The Ten Happiest Cities in the United States 2025

WalletHub, a personal finance company, has unveiled its latest rankings of the happiest cities in the United States. These rankings were derived from an analysis of 29 distinct happiness metrics, ranging from depression rates to income growth and the average amount of leisure time enjoyed daily. Each of these metrics was evaluated on a scale of 100 points, with a perfect score of 100 indicating the highest level of happiness. I find it fascinating that a full FIVE cities on this list are in California, three of them specifically in Northern California!

10 HAPPIEST CITIES

1. Fremont, Calif.
2. San Jose, Calif.
3. Irvine, Calif.
4. Sioux Falls, S.D.
5. Overland Park, Kans.
6. Lincoln, Neb.
7. Madison, Wis.
8. Scottsdale, Ariz.
9. San Francisco, Calif.
10. Huntington Beach, Calif.

To figure out how each city compared, WalletHub drew upon their own research and data from the U.S. government, as well as several studies on happiness. They then used the following metrics to score the cities:

Emotional and physical well-being

• Life-satisfaction index
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• Depression rate
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• Suicide rate
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• Adequate sleep rate
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• Physical health index, which measures the percentage of adults reporting good or better health.
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• Sports participation rate
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• Share of people aged 12 or older who used marijuana in the past month
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• Retail opioid prescriptions dispensed per 100 persons
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• Share of adults with mental health not good, which measures the percentage of adults with 14 or more mentally unhealthy days reported in the past month.
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• Life expectancy
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• Food insecurity rate

Income and employment

• Income-growth rate
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• Share of households with annual incomes above $75,000
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• Poverty rate
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• Job satisfaction
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• 4+ star job opportunities per total people in the labor force, which measures the number of job opportunities at 4+ star rated companies on Glasssdoor.com per the total people in the labor force
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• Job security, measuring the probability of unemployment
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• Unemployment rate
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• Underemployment rate
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• Bankruptcy rate
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• Weekly work hours
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• Commute time

Community and environment

• WalletHub’s “Most Caring Cities” Ranking
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• Separation and divorce rate
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• Hate-crime incidents per capita
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• Ideal weather, using data from WalletHub’s “Cities with the Best & Worst Weather” ranking.
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• Acres of parkland per 1,000 residents
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• Average leisure time spent per day
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• Well-being “community” index score (Note: This metric refers to the “Community” section of the Sharecare Well-Being Index, which refers to “liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community.”)

Link to original article in Fortune magazine:
https://fortune.com/well/article/happiest-cities-in-america-2025/

Happy International Women's Day 2025

Today, March 8th, 2025, is the 114th International Women's Day. Read on for information about this year's theme from the official IWD site:

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively for #IWD2025 we can all #AccelerateAction.

International Women's Day (IWD) has been around for over a hundred years, as have many of the issues that still impact women's advancement. Since 1911, IWD belongs to all who care about women's equality. Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to forge gender parity. All IWD activity is valid, that's what makes IWD so inclusive.

Visit the International Women's Day website to learn more:
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

"Perfect Celebrity" by Lady Gaga

From her new album "Mayhem." Loving the rock vibe on "Perfect Celebrity." Fame is ugly.

I'm made of plastic like a human doll
You push and pull me, I don't hurt at all
I talk in circles, 'cause my brain, it aches
You say, "I love you", I disintegrate

I've become a notorious being
Find my clone, she's asleep on the ceiling
Now, can't get me down
You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity

So rip off my face in this photograph (Perfect celebrity)
You make me money, I'll make you laugh (Perfect celebrity)
Show me your pretty, I'll show you mine
You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity

Uh

I look so hungry, but I look so good
Tap on my vein, suck on my diamond blood
Choke on the fame and hope it gets you high
Sit in the front row, watch the princess die

I've become a notorious being
Find my clone, she's asleep on the ceiling
Now, can't get me down
You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity

So rip off my face in this photograph (Perfect celebrity)
You make me money, I'll make you laugh (Perfect celebrity)
Show me your pretty, I'll show you mine
You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity

Na-na, na-na, na (Perfect celebrity)
Na-na, na-na, na (Perfect celebrity)
Ah-ah, na-na, na-na, na (Perfect celebrity)
Na-na, na-na, na

Catch me as I rebound (Let all the stuff)
Save me, I'm underground (I can't be found)
Hollywood's a ghost town
You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity

So rip off my face in this photograph (Perfect celebrity)
You make me money, I'll make you laugh (Perfect celebrity)
Show me your pretty, I'll show you mine
You love to hate me, you love to hate me

(Na-na, na-na, na, perfect celebrity)
You hate me (Na-na, na-na, na, perfect celebrity)
Show me your pretty, I'll show you mine
You love to hate me
I'm the, ah, perfect celebrity
Ah-ah
(I've become a notorious being)

https://www.ladygaga.com/

This Moment Might Be Dark, But It Is Not Our First

Author and organizer Garrett Bucks had this to say after Tuesday night's "speech" to the nation by the convicted felon:

"Last night’s address wasn’t technically a state of the union, but it was one more chance for Trump to lay out a story of a country whose hearts are small and shriveled.

But if he gets to tell his stories, than so do we.

You know damn well that the state of the union isn’t strong.

The state of the union is cruel, which means that we must be more caring than ever.

The state of the union is teetering, which means that we must both block and build at the same time.

The state of the union breaks our hearts, which means that we must love each other even harder.

The state of the union has us questioning our own mettle, which is why we must remember that we are not the first who’ve been asked to be brave.

The state of the union is, as it has always been, unwritten.

The state of the union is, as always, what we make it."

https://thewhitepages.net/p/the-state-of-the-union-is

Corporations Are Not Human Beings

"The limitless destructiveness of this economy comes about precisely because a corporation is not a person. A corporation, essentially, is a pile of money to which a number of persons have sold their moral allegiance. As such, unlike a person, a corporation does not age. It does not arrive, as most persons finally do, at a realization of the shortness and smallness of human lives; it does not come to see the future as the lifetime of the children and grandchildren of anybody in particular. It can experience no personal hope or remorse, no change of heart. It cannot humble itself. It goes about its business as if it were immortal, with the single purpose of becoming a bigger pile of money."
--Wendell Berry, from his essay “The Idea of a Local Economy”

Hero

I stand with Zelensky and Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky by Daniel Berehulak / The New York Times

BEAUTY: Painting--Men of Antiquity, Part Fifteen

In a continuing series (previous entries seen here), here are, yet again, a lot of handsome-ass men from long ago...

Top to bottom: Eliseu Visconti--Self-Portrait (1898); Glyn Warren Philpot, British 1884-1937--Man in a Flying Jacket, 1916; Jacek Malczewski--Portrait of Michala Gorstkina Wywiorski, painted 1892; Jean-Léon Gérôme--Le Comte de la Rochefoucauld et duc de Doudeauville; Lawrence Alma-Tadema--Portrait of Ernest Albert Waterlow; Leo Gestel--self portrait; Luigi Serena--Autoritratto, 1876; McClelland Barclay--LTJG R.F. Lynch, Jr., 1943; Merry-Joseph Blondel--Portrait of Maréchal de Bourdillon