Monthly Archives: September 2015

During a fishing trip, Rick Trippe came across a dangerous sea snake and stonefish fighting each other. He separated them with his bare hands and lived to tell all about it.

If an average person happened upon the world’s most poisonous snake and the world’s most poisonous fish engaged in battle, stepping between them would probably be the last idea to come to mind. Leaving the area and trying to find a change of underpants would be more likely.

But for experienced diver and fisherman Rick Trippe of Darwin, Australia, breaking up such a deadly struggle of nature didn’t even require a second thought.

The Australian realtor with a passion for being on the water found a sea snake and stonefish fighting each other during a Thursday trip in Darwin Harbor. He separated them with his own two hands and set them both free. The photos he posted of the encounter on his Facebook page quickly went viral, netting him emails from around the globe that probably contain phrases like “Are you insane?!?”

Trippe told CNET’s Crave blog that he and a friend had just “up-anchored from an old World War II wreck and were feeling pretty chuffed” about the fish they caught when he first noticed the sea snake.
“We were going to our next wreck when we saw something in the middle of the harbor but couldn’t make out what it says,” Trippe said. “So with curiosity, we motored over to find a massive sea snake. It was close to 2 meters (6.5 feet) long and thick. As we approached the sea snake, we saw that it had a stonefish in its mouth.”

Sea snakes and stonefish are classified as the most venomous members of their respective species. Sea snakes are actually docile — they “don’t want to touch humans” and don’t always inject venom when they bite, Trippe says — but he adds that their venom is “five times deadlier than a cobra’s.”

Χρήστος Σουρλίγκας: Ο κύριος Koi ξέρει από φθηνό σούσι

Από το μαγαζί του Χρήστου Σουρλίγκα περνάει σήμερα όλη η Αθήνα

«Τι εννοείς έχει πορεία στο κέντρο της Αθήνας και το μαγαζί μου είναι στο Σύνταγμα; Ξέρεις τι ταμείο κάναμε τις μέρες με συγκέντρωση; Οι πελάτες μας είναι οι διαδηλωτές. Βασικά και οι διαδηλωτές».

Και οι σελέμπριτι, και οι barmen κολλητοί του, οι πρώτοι πελάτες που διαφήμισαν στόμα με στόμα το «Koi» του Συντάγματος, και ο Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης. Ο Χρήστος Σουρλίγκας δεν πίστευε ότι θα γινόταν ο κύριος Koi: «Εγώ άνοιξα ένα μαγαζί να τρώω φθηνό και καλό σούσι με τα φιλαράκια μου». Και από αυτό το μαγαζί περνάει σήμερα όλη η Αθήνα.

«Βέρος Αθηναίος είμαι. Αλλά μεγάλωσα στη Νότια Αφρική. Εκεί πήγαν μετανάστες οι γονείς μου. Από το 1997 πηγαινοερχόμαστε Αθήνα. Εγώ σπούδασα μάγειρας, πες το και σεφ. Δούλευα, όμως, ως μπάρμαν. Πήγα Αυστραλία, Αμερική. Στην Αυστραλία πριν από τη δουλειά τρώγαμε σούσι, φθηνό σούσι, με 5 δολάρια. Εκεί είδα πρώτη φορά το concept. «Walkers» λέγονται αυτά τα μαγαζιά, δηλαδή μπαίνεις, παραγγέλνεις, τρως, φεύγεις, σε σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα. Δεν κάνουμε κρατήσεις. Όταν αρχίσεις να κάνεις κρατήσεις, γίνεσαι εστιατόριο και μεγαλώνουν οι απαιτήσεις του πελάτη. Πριν από δύο χρόνια εγκαταστάθηκα στην Αθήνα και άνοιξα το δικό μου μαγαζί. Είμαι 35 χρόνων».

