Aaron's sheer determination

First published in 1955, until 2000 it was known as the Guinness Book of Records. And since 2000 as Guinness World Records [1, 2]. Whatever its name, I’ve never owned a copy. Or even browsed through one. In Farmdoc’s Blog I’ve mentioned it only twice– both in 2008 [3, 4]. For someone fascinated by statistics and numbers, as I am, it’s odd. Maybe it’s because many of the activities the records are set in, are bizarre and contrived. As if wannabes excogitate an activity just to set a record and gain a citation in the Guinness book. Enter 35-year-old Aaron Hemley (pictured), from Callawadda in western Victoria [5]. Last week in nearby Stawell, watched by a crowd of 800, he shore 904 sheep in 48 hours – continuously apart from a 45-minute sleep [6, 7]. That’s a bit over three minutes per sheep. An amazing effort. Aaron trained for the marathon for six months. His team included wool classers, a masseuse, a doctor, a physiotherapist, a dietitican, and adjudicators. During the 48 hours he lost 5kg weight. Oh, I almost forgot: He broke the world endurance shearing record – by 24 hours! As someone who couldn’t shear even one sheep, I salute you, Aaron. Especially as your effort raised A$100,000 for the Stawell Hospital’s Oncology Unit. That’s A$110.62 per sheep.

Mahmoud burns his house down

The diagram shows the answer to a favourite question put to rookie firefighters: ‘What three things are needed for a fire to burn?’ [1]. In a similar vein, I’ve long thought that if terrorism was denied all media oxygen, it’d wane if not fizzle out entirely. Recently Iranian President Ahmadinejad taunted Israel as ‘too weak to face up to Iran militarily’. He said ‘Israel doesn’t have the courage to do it, and I do not think its threat is serious’. That’s more bullying than news. But Israel’s media ran it anyway – in general, to their credit, without comment [2, 3, 4]. If Israel cared to respond, these numbers are apposite:

· 2009 Corruption Perception ranking (the lower the better): Israel 32, Iran 168. [5]

· Life expectancy ranking (the lower the better): Israel 8, Iran 109. [6]

· Infant mortality ranking (the lower the better): Israel 20, Iran 119 [7]

· GDP per capita ranking (the lower the better): Israel 29, Iran 71 [8]

· Literacy ranking (the lower the better): Israel 59, Iran 121 [9]

· Number of Nobel Prize winners (the higher the better): Israel 9, Iran 2 [10]

· National happiness ranking (the lower the better): Israel 67, Iran 81 [11].

I could go on and on. But you get the message: Dr Ahmadinejad should put his own house in order before mouthing off. But of course the reason he mouths off is because his own house is not in order. Ho hum.