2023 World Happiness Report

This year's World Happiness Report is in and just like last year Europe continues to be the happiest place to be with Israel and New Zealand being the only non-European countries to crack the top 10.

Finland came in first place for the sixth year in row.  This year's top ten countries are the same as last year.

The five Nordic / Scandinavian countries all placed in the top seven with Finland #1, Denmark #2, Iceland #3, Sweden #6, and Norway #7.

The BeNeLux countries did well again too.  The Netherlands came in at #5, Luxembourg was #9, and Belgium was #17.

Czechland again was the highest ranked of the Visegrád countries.  Half of Central Europe placed in the top 20.

Switzerland #8, Austria #11, Germany #16, Czechland #18, Slovenia #22, Slovakia #29, Poland #39, and Hungary #51.

Czechland kept its #18 place from last year.  The USA moved up to #15 from #16.

This year Lithuania #20 cracked the top 20; bumping France from #20 to #21.

Here's a short CBS News video I found out on YouTube.

©CBS News

Given Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's no wonder that neither country ranks as happy.  Russia came in at #70 and Ukraine ranked #92.

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Brno City Break in 2023

Last year, Time Out magazine published their list of the 16 best city breaks in Europe for 2022.  Brno came in second place.  

This year Brno made the list again but fell to seventh place.  A few spots lower but still in the top ten.

The write up for Brno was pretty much exactly the same as last year.  

Here are the top 18 places.  Several of these are still on my list of places to visit.

1. Marseille, France
2. Sheffield, UK
3. Buhać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Milan, Italy
5. Bilbao, Spain
6. Arles, France
7. Brno, Czech Republic
8. Liverpool, UK
9. Kaunas, Lithuania
10. Oslo, Norway
11. Hamburg, Germany
12. Dublin, Ireland
13. Inverness, UK
14. Trikala, Greece
15. Rotterdam, Netherlands
16. Freiburg, Germany
17. Turku, Finland
18. Valencia, Spain

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2022 Global Peace Index

The Global Peace Index ranks the level of peacefulness and this year was the 16th edition.  Iceland continues to come in first place which it has been since 2008.  New Zealand came in second place again.   

1. Iceland 
2. New Zealand
3. Ireland +3
4. Denmark -1
5. Austria +2
6. Portugal -1
7. Slovenia -3
8. Czechland +1
9. Singapore +1
10. Japan +1

Europe continues to be the most peaceful area with seven of the top ten spots and 14 of the top 20.

No surprise that Russia and Ukraine are two of the five countries with the biggest drop in peacefulness.

The USA dropped one spot to #129, behind Azerbaijan and ahead of Brazil.

The Middle East and North Africa are the least peaceful regions.

For the fifth year in a row, Afghanistan came in last place, ahead of Yemen, Syria, Russia, and South Sudan.

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

2022 World Happiness Report

This year is the 10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report. by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations.  The report factors in things like gross domestic product per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make choices, perceived corruption and social support from friends and family. 

For the fifth year in a row, Finland came in first place.

Scandinavia did well as usual with the five countries all placing in the top eight places.  Finland #1, Denmark #2, Iceland #3, Sweden #7 and Norway #8.

Switzerland placed #4.

The BeNeLux countries did well too with the Netherlands #5, Luxembourg #6, and Belgium #19.

Europe is the happiest region with the eight of the top ten spots.  The only non-European countries to crack the top ten are Israel #9 and New Zealand #10.

The USA placed #16 and Czechland placed #18.

Czechland continues to be the happiest of the Visegrád Four with Slovakia #35, Poland #48, and Hungary #51.

Last place goes to Afghanistan, behind Botswana, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Lebanon.

Veggie Vending Machine

So this is new.  Brno is now home to Europe's first vegetable vending machine.  Yes, a vegetable vending machine.  Brambor is the Czech world for potato and an automat is a vending machine.  So the new vending machine is called a Bramat.

The first one was set up in Řečkovice and a second will be put in Kohoutovice.

I don't know how much it costs but you can apparently purchase 3- and 5-kilo (6,5 and 11 pound) bags of potatoes, onions, garlic, and mixed vegetable packets used for soups.  The machines are restocked with fresh vegetables everyday.

I've seen mlékomats which sell fresh milk.  During the height of Covid-19, Brno had vending machines selling face masks and hand sanitiser.  In Olomouc, I even saw a tvarůžky vending machine.

  

©SONET společnost s.r.o.

Commonwealth of Nations

Today is the 5th of November which is Guy Fawkes night.  So Happy Bonfire night to all of my Commonwealth peeps.  

