Space Station crew blast off

New Space Station Crew Launches on Soyuz. / pics taken from BBC Live .

 

It was a success - up they go  for the next 6 months.

 

Best of luck!

 

 

American astronaut Tim Kopra of Finnish descent

Timothy Lennart Kopra (born April 9, 1963) is a Colonel in the United States Army and a NASA astronaut. He served aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer for Expedition 20, returning to Earth aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-128 mission on September 11, 2009.

 

American astronautTim Kopra of Finnish descent will blast off to space on Tuesday - best of luck!

 

Personal

Kopra was born in Austin, Texas. Kopra is married to Dawn Kaye Lehman of Lewisburg, Kentucky, and they have two children, Matthew and Jacqueline. His mother, Martha A. Witthoft Kopra, resides in Austin, Texas. His father, Dr. Lennart L. Kopra, died December 8, 1998. He is of Finnish descent on his father's side. His grandfather, Antti Kopra, born in Laavola, Valkjärvi, Karelia, and his grandmother, Ester Elisabet Saksinen, born in Helsinki, left Finland in 1914, immigrating to the United States. Kopra's father spoke Finnish, but Tim does not speak the language.  On his mother's side, Kopra is of German descent. His German ancestors arrived in New York in the colonial period in the 1700s. These ancestors include Johann Philipp and Anna Catharina Finckel, who were members of the first group of Palatine Germans who settled in Germantown in the Hudson Valley in 1710.

Education

• McCallum High School, Austin, Texas, 1981.
• Bachelor of Science, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 1985.
• Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1995.
• Master of Strategic Studies, United States Army War College, 2006.
• Master of Business Administration, London Business School, 2013.
• Master of Business Administration, Columbia Business School, 2013.

Organization

• Society of Experimental Test Pilots;
• Army Aviation Association of America;
• American Helicopter Society;
• United States Military Academy Association of Graduates;
• West Point Society of Greater Houston;
• Phi Kappa Phi.

Awards and honors

• Empire Test Pilot School Award for the best Developmental Test thesis, Class 110, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (1996),
• Silver and Bronze Order of Saint Michael, Army Aviation Award (2009, 1999),
• Awarded the Bronze Star, two Meritorious Service Medals, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, NASA Space Flight Medal, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and various other service awards.

Military career

Kopra received his commission as a Second Lieutenant from the U.S. Military Academy in May 1985 and was designated as an Army Aviator in August 1986. He then completed a three-year assignment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he served as an aeroscout platoon leader, troop executive officer, and squadron adjutant in the 101st Airborne Division’s air cavalry squadron. In 1990, he was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division in Hanau, Germany, and was deployed to the Middle East in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He completed his tour in Germany as an attack helicopter company commander and an operations officer. Kopra retired from the U.S. Army in November 2010

Storm. He completed his tour in Germany as an attack helicopter company commander and an operations officer. Kopra retired from the U.S. Army in November 2010.

NASA career

Kopra making a spacewalk during the STS-127 mission.

Kopra was assigned to NASA at the Johnson Space Center in September 1998 as a vehicle integration test engineer. In this position, he primarily served as an engineering liaison for Space Shuttle launch operations and International Space Station hardware testing. He was actively involved in the contractor tests of the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) interfaces for each of the space station truss segments.
Selected as a mission specialist by NASA in July 2000, Kopra reported for Astronaut Candidate Training the following month. He then completed the initial two years of intensive Space Shuttle and ISS training, scientific and technical briefings, and T-38 flight training. Kopra was also assigned technical duties in the Space Station Branch of the Astronaut Office, where his primary focus was the testing of crew interfaces for two future ISS modules as well as the implementation of support computers and operational Local Area Network on International Space Station.
In September 2006, Kopra served as an aquanaut during the NEEMO 11 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory, living and working underwater for seven days.
Kopra spent a little less than 60 days as a Flight Engineer of Expedition 20 on the ISS, arriving aboard the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission and returning to Earth aboard space shuttle Discovery on the STS-128 mission. He participated in the first spacewalk of the STS-127 mission.
Kopra was assigned to fly on STS-133, the final flight of the Discovery. He lost that assignment when he was injured in a bicycle accident, possibly breaking his hip. He was replaced by Stephen G. Bowen.
Kopra is currently assigned to fly to ISS in late 2015 as part of Expedition 47.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    

