Phelps is back

Michael Phelps wanted to bring more attention to swimming.

He's sure doing that.

Phelps' accomplishments in the pool — and shaky judgment on dry land — has brought plenty of notoriety to what has always been a once-every-four-years sport.

On Thursday, he caught an early morning flight to Charlotte for his first meet since winning a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. He'll be competing in front of capacity crowds and media from as far away as Japan, France and Britain — hardly the norm for a Grand Prix meet in a non-Olympic year.

"With the positive and the negative things, there's a lot more attention being brought to the sport," Phelps said at a news conference shortly after touching down in North Carolina. "That's something this sport needs and something it deserves."

Of course, he would've preferred the focus remain on his accomplishments in Beijing, not what he did during a party in right-down-the-road South Carolina three months after the Olympics. That's where someone took that infamous photo of Phelps inhaling from a marijuana pipe, a picture that wound up on the front page of a British tabloid and led USA Swimming to give him a three-month suspension.

Whether he likes it or not, Phelps has clearly crossed the threshold from superstar athlete to cultural icon. He's recognized everywhere he goes and become a fixture in the tabloids, though he insists nearly everything written about his life outside the pool — from supposed wild partying to an adventurous love life — is untrue.

"There are avenues on the Internet and other places where people can say anything they want to say and not have to back it up," said Bob Bowman, Phelps' longtime coach. "I'm just focused on the swimming, but we have learned some interesting things."

More than 80 members of the media crowded into a hastily erected tent to hear from Phelps, who arrived on a muggy day wearing a long-sleeve black shirt and gray slacks. He had the makings of a beard — or maybe he was going for a goatee.

He fielded serious questions from the BBC, the French newspaper L'Equipe and Japan's TV Asahi. He was good-natured when a hefty local radio host challenged him to race.

"You could probably take me right now," Phelps quipped, breaking into a big smile.

He's eager to get the focus back on his swimming, and the Charlotte Ultraswim will be his first chance to begin developing a new program for the London Olympics.

Phelps will swim two of the five individual events he won in Beijing, with particular attention being paid to the 100-meter freestyle and 100 backstroke. He has the ninth-fastest time ever in the 100 free, and only three swimmers have gone faster in the 100 back — world record holder Ryosuke Irie of Japan and fellow Americans Ryan Lochte and Aaron Peirsol.

Phelps will be looking for some extra speed in the 100 free, debuting a straight-arm stroke that should increase his speed but is more tiring than the traditional bent-at-the-elbow motion.

"We've actually been playing with it a lot on and off," Bowman said. "Only after the last Olympics did we decide it was something he can really commit to."

After that infamous photo came out, Phelps wasn't even sure if he wanted to keep swimming. He went into virtual seclusion for nearly a month, then woke up one weekend morning suddenly realizing that he wanted to keep going through the next Olympics.

"I was the only one who could make that decision," Phelps said. "It didn't matter how bad Bob wanted me to swim or my mom wanted me get back in the water. The only thing that mattered is how bad I wanted it, and to make sure I still wanted it."

Though he's unlikely to go for another eight golds at the next Olympics, even a scaled-back program likely will have him swimming six or seven times. He already is the winningest Olympian ever with 14 gold medals and could finish his career with an even 20 — a record that might be even tougher to take down that Mark Spitz's seven gold medals at a single Olympics, which stood for 36 years.

Then there's the times.

Phelps already holds the world record in four individual events, and he would surely like to add a couple more to his resume. Bowman said it was important to give Phelps a different set of challenges heading into what will be his final Olympics.

"It's kind of hard to say, 'OK, let's go break the record in the 400 (individual medley) for like the 10th time,'" Bowman said. "He needed something new."

In the meantime, everyone else is along for the ride.

"Hopefully, some of Michael's attention trickles down to us," said Mark Gangloff, a two-time gold medalist competing in Charlotte. "We all benefit from his popularity."

“scientific” Southern Ocean whaling programme and ecological destruction

  Aomori, Japan, May 15, 2009 -- The Aomori district court today
delivered a setback to the Japanese government’s attempts to cover up
an embezzlement scandal in the so-called “scientific” Southern Ocean
whaling programme. The court has agreed to hear key evidence the
prosecution has fought to keep out of the trial of Greenpeace
activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki.

