The best cities in the world to live in

Mercer Consulting,10 April 2006

The analysis is part of Mercer Consulting's annual 'World-wide Quality of Living Survey', covering more than 350 cities. Each city is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport, and other public services. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100.
The world's top cities offering the best quality of life
(New York is the base city with a score of 100 points)

2006 Rank	2005 Rank	City	Country	Points
1	1	Zurich	Switzerland	108.2
2	2	Geneva	Switzerland	108.1
3	3	Vancouver	Canada	107.7
4	3	Vienna	Austria	107.5
5	8	Auckland	New Zealand	107.3
6	5	Düsseldorf	Germany	107.2
7	6	Frankfurt	Germany	107.0
8	7	Munich	Germany	106.8
9	9	Bern	Switzerland	106.5
9	9	Sydney	Australia	106.5
11	11	Copenhagen	Denmark	106.2
12	14	Wellington	New Zealand	105.8
13	12	Amsterdam	Netherlands	105.7
14	13	Brussels	Belgium	105.6
15	16	Toronto	Canada	105.4
16	16	Berlin	Germany	105.1
17	14	Melbourne	Australia	105.0
18	18	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	104.8
18	21	Ottawa	Canada	104.8
20	19	Stockholm	Sweden	104.7
21	20	Perth	Australia	104.5
22	22	Montreal	Canada	104.3
23	22	Nürnberg	Germany	104.1
24	22	Dublin	Ireland	103.8
25	25	Calgary	Canada	103.6
26	25	Hamburg	Germany	103.4
27	25	Honolulu	USA	103.3
28	28	San Francisco	USA	103.2
29	29	Adelaide	Australia	103.1
29	29	Helsinki	Finland	103.1
31	31	Brisbane	Australia	102.8
31	32	Oslo	Norway	102.8
33	33	Paris	France	102.7
34	35	Singapore	Singapore	102.5
35	34	Tokyo	Japan	102.3
36	36	Boston	USA	101.9
37	37	Lyon	France	101.6
37	37	Yokohama	Japan	101.6
39	39	London	UK	101.2
40	40	Kobe	Japan	101.0
41	41	Washington	USA	100.4
41	52	Chicago	USA	100.4
43	42	Portland	USA	100.3
44	43	Barcelona	Spain	100.2
45	44	Madrid	Spain	100.1
46	46	New York City	USA	100.0
47	46	Seattle	USA	99.9
48	47	Lexington	USA	99.8
49	48	Winston Salem	USA	99.7
51	50	Osaka	Japan	99.6
51	51	Milan	Italy	99.6
51	50	Milan	Italy	98
53	52	Lisbon	Portugal	97.5
53	52	Tsukuba	Japan	97.5

TIME, person of the year: You

I am so glad of this year's choice of TIME magazine!

Top 50 Restaurants in the World (2006)

Restaurant magazine produces an annual list of the 50 best restaurants in the world based on a poll of international chefs and critics. In 2006 El Bulli in (Spain) pushed the 2005 winner The Fat Duck down to second place. The two top restaurants are forerunners of molecular gastronomy. Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California is listed as the #20.

Unfortunately, there is not any Greek restaurant in the list (nor was there one in the 2004 list). So, is the good Greek food only cooked in private houses? Or do we have a case similar to the Greek Universities not making it to the top 200 list of Universities world-wide?

Berkeley vs Stanford, Computer Science Departments

The following article in the Dec 1^st issue of the Daily Californian (http://dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=22478), is indicative of the strength of these two institutions that have achieved a marvelous mix of competition and cooperation. And one of them is public, the other is private. ...continues here!

Smoking banned in England

Smoking in enclosed public places will be banned in England from 1 July next year, the government has announced. The ban covers virtually all enclosed public places including offices, factories, pubs and bars, but not outdoors or in private homes. It follows similar bans in the Irish Republic and Scotland - a ban in Wales starts on 2 April. ...continues here!

Ecuador's Correa claims victory

More changes in South America.

Three exit polls and an unofficial quick count indicated Mr Correa had gained around 57% of the vote while Alvaro Noboa polled about 43%

Pi

In October, 2006, a Japanese mental health counselor recited pi to 100,000 decimal places from memory, apparently setting a new world record. Akira Haraguchi, 60, needed more than 16 hours to recite the number. In 2002, University of Tokyo mathematicians used a computer to calculate pi to 1.24 trillion decimal places.