Πώς αποφάσισε να ανοίξει το πρώτο «Koi» στο Σύνταγμα;

«Είμαι στο Σίδνεϊ και δουλεύω μπάρμαν, όπως σου είπα. Επιστρέφω στην Αθήνα με κάποια λεφτά που είχα μαζέψει και είπα να ανοίξω ένα μαγαζί για να τρώω φθηνό σούσι εγώ και οι φίλοι μου. Βλέπεις, πριν από έναν χρόνο και επτά μήνες -τότε άνοιξε το πρώτο κατάστημα- για να φάω σούσι έπρεπε να μαζέψω ένα βδομαδιάτικο. Μπάρμαν ήμουν, φαντάσου. Ήθελα να είναι στο κέντρο. Και εκεί που είναι το ‘Koi’ είναι μια πιάτσα για ασιατική κουζίνα – ή, αν θέλεις, τη φτιάξαμε. Δεν είχα ανταγωνιστικές βλέψεις. Άρχισαν να έρχονται παιδιά που δούλευαν σε μπαρ. Φίλοι μου, αυτοί βοήθησαν στο ξεκίνημα. Μέσα σε έναν μήνα πήρε μπροστά το μαγαζί. Όλα βοήθησαν: οι χαμηλές τιμές, η καλή ποιότητα, τα check in στα social media, η διαφήμιση από στόμα σε στόμα. Δημιουργήσαμε μια πιάτσα για street food. Στο Σύνταγμα άρχισαν να έρχονται οι σελέμπριτι. Αλλά τα παιδιά που δουλεύουν στο μαγαζί δεν τους έδιναν καμία σημασία. Έχω ξένα παιδιά για σερβιτόρους για να ταιριάζουν με το μαγαζί. Ε, δεν είχαν ιδέα ποια είναι η Ελευθερία Αρβανιτάκη και ο Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης. Στο μαγαζί μας μπορείς να βρεις ένα παιδί που κάνει skate να τρώει δίπλα στον πρωθυπουργό. Και δεν τους γλείφουμε, συμπεριφερόμαστε σε κάθε πελάτη με τον ίδιο τρόπο. Γι’ αυτό ξανάρχονται. Μπορούν επιτέλους να φάνε σε ένα μαγαζί ανενόχλητοι».

Γιατί είναι το σούσι του «Koi» τόσο οικονομικό;

«Εγώ ήθελα να κάνω το σούσι προσβάσιμο σε όλους, απλά πράγματα, φαγητό για όλους. Έχω τη δική μου τεχνική στα ρολά. Μπορεί να βάζω λιγότερο ρύζι, την ψάχνω σίγουρα περισσότερο με τις τιμές. Δεν θα σου πω ότι έχω την premium, έχω όμως καλή ποιότητα. Και αυτές τις τιμές δεν θα τις βρεις πουθενά. Είναι φθηνό σούσι. Για να μπορώ να δουλεύω. Ξέρεις πώς ανοίξαμε στη Βούλα; Ήρθε ο αδελφός μου από Αυστραλία, είδε το μαγαζί στο Σύνταγμα, του άρεσε και είπε να κάνει το ίδιο στη Βούλα. Ήρθε και η αδελφή μου και, επειδή δεν είχε δουλειά, ανοίξαμε ένα delivery στο Χαλάνδρι. Εγώ πλέον πηγαίνω για φαγητό μόνο στην Κηφισιά. Θα μου επιτεθούν οι πελάτες που περιμένουν στην ουρά αν με δουν να τους παίρνω τη θέση για να κάτσω σε τραπέζι στο ‘Koi’ του Συντάγματος. Δεν κάνουμε κρατήσεις. Μπαίνεις και τρως».

Υπάρχουν best seller στο μενού;

«To salmon teriyaki και τα dragon rolls. Τρελαίνονται. Πήγα τον Μάρτιο στην Ιαπωνία. Θα φέρω τώρα έναν Ιάπωνα σεφ να μας φτιάξει το καινούριο μενού. Αλλά το σούσι που έφαγα εκεί δεν μπορούμε να το φάμε στην Ελλάδα. Είναι εντελώς ωμό. Ωμό. Θα φύγουν οι πελάτες αν το σερβίρουμε».