Here's a bit about the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Commonwealth of Nations is a political association of 56 countries, most of which, 52 of them, were once part of the British Empire either as colonies or dependencies.

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, Charles III immediately succeeded his mother as monarch of the Commonwealth realm even though he has not yet be crowned king.

Once Charles III will be king, he will be both monarch and head of state, of the 15 countries of the Commonwealth realm.

These 15 countries are the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

There are five countries that have other monarchs but are still a part of the Commonwealth.  These five are Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga.

The remaining 36 members of the Commonwealth are all republics.  They include Bangladesh, Barbados,  Botswana, Cameroon, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Zambia.

The Commonwealth consists of 31,5 million km² (12.2 million square miles) which is about 21% of the world's total land area.  The Commonwealth countries are home to 2,4 billion people which is about ⅓ of the world's population with 94% living in Asia and Africa.

There's no requirement that a member has to have been a British colony.  Mozambique, Rwanda, and Gabon never were.  The Commonwealth Charter states that members have shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The human rights thing is a bit funny to me.  The UK left a legacy of anti-homosexuality laws, particularly during the 19th century, at the height of the British Empire.  Being gay is still a criminal offence in more than 30 Commonwealth countries.  There's a direct link between anti-gay law and increased rates of HIV.  While the Commonwealth accounts for about a ⅓ of the world's population it has more than 60% of the world's HIV cases.    

Membership in the Commonwealth isn't forever.  Ireland was the first country to leave.  It left when the country became a republic.  Prior to India becoming a republic the rules were changed so that India could remain a member.  Zimbabwe left in 2003 but it is now trying to rejoin.  Other potential members currently include Somaliland, South Sudan, Suriname, and Burundi.

The three Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man aren't happy with only being represented by the UK.  All three want to have direct representation with the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Games are held every four years.  They began in 1930 as the Empire Games.  They contain the usual Summer Olympic events plus "British" sports like bowls, netball and rugby sevens.  The next games take place in 2026 in Victoria, Australia.

Update August 2023:  Looks like it's getting too expensive for cities to host the Commonwealth Games.  Two cities have withdrawn their bids for upcoming games.  Here's a BBC report about it.

©BBC News

European Day of Languages 2022

Today was the 21st anniversary of the European Day of Languages.  

It was an initiative of the Council of Europe, and together with the European Commission, it has been celebrated every year since 2001. 

Here are the top ten most spoken native languages in Europe.

1. Russian with 160 million native speakers.  It's the official language in four countries and commonly spoken in former Soviet republics.
2. German has around 97 million native speakers.  While it's the second most spoken language in Europe it is the most spoken language in the European Union.
3. French has around 71,5 million native speakers with almost 20% of people in the EU able to speak it as a 1st or 2nd language.  French is the second most-taught language in the world after English.
4. Italian has about 65 million native speakers in Europe.
5. English as only about 63 million native speakers but once you leave Euroland that number jumps up to more than 1 billion making in the most spoken native language in the world.  
6. Spanish has only 47 million native speakers in Europe but worldwide there are almost 493 million native speakers making the world's second most spoken native language after English.
7. Polish has about 38,5 million native speakers.
8. Ukrainian has about 32,6 million native speakers.  While the majority are located in Ukraine, you can hear Ukrainian spoken across all of Europe with so many refugees from Russia's invasion of the country.
9. Romanian has about 24 million native speakers if you include Moldovan which is pretty much the same thing.
10. Dutch comes in 10th place with 22 million native speakers.

Czech comes in 15th place after Turkish, Greek, Hungarian, and Swedish.  Czech only has 10,6 million native speakers and it's only an official language here in Czechland.  

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

WhatsApp

When I was in hospital I would give a daily update to my parents in Arizona, my sister in California, Claudia in Berlin, Natalie in Wellington, and Kája.  I couldn't use iMessage because Nat and Kája are Android users and everyone is on Apple.  I couldn't use WhatsApp because my parents and sister don't use it.  So I had to go old school and use SMS (text message). 

SMS is Short Message Service but in the USA we call it a "text message" and we use "to text" as the verb.

The USA is one of the few big countries where SMS remains the usual way to chat.  SMS/Text message travel over telephone lines rather than over the Internet.

If you use an iPhone then and you want to message someone else who also has an iPhone then you send them an iMessage.  The message goes over the internet.  If you want to message someone who uses an Android phone then you send them an SMS.

The benefit of SMS is that it works with any phone.  However, there are security flaws, you don't get notifications when the recipient has read your message and you can't start a video call from a text message.  SMS messages are up to 160 characters.

