Έργο Πολιτών / Citizen in Deed

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Corporal punishment makes children aggressive
Childern have negative feelings about their parents after being physically disciplinedA research published at the scientific magazine Pediatrics, in May 2010, studied the connection between corporal punishment of children and their behaviour. About 2.461 children 3 years old were examined. The study recorded the frequency of the method of corporal punishment by the parents, daily. Even mild corporal abuse of the children – simple spanking of the child more than twice a month – had a serious negative impact to their behaviour by the age of five. Corporal punishment is now legally forbidden in Greece. However, as in USA, most of the parents continue to use it as discipline method. The scientific data are proving the catastrophic impact of these old practices to children’s souls.

Municipality of Komotini & CITIZEN IN DEED
The Municipality of Komotini organizes a two-day event, entitled “Komotini – Open Society – New Self-Government Map – Civil Society’s Social Consultation for the present and future of the new Municipality of Komotini”, under the auspices of CITIZEN IN DEED, on September 6 & 7, at the touristic stall of Nymfaia. The event features the participation of CITIZEN IN DEED with the lectures of Mr. Michalis Poulakis, architect - engineer, head of Programming and Planning Department of CITIZEN IN DEED and Mr. Pavlos Mpatsios, environmental engineer, member of the Work Group for the Environment of CITIZEN IN DEED.The round tables of the two-day event will focus on the following thematic sections: 1. Komotini, A Humancentric Society (Municipal Policies for Local Governance & Political Culture) 2.Komotini, A Fair Society (Municipal Policies for Health – Care) 3.Komotini, A Fair Society (Municipal Policies for Education, Culture and Sports) 4.Komotini, A Green Society (Municipal Policies for Environment, Life Quality, Green Areas) 5.Komotini, A Viable Society (Municipal Policies for Economical Development, Employment, Innovation, Entrepreneurship) 6.Komotini, A Compensative Society (Municipal Policies for Administration & Self-Government, Organization, Protection & Safety) 7.Social Dialogue against social exclusion. From youth for youth 8.Women and political participationThe lecture of Mr. Poulakis, entitled “Local Self-Government and Civil Society in the framework of the self-governmental reformation “KALLIKRATIS”, will cover the 1st thematic section, while Mr. Mpatsios will focus on matters regarding the 4th thematic section.The conclusions-results of the Social Consultation will be presented on Tuesday 7th September, at 20:00, by the Mayor of Komotini.

Puzzles and crosswords not enough to keep dementia away
Evidence suggests that keeping the brain active by reading, listening to the radio or doing puzzles can delay the onset of dementia.People who do puzzles and crosswords may stave off dementia longer but experience a more rapid decline once the disease sets in, a study suggests. While there has long been speculation that exercising your brain could protect against Alzheimer's, there has been little evidence to back this up.Now US researchers who followed more than 1,000 people suggest the more mentally active may delay the disease. But once symptoms appeared, decline was quicker, the research suggested.Writing in the journal Neurology, the authors suggest that cognitive activity enhances the brain's ability to maintain normal function as disease develops, allowing the mind to tolerate significant pathological changes without compromising its performance. But when Alzheimer's is finally diagnosed, the disease appears to be at a more advanced stage.

Elephant declared national heritage animal in India
It is estimated that at the moment there are 26,000 Asian elephants in IndiaThe humble hardworking elephant is not an animal that usually likes to complain. But over the years, while higher-profile, more urgently threatened species have been the subject of widescale conservation efforts, elephant numbers have been allowed to dwindle. Perhaps worse, the gender ratio – since only males have tusks, it is they who are sought by poachers – has become perilously skewed. In an attempt to address these concerns, the Indian authorities have now decided to declare the elephant its national heritage animal and to afford it the same level of protection as bestowed upon the mighty tiger. We need to give the same degree of importance to the elephant as is given to the tiger in order to protect the big animal, said the Environment minister, Jairam Ramesh.It is estimated there are 26,000 Asian elephants in India today, of which 3,500 are working animals. While the total population has not experienced the sort of drastic decline undergone by the tiger, the gender ratio is skewed so that in some areas there is just one male elephant for 100 females. At the same time, the habitats of the large animals are constantly being diminished by the expansion of human communities. As a result of such conflict, some 400 people are trampled to death every year in India by wild elephants and dozens of elephants are killed by villagers in retaliation.

Ilieia Province to host seminar for animal lovers
Most people don't know how to treat an injured animalThe Non Profit Organization Rommel in cooperation with the Hellenic Wildlife Hospital and the Sports Association of Arrachion organize, on Sunday 5th September, in Pyrgos of Ileia, a seminar aiming at raising public awareness on matters such as the environment, sports, fauna, domestic animals, wild animals of the province, their medical care and first aid supply. Purpose of the event is to urge people to care about animals, giving them the chance to understand the rules of nature, regarding the coexistence between human and animals. The seminar will be held at the conference hall of the Prefecture of Ileia, at 11:00 a.m. Entrance free to the public.

