Monthly Archives: August 2015

Title win could be a stepping stone

Melbourne-born boxer Manny Vlamis won the vacant Victorian Light Heavyweight title at Hisense Arena on Wednesday night, after defeating Victorian boxer Eric Diamandstein on a split decision from the judges.

Fighting on the undercard to the Danny Green-Roberto Bolonti fight, 33-year-old Vlamis, who is ranked eighth in his division in Australia, described the bout as a must-win fight for him.

“If I failed and didn’t win, people would say I lost to a guy who’s only had five or six fights. I had a lot of pressure on me to perform.”

Reflecting on his performance afterwards, Vlamis commented: “It wasn’t an A- class performance, maybe a B-performance. I did a lot of things I could’ve done a bit better. My fitness was good, my aggression was good. It’s hard to dance with someone who doesn’t want to dance with you. He was taking backward steps, he was trying to catch me with the counterpunching as I was coming in. He wasn’t really there, standing with me, punching on.”

In the end, Vlamis was happy to get the result. As for the title of Victorian Light Heavyweight belt holder, Vlamis has won it before, three years ago.
“I’m back to square one, where I was three years ago, but it’s a stepping stone. It does help you get other fights.”

By his own admission, Vlamis’s boxing career has been a bit stop-start. He’s had to take breaks to recover from injuries. He’s taken other breaks for his wife to have a baby, buy a house.

“Normal things in life. When these things come up in life, you’ve got to be responsible. You’ve got to put things in perspective.”

Working as a bricklayer-carpenter for a construction company during the day, he must somehow find time to cross-fit train two mornings a week and train each day after work in a Glenroy gym under trainer Daryl Ford. Having an understanding family helps.

Vlamis clearly loves the sport. “Boxing, you don’t get paid a lot of money at the domestic level so I’m not really doing it for the money. I’m doing it to fulfill the dream.”

Vlamis explains the dream as follows: “At the end of 2011, start of 2012, I was world rated in the top 15 by the WBA. I would like to get world rated again. Whether I can do that or not, we’ve made the right step by winning the Victorian title. That’s the first step..”

He believes a number of things need to happen for him to achieve world rating again. “I need to stay active, probably another one or two fights this year, so that I have four fights for the year. I need some people to get behind me, some corporate people to get behind me.”

He says that the boxers getting to the top level “have a very good team around them, good trainer, good promoter, good managers. They’ve got everyone working for them, as well as talent and a bit of luck. You’ve got to have everything working for you to get to your end goal. If you haven’t got that, it’s not going to happen. That’s how I feel.”

source:Neos Kosmos

Embracing diversity: Victorian Multicultural Commissioner Helen Kapalos with new Australian citizens Alex and Linda (from Ireland and the UK) and their two-day-old baby Archie, alongside City of Yarra Mayor Phillip Vlahogiannis. Photo: Bernie Phelan.

Victorian citizenship ceremony embraces diversity

In her first official function as Victoria’s multicultural commissioner, Helen Kapalos attended a colourful citizenship ceremony at Richmond Town Hall on Thursday, welcoming 63 prospective new Australians from 29 countries.

Hosted by City of Yarra mayor Phillip Vlahogiannis, the event promoted the Victorian government’s recently launched Embrace Diversity social media campaign.

In her speech, Ms Kapalos said: “In Victoria, our diversity is our greatest strength and a way of life.

“We come from all corners of the globe, speak more than 260 languages and dialects, and follow more than 130 faiths.”

The chair of Victoria’s Multicultural Commission called on Australians to “ensure that everyone feels part of the one community. No matter who we are, we all have the right to belong.”

During an emotional presentation Ms Kapalos reflected on attending her first citizenship ceremony as a 10-year-old.

“The two people I was there to watch receive their citizenship papers were waiting anxiously and proudly, and I felt their acute sense of belonging when the ceremony took place. Those two people were my mum and dad.”

The commissioner went on to describe the profound effect of her parents receiving their certificate.

“I never realised the burden they carried with them, of not feeling they belonged. It was only in that moment that Australia truly became home and a sense of pride and integrity about their path was restored.

“Both of them had left behind mothers they never saw again, but both of them willingly and heartbreakingly embarked on the journey, recognising it would create a life for their children they could never have hoped to achieve.”

Mayor Vlahogiannis said he was delighted to join the Victorian government’s Embrace Diversity initiative, which was launched at the AFL’s multicultural round.