Alliance of Civilizations Report

The alliance of civilizations report is the greatest hope of a better world.

Nobel Prize as a family affair

Joseph James (‘JJ’) Thomson was awarded the 1906 Nobel Physics Prize for his discovery of the electron, a negatively-charged sub-atomic particle of mass 1/1840 of the mass of a hydrogen atom. His son, George Paget Thomson also won the Nobel Prize (in 1937, shared with Clinton Davisson) for showing that a beam of electrons could be diffracted. Diffraction is the spreading out of a beam as is passes through a small gap and is a property of a wave, not a particle.

William Henry Bragg (father) and William Lawrence Bragg (son) shared the 1915 Physics Prize for their discovery of X-ray diffraction.

Niels Bohr took the 1922 Physics Prize for his model of the structure of the atom and his son Aage the 1975 prize for work on the structure of the nucleus.

Marie Curie won two NobelPrizes (1903 Physics and 1911 Chemistry) and her daughter Irène Joliot –Curie won the 1935 Physics Prize. (The Curies were a remarkable family for scientific honours – Marie shared her first prize with husband Pierre, and Irène shared hers with her husband Frédéric. All the Curies’ prizes were for work on radioactivity).

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to the American Roger Kornberg, a professor at Stanford University in California.

Two great Universities (Stanford and Berkeley) are competing for Nobel prize winners. The latest one (Roger Kornberg, Chemistry), is of special interest since his father was also a Nobel prize winner being Professor at Stanford! ...continues here!

Radomir Antić, Panathenaikos

There is talk in Athens for Radomir Antić taking over as coach of Panathenaikos, after Backe was sacked (see my earlier comment about Backe in this blog).
Antić has been unemployed for 2.5 years after beind dismissed by Celta de Vigo on march 29, 2004. Even worse, is the following (from wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radomir_Anti%C4%87): "He later admitted joining Celta in such circumstances was a mistake and vowed never to accept coaching jobs in mid-season again". Is he wiser now?

George F. Smoot awarded 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics

Cosmologist George F. Smoot, who led a team that obtained the first images of the infant universe — findings that confirmed the predictions of the Big Bang theory — won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics today (Tuesday, Oct. 3). Smoot, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and an astrophysicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), shares the prize with John C. Mather of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. This is UC Berkeley's 20th Nobel Prize since Ernest O. Lawrence won in 1939, and its eighth physics Nobel. ...continues here!

Government’s plans for the Universities

Government’s plans for the Universities (in Greek)

New law for the Greek Universities

My views on the proposed new law for the Greek Universities (in Greek)

Perelman and the mathematical community

The BBC has a very good entry on this year’s Field’s Medals (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5274040.stm) that follows below. There is also a good profile of Grigory Perelman who declined the award (and the money that goes with it). In addition to various things mentioned in different sites about his attitude towards the mathematical community, I found interesting the acknowledgement in his 2002 paper (math.DG/0211159, http://arxiv.org/find/math/1/au:+Perelman_Grisha/0/1/0/all/0/1), in which he states that “I was partially supported by personal savings accumulated during my visits to the Courant Institute in the Fall of 1992, to the SUNY at Stony Brook in the Spring of 1993, and to the UC at Berkeley as a Miller Fellow in 1993-95. I'd like to thank everyone who worked to make those opportunities available to me”. ...continues here!

Wendelin Werner from University of Paris-Sud and Andrei Okounkov of UC Berkeley, win this year's Fields Medal

A Probabilist wins the Fields Medal for the first time! (I think). The spotlight, though, will be on Grigory Perelman who refused it. (The other winners are Andrei Okounkov of the University of California, Berkeley (http://math.berkeley.edu/~okounkov), Terence Tao from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Wendelin Werner of the University of Paris-Sud in Orsay, France). ...continues here!

Polygamist rally in Salt Lake City

Reuters today provides a news item about a social group I did not know it existed in organized form.

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - More than a dozen children of polygamist families spoke publicly at a Utah rally for the first time on Saturday about their lifestyle and called for more understanding. "I'm the 14th child in a large family and I have several moms," said Mary, 18. "All my mothers love me." ...continues here!

