THERE are many rules and actions to be followed when there are COVID breakouts but the South Australian chief public health officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, has made an odd statement that if you go to the football match you must “duck and do not touch that ball”.
This odd proclamation actually offers me a great hope of starting a career in football since when I did play as a youth, my main skill was not touching the ball as I was slow and lacked any skills.
As many of the venues don’t allow crowds at the moment, there will no longer be anybody criticising my skills and telling me to give up.
The reality is a little different as there are about 40 players and 10 officials on the ground at any time playing a contact sport where the players cannot socially distance or wear a mask, so it is more likely any COVID spreading will occur amongst the players rather than in the sparse, socially distant crowd.
Although sports are important for many people’s enjoyment and mental health, there seems to be an almost desperate effort to keep the matches going, possibly because of the money involved in TV coverage.
It’s time to be realistic, cancel the sports playing rather than just the crowd watching, wear a mask, get vaccinated and maybe trust the scientists working on cures.
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A sure bet
Our local casino has a pre-commitment card which is designed to help problem gamblers manage their loses by setting a daily limit to their spending.
The problem is that there is no set limit to the limit they can set, and the most common value is reported to be $1 million a day. The median value is $50,000 a day which is more than some people’s yearly salary.
I have no problem with occasional gambling, a few bets on the horses or a lotto ticket but I avoid casinos. The idea of a $1million a day limit is a sad joke rather than a useful tool to help problem gamblers and doesn’t seem to reflect many casinos claims that they are good corporate citizens.
As long as we have casinos, and other betting options, we will have problem gamblers and that’s a sure bet.
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Tank Man Is back
The blocking of “Tank Man” photos by the Microsoft Bing search engine on the anniversary of the event was apparently an “accidental human error”. I would be more inclined to think it was a computer stuff up rather than a deliberate censorship of one of the world’s most famous photos from a horrific event that will be remembered with or without photos.
There is a worry that other events or news items could easily be removed from the internet and since so many get their news from there, many stories will be unseen and perhaps missed by the majority of people. All news must be available to all people and stay available. Read George Orwell’s 1984 if you don’t know why it is so important.
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A double fault
The brilliant Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has been fined $US15,000 for refusing to go to a press conference with journalists at Roland Garros. She has stated that this is because of mental health issues and she was threatened with the possibility of being defaulted from the tournament.
There are two concerns that need to be addressed here. The first is that a person’s mental health is vital and must be protected. She has said that she finds the press conferences a concern so surely there is no need for the “mob” type press conference but perhaps a few questions could be submitted, and responses sent out on the tournament’s social media.
Most of the questions and the responses are usually fairly mundane and predictable.
The second concern is that she could be banned from playing in this and future tournaments. Surely having one of the best players in the world playing and being seen by the world is more important than seeing a seemingly shy person being forced to do a press conference.
As Benjamin Franklin suggested, “Well done is better than well said.”
Let her play and others talk. (dfitzger@melbpc.org.au)/PN
