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Transcription

NEWS
OCV
ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ
ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915
The National Herald
www.thenationalherald.com
December 12-18, 2015
Academic
Community
Mourns J.
Rassias
th
anniversary
1915-2015
A wEEKly GREEK-AmERICAN PUBlICATION
VOL. 19, ISSUE 948
100
cv
$1.50
1
California Victim Thalasinos Had Death Threats
Greek-American
was Messianic Jew,
Posted FB Fears
TNH Staff
By Theodore Kalmoukos
TNH Staff
NORWICH, VT - Prominent
Greek-American professor of
languages John Rassias died at
the age of 90. He was a professor at Dartmouth College in New
Hampshire and was known to
the Greek-American Community
from his work on the present
and the future of Greek education and language in America.
Former Archbishop Spyridon
of America had appointed him
in 1998 chairman of a thirty
member’s commission to study
in depth the issue of Greek education. The study was one of its
kind but was never acted upon
because Archbishop Spyridon
was forced to resign.
According to the Communications Department of Dartmouth College the late professor
John Rassias will be remembered for his internationally
renowned teaching method—
which includes rapid-fire drills,
immersion in culture, and a
healthy dose of theater—a
unique style that quickly makes
students comfortable using a
new language. Key to the
method was his use of dramatic
technique style, the goal of
which was to eliminate students’
inhibitions and encourage dialogue from the first day of class.
Rassias grew up in Manchester, NH, the son of Greek immigrants. Before heading to college, he served in the U.S.
Marines, piloting an amphibious
tank in the 1st Marine Division’s
landing in the Battle of Okinawa, on April 1, 1945, the last
and largest of the Pacific island
battles of World War II.
He studied French at the University of Bridgeport, from
which he graduated summa cum
laude in 1950. Following graduation, he went to the Université
de Dijon in France as a Fulbright
Continued on page 8
Mary Jaharis holds the Distinguished Hellene award she received
on behalf of her husband, attorney, industrialist and philanthropist Michael Jaharis. Left to right: Cyprus Consul General
Ambassador Vasilios Philippou, Archbishop Demetrios of America, Mary Jaharis, Nicole Liakeas, HMS President Dr. George Liakeas, and Archdeacon Panteleimon Papadopoulos.
HMS Honors Jaharis, Soterakis, Harovas
By Constantine S. Sirigos
TNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Three extraordinary human beings – one,
Michael Jaharis a pharmaceutical industry pioneer two distinguished physicians, Dr. Jack
Soterakis and the late Dr. Antoine C. Harovas, and – were
honored at the Annual Scholarship Gala of the Hellenic Medical Society of New York at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel on
December 4.
Mary Jaharis received the
Distinguished Hellene Award on
behalf of her husband Michael
Jaharis, Dr. Jack Soterakis received the Distinguished Physician Award, and the revered Dr.
Harovas was honored posthumously with the Distinguished
Colleague Award.
Archbishop Demetrios offered a touching invocation and
Everett O’Hanlon presented
thrilling renditions of the Greek
and American national anthems.
HMS President Dr. George Liakeas greeted the guests and
thanked all who contributed to
the success of the auspicious
event, including, he said “my
darling wife, Nicole.” The community’s other professional organization or their support, and
“our honorees, for being who
they are.”
The gala chairs, Nicole Contos Liakeas, Susan McCarthy,
and Dr. Theo Diktaban, worked
closely with the HMS board and
is administrator Evangelia
Tsavaris - whom Dr. Liakeas
called “our fearless leader” to
ensure and atmosphere of both
dignity and festivity, and to keep
the speeches short and sweet.
Among the dignitaries acknowledged by McCarthy from
the stage were Greece’s UN Ambassador Catherine Bouras,
Greek Consul General Amb.
SAN BERNARDINO, CA – Terrorists don’t ask for passports
when they take people down the
road to mayhem. Every nationality, and religion – Muslims died
on 9/11 too, has representatives
among their potential victims,
and as on 9/11, the Greek-American community was not untouched by the horror of the San
Bernardino horror.
Nicholas Thalasinos, a 52year-old Colton resident was
among the 14 victims killed in
the California shooting rampage,
according to a Facebook post by
his wife.
“My husband, Nicholas Thalasinos, was killed in the shooting,” wrote Jennifer Thalasinos,
a second-grade teacher for Colton
Joint Unified School District, early
Thursday. She posted a photo of
them with their arms around each
other.
Just four days earlier, Nicholas
Thalasinos had phoned a friend
to tell him he was feeling ok after
having a growth removed from
his head.
“He had just healed from one
thing and then this happened,”
said Ed Beck, whose wife once
worked with Thalasinos for the
Cape May County Department of
Health in New Jersey.
He has many relatives in the
New York area.
Thalasinos had worked as a
health inspector and took a similar job in California about a
decade ago after meeting Jennifer, Beck said.
The formal identification and
announcement of the names of
the victims is taking place at a
slow pace as officials await confirmation by the victims’ relatives.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the day before the
Continued on page 4
Marianna Vardinoyannis Lauded
TNH Staff Writer
TNH/COSTAS BEJ
Marianna Vardinoyannis addresses the guests as Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend, Robert Kennedy’s oldest child, listens.
NEW YORK - Robert F. Kennedy
Human Rights (RFKHR), an organization founded in 1968 by
Robert Kennedy's family and
friends as a living memorial to
carry forward his vision of a
more just and peaceful world,
presented its Ripple of Hope
award to four international philanthropic leaders, including
Marianna Vardinoyannis, Congressman John Lewis, Apple
CEO Tim Cook, and investment
banker Roger Altman on December 8.
Mainstream media and 700
people, stalwarts of the progressive community in New York,
filled the Grand Ballroom of the
New York Hilton to celebrate
Robert F. Kennedy and to honor
those who, in the words of numerous speakers, mark his
legacy with deeds, not just
words.
Speakers and videos informed guests about RFKHR
programs including The Speak
Truth To Power curriculum developed by the organization that
is taught to millions of students
around the world.
It is based on the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
which has deeply inspired RFK
Human Rights President Kerry
Kennedy.
Her daughter, Michaela Kerry
Cuomo, shined the spotlight on
a group of people, called Defenders, who exemplify the human rights dream and who were
at the gala.
Later, noted actors like Sam
Waterston read dramatizations
of the trials and tribulations of
human rights fighters around
the world and across the U.S.
Robert Smith, RFKHR’s
Chair, served as Emcee, and the
well-planned event was spiced
by Kerry Kennedy’s passion and
humor, but the tone for the
evening was set by the repeated
invocations of two of Robert
Kennedy’s speeches.
His 1966 speech in Cape
Town, South Africa throwing
down a gauntlet at apartheid
and encouraging its opponents
is the source of the title of the
gala’s award: “Each time a man
stands up for an ideal, or acts
to improve the lot of others, or
strikes out against injustice, he
sends forth a tiny ripple of
hope.”
Recent events around the
world and in the U.S. have resurrected remarks of April 4,
1968, the night Martin Luther
King, Jr. was assassinated, less
than two months before his own
murder:
“What we need in the United
States is not division; what we
need in the United States is not
hatred; what we need in the
United States is not violence and
shootings, Thalasinos had posted
about a threat he had received
that included the words “you will
die and never see Israel.”
Authorities have not released
any motive for the shooting, or
suggested an intended target.
Thalasinos was a Messianic Jew
and posted frequently about Israel and politics. His posts included several that compared
Muslims to Nazis.
GUN ADVOCATE
He also publicly opposed tightening gun controls, and displayed
National Rifle Association stickers
on the front door of his home in
Colton, California, according to
the New York Daily News.
In July, he went on Facebook
Continued on page 7
Continued on page 6
Great Books
As Gifts the
Holidays
Lazos Speaks to TNH About
Greek Student Prostitution
By Aris Papadopoulos
TNH Staff
ATHENS - The stir caused by the
publication in the Times of London of an article about prostitution in Greece was felt both by
the Greek-American community
and the people of Greece.
The newspaper piece, which
was reproduced by Ethnikos
Kirix, was based on a survey conducted by the Panteion University
professor of Sociology Gregory
Lazos and was supported by data
that he collected himself from
2012-2015.
The substance of the survey’s
For subscription:
718.784.5255
[email protected]
results pertains to the Greek financial crisis because there was
no prior upward trend toward
prostitution observed in Greek
women.
As he underscored, however,
following a survey of 400 young
Greek women, the phenomenon
seems to be increasing at a steady
rate.
The article’s headline was
shocking: “Greek students sell sex
for food” and of course it was reproduced in several foreign
newspapers, including the Washington Post.
It was natural, thus, that the
issue did not go unnoticed by the
social networks and by the mainstream media, which tried to clarify what is going on.
TNH chose to communicate
directly with professor Lazos for
certain clarifications and to ascertain whether his statements
were conveyed correctly in the
Times.
Continued on page 5
Nicholas Thalasinos
By Eleni Sakellis
EUROKINISSI
Greek-American Industrialist Behrakis Visits Greek President
Well-known Greek-American businessman George Behrakis was received on December 9 by
President of the Greek Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos during the former’s visit for the purpose
of receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens. The President praised Behrakis
for his many achievements and thanked him for all he does for Greece.
Book lovers agree that when
it comes to delightful gifts this
holiday season, books are the way
to go. With so many great books
available, choosing the right book
can be a daunting task. Here are
some suggestions for the book
lovers in your life.
For the classically-inclined, a
new edition of classic Greek literature is a wonderful gift. The Iliad
and The Odyssey make a great
gift set for those who enjoy
Homer. For drama fans, The Complete Works of Euripides offer
tragedy at its peak. The Complete
Works of Aristophanes provide
comic relief and social criticism
that continue to be relevant and
funny today.
Coffee table books add lovely
visual interest to any home and
make an excellent hostess gift.
Continued on page 7
COMMUNITY
2
THE NATIONAL HERALD, DECEMBER 12-18, 2015
Chians Honor MIT Media Lab Star, One Laptop Per Child Founder Negroponte
TNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Nicholas Negroponte, Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the MIT Media
Lab and Founder of the “One
Laptop per Child” initiative was
presented the Homeric Award
at the 36th annual gala of the
Chian Federation of New York
on December 6.
George Pantelidis was the
Emcee for the 2015 event that
was dedicated to education, research and innovation. For its
first 20 years Negroponte directed the Media Lab, an interdisciplinary endeavor where art,
design, science and technology
converge. It was the first time
the sibling of a prior recipient
won the award. John Negroponte was honored in 2010.
Negroponte ιs a pioneer in
the field of computer-aided design. His 1995 best seller, Being
Digital, has been translated into
more than 40 languages. He enthralled the guests with revolutionary ideas on education and
his latest radical endeavor, universal internet connectivity.
The invocation was offered
by Archbishop Demetrios assisted by Fr. Vasilios Louros and
greetings were offered by Federation President Stavros
Haviaras and the event’s chair
was Anna Condoulis.
Philip Christopher, founder
and president PSEKA, spoke passionately about the need to continue to fight for the Cyprus
cause.
A refugee from Kyrenia,
Christopher expressed deep appreciation for the support of
Chian organizations from the
start and concluded his remarks
by declaring “the hope endures
and the dream of a free and
united Cyprus will never die.”
“I am extremely honored,”
Negroponte said, noting that often in Greek society, “The father
of your father is what counts…
and he was from Chios.”
Feeling at home, he began
with some personal stories that
illuminated his career and led
into his ideas about education.
He had dared to ask his private school headmaster to substitute art for sports in his program – to his surprise, he was
allowed. “By doing well in
math, I decided that the way to
combine it with art was by doing architecture…but while
studying architecture, I discovered computers…my real love…
that was where art and science
intersected” for him – and for
others, like his student Steve
Jobs, who created the revolutionary brave new digital world
now taken for granted.
Negroponte said “I’ve always
enjoyed thinking and saying
things that everybody thought
were wrong…and then slowly
they would drift to being OK,
then to being obvious.”
“Computer science was beyond radical…when I founded
the media lab it was also considered a joke – until it turned
into one of the biggest labs in
MIT,” he said.
“I enjoyed the opportunity
to do that,” and it was partly
ABOVE: Chian Fed. President Stavros Haviaras gives Nicholas
Negroponte the Homeric award – his brother John Negroponte
won in 2010 - flanked by Archbishop Demetrios and George
Pantelidis. LEFT: Nicholas Negroponte shares some family history and his vision of a wired world after received the Homeric
Award as Archbishop Demetrios and George Pantelidis look
on. BELOW: The Hellenic American Cultural Center of the
Chian Federation in Astoria is filled with people celebrating.
earth…everyone could get connected just by turning a coffee
cup-sized device towards the
sky.”
The buzz among the guests
began immediately, and Archbishop noted in his closing remarks “tonight we heard things
that are really worth hearing.”
Citing Negroponte’s triumph
with One Laptop Per Child, the
Archbishop said, “that needs
someone who is not in an ivory
tower, just a thinker, but someone who cares: for education,
for children, for a better world,”
and he continued, “Tonight we
not only honor an individual,
but a family that has contributed tremendously to general progress the well-being of
millions.”
Among the speakers offering
greetings were Consul General
of Greece Amb. George Iliopoulos, Cyprus Consul General
Amb. Vasilios Philippou, N.Y.
Federation President Petros
Galatoulas, artist George, film
maker Michael, and John, who
was the first ever Director of
Homeland Security.
Real estate entrepreneur
George Doulos was very pleased
with the event. He was among
write today,” he said.
The key was that the kids organized themselves into groups
and worked together, not alone
at home.
His latest endeavor is championing the idea of internet access as a human right and proposes to launch a satellite
system “that would provide internet bandwidth to the entire
the young professionals who
helped organize it, serving as
gala co-Chair with Alexandros
Panteloukas.
Guests were entertained by
Cosmos Entertainment and they
were delighted by the traditional costumes and dances of
Chios performed by the Dance
Group of the Women’s Auxiliary
of the Federation.
because of my growing up in a
Greek family and having a sense
of security,” Negroponte said.
His father provided him and
his brothers “infinite education”
- and no extra money, but the
inheritance included the confidence to go forth boldly into the
world.
Negroponte then shared his
criticism and vision in the field
of education, perhaps his most
counterintuitive ideas, he said.
“We all learn primarily
through passion, not discipline,”
he declared. He then decried the
obsession with testing, followed
by his astonishing report that
the off-the-charts successful
school system of Finland does
not give K-12 students tests or
homework, and the schools are
in session the least hours per
day and days per year – “all the
things we say will make our
schools better,” Negroponte
said.
Negroponte then dropped
what in America is an ideological bomb ““Finland works because the kids go to school without
any
competition.
Competition is the enemy. Those
kids spend 12 years collaborating…One Laptop Per Child, to
which I devoted 10 years of my
life, showed me the passion with
which kids could teach themselves thing.”
Then he described a stunning
experiment. “We dropped off
Android tablets in a village in
Ethiopia where no one could
read or write and which had no
electricity.”
The tablets were loaded with
800 apps, mainly for alphabet
and numbers games, all in English. “We dropped off the tables
with no instructions, just closed
boxes…and within five days the
average child was using 50 aps
spending 7 hours per day on the
tablet. Within two weeks they
were singing ABC songs and in
six months they hacked Android! – they now all read and
National Herald
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the Greek-American community upon graduation
by working in some segment of Greek-American media.
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COMMUNITY
Aphrodite: a Talk with
Author Monica Cyrino
By Vasilis Papoutsis
IRVINE, CA – Dr. Monica Cyrino
is a Professor of Classics at the
University of New Mexico and
her academic research centers
on the erotic in Ancient Greek
poetry.
While visiting the University
of California Irvine to give a lecture, she spoke with The National Herald.
Prof. Cyrino said she fell in
love with Ancient Greek poetry
in her first year in college and
decided to focus her academic
studies on the Greek Classics. A
prolific writer and a consultant
on numerous film and television
productions, Cyrino’s first book
was In Pandora's Jar: Lovesickness in Early Greek Po-
Classics Professor and author,
Dr. Monica Cyrino
etry(1995). In Greek mythology
Pandora, just like Eve, was the
first woman on Earth. Zeus had
ordered her creation as a punishment to the human race, after Prometheus stole fire from
the gods.
“Pandora is the tool of the
gods,” she said, about the story’s
premise. Women bring beauty,
love and most importantly life
on Earth. But they also brought
mortality, and the unleashing of
the evils from Pandora's jar.
''Mortality is the price to pay for
all the beauty and love we experience.” We have “highs and
lows, no one gets a flatline anymore.''
And yet Elpis, Hope, remained in the jar, ''and we don't
know why but, hope gives life a
meaning.”
Her book Aphrodite (2010)
examines the importance of the
Greek goddess of love for the
Ancient Greeks as well as her
enduring influence as a symbol
of beauty and sexuality in contemporary culture. She said
''love comes from the outside, it
attacks and takes you over,'' it is
a ''physical imposition from the
outside and while it is very pleasurable it is also very painful.
“When you are in love you are
compromised, you are invaded.
You are always aware of the
presence of someone else.'' The
book offers new insights into the
ancient texts. She also is the author of a popular text book, A
Journey through Greek Mythology(2008). Explaining the origin of the book she said, ''I did
not agree with some of the interpretations on the textbooks
offered and I decided to write
one with my own interpretations. I did not included any pictures on it to keep the cost
down. Textbooks have gotten so
expensive.'' She has been
awarded the American Philological Association's Excellence in
Teaching Classics award (1999).
Her book Big Screen
Rome(2005) surveys several
films on ancient Rome. She followed that with two volumes on
the HBO series Rome, Season
One and Two. The reception for
her film books was enthusiastic
and the demand for her services
has increased since they were
published. She is asked to
coach, translate, and consult on
a regular basis now.
At her lecture at UC Irvine titled ''The Bible Epic as Action
Movie: 'Maximal Projections' in
Noah (2014) & Exodus (2014).''
In her presentation, she explained that both these movies
were produced and marketed as
epic style action movies rather
than movies with religious overtones. She also compared two
movies, Gladiator and Exodus.
The storylines and characters
are almost identical, a successful
commercial cinematic formula.
Over the years, Cyrino has
led student tours to Greece both
in Peloponnese and Northern
Greece. About the current Greek
crisis, she says “The European
Union should act more like the
United States of America. When
states are in financial trouble in
the United States the federal
government would support
those states. Germany's financial
policies were not fair to the
Greek government.''
As she continues to lecture
around the country, Dr. Cyrino
is currently working on a new
book about the Spartacus series,
due out soon.
Ithaca Church Celebrates its 50th Anniversary
By Evan C. Lambrou
ITHACA, N.Y. – Saint Catherine
Greek Orthodox Church in
Ithaca celebrated the 50th anniversary of its official church
charter recently with a special
event, to which the Saint
Catherine’s parish community
had also invited the wider public. Local ministers and Orthodox Christian priests from the
area, as well as professors from
Cornell University and Ithaca
College, attended.
Rev. Dr. George D. Dragas,
professor of Patristics and
Church History at Holy Cross
Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, was the event’s
featured speaker. Father Dragas
has represented the Greek Orthodox Patriarchates of Constantinople,
Antioch
and
Jerusalem in scores of interfaith
dialogues at the ecumenical
level for more than 35 years.
“Christ, who is both human
and divine, mediates between
created man and the Uncreated
God. What, then, is the Church?
The Church is the Body of
Christ, which implies that the
Church also mediates between
man and God, in order to help
man enter into communion with
the Creator. That means the
world was built for the Church
because the world is called to
be part of the Body of Christ,”
Father Dragas told more than
100 people who had gathered
to hear him speak this past November 21st about the life of the
saints and ecclesiology of the
Church.
“We are familiar with the fact
that each of us has a physical
and genetic composition. When
we are physically conceived, we
receive our biological DNA. But
what about our spiritual DNA?
What does that mean? During
our physical conception and development in the womb, God
stamps our souls with the
Breath of Life. That is our spiritual DNA. And that is what
makes human beings not only
physical creatures, but spiritual
beings, as well,” he added.
SACRED HISTORY
To mark the occasion, His
Archbishop
Eminence
Demetrios of America also sent
his archiepiscopal greetings to
Rev. Dr. Athanasios Parthenakis,
pastor, and the Saint Catherine’s
parish community for the event:
“For the last 50 years, you
have gathered humbly and joyfully before God in prayer. You
have proclaimed the Gospel
with power and conviction. You
have taught the precepts of the
Greek-Am. Gymnasts Sign w/ Div. 1 Univs
Men’s gymnastics is a sport
struggling to survive in the wake
of Title IX. With fewer than 16
colleges fielding men’s teams,
the odds of receiving a scholarship or even a spot on a team is
slim. Yet this year, however, two
Greek-American young men defied those odds and signed with
NCAA Division I Teams.
