13. oktober 2003

Why Europe conquered the world This is something I wrote around a year ago, based on a Jared Diamond lecture about why Europe conquered the world instead of vice versa. A googler reminded me about it, so I added it to my articles section. 8:28:48 PM    comment []  trackback []

Saudi local elections announced Saudi Arabia has surprisingly announced local council elections, the first reform even resembling democratic reform in the country since it was founded in 1932. The kingdom is an absolute monarchy, run by a rich royalty living off the country's oil wealth, and combined with the extremist Islamic Wahabism that rules the country, it has made the country a fertile ground for both corruption and extremism. The move is linked to an upcoming human rights conference in Riyadh, something that can be charitably described as a very bizarre joke. It is not much, but I guess every move in the right direction should be cautiously welcomed. 7:04:53 PM    comment []  trackback []

Europe in pain A new study of 46,000 Europeans in 16 countries reveals that one of the worst health problems is chronic pain. This is an important issue, and deserves all the attention it gets in the press today. It also deserves being reported correctly. Reuters, and therefore CNN, messes up badly. The initial paragraph says, A third of Europeans suffer pain every minute of their lives and chronic pain accounts for nearly 500 million lost working days a year, costing Europe 34 billion euros (21 billion pounds), according to a new survey. For some reason, the journalist didn't see any discrepancy between this ('one third') and the next paragraph: The poll of 46,000 people across 16 countries found that 19 percent of adults -- many aged under 50 -- were in constant pain, suffering for years without adequate pain relief. The correct figure, and one other news sources (e.g. Guardian) managed to get correct, is thus approximately one fifth. So where did the 'third' come from? That came from the most painful European country to be in, maybe surprisingly, Norway. The highest prevalence of chronic pain was in Norway where the number of people affected was around a third, or 30 percent, of those questioned. The lowest was in Spain at 11 percent. The astonishing discrepancy between parceived pain level between countries indicates that mental and psychological issues also play an important role. And dare I be so bold as to suggest a link to an earlier study I wrote about here, saying Norwegians are also among the worst complainers in Europe, despite living in the richest country with an extensive welfare state and having some of the best health in the world. There is a possible caveat to the study. The average age of the polled were fifty, and only adults were asked. So it is not correct at any rate to say this applies to a fifth (or third) of the whole population. Older people would have much more severe and painful health problems than the average. I'd like to know if the age breakdown was the same for all countries, and whether there was a representative collection. The study was, after all, sponsored by the analgesic company Mundipharma. PS: BBC, generally of the better news sources for science and health news, has some different perspectives on the same study. 3:21:12 PM    comment []  trackback []

Microbes make short work of uranium contamination A team led by Robert Anderson, of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is proposing a new solution to nuclear waste: bacteria. Geobacter are known for consuming iron, but it has been proven that they can also be persuaded to make uranium part of their diet. "This is a major step," agrees Jonathan Istok of Oregon State University in Corvallis, who has had similar success in using microbes to mop up both uranium and another element, technetium. "We're pretty close to being able to apply this to the real world," he says. How about dropping some of these on Iran? 2:01:26 PM    comment []  trackback []

Scottish culture "a result of British empire" Professor Tom Devine, director of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at Aberdeen University, argues that everything perceived as Scottish culture, including tartan and kilts, was the product of a "wealthy elite" who needed to create a Scottish identity and culture that was not threatening to the unity of the British empire. "My basic thesis is that modern Scotland is a product of Empire," said Prof Devine. "Every nook and cranny of Scottish life, from culture to identity, from economy to politics was shaped by this experience of Empire." His argument will be laid out in the book Scotland's Empire 1600-1815, to be released later this month. I think it will rile up a few people. 11:03:12 AM    comment []  trackback []

War on terror, the early days Speaking of history, more recent this time, here is a good, detailed article about the 1976 raid on Entebbe by the IDF. One lesson from that ordeal is that it is imperative to ensure that terrorists not have safe havens in sovereign countries where they can feel safe, regroup, reequip and, in that case, hold hostages. 2:01:36 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.11.2003; 03:19:27.