Quality of life index 2008

International living has devised an index with the above title. The 2008 index is as follows.

Country	Cost of Living	Leisure & Culture	Economy	Environment	Freedom	Health	Infrastructure	Risk & Safety	Climate	Final Score
France	50	98	85	72	100	100	95	100	87	85
Switzerland	35	91	100	78	100	98	94	100	77	84
United States	59	79	89	72	92	74	100	100	86	83
Luxembourg	36	81	98	80	100	92	78	100	83	82
Germany	45	87	69	83	100	94	85	100	79	80
Australia	36	75	68	80	100	91	91	100	93	79
Italy	51	100	58	74	100	93	65	100	87	78
New Zealand	43	87	60	83	100	92	65	100	84	77
Spain	50	72	54	75	100	94	71	100	87	76
Netherlands	32	85	60	67	100	91	88	100	85	75
Norway	27	82	78	78	100	95	61	100	71	74
Belgium	24	88	60	64	100	92	88	100	86	74
Argentina	66	71	44	66	100	86	63	100	93	74
Austria	31	83	61	87	100	90	70	100	76	74
Uruguay	67	76	40	72	100	80	62	100	93	74
Canada	47	78	63	62	100	88	82	100	67	74
Japan	14	97	75	71	92	94	69	100	84	74
Portugal	52	76	44	74	100	91	62	100	93	74
Malta	58	76	46	84	100	91	34	100	99	74
Liechtenstein	37	80	71	65	100	85	65	100	82	74
Iceland	28	90	63	74	100	91	59	100	74	72
Lithuania	58	72	43	81	100	84	56	100	79	72
Hungary	54	81	43	77	100	71	63	100	76	71
Denmark	20	60	65	84	100	90	72	100	78	71
Finland	28	69	63	68	100	86	75	100	76	71
Costa Rica	63	68	39	100	100	82	50	93	60	71
Sweden	11	76	63	75	100	87	88	100	68	71
Bulgaria	56	74	39	78	92	82	53	100	80	70
Czech Republic	41	82	46	74	100	86	61	100	67	70
Slovenia	42	74	49	74	100	76	56	100	83	70
Greece	37	68	50	70	100	89	60	100	79	70
Poland	41	78	43	72	100	84	63	93	76	69
Ecuador	66	63	35	93	83	73	41	86	100	69
Mexico	55	67	40	68	92	80	58	86	90	68
Panama	60	66	42	77	92	75	62	93	65	68
Monaco	31	90	60	30	92	85	60	100	89	68
United Kingdom	5	87	65	78	100	81	71	100	59	68
Croatia	25	72	40	77	100	80	56	100	95	68
Brazil	64	62	45	71	92	77	47	86	79	68
Slovakia	41	63	44	81	100	83	56	93	74	68
Estonia	55	60	47	77	100	66	60	86	74	68
Andorra	53	78	56	38	100	90	22	100	82	67
Korea, South (Rep of)	31	69	51	68	92	84	56	93	83	67
Latvia	54	79	46	51	100	68	60	86	73	67
Romania	45	78	39	75	92	68	56	86	84	67
Belize	65	50	36	93	92	69	53	93	60	66
Dominica	61	41	35	90	100	72	54	100	57	66
Chile	55	71	40	71	100	76	44	100	48	65
South Africa	47	63	40	75	92	56	47	86	98	65
Colombia	57	63	39	72	83	76	47	71	91	65
Saint Kitts & Nevis	58	47	36	72	100	74	55	100	57	65
Ireland	0	85	67	59	100	85	57	100	59	65
Mauritius	61	65	40	74	100	75	34	93	42	63
Israel	30	74	54	68	92	89	44	57	84	63
Moldova	65	66	32	75	58	71	56	71	91	63
Cyprus (Greek)	39	69	50	62	100	90	31	93	48	63
Antigua & Barbuda	46	59	43	74	83	52	63	100	57	62
Namibia	62	79	36	46	83	40	59	93	74	62
Ukraine	42	65	38	74	75	72	63	71	78	62
Bolivia	77	65	33	75	67	62	50	50	83	62
Grenada	49	56	33	75	92	69	59	86	57	62
Taiwan	44	50	54	75	92	72	34	79	68	62
Cayman Islands	56	41	60	26	92	80	47	100	57	62
Macedonia	62	68	36	72	67	65	47	71	79	62
Paraguay	73	63	33	64	67	74	34	86	68	62
Botswana	66	66	33	78	83	30	47	79	82	61
Barbados	27	62	44	72	100	65	50	100	57	61
Bahamas	18	71	51	74	100	53	44	100	65	61
Bosnia-Herzegovina	69	69	36	70	58	70	44	50	82	60
Dominican Republic	52	50	33	81	92	72	34	86	57	60
Puerto Rico	49	46	42	42	100	76	41	100	55	60
Bermuda	15	49	85	41	92	75	22	100	66	60
Honduras	66	34	35	70	67	69	41	79	83	59
Seychelles	54	62	36	78	67	54	41	100	55	59
Albania	55	65	36	74	67	78	41	64	65	59
Tunisia	58	65	38	68	25	77	38	86	85	59
Jamaica	52	47	33	77	75	75	50	79	57	59
Turkey	42	63	39	68	67	62	44	86	73	58
Singapore	45	75	60	39	42	78	53	100	39	58
Nicaragua	62	60	33	70	75	69	38	79	47	58
Malaysia	66	75	42	62	50	72	47	86	24	58
Guatemala	56	41	35	74	50	68	34	79	95	58
Venezuela	48	71	38	84	50	70	38	79	52	57
Morocco	35	37	38	67	67	66	34	100	92	57
Georgia	51	40	36	80	67	65	50	57	79	57
Nauru	85	9	39	64	100	57	13	100	38	57
French Polynesia	37	59	40	33	92	64	45	100	55	56
Belarus	61	78	40	75	8	54	56	64	77	56
Cuba	58	79	38	77	0	83	53	64	63	56
Suriname	61	47	36	78	83	62	44	64	39	56
China	51	68	61	54	8	71	47	57	89	56
Thailand	46	69	39	61	75	66	49	71	43	56
Tonga	66	26	32	65	50	69	41	100	63	56