Socrates Gavallas and Sebastian
Sembos Quiana are excited
about their recent offers, and
are looking forward to joining
their college teams this fall.
Socrates, a senior at Brick
Township High School in New
Jersey, trains at Monmouth
Gymnastics under Coach Yuriy
Amino. He accepted a scholarship to The University of Michigan. Sebastian, a senior at River
Dell High School, also in New
Jersey, trains at US Gymnastics
Development Center II under
Coach Genadi Shub. He accepted a scholarship to The University of Illinois.
These are not easy feats.
Their hard work and dedication
were rewarded but not without
years of training. Each started
gymnastics at a young age and
passed on participating in more
popular boy’s sports. Gymnastics is not a seasonal sport, and
it is not for the indifferent. They
train 6 days a week, 4 hours a
day, 51 weeks a year. Despite all
their time in the gym, both boys
are recognized as Academic All
American Athletes.
Socrates and Sebastian have
known each other for years,
having met at meets their teams
attended. After some time, the
boys began to know their competitors. Sebastian remembers
his mother pointing out Socrates
when they were younger and
stating, “There is another Greek
boy doing gymnastics.”
After some time, they started
talking and quickly became
friends. This summer they attended gymnastic training
camps together at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California
and the University of Michigan
in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was
a fun time and a chance to introduce themselves to college
coaches while experiencing college campus life.
This fall, Socrates and Sebastian were recruited by several
universities. Socrates received
offers from Michigan and Iowa;
Sebastian received offers from
Michigan, Penn State and Illinois.
The recruiting process is very
competitive and strictly regulated by NCAA rules.
In addition to being gymnasts, both young men have
strong ties to the Greek community. Sebastian is a member of
GOYA at St. Nicholas in Wyckoff,
NJ having graduated from their
3
Greek School and playing on
their church basketball and soccer teams, unbeknownst to his
gymnastic coach.
Socrates is a member of St.
Barbara’s parish in Toms River,
NJ where he participates in
GOYA, Greek dancing and is a
graduate of their Greek School.
Socrates and Sebastian credit
their supportive parents and
their Greek family values for
helping them achieve their
dreams. Hard work, dedication
and self-discipline are traits they
found all around them and
ready to emulate.
Coincidently, both hope to attend medical school and are
pursuing majors headed in that
direction. Socrates plans to major in BioChemistry, and Sebastian in BioEngineering.
This year’s competition season is about to begin. Socrates
and Sebastian will see each
other at a couple of meets and
if all goes well at the US Junior
Olympic National Championships in Battle Creek, Michigan this May. They have qualified for this prestigious
competition several years in a
row.
Once in college, the two will
be competing in The Big Ten
conference against each other.
Despite their competition at
meets, the boys know they will
remain friends.
Alderman Seph Murtagh recently presented an official proclamation to St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church in Ithaca for the 50th anniversary of the church’s official charter. L-R: Fr. Tom
Parthenakis (church pastor), Alderman Murtagh, Ann Bantuvanis (church president) and Rev.
Dr. George Dragas, the event’s featured speaker.
Orthodox Christian faith,
through your words and deeds,
to each generation… As a parish
of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit under the
omophorion of His Eminence
Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit
– and within the canonical jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of America, which
is an eparchy of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate of Constantinople
– you share in a sacred history
as an ecclesial community of the
Great Church of Christ. On this
day, when the Rev. Dr. George
D. Dragas will be addressing
your community, I pray that you
will be enriched by his knowledge and strengthened in the
understanding of the direct and
unbroken link the Greek Orthodox Church shares with the
Holy Apostles themselves. I offer
you my heartfelt best wishes for
a festive 50th anniversary celebration,” His Eminence wrote.
Alderman Joseph Murtagh of
Ithaca’s 2nd Ward (where the
church is situated) presented
the St. Catherine’s community
with an official proclamation
from the City of Ithaca:
“Whereas the Apostle Andrew founded the Holy Mother
Church of Constantinople almost 2,000 years ago; whereas
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of America is an eparchy of the
Holy Mother Church; whereas
Saint Catherine’s Church in
Ithaca, incorporated under the
Archdiocese, is this year celebrating the 50th anniversary of
her official church charter; and
whereas, Saint Catherine’s
Church commemorates the
memory of her patron saint each
year on November 25th… now
therefore, I, Svante L. Myrick
(mayor of Ithaca), do hereby
proclaim November 25th, 2015
as ‘Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church Day’ in the City of
Ithaca, New York,” the proclamation states.
Local Greek-Americans had
started settling in the Ithaca
area in the mid-to-late 1890’s.
By the early 1950s, they decided
they needed a church of their
own. After drawing straws, the
late Peter Poulos – owner/operator of the former Pop’s Place, a
popular eating establishment in
Collegetown – named the new
parish in honor of his mother.
Saint Catherine Church
started holding services
at its present location
in 1967, and has been
faithfully serving
Orthodox Christians
ever since...
Initially a mission of the Annunciation Church in Endicott
(now located in Vestal), Saint
Catherine Church became a
fully incorporated parish of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in
1964, receiving its official
church charter from the Archdiocese in September of 1965.
The charter was signed by then
Archbishop Iakovos of North &
South America.
Located on the northeast corner of Seneca and Geneva
Streets in downtown Ithaca, the
building that is now Saint
Catherine’s was designed in the
late 19th Century by William
Henry Miller, who studied under
renowned Cornell University
Professor
of
Architecture
Charles Babcock. Originally
built in 1884 for Ithaca’s First
Congregational Society, which
relocated to Cayuga Heights in
1960, the historic edifice was
also where Ithaca College held
its music and performing arts
programs from 1960 to 1966.
By that time, the local GreekAmerican community, which
had once held services in the
Saint John’s Episcopal Church
rectory at Cayuga Street on Saturdays, was holding services at
their first church in Collegetown
(the former Cosmopolitan Club
on Bryant Avenue). They purchased the historic downtown
property from IC and reconverted it to a house of worship.
The building’s original organ
and stained glass windows, one
of which was donated by the
Treman family to the Congregational Church back in the early
20th Century, are still in their
original place.
Saint Catherine Church
started holding services at its
present location in 1967, and
has been faithfully serving Orthodox Christians at the Cornell
University and Ithaca College
communities, as well as the local Greek American community,
ever since. The church today
also has several non-Greek
members. Dr. John Bezerganian
is treasurer of the parish council, for example, and Dr. Steve
Hoskins is the choir director.
Four sons of the parish graduated from Holy Cross, three of
whom went onto become clergymen: the late Metropolitan
Epiphanios (Gus) Perialas; Poulos’ son, the Very Rev. Seraphim
(John) Poulos, pastor of Saints
Nicholas, Constantine & Helen
Church in Roseland, New Jersey; and Rev. Steve Dalber, pastor of Saint Nektarios Church in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
Evan Lambrou was Managing
Editor of The National Herald in
2004. A lifelong member of
Saint Catherine Church and
graduate of Holy Cross, he was
the chief organizer of the
Church’s 50th anniversary
event.
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COMMUNITY
4
Hellenic Med. Society Presents Scholarship, Overview of U.S. Medicine
TNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Celebrating ‘Transitions in Medicine’ was the
theme of the 2015 Scholarship
and Awards presentation of the
Hellenic Medical Society of New
York on December 3 at the Einhorn Auditorium of Lenox Hill
Hospital in Manhattan.
The theme was double edged
as the joy over achievements and
promise of the gifted young scholarship recipients was tempered
by concern over the future of the
practice of medicine in America,
a topic covered in excellent presentations by distinguished physician Dr. Jack Soterakis, VP Physician Clinical Services Quality
Improvement, CHSLI and attorney Catherina Patsos, and a lively
and fascinating Q &A moderated
by HMS President Dr. George Liakeas.
The event’s traditional Continuing Medical Education portion
featured a fascinating presentation by Dr. Stavros N. Stavropoulos, adjunct professor of clinical
medicine at Columbia and Temple universities titled “The gastroenterologist as surgeon: The
New Era pf Endoscopic Surgery.”
HMS Scholarship Chair Dr.
Sotirios Stergiopoulos, who
praised all the recipients for “giving us hope for the future” offered
special praise, validated by his
wife who is an assistant principal
of English, for their essays. He
urged all the young honorees to
talk to the HMS veterans. “Get to
know them. This is your network… whatever you need, we
are all here for you.”
The high school students were
called up first and Eve Frangopoulos, Raphael Kirou and
Nikolaos Kostaras were the Christ
Bozes essay winners.
Research grants were awarded
TNH/COSTAS BEJ
Honored students surround doctors George Liakeas, Stella Lymberis, Sotirios Stergiopoulos Demetrios Karides at Lenox Hill
Hospital. Scholarships, research grants, and awards were given
to Katrina Krough, Anastasis, Alexander Orfanos, Andrew
Sideras Andomachi and Myra Trivellas, Eve Frangopoulos,
Raphael Kirou, Nikolaso Kostaras, Christos Ioannis Mouzakitis.
to Myra Trivellas of the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine,
who won the award sponsored
by the Leonidas Lantsounis Research Fund, and the Stavros
Hartofilis Research sponsored
grant presented to Christos Ioannis Moutzakitis.
Medical scholarships were presented the following five students,
Katrina Krough, who attends New
York Medical College and won
the Dr. Spyros and Vivian Mezitis
Hellenic Fund; Anastasis Meletios
of SUNY Downstate College of
Medicine wm the Dr. Constantinos Vardopoulos Scholarship,
Alexander Orfanos of the Geisel
School of Medicine of Sartmonth
won the scholarship sponsored by
Dr. Anthony Vasilas, Andrew
Sideras of the NYU School of
Medicine won the Polyvios N.
a practicing physician in the past,
for today’s doctors and their feelings of being overwhelmed. He
then gave an overview of how
healthcare industry challenges,
including both quality of care and
skyrocketing costs have been addressed over the past three
decades.
The dramatic shift from the
“free for service” model to “value
based care” guided by the “triple
aim” goals of 1) population health
2) experience of care, and 3) per
capita cost, and governed by reviews and ever-increasing paper
(and computer) work) has many
physicians feeling like “deer
caught in the headlights” of oncoming industry and government
demands.
His comprehensive presentation can only be summarized by
Coryllos Memorial Scholarship,
and Andomachi of Tulane University School of Medicine was
presented the HMS-NY Scholarship.
Dr. Soterakis preceded his presentation with a call for a moment of silence to honor the
memory of their dear friend and
noted colleague, Dr. Antoine C.
Harovas, but he was also happy
for the students, saying “we see
they will have a bright future.”
Soterakis began by noting the
well-known fact that the U.S.
spends the most of any country –
18 percent of GDP – but added
that American healthcare is not
tops in the developed world in
terms of quality.
Soterakis, given that he is now
on the management side of the
field, expressed his sympathy, as
key terms such as “accountability”
and advice such as “physicians
will have to become members of
teams” and “pay attention and be
active.” He noted that government agencies want to get it right,
for physicians and patients, and
that they are reaching out for input and urged his colleagues to
be involved in the healthcare redesign process.
Although most of what Dr.
Soterakis discussed pertained to
Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement requirements, he
noted that many insurers follow
their leads.
After his presentation, Dr.
Soterakis made a personal appeal
for his colleagues to support the
work of the Hellenic Relief Foundation, which provides food and
medicine to the needy in Greece,
and acknowledged the presence
of one of its founders, past HMS
president Nicholas Mezitis, whose
brother, Federation of Hellenic
Medical Societies of North America president Spyros Mezitis was
also present.
Patsos also offered a comprehensive and sympathetic presentation, sometimes in an “I’m just
the messenger tone. She urged
the doctors to “really pay attention to billing and coding errors”
and make sure staff is properly
trained in order to avoid penalties
and other problems.
The Q & A addressed the question of what is driving the bureaucratization of medicine, and
one sympathetic non-medical person to physicians decried the virtual “enslavement” of physicians.
While featured speakers and
guests bemoaned the fact that the
process is disrupting the vital doctor-patient relationship and the
doctors’ ability to advise and
guide, and while it was noted that
the slack is being picked up people like physicians assistants,
HMS Vice President Stella Lymberis told TNH “there is no substitute for hearing it from your
doctor.
Stavropoulos spoke of the evolution of techniques for minimally
invasive surgery, including the removal of tumors and other interventions.
In procedures that blur the
lines between the work of surgeons and gastroenterologists,
doctors gain access though the
mouths and other orifices of patients, eliminating for scar-creating piercings of the abdomens
and the need to remove large portions of organs like the stomach,
esophagus, and colon.
Past HMS president Dr.
George Dangas and Dr. Soterakis
congratulated Stavropoulos on
his pioneering work.
HMS Honors Michael Jaharis, Dr. Antoine Harovas, and Dr. Jack Soterakis
Continued from page 1
George Iliopoulos and his wife
Anthousa, Greek Consul Manos
Koubarakis and his wife Georgia, Cypriot Consul General
Amb. Vasilios Philippou, and
Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Fr. Alexander
Karloutsos and Presbyter Xanthi
Karloutsos.
Archbishop Demetrios, calling
God, “the donor of the gift of life
to all her tonight and to the
whole world,” intoned “ we
thank you for this opportunity to
be together and to honor exceptional people among us…we
thank you for their lives and offerings and we ask you to bless
abundantly their families and all
the wonderful people present
here serving as physicians to
your people… and keep us always under your protection in a
wounded world in need of your
healing and redeeming and saving presence.”
Diktaban presented Harovas’
biography, and said “Tony
worked tirelessly during his 46year professional career, earning
the respect of his colleague and
earning the admiration of many
grateful patients.
He added that Harovas’ “love
for medicine was matched by his
deep sense of Hellenism” and
support for the church. Harovas
was an Archon of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate and “ was the proud
recipient of the Ellis Island Medal
of Honor…but his greatest pride
and joy was his family…he was
adored by his wife Debbie, his
daughters Amalia and Stephanie
and his grandchildren. ”Diktaban
concluded by saying “The dignified and exemplary manner in
which Tony lived his life on a
daily basis will continue to serve
as an inspiration to his family
and friends,” and invited
Harovas’ son-in-law to receive
the award.
Nicole Liakeas., who said “I
am honored and much pleased”
to present the award for Michael
Jaharis, pointed out one of the
things he could not achieve –
perfect anonymity – when she
said “who does not know
Michael Jaharis.”
She know him as an avuncular figure in her childhood and a
dear family friend, while fellow
Greeks respect him for his leadership in institution such as the
Archdiocesan Council. The Leadership 100 and Faith endowments.
Non-Greeks, she noted, recognize the name from “the beautiful Mary and Michael Jaharis
galleries of Greek and Roman
and Byzantine art at the Metropolitan museum of Art, and at
Art Institute of Chicago,” endowed scholarship and profes-
sorships they established, and
the medical research they support.
Soterakis was introduced by
Diktaban. The former’s contribution to medicine include writing
articles, abstracts and chapters
of textbooks in gastroenterology
and liver disease. Reflecting his
Hellenic passion, he was honored for his devotion to his heritage and Hellenic culture by the
Chancellor of the City University
of New York.
“I am humbled to accept this
honor” Soterakis, said, but he immediately praised HMS and its
mission of “education, research,
philanthropy, as well as support
for the Greek-American community.”
He shared how thrilled he
was by the prior night’s scholarship presentation event.
Soterakis expressed his appreciation for his family, colleagues
and friends, and especially his
dep appreciation for his parents,
whose roots are from the island
1
2
him. He was a beautiful soul. In
all my years at the Archdiocese
he never took money from anyone” when he gave employees
medical care. “Whenever you
needed him for something, he
was always there,” she said,
adding that when she now sees
the well-organized altar boys at
Holy Trinity Cathedral, she
knows the legacy of children he
recruited and trained.
Poulos called Michael and
Mary Jaharis “friends that I love
and respect” and noted, as all
their friends know “they are not
the kind of people who look for
recognition or accolades. They
just give with their heart and soul
and the only one who knows is
the Lord.” Noting that Mary Jaharis was at the gala to receive
the award because “Michael is
going through a very difficult
time” with his health “I admire
Mary because she was always the
silent partner standing by his side
and tonight she came to pay tribute to him in her own way and I
3
1. Left to right at HMS gala: Dr. Theo Diktaban, Susan McCarthy,
Euterpe Harovas, Dr. John Bendo, Dr. Jack Soterakis, Ethel Soterakis, Nicole Contos Liakeas, and Dr. George Liakeas. 2. The guests
who filled the Grand Ballroom of Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel to
honor Michael Jaharis, the late Dr. Antione Harovas, and Dr.
Jack Soterakis rise for the national anthems. 3. Mary Jaharis,
who received the Distinguished Hellene award on behalf of
Michael Jaharis at the HMS gala is escorted into the Plaza Hotels’ ballroom. Left to right: Dr. Theo Diktaban, Archbishop
Demetrios, Dr. George Liakeas, Mary Jaharis, and Amb. Vasilios
Philippou. 4. Left to right, seated at the Hellenic Medical Society
gala in NY: Archbishop Demetrios, Mary Jaharis and Euterpe
Harovas. Standing: Dr. Jack Soterakis and Dr. George Liakeas.
of Kastellorizo, Greece’s easternmost island, also known as
Megiste, for instilling in him his
work ethic and love of education.
Dr. Soterakis told TNH “I am
humbled and honored that my
peers have recognized my contributions as a physician, and the
care that I have given to patients,
as a participant in HMS and its
4
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mission to foster education and
scholarship, as well as philanthropy and the Omogenia.”
Executive Director of the
Leadership 100 Paulette Poulos,
who has worked closely through
the years with Harovas and Ja-
haris, spoke to the spirit and
achievements of both. “As I
walked in tonight I immediately
thought of Tony Harovas because
we used to always do all the
Greek dances, and where I heard
the music I immediately went to
pray for the Lord to give her
strength.”
The Something Special Orchestra entertained guests during
the cocktail reception in the
renowned hotel’s Grand Ballroom.
COMMUNITY
5
Telling the Story of Storytelling: Dr. Vasillis Loules on His Film Directing
By Aria Socratous
Vassilis Loules is an acclaimed and multiple awardwinning film director who loves
embarking on a journey into the
world of storytelling. He was
born in the town of Trikala in
the early 1960s, on the cusp between two eras in a small, onestory house that opened onto a
courtyard which his family
shared with other neighbors.
Next door was his father’s bicycle shop. And on the other side,
a coal shed. This was his entire
world. In the winter he would
often go to the bike shop and
sit near the wood stove together
with his dad’s customers and
friends smelling the oil and
grease of his father’s tools, listening to the stories of the unschooled, common folk and letting his mind travel. This is how
he started creating stories. On
October 20, his new documentary film’s screening And I Also
Passed from There and Had Paper Shoes to Wear (“Passed by
There”) took place as part of
The New York City Greek Festival.
The interview with Vasilis
Loules follows:
TNH: You studied electrical
engineering at the National
Technical University (NTU)of
Athens. How did you end up becoming a film director? Were
you looking for something creative and intriguing?
VL: I started my film studies
while I was studying at NTU. To
me, electrical engineering was
a job with steady paycheck and
cinema was the means to express myself in a creative way.
After long time, I realized that
engineering is a complicated
and analytical job; its organized
structure was a valuable lesson
for becoming film director. I often say that the course “Strength
ary of a child, photographs, and
home movies. It also depicts the
life of the Greek Jewish Communities before the War, complemented with rare images of
Occupied Greece from archival
material, as well as amateur
films by German soldiers and illegal footage shot by Greek patriots. In January 27, 2014 the
film was screened in Paris
Storyteller Vasillis Loules says: I love to put my camera into
the narrow streets, recording these little stories…”
of Materials” had double effect:
First, it helped me to create
brand new, solid worlds starting
from the beginning, (this is exactly the process of creating a
film) and it offered me the psychological strength to manage
the construction of those new
worlds.
TNH: Your documentary
Kisses to the Children was a
striking success and was the reason for the expansion of your
career to the United States.
Please elaborate on this documentary: how did you capture
the idea of its creation?
