diffidence

A new blueprint for Queensland Health:

HEALTH Minister Lawrence Springborg has delivered a health blueprint for the state at a luncheon in Brisbane, urging Queenslanders to “get on the train or get under it.”

Bad choice of wording there, Mr Springborg. What happened to the inclusive and humble government promised us at the election?

A key feature of the new plan for the state’s healthcare will be the delivery of a larger range of health services through public, private and not-for-profit health providers and partnerships.

Because public-private partnerships work so well: just ask the investors in River City Motorways.

Having said that, we can expect more of this over time, as the population ages and a smaller pool of taxpayer dollars have to spread yet further.

As long as sports stars are deified for nothing more than their ability to play their sport, we can and will expect them to let us down.

The fact that this (mis)behaviour is now clearly institutional should surprise nobody; after all, some sportspeople can individually behave in abhorrent ways, and be widely forgiven within days. Why *wouldn’t* the clubs try to capitalise on this? The upside is pretty clear — more wins equals more sponsorship dollars equals more income, and the down side — being “caught” and punished in the media, and by fans and sponsors — very temporary.

Sports “stars” are not perfect; they’re human, and arguably have a pretty limited set of skills beyond their chosen sport. Common sense — and other life skills — in particular seem to be lacking from some of them.

If you’re truly outraged by their behaviour, stop watching professional sport, starting with the most badly behaved clubs and codes. Not temporarily: permanently.
Stop giving professional sports’ sponsors your business, and ensure they understand the link.
Stop paying attention to the news media, who for the most part *love* the bad behaviour. Use your time more constructively instead.

If you’re not outraged, stop pretending that you are, and go back to business-as-usual.

Nilofer Merchant makes some excellent suggestions, to take the stand-up meeting that little bit further:

As we work, we sit more than we do anything else. We’re averaging 9.3 hours a day, compared to 7.7 hours of sleeping. Sitting is so prevalent and so pervasive that we don’t even question how much we’re doing it. And, everyone else is doing it also, so it doesn’t even occur to us that it’s not OK. In that way, I’ve come to see that sitting is the smoking of our generation.

After one hour of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat declines by as much as 90 per cent.