El Salvador	58	46	35	65	75	73	41	79	42	56
Trinidad & Tobago	21	38	50	78	75	66	38	100	57	56
Armenia	59	56	40	81	42	48	47	64	72	56
Martinique	58	38	40	38	92	68	16	100	57	56
Guyana	58	65	35	77	67	59	41	64	39	55
Jordan	51	63	36	59	42	84	34	71	68	55
Mongolia	63	63	35	70	83	58	50	64	14	55
Brunei	61	63	54	95	25	55	28	79	25	54
Fiji	46	50	35	68	58	63	59	79	43	54
Palau	54	50	40	70	100	55	19	86	18	54
Lebanon	63	59	31	65	42	76	41	21	92	54
Bhutan	77	29	36	83	25	20	31	100	79	54
Peru	55	51	39	70	75	59	38	57	45	54
Ghana	56	29	35	67	92	42	41	64	62	53
Sri Lanka	59	37	36	78	67	55	41	71	40	53
Kiribati	72	13	31	57	100	56	13	100	38	53
Swaziland	51	60	32	81	17	29	38	86	96	53
Samoa (Western Samoa)	49	22	33	68	83	71	50	79	35	53
Lesotho	66	40	32	41	75	31	31	71	93	53
Malawi	55	43	35	68	50	34	41	64	89	52
Maldives	58	66	44	36	25	63	31	100	49	52
French Guiana	42	35	39	29	92	58	56	100	28	52
Russia	20	71	43	71	25	75	53	57	72	52
Madagascar	56	29	32	59	67	39	34	64	92	52
Bahrain	52	71	51	64	33	45	31	86	30	51
Philippines	55	63	36	68	67	49	34	71	20	51
Zambia	51	46	33	71	50	20	41	64	89	51
Comoros	56	38	32	74	50	38	31	100	40	50
Macau	38	46	53	0	50	64	25	100	79	50
Senegal	44	19	32	67	75	38	34	79	73	50
Syria	65	51	33	61	0	71	44	64	60	50
Egypt	49	51	36	65	25	79	38	79	32	50
Vanuatu	48	38	36	33	83	53	34	79	49	50
Vietnam	48	56	36	71	17	61	38	57	67	49
Solomon Islands	65	29	32	61	67	64	3	79	43	49
Benin	55	25	32	64	83	36	38	64	51	49
Kyrgyzstan	54	44	32	70	42	61	34	64	47	49
Cape Verde	55	31	36	36	100	52	34	64	36	49
India	15	41	46	68	75	62	41	64	47	49
Korea, North (DR of)	59	57	32	51	0	80	22	64	79	49
Nepal	69	21	31	68	25	41	28	64	91	49
Tuvalu	77	4	32	30	100	56	16	100	17	49
Kenya	45	49	33	62	67	33	34	57	66	49
Indonesia	39	47	36	74	75	55	38	36	47	48
Kuwait	39	79	58	42	42	73	28	57	18	48
Marshall Islands	69	21	33	26	100	73	6	79	23	48
Azerbaijan	41	47	40	71	25	42	44	64	62	48
Bangladesh	61	16	35	62	50	39	50	64	49	47
Uzbekistan	66	66	33	62	0	58	41	57	40	47
Kazakhstan	44	49	40	65	25	63	53	64	27	47
Tajikistan	70	26	35	67	25	53	34	29	80	47
Papua New Guinea	48	24	33	64	67	38	41	57	55	47
Qatar	46	66	56	54	25	48	28	79	13	47
Libya	20	69	43	51	0	75	38	71	67	47
Tanzania	49	29	33	74	58	31	34	64	51	46
Mayotte	76	4	32	17	92	42	0	100	46	46
Mozambique	61	4	35	70	58	13	34	64	76	46
Mali	56	13	33	62	83	26	31	64	50	46
Gambia	56	10	33	61	42	40	44	71	60	46
Micronesia	54	38	32	42	100	70	6	71	5	46
Myanmar (Burma)	72	37	32	71	0	53	44	64	35	46
Guinea-Bissau	61	22	31	64	58	33	31	64	47	46
Cambodia	56	35	35	77	25	32	38	64	47	45
Algeria	45	54	36	67	25	53	34	29	70	45
Iran	61	57	38	52	17	50	41	20	64	45
United Arab Emirates	42	56	72	16	17	80	19	79	10	45
Congo, Republic of	46	41	35	61	33	29	41	57	62	45
Togo	48	46	31	64	25	34	34	64	58	44
Turkmenistan	82	24	38	61	0	43	16	57	61	44
Uganda	48	35	33	61	42	34	34	43	70	44
Saudi Arabia	55	72	42	51	8	74	31	36	22	44
Gabon	39	15	35	65	33	47	50	64	49	43
Mauritania	51	13	39	58	33	33	34	64	64	43
Oman	44	47	43	62	25	65	38	64	2	43
Nigeria	38	31	33	62	50	29	38	57	58	43
Laos	63	21	35	74	8	31	41	57	51	43
Rwanda	49	22	33	68	25	32	31	64	62	43
Cameroon	44	31	33	65	17	32	34	64	66	42
Burundi	46	26	32	57	50	31	31	36	75	42
Equatorial Guinea	34	49	48	75	8	25	38	50	55	42
Burkina Faso	56	6	33	65	50	23	31	64	48	42
Niger	56	3	32	64	67	19	28	64	42	42
Central African Republic	55	26	32	72	42	24	34	36	54	42
Zimbabwe	24	62	0	77	8	34	41	64	93	42
Ethiopia	49	12	36	67	33	11	31	57	76	41
Haiti	55	21	32	61	42	39	28	36	53	41
Cote d'Ivoire	49	28	31	67	17	35	34	43	55	40
Pakistan	51	3	35	67	25	54	34	7	77	40
Angola	35	38	43	67	25	2	34	57	52	39
Congo, Democratic Republic of	27	31	33	58	17	31	38	64	62	39
Eritrea	56	25	31	29	8	29	38	57	73	39
Guinea	62	15	32	61	25	32	34	57	22	39
Liberia	52	41	35	57	50	14	38	21	28	38
Chad	38	18	31	68	25	15	34	57	50	37
Djibouti	46	13	32	65	33	36	38	57	8	37
Sierra Leone	58	7	18	62	45	10	34	21	24	32
Sudan	46	21	36	65	0	28	38	29	7	31
Yemen	52	22	31	19	33	40	31	36	0	31
Afghanistan	76	7	20	54	8	0	31	0	61	31
Somalia	62	0	28	55	12	7	35	36	16	30
Iraq	100	20	10	32	0	20	15	0	38	29