VL: In 2005 I felt extremely
emotional when I visited I visited the exhibition with invaluable personal documents of the
Hidden Jewish Kids at the Jewish Museum of Greece. I had recently become a father myself
and I was wondering how could
a child who was forced to hide
in order to save his life, escape
from the fear. Kisses to the Children is not just another film
about the Holocaust; it is a film
about childhood in the shadow
of the Holocaust. The film is
about five Greek-Jewish children who were saved by Christian families during the German
Occupation; they lived in total
silence and tell their stories. Stories of terror, anguish, and confusion, but also stories of salvation and carefree childhood into
the arms of strangers. Those became the secret Gardens of
Eden, nests of love away from
the horror of the Holocaust. The
movie follows these kids from
childhood to present, revealing
their hidden stories and invaluable personal documents, a di-
within the frame of the UNESCO’s events on the occasion
of the International Holocaust
Remembrance Day. It was in
theatrical release in Athens &
Thessaloniki for 8 weeks, it was
screened in many Greek towns
as special events, won awards
at film festivals and received
many rave reviews. It is currently in educational screenings
for the students in Greek High
Schools as well as in special
screenings in North America,
Europe, and Australia. In fall
2014, Kisses to the Children was
screened at 11 Universities
Prof. Lazos speaks to TNH about reports of Greek students
Lazos first brought up the reactions that the publication triggered in Greece, where he was
mocked. He told TNH that the
article generated angry cynicism
instead the kind of attention and
discussion such a serious issue
deserved.
With regard to the reaction
to the article, he explained that
editors write sensationalized
headlines to get attention – “but
that does not mean we don’t have
major problems with prostitution,
mind you.”
Speaking to TNH, Lazos clarified, however, that “this thing
about young students soliciting
themselves is an invention. It is
the result of stretching the data
too much. Some things I had said
and others I had not said,” so
there was a fusion of things he
said explicitly and what was extrapolated from the data. In other
words, the students’ poverty is a
fact, and the prostitution is a fact,
and so the Times concluded some
Greek women must be prostituting themselves for money to buy
cheese pies “and other such vulgar things,” he noted.
The professor hastened to inform us that his survey involves
poverty prostitution. That is,
prostitution that emerged during
the years of crisis. “I have not
found students involved in what
I have named, rightly or wrongly,
poverty prostitution. That is,
among people trying to survive
below the poverty line. In general, though, in the area of prostitution I have found students.
But not in the surveys of poverty
prostitution.”
He noted that the interview
can have its own interpretation
as it stands. “If someone asks me,
‘are there women who have prostituted themselves in order to
have breakfast, I would respond,
‘there are,’ but this is not a general occurrence.”
TNH had sought a clear yes
or no response to the question:
“So you did not talk about students prostituting themselves for
a cheese-pie?”
The surveys of professor Lazos, which will be published in
April or May of 2016 in a collective volume in honor of professor
Manganas, began in December
2012. He took two breaks: a 3month break and a six-month
break for health reasons, and
then then he resumed work that
is continuing in order to further
confirm the data. He concludes
that there are about 17,000 prostitutes throughout Greece. The
number though is an approximation because the professor focused only in the center of
Athens.
He pointed out that he looked
at the population three years ago
and he estimated that it has increased since then. “But certainly
I did not actually interview all
17,000 of them.”
He is confident in his estimate
and says the number is valid, because, as he says “our country is
small. So being aware of the specific area, I could get the information I needed for a population
estimate. Six months later he
identified a dip in the prostitute
population, involving the center
of Athens, and he says that the
number of Greek women engaged in prostitution has increased, but less than what was
expected. And this is due to a
new wave of immigration which
possibly created new customers.
As he explains, the survey
from 2012 until this year indicated a 12.5 percent increase in
prostitution, with the Greek
women constituting approximately 80 percent the increase.
Regarding the matter of
whether the charge for a half
hour visit is 50 euro or 2 euro, as
reported in the British publication, the professor said, “prostitution is a free market, so there
is no 50-euro charge. If you asked
me I would tell you that the usual
price of low-cost prostitution is
30 euros, but there is also prostitution catering to the perversions
of an elite clientele that costs
thousands of euros.
“We have encountered this
population, but we have not
touched upon it in the report because these are populations that
are prostituting themselves today and then they may stop. My
survey was based mainly on
poverty prostitution in order to
be able to identify the causes
that compel a woman – Greek
or not – to enter this area. Such
a thing, though, requires a
process of change in the psyche
on her part. Thus it takes time,
an element that is indicating to
us that in the future there may
be an explosion with Greek
women as well.”
He said that in the Times’ article “there is a greater boldness
than what I have said. Anyway
the matter is that the Greek
woman has made her appearance in the realm of prostitution.”
The professor denies that he
spoke about two euro tricks, or
about the percentage of Greek
women in the population of professional prostitutes. “I could not
have talked about a half-hour
visit given the context of an encounter full of panting, yet mechanical and stressful , and which
never exceeds five or ten minutes. Also, about the two euros
and the cheese pie I might have
said possibly that someone may
talk sarcastically to a woman who
is desperate and tell her ‘I’ll take
you to have this and that to eat,
and I’ll buy you a Coca-Cola as
present’ – and then that woman
accepts his offer, but this not a
general thing even in poverty
prostitution.”
At any rate, Lazos, in concluding his discussion with TNH, underscored that “prostitution, just
like criminology is a minefield.
We cannot approach these people
with a questionnaire in hand.”
share?
VL: I am currently in the extremely hard situation to seek
funding in Greece, Europe, and
the United States for making a
documentary on the photographic work of Panos Eliopoulos, the value of which was only
recently appreciated. Unschooled, very poor and orphan,
Eliopoulos enters the United
States illegally in 1923 and settles in Detroit, MI working as a
rail worker and at the General
Motors car factory. In 1927, he
enrolls at an Institute of Photography in Chicago. His graduation project, a short silent
movie, receives praise by his tutors. After the crash of 1929, he
returns to Greece and opens a
photographic studio in his birth
town Filiatra, Peloponnisos. He
takes pictures of unknown poor
people, births, funerals, newlyweds, prospective brides about
to immigrate. A mosaic of the
Greek province 1930-1964. The
documentary In the Dark Room
will present the adventure of a
man who managed to turn the
dark experiences of the first
thirty years of his life into a
work of art, filled with internal
light. The triumph of the will
and the resilience.
The trailer can be seen at:
youtube.com/watch?v=W12Kw
cIQ1yk.
50th Anniversary of Historic Orthodox-Catholic
Meeting Marked, Metropolitan Tarasios Honored
A two day observance of the 50th Anniversary of the historic
1965 Orthodox-Catholic Consultation was recently held at St.
Louis University sponsored by University and the St. Irenaeus
Orthodox Theological Institute. Metropolitan Tarasios of
Buenos Aires was among the participants. He was also the
guest of honor at a luncheon chaired by Nicholas Karakas –
speaking at the podium - where funds were raised of the work
of the Metropolis throughout South America.
Open Letter to Orthodox Christians
Dear Fellow Orthodox Christians:
Once again, Thanksgiving this November 26, 2015 was a wonderful opportunity to give Thanks for the many blessings we of the OCl have received
and enjoyed.
we offer thanks for the legacy provided by the courageous group of lay
people who began Orthodox Christian laity almost 30 years ago. It was and
is their vision that laid the groundwork for what OCl is today, a unique religious group that has experienced and works on the critical issues within
the Orthodox Christian Church and the wider, larger society and gives voice
to the marginalized.
we are Thankful for the talent and dedication of our officers and members
for their hard work, both those who work for OCl behind the scenes making certain that our memos, comments and stories get attention from our
fellow faithful and also those who help get our bills paid. most inspiring we
are grateful for the loyalty and support from our members. you inspire us
to keep doing what we do and you enable our work to continue through
your generous gifts. we can never thank you enough for your faith in OCl.
America's “Greek” City Hall
In the season of giving thanks, we remind you of OCl's annual appeal. we
are in constant awe and respect for those who have responded so generously to OCl and ask those who have not yet done so to keep our independent Orthodox Christian voice alive by making a donation to OCl. Please
use this listing at the bottom of this greeting to respond.
New York and other cities may have more Greeks than Tarpon
Springs does, but Tarpon is without a doubt the most Greek city
in the U.S., as evidenced by its main display case at City Hall,
featuring books on Greek islands, and other Greek documents.
On behalf of the OCl membership and our hard working officers, have a
blessed Thanksgiving and thank you.
Gratefully,
www.GreekKitchennyc.com
ab
across North America. This tour
was sponsored by the University
Seminars Program of the Onassis Foundation (USA).
THN: What is the procedure
you follow when you create
your documentaries?
VL: Real life is in the streets,
in the neighborhood alleys, in
the stories of simple ordinary
people. I love to put my camera
into the narrow streets, recording these little stories while at
the same time I try to catch a
glimpse of the parade of the history which is taking place on the
big avenue in the distance.
Passed by There takes us on a
journey into the magical world
of fairytales. Grandmothers and
grandfathers, folk storytellers of
rural Greece, face the camera
and tell fairytales and stories of
a universal and timeless character. A documentary film dedicated to perhaps the last people
of the land in whom the echo of
centuries of oral storytelling is
still alive. Simple folk, shepherds, housewives, farmers,
people with strong ties to the
earth and the animal world.
Most of them illiterate, but endowed with the gift of storytelling, spellbind us and take us
on journeys of the imagination.
THN: Is there any special
project you are working on right
now that you might want to
Nick Karakas OCl Past President
4400 woodson Road • St. louis, mO 63134
Tel: (314) 447-0290
COMMUNITY
6
Vandy’s Zeppos, USC’s Nikias On Top 10 Highest-Paid College Leaders List
Vanderbilt
Chancellor
Nicholas Zeppos and University
of Southern California President
Chrysostomos C.L. Max Nikias
are among the top 10 highestpaid college leaders in the
United States, and rank among
the most prominent-Greek
Americans in the country.
Columbia’s Lee Bollinger
ranks first with earnings of $4.6
million while Zeppos, a lawyer
who started his career in Washington, DC, came in fifth at $2.1
million and Nikias, 63, a Cypriot
who was graduated from the National Technical University in
Athens and is known for his
fundraising abilities, was 10th
at $1.48 million.
The list compiled by CNN
Money, showed that college
presidents pay keeps rising even
during a debate on whether college should be made more affordable and as many students
are crushed by years of paying
back school loans.
Median compensation rose
nearly 6% to $436,429, according to a new report from the
Chronicle of Higher Education.
It looks at salary and benefits for
leaders at 497 private, non-profit
colleges during 2013, the latest
year data is available.
Consultants say that there are
a “finite amount of people” for
these jobs and it’s not uncommon for college Presidents to
hop from one institution to another, said Sandhya Kambhampati, a reporter at the Chronicle.
The relatively high pay of college presidents generally represents a small amount of a
school’s budget. “The salaries of
University of Southern California President Chrysostomos C.L. Max Nikias.
college presidents generally
have a small effect on tuition at
the vast majority of institutions,”
said Robert Kelchen, a Professor
of Higher Education at Seton
Hall University.
And despite some big pay
packages, the president isn’t always the top earner, with some
football coaches above them –
including at Vanderbilt, known
more for academics than sports.
No one thing can be blamed
for rising college costs, Kelchen
said.
Besides Zeppos and Bollinger,
the only others to make more
than $2 million, through the
2013 reporting period, were
Amy Gutmann at the University
of Pennsylvania, Nido Qubein at
High Point University, and
Richard Joel at Yeshiva Univer-
sity.
ONE SMART LAWYER HERE
Zeppos joined the faculty at
Vanderbilt, in Nashville, TN, in
1987 and has held a number of
posts including Professor of Law,
Associate Dean of the Law
School, Associate Provost for
Academic Affairs, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Planning and
Advancement, and, in 2001,
Provost and Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs.
He has also written widely on
legislation, administrative law,
and professional responsibility.
He has served as the chair of the
Scholars Committee on the Federal Judiciary and as chair of the
Rules Advisory Committee of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit.
Zeppos serves on the National Security Higher Education
Advisory Board, a program of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also serves on the Board
of Directors of Fulbright Canada.
In 2012, Zeppos, who was
among faculty members recognized for 25 years of service to
the university, said he is proud
that Vanderbilt has become “the
embodiment of diversity and
meritocracy.” Those students accepted into the Vanderbilt community are considered “to be on
a journey. … We must never
limit them.”
Vanderbilt, he said, “is a place
with great academics that believes in the American dream,”
the Vanderbilt News reported.
Among the university’s recent
accomplishments he cited were
increases in student body diversity, an all-time high in under-
graduate applications, a large
turnout of Ph.D.s, a growing
number of minority PhDs, an increase in faculty national recognition and top performance in
research funds acquisition.
Zeppos said he was especially
pleased that the university has
been able to maintain its excellence while making it possible
for talented students of all economic means to receive a Vanderbilt education. This, he credited, to the success of
Opportunity Vanderbilt, which
eliminated loans from the financial packages the university offers students with need.
He noted that several peer institutions have backed off similar
financial aid policies, while Vanderbilt has not, the paper added.
“Times got tough and they
withdrew,” he said. “But we at
Vanderbilt are dedicated to
keeping the doors open for that
student who is working very
hard, and, for them, Vanderbilt
is a dream. Vanderbilt is a place
of acceptance. We want to provide these worthy students opportunities.”
THE JOURNEY FROM
CYPRUS
Nikias, an electrical engineer
who received a master’s and PhD
from the State University of New
York at Buffalo, has shot up the
academic hierarchy ladder and
keeps his interest in Athenian
drama and democracy.
“My father was a carpenter,
and my mother was a housewife,” he told the USC News.
“But both of them really had a
passion for education. My
mother’s dream was to see me
Yale’s Christakis Quits Over Politically Correct e-Mails
A lecturer at Yale on Early
Childhood Education, Erika
Christakis, quit after an email
she wrote urging students to
pick their own Halloween costumes – even if they were offensive.
She wrote the email in October suggesting that there could
be negative consequences to students ceding “implied control”
over Halloween costumes to institutional forces. “I wonder, and
I am not trying to be provocative:
Is there no room anymore for a
child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious,” she wrote, “a
little bit inappropriate or
provocative or, yes, offensive?”
Her position was in response
to a directive from the Intercultural Affairs Committee at Yale
warning students it would be insensitive to wear costumes that
symbolized cultural appropriation or misrepresentation, or
both, like feathered headdresses,
turbans, war paint, blackface or
redface, or costumes making fun
of people.
Christakis made a “voluntary
decision not to teach in the future,” according to a statement
from the university, the New
York Times said.
Erika Christakis
Her husband, Dr. Nicholas
Christakis, a physician and a
Professor of Sociology at Yale,
will take a one-semester sabbatical, the university said. The
statement said the administration hoped she would reconsider, quitting.
“Erika Christakis is a well-regarded instructor, and the university’s leadership is disappointed that she has chosen not
to continue teaching in the spring
semester,” the statement said.
“Her teaching is highly valued and she is welcome to resume teaching anytime at Yale,
where freedom of expression
and academic inquiry are the
paramount principle and practice.”
Her email, combined with an
overheard “white girls only” remark at a fraternity party, helped
set off protests over racial insensitivity at Yale.
A debate over whether the
protests and efforts to legislate
forms of expression like Halloween costumes were making
students and faculty afraid to
speak out if they disagreed at
the school which said it welcomed freedom of expression.
After the email, a group of
students confronted her and one
was shown in a video posted on
YouTube screaming at her, “It is
not about creating an intellectual space! It is not!” the student
was heard yelling. “Do you understand that? It is about creating a home here!”
Dr. Christakis is the Master
of Silliman College, an undergraduate residence at Yale, and
his wife is Associate Master,
posts they will keep the school
said. They didn’t respond to the
Times’ request for comment.
In 2009, he was named to the
Time 100, Time magazine's list
of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2009 and
again in 2010, Christakis was
named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global
thinkers
The message caused an uproar among some students who
said the email was insensitive
and itself failed to create a “safe
space” at Silliman.
In an email to the Washington Post, she implied that the
Halloween controversy and its
fallout were at the heart of her
decision:
“I have great respect and affection for my students, but I
worry that the current climate
at Yale is not, in my view, conducive to the civil dialogue and
open inquiry required to solve
our urgent societal problems,”
she said in a shot at the school’s
apparent policy of both urging
and squelching freedom of expression if some students don’t
like what you say or what they
think you’re implying or suggesting or hinting or indicating.
Vanderbilt Chancellor
Nicholas Zeppos
become a high school teacher.”
When Nikias was 10, his family moved to Famagusta from his
village of 800 so he and his sister
could get a good education.
Nikias excelled at math and science, but it was in history that
he finished first in his class.
“I still read classical Greek
history,” he says. “I love history,
not just Greek history, but all history.”
After high school, Nikias was
drafted, drilled and shipped off
to Crete for an intensive junior
officer training school.
He calls it one of the best experiences of his life. “Those six
months on the island of Crete
had a big impact on me,” he
says. Nikias learned what it
meant to be goal-oriented, using
strategy and leadership to accomplish difficult missions. He
led a platoon, made decisions
and learned to take responsibility, sometimes for failure.
“Leadership means you always have to worry. You never
rest,” he says. “Being a dean is
the same. It isn’t a job, it is a
commitment, and it occupies my
mind seven days a week. But I
love it!”
Ironically, the man he replaced as USC President, Steven
Sample, is also an electrical en-
gineer and served as President
of SUNY-Buffalo from 1982 to
1991, the last year being when
Nikias left Northeastern University to move to USC.
Before that, Nikias was on
the faculty of the University of
Connecticut. He became a U.S.
citizen in 1989. He was named
USC’s President in 2010.
He was founding director of
two national research centers at
USC: the NSF-funded Integrated
Media Systems Center and the
Department of Defense (DoD)funded Center for Research on
Applied Signal Processing. The
DoD has adopted a number of
his innovations and patents in
sonar, radar, and communication
systems.
As President, Nikias has written frequently about a range of
nationally significant topics, including the value of—and access
to—higher education; the future
of online education; the continued importance of the arts and
humanities; and the role of elite
research universities, particularly as economic drivers.
In 2011, Nikias announced a
$6 billion fundraising campaign,
at the time the largest in higher
education history. In his first five
years he’s brought in 27 lucrative gifts, four more than $100
million each and 60 percent of
the funds he raised came from
non-graduates, leading the
Chronicle of Higher Education
to call him “a prodigious
fundraiser.”
In recognition of his efforts
to renew USC's athletic heritage,
the New York Times selected
Nikias as one of a small number
of national figures "who make
sports' little corner of the world
a better place.”
Nikias was awarded the Aristeia medal, the Republic of
Cyprus' highest honor in the letters, arts, and sciences, the USC
Black Alumni Association's
Thomas Kilgore Service Award,
the Los Angeles Police Museum's
Jack Webb Award, and earned a
commendation for cutting-edge
research from the governor of
California.
California Victim Thalasinos
Had Death Threats
to vehemently criticize a proposed bill to tighten gun control
in California.
His widow Jennifer said he appeared to be friendly with Farook,
his co-worker, and a part of the
same “little group” at the office.
“He had worked with him,”
and possibly other victims, because of their divergent religious
beliefs.
Jennifer Thalasinos told Sean
Hannity on his Fox News show
that her husband was a devout
Messianic Jew who often wore a
Star of David tie clip.
She said Farook and her husband “completely disagreed” on
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The National Herald
E
LD
TH
NA
TIO
N AL
R
HE
A
Nicholas Thalasinos and his wife Jennifer were Messianic Jews,
mixing Christian and Jewish beliefs. She said her husband and
shooter Syed Rizwan Farook appeared to be friendly.
she said. “He had talked about
him. Nothing negative.” She said
that she and her husband both
were Messianic Jews, mixing beliefs about Christianity and Judaism and that he was devoted
to pro-Israel causes.
She said she had “no clue”
whether Farook had become radicalized in his Islamic faith, according to The Daily Mail.
“My husband was very outspoken about ISIS and all of these
radicalized Muslims,” she said. “If
he would’ve thought that somebody in his office was like that,
he would’ve said something.”
But the paper said a friend
heard the two get into a heated
conversation about Islam just two
weeks before the attack. It’s not
clear whether that argument was
a factor in the shooting.
FATAL CONVERSATION
Kuuleme Stephens said she
happened to call Thalasinos while
he was at work and having a discussion with Farook and told her
Farook believed Islam was a
peaceful religion.
She added that Farook said
Americans don’t understand Islam.
Farook did not believe Israel
belonged in the Mideast and that
it was a Muslim homeland,
Nicholas told her.
Nicholas said that “he didn’t
know what to do to get through
to him and how to talk to him,”
Stephens said. Still, she recalled,
that the conversation between Farook and Nicholas was brief.
“It didn’t set off any bells or
whistles for me,” Stephens said.
She said she believed the two
shooters targeted her husband,
issues surrounding Israel.
Hannity asked her, “Do you
believe that maybe your husband
was the person targeted by these
two people?”
“Yes I do,” Thalasinos replied.
“I also think some of the other
people that were killed were also
intended targets because of their
religious views and because of the
discussions that they had had
with the shooter.”