Jarkko Nieminen was the star of the night / by vavel

Jarkko Nieminen Ends Career With Singles Exhibition Against Roger Federer

09-11-2015

Roger Federer helped send Jarkko Nieminen into retirement in style. The two played an exhibition match dubbed "The Final Night" to give Nieminen a chance to say thank you in front of his fans in Helsinki, Finland

Chris Spiech

 

Jarkko Nieminen and Roger Federer/Lehtikuva

 

Jarkko Nieminen was the star of the night as thousands gathered inside Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland to watch him play one more time. Nieminen had officially ended his ATP World Tour career in October after losing to Nicolas Almagro at the Stockholm Open. Monday, he faced Roger Federer in one final exhibition match.

The Final Night in Hartwall Arena

Tennis fans flocked to the arena in Helsinki, Finland on Monday for one final chance to say goodbye to their retiring hero, Jarkko Nieminen. The 34-year-old retired from the ATP World Tour in October. His final competitive match came in Stockholm, Sweden where he lost in three sets to Nicolas Almagro. This however was a night meant for celebration and fun for Nieminen. Federer and Nieminen had announced at the end of September that they would play Monday's exhibition match dubbed "The Final Night" in Helsinki as Nieminen's last professional tennis match.

Doubles Brings Out Ex-Hockey Stars

Before the main course of the evening, Jarkko Nieminen and Roger Federer also played a doubles exhibition match. Nieminen paired with Helsinki native and former NHL player Teemu Selanne. Federer was paired with Swedish NHL legend Peter Forsberg for the match. To the delight of the crowd, it was the Finnish pairing of Nieminen and Selanne who came out on top, winning the single set match 6-3.

Federer Wins Tight Match

Following the doubles match, it was on to the final match for Nieminen. It would be an entertaining match for the crowd and players who joked often in between points. The match ended with Federer edging Nieminen in two tie breaks, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7).  The end result was not the story though. The outcome of the match never mattered, it was simply a chance for Finnish fans to show their appreciation for Nieminen and vice versa. Federer also took the opportunity to express his appreciation for his longtime friend, saying, "He has always been one of the most generous of friends and he did not behave differently outside the court than on the pitch. We always come along very well with each other."

Nieminen Bids A Final Farewell

Nieminen stayed on court for nearly ten minutes after the end of the singles match as he spoke with the crowd. The Fin expressed his gratitude for the entire evening. He thanked his wife Anu and his daughter for their support. Nieminen expressed similar sentiments for the night, much as he did on his online blog after his final match in Stockholm. Nieminen wrote, "I can say that I have never been happier than I am at the moment. I think that I have always been quite a happy guy and fortunate in my life but I feel that I'm even more that now. I could finish the career on my own terms, totally healthy and still being able to play some pretty good tennis."

 

Pretty good tennis is exactly what the spectators at Hartwall Arena were treated to on Monday. It was a fitting way to formally end the professional tennis career of Jarkko Nieminen

 

http://www.vavel.com/en-us/tennis-usa/565072-atp-jarkko-nieminen-ends-career-with-singles-exhibition-against-roger-federer.html 

 

Esa-Pekka Salonen & Philharmonia by Evening Standard

Going Out /Evening Standard

1. Music

 

Philharmonia/Salonen, classical music review: Perfect control to a storming finale

 

Salonen showed perfect control of the tiny details while also building the broad sweep that gives the symphony its heartbeat, says Nick Kimberley

                                       

• Nick Kimberley
• Monday 2 November 2015
• 0 comments

All in the detail: Esa-Pekka Salonen showed his skill as a conductor Rex

As a student, the Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen co-founded a group called Ears Open, partly to signal Finnish music’s need to escape the shadow of Sibelius. Thirty years on, Salonen no longer needs to deny Sibelius; as he showed in this performance of Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony, he has his own way with the composer’s music.

