Worldwide Quality of Living Survey 2007

Mercer Human Resource Consulting Worldwide Quality of Living Survey 2007 Top 50 (Source: www.mercer.com)
				Base City: New York, USA (=100)
Rank 2007		Rank 2006		City		Country		Index 2007		Index 2006
1		1		ZURICH		Switzerland		108.1		108.2
2		2		GENEVA		Switzerland		108.0		108.1
3		3		VANCOUVER		Canada		107.7		107.7
3		4		VIENNA		Austria		107.7		107.5
5		5		AUCKLAND		New Zealand		107.3		107.3
5		6		DUSSELDORF		Germany		107.3		107.2
7		7		FRANKFURT		Germany		107.1		107.0
8		8		MUNICH		Germany		106.9		106.8
9		9		BERN		Switzerland		106.5		106.5
9		9		SYDNEY		Australia		106.5		106.5
11		11		COPENHAGEN		Denmark		106.2		106.2
12		12		WELLINGTON		New Zealand		105.8		105.8
13		13		AMSTERDAM		The Netherlands		105.7		105.7
14		14		BRUSSELS		Belgium		105.6		105.6
15		15		TORONTO		Canada		105.4		105.4
16		16		BERLIN		Germany		105.2		105.1
17		17		MELBOURNE		Australia		105.0		105.0
18		18		LUXEMBOURG		Luxembourg		104.8		104.8
18		18		OTTAWA		Canada		104.8		104.8
20		20		STOCKHOLM		Sweden		104.7		104.7
21		21		PERTH		Australia		104.5		104.5
22		22		MONTREAL		Canada		104.3		104.3
23		23		NURNBERG		Germany		104.2		104.1
24		25		CALGARY		Canada		103.6		103.6
24		26		HAMBURG		Germany		103.6		103.4
26		31		OSLO		Norway		103.5		102.8
27		24		DUBLIN		Ireland		103.3		103.8
27		27		HONOLULU, HI		United States		103.3		103.3
29		28		SAN FRANCISCO, CA		United States		103.2		103.2
30		29		ADELAIDE		Australia		103.1		103.1
30		29		HELSINKI		Finland		103.1		103.1
32		31		BRISBANE		Australia		102.8		102.8
33		33		PARIS		France		102.7		102.7
34		34		SINGAPORE		Singapore		102.5		102.5
35		35		TOKYO		Japan		102.3		102.3
36		37		LYON		France		101.9		101.6
36		36		BOSTON, MA		United States		101.9		101.9
38		37		YOKOHAMA		Japan		101.7		101.6
39		39		LONDON		United Kingdom		101.2		101.2
40		40		KOBE		Japan		101.0		101.0
41		44		BARCELONA		Spain		100.6		100.2
42		45		MADRID		Spain		100.5		100.1
42		51		OSAKA		Japan		100.5		99.6
44		41		WASHINGTON, DC		United States		100.4		100.4
44		41		CHICAGO, IL		United States		100.4		100.4
46		43		PORTLAND, OR		United States		100.3		100.3
47		53		LISBON		Portugal		100.1		98.9
48		46		NEW YORK CITY, NY		United States		100.0		100.0
49		51		MILAN		Italy		99.9		99.6
49		47		SEATTLE, WA		United States		99.9		99.9

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Least Corrupted Countries in the World

The 2007 corruption rankings for 179 countries in the World Democracy Audit are listed below (www.worldaudit.org):

