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Conference Overview
Home / Newsletter / Issue 37 – NOV 2013 / Conference Overview
Education and Global Transformation: Conference Overview
Opening Address
Ac. Shambhushivananda Avt., Kulapati, AMGK
History has been made by people who believed in an ideal and who chose to devote their entire strength to attain it. Here today in this historical event, we have attempted to bring together a sample of such potential individuals from around the globe who believe in an idea that is greater than them. I recognize that our lives are filled with many hopes, aspirations and a passionate sense of urgency. I hope that through this 'conference of sharing' we shall be able to further strengthen and spread our indomitable spirit in order to turn the tide in favor of a world that will thrive in freedom, abundance, prosperity, inner peace, good health and unbounded joy to all. Of course, to do so will require a willingness to face the challenges and obstacles that are keeping us in vicious cycles of powerlessness. May we use this opportunity to address these and forge a path ahead for the entire humanity.
A lasting change cannot come without proper in-depth understanding of the problems & solutions. Beyond understanding, we also need a workable methodology, goodwill of others and active support of like-minded persons. Here, I hope, we shall find an opportunity to learn from one-another and build deeper ideological connections that will transcend all manifestations of factionalism, dogma and narrow-minded thinking.
On top of the agenda is the greatest predicament of our times- humans' clash with nature & a befitting ecological response. One cannot remedy this in the absence of enlightened leadership at all levels and this is where the educational systems need to play a key role. The greatest of atrocities in human history could not have happened without the support of highly intelligent persons. So intellect alone cannot be the savior of today's world. We also need the intuitional power of the spirit coupled with all-pervasive compassionate intellect to help us get over this hump. This gathering is unique because it is comprised of individuals who have dared to defy the status-quo and taken a step to embark on a new path- the path that will be inclusive of all, full of selfless spirit, imbued with benevolence and an awakened rationality.
I welcome each one of you to accept the challenge of building a road, which can become the torchlight for the entire humanity. Gurukul and its NHE movement opens its doors to one and all and we hope we can continue to collaborate and share to improve our effectiveness and impact especially for the future generations.
by Henk de Weijer and Arete Brim
The 10th Global Education Summit, "Education and Global Transformation" was held July 14th – 18th, at the Centre of Neohumanist Studies (CNS) in Ydrefors, Sweden. The event was co-sponsored by Ananda Marga Gurukula and GAP International. Gap International is a not for profit network empowering people to live and work sustainably, teaching that the inner characteristics of our planet and its inhabitants are intertwined, and promoting the expression and integration of all human and global potentials. The summit was attended by 75 persons from 25 countries, including Japan, Romania, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, Egypt, South America, United States, India, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Netherlands. It was organized in Ydrefors, not far from Linköping, in the midst of vast, forever rustling pine forests that offered its blueberries and strawberries to attentive hikers. The sun shone until late in the night and rose early in the morning, accompanied by chirping swallows waking up everybody, like excited children.
After the opening remarks by Dada Shambhushivananda, the morning started off with a session on Education and Enlightened Leadership led by Eric Jacobson, Director, Progressive School of Long Island, USA and Dr. Marcus Bussey, Professor, Queensland University, Australia.
Eric Jacobson through a participatory leadership test explored how NHE education as taught at the Progressive School of Long Island fosters leadership qualities in the students that endure as demonstrated by graduates of Progressive School a decade after their graduation.
Marcus Bussey led the group in an exercise that explored the difference between hard and soft leaders and how they might respond to issues facing society such as climate change, education and immigration.
These participatory plenaries were followed up by a presentation the next morning by Marcus Bussey on: Towards an Education for Sadvipraship. In Neohumanist education, in preschools, schools, universities, and lifelong learning contexts, we are seeking to foster the conditions to enable the sadvipra (enlightened leadership) potential in all people.
Marilyn Mehlmann, Head of Development & Training, GAP International, Sweden, gave an introduction to Learning for Change, a process, widely taught and used in Africa, Asia and Europe, and intended to accelerate learning from experience, which is a key element of ESD (Education for Sustainable Development). Changing human behaviour means becoming aware of personal attitudes to exclude or include to be followed by small, but conscious, daily actions.
Afternoon Workshops began with Peace Games, taught by Marilyn Cooper, Master Trainer Peace Games, USA. A series of nine interactive games that synthesize tai chi and meditation were presented. Based on tai chi body movements, these games are designed to help solve the problem of (youth) violence and poor health. They can be played by young and old and take no particular athletic ability. Please see full article in this issue on page 22.
Henk de Weijer, Netherlands led a workshop on Deep Vision in Art and Ecology for becoming aware of and refining our perceptions. It is difficult, if not impossible, to initiate proper and creative actions with a biased mind. Yet many perceptions occur automatically, unconsciously and biased. However, to fully understand the nature of Nature, more subtle minds are required.
The NHE Early Childhood Kindergarten Curriculum of Romania was shared by Didi Ananda Devapriya, Director, NHE Programs, Romania and Magda Zambet, educational Director of the Gradinita Rasarit Neohumanist Kindergartens in Bucharest. The presentation gave an overview of the curriculum which is grounded on a theoretical structure, derived from Ananda Marga's concept of the full potential of human beings, embodied in the concept of "Bhagavad Dharma" with its components of Continuing Expansion of Mind, Flow and Service.
Education for Joy and Holistic Health was presented by Dr. Sid Jordan, Director, Prama Institute, USA and Ole Brekke, Director, Commedia School, Denmark through a series of exercises that supported the joyful collective sharing of physical playfulness, fantasy, songs in our native language and experiencing our heartfelt gift to our community. The joy of experiencing the gift you want to offer your community was done in a guided meditation and visualization. Participants began by meditating on the passion that they felt in their heart that led them to offer their special gift to their community.
Caring for Our Blue Planet: a Biosphere Stewardship Journey was presented by Cynthia Lazeroff, Executive Vice President & Director of Educational Programs at Planetary Coral Reef Foundation/Biosphere Foundation. Her presentation explored the work of the Planetary Reef Foundation and Biosphere Foundation and followed the journey of the Biosphere 2 experiment to the present day community conservation work in Southeast Asia. Its areas of focus were: challenges to coral reefs and oceans, solutions including community based education, outreach and conservation; the International Biosphere Youth Stewardship program in Bali-Indonesia and inspiring models for making a difference for a sustainable future such as Rights of Nature initiatives and the rights of the peoples of Planet Earth to live in a healthy biosphere. The short, but dramatic film ''Midway Island" was shown. It was an emotional call to be conscious of the tragic consequences that our careless use of plastic has on millions of defenseless animals that – still- live in or directly near the oceans.
Eric Jacobsen and Cynthia Lazaroff teamed up to offer a workshop on Service Learning and Caring for Our Blue Planet. As a follow-up to the morning plenary, the work of the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation and Biosphere Foundation was further explored and coupled with how to turn service opportunities in the local and global community into service-based learning. When a connection is made between the classroom and real-life an inspiration for future learning is developed and skills are learned for life.
The Learning for Change workshop by Marilyn Mehlmann offered a 'taster' in applying the Learning for Change method to one's own work in the field of ESD. A full length workshop normally takes 2-3 days and has the potential to improve both curriculum design and teacher training.
Teaching Love through Storytelling was offered by Tang Taminga of Taiwan. In this participatory workshops Tang shared a wide variety of techniques for telling stories that children can explore and retell themselves. All stories were built on a vision of growing the moral and spiritual qualities of children.
Khun Krisida Kampanatsanyakorn, Chairman of Cellenium, Bangkok, Thailand, gave an interactive Skype-lecture remotely from Thailand, accompanied by a local PowerPoint presentation, (pictured above side by side), on The Vanadium Regenerative Fuel Cell: enabler of renewable energy into mainstream and a critical path towards sustainability. The need for sustainability was discussed and specifically the production and storage of energy on macro and micro scale. The vanadium redox flow, that Krisida Kampanatsanyakorn and his group developed, has the potential to play an essential role in the future of generation, conversion and storage of electricity.