Bhutan elections

The Kingdom of Bhutan holds today its first democratic elections. I don't know the results and I have no idea about the local politics. (For those interested, the results can be found here).
My interest in the country stems from the fact that the former king adopted as a measure of prosperity of the country, not the gnp or any other similar economic index, but the index of happiness! The index is called Gross National Happiness (GNH) and it is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. The former king of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck coined this term in 1972. He wanted to build an economy that would serve Bhutan's culture based on Buddhist spiritual values. Like many moral goals, it is somewhat easier to state than to define. (Wikipedia provides a detailed article on the subject).

Comparison of Europe's and US research performance

An interesting article appeared recently (Dec 20, 07) on the web, entitled Europe’s poor research performance, that uses the Highly Cited Scientists data of the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), to compare research performance in Europe and the US. (The full article can be found here).

I have some reservations on the approach they use that I have posted in their site. My reservations are appended below.

I find your article, and the idea on which is based, interesting. However, I feel that your method fails to capture important aspects of the data used, thus arriving at comparisons/conclusions that are not necessarily representative of the true situation. The reason is that the ISI HCR’s index, assigns a scientist -and the totality of his output/achievements- to the latest Institution he is affiliated with, and to the country where this Institution is located. This may, sometimes, be accurate but quite often not entirely true. While such an index is certainly an indication of the quality of an institution (a good scientist would choose to go to a good place), it does not take into account the fact that the scientist may have been “nurtured” elsewhere.To give a real example I came across, Lopez-De-Silanes Florencio, an economist HCR “from” the Netherlands, has a Mexican origin (and first degree), got his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1993, was a Professor at Yale for 4 years, and has advised more than 10 governments around the world, before joining the University of Amsterdam in 2006. Seventy-eight of his 104 papers (contributing to his total number of citations) were published before he joined the University of Amsterdam. How can such a scientist be counted (solely) as a “European” in the US-Europe comparison? A similar problem of course arises with other indices used for scientific ranking, for example indices that give a substantial weight to the number of Nobel Prize winners affiliated with an institution. However a Nobel Prize winner, who is now at University X but did his award winning research at University Y, cannot be entirely “credited” to University X. Obviously, most of these indices favour the wealthiest institutions (beyond the obvious confounding effect).

Health care in California

This is a major step forward, if indeed goes through.

With Congress stalled on enacting a nationwide plan, individual states are starting to take matters into their own hands. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has just won approval from legislators for a major health-care reform which will expand coverage to most of the state's uninsured. It took nearly a year of sometimes fractious haggling, but legislators in America's most populous state have done what many predicted they could not. They have approved a bill to extend health insurance to virtually everyone in the nation's most populous state - all 36 million of them.

University ranking in the US based on scholarly productivity

The Chronicle of Higher Education has published an interactive ranking of Departments with Ph.D. programs in US Universities. The ranking is based on what is termed Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index and is available for 2007 and for 2006. The 2007 index compiles overall institutional rankings on 375 universities that offer the Ph.D. degree. The index examines faculty members who are listed on each Ph.D. program's Web site, and includes a total of 217,254 names. The faculty's scholarly productivity in each program is expressed as a z-score, that reveals how far and in what direction a value is from the mean. ( A z-score of zero indicates that the program is at the national mean for the discipline).

