That was funny. I approve!

;o)

The best stats were how far inland salinisation of the water table is moving and how that is happening and with current global warming trends by 2030 it will not exist.

That’s what? >120 million people with nowhere to go but perhaps India?

Yeah right.

No significant obesity problems foreseen in the near future?

Someone give me the (substantial and real) good news about East Africa please. Don’t talk about debt relief. $100 a barrel of oil has already rendered that initiative worthless.

But where would the fun be in that??!!!

Seems there’s no end to the disaster areas of the world and it’s getting worse slowly but surely in most of them.

Here’s for a happy 2008, and God Speed to anyone finding themselves in the above locations.

Instability has a number of (increasing) factors, such as climate, food as well as the usual political and economic problems, not to mention shifts in demographic patterns (refugees) causing potential areas of conflict.

The CAR in Africa also promises more action in the year ahead. Anyone up for a trip to Bangui? And what about Nigeria? That country should have broken up into constituent states ages ago.

You should do a feature listing potential flashpoints by religion, resources, climate, politics and demographics.

If it’s the most dangerous, then as I alluded to, there are a few neighborhoods in Philadelphia and several other American cities where your chances of being mugged approach 100%. At the height of the last civil war, there were more murders in Philadelphia than there were casualties Lebanon.

If it’s the most expensive, then keep in mind that a single scoop of vanilla ice cream will cost you about US$15 at the Imperial Hotel in downtown Tokyo, and each pair of socks you send to the laundry will cost you about $9. In contrast, that sort of money will go a long ways in each of the countries you listed.

If it’s the weather, then I was in Athens this summer when the temperatures went above 112F, and in Maine last winter when the temperatures went below -20F. I suppose there are places that are even worse, but I don’t see any of them on your list.

If it’s traffic, then none of your countries have a city that would qualify for a top-10 rating. Ditto for parking. That might be LA or London, but no doubt the competition in this category would be fierce in free and fair election.

If it’s the food, then none of your nominations would make the top 100, much less the top 10. Some people might claim the worst food is found in the northern countries that ring the Artic Circle, but I think it would be a toss up between Mongolia and my wife’s kitchen.

You certainly weren’t thinking about site seeing, since Pagan on the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar is even more fascinating than Siem Reap, the ziggurats of Mesopotamia are worth a trip to Iraq, Khartum is at the junction of the two most awesome rivers in Africa, etc.

These sorts of chaotic ideas could partially explain why medical writing is so formulaic, and always starts by defining the subject and the characteristics that make it up as concretely as possible. Next year, you might want to consider starting with a list of criteria instead of places. You could then ask people to select the top-10 destinations much like people elect politicians at a caucus in Iowa. There, each citizen is required to declare whom they support and give the reasons why. If no consensus is reached on the first round, then the process is repeated, with people expected to explain the criteria by which they shifted their support to their second choice. At the end of the night, the process leaves something everyone agrees to, even if nobody really likes it. Paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson, it might be the worst way to make a list, but there’s probably not a better way.

Good luck in 2008.

Moz