Είχε στο πίσω μέρος του μυαλού του αυτή την επιτυχία όταν άνοιξε το πρώτο «Koi»;

«Τι λες; Εγώ ήθελα ένα μέρος για να τρώω με τους φίλους μου σούσι, καλό και φθηνό, όπως έκανα στην Αυστραλία. Τώρα δεν φτιάχνω άλλα μαγαζιά. Θα δίνω franchise. Τον Σεπτέμβριο θα ανοίξει το πρώτο στον Πειραιά. Εγώ είμαι δύο χρόνια στην Ελλάδα. Κουράζομαι να είμαι στο ίδιο μέρος για μεγάλο διάστημα. Τώρα πήγα στη Βουδαπέστη. Η κοπέλα μου ασχολείται με τη μόδα και θα ανοίξει μια μπουτίκ – και εγώ ένα ‘Koi’. Το επόμενο θα είναι στο Βερολίνο. Και βλέπουμε. Είμαστε ένα βήμα πριν από τις υπογραφές και για το κατάστημα στη Θεσσαλονίκη. Είναι αναγνωρίσιμο όνομα αυτός που θα το ανοίξει, αλλά πριν από τις υπογραφές δεν θέλω να πω κάτι. Σκοπεύουμε να ανοίξουμε 27 μαγαζιά συνολικά σε όλη την Ελλάδα».

Στο πρώτο μαγαζί δούλευε από το πρωί ως το βράδυ για να ρολάρει η δουλειά;

«Έκανα από τον σερβιτόρο μέχρι και στην κουζίνα πήγαινα και έκοβα υλικά. Δεν γίνεται αλλιώς. Τώρα δεν μπαίνω. Όχι επειδή μεγαλοπιάστηκα. Βγάζεις νεύρα όταν έχεις το μαγαζί και δεν θέλω να μιλήσω άσχημα στα παιδιά».

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Μπαρ του Σίδνεϊ προκάλεσε σάλο όταν για να διαφημιστεί χρησιμοποίησε γυμνές γυναίκες που ξάπλωσαν σε μεγάλα τραπέζια και χρησίμευσαν για πιάτα. Πολλοί πελάτες φωτογράφησαν το γεγονός, το ανέβασαν στα social media και ακολούθησε χαμός.

Πολλοί χρήστες αντέδρασαν, ενώ δημιουργήθηκε ακόμη και το hashdag #destroythejoint που καλούσε τους πελάτες να σαμποτάρουν την ιδέα. Η ακαδημαϊκός Μέλανι Τζέημς απηύθυνε κάλεσμα σε όλους να μην πάνε στο εν λόγω μπαρ γράφοντας στο twitter «Είναι μια μαύρη βραδιά για το Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal Cruise Bar –απαράδεκτο #destroythejoint».

Ενώ αργότερα πρόσθεσε: «Το άθρο 5 της Δήλωσης για τα Ανθρώπινα Δικαιώματα, το οποίο έχει υπογράψει και η Αυστραλία, λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι κανείς δεν πρέπει να υφίσταται απάνθρωπη ή ταπεινωτική μεταχείριση».

«Τρελαθήκατε; Σερβίρετε φαγητό από σώματα γυναικών; Δεν είναι μόνο άκομψο, αλλά επίσης προωθεί μια κουλτούρα όπου η γυναίκα είναι αντικείμενο. Είμαστε στον 21ο αιώνα και δεν είναι σωστό», έγραψε η χρήστης Ulrike Zimmerman.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

After nearly a quarter century of economic growth, the Reserve Bank of Australia is again counting on the currency’s drop to keep recession at bay without the need for interest-rate cuts.

