Somalia

Austria, Switzerland Top World's Best Places to Live

vienna Europe – the same corner of Europe, actually – claims the first three spots in Mercer Consulting's annual Quality of Living Survey. Vienna, Austria and Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland lead the list, followed by Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand in a tie for fourth.

Little has changed for the top half of the top 10. Last year, Zurich nabbed the top spot, and Vienna and Geneva shared the #2 spot. Vancouver is unchanged year-over-year, and Auckland's #5 finish last year is roughly the same as its tie for fourth in 2009.

Not only are the top places to live ostensibly enjoyable, you're more likely to be there for a while. Life expectancies in these cities start at 79 years. It's better than living a nice long life in a dump, I guess.

The United States doesn't appear until the bottom of the top 30, with Honolulu and San Francisco. From Asia, only Singapore picks up a spot in the world's 30 best places to live. South America and Africa are not represented at all. It's strange, I half-expected to see Mogadishu on this list.

Of the 215 places listed, Baghdad has the distinction of finishing last. Sometimes, common sense prevails.

Source

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Thankful Troops Smoke 7,000 Cigars

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

While we are constantly reminded of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we often lose site of the people serving. Sure, we support the troops and lament the fact that some are separated from their families for a year or longer ... with unfortunate regularity. But, these concepts remain abstract from those who don't don the uniform every day. Many have a friend or family member serving, but the vast majority is another step removed from the sacrifice. Chuck Ley, founder of the organization Cigars for Soldiers, is bridging the gap. His effort has added a personal and genuine touch to a "support the troops" message that the mainstream media has forced into cliché too soon.

Ley, like me, was a soldier. While my service entailed comfy pencil-pushing positions in Uijongbu, South Korea and Fort Gordon, Georga, he was an infantryman – the real deal – wounded in action in Mogadishu, Somalia. It wasn't the event immortalized in Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down, but few realize that we fought more than once over there. Though back in civilian life for more than a decade, Ley has not forgotten his time in uniform, and many of his friends continue to serve.

From time to time, Ley would get a phone call or e-mail from overseas, a friend in some far-flung place. The tone varied from casual inquiry to begging to near-demand: send cigars. How could a cigar-smoking former soldier refuse?

Gallery: Cigars for Soldiers

Soldiers smoke Pepin Garcia cigars in Iraq

Don Pepin Garcia addresses the crowd at De La Concha

The cigars donated to Cigars for Soldiers by Don Pepin Garcia

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Luxury Yacht Seized by Pirates

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

A luxury cruise yacht has fallen afoul of pirates off the coast of Somalia. The AFP reports that the French authorities have been working to free Le Ponant and her 30-member crew. The 32-cabin, four-deck yacht was sailing between Somalia and Yemen when the pirates boarded on Friday. The ship was not carrying any passengers but is due to offer a cruise from Alexandria in Egypt to Valletta in Malta on April 21-28. Passage on this cruise starts at 2,205 euros.

Pirate attacks are common in the area of Somalia at the mouth of the Red Sea and recently the French navy had to escort World Food Programme boats through Somali waters because two of the agency's boats have been stolen. Somali pirates usually chose cargo vessels but nearly boarded a cruise ship in 2005. The pirates generally have GPS satellite and modern communications systems and heavy firepower.

Gallery: Le Ponant