 

Like much of his work, Sibelius’s Fifth builds complex structures from basic elements. Salonen showed perfect control of the tiny details while also building the broad sweep that gives the symphony its heartbeat. As the Philharmonia’s principal conductor, he knows how to take his players with him, allowing them — individually and collectively — off the leash for the big moments, then displaying exquisite volume control when the music is at its most inward. Most impressive of all was the way he shaped the final movement, from the opening evocation of flying swans to the climactic pile-driver blows. The cumulative impact was shattering.

 

Salonen opened with the UK premiere of Caprice by the Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon, 10 minutes of mostly fast and furious playing, led by the brass but with strings occasionally opening up calmer spaces. Certain moments evoked big band swing, elsewhere West Side Story seemed the reference point. Caprice didn’t have far to go but travelled with energy and exuberance.

 

The programme’s centrepiece was Brahms’s Violin Concerto, given a performance of unshowy virtuosity by Arabella Steinbacher. Her 1710 Stradivarius has a lovely, clean tone, whether singing sweetly or huskily; while other players may find more flash, her lack of exaggeration, even in the storming finale, paid dividends.

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

• More about:
• Classical Music Reviews

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/music/philharmoniasalonen-classical-music-review-perfect-control-to-a-storming-finale-a3105046.html 

 

Mass migration is not new - half a million Karelians moved to Finland 1944

Many countries like Finland have faced wars and their serious consequences.

 

There was no  lack of solidarity when Finland housed half a million Karelian evacuees 1944.

 

 

420000 people had to move from Karelia 1941-1944 and 47000 people moved from Karelia before Winter war 1939-1940.

 

 

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siirtov%C3%A4ki#/media/File:Evacuees_from_East-Finland.jpg

 

 

      

 

 

Finland sent over 80000 children to safety during the wars: the first children left for Sweden 1939.

 

72000 Sweden, 4200 Denmark, 100 to Norway.

 

15500 children never came back to Finland

 

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotalapset

 

 

The Karelian question arose when Finland was forced to cede territories to the Soviet Union after the Winter War in the Moscow peace treaty in 1940. Most Finnish citizens were evacuated from the ceded areas. Most of them returned during the Continuation War and eventually were evacuated again in 1944. The Soviet Union insisted the ceded areas be completely evacuated in 10 days. The evacuees were partly compensated for their losses; farmers, for example, received land in proportion to their earlier holdings. Usually, the compensation was about one third of the original farm. Compensation for movable property was much less. However, all evacuee families had a right to receive a small farm, and/or a plot for a detached house or a flat. The land used for these grants was confiscated by the state from municipalities and private owners. Financial compensation was funded by a general property tax of 10 to 30%, levied over a period of several years.^[1][2] Because the vast majority of the evacuees who had to settle in the rest of Finland were from ceded Karelia, the question was labeled The Karelian Question. After the Winter War, Karelian municipalities and parishes established Karjalan Liitto (the Karelian Association) to defend the rights of Karelians in Finland.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelian_question

Ralph Lauren Autumn Collection photographed in beautiful Kakslauttanen

Finland’s ethereal Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort provides the perfect backdrop for the Fall 2015 Ralph Lauren Collection

The fantastic Ralph Lauren Autumn Collection photographed by Jimmy Nelson in Lapland, Kakslauttanen area http://www.kakslauttanen.fi/en/, http://www.ralphlauren.com/us/en/magazine/into-the-wild


'This season, my heroine lives in a winter wonderland, a place of strenght and dimension' themed by   Ralph Lauren.

         31.8.2015 @ 13:27 Anna-Stina Nykänen <URL> nyt.fi/a1305981597558

Ralph Laurenin muotikuvia otettiin Lapissa.