Country	Corruption Rank	Democracy Rank
Finland	1	1
Denmark	1	2
New Zealand	1	4
Singapore	4	74
Sweden	4	3
Switzerland	6	5
Netherlands	6	6
Norway	8	7
Canada	8	8
Australia	10	9
United Kingdom	11	9
Austria	12	12
Germany	13	11
Japan	14	31
Ireland	14	14
France	16	16
United States	17	15
Belgium	18	12
Chile	19	21
Spain	20	19
Uruguay	20	22
Slovenia	22	19
Estonia	23	18
Portugal	23	17
Israel	25	32
United Arab Emirates	26	77
Taiwan	26	38
Botswana	28	41
Hungary	29	24
Italy	30	29
Czech Republic	30	23
Korea, South	32	32
Malaysia	32	82
South Africa	32	40
Bhutan	35	78
Costa Rica	35	25
Slovakia	37	27
Lithuania	38	25
Latvia	38	39
Oman	40	87
Jordan	40	84
Mauritius	40	32
Greece	43	32
Namibia	44	43
Kuwait	45	80
Tunisia	46	112
Poland	46	29
Cuba	46	128
Bulgaria	49	36
Turkey	49	55
Croatia	49	45
El Salvador	52	48
Colombia	53	65
Ghana	54	35
Romania	54	50
Senegal	56	58
Brazil	57	53
Mexico	57	63
Peru	57	53
China	57	121
India	57	47
Morocco	57	92
Saudi Arabia	63	119
Trinidad & Tobago	63	44
Serbia & Montenegro	63	50
Georgia	63	86
Bosnia	67	78
Gabon	67	104
Jamaica	67	42
Lesotho	67	57
Macedonia	67	61
Montenegro	67
Thailand	67	88
Sri Lanka	74	96
Panama	74	37
Madagascar	74	83
Tanzania	74	84
Lebanon	78	93
Algeria	78	98
Armenia	78	103
Mongolia	78	52
Dominican Republic	78	58
Egypt	83	100
Burkina Faso	83	76
Argentina	83	66
Bolivia	83	55
Albania	83	68
Moldova	88	106
Eritrea	88	143
Mozambique	88	61
Uganda	88	88
Guatemala	88	96
Rwanda	88	136
Mali	94	46
Ukraine	94	69
Malawi	94	88
Benin	94	49
Nicaragua	98	64
Vietnam	98	122
Zambia	98	106
Niger	98	98
Iran	103	138
Libya	103	146
Yemen	103	132
Honduras	103	69
Nepal	103	100
Philippines	103	85
Burundi	103	125
Paraguay	110	73
Syria	110	138
Ethiopia	110	127
Cameroon	110	113
Pakistan	110	110
The Gambia	115	128
Russia	115	125
Indonesia	115	71
Togo	115	122
Angola	119	111
Nigeria	119	100
Guinea-Bissau	119	88
Kazakhstan	122	132
Zimbabwe	122	144
Azerbaijan	122	128
Ecuador	122	66
Kenya	122	106
Tajikistan	122	132
Congo, Republic of	122	95
Liberia	122	115
Kyrgyzstan	122	116
Sierra Leone	122	72
Belarus	122	144
Cote d'Ivoire	122	118
Papua New Guinea	134	58
Central African Republic	134	106
Venezuela	134	128
Turkmenistan	134	149
Cambodia	134	106
Bangladesh	134	116
Laos	140	141
Congo	140	140
Guinea	140	119
Afghanistan	143	122
Sudan	143	142
Chad	143	136
Uzbekistan	146	148
Haiti	147	113
Iraq	148	132
Somalia	149	146
Myanmar	149	150

Only in New Zealand...Armless Man caught driving

Armless Tauranga driver Colin Raymond Smith got off a dangerous-driving charge after satisfying police he could steer well with his left foot, but a Florida man wasn't so lucky. Michael Wiley, an enthusiastic driver despite having lost both arms and half a leg in a childhood accident, lost his licence long ago and has reckless driving charges as long as your ... well, you get the idea. His most recent charges weren't driving-related. They involved a domestic assault, in which he used his head. See news abstract below

Armless man caught steering car with foot at 121km/h
Friday, March 24, 2006

A man with no arms was caught speeding at 121km/h yesterday - using one foot to steer and the other to operate the pedals.

The man told shocked police he was born with no arms and said he'd never held a driver's licence.

The 32-year-old unemployed Waikato man was clocked on State Highway 2 at Papamoa, Bay of Plenty, at 10.30am.

He was given a $170 fine and has been forbidden from driving. Police say he will probably also be charged with dangerous driving.

Senior Constable Brent Gray approached the driver's window, spotted a foot up on the dashboard and noticed the seat was reclined.

Mr Gray told colleagues he thought the man had an "attitude". But then he noticed his armless torso.

"He was pretty shocked by that, as you would be," acting Senior Sergeant for the road policing unit, Deidre Lack, told the Bay of Plenty Times this morning.

The armless speedster told the stunned highway patrol officer he had been driving for years, without any issues.

Ms Lack said she had spoken to several officers with lengthy careers and none had heard of anything remotely like it.

She had nothing against people with disabilities who drove motor vehicles, but had absolutely no sympathy for this speeding driver.

"Obviously driving at a speed like that, arms or not, you're just waiting for an accident. You're asking for an accident at 120km/h, whether you've got arms or not. Look at the risk he was posing."

The incident was a particularly unusual example of the sort of ridiculously dangerous driving that police encountered while on patrol, she said.

Ms Lack had no idea how the man had driven for years - as he alleged - without being caught.

Tauranga double below-the-knee amputee, Pat Barry, said he was amazed to learn the man had been driving so long without being caught.

"For obvious reasons it was good the police stopped this man when they did before he killed himself or someone else, but there are avenues for this man to go to, to seek funding to get his car converted and modified, and quickly get lessons so he can obtain his licence to drive."

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES

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