A State of Happiness

“One should never direct people towards happiness, because happiness too is an idol of the market-place. One should direct them towards mutual affection. A beast gnawing at its prey can be happy too, but only human beings can feel affection for each other, and this is the highest achievement they can aspire to.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, novelist, dramatist, and historian

New research by the UK’s University of Warwick and Hamilton College in the U.S. has used the happiness levels of a million individual U.S. citizens to discover which are the best and worst states in which to live in the United States. New York and Connecticut come bottom of a life-satisfaction league table, and Hawaii and Louisiana are at the top. The analysis reveals also that happiness levels closely correlate with objective factors such as congestion and air quality across the U.S.’s 50 states.

The full report can be found here: full report or the New York Times story can be found here

1 Louisiana
2 Hawaii
3 Florida
4 Tennessee
5 Arizona
6 Mississippi
7 Montana
8 South Carolina
9 Alabama
10 Maine
11 Alaska
12 North Carolina
13 Wyoming
14 Idaho
15 South Dakota
16 Texas
17 Arkansas
18 Vermont
19 Georgia
20 Oklahoma
21 Colorado
22 Delaware
23 Utah
24 New Mexico
25 North Dakota
26 Minnesota
27 New Hampshire
28 Virginia
29 Wisconsin
30 Oregon
31 Iowa
32 Kansas
33 Nebraska
34 West Virginia
35 Kentucky
36 Washington
37 District of Columbia (not a state, just a state of confusion)
38 Missouri
39 Nevada
40 Maryland
41 Pennsylvania
42 Rhode Island
43 Massachusetts
44 Ohio
45 Illinois
46 California
47 Indiana
48 Michigan
49 New Jersey
50 Connecticut
51 New York

A Time for Silliness

The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), playwright

I was inspired by friends in the 10th grade who had just made a home movie; I opted to take a roll of farcical pictures; there are more of these shots, but I have no idea where. These just happened to turn up in my sister’s stuff.

Would you buy a used car from this guy? This was a friend's car and their family dog. The little sign, I believe is offering six Blue Chip Stamps, if you buy now.














How about a CD from these guys? Don't blame them, I organized the whole thing including the Groucho Marx masks to protect the innocent.

Truthiness

The Cardinal is at his wit’s end—it is true that he had not far to go.
Lord Byron (1788–1824), poet













Thanks to Jack over at the Shack, and thanks to John where Jack found it.