 

              Ralph Laurenin syysmallisto kuvattiin Suomen Lapissa – paikka saa huikeaa hehkutusta

              http://www.ralphlauren.com/us/en/magazine/into-the-wild

         31.8.2015 @ 13:27 Anna-Stina Nykänen <URL> nyt.fi/a1305981597558

Yhdysvaltalainen luksusluokan muotitalo Ralph Lauren on kuvannut syksyn mallistonsa Suomen Lapissa, Kakslauttasen alueella. Upeiden muotikuvien lisäksi muotitalo käyttä mallistoa esitellessään näyttäviä maisemakuvia alueelta  ja kertoo jopa paikan syntyhistorian. Kokonaisuuden voi nähdä täällä.

Matkakuvissa porotokan hengitys huuruaa, huskyvaljakot vetävät syksyn muotiin puettua mallia lumisessa maisemassa ja lasiset iglut hohtavat valoa sinisen taivaan alla.

This season, my heroine lives in a winter wonderland, a place of strenght and dimension– on itsensä Ralph Laurenin, muotitalon perustajan lausunto syksyn mallistosta. Siis vapaasti suomennettuna: "Tänä syksynä sankarini elää talven ihmemaassa, jossa on voimaa ja ulottuvuutta."

Syysmalliston kulmakiviä ovat turkisliivit, mokka  ja kashmirvilla, joiden taustaksi rustiikki villi luonto sopii muotitalon mukaan hyvin. Sekä paikassa että asuissa yhdistyvät luksus ja paimentolaisromantiikka.

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren

http://www.kakslauttanen.fi/en/

Vaikuttavat kuvat on ottanut valokuvaaja Jimmy Nelson, joka tätä ennen omistautui usean vuoden ajan alkuperäiskansojen ja katoavien heimojen kuvaamiseen. Nelson kertoo muotitalon nettilehdessä, että kuvaukset Lapissa olivat hyvää jatkoa sille.

Saamelaisia nähdään myös kuvissa, mutta ei sellaisella tavalla, joka herättäisi ärtymystä tai kysymyksiä vääränlaisesta kulttuurisesta kontekstista.

Kakslauttanen saa Ralph Laurenilta hienon matkailumainoksen: nettisivuilla kerrotaan jopa, millä lentoyhtiöillä paikalle pääsee ja minkälaisia palveluita sieltä on saatavilla.

Odotettavissa on siis maailman supermuodikkaiden, rikkaiden ihmisten virta pohjoiseen. 
Tosin heitä on siellä käynyt varmasti tähänkin asti. Paikka on kaukana tavallisen suomalaisen hiihtolomamökistä.

 

http://nyt.fi/a1305981597558?ref=tf_iHSisboksi-etusivu&utm_campaign=tf-hs&utm_source=iltasanomat.fi&utm_medium=tf-desktop&utm_content=frontpage

 

 

Summer is still here, autumn at the doorstep

Anna-Mari Kaskinen / Tänään tahdon kiittää

 

Punerrusta pihlajassa,

Syksy kolkuttaa.

Odotatko vielä hetken.

Portti sulkekaa.

 

Vielä kesän vehreydestä

en voi luopua,

vielä hetken heleydestä

tahdon juopua.

 

Kesäni on vielä kesken.

Ethän sitä vie !

Vielä hehkuu tuoksuvana

tuttu metsätie.

 

Vielä hyppii västäräkki

kotipolulla.

Vielä tahdon kesän elää

joka solulla.

 

 

Autumn Song

Katherine Mansfield

 

Now's the time when children's noses
All become as red as roses
And the colour of their faces
Makes me think of orchard places
Where the juicy apples grow,
And tomatoes in a row.

And to-day the hardened sinner
Never could be late for dinner,
But will jump up to the table
Just as soon as he is able,
Ask for three times hot roast mutton--
Oh! the shocking little glutton.

Come then, find your ball and racket,
Pop into your winter jacket,
With the lovely bear-skin lining.
While the sun is brightly shining,
Let us run and play together
And just love the autumn weather.                         

Finland's drafting of migration legislation is based on EU legislation

 

                        © MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR 2015/ Finland

 

Immigration policy / Finland /As a responsible member of the international community, Finland is committed to providing international protection to those who need it.

