 |
| Playing your 100th starts with a single step ------------------------------------ For information about Barnaby's motivational speaking, go to: http://www.barnabyhowarth.com.au/ |
Thursday 30 May 2013
SPECIAL EDITION - THE COMEBACK
German coffee shop charging by the hour
An entrepeneur in Wiesbaden, Germany is trying to help the world take a deep breath and slow down. Instead of charging for coffee, a local cafe is charging for time.
A morning coffee is usually associated with the hustle and bustle of workers in suits trying to get their caffeine hit before getting to work, but the Slow Time Cafe is trying to break that mould. When customers enter the cafe, they are given a wristband with the time, and charged €2.00 (about $2.69), which covers the first half hour. Then, they are charged €0.05 per minute (6 cents), or €3.00 per hour ($4.00). They are allowed to have as much coffee as they want, and can bring in their own food.
Russian owner Daria Volkova, purposely sets the clocks in the cafe to different times -- she wants people to stop focusing on the time and instead focus on their surroundings. Books, board games and even slippers are provided.
Volkova's decision to try something new with her business was brave, but is yet to pay off. The Slow Time Cafe has yet to break even, although it has only been open since April, so there's still time to turn fortunes around. If that doesn't happen and the cafe grinds to a halt, Daria Volkova can still be proud to say she gave it a crack, and she can sleep well knowing that she's living a life of "oh wells", not a life of "what ifs"
A morning coffee is usually associated with the hustle and bustle of workers in suits trying to get their caffeine hit before getting to work, but the Slow Time Cafe is trying to break that mould. When customers enter the cafe, they are given a wristband with the time, and charged €2.00 (about $2.69), which covers the first half hour. Then, they are charged €0.05 per minute (6 cents), or €3.00 per hour ($4.00). They are allowed to have as much coffee as they want, and can bring in their own food.
Russian owner Daria Volkova, purposely sets the clocks in the cafe to different times -- she wants people to stop focusing on the time and instead focus on their surroundings. Books, board games and even slippers are provided.
Volkova's decision to try something new with her business was brave, but is yet to pay off. The Slow Time Cafe has yet to break even, although it has only been open since April, so there's still time to turn fortunes around. If that doesn't happen and the cafe grinds to a halt, Daria Volkova can still be proud to say she gave it a crack, and she can sleep well knowing that she's living a life of "oh wells", not a life of "what ifs"
Monday 27 May 2013
Is a state of mind is a mental illness? PART 2
CONT'D FROM THURSDAY ...
Putting the interest of drug company's bottom lines in front of patient welfare isn't new for ‘Big Pharma.’ Between 1994 and 2005, large pharmaceutical companies spent over $1.3 billion on lobbying politicians in the United States.
It's been said that if drug companies can use their influence to convince you that a state of mind is a mental illness, they can sell you something to make it better.
It's not just bean counters who think the report doesn't add up, over 10,000 mental health professionals, including an author of DSM-4 and a psychiatrist with 45 years’ experience, have signed a letter against DSM-5.
In Australia, Youth Mental Health advocate Patrick McGorry has described the revision as little more than incremental and desultory change.
"It's a bit of fine tuning around the edges of a classification system that's been in place for a hundred years in some respects," he said. "Just a label like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is not sufficient to actually define treatment selections, so we've got to know what stage the illness is at."
So if you're feeling flat, fed up, filthy, or just a bit funny, chances are your condition can now be diagnosed, a drug prescribed to treat it, and you can go back to being classified as "normal."
Putting the interest of drug company's bottom lines in front of patient welfare isn't new for ‘Big Pharma.’ Between 1994 and 2005, large pharmaceutical companies spent over $1.3 billion on lobbying politicians in the United States.
It's been said that if drug companies can use their influence to convince you that a state of mind is a mental illness, they can sell you something to make it better.
It's not just bean counters who think the report doesn't add up, over 10,000 mental health professionals, including an author of DSM-4 and a psychiatrist with 45 years’ experience, have signed a letter against DSM-5.
In Australia, Youth Mental Health advocate Patrick McGorry has described the revision as little more than incremental and desultory change.
"It's a bit of fine tuning around the edges of a classification system that's been in place for a hundred years in some respects," he said. "Just a label like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is not sufficient to actually define treatment selections, so we've got to know what stage the illness is at."