The two had talked about
whether Islam was a religion of
peace, she said. That her husband
offered strong opinions on Middle
Eastern politics and Islam was not
unusual. The discussions, however, were not contentious, she
said, and there were no signs that
Farook had become radicalized.
“I know my husband discussed
religion and Israel with a lot of
people, including (Farook,),” she
said. The FBI hadn’t interviewed
her she said, but she anticipates
speaking with Federal agents.
Thalasinos had been married
for nine years. The two met online and he moved out to California from New Jersey to live with
her.
Lisa Howard, a family friend,
said the couple had a “truly romantic, fairy tale love,” according
to a GoFundMe page she set up
to help Mrs. Thalasinos pay for
her husband’s funeral.
“They went through quite a
lot in their 14 years together, loss,
health issues, but always had
each other to depend on,”
Howard wrote. “Jenn is going to
be going through more than we’ll
ever be able to understand and
we hope this will help ease her
life just a little.”
COMMUNITY
7
Vardinoyannis’ “The Greek Crisis and the Impact on the Children’s Eyes”
TNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Noted Greek philanthropist Marianna V. Vardinoyannis was honored and was
the featured speaker at a joint
presentation of the HellenicAmerican Chamber of Commerce (HACC) and the HellenicAmerican Cultural Foundation
(HACF) at the Holy Trinity
Cathedral Ballroom on December 7.
HACF President Nicholas
Kourides introduced Vardinoyannis’ brief but inspiring talk,
“The Greek Crisis and the Impact Through the Eyes of the
Children.”
Vardinoyannis was deeply
touched by the huge turnout on
a Monday night deep in Christmas shopping season. She
thanked everyone , especially
HACF President Nancy Papaioannou, and declared “Thousands of miles away from
Greece and yet I feel like I have
never been closer to my country.
This is because I stand among
you, among people who purely
keep Greece in their hearts, being in fact its best representatives.”
She noted that “Crisis can
produce societies of indifference
or societies of solidarity, societies of exploitation or societies
of compassion. And it is us who
will live our mark in this challenging era,” and highlighted
the efforts of “those in Greece
who by hundreds help the poor
Marianna Vardinoyannis, the founder of ELPIDA, which helps
children with cancer, told guests who packed the ballroom of
the Archdiocesan Cathedral in Manhattan about the philanthropic obligations she feels and wants to convey to them.
and the refugees, providing food
and medicines.”
Asking what hope the
refugees could have for the future, Vardinoyannis said “I believe that this hope lies on our
hands, on each one of us,” and
said that “As a minimum contribution on our side, our Foundation recently launched the
Refugee Child Medical Assistance Program called WE
CARE,” and described its work
and collaborators.
She is optimistic about
Greece, founding her beliefs on
children winning a second
chance in life” fighting against
cancer through the ELPIDA Association she established.
“I am convinced that collective action and the power of
true faith can bring the big
[change to the world] that we
all dream of…So, let these children be our source of inspiration
through their unbelievable
courage and strength. Let them
be our symbols of hope as the
everyday heroes who remind us
that everything is possible,” she
said.
the bedrock of Greek history.
“Greek people have been
proved to be great fighters
throughout the centuries,” she
said, and reminded that after
“the poverty that followed the
Second World War and the civil
war, the Greeks who emerged
contributed to the progress of
our world, like many of you
here today: great scientists, successful businessmen, Nobel
Prize Laureates and most of all
happy and creative individuals.”
Vardinoyannis then said she
drew inspiration from the “780
Papaioannou, who is also
President of Atlantic Bank, said
presenting Vardinoyannis is
“one of the proudest moments
of my life” and called her an example for all of us of philanthropic efforts to bring the
world together to good things
for needy people.”
Archbishop
Demetrios
thanked and congratulated the
organizers for what he called a
beautiful event and a “wonderful opportunity to hear someone
who is a real ambassador of
happiness and care for children
throughout her whole life…we
are thankful to God for persons
like her.”
He then cited an early Christian text, the Didache, and
called Vardinoyannis a person
who does not merely loves her
neighbour as herself, but more
than herself,” especially the children.
Kerry Kennedy founder and
President of Robert F. Kennedy
Human Rights organization,
which the following day presented Vardinoyannis with is
prestigious Ripple of Hope
award, told the guests, “I don’t
know anyone who more embodies loving others more than herself.”
Koubarakis, speaking on behalf of the Consul General,
echoed Kennedy and added “I
cannot imagine a more fitting
person to present this crucial
topic than Miss Vardinoyannis.”
Earlier in the event, which
was preceded and followed by
a reception, Kourides described
HACF’s mission, which is “to organize and promote high quality
and relevant educational and
cultural programs…for persons
interested in the legacy of
Greece.” He also acknowledged
the dignitaries, including Greek
UN Ambassador Catherine
Bouras, Amb. George Iliopoulos
and Manos Koubarakis, Consul
General and Consul, respectively, of Greece, Ambassador
and Mrs. Loucas Tsillas, Amb.
Andrew Jacovides, and Princess
Alexandra of Greece.
RFKHR Lauds Marianna Vardinoyannis’ Philanthropic Work in Greece
lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward
one another.”
Katherine
Kennedy
Townsend introduced Vardinoyannis and together with her
mother, Ethel Kennedy, who sat
at the head of the dais, presented the award to Vardinoyannis.
The honoree’s work and
words are reminders that only
the efforts of today’s adults can
guarantee good futures for children, but the very children assisted by groups like RFKHR and
the ELPIDA association created
by Vardinoyannis inspire people
to take action and make sacrifices.
That is why Vardinoyannis
said that in addition to her family and her husband, Vardis, “I
also wish to dedicate [the
award] to the children suffering
from cancer… being so close to
them for 25 years through they
have become a unique source of
inspiration and determination
to me through their unbelievable courage and strength. They
are symbols of hope while they
are battling for life.”
Turning to the special goals
of RFKHR, she added, “They become symbols of a world that
we dream of, a world of equal
chances for all and of the right
to live in dignity.”
Joining Vardinoyannis on the
dais was Archbishop Demetrios.
1
2
tune 500 CEO – and corporate
responsibility, including charitable giving.
Challenged by an Apple
shareholder about it, Cook
boldly responded that he could
sell his shares and invest elsewhere, but it is RFKHR’s position that companies that protect
human and workers’ rights are
more profitable in the long run.
Guests were touched by a
striking photo of Robert
Kennedy standing before the
Parthenon graced by his quote:
“only humanity and love can
climb the hill of the Acropolis.”
The Hellenes and the audience were aslo moved by references to Robert Kennedy calling
Aeschylus his favorite poet,
making it clear that he faced the
unique and terrible challenges
in his life armed with two powerful forces, his Catholic faith,
and the wisdom of ancient
Greek philosophy.
3
4
5
Nearby were seated friends including Greek UN Ambassador
Catherine Bouras.
When she arrived at the
podium, she said “I feel humbled and deeply touched to receive this special award
tonight… First of all, allow me
to thank the founder… my dear
friend, Ethel Kennedy, who has
always been a role model for
me… and Kerry Kennedy, for
this inspiring award and for our
continuous co-operation all
these years.”
Vardinoyannis acknowledged
that “It is a real challenge, under
these difficult international circumstances, not only to focus
on the leaders who fight for justice and democracy, but also to
educate the new generations to
recognize them and appreciate
the values they stand for…
Thank you, my dear Kerry, for
keeping our hopes alive…I am
completely sure that a better
world for our children will rise
one day! A world where we can
leave our trace of peace and solidarity” she said.
Declaring that “The honor I
feel today becomes even greater,
as I stand among three great humanists: The Honorable John
Lewis, Τim Cook and Roger Alt-
man,” she said “I treasure this
special award as one of the most
important and touching moments of my life.”
Altman, who served as
Deputy Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton and is
Founder & Executive Chairman
of the investment bank Evercore
Partners, called Vardinoyannis a
symbol of humanitarianism.
He is active in numerous
philanthropic ventures, especially in the poverty-stricken
South Bronx, and he reminded
that even in America, citing the
recent police shootings, the
struggle for human rights continues.
Congressman Lewis held the
audience spellbound with his
passionate words about human
rights and his memories of
Robert Kennedy and Dr. King.
According to his congressional biography “By 1963, he
was dubbed one of the Big Six
leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.
At the age of 23, he was an
architect of and a keynote
speaker at the historic March on
Washington in August 1963.”
Cook was honored for championing two causes, LBGT rights
– he is the only openly gay For-
1)Marianna Vardinoyannis addressing the 700 guests at the RFK Human Rights gala standing
next to the striking bust of Robert F. Kennedy that she was awarded; 2) Marianna Vardinoyannis
congratulates two of her fellow honorees, Congressman John Lews and Apple CEO Tim Cook;
3) Marianna Vardinoyannis greets Archbishop Demetrios. Atlantic Bank President Nancy Papaioannou is at her side; 4) Left to right: Congressman John Lewis, known as the conscience of
Congress, Marianna Vardinoyannis, RFKHR President Kerry Kennedy, and Apple CEO Tim Cook;
5) Marianna Vardinoyannis receives the Ripple of Hope Award from Robert F. Kennedy’s
widow, Ethel Kennedy.
Get These Great Books for Gifts this Holiday Season
Some beautiful coffee table books
include At Home in Greece by Julia Klimi, and StyleCity Athens by
Ioanna Kopsiafti and Julia Klimi
which offer charming photographs and focus on the creativity and style of Greece. An Island Sanctuary: A House in
Greece by John Stefanides takes
a look at the elegant aesthetics of
a home on the island of Patmos
with stunning photography.
For foodies, cookbooks make
fantastic gifts. Ikaria: Lessons on
Food, Life, and Longevity from
the Island Where People Forget
to Die, by Diane Kochilas. This
enchanting volume with its delicious recipes will inspire you to
eat healthier and to book your
ticket to Ikaria as soon as possible.
A native of the island of Ikaria,
Chef Kochilas is the author of several cookbooks, including The
Country Cooking of Greece also
photographed by Stenos. She also
runs a cooking school on Ikaria
called the Glorious Greek Kitchen.
Another cookbook highlighting the healthy Mediterranean
lifestyle is The Greek Diet: Look
and Feel Like a Greek God or
Goddess and Lose up to Ten
Pounds in Two Weeks by Maria
Loi and Sarah Toland. With one
hundred recipes, this book offers
tasty and healthy recipes beautifully photographed and provides
insightful commentary from both
Chef Loi and the health journalist
and former Olympic athlete
Toland.
Poetry collections are a
thoughtful gift for loved ones who
enjoy the lyrical side of literature.
The Greek Poets: Homer to the
Present edited by Peter Constantine and Rachel Hadas is a must
have for poetry fans interested in
seeing the progression of the art
over time and through history.
Along with Homer, works by Pindar, Cavafy, Seferis, Elytis, Pavlina
Pampoudi, and Vasilis Steriadis
are included in this collection.
For those who enjoy more recent poetry, Through These
Lenses by Apostolos Anagnos-
topoulos is a fine collection featuring poems inspired by antiquity along with contemporary
themes. The Black Sea by
Stephanos Papadopoulos is an extraordinary poetic work tackling
the Pontic Greek genocide
through the eyes of various characters.
Fiction fans will enjoy …And
Dreams Are Dreams by Vassilis
Vassilikos translated by Mary
Kitroeff. This short story collection
is perfect for those who love magical realism. Vassilikos is best
known as the author of the political novel Z, which was adapted
into the acclaimed film by CostaGavras. His novel The Few Things
I Know About Glafkos Thrassakis
combines elements of magical realism and political fiction to tell
the story of a writer investigating
the life of another writer, the mysterious and recently deceased
Glafkos Thrassakis.
Nikos Kazantzakis, best
known for writing Zorba the
Greek, was a prolific author
whose works make excellent
gifts for book lovers. His epic
poem The Odyssey: A Modern
Sequel was published in 1938.
He considered it his most important work. A massive undertaking at about 1,360 pages of
verse, Kazantzakis began writing
in 1924 and wrote seven drafts
before finally publishing it fourteen years later. The English
translation, by Greek-American
author and translator Kimon
Friar was first published in 1958.
The book is a wonderful companion piece for Homer’s
Odyssey. Also inspired by Greek
mythology, Sta Palatia tis Knosou
(At the Palaces of Knossos) is a
retelling of the story of Theseus.
Though originally written for
young readers of a youth magazine, this historical novel is entertaining for all ages and highly
recommended in the original
Greek. The books mentioned
above are all available online in
Greek and in English translation.
Check with your favorite local
bookstore and local library for
availability.
OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS
8
CLASSIFIEDS
Savvas Christodoulides is Mourned by all Who Knew Him
LEGAL NOTICE
By Demetris Tsakas
TNH Staff Writer
NEW
YORK
–
Savvas
Christodoulides suffered a heart
attack on the afternoon of December 3 while exercising at his
home in Hillsboro, New Jersey.
When his children arrived he
was already unconscious and
despite their efforts to resuscitate him, he passed away.
The premature death of the
51 year-old plunged into
mourning his wife Maria, his
children Katherine, Yannis and
twins Phivos and Panayiotis, his
brother Nikos Christodoulides,
his sister and nephews and all
of his other relatives here and
in Cyprus.
Arrangements for his funeral
have not been made yet, as the
family is expecting his brother’s
arrival from Cyprus.
The President of Cyprus
Nikos Anastasiades in his written statement mentions: “I am
shocked to hear the news of the
unexpected death of Savvas
Christodoulides in the USA
where he lived permanently, the
brother of the Government
Spokesman and close associate
of mine Nikos Christodoulides.
“I want to express my deepest sorrow and my sincerest condolences as much to the family
of the deceased as to the family
of Nikos Christodoulides,” Anastasiades said.
The deceased was an IT Engineer who earned his PhD from
the New York Polytechnic
School and he had worked for
major companies, among which
were Goldman Sachs and his
most recent employer, AIG.
The President of the Hellenic
American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey and
Philadelphia, Michael Hadjiloucas, one the closest friends of
the deceased, speaking to TNH
he expressed his sorrow over his
premature death and declared,
among other things, “Maria lost
her beloved husband, the chil-
Savvas Christodoulides
dren their father who did all
best for them, the siblings lost a
compassionate brother, his
nephews lost their uncle. We
lost an exceptional friend and
New Jersey lost a much promising computer scientist and executive, while the Pampaphian
Association of America, lost one
of its most prominent members
and officers.”
“Savvas was virtuous, magnanimous, generous, noble, and
a gentleman. He distinguished
himself with his rare character,
his love for his fellow man, and
his philanthropy. He was always
present and in fact, he spearheaded the efforts of Greek and
Cypriot Americans for the Cyprus
cause and other national issues,”
added Michael Hadjiloucas.
Both the former and current
president of the Pampaphian Association of America Nikos Tziazas and George Sophocleus, respectively, speaking to TNH,
expressed their deepest sorrow
over the death of their compatriot and friend.
They also pointed out that
during its recent annual dance
the Pampaphian Association of
America honored Nikos Christodulides, who dedicated the
award to his brother Savvas,
whom he said stood by him
much more than any brother
during the time his studies in
New York.
Vasilios A. Dabilis, WWII Vet, Father of TNH Online Editor
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of Formation of BUKH LAW FIRM, PLLC
(DOM LLC). Articles of Organization filed with
the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on
11/04/2015. Office location: Kings County.
SSNY is designated as agent of the LLC upon
whom process against it may be served. SSNY
shall mail copy of process to: Bukh Law Firm,
PLLC, 1123 Avenue Z, Brooklyn, NY 11235.
Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
274906/19788
274867/19760
LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of Formation of OLEAR SCENTS, LLC
11/24/2015. Office location: Kings County.
shall mail copy of process to: c/o United States
Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Avenue,
Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any
lawful purpose.
274905/19787
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of Formation of MINDFULLY ACTIVE
PEOPLE, LLC (DOM LLC). Articles of
Organization filed with the Secretary of State
of New York (SSNY) on 10/03/2015. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY is designated as
agent of the LLC upon whom process against it
may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process
to: Cristian Largo, 1234 Colgate Avenue,
Bronx, New York 10472. Purpose: Any lawful
purpose.
274904/19786
Vasilios A. “Billy” Dabilis, 90,
of Fort Myers, FL, passed away
on November 30.
Born Nov. 4, 1925 in Lowell,
MA to Andrew and Fotina
(Bouka) Dabilis. He was a wellknown contractor in the area.
A World War II veteran, he
served in the Army as a member of 1155th Combat Engineers
Unit involved in many campaigns, including the Battle of
the Bulge.
He also served in the Philip-
pines, volunteering to stay an
extra year until 1946.
He was honorably discharged with a cavalcade of
medals. He was a parishioner of
Annunciation Greek Orthodox
Church for 30 years and known
for his spanakopita at church
festivals.
He is survived by his son and
TNH Online Editor Andrew
(Greece), son John (New Hampshire), daughters Deborah and
son-in-law Gerald Daley (Mass-
achusetts), Kim and son-in-law
Mark Byrne and Samantha
Dabilis (Florida) and long-time
companion Allison Sullivan; 11
grandchildren and 15 greatgrandchildren.
He was predeceased by his
widow, Margaret Gibbons,
brothers James, George and
Ozzie and sisters Eva Gavriel,
Aphrodite Daileanes (Massachusetts).
He is survived by his sister
Joyce Starr (California).
Dr. Frank Nick Hrisomalos of Bloomington, Indiana, was 86
Dr. Frank Nick Hrisomalos,
M.D., 86, Bloomington, passed
away peacefully Wednesday,
Dec. 2, 2015, at IU Hospice
House in the city of his birth, in
the presence of his family and
beloved wife, Becky, who selflessly cared for him day and
night during his year-and-a-half
battle with cancer. He worked
up until the day he fell ill.
Frank was born April 1, 1929,
to Nick and Katina Hrisomalos,
from Rapsani and Larissa,
Greece. Frank spent his childhood growing-up in and around
his parent’s establishment, Nick’s
English Hut in Bloomington,
which has now become a college
institution as well as a city landmark. He spent his childhood as
the only son of two Greek immigrants who came to America
to start a better life and seek the
American Dream. He graduated
from Bloomington High School
in 1946 and attended Purdue
University. He was a member of
Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, graduating with a pharmacy degree
in 1951. He returned to Bloomington and practiced pharmacy
for a short while at Brummett’s
Pharmacy on Third Street while,
at the same time, taking classes
at Indiana University to meet the
requirements to apply to medical
school. He married Athena
”Becky” Anton in 1954 at St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church
in South Bend, moved to Indianapolis and graduated from the
I.U. School of Medicine in 1957.
He moved back to his hometown
with his beautiful wife and two
(soon to be four) young children
in tow and started his solo family medicine practice on Kirkwood Avenue, just a few blocks
from their home - now People’s
Park - with Nick’s being between
the two. He took care of patients
seven days a week for 57 years,
until he fell ill at work, necessitating his retirement grudgingly
in 2014. He always said he
would never stop working, but
he finally had no choice. Roles
reversed themselves, and the
doctor became the patient. Over
a career spanning 57 years, he
saved lives, gave meaning to
lives, and made a difference in
many, many lives.
Frank became the longestpracticing physician in Monroe
County and was very proud of
that accomplishment. “Dr.
Frank,” as they would call him,
began taking care of the grandchildren of patients he had actually delivered decades ago. He
had a true love and tremendous
enthusiasm for medicine. He
practiced during the grand days
of the family practitioner - administering anesthetics before
the sub-specialty of anesthesia
became further developed - and
delivering thousands of babies including one of his own daughters - at all times of the day and
night.
He was exceedingly kind,
dedicated, generous, wise and
humble. He always wanted to
talk about others, not himself.
He sacrificed his own life and
personal time to help others and
spent years on the Bloomington
Public Board of Works under
several different mayors. He was
the director of Public Investment
Corporation and chairman of the
board for decades. He spent
years as director of many local
nursing homes and had a special
place in his heart for those patients. He believed in the dignity
of all people, young and old. He
was awarded Sagamore of the
Wabash as well as being named
a Kentucky Colonel. On his 80th
birthday, he celebrated in a place
of great significance in his life Nick’s English Hut. Mark
Kruzan, mayor of Bloomington,
proclaimed April 1, 2009, “Dr.
Frank Hrisomalos Day."
Frank had a passion for many
things, from the arts to IU athletics. He had a fantastic memory; his knowledge of history
was remarkable. He inherited
his love of property and investing from his father who, many
years earlier with foresight, had
purchased farm land where
Frank would later build his family home - where he lived, entertained and enjoyed his family
and friends since 1963.
Frank lived a magical and
wonderful life. He left a legacy
that will live on forever within
all of us. He inspired all of his
children to pursue the same passion of helping and healing.
He will always be here, inside
of us all, until the end of time.
