The finest in the human spirit

John Stephen Akhwari was a participant in the 1968 Olympic Marathon (aprox. 42km long run race). Soon after the race started, he fell and badly injured his knee. He was bleeding and had a dislocated joint. Although doctors advised him to quit, he decided to carry on. Eventually, despite being in great pain, he managed to finish the race. The last man to cross the finish line about an hour and five minutes after the winner of the race.

The Narwal: The Living Myth

Just when you were getting too buried in reality, here is a little piece of living mythology in the form of a very peculiar species of whale. That horn is no fake and neither is the Narwal!

That time of year again! - the majestic Aurora Borealis

Just like colours are to a blind man, so are words to this video.

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Linkage Sunday

• Phone cancer: The International Agency for Research on Cancer finds brain tumour link to mobile phone use - I think we all knew this one was coming
• Safe surfing?: Google is introducing encryption for all web searches - freedom of information takes another step forward
• I Spy: Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh develop a computer program that matches photographs to real world locations
• Eureka!: German scientists find the 'eureka' moment is a documentable physiological phenomenon
• Alternate Aid: Could the growing volume of non-Western aid donations spur an expansion of Western aid programs?
• I'll Compromise When You Compromise: For those of you who read my May 3 post - Thailand's difficulties continue.

Finally, some interesting health and employment statistics courtesy of the University of Edinburgh Faculty of Medicine

• The proportion of families with single mothers has increased from 1% (1971) to 9% (2001)
• Lone parents in the UK have a participation rate of just 40% - compared to 75% in France and Denmark
• Once on UK incapacity benefits only 20% of individuals return to work within 5 years
• After two years of UK incapacity benefits an individual is more likely to die or retire than return to work
• Working class children are four and a half times more likely to suffer a serious accident than middle class children
• Child poverty is still higher in the UK than in 21 out of 24 European countries
• Two-thirds of those in poverty at any one time will have been in poverty for at least three of the past four years

Prevalence of mental disorders among children aged 5-16 in private households, 2004, GB (%).
Gross weekly household income. Social Trends 37: 2007 edition

Linkage Sunday

The intent of these weekly "Linkage" additions to the blog is to provide a collection of interesting links to stimulate contemplation, debate and just a little bit of fun and promise.

This week:

• Harvard University psychologists believe that thinking clearly may help you see clearly too!
• The two core proponents of the debate 'can video games be art?' - yay or nay - and a particularly compelling example for your consideration (I suggest you play through more than once to see all possible endings, try looking for signs)

Some interesting web communities to consider

True Slant: describing itself as an "original content news network", True/Slant collates the digital work of entrepreneurial journalists of all fields to provide a fascinating diaspora of debate and coverage

The Lowy Interpreter: for the politically minded among us, the Australian-based Lowy Institute for International Policy dishes out a succinct account of the latest in international affairs and a few flavours from the edge of the plate you might have missed in its blog collective

Deviant Art: with over 13 million users deviantART is the artists digital collective, allowing artists and enthusiasts to exhibit and peer review works in addition to enjoying the online community through a set of extensive network, chat and journal tools.

Enjoy and remember to get involved by starting an account and adding your own contributions!