So if you're feeling flat, fed up, filthy, or just a bit funny, chances are your condition can now be diagnosed, a drug prescribed to treat it, and you can go back to being classified as "normal."
Thursday 23 May 2013
Is a state of mind is a mental illness? PART 1
If irony were a strawberry, we'd all be eating a lot of smoothies right now. The fitfth edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was released last Friday in an attempt to clear up the increasingly complex field of mental illness, but rather than clear the waters, the DSM may have made them murkier.
The $25 million revision happens only once in a generation and comes after nearly two decades of debate, deliberation and change in clinical practice.
The manual is produced as a diagnostic tool for American psychiatrists, helping them to diagnose and treat their patients, but it is also used by clinicians around the world. In the latest edition (DSM-5), any patient's vague feeling of "offishness" can now be diangnosed, and a drug prescribed to treat it. The new additions of diagnosable mental illness include ‘Oppositional Defiant Disorder’ (when a child repeatedly says ‘No’ and acts defiantly), ‘Major Depressive Disorder’ (the experience of grieving) and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (temper tantrums).
Richard Bryant, a scientia professor in psychology at the University of New South Wales, highlights how the latest report makes an area of medicine that should be completely unambiguous and devoid of personal interpretation, more confusing.
"In the previous edition, we had 70,000 different ways a disorder could actually present itself," he said. "In the new edition, there's 600,000 ways that the disorder can present."
The DSM panelists responsible for the huge increase in diagnosable illnesses where drugs are the first line of treatment have strong links to the companies who make those drugs. Two-thirds of the mood disorders panel, 83 per cent of the psychotic disorders panel and 100 per cent of the sleep disorders panel disclosed “ties to the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the medications used to treat these disorders or to companies that service the pharmaceutical industry.”...
CONT''D ON MONDAY...
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was released last Friday in an attempt to clear up the increasingly complex field of mental illness, but rather than clear the waters, the DSM may have made them murkier.
The $25 million revision happens only once in a generation and comes after nearly two decades of debate, deliberation and change in clinical practice.
The manual is produced as a diagnostic tool for American psychiatrists, helping them to diagnose and treat their patients, but it is also used by clinicians around the world. In the latest edition (DSM-5), any patient's vague feeling of "offishness" can now be diangnosed, and a drug prescribed to treat it. The new additions of diagnosable mental illness include ‘Oppositional Defiant Disorder’ (when a child repeatedly says ‘No’ and acts defiantly), ‘Major Depressive Disorder’ (the experience of grieving) and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (temper tantrums).
Richard Bryant, a scientia professor in psychology at the University of New South Wales, highlights how the latest report makes an area of medicine that should be completely unambiguous and devoid of personal interpretation, more confusing.
"In the previous edition, we had 70,000 different ways a disorder could actually present itself," he said. "In the new edition, there's 600,000 ways that the disorder can present."
The DSM panelists responsible for the huge increase in diagnosable illnesses where drugs are the first line of treatment have strong links to the companies who make those drugs. Two-thirds of the mood disorders panel, 83 per cent of the psychotic disorders panel and 100 per cent of the sleep disorders panel disclosed “ties to the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the medications used to treat these disorders or to companies that service the pharmaceutical industry.”...
CONT''D ON MONDAY...
Monday 20 May 2013
F#*k it
As a new business owner, I've been confused as to which business philosophy I should use to run my venture, but no existing theory fits the bill I want to apply, so I've decided to adopt a philosophy I co-invented in high school:
"Fuck it"
This philosophy was revolutionary for my mate, Boof and I. The principles are simple-if you're scared or hurting or you're just not sure whether what you're doing will work, you just say "F#*k," you do it anyway, and hope everything works out for you. If you're doing a fitness test, and you're up to level 12 and feel like you're legs are about to give out because you're spent, if you want to make it to level 13 you just say "F#*k it," and keep going until your legs actually do give out on you.
If you get home from school and you've got homework to do but you just couldn't be bothered, just say "F#*k it," go and get your homework done then go and watch TV guilt free.
If you have a presentation to give at work but you're nervous, say "F#*k it," the worst thing that will happen if you forget your lines or look stupid is that someone might not be interested.
I had my own "F#*k it" moment this morning - I delivered my first official speech at Liverpool Boys High School and I had that pit of your stomach nervousness where you feel like you're WAY out of your depth, but when the student introduced me and gave me the microphone, I said to myself "F#*k it. You've got this."