Dr. Aditya Mohanty, Professor, Center of Advanced Studies in Philosophy, Utkal University, Bhubaneshvar, India Future gave a talk on Education: the holistic perspective. Here is a summary of his talk.
In the generic sense of the term 'education' is a continuous process of learning and unlearning from the cradle to grave. On account of possessing a developed mind man is capable of acting autonomously, independent of antecedent or circumstantial conditions that explain why non-human behaviour is predictable, whereas human ways are unpredictable. In common parlance, education is construed as the process of teaching and learning, i.e. it is a bipolar process, involving both teacher and the taught.
A highly developed country may have citizens with a poor sense of values and are culturally decadent, whereas a country, which is not so advanced in terms of economic resources or war potential, may have people who stand out aloft in terms of the values they profess and practise. Here, one is introduced to the seminal distinction between civilization and culture. Civilization is indicative of what we have, whereas culture is significative of what we are.
The crisis of today is essentially a crisis of values. When knowledge is cultivated with total disregard for values, there is every likelihood of man turning into an intelligent savage. Value awareness lends a sense of goal and direction, the concept of right and wrong. Values cannot be cultivated ad-extra. They are to be integrated into our mode of living. Education should enrich one's perceptivity or sensibility, so that every occasion of life turns out to be an opportunity to understand what is good and what is not and imbibes the former.
The million dollar question is how to effect the transition from paradigm to praxis, from theory to practice, from knowledge to action. It is quite possible that a person is fairly conversant with canons of morality, but turns out to be most immoral in his/her conduct. Knowledge and conduct should be so intimately wedded that given the one, the other can be read. Here lies the role of educators as exemplars of values. Actions speak louder than words. An ounce of practice weighs more than a pound of wisdom. A robot cannot replace a living creature. A teacher is a living embodiment of the values of head and heart. He/she inspires the taught, both in his/her presence and absence. Hence the best definition of education is the one given by the headmaster of Harrow School, London: "Real education is that which remains after everything is lost and forgotten.
Insights into Yoga Therapy by Christian Franceschini, Yoga Instructor from Italy, explored the basic principles of Yoga Therapy like food, fasting, movement, herbs, mantra and natural remedies.
The Personal Development of a Teacher by Tatjana Popov, Director Sunshine School, Switzerland demonstrated how fostering of personal growth requires a holistic and integral approach. Such training finds its practical basis in the application of: Creativity (music, painting, theatre, dance, pantomime, asanas, mudras and martial arts); Intuition (mind mapping, mask building, autogenic training, inner order through color, visualization, focusing, listening to the inner voice); and Ethics (exploration of values through opposites). Exercises for this interactive, experiential workshop included examples from all three areas.
Christian Franceschini and Tang Taminga offered a workshop on Yoga for Special Children with Different Abilities. They shared their experiences working with children with different mental and physical abilities and methods that can be used to address their needs. This group includes children with deficiency of concentration, autism, emotional problems, trauma and other personal problems. The Yoga Touch Program of Taiwan was explained. Ways were shown how to choose yoga poses for children with developmental difficulties and what benefits can be expected for them.
Ole Brekke, conducted a workshop on Informal Education Using Theater in the Classroom. Today education is increasingly taking place outside of formal institutions and schools. Theater brings joy to the learning process making events more effective educationally, socially and personally. The workshop was a playful entry into the physical aspect of creativity.
Realizing Visions of Alternative Educational Spaces
Dr. Marcus Bussey and Dr. Sid Jordan led the participants in a day of exploring our visions for building alternative educational-spaces where humanity can reunite in spirit & action and what role progressive – educators, activists & social-entrepreneurs play in nurturing such initiatives.
Sid Jordan introduced the day's task of Forming Communities of Practice surrounding the theme of what each of us wanted to contribute to our Future Vision of an Ananda Marga Gurukula University utilizing Open Space technology. Marcus Bussey then facilitated a What If….game after clustering peoples' individually chosen topics of interest into a number of Communities of Practice in the "market place" now called the Futures Wall. After choosing your group related to a Community of Practice each group selected a set of possibilities from all the choices provided in developing creative pathways by choosing 3 or 4 elements from the Futures Wall and suggesting outcomes. After working in groups, each community of interest reported to the larger group what visions of future education evolved in their discussions.
The afternoon session was devoted to an introduction to Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) as a means of developing a past-present-future scan of the litany of failed industrial models, socially conscious systems offering solutions, and dominant hierarchical world views as we looked for a mythic metaphor for a future university. The metaphor could serve as a nuclear concept to direct all of our open space work in synthesizing our visions in various communities of interest studied through the lens of the CLA. The workshop left the future vision for this future university open ended, but inspired continuing working of creating the metaphor and realizing a global campus for Ananda Marga Gurukula.
During the final plenary, Marcus Bussey shared one possible myth/metaphor for a new vision for Gurukula. Groups again met, this time to think about how Gurukula can help to support their continuing work and how they could contribute to the development of Gurukula. As an ending, participants of the summit shared their personal experiences and stories. It became very clear that everybody felt deeply inspired by the broadminded and all inclusive attitude of Gurukula that functioned as the cement for this Summit. Each person felt accepted and invited to implement his/her best potential for the welfare of the earth and all its inhabitants.
The Summit featured interactive programs both in the plenary and workshop programs, fostering a sense of community and group work. New grids of connections and relationships were built. Plans for collaborative work, including various people and disciplines, can be expected in the near future.
The energy and enthusiasm that was generated in this Education and Global Transformation Summit has inspired those present to move forward in creating new connections and concrete objectives that weave together our "pre-k through 12" and higher education goals. The faculty of Neohumanist Education is working with new speed that will enable us to actualize the next steps towards creating a global AMGK University: more primary schools, teacher training centers and affiliations with Universities. Our publications and forums will inform you how to participate in this renaissance in Neohumanist Education.
In the evening representatives of various schools and projects gave inspiring, and often moving, visual presentations about their projects. These included, Progressive School of Long Island by Director Eric Jacobson, Dr. Aditya Mohanty and the Adruta Childrens' home in Bhuvaneswar, India, Didi Anandarma and her exciting experience with Nile River School near Cairo, Egypt, Didi Ananda Amegha's school in Venezuela, Tatanya Popov's school and teacher training work in Switzerland, Dada Shankarsananda's recognized Yoga Academy Singapore, Maya Pagandiri and the Surnise School, Bali, Indonesia, the Yoga Kids programme of yoga for children in Taiwan by Tang Taminga and team, the Yoga for Children and Teachers in Italy by Christian Franceschini and the Baan Unrak School and teacher training in Thailand by Didi Ananda Citrarekha and Jaree Naksamrit.
Issue37
4 – Renaissance in all the Strata of Life – Shrii Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar
AMGK Global Summit Reports
6 – Fleeing Forward: the Neohumanist Educational Call – Marcus Bussey 8 – Education and Global Transformation: Conference Overview - by Henk de Weijer and Arete Brim
NHE Studies
14 – Gems of Neohumanism: Applied Learning – Eric Jacobson 16 – Why is Embracing Local Story Traditions in Schools so Important? - Tang Taminga 18 - Relevance of Neohumanist Education to the Current World Context - Didi Ananda Devapriya 19 – The Play's the Thing: The Theatre Arts in Learning - Jane Greis 22 – Pushing for Peace: The T'ai Chi Peace Games - Marilyn Cooper
NHE Schools and Projects in Focus
25 – Social Service Education Projects in the Slums of Sao Paulo, Brazil - Dada Maheshvarananda 26 – CASA ILORI: Opportunities for Children La Carpio, Costa Rica - Maritza Ulate 28 – Bissiri School, Burkina Faso - Dada Padmesha'nanda 29 – Volunteering at the Lotus Children's Center, Accra, Ghana - Shannon Rupp
30 – Qahira Sector – Croatia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria 32 – Berlin Sector - Romania 33 – Delhi Sector – India & Suva Sector – Australia 34 – Manila Sector – Laos 35 – New York Sector – USA, Jamaica & Hong Kong Sector – China, South Korea 36 – Nairobi Sector – Ghana, Kenya
38 – The 10 Yoga Keys to Happiness - Our 10 Core Values - Mahajyoti Glassman 38 – New Children's Songs CD by Dada Veda and Friends - Free to NHE Schools 38 – Cyber Connectivity Initiative – Dr. Peter Siao 39 – Neohumanist-Conference-Venezuela – April 14-18, 2014


