2012 Corruption Perceptions Index of Countries and Territories

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 - 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean. A country's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories included in the index. This year's index includes 176 countries and territories. See complete list of countries and territories at -- http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/

I know who is in your future -- what are you going to do about it!

We have reached a population of 7 billion and in another 38 years it will grow to 9 billion. Think about this for a minute. It took from 10,000 BC until 1930 AD for the population to grow by 2 billion people. That means it took 11,930 years to do what many of you will see happen in the next 38 years. I won’t be around to see that, but during the time I have been on the earth the population has grown by 5 billion. When I was born there were just a few hundred million over the two billion mark alive – now there are 7 billion.

Now keep on thinking for a little longer. What does an addition 2 billion people on the earth mean? Well, if the old economic rules of supply and demand still work, it means the demand for a lot of things is about to increase sharply in the next 38 years, for example food, water, shelter, gas, medicine, teachers, coaches, policemen, firemen, doctors, lawyers, farmers, programmers, engineers, etc. Are you getting the picture?

Now if you are still in school or college, think about what this means for your future. What do you want to do in a world with over 2 billion more people? How does your career choice fit into that future? When I was growing up anyone that wanted a job could usually find one. But that was back when there were just a little over 2 billion people around. I have a suspicion that if you think its hard to find a job now -- it could be even harder later -- unless you make sure you are qualified for the jobs that will be needed.  

Just think about how the world has changed. If you had been in school in the late 1800s then a career selling horses and horseshoes would have probably looked like a career that you could spend the rest of your life working and had a secure future. But, then a guy named Henry Ford came along and had a fool dream that those people who didn't think about how those cars would change the world said, "Those cars ain't going last cause you can't drive them across the fields and you can't float them across creeks & rivers. Well, guess what-- when was the last time you road in a horse and buggy or went down and bought a new set of horseshoes? 

2 billion more people on the face of the earth? Wow! It’s a big deal and a great way to spot some good opportunities for those who can see around the next curve in the road of life. A lot of people did get prepared for the last two billion to shoe up & that a big part of the problem today. Prepared yourself for what’s coming. Don’t just barrel around the next curve on the road of life and crash into the future like a bull in a china closet and end up wondering what happened! 

Well, that's enough cogitating for today!

Many Biblical Ways to Get to Heaven?

Death is a real problem for humans. We know that it is in our future and a bunch of people would like to know what they can do here that affects what will happen there. The places people find most of their answers are religions. As most people know, all the answers are not all the same, and, according to many religions, choosing the wrong answer could have very bad consequences. This creates a huge “afterlife” market in which a wide range of “religious products” are offered. Maybe someone should set up an “Afterlife-Mart?” But, many people fail to take a serious look at the available options.  If someone did set up an Afterlife-Mart the largest section would contain Christian options. Each would explain what one needs to do while alive to affect what happens after death.

Read the complete article at -- http://www.biblicalheritage.org/DTB/0812_Many_Biblical_Ways_to_Heaven.pdf

Who is getting rich as more & more students default on their loans?

One man made $454,000 in a single year as a student-loan debt collector -- more than twice the pay of the U.S. secretary of education.

The company he works for charges fees to borrowers and earns commissions from taxpayers -- totaling as much as 31 percent -- when it collects on defaulted student loans. Those rich rewards are approved by Congress. His company is one of 32 little-known “guaranty agencies” that play a key role in the world of higher-education finance.

His boss is doing well too. His compensation rose to $618,000 in 2004, $852,000 in 2008 and $1.1 million in 2010, making him the highest-paid head of a guaranty agency.

By law, the organizations can receive as much as 37 percent of a borrower’s entire loan amount, half in collection costs and half in taxpayer-funded commissions. It typically collects 31 percent, or $7,750 on a $25,000 loan. That’s 31 times what it can make for preventing the default through counseling.

There may be dark storm clouds on the horizon for students loaded with student loans, but the weather looks great for the people that will be relentlessly pursuing them. Who do you think had the vision to set up such a system? It also raises another question – what is the purpose of our educational system? Is it to educate or to supply the growing number of debtors needed to keep the money stream flowing?

Read the article from which the above comments were taken at –

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/taxpayers-fund-454-000-pay-for-collector-chasing-student-loans.html

Welcome to The Country Cogitator.

This is a blog about whatever happens to be on my mind. I've been around a long time, met a lot of people, read a lot of books, taken a lot of courses, worked at a variety of jobs and listened to a lot of BS. You may not enjoy everything I write because it might challenge you BS (belief systems) -- but if you are interested in getting the facts -- then we are on the same page.

My motto is: "My beliefs must be large enough to include all of the facts; they must be  open enough to be tested; and, they must be flexible enough to change when errors or new facts are found." Feel free to adopt it for yourself.