The 2007 index for Statistics Departments is as follows:

1 Stanford U. 1.91 2 U. of California at Berkeley 1.77 3 Duke U. 1.68 4 U. of Wisconsin at Madison 1.55 5 Harvard U. 1.47 6 Carnegie Mellon U. 1.33 7 U. of Washington 1.16 8 Columbia U. 1.15 9 U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor 1.09 10 Yale U. 1.08

Highly Cited Countries

Several of the shortcomings of the science citation index as a measure of the impact of scientific research (to which I referred in my previous post), may be overcome when the highly cited countries (or highly cited scientists) measure is used.
An interesting finding regarding countries is the following: Among the top 20 most cited countries in the world in all scientific fields in the last 10 years (January 1997-31 August 2007), when it comes to measuring citations per paper (cpp), Switzerland is first in the list with 14.32 cpp. United States is second with 13.63 cpp, the Netherlands third with 12.85 with England and Sweden fourth with 12.16 ccp.
This is surprising, given the supremacy of the US in science, the language issue and the fact that the vast majority of scientific journals are based in the US.

Citations and Quality of Research

From the THES (14/12/07): The quality of academics' research cannot be judged on the basis of the number of times their papers are cited by peers, a leading higher education think-tank has said.The Higher Education Policy Institute says in a report this week that "there must be real doubt" over the validity of plans by funding chiefs to allocate about £1.4 billion a year in "quality research" funding on the basis of journal article citations, as is planned after next year's research assessment exercise.
Hepi's report on the Higher Education Funding Council for England's proposed research excellence framework (REF) also implies that Hefce may be ignoring the advice of its own "appointed experts" in pursing the change. "Citation analysis does not measure quality, so there must be real doubt about whether it can be used as a basis for allocating QR (quality research funding)," the report says. "This is awkward in light of the commitment of Hefce to continue to allocate research funds on the basis of quality."
Hepi's director, Bahram Bekhradnia, who as a former Hefce director was the architect of the current RAE, said this conclusion "merely reiterated" what had already been said by a group of academics from the University of Leiden who were commissioned to undertake a scoping study on bibliometrics for Hefce. The Leiden group said that citation analysis measures research impact, not quality, and that it should be used only to allocate funding in conjunction with peer review. In the report, Hepi argues that the results of citation analysis and the current RAE, which most agree does measure quality, should be considered side by side to see how closely they match up.

ANC in S. Africa and Liberal Party in the UK

Two new leaders emerged today.
In SA, a popular (for a long time) leader (Nbeki), although president of the country, lost his party support -and the party leadership- to a controversial politician (Zuma).
In the UK, another Blair-style politician with only 2.5 years of experience as an MP, will try to win support from the public which two succesive leader after Charles Kennedy did not manage to achieve.
The ANC result is one more indication that parties go for change when they feel that their leader does not offer the leadership they expect.
With the Liberal Party we see the adoption of Tony Blair's style by the Liberal Party (after the Conservative party), after failing in his own party.

Polls in the US presidential election

A good link to follow the polls for both parties.

Bali agreement on tackling climate change

A new agreement on tackling climate change was forged late this afternoon when the United States caved in and agreed to support the Bali roadmap, according to Sydnay Morning Herald.
The US concession - 14 hours after the initial deadline passed - came after two weeks of talks and a day of high drama, in which conference head Yvo de Boer stormed out in tears and American delegates were booed and jeered.
"We will go forward and join consensus," US lead negotiator Paula Dobriansky told the 190-nation meeting to cheers and applause from the exhausted delegates.
Delegates rose to their feet and clapped and cheered as conference president Rachmat Witoelar banged down his gavel and declared that the roadmap had been adopted.

Free Press in the world

World opinion is divided on the importance of having a free press, according to a poll conducted for the BBC World Service. Of those interviewed, 56% thought that freedom of the press was very important to ensure a free society. But 40% said it was more important to maintain social harmony and peace, even if it meant curbing the press's freedom to report news truthfully.
Pollsters interviewed 11,344 people in 14 countries for the survey. In most of the 14 countries surveyed, press freedom (including broadcasting) was considered more important than social stability.

The strongest endorsement came from North America and Western Europe, where up to 70% put freedom first, followed by Venezuela, Kenya and South Africa, with over 60%. In India, Singapore and Russia, by contrast, more people favoured stability over press freedom. In those countries, around 48% of respondents supported controls over the press to ensure peace and stability. Around 40% expressed the view that press freedom was more important.
People were also asked to rate how free the press and broadcasters were in their country to report the news truthfully and without undue bias. Perceptions varied widely among developing countries, ranging from 81% giving a high rating in Kenya, to 41% in Mexico. In India, 72% of respondents thought their media were free, compared with just 36% in Singapore. But some developed countries which strongly believed in press freedom were critical of their own media's honesty and accuracy.
In the United States, Britain and Germany, only around 29% of those interviewed thought their media did a good job in reporting news accurately.
The survey also identified concern in some countries over the concentration of private media ownership in the hands of fewer large companies.
In Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Britain, more than 70% of respondents agreed with the suggestion that ownership was an issue because the owners' political views emerged in the news. Germans had a particularly poor view of their private media companies - with just 18% giving them a high rating for accurate news. But overall, publicly-run news organisations were viewed slightly more negatively than ones run for profit. Only in Egypt, Germany, Russia and Singapore did people rate the public media more than privately-owned media companies.
The poll was conducted by the international research firms GlobeScan and Synovate, as part of a season of programmes marking the 75th anniversary of BBC World Service.