Frank is survived by his wife
of 61 years, Athena ”Becky” Hrisomalos; sons, Nick Hrisomalos
(Joni), Tom Hrisomalos (Debbie); daughters, Karen Hrisomalos (Gary Gettelfinger), Elaine
Coghlan (Kevin); and grandchildren, Frank Hrisomalos, Emily
Hrisomalos, Matthew Coghlan,
Sarah Coghlan, Megan Coghlan,
Nicholas Shirley, Alexandra
Shirley, Addison Ahrendts, Olivia
Gettelfinger, Christian Gettelfinger, Alex Jerden and Scott Jerden (Brittany).
Preceding him in death were
his father, Nick Hrisomalos of
Rapsani, Greece; his mother,
Katina Hrisomalos of Larissa,
Greece; and his granddaughter,
Faith Coghlan of Bloomington.
Visitation will be from 5 to 9
p.m. with a Trisagion Prayer Service at 8:45 p.m. Sunday, Dec.
6, and from 10 a.m. to noon
Monday, Dec. 7, at Sherwood
Oaks Christian Church, 2700 E.
Rogers Rd. in Bloomington.
Orthodox Christian funeral
services will be conducted at
noon Monday, Dec. 7, at the
church, with the Rev. Father Peter Jon Gillquist officiating.
Burial will follow in Valhalla
Memory Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, memorial
contributions can be made to All
Saints Orthodox Church of
Bloomington, 6004 S. Fairfax
Rd., Bloomington, IN 47401, or
to I.U. Hospice House at Bloomingtonhospitalfoundation.org.
Arrangements are under direction of Day & Deremiah-Frye
Funeral Home in Bloomington.
The family would like to extend a sincere thank you to Sherwood Oaks Christian Church for
allowing them to use their facilities for the services.
Condolences may be left at
DayDeremiahFrye.com.
The Academic Community Mourns Language Lecturer Rassias
Scholar, and stayed there to
complete his PhD. He then went
to Paris, where he studied
French drama at the Sorbonne
and acted in the theater.
His time in the theater served
him well as he developed his
teaching method.
In 1964, he began a long affiliation with the Peace Corps
language programs, working as
a consultant and developer. Two
years later, he became director
of the first pilot program of languages for the Peace Corps in
Africa, leading training in the
Ivory Coast. The Rassias Method
of language instruction was
later adopted by the Peace
Corps.
Rassias joined the Dartmouth
faculty in 1965, and served
thousands of students and colleagues for close to 50 years. He
was a founder of the College’s
Language Study Abroad programs and was the director of
foreign study programs for several years.
His commitment to communication and cultural understanding was the cornerstone of
his life.
The Rassias Method of instruction lives on, not only at
Dartmouth, but around the
world. In the past few years the
method—brought to Mexico by
John’s daughter Helene RassiasMiles – has been taught to more
than 2,000 English language
public school teachers who, in
turn, have instructed hundreds
of thousands of Mexican students throughout the country.
Rassias-Miles, her father, and
Dartmouth alumna Luanne
Zurlo ’87 created the Mexico
project. “It was such a huge love
of his,” she said yesterday from
Mexico. “He was so excited that
I was coming down this week
to work on it with our colleagues.”
ABOVE: Prof.
John Rassias
demonstrates
the Rassias
Method to a
group of
teachers from
Mexico in 2010.
Photo: Joseph
Mehling.
RIGHT: Prof.
John Rassias
claps his hands
to make a point
while teaching
Mexican
teachers of
English. Photo:
Eli Burakian.
Notice of Formation of SBRE VENTURES, LLC
11/05/2015. Office location: Nassau County.
SBRE
shall mail copy of process to:
VENTURES, LLC, 6851 Jericho Turnpike, Suite
200, Syosset, NY 11791. Purpose: Any lawful
purpose.
Notice of Formation of PACKAGE DELIVERY
SOLUTIONS, LLC (DOM LLC). Articles of
Organization filed with the Secretary of
State of New York (SSNY) on 10/15/2015.
Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of the LLC upon whom
process against it may be served. SSNY shall
mail copy of process to: Mr. Sorin F. Iancu,
P.O. Box 290561, Brooklyn, NY 11229. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
274868/19761
LEGAL NOTICE
MDEZIEL MEDIA LLC. Art. of Org. filed
w/ SSNY 11/11/15. Office in Kings Co.
SSNY designated for service of process
and shall mail to: Mdeziel Media LLC,
669 St. Marks Ave. Ste. 3F, Brooklyn, NY
11216. Purpose: Any lawful activity
274851/18796
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of Formation of ZIM INSURANCE
SERVICE LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy.
of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/23/15. Office
location: Kings County. SSNY designated as
agent of LLC upon whom process against it
may be served. SSNY shall mail process to:
The Company, 1215 East 10th St., Brooklyn,
NY 11230. Purpose: any lawful activities.
274745/18059
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of Formation of MCKEEN ST CAPITAL LLC
11/20/2015. Office location: Nassau County.
shall mail copy of process to: Robert F. Sheehy,
305 Split Rock Rd., Syosset, NY 11791.
274894/19778
LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
31 Fort Worth Place, LLC, a domestic LLC, filed
with the SSNY on 7/24/15. Office location:
Kings County. SSNY is designated as agent
upon whom process against the LLC may be
served. SSNY shall mail process to The LLC, 63
Flushing Ave., Unit 297, Brooklyn, NY 11205.
General purpose.
274740/10709
LEGAL NOTICE
VIP Student Services, LLC. App for Auth filed w/
SSNY 8/24/15. Formed in AL 4/1/15. Office in
NY Co. SSNY designated for service of process
and shall mail to Reg. Agent: U.S. Corp Agents,
Inc, 7014 13th Ave. Ste. 202, Brooklyn, NY
11228. Auth Officer: AL Sec of State, PO Box
5616, Montgomery, AL 36103. Purpose: Any
lawful activity.
Notice of formation of BUSINESS TRAVEL
EXPERTS, LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with the
Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/08/15.
Office in Kings County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process
against it may be served. SSNY shall mail
process to the LLC, 228 4th Avenue, Apt. 4L
Brooklyn, NY 11215. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
274874/18796
274738/19027
Notice of Formation of Top to Bottom Home
Inspections, LLC (DOM LLC). Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New
York (SSNY) on 09/23/2015. Office location:
Nassau County. SSNY is designated as agent of
the LLC upon whom process against it may be
served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: Top
to Bottom Home Inspections, LLC, 664 East
Walnut Street, Long Beach, NY 11561.
6607 Property Holding LLC, a domestic LLC,
filed with the SSNY on 9/9/15. Office location: Kings County. SSNY is designated as
agent upon whom process against the LLC
may be served. SSNY shall mail process to
The LLC, 6607 11th Ave., Brooklyn, NY
11219. General purpose.
LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
274739/10709
274876/19769
LEGAL NOTICE
FUNERAL HOMES
Notice of Formation of 236 GRAND STREET
LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY
(SSNY) on 11/12/15. Office location: Kings
County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC
upon whom process against it may be served.
SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service
Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207, regd.
agent upon whom and at which process may
be served. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
274875/17976
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of Formation of STONEBOTS, LLC
(DOM LLC). Articles of Organization filed
with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 22/06/2015. Office location: Nassau
County. SSNY is designated as agent of the LLC
upon whom process against it may be served.
SSNY shall mail copy of process to: Spiegel &
Utrera P.A., P.C., 1 Maiden Lane, 5th Floor,
New York, NY 10038. Purpose: Any lawful
purpose.
274869/19762
LEGAL NOTICE
FOURPOINT BOXING LLC. App for Auth
filed w/ SSNY 10/30/15. Formed in DE
8/7/15. Office in NY Co. SSNY designated
for service of process and shall mail to:
The LLC, 150 W 56th St. Apt. 4103, New
York, NY 10017. Auth Officer: DE Div of
Corps, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
274854/18796
APOSTOLOPOULOS
Apostle Family Gregory, Nicholas, Andrew Funeral Directors of
RIVERDALE
FUNERAL HOME Inc.
5044 Broadway
New York, NY 10034
(212) 942-4000
Toll Free 1-888-GAPOSTLE
CONSTANTINIDES
FUNERAL PARLOR Co.
(718) 745-1010
Services in all localities Low cost shipping to Greece
ANTONOPOULOS
FUNERAL HOME, INC.
Konstantinos Antonopoulos Funeral Director
38-08 Ditmars Blvd.,
Astoria, New York 11105
(718) 728-8500
Not affiliated with any
other funeral home.
TO PlACE yOUR ClASSIFIED AD, CAll: (718) 784-5255,
ExT. 106, E-mAIl: classifieds@ thenationalherald.com
John Rassias: The Dartmouth Professor
Changed Foreign-Language Instruction
Much of the American academy is beset by political rot, but
here and there are reminders of what once made U.S. higher
education the envy of the world. One example was John A.
Rassias, the Dartmouth College professor who died at age 90
on Wednesday after revolutionizing the teaching of foreign
languages.
The son of Greek immigrants, Rassias joined the Marine
Corps in World War II and fought on Okinawa. He turned to
the study of French and other romance languages in the 1950s
and developed a language program as a consultant to the Peace
Corps. At Dartmouth he adapted that into what became known
as the Rassias Method, or the Dartmouth Intensive Language
Model that has been used for instruction in 180 languages
around the world.
Rassias rejected the rote repetition of language instruction
in favor of immersive classes that engaged students in rapidfire drills and often dramatic set-pieces.
The idea was to get students thinking in the foreign language
while enjoying the experience of learning. Rassias’s passion
and personality made him a student favorite and earned appearances on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and even “The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson.” Believe it or not, education used to be
part of American popular culture.
Rassias also made Dartmouth an early leader in campus
study abroad. President Jimmy Carter named him to his commission to improve foreign language study in the U.S., which
is still much needed and is a reminder of the days when more
Americans thought it was a virtue to be engaged with the
world. John Rassias showed that the American campus can be
a joyously unsafe space where young people can be inspired
and have their minds opened.
Originally printed in the Wall Street Journal -Opinion Page- on
December 6, 2015.
COMMUNITY
9
GREEK GASTRONOMY
OUR EVERYDAY GREEK
Don’t Be Afraid of Greek Pronunciation: It’s Easy
By Dr. Dimitra Kamarinou
Though the Greek vocabulary may not be easy to understand, the pronunciation of
Greek words is very easy for two
reasons. First, each single letter
one reads is pronounced. No letters are omitted in a word. Second, each letter possesses only
one sound. In English the pronunciation of the letters “o” and
“a,” for example, varies depending on the word in which they
belong. In Greek, the sound of
the vowels α,ε,ο,ι,η,υ,ω is one,
clear, and open, and it doesn’t
change significantly.
VOWELS
Τhe Greek alphabet has three
different letters, ι, η, υ, which
are all pronounced the same: ee
(needle). The letters o and ω
are also pronounced the same:
o (organism), but the first one
is short and the second is long.
What does this mean? In Ancient Greek, the vowels had a
value.
Short vowels are ο and ε,
while long vowels are always η
and ω. In Ancient Greek the
long vowels took almost twice
as long to pronounce as the
short vowels. Α, ι , υ were sometimes long and sometimes short,
depending on the letters that
followed them. In Modern
Greek we have inherited the
writing and less the long values
in the pronunciation.
DIPHTHONGS
Certain pairs of vowels are
pronounced together to produce
one continuous sound, different
than the one that each vowel
alone can produce. These are
called diphthongs. Diphthongs
are in most cases counted as
long syllables. Ει, οι, υι are
equally pronounced as the ee
Letters
Diphthongs
ι
η
υ
ει
οι
υι
ε
Αι
Pronunciation
Examples
i (idiom)
or ee
(needle)
when
accentuated
Όχι (ohee= no)
Αθήνα
(Atheena=Athens)
ύπνος (eepnos=sleep)
έχει (ehee= has)
οικογένεια (ikoyenia= family),
υιός (ios= son)
ένα (ena= one),
ναι (ne= yes)
Όχι (ohi= no)
Ώρα (ora= time)
Σουβλάκι (souvlaki)
Αυτό (afto= this)
Αύριο (avrio= tomorrow)
Ευχή (efhee= wish)
Ευρώπη (Evropi= Europe)
e (energy)
ο
ω
o (organism)
ου
αυ
oo (boot)
af (scoff) or
av (suave)
eph (ephemeral)
ev (Evelyn)
ευ
CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Some consonants are combined to produce a new sound.
Examples
Consonant combinations Pronunciation
μπ
b (botanic)
Μπαμπάς= babas: father
ντ
d (diagram)
Ντομάτα= domata: tomato
γκ, γγ
g (grammar)
Γκρι = gri, grey
τσ
ts (nuts)
Κορίτσι= koritsi: girl
τζ
dz (suds)
Τζατζίκι= dzadzeeki: yogurt dip
(needle). Αι is pronounced as
the letter ε = e (energy). Ου is
pronounced like oo (boot). In
some cases αυ is pronounced as
aff (scoff) and in other like av
(suave). The same goes for the
diphthong ευ. Sometimes it is
pronounced as eph (ephemeral)
and sometimes as ev (Evelyn).
A Greek word has as many syllables as it has vowels or diphthongs: Κα-λη-μέ-ρα, έ-χει, αύρι-ο, αυ-το-κί-νη-το, Ευ-ρώ-πη.
ACCENTS
Unlike written English, written Greek marks accents wher-
ever they occur. The accented
syllable is indicated by the
“tonos” on the vowel (΄). No
matter how many syllables a
word may have, the accent can
appear only over one of the last
three syllables. When the word
is pronounced the accent is
shown by an increased stress on
the accented syllable. The onesyllable words do not get a
tonos.
USEFUL TIPS
English-speaking people may
confuse the Greek letter Χ,χ ,
which is pronounced like he-
lium, with the English X,x. Όχι
is pronounced ohee, not oxi (as
in oxygen). Due to its resemblance to the English P,p the
Greek letter Ρ,ρ= R may mistakenly be pronounced as P. A
word where the Greek P and the
English R can be clearly distinguished is Ευ-ρώ-πη = Εu-rope: ρ stands for r, while π
stands for p.
PRONUNCIATION KEY:
i stands for short i (idiom),
while ee (needle) for long and
accentuated,
e stands for e (energy), d
stands for δ (that), while th
stands for θ (theory),
y stands for γ (yes), h stands
for χ (helium).
Zucchini Bread and Cream
Cheese Frosting Easy Recipe
By Eleni Sakellis
The versatile zucchini is a
vegetable with a sweet side.
Grated into a simple cake batter,
the zucchini helps the cake retain its moisture for a sweet
treat that can be enjoyed any
time of day. Though it is called
zucchini bread, this quick cake
made in the muffin method is
reminiscent of that other cake
made with a grated vegetable,
carrot cake, and is sure to become a family favorite. Here is
a simple recipe for zucchini
bread.
Zucchini Bread
• 3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose,
unbleached flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated
nutmeg
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
The mini loaf pans will bake
quicker, test them for doneness
at about 35-40 minutes. Cool on
wire racks for ten to fifteen minutes before removing from loaf
pans.
Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.
These cakes can be made in
advance and taste even better
the next day as the flavor ripens.
If you prefer, you can store the
cakes tightly covered in the refrigerator or even freeze them,
just thaw in the refrigerator for
two to four hours before serving.
Though the cake is sweet
enough without frosting, you
can dust it with confectioners’
sugar or if desired, frost with
your favorite cream cheese
frosting or the simple recipe that
follows.
Simple Cream Cheese
Frosting
• 6 ounces cream cheese, at
room temperature
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at
Dimitra Kamarinou, PhD, has
studied philology and archaeology at the University of Ioannina,Würzburg and Bochum in
Germany.
She
has
been
honored with the Academy of
Athens Award in Archaeology
and Homeric Philology.
TURNING POINT
Sarah Johnson: Helping Refugees to Carry The Future
A recurring series of conversations with residents of Athens,
and the very moment that
changed their lives.
By Alexia Amvrazi
When 26 year Sarah Johnson, who runs a ranch in Texas
and also works as a Doula, assisting women give birth, heard
about the repeated, almost daily
drownings of Syrian refugees
and their children in Greece, she
knew that she had to do something about it – to literally, physically, actually take action and
offer her help, even if it meant
paying her own way, leaving her
two young children, aged one
and three, behind for a few
weeks, and landing face-on with
a reality that nothing can prepare anyone for.
She is one of numerous female American volunteers who
joined Carry The Future, an initiative they first heard of from
Greek American Cristal Logothetis, to raise money for, buy
and hand-deliver new and gently used baby-carriers to refugee
parents who manage to reach
the Greek shore, in order to
make the rest of their journey a
little safer, easier and more human. The campaign, which
started in early October, with
the initial goal of raising $2,500,
went viral overnight and managed to garner widespread interest and support.
I met Sarah on one of the
many evenings when she was
between volunteering shifts at
the ports (volunteers are there
at all hours of the day and
night) when she found a few
hours to talk. The process is this:
once refugees arrive, volunteers
rush within the 15 minutes between them coming on shore
and before they are herded onto
buses, to offer baby carriers and
fit them onto willing parents'
bodies so they can understand
how to wear them. At the time
of our interview, around 5000
carriers had already been
handed out.
“A lot of people are reticent
at first,” she says, “because they
don't quite understand the function of the carriers. But once
we've strapped them on them
and they have their baby or toddler inside (there are three sizes
of carriers, made to carry babies
from a few days old up to
around four years), soon they
realize what a great difference
it makes and it becomes clear
they are relieved.”
For Sarah, hearing about
Carry The Future created a huge
turning point in her life. Already
very occupied at home with her
two jobs and two kids, as well
as an ailing husband, when she
began hearing about people
drowning in Greece she made
the big decision to come over
herself and offer help. Making
this pivotal decision has been
hugely rewarding to her:
“Greece has won my heart, as
have the Greek people. I also
have followed the Greek crisis
and know it's not easy for your
people. The fact that there has
been so much effort by Greeks
to help refugees while you still
need help is very moving.”
“Carry The Future offered me
a great sense of purpose. Although coming here I was somewhat set on keeping myself
buffered in order to help it not
seem so real, you constantly
come across people who remind
you of yourself – you see yourself
in them. I know that I would
want people to take care of me if
I were in that situation, so to be
able to help take care of them it
lets you know theres good in the
world. The next step immediately
is to formulate our 2016 Calendar, and continue trips for people
in the US who want to help, to
be able to, and to gather more
support here in Greece in order
to be able to hand out more carriers. Our goal is to see the
refugee crisis through, and make
sure every refugee who wants a
baby carrier can receive one.”
“We have two Indiegogo
campaigns, one is for carriers
and the other is called Operation Refugee Child which is for
handing out small drawstring
bags to give young children for
them to carry the very few toys
they have as well as a few essentials like diapers, wipes,
some food. These kids are constantly moving from one place
to the other, facing the most difficult situations, and this offers
them some sense of stability.”
Find out more about Carry The
Future online: www.carrythefuture.org.
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
extract
• 2 cups coarsely grated
zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup raisins
room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
Grease and flour two (9 by 5
by 3 inch) loaf pans or four (5
1/2 by 3 by 2 1/2 inch) mini
loaf pans and set aside. Preheat
oven to 350 degrees. In a large
bowl, whisk together the flour,
sugar, baking powder, baking
soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil,
and vanilla extract.
Stir the grated zucchini into
the egg and oil mixture. Add the
wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just
combined. Stir in the nuts and
raisins.
If you prefer, dried cranberries may be substituted for the
raisins.
Divide the batter between
two loaf pans or four mini loaf
pans. Bake at 350 degrees for
one hour or until a toothpick,
skewer or cake tester inserted
in the center of each cake comes
out clean.
In the mixing bowl of a stand
mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese,
butter and vanilla until thoroughly combined and smooth.
Reduce the mixer speed and add
half of the confectioners’ sugar
slowly to avoid making a huge
dust cloud of sugar.
Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar, then gradually
raise the speed to medium and
beat until the frosting reaches
the desired spreadable consistency.
An additional 1/2 to 3/4 cup
of confectioners’ sugar may be
required depending on the water content of the butter and
cream cheese.
Makes enough frosting for
two cakes.
Store any leftover cream
cheese frosting in the refrigerator and use within one week.
Always cool cakes completely
before frosting.
Cakes topped with cream
cheese frosting should also be
kept refrigerated.
of neglect, servitude and thanklessness, forgotten birthdays,
many holidays, too. You may be
waking up one morning and
find yourself all alone in your
old age – which isn’t far.” Yiannis’ expression turned pensive.
He, actually, appeared worried.