A letter to Athens News on education, July 20, 2006

My views on Papandreou’s education policy in the Athens News

The original article of the Athens News (June 30, 2006)

The Economist on Greek Education Reform

There is an article on the July 6, 2006 in the Economist on the issue.

(Thanks to Fabio Laricchia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Istituto di Statistica, Milano, for bringing it to my attention).

Choosing a candidate by Deliberative polling

On Sunday June 4, a historic political event was succesfully completed.
For the first time in political history, a political party chose its candidate for an election by deliberative polling. Panos Alexandris was nominated as the candidate of PASOK for the mayorship of Marousi as a result of a process that resembles a practice of the ancient Athens democracy. (There, at the time, there were citizens' juries and legislative commissions of several hundreds, as well as the Council of 500 that set the agenda for the Assembly, the public forum - all chosen by lot. Lottery provided for an equal chance to participate, while deliberation ensured an informed outcome). ...continues here!

Podcast lectures for university students

Things are moving fast. University teachers have to find a new role for themselves soon. Otherwise… (See also the UC Berkeley initiative, which is a campus-wide initiative).

A lecturer at a West Yorkshire university has abolished traditional lectures in favour of podcasts. ...continues here!

The University of Strathclyde in wage docking threat

This is a method of protest by University teachers that has been used in Greece many times. If I remember correctly, the first time it happened was in 1987. I don’t agree with it because it affects the students. However, one has to admit that it is effective. ...continues here!

Michael V Hayden new CIA director

Any connection with the Greek eavesdropping?

..As head of the NSA - the American electronic eavesdropping organisation - the 61-year-old oversaw the programme, which allows for the monitoring of international calls and e-mails of terrorist suspects inside the US without a warrant. It appears that Gen Hayden's role in overseeing the eavesdropping could become the focus of what could be bruising Senate confirmation hearings.

General Hayden is widely seen as an expert in technological intelligence gathering. The NSA, which he directed from 1999 to 2005, is reliant on satellites to intercept communications and computers to help break enemy codes. ...continues here!

Ways to win an election

It happened in the local election in England today (May 4, 2006). It was not decided by a few votes but by a pencil!

The Tories have lost a seat on the length of a pencil! After three recounts in Wheathampstead in St Albans, the Lib Dems and the Tories both had 1132. The result was decided by whoever picked the longest pencil - and the Lib Dems picked a longer one, taking it from the Tories.But they won Crawley won on the strength of picking an envelope. And that's democracy for you! http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson

Creationism, Science and Certainty

The following, is a paragraph from a very interesting contribution on the subject by Professor Lisa Jardine, a contributor to BBC Radio Four's Point of View.

"We cannot afford ourselves the luxury of waiting for evidence which clinches the theory. We are going to have to learn how to participate in debates which are not about certainties. We have to decide right now whether we should sacrifice our right to cut-price air travel in order to cut carbon emissions. A public understanding of science has never been more important". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4950876.stm

Chemical Engineering Departments, Greece

There is a lot of discussion in Greece about assesment in higher education. "Greek reality" again is the excuse for not having any form of quality assesment in greek higher education institutions.
A very interesting counterexample is given by Themis Lazarides that referes to Chemical Engineering Departments in Greece. (http://www.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/~themis/greekuniversityreform

This could be a good starting point for a more general discussion and presentation of data that will reveal many aspects of greek higher education.

Protesters force Bush to move Stanford meeting

Contoliza Rice should not complain about her unfriendly welcome in Athens. Her Institution (Stanford), was much more hostile to her boss. At least, in Athens she did not have to change the venue of any of her meetings! ...continues here!

Berkeley Churches

Someone told me that Berkeley has the largest concentration of churches in the US! It sounds so strange. Does anyone have some facts?

Rich people, poor people

A lot of wealth for the wealthy in the UK. Any data for the other end of the scale?

…The wealth of the country's richest 1,000 is also at record high levels, now standing at £300.9 billion, up from £249.6 billion last year. This represents one of the biggest year-on-year increases since the Rich List was first published in 1989. Researchers also found a 36% rise in the amount donated to charity by the 30 most generous benefactors. More than £453 million was given away this year, compared with £333 million in 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4935278.stm

NYT, Athenian Democracy and Deliberative Polling

The NYT magazine has an article today (below) on democracy, making a reference to the athenian demokratia and to its possible revival today by deliberative polling.
Actually, the athenian democracy model will be trying in Athens, 2500 years later! It will be used by PASOK, the socialist party of Greece, to select its candidate for the municipal elections (next fall), in the "olympic" municipality of Marousi. ...continues here!