The 2007 corruption barometer

I have reservations about the method used to set up this barometer. However, as always, I believe that it is always possible to improve the methodology for any index devised, once it becomes available.
Here is this years results by Trancarency International.

Here is an extract of their press statement.
The public opinion survey, published today ahead of International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December, also found that citizens in countries across the globe continue to see political parties and parliaments as the institutions most compromised by corruption.
The Barometer, which surveys 63,199 respondents in 60 countries, offers a broad spectrum of data on common experiences of corruption, including which institutions most frequently demand bribes, where citizens see the greatest degree of corruption, and how they see both the future development of corruption and their governments' efforts to eradicate it.
“This year’s Global Corruption Barometer has made it clear that too often, people must part with their hard-earned money to pay for services that should be free”, said Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle. “And they do not see enough commitment when they look to their governments and leaders. We are heartened though, that the public is increasingly demanding the accountability of the very institutions that most affect their lives, as this is a powerful driver of change.”

Windows XP for the $100 laptop

This is good news. It shows that once more that Universitites and private industry can find common grounds to their mutual benefit (and the benefit of society).

Microsoft is to begin field tests of Windows XP working on the so-called $100 laptop, or XO, early in 2008. It has not committed to offering XP on the XO laptop but hopes to release the operating system in the first half of 2008 if the trials succeed. The work, undertaken as part of the firm's plans to widen access to technology, forms part of a project to run Windows on flash-based machines. The Negrponte group has taken its first orders, with 100,00 bought by Uruguay and 40,000 by Peru, with an option for a further 210,000. The availability of Windows on the XO could boost take-up of the machine. There have been reports that some countries have been cautious about signing-up to the project because it does not run Windows, the world's most popular operating system. For Microsoft the challenge in porting XP to the XO machine has been in re-writing many drivers for the operating system that control functions like the laptop's webcam and wireless connections. "The potential payoff for students and schools from this work, of course, is that the tens of thousands of existing educational applications written for Windows can potentially run on the XO," said Mr Utzschneider.

Free wireless internet for students and staff

I found this piece of news very interesting. I don't know if such a convenience exists in any US state.

Students take note: you can now surf free-of-charge in restaurants, railway stations – or on park benches.

26.11.2007

SWITCH and its partners, Monzoon Networks, Swisscom, TheNet and The Public Network are now offering free surfing at more than 2000 public hotspots.

Students and staff of the SWITCH PWLAN Universities can now surf the internet free-of-charge at more than 2000 public hotspots – something that has been made possible by the “SWITCH PWLAN” project set up by SWITCH. SWITCH PWLAN is being conducted jointly with the Wireless Internet Service Providers of Monzoon Networks, Swisscom, TheNet und The Public Network (TPN).
Wherever, whenever: surf, study and work free-of-charge all over the country
Popular hotspot locations are to be found at all the big railway stations, at airports, hotels, restaurants and cafes, in all branches of McDonald's and Starbucks restaurants and also on public squares or along entire roads.
This represents attractive added value for the Universities. Students and staff have free internet access at a large number of key points between their home and the University. The customers of the Wireless Internet Service Providers too, however, will also benefit from a considerable extension of the reception area at the Universities. Someone attending a conference at the University of Berne, for example, will now have internet access there.

Unique in Europe
For Christoph Graf, Head of the Security division at SWITCH, this cooperation between Universities and the business world is unique in Europe. The Swiss University community has thus achieved a further key milestone en route to location-independent networking.

SWITCH is planning to extend the project to all the Universities in Switzerland.

PISA 2006, Reading

Reading is the area with the largest gender gaps. In all OECD countries in PISA 2006, females performed better in reading on average than males. In twelve countries, the gap was at least 50 score points. In Greece and Finland, females were 57 and 51 points ahead respectively, and the gap was 50 to 66 points in the partner countries Qatar, Bulgaria, Jordan, Thailand, Argentina, Slovenia, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia and Croatia.

• Across the OECD area, reading performance generally remained flat between PISA 2000and PISA 2006. This needs to be seen in the context of significant rises in expenditure levels. Between 1995 and 2004 expenditure per primary and secondary student increased by 39% in real terms, on average across OECD countries. However, two OECD countries (Korea and Poland) and five partner countries/economies (Chile, Liechtenstein, Indonesia, Latvia and Hong Kong-China) have seen significant rises in reading performance since PISA 2000.

• Korea increased its reading performance between PISA 2000 and PISA 2006 by 31 score points, mainly by raising performance standards among the better performing students.

• Hong Kong-China has increased its reading performance by 11 score points since 2000.

• Poland increased its reading performance by 17 score points between PISA 2000 and PISA 2003 and by another 11 score points between PISA 2003 and PISA 2006 and now performs at 508 score points, for the first time clearly above the OECD average. Between the PISA 2000 and PISA 2003 assessments, Poland raised its average performance mainly through increases at the lower end of the performance distribution. As a result, in PISA 2003fewer than 5% of students fell below performance standards that had not been reached by the bottom 10% of Polish students in PISA 2000. Since PISA 2003, performance in Poland has risen more evenly across the performance spectrum.