Sato and Suzuki are being prosecuted, and risk up to ten years in jail
if convicted, after they exposed a major corruption scandal
surrounding the Japanese government-sponsored Southern Ocean whaling
programme. The two removed a box of embezzled whale meat from a mail
depot, and presented it to Japan’s Public Prosecutor to prove the
existence of corruption in the government-subsidised whaling
programme.

The prosecutor had tried to paint the actions of the defendants as a
simple case of theft, arguing that all evidence related to the
underlying embezzlement scandal should be ruled irrelevant. The court,
however, indicated that the evidence of embezzlement will have a place
in the trial.

“In this trial, we want to establish that what Junichi and Toru did
was to corroborate information provided by whistleblowers regarding
embezzlement within the Kyodo Senpaku whaling fleet,” said defence
lawyer Yuichi Kaido.

“With the prosecutor’s opinion being rejected by the court, we have
gained a foothold in this case and the opportunity to prove that there
was indeed embezzlement of whale meat by employees.”

Furthermore, the court also requested the disclosure of additional
evidence of embezzlement held by the prosecutor’s office that has not
yet been made public. This could possibly include key statements made
to police by employees of Kyodo Senpaku, the company contracted to
carry out the Southern Ocean whaling programme.

“The government was hoping to bury this scandal by putting the
messengers on trial,” said Jun Hoshikawa, Greenpeace Japan Executive
Director. “However, as more evidence of embezzlement comes to light,
at the end of the day it will be whaling that is on trial.”

Greenpeace is an independent, global campaigning organisation that
acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the
environment, and to promote peace.

Contacts:
Greg McNevin - Greenpeace International Communications, +81 (0)80 5416
6506, greg.mcnevin@greenpeace.org
Kyoko Murakami - Greenpeace Japan Communications, +81 (0)3 5338 9816,
kyoko.murakami@greenpeace.org

Notes:
An investigation begun by Sato and Suzuki in April 2008 focused on
organised whale meat embezzlement conducted by whaling fleet crew from
Japan's so-called "scientific" whaling programme, which is funded by
Japanese taxpayers. Following information from an informer who had
previously been involved in the whaling programme, Sato and Suzuki
discovered firm evidence that cardboard boxes containing whale meat
were being secretly shipped to the homes of whaling fleet crew - and
then sold for personal profit. Junichi Sato delivered a box of this
whale meat to the Tokyo Prosecutors' Office in May 2008, and filed a
report of embezzlement. However, the embezzlement investigation was
dropped on 20 June - the same day that both men were arrested and then
held for 26 days before being charged with theft and trespass.

TLT

Time Line Therapy for Business?? | NLP into Action

issa kumalasari

Time Line Therapy™ dikembangkan oleh Dr.Tad James sejak tahun 1985 yang ditulis juga ditulis dalam buku nya yang berjudul “Time Line Therapy and The Basis of Personality “ tahun 1988 dimana sekarang ini sudah dikenal dan diakui di hampir seluruh belahan dunia. Teknik ini sebuah integrasi dari dua teknik; Neuro Linguistic Programming dan Ericsonian Hypnosis yang terbilang sebagai salah satu dari teknik dapat menghilangkan “Negative Emotions ,Limiting Decision and Andvance Goal setting yang dapat mengijinkan kita mendapatkan apa yang kita INGINKAN.

MENGHILANGKAN EMOSI NEGATIF

Teknik yang ampuh,cepat, mudah dan menyenagkan ini dapat menghilangkan emosi negative yang tidak Anda inginkan seperti ; reaksi marah yang berlebihan / temperamental.apatis, trauma, phobia disamping itu teknik ini juga di gunakan untuk memoercepat proses penyembuhan dan/atau “pain control”

MENGHILANGKAN “LIMITING DECISION/BELIEF

Hal – hal yang mencegah Anda mendapatkan apa yang Anda inginkan, apa itu ?

