A Matter of Perspective.

Here's a little story I heard from a friend and would like to share with you all.

One day a father and his rich family took his young son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip the father asked his son,

"How was the trip?"

"Very good, Dad!"

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Yeah!"

"And what did you learn?"

The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon.

When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless.

His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are!"

Well, talk about looking at things from a new angle, huh? Just goes to show you: The grass always looks greener on the other side. Live, Learn, and Love! ;)

The Issue of National Stability

A recent interesting study titled "The Failed States Index 2007" was released by The Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy magazine. The study ranks 177 nations based on 12 political, economic, military, and social indicators of instability. The 12 factors are: Demographic Pressures, Refugees and Displaced Persons, Group Grievance, Human Flight, Uneven Development, Economy, Delegitimization of State, Public Services, Human Rights, Security Apparatus, Factionalized Elites, and External Intervention. Each indicator is ranked from a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most unstable. Hence, the more unstable a country, the higher the score it receives and the higher it is ranked. Here is the Map of Stability (or Instability):

Source: Foreign Policy

As suggested by the legend, countries in red are in critical condition, countries in orange are in danger, countries in yellow are borderline, countries in light green are stable, and countries in dark green are most stable. So, now come the questions many of you will be pondering: Which country is the least stable? Which is the most stable? Well take a few guesses before you read on. Ok, ready for the answers?

The top ten ranked countries (or least stable) in order from one to ten are Sudan, Iraq, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Chad, Ivory Coast, Dem. Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Guinea, and Central African Republic. The ten countries at the bottom of the list (or most stable) in order from the absolute bottom are: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Iceland, Denmark, Australia, and Canada. This means that Sudan is the most unstable country in the world and Norway is the most stable. The United States just makes the bottom 20 and is ranked at 160.

It can also be seen that most unstable countries lie in Africa and the most stable countries lie in Europe and rarely ever make the news. Sudan's conflict in terms of Darfur is amongst the most tragic situations in the world. A recent movie "Blood Diamond" showed some of the tragedies occurring in Sierra Leone. Although the movie is fictional, it does a good job of depicting the troubles shadowing the African continent. It also signals to me the failure of the United Nations and other nations to step up to the situation.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

There are, of course, some improvements worth noting. Countries such as Liberia, Indonesia, Dem. Republic of Congo, and Bosnia have improved by 4 or greater index points. India has moved from a ranking of 93 to 110 in its 60th year of independence. The move likely results from a soaring economy to a deescalation of conflicts since the Kargil War. However, it is surrounded by some of the most unstable nations in the world; the include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

For those of you interested further in the study, the full list of rankings can be found here. Also, a detailed analysis and some FAQ on various matters, including methodology, are provided in the Foreign Policy.

Ah, Summer Time...

Hola folks. It seems I was unable to post on a consistent basis once school started after last summer. I apologize to any of the readers who had come to expect regular postings and to those whose comments to which I failed to respond. Nevertheless, it's summer time and I'm baaaaaaack. I hope to continue beyond summer this time around. Hopefully, any former and future readers will find the postings stimulating or interesting regardless of whether the topic is educational or recreational. Yes, it's still all about living, learning, and loving! I urge all readers to leave comments and share your thoughts regarding the various posts.

So I shall begin with an article titled The RNA revolution: Biology's Big Bang, which is on the front page of The Economist. The article emphasizes the importance of RNA to field of Biology. For all the talk of DNA and cloning we hear of, the article shows the importance of RNA in medicine. It draws an analogy between the changes the discovery of the neutron brought forth for the field of Physics in the 20th century and how RNA will transform the field of Biology in the 21st century. I will not bother to recap the article as you can all read it for yourself but that's about the gist of it.

Source: The Cell Nucleus.

The picture above shows the Central Dogma in Biology. According to this, DNA is transcribed into RNA (in a process called transcription) and RNA is translated into protein (in a process called translation). The article struck me particularly with the fact how much DNA and cloning are emphasized in the popular culture when its during the transcription process where the cell controls and regulates its behavior. It is after all the RNA transcript which allows the necessary protein to be made in the cell and whose creation is regulated to allow the cell to operate over its lifetime. DNA replication or cloning only allows another DNA to be made and preserved, but it is RNA which allows it to be expressed. Not having RNA is comparable to having a small boat while being deserted in the middle of the ocean without oars!