He looked up at Dimos, pleadingly. “You’re wise, Dimos - a
good friend, too! I always respected your opinion. What do
you think?” Dimos shrugged,
stirring his coffee in contemplation, giving serious thought to
what George had said, receiving
a wink that hinted George was
exaggerating and decided to go
along with it. “Yes, Yiannis, it
looks very serious. When
women begin taking inventory
of the years, some, actually, do
something about it, finally. I believe you should take George’s
advice, seriously. Not only get
the flowers but a dinner, too,
completed with wine – the
works!” adding, “consider Barbara, too! After all, if Areti goes
Barbara will go with her mother,
naturally. I’d do anything to
keep my family together; order
not only dinner and flowers but
a special card saying how much
you appreciate her. I’d do it in
an especially nice place.”
John, having caught George’s
wink, decided to go in on it,
telling Yiannis, “I’d make sure
she got those roses.” Brightening, Yiannis bestowed a wide
smile on Dimos and John. “You
guys would really do all that?”
They nodded, assuredly. Knowing Yiannis better than most,
George sensed that their good
advice was about to backfire.
Taking in a deep, relaxing
breath and reaching for the last
donut covered with sprinkles,
Yiannis said, “That’s what I’ll do.
Thanks, guys! I’ll take care of
getting a card and signing it.
What friends! And, what friendlier surroundings than the
diner? When do you want us
there, Dimos?” Dimos looked
up in complete surprise as Yiannis asked John, “Could you deliver the flowers to the diner?”
GREEK AMERICAN STORIES
Belated Thanks
By Phylis (Kiki) Sembos
Special to The National Herald
Yiannis confessed that Areti
was mad at him; a lot of silence
in the house, dinner late, no
slippers when he got home, no
chamomile tea before bedtime,
no shoulder massage.
“Why?” asked George, adding,
“Keep it short! Areti isn’t the complaining kind. If she was we’d be
here till closing.” Ignoring him,
Yiannis told them that he’d blundered Thanksgiving Day. He explained, hesitatingly, “Unfortunately, Barbara is now old
enough to be opinionated. And,
let me tell you she makes sure
she voices them. She sure didn’t
take after her mother.” George
interrupted, “I’d call that fortunate!” Turning away, he continued. “So, she objected when I
said we’d go for Thanksgiving
where we went on several occasions.” Dimos told him, “I can’t
blame Barbara, Yiannis. Only
homeless and those who are genuinely poor go to the Good Will
Centers on that day.” Kipreos
asked him why he went there.
Yiannis shrugged, looking up
nostalgically at Dimos. “You
weren’t having Thanksgiving at
your diner this year – like that
one time...and it was great...all
of us being together...real
homey like. The others had their
own plans, so, where was I to
go?” John asked, “What about
your sister? She’s invited you
and your family to her house a
couple of times, hasn’t she?”
Yiannis nodded. “Yeah, but she
expects us to bring a pie,
Spanakopita and flowers. All
that gets expensive!”
Always outspoken, George
said, “And, why not? A little
‘something’ won’t break you.
Your trouble is you’re a cheap
free loader and ...” Dimos held
out his hand, preventing him
from adding more. “So, where
did you go Thanksgiving, Yiannis?” After a few minute’s
thought, he told him, “We
stayed home. Barbara bought a
Turkey breast, mashed some
potatoes, made a salad and got
a pecan pie all in complete silence. She served her mother
while I...served myself. No respect!” John, looking stern, told
him, “And, you’re wondering
why Areti is mad at you? I
wouldn’t speak to you until next
Thanksgiving.” Head hanging
low, donut untouched and
falling into a long silence they
all wondered if they were seeing
a repentant Yiannis. John, feeling sorry for him, offered to prepare a bouquet of roses for
Areti. “I’ll charge you half the
price.” Yiannis looked up. “She’s
not THAT mad.”
George, wanting to put the
fear of God in him, said, “I
wouldn’t be a friend if I didn’t
inform you that, from what my
wife told me Areti is madder
than you think ... all the years
FEATURE
10
ALL HISTORY
The Astounding Artwork of John Gavrelos via Eye of the World Exhibit
By Steve Frangos
TNH Staff Writer
CHICAGO- While it is generally
agreed that John Gavrelos (18931979) built what would come to
be called “The Eye of the World
Exhibition,” some time between
1923 and 1948, little else about
this astounding work of art is
publicly known.
Gavrelos was what we would
call today an outsider artist. Well
outside the boundaries of any art
tradition this man’s singular creation is now sought after by museum’s across the nation. Said to
be in the hands of his extended
family John Gavrelos’ fantastic
creation is, and perhaps rightfully, in the realm of community
legends.
Given the artist’s vision, The
Eye of the World is not so much
a single work of art as much as
an assembly of constructions. As
family recollections have it in
1923, John Gavrelos began carving tiny replicas of famous buildings, the Parthenon, Biblical
scenes, the Statue of Liberty, the
Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence, a couple of Greek monasteries and
other notions. Gavrelos’ constructions are all that more amazing
because these undeniably beautiful constructs were whittled out
of no more that cast-off fruit
crates and cigar boxes For reasons not now known Gavrelos
stopped or felt he had completed
his exhibition in 1948. At that
time the overall assembly of constructions when organized and
presented, as the artist intended,
they measured a staggering 27
running feet in length. How John
Gavrelos came to conceive of or
ultimately understood his own
work is not for the moment publicly known.
According to Gavrelos’ greatnephew and namesake (John
Gavrelos), when his great-uncle
first came to the United States at
the beginning of the last century
“he worked at a chocolate factory
(where) he was fascinated with
the molds he saw, and thought if
it could be done in candy, it could
be done in wood.” What is missing from Gavrelos the younger’s
explanation is that at the height
of Greek immigrant involvement
in the American confectionery
trade was their artistry and business savvy. Confectioners around
the nation competed with each
other for the general public’s attention by means of their elaborately displayed candy fantasies.
Candy store front windows were
the settings for seasonal displays
of Santa Claus houses, Brea Rabbit adventures during Eastertide,
airplane dogfights during World
War I, perfect renditions of their
local schools in spun candy, giant
life size animals in chocolate and
whatever the artistry and imagination of the local candyman
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Should visaless entry continue for those visiting the United
States from abroad?
Please
email
your
response
to
[email protected] We may publish some responses as Letters to the Editor in a future issue.
could conceive and create.
John Gavrelos was not a career artist nor even a confectioner. At some point Gavrelos
left the confectionery trade and
joined his brother in Beaumont
,TX. While reliable biographical
information on John Gavrelos’
life is available we do know that
the Gavrelos brothers owned and
operated the J and J Steakhouse
at 6685 Eastrex Freeway in Beamont. This same location became
the site for their bigger brand
new Lone Star Steakhouse in
1953 and then something else
until it was no more than an
abandoned building by 2012.
Gavrelos carved and stored
his initial works in a trailer
parked next to his restaurant. By
1953, Gavrelos was ready to
show his work to the world. In
the new restaurant with its own
specially room that featured a
neon sign Gavrelos carefully assembled his work. At this point
the artwork had taken on meaning for the entire extended
Gavrelos family. While it is said
that “other members of the
Gavrelos family contributed paper-mache mountains, bridges,
streams, and people – not necessarily to scale” no one is identified by name. Having said that
his great-nephew Gavrelos is
adamant that everything in that
room and display case was
arranged exactly according to
Gavrelos’ specifications. As his
nephew insisted, “He wanted
everything just right…he was
very particular.”
Gavrelos, known far and wide
as “Poppa John” died in 1979. In
July, 1997, his great-nephew of
old Poppa John and then current
owner of the Lone Star Steakhouse told Texas Monthly magazine that the family had
“promised our uncle we would
THE HERALD SQUARE
TNH's Crossword Challenge
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n THRU DEC. 18
FAIRFIELD, CT – Fairfield University’s Bellarmine Museum of
Art, 1073 Benson Road in Fairfield, presents its new exhibition, Hair in the Classical World,
on view through Friday, Dec. 18.
As the first exhibition of its kind
in the United States, Hair in the
Classical World will take you on
a cultural journey through ancient Greece, Cyprus, and Rome,
and will examine the role of hair
in each through three thematic
lenses: Arrangement and Adornment; Rituals and Rites of Passage; and Divine and Royal
Iconography. For more information and to register (free) for
events, please visit bellarminewag.eventbrite.com.
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n THRU DEC. 19
BOSTON, MA – Art 100 Boston
2015 presents its second annual
art exhibition featuring more
than 400 original works of art
by 65 artists from December 4
to 19, at the Piano Craft Gallery
located at 793 Tremont Street
in Boston. It is an exhibition featuring original works of contemporary art, all for $100. Artists
support the Breast Cancer Foundation. The exhibition will include paintings, photographs,
sculptures, limited edition
prints, collages and mixed media constructions created by established and emerging artists
in the New England area.
www.CrosswordWeaver.com
ACROSS
1 Bird of peace
5 Phenol
9 Nile's home
14 Greek soccer team
15 Booted
16 Encomium
17 Speed
18 Fill
19 Dapper
20 Deoxyribonucleic acid (abbr.)
21 Second Greek letter
22 Masculine pronoun
23 Moans
25 Obstacle
29 DDE's predecessor
30 Grainery
31 Boxer Muhammad
32 Unspoken
35 City in Yemen
36 14, to Nero
37 Santa call (2 wds.)
38 Spiros of pro wrestling
40 Flat bread
41 Wrath
42 Bode
43 Painting prop
44 Seventh Greek Letter
45 Pappas of baseball
46 Constellation
47 Stupidity
49 Informal
52 Air
53 Information
54 Grk. soccer team
56 Opposite
59 Be fond of
60 Austin novel
61 Expenditure
62 Declare positively
63 Christmas song
64 Flare
65 A Cartwright
66 Citizen of Denmark
DOWN
1 Shina
2 Great ape
3 Priest
4 Compass point
5 Concur
6 Talks
7 Ninth Greek letter
8 HST's successor
9 Fifth Greek Letter
10 Third Greek letter
11 Affirmative
12 Golfer's goal
13 Dynamite
21 Plant fiber
22 May 21st Saint
24 American state
25 Antic
26 Up or down on a graph
27 Elect
28 Compete
30 Holy person
32 Looter
33 Main artery
34 Delude
38 Friendliness between nations
39 Depend
40 Grk. soccer team
42 Fifteenth Greek letter
43 Snaky fish
46 Lets down
48 Utilization
49 Extravagant parties
50 Island country
51 Asian country
53 De __ (anew)
55 Vegetable
56 Prisoner of war
57 French "yes"
58 Type of partnership
59 Morse code "T"
60 Ending
n THRU DEC. 23
MANHATTAN – Helly Nahmad
Gallery, 975 Madison Avenue in
Manhattan, in cooperation with
Phoenix Ancient Art will enchant New York City audiences
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with a unique exhibition,
“Mnemosyne: de Chirico and
Antiquity,” that will run until
Dec. 23. The exhibition will include modern paintings, created
by Greek-born Italian artist
Giorgio de Chirico, paired
alongside other marvelous
Greek and Roman antiquities, in
an effort to expose Classicism’s
huge aesthetic impact on twentieth century Modernism. The
event is being held Monday to
Friday from 10AM to 6PM, and
Saturdays 11AM to 6PM. For
more
information
email:
[email protected].
n DECEMBER 11
MANHATTAN – AGAPW is the
Association of Greek American
Professional Women. We are delighted to invite you to AGAPW’s
Holiday Benefit Celebration at
the Greene Street SoHo studio
loft of artists Michael and Niki
Kapsalis, 2 Greene St., Second
Floor, in Manhattan on Friday,
Dec. 11, 6-9PM. The two are
featured in the New Visual Art
Performance Biennial, Performa
15. Please, join us in sharing
gratitude for the year we are
leaving behind and in welcoming the new year soon to arrive
with fine Greek wine, Greek
mezedes and seasonal sweets,
great company and great art!
Advanced
RSVP
at
[email protected] is required. We kindly request a $75
donation; net proceeds will benefit AGAPW’s Excellence Tuition
Scholarship fund. Please, consider sponsoring AGAPW’s educational and charitable events.
For more information, please
visit agapw.org/site/sponsors.
n DECEMBER 20
MANCHESTER, NH – You won’t
want to miss the Community
Singers 2015 Christmas Concert
Spectacular being held in Saint
George’s
Cathedral,
650
Hanover Street, in Manchester,
NH from 7:00PM to 8:30PM
Join us for a spirited and cheerful concert of Christmas and
Holiday favorites. Sing along to
your favorite music and celebrate the most wonderful time
of the year! Admission is free.
Reception to follow in the Community Center. All are welcome.
SOMMERVILLE, MA – Join us
for our Christmas Luncheon
hosted by St. Catherine’s Philoptochos, 29 Central Street. The
luncheon will begin at 11:30AM
after the Divine Liturgy. Tickets
are $20 for adults and $10 for
children. For tickets, please contact Dora Sfikas at (781) 3951403 or the Dormition Church
office at (617) 625-2222. Bring
your family and friends!!
MANSFIELD, MA – Join us for
the annual St. Gregory’s, 1007
West St, in Mansfield, Christmas
potluck. All are welcome to
come and bring a family favorite
to share. Please note that this is
a light fasting period, so dishes
should be meatless if possible.
There will also be the annual
Chocolate Dessert Auction, as
well as the popular Mystery
Wine Raffle. Please sign up at
coffee hour with you planned
dish, and contact Anastasia
Kaufman if any questions (401)
338- 2749 or [email protected]. The event will
be from 11AM to 1PM.
This Week in Greek History:
Amb. Gianna Angelopoulos Daskalaki is Born
Solution to last week’s puzzle
W
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[email protected]
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always keep the museum next to
restaurant”
the
(texasmonthly.com/articles/eyeo
f
t
h
e
world/#sthash.1GN4JKQ8.dpuf)
.” But as far as I can now determine the Lone Star Steakhouse
no longer exists. So what has become of the Eye of the World Exhibition?
Artists and museum personal
had long recognized John Gavrelos’ standing as a unique outsider
artist. For those of you unfamiliar
with the genre of outsider artist
here is one definition: “The term
outsider art was coined by art
critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as
an English synonym for art brut
(e.g. "raw art" or "rough art"), a
label created by French artist
Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of
official culture; Dubuffet focused
particularly on art by those on
the outside of the established art
scene, such as psychiatric hospital
patients and children. While
Dubuffet's term is quite specific,
the English term "outsider art" is
often applied more broadly, to in-
clude certain self-taught or naïve
art makers who were never institutionalized. Typically, those labeled as outsider artists have little or no contact with the
mainstream art world or art institutions. In many cases, their
work is discovered only after
their deaths. Often, outsider art
illustrates extreme mental states,
unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds.”
There are many Greek-American outsider artists and there
have been Greek outsider artists
since the early immigrants of the
1880s. Just to list a few we can
certainly point to Helen Contis,
Peter Contis, Stephanie Frangos,
George N. Kapotas, John W. Perates, Tom E. Stefopoulos, and
Drossos P. Skyllas. One of the
finest books on two of these
artists (despite the misleading title) is: Byzantine Butterflies: The
Folk Paintings of Peter Contis and
Helen Contis by David Lewis
(New York: The Overlook Press,
1995). This book is available all
over the Internet and is one of
the finest biographical histories
of Greeks in the United States I
have ever read.
Ted Poulos, my mother’s
brother’s godfather was a candymaker in Antioch, IL, I saw his
six-foot Christmas candycanes
that he donated to the local boy
GOINGS ON...
25
37
12
22
29
32
11
Seen here is part of GreekAmerican outsider artist
John Gavrelos’ magnificent
“Eye of the World”
collection.
scouts each year displayed in his
store window. I recognized what
author David Lewis means by the
influences of Greek folkart traditions on the original artwork of
Helen and Peter Contis in the
drawings and candyart I first saw
Koumbaro Ted create.
As one might expect museums
around the nation have vied to
display John Gavrelos’ The Eye
of the World. Chief among these
has been the Texas Association
of Schools of Art at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. In
2008, Gavrelos’ art was included
in the TASA tour of Beaumont
Folk Art. Public sources report
that the last large scale display
of Gavrelos’ creation was at the
American Visionary Art Museum
in Baltimore. Yet search as I
might public accounts offer no
clue as to the either the present
condition or future plans for the
“The Eye of the World Exhibition.
As far as I can determine this
massive work of art is still in the
hands of Gavrelos’ extended family. All we can hope for at this
stage of events is that the wishes
of the extended family that their
beloved Poppa John’s creation be
properly preserved will be met
by some public institution.
Still it cannot be said Gavrelos’
outsider artwork creation is beyond public view. For those of
you wishing to view elements of
Gavrelos’ massive work of art, for
the moment, the Internet is your
best source. Over the years many
visitors to the Gavrelos restaurant
photographed the Eye of the
World Exhibition from various
points of view. Close-ups of single
structures within the larger presentation show the incredible detail and artistic achievement invested in each structure, element
or figure. Panoramic photographs
give some sense of the overall
scale and intricacy of this fabulous artistic achievement. Whatever the ultimate fate of Gavrelos’
creation, as these Internet images
and commentaries report, it has
already entered the consciousness of the wider world of art.
A I L S
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This week, in 1955, on December 12, Greek Ambassador
and businesswoman Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki was born
Ioanna Daskalaki, in Crete.
After graduating high school,
she attended the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied law.
In 1980 she married Georgios
Parthenis. The couple had a
daughter, Carolina. After their
divorce, Daskalaki married
Greek shipping and steel magnate Theodore Angelopoulos in
1990, with whom she had two
sons, Theodore and Constantine.
Daskalaki was president of
the Bidding Committee for the
2004 Summer Olympics, successfully bringing the Olympics
to Greece. She was the first
president for any Olympic organizing committee.
Amb. Gianna Angelopoulos
Daskalaki
A former Member of the
Greek Parliament and Greek
Ambassador at large, Daskalaki
was back in the headlines in
2014 when she publicly supported SYRIZA, which rose to
power that January.
She
blamed Greece’s problems on
former PASOK leader and Prime
Minister Andreas Papandreou,
but blamed post-Papandreou
administrations as well, particularly that of New Democracy’s
Kostas Karamanlis.
Daskalaki is a prolific author
and an active member of the
Clinton Global Initiative. She
continues to serve as Vice-Chairman of the Dean's Council for
Harvard's John. F. Kennedy
School of Government. She appeared on a Forbes Top 100
Most Powerful Women, ranking
at number 46.
GREECE CYPRUS
11
Tsipras, Germany’s Schaeuble Tangle Over IMF Role in Greek Bailout
German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schaeuble said Greek
Premier Alexis Tsipras is trying
to wiggle out of a bailout deal
that includes the International
Monetary Fund.
Tsipras had said he wants the
IMF, one of the country’s Quartet of lenders along with the European Union, European Central
Bank and European Stability
Mechanism, to either bow out
of a bailout program or go easier on Greece, reversing his acceptance of its role earlier.
“The Fund must decide if it
wants a compromise, if it will
remain a part of the program,”
said Tsipras. “If it does not want
to, it should come out publicly
and say so.” The IMF has been
urging European lenders to provide debt relief to Greece but
said it would not join in.
Speaking on the sidelines of
an Ecofin meeting, Schaeuble
said: “It is not in Greece’s interests for it to question the IMF’s
involvement in the bailout program,”
according
to
Kathimerini.
“I believe we negotiated at
length with Mr Tsipras in July
and August,” added Schaeuble.
“I also believe that he signed the
agreement and then held elections to get a mandate from the
Greek people so he could implement what he signed.”
He said Tsipras, under fire at
home for reneging on virtually
every anti-austerity campaign
promise he made, is having second thoughts about adopting
some of the measures de-
AP PHOTO/VIRGINIA mAyO
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, center, arrives for a meeting of EU finance ministers
at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. EU finance ministers are set to
debate in Brussels ways to better track financial transfers, control pre-pay bank cards, freeze
assets and limit movements of cash and precious metals.
manded by Greece’s lenders.
“They should focus their attention on doing what they have
to do,” he said. “As always, they
are behind schedule. Maybe
questioning the agreement is
necessary for domestic reasons;
he has a slim majority I have noticed. This may be the easy route
but it is not in Greece’s interests.”
Tsipras’ coalition of his Radical Left SYRIZA and its partner,
the formerly anti-austerity farright Independent Greeks has
AP PHOTO/PETROS GIANNAKOURIS
Arsenal beats Olympiakos 3-0 to qualify with 3
Olivier Giroud scored a hat trick, during a Champions League
Group F soccer match with Olympiakos, as Arsenal advanced
to the last 16 of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over
Olympiakos on Wednesday, at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus, overturning an advantage held by the Greeks.
only a three-seat edge in the
300-member Parliament and
faces trouble if it goes ahead
with pension cuts.