• The other countries that have seen significant performance increases in reading between PISA 2000 and PISA 2006 – Chile (33 score points), Liechtenstein (28 score points), Indonesia (22 score points) and Latvia (21 score points) – perform, with the exception of Liechtenstein, significantly below the OECD average.

• A number of countries saw a decline in their reading performance between PISA 2000 and PISA 2006, comprising nine OECD countries (in descending order) – Spain, Japan, Iceland, Norway, Italy, France, Australia, Greece and Mexico, and the partner countries Argentina, Romania, Bulgaria, the Russian Federation and Thailand.

PISA 2006, Mathematics

The results on mathematics for PISA 2006.
Some comparisons with the 2003 results.

In Mexico mathematics performance was 20 score points higher in PISA 2006 than in PISA 2003 but at 406 score points it is still well below the OECD average. In Greece, mathematics performance was 14 score points higher in PISA 2006 than in PISA 2003. In Indonesia, mathematics performance was 31 score points higher in PISA 2006 than in PISA 2003 and in Brazil it was 13 score points higher in PISA 2006 than in PISA 2003.
Mathematics performance in 2006 was significantly lower in France (15 score points), Japan (11 score points), Iceland (10 score points) and Belgium (9 score points), and in the partner country Liechtenstein (11 score points).
Overall gender differences in mathematics were less than one-third as large as for reading, 11 points on average across OECD countries. This has not changed since PISA 2003.

PISA and the USA

Some interesting findings for the USA.
There was no measurable difference on the combined science literacy scale between 15-year-old male (489) and female (489) students in the United States. The OECD average was higher for males (501) than females (499) on the combined science literacy scale.
On the combined science literacy scale, Black (non-Hispanic) students (409) and Hispanic students (439) scored lower, on average, than White (non-Hispanic) students (523), Asian (non-Hispanic) students (499), and students of more than one race (non-Hispanic) (501). Hispanic students, in turn, scored higher than Black (non-Hispanic) students, while White (non-Hispanic) students scored higher than Asian (non-Hispanic) students.

Rudd and the Kyoto Protocol

Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australia's new PM, and immediately signed documents to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. This is the true meening of delivering election promises.

PISA results 2006 (Science)

OECD has just released the tables for the 2006 PISA survey on science skills of the 15-year old. (See the table on the left). I am also attaching below an extract of the relevant OECD news release.
Although some people critisize this kind of ranking, I consider this exercise an important tool in the effort to improve an educational system.

The PISA survey, based on tests carried out in 2006 in 57 countries that together account for nearly 90% of world GDP, is the most comprehensive and rigorous international yardstick of secondary-school students' attainments. After focusing in 2000 on reading skills and in 2003 on mathematics, PISA 2006 tested students on how much they knew about science and their ability to use scientific knowledge and understanding to identify and address questions and resolve problems in daily life.
Comparisons between the results of the 2006 tests and those of previous years are not strictly valid.
PISA is a three-yearly survey of the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in OECD member countries and partner countries and economies. The product of collaboration between participating countries through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it draws on leading international expertise to develop valid comparisons across countries and cultures.
In 2006, PISA assessed the competencies of 15-year-old students in 57 countries with an extensive two-hour test. More than 400,000 students from 57 countries making up close to 90% of the world economy took part. The focus was on science but the assessment also included reading and mathematics and collected data on student, family and institutional factors that can help to explain differences in performance.
The table summarises the performance of 15-year-olds in science. It shows three main pieces of information:The average score of the country on the science assessment. Across the 30 OECD countries the scores are statistically standardised to have an average of 500 points. The scores are also standardised so that approximately two-thirds of the students score between 400 and 600 - that is the standard deviation is 100. The colour coding in the list of the countries in the first column gives an indication of whether the country's score is statistically significantly above, below or not different from the OECD average.

• The rank of the country compared to other OECD countries. When a sample of students represents all students in a country, it is not always possible to state with 100% accuracy what the exact rank of the country is compared with other countries. For this reason, OECD calculates, with 95% confidence, a range of ranks that the country falls within. For example, in the list above, OECD is 95% confident that New Zealand ranks between 2nd and 5th of all the OECD countries.
• The rank of the country compared to all the countries which participated in PISA 2006. The same 95% level of confidence is applied when comparing a country's position to all the other countries. For example, the list above shows, with 95% confidence, that Croatia ranks between 23rd and 30th position of all the countries which participated in PISA 2006.
• For further background reading, see :

Assessing Scientific, Reading and Mathematical Literacy, A Framework for PISA 2006,
Sample test questions from the PISA 2006 assessment

Gandhi's ten principles of nonviolence

I found them in the home page of Dean Foster (There many more interesting things in it).

1. Humiliating or deliberately provoking your opponent invites violence;
2. Knowing your facts and arguments well helps avoid violence;
3. If you are open about your cause your opponent is less likely to be violent;
4. Look for common ground between you and your opponents to promote trust and understanding;
5. Do not judge others harder than yourself (alternatively do not judge others);
6. Try to trust your opponent. They will sense this trust;
7. Compromise on inessential items to promote resolution;
8. Sincerity helps convert your opponent;
9. By making personal sacrifice you show your sincerity;
10. Avoid exploiting weakness in your opponent. Aim for integrity, not simply to win.

