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Homage Kenneth Koch

If I were doing my Laundry I'd wash my dirty Iran
I'd throw in my United States, and pour on the Ivory Soap, scrub up Africa, put all the birds and elephants back in the jungle,
I'd wash the Amazon river and clean the oily Carib & Gulf of Mexico,
Rub that smog off the North Pole, wipe up all the pipelines in Alaska,
Rub a dub dub for Rocky Flats and Los Alamos, Flush that sparkly Cesium out of Love Canal
Rinse down the Acid Rain over the Parthenon & Sphinx, Drain the Sludge out of the Mediterranean basin & make it azure again,
Put some blueing back into the sky over the Rhine, bleach the little Clouds so snow return white as snow,
Cleanse the Hudson Thames & Neckar, Drain the Suds out of Lake Erie
Then I'd throw big Asia in one giant Load & wash out the blood & Agent Orange,
Dump the whole mess of Russia and China in the wringer, squeeze out the tattletail Gray of U.S. Central American police state,
& put the planet in the drier & let it sit 20 minutes or an Aeon till it came out clean.

Allen GINSBERG

On Haiti

Rachel Maddow and her guest make the case for forgiving Haiti's debt. Seems like the most reasonable thing to do at this point, but will it happen?

Healthcare Cost & Longevity

'But we have the best health care in the world,' you say?

Not if you're spending more than everybody else and not doing anything close to our peers in terms of keeping people alive for longer.

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Beauty on Earth

Boingboing brings to my attention a collection of sixty satellite images of Earth. Absolutely breathtaking views in high resolution photographs right at your fingertips.

The Himalayas

The Democracy We Engendered

Iraq and Afghanistan rank fifth and second from the bottom, respectively, on Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Index. Afghanistan was only second to Somalia.

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How the Mighty Have Fallen

(Found through The Daily Dish)

The Last Ten Borrowed Years In Seven Minutes

Borrowed because the world was supposed to end in 2000, remember?

(Found on The Daily Dish)

Freedom of Press Around the World

The Economist deplores the declining freedom of press in Eastern Europe. A look at the overall standings, however, has good news for the United States, which, in comparison with 2008, has gone up sixteen places. No wonder Fox News is spewing anti-Obama propaganda in ways other networks would not have been able to do against Bush under Bush.

Albania, on the other side, has oscillated, but on the side of decline... especially during election years.

In 2003, it ranked 34th.

In 2004, it ranked 50th.

In 2005, it ranked 62nd.

In 2006, it ranked 80th.

In 2007, it ranked 87th.

In 2008, it ranked 79th.

Presently, it ranks 88th.

Happy Vikings

According to rankings by the United Nations Development Programme, Norway is the best place to live in the world, due to its high literacy, life expectancy, school enrollment, and good economy. It beat its closest rival, Australia, and its Nordic cousin Iceland for the title.

Complete standings and individual profiles of countries, as well as the explanation of the methods used are available on the UNDP page.

The World of Couch Potatoes

Ever wonder how much television people of different countries watch on average?

The Economist satisfies your curiosity.

Diplomacy Works

Just one of the reasons why Obama's Nobel for Peace was not out of place.

We are rational human beings. We can strain our brains and voice our concerns instead of flexing our muscles and silencing opposition by force.

Dartmouth in the News

Dartmouth's 17th president, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, appeared on the Bill Moyers Journal tonight. Dr. Kim spoke about his life, Dartmouth, and, most importantly, health problems and challenges around the world, as a foremost expert on the issue, given his work in Partners in Health, which provides healthcare for the neediest around the world and in the United States.

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Bookishness

Schools across the country are revolutionizing the way students read for school. Instead of assigning them books, many school districts or individual teachers are choosing to give students a wide array of options or a complete carte blanche on their reading pick. It is showing some promise.

On related news, which I found through The Daily Dish, Google estimates that, at present, there are 168,178,719 books titles that have been published in the history of the world.

Torture Around the World

The Economist published results from a poll on torture today. Apparently, almost half of Americans think that some degree of abuse should be allowed, bringing its acceptance slightly higher than in Russia. Meanwhile, only about 10-15% of Spaniards, Brits and French seem to want it.