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Kadłubek – osada w Polsce położona w województwie wielkopolskim, w powiecie czarnkowsko-trzcianeckim, w gminie Trzcianka. Miejscowość wchodzi w skład sołectwa Biała.

W latach 1975–1998 miejscowość należała administracyjnie do województwa pilskiego.

Zobacz też: Kadłubek

Przypisy

Trzcianka (gmina)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Have a Merry Medieval Christmas at Dalkey Castle. You can travel through time and step in to 'Christmases Past'. You can savour the delights of a Christmas Feast prepared by our own Medieval Cook. See her prepare Mince Pies, Butter and Saffron Basted Goose, traditional Humble Pies, Boar's Head, Hedgehog Pie, and delicious Frumenty.
You will be fascinated with the secrets of Christmas: the origins of ' the Christmas Box', 'the Piggy Bank', 'Carol Singing', the wearing of 'Christmas Holly', the fruit laden Christmas Tree and much, much more.
You can hang a stone on the Christmas tree for good luck in the year ahead.
Tours runs from December 3rd until 22nd (excluding week-ends of 13th & 14th and 20th & 21st December which have Santa on site).
It's Christmas Day every day at Dalkey Castle until the 22nd December. Don't let Christmases Past pass you by! Great Fun Family Day Out!


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Uses of Boric Acid
Boric acid is a weak acid that is made up of boron, hydrogen and oxygen. It is a solid white crystal substance at room temperature and can be dissolved in water. Boric acid can be found in nature in some areas of volcanic activity as well as in seawater, plants and fruits. It was first prepared by Dutch scientist Wilhelm Homberg from borax, but was known and used in Ancient Greece for a variety of purposes. Most boric acid made today is prepared by reacting borax with a mineral acid (usually hydrochloric acid). It is a relatively safe acid and it is used for a variety of applications.
Boric acid has many uses in the medical industry. It is used as an antiseptic for minor cuts and burns and it is sometimes added to dressings. It can also be used to treat certain bacterial and fungal infections, such as acne and athlete's foot. Overuse can cause a build up in the system and be toxic, especially for infants and small children.
Boric acid is a popular insecticide and can be used to kill a verity of household pests such as ants, termites, fleas, cockroaches, silverfish and many other small insects. It kills the insects by disturbing their metabolism and is abrasive to their exoskeletons.
Boric acid is used to treat wood to prevent termites and to prevent wet and dry rot. It is also combined with ethylene glycol to treat external wood against fungal infections or insects. Boric acid gel and paste can also be used to insert into rotting timber to treat it instead of replacing it. Boric acid based treatments can be used to prevent slime and algae growth.
Boric acid, together with common salt, is used in the curing process from sheepskins, calfskins and cattle hides. It helps to stop bacteria from growing on the hides and controls insects.
Boric acid, together with petroleum or vegetable oil, is a very suitable lubricant for metal or ceramic surfaces.
Boric acid is used as a neutron poison to slow down the rate of fission in nuclear power plants. Boric acid was dumped on the reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after meltdown to prevent any further reactions!
Boric acid is used in the production of textile fiberglass and in the production of certain types of furnace linings and ceramics.
It is used in the jewelry industry to reduce unwanted marking from occurring on the metals during construction.
Boric acid can be used to make fire green, which is the method used by fire jugglers and spinners. It can also be used in fireworks to prevent a reaction between aluminum and nitrates.
It also has many other uses such as: in the production of LCD displays, in the manufacture of Silly Putty, neutralizing hydrofluoric acid, a fire retardant for wood, electroplating and many more.
wide usage of borax
borax anhydrous used in fiberglass insulation
borate chemicals for industry usage
Potassium Fluoroborate KBF4
New uses for Mica

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
'''
author:     Fabio Zanini
date:       31/01/19
content:    Test dataset built up of separate files.
'''
def test_parse_counts_table():
    print('Parsing example TSV count table from dataset')
    from singlet.io import parse_counts_table
    table = parse_counts_table({'datasetname': 'example_dataset'})
    print('Done!')

def test_parse_samplesheet():
    print('Parsing example TSV count table from dataset')
    from singlet.io import parse_samplesheet
    table = parse_samplesheet({'datasetname': 'example_dataset'})
    print('Done!')

def test_parse_featuresheet():
    print('Parsing example TSV count table from dataset')
    from singlet.io import parse_featuresheet
    table = parse_featuresheet({'datasetname': 'example_dataset'})
    print('Done!')

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


In just 18 months, Grant Thornton Singapore has grown from a one-man outfit into an office of more than 60 people. This is the story of the company's journey.
Often, when a global professional services firm opens up in a new market, it acquires and rebrands an existing office. Departing from convention, Grant Thornton decided to 'start on a fresh piece of paper' and 'design an office which it felt would be very successful in Singapore', says Graham Stirling, audit manager at Grant Thornton Singapore. In this way, the company was able to replicate its open-office model in which senior management work closely alongside associates and seniors, in line with the company's global values of Collaboration, Leadership, Excellence, Agility, Responsibility and Respect (CLEARR), which Stirling believes is what makes Grant Thornton a much sought-after employer globally.
In the initial months, experienced personnel from overseas offices were brought in to help start the new firm. This helped ensure that global best practices were effectively indoctrinated into the new setup. 'It was very important that the leadership of the new business was very familiar with Grant Thornton culture and methodology,' Stirling says.
The company was clear, however, that it was ultimately a Singaporean business and that having a majority expat staffing should be only a temporary measure. 'Initially, our ratio of expats to Singaporeans was 75:25. Within a year, we managed to flip that ratio in the opposite direction. We are recruiting the best and brightest talent to help grow and develop Grant Thornton Singapore,' says Stirling.
Stirling says there was no shortage of talent hailing from the local Singaporean universities. However, even as a globally recognised name, as a new player in the lion city the company had to convince local talents of why they should consider a mid-tier firm rather than a Big Four firm – which many were initially attracted to. Grant Thornton adopted the slogan 'Stand out from the crowd' to spearhead the graduate recruitment programme.
The strategy was to target a specific portion of the graduate market, those 'who wanted to be part of a firm that they were able to develop with, grow with and become a future leader with', explains Stirling.
Having personally benefited from his own decision to cut his teeth at Grant Thornton seven years ago, Stirling is a strong advocate for the mid-tier firm.
Recalling his decision, he says: 'I wanted to work for an organisation that was small enough for me to make a difference. At the same time, I also wanted to work for an organisation large enough for me to have opportunities to work with big brand-name clients, as well as to travel and work globally.
'I've never regretted my decision. I wouldn't be in the position that I am today if it wasn't for the support that I've received from Grant Thornton. I want to give the staff of Grant Thornton Singapore the same opportunities that I've had,' he adds.
As a global organisation with 800 offices in over 130 countries, Grant Thornton's talent development programmes span global, regional and local levels.
At the global level, top-performing senior staff from offices around the world are identified for an Advanced Managers' Programme which prepares them for senior leadership positions. The two-year programme includes three collaborative sessions where participants meet up with each other for a week to work on projects ranging from client servicing to innovation. Outside these meet-ups, participants continue to collaborate remotely on other projects to enhance their senior leadership skills.
Within the Asia-Pacific region, there is a separate Emerging Leaders Programme, where candidates are selected to represent the various offices at a regional academy and then at Grant Thornton conferences. At these events, attendees have the opportunity to collaborate and network with their regional colleagues. Stirling, who attended the 2015 programme in Bangkok, says the basis of the programme is to ensure that future leaders are equipped with the necessary skills and experience to lead the firm in the coming years.
Staff can also apply to work in other Grant Thornton offices around the world to experience working with different personnel and clients from a different sector and culture. Stirling, a secondee from the UK office, believes he gained the most in terms of development when he left his comfort zone working in the Glasgow office to come and work in Singapore. He says that while secondment opportunities are not uncommon in other firms, it is something that is particularly encouraged at Grant Thornton.
'The skills secondees are able to develop are so fundamentally beneficial. The idea is that the person will be able to bring back the skills and experience that they've had in that new environment. In my situation, I work very closely with the UK business and they've certainly benefited from having me as a touch point here in Singapore,' he explains.
Stirling adds that while opportunities for secondment are possible because of Grant Thornton's extensive international network, he recognises the role that globally recognised certifications such as ACCA play in allowing staff to transfer seamlessly across different offices.
'We know that someone with the ACCA Qualification is going to have an array of quality skills, be it technical knowledge, communication skills, or the ability to collaborate and work with others, and that's very appealing for an international organisation like ourselves,' he says.
As an ACCA Accredited Employer, Grant Thornton regularly supports employees who pursue professional studies. Support comes in the form of sponsorships, study leave and even study aid from other accounting professionals within the firm.
Grant Thornton's global strategy, titled Vision 2020, focuses on improving the people experience across its global business. The idea is that by creating an environment where employees are happy to come to work, they are going to be more productive, and this will ultimately result in happier clients.
A key area of focus for the Singapore office is building an inclusive environment. As part of the office expansion plans, all staff are encouraged to give their input on what they would want their office to be like. 'In a lot of organisations, this might have been something solely handled by the senior management team, but we wanted this be an inclusive project,' says Stirling.
Work-life balance: 'We all have lives outside the office and it's important that people are having that balance.
On a lighter note, the company looks at social events as a way of reinforcing its open culture. The Singapore office is actively involved in a number of sports and has its own football, netball and bowling team, as well as a running club. Outside of sports, regular inter-departmental social functions provide an opportunity for staff to build team cohesiveness.
"We made sure that when we were setting salaries they were of the highest levels in Singapore"
Grant Thornton is now one of the major global accounting networks and has member firms across more than 130 countries, employing more than 40,000 professionals.
Grant Thornton Singapore was incorporated in February 2015. It currently has a staff strength of more than 60 professionals, providing audit, tax and advisory services to over 400 national and multinational clients.
Harnessing learning and experience from across its global network, Grant Thornton provides professional services in a seamless manner at multiple locations across diverse industries.


The sixth edition of YOHOOD Global Trend Carnival was held in SWEECC from August 31 to September 2. The theme was Renew the Rules, which means it would give us more interesting fashion exhibits. Unlike last year, this fashion exhibition had two parts: The World and Rising China. It displayed fashion trends at home and abroad.


