FEAST OR FAMINE

International New York Times covered the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) corruption arrests on May 28, 2015 with one of many headlines, including: “Body blow for an organization, and for its longtime president.” What is a “body blow” for an organization? The article explained that Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president who has lead the organization for 17 years, was seeking re-election on Friday May 29, 2015 for a fifth term. On Wednesday May 26 several FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich and accused of widespread corruption, dating to the 1990s.   While the article does not mention “body blow” in the main text, it adds that Blatter has had serious charges against him in the past, but “such caustic words have always bounced off Mr. Blatter like a header off the crossbar.” This is a reference to a footballer hitting the ball with his or her head towards the goal, but it hits the bar across the two goal posts, thus deflecting the ball away from it...

The International Committee of Mathematical Games is holding its 16 th Culture and Mathematical Games Fair from May 28-31, 2015 at the Place Saint-Sulpice in the 6 th arrondissemet of Paris. The focus this year is on mathematics and light (Mathematiques et Lumiere) in the context of UNESCO’s Year of Light. As every year, the 16 e Salon Culture & Jeux Mathematiques 2015 features games, competitions, animations, books, and booths showcasing various mathematical associations and societies. Examples of the activities include: geometry puzzles, optical illusions, board games, origami (paper folding), travel mathematics, art and mathematics, psychology of colours, scientific calculators, magic tricks, logic games, Esperanto, mathematics and astronomy, stories from the Inuksuk (inuit) Association, Rubik’s cubes, a Paris Diderot University workshop on mathematical research, mathematics and construction, cryptographic games, mind games, mathematics and photography (3-D images...

I have just read about the festival at Tul Mul village in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district in the article “Blue is the colour of hope in Kashmir” (The Hindu, May 27, 2015). The Hindu festival, the Kheer Bhawani, is Kashmir’s largest festival and a holiday for residents. On Tuesday, May 26, under the bed of rose petals that showered the pilgrims at Tul Mul village, the water in the holy spring was described as “a gentle aquamarine blue: the color of hope” heralding the promise of a better future in the region. The colour is of significance – in the troubled 1990s it was “purplish and almost black.” To see blue water is indeed a good sign. The vision of hope was not only in the water. Muslims operate the shops that sell the puja samagri (food and items of worship) such as kehwa chai (Kashmiri form of tea) and luchi (flat Kashmiri deep fried roti). The article tells of two men – one Hindu (Pandit) and one Muslim – both teachers – who attended the festival. The Muslim teach...

Several news outlets announced online on May 24, 2015, that “Sweden Scoops Eurovision 2015 Crown.” What does this mean: to scoop the crown? The outlets include newscater.com, rfpradio.com, article.wn.com, currentnewstoday.net, and newstvegenre.altervista.org. They were referring to Sweden winning the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in which finalists representing 27 European countries competed in Vienna (along with Australia, the special guest for the 60 th anniversary of the contest). Instead of headlining “Sweden wins Eurovision 2015 crown” they used the word “scoop.” The Free Dictionary defines scoop (pronounced skoop) as “a shovellike or a cuplike utensil, usually having a deep curved dish and a short handle” – like a wide spoon. Their example is “ate two scoops of ice cream.” A scooping movement or action is to catch a ball, scooping it into one or two hands. Journalists have a scoop when they announce news first, before other agencies have covered the story – so thi...

John Nash - www.bized.co.uk John Forbes Nash Jr., the American mathematician immortalized in the film, A Beautiful Mind, died, along with his wife, in a car accident on May 23, 2015. He was 86 years old, and his wife Alicia Nash (nee Larde) was 82. His wife was a physics scholar, and although they divorced in 1963, they remarried in 2001. The 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind, was “artistically” based on Nash and his paranoid schizophrenia, and based on Sylvia Nasar’s 1998 book, A Beautiful Mind. Nasar was the couple’s biographer. Nash (1928-2015) was famous for his work at Princeton University. He was regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20 th century, primarily for his work on game theory. Game theory is used to study how people act when decision making, especially in specific situations, such as conflict, stress, and collaborative teamwork. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994. The Nobel Prize was largely for his work in the fields combining mathe...