The Australian Election

I just realised that the labour party is -at last!- winning an election in Australia and that John Howard is loosing his seat!
This sounds like good news for Australia!

Commonwealth, Musharraf and Bush

The suspension of Pakistan from the councils of the Commonwealth and statement of G.W. Bush that all is fine in Pakistan raises a question: Are tha facts different or they are interpreted differently?

The Israel Lobby in the US

There is a lot of controversy about the book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt .
In Amazon.com the book rating (at the moment this is posted) is 4 stars. Interestingly, this average is the result of plenty 5- star and a few 1-star reviews.
A rebuttal entitled "The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and The Myth of Jewish Control" was written by Abraham H. Foxman. Here, the Amazon average rating is 2 stars (so far), in this case consisting of plenty 1-star and a few 5-star reviews.
An interesting (and lengthy) comment by Henri Astier can be found on the BBC web site.

Migraine brains 'are different'

Those who have experienced this problem know how important this development is.

Scientists have discovered differences in the sensory areas of the brains of people who develop migraines.They found a part of the cortex is thicker than in people who are free from the debilitating headaches. What is not clear is whether the difference causes, or is the result of migraine attacks. The Neurology study, by Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, suggests the changes may make patients hyper-sensitive to pain in general. The researchers, from the hospital's Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, compared 24 people who get migraines with 12 who do not suffer the condition. They found the somatosensory cortex area of the brain was up to 21% thicker in the migraine sufferers.
The full story from the BBC.

Amazon's digital book reader

From the BBC: Online retailer Amazon has unveiled an own-brand wireless electronic book reader called Kindle. The paperback-sized device is on sale immediately in the US for $399 (£195). It can store up to 200 books in its onboard memory.Kindle does not need a PC to be loaded with books, blogs or papers - instead content arrives via wireless.Amazon said 90,000 books, including bestsellers priced at $9.99, were available for Kindle at launch.

An inconvenient truth about eating meat

A very interesting article in the NYT with the same title refers to the argument by the animal rights groups that raising animals for meat contributes more to global warming than all the sport utility vehicles combined. It is well documented and emphasizes the fact that Al Gore hardly makes reference to the issue.

Robots and Biological communities

Mini-robots designed at EPFL managed to integrate themselves into a community of cockroaches, interacting with them and influencing their collective decision-making behavior. (The relevant article appeared in science magazine).
I consider this development as one of the most important advances of science with far-reaching implications.

The Israel Factor: Ranking the US Presidential Candidates

I wish I could see a similar ranking in a Greek newspaper with reference to Greece's interests. (The ranking in Haaretz is updated every month!).

Man marries bitch to beat curse

A bbc story:
An Indian man has married a female dog, believing the union will help him atone for stoning two other dogs to death. Selvakumar, 33, said he had been cursed since the killings, suffering paralysis and a loss of hearing.The wedding took place at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu state. The "bride" wore an orange sari with a flower garland and was fed a bun to celebrate.Superstitious people in rural India sometimes organise weddings to animals in the hope of warding off curses.

Hillary and Bill Clinton in California

From a Field Poll taken Oct. 11-21 of 579 registered state voters.
Overall, 70 percent of California voters surveyed have made up their minds about how they would vote if Clinton emerged as the Democratic presidential nominee - 36 percent would definitely support her and 34 percent definitely would not.
Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said the survey showed "there's really been a solidification of voter opinions on Hillary" and what he called "a negative drag" unique in the presidential race - the solid third who don't like her, won't support her and see her negatively.
"Judging from the length of time we've seen the same proportions, I don't think there's a high probability they will change their minds," he said.
That means Clinton, in order to carry the state, has "a more limited playing field than other candidates would have ... she almost has to write off at least a third of the voters who are unlikely to vote for her," DiCamillo said. "No other candidates have this kind of solidification of negative votes."
But there are positives for Clinton, too, in the current polling - including the way her husband influences the campaign. The former president is more favorably viewed than his wife in California - with a 56 percent to 37 percent favorable-unfavorable rating. More than two-thirds of state voters across the political spectrum believe he will be an asset to her campaign and her presidency if she is elected in 2008.
The full article.

Teach For America

From an e-mail I received. An impressive -and effective- initiative.

In her senior thesis as an undergraduate student at Princeton University, Wendy Kopp outlined a plan to recruit outstanding recent college graduates to teach for two years in America's neediest urban and rural schools. Upon graduation, she founded Teach For America, a national corps that would
have an important impact on the nation's education system, putting a dent in the lingering problem of educational inequity. She has spent the past 18 years developing the corps into a prestigious, highly regarded program that attracts some of the nation's brightest young men and women.
Today, 5,000 corps members reach approximately 440,000 students in low-income communities across the country. They join more than 12,000 Teach For America alumni who are assuming significant leadership roles in education and social reform. These alumni are running some of the most acclaimed schools in low-income areas, advising governors and senators on education policy, and marshalling the resources of companies and law firms toward education reform.

UK Minister detained at US airport

I cannot beleive this story (from the BBC). I would have thought that ministers of the UK government (at least), give advance notice to the US government for their travel plans, to save embarrassments like this one.