Migration policy

The drafting of migration legislation is based on EU legislation, the objectives established by the Finnish Government and international agreements binding on Finland. The most important of these are the European Convention on Human Rights, United Nations Convention against Torture, Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

Migration Strategy focuses on employment questions and non-discrimination

Released in 2013, Finland's Migration Strategy lays down guidelines for migration policy over the long term. The key message of the Strategy is that people who move to Finland and settle in the country must be included in the process of building our shared future. Migrant communities must be treated as active subjects and participants rather than objects of services and measures.

The Migration Strategy is based on the following three principles:

Finland is an open and safe country

The Strategy views migration as an opportunity: mobility creates international networks and brings with it new ways of doing things.

Migration will help to answer to Finland's dependency ratio problem, but at the same time, competition for workers between countries will increase. To succeed in this competition, Finland must be able to effectively attract skilled workers who will stay in the country for the longer term.

As a responsible member of the international community, Finland is committed to providing international protection to those who need it.

Besides opportunities, migration also presents challenges, such as illegal immigration and phenomena associated with human trafficking and social exclusion. In parallel with promoting openness, the Strategy draws attention to the importance of managing migration and ensuring safety. Well-managed migration takes society's capacity and safety into account.

Everyone can find a role to play

Migration policy aims to ensure that new arrivals in Finland are able to make use of their skills in various ways and to participate in the further development of Finnish society. Learning of Finnish and/or Swedish, together with personal networks of contacts, are of great importance for participation in society.

The Strategy highlights the fact that foreign-language speakers include a wide range of people in different life situations. Family is of great importance for successful integration.

With regard to the future, it is necessary to increase teaching of Finnish and/or Swedish as well as other education and training organised as part of labour policy. The opportunities to study Finnish and/or Swedish while in employment must also be developed further.

Diversity is part of everyday life

The Strategy states that the principles of the inviolability of human dignity, the freedom and rights of the individual and the promotion of justice in society, as set out in the Constitution of Finland, are at the heart of the Finnish legal system. These fundamental values serve as a foundation for the acceptance of diversity.

Discrimination occurring in different areas of life, such as employment, must be monitored systematically. Politicians, the media, public authorities and civil society organisations play a key part in influencing public debate about migration and people's impressions of migration.

© MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR 2015

 

http://www.intermin.fi/en/migration/immigration_policy#.VeAyU2Odmqc.email

http://www.intermin.fi/en/migration/immigration_policy

 

 

Fight against illegal immigration

 

Illegal residence usually means that a foreign national resides in the country without the required travel document and/or visa or residence permit. Foreign nationals may also evade the provisions on entry by misusing the legal methods of entering the country. In these cases, they have acquired visas or residence permits on false grounds, by withholding information or giving false information.

 

An effective fight against illegal immigration requires good cooperation, and exchange of information between public authorities both at national and international level. Cooperation between Finnish missions, border check authorities, the police and the Finnish Immigration Service is very important. This cooperation also involves several other administrative sectors.

 

Every year, Finnish authorities uncover a few thousand foreign nationals residing illegally in Finland. The majority of these people apply for international protection (asylum), as soon as they are found to be illegally residing in the country. They have the right to stay in Finland after they have lodged an asylum application, and while it is being examined.

 

Most foreign nationals residing illegally in Finland come to Finland through the Schengen area. Border controls are carried out only in exceptional cases between the Schengen States. The effective fight against illegal immigration requires adequate operations in the regions of origin, not only at the external borders of Schengen. The objective is to place an increasing number of liaison officers representing security and migration authorities at Finnish diplomatic missions abroad.

 

http://www.intermin.fi/en/migration/fight_against_illegal_immigration

 

Finland's fantastic nature attracts tourists

Follow a trend - go into the wilderness.

 

Have you ever been to a forest? Many people have not even seen a proper forest. If I were to look after a foreign visitor I would organise a following nature weekend:

 

Day1 : we would take a nice longish walk in a true forest looking at fauna and flora. We would pass a lake or two, a stream and fill our lungs with fresh air. This leisurely walk would be an introductory one; just to get a feel of nature. Afterwards a nice dinner would be served with locally provided fresh ingredients. After this good start I can offer a lovely sauna experience  in the evening which will guarantee a good sleep.