“This campaign aims to engage people across Australia to not only embrace diversity but to celebrate it.”

The Embrace Diversity campaign encourages people to show their support by ‘joining the conversation’ on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, where they can post, share and like comments and photographs tagged #EmbraceDiversity.

source:Neos Kosmos

Το μήνυμα «βοήθεια» στην άμμο ήταν καθοριστικό για τον εντοπισμό του Κις (φωτ. από το blog του)

Ο 63χρονος βρετανός τουρίστας Τζεφ Κις έκανε πεζοπορία στο Εθνικό Πάρκο του Μπρίσμπεϊν της Αυστραλίας, και έκανε το λάθος να προσπαθήσει να βρει έναν καταρράκτη «κόβοντας δρόμο».

Κατέληξε να περιπλανάται αποπροσανατολισμένος για δύο ημέρες και σώθηκε μόνο χάρη σε… μήνυμα που έγραψε στην άμμο.

Η εξαφάνισή του κινητοποίησε τις Αρχές του Μπρίσμπεϊν, που ξεκίνησαν έρευνες για τον εντοπισμό του. Όπως συμβαίνει στις (όχι εντελώς σπάνιες) περιπτώσεις φυσιολατρών που χάνονται στις τεράστιες εκτάσεις της αυστραλιανής υπαίθρου, η έρευνα έγινε και με ελικόπτερα.

Ο Κις σκέφτηκε περισσότερο σαν ναυαγός στην παραλία παρά σαν χαμένος στην ξηρά: Έγραψε στην άμμο το μήνυμα SOS.

«Ήταν το πιο έξυπνο πράγμα που έκανα» αναγνώρισε, περιγράφοντας την περιπέτειά στο προσωπικό του blog.

Η αστυνομία ανέφερε ότι το μήνυμα, που διάβασαν συνεργεία που πέταξαν πάνω από το σημείο, έκανε μάλλον τη διαφορά μεταξύ ζωής και θανάτου για τον Κις. Σύμφωνα με τα όσα αναφέρουν οι τοπικοί Brisbane Times, τα συνεργεία ήταν έτοιμα να ξεκινήσουν να ψάχνουν σε άλλη περιοχή μέχρι που έγινε αντιληπτό το μήνυμα.

Πηγή:in.gr

O Yπουργός Παιδείας της Πολιτείας της Βικτώριας, James Merlino. Photo: AAP/Glenn Hunt

Αντικατάστασή τους από μάθημα «σχέσεων σεβασμού»

Εκτός του προγράμματος σπουδών των σχολείων της Βικτώριας θα βρεθεί το μάθημα της Ειδικής Θρησκευτικής Αγωγής, σύμφωνα με την απόφαση του Υπουργού Παιδείας James Merlino. Το εν λόγω μάθημα, η παρακολούθηση του οποίου δεν είναι υποχρεωτική, διδάσκεται από εθελοντές, την ώρα της λειτουργίας των σχολείων και παρακολουθείται από το 20% των μαθητών, κάτι το οποίο σημαίνει ότι η συντριπτική πλειοψηφία αναγκάζεται εκείνη την ώρα να απασχολείται με άλλες δραστηριότητες στις σχολικές βιβλιοθήκες, τους διαδρόμους και το προαύλιο. Aπό την νέα σχολική χρονιά, το μάθημα αυτό, το οποίο έχει χαρακτηριστεί από τους επικριτές του προγράμματος ως “προσηλυτισμός” ή “κατήχηση”, θα εξοβελιστεί εκτός των ωρών διδασκαλίας, πριν ή μετά τις κανονικές ώρες μαθημάτων, ή την ώρα του διαλείμματος για μεσημεριανό φαγητό. “Καταλαβαίνω ότι κάποιοι θα ενοχληθούν με αυτήν την απόφαση, αλλά είναι προς την σωστή κατεύθυνση” δήλωσε ο κ. Merlino.

