Monthly Archives: May 2014

H Ελλάδα «πάτωσε» στην κυριολεξία σε σύγκριση με τις υπόλοιπες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες στον εκπαιδευτικό τομέα και «φιγουράρει» στην τελευταία θέση ανάμεσα σε χώρες του υπόλοιπου κόσμου που χαρακτηρίζονται ως «αναδυόμενες» οικονομίες όπως η Ινδονησία, το Μεξικό και η Βραζιλία!
Το αυστραλιανό εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα θεωρείται το 15ο καλύτερο σε όλο τον κόσμο.

Συγκεκριμένα, ο βρετανικός εκδοτικός οίκος «Pearson» ανέθεσε στο περιοδικό «Economist» να εκπονήσει για λογαριασμό του μελέτη για τα καλύτερα εκπαιδευτικά συστήματα στον κόσμο η οποία βασίστηκε στις επιδόσεις των φοιτητών στην τριτοβάθμια εκπαίδευση, στο ποσοστό των αποφοίτων τριτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης, σε δύο αμερικανικές εκπαιδευτικές μελέτες καθώς και στα στοιχεία του ΟΟΣΑ (Οργανισμός Οικονομικής Συνεργασίας και Ανάπτυξης) που προκύπτουν από τα pisa tests (τεστ συνήθως σε μαθηματικά προβλήματα ανάμεσα σε μαθητές διαφορετικών χωρών).

Το δυσάρεστο για την Ελλάδα είναι ότι ανάμεσα στις υπόλοιπες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες ήρθε τελευταία στην Ευρώπη, ενώ σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο κατατάσσεται δίπλα σε χώρες αναπτυσσόμενες όπως η Ινδονησία, το Μεξικό και η Βραζιλία.

Ο διευθύνων σύμβουλος του εκδοτικού οίκου «Pearsdon», John Fallon, τόνισε ότι τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας δείχνουν τη στενή σχέση που υπάρχει ανάμεσα στην οικονομική κατάσταση μιας χώρας και στο εκπαιδευτικό της σύστημα.

Πρώτη στον κατάλογο των χωρών με το καλύτερο εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα στον κόσμο έρχεται η Νότια Κορέα, ενώ ακολουθούν η Ιαπωνία, η Σιγκαπούρη και το Χονγκ Κονγκ. Σύμφωνα με την έκθεση η μεγάλη άνοδος των Ασιατικών χωρών στον εκπαιδευτικό τομέα οφείλεται στη στενή συνεργασία οικογένειας, μαθητών και εκπαιδευτικής κοινότητας, καθώς και στο σεβασμό που τρέφουν σε αυτές τις χώρες για τους εκπαιδευτικούς.
Η Βρετανία καταλαμβάνει την έκτη θέση ανάμεσα στις υπόλοιπες χώρες σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο, ενώ η Φινλανδία, που επί χρόνια είχε την πρωτιά, έχει εκτοπιστεί στην πέμπτη θέση διεθνώς.

Έκπληξη αποτελεί η άνοδος της Πολωνίας που όπως δείχνει η κατάταξή της στην δέκατη θέση παγκοσμίως έχει παρουσιάσει σημαντική άνοδο στο εκπαιδευτικό της σύστημα μετά το τέλος του κομμουνισμού στη χώρα!

Δείτε την κατάταξη των 20 πρώτων χωρών με βάση το εκπαιδευτικό τους σύστημα:
1. Νότια Κορέα
2. Ιαπωνία
3. Σιγκαπούρη
4. Χονγκ Κονγκ
5. Φινλανδία
6. Βρετανία
7. Καναδάς
8. Ολλανδία
9. Ιρλανδία
10. Πολωνία
11. Δανία
12. Γερμανία
13. Ρωσία
14. ΗΠΑ
15. Αυστραλία
16. Νέα Ζηλανδία
17. Ισραήλ
18. Βέλγιο
19. Δημοκρατία της Τσεχίας
20. Ελβετία