At the end of the speech I was pretty happy that I'd done a good job, but a teacher confirmed not just that my speech was well received, but that my philosophy worked, when he came up to me after assembly and said "I've been working at this school for 30 years, and that was one of the best presentations I've heard."
I don't know if starting a business is a good idea right now, I don't know if I'll forget my lines and freeze on stage one day, I don't know if swearing in a blog is completely unprofessional, but fuck it, I'll do it anyway, and hope everything works out.
"Fuck it"
This philosophy was revolutionary for my mate, Boof and I. The principles are simple-if you're scared or hurting or you're just not sure whether what you're doing will work, you just say "F#*k," you do it anyway, and hope everything works out for you. If you're doing a fitness test, and you're up to level 12 and feel like you're legs are about to give out because you're spent, if you want to make it to level 13 you just say "F#*k it," and keep going until your legs actually do give out on you.
If you get home from school and you've got homework to do but you just couldn't be bothered, just say "F#*k it," go and get your homework done then go and watch TV guilt free.
If you have a presentation to give at work but you're nervous, say "F#*k it," the worst thing that will happen if you forget your lines or look stupid is that someone might not be interested.
I had my own "F#*k it" moment this morning - I delivered my first official speech at Liverpool Boys High School and I had that pit of your stomach nervousness where you feel like you're WAY out of your depth, but when the student introduced me and gave me the microphone, I said to myself "F#*k it. You've got this."
At the end of the speech I was pretty happy that I'd done a good job, but a teacher confirmed not just that my speech was well received, but that my philosophy worked, when he came up to me after assembly and said "I've been working at this school for 30 years, and that was one of the best presentations I've heard."
I don't know if starting a business is a good idea right now, I don't know if I'll forget my lines and freeze on stage one day, I don't know if swearing in a blog is completely unprofessional, but fuck it, I'll do it anyway, and hope everything works out.
Friday 17 May 2013
Billion year old water found in Canada
A pocket of water older than multicellular life has been discovered in a mine 2.4 kilometres below the Earth's surface in the city of Timmins in Ontario, Canada.
In a reminder of how priveledged we are to live in this age of scientific discovery, the water is between 1.5 and 2.6 billion years old, and it has geoscientist Barbara Sherwood Lollar and her colleagues from the University of Toronto who made the discovery excited.
"It was absolutely mind-blowing," she said.
The discovery came about thanks to the human thirst for money more than the human thirst for knowledge.
"As the prices of copper, zinc and gold have gone up, mines now go deeper, which has helped our search for long-isolated reservoirs of water hidden underground," Sherwood Lollar said.
The ancient resivoir raises the possibility that life might be found deep underground. Water can flow into fractures in rocks and become isolated deep in the crust for many years, serving as a time capsule of what their environments were like at the time they were sealed off, and by analyzing the ratios of gases seen in this water, the researchers could deduce it's age.
The water poured out of the boreholes the team drilled in the mine at the rate of nearly 2 liters per minute. It remains uncertain precisely how large this reservoir of water is.
-
In a reminder of how priveledged we are to live in this age of scientific discovery, the water is between 1.5 and 2.6 billion years old, and it has geoscientist Barbara Sherwood Lollar and her colleagues from the University of Toronto who made the discovery excited.
"It was absolutely mind-blowing," she said.
The discovery came about thanks to the human thirst for money more than the human thirst for knowledge.
"As the prices of copper, zinc and gold have gone up, mines now go deeper, which has helped our search for long-isolated reservoirs of water hidden underground," Sherwood Lollar said.
The ancient resivoir raises the possibility that life might be found deep underground. Water can flow into fractures in rocks and become isolated deep in the crust for many years, serving as a time capsule of what their environments were like at the time they were sealed off, and by analyzing the ratios of gases seen in this water, the researchers could deduce it's age.
The water poured out of the boreholes the team drilled in the mine at the rate of nearly 2 liters per minute. It remains uncertain precisely how large this reservoir of water is.
-
Thursday 16 May 2013
Have you packed your socks Lin?
Guangzhou Evergrande were forced to start their Asian Champions League game against the Central Coast Mariners one man short, after a player was sent from the pitch because he was wearing non-sanctioned socks.
Guangzhou forward Gao Lin's red socks had a rogue white strip and the referee asked him to change them, and then started the game while he was carrying out the the referee's orders. Despite the distraction, Guangzhou went on to beat the Mariners 2-1 in Gosford.