Η κατάργησή του χαιρετίστηκε με θέρμη από τον οργανισμό για την Θρησκευτική Δικαιοσύνη στα σχολεία (Fairness for Religion in Schools), ο οποίος έχει γίνει αποδέκτης πληθώρας παραπόνων από γονείς παιδιών, τα οποία χάνουν χρόνο από τα μαθήματα. Η κατάργησή του, αφήνει ανοιχτό ένα περιθώριο μισής ώρας την εβδομάδα στο πρόγραμμα σπουδών, το οποίο θα καλυφθεί από ένα νέο μάθημα “οικοδόμησης σχέσεων σεβασμού”, το οποίο θα είναι υποχρεωτικό για όλους τους μαθητές μέχρι το δέκατο έτος σπουδών. Μέρος του καινούριου μαθήματος, το οποίο θα ενταχθεί στο πρόγραμμα σπουδών από την νέα σχολική χρονιά, το 2016, θα είναι η κατανόηση των διαφορετικών πολιτισμών, των ηθών, των εθίμων και των παραδόσεων του κόσμου, η ισότητα των φύλων, η διδασκαλία της ανεκτικότητας, αλλά και η αντιμετώπιση της μισαλλοδοξίας και της οικογενειακής βίας. “Αυτό το νέο μάθημα θα βοηθήσει όλους τους μαθητές, ανεξαρτήτως πίστης ή κοινωνικής προέλευσης, να κατανοήσουν τον κόσμο που τους περιβάλλει, καθώς και το σύστημα αξιών και ιδεών που συνθέτει αυτόν τον κόσμο”, δήλωσε ο Υπουργός.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

The more everything changes and evolves, the more we move away from our beginnings … the more fascinated we become with our past.

People of migrant backgrounds are even more susceptible to this form of nostalgia, to nostos as it is called in Greek, which is what Taxithi – an Australian Odyssey touches upon.

Taxithi is the child of a survey involving more than 20 Greek-born women who have called Australia home since the 1950s and 1960s. Their stories have been adapted into a successful musical, which performed at the Hellenic Museum in March, exciting and moving the audience at the same time. Patterson came up with the idea for the musical after her maternal grandmother, Eleni Constantinou, died in 2010. Those last few days she would mainly talk about the baby she lost while she was trying to come to Australia, and how that child would have been 80 years old.

“I grew up with my yiayia in the house, and Greek is all that was spoken to me at home up until the age of five,” says Helen Yotis Patterson, writer and director.

“When you are away from your land of origin, you try harder to connect to your heritage and preserve your national identity.”

When her grandmother passed away, her fourth baby went to school, and for the first time in 15 years, she had to find a creative outlet. Instead of taking her little boy to the cafe, she took her computer. She would sit there and watch people until one day she began to write.

“I started to consider the number of changes migrants endure, arriving in a foreign land, most of the time so far away from home, and unfamiliar with the spoken language,” Patterson says.

“All my life I’d come across these ladies on the street with their broken English, but once I told them ‘I speak Greek’, their personalities would come to life.”

Travelling back to Greece, she noticed that Greeks there have actually been able to move on, but for most diaspora Hellenes, time stands still.

“In my father’s mind Greece is still in 1964. Migrants tend to think that they’ll always go back to their country,” she muses.

Having all that free time on her hands, she ventured on to interview as many women of Greek background as she could. She asked them all the same three questions: “Why did you leave”, “what happened on the ship”, and “how did you feel when you arrived”. The incredible variations of those answers surprised and moved her so much that she became determined to give voice to these women’s experiences.

“I heard some incredibly sad and happy things that these women had never told anyone before,” she adds.

“All it took was just a gentle push. Taxidi kind of wrote itself.”

Patterson is still fascinated by the many different stories out there which have proven to be of great historical and cultural value, providing younger generations with an insight into the migration experience. A lot of the women who took part in her survey are in their 60s or older, giving in to depression after exhausting their tremendous energy resources.

“These women had to keep moving forward in order to succeed in a new country, to provide their families with a better quality of life,” Patterson continues.

“Their rhythm finally slows down, only for them to be confronted with a crude reality. So many people before us had to part with their homeland, family and friends … to sacrifice an entire life so that we can enjoy the fruits from their struggles today.”

Patterson, who is also a professional singer, has incorporated songs from the era in the production, which she says capture the hopes, fears and dreams of the women who were heading into an unknown future. Helen remembers that during certain songs in the piece, a lot of people in the audience nodded their head and reminisced, cried even. Then they too shared their stories. Stories that burn. Stories that never heal.

Stories like this one…

“One lady from the audience convinced her father to let her go with her brother and come to Australia when she was 18. He lets her go, and then he decides that he doesn’t want to go through with it. When they get to the port, he’s trying to tear the papers out of her hand, however, she has the strength to hold on to them and fight to get on the ship. And she does. And she can hear somebody scream her name. She looks down and her dad is following the ship in a little boat, screaming her name with his arms outstretched, and she’s standing there looking at him cry.”

