The End is Nigh!!

Very nigh. The end of the semester that is. Only a week and a half until the final exam, followed by another couple of weeks until my contract finishes as work, and then I'm partially free. Still an eight day intensive Burden of Disease* summer semester, a volley of 'to do's before we depart for Tanzania.




It has been a tiring semester, I know I'm struggling when I resort to drinking coffee as a life sustaining tool during the early afternoons. During the slog I've come across some interesting comments/stuff that tickled me.


1. According to a 'Hillsong' (a subsidiary company of Religion Inc.) representative on one of those 'morning news and other assorted crap' shows - the christian bible (dictated chiefly by god I presume - indirectly or otherwise), states that you 'should give 10% of your income to the church' - which is why they all do it in the Hillsong suburb of Sydney.


Hmmm, I can just see it now.....'and the lord said, ye shall commit to a direct debit plan whereby ten of every hundred units of thy pre-tax income net of deductibles and excluding foreign earnings shall be given to my most tuneful disciple and he shall spend it on grand Colosseums wherefore I may be entertained with thine singalongs with hands in the air, yeah yeah'.


2. Amagi - the earliest known written word for 'Freedom' or 'Liberty', is 4300 years old, written in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. It appears to be an arrangement of 24 golf tees. Co-incidence? I think not...

Brisbane is glowing green at the moment after several days of evening downpours and thunderous lightning storms. It is cooler today - signalling a dryer period ahead. I have a group meeting shortly with my international student comrades to discuss our assignment due this Friday. International students are very shy - which can come across as aloof and anti-social. But when they realise you are interested in their country and you aren't going to get frustrated with their sometimes difficult to understand English they are friendlier and more helpful than domestic students. The more international students we have, the better, I say.

*Burden of Disease: Is a study of the total burden of mortality (deaths) and morbidity (illness) on a society from various afflictions. For example, combining mortality and morbidity puts cancer as the biggest detriment to Australia's health, closely followed by cardiovascular disease and then....mental health disorders. While mental health disorders have a low mortality rate, the level of morbidity associated with poor mental health and its prevalence makes it such a huge problem in our society - and across the world - even in developing countries. The 'weight' given to morbidity from specific illnesses is calculated using various survey techniques. The output is a Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY), which forms the basis for evidence based healthcare and economic evaluation of health programs.