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Η Conchita έγινε διάσημη στην Αυστρία μέσα από το talent show «Die große Chance», το 2011, όπου άφησε άφωνους τους πάντες τραγουδώντας το «My Heart Will Go On» της Celine Dion. Εκτός από το τραγούδι, πρόσφατα πήρε μέρος και σε δύο ριάλιτι, στο ένα εκ των οποίων δούλευε σε εργοστάσιο ψαριών και στο άλλο κλήθηκε να επιζήσει με φυλές νομάδων στη Namibia.
Η Conchita Wurst είναι η τρανσέξουαλ με μούσι που θα εκπροσωπήσει την Αυστρία στην Eurovision του 2014, στην Κοπεγχάγη, κάνοντας πραγματικότητα το όνειρό της! Η 25χρονη νέα Dana International έχει ήδη τραβήξει τα βλέμματα από πέρυσι, οπότε και διεκδίκησε ξανά το «χρίσμα» με το τραγούδι «That’s What I Am», αλλά τερμάτισε δεύτερη στον εθνικό τελικό. Φέτος η αυστριακή ραδιοτηλεόραση αποφάσισε να κάνει απευθείας ανάθεση στην Conchita Wurst.
Παρά τις αντιδράσεις που προκάλεσε η συμμετοχή της τρανσέξουαλ στη φετινή Eurovision, η αυστριακή κρατική τηλεόραση στηρίζει την Conchita Werst και τη διαφορετικότητα της και την απόφαση της να μην ξυριστεί.

Η Conchita Wurst, γεννήθηκε Tom Neuwirth στις 6 Νοεμβρίου του 1988. Είναι μια γυναίκα σε σώμα άντρα με υπέροχα μακριά μαλλιά και τέλειες βλεφαρίδες, με αισθησιακή φωνή και άψογο στυλ, αλλά και με γένια.

Όσο για τον άντρα που κρύβεται πίσω από την περσόνα της Κοντσίτα; Πρόκειται για τον ταλαντούχο καλλιτέχνη Τομ Νόιβιρτ, ο οποίος μπήκε στον χώρο του θεάματος μετά από την επιτυχημένη παρουσία του στο talent show, “Starmania”.

Μετά το τέλος του ημιτελικού ο Νικόλας Ραπτάκης και η Conchita Wurst πανηγύρισαν μαζί, γεμάτοι χαμογέλα, διάθεση και… φιλιά. Την φωτογραφία που βλέπετε ανέβασε ο ίδιος ο Νικόλας στην προσωπική του σελίδα στο facebook.

Πηγή: madata.gr

American and British security experts are in northeastern Nigeria to help search for at least 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamic militants more than three weeks ago, as a new report suggests the Nigerian government did not respond to warnings of the impending attack.  

The kidnapping of more than 300 schoolgirls on April 15 in the town of Chibok has sparked accusations that the Nigerian government is not doing enough to stop the militants. While at least 53 of the girls—ranging in age from 16 to 18—escaped, the Nigerian government says 276 are still being held captive by the terrorists.

The American team was joined by six additional military officers and more are expected soon, said Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby. The U.S. officers will do a “gap analysis,” an assessment to identify what the Nigerian military needs that the U.S. could provide in the search for the girls, he said.

“Our first 6 just got on the ground this morning. Everybody shares the same sense of urgency here. We know that time is not on our side. The girls have been gone a long time. We all know that geography is not on the side of the Nigerians in trying to find them. So they’re going to work as quickly and efficiently as they can,” Kirby told reporters.

Hostage negotiations is another area where the American team will assist, said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. Another 7 American officials headed to Nigeria Friday, including some from the State Department and the FBI, Psaki said.

A British team arrived in Lagos Friday to join U.S. officials and intelligence agents to find and rescue the girls, as members of the terror group Boko Haram continued to stage attacks in the region.

Britain said its aim was not only to help with the current crisis but to defeat Boko Haram. “The team will be considering not just the recent incidents but also longer-term counter-terrorism solutions to prevent such attacks in the future and defeat Boko Haram,” the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said in a statement Friday.

Amnesty International released a report Friday that said the military did not respond after warnings that Boko Haram rebels were about to attack Chibok. Nigerian security forces had four hours of notice before the attack by rebels, but did not react because of fear of engaging the terrorists, the report states.

Amnesty cites multiple interviews with credible sources. “This abduction could have been prevented,” Amnesty spokeswoman Susanna Flood said, of the Nigerian military’s inaction.

China, France, and Spain have also offered help to the Nigerian government, after worldwide protests about the lack of action to bring the girls home. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan addressed the complaints Thursday, and vowed to fight the insurgents.

“By God’s grace we will conquer the terrorists.” President Goodluck Jonathan said at the World Economic Forum in the capital, Abuja, Thursday, thanking the U.S., Britain, France and other nations for supporting the rescue mission, Reuters reported.

Jonathan thanked delegates for attending the event, the continent’s version of Davos, despite the danger posed by the militants, according to Reuters. Abuja was the site of two recent bomb blasts blamed on Boko Haram.

