Global Business Assist (GBA) is an international non-profit micro-development organization based in Crystal Lake, IL, USA. GBA was founded in 2001 by Doug Mann. The focus of the micro-development is in several countries including Sudan (especially the Darfur region, Uganda, India, Kenya, and Kosovo. Global Business Assist's motto is "A hand-up, not a hand-out." According to its website, GBA's mission is, "To mobilize professionals and community groups to bring business development and real relief to the world's poor."
Sudan Challenge
As the Darfur conflict erupted, GBA has focused its efforts on Sudan with a campaign called Sudan Challenge: a fund raising campaign which partners with several other organizations, most notably, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the Chevron Houston Marathon, in order to raise funds for and awareness about the economic and humanitarian crisis in Darfur and Southern Sudan.
GBA is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity
Sudan Challenge
As the Darfur conflict erupted, GBA has focused its efforts on Sudan with a campaign called Sudan Challenge: a fund raising campaign which partners with several other organizations, most notably, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the Chevron Houston Marathon, in order to raise funds for and awareness about the economic and humanitarian crisis in Darfur and Southern Sudan.
GBA is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity
Russell Gmirkin is an independent researcher specializing in the composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls. He is most well known for his defense of the view that the Pentateuch was written in its entirety by a team of Jewish scholars working in the Library of Alexandria in 273-272 BCE, who also published the Septuagint Greek translation of the Torah around the same time.
His father was Vasia Gmirkin, a CIA agent who recruited Soviet defectors and was responsible for the US acquiring night vision technology. While a teenager, Gmirkin attended a small, now-defunct Christian liberal arts college named Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. During his time at Ambassador College, he began to increasingly question the religious doctrine of the university, ultimately leading him to leave before graduating. Gmirkin currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
Work
Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus
Gmirkin first published his case for a Hellenistic dating of the Torah in the 2006 book Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus. In that book, Gmirkin first seeks to establish that there is no clear evidence of the existence of Pentateuchal writings before their translation into Greek during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. He points out that the earliest manuscript fragments of the Hebrew Bible date no earlier than the late third century BCE. It is commonly assumed that the earliest non-biblical reference to a written Jewish law is found in Book 40 of Diodorus Siculus's Library, an ancient encyclopedia compiled from a variety of quotations from older documents, in a passage which is usually attributed to the fourth-century Greek historian Hecataeus of Abdera, writing around 315 BCE. Gmirkin argues at length that this passage should in fact be attributed to the first-century BCE Roman biographer Theophanes of Mytilene, who in turn used Hecataeus along with other sources, rather than Hecataeus himself.
After having established that the latest possible date for the composition of the Torah is about 270 BCE, Gmirkin attempts to determine the earliest possible date, using the methods of source criticism. He argues that the books of Genesis and Exodus rely on the Greek-language histories of Berossus (278 BCE) and Manetho (285-280 BCE) and therefore must have been composed subsequently to both of them.
Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible
In 2016, Gmirkin published a second book, Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible, in which he argued that the law code found in the Torah was heavily influenced by Greek laws, and especially the theoretical law code espoused by Plato in his Laws. He further argued that Plato's Laws provided the biblical authors with a basic blueprint for how to transform Jewish society: by creating an authoritative canon of laws and associated literature, drawing on earlier traditions, and presenting them as being divinely inspired and very ancient. Philippe Wajdenbaum has recently argued for a similar conclusion.
Criticism
John Van Seters criticized Gmirkin's work in a 2007 book review, arguing that Berossus and Genesis engages in a straw man fallacy by attacking the documentary hypothesis without seriously addressing more recent theories of Pentateuchal origins. He also alleges that Gmirkin selectively points to parallels between Genesis and Berossus, and Exodus and Manetho, while ignoring major dissimilarities between the accounts. Finally, Van Seters points out that Gmirkin does not seriously consider the numerous allusions to the Genesis and Exodus narratives in the rest of the Hebrew Bible, including in texts that are generally dated much earlier than his proposed dating of the Pentateuch. Gmirkin, by contrast, holds that those parts of the Hebrew Bible that allude to Genesis and Exodus must be dated later than scholars commonly assume.
Another review by Joyce Rilett Wood in 2008 also criticized Gmirkin's work, arguing that he is unable to show that Berossus has better parallels to the primeval history in Genesis than older Mesopotamian sources, and that some features of the Genesis narrative are absent from Berossus' work but find parallels in earlier sources, such as the snake in the Garden of Eden. She also argued that it is difficult to establish literary dependency between Manetho and the Book of Exodus since scholars disagree on whether Manetho's account originally referred to Moses and the Israelite Exodus or whether these are later Jewish interpolations.
