You Can't Coach That

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Whenever the issue of speed cameras on our roads is discussed the debate often centres around whether these devices are an effective way to save lives or whether speed reduction is just a by-product of the revenue raised for the government coffers. I am no expert in this area but I do find it interesting that speed cameras are often placed on what I would consider quite safe stretches of road.

Binge drinking amongst young people has everyones’ attention in Australia at the moment, especially excessive drinking by young women. As a high school teacher and father of two daughters, this is something that I find quite worrying and I applaud all efforts to deal with the problem. Of course my applause is louder for some initiatives than others. The government’s chief response at the moment appears to be an increase in taxes on pre-mixed drinks or so-called “alcopops”. Yes these drinks are marketed primarily at young women but does the government really think that an increase in the price of one type of alcohol product is going to significantly impact on the amount being consumed by these young people? There are numerous alternatives to these pre-mixed drinks and the teenagers I talk to support the argument that this measure will be ineffective in making them reconsider their drinking habits.

So what’s the common theme here? It is a win-win situation for the government. They can tell the electorate that they are getting tough on speeding and binge drinking. The evidence is there for all to see, splashed across every newspaper front page - too bad the evidence showing the effectiveness or otherwise of these programs is harder to find. At the same time, significant revenue is being raised regardless of the effectiveness of the initiatives themselves. And what happens to the revenue? It’s spent on roads and alcohol education of course - yeh right!

“You can’t coach that”

Saturday, April 19, 2008

When are we going to to wake up to the nonsense about sporting stars being role models. The only relevant thing they should be modeling to young people is their ability to play the game (or swim the race etc) and, as an extension of that, how to conduct oneself on the sporting arena.

Where is it written that a good footballer is automatically going to be someone of good character? Players are selected based on their ability to play the game, not on whether they are going to behave like good role models away from it. Players should be held accountable for their conduct on the field, their behaviour off the field should be judged according to the same criteria as the general public. If I get caught drink driving on my way home from work next week then I would be a bloody idiot and an appalling role model for children. This wouldn’t however place my job in jeopardy and I wouldn’t fined by my employer. Yet this is precisely the position many athletes find themselves in.

Many would disagree with what I have said here, and I can see that they may have a point. How can we not expect children to look up to the sporting stars that they worship on TV? By definition, if a children try to emulate their heroes then that footballer, swimmer or athlete is going to be a role model.

The key to my argument is parents. It is parents who have the capacity to be the most significant influence on children and their behaviour, for good or bad. Parents should be able to provide a filter through which children see the behaviour of the favourite sporting stars. Let parents be role models for children. Let sportsmen and women be the models that inspire sporting prowess.

“You can’t coach that”

Sunday, April 13, 2008

While I tend to support the protests against China’s treatment of Tibet, I do so from a relatively uninformed position. Therefore I do not feel qualified to comment on the specifics of what is going on. What I can say is that the time to use the Olympic Games as a forum for protest appears to be past. Where was the outcry when China was awarded the games in the first place? Where was the protest when it was announced that China was nominating for the games? Let the Olympics proceed in a peaceful setting (if possible) with peaceful protests if necessary.

“You can’t coach that”

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Australia is currently hosting the Indian and Sri Lankan cricket teams during a summer that has seen it’s fair share of controversy. One Sri Lankan player who seems to be always ready to complain about how poorly we Australians treat him is Muttiah Muralidaran, the current world record holder for the most dismissals in test match cricket. True to form, Muralidaran (Murali) has recently claimed to be the target of an egg throwing attack. According to the cricket players and establishment of the sub-continent countries (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan), Australia is a racist country and I am sure this latest incident to befall the great “Murali” will only reinforce this notion. After all, our local crowds yell abuse at the opposition team and a small minority do yell racially based comments. This of course doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world - yer right!

So someone throws an egg at a group of Sri Lankan cricketers. The shrapnel wounds from the flying egg shell were I am sure devastating. The Sri Lankans must be eager to return home where it is only bombs and bullets that you have to be worried about.