 

Day2 : today we will take our baskets and wonder off to a forest area to pick blueberries. As it can be a bit of hard work for a first-timer we take a light picnic with us. We do not rush; we let this berry picking activity  go as slowly or fast according to the atmosphere! We sit down for  a while and take a look around us. Listen to the forest. It will be very exciting for the guest who never has had such an experience. The guest may even be a little bit scared of the forest!

Once we are back at home we bake a blueberry pie and serve it with a cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate. This would be rewarding after a time spent berry picking. Now just have a nice rest, today's hard work has been done. Of course another sauna and a swim in a lake can take place later.

 

Day3 : as yesterday was rather a physical day we take a boat and go fishing. Naturally this activity is also a new experience for my guest so demonstration of the basics is quite important. Before leaving we go worm searching to have juicy baits - that is something that needs to be done unless we decide to use dough. Once we are in a boat fishing and listening to the water and wind, we can feel all the elements around us. How relaxing! Just pull a cap over the eyes and have a nap - not too long as we need to be vigilant.

 

When we have caught the fish,we make a lovely dinner together with the guest or have an expert cook to do it. Just watching when fish being scaled and gutted is interesting and once they are sizzling in the pan we cannot wait to eat. There are so many different ways to prepare fish. Repeat the sauna and swim later for a good sleep.

 

Day4 : today is definitely mushroom picking day. Firstly I need to advise what to pick. We go for the simplest ones, not trying to learn too many different types of mushrooms. We have advisory drawings with us just in case. Take it easy, walk slowly, look for mushrooms. Once we have enough in the baskets we enjoy a picnic, lie down and look at the sky, listen to birds. Take the haul home and cook together again. Make a mushroom sauce, mushroom salad, mushroom burgers whatever we fancy. This special dinner will be thoroughly enjoyed, the feeling is so satisfying after a good walk and mushroom foray. Afterwards take a short walk taking photos. And then a sauna / a swim maybe?

 

Day5 : the previous 4 days have proved to be fun. Today we plan future activities and as most of us have already seen city wheels etc. we plan a proper trekking trip including canoeing and cycling in Finland's fantastic nature. More about it later.

 

 

 

https://enmaa.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/kuvia-metsasta/

 

 

 

The Proms - Osmo Vänskä & the BBC Symphony Orchestra climax

Prom 43: Osmo Vänska, review: a tremendous experience

 

Ivan Hewett Classical Music Critic

18 August 2015 • 2:58pm

 

 

Jean (Julius Christian) Sibelius (1965-1957) looks over some Bach sheet music in a photograph from the Fifties Credit: AFP/Getty Ivan Hewett Classical Music Critic

18 August 2015 • 2:58pm

The Proms’ tribute to Jan Sibelius in his 150^th year reached its climax last night, with the final three symphonies performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by his compatriot Osmo Vänskä.

There was a time when just one of these unfathomably deep pieces was as much as we could take, at a sitting. Now it’s becoming almost routine to do all three at once. That compromises something essential about the works, which is their utter solitude. Bundling them together makes us think of them of as a set, which they’re not.

That caveat aside, this concert was a tremendous experience. Vänskä knows these pieces like the back of his hand, but interestingly he still conducts from the score. It keeps things fresh; there’s no danger of repeating a performance he’s memorised. He made the narrative of the pieces seem provisional and risky, which is the opposite of the way many conductors make them sound, i.e. monumental and inevitable, as if Sibelius was utterly sure of himself from the beginning.