WhatsApp is a free instant messaging and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service that was purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $19.3 billion.  It's the most popular way to message people in most of Europe, Africa, Latin America and most of India.

It's heavily used across Europe.  Mainly because it's free.  In the USA, SMS is usually priced at a flat rate and most carriers include text messaging as part of your mobile package.  In Czechland, a single SMS is usually around 1 Kč (5¢) which over a month can add up to a good chunk of change.  On the other hand, most U.S. mobile providers charge a heavy fee for international text messaging.

To use WhatsApp you just need an internet connection.  With WhatsApp you're not limited to 160 characters per message, you can send images, videos, audio files and documents, there are read notifications when the recipient has seen the message, you can use it to video call, group chats and calls are no problem and it uses end-to-end encryption which means that only the sender and the recipient of the message can see its contents.  Plus, it's free.

Spain uses it the most.  Something like 90% of mobile users use WhatsApp.  In the USA, only about 1/3rd of users have downloaded the app.  I bet that a good chuck of the users have it to communicate with family and friends in parts of the world where SMS is expensive.

In China, WeChat is the go-to messaging tool while in Japan, Line is number one, and Telegram is popular in Russia.  WhatsApp is banned in China, North Korea, Syria, Qatar, and the UAE.

Here's a short video I found on YouTube that talk about why Americans don't use WhatsApp.

©Digital Trends

Electricity in Czechland

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prices have soared across Euroland.  

Looking at the cost of electricity in capital cities across Euroland, Prague comes in as having the 5th most expensive electricity at €0,41 per kilowatt-hour.  The top 4 are London, Copenhagen, Rome, and Amsterdam. 

However, when you account for purchasing power parity then Prague has the most expensive electricity in Europe.  Followed by Rome, Berlin, Dublin, and London.  One of the reasons for electricity being so expensive is that the Czech government taxes it at 24% while the average across Europe is 18%.

© https://www.energypriceindex.com/price-data

What's odd is that Czechland is one of Europe's biggest exporters of electricity.  This year, the country has exported more than 5 million megawatt-hours more than was consumed.  Only Sweden, Germany, France, and Spain have exported more electricity than Czechland.  I wasn't aware than in 2020, Czechland was the 9th-largest exporter of electricity in the world.

In order to cut the country's dependency on gas from Russia by one-third, the government and ČEZ, a Czech energy company, have secured storage capacity for LNG, liquefied natural gas, in the Netherlands.  Construction of the space is underway and it should be complete in September.  This is just for the storage space which should cost tens of millions of Czech Crowns per year.  The Czech government still needs to secure the LNG to be stored there.  

Here's a video I found on YouTube that talks about the high cost of energy right now in Europe, especially in neighbouring Germany.

©NBC

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Update: Here's an interesting Al Jazeera story I found on YouTube that talks about the high cost of electricity and its impact on the Czech glass industry.

©Al Jazeera

English in Czechland

English is the most common spoken language across the EU.  About 44% of people in the EU can speak English.  And that's post-Brexit, as now only 1% of the EU are native English speakers.  However, Czechs rank among the worst in Europe at foreign languages.

Czechs are among the least likely Europeans to know a foreign language.  While about 45% can communicate at some level of English, only one in 10 Czechs have minimal English-language skills.  Just 7% speak English proficiently.

The only countries worse at English than Czechia are France, Italy, and Spain.  The top five countries with the best English foreign language skills are the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium.

One of the primary staffing agencies here has confirmed that English is required for four of to 10 job offers here.  English is demanded five times more than all other foreign languages combined.  After English, the top requested languages by employers are German, French, Italian, and Dutch.

The Czech Statistical Office, ČSÚ,  states that only a minimum of Czechs speak English at a professional level.  30% can't speak a foreign language.  

English is most frequently taught foreign language in EU secondary schools, followed by Spanish, French, German, and Italian.  

In Czechland, by law, students are taught two foreign languages.  English is the most popular, followed by German.  

There has been some controversy in the press about the new government's ability to speak English.  Five of 18 cabinet ministers have admitted to only being able to speak "tourist level" English only.  This is a big deal now that Czechland currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.  

The new prime minister, Petr Fiala, speaks both English and German fluently.

Jana Černochová, the defence minister, and Zbyněk Stanjura, the finance minister have admitted to having weak English skills but both have at least passive Russian and Polish.

Ukrainians in Czechland

Even prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there has always been a large Ukrainian population here in Czechland.  Ukrainians are the largest foreign minority, making up over 30% foreigners living in Czechland.  I hear that labour migration from Ukraine to Czechoslovakia began in the early 1990s.  Ukrainians are also the largest minority group in Slovakia.  

