14/2: World Marriage Day & Valentine's Day

Each year World Marriage Day is celebrated on the Sunday closest to Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14). This year, the two coincide. Of course, you’re interested in how you can improve your own marriage.

Once you’ve exchanged flowers and candy, try one to take a Marriage Quiz. Are you and your spouse soul mates? Do you make good traveling companions? Can you read your spouse’s moods? These quizzes make great discussion-starters.

Good luck! ;)

9 warm wishes for Merry Christmas & a happy new year

9 is the number of all numbers. In order to understand 9 universal effect, add together the numbers from 1 to 8: (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8). The answer is 36. Add the 3 and the 6 together, and you have 9. Add 9 to 9 and you have 18. Then add the 1 and the 8 together, and you’re back to 9. This is the only number that works in such a mysterious way.

So, for the new year my wishes are 9 xxxxxxxxx

Tantra initiation in Greece

16 - 18 October & 20 - 22 November 2009
Tantric Initations Workshop is addressed only to couples

WELCOMES YOU TO TANTRA INITATIONS WORKSHOPS
TANTRIC Initations - AIM

Nowadays, the true nature of Tantra has been lost in a myriad of myths, misinterpretations and misunderstandings. This profound ancient spiritual science has become reduced only to sexual associations, often superficially and pointlessly, misleading people away from its spiritual purpose and denigrating it in the process.

Tantra is a science of spiritual discovery, acknowledged to be the fastest and most efficient spiritual path for our times and it’s based in ancient wisdom to solve the problems of modern people: happiness, fulfillment, meaning in life, great relationships, success, control of the energies and much much more.

Now, for the first time, the true path of Tantra has been made available for you and your lover. Everybody is invited to discover the beauty and joy that living a Tantric life brings. You can discover the truth of who you really are, while re-igniting the flame of desire and the immense joy of love in your couple relationship.

The retreat is a genuine INITIATION

The Tantra Initiations retreat is the gift of a lifetime for you and your beloved. It is designed especially for the modern couples who actively seek for profoundness, who recognize that there is more to life than meets the eye.

http://www.tantrainitiations.com/articles/tantra/the-mystery-of-initiation.html

into Tantric secrets which transforms completely due to its supportive energy. The initiation is not only knowledge and methods, but a transfer of realizing power from the teachers to the one receiving it. This retreat transforms the couple relationship into the source of happiness and ecstasy it truly is. The initiation offered will help you to turn weaknesses into strengths, to break limitations and to acknowledge that in reality the love relationship is the divine gift waiting to be unwrapped.

Presented in the unique form of a tantric initiation, the weekend retreat reveals:

• A comprehensive introduction to the Tantric system
• Introduction to the Tantric Principles – the backbone of the Tantric system
• The Tantric approach through the Awakening of the Senses
• Sexual exercises (learning the sexual steps and the control of the sexual reactions)
• The Tantric Couple – how to turn your relationship into a tantric relationship
• How to develop a Tantric attitude in life – for excellence and success in all domains
• Special Tantric Techniques for Controlling the Sexual Energy
• Elements of Tantric Alchemy: Transmutation, Sublimation, Transfiguration
• Keys for ecstatic living
• Ways to develop deeper levels of intimacy in your couple relationship
• Tools for enhancing masculinity in men and femininity in women, to get the most out of life

The teachers: Mihai and Adina have been practicing and teaching Tantra and yoga for more than twenty years. They’ve become renowned for their inspiring and wholehearted approach which has taken them to all corners of the globe to share their knowledge and wisdom. They have had courses and seminars in many European countries. Together they have set a new standard for the teaching of Tantra, being forerunners in the sexual revolution of our time – helping people both individually and collectively through the removing of taboos, breaking of barriers and overcoming of inhibitions related to the sexual level of existence

http://www.tantrainitiations.com/about/us/tantra-initiations-teachers.html

General Information
Venue
The seminars of Tantra initiations will take place in Greece, at the Blue Pearl Hotel http://www.bluepearlhotel.gr/, on the beach of Lehaion in Argolis, 50 minutes driving distance from Athens, close to the cities of Korinthos, Loutraki and the archeological sites of Ancient Korinthos, Heraion and Epidavros.