Pernahkah Anda menginginkan sesuatu , dan anda mendengar suara di dalam kepala atau hati anda :

” Saya tidak percaya saya bisa melakukannya ”

”Saya kurang bagus ,orang lain lebih bagus”,

”Saya tidak layak menduduki jabatan ini”

”Saya tidak PD”

Dan pertanyaan yang Anda ingin tanyakan apabila Anda menemukan hambatan ini dalam pikiran Anda.

Tanyakan pada diri Anda :

”Sejak kapan saya memutuskan untuk percaya …….x….( saya tidak percaya saya bisa.)”

Bagi sebagian dari Anda mungkin akan berkata ;

” Loh kok bisa ?! memang kenyataan nya saya tidak mampu kok”

”Kan memang lingkungan saya , atau mungkin bukan saya penyebabnya ”

INGAT ! Tujuan dari Time Line Therapy™ adalah hidup lebih baik, sehat , dan mendapatkan apa yang anda INGINKAN

Pertanyaan di atas mungkin belum biasa kita tanyakan pada diri kita sendiri bukan ? tapi apa salah nya jika itu akan membuat PERUBAHAN yang signifikan dalam kehidupan kita.

Saya memaksudkan apabila hal – hal di atas dapat menghambat bahkan mencegah nda mendapatkan apa yang anda INGINKAN.

Jika Anda dapat menghilangkan Emosi negatif & ”Limiting Decison / Limiting Belief dengan dengan proses yang cepat , mudah dan hasil yang ”long lasting”.

Apakah teknik dapat bermanfaat untuk Anda?

Menemukan Time Line

Siapakah kita sekarang , kalau bukan sebuah koleksi dari memori – memori, yang juga terekam berumur umur kemudian juga berpengaruh pada bagaimana kita bertindak terhadap sesuatu.

Time Line adalah sebuah katalog atau directory untuk meng”encode” pikiran bawah sadar (pbs) dan kebanyakan semua terjadi secara tidak sadar pula. Sekarang coba pikir,

Anda bangun di pagi hari yang segar, sinar matari yang hangat menyinap masuk di sela – sela korden kamar tidur Anda dan… Coba ingat siapakah NAMA Anda ? Yes! Yang jelas kita tahu persis pada saat kita bangun kita tahu bahwa SAYA adalah SAYA.

Bisa di bayangkan kalau pikiran bawah sadar kita tidak mengelola memori kita, mungkin kita tidak akan lupa nama kita setiap bangun pagi,heemmm apa jadinya.

Sekarang ,katakan no telpon rumah Anda sendiri dalam hati ,sebelum Anda berpikir untuk mengatakannya dalam hati, dimana nomor – nomor itu di simpan ? yang pasti ada di suatu tempat bukan ?

Pikiran bawah sadar adalah bagian dari pikran kita yang kita tidak secara sadar menyadarinya yang merupakan bagian yang penting dalam diri Anda. Bayangkan sejenak ; siapa yang menjalankan tugas untuk mengedipkan mata, memacu denyut jantung, memproses makanan di dalam perut. Dan banyak hal yang mungkin tak terpikirkan oleh kita.

Penghargaan terhadap pbs ,bahwa pbs adalah sumber untuk setiap PEMBELAJARAN, PERUBAHAN dan PERILAKU

Saya yakin Anda pembaca percaya dengan Pikiran Bawah Sadar (PBS) , ya bukan ? Kalau Anda ti dak percaya pada PBS Anda, siapa lagi yang bisa Anda percaya ?

Bagaimana meng-elicit dan atau mengetahui time line Anda

1. Ingatlah sesuatu hal yang telah terjadi bulan lalu, setahun lalu , 2 tahun yang lalu, 3,4,5…10 tahun yang lalu.

Misalnya; kapan Anda membayar tagihan listrik bulan lalu ?

2. Nah pada saat Anda mengingat nya , dapatkah Anda sadari bahwa memori itu datang atau berasal dari dan menuju arah mana.

