Britsimon
Super Moderator
in 2013 Egypt got ~3300 visas from ~5000 selectees. At that same rate the would get 3800 this year. So - if they do hit the limit, it won't be by much....
August visa bulletin the final.
- Thread starter vladek
- Start date
in 2013 Egypt got ~3300 visas from ~5000 selectees. At that same rate the would get 3800 this year. So - if they do hit the limit, it won't be by much....
vladek15425
Well-Known Member
Mijoro
Well-Known Member
I actually wasnt referring to anything you had said SusieQQQ in this instance it wasnt about you rather Sloners comment about Australia and the Usa. So if you want to talk about knee jerk reactions please make sure the post that you are quoting is talking about you.
alberto1
New Member
In fact Venezuela is one the top countries in the world in this recent report that measures happiness,which in my opinion is more important than all other aspects of life
-> http://www.gallup.com/poll/169322/people-worldwide-reporting-lot-positive-emotions.aspx
Look at Luxemburg for example (page 2 of the report): They have plenty of money, plenty of food (plenty of toilet paper as well), and can buy a used car every month. Yet they are not happy.
I'm not saying money, law and order are bad things. But all the top countries in that list don't have those.
Maybe it's the Latin American genes? I don't know, but it's definitely a good lesson for us "Westerners", thinking that we have the superior civilization.
Britsimon
Super Moderator
Yeah the Venzuelans are out on the street having "fiestas" to show how thrilled they are and how they don't need toilet paper and so on.
Good grief.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
Do you have any reason to doubt Veronice when she points out "Venezuela's official inflation was 76% for 2013 (last month was around 6,5 -for one month-). You can't find food, toilett paper or water like nowhere. My city is the most dangerous in the world. If you protest, you go to jail or get killed"? Or do you think that this the kind of environment that makes people happy?
Type "Venezuela" into a google news search and read some of the articles that come up.
Do you still believe your "happiness" index?
Who are you to tell someone who has just told you that basic necessities are scarce that according to some dubious index she is actually one of the happiest people in the world? Despite your last sentence I bet you're not desperate to emigrate to some country that lacks freedom, law and order. Are you?
alberto1
New Member
It is not MY index, it's an index of a well known institute.
I don't have any reason to doubt what Veronice thinks and feels, i just happened to read this article and i'm just giving an other perspective to the conversation.
However the findings are quite shocking for the western world, no matter what.
How can we explain that poor and unsafe Latin Americans have more positive emotions than Europeans, Aussies, Americans, Japanese etc?
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
Did you read how they did it? One day in 2013 they asked about how people felt the previous day? Maybe it was surveyed the day after Chavez died?
There have been many attempts at happiness indices, generally with a bit more...attempt to measure it properly. It's certainly true that money doesn't buy happiness. But not that oppressed people somehow transcend all physical and emotional needs to feel happier than anyone else.
Your answer to your last question appears to be something about not being western world. As someone who has spent years analysing various types of surveys and indices, my first response would be that the survey is flawed.
Britsimon
Super Moderator
Oh I don't know. Perhaps the gallup pole is controlled by the same team that run KCC.
veronice
Active Member
I'm trying to figure out what I feel so I can handle my emotions better. Recently the "Disney's theory" have been growing stronger. What is that? Well, you NEVER would expect a roller coaster (sorry @Britsimon ) from Disney to derail. You are convinced that they have everything under control. No room for mistakes. In a way I thought that way for US government too. So the fact that they made a mistake THIS BIG stunned me. Because it is not that they miscalculated and as the response rate is higher, or that they missed by that famous increase of 30%... no... is that they chose 130% more than 2012 and 110% more than 2013, but apparently with NO INTENTION of raise the quota for the region. So they didn't made a mistake... they f****d up big time!!!.
But hey! we can get over this too. At the end, people we have meet here are incredible!
But hey! we can get over this too. At the end, people we have meet here are incredible!
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alberto1
New Member
On the contrary, last KCC bulletin showed that they are not eager to give more smiles to SA, while the Gallup seems to "love" them
alberto1
New Member
It was hard to believe what i saw too BUT
a. Gallup is a trademark in this business, so there should be a serious reason for them to publish fake stuff
b. It's not just Venezuela but 10 out 11 Latin countries at the top, so there might be a deeper reason
The easy way is to discredit them, a harder one is find out what's going on
veronice
Active Member
How do I MULTI-LIKE a post???
alberto1
New Member
I have never visited Venezuela, so i don't have a personal opinion about what's going on there
However i've listened many times about the very high crime rates, the poverty, the corruption an all that stuff. And also heard about the toilet paper problem by many people.