Dates
1st edition program 16 - 18 October 2009
2nd edition program 20 - 22 November 2009

Deadlines for Participation
1st Edition program 8 October 2009
2nd Edition program 8 November 2009

Initial Detailed Program
Friday
19h00 - 20h00 Opening Lecture
20h00 - 21h00 Dinner at the hotel
21h00 - 23h30 Evening Program
Saturday
09h00 - 11h00 Yoga Practice
11h00 - 11h30 Meditation
12h00 - 13h00 Brunch
13h00 - 15h00 Free time
15h00 - 17h00 Workshop
17h00 - 17h30 Afternnon Break
20h00 -21h00 Lecture
21h00 - 24h00 Evening Prorgram
Sunday
09h00 - 11h00 Workshop
11h00 - 11h30 Meditation
12h00 - 13h00 Brunch
14h00 - 17h00 Closing Lecture
Workshop Organizing Bureau
IMPRESSIVE http://www.impressive-world.com/
e-mail: mailto:stelladk@impressive-world.com

Mobile +30 6940820821, Tel/Fax +30 210 99 62 767

New campaign "ANADIVA" aims to show there is an alternative to plastic surgery

The worldwide market for cosmetic surgery and facial cosmetics was estimated at around 14$ billion in sales in 2007 and is growing at a rate of 1$ billion a year. Plastic surgery has become a consumer item – a treat, just like a Christmas present.
In Brazil, a sweet sixteen birthday gift is a breast implant!
Want a western eyelid? Become one of the estimated 50% of Korean girls having that procedure.
Feeling too short? Join the Chinese who consider modernity is having a 10-centimetres rod inserted in their upper leg.
Need a “trendier” nose? Check the Iranian surgeons who have done 30,000 rhinoplasty operations during the course of their career.

Group challenges women's beauty perception:

A campaign designed to help women restore their individuality and celebrate variety within a society

How many Lebanese women have you seen today with plastic surgery or who look like they’ve spent several hours preening? With Lebanon having acquired something of a reputation abroad for its predilection for surgery, the answer is likely to be several. Tired of being subjected to pressures of physical appearance, one Lebanese woman has launched a campaign in order to celebrate authentic, diverse beauty – the kind she argues is rapidly being lost to “look alike” surgeries that are often styled on the features of a select few celebrities and models.

ANADiva (Arabic for “I’m a diva”) is the brainchild of 26-year-old Gwen Bou Jaoude. As part of the campaign, she has launched a social networking site where members can discuss representations of beauty, and a competition to create the campaign’s character. The website is one of the first Lebanese initiatives to demonstrate that other means of self-expression exist for women, Bou Jaoude said. “This online community proves that there are still members of the public who are against this metamorphosing of our society.”

The campaign will conclude with an alternative fashion show that celebrates real women’s bodies in all their shapes and sizes. Lebanese cartoonist Stavro Jabra and Nienke Klunder, a Dutch-American photographer who works with the themes of body image and self-expression, have already signed up to collaborate on the campaign, as has web developing company Star Point Star, who offered to design the website.

“Everyone has a different opinion of beauty,” Bou Jaoude said, adding she hoped the ANADiva campaign will improve Lebanese women’s perceptions of themselves, celebrate individuality, and encourage critical thinking about mainstream standards of beauty. “The public should be given an alternative” to the one currently toted by the mainstream media and advertisers, she added. “They brainwash you [about how you should look] without you even realizing.”

Bou Jaoude’s efforts come at a time of growing debate within the fashion and cosmetics sectors about beauty. Dove, a leading beauty products company, has launched its own “Real Beauty” campaign and fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle are now actively trying to use more black and Asian models in an effort to show the beauty industry does not only view white women as attractive.

One of the reasons Bou Jaoude decided to launch the campaign was she felt the Lebanese, through surgery, were losing their cultural identity and becoming carbon copies of their European and North American counterparts. Lebanese women should embrace their looks, Jaoude said. “Variety is healthy within a society.”

Cosmetic surgery and the cosmetic industry are lucrative trades – according to the International Herald Tribune, in 2007 alone, the two were estimated to be worth around $14 billion in sales globally. More and more women, though also men, are opting for surgery, swelling the industry’s coffer’s by an additional $1 billion each year.

