We've all seen selfies taken in questionable places. During a school lockdown. In front of a man attempting suicide. At Auschwitz. Now, some people are adding President Obama to the list of people with poor selfie judgment after the leader of the free world posed with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service Tuesday in South Africa.

Denmark was named the world's happiest country in the 2013 World Happiness Report, and Noma, the 45-seat restaurant in the capital city of Copenhagen, was crowned number one on the annual "World's 50 Best Restaurants" list in 2010, 2011 and 2012. But, the Danish people will be hesitant to tell you of such achievements given their Law of Jante, a Scandinavian mentality that essentially promotes the principle that one person is no better than anyone else.

The new results are in. The US, for all its riches, stands just 17th in the new world happiness rankings released today in the World Happiness Report 2013. Denmark tops the world tables. Indeed, there is something good going on in the northern latitudes. The top five countries are Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Sweden.

Being the president has its perks and pirouettes, as Halpern found out when she danced with Prince Henrik. You can picture the Danish American Society president, Lisa Resling Halpern, standing in the schoolyard, self-consciously trying to explain to the other nine-year-olds that she is both Danish and American, Lutheran and Jewish.

Denmark has launched a new journalistic shortcut to Denmark: Denmark – Stay Tuned. As the first country in the world Denmark has developed a nation branding smart phone application targeted at international media and journalists.

In an age where reputation often seems to be all, where image is carefully managed and soft power of all hues plays an increasingly important role, this was a timely survey....The correspondents’ verdict on the reputation-management capabilities of the VK+O administration was scathingly clear cut: failure.