A sock-related incident is unfathomable when talking about Guangzhou, a team worth more than the entire A-League combined. Their budget surpassed the Mariners by $38 million, and the entire Central Coast squad earns roughly a fifth of the annual salary of Guangzhou midfielder Dario Conca.
The match was a last 16 fixture of the Asian Champions League, and the smallest club in the tournament now need to overcome the loss of two away goals in next week's return leg.
Guangzhou forward Gao Lin's red socks had a rogue white strip and the referee asked him to change them, and then started the game while he was carrying out the the referee's orders. Despite the distraction, Guangzhou went on to beat the Mariners 2-1 in Gosford.
A sock-related incident is unfathomable when talking about Guangzhou, a team worth more than the entire A-League combined. Their budget surpassed the Mariners by $38 million, and the entire Central Coast squad earns roughly a fifth of the annual salary of Guangzhou midfielder Dario Conca.
The match was a last 16 fixture of the Asian Champions League, and the smallest club in the tournament now need to overcome the loss of two away goals in next week's return leg.
Monday 13 May 2013
Q: Did you hear about the guy who lost his left arm in an industrial accident?
A: He's all right now.
The 37-year-old Hungarian man sliced off his arm below the elbow, but he was able to retrieve the limb from the machinery that sliced it off and drove from Purbach in eastern Austria to the casualty department in nearby Eisenstadt.
Police say the only reason he did not bleed to death was because he was in shock.
The man was flown to a Vienna hospital, where doctors were working to re-attach the arm.
An Austrian man drive 15 kilometres to hospital holding his severed arm after accidently sawing it off, Austrian police said on Sunday.
Police say the only reason he did not bleed to death was because he was in shock.
The man was flown to a Vienna hospital, where doctors were working to re-attach the arm.
Sunday 12 May 2013
Blog 44
The significance of today's blog (#44) is so huge for me, I'm simply using today's blog to invite people to the footy.
The origins of my love of #44 goes all the way back to circa 1994 when Dwayne "the D-Train" McClain was dominating for the Sydney Kings as the best one on one basketballer in the NBL, and at the same time I was playing my 150th game of Aussie Rules for the Pennant Hills juniors. As recognition of the achievement we were given a commemorative guernsey, and when my Dad asked me what number I wanted on the back I looked at him as if it was the dumbest question ever asked, and said "44" - and every game I've played for Pennant Hills since that day has been in number 44.
My love of the Pennant Hills Football Club and for Sydney Football in general goes a lot further than just the number 44 however - the friendships I formed in my time as a Demon have helped me bounce back from a stroke enough that I started writing a blog, which is about to reach it's 50th edition. To mark my 50th, I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than spending a day at the footy.
So on Saturday, May 25, come and watch the Pennant Hills Demons take on the Sydney Hills Eagles at Mike Kenny Oval, Cherrybrook, where I will be handing out my 50th edition blog (which will only be available at the game, it won't be published online.) After the game I will be delivering a speech back at the West Pennant Hills Sports Club about what friendships have meant to me over the years.
Details of the day can be found at: http://barnabyhowarth.com.au/events
So come and help #44 celebrate #50.
The origins of my love of #44 goes all the way back to circa 1994 when Dwayne "the D-Train" McClain was dominating for the Sydney Kings as the best one on one basketballer in the NBL, and at the same time I was playing my 150th game of Aussie Rules for the Pennant Hills juniors. As recognition of the achievement we were given a commemorative guernsey, and when my Dad asked me what number I wanted on the back I looked at him as if it was the dumbest question ever asked, and said "44" - and every game I've played for Pennant Hills since that day has been in number 44.
My love of the Pennant Hills Football Club and for Sydney Football in general goes a lot further than just the number 44 however - the friendships I formed in my time as a Demon have helped me bounce back from a stroke enough that I started writing a blog, which is about to reach it's 50th edition. To mark my 50th, I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than spending a day at the footy.
So on Saturday, May 25, come and watch the Pennant Hills Demons take on the Sydney Hills Eagles at Mike Kenny Oval, Cherrybrook, where I will be handing out my 50th edition blog (which will only be available at the game, it won't be published online.) After the game I will be delivering a speech back at the West Pennant Hills Sports Club about what friendships have meant to me over the years.
