The Best Job In The World

I want in! And so does the rest of the gazillions of people inhabiting this tiny planet of ours. Last week, an ad was placed online, encouraging people to apply for what is touted as the best job in the world. The job description?

Whoever “wins” the post gets to be the caretaker of a little island paradise in Australia. This is what is written in the job description as published in the official web site:

The role of Island Caretaker is a six-month contract, based on luxurious Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a live-in position with flexible working hours and key responsibilities include exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef to discover what the area has to offer.

You’ll be required to report back on your adventures to Tourism Queensland headquarters in Brisbane (and the rest of the world) via weekly blogs, photo diary, video updates and ongoing media interviews.

But that is not all! There are other tasks which the caretaker might be asked to do, including (but not limited to) the following:

Feed the fish - There are over 1,500 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t worry – you won’t need to feed them all.

Clean the pool – The pool has an automatic filter, but if you happen to see a stray leaf floating on the surface it’s a great excuse to dive in and enjoy a few laps.

Collect the mail – During your explorations, why not join the aerial postal service for a day? It’s a great opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the reef and islands.

Now tell me if anyone can ever resist that job? Apparently, everyone and his mom visited the site after hearing about the job opportunity, making the web site crash.

Help! The Stewardess Just Landed The Plane!

It is every traveler’s nightmare. Imagine this. The pilot has a mental breakdown mid-air and the flight attendant has to make an emergency landing. No, its not a Naked Gun remake, its real life.

The bizarre and terrifying incident occurred on board an Air Canada flight bound for the UK. It began with the co-pilot speaking in “rambling and disjointed” conversation, according to air accident investigators. He was then forcibly removed by the crew (one of which suffered minor injuries!), and restrained. The captain then ordered the crew to find someone who could fly a plane, and luckily, a female flight attendant offered her services as she had a commercial pilot’s license (so what was she doing being a flight attendant?).

The plane in peril made a safe emergency landing in Ireland’s Shannon Airport, and the disturbed co-pilot was whisked away to the psychiatric unit of a local hospital. According to the Telegraph newspaper:

“….The official report into the incident by the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) did not explicitly refer to the co-pilot’s medical condition.

But it recorded the views of two doctors onboard that he was in a “confused and disorientated state”.

The captain also reported that his senior colleague became uncharacteristically “belligerent and unco-operative” and was “effectively incapacitated”.

One passenger at the time reported seeing the distraught co-pilot yelling for God as he was being restrained.

The AAIU praised the actions of both the captain and crew in diverting to the nearest airport and removing the co-pilot from the controls.

“For his own well-being and the safety of the aircraft, the most appropriate course of action was to stand him down from duty and seek medical attention which was available on board,” said the report.

“The commander (captain) realising he was faced with a difficult and serious situation used tact and understanding and kept control of the situation at all times.

“The situation was dealt with in a professional manner… As such the commander and flight attendants should be commended for their professionalism in the handling of this event.”

There were no safety recommendations from the investigation.”

Finland’s Passion For Latin

Since the Finnish have been in the spotlight due to their taking the reigns in the European Union’s presidency, a startling passion of the Finns has been revealed to the world – a penchant for Latin.

Latin is far from dead in Finland apparently, where even Elvis songs have been translated into the language and gets played, translated, in public places like hotel bars. Dr.Jukka Ammondt, an academic who translated and sings some of the ing’s hits, like “Can’t Help Falling In Love” – or “Non adamare non possum” explained:

“The legend of Elvis Presley lives for ever, and it’s of course very important to sing Elvis Presley’s songs in the Latin language, because Latin is the eternal language”

In Finland, the passion for Latin also extends to the news, where national broadcasts are also made in Latin. Apparently, its gets quite a good audience of around 75,000 listeners, which is more than some radio shows on the BBC.

Twin Tragedies in Indonesia

Things couldn’t have been worse for Indonesia. Two events in the news from this part of the world shocked people for simultaneous tragedies, a rarity in this world but heartbreaking as well for loss of human lives without reason.

First was the earthquake which shook the country that claimed 52 lives last March 6, 2007 in Sumatra Islands Jakarta, Indonesia. Then there was the plane crash that followed that killed 23 people of a packed Indonesian jetliner which crashed and erupted in flames. Dozens of people, bloodied and severely injured were the sight that Indonesia had on this faithful day.

Of the two tragedies, it is the plane crash coming from its original destination, Australia which has been put under close investigation, considering that it has now become a trend for commercial jetliners coming in the country. Similar incidents where a jet plunged into sea and killed 102 passengers on New Year’s Day also occurred. The Indonesian government has started to make probes to find out the actual causes and possible relations if any.

Checking out the Editorials in Newspapers

People will always put their focus on the front page which would usually contain the headlines of latest news and current events going on locally and the world. But technically, the editorial section is similar to that of a blog where a person would make entries about certain aspects to which they expound on. Ideally these issues would be in line with the ongoing events since they provide supporting insights on such issues.

Editorial from people will provide the opinions and ideas stemming from references on actual events and facts. They are not placed for the sake of argument of one person only. They cover the negative and positive aspects of such issues and provide further analysis so that people may easily understand the whole essence of the headlines and events.

Also, these editorials are technically chains from past issues and events since they refresh the memory of people who may have forgotten about connections to the current topic at hand. These are the things that have already occurred but have been forgotten. It is through editorials that they can be recalled.