Acoording to Stephen Hawking God did not create universe
Hawking ''blames'' spontaneous creaction forthe Big BangModern physics leaves no place for God in the creation of the Universe, Stephen Hawking has concluded. Just as Darwinism removed the need for a creator in the sphere of biology, Britain’s most eminent scientist argues that a new series of theories have rendered redundant the role of a creator for the Universe. In his forthcoming book, an extract from which is published exclusively in Eureka, published with The Times, Professor Hawking sets out to answer the question: “Did the Universe need a creator?” The answer he gives is a resounding “no”. Far from being a once-in-a-million event that could only be accounted for by extraordinary serendipity or a divine hand, the Big Bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, Hawking says. “Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason''.

Threats keep O'Barry's dolphin protest out of Japan village
Ric O'Barry, the star of ''The Cove''The star of The Cove, an Oscar-winning documentary about a Japanese dolphin hunt, is back in Japan to protest the slaughter but had to cancel his trip to the village at the center of the controversy because of threats from an ultranationalist group. Instead, Ric O'Barry, the former dolphin-trainer for the 1960s Flipper TV show, he played host to a reception for some 100 animal-lovers at a Tokyo hotel.On Thursday, took a petition signed by 1.7 million people from 155 nations demanding the end of the dolphin hunt to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, escorted by police security. The 70-year-old had initially planned to take the petition to the Japanese Fisheries Ministry. That was also canceled on advice from Japanese police.Taiji, which has a population of 3,500 people, defends the dolphin-killing as tradition and a livelihood. In the past, some of the captured dolphins have been sold to aquariums. Others are eaten as meat. The Cove, which won this year's Academy Award for best documentary, depicts a handful of fishermen from Taiji who herd a flock of dolphins into a cove and stab them to death, turning the waters red with blood. The Taiji dolphin hunt begins every year on Sept. 1, and a fishing group has confirmed that the hunt is on this year, although boats returned empty Wednesday. O'Barry and other conservationists have made trips before to the village around the beginning of the hunt to express their opposition to what they say is a cruel slaying of animals that are as intelligent as human beings.

PANDOIKO holds its 22nd Conference in Chania
The island of Crete will host, this year the 22nd Conference on ''Free Public Spaces as a Social Good and the Bioclimatic Architecture in built environment'', organized by the Pan-Hellenic Network of Ecological OrganizationsThe Pan-Hellenic Network of Ecological Organizations will hold the 22nd Conference on “Free Public Spaces as a Social Good and the Bioclimatic Architecture in built environment”, on September 3, 4 and 5 in Chania, Crete. The Central Union of Municipalities and Communities is the co-operator of the conference, while both the PANDOIKO’s organisation-member “Ecological Initiative of Chania” and the Municipality of Chania are the local organizers. Aim of the conference is the evaluation of the aspects of the organized space-arrangement and the emergence of the free public spaces as a good of structural rehabilitation of the cities and the expansion of green areas for the enhancement of citizens’ life quality.

Program for energy-efficient enterprises
The ministry's aim is to create energy -efficient enterprisesA new subsidy program for enterprises with large energy consumption may be launched by the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change aiming to their “thermal protection”, announced the vice minister Mr. Maniatis to the presidency of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE). The program's cost may reach the 1 billion euros, based on the principles of the “save money at home” program and will apply to enterprises with large energy consumption. It is estimated that this new program will create large and lasting economic benefits by affecting positively the building activity. The program will be conducted by the ministry in collaboration with the Technical Chamber of Greece and GSEVEE.

Faul Line Living
The multi-media project explores the human stories that populate these high-risk natural environmentsFault lines are cracks in Earth’s crusts where tectonic plates converge. As you’d expect, these areas have an extraordinarily propensity for earthquakes due to the constant geodesic activity going on beneath. And yet millions of people around the world live on and around fault lines, in a constant state of alertness, with the sound of the earthquake drill alarm growing more familiar than the doorbell.Faul Line Living is a 15,000-mile expedition from Iceland to Iran documenting the lives of people who live along the world’s most notorious fault lines. On July 31, the UK-based team — Tamsin Davies, Serena Davies and Adam Whitaker — embarked upon their journey into these collision zones of nature and humanity. For 12 weeks, they will drive across the UK, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Lebanon, learning to use a seismometer and delving into the social anthropology of fault line living through photography, interviews and real-time mapping.

