Top 26 Beautiful Castles Around The World

Check this link out, you can see 26 most beautiful castles around the world. The Craigdarroch Castle in Canada (below) is the only one I have visited.

Numbers of the day

1. the U.S. government had spent $15 billion on a program to fingerprint and photograph visitors at the border, and hadn't caught a single terrorist;

2. oldest man in the world turns 112 today.

How free is your country

According to the World Bank's Voice and Accountablity Index, which ranks countries by the amount of freedom citizens have to voice opinions and select a government, the U.S. tops out at 35th place - a drop from its rank of 22nd in 2005 because of a decreased trust in public officials and restrictions on the freedom of the press. "The U.S. is not a model," says Daniel Kaufmann, a lead author of the report, but it is far from the doghouse. To compare US with the rest of countries, you can check the index. The number 0 (Burma) is the worst, and 100 is the best (Denmark). Canana is 94.2%, US is 83.7%, Russia 24%, China is 4.8%.

The world's most expensive coffee

The cost of one cup of Kopi Luwak coffee at Australia's Heritage Tea Rooms is $41.67. Brewed from beans handpicked out of civet-cat droppings, it is reputedly the world's rarest and most expensive coffee.

Height, longevity, and American inferiority

The U.S. is losing ground to other countries in height and longevity.

1) in 20 years, we've fallen from 11th to 42nd in longevity. We trail most European countries, Japan, Guam, and Jordan.

2) we used to be the world's tallest people but now rank 9th and 15th in male and female height, respectively. On average, we're two inches shorter than the Dutch.

There are several reasons for American's decline. Our infant mortality rate and child poverty are too high. Our adult health care is too spotty. We've gotten way too "fat and lazy."

World's Tallest buildings

In case you want to know rankings of world's tallest buildings, here is a good reference from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

World's oldest college graduate, CEO

Kansas (US) resident Nola Ochs will break a Guinness World Record when she graduates from Fort Hays State University next month, at the age of 95. Her 21-year-old granddaughter will graduate with her. What is her plan with that degree ? "I am going to seek employment on a cruise ship as a storyteller," She said.

At age 106, Jack Weil (Denver,US) still goes to work every day at Rockmount Ranch Wear, the western clothing apparel company he founded in 1946. He is believed to be the world's oldest CEO. Company's cowboy shirts have been on shopping list of many celebrities (Ronald Reagan, Elvis Presley, 'Brokeback Mountain' movie crew, to name a few).