Details of the day can be found at: http://barnabyhowarth.com.au/events
So come and help #44 celebrate #50.
Thursday 9 May 2013
Hacking for good, not evil
Earlier this week, US security researchers hacked into one of Google's Australian offices but they insist they were trying to help, not hurt.
California-based Cylance security hacked into the building management system (BMS) of Google's Sydney Wharf 7 office, allowing them to take over the building's air conditioning, and their research also found vulnerabilities in hundreds of other buildings in Australia including hospitals, banks and government. The researchers say they have built up a database of 25,000 buildings around the world that are at risk - hundreds of which are in Australia.
Cylance researchers Billy Rios and Terry McCorkle assure the company's whose cyber security flaws have been exposed, that they are simply provoding a service.
Cylance aren't the only "white hat" hackers who are thwarting criminal attacks before they can be launched, CORE Security, is a Boston-based operation who try to predict what cybercriminals will do next and put measures in place for companies or government agencies to stop them.
CORE chief executive Mark Hatton believes what his company does is like a company health check.
"It's sort of like an MRI that helps you see inside a body. We are looking inside systems for potential problems and where an attack could happen," Hatton said. "It's a controlled way of looking at what a hacker would do."
Hiring white hat hackers might be as tough a process as recruiting an international security operative. When asked if he has ever considered flipping a bad guy into a white-hat hacker for CORE, he doesn't think he would take the risk.
"No," Hatton says. "As soon as someone has emotionally agreed to apply their skills in an unlawful way then that is not someone we would trust being on the good-guy side. What I've learned is that you've got to hire people that are really good at what they do — and then you've got to let them do it, I have to trust that they are choosing the right path."
So owners of large company's can sleep easy, e-Batman is out there #keeping the streets clean.
Monday 6 May 2013
Swede honoured for showing what it is to be Australian
Australia granted it's first "honorary citizenship" today to a Swedish man who saved the lives of 100 000 Jews during the Holocaust.
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat working in Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II. He provided false Swedish identity documents and shelter for Hungarian Jews who we're targets for the Nazis for concentration camps. He was granted posthumous citizenship, as his action during the second world war, where he literally pulled Jews off trains bound for camps such as Auschwitz and produced fake Swedish documents to ward off SS guards, are said to be the kind of traits that our nation is built on.
"We're not just honouring the late Raoul Wallenberg as a man who was brave and who faced down incredible evil, I think we're also saying something about who we are as a nation... that the qualities of courage, compassion and basic human decency are the very qualities by which we define our own national character at its best," Peter Wertheim from the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry said.
If we all share traits possessed by Wallenberg, it is us who should feel privileged to share a nationality with him.
Professor Frank Vajda is a Melbourne neurologist who owes his life to Mr Wallenberg.
Professor Vajda and his mother were lined up with about 30 others to be shot by the Nazi-aligned Arrow Cross fascists for taking off their star of David that identified them as Jews.
He was nine years old at the time
"They all laughed at us..." Vadja recounts, "we were marched about 600 yards down the street to a military barracks, lined up in front of a machine gun in front of a wall.
"Suddenly civilians arrived and we were told it was Wallenberg.
"Then the atmosphere changed and we were taken back to a protected house. Everyone looked at us as though we had come back from the grave. It was really unbelievable."
Australia is following the US, Canada, Israel and Hungary in conferring honorary citizenship on Mr Wallenberg.
Circumstances surrounding Wallenberg's death remain a mystery. He disappeared in 1945 when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary, and is believed to have died in prison.
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat working in Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II. He provided false Swedish identity documents and shelter for Hungarian Jews who we're targets for the Nazis for concentration camps. He was granted posthumous citizenship, as his action during the second world war, where he literally pulled Jews off trains bound for camps such as Auschwitz and produced fake Swedish documents to ward off SS guards, are said to be the kind of traits that our nation is built on.
"We're not just honouring the late Raoul Wallenberg as a man who was brave and who faced down incredible evil, I think we're also saying something about who we are as a nation... that the qualities of courage, compassion and basic human decency are the very qualities by which we define our own national character at its best," Peter Wertheim from the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry said.
If we all share traits possessed by Wallenberg, it is us who should feel privileged to share a nationality with him.
Professor Frank Vajda is a Melbourne neurologist who owes his life to Mr Wallenberg.