“This story hurt me to my bones,” she admits, bringing back the memory of this woman’s face whilst sharing her predicament.

“Back then, in the ’60s, when you came to Australia you couldn’t just go back. In 1974, her father passed away.”

Even though Patterson was born and raised in Australia, she identifies with many of the stories in her play. Her Cypriot mum came to Australia in 1951 and her father, who is from Leros, arrived in 1964 at the age of 19. Helen Yotis Patterson’s paternal grandmother Georgia (90) arrived in Australia with her husband Efthimios in 1964. Georgia lost her arm in WWII when a bomb dropped on her home in Leros.

“I guess this is a pain we are all aware of. Migrant children know that their parents carry around pain. It doesn’t belong to us, but we feel it.

“A very strong emotion arises when you see the people in the audience relate to the stories on stage; there’s an instant connection.”

Taxithi’s three main stories represent the three ‘fates’ of migration: the decision, the journey and the arrival, told in the sound of Greek soul tunes.

“Greek soul music is honest and so full of emotions,” she says.

“In rebetika people sing with their heart; these songs are the best representation of our journey and pain.”

The writer and director is considering to run a part two, which will include the male perspective, however, she is worried men might not be as forthcoming as the ladies.

“The acknowledgement of publicly sharing a very personal story might have a negative effect for some people,” she explains, partially blaming the old Greek mentality.

“Many migrant men have been suffering in silence whilst presenting a rock-solid facade to their wives and children, who were relying on them.”

Taxithi will be performed as a rehearsal on 7 September at fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane. The full production is on in March next year, and a concert to raise funds will be staged on 23 November featuring Greek women singers in Melbourne.

source:Neos Kosmos

Curiosity is not just a problem for cats. A red-bellied black snake interested in a can of bourbon and cola got stuck and had to be rescued by staff at the Australian Reptile Park.

A former volunteer brought the poisonous snake in to the park after finding it in suburban Wyong on the weekend with its head stuck in the can.

Australian Reptile Park general manager Tim Faulkner said the incident illustrated how litter in the bush can have serious effects on native animals.

“The red-bellied black snake would have curiously slithered through the opening of the littered can looking for food and, given its scales only run in one direction, when trying to back out, the scales would have prevented it from release, ” Mr Faulkner said.

“Skilled snake handlers at Australian Reptile Park released the snake by cutting the tin can and carefully extracting the snake to ensure its scales were not damaged.”

The snake is being kept for observation at the Australian Reptile Park to ensure it has no further injuries. It will later be released back into its native habitat.

“Animals don’t deserve to get caught in our litter, whether it’s sea turtles or birds eating plastic or snakes and small animals getting caught in tin cans, litter should be in the bin not the bush or the beach,” Mr Faulkner said.

source:smh.com.au

The Greek parliament has approved the draft deal for the $93bn bailout package allowing the deal to be taken to the meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels.

The move saves Greece from a disorderly default on its debts which could have come as soon as next week and helps to cement its membership of Europe’s single currency, but means more hardship for ordinary Greeks.

European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker said that the approval of the third bailout by the Eurogroup proved that “Greece is and will irreversibly remain a member of the euro area”.

Despite rebellion in the ranks of Tsipras’ leftist Syriza party, the 400-page text is thought likely to pass through the Athens legislature with the support of opposition parties in a vote not expected until the early hours of Friday.

In an appeal to lawmakers before the vote, Tsipras defended the decision to accept a program that comes at the price of tax hikes, spending cuts and economic reforms, saying it was a choice between “staying alive or suicide”.

As Greece faces a 3.2 billion euro debt repayment deadline on August. 20, approval of the bailout by the eurozone of Friday is critical.

“After the changes in the government and the crises that we had, the cooperation with, let’s say, the changed Greek government is very constructive, very well organised“, Mr Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch minister who chaired the Brussels meeting, told reporters.

The first tranche of loans will be for 26 billion euros ($28 billion). “There is no chance of that”, lawmaker Makis Voridis said, after parliament approved the latest bailout bill, Reuters reported. “If we don’t find a solution, we will have to do bridge financing”, he said, referring to a short-term loan so Greece can make its next debt payment on August. 20.

“But Berlin opposes writing off any Greek debt, although it is open to the idea of extending grace periods before Athens has to start paying interest and principal on its bailout loans. They have tested the patience of policy-makers and they have tested the patience of our citizens even more“, Juncker said. Lawmakers from the so-called Left Platform of his party refuse to support the continuation of austerity, accusing him of betraying his pledges and the Greek people’s mandate.