Caught: Goldman and Merrill 'insiders'

Enron did not teach lessons...

Last week the authorities claimed to have solved the mystery of the smelly trainer trades when they arrested employees at two of the world’s most prestigious banks. They said it was one of the most extraordinary insider-dealing scams of all time. As well as high-flying bankers and Croatian cleaners, the scam involved forklift-truck drivers from Wisconsin, an exotic dancer from New York and even a film script written by one of the alleged perpetrators that spookily parallels the charges against them.“This is one of the most brazen and pervasive insider-trading cases we have ever seen,” said David Markowitz at the New York office of the Securities and exchange Commission (SEC). In court papers the SEC and FBI claim that Anticevic’s nephew, David Pajcin, a 29-year-old former Goldman Sachs bond research analyst, was the person really responsible for her sudden fortune. ...continues here!

Trust schools in the UK

The issue is becoming more and more controversial.

...These questions have been prompted by the unexpected, and most unusual turn of events that have spread from the cash-for-honours inquiry into the sponsorship of city academies.
The shock waves are still rippling out through England's education system after the arrest of Des Smith, the head teacher and former member of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4931684.stm

Marijuana For Medical Use Turned Down By FDA

Is this progress?

According to an FDA statement, marijuana is listed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) - this is the most restrictive schedule. The FDA agrees with this Schedule I listing, as does the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The three criteria for placement in Schedule I, says the FDA (21 U.S.C 812b 1) are currently met by Marijuana. It listed as the three main reasons against the use of marijuana for medical use as:
1. It has a high potential for abuse
2. It has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the USA
3. It has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision
...continues here!

Cardinal backs limited condom use

Changes in the Catholic Churh too?

One of the Roman Catholic Church's most distinguished cardinals has publicly backed the use of condoms among married couples to prevent Aids transmission. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said that in couples where one had HIV/Aids, which could pass to the partner, the use of condoms was "a lesser evil". ...continues here!

First Online High School

This is a tremendous developmnet in education.

A $3.3 million gift from the Malone Family Foundation of Englewood, Colo., will fund the first online high school for gifted students.
Developed by Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY), the Online High School will be a three-year, fully accredited, diploma-granting high school. The program will begin accepting student applications this spring and is scheduled to begin classes in the fall. Information about the application process and the courses will be available online beginning April 25 at http://epgy.stanford.edu/ohs/. ...continues here!

Gay Rabbis?

Is Stanford that conservative after all?

ARNOLD M. EISEN, the newly named chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary at Stanford, the flagship rabbinical school in Conservative Judaism, told the New York Times April 11 that it is time for the movement to lift its ban on gay rabbis.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/april19/inprint-041906.html

European IQ league table

The following piece is from the TIMES of march 27,2006.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2105519,00.html

Another claim that is not scientifically based. What is the sample? Is it a random sample fron each country? How can they generalise their fondings to the whole population of the countries of Europe? ...continues here!

Wise Men in Sudan

Well, the following looks like a funny story, but it is of interest in the way justice is delivered. Is the “wise men” system, better than the one with elected judges in the US? (See also a similar story about Hudood Ordinaces- The Crime And Punishment For Zina in Pakistan. http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/apro/aproweb.nsf/pages/svaw_hudoo )

A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his "wife", after he was caught having sex with the animal. The goat's owner, Mr Alifi, said he surprised the man with his goat and took him to a council of elders. They ordered the man, Mr Tombe, to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to Mr Alifi. "We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together," Mr Alifi said. Mr Alifi, Hai Malakal in Upper Nile State, told the Juba Post newspaper that he heard a loud noise around midnight on 13 February and immediately rushed outside to find Mr Tombe with his goat. "When I asked him: 'What are you doing there?', he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up". Mr Alifi then called elders to decide how to deal with the case. "They said I should not take him to the police, but rather let him pay a dowry for my goat because he used it as his wife," Mr Alifi told the newspaper. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4748292.stm)

Summers resigns from Harvard

Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard University has announced his resignation after a turbulent five years and a week ahead of a second no-confidence vote. ...continues here!