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He Never Saw It Coming
Chris Lomon
Brian Campbell1000 Games PlayedFlorida Panthers
Brian Campbell battled to become an everyday NHL player & now has eclipsed the 1,000 games played milestone
As far as big career milestones go, Brian Campbell couldn't have planned it any better: an outstanding road win, a plus-2 rating in 23:17 of total ice time, a franchise record, and plenty of love from his teammates.
The 1,000th game in Campbell's NHL life was indeed perfect. Aside from an authoritative 4-1 victory by his Florida Panthers against Montreal, the blueliner was his usual steady self, seeing three-plus minutes on both the power play and penalty kill, and over 16 minutes at even strength.
Wow 1000 games. Would like to thank @BuffaloSabres @SanJoseSharks @NHLBlackhawks and especially @FlaPanthers. Lucky to play this great game.
— Brian Campbell (@bcampbell_51) April 6, 2016
If that wasn't impressive enough, he also put his name in the Panthers record books by playing in his 374th consecutive game with the club.
Soon after the final horn sounded, the 36-year-old and his teammates celebrated his big night, posing for a series of pictures that soon made their way onto social media sites.
What a great pic and great night. Lucky to have such great teammates. pic.twitter.com/gaNp3KAjMs
Here is my younger big brother. Great kid and crazy great player. Luv my boy @Ekblad5FLA. Playoffs will b fun. pic.twitter.com/qVVbyBD7Nh
Less than 24 hours later, Campbell was still smiling.
"Waking up this morning, I feel proud of what I accomplished," said the Ontario native, who was selected 156th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1997. "Late-round draft pick and undersized. A lot of hard work gets you to your goals and that's what I have done my whole career. It's so nice to get text messages from other players and former coaches that played a huge part in getting me to where I am today."
And as he pointed out, where he is was where Campbell hadn't anticipated he'd be.
The early part of his career certainly didn't suggest that 1,000 games was in his future. Two and a half seasons in the minors before making it to the NHL ranks, healthy scratches – a long big-league life seemed to be a longshot.
Even so, Campbell wasn't going to give up without a fight.
"When I first started, I was hoping just to establish myself as an NHL player," he recalled. "Making it to the NHL was great, but then came a lot of healthy scratches until I finally broke through as an everyday player. I thought playing 100 games was a huge deal and now this. Never saw it coming. I'm proud to be playing at a high level when I'm 36."
Campbell, who has also played for the Sabres, Sharks and Blackhawks over his NHL career, is also proud to be part of this Florida team.
"We have a great group of guys in our locker room," he said. "We have a lot of young guys that work hard every day to try and get better. So for me, I try to be a good example and keep up to these kids. They make me feel young."
There is still plenty for the veteran Campbell - the 305th player to reach the 1,000-game plateau - to look forward to.
He's back in the playoffs for the first time since 2011-12 and will look to add a second Stanley Cup after winning it all with Chicago in 2010.
Not bad for a player who once thought hitting the century mark in games would be a pretty big thing.
"Nobody thought this would happen to me and I was one of those people."
Brian Campbell retires, to join Blackhawks front office
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell announced today his retirement following 17 seasons in the National Hockey League. Campbell will join the Chicago Blackhawks business operations department, assisting with various marketing, community relations and youth hockey initiatives.
My Top 5 | Brian Campbell
With NCAA March Madness in full swing, Brian Campbell got into the spirit by selecting four teammates – plus a head coach and mascot – who would join him on the court if the Chicago Blackhawks were allowed to have a squad in the tournament.
Adam Henrique and Brandon Montour tee off to help their hometown youth
From their hometown to the NHL Brandon Montour and Adam Henrique have come a long way since their days in Brantford and Brant County.
Verhaeghe in time for Sunshine State showdown against former team
Carter Verhaeghe's strong sophomore season has the young forward eyeing back-to-back Stanley Cups in the Sunshine State.
Player of the Week | Sam Bennett
Sam Bennett is settling in nicely with the Florida Panthers, having posted a seven-point week as part of 13 points in his first nine outings with the club.
After the Buzzer | Brandon Montour
Newly landed in the Sunshine State, Brandon Montour provides an important pupdate from Florida reveals his childhood hockey idol, and more.


The sin function is perfect for this, it creates a smooth transition from state to state. The function sin(x) will give you values from -1 to 1 which is also great for this particular instance as I didn't want it on screen the entire time. For the negative component it won't be visible as you can't have a negative alpha. Now to do this in GameMaker, create a sprite and an associated object.
OK, so it's not a feature but everyone's got to start somewhere right? Nice to be mentioned in a site I read pretty much every day.
I'll keep an eye on the stats over the next few days to see if there are any spikes.
I'm re-doing a couple of particle effects that I wasn't entirely happy with using the built in GameMaker Particle System effects.
This has been pretty easy so far, i'm using a tool called Sparks that Nocturne over at the GM forums has created and been kind enough to share.
It allows you to play around with graphical effects and tweak them on the fly.
Apple Bin – New Android Game – Out Now!
Apple Bin has just been released out into the wild. The hot new Android Game is available now on the play store.
And now begins the task of annoying journalists, pestering forums and generally making a nuisance of myself.
So i decided i don't like sleep very much and put together a launch trailer for Apple Bin.
I'm currently in the process of porting my Windows Phone game 'Apple Bin' to Android I thought this would be a good opportunity to re-design the levels to be a bit more challenging.
In general when I introduce a new mechanic such as a portal or gravity switch I'll try and present it as simply as possible. Then ramp it up pretty quickly. The levels themselves are fairly quick to put together in GameMaker, the time consuming portion is the design. I try and sketch out ideas before i implement them. It makes it a bit easier to visualise the final result.
My five year old daughter Isabelle thought this was great fun and wanted to design a level of her own. I think we might have a budding game designer on our hands.
I've recently began the long arduous journey to port my games from a windows phone / Silverlight / xaml code base to a platform independent framework (using GameMaker). The name under which I've published those games is 'Escape Development'. This was OK at the time, but it's been starting to bug me recently. I wanted a new name / logo which didn't have any connotations associated with it.
These days you've really got to start with the website and work backwards. There's no use coming up with some cool name only to find out that there are 20 other names exactly like it. I wanted a short name that was easily identifiable with the games that I publish.
Pretty much every 3 letter website is taken so you've got buckleys of getting something there. I had a crack at a few four letter words, but five there were a lot more available. I got a list of a about 10 or so and gradually started whittling them down. I settled on Ruxar.
OK name sorted, now logo time. This is something that really conveys the spirit of your games. So you want to carry that through in the design. My games are colourful, tongue in cheek outings that generally don't take themselves too seriously.
My first got at the logos was really just focusing on the text and using some variations around the X to add a bit of flare. These all seemed a bit too serious though.
Next up I tried adding a character to the designs. I liked this concept but the execution was a bit wonky. Back to the drawing board / sketch pad.
This is the final result. I'm really happy with it.


LaCigaleShop presents Tammy&Benjamin's collection. It is in the never-ending quest for the perfect balance between the 30's and modernity of the 2000's with high-end materials and contemporary prints.The collections are imagined, and made in France. A universe that carries us from one century to another as a guideline of the classic Parisian aesthetic.


text:
package com.twitter.intellij.pants.integration;

import com.intellij.openapi.roots.ContentEntry;
import com.intellij.openapi.roots.SourceFolder;
import com.twitter.intellij.pants.testFramework.OSSPantsIntegrationTest;
import com.twitter.intellij.pants.util.PantsConstants;
import org.jetbrains.jps.model.java.JavaSourceRootType;

import java.util.List;

public class OSSPantsScalaExamplesIntegrationTest extends OSSPantsIntegrationTest {

  protected String[] getRequiredPluginIds() {
    return new String[]{
      "org.intellij.scala",
      "com.intellij.gradle",
      PantsConstants.PLUGIN_ID
    };
  }

  public void testHelloByTargetName() throws Throwable {
    doImport("examples/src/scala/org/pantsbuild/example/hello/BUILD", "hello");

    assertFirstSourcePartyModules(
      "examples_src_resources_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_hello",
      "examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_module",
      "examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_hello",
      "examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_welcome_welcome",
      "examples_src_java_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_greet_greet",
      "examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_exe_exe"
    );

    assertModuleModuleDeps(
      "examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_exe_exe",
      "examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_welcome_welcome"
    );
    assertPantsCompileExecutesAndSucceeds(pantsCompileModule("examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_exe_exe"));

    assertGotoFileContains("README");
    //Assert if README file under a sub directory is indexed.
    assertGotoFileContains("README_DOCS");
  }

  public void testScalaWithJavaSources() throws Throwable {
    doImport("examples/src/scala/org/pantsbuild/example/scala_with_java_sources");

    final String moduleName =
      "examples_src_java_org_pantsbuild_example_java_sources_java_sources_and_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_scala_with_java_sources_scala_with_java_sources";

    assertFirstSourcePartyModules(moduleName);
    assertPantsCompileExecutesAndSucceeds(pantsCompileProject());
  }

