LET FREEDOM RING - HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

THIS MAP AND MORE AWESOME DATA AND RESEARCH ARE FROM THIS WEBSITE.
http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/

This article from CNN confirms the link between freedom of choice and overall happiness of a country's populace. Must be that crazy concept of government respecting the concept that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.."

Today we celebrate the success of the concepts that our Founding Fathers risked everything they had in order to achieve. FREEDOM AND LIBERTY LEAD TO HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY. TYRANNY AND GOVERNMENT CONTROLS LEAD TO THE OPPOSITE. ALWAYS HAVE, ALWAYS WILL.
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FROM CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/07/02/nations.happiness/index.html

Researchers at the University of Michigan said Denmark's prosperity, stability and democratic government placed the country at the top of the rankings, with Colombia, Canada, Puerto Rico and Iceland all in the top 10.

The United States -- the world's richest nation -- ranked 16th among 97 countries, while Britain was placed 21st.

"I strongly suspect there is a strong correlation between peace and happiness," said Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

"There is also a correlation between democracy and peace. Democracies are less likely to fight each other than non-democracies."

Almost all the countries at the bottom of the list struggle with legacies of authoritarian rule and widespread poverty, the survey found.
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AMERICA (MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE) - Samuel F. Smith, 1832
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/c/mctisoft.htm

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.