With all that in mind, i would expect Venezuela to be very low on that list.
And also Paraguay that it's very poor as well
And Honduras that has officialy the highest crime rates in the world
And Nicaragua that has suffered so much for decades.
But all those countries appeared at the top of the list and that surprised me. I didn't mean to insult anyone, just give food for thought.
By the way in an earlier version of that survey, about a year ago, Latin countries preveil as well
http://www.gallup.com/poll/164615/syrians-iraqis-least-positive-worldwide.aspx#2
However i've listened many times about the very high crime rates, the poverty, the corruption an all that stuff. And also heard about the toilet paper problem by many people.
With all that in mind, i would expect Venezuela to be very low on that list.
And also Paraguay that it's very poor as well
And Honduras that has officialy the highest crime rates in the world
And Nicaragua that has suffered so much for decades.
But all those countries appeared at the top of the list and that surprised me. I didn't mean to insult anyone, just give food for thought.
By the way in an earlier version of that survey, about a year ago, Latin countries preveil as well
http://www.gallup.com/poll/164615/syrians-iraqis-least-positive-worldwide.aspx#2
Britsimon
Super Moderator
Finding out isn't hard at all. The great thing about this forum (one of the joys I have discovered here in the last year) is that we get to make friends and interact with people from all over the world. So, how hard is it to find out what is going on in Venezuela? Just ask someone who lives there, like Veronice, and of course listen to the answer.
There - that was easy...
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
You're right, Gallup is very well respected. So let's see what other Gallup stuff on Venezuela says.
"Signs of the frustration and anger on display in Venezuela's streets in February were evident late last year as Venezuelans' ratings of their lives deteriorated to their worst levels in years....[inflation] pushed Venezuelan pessimism about the nation's economy in 2013 to an all-time high... Venezuela's high crime rate is another issue contributing to residents' angst. The country has one of the highest murders rates in the world, creating a climate of fear and a permanent sense of insecurity"
http://www.gallup.com/poll/167564/venezuelans-rated-lives-worse-ahead-protests.aspx
This is quite an interesting one, on attitudes about Chavez (after he died). Approval rates were relatively high, mainly on efforts to combat poverty. Problem of course was the way he did that, which has led to the kind of problems Veronice describes today.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/161756/special-briefing-chavez-legacy-venezuela-future.aspx
"Even before the ongoing massive protests in Venezuela, the majority of residents feared for their country's political stability - for the first time in recent history... Confidence in the national government fell to a record low ... The majority of Venezuelans said they have no confidence in the national government.... few Venezuelans said they have confidence in the country's judicial system, which as far back as 2004 the human rights advocacy organization Human Rights Watch said had been politically overtaken by then-President Chavez and his party."
http://www.gallup.com/poll/167663/venezuelans-saw-political-instability-protests.aspx
"Residents of Venezuela and South Africa are the least likely among residents in 135 countries worldwide to say they feel safe walking alone at night where they live...Venezuela's crime problems are among the worst in the Latin America..."
http://www.gallup.com/poll/162341/venezuelans-south-africans-least-likely-feel-safe.aspx
Lesson: if something looks odd, better not to just accept it at face value, but see if there is corroborating evidence. In this case, that index remains the odd one out. And again, please read how they do the survey. Did you do something interesting yesterday? Did you laugh yesterday? Tell me, when you think about how happy you are with your life, are these the factors you evaluate? How would you compare laughing yesterday to living in " a climate of fear and a permanent sense of insecurity"" (Gallup's words) when evaluating how happy you are ? A little common sense can go a long way.
"Signs of the frustration and anger on display in Venezuela's streets in February were evident late last year as Venezuelans' ratings of their lives deteriorated to their worst levels in years....[inflation] pushed Venezuelan pessimism about the nation's economy in 2013 to an all-time high... Venezuela's high crime rate is another issue contributing to residents' angst. The country has one of the highest murders rates in the world, creating a climate of fear and a permanent sense of insecurity"
http://www.gallup.com/poll/167564/venezuelans-rated-lives-worse-ahead-protests.aspx
This is quite an interesting one, on attitudes about Chavez (after he died). Approval rates were relatively high, mainly on efforts to combat poverty. Problem of course was the way he did that, which has led to the kind of problems Veronice describes today.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/161756/special-briefing-chavez-legacy-venezuela-future.aspx
"Even before the ongoing massive protests in Venezuela, the majority of residents feared for their country's political stability - for the first time in recent history... Confidence in the national government fell to a record low ... The majority of Venezuelans said they have no confidence in the national government.... few Venezuelans said they have confidence in the country's judicial system, which as far back as 2004 the human rights advocacy organization Human Rights Watch said had been politically overtaken by then-President Chavez and his party."