Selection in schools fails most children in the UK

For those of us who are concerned about the social implications of educational policies, here is another study that generates concern over some policies in the UK. (Observer, Feb 19, 2006). ...continues here!

Despite rising fees students stay at the UC Berkeley

What is the impact of rising University tuition fees on unequal opportunities? This is an interesting statistics, not directly related to the above question. ...continues here!

Gonzales Testimony

On Monday Feb. 6, I was listening to the US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testimony to the US Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the legality of the National Security Agency wiretaps on American citizens. Replying to a question by a Senator, the Attorney General said (I think), that there are no legal constrains for US agencies to carry out wiretapping of non-US citizens abroad. Did I hear well? Can someone verify that?

Masterly Inactivity

Is Humphrey (from “yes prime minister”) advising Kostas Karamanlis? Obviously, it seems so, since KK has become an expert in mastery inactivity.

Violent protests over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad

Is this a religious issue or a political one? Hard to tell.
Here is the opinion of a young colleague of mine whose judgment I value.

To some extent religion is a tricky matter. Cold logic might suggest that making fun of one's religious beliefs is perhaps not as bad as making fun of their political beliefs: the latter is an informed judgment while the former is something accepted de facto. BUT, when emotions come into play, things become tricky. ...continues here!

MPs in England offered compromise on schools

Is this a compromise or a political U-turn?
Ministers will offer a compromise on reform plans for England's schools in an effort to avert a damaging rebellion by Labour MPs, the BBC has learned. More than 90 MPs have criticised proposed "trust" schools which would have more autonomy - raising fears among many of increased selection. But the government is offering local authorities a "strategic oversight" to prevent this, sources say. The school admissions code would also get more legal force. The revised plans appear to reinforce the role of existing admissions forums, which seek to co-ordinate admissions in an area.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4674602.stm

Hamas and the Islamic University of Gaza in Palestine

The victory of Hamas in the Palestinian election has generated interest in the leadership of the organization. There is one thing that may have passed unnoticed: Three of its leaders Mahmoud Zahhar, Ismail Haniya and Abdel-Aziz Rantissi (assassinated by Israel in 2004), were faculty of the Islamic University of Gaza in Palestine. ...continues here!

California declares smoke 'toxic'

This is an additional reason why I like California!

California has become the first US state to classify second-hand tobacco smoke as a toxic air pollutant.

The decision by the California Air Resources Board puts drifting smoke in the same category as diesel exhaust, and could lead to tougher regulation. The agency said many scientific studies had linked passive smoking to a range of cancers and respiratory diseases. California pioneered smoking bans in the workplace, and later in restaurants and bars. ...continues here!

Choice increases segregation?

The following article appeared in the Guardian today (http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1694612,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704) under the title: Choice increases segregation, schools research shows. I disagree with the title. The research quoted does not “show”. It merely indicates. To infer causality requires much more than establishing association. However, the findings presented in the article are strong evidence in support of the claim. ...continues here!

Update: Michael Ignatieff not only succeeded but he has a bright future ahead!

(see my earlier posting, two days ago).

Michael Ignatieff, the scholar and writer, was touted as a future Canadian prime minister when he left Harvard University last November to stand as a candidate for the ruling Liberal party in a suburban Toronto constituency. That scenario may yet come true. But the results of Monday’s general election have made Mr Ignatieff’s path to the top of Canadian politics more circuitous than he or his supporters might have imagined two months ago. Mr Ignatieff won in Etobicoke-Lakeshore by a comfortable margin, overcoming resistance among some local Liberal supporters. A group of Ukrainians protested that the party leadership had circumvented the rules to secure his nomination. Others noted that he had not lived in Canada for almost three decades in a career that included teaching in Britain at both Oxford and Cambridge universities, becoming a regular on BBC television programmes and reporting on the Balkan wars. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/436cf05c-8d35-11da-9daf-0000779e2340.html

New report says climate action promotes economic growth in the state of California

George Bush thinks differently.

BERKELEY – A team of two dozen prominent experts led by professors from the University of California, Berkeley, released a new report today (Monday, Jan. 23) on the economic implications of meeting global warming emissions reduction targets established by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005. ...continues here!