Professor Vajda and his mother were lined up with about 30 others to be shot by the Nazi-aligned Arrow Cross fascists for taking off their star of David that identified them as Jews.
He was nine years old at the time
"They all laughed at us..." Vadja recounts, "we were marched about 600 yards down the street to a military barracks, lined up in front of a machine gun in front of a wall.
"Suddenly civilians arrived and we were told it was Wallenberg.
"Then the atmosphere changed and we were taken back to a protected house. Everyone looked at us as though we had come back from the grave. It was really unbelievable."
Australia is following the US, Canada, Israel and Hungary in conferring honorary citizenship on Mr Wallenberg.
Circumstances surrounding Wallenberg's death remain a mystery. He disappeared in 1945 when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary, and is believed to have died in prison.
Thursday 2 May 2013
Decisions, decisions
Decisions can be good or bad, cruel or kind, weird or funny. They can also be rash and illogical, or carefully thought through and well considered. This week some of the cruellest, funniest and kindest decisions have been made that have changed people's lives for good and bad.
In New Zealand this week, the The Department of Internal Affairs made a decision that protects children feom their parents bad decisions with the issue of a list of 77 banned baby names. This list came into being partly in response to 2 sets of Kiwi parents naming their children Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii, and Superman. If other parents were allowed to go ahead with their bad decisions, there would be citizens walking the streets of New Zealand named Anal, V8, 89, Mafia No Fear, Lucifer, full stop and *.
A rash, illogical decision made at a South Australian country football Grand Final has left an umpire with little trust in people and he now struggles to go out in public. During the 3/4 time break, with ten beers under his belt, and being told by a mate that "Someone should have a go" at the umpire, Jeffrey John Hunter walked to the middle of the ground and king-hit umpire Paul Fitzgerald, leaving him with a cut eye, fractured eye socket and a fractured nose.
Mr Fitzgerald, who said he would never umpire again, had more surgery on Wednesday for his injuries. He said he lost seven kilograms due to medication he was put on, which made him vomit, and that he could no longer run as it caused sharp pain in his face and his vision from his right eye was now limited.
Thankfully there are people out there who are making good decisions that make the world a better place.Cafe owners around the world are selling "suspended coffees" to customers who want to make a practical difference. Suspended coffees started in Naples, Italy and have been reported as far afield as Russia, Quebec and Australia.
A suspended coffee is one that is paid for by an everyday customer with some spare coins in their pocket, and later claimed as a "freebie" by someone who is down on their luck and needs a hot drink
Decisions can be made in the heat of the moment with little thought to the consequences, but these stories show that our own personal choices can have an impact on the people around us. So as everyday decision makers, we have a lot of power to make people's lives better or worse.
But with great power comes great responsibility.
In New Zealand this week, the The Department of Internal Affairs made a decision that protects children feom their parents bad decisions with the issue of a list of 77 banned baby names. This list came into being partly in response to 2 sets of Kiwi parents naming their children Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii, and Superman. If other parents were allowed to go ahead with their bad decisions, there would be citizens walking the streets of New Zealand named Anal, V8, 89, Mafia No Fear, Lucifer, full stop and *.
A rash, illogical decision made at a South Australian country football Grand Final has left an umpire with little trust in people and he now struggles to go out in public. During the 3/4 time break, with ten beers under his belt, and being told by a mate that "Someone should have a go" at the umpire, Jeffrey John Hunter walked to the middle of the ground and king-hit umpire Paul Fitzgerald, leaving him with a cut eye, fractured eye socket and a fractured nose.
Mr Fitzgerald, who said he would never umpire again, had more surgery on Wednesday for his injuries. He said he lost seven kilograms due to medication he was put on, which made him vomit, and that he could no longer run as it caused sharp pain in his face and his vision from his right eye was now limited.
Thankfully there are people out there who are making good decisions that make the world a better place.Cafe owners around the world are selling "suspended coffees" to customers who want to make a practical difference. Suspended coffees started in Naples, Italy and have been reported as far afield as Russia, Quebec and Australia.
A suspended coffee is one that is paid for by an everyday customer with some spare coins in their pocket, and later claimed as a "freebie" by someone who is down on their luck and needs a hot drink
Decisions can be made in the heat of the moment with little thought to the consequences, but these stories show that our own personal choices can have an impact on the people around us. So as everyday decision makers, we have a lot of power to make people's lives better or worse.
But with great power comes great responsibility.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)