In a questionnaire conducted by ANADiva of 65 Lebanese women between the age of 21 and 38, 46 said they would go under the knife in order to “look sexy.” With billboards, television adverts and pop stars offering a narrow, airbrushed image of beauty, “women are striving to look like an ideal that doesn’t exist, an ideal that has been digitally created,” Bou Jaoude said. She cited statistics showing that the average individual comes across 600-625 images of women that have been digitally enhanced. Bombarded with images of perfection from a young age, Bou Jaoude said it wasn’t surprising so many Lebanese women contemplated plastic surgery.

As the ANAdiva campaign states, “The average person currently faces the pressure of upholding certain “body commandments”: women are expected to be thin, tall, toned and glamorous. In particular, Lebanese women are feeling compelled to meet such “commandments” at any cost, creating ‘look alike’ females.”

Out of the seven women questioned by The Daily Star, only one said they would describe themselves as “beautiful,” and three said they had already had or were seriously considering plastic surgery. Five of the women said they knew people who were on diets or had eating disorders.

Yasmine, who underwent cosmetic surgery earlier this year, said social pressure to look good was a contributing factor in her decision. “You see all these pictures of gorgeous women and even if you know you’ll never look like that, you often end up trying to live up to those images,” she said, adding she spent around $150 each month on beauty products, facials and hairdressing. “You have to match the standard if you want to attract a man.”

“People are getting a certain image of how women should look,” Bou Jaoude said.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Every year fans of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo travel from all over the world to experience this spectacular show. The Edinburgh Castle provides the majestic backdrop to the various performances that is enthralling audiences time and time again.

The 60th Edinburgh Tattoo will take place at Edinburgh Castle 7th-29th August 2009, with 2 shows on Saturdays (the later 10:30pm show ending with a firework display) (no show on Sundays). The show will pay tribute to the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s national bard, Robert Burns, and will celebrate Scotland’s first ever year of Homecoming. Features will include the world-famous Massed Pipes & Drums, the Massed Bands of The Royal Air Force, Switzerland’s Top Secret Drum Corps, highland dancing, the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the traditional haunting notes of the Lone Piper and the Tattoo debut of the Central Band of the Swiss Army.

WWW Forum - WebSci'09: Society On-Line

The WWW Forum is the opening event of the Web Science Conference 2009, the 1st conference about the scientific study of the socio-technical aspects of the Web as a standalone artifact and it will be held on March 18, 2009, 19:00 at Theatron at the Hellenic Cosmos of the Foundation of the Hellenic World, in Athens, Greece.

During the WWW Forum, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web and top agenda setter will discuss with the public and famous scientists and politicians the following themes:

• Web Science and Research
• Web Technology and Practice
• Web for Society

How can we learn from people in socially or economically deprived communities how the Web can better serve them? In which ways can we leverage the Web to empower people, especially in under-served populations, by lowering barriers to life-critical services? Can we ensure the Web is accessible and useful to people, including people with disabilities, from different cultures, and language and literacy skills that span the range of the Earth's population?

Which methods do we need to implement in order to study and understand how the Web works in order to anticipate and ensure its future? Can we understand how to make the Web stable and secure, and to mitigate threats and weaknesses? Is it possible to promote the development of technology and standards that foster creativity, collaboration, communication, and commerce?

Joseph Sifakis, Turing Award for 2007

Joseph Sifakis is recognized for his pioneering work on both theoretical and practical aspects of Concurrent Systems Specification and Verification. He contributed to emergence of the area of model-checking, currently the most widely-used method for the verification of industrial applications. His current research activities include component-based design, modeling, and analysis of real-time systems with focus on correct-by-construction techniques. See here for more information.

Joseph Sifakis has broad experience with industry, notably though joint projects with partners such as Astrium, the European Space Agency, France Telecom, ST Microelectronics and he has also been active for many years in consulting.

Joseph Sifakis has received with Ed Clarke and Allen Emerson for their contribution to Model Checking, the Turing Award for 2007. He is also the recipient of the CNRS Silver Medal in 2001.