Sep 30, 2009

Develop better sense!


Learn from the brilli‘ant’
Let us not be fooled by their size since size doesn’t always matter anyway!! One little bite can get us jumping off the ground with many long minutes of irresistible itch.
But that’s not all that comes to my mind when I think of our ‘Ant’ friends. Here are some interesting facts about the working of ants and believe me, there’s plenty to learn from them!

Get the Team work right!
“Whether it’s 2 people, a department or an organization, teams are the means by which great things get done” – Steven .J. Stowell
Team work is all about getting very different individuals to work together showing appreciation and respect and ensuring maximum productivity. Undoubtedly, we all struggle at different times trying to get it right.
Ants have very enviable team working capabilities. Within the community there is a wide variety of activities and behaviors, with each ant knowing its place and fulfilling its duties with total loyalty to the whole. Each ant does his bit to ensure the survival of the whole community. They work hard, are patient and co-operative. An ant is able to carry a leaf, a crumb or a dead ant for miles - just to get back home to the anthill, requiring a load of stamina and patience. If an ant has to fight,  dig tunnels or carry leaves for miles, it will, all for the good of the community. As well as being extremely hard working they possess an extraordinary ability to work as a team - the power of their medicine - to build their homes, to feed and protect all members of their colony with honour and respect toward their common goal - the good of the community. Worker ants are great architects and can show us how to construct our dreams into reality.

Team work - Simply stated, is less ‘me’ and more ‘we’.

The watchful ants!
They not only work well, but protect and caution their colony from danger. Ants interact using a system known as pheromones, which involves sending 'chemical messages' to their community through smell and taste. This is one of the oldest and most evolved forms of group communication on the planet and has many features that today's mobile and virtual teams could benefit from.
Certain types, such as alarm pheromones, produce a “releaser effect”, which induces a quick response and may be used to tell other ants to evacuate a dangerous area such as an approaching lawnmower. For example, when a spider approaches an ant will release alarm pheromones that alert all the other ants. Ants may also discharge alarm pheromones as a result from being diverted from their work, e.g. heavy human steps.
“Ants are good citizens, they place group interests first” – Clarence Day


What a sacrifice!
Queen ants have wings and are able to fly until they fall pregnant. Once pregnant they tear of their own wings sacrificing the ability to fly for the birth of a newborn.

Imagine what the world would be like if humanity held and applied the values that the ant expresses. Hard work and patience, which come with the power of the ant, make goals and dreams a reality.

Something fun to do!
"To stop them coming into my kitchen I put some sugar outside. They have so much to eat that they are not interested in coming into my kitchen". - Anonymous


 --- by Tasneem ---

Sep 10, 2009

Grounded


In ski jumping, one major challenge is to jump a long distance.
The distance women will have to cover to get equal access to the winter Olympics in ski jumping, has been enlarged by the International Olympic Committee in 2006: The IOC rejected the establishment of women’s ski jumping at the Olympic Games in Vancouver next year due to technical reasons.
Ski jumping and Nordic combined (a combination of ski jumping and cross country skiing) are the only winter Olympics sports that are reserved for men.
The main reason being that the amount of organized women ski jumpers does not reach the IOC’s minimum requirement (rule 47 of the Olympic Charter), the IOC failed to explain one interesting point: The number of organized men ski jumpers also fails to reach the minimum requirement, but for men there has been an exception to this rule for decades.
After the IOC’s decision, some female ski jumpers from several countries brought the case to the supreme court of British Columbia, the Canadian state hosting the Olympics. The court ruled that "the plaintiffs will be denied this opportunity for no reason other than their sex," but the IOC was not subject to the jurisdiction of the British Columbia Supreme Court.
The International Ski Federation has re-proposed to the IOC to include women’s ski jumping on the program of the winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi.  Let’s hope the distance women ski jumpers have to cover to get equal access to the Olympic Games won’t be longer than that!

--- by Nils ---