  public void testExcludes1() throws Throwable {
    doImport("intellij-integration/src/scala/org/pantsbuild/testproject/excludes1");

    assertFirstSourcePartyModules(
      "intellij-integration_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_testproject_excludes1_excludes1",
      "intellij-integration_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_testproject_excludes1_nested_foo_foo"
    );

    assertModuleModuleDeps(
      "intellij-integration_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_testproject_excludes1_excludes1",
      "___scala-library-synthetic",
      "intellij-integration_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_testproject_excludes1_nested_foo_foo"
    );
    assertPantsCompileExecutesAndSucceeds(pantsCompileModule("intellij-integration_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_testproject_excludes1_excludes1"));

    findClassAndAssert("org.pantsbuild.testproject.excludes1.nested.foo.Foo");
  }

  public void testError1() throws Throwable {
    doImport("intellij-integration/src/scala/org/pantsbuild/testproject/error1");

    assertFirstSourcePartyModules(
      "intellij-integration_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_testproject_error1_error1"
    );
    assertPantsCompileFailure(pantsCompileModule("intellij-integration_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_testproject_error1_error1"));
  }

  public void testWelcomeTest() throws Throwable {
    doImport("examples/tests/scala/org/pantsbuild/example/hello/welcome");

    assertFirstSourcePartyModules(
      "examples_src_resources_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_hello",
      "examples_src_java_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_greet_greet",
      "examples_src_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_welcome_welcome",
      "examples_tests_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_welcome_welcome"
    );

    final ContentEntry[] contentRoots = getContentRoots("examples_tests_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_welcome_welcome");
    assertSize(1, contentRoots);
    final List<SourceFolder> testSourceRoots = contentRoots[0].getSourceFolders(JavaSourceRootType.TEST_SOURCE);
    assertSize(1, testSourceRoots);

    assertPantsCompileExecutesAndSucceeds(pantsCompileProject());

    findClassAndAssert("org.pantsbuild.example.hello.welcome.WelSpec");
    assertScalaLibrary("examples_tests_scala_org_pantsbuild_example_hello_welcome_welcome");
  }
}


text:
THE GREEN ECONOMICS INSTITUTE
- Celebrating 11 Years of Green Economics -
Philosophical Basis of the Green Movement
Philosophical Basis of the Green Movement: Distinctive elements from the founders of the movement [Paperback]
Mike Benfield (Author), Miriam Kennet (Author), Sandy Irvin (Author), Michelle Gale De Oliveira (Editor), David Taylor (Editor)
The book is intended to reconnect green movement members and others to its roots and its philosophical basis. By doing this it attempts to provide a strong and robust foundation for its next jumping off point to the second phase of its maturity.It brings together some of its founder members in a work about its fundamental and vital innovations and recollects what makes it unique, necesary and important and above all very distinctive.
Publisher: The Green Economics Institute (1 April 2014)


If you are looking to learn how to drive a car, then you need to get help from the best in the business. The secret to becoming a great driver is to get the basics right and then build from there on. While it may seem easy to learn the basics on your own, you may never know if you are doing something wrong or not. The best way is to get professional help from a school that offers drivers' training in Calgary. It is very important that you get the right kind of education and information before you start driving on your own. You should also get enough practical exposure behind the wheel of a car. In order for this practice to be effective, always make sure that you choose a reputed school rather than settle for something that offers you courses at a very cheap rate.
This could make all the difference between you being a responsible and safe motorist and a rash and careless one. Drivers' training in Calgary is offered by some of the most reputed schools in the country. They have courses that are based on the varying needs of different types of students. If you are a beginner, you will need more time practicing driving. For this you can enroll yourself for the more extensive course where you will be taught both the theoretical aspects as well as practical application. This will help you become a well-rounded motorist capable of driving in a careful and responsible manner.


Green Mountain Fudge is made right here in the state of Vermont. With its always creamy texture, this fudge will please adults and children of all ages! This Butter Pecan Fudge has a vanilla cream base and is loaded down with roasted pecans and sweet butter. This Butter Pecan fudge is a tasty and nutty treat for everyone to enjoy. This fudge delight comes sealed in its plastic container with a plastic knife inside for instant enjoyment.


As part of our series of posts on getting your Security Awareness Programme up and running we thought it was time to cover how to create a security awareness strategy.
Why create a security awareness strategy?
You're avoiding crushing your security awareness activities into the dirt by not attempting to give training to all staff face-to-face. It is common at this stage to start looking for a vendor to fulfil your needs.
We'd caution you at this stage to take stock and create a Security Awareness Strategy.
It includes specific success criteria which aligns with reality, i.e. culture change won't happen in a week!
In some organisations, you'd need to create a business case before you could proceed. Some of the elements we're about to discuss could form requirements of a business case but we still recommend creating a Security Awareness Strategy. Your stakeholders are likely to be a broader group than you'd need to get a business case signed off and the business case process may not include some key elements of a good strategy document.
Let's be clear, the ultimate goal is culture change to align security and the organisation in terms of behaviours in a positive way. But if you are at an early level of maturity with regards security awareness you may never have communicated effectively as a security function before.
So, it would be difficult to know what cultural moves to make. Culture measurement should be part of your Security Awareness Strategy.
If you are just getting started with security awareness you're less likely to have known issues to include in the Define current state stage so you should remember to include risk statements around not knowing to what degree behaviours are elevating risk.
At this point we realised that this post, if it's to add value to readers, could end up pretty big. So, instead we've created a free PDF covering each component in more detail. Please download it from http://advanced-engagement.com/security-awareness-strategy-guide/.


text:
Q: load_from_checkpoint fails after transfer learning a LightningModule I try to transfer learn a LightningModule. The relevant part of the code is this:
class DeepFilteringTransferLearning(pl.LightningModule):
    def __init__(self, chk_path = None):
        super().__init__()

        #init class members
        self.prediction = []
        self.label = []
        self.loss = MSELoss()

        #init pretrained model
        self.chk_path = chk_path
        model = DeepFiltering.load_from_checkpoint(chk_path)
        backbone = model.sequential
        layers = list(backbone.children())[:-1]
        self.groundModel = Sequential(*layers)

        #use the pretrained modell the same way to regress Lshall and neq
        self.regressor = nn.Linear(64,2)

    def forward(self, x):
        self.groundModel.eval()
        with torch.no_grad():
            groundOut = self.groundModel(x)
        yPred = self.regressor(groundOut)
        return yPred

I save my model in a different, main file which relevant part is:
#callbacks
callbacks = [
        ModelCheckpoint(
            dirpath = "checkpoints/maxPooling16StandardizedL2RegularizedReproduceableSeeded42Ampl1ConvTransferLearned",
            save_top_k=5,
            monitor="val_loss",
        ),
    ]

#trainer
trainer = pl.Trainer(gpus=[1,2],strategy="dp",max_epochs=150,logger=wandb_logger,callbacks=callbacks,precision=32,deterministic=True)
trainer.fit(model,train_dataloaders=trainDl,val_dataloaders=valDl)

After try to load the modell from checkpoint like this:
chk_patH = "path/to/transfer_learned/model"
standardizedL2RegularizedL1 = DeepFilteringTransferLearning("path/to/model/trying/to/use/for/transfer_learning").load_from_checkpoint(chk_patH)

I got the following error:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AttributeError                            Traceback (most recent call last)
~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/torch/serialization.py in _check_seekable(f)
    307     try:
--> 308         f.seek(f.tell())
    309         return True

AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'seek'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

AttributeError                            Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-6-13f5fd0c7b85> in <module>
      1 chk_patH = "checkpoints/maxPooling16StandardizedL2RegularizedReproduceableSeeded42Ampl1/epoch=4-step=349.ckpt"
----> 2 standardizedL2RegularizedL1 = DeepFilteringTransferLearning("checkpoints/maxPooling16StandardizedL2RegularizedReproduceableSeeded42Ampl2/epoch=145-step=10219.ckpt").load_from_checkpoint(chk_patH)

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pytorch_lightning/core/saving.py in load_from_checkpoint(cls, checkpoint_path, map_location, hparams_file, strict, **kwargs)
    154         checkpoint[cls.CHECKPOINT_HYPER_PARAMS_KEY].update(kwargs)
    155
--> 156         model = cls._load_model_state(checkpoint, strict=strict, **kwargs)
    157         return model
    158

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pytorch_lightning/core/saving.py in _load_model_state(cls, checkpoint, strict, **cls_kwargs_new)
    196             _cls_kwargs = {k: v for k, v in _cls_kwargs.items() if k in cls_init_args_name}
    197
--> 198         model = cls(**_cls_kwargs)
    199
    200         # give model a chance to load something

~/whistlerProject/gitHub/whistler/mathe/gwInspired/deepFilteringTransferLearning.py in __init__(self, chk_path)
     34         #init pretrained model
     35         self.chk_path = chk_path
---> 36         model = DeepFiltering.load_from_checkpoint(chk_path)
     37         backbone = model.sequential
     38         layers = list(backbone.children())[:-1]

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pytorch_lightning/core/saving.py in load_from_checkpoint(cls, checkpoint_path, map_location, hparams_file, strict, **kwargs)
    132                 checkpoint = pl_load(checkpoint_path, map_location=map_location)
    133             else:
--> 134                 checkpoint = pl_load(checkpoint_path, map_location=lambda storage, loc: storage)
    135
    136         if hparams_file is not None:

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pytorch_lightning/utilities/cloud_io.py in load(path_or_url, map_location)
     31     if not isinstance(path_or_url, (str, Path)):
     32         # any sort of BytesIO or similiar
---> 33         return torch.load(path_or_url, map_location=map_location)
     34     if str(path_or_url).startswith("http"):
     35         return torch.hub.load_state_dict_from_url(str(path_or_url), map_location=map_location)

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/torch/serialization.py in load(f, map_location, pickle_module, **pickle_load_args)
    579         pickle_load_args['encoding'] = 'utf-8'
    580
--> 581     with _open_file_like(f, 'rb') as opened_file:
    582         if _is_zipfile(opened_file):
    583             # The zipfile reader is going to advance the current file position.