Britain's first Muslim minister, Shahid Malik, says he is "deeply disappointed" that he was detained by airport security officials in America.The international development minister was stopped and searched at Washington DC's Dulles airport after a series of meetings on tackling terrorism. Mr Malik, MP for Dewsbury, West Yorks, had his hand luggage checked for explosives when returning to Heathrow. He said the same thing happened to him at JFK airport in New York last year. On that occasion he had been a keynote speaker at an event organised by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alongside the FBI and Muslim organisations, to talk about tackling extremism and defeating terrorism.

Mr. Malik said he had received numerous apologies and assurances from the US authorities after that incident. But he was again searched and detained by DHS officials on Sunday. Mr Malik said two other Muslims were also detained. "I am deeply disappointed," he said. "The abusive attitude I endured last November I forgot about and I forgave, but I really do believe that British ministers and parliamentarians should be afforded the same respect and dignity at USA airports that we would bestow upon our colleagues in the Senate and Congress. "Obviously, there was no malice involved but it has to be said that the USA system does not inspire confidence."

Stem cell issues in California

Today's main news in the SF Chronicle raises important questions about stem cell research and practices.

A San Carlos startup is offering to create "personalized" stem cells from the spare embryos of fertility clinic clients on the chance that the cells, frozen and stored away, may some day help a family member benefit from medical breakthroughs.
The novel business plan of StemLifeLine Inc. - which started promoting its service to fertility patients earlier this year as "insurance for the future" - set off a flash fire of protest from stem cell research opponents and supporters alike.
...
Some of the most fervent denunciations of StemLifeLine came from vigorous supporters of embryonic stem cell research. Two Stanford University critics aired their complaints in newspaper editorial pages. A prominent Stanford ethicist challenged UC San Francisco scientists who are advisers of the company to sever those ties. These critics accuse StemLifeLine of trying to profit from the promise of stem cell research in the present, even though the work may not yield medical treatments for decades, if ever.
"These companies are essentially taking advantage of people's ignorance and fears to make a buck," said David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics.

The oldest leaving creature

From the BBC.
A clam dredged up off the coast of Iceland is thought to have been the longest-lived animal discovered.
Scientists said the mollusc, an ocean quahog clam, was aged between 405 and 410 years and could offer insights into the secrets of longevity.
Researchers from Bangor University in north Wales said they calculated its age by counting rings on its shell.

James Watson retires

I read the following article in the SF Cronicle. Interestingly, Watson is the second nobel winner that makes such a claim. (The first, was the Californian Physisist William Shockley. I remember listening to him making this claim in 1980 in a lecture at the University of Columbia-Missouri).

James Watson, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA, announced his retirement Thursday after controversy erupted over comments he made suggesting that black people are less intelligent than whites.
"The passing on of my remaining vestiges of leadership is more than overdue," he wrote in a statement about his departure from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island, which he joined as director in 1968 and helped build into one of the world's leading genetic research institutes. "The circumstances in which this transfer is occurring, however, are not those which I could ever have anticipated or desired."
Watson, 79, was quoted in the Sunday Times Magazine of London on Oct. 14 as saying he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa," because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really."
He subsequently issued a statement saying, "There is no scientific basis for such a belief."
The full aricle.

Berkeley going solar

From the SF Chronicle.
Berkeley is set to become the first city in the nation to help thousands of its residents generate solar power without having to put money up front - attempting to surmount one of the biggest hurdles for people who don't have enough cash to go green.
The City Council will vote Nov. 6 on a plan for the city to finance the cost of solar panels for property owners who agree to pay it back with a 20-year assessment on their property. Over two decades, the taxes would be the same or less than what property owners would save on their electric bills, officials say.
"This plan could be our most important contribution to fighting global warming," Mayor Tom Bates said Thursday. "We've already seen interest from all over the U.S. People really think this plan can go."
The full story.

"Cool" schools in the US

Sierra magazine has named the Top 10 "coolest" schools for their efforts to stop global warming.
A new generation looks beyond the Ivies and party schools to colleges that teach how to change the world. Better yet, some are already changing it.
The top 10 .

Hillary Clinton Campaign

I found this message, sent to Berkeley students, interesting as a way to recruit students to the election campaign.

Hello,
I am an associate with the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign and also a student at UC Berkeley. We are currently in need of several interns to help us with our campaign, and we were hoping that you might have a listserv or some way of posting information for students within your department to inform them of this opportunity. If so could you please forward this message to that list, or tell me
the proper procedure for posting this information? Thank you very much!
Interning in a Political Campaign is a great way for students to get involved in politics and get their voices heard. No matter what your major or background is, if you are ready to make history, we would love for you to join our team. This campaign is a once in a lifetime opportunity and interns in California have an especially unique opportunity to get involved, since there are only eight staff members within the state and we rely very heavily on our interns and give them a great deal of responsibility. Our interns do anything and everything, including contacting voters, preparing for and running events, organizing volunteers, office work, phone reception, meeting political leaders, registering voters, and running tables at events.The more time you put in the more rewarding your experience will be, and this experience will be a huge asset on any resume and scholarship application.
Our San Francisco office can be easily reached by BART, and is only a few blocks away from the Civic Center/ U.N. Plaza station. There is also a carpool list, as several of our interns are from the UC Berkeley/Oakland area.
If you are interested please e-mail your resume to ... or call our office...

Sincerely,