I've received many forwards - but ever once in a while, there's a forward that I just can't get rid off because it means something. So I'm going to post some of them here.
Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.
The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her."
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
1. Because he had only one major publication. 2. And it was in Hebrew/Arabic/Latin. 3. And it had no cited references. 4. And it wasn't published in a refereed journal or even submitted for peer review. 5. And some even doubt he wrote it himself. 6. It may be true that he created the world but what has he done since? 7. His cooperative efforts have been quite limited. 8. The scientific community has had a very rough time trying to replicate his results. 9. He never applied to the Ethics Board for permission to use human subjects. 10. When one experiment went awry, he tried to cover it up by drowning the subjects. 11. When subjects didn't behave as predicted, he often punished them, or just deleted them from the sample. 12. He rarely came to class, just told students to read the book. 13. He had his son teach the class. 14. He expelled his first two students for learning. 15. Although there were only ten requirements, most students failed his tests. 16. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountain top.
When I revisit the time in my childhood when I fell in love by the game of football I often stumble on one name: Maradona!
Having heard a lot about myths like Pelé, Eusébio or Garrincha, I always wondered what a super-player must have played like. Maradona answered that question. He was one of those players that you hope will have the ball on his feet during the whole 90 minutes. You knew that with him something magical was bound to happen. Even though he was small and chubby, Diego Maradona was already a star in his teenage years. He could pass, run, dribble and score like no other.
The game of football is always said to be a team game: “It’s not possible to win alone!!”. If this is a rule, Maradona was the exception. Not only he revolutionized Napoli, finally bringing glory to the fans that were yet to win anything, Maradona won (almost) single-handedly the world cup of 1986 in Mexico.
One of the most controversial personalities the game has laid eyes upon, Maradona is considered by many the best player of all time. Above all he is the responsible for a whole generation of football fans, where I am surely included.
If it is a pity that we can’t still watch him play today, lets at least be thankful for technology. Here some of what you missed live!
Eight days have passed since the end of the 2006 football World Cup successfully held by the Germans. The Italians lifted the Cup, but the most-talked about event of the final game between Italy and France was undoubtedly Zidane's infamous head butt on the Italian defender Marco Materazzi. (See some of the images that have been passing around the internet)
Zidane’s moment of rage (it’s actually the second time he got sent off a World Cup game, which is a record) might have drowned the hopes of a second cup victory, but the French seemed to have forgiven their hero. Jacques Chirac received the team with open arms and Zidane with kind words, while the surrounding fans cheered and sang “Zizou, Zizou”.
The defeat however was not digested well, and some Frenchman like Mr. Mouhou (a lawyer, of course) even intend to have it repeated. Yes, I said repeated. Why? Well, upon defeat Mr. Domenech (the French coach) was (once again) not very graceful and decided to fire in the direction of the fourth referee (the one who informed the referee of the exchange between Zidane and Materazzi). According to Mr. Domenech the fourth referee did not see what happened when it happen but only later in one replay from a TV set nearby (which is forbidden by FIFA regulations).
FIFA and the fourth referee have dismissed the charges, but Mr. Mouhou (who says he is acting on behalf of a number of clubs and associations whose names he would later reveal) still hopes to have the game nullified, and would be filing a lawsuit in the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris, one of France's main civil courts. (What would the nationality of the Judge be, might I ask??)
In the meantime Zidane has spoken about the incident on TV. Unexpectedly he said he feels no regret, and went to say that the “real” guilt belonged to Materazzi, who had harshly insulted him some moments before. Motivated by the pressure of the media and the spheres of (internal) political influence, FIFA opened an inquiry on what really happened between Materazzi and Zidane.
No one really knows what to expect as a result of these inquiries, but I personally think that they are completely unnecessary. What happened was quite clear, Zidane intentionally aggressed Materazzi. Red card! Sent off the pitch with a heavy sanction on his back. Bye-bye Mr. Zizou.
Nobody can expect this to end the “trash talk” that goes on every single football game neither between professionals nor between friends playing the “Married vs. Singles” matches.
What kind of a signal would FIFA send by condemning the words of Materazzi? Would that mean that soon enough we’ll have a dictionary of “curse-words” forbidden during a football match?? And who would translate it into all the other different languages?? And how many polyglot-referees do we have in the FIFA pool of referees? Can you imagine refereeing a game Tajikistan vs. Yemen, right?? Go figure!
Inspired by the famous “jaywalking” from the “tonight show with Jay Leno” on NBC, the Portuguese TV broadcasters SIC went on the streets and ask the Portuguese, elementary questions like:
“Who was the first Portuguese King?”, “Who is the Prime Minister of Portugal?” or is the “Who is the President of Portugal?”.
Here are some the amazing replies they obtained. Enjoy:
