The United Nations has a terrible record when it comes to the credibility and objectivity of its reports on any number of issues on the globe.  Its findings and recommendations tend to follow a heavily politicized, leftist, Third World agenda -- a reflection of the ideological bent of the UN's own bloated bureaucracy. However, there is one notable exception -- an annual UN report card that ranks countries on the basis of their performance in the areas of health, education and personal income.  In UN-speak, the report card is known as the HDI -- the human development index.  Health is measured by life expectancy, education by average years of schooling, and income by gross personal income per capita. For many years, the HDI has been an important treasure trove for statistical research -- a spotlight on how countries treat their people's basic human needs and aspirations.  Also, whether their living standards are improving or retrogressing.  And most...(Read Full Post)