Anda mungkin akan merasa itu masa lalu datang dari sebelah kiri dan masa depan menuju ke kanan, dan bahkan saya ounya klien yang time line nya c

Saya percaya semua masa lalu saya datang datang dan berasal dari belakang kepala saya , dan masa depan kepala menuju ke depan. Ini sangat individual dan beragam ,saya mempunyai klien

3. Ulangi langkah 1 & 2 untuk 1 bulan ke depan ,1 tahun, 2,3…5 tahun ke depan atau 10 tahun ke depan

4. Sekarang gambarkan,dimanakah ”The Past” dan The Future ? yang apabila keduanya di hubungkan dapat membentuk sebuah garis (tidak selalu garis lurus , bisa berupa kurva, spiral ,dsb

5. Apabila Anda belum menemukan nya , ulangi langkah 1-4, dan yang penting bangunlah hubungan dengan pikiran bawah sadar Anda. Tanyakan pada PBS anda

Mungkin sebagian dari Anda berpikir dan berkata dalam hati ”Ah…saya tidak bisa ?”

Proses ini bukan proses konsep logika , Kita semua menghargai proses logis dan rasional

Timi line adalah cara bagaimana PBS kita memyimpan memori, tidak ada Time Line yang benar atau salah, baik ,lebih baik atau kurang baik. Ini hanya cara pbs menyimpan memori. Time Line Anda bisa berasal dari kiri ke kanan, atas ke bawah atau sebaliknya atau bahkan tidak membentuk garis lurus. Bagaimapun bentuk Time Line Anda, itu adalah yang terbaik untuk Anda

Tujuan dari latihan ini adalah untuk mengetahui Time Line Anda ,dan rasakan sendiri MANFAATNYA.

Gambar yangada di awal artikel ini merupakan kemungkinan dari bermacam – macam Time Line – ini adalah generalisasi, karena Time Line tidak selalu berbentuk garis lurus.

Tes Drive

Yes!!! Bagi Anda yang sudah menemukan dan tahu Time Line Anda., kita akan melakukan “Test Drive”

1. Sekarang juga saya ingin Anda mengambang naik ke atas time line Anda sehingga Anda ada di atas time line, dan naik lagi lebih tinggi , lebih tinggi, dan lebih tinggi lagi, setinggi nya sampai time line terlihat hanya 1 inch …..( dalam melakukan hal ini pastikan Anda merasakan benar – benar mengambang naik di atas time line

PERHATIAN !

Mengambang naik diatas Time Lime bukan berjalan di atau menyusuri Time Line.

2. Nah sekarang kembalikan seperti semula

3. Apa yang Anda rasakan ?

4. Sekarang Anda boleh pergi kembali ke masa lalu Anda ,Ingat Anda masih MENGAMBANG DIATAS tIme line Anda , ke mudian pergi ke masa depan setelah selesai Anda boleh kembali ke SEKARANG /posisi anda dan buka mata

5. SELAMAT , Anda sudah mengetahui Time Line Anda dan kita lanjutkan cara memanfaat kannya

Time Line dan Rasa Cemas

Saya juga akan berbagi mengenai bagaimana menggunakan Time Line Therapy ™untuk menghilangkan rasa was-was dan rasa cemas .

Rasa cemas – atau rasa was – was adalah sebuah dimana kita takut pada sesuatu yang sebernarnya belum terjadi. Kabar buruknya adalah perasaan ini kadanng dapat merusak “mood” atau kondisi kita , bukan.

Dan kabar baik nya adalah dengan Time Line Therapy™ dapat di hilangkan dengan hitungan menit .

Caranya ???

1. Temukan Time Line Anda ( Jika , belum ikuti langkah menemukan Time Line di atas )

2. Ambil satu peristiwa yang Anda cemas atau khawtirkan .cari apa sebanarnya yang anda cemaskan

3. Kemudian mengambang naik diatas Time Line dan pergi ke 15 menit SETELAH peristiwa yang Adana cemaskan TELAH terselesaikan dengan BERHASIL dan SUKSES

4. Setelah Anda Sampai disana Putar badan dan Anda menghadap dan lihat SEKARANG dan sepanjang Time Line Anda

5. Nah dinama rasa WAS – WAS atau cemas tersebut ? SUDAH HILANG?! Selamat , Anda sekarang tahu teknik yang mudah , ringan dan menyenagkan dan dapat di gunakan kapan saja Anda merasa khwatir.