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/torch/serialization.py in _open_file_like(name_or_buffer, mode)
    233             return _open_buffer_writer(name_or_buffer)
    234         elif 'r' in mode:
--> 235             return _open_buffer_reader(name_or_buffer)
    236         else:
    237             raise RuntimeError(f"Expected 'r' or 'w' in mode but got {mode}")

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/torch/serialization.py in __init__(self, buffer)
    218     def __init__(self, buffer):
    219         super(_open_buffer_reader, self).__init__(buffer)
--> 220         _check_seekable(buffer)
    221
    222

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/torch/serialization.py in _check_seekable(f)
    309         return True
    310     except (io.UnsupportedOperation, AttributeError) as e:
--> 311         raise_err_msg(["seek", "tell"], e)
    312     return False
    313

~/anaconda3/envs/skimageTrial/lib/python3.6/site-packages/torch/serialization.py in raise_err_msg(patterns, e)
    302                                 + " Please pre-load the data into a buffer like io.BytesIO and"
    303                                 + " try to load from it instead.")
--> 304                 raise type(e)(msg)
    305         raise e
    306

AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'seek'. You can only torch.load from a file that is seekable. Please pre-load the data into a buffer like io.BytesIO and try to load from it instead.

which I can't resolve.
I try to this according to the available tutorials on the official page of pytorch lightning here. I can't figure it out what I miss.
Could somebody point me in the right direction?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Trick or treating is a staple for most kids during Halloween. It's the one night a year where they can dress up like a cretin, terrorize the neighborhood and get some candy in the process. And sure, an old pillow case might hold all that candy your child plans on hauling in this year, but it's still just an old pillow case. It might serve the purpose, but it's just never going to be as cool as one of our licensed or themed treat bags or pails.
We have plenty of them to select from, like Spider-Man, Star Wars, Superman, Monster High and tons of others. We know, it might be just a small accessory to add your kid's costume experience, but sometimes it's those little extra touches that can turn an alright night, into a totally awesome Halloween.


text:
Childhood Obesity and the Coca-Cola Culture
There seems to be no end to the shenanigans of Coca-Cola. Last time, Childhood Obesity News looked at an article written by Rick Docksai for Inside Philanthropy, but did not bring up every interesting facet of it. The title has a bit of an edge — "Guess Which Company Is Both Making Us Fat and Funding Anti-Obesity Efforts?" — but the piece is decidedly corporate-positive. Docksai says of Coca-Cola:
[O]n the obesity issue, it seems to take a localized, neighborhood-scale approach with its funding. It reaches out to the individual communities and finds partners within them who can work with it to achieve its anti-obesity goals.
For instance, the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta received $1 million for nutrition education and leadership development, and Atlanta's YMCA received $75,000 for fitness programs. In fact, since Georgia is the most obese state, its various community exercise and nutrition programs collected a total of $3.8 million.
All these activities carry an implicit message. As long as you eat some vegetables and work out every once in a while, then it's OK to consume gallons of soft drinks every week. If you are overweight, it's not because of the sugary drinks, but because you didn't do enough sit-ups or eat the right kind of cucumbers. Obesity researcher Zoë Harcombe puts it this way:
Coca-Cola's association with sport and slim, athletic looking people, reinforces their desired message — drink Coca-cola, exercise and you won't get fat.
That was written in conjunction with Harcombe's expressions of scorn for Coke's close association with the most recent Olympics. These days, the corporation is very proud of itself for putting more than 180 low-calorie and no-calorie beverages on the market. Harcombe calls Coca-Cola's public relations efforts manipulative and disgraceful, and detects conflicts of interest at every turn.
She mentions the sports nutritionist "recommended" by the corporation. Dr. Russell Pate holds the title of director of the Children's Physical Activity Research Group, and believes strongly that "we will have to increase the physical activity level of our population if we want to overcome the obesity epidemic." But he never proposes cutting out the sugar-sweetened beverages that infest the typical American's diet. Harcombe says:
Surely Dr. Pate is bright enough to have worked out that it is better not to consume empty calories than it is to consume them and then try to work them off…. Dr. Pate should have declared that the University of South Carolina Department of Exercise Science, where he works, acknowledged in their spring 2011 newsletter…. 'Recent new funding includes a large grant from Coca-Cola.'
Well, at least we know that Georgia was not the only state to benefit from the Coca-Cola Foundation's munificence. Nor was Dr. Pate the only professional to reap rewards. Harcombe also mentions another of Coke's tame medics, Dr. Steven Blair:
Blair's loyalty to Coca-Cola has not gone unrewarded — he was a torch bearer at the London Olympics 'recognized by Coca-Cola North America, one of the Olympic sponsors, for his "leadership in helping others live positively." '
Coke has been a sponsor and supporter of the Association for the Study of Obesity in the United Kingdom, and of the British Nutrition Foundation. And then there's the impressively named International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) which claims in its literature to be a "neutral forum." It is funded not only by governments and foundations, but by the beverage industry. ILSI boasts a 31-member board of trustees, of whom two represent Coca-Cola.
There is also, of course, the carbohydrate working group of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, whose chair is Professor Ian MacDonald, who enjoys an intimate relationship with Coca-Cola Europe. Harcombe's message is passionate:
Coca-Cola is part of the problem, not part of the solution. It is not Coca-Cola's job to resolve the obesity epidemic. It is Coca-Cola's job to maximise profit for shareholders. In the fight against the obesity epidemic, Coca-Cola is the enemy….
Source: "Guess Which Company Is Both Making Us Fat and Funding Anti-Obesity Efforts?" InsidePhilanthropy.com, 03/13/14
Source: "Coca-Cola, Obesity and Conflict," ZoeHarcombe.com, 01/22/13
Image by Kool Cats Photography


Made simply from the finest fresh fruit, our products contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
Established in 1998 by chef Andre Richardson, Island Berries Tasmania is a producer of premium quality desserts, fruit pastes, jams, spreads and fruit syrups.
Only the freshest ingredients are used and wherever possible fruit is sourced from premium Tasmanian suppliers.
Our products have won numerous fine food awards and are unrivalled for flavour and freshness.


Educated in France and the UK with a background in Management and Social Science. Her research interests include entrepreneurship, community and memory studies.
Indian, Roscoe has varied experience of nearly 8 years in marketing, sales and education roles with different organisations in both, for and not-for profit sectors.
His current research interests include institutions, organisations such as NGO's and social enterprises and justice issues such as modern slavery and human trafficking.
From Morocco, Yahya completed his degree in Engineering and gained experience in project management before joining the PhD program at EMLyon. His current research interest revolves around Strategy.
American & Canadian, Laura's research interests meet at the intersection of management, sociology and history, employing primarily quantitative methods. Her background is in international trade, having previously worked for the U.S. Commercial Service and a biotech engineering firm.
Pakistani, educated in Pakistan, Italy and the Netherlands. His research interests are in exploring the Relationship between Entrepreneurship and Innovation with special emphasis on open sources of innovations for entrepreneurs.
Besides academics, he loves sketching, hiking and travelling.
French, Claire recently graduated from EMLYON Business School and the University of Lyon III. Her current research interests deal with sociological perspectives on power in organizations. Beside academia, she likes cooking and has a passion for rock climbing and hiking.
German, educated in Switzerland, France, and Germany. My research centers upon institutional work and organizational identity construction. I'm interested in multimodal modes of communication and legitimization, and how collective and organizational perceptions are recursively constructed through diverse forms of intereacting narratives : material, visual and verbal. I study empirical settings like the field of Scotch Whisky distilleries, the art world of fashion, and the electric guitar industry.
Morrocan, educated in France and China. Her dissertation explores the significance of bodies and embodiment in social movements' organizing. Through a two-year ethnography of a French grassroots' climate movement born in the wake of civil society mobilization around COP21, she investigates the bodily practices and embodied processes involved in using 'non-violence' as a privileged tactic of action. Her research thus explores the challenges associated with the development of a new social movement organization promoting a culture of both non-violence and self-sacrifice and its impact on issues of identity, norms, learning and knowing.
Finnish, with background in civil engineering and real estate finance, Petri has worked for several years in commercial construction project management. His research interests include strategic management and the multitude of aspects connected to project management and temporary organizations.


text:
La Birmania partecipò ai Giochi della XIV Olimpiade, svoltisi ad Londra, dal 20 luglio al 14 agosto 1948,
con una delegazione di 4 atleti impegnati in 3 discipline,
senza aggiudicarsi medaglie.

