Monthly Archives: January 2014

CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX Transparency International publishes thhe Corruption Perceptions Index annually. It ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption … Continue reading →

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact that was introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in July 2006. The index is weighted to give progressively higher scores to nations with lower ecological … Continue reading →

The world is now in the midst of a major policy debate about the objectives of public policy. What should be the world’s Sustainable Development Goals for the period 2015-2030? The United Nations invited member countries to measure the happiness … Continue reading →

Vietnam Jan 4-25 Vietnam immigration was interesting with my full passport. Despite having a visa, I still needed a stamp and they weren’t going to give me one. Accused of removing a visa because of the empty page in the … Continue reading →

History Vietnam has a rich and evocative history with a civilization as sophisticated as its northerly neighbor, China, from where it drew many of its influences under a 1000 year occupation. The USA was simply the last of a long … Continue reading →

It’s one of those old-fashioned sayings you’ve heard over and over, but probably never really stopped to consider the meaning of; perhaps your mother even said it to you as she tucked you into bed: “Sleep tight, don’t let the … Continue reading →

Malaria is one of those diseases that adventurous travelers – and even many who don’t consider themselves to be intrepid explorers – need to be aware of. Malaria is a disease not uncommon in tropical and subtropical parts of the … Continue reading →