Oh shit, I think I have just been racist - sorry Murali.

“You can’t coach that”

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Trooper David Pearce was laid to rest today after a funeral service in Brisbane’s St Stephen’s Cathedral followed by a private family service. Trooper Pearce was killed serving in Afghanistan by a road side bomb. Like me, he was 41 years old and had a wife and two young daughters. My heart goes out to his family. All diggers serving overseas have my admiration and gratitude.

Australia is in the middle of a Federal election campaign at the moment. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition were at the service in Brisbane. I found myself feeling a little uncomfortable watching the evening news about an hour ago and seeing images of the Prime Minister warmly embracing Trooper Pearce’s wife. I am sure this was meant as a show of support and I hope Mrs Pearce found some comfort in this gesture but part of me doubts it.

Am I too cynical?

You can read the full story herehttp://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=70778

“You can’t coach that”

Friday, August 24, 2007

Put up your hand if you are sick of having to be politically correct. I know I am. Don’t get me wrong - I am not advocating that we should all go around saying anything we please without any regard for the feelings of others. People who hide behind grand statements such as “I always speak my mind” annoy me as much as having to be politically correct. What I am annoyed about is the way that informed and intelligent debate tends to be quashed on some subjects due to political correctness gone mad.

A case in point is the issue of global warming and climate change. I recently listened to a rather zealous young person give a presentation on this issue. She spoke intelligently and demonstrated an admirable degree of passion for her topic. She also had a wealth of information at her fingertips and she used this information to make a compelling case. What was also quite apparent to me was that she worships at the alter that is Al Gore’s ego. “An Inconvenient Truth” is in her mind a depiction of the second coming rather than an entertaining examination of a serious issue.

And so to my point about political correctness gone mad. It seems that if one tries to debate an issue such as climate change and question some of the “facts” used to demonstrate how quickly we are hurtling towards certain devastation, one is labeled an eco-terrorist. It seems that some people are so determined to show their support for the current hot topic that they are not prepared to discuss both sides of the issue.

“You can’t coach that”

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

I have been reading about dog training and dog psychology lately (who’d have thought there was such a thing as dog psychology?). The key message I have taken from this reading is that training a dog is more about modifying the behaviour of the human than that of the dog. The human must recognise why a dog behaves in a certain way and react accordingly.

While this has been useful for me as a relatively new dog owner, I am starting to see some benefits in this way of thinking when it comes to training 2 legged animals.

All too often I see people trying to impose their will on others when they want something done or want someone to behave in a certain way. Parents do this to their children, teachers do this to their students. We often don’t consider that our own behaviour and attitudes have an influence on others and the way they behave and act. Also, an often overlooked factor influencing actions and behaviours is the impact of person’s surroundings and environment.

If people spent as much time reflecting on their own actions and attitudes as they did trying to directly change those of others, the minefield of human relationships might be a little easier to navigate. We often do not stop to think about why someone is acting in a certain way. This should be the first step in bring about a change, be it for a four legged animal or two.

“You can’t coach that”

Sunday, July 22, 2007

There have been frequent news stories in my local print and electronic media lately about the shortage of qualified staff to operate CT scanning and other diagnostic medical equipment. Patients are being put at risk as they are forced to wait for scans to detect cancer which then delays commencement of their treatment.

A high profile footballer tears a hamstring during a Friday night game. Worried fans are given the bad news with their Saturday morning coffee after an overnight CT or MRI scan.

There is something not right here.

“You can’t coach that"Our

Sunday, July 15, 2007

The captain of the Australian Rugby League football team is struck down by a season ending knee injury. The fortunes of his club the Brisbane Broncos are likely to suffer in the second half of the season as they strive to defend the premiership they won last season.

A former club mate of the Australian captain and a former junior international representative for New Zealand takes his own life three weeks short of his 22nd birthday. Team mates describe him as the life of the party and say there was no indication of what was to come.