Dozens of federal agencies in the US track Web visitors illegally

Is this news?

Dozens of federal agencies are tracking visits to U.S. government Web sites in violation of long-standing rules designed to protect online privacy, a CNET News.com investigation shows (http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6018702.html). ...continues here!

Hamas: Talks with Israel not a taboo

Will it be Hamas that will make peace with Israel after all?

Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar raised the possibility on Monday of future negotiations with Israel through a third party. "Negotiations are a means. If Israel has anything to offer on the issues of halting attacks, withdrawal, releasing prisoners ... then 1,000 means can be found," Senior al-Zahar told reporters. As an example, he cited contacts Lebanese group Hizbullah held with Israel, via German mediators, for the release of Lebanese held in Israeli jails."Negotiation is not a taboo," al-Zahar said. "But the political crime is when we sit with the Israelis and then come out with a wide smile to tell the Palestinian people that there is progress, when in fact, there is not.

Israel officials have been debating recently how to react in the face of an expected Hamas gains in the elections. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert already appointed a special team to closely monitor security and diplomatic developments on that front.http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3205217,00.html

Podcasts spread their wings

How quick will politicians be to utilize this new way of communication?

Suddenly, it seems, podcasting has broken through to a new level. The BBC's first published podcast chart reveals that the Radio Four Today programme's main interview was downloaded more than 400,000 times last month, second only, among BBC programmes, to Radio One's Chris Moyles Show. But the real change is in the way other media groups are now using podcasts to challenge broadcasters such as the BBC. ...continues here!

Blair's education 'highwire act'

I think TB is right in what he is trying to do. Many people disagree. One thing is certain: He can deliver his political message in a very powerful way. ...continues here!

A well-known Professor, candidate in the Canadian election

It is never too late for a professor to fulfill his political ambitions! (Or is it a dream, never going to come true?) .

On the outskirts of Toronto, Ontario, in a former bank covered with posters screaming his name, one of the Western world's most-noted intellectuals is sitting down to a dinner of ham and potatoes. It is a long way from Harvard for Michael Ignatieff, former Carr professor of the Practice of Human Rights and director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at the university (http://ksgfaculty.harvard.edu/Michael_Ignatieff). ...continues here!

Bird flu researchers warn against drugs hopes

Big money is made when people panic and Governments bow to media pressure

A BIRD flu pandemic will not be stopped by mass stockpiling of antiviral drugs, according to an authoritative study. The review, published in The Lancet, warns there is no evidence Tamiflu, which the government is stockpiling, is effective against the virus. ...continues here!

Google defies US over search data

Who is right and who is wrong?

The internet search engine Google is resisting efforts by the US Department of Justice to force it to hand over data about what people are looking for. Google was asked for information on the types of query submitted over a week, and the websites included in its index. The department wants the data to try to show in court it has the right approach in enforcing an online pornography law. Privacy groups say any sample could reveal the identities of Google users indirectly. And they say the demand is a worrying precedent, because the government also wants to make more use of internet data for fighting crime and terrorism. ...continues here!

Doctor made up cancer study: hospital

Another case of falsification of data to produce “scientific” claims published in a prestigious journal (LANCET), this time from Norway! ...continues here!

Paper retraction by Science Magazine

The retraction by Science, of the 2004 paper by Hwang Woo-Suk reinforces my belief (see also: S Korea cloning research was fake in this blog), that data used to support scientific claims should by publicly available. ...continues here!

Former UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl named president of Association of American Universities

It is significant that a Professor (and a former chancellor) of a public University becomes the leader of the American Universities. This is an excerpt of his views. Is this an indication of a turn back to basic research? (as opposed to market-needs research). ...continues here!

Dutch cannabis policy challenged

Things are taking a strange, though predictable, turn. Now Europe has to make a clear decision.
Maastricht's Mayor Gerd Leers has told the Dutch parliament that the licensing system that allows coffee shops to sell 5g of cannabis to each customer should be extended, to allow them to grow their own plants. "They should have a permit to grow their own cannabis so that they can cut their ties with the criminals," the mayor says. "That way we can control things. At the moment our system is so hypocritical." ...continues here!

France's 'pursuit of harmony' (Greece’s too?)

