JOY JOY JOY!

The children lost in the Colombian jungle have been found alive after forty days. ( Wasn’t there something in the Bible about 40 days?  Oh yes:  “40 days is mentioned in the Bible more than 20 times– some in the Old Testament and some in the New Testament”   Per crosswalk.com)

When reading the remarkable  news about the brave 13-year-old elder sister, Lesley,  who managed to keep herself and all three younger siblings alive (ages 9, 4 and 11 months), one comes to appreciate the wisdom of her deceased mother–killed in the plane crash–for knowing and conveying the information about which fruits and seeds in the jungle could be eaten and which looked similar but were deadly.

Just after the plane crashed deep in the Colombian jungle and with all the adults aboard killed including their mother,*  the children had to walk away, but wisely took the supply of farina from the wreckage.

After the fariña ran out, they began to eat seeds and fruit, even the 11-month old sibling, who had a first birthday during the–what should we call it–incident, escape, journey, traumatic event?

An indigenous tribesman found the children on the fortieth day of the search, upon hearing the baby’s cries from the jungle growth. The military, civilians and native tribespersons had continued the search for days, until the children were found alive but weak and tired.  The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, became personally involved in rescue efforts and appears to have orchestrated the continuous search.

*As a postscript, Lesley was later quoted as saying her mother had lived four days, and urged them to leave.  What a heartbreak.

From <https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/11/2174709/-After-Plane-Crashes-In-The-Amazon-13-Year-Old-Keeps-Siblings-And-1-Year-Old-Alive-For-Forty-Days> Plus many other sources via Google.

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CURIOUS ABOUT….

What kind of leader  Gustavo Petro is, I found that his country, Colombia, is labeled a “flawed democracy” by The Economist Democracy Index.The definition and ratings come from  The Economist Democracy Index, as reported on Wikipedia, and  is widely cited in the international press as well as in peer-reviewed academic journals.

More curious about how other countries are seen worldwide, I found flawed democracies defined on Wikipedia as nations where elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honored but may have issues.  “These nations can have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.[”  [I bet issues in the functioning of government got us], because in the most recent index, the US was listed as a flawed democracy, along with  Colombia and 46 other countries or territories in the world.

Figuring into the ranking overall includes

1. “Whether national elections are free and fair”;
2. “The security of voters“;
3. “The influence of foreign powers on government”;
4. “The capability of the civil servants to implement policies”.

According to the index, in 2022 of 167 countries or territories in the world there were 24 Full Democracies. . In descending order, they are:

Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, Taiwan, Uruguay, Canada,  Luxembourg, Germany, Australia, Japan, Costa Rica, United Kingdom,Chile, Austria, Mauritius, France, Spain, South Korea

Hats off to them all.

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index> and others.

The site makes a great knowledgeable and historical read.