Kind of puts life and its troubles into perspective doesn’t it.

I applaud my local newspaper for running a two page story on this today (one of the only times I have appreciated much of what is written in the popular press lately).

Suicide claims more lives every year in Australia than road accidents. Governments spend millions of dollars on high profile initiatives to combat the road toll. In fact, as I write this I am watching a TV ad on the subject with the slogan “Enough is Enough”. This is a relatively safe problem to take on. After all if the road toll does not fall (and it won’t given the ever-increasing numbers of cars on the road) it can be blamed on motorists who fail to heed the much publicized warnings.

Mental health is a much more challenging problem to deal with. It is as neglected as the rest of our crumbling health system. I can recall several “road safety initiatives” being announced in the past year or so. I don’t recall similar initiatives in the area of mental health.

Suicide kills more Australians every year than road accidents. Males outnumber females in this statistic by 4 to 1. We need to take care of each other.

“You can’t coach that”

Monday, July 09, 2007

So apparently there was a concert to save the world. Dozens of international artists promoting themselves doing their bit to help end global warming. What a great idea, after all, there is no longer any poverty in Africa, famine has all but been eliminated and third world debt is a thing of the past. What’s that? We still have all those things? But didn’t we have world wide concerts to fight those things as well?

Raising awareness of a problem may be the first step in helping to fix that problem and it might make everyone feel good about themselves to say they support an issue and to show that support but the bottom line is that more is needed to actually “make a difference”. The bottom line when it comes to climate change is the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.

The modern, industrialized countries of the world can no doubt do more to minimize their use of fossil fuels. Car engines are becoming cleaner, coal fired power stations are likewise becoming cleaner. People can be encouraged to catch public transport instead of driving their cars to work.

In my opinion these measures, and others like them, will not be enough. Any savings made in greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the raising of awareness through the efforts of rock stars and former Vice-Presidents will be more than offset by the emergence of the new industrial powers of China and India. Let me offer an example to support this. The Indian city of Mumbai relies heavily on its rail network to move millions of people around the city every day. This rail network is struggling to cope with the ever increasing numbers of passengers. Trains are filled to over-flowing and the network has reached its capacity. The city’s answer to this dilemma is to build massive roads to encourage enable more people to use cars to navigate the city. I don’t raise this example to be critical of this strategy and I don’t think anyone in a motor vehicle dominated society can be critical of such a move. It does raise serious questions about the future as this scenario is repeated in other developing areas.

The question therefore is what can be done and where does the responsibility rest. The answer is obviously the development of alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. Without these viable alternatives the steps being taken to encourage people to minimize fossil fuel usage are doomed to failure. The responsibility rests primarily with wealthy industrialized countries. This work will be expensive but the potential rewards are also huge. Unfortunately there is so much wealth and power tied into the oil and coal industries that the required level of investment in alternative energy sources is just not taking place.

Here are some specific ideas to get things started:

• Donate all the funds raised from several “save the world” type events to research into sustainable energy
• Scrap all space exploration until viable alternatives to fossil fuels are developed and channel the money saved into that research
• Offer free, nothing to pay, university places to young people in areas that study and develop alternative energy sources
• Once the best alternative energy strategies are developed, offer substantial tax breaks to companies that bring them to market and compete directly with the major players in the oil industry - electric car anyone?

There is already enough encouraging work being done in the area of wind turbines for homes, electric cars, and even wave-powered turbines to suggest that there is a future without fossil fuels. We just need to get there sooner rather than later. 

Monday, May 28, 2007

Raising money for education and schools is something I can get behind no matter where in the world it takes place.

BlogCatalog has challenged bloggers to help raise awareness for DonorsChoose and hopefully raise $25,000 for worthwhile projects. A little about DonorsChoose:

At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.