Eurozone finance ministers were also discussing the deal.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde welcomed the agreement but warned Greek debt had become unsustainable.

Earlier in the morning, the Greek parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of adopting series of new austerity measures to secure the long-awaited bailout plan.

But Greece is hoping that agreement to the tough measures will garner it some good will with exasperated EU leaders and possibly a degree of debt relief, which some Eurozone ministers have hinted is possible.

source:ifreepress.com

Οι επιστήμονες προσπαθούν συνεχώς και με αρκετούς τρόπους να… καταφέρουν να θεραπεύσουν την επάρατη νόσο και να οδηγήσουν στο οριστικό τέλος του καρκίνου.

Σύμφωνα με επιστημονικό άρθρο που δημοσιεύθηκε στο έντυπο Life Science η αρτεμισινίνη, παράγωγο του «Sweet wormwood» ή του «Artemisia Annua», που χρησιμοποιούταν από την Κινεζική ιατρική μπορεί να….. «σκοτώσει» το 98% των καρκινικών κυττάρων εντός μόλις 16 ώρων.

«Οι κύριοι τύποι φαινολικών συστατικών στα περισσότερα από τα βότανα που ελέγχθησαν αναγνωρίστηκαν πρωταρχικά και αναλύθηκαν, περιέχοντας κυρίως φαινολικά οξέα, φλαβονοειδή, τανίνες, κουμαρίνες, λιγνάνες, κινόνες, στιλβένες και κουρκουμινοειδή.

Τα συγκεκριμένα φαρμακευτικά βότανα έχουν εμφανίσει έως τώρα πολύ ισχυρότερη αντιοξειδωτική δράση και περιέχουν σημαντικά υψηλότερα επίπεδα φαινολικών συστατικών από τα κοινά φυτά και φρούτα.

Τα Παραδοσιακά Κινεζικά φαρμακευτικά φυτά που σχετίζονται με αντικαρκινικές ιδιότητες μπορεί να αποτελούν πιθανές πηγές ισχυρών φυσικών αντιοξειδωτικών και ωφέλιμων παραγόντων αναστολής, καθυστέρηση ή αναστροφής της καρκινογένεσης (σ.σ. pentapostagma.gr – chemopreventive agents)» αναφέρει η επιστημονική ομάδα στην σύνοψη του άρθρου στο επιστημονικό περιοδικό Life Sciences.

Το εν λόγω βότανο, εάν χρησιμοποιηθεί από μόνο του, μειώνει τα καρκινικά κύτταρα κατά 28%, αλλά σε συνδυασμό με το σίδηρο η “Artemisia Annua” καταφέρνει να «εξολοθρεύσει» επιτυχώς τον καρκίνο. Παράλληλα, στα πειράματα που διενεργήθησαν η αρτεμισινίνη δεν προκαλούσε βλάβες στα υγιή κύτταρα του πνεύμονα.

Η αρτεμισινίνη χρησιμοποιήθηκε κατά το παρελθόν ως μία ισχυρή θεραπεία κατά της ελονοσίας. Πλέον, όμως, αποδεικνύεται ένας εξαιρετικός σύμμαχος στη μάχη κατά του καρκίνου. Όταν οι επιστήμονες προσέθεσαν σίδηρο κατά τη διάρκεια της μελέτης, και στη συνέχεια τον «ενσωμάτωσαν» στους ιστούς του πνεύμονα και ειδικότερα στα καρκινικά κύτταρα του πνεύμονα, η αρτεμισινίνη επιτέθηκε επιλεκτικά κατά των καρκινικών κυττάρων δίχως να προξενεί βλάβες στα υγιή κύτταρα..

“Εν γένει, τα αποτελέσματα μας δείχνουν ότι η αρτεμισινίνη σταματά επιτυχώς τον παράγοντα μεταγραφής E2F1 και παρεμβαίνει στην διαδικασία καταστροφής των καρκινικών κυττάρων, εννοώντας ότι παρουσιάζει έναν νέο τρόπο μεταγραφής βάσει του οποίου η αρτεμισινίνη ελέγχει την διαδικασία αναπαραγωγής και ανάπτυξης των καρκινικών κυττάρων”, ήταν το συμπέρασμα των ερευνών που διεξήχθησαν στο εργαστήριο μελετών κατά του καρκίνου στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Καλιφόρνια.

Πηγή:makeleio.gr/