February 04 2015 Social media can be a powerful force if harnessed for social or environmental activism Social media also has the benefit that it can rally public opinion very quickly even overnight far faster than conventional petitions or other means A racist person can lose their job in a day national legislation can be altered or retracted and companies and governments can be forced to change their position on an issue Here are some examples of the effectiveness of social media that resulted in public outcry and effective action AMY CHEONG AND lsquoWEDDINGGATErsquo Amy Cheong was the Membership Assistant Director of the National Trades Union Congress NTUC in Singapore Amy Cheong put a public posting on her personal FaceBook p
Day: February 4, 2015
Deodorant
Deodorant Body odor is a perceived unpleasant smell our bodies can give off when bacteria that live on the skin break down sweat into acids some say it is the smell of bacteria growing on the body but it really is the result of bacteria breaking down protein into certain acids Every day we produce on average one litre of sweat Our skin contains millions of glands and it is some of these that produce sweat When we are hot active nervous or stressed our sweat glands are stimulated to produce more sweat As sweat evaporates from our skin it absorbs heat energy from our body and so cools us down Sweat itself is virtually odorless to humans it is the rapid multiplication of bacteria in the presence of sweat and what they do break sweat down into acids that eventually causes the unpleasant smell The smell is perceived as unpleasant many believe because m
February 04 2015
February 04 2015Hello and welcome fellow music lovers to the next chapter of Music Matters in your local Bali Advertiser Wow what an action packed edition this truly is this weekend I saw 3 live bands got more inspiration for the production of the CD than I could have ever hoped for and attended a free festival with some staggering acts down on Kuta beach Ok letrsquos begin as logic dictates at the beginning so itrsquos Friday night the day job is over and myself and some friends head into town for a little alcoholic RR Yes I know I failed sober January but 23 days straight is not a bad effort either After frequenting a very cheap bar near the airport we all head down to Tubes bar on Poppies two Now I have been to Tubes many a time and have never even heard the faintest rumor of it having any form of live music so imagine my surprise when after a few beverages and a cocktail called liquid heroin A band starts playing some very good an
February 04 2015
February 04 2015A Tale of Two Statues The new style of Balirsquos fixation with monumental ornamentation as seen in the grossly huge and garishly illuminated nightly by circusstyle flashing lights ldquomonkey mountainrdquo that has been erected at the junction of Prof Ida Bagus Mantra Bypass and I Gusti Ngurah Rai Bypass just south of Tohpati is certainly a distraction to drivers Thatrsquos about the kindest thing you could say about it Itrsquos true that after a while it fails to totally shock ndash the brain is adept at repressing all manners of vast unpleasantness ndash but we can personally attest that for the first several times this visionary excrescence comes suddenly into view one is autoprompted to utter loudly a crudely pejorative fourletter word before asking audibly or otherwise and rhetorically of course ldquoWhat on earth is thatrdquo Fortunately the future of worldclass Balinese stone craftsmanship is in safe h
Talk With the Experts Balis Solar Energy Providers By Bill Dalton
Talk With the Experts Balirsquos Solar Energy Providers By Bill Dalton If you want to know the truth about a specific topic ask the people who know I wanted an answer to why the penetration of solar energy technology has been so disappointingly slow in Bali and Indonesia as a whole The vast Indonesian archipelago 17000 islands straddling the equator along a 4200kmlong arc is one of the sunniest regions on earth Yoursquod think that the nationrsquos potential of providing nearly unlimited free solar energy would be exploited to the fullest But the reality is that the development of this endlessly renewable source of power generation has been taking place at a snailrsquos pace With recent technological and regulatory developments that might be changing In order to learn what the critic
A Beautiful Union of Rolfing Feldenkrais
