.
"I strongly suspect that there is a strong correlation between peace and happiness," said Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, who directed the study.
And, said Ingelhart, there is a strong correlation between happiness and democracy.
"Denmark is the happiest country in the world in our ratings," Inglehart said in an audio statement released by the National Science Foundation, which paid for the analysis.
"Denmark is prosperous -- not the richest country in the world but it is prosperous."
Puerto Rico and Colombia also rank highly, along with Northern Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden.source
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Tattoo artist draws more than 400 tattoos in 24 hours to set new record!
DALLAS - Oliver Peck may be seeing the number 13 in his dreams.
From midnight Thursday to midnight Friday, Peck completed 415 tattoos, applying the unlucky number 13 to scores of arms, legs, ankles, backs, thighs and even some rear ends.
Peck claimed a mention in the Guinness Book of Records for drawing the most tattoos in a 24-hour period.
He was awarded the honor by Guinness adjudicator Danny Girton Jr., according to a report on The Dallas Morning News Web site Saturday.
The former record holder is Katherine Von Drachenberg, also known as Kat Von D, star of the reality TV show "LA Ink" on TLC.
For several years on Friday the 13th, Elm Street Tattoo in the Deep Ellum entertainment district in Dallas has launched a 24-hour tattoo marathon.
"It's an adrenaline rush," said Peck, the 36-year-old co-owner of the shop.
Some of Peck's customers included firefighters, police officers, bartenders, a vehicle inspector, a nurse and a surgeon. By the time the marathon began, a line of customers snaked out the door and onto Elm Street.
Sarah Hooper, 24, so obsessed with the number 13 that she tries to stop the gas pump at $13.13, got her seventh number 13 tattoo, this time on her upper left thigh.
"It's something to do on the 13th," she said.
Todd Smith got his first tattoo, even though his wife and children were unaware of his plans.
"Since I'm 34, and I have three kids, it's my mid-life crisis," he said.