“As a nation we are facing attack from terrorism,” Jonathan told delegates. “I believe that the kidnap of these girls will be the beginning of the end of terrorism in Nigeria.”

Jonathan confirmed that he has accepted the American assistance, which the Pentagon said Wednesday will include communications, logistics and intelligence planning, but will not include any military operations.

Meanwhile, the government of Borno— the Nigerian state from which the girls were taken– identified the 53 girls who escaped the Islamic militant kidnappers. The Borno government said in a statement received Friday that some of the 53 girls escaped the day they were taken, and others fled the Boko Haram camps in the following days.

Naming the girls could potentially subject them to stigma in conservative Nigerian society. A rights group and some of the girls’ parents have said the girls could be forced to marry their abductors or sold to others, for as little as $12.  Boko Haram’s leader threatens to sell the girls into slavery.

Outrage over the missing girls and the government’s failure to rescue them brought angry Nigerian protesters into the streets this week, an embarrassment for the government which had hoped to showcase the country’s emergence as Africa’s largest economy as it hosted the Africa meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Chibok residents staged a march in the streets Friday to press the local government to do more to find the missing girls. Demonstrations have been held around the world and a social media campaign of (hashtag) BringBackOurGirls continued to grow.

A local government official confirmed that Boko Haram bombed a bridge linking the town of Gamboru to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, the headquarters of the Nigerian military offensive. Gamboru was attacked Monday by the extremists, leaving many casualties. Estimates of the death toll from that attack ranged from 100 to as many as 300.

Local security officials said Friday that Boko Haram militants bombed the bridge as they retreated following the attack on Gamboru’s main market, where at least 50 bodies have since been discovered from the debris of burned shops.

Communications with the remote town are difficult and it was not immediately possible to reconcile conflicting accounts of when the bridge was bombed. One account said Monday while another said Thursday.

The bombing of the bridge also prevents army convoys from reaching Gamboru while leaving the way open for the insurgents to escape across a strategic bridge into neighboring Cameroon — a bridge leading into mountains where the militants are known to have hideouts in caves.

Boko Haram has killed more than 1,500 people so far this year as part of their campaign to impose Islamic law on Africa’s most populous nation, which has 170 million people equally divided between Christian and Muslim.

The homegrown terror group was largely contained to the northern part of Nigeria before expanding its reach with the help of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the terrorist network’s affiliate in West Africa, which trained Boko Haram fighters in its camps in southern Somalia, beginning in 2010.

source:foxnews.com

Να που η εργατικότητα αλλά και η τιμιότητα ανταμείβονται. Τουλάχιστον στην περίπτωση του Τσαμίντου Αμαρτσίγκ, επιστάτη καθαρισμού του τηλεοπτικού καναλιού «9» της Μελβούρνης, ο οποίος βρήκε στις τουαλέτες του καναλιού έναν κάδο με χαρτονομίσματα με πάνω από 100.000 δολάρια!

Χωρίς δεύτερη σκέψη, σαν “καλός Σαμαρείτης” ειδοποίησε αμέσως τον προϊστάμενό του και την αστυνομία.

Οι έρευνες της αστυνομίας που ακολούθησαν σχετικά με την προέλευση των χρημάτων απέβησαν άκαρπες, όπως μετέδωσε το Αθηναϊκό Πρακτορείο.

Στο μεσοδιάστημα, οι υποψίες είχαν επικεντρωθεί στο πρόσωπο ενός άνδρα από το Σίδνεϊ, ο οποίος κατηγορείτο για ξέπλυμα χρημάτων.

Όταν όμως έπειτα από σχετικό ιατρικό πόρισμα, ο ύποπτος ισχυρίστηκε πως βρισκόταν χωρίς τη θέλησή του υπό την επήρεια ναρκωτικών και δεν είχε καμία γνώση για το χρηματικό ποσό, οι ερευνητές, μπερδεμένοι, εγκατέλειψαν τα όπλα και οι κατηγορίες αποσύρθηκαν.

Το…«βρώμικο» χρήμα δεν βρήκε λοιπόν τον ιδιοκτήτη του, με αποτέλεσμα ο τυχερός καθαριστής να λάβει αυτή την εβδομάδα, έπειτα από σχεδόν 3 χρόνια, ένα τηλεφώνημα που τον ειδοποιούσε ότι 81.597 δολάρια από τα 100.000 που βρήκε στον κάδο είναι δικά του!