Stéphanie Anthonioz made some criticisms of Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible in a 2017 book review. She argued that the lack of Greek loanwords in the Hebrew dialect used by the biblical authors must be considered as evidence against the idea that the Torah was written in its entirety in the Hellenistic era.
His father was Vasia Gmirkin, a CIA agent who recruited Soviet defectors and was responsible for the US acquiring night vision technology. While a teenager, Gmirkin attended a small, now-defunct Christian liberal arts college named Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. During his time at Ambassador College, he began to increasingly question the religious doctrine of the university, ultimately leading him to leave before graduating. Gmirkin currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
Work
Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus
Gmirkin first published his case for a Hellenistic dating of the Torah in the 2006 book Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus. In that book, Gmirkin first seeks to establish that there is no clear evidence of the existence of Pentateuchal writings before their translation into Greek during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. He points out that the earliest manuscript fragments of the Hebrew Bible date no earlier than the late third century BCE. It is commonly assumed that the earliest non-biblical reference to a written Jewish law is found in Book 40 of Diodorus Siculus's Library, an ancient encyclopedia compiled from a variety of quotations from older documents, in a passage which is usually attributed to the fourth-century Greek historian Hecataeus of Abdera, writing around 315 BCE. Gmirkin argues at length that this passage should in fact be attributed to the first-century BCE Roman biographer Theophanes of Mytilene, who in turn used Hecataeus along with other sources, rather than Hecataeus himself.
After having established that the latest possible date for the composition of the Torah is about 270 BCE, Gmirkin attempts to determine the earliest possible date, using the methods of source criticism. He argues that the books of Genesis and Exodus rely on the Greek-language histories of Berossus (278 BCE) and Manetho (285-280 BCE) and therefore must have been composed subsequently to both of them.
Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible
In 2016, Gmirkin published a second book, Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible, in which he argued that the law code found in the Torah was heavily influenced by Greek laws, and especially the theoretical law code espoused by Plato in his Laws. He further argued that Plato's Laws provided the biblical authors with a basic blueprint for how to transform Jewish society: by creating an authoritative canon of laws and associated literature, drawing on earlier traditions, and presenting them as being divinely inspired and very ancient. Philippe Wajdenbaum has recently argued for a similar conclusion.
Criticism
John Van Seters criticized Gmirkin's work in a 2007 book review, arguing that Berossus and Genesis engages in a straw man fallacy by attacking the documentary hypothesis without seriously addressing more recent theories of Pentateuchal origins. He also alleges that Gmirkin selectively points to parallels between Genesis and Berossus, and Exodus and Manetho, while ignoring major dissimilarities between the accounts. Finally, Van Seters points out that Gmirkin does not seriously consider the numerous allusions to the Genesis and Exodus narratives in the rest of the Hebrew Bible, including in texts that are generally dated much earlier than his proposed dating of the Pentateuch. Gmirkin, by contrast, holds that those parts of the Hebrew Bible that allude to Genesis and Exodus must be dated later than scholars commonly assume.
Another review by Joyce Rilett Wood in 2008 also criticized Gmirkin's work, arguing that he is unable to show that Berossus has better parallels to the primeval history in Genesis than older Mesopotamian sources, and that some features of the Genesis narrative are absent from Berossus' work but find parallels in earlier sources, such as the snake in the Garden of Eden. She also argued that it is difficult to establish literary dependency between Manetho and the Book of Exodus since scholars disagree on whether Manetho's account originally referred to Moses and the Israelite Exodus or whether these are later Jewish interpolations.
Stéphanie Anthonioz made some criticisms of Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible in a 2017 book review. She argued that the lack of Greek loanwords in the Hebrew dialect used by the biblical authors must be considered as evidence against the idea that the Torah was written in its entirety in the Hellenistic era.
John Derkach (born 3 December 1956) is a British hospitality businessman, who oversaw the expansion of Costa Coffee.
Early life
He attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith. He studied History at Downing College, Cambridge.
Career
P&G
He joined P&G in 1978 as a graduate trainee.
Playtex UK
He joined Playtex UK in 1983.
Pepsi
He worked in the UK division of PepsiCo from 1985, becoming marketing director for Northern Europe, moving to the Spain and Portugal division as its marketing director, living in Madrid for four years.