Greece shot back. “We remind that the Greek government
is responsible for deciding what
is in the country’s interests,” said
government spokeswoman Olga
Gerovasili.
“We expect the German Finance Ministry to separate its
stance from the unacceptably
tough stance of the IMF,” she
added. “Europe should and is
able to solve its problems on its
own.”
THE BIG SQUEEZE
With his shaky coalition teetering, Tsipras blamed the IMF
for pushing the country too hard
for more tough reforms in a
third bailout that is raised ire
among the citizenry.
The IMF has been urging the
other international lenders, the
European Union, European Central Bank, and European Stability Mechanism to take a big hit
and give Greece debt relief at
the same time the Washington,
D.C.-based institution is insisting
it won’t.
Tsipras agreed to a bailout of
86 billion euros ($93.44 billion)
– since reduced by less money
needed for recapitalization of
Greek banks – but in return has
been forced to break virtually all
his anti-austerity campaign
promises.
But he said the IMF is squeezing too hard and making unrealistic demands as his three-vote
majority in Parliamentary could
be tested if he implements more
pension cuts, a “Red Line” he
said he would never crossed but
jumped over under pressure
from the lenders.
“This is a stance that cannot
be called constructive in this
process,” he said in TV interview, an ironic reference to the
debt relief he wants but in which
he said the IMF doesn’t want to
take part.
“The Fund must decide if it
wants to compromise, if it will
stay in the program,” Tsipras
said. “If it does not want that
compromise, it should say so
publicly.”
The IMF has taken the hardest line in demanding pension
reform with benefit cuts, and a
far-reaching liberalization of
Greece’s labor market.
The IMF has not disbursed
any aid to Greece since August
2014 under a previous program
due to expire next March.
Athens defaulted on an IMF
loan repayment in June but has
paid up after getting revenues
from a third bailout which is being used to pay a second bailout,
which was used to pay a first
bailout.
An IMF spokesman said last
week it would decide whether
to co-finance the new bailout after the first review of compliance
with the program, expected
early next year, based on how
much debt relief Greece gets.
The IMF was not being helpful by making reform demands
Reunification Optimism Buoys Cyprus Investors
Growing hopes Cyprus can be
reunified after 41 years is boosting prospects investors will be
willing to take a chance on its
success.
The island has been split
since an unlawful 1974 Turkish
invasion and Ankara still keeps
a standing 30,000-man army on
the norther third it occupies and
refuses to recognize the Cypriot
government and bars its ships
and planes.
Turkey wants to join the European Union, of which Cyprus
is a member. Cypriot President
Nicos Anastasiades and TurkishCypriot leader Mustafa Akinci
have been taking part in the negotiations aimed at reunifying
the island amid recent optimism
they will succeed although all
the same major issues that have
plagued past talks remain.
“This is probably the time
where we have the best climate
ever in negotiations,” Phidias
Pilides, President of the Cyprus
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents about
8,000 companies, said in an interview in Nicosia with the
Bloomberg news agency.
Across the United Nationscontrolled buffer zone that separates the two sides of Cyprus,
Fikri Toros, President of the
Turkish Cypriot Chamber of
Commerce, echoed that sentiment.
"There is a unique window of
opportunity," he said in a
Bloomberg interview in the
Turkish-occupied section of
Nicosia, Europe’s only divided
capital.
"Reunification will make up
for a huge number of lost economic opportunities," he said.
His organization represents
about 3,500 enterprises.
Economic output in a reunified Cyprus could reach 45 billion euros ($49 billion) at constant prices by 2035 compared
with about 25 billion euros for
the two sides together, with an
annual average growth rate of
4.5 percent over 20 years, compared with just 1.6 percent without a solution, according to
Fiona Mullen, director of
Nicosia-based Sapienta Economics and co-author of the report
The Cyprus Peace Dividend.
If both sides can reach an
agreement - if - analysts believe
there could be a boom in number of sectors, particularly professional services, shipping,
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (l), Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (c), and Cypriot
President Nicos Anastasiades snake hands after their trilateral summit in Athens, Dec. 9.
property and tourism, although
still unresolved is the thorny issue of either returning homes to
Cypriots that were occupied by
Turks or compensating them.
Despite the political obstacles, there's a heady feeling on
Cyprus that something is happening. "We’re seeing a lot of interest from foreign investors focused on these ...areas," Libor
Kroska, head of the Cyprus office
of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development told
the news agency.
"Cyprus-based professional
companies would be able to provide accounting, legal and fiduciary services to Turkey, the
largest and fastest-growing regional market," he said.
Buying property in Cyprus at
a time when the country is
preparing to exit its international
bailout program at the end of
March, makes it a good investment, Stelios Haji-Ioannou,
Chairman of easyGroup and
founder of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, said in an
interview in Nicosia.
“Bricks and mortar is probably a good, safe investment," he
said. "It might be too late if it’s
obvious to everyone that Cyprus
is out of its memorandum. Prices
after reunification will go up."
There are many obstacles yet
though, although there's the
added lure of the prospect of oil
and gas reserves being found off
the island, a bounty in which
Turkey wants to share. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reigns over Akinci and
could be the final determinant.
But money could trump politics, especially as the memory of
the invasion and its aftermath
fades and newer generations of
Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots
have no tie to the event.
CYPRUS ECONOMY LIFT
Cyprus is still trying to recover
from a 2013 economic crisis that
led Anastasiades to renege on
promises not to let banks confiscate private bank accounts as the
government needed 10 billion
euros in aid. That, as in Greece,
came with attached austerity
measures that hurt businesses
and citizens alike.
He’s hopeful that a unified
Cyprus – in what form hasn’t
been decided and it could still
be a split sovereignty – would
help the comeback while Turkish
Cypriots, whose area is recognized only by Turkey, could reap
benefits by being in the European Union.
Cyprus though is also struggling with bad loans created
when austerity and seizure of
accounts led many to be unable
to pay mortgages, credit cards
and loans.
A boost to the property sector, especially in the south,
would allow banks to sell bad
loans at better prices, Kroska
said. Cypriot lenders have the
highest level of non- performing
loans in the EU, according to the
European Banking Authority,
surpassing even the 48 percent
in Greece.
“The dividend for the banking system for supporting a recovered combined economy
would be substantial," John
Hourican, chief executive officer
of Bank of Cyprus, the country’s
largest lender, told the news
agency. He wants to make it easier for banks to take people’s
property.
Bert Pijls, Chief Executive Officer of Hellenic Bank said his
institution’s eight branches could
see big benefits too from unification especially as commerce
and travel between the two sides
would be easier, although it’s unsure whether Erdogan would
then allow Cypriot ships and
planes into Turkey, which would
have a de facto entry into the
EU through its presence on the
island that would be sanctioned.
politically unacceptable to
Greece, he said, “and by going
to the (EU) partners demanding
solutions and proposals on debt
sustainability which they know
our partners cannot accept”.
In the 90-minute interview
with public broadcaster ERT,
Tsipras said he wouldn’t bring
in new partners to bolster his
coalition of his Radical Left
SYRIZA and the formerly antiausterity far-right Independent
Greeks.
IMF Managing Director
Christine Lagarde met with
Greek Economy Minister Giorgios Stathakis who briefed her
on the government’s lack of
progress in instituting more reforms demanded by the lenders
and why.
In response to a question
from The National Herald on
whether debt restructuring was
discussed, an IMF spokesman
said it is not IMF policy to comment on what other parties say
and that he could not speak
about what Stathakis said during
the meeting.
WE CAN’T PAY
Although he said Greece
couldn’t pay back the first two
loans, Tsipras – reversing antiausterity campaign pledges –
said he was forced to ask for a
third he said can’t work and
won’t be repaid to keep the
country afloat for a little while
longer until the next dilemma.
It’s now so bad that the IMF,
breaking from the unspoken
role about not going public to
air dirty laundry, in August
wrote a paper declaring Greece
needs debt relief – from the EU
and ECB – to be eligible for continued IMF aid.
“I remain firmly of the view
that Greece’s debt has become
unsustainable and that Greece
cannot restore debt sustainability solely through actions on its
own,” Lagarde said then.
A growing number of economists agree that Greece needs
more than another dose of austerity policies to recover. But
they are also asking why it took
so long for the fund to reach
that conclusion, the New York
Times wrote.
“I applaud the fund for releasing the report, but at the
same time it was too late,”
Gabriel Sterne, an economist at
Oxford Economics in London
who has closely studied the
I.M.F.’s role in Greece told the
paper. “For right or for wrong,
they are the only honest broker
here so they really should have
gotten this out sooner.”
AP PHOTO/SANTI PAlACIOS
Refugees rejoice and embrace each other after safely landing
on the shores of Lesbos, eager to get out of Greece to other EU
countries.
Greece, EU Leave Refugee
Aid to Volunteers, NGOs
As Greece’s Radical Left
SYRIZA struggles to keep together a shaky coalition and impose more austerity, it has been
ripped for failing to deal with a
tsunami of refugees and migrants using the country as a
way station to get to other more
prosperous European Union
countries.
As SYRIZA – which for
months has failed to even set up
an office that would bring in
460 million euros ($504.41 million) in critical EU aid – it’s been
left to charities, NGO’s, volunteers from Greece and other
countries to try to help the newcomers.
Greenpeace
and
other
groups, including the Red Cross,
are among them, as well as mutual aid group called O Allos Anthropos, or “The Other Person”
in Greek, founded in 2009 by
Konstantinos Polychronopoulos,
a burly, bearded man in his early
fifties.
His role, and that of the others helping the migrants and
refugees landing on the Aegean
island of Lesbos near Greece,
was featured in a piece in
Politico Magazine by Annia
Ciezadlo, a Beirut-based journalist who began her career as
an editor at City Limits, a New
York City newsmagazine before
moving to the Middle East to
distinguish herself.
Polychronopoulos, who lost
his job in marketing and communications, told her he was inspired to begin his group after
seeing children fighting over
rotten fruit in a garbage can, another symbol of Greece’s crushing economic crisis in which the
rich and privileged have thrived
while most have suffered.
One this day summer, while
Lesbos was being overrun with
refugees – those who made it
because
hundreds
have
drowned trying to get there
from Turkey – a blue station
wagon pulled up to the Kara
Tepe refugee camp on the Greek
island of Lesbos.
Big letters on the side said
“Free Food For All” in English
and Greek. A half-dozen sunburned, chain-smoking Greek
leftists of all ages piled out, followed by two barrel-sized aluminum vats, several gas burners
with propane tanks, two folding
tables, forty bags of pasta, a box
of spices, a dozen car-batterysized cans of tomato paste and
a couple of three-foot-long
wooden paddles for stirring
soup. Within minutes, they had
an outdoor kitchen set up. “
They were helping feed the
migrants and refugees, more
than 406,000 of which landed
on Lesbos, half the more than
800,000 arriving in Greece on
their way mostly to Germany,
but only after fighting and waiting for registration and being
pushed back on Greece’s border
with FYROM and locked out of
countries which don’t want
them, such as Hungary and
Slovenia.
Greece, suffering under austerity imposed as a condition of
three bailouts, is finally starting
to see some help from EU in getting the migrants registered, but
many are still stuck in the country as the government struggles
to deal with them and its own
people as well while immobilized by crisis and internecine
political warfare.
Greek volunteers, Annia
Ciezadlo noted, have provided
everything from housing to
food, medical and legal help.
Volunteers from Greece and
other European countries even
produced a clear, comprehensive guidebook for incoming
refugees, with useful Greek
phrases like “I want a doctor”
and “I am from Iraq,” and translated it into Arabic, Farsi and
English.
Most of the refugees land in
the north of the island, near the
ancient city of Molyvos, where
the distance from Turkey is only
about six miles. But no matter
where they come to shore, all
the travelers have to make their
way to Mytilini, the capital, to
register.
It’s a long line of sad people
that at one point this year measured 5,000 a day. No one
knows how many didn’t make
it because many frightened
refugees tried to cross at night
in overcrowded rubber dinghies
and rickety craft with no one
able to help or see if they landed
or are at the bottom of the
Aegean.
There’s some evidence in the
bodies that have washed up on
Turkish and Greek beaches,
picked up by volunteers while
EU leaders plan conferences in
hotels with nice dinners and
Greece’s government looks on,
including Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras, who visited Lesbos to
see for himself and saw he saw
refugees out at sea trying to
make it to shore. He didn’t stop
to help.
EDITORIALS LETTERS
12
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The National Herald
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Assistant to the Publisher, Advertising Veta H. Diamataris Papadopoulos
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Rassias’ Study about Greek,
Languages Enlightened Us
What a great truth is revealed by Euripides’ words in Iphigenia in Aulis, where he writes: “Until one dies, neither is his
value acknowledged nor are his real friends known.”
The first part is certainly true in the case of the late GreekAmerican professor John A. Rassias, who passed away at the age
of 90, in Vermont, as TNH announced in its weekend edition.
Paying an unusually generous tribute, the Wall Street Journal
dedicated its editorial yesterday to the Greek-American professor
with a simple, but bold headline: “John A. Rassias.”
“Much of the American academy,” it says, “is beset by political
rot, but here and there are reminders of what once made U.S.
higher education the envy of the world. One example was John
A. Rassias, the Dartmouth College professor who died at age
90 after revolutionizing the teaching of foreign languages.”
After adding also that President Jimmy Carter appointed
him to a committee that explored how to improve foreign language education in the USA, it concludes: “John A. Rassias
demonstrated that the Universities can be places where the students could be inspired and broaden their horizons.”
The NY Times in its obituary for John A. Rassias reports that
“his parents were Greek immigrants and he grew up speaking
Greek.”
John A. Rassias thus made his mark. Unfortunately, we failed
to recognize his value while he was alive. Something which,
sadly, I’m afraid we do frequently.
In view of the public acknowledgement of the genius of Rassias on language, we ought to be obligated to go back and
study his committees’ report on Greek language education –
since it has been published it means that it exists somewhere –
and look again at its suggestions.
Guns: The State and its Duty
Still Undone
Rupert Murdoch, wrote in an article in his newspaper, the
Wall Street Journal, recently, that he, also, as it happens frequently with naturalized Americans, has greater sensitivities
for this country that those born here.
He is not the only one who feels like that.
America is being unfair to itself with massacres such as the
one in San Bernardino, California - our hearts are really broken.
There is no reasoning or justification in the actions of the
murderers; those who grab a gun and start shooting at people
in cold blood, regardless of who gets shot for being in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
How can then the children, spouses, parents, friends, all of
us forgive such actions? How can we not think, “It could have
been me”?
After each massacre the country is shaken, after a while it
returns to its daily routine; until the next time.
This way we are running the risk of considering the situation
as nearly normal; as a part of the price for someone to live in
the USA.
America, the country known for dealing with problems upon
their appearance, remains a distant spectator when it comes to
the gun issue.
And all for reasons of political expediency.
America sees to the protection of its citizens in any way possible. From the amount of salt we consume, to driver’s licenses,
safety belts and smoking laws.
While we are right to be concerned about terrorism, and
while we spend endless hours in airport security checks, spend
billions for the protection of the country, a terrorist may walk
into a gun store and buy any gun he likes with no check at all.
Isn’t that insane?
I listen to my friends the hunters protesting, invoking the
Constitution and “The right of the citizens to bear arms”.
I am not against this right of theirs. They are entitled to
hunt.
Would they mind so much though if they got a gun permit
issued by the Police so that the lunatics cannot buy weapons?
At least, though, they will have a record and if they continue
to drive carelessly, their license will be suspended.
Now, shouldn’t we do the same with guns?
More Hurtful Threats against
Poor Greece
The Financial Times’ (FT) December 1 headline was reminiscent of other times, not so long ago, when Greece was in the
mainstream media headlines on an almost daily basis.
This new chapter opened with the FT’s headline: “Greece
Threatened with Schengen Suspension over Migrant Response,”
worsens an already-difficult situation and indirectly affects
Greece’s position in the Eurozone.
The Schengen Treaty, established in 1985, is one of the European Union’s (EU) founding principles, as it allows free travel
of the citizens of its member states. If it is abolished, it would
mean the loss of a fundamental EU component.
Accordingly, If Greece is excluded from Schengen, that challenges its position in the EU.
Brussels brings the entire weight of its policy to the implementation of the Schengen Treaty at the borders of Greece.
And they also insist that Greece cooperates with Turkey and
FYROM.
This would not pose a problem if the Turks did not have any
demands on the Aegean, which under the initial cover of cooperation, they later might use it as a legalization of their demands.
Based on all of this, Brussels now threatens to create a military force to implement its intended protection of Europe’s borders, even against the will of border countries such as Greece.
The issue, therefore, is a complex one. A Greece-Brussels
conflict is practically inevitable, and the EU is delivering the
“key” of the refugees to Turkey, surrendering itself to Turkey in
the process.
A clearly superior policy would be for the West to to stop
the civil massacre in Syria, pressure Ankara to protect its borders
with Syria, and reinforce Greece in order to enable it to deal
with the then-reduced number of refugees that would reach its
shores.
Lest We Forget From
Where We Came
To the Editor:
In columns and editorials,
your newspaper has touched on
the topic of intemperate language and to my mind, extremist thinking of many GreekAmericans on two related
topics. In the past, the debate
over immigration reform has
provoked nasty comments by
people of Greek descent or
TO OUR READERS
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should include the writer’s
name, address, and telephone
number and be addressed to:
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or
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we reserve the right to edit
letters for publication and regret that we are unable to acknowledge or return those left
unpublished.
Greek immigrants about the ethnic groups that were the principal objects of the discussion,
Mexicans. It was completely forgotten that 1) we are all immigrants 2) many of us are related
to or descended from illegal immigrants.
Everything I hear today
about the Mexicans, our grandparents and their neighbors
heard about the Greek, Italians,
Jews etc. We even hear that the
Mexicans are stealing our jobs
– as if any of our children are
waiting with bated breath for
responses to job applications in
the fields of gardening, table
bussing and dishwashing. Let
me make an aside that, no,
there is no shame in those jobs.
Many a Greek physician and
lawyer was educated from the
paltry wages paid for that exhausting and mind-numbing labor.
All of a sudden, however, the
salience of the Mexican question
has declined, due to recent statistics showing that the wave of
immigration from Mexico has
slowed to a trickle, and the irrational response, led by a presidential candidate from a “respectable party” to the most
recent Islamic terrorist attacks.
Is it really possible that Don-
ald Trump has declared 1.6 billion human beings persona non
grata? And during the Christmas
season, when “no room at the
inn” is a powerful symbol for
man’s inhumanity to man?
Thomas Parker
New York, NY
GEORGE SARAFOGlOU / SPECIAl TO THE NATIONAl HERAlD
AGORA – THE ORIGINAL MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS
By Dan Georgakas and
Constantinos E. Scaros
From time to time, an issue emerges and
inspires various minds to converge, often at
odds with one another, to discuss it. Hopefully,
collective enlightenment will result from such
conversations. The Ancient Greeks did that in
the Agora, the original marketplace of ideas,
and we, their modern-day descendants, aspire
to continue that tradition. We respect one another’s opinion very much,
but often times we will disagree on particular
issues. We would never fabricate a difference
of opinion for the sake of writing an interesting
column.
Rest assured, anything we write here are
our sincere, heartfelt thoughts.
We will share them with you every two
weeks. We hope you enjoy them, and we look
forward to your taking part in the discussion
as well – by contributing letters to the editor in
response, and/or commenting on our website:
The Islamic State is Indeed Islamic: No Argument Here
GEORGAKAS PRESENTS HIS
POINT OF VIEW
Dino, I am dismayed whenever President Obama and other
politicians deny that ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq & Syria) is a
movement rooted in Islam. They
ignore the very name of the
movement in a pathetic attempt
to combat Islamophobia. They
seem to believe the public is not
smart enough to understand any
religion has many branches. If
the politicians actually believe
what they are saying, we can
begin to understand why the
United States has no effective
policy to turn back the ISIS
threat.
ISIS is a religious movement
that represents a coherent and
learned branch of Islam. This
form of Islam seeks to create a
theocracy headed by a caliph.
To maintain its legitimacy, it
must hold territory and rule it
under Sharia (religious) law.
Bearing this is mind, Obama’s
policy of “degrading” or limiting
ISIS territory is not an effective
strategy.
ISIS is based on a Sunni perspective on Islam as opposed to
the Shia perspective. Sunnis
make up 85-90% of Muslims,
Shia 10-15%. Economic and
identity issues fuel the denominational conflict. The Shia communities tend to be wealthier
than the majority Sunnis. Some
of the atrocities and destruction
seen in the present war are reminiscent of the Thirty Years War
in 17th century Europe between
Catholics and Protestants. Even
earlier, Catholic forces organized as the Fourth Crusade
sacked Orthodox Constantinople.