I've joked before that with so many Ukrainians here, I should call it Czechkraine instead of Czechland.  It's been a term of endearment but given the war it doesn't seem right to say.

Russia's invasion has caused the largest refugee crisis in Europe since WWII, the largest since the Yugoslav Wars during the 1990s, and the 4th largest refugee crisis in history.  Most Ukrainian refugees fled to neighbouring countries - Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and even Russia.

While more refugees are in Poland and Germany, Czechland has taken in the highest number of refugees per capita of any country, more than 400,000, mostly women and children.

Recently, the Interior Ministry hung a banner of Putin in a casket, flanked by Czech and Ukrainian flags.  It's pretty obvious on which side the Czechs stand.

The European Union has removed many of the barriers that refugees usually face.  For Ukrainians fleeing the war, there are residency rights, work permits, access to health care, schools, housing and banking services.

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Update:  As of January 2023, more than 475,000 Ukrainian refugees have sought asylum in Czechland.  The Senate has extended temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees until 31 March 2024.

EU vs. Internal Combustion Engines

Tomorrow is the beginning of Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union.  The EU has a Green Deal goal of climate neutrality by 2050.  This means that action is required now as 20% of the EU's CO² emissions comes from road transportation.  The European Commission has proposed that as of 2035, all new cars and vans should yield zero emissions.  It's been approved by the European Parliament.  The finalisation of the new rules will be negotiated during the Czech EU presidency.

©France24

Škoda is the largest employer in Czechland.  All of the company's Czech plants already make electric cars or components.  In 2019, it introduced the Citigo-e iV, its first electric car.  By 2030, Škoda wants 50-70% market share of all-electric car sales in Europe.

Hyundai has a factory in Nošovice.  In 2020, they started producing the Kona Electric and they also want a big piece of the European electric car market.

Toyota is the country's third-largest automaker with a factory in Kolín.  The Kolín factory currently produces two models, both with internal combustion engines.  The company wants all of its luxury cars running on electric by 2030 in Europe, North America, and China.  All of its cars should be running on electric by 2035.

The EU has also proposed legislation that will require public charging points no more than 60 km (37 miles) apart from each other on major roads by 2025.  The outlook is for 3,5 million public charging stations by 2030 and 16,3 million by 2050.

Update:  On 26 August, legislation passed that all new vehicles sold in California by 2035 must be either electric or electric hybrids.

©France24

EU and NATO Enlargement

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin wanted to prevent EU and NATO expansion in the east.  Well four months into the war and he's accomplished the opposite of what he wanted.  
Ukraine and Moldova have formally applied to join the EU and both are now official candidate countries.  Georgia has also applied and is now a potential candidate member.

Ukraine and Georgia were on track to apply in 2024 but the war has fast tracked their applications.

Joining the EU is not an easy thing to do and it takes years.  Türkiye applied in 1999, North Macedonia in 2005, Montenegro in 2010, Serbia in 2012, and Albania in 2014.  

Slovakia applied on 27 June 1995 and Czechland appleid on 17 January 1996.  Both joined on 1 May 2004.  So over eight years and neither country had Russian troops occupying part of their territories.

©The EU made SIMPLE

What's really significant is that Finland and Sweden have now both officially applied to join NATO.  While both countries are part of the the Partnership for Peace programme, both countries have long histories of neutrality.  Russia's invasion of Ukraine has really changed things.

©CNBC

©WSJ

Russia really can't be surprised that countries want to join NATO.  Take a look at the countries that the Soviet Union or Russia has invaded in the last 100 years.

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Update:  The USA approved both Finland's and Sweden's NATO applications on 3 August 2022.  Czechland approved both on 27 August 2022.

Update:  December 2022 - Bosnia and Herzegovina is now an official candidate member for EU membership.

Update: 4 April 2023 - Finland became the 31st member of NATO.

Turkey is now Türkiye

In Turkish, the Republic of Turkey is Türkiye Cumhuriyeti and it took the name when it declared itself a republic on 29 October 1923.  The country's short name in English has been "Turkey" for almost 100 years.  In German it's been "Turkei" and in French it's been "Turquie". 

Well Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to change the country's image and disassociate it from the bird.

The country's short name is now Türkiye.  

It can take a while for a country's name change to take root.  In 1935, Persia changed its name to Iran with "Iran" being the Farsi word for Persia.

In 2019, Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia to resolve its name dispute with Greece which was holding up the country's accession to NATO.

In 2016, Czech Republic changed its official short name to Czechia.  That's still taking a while to catch on.

Here's a five-minute video I found on YouTube that talks about Türkiye's name change.

©DW News