6. Bagaimana dengan Anda yang rasa cemas nya masih belum hilang ULANGI Langkah 3 & 4, pastikan Anda mebayangkan peristiwa yang anda kwatirkan terselesaikan BERHASIL & SUKSES . Karena hal ini adalah kunci dari SUKSES nya latihan ini.

SELAMAT MERASAKAN MANFAAT Time Line Therapy™ - Teknik Ampuh,cepat mudah,menyenangkan dengan hasil yang ”long lasting”

Kita akan lanjutkan Bagaiman meng-aplikasikan Time Line Therapy™ dalam karir dan bisnis Anda.

parental leave in australia 544/week

Parental leave scheme gets thumbs up - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The Federal Government is winning widespread support for its decision to include a paid parental leave scheme in Tuesday night's Budget.

The Government says the scheme will cost $260 million a year and will not require any private sector funding.

The scheme will be introduced from the start of 2011, but will be restricted to those people earning less than $150,000 a year.

Mothers who stay at home will still receive the baby bonus, but recipients of the paid parental leave will not be eligible for that payment or family tax benefit B.

The scheme will provide 18 weeks leave to be paid by the Government at the federal minimum wage, which is currently about $544 a week.

The Australian Industry Group's Heather Ridout says business has been pushing for such a scheme.

"It's a positive reform business and other groups have been as one about trying to move this agenda forward," she said.

"[It's] exactly the sort of scheme we were supporting. The fact that its introduction is delayed will give business time to prepare for it."

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick is also pleased with the scheme.

"That's got to be good for mums, it's got to be good for babies and ultimately, it's got to be good for our country," she said.

She says it is vital businesses are educated about the scheme.

"It is important up to that start date that there is a lot of education so that business understands how this scheme's going to work, but I think today it's an important social reform," she said.

Delayed, but welcomed

ACTU president Sharan Burrow says even with the means testing and the delayed start, the scheme is a big win for parents.

"After 30 years I guess one more year is not going to make that big a difference," she said.

"I think Australian women will understand that it takes some time to set up the scheme, and secondly that we have got difficult economic circumstances."

Families Australia chief executive Brian Babbington says he would have preferred a scheme of at least 24 weeks, but believes what the Government is offering is a good start.

"The phasing in of this in 2011 is arguably a bit far in the distance," he said.

"We would have liked to have seen it introduced immediately but on balance, given the economic circumstances, there would be many who would say that's a reasonable thing."

Bike to school

With Free Bikes, Challenging Car Culture on Campus - NYTimes.com

BIDDEFORD, Me. — When Kylie Galliani started at the University of New England in August, she was given a key to her dorm, a class schedule and something more unusual: a $480 bicycle.
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The University of New England

Bicycles to be given to freshmen at the University of New England in Biddeford, Me.
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The University of New England

The University of New England bikes are personalized. Free or subsidized bike programs at colleges have had mixed success.
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“I was like, ‘A free bike, no catch?’ ” Ms. Galliani, 17, a freshman from Fort Bragg, Calif., asked. “It’s really an ideal way to get around the campus.”

University administrators and students nationwide are increasingly feeling that way too.

The University of New England and Ripon College in Wisconsin are giving free bikes to freshmen who promise to leave their cars at home. Other colleges are setting up free bike sharing or rental programs, and some universities are partnering with bike shops to offer discounts on purchases.

The goal, college and university officials said, is to ease critical shortages of parking and to change the car culture that clogs campus roadways and erodes the community feel that comes with walking or biking around campus.

“We’re seeing an explosion in bike activity,” said Julian Dautremont-Smith, associate director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, a nonprofit association of colleges and universities. “It seems like every week we hear about a new bike sharing or bike rental program.”

While many new bike programs are starting up, some are shutting down because of problems with theft and vandalism. The program at St. Mary’s College in Maryland was suspended because bikes were being vandalized.

“Ours was one that was totally based on voluntary taking care of the bike,” said Chip Jackson, a spokesman for St. Mary’s, “and I guess that was maybe a tad unwise. So the next generation of this idea will have a few more checks and balances.”

At Ripon, and the University of New England, officials say that giving students a bike of their own might encourage them to be more responsible. Ripon’s president, David C. Joyce, a competitive mountain biker, said the free bike idea came in a meeting about how to reduce cars on campus.