http://www.gallup.com/poll/167663/venezuelans-saw-political-instability-protests.aspx
"Residents of Venezuela and South Africa are the least likely among residents in 135 countries worldwide to say they feel safe walking alone at night where they live...Venezuela's crime problems are among the worst in the Latin America..."
http://www.gallup.com/poll/162341/venezuelans-south-africans-least-likely-feel-safe.aspx
Lesson: if something looks odd, better not to just accept it at face value, but see if there is corroborating evidence. In this case, that index remains the odd one out. And again, please read how they do the survey. Did you do something interesting yesterday? Did you laugh yesterday? Tell me, when you think about how happy you are with your life, are these the factors you evaluate? How would you compare laughing yesterday to living in " a climate of fear and a permanent sense of insecurity"" (Gallup's words) when evaluating how happy you are ? A little common sense can go a long way.
alberto1
New Member
By reading Veronice's posts i can assume (correct me if i'm wrong) that she belongs to the 15-20% that doesn't like at all the whole Venezuela situation
That sounds "normal" to my western ears and way of thinking.
The strange thing to me is that the rest 80%+ of Venezuelans say that they actually enjoyed their last day (that was the question of the survey).
Why that happens? i don't know... Only people with the mentality of the country can shed some light... Maybe Veronice is one of them
Britsimon
Super Moderator
I just found this transcript of a call from the gallup website. I think they need to rethink their process...
Gallup interviewer, sitting in a comfy office in Washington randomly dials a number in Venezuela....
Interviewer: "Hello I am from Gallup - phoning to see if you are happy."
Random Venezuelan: "Que?"
Interviewer: "Are you happy?"
Random Venezuelan: "Que?"
Interviewer: "They tell me you don't have toilet paper, but I need more to go on."
Random Venezuelan: "Yo tambien - yo no tengo ningún papel higiénico"
Interviewer: "So you are in fact very happy then"
Random Venezuelan: "Que?" (Sounds of gunfire in background)
Interviewer: "Ahhh I can hear the fireworks in the background - you must be having a party... a fiesta!" (19 year old interviewer grins with pride at his Spanish skills)
Random Venezuelan: "¿Eres estúpido o algo"
Interviewer: "OK I will put you down as a happy. Thank you for helping us create an accurate resource for mankind."
Random Venezuelan: "No vuelvas a llamarme, idiota"
Gallup interviewer, sitting in a comfy office in Washington randomly dials a number in Venezuela....
Interviewer: "Hello I am from Gallup - phoning to see if you are happy."
Random Venezuelan: "Que?"
Interviewer: "Are you happy?"
Random Venezuelan: "Que?"
Interviewer: "They tell me you don't have toilet paper, but I need more to go on."
Random Venezuelan: "Yo tambien - yo no tengo ningún papel higiénico"
Interviewer: "So you are in fact very happy then"
Random Venezuelan: "Que?" (Sounds of gunfire in background)
Interviewer: "Ahhh I can hear the fireworks in the background - you must be having a party... a fiesta!" (19 year old interviewer grins with pride at his Spanish skills)
Random Venezuelan: "¿Eres estúpido o algo"
Interviewer: "OK I will put you down as a happy. Thank you for helping us create an accurate resource for mankind."
Random Venezuelan: "No vuelvas a llamarme, idiota"
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
The other Gallup poll results I just posted indeed show your assumption is incorrect. There are a lot more than 15-20% that don't like the situation, even though they may have done something interesting the day before.
alberto1
New Member
Susie you are comparing apples to oranges here
First of all i have no reason (yet) not to trust Gallup so lets assume they are credible.
Lets go over that again:
1. GALLUP SAYS that people in Venezuela live in a climate of fear, insecurity, poverty etc... - I have no reason to disagree with that
2. GALLUP SAYS that PEOPLE IN VENEZUELA SAY that the last day of their life was positive - I have no reason to disagree with that as well
These are 2 completely different statements. It might look strange to us... how can WE say they are insecure, and THEY say that they are happy... but that's whats happening
And i repeat... not only for Venezuela but for most Latin Countries