Brazil gives green light for Amazon dam
The proposal to build a hydro-electric dam onthe Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon in the northern state of Para, has long been a source of controversy.Brazil's government has given the formal go-ahead for the building on a tributary of the Amazon of the world's third biggest hydroelectric dam. After several failed legal challenges, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the contract for the Belo Monte dam with the Norte Energia consortium. Critics say the project will damage the local ecosystem and make homeless 50,000 mainly indigenous people. But the government says it is crucial for development and will create jobs. Bidding for the project had to be halted three times before a final court appeal by the government allowed Norte Energia, led by the state-owned Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco, to be awarded the contract.

1st September 2010 marks the end of 75 watt bulb
Conventional 75 watt bulbs will phase outIt is light, bright and has been around for 120 years. But from September 1st the 75 watt bulb bows out from Europe. Under new EU rules the manufacture and import of 75 watt bulbs and all frosted bulbs will be banned in favour of the energy-saving variety. According to the Energy Saving Trust, compact fluorescent lamps (energy-saving bulbs) use 80% less electricity than standard bulbs. They could also save the average household £590 in energy over their lifetime of between eight and 10 years, and if all traditional bulbs were replaced, the carbon saving would be the equivalent of taking 70,000 cars off the road. Last autumn, the 100 watt bulb was withdrew from market, along with the mat bulbs, regardless their power. During September 2011, the exhaustion of the supplies of the 60 watt bulbs from the stores will be initiated, followed by the 40W and 25W bulbs in September 2012. After the withdrawal of these bulbs, we will choose among improved glow bulbs (with halogen technology), compact fluorescence lamps (CFL), which are the most popular, and light-emitting diodes (LED), which doesn’t contain mercury.

French writers back Iran teen due to hang for being gay
In Iran, punishment for homosexual acts ranges from public flogging to execution.Two French writers on Tuesday launched an appeal to save an Iranian teenager sentenced to death by hanging for allegedly being homosexual. Ebrahim Hamidi is 18 years old and is going to be hanged, said the title of the appeal by Philippe Besson and Gilles Leroy published in Le Monde newspaper and signed by a score of French intellectuals. After Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, condemned to death by stoning for adultery, Iran persists by sentencing to hanging a young man suspected of homosexuality, they wrote. The case of Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother-of-two convicted of adultery and complicity in her husband's murder, has triggered an international outcry. Besson and Leroy's petition in Le Monde said that the charges against Hamidi were false and had even been withdrawn by his alleged victim , and that the teenager had had no legal representation during his trial. He is going to die if we do not mobilise, they wrote.

World Youth Conference in Mexico spotlights youth in development agenda
More than 200 hundred young representatives from 153 countries attended the World Youth Conference in MexicoForty-five per cent of the world's population – a staggering 3 million people – are under the age of 25. Last week, the World Youth Conference in Mexico provided a platform for representatives of this vast group to voice their opinions. At a tangent event, the Legislator’s Forum in the Mexico City, Morgan applauded the vitality, drive and passion of young people while drawing attention to the complexity of challenges they face. The Government of Mexico hosted the Legislator’s Forum in Mexico City from August 25 - August 27 and a Government’s Forum in the city of Leon, with the aim to create a space where representatives from government and civil society organizations could come together to identify action priorities around the youth. The priorities selected will be addressed by the international community as it works toward meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, a set of internationally recognized targets forAt the Government’s Forum in Leon, more than 200 representatives of youth-led non-governmental organizations from 153 countries gathered to advise decision makers on priorities for the global youth development agenda and to hold them accountable for the promises established in the Millennium Declaration, which created the MDG targets in 2000.In a statement entitled ‘Keep your promises and make them true!’ young representatives highlighted the need to recognize the role of the youth in national economic development plans. They also noted the importance of utilizing the International Year of Youth, which was recently declared by the United Nations, as a bridge to investing at least 5 per cent of future national defence budgets in youth development programmes.During the conference, UNICEF worked with the Scouts and the Girl Guides, two large non-governmental organizations, to capture the voices of children and young delegates.Participants had also the opportunity to send messages related to MDGs in their respective communities on video and present their ideas on how to achieve the goals. The videos are available on UNICEF’ youth website, www.voicesofyouth.org (http://www.voicesofyouth.org).

A solar tree in Thessaloniki
The ‘Solar tree’ is an outdoor lighting system powered by solar energyA different tree that contributes to energy-saving will be set up in a central point of Thessaloniki city, in the framework of the 75th Thessaloniki International Trade Fair (TIF). According to “Kathimerini” newspaper, the “Solar tree” is an outdoor lighting system powered by solar energy and constitutes an alternative solution for the lighting in public spaces. Photovoltaics collecting solar energy have been put on the “foliage” and the “berries” of the tree to use this energy during night hours energizing low consumption and zero-service lamps. After collecting energy, the lighting system functions autonomically even after three cloudy days. But, if needed, it can also use electricity. According to the creators of the system, in the future the “Solar tree” will be also used as a power station for mobile phones, laptops and electric cars.