I read a piece about France, and the mentality of social cohesion. I don’t know how accurate it is (coming from a Briton), but I found it very interesting. I think that there exists a similar mentality in Greece. In theoretical terms, this mentality is wrong. However this is a case where one wonders whether the happiness of the people in a certain period of history counterbalances the negative economic indicators. ...continues here!

Clarke paves way for U-turn on cannabis

Is this the result of a careful study of the evidence or of giving in to electoral considerations?

Charles Clarke, the UK home secretary, was criticised yesterday from both sides of the debate on the misuse of drugs when he publicly indicated that he is considering restoring the class B status of cannabis in the light of medical evidence. In what the tabloids labelled a "humiliating climbdown" from the decision of his predecessor, David Blunkett, to downgrade the widely used drug to class C, Mr Clarke used media interviews to signal his approval of an imminent report, which he has already read, from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. ...continues here!

Diet, CSIRO, Nature and Funding

An article on the latest issue of Nature (December 22, 2005, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7071/index.html#Research-Highlights refers to a diet book published by Australian researchers working in Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). ...continues here!

Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest

People who honour their title.

A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program, according to two sources.

Two associates familiar with his decision said yesterday that Robertson privately expressed deep concern that the warrantless surveillance program authorized by the president in 2001 was legally questionable and may have tainted the FISA court's work.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/20/AR2005122000685.html

Google, Microsoft and Sun fund new UC Berkeley Internet research center

An excellent example of how a top public University can cooperate with top industries to promote research with the interest of the public in mind. ...continues here!

Joint statement by the presidents of the top nine US Universities on gender equity in higher education

The following statement by the leaders of the top 9 research institutions in the US shows that they don’t put all of their efforts on research but they care also for a wider range of social issues. (Women receive half the doctorates in the United States but just a quarter of them are professors). ...continues here!

UC Berkeley Library Collection Hits 10-Million Mark

The University Library has acquired its 10-millionth volume this fall, bringing to the university a range of literary curiosities from ancient Egyptian papyri to a collection on the Swiss Enlightenment.

Many of the ten representative items, including a signed letter from Father Junipero Serra, were donated, but a few were purchased in the six-figure range through donor contributions, Leonard said. ...continues here!

NSA Eavesdropping Wider Than W.House Admitted

We learn more everyday…Data mining in action!

The volume of information gathered from telephone and Internet communications by the National Security Agency without court-approved warrants was much larger than the White House has acknowledged, The New York Times reported on Saturday. ...continues here!

Evangelicals plan to ban presents

Conservative religious leaders are flexing their muscles…

Conservative religious leaders are so pleased with their campaign against the "war on Christmas" that they're going to rev it up next year. ...continues here!

S Korea cloning research was fake

The controversy surrounding Professor’s Hwang Woo-Suk research that led to his resignation, raises an issue on which I have very strong views: The issue of the availability of the data on which various scientific claims are based. ...continues here!

U-wide warrant over 'CIA kidnap'

An Italian court –and not any of the European governments- is trying to set the record straight. In Greece, the minister of homeland security still insists that nothing happened…
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EU vs. Microsoft

Is this an indication that Europe is doing well in the consumer protection front or the trade conflict between Europe and the US has reached a new level?
In Short: Computer giant Microsoft risks having daily fines imposed on it if it fails to fully implement a European Commission decision on code sharing. ...continues here!

'Voting error' gave London Games

What are the implications of a “voting error”? Well, it could be the presidential race in the US. It could also be the nomination of the city to organize the Olympics of 2012, as the following news item indicates. ...continues here!

Judge Rules Against 'Intelligent Design'

The following piece of news (from today’s San Francisco Chronicle), gives some hope to the scientific community (and not only).

"Intelligent design" cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial. ...continues here!

Are secular universities discriminating against religious schools?

An article in the Economist (Dec. 14, 2005) about the culture war
between the U of California and religious schools. The implications are far reaching.
(http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5300912).

Swiss hospital to allow suicide

An indication of a “mature” society.
A hospital in Lausanne becomes the first to allow assisted suicide for terminally-ill patients. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4539126.stm)

School Reform in the UK

The argument goes on. The deputy prime minister of the UK John Prescott has spoken again, against the white paper in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph. (Sunday, 18 December 2005). Interestingly, in the same interview, he attacks the Eton "Mafia" running the Conservative Party. ...continues here!