Whitbread Beer Company
From 1994 he was the marketing director for the Whitbread Beer Company (now owned by AB InBev), being responsible for Stella Artois, Heineken, Labatt, and Boddingtons. The marketing slogan for Heineken in the UK for twenty four years was Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach, developed by Collett Dickenson Pearce in 1974, which he changed to How refreshing, how Heineken.
Beefeater
From 27 October 1998, he became managing director of Beefeater, replacing Simon Wood, who had been at Beefeater since 1993. Beefeater had 253 restaurants in the UK, having sold 40 restaurants in May 1998 to Crowded House Pub Company.
Pizza Hut
He became chief executive of Pizza Hut UK on 8 August 2002, replacing Mark Jones.
Costa Coffee
He became managing director of Costa Coffee in June 2006. Costa Coffee opened their first store in 1978.
By December 2009, Costa Coffee had 1,030 stores in the UK, and 429 stores overseas. Costa Coffee sold two cups of coffee every second.
He appeared on the BBC Radio 5 Live programme On The Money on Sunday 3 October 2010.
He resigned from Costa Coffee in April 2012. Under his leadership, Costa Coffee had four times as many stores, with around 2,200 in April 2012, becoming the largest coffee chain in the UK.
Tragus Group
He became chief executive of Tragus Group in 2012, replacing Graham Turner who had been at Tragus for seven years, under chairman Charles Gurassa. Tragus Group had around 7,300 staff and around 300 restaurants, including the Bella Italia chain.
Tragus became The Big Table Group.
Early life
He attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith. He studied History at Downing College, Cambridge.
Career
P&G
He joined P&G in 1978 as a graduate trainee.
Playtex UK
He joined Playtex UK in 1983.
Pepsi
He worked in the UK division of PepsiCo from 1985, becoming marketing director for Northern Europe, moving to the Spain and Portugal division as its marketing director, living in Madrid for four years.
Whitbread Beer Company
From 1994 he was the marketing director for the Whitbread Beer Company (now owned by AB InBev), being responsible for Stella Artois, Heineken, Labatt, and Boddingtons. The marketing slogan for Heineken in the UK for twenty four years was Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach, developed by Collett Dickenson Pearce in 1974, which he changed to How refreshing, how Heineken.
Beefeater
From 27 October 1998, he became managing director of Beefeater, replacing Simon Wood, who had been at Beefeater since 1993. Beefeater had 253 restaurants in the UK, having sold 40 restaurants in May 1998 to Crowded House Pub Company.
Pizza Hut
He became chief executive of Pizza Hut UK on 8 August 2002, replacing Mark Jones.
Costa Coffee
He became managing director of Costa Coffee in June 2006. Costa Coffee opened their first store in 1978.
By December 2009, Costa Coffee had 1,030 stores in the UK, and 429 stores overseas. Costa Coffee sold two cups of coffee every second.
He appeared on the BBC Radio 5 Live programme On The Money on Sunday 3 October 2010.
He resigned from Costa Coffee in April 2012. Under his leadership, Costa Coffee had four times as many stores, with around 2,200 in April 2012, becoming the largest coffee chain in the UK.
Tragus Group
He became chief executive of Tragus Group in 2012, replacing Graham Turner who had been at Tragus for seven years, under chairman Charles Gurassa. Tragus Group had around 7,300 staff and around 300 restaurants, including the Bella Italia chain.
Tragus became The Big Table Group.
Lawrence Favour Emeka (born October 21, 2000, professionally known as Emski) is a Nigerian Singer and Songwriter.He grew to the scene with the release of his first single “Unity” His Sound is a unique blend of Afro Beat and Afro Fusion.
Early life
Lawrence Favour Emeka was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, where he spent his childhood in Port Harcourt, where he was taught the basic’s about music. He started off playing Drums and Piano at the church he attended as a teenager.
Education and interests
He went to Federal Science and Technical College Ahoada, and Graduated in Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. With a National Diploma in .
His interest in singing and music began while attending secondary school. He started writing his own songs and discovering more about music.
He is currently one of the fast rising artist in Port Harcourt and had a music production with the popular Port Harcourt producer Kelah Kay.
Early life
Lawrence Favour Emeka was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, where he spent his childhood in Port Harcourt, where he was taught the basic’s about music. He started off playing Drums and Piano at the church he attended as a teenager.
Education and interests
He went to Federal Science and Technical College Ahoada, and Graduated in Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. With a National Diploma in .
His interest in singing and music began while attending secondary school. He started writing his own songs and discovering more about music.
He is currently one of the fast rising artist in Port Harcourt and had a music production with the popular Port Harcourt producer Kelah Kay.