Risultati

Collegamenti esterni
  Birmania ai Giochi della XIV Olimpiade Scheda su Sport-reference.

1948
Nazioni ai Giochi della XIV Olimpiade


text:
By Zeus!
After a break of 16 centuries, Greek pagans are worshipping the ancient gods again - despite furious opposition from the Orthodox church. Helena Smith asks them why they're so keen to revive the old religion
Helena Smith
Thu 1 Feb 2007 08.46 EST First published on Thu 1 Feb 2007 08.46 EST
Photograph: AP
It was high noon when Doreta Peppa, a woman with long, dark locks and owlish eyes, entered the Sanctuary of Olympian Zeus. At first, tourists visiting the Athenian temple thought they had stumbled on to a film set. It wasn't just that Peppa cut a dramatic figure with her flowing robes and garlanded hair. Or that she seemed to be in a state of near euphoria. Or even that the group of men and women accompanying her - dressed as warriors and nymphets in kitsch ancient garb - appeared to have stepped straight out of the city's Golden Age.
To the astonishment of onlookers, Peppa also began babbling Orphic hymns, before thrusting her arms upwards into the Attic skies and proceeding, somewhat deliriously, to warble her love for the gods of Mount Olympus. But, then, for the motley group of modern pagans coalesced around the temple's giant Corinthian columns, this was a special moment. Not since the late fourth century AD, when the newly Christian Roman state outlawed all forms of pagan worship, had a high priestess officiated on the sacred site.
Armed with white doves, Peppa, a former advertising executive, was not going to hold back - even if it meant defying the furious Greek officials and riot police gathered at the second-century temple's gates, unwilling to stop the ceremony for fear of provoking a violent confrontation. "Sixteen and a half centuries is a very long time to wait," she said. "After so many years of Christian persecution we were finally able to call on Zeus, our king-god, to bring peace to the world ahead of the [2008] Olympics. For us, it was a very, very big thing."
So big, that like a thunderbolt from the deity himself, the one-hour ceremony has achieved the near-impossible task of unnerving Greece's powerful Orthodox church. Since Peppa's performance 10 days ago, hierarchs have redirected the venom they usually reserve for homosexuals, Catholics, Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, masons and the "barbaric" Turks at the "miserable resuscitators" of the degenerate dead religion. In fire-and-brimstone sermons priests have slammed the "satanic" New Ageists and fulminated against their idols.
For years, Orthodox clerics believed that they had defeated Greeks wishing to embrace the customs and beliefs of the ancient past. But increasingly the church, a bastion of conservatism and traditionalism, has been confronted by the spectre of polytheists making a comeback in the land of the gods. Last year, Peppa's group, Ellinais, succeeded in gaining legal recognition as a cultural association in a country where all non-Christian religions, bar Islam and Judaism, are prohibited. As a result of the ruling, which devotees say paves the way for the Greek gods to be worshipped openly, the organisation hopes to win government approval for a temple in Athens where pagan baptisms, marriages and funerals could be performed. Taking the battle to archaeological sites deemed to be "sacred" is also part of an increasingly vociferous campaign.
But Ellinais, whose members range from elderly academics to young professionals, is not the only sect to practise the ethnic Hellenic faith. Those who claim to "defend the genuine traditions, religion and ethos" of pre-Christians say there are at least 2,000 hard-core followers and, nationwide, more than 100,000 sympathisers. Nationalist extremists, attracted by the creed's emphasis on Hellenic glories, are helping to boost the revival.
"If you are brought up with Greek mythology, the idea you are the descendants of the ancient Greeks and imbued with the importance of ancient Greek culture, you have all the pre-requisites for such an inclination," says Nikos Dimou, the acclaimed author of a tongue-in-cheek bestseller, The Misfortune to be Greek.
Ninety-eight per cent of the population may officially be Orthodox Christian, but in many ways Greeks remain bonded to their pagan past. "OK, the ancients had hubris, but the concept of sin was totally unknown to them, as indeed it is in modern Greece," Dimou says. "Greeks today don't observe many of the 10 commandments. Their outlook on life and values are much nearer to pagan ideas than those of the austere Judaeo-Christian faith."
The exoticism of pagan rituals undoubtedly adds to the allure. Enter the Athens headquarters of YSEE, an umbrella organisation of pagans, and the first thing you encounter on feast days are white-clad believers offering libations before a life-size marble kouros symbolising eternal youth. Busts of Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hera and Zeus cast their stony eyes on to an altar replete with burning incense, herbs and flowers. Housed in a decrepit apartment block, between a Kurdish-run cafe and a bathroom utilities store, YSEE has become a meeting point for pagans. Here believers, such as Vlassis Rassias, gather to discuss ancient Greek history and solace-giving gods.
Like pagans the world over, Rassias says he was drawn to polytheism by the religion's focus on humanity, ecology, cosmic connections and reverence for the past. But, like many in Greece, the 48-year-old banker adds that he was also attracted because of "the brainwashing" of the Orthodox church. "At school we were taught everything about the ancients except the way they worshipped. I found it very strange, and when I looked into it I began to see why," he says. "The Christians hated pagans so much that from the fourth century to the ninth century they destroyed their temples and libraries, killed their priests, closed their philosophical schools and, in one case, set up a death camp. It was genocide but priests don't want to talk about that today." Instead, he says, the Orthodox church insisted that Christianity had been spread, and accepted, peacefully.
Greece's pagans have found an unlikely champion in James O'Dell, a Croydon-born chartered surveyor who gave up his job to "serve the gods". Through the internet he has brought Apollo-loving pagans together in Britain - organising a ritual in Richmond Park in December - and disseminated information about the "plight" of pagans in Greece.
"I started a web page and was amazed at how many suddenly came out of the woodwork," says the 49-year-old, who lives between Athens and London and keeps an altar dedicated to Apollo in both homes. His own "awakening" began during a visit to ancient Delphi in 1990.
Greece's pagans will need every ally they can get in their battle with the immensely powerful Orthodox establishment. Church and state are still inextricably intertwined, and priests and parishes are financed from government coffers. "Greece is not like other modern European democracies - it is semi-theocratic," says Vassilis Tsantilas, 42, a computer scientist who experimented with Buddhism, Taoism and Islam before embracing paganism. "Constitutionally, there is no law that even allows for the recognition of other minority religions, which is why the Christians can go on persecuting us."
Last year, YSEE stepped up its campaign with a 14-page memorandum delivered to the Greek president. Among other things, it demanded that pagans not only be allowed to conduct baptisms, weddings, funerals and cremations but also be given a permanent place of worship within view of the Acropolis on the Hill of Nymphs.
"But our biggest demand is that our religion is accepted as a reality so that we can finally count just how many we are," Rassias says. "If the intolerance continues we'll go to the European court of human rights."
"I'd like to think that in 500 years things will be better," O'Dell says, with a smile. But Greece's pagans may not have to wait so long. Already they have come a long way from the days when exposure as a pagan could result in reprisals from business partners, family and friends. After the ceremony at the Sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, even the nation's media have stopped laughing at them.