Το ποσό των 19.500 που υπολείπεται θα πάει στο κράτος, όπως αποφάσισε το Ειρηνοδικείο της Μελβούρνης.

Πηγή: madata.gr

Participants of this year’s Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia National Schools Event pose with school and Archdiocese officials.

Archdiocese colleges’ students from around the country converged in Sydney this week, to take part in the 2014 National Schools Event.

Over 400 students from seven Greek-Orthodox colleges all over Australia met this week at Sydney’s daily bilingual college of St Spyridon, to take part in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia National Schools Event 2014.

Students of St Andrew’s Grammar School (Perth), St George College (Adelaide), St John’s College, Oakleigh Grammar (Melbourne), All Saints Grammar and St Euphemia College (Sydney) were hosted by their St Spyridon College peers for a three days event, where they took part in a range of sports and arts competitions.

St Spyridon College director, Ms Euphrosyne Stephanou told Neos Kosmos it has been an honour for the College to be the proud host of the games that have been taking place every year since 1996.

“Seven Archdiocese schools converged here for a three day National Schools Event. There are 400 students, and this event is something that every student during their time in our schools look forward to as a highlight,” Ms Stephanou said.

As part of sport activities, students competed in basketball, netball, indoor soccer, soccer, table tennis and volleyball.

On Thursday night, St Spyridon College held a special dinner in honour of all the participants. During the night, an Arts Festival was held, with students performing in Greek, Serbian, Italian and English, and showing off their skills in dance and instrumental music.

“We try and keep faithful to our Olympic ideals, and there were never Olympic Games held in Greece unless there was also a cultural performing arts program attached to it. So we keep the faith with tradition which goes back 5,000 years,” Ms Stephanou told Neos Kosmos.

On Friday, an award ceremony was held, and medals were presented to all winners for their achievements.

“This event started in a very small way in 1996, when Mr Peter Meintanis set out on a bus to go to St John’s College to play their first soccer game.

“But since 1996 and two teams that took part, the event has grown to 400 students with many teams across many sports,” Ms Stephanou told Neos Kosmos.

“I have been in Orthodox education for 18 years now, and in those years never has a Year 12 class graduated without thanking their teachers for the opportunity to be part of this wonderful contest. It’s a highlight for every student of each of our schools.

“For us it was a great honour to be hosting it, and a great responsibility, and we are looking forward to being hosted by Sydney’s St Euphemia College next year,” she said.

source: Neos Kosmos

Greece has the worst education system in the 28-member European Union, according to a global league table compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Greece has the worst education system in the 28-member European Union, according to a global league table compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit for the British publishing firm Pearson which shows Asian countries overtaking Scandinavian nations that have traditionally excelled in this area.

South Korea tops the league chart, which comprises 39 countries as well as the region of Hong Kong, with Finland down to fifth place after ranking top last year. Greece is in 33rd place, wedged between Chile and Turkey.

The rankings are based on the assessment of students’ performance in school examinations as well as international tests including the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) examinations devised by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The performance of Greek teenagers in the PISA tests has worsened over the past few years, with some blaming the slump on the repercussions of the country’s economic crisis and others pointing to deeply ingrained shortfalls in the country’s education system.

In a written statement issued on Thursday after the release of the report, Education Minister Constantinos Arvanitopoulos claimed that Greece’s problematic education system has gradually started to improve despite troika-imposed cutbacks that have slashed spending by 35 percent. “The report confirms the observation of the Education Ministry…that our education system, for many years now, lacks a strategy, is not pedagogical and does not contribute to development,” the statement said, adding that the latter factor was “one of the basic structural reasons for the crisis we are experiencing today.”

The Pearson report notes that the impressive performance of students in the Asian countries that top the league – South Korea is followed by Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong – is largely due to a culture of respect for teachers and schools in those countries; it expressed doubts, however, about the long-term value of rote learning that is a mainstay of the education systems in many Asian countries.

Source: Kathimerini

As the lowest-ranked team heading for Brazil, Australia’s fourth trip to the World Cup finals was always going to be a challenge even before lady luck abandoned it in December’s tournament draw.

Spain and the Netherlands, who fought out the 2010 World Cup final, as well as South American powerhouse Chile, presented the worst scenario for a nation with a newly appointed coach and a squad in transition.

Australia’s sporting culture insists their teams fight against the odds to the bitter end, but it is difficult to see the Socceroos coming back from Brazil with anything better than humiliation avoided.