The Australian dollar is at US70.43¢ in midafternoon trade in New York. According to Bloomberg data, the Aussie slid as low as US69.82¢ in afternoon trading in Europe before rebounding. It was at US70.24¢ at Wednesday’s local close.

The Aussie has slumped 14 per cent since December 31, extending a 21 per cent drop over the previous two years, as the domestic economy grapples with the end of a mining boom and a slowdown in China. The currency fell to a six-year low Wednesday after data showed weaker gross domestic product growth, with options signalling further declines for the exchange rate are in store.

“The Aussie dollar will continue to do more of the work for the RBA and it won’t be necessary for them to cut interest rates to continue to support this rebalancing of growth in the economy,” said Paul Bloxham, chief economist for Australia at HSBC Holdings in Sydney. Bloxham, a former RBA economist, reckons the central bank will be on hold over the next year.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens has kept the cash rate at a record-low 2 per cent since May while saying he expects a moderate expansion that will pick up in coming years. The currency also sank during the global financial crisis in 2008, helping Australia skirt the recessions that engulfed developed-market peers, and acted as a cushion when its neighbours were hurt by the late 1990s Asian meltdown.

While the median forecast of analysts polled by Bloomberg is for the currency to remain near 70 cents till year end, net bearish bets on the Aussie climbed to the most since March in the week to August 25, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Options market pricing shows about a 60 per cent chance of a decline to 65 cents over 12 months.

Although slumping commodity export prices have helped drive the pace of GDP growth in Australia down to just 2 per cent year-on-year, resource-reliant peers such as Canada and South Africa are suffering from even deeper slowdowns and the likes of Russia and Brazil are seeing their economies shrink.

source:smh.com.au

Ankara: An image of a drowned toddler washed up on the beach in one of Turkey’s prime tourist resorts has swept across social media, after at least 12 presumed Syrian migrants died trying to reach the Greek island of Kos.

The picture showed a little boy wearing a bright red T-shirt and shorts lying face-down in the surf on a beach near the resort town of Bodrum. In a second image, a grim-faced policeman carries the tiny body away.

The hashtag “KiyiyaVuranInsanlik” – “humanity washed ashore” – became the top trending topic on Twitter after this and other pictures were retweeted heavily.

The two boats, carrying a total of 23 people, had set off separately from the Akyarlar area of the Bodrum peninsula, a senior Turkish naval official said.

The confirmed dead included five children and one woman. Seven people were rescued and two reached the shore in lifejackets. The official said hopes were fading of saving the two people still missing.

Television images showed the lifeless body of a small boy dressed in a red T-shirt and blue shorts lying face-down on the sand in Bodrum, one of Turkey’s most popular beach resorts.

Tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in their homeland have descended on Turkey’s Aegean coast this summer to board boats to Greece, their gateway to the European Union.

The official said almost 100 people in all had been rescued by Turkish vessels overnight as they tried to reach Kos.

Aid agencies estimate that, over the past month, about 2000 people a day have been making the short crossing to Greece’s eastern islands on rubber dinghies.

A ship bringing about 1800 migrants and refugees from one of the islands arrived at the port of Piraeus near Athens on Tuesday night, the Greek coastguard said.

Thousands of people, mainly Africans, have also been trying to reach Europe via boat from Libya to Italy. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said four bodies had been pulled from the central Mediterranean on Tuesday and 781 migrants rescued, mostly from Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

So far this year, more than 2500 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, the UNHCR said.

source:smh.com.au

Η ΜΑΧΗ ΤΗΣ ΒΕΥΗΣ ΜΕΡΟΣ Α (ΜΑΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΕΡΑΣΜΑΤΟΣ ΚΛΕΙΔI).