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text:
In Paducah, Artists Create Something From Nothing
By Noah Adams • Aug 9, 2013
View Slideshow 1 of 2
Fiber artist Freda Fairchild at the door of her Studio Miska (Dear Little Mouse).
Noah Adams / NPR
The adventurous spirit of Vincent Van Gogh alerts visiting artists looking for empty fixable homes or vacant lots.
Originally published on August 9, 2013 12:06 pm
How do you fix a neighborhood? What do you do about crime and drugs and the once-lovely old houses that are falling down? The answer in Paducah, Ky., was to turn it into a special place for artists to live, work and sell.
Paducah, already home to the National Quilt Museum, is far west on the edge of Kentucky, on the Ohio River. Lowertown, so-named for being downriver from downtown Paducah, was once quite elegant — 25 square blocks. But in time it became a difficult place to admire.
Bill and Patience Renzulli came to Paducah from Maryland for the first time in 2001 after seeing an ad in an art magazine for the neighborhood's Artist Relocation Program. At first glance, Bill says the scene of the neighborhood was awful.
"But I don't know... I felt something," he says. "There was a spark and I thought that something good could happen."
On their visit, The Renzullis were dismayed by condemned buildings, grand Victorian homes chopped up into apartments, drug use, crack sales and prostitution. But in 2000, the city decided this would become the Lowertown Arts District. The message: "We'll sell you an empty lot for a dollar. If there's a house worth fixing — try that — same price." The Paducah Bank agreed to help.
"Within a year there were about eight people that signed up and the next year it was 16 and it just, it grew geometrically," Bill Renzulli says. "It was unbelievable."
Bill Renzulli, once a doctor, is now a printmaker, with a studio and gallery in back of his house. When Paducah started this movement the town was aggressive. Extra policing. Houses demolished. Foreclosures almost immediate. Vacancies became opportunities, and so the new people came.
The idea for the Arts District was simple: You can live here, you can work here and you can sell your art here.
Opportunity Awaits
Freda Fairchild used to teach costume design in San Diego. When she moved to Lowertown, she's converted a former plumbing shop and became a print maker and fiber artist. Her studio epitomizes the sexiest word for artists everywhere: space.
"Most people who come here from other states, other places and they walk into my studio they start drooling. It's 28-by-34 feet," she says. "The tables are on wheels. It's a wonderful studio space."
Many of the Lowertown artists sell their work out of town. Freda Fairchild deals with several galleries, even some in other countries.
"If I make something, eventually somebody buys it," she says. "I think that's a cool way to live. I love it. I just do what I want to do. But surprisingly, since I moved here I've sold a lot of work locally."
Artist Paul Lorenz had been looking for a challenge. He drove into Paducah not knowing anything about the city, and happened upon a movie theater that was playing the Mexican film, Y Tu Mamá También, which is one of Lorenz's favorite films.
"And I'm in this little town in Kentucky and they're showing an X-rated Mexican film," he says. "You know, it's like 'I could live here, this is kind of interesting.' "
Now, Lorenz sells his oil paintings and drawings from Lowertown. Originally from Chicago, Lorenz then moved to Berkeley, Calif. where he owned what he calls a tiny condo. He sold the condo for enough money to move to Paducah and built a studio, gallery and his house next door. He even built a guest studio out back.
That sort of equity is often what makes a move to Lowertown work out.
But Shand Stamper and her husband Mitch came with only a trailer full of stuff. Both now teach high school art. They have a new baby. They've bought and redone a small house. The city gave them the adjacent lot for a studio and wood-fired kiln.
"I feel very safe here," Shand Stamper says "I feel helpful. I feel like I have something to offer. And we have a Lowertown Neighborhood Association, which is primarily artists, and it feels like an extended family."
The new Lowertown does seem friendly and is said to be safe. Kids play outside, dogs run around happily, retired couples relax on porches. Six years ago, Allan and Johanna Rhodes drove from a different neighborhood to Lowertown to take a walk. Afterwards, Johanna wanted to move to Lowertown.
"And I said, 'What is it we're going to do in Lowertown?' Since we're not artists, we thought you had to be an artist," Allan Rhodes says, "And we walked a little bit and she said 'Well, we'll have a coffee shop, 'cause we like to drink coffee and we'll have a student art gallery, a place for students to hang art.' And I said, 'Well, at sounds like a great idea,' thinking this will never happen."
They now live upstairs over their coffee shop.
Steve Doolittle, a Paducah city planner, is pleased that new money is coming to Lowertown. Much of it not related to the arts.
"It is now a neighborhood where local people are happy to invest," he says. "We've seen some of the most expensive housing in Paducah has now been built in this neighborhood. That would not have happened but for the Artists Relocation."
Paducah spent nine million dollars over 13 years to clean up Lowertown, Doolittle says on things like new lighting, sidewalks and keeping the empty lots mowed. But he pointed out the private regular people investment in Lowertown now exceeds $40 million.
How do you fix a neighborhood? What do you do about crime and drugs and the once-lovely old houses that are falling down? The answer for Paducah, Kentucky was to become a special place for artists to live and work and sell their work. NPR's Noah Adams has the story as part of our summertime series on Comebacks: People, Places, and Things that are once again doing just fine.
NOAH ADAMS, BYLINE: Paducah is far west on the edge of Kentucky, on the Ohio River. And if you get there at lunchtime - stop by Kirchhoff's Bakery and Deli and line up to order a sandwich. When it's ready - they'll call your number.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Ninety-four.
ADAMS: This bakery goes back to 1873.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Ninety-five. Chicken salad sandwich.
ADAMS: And in those early days at Kirchoff's, they'd hear the whistle of the approaching riverboats and send a runner down to the dock to take orders for bread.
Downtown Paducah is full of frontier business history and the merchant class back then - the bankers, store owners, riverboat captains - they all lived a few streets away in Lowertown. It was an elegant neighborhood, 25 square blocks. But in time it became a difficult place to admire.
BILL RENZULLI: We came here in 2001 for the first time to look at it, and it was awful. But I don't know, we saw - I felt something. And I just - there was a spark and I thought that something good could happen.
ADAMS: Back in Maryland, Bill Renzulli had seen an ad in an art magazine. It said we'll help you come to Paducah; we've started an artist relocation program. On their visit, Bill and his wife Patience were dismayed by condemned buildings, the grand Victorian homes chopped up into apartments, drug use, crack sales, prostitution.
But the city in 2000 had decided this would become the Lowertown Arts District. The message was: We'll sell you an empty lot for a dollar. If there's a house worth fixing, try that - same price. The Paducah Bank agreed to help.
RENZULLI: Within a year there were about eight people that signed up and the next year it was 16 and it just, it grew geometrically. It was unbelievable.
ADAMS: Bill Renzulli - once a doctor - is now a printmaker, with a studio and gallery in back of his house. Paducah, when all this started was aggressive. Extra police. Houses demolished. Foreclosures almost immediate. Vacancies turned into opportunities, and so the new people came. The idea for the Arts District: you can live here, you can work here, you can sell your art here.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS)
FREDA FAIRCHILD: I'm Freda Fairchild. I'm a print maker and a fiber artist.
ADAMS: Freda Fairchild had been teaching costume design in San Diego. In Lowertown she's converted a former plumbing shop. And to see it brings up the truly sexy word for all artists everywhere - space.
FAIRCHILD: Most people who come here from other states, other places, and they walk into my studio, they start drooling. It's 28 by 34 feet. And the tables are on wheels. It's a wonderful studio space.
ADAMS: Many of the Lowertown artists sell their work out of town. Freda Fairchild deals with several galleries, even some in other countries.
FAIRCHILD: If I make something, eventually somebody buys it. I think that's a cool way to live, I love it. I just do what I want to do. But surprisingly, since I moved here I've sold a lot of work locally.
PAUL LORENZ: I drove into Paducah not knowing anything about it and I drove downtown.
ADAMS: The artist Paul Lorenz had been looking for a challenge.
LORENZ: And there's a movie theater, and on the marquee is the Mexican film "Y Tu Mama Tambien," which is one of my favorite films. And I'm in this little town in Kentucky and they're showing an X-rated Mexican film. You know, it's like I could live here. This is kind of interesting.
ADAMS: Paul Lorenz now sells his oil paintings and drawings from Lowertown. He's from Chicago, then Berkeley in the Bay Area, where he owned what he calls a tiny condo. He sold that for enough to come here and build a studio and gallery and his house next door, even a guest studio out back. That sort of equity is often what makes a Lowertown move work out.
But Shand Stamper and her husband Mitch came with only a trailer full of stuff. Both now teach high school art. They have a new baby. They've bought and redone a small house and the city gave them the adjacent lot for a studio and wood-fired kiln.
SHAND STAMPER: I feel very safe here. I feel helpful. I feel like I have something to offer. And we have a Lowertown neighborhood association which is primarily artists, and it feels like an extended family.
ADAMS: The new Lowertown does seem friendly and is said to be safe. Kids out playing, dogs happy, retired couples on porches. Six years ago, Allan Rhodes and Johanna were walking in Lowertown - they lived in a different neighborhood - and she said let's move here.
ALLAN RHODES: And I said, well, what is it we're going to do in Lowertown since we're not artists? And we thought you had to be an artist. And we walked a bit and she said, well, we'll have a coffee shop because we like to drink coffee and we'll have a student art gallery, a place for students to hang art. And I said, well, that sounds like a great idea, thinking this will never happen.
ADAMS: Allan Rhodes and Johanna now live upstairs over their coffee shop. And we sit with Allan at a shaded table by a fountain out back. Steve Doolittle - a Paducah city planner - is with us. He's pleased that new money is coming to Lowertown - much of it not related to the arts.
STEVE DOOLITTLE: It is now a neighborhood where local people are happy to invest. We've seen some of the most expensive housing in Paducah has now been built in this neighborhood. That would not have happened but for the artists relocation program.
ADAMS: Steve Doolittle says Paducah spent $9 million to clean up Lowertown - new lighting, sidewalks, keep the empty lots mowed - nine million over 13 years. But he liked to point out the private regular people investment in Lowertown now exceeds $40 million. Noah Adams, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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