After scrapping their way through Asian qualifying under Holger Osieck, spiritless displays in successive 6-0 friendly defeats by Brazil and France led to the summary dismissal of the German last October.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) decided to go local for his replacement, handing former Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou a five-year contract and a mission to make Australia the number one team in Asia.

Postecoglou had just two friendlies – a 1-0 win over Costa Rica and 4-3 loss to Ecuador – to assess the talent at his disposal in an international context before selecting his initial squad for Brazil.

He has drawn the net wide, keeping tabs on some 40 to 45 players.

They include the last remnants of Australia’s “golden generation”, a raft of youngsters plying their trade on the fringes of big clubs or in lower leagues in Europe, and another group drawn from the improving domestic A-League.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, a veteran of two World Cups and 109 internationals, made at least one decision for the new coach by retiring on the eve of his first squad announcement.

Forward Tim Cahill is determined to play in a third successive finals, but former captain Lucas Neill will be excluded from the squad.

Postecoglou has promised to give youth a chance and produce a team playing in the attacking style which brought him success at domestic club level.

Whether he has time to produce a coherent team who can play any system with fluency before their Group B opener against Chile in Cuiaba on June 13 remains to be seen.

source: abc.net.au

Big mouth … A public autopsy was performed this week on a rare megamouth shark caught off Shizuoka, Japan. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

A VERY rare megamouth shark has been hauled from the ocean off Japan, one of only 58 known sightings worldwide.

The 13 foot (3.96 metre) creature’s capture was not widely reported when it was discovered last month, despite it being a once in a lifetime event.

More than 1000 people gathered at a museum in Shizuoka City to witness a public autopsy, where scientists poked and prodded the bizarre shark.

The beast, named because of its giant head and the enormous capacity of its mouth, was hauled from a lightless depth of 2,600 feet.

According to WPTV, it was only the 58th megamouth to have been captured or sighted by man.

Sightings have been made worldwide, but at least 15 were made off the coast of Japan.

The megamouth lives mostly at great depths, but heads towards the surface at night to feed.

It comes just days after pictures emerged of a strange looking goblin shark, caught in the waters off Florida.

source: news.com.au

When fishermen hauled in a prehistoric-looking goblin shark from the Gulf of Mexico this month, marine biologists were astonished at the discovery of the rarely seen deep-sea creature.

But it seems their accidental find is even more remarkable.

Upon closer examination of photographs of the haul off Key West in Florida, a marine biologist spotted what he described as “freakin’ giant isopods!”

The isopods were crustaceans such as slaters, commonly found in Australian gardens. But the ones shown in the photographs were “about the size of a house cat”, Californian marine biologist Andrew Thaler said.

He told CNN that giant isopods were common in the deep sea, but spotting them was rare because they were usually very spread out.

He suggested that the goblin shark and the giant isopods might have been attracted to a rotting whale carcass, which would explain the rare haul.

“[Giant isopods are] usually spread pretty thin and only occur in abundance around a food source,” Mr Thaler told the Houston Chronicle.

“So, I hypothesized that the trawl might have passed over a whalefall, which would also explain the goblin shark.”

He told CNN that food sources in the deep sea were extremely rare, and the creatures could have gorged on a whale carcass and survived for months.

Fisherman Carl Moore and his crew were trawling for shrimp on April 19 when they pulled in their unusual haul from a depth of 600 metres.

The goblin shark was bright pink with a long snout hiding racks of sharp teeth, and Mr Moore said he had no idea what it was.

“I didn’t get the tape measure out because that thing’s got some wicked teeth. They could do some damage,” he told the Houston Chronicle.

“My three-year-old grandson just loves sharks, so I’ve been taking pictures of every one we find. When I showed him this one he said, ‘Wow, Pappa!’”

The shark was still alive, so Mr Moore released it after taking some photographs, which he later forwarded to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Mr Moore is thought to be one of only about 10 people to have seen a goblin shark alive. It usually lives in deep waters off the coast of Japan, and the last sighting was a decade ago.

The animal’s long snout is believed to have electrical sensors so it can find prey even when it can’t see or hear, and its jaw is said to operate like a venus fly trap.

The captured goblin shark with the giant isopods. Photo: Carl Moore / Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com

David Schiffman, a marine biologist at the University of Miami, told the Houston Chronicle that he not believe a goblin shark would ever be found in the Gulf of Mexico.

“At first I wasn’t sure if it was even possible for this to happen, but then, when the photos came through, it is undeniably a goblin shark. It’s a shark … that’s pink!” he said.

smh.com.au