2:20 PM -- Another phoney baloney study, courtesy of BBC News:

A study has ranked Norway as the most peaceful country and Iraq as the least in a survey of 121 countries.

The Global Peace Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, looked at 24 factors to determine how peaceful each country was.

It places the US at 96th on the list and the UK at 49th, while New Zealand ranks second and Japan fifth.

But, alas, there is a fly in Norway's ointment. As that country's own Aftenposten reported a while ago: "Norway is the world's biggest arms exporter in relation to its population and the 11th in the world in real terms."

But at home they're as placid as herrings.

— Larry, Attack Monkey, Light Reading