Ο κ. Ευάγγελος Ιωαννίδης είναι δικηγόρος από το Αμύνταιο Φλωρίνης.Ο κ. Ιωαννίδης μιλάει με τον Θωμά Τσαμούρα από το SYMBAN RADIO AUSTRALIA για την μάχη των στενών Κλειδιού κοντά στην Βεύβη Φλωρίνης το 1941, όπου υπάρχουν ακόμη σήμερα 22 αγνοούμενοι Αυστραλοί στρατιώτες.

source:studio3newcastle.com

It’s no surprise that bottle caps, plastic bags and other pieces of trash are washed off the streets and into our waterways every day. Some studies have shown this pollution can amount to 580,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre in the ocean.

Plastics have a devastating impact on sea life, and according to some estimates, it’s only going to get worse.

Scientists from the CSIRO, Australia’s peak science body, and Imperial College London have projected that 90% of seabirds today have plastics in their stomach, and at current rates, that number will grow to 99% by 2050.

“Finding such widespread estimates of plastic in seabirds is borne out by some of the fieldwork we’ve carried out where I’ve found nearly 200 pieces of plastic in a single seabird,” Denise Hardesty from CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere said in a statement.

Seabird species like albatrosses and penguins often mistake the brightly coloured bits of rubbish as food items, and the plastics can cause weight loss or even death.

To measure how much plastic the creatures are exposed to, scientists matched the locations of debris in the ocean with how seabird species are distributed globally, Chris Wilcox, senior research scientist at CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, told Mashable Australia.

Their model used ocean currents and population size along the coast globally to estimate how much plastic enters the sea. “We assume the coastline produces plastic waste in proportion to the population,” Wilcox said. “You can then create a map of where plastics are expected to be.”

The Great Pacific garbage patch is a notorious phenomenon, but the southern edges of Australia, South Africa and South America are the areas of greatest concern. This is where the millions of pieces of floating plastic overlap with the habitat of a significant diversity of seabird species.

The project’s larger research effort is aimed at addressing a whole host of problems: Where plastic goes in the ocean, how it affects ocean species from seabirds to turtles, and what an effective policy response could be.

Bottle deposit schemes, rubbish traps in storm drains and anti-littering drives are all possible solutions, Wilcox suggested. “We found in Australia, if local councils have campaigns against illegal dumping, that can make a significant impact on the amount of ocean plastics in their area.”

He also pointed to a heartening story in the North Sea in northern Europe. “There the plastics manufacturing industry uses plastic pellets that would often wash into the North Sea. Essentially, when the industry implemented a program to improve their use of pellets, the amount of pellets in the sea went down in ten years. Consequently, the amount in seabirds also went down.”

If we make smart decisions about how we dispose of waste, or even how much waste we create, it might not be long until we see improvement. “If we compare this with climate change, we are talking about changing major aspects of our economy,” Wilcox said. “With the plastics problem, you’re really just asking people to dispose of plastics more responsibly.

“All these items were in people’s hands at some point. We’re really just talking about making a small change in people’s behaviour.”

source:mashable.com

French President Francois Hollande awards the Legion of Honour to Alek Skarlatos. Photo: AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool.

Heroic Alek Skarlatos received the Legion of Honour after bringing down a gunman on a train

A heroic Greek American prevented chaos on a train from Amsterdam to Paris last week after an armed gunman opened fire.

US National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, along with fellow serviceman Spencer Stone and student Anthony Sadler, overpowered a 26-year-old Moroccan national who burst into their train carriage with heavy artillery.

Skarlatos was on a European holiday when the events took place, having recently completing a tour of Afghanistan, and spoke to Sky News following the ordeal.

“I just looked at Spencer and said ‘let’s go!’,” Skarlatos told the network.

“Spencer got to the guy first, grabbed the guy by the neck and I grabbed the handgun, got the handgun away from the guy and threw it.

“Then I grabbed the AK (assault rifle), which was at his feet, and started muzzle thumping him in the head with it.”

Throughout the struggle the suspect pulled out a box-cutter which he used on Stone, who later required surgery on his hand.

Once the man was detained Skarlatos disarmed his weapons, at which point he realised the assault rifle had jammed.