He did this partly by refusing the grand sonorous blend Simon Rattle brought to these pieces with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Barbican a few months ago. The sound from the BBC Symphony Orchestra was craggy and often downright unpleasant. Even the tinkly glockenspiel in the Sixth Symphony, which can sound disconcertingly pretty in some performances, had a malevolent ring to it. The essential idea of that piece, a clash between two adjacent notes, is remarkably tough on the ear, and Vänskä made sure we noticed it, even when it was the background to something else.
This isn’t to say these performances were masochistically dry; far from it. The moments of salon gracefulness were really graceful, and the opposing moments where Sibelius leads us unexpectedly into a new area, as in the Andante of the Fifth Symphony, had an urgency and heat that made one squirm. Doubt and conviction rubbed shoulders, in a very human way.

That wonderful ambiguity persisted until the very end. The closing bars of the Sixth symphony seemed almost shy, and Vänskä snatched the final chord of the Seventh away with startling abruptness. Even the hammer-blows that ended the Fifth seemed doubtful, right up to the last chord. It took courage to deny us the satisfaction of properly affirmative endings, but it revealed something profound about these great works, which in many performances stays hidden.
Hear this Prom on the iPlayer for thirty days via the BBC Proms website www.bbc.co.uk/proms or download for 30 days via the free iPlayer Radio app

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/prom-43-osmo-vaenska-review/

Jamie Oliver's Food revolution - 8,000 schools across 100 countries joining in

by Jamie Oliver · 1,591,906 supporters

 

Jamie Oliver just posted an update on the petition you signed, JAMIE OLIVER NEEDS YOUR HELP FIGHTING FOR FOOD EDUCATION #FoodRevolutionDay.

 

Petition Update

A big THANK YOU for #FoodRevolutionDay 2015!

Jamie Oliver

United Kingdom

29 Jul 2015 — Hi guys, Jamie here!

Thank you to each and every one of you for signing and sharing our petition to get compulsory, practical food education on school curriculums across the world. We now have more than 1.5 million signatures, as well as support from brilliant people, like Kylie Minogue, Usain Bolt and hundreds of chefs.

Our day of global action, Food Revolution Day on 15 May was an incredible celebration of good, fresh, nutritious food in our fight for food education. We had more than 8,000 schools across 100 countries joining in, with thousands of kids cooking and learning about the importance of healthy food. The Food Revolution Day song got more than 36 million hits, which just shows that you all really care about the campaign – I’m incredibly grateful. So we have made this video to thank all of you that helped spread the word on that day.

Watch it and share it! http://on.fb.me/1ewH8Uj

Our fight to get food education on school curriculums isn’t over yet. We’re now planning to write to every government across the world to see how they prioritise food education. With diet-related diseases rising at a shocking rate, food education needs to be pushed high up the agenda, and we won’t stop until that happens. We still need your continued support to make it as impactful as possible. So if you haven’t already, please share the video with your friends and family and help me continue spread the word!

http://on.fb.me/1ewH8Uj

I will be writing to you again after the summer with more news and asking for your support for new actions!

Thank you and big love,
Jamie O x

---

• Twitter
• Email

 

 

 

https://www.change.org/p/jamie-oliver-needs-your-help-fighting-for-food-education-foodrevolutionday/u/11552868?tk=lQfa0HZaNU1G1aApQ7hdAhrFjtlKvTm7rRdosC5iB6Q&utm_source=petition_update&utm_medium=email

 

Finland - the 6th most peaceful country in the world

Global Peace Index

2014http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/indexes/global-peace-index/2014

Global Rankings

Share this

Countries ranked 1st have a lower score and are the most peaceful.

