Conde Nast  recently said  These are the Safest Countries in the World in 2025 .  They consulted the 2025 Global Peace Index.   1 is most peaceful, 5 is the least. Where was the USA?  #128!!! My impression was that  Conde Nast  and the Institute of Economics and Peace ( they report on that GPI)  likes cold weather countries.  Or maybe there is something about chilly conditions that keep people home to avoid danger. So anyway, the top ten. #10  Finland ( 1.42 )  Famous for also being the happiest country in the world. #9   Slovenia ( 1.409 )  Has extremely low crime rates and terrorism risk, with the best castles and lakes. #8  Denmark ( 1.393 )  Dropped six spots from 2024, having something to do with militarization. #7    Portugal ( 1.371 )  Is a beacon of economic resurgence and low crime rates.  Many from Europe retire there. #6    Singapore ( 1.357 )  The only Asia...

          From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):          DAY    USA    WORLD     Brazil      India      South Africa June     9    1093     4732         1185       246       82 July    22     1205     7128         1293      1120     572 Aug    12     1504     6556        1242        835     130 Sept     9     1208      6222       1136       1168       82 Oct     21     1225      6849         571       ...

I was just scrolling through Netflix to find more 100-rated series, and stumbled across one each from Germany and Iceland.  I've only watched the first episode of each, but will of course continue. Biohackers , rated  100/82 by  Rotten Tomatoes , into season 2, is a German techno-thriller about a freshman medical student at the University of Freiburg, there mostly to personally investigate the doings of a young female professor who, it turned out, was into illegal genetic experimentation.  Each of the seasons has six episodes of 45-minute duration.  If so inclined you can just about complete the cycle in two nights.   Wikipedia  provides a fairly complete explanation of each episode. Travel played a role in my identifying with this program, for it was a quarter century ago when I was on an around the world trip that I met Phil Bossert in Freiburg and visited this university, for, I think this is where he got his PhD.  However, we were there b...