“He didn’t know how to fix it, which is very lucky,” he said.

“If that guy’s weapon had been functioning properly I don’t even want to think about how it would have gone. We were incredibly lucky.”

“We just did what we had to do. You either run away or fight. We chose to fight and got lucky and didn’t die.”

Skarlatos, along with Stone, Sadler and a British passenger Chris Norman, were all presented with France’s highest honour – the Legion of Honour – by French President François Hollande.

Another man, Mark Moogalian, who assisted in restraining the suspect, is recovering from a shot wound in hospital and will be honoured at a later date.

The suspect has since been arrested.

source:Neos Kosmos

Sydney school in the spotlight for taking stance
on same-sex parenthood.

Burwood Girls High School in Sydney sent a flyer to parents last week saying all students would attend a special screening of the award-winning documentary Gayby Baby during periods two and three on Friday 18 August.

The film, according to former student and director Maya Newell, is more about four children growing up than their parents’ sexuality. Newell, 27, comes from a family of same-sex parents and Gayby Baby represents the voice of children like herself growing up in Australian society.

The screening, scheduled to be attended by 1,200 students, was to be followed by a morning tea with purple cupcakes and a purple fashion parade, as part of the student-led Wear It Purple initiative, promoting diversity and inclusiveness in schools. Up to 50 schools throughout Australia, starting with NSW and Victoria, had been planning to show the film as part of the Wear It Purple campaign.

Following a Daily Telegraph headline on parents being outraged at the flyer, NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli made a statement on Macquarie Radio, condemning the documentary, saying “schools are not places for political issues to be aired”.
After receiving a phone-call from a Greek Australian mother on Wednesday, Neos Kosmos contacted the Department of Education, which confirmed that “screening the film may be considered if it is an integral part of the planned curriculum for an age appropriate year group”.

“If a school decides to screen the film outside school hours or as an integral part of the curriculum all relevant policy and procedures must be followed,” the department’s media spokesperson said.

Following Minister Piccoli’s statement, the deputy secretary of the Department of Education instructed that all NSW public secondary schools refrain from showing the Gayby Baby film in school time, so that it would not impact on the delivery of the planned lessons of the day. It has been confirmed, however, that Burwood Girls High did not receive a single complaint with regards to showing Gayby Baby during class time.

“We only received four inquisitive emails expressing concern,” the school’s spokesperson said.

In fact, students at Burwood Girls High claim the school has had several interruptions of planned lessons over the past month to attend non-relevant events to their school curriculum, without ministerial intervention. The Wear It Purple event itself is also expected to replace some teaching hours to celebrate LGBTI rights.

“We are going ahead with Wear It Purple day on Friday and we will see what happens at other schools around the state,” said Burwood Girls High school captain Eve Croffrey.

“We consider ourselves leaders in the push for equality and acceptance – for all people. We consider our support to be just one small step in creating better understanding in the community.”

Director Maya Newell defended her work, saying that banning the film would have greater implications.

“If a film that represents your family and your voice is banned from a school as inappropriate to show other students, it gives children being raised in same-sex families the very negative message that their family is abnormal and not acceptable.”

Newell stressed that creating inclusive classrooms and valuing family diversity is essential in promoting student wellbeing and acceptance of difference.

“There is no place for bullying, homophobia or discrimination in Australian public schools,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that the NSW education minister and Premier Mike Baird hadn’t watched the film prior to banning it, even though it screened at Parliament House the night before the alleged turmoil; while Premier Daniel Andrews took to Facebook to show his support.

“I’m getting really sick of this stuff (…) I will not put up with this kind of cruel rubbish in Victoria,” he wrote.

Since Thursday, more schools across the state are defying the ban by hosting after-hours screenings while members and supporters of the LGBTI community plan on protesting on Sunday afternoon outside the offices of The Daily Telegraph in Surry Hills.

Other sources: smh, Facebook