#	Country	Score
1	Denmark	1.140
2	Iceland	1.150
3	Austria	1.201
4	New Zealand	1.221
5	Canada	1.275
6	Finland	1.293
7	Switzerland	1.311
8	Japan	1.335
9	Belgium	1.348
10	Ireland	1.360
11	Sweden	1.366
12	Czech Republic	1.371
13	Australia	1.376
14	Norway	1.380
15	Slovenia	1.386
16	Portugal	1.389
17	Germany	1.403
18	Bhutan	1.443
19	Hungary	1.453
20	Netherlands	1.467
21	Slovakia	1.470
22	Poland	1.480
23	Qatar	1.488
24	Mauritius	1.490
25	Singapore	1.505
26	Spain	1.530
27	Croatia	1.541
28	Malaysia	1.542
29	Bulgaria	1.570
30	Chile	1.576
31	Romania	1.582
32	Taiwan	1.591
33	Estonia	1.613
33	Uruguay	1.613
35	Italy	1.643
36	Kuwait	1.675
37	Latvia	1.685
38	Botswana	1.697
39	Laos	1.699
40	Lithuania	1.700
41	Mongolia	1.716
42	Vietnam	1.741
43	France	1.748
44	United Arab Emirates	1.762
45	Costa Rica	1.765
46	Zambia	1.770
47	United Kingdom	1.776
48	Namibia	1.784
49	South Korea	1.786
50	Argentina	1.815
51	Jordan	1.832
52	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.836
53	Lesotho	1.844
54	Montenegro	1.858
55	Albania	1.872
55	Oman	1.872
55	Serbia	1.872
58	Indonesia	1.877
59	Sierra Leone	1.879
60	Djibouti	1.889
61	Panama	1.891
62	Ghana	1.896
63	Nicaragua	1.898
64	Timor-Leste	1.912
65	Cyprus	1.913
66	Malawi	1.915
67	Madagascar	1.924
68	Tanzania	1.927
69	Moldova	1.928
70	Gabon	1.929
71	Senegal	1.934
72	Kosovo	1.938
73	Liberia	1.948
74	Nepal	1.960
75	Burkina Faso	1.961
76	Togo	1.963
77	Morocco	1.967
78	Mozambique	1.983
79	Armenia	1.989
80	Guyana	1.990
81	Tunisia	1.992
82	Bolivia	1.999
83	Greece	2.001
83	Macedonia (FYR)	2.001
85	Cuba	2.002
86	Paraguay	2.012
87	Saudi Arabia	2.015
88	Ecuador	2.027
89	Papua New Guinea	2.042
90	Brazil	2.047
91	Swaziland	2.052
92	Bangladesh	2.055
93	Trinidad and Tobago	2.061
94	Turkmenistan	2.067
95	The Gambia	2.071
96	United States of America	2.075
97	Dominican Republic	2.078
98	Equatorial Guinea	2.080
99	Georgia	2.099
100	Kazakhstan	2.100
101	Niger	2.106
102	Haiti	2.114
103	Sri Lanka	2.115
104	Angola	2.125
105	Belarus	2.127
106	Benin	2.129
107	Bahrain	2.161
107	Algeria	2.161
109	Uganda	2.166
110	Peru	2.167
111	China	2.170
112	Cambodia	2.178
112	Uzbekistan	2.178
114	El Salvador	2.190
115	Cameroon	2.201
116	Jamaica	2.202
117	Mali	2.222
118	Guatemala	2.229
119	Myanmar	2.238
120	Republic of the Congo	2.248
121	Guinea	2.251
122	Mauritania	2.259
123	Honduras	2.260
124	Azerbaijan	2.283
125	Burundi	2.314
126	Thailand	2.321
127	Tajikistan	2.327
128	Turkey	2.336
129	South Africa	2.342
130	Kyrgyz Republic	2.346
131	Cote d' Ivoire	2.348
132	Eritrea	2.350
132	Philippines	2.350
134	Ethiopia	2.377
135	Venezuela	2.394
136	Libya	2.400
137	Iran	2.411
138	Kenya	2.428
139	Zimbabwe	2.441
140	India	2.447
140	Rwanda	2.447
142	Ukraine	2.491
143	Chad	2.500
144	Guinea-Bissau	2.501
145	Mexico	2.546
146	Egypt	2.573
147	Yemen	2.586
148	Lebanon	2.618
149	Colombia	2.671
150	Israel	2.725
151	Nigeria	2.780
152	Russia	2.970
153	North Korea	3.019
154	Pakistan	3.040
155	Democratic Republic of the Congo	3.118
156	South Sudan	3.214
157	Central African Republic	3.225
158	Sudan	3.236
159	Iraq	3.322
160	Afghanistan	3.371
161	Somalia	3.386
162	Syria