Raelene Castle takes the fall for poor decisions

By Warren Nunn Until this week, Raelene Castle was Rugby Australia’s CEO, the first woman to hold the prestigious role in that sport. She leaves the post dogged by controversy, mostly over the handling of the Israel Folau case. Former players wanted her out of...

Seriously, it’s a funny place

The court-room is meant to be a serious place but people being people, humour is not far from the surface. Hystericals – Liverpool Echo 30 April 1918: When two women were summoned at Bootle to-day for assault, the following interesting passage took place:-...

I’ll set my wife on you

Threatening payback – Worcester Journal 18 April 1850: ASSAULT.-Jones v Evans- The defendant in this case (who is a half-witted broker, or “general dealer,” better known by the appellation of “greasy pockets,”) had evaded their service of...

Surviving lockdown by a whisker

By Warren Nunn If lockdown because of the global Wuhan coronavirus pandemic means changing routine, why not let my beard grow? Perhaps this is somewhat trivial but it’s one way of recording what happened in my life. The first week was marked by lots of telephone...

Coronavirus, Spanish flu and how diseases spread

By Warren Nunn As the threat to humanity of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)  has been revealed, some comparisons have been made to the Spanish flu outbreak a century ago. The following is only meant to review what one person wrote at the time about the disease. An unnamed...

The media and poor science journalism

By Warren Nunn The BBC has conducted a campaign which it claims will help people better understand evolution. It can be found at https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45564594 Unfortunately, the article is not an example of good journalism. Rather it fails to...

How a fist fight impacted this young boy

By Warren Nunn Growing up in a small railway settlement in Queensland gave me an intimate, gentle introduction to life. However, the first time I witnessed a violent act, it left me detached and incredulous that someone would want to hurt another person. Particularly...

A cross coroner’s examination

A very useful witness who could not remember dates – Illustrated London News 16 December 1899: An amusing dialogue occurred at an inquest held in the Westminster Coroner’s Court, Horseferry Road, by Mr John Troutbeck. An elderly female witness was giving...

Snuffling, snorting and scratching

By Warren Nunn He would grab his nose and snuffle; and then he’d snort. After that he would thrust a hand down the front of his trousers and scratch  … seemingly oblivious to his inappropriate behaviour. His hand would stay there for some time … which was...

A warm day and too much gin

An Irish Tea Party! – Illustrated London News 14 May 1842: A brace of Irish ladies came before Mr. Hardwick with all the evidences upon them of having been recently engaged in pugilistic contest. The complainant in particular had her face so tatooed by the nails...

Rich Parisian lived in poverty to provide for others

By Warren Nunn (updated 11 October 2019) A 19th century Parisian named Nicolas Simonin-Lalleman, who amassed a considerable fortune, lived in abject poverty so that he could help others. More than 160 years ago, a few lines in a newspaper article reveal an...

Past examples of climate change?

By Warren Nunn When considering the scientific suggestion that humans are a major cause of what is being called climate change, can we learn anything from what happened in the past? Some people won’t even discuss possible other explanations and/or alternative...

Who was the real victim here?

Oh, you naughty villain! – Morning Chronicler 24 July 1820: SURREY SESSIONS. – July 22. Bigamy. – Wm Thomas, a old decrepit man, who is so deformed that he has been from his birth unable either to dress or undress himself, having neither hands nor...

What does a real apology look like?

By Warren Nunn An apology. What makes an apology believable? How does anyone sincerely deliver an apology, while freely and genuinely admitting their mistakes? We often see those who are caught out by their mistakes making apologies that aren’t really that...

History tells us journalists … and officials … make mistakes

By Warren Nunn (a journalist who makes mistakes) As a journalist, I pride myself on making sure I get my facts straight. In reality, no matter how hard to I try, I do make mistakes. My mistakes (and there have been many) have often been from lack of attention to...