Are secular universities discriminating against religious schools?

The "Economist" published a very interesting article on December 14, about the argument between the Univeristy of California and the association of Christian Schools in the US, regarding the admission procedures of the UC with reference to the teaching of non- scientific material in christian schools. ...continues here!

Latin America faces year of change

Interesting times for Latin America

Twelve presidential elections are due to take place in Latin America between November 2005 and the end of 2006. They include seven of the region's eight most populous countries: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile and Ecuador. ...continues here!

The Thatcher years in statistics

A very good illustration of how graphical statistics can summarise so much important information.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4447082.stm

George Papandreou Next President of Socialist International

This is a piece of news that made me very happy and proud.

Having known G. Papandreou as a politician and as a person for almost 30 years, I consider this as an international recognition of his political agenda. George is not a conventional Greek politician and certain Greek political “experts” doubt his ability as a leader. I hope that his election in January as the President of the Socialist International will make a lot of them reconsider their views. ...continues here!

Open access to scientific books

The following opens new avenues to free access to scientific books. Luc Devroye should be congratulated for it! (Visit his web page for more. http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~luc/rnbookindex.html )

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The net and mobile phones are giving us the power to change politics for the better

This is an interesting opinion.

Mociology refers to how mobile and wireless technology has changed the way we do things: downloading music on to a mobile phone, for example, or getting the football scores texted through on a Saturday afternoon. To Trippi, however, its potential lies in how it can be used for political purposes - just as he saw and exploited the possibilities of blogs for political campaigning while running Howard Dean's unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. ...continues here!

Caution over HIV 'cure' claims

Doctors say they want to investigate the case of a British man with HIV who apparently became clear of the virus. Scotsman Andrew Stimpson, 25 was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2002 but was found to be negative in October 2003. Mr Stimpson, from London, said he was "one of the luckiest people alive".

Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust confirmed the tests were accurate but were unable to confirm Mr Stimpson's cure because he had declined to undergo further tests. A statement from the trust said: "This is a rare and complex case. When we became aware of Mr Stimpson's HIV negative test results we offered him further tests to help us investigate and find an explanation for the different results.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4432564.stm

Bacteria modified to combat HIV

Scientists have genetically modified bacteria living in the human body to produce chemicals that block HIV infection. Although the research is still at an early stage, they hope it could eventually lead to a practical and cost effective new way to combat the virus. As of December 2004, there are 39.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS. The research, by the US National Cancer Institute, is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Most HIV transmission occurs on the surfaces of the gut and reproductive areas which are normally coated with a layer of bacteria. The researchers modified one of these bacteria - a form of E.coli - so that it began to secrete proteins that block HIV from infecting its target cells.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4692905.stm

Private Education: Is it worth the money?

The other side of the story. Not everything is rosy.

Sunday November 13, 2005
The Observer

There are as many different accounts of private schools as there are children who went to them. ...continues here!

O'Reilly on open source software.

The BBC web site has a very interesting interview with O’Reilly. Some of it follows. (For the full article go to the link at the end).

Tim O'Reilly: Proprietary software grew up, starting really in the 1980s, as an alternative and that became the dominant model with the rise of companies like Microsoft and Oracle and the like.

But then a set of people said, we like it the way it was where we just gave our stuff away. So you had a bit of revolt against the commercialisation of software which started with Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation which was founded in 1984. ...continues here!

Music and Mathematics

A very interesting event that I attended last Saturday.

Christopher Taylor in Conversation with Bob Osserman

MSRI invites you to attend a free public event at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 5, 2005, which presents acclaimed pianist Christopher Taylor and mathematician Bob Osserman in a discussion that explores how harmoniously music and math inter-relate to each other. Taylor, who majored in mathematics, graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1992. The following year he entered the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and became the first American to receive a medal since 1981. He has gone on to become a leading representative of 20th century piano music. ...continues here!

BBC: Nominate most important political protest

Parks was arrested and charged for violating segregation laws

BBC, on its web page, has initiated an interesting project. It is seeking the opinion of its readers to nominate most important political protest. I thought that this initiative should be supported, that is why I am adding a post for it. Below, some info from the site. All the details in http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/4381186.stm

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