A Beautiful Union of Rolfing Feldenkrais What do you get when you marry Rolfing with Feldenkrais A whole new system called Somalogy Tyr Throne founder of Somalogy Youthing Systems and AquaSoma and director of these training programs in the US Europe Canada Central America and Asia has helped thousands of people over the last 30 years He is certified in Advanced Structural Integration Feldenkrais Bones for Life NLP Yoga and Meditation and is also an awardwinning director of dance and theater Tyr has a very special gift which he happily shares with the world He cares about how to help people get back to what they love to do Tyr says he is grateful to the Structural integration work because it helps him to see how to untwist something thatrsquos out of alignment in someonersquos body while Feldenkrais gives him the tools to help people learn how to have better posture and move with greater ease Tyr had grants from the Sida progra
A Rock n Roll star at a Writers Festivalby Sarita Newson
A Rock lsquonrsquo Roll star at a Writersrsquo Festivalby Sarita Newson Gede Robi Supriyanto Robi Navicula is a Balinese rock musician activist writer farmer director of Akarumputcom and a certified permaculture designer who teaches organic farming around Indonesia Robi is the vocalist guitarist and founder of popular Indie rock band Navicula combining his activism and music as tools for social change Since 1996 in Bali they have released seven albums and won awards internationally toured Canada the United States and Australia They collaborate with organisations such as Greenpeace Indonesia Corruption Watch ICW Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia LIPI Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia Walhi and the farmers union Serikat Petani Indonesia SPI At Ubud Writers Readers Festival 2014 Robi participated with two ot
February 04 2015
February 04 2015REGGAE CHARITY FESTIVAL Ubud reggae man Fredi Marley will play on the same stage as four top Jakarta bands this week at Balirsquos second Reggae Star Festival on the beach near Sanur this Friday We miss Fredi Marley and friends who we havenrsquot seen since Napi Orti the late night venue shifted from Jl Monkey Forest and stopped using live bands Organisers say all profits will go to Yayasan Manik Bumi Foundation for environmental awareness and waste reduction in Bali and Yayasan Sampahdi supporting disabled children The festival starts at 245pm on Friday February 6 on Pantai Padang Galak Kesiman just off Jl By Pass Sanur Tickets and more information Art Point Pregina Phone 0361 284158 Ubud reggae fans never fear Kum and the Ubud 40 band still play at LOL on Jl Monkey Forest every Tuesday night HERONS ON SHOW Those glorious Kokokan herons are back in Petulu Village and having little babies by the hu
February 04 2015
February 04 2015 AFL NEWS That Bali icon the infamous end of season footy tour to Bali is now the subject of legal stoush in VictoriaAustraliaIn one corner the assistant coach of AFL club Essendonand good friend of the Bali Geckos Matthew Egan who has launched legal action for damages and costs from medical staff of the AFL club he previously played for Geelong in the other corner In reply the medical staff defend themselves by declaring that the Egan did not follow doctors orders and rest his leg and instead was involved in various activities in Bali including dancing that aggravated the injury Egan sustained a navicular fracture in 2007 and was delisted in 2009 after six further surgeries failed to get him fit to play again As reported by the Geelong Advertiser in defence documents lodged with the court Geelong medical staff Dr Bradshaw and Mr Blac
The Art of the Lesser Sundas by A F Granucci
The Art of the Lesser Sundas by A F Granucci The Art of the Lesser Sundas is the first book that deals comprehensively with the art of Indonesiarsquos southeastern islands in its entirety Until this book only monographs have been published on the arts of single islands or focused on a particular art tradition usually textiles or dealt with art pieces of individual islands in publications covering a broader framework of ldquoSoutheast Tribal Artrdquo such as various publications of Musee BarbierMuller The whole history of Lesser Sunda art is fascinating The art of this specific region has for many years been difficult to categorize which ultimately resulted in it being neglected and ignored This is because of the attitude that if a Southeast Asian ethnic group hadnrsquot been influenced by India or China i
Lothar NikolaiczukDestined to be a Chessmaster
Lothar NikolaiczukDestined to be a Chessmaster Lothar Nikolaiczuk was born in 1954 the son of a Ukrainian father and German mother He was brought up in Bochum one of the many nondescript unattractive cities in the industrial center of Germany What gave Lothar the chess bug in his youth was rather unique Instead of seeing people play he found a book on chess in a big wooden box containing the book collection of a friendrsquos deceased grandfather Dozens of titles with fanciful pictures competed for his attention but he was irresistibly attracted to the only one with just a small title on colorless cover Knaurs Schachbuch Although he couldnt understand the chess diagrams with columns of letters and numbers he immediately felt that they belonged in his life as if something had come back that had been there before Nowadays he is considered one of the worldrsquos most prolific chess writers