There is a link on the about page if you want to donate or you can blog about this yourself to help spread the word.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

It was reported on our local television news last night that a man suffering from prostate cancer had benefited from the drug docetaxel. This drug has benefits in the treatment of several forms of cancer including prostate, breast and ovarian cancer. This is great news as the drug has the potential to extend the lives of those with later stage prostate cancer.

Here in Australia the news is not all good however. This drug is covered on our Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule for breast and ovarian cancer but not for prostrate cancer. The cost of the drug without the PBS subsidy is up to $1,289.30 according to the PBS website. After the subsidy the cost to the patient is $30.70. The patient referred to in the news story last night had spent $20,000 on treatment.

If this situation were reversed and the treatment was subsidised for prostate cancer and not for breast cancer there would be an outcry, and rightly so. But where is the outcry now?

It is right and necessary that past injustices are corrected. I refer of course to addressing the imbalance between the opportunities afforded to females compared to males. However, there appears to be a fear these days that those who speak out in favour of the rights of men are going to be labeled as a misogynist. This situation can not be allowed to continue.

This inequity is apparently to be “reviewed later in the year”. What’s wrong with right bloody now!

This post is dedicated to my late Grandfather.

“You can’t coach that”

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

The issue of leadership is very much in mind at the moment with the Federal election to be held within months and campaigning in full swing.

While discussing leadership in general today with a group of colleagues someone made the comment that “people get the leaders they deserve”. At first I found some merit in this comment but have since reflected further on it. While I am sure it is true under some circumstances, a documentary I watched yesterday put the issue into perspective. Said documentary followed an eye surgeon on a trip to North Korea to perform cataract surgery using techniques and equipment not available to the people in that country. He restored the sight of over 1000 people during his 10 day visit and trained local surgeons to perform the procedure after his departure.

The North Korean people cannot possibly deserve the brand of “leadership” that exists in their country. The Great Leader as he is known definitely has a Kangaroo or two loose in the top paddock.

The saddest thing about the story for me was the reaction of the patients after the bandages were removed and they could see for the first time in years. Every person shown on camera knelt down in front of their leader’s photograph and gave thanks for the return of their sight. Not one thanked the surgeon (or none that were shown on film anyway - propaganda can go both ways I suppose).

“You can’t coach that”

Sunday, April 29, 2007

My Dad brought this to my attention recently. He was having Heinz spaghetti on toast for breakfast from the small (130g) can. Thinking that the taste was not what he was used to he looked at the nutritional information printed on the label and compared it to the contents for the larger (420g) can. He was surprised to see that the small can had 38% more sugar and 27% more sodium than the larger can. On querying Heinz he was told that the cans were manufactured in different factories and the contents were sourced separately.

Could Heinz be taking advantage of children’s liking for all things sweet. After all the likely consumers of the small can of spaghetti may be children. In a time of growing childhood obesity this is not the sort of situation we need.

“You can’t coach that”

Monday, April 16, 2007

Queensland Health has just discovered that four foreign “doctors” have been employed without any form of checks into their qualifications. It also appears that they may have been working unsupervised as interns. This comes after the recent “doctor death” scandal which has still not been resolved - ie he still has not faced charges despite allegedly being responsible for some 87 deaths of patients under his care.

This is just not good enough. While I am happy that overseas trained doctors come to practice here in Australia we must ensure that the appropriate checks are put in place to ensure that these people are appropriately qualified. Better still we should be training enough doctors locally so that we do not have to really on importing overseas medical staff. How this is done is beyond my limited intelligence but there are supposedly smart people in charge of things who can work this stuff out. We also need our government to be accountable for situations like this. I am getting a little tired of hearing government ministers saying on television that “this is not good enough” or “I am upset and frustrated about this”. How about a bit of “the buck stops with me and I got it wrong” followed rapidly by “don’t let the door hit you on the way out”.

So want to be a doctor? Come to Queensland before someone sorts this mess out - no questions asked.

“You can’t coach that”