On the coast of Cornwall in England lies a section of coastline that has become legendary in UK surfing circles. Surf stores, hire shops and board makers huddle around this gem of a surfing site, with a west-facing beach that gathers Atlantic swells and turns them into consistent, powerful, breaking waves of up to 30 feet that are ideal for the sport. Newquay is the surf capital of the UK and Fistral Beach is its focus. Many of the best surfers in the world can be seen in action at the competitions held there.

Here’s a question: is it best to let your relationship with your dog develop on an ad-hoc basis, kind of warm and fuzzy and organic, or should you adopt a structured approach that lays down the ground rules right from the start? You probably know the answer. How many owners of nutty, uncontrollable dogs do you know who are now regretting not having trained them properly?

Those involved in decision-making in business and law might have heard of the OODA loop. Standing for Observe-Orient-Decide-Act, it is a methodology for treading carefully, avoiding unnecessary conflict, and winning in challenging situations by performing actions based on rational decisions. To make those decisions, one must first fully understand the situation by observation, and get to know one’s opponents’ intentions and likely actions by orientation. The four steps in the loop are:

Mindfulness is all about mental clarity, and alcohol is well known for having the opposite effect. So why has a course near Niagara Falls in Canada combined the two? Do they cancel each other out, or can they actually enhance each other?

Before looking at the Niagara Falls course on ‘winefulness’, let’s look at another phenomenon that is gaining popularity in Asia: beer yoga. Just follow the link. We’ll wait.

The world is full of books, DVDs and motivational speakers on the subject of how to become successful. Some are mere lists of platitudes to keep repeating to yourself. Others, like Napoleon Hill’s Classic Think and Grow Rich, focus on the character formation required for success. Others still are based on case studies with a fake-it-till-you-make-it approach.

Rihanna has been pushing for responses from world leaders on Twitter as part of her push to raise awareness for charity the Global Partnership for Education. And she has been getting them.

The pop star from Barbados received, among others, the following replies:

"Hola @Rihanna! Education is in the central core of our political aims. Only education can change the world." – Argentina President Mauricio Macri