February 04 2015
Its quiet out there on the streets the crowds have left its only us with a fantastic range of shops to rediscover so for those visitors still around along with us we have a lot of shopping pleasures to ourselves ndash
Health in the News
Health in the NewsBoth Japanese Encephalitis JE and Listeriosis have hit the local news this week with 2 infants on the West of the Island in a critical condition after contracting JE and batches of imported apples from the USA being taken from the shelves after the have been found to be contaminated by Listeriosis So why are we worried JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS What Is Japanese Encephalitis JE is a serious viral illness that affects the brain It primarily affects children between the ages of 2 ndash 10 years the elderly or individuals with lowered immune systems Case fatality rates range from 03 ndash 60 average 30 and approximately 30 of those survivors will be brain damaged in some way How does Japanese Encephalitis present Some people that are exposed to the disease will have very mild or no symptoms at all Those that suffer severe acute infection would show any or all of the f
February 04 2015
Rounding off the Aquarius phase of the Suns journey this fortnight as we move into Pisces on the 19th Mercury moves into Aquarius on the 10th and Venus into Pisces on the 11th Neptune conjoins Chiron and the New Moon on the 14th along with the Sun marking a very profound and healing month After the latest of our Pluto square Saturn meetings this is welcome relief as we can now set in place some of the necessary changes the square provoked The long Mars retrograde finally turns direct in March at which time it will be apparent that we have been in a holding pattern with little action since December As I have mentioned previously Uranus moves into Aries in June and by July will be in opposition to Saturn and square to Pluto July and August promising to be potent months of intense change and emotional exchange Aries is always looking for a fight and by that time Uranus will be joined by Jupiter adding a larger than life agenda to all proceedings For now however Jupiter is working with Pluto to bring a compassionate overlay to the current transformative process and promoting Saturn to soften his hard edges a little As the Sun slides out of Aquarius and into Pisces to team up with Jupiter by months end the human heart strings will be plucked and asked to play a tender tune of unconditional love particularly if the world stage is set with natural catastrophes like HaitiNEW MOON 25 Aquarius 18 February 14 2010 1052 am
A different Take on Trust
A different Take on Trust You may have noticed that many people here promise something but easily break their promise This could be a friend visiting turning up to work completing an order turning up on time or simply turning up In some cultures like Japan for example not keeping your word can have automatic dire consequences you could lose a friend a reputation a job and even a potential career Sure in other cultures we may not keep our promises on occasion but unlike Bali itrsquos not an unwritten rule Here itrsquos as if not keeping a promise ndash being unreliable or worse still not trustworthy ndash is something that is a lot more relaxed in fact considered the norm While people from other cultures may get angry and potentially cut off ties with or fire someone on the spot for being unreliabl
February 04 2015
February 04 2015 This fortnight is flavoured by the Full Moon in Leo conjunct Jupiter and trined to Uranus and the South Node of the Moon in Aries This makes our Aquarian Sun trined to the North Node in Libra and if you remember this cycle is all about those karmic nodes and events that feel somewhat destined or fated Take special note of these events taking place in your life now as they are of paramount importance when it comes to creating your future Uranus stays in close proximity to Pluto in its square until May when they finally move out of close orb at least for awhile and although this is the final of our seven exact squares they move to within a degree of each again over the next year These are trying times for many people with the life themes seemingly large It can feel overwhelming and even hopeless at times for many people Even those who are somewhat awake or aware consciously can feel