“Radical” certainly means extremist. In political discourse,
however, radical refers to extreme change to something new.
“Reactionary” indicates an extreme return to an idealized
Golden Age of yore, shorn of its
many shortcomings. ISIS is reactionary, not radical.
Western media and politicians insist on identifying ISIS
as a terrorist movement. ISIS,
in fact, does not believe terror
is a cause in the way the nineteenth century Nihilists did. Terror for ISIS is a method to be
used or discarded depending on
its effectiveness. To dismiss
them as terrorists is to misunderstand what they actually es-
can air strike in the past few
weeks. No satisfactory explanation has been given as to why it
has taken so long to take such
effective and relatively simple
military actions.
ISIS is a reactionary religious
movement willing to employ
terrorism as a tactic. Unless we
understand all the ramifications
of that reality and appropriate
counter-measures, we will have
a policy based on false assumptions that lead to ineffective actions.
pouse.
The terror tactics of ISIS are
a double-edged sword. A handful of fanatics caused chaos in
Paris and Brussels. They also
generated mass anger. How
leaders mobilize that public reaction will determine who is
most deeply cut by the doubleedged sword. If the ISIS center
is not destroyed, stopping small
groups of extremist individuals
is difficult and not particularly
effective.
ISIS envisions an apocalyptic
conflict in the Middle East between Western armies and Islam. The West is expected to
lose in what is the onset of a
global movement to Islamize the
world. American strategy has
SCAROS RESPONDS
Dan, I, too, often wonder
why so many Democrats won’t
identify the Islamic State as Islamic. The problem is, it’s not
been to assemble mainly Islamic
forces to carry on the land battle. Our strategists are so obsessed with regime change in
Syria that they cannot plan dynamic joint actions with the
Russians or the Syrian army. Cooperation with Iran, another
ISIS foe, also has a low priority.
Even assisting the Kurds is halfhearted. Instead we have spent
billions on an Iraqi army that
won’t fight and support Syrian
rebel forces that include numerous Islamic fanatics in their
ranks.
Our own military actions are
tortured by half-measures. For
example, we have long known
that considerable financing for
ISIS derives from selling oil. A
convoy of 250 trucks carrying
oil was destroyed by an Ameri-
just limited to Democrats.
Granted, ISIS wasn’t really
prime-time news while George
W. Bush was president, but terrorism certainly was, and Bush
made sure that we didn’t associate it with the “great religion”
of Islam, as he put it.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, and I’m not, I’d think whoever sits in the Oval Office has
been warned that if the words
“radical Islam” leave his lips, a
major American city is going up
in smoke. No wonder presidents
age so quickly. As they smile and
wave nonchalantly, they are facing a constant life-and-death potential hostage situation about
which the rest of us are completely clueless.
More realistically, though, it
probably has to do with a fear
of losing support from relatively
moderate elements of Islam,
who might have already tipped
their hand that they will walk
away from any coalition if the
words “radical Islam” are uttered by an American president.
And speaking of fighting
ISIS, what in the world happened to NATO? I thought its
Article 5 clearly proclaims that
an attack on one NATO member
is an attack on all. Last I
checked, France is a member of
NATO – so, where’s the response? NATO nowadays might
as well stand for No
Action,Treaty Over.
I think back to 2008, when
Candidate Barack Obama’s
biggest
liability,
among
grownups who evaluated him –
as opposed to the “he pals
around with terrorists and is a
secret Muslim” crowd – was that
he would be weak and ineffectual on a large and dangerous
world stage. For the first two or
three years, he silenced his critics. Obama kept important elements of the Bush team in place,
including Bob Gates at Defense
and David Petraeus at Central
Command, used drones to blast
terrorists from their cells at an
ever greater rate than Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld did
under Bush, deported illegal
aliens aggressively, and captured Osama bin Laden. What
changed?
I can understand why Obama
is no longer interested in working with Republicans. He was,
at first, and they clearly weren’t
– so he stopped trying.
What, though, does any of
that have to do with the war on
terror?
For all we know, Obama
could be planning some grand
rope-a-dope, luring ISIS, Iran,
Putin, North Korea, etc., into a
major trap. But I doubt it. Instead, I agree with your position
that “the United States has no
effective policy to turn back the
ISIS threat.”
As for Obama, Hillary, and
Co. bending over backwards not
to offend, Marco Rubio said it
eloquently: “I don’t understand
it. That would be like saying we
weren’t at war with Nazis because we were afraid to offend
Germans part of the party but
weren’t violent themselves.”
WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?
COMMENTARY
The Greek Crisis and the impact on Children
Mrs
Marianna
V.
Vardinoyannis gave a speech
December 7th on “the Greek
Crisis and the impact on the
children’s eyes”. Following are
excerpts from the speech:
I am coming from a country
which is suffering by a severe
economic crisis. A crisis that runs
through society, destroying any
will for creativity and spreading
a sense of insecurity. If we want
to describe the crisis in Greece
today, we can do it in two ways:
we can talk about numbers or
we can talk about people.
We usually choose numbers.
Numbers, however, can never
express the soul and the essence
of things and tend to lead societies to false ways of living.
It is the people who make the
difference, even in the midst of
the crisis. It is the people who
shape the future through their
actions, through the stance they
keep when faced with the circumstances, through their minor
or major decisions.
I believe in people. This is
why you will never hear from
me pessimistic words about my
homeland. You will only hear
words of pride, because Greece
is still producing enlightened,
honourable, worthy and decent
people, as you are here today
and as those in Greece who by
hundreds help the poor and the
refugees, providing food and
medicines. I can only be proud
of the potential of our nation.
History is shaped by people, not
by numbers. And Greek people
have been proved to be great
fighters throughout the centuries.
I am not afraid of the economic crisis for our children,
even if they have to go to schools
with no heating, live in homes
where courage has been lost and
in a general environment that
most certainly affects their
thoughts and dreams.
I am afraid for us, my friends!
That we might not prove worthy
of the circumstances! That we
might fail in conveying the message that difficulty is strength,
because it teaches us to fight, it
makes us measured and modest
and, in the end, more persistent
and stronger!
I am afraid for us that when
speaking to our children about
Greece of crisis, we will forget
the true Greece: the values of
the Greek civilization and the
obligations we have due to the
fact that we were born "Greek".
VIEWPOINTS
13
From Paris to San Bernardino: The Reasons We Need Turkey to Fight the Islamic State
ISIS and the Refugees Saga
bia.
It has been a tuISIS and Saudi
multuous
and
Arabia share the
tragic period, many
same version of Ispeople have died
lam and medieval
and many more
legal
practices.
have suffered grievSaudi Arabia’s clerous bodily harm beics radicalize and
cause of ISIS. The
send into the West
terrorist organizamen and women
tion has tried even
such as the San
to muddy the waBernardino terrorters when it comes
ist. Saudi Arabia
to refugees. One of
by DR. ANDRE
refuses to fight ISIS
the murders in
GEROLYMATOS
and like some
Paris carried a fake
other Middle East
Syrian passport.
Special to
The National Herald
governments subsiThe message from
dize ISIS and other
ISIS was that some
of the refugees are terrorists or terrorist organizations
The response of the governcould be terrorists in the future.
Therefore, reject them send ments in Europe and North
America has been tepid and conthem back to Syria and ISIS.
It is remarkable how govern- fused. Bomb Syria and get rid
ments and the media have of Assad. Is he so much worse
missed the greatest weakness of than the Saudi royal family or
the so-called Islamic state. Hun- some of the other absolute
dreds of thousands of people in regimes in the Muslim world
Iraq and Syria prefer to risk who are allies of the West?
Instead, the a motley crew of
their lives and seek shelter in
the West rather than race to ISIS American governors, some
territory for a better life. The Canadian premiers and new
refugees are voting with their formed ultra conservative govfeet. They want to live in the ernments in Europe and the
decadent West, the West indeed Balkans focus on the refugees –
and not even anywhere in the the only people who are running
away from ISIS. In effect, the
Middle East for that matter.
ISIS succeeds because it ap- wrong target of concern and
peals to a particular type of per- fear.
The current thinking in
sonality that yearns for violence
and death. Most of these dis- Washington is that ISIS “Does
turbed people are Muslim, but not pose an existential threat to
some are converts to Islam. Both the United States,” says Mr.
Muslim and converts to Islam, Obama. One can only wonder
however, have chosen an ex- who is advising the American
treme and literal interpretation president? The strategy of the
of that faith not followed by Obama Administration is to
bomb ISIS. It is the wrong stratover a billion Muslims.
Unless Turkey joins the war
on our side, we will find ourselves battling the Islamic State
(ISIL) for years. Currently, we
face a multi-year slog just to improve the Iraqi Army enough to
retake territory lost to ISIL. The
Kurds fight better but not for
non-Kurdish territory. The
“moderate” rebels (a mixed
group which includes jihadists
and village militias) cannot even
hold their ground – despite
coalition air support – between
the hammer of ISIL and the
anvil of the Assad regime. Assad’s troops, even with Russian
help, will be hard pressed to
hold coastal Syria and Damascus. To decisively defeat ISIL on
the ground requires hundreds
of thousands of regular ground
forces prepared to fight a skilled
and motivated enemy on his
own territory.
And then we would still have
to deal with the ideological contest. So far, we have not grasped
the fact that ISIL has already
won the war of ideas. ISIL
usurped the role of 20th century
communism, championing the
downtrodden and the oppressed. They HAVE won the
hearts and minds of millions.
Driving them out of territory in
the Levant will not deter homegrown attacks like Paris and San
Bernardino, inspired by a distant Caliphate that the attackers
mostly met on the Internet.
Furthermore, most of the
people in territory to be liberated will not welcome a “Christian” occupation by countries
(U.S., Europe, and Russia)
whose air forces have devastated their homes and killed
their children. Even less will
these people welcome an occupation by the Iraqi Army, Shiite
militias or the brutal forces of
the Syrian regime, which regularly inflict atrocities on those
whom they liberate.
Turkey, if it wants to, has the
smuggled Syrian
wherewithal
to
and Iraqi oil at fire
play a key role desale prices enrichfeating is ISIL both
ing Turkish busion the ground and
nessmen who form
in the mind. It has
the backbone of Erlarge land forces
dogan’s domestic
equipped with the
political support.
most
modern
He has even turned
equipment capable
influx
of
the
of occupying most
refugees from Syria
of the territory
into a bonus, shiftheld by ISIL in
ing the blame to
Syria and Iraq with
Greece while negocoalition support.
by AMB. PATRICK N.
tiating a very high
More importantly,
THEROS
price for not pushTurkey has an aling refugees into
ternative Islamist
Special to
The National Herald
Europe
(i.e.,
ideology to comGreece) that inpete with ISIL. Erdogan’s government espouses a cludes Euros 3.2 billion, visarevolutionary Islamism derived free entry for Turks into the EU
from the more mature and mea- and restarting Turkey’s EU apsured Muslim Brotherhood plication while ignoring Erdo(MB) of Egypt. ISIL springs from gan’s dismal human rights
the Wahhabist revolutionary record. Erdogan also exploited
theology that our Saudi ally has the shoot-down of a Russian
exported to the Islamic world fighter-bomber by casting it as
for more than half a century. Er- a Russian threat to Turkey and
dogan came to power democra- NATO.
tically on the same Islamist political platform that emphasizes
If we fail to bring Turkey
economic well being and respect
Into the war against ISIL,
for the poor and downtrodden
that brought the Muslim Brothwe must dig in and wait
erhood to power democratically
the bloodbath to play
for
in Egypt. Because of this difference, Erdogan and the Egyptian
itself out, hoping we can
dictator Sissi, who overthrew
contain
it before it
the MB, have become bitter enemies. It is a very sad state of
spreads its poison further.
affairs, but the truth is that only
We obligingly lined up beTurkey alone combines both the
military and religious clout to hind Turkey again. To be fair,
Erdogan may also fear that
deal with ISIL.
So, why is Turkey not step- sending the Turkish Army into
ping up the plate? For the sim- battle may revive the power of
ple reason that Erdogan pursues Kemalist officers nor wish to
what he has determined to be deal with Turkish mothers who
Turkish national interests and do not want to send their conhis own political agenda. Pre- script sons to die in Syria and
venting Kurdish national aspira- Iraq. If we truly want to bring
tions trumps fighting ISIL, so ISIL to heel, Turkey must be
Turkey backs ISIL by subterfuge. made to intervene in a manner
Erdogan, on balance, also ben- that meets our objectives. NATO
efits domestically from the Syr- allies, including the United
ian civil war. ISIL sells Turkey States, should offer logistical
support to offset the main weakness of the Turkish Army. However, the bulk of combat must
fall to the Turks.
We have played Erdogan’s
game for him; we offer carrots
but no sticks. We winked at Erdogan unilaterally starting a
war against the same Kurds
fighting ISIL in return for giving
the USAF access to Incirlik Air
Base. Erdogan must feel there
is a price to pay for inaction.
Given his skillful playing of
Turkish national pride the sticks
must be subtle and not confrontational. For example, senior US and EU officials should
cancel or delay visits to Turkey
with flimsy excuses. President
Obama and his EU counterparts
should not pick up the phone
when Erdogan calls and return
the call at inconvenient hours.
Arms shipments should run into
scheduling problems. NATO
should downplay the Russian
threat. Erdogan will get the
message and make his own calculations.
If we fail to bring Turkey into
the war against ISIL, we must
dig in and wait for the bloodbath to play itself out, hoping
we can contain it before it
spreads its poison to more countries, destabilizes more countries in which we have deep poand
economic
litical
investments, thus generating
millions more refugees and tarnishing us all for our failure to
address this human disaster.
The Hon. Ambassador Theros is
president of the U.S.-Qatar
Business Council. He served in
the U.S. Foreign Service for 36
years, mostly in the Middle
East, and was American Ambassador to Qatar from 1995 to
1998. He also directed the State
Department’s
CounterTerrorism Office, and holds numerous U.S. Government decorations.
LETTER FROM ATHENS
Unkindest Cuts of All: Pensions Slashed, Oligarchy Not
AP PHOTO
This July 27, 2014 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook, as
they passed through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
The husband and wife died on Dec. 2, 2015, in a gun battle
with authorities several hours after their assault.
This argument now falls on
deaf ears because of the massacre in San Bernardino. In this
tragedy a Muslim man and a
Muslim woman – a married couple in effect, killed, in cold
blood, fourteen innocent people. The man had good job, he
was not a disaffected lonely individual. The woman, on the
other hand, had grown up in
Saudi Arabia and had been in
the United States for only couple of years.
So, what made this couple
want to kill and not soldiers but
ordinary people celebrating
Christmas. Was it the issue of
Christmas and Christianity? It is
certainly the mantra of ISIS to
bring about a clash of Christians
versus Muslims in an apocalyptic battle. It is a factor.
ISIS is crucifying, enslaving,
and torturing Christians in order
to push the West into a war. The
terrorists are not the only ones
who persecute Christians in the
Middle East. One cannot get a
drink in Saudi Arabia and one
cannot build a Church. The West
does not care if people convert
to Islam but conversion from Islam to Christianity is punishable
by death in many Muslim countries.
Yet, the governments of the
West refuse to recognize that
any of that. On the contrary,
American and European governments are allies with some of
the most repercussive regimes
in the Middle East. The female
terrorist (we should refuse to
recognize them) in San
Bernardino grew up in Saudi
Arabia. She was radicalized –
albeit radical interpretation of
Islam is the norm in Saudi Ara-
egy, it is ineffectual and not
worth the death of innocent
civilians in the region.
The more aggressive strategy
is that a Muslim army made up
of soldiers from the Middle East
countries with Western air
power should take on ISIS in
the field. That is not going to
happen. The Middle East countries refuse to take part. This
only leaves two solutions. One
is to give ISIS what it wants, a
battle between the armies of the
West and the terrorists.
Such a scenario will have
positive results. ISIS will be destroyed instantly and a catastrophic defeat will undermine
completely the millenarian
prophesies of the world ending.
It will thus discourage many future so-called inspired lone
wolves terrorists. The Kurds
should be rewarded with their
own state and will become a
true and steadfast ally of the
West. Washington and the European governments should simply
ignore the Turkey, Iran and Syria
(or what is left of Syria) regarding a new Kurdish state.
The second solution is to ban
the Saudi lobby in Washington
and consider launching a lawsuit every time a terrorist inspired by Saudi Arabia’s Islam.
Paying hundreds of billions in
dollars will make the Saudis rethink what they preach. Money
is the one thing that Saudi clerics and their government understand only too well.
André Gerolymatos is director
of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies
at Simon Fraser University in
Vancouver.
You’d expect hard-hearted
right-wingers and banker lackeys to cut benefits to Greece’s
poor, elderly and most vulnerable but the pensioners are about
to get their hearts ripped out by
the party they foolishly expected
would help them, the Looney
Left SYRIA – I mean SYRIZA –
of World Class Liar Alexis “UTurn” Tsipras.
His excuse is the same, tired
cliché for which he blasted previous governments for doing the
same: I had no choice.
Well, yes, he did. First he
could have, as he said in another of long line of broken
promises, “crushed the oligarchy” who control him and
Greece or gone after tax cheats
or cut the defense budget since
no one’s going to attack.
Or, if he had any principles
or guts or backbone, all of which
he’s lacking, he could have resigned and said let someone else
do it, I’m not going to stain my
limp legacy and I’d rather quit
than look a pensioner in the eye
while he’s eating dog food and
I’ve let banks foreclose on his
home and I’m selling off
Greece’s assets I swore to protect.
The job of reforming Greece
should be left up to the soulless
people who can do it, not those
who pretend to be on the side
of workers, pensioners and the
poor.
Voters never understand, of
course, that parties and the people in them are all the same so
they deserve what they get: they
elected Tsipras and his bunch
twice in seven months, putting
themselves in a different league
of gullibility.
He said he’d go after corruption too, but obviously not in
his own Cabinet where Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis,
who has a doctorate in economics but didn’t check his own accounts, said he forgot he had a
million euros in the bank and
didn’t declare it on his declaration of wealth forms.
That’s a crime in Greece if a
party if out of power and then
the politicians can be chased
and prosecuted – as, properly,
was former Defense
stealing food from
Minister Yannis Pathe mouths of the
pantoniou,
conpowerless
who
victed of hiding 1.3
have to pay extra
million euros ($1.41
taxes to compenmillion).
sate
for
rich
He got a fourthieves who don't,
year jail sentence,
and who never
but
this
being
will beyond some
Greece where polititoken prosecutions
cians convicted of
and penalties.
corruption and senAll this means
tenced to life in jail
that Tsipras, inby ANDY
get out in a few
stead of crushing
DABILIS
years and keep all
the oligarchy as
the money they
his hero Che GueSpecial to
The National Herald
stole, his sentence
vara would have
was suspended on
done, is crushing
condition he pay a fine of only pensioners, like the right-politi10,000 euros and could pay off cians he built a career on lamhis time at the rate of 10 euros basting delight in doing to bena day for another 29,200 euros. efit their banker buddies.
His wife, also convicted, got
Pensioners – who have to
the same ridiculous terms. There wait up to three years or more
was no word on whether they for their benefits, including auxpaid the taxes also due but clearly iliary pensions, that they earned
they should have gotten the Wes- with money taken out of their
ley Snipes treatment and spent checks for years (and who aren't
their four years in the hoosegow allowed to work while they're
reflecting on their crime.
waiting in case they need someThese are people who are thing like food or to pay the
mortgage or rent) – now will
see further cuts of 2 to 30 percent. Tax cheats will see none.
How long do you think a U.S.
president would last if he announced the same in Social Security? The National Guard
would have to surround the
White House and it would be
the death knell for that party, so
powerful is the elderly lobby in
America.
In Greece, the old have no
power beyond marching, albeit
very slowly, in the streets in
protest where they are ignored
or ridiculed by politicians behind closed doors who don't
wait for their pensions, which
are lavish and come with a few
years of non-work sitting on
their duffs.
“Pensions will be cut. The
cuts in health care are huge.
We’re at the point of not having
health care, of not having medication. We can’t just idly stand
by,” Yannis Antoniou, head of a
bankers’ pensioners association,
told the Associated Press while
joining protesters on a peaceful
march this December.
“It appears this government
has decided not to leave anything standing. But we’re also
determined not just to sit back
and do nothing.” Sigh, it just
doesn’t make any difference
what they do. Pensioners have
killed themselves – one in Syntagma Square – and it was forgotten like yesterday’s news.
Tsipras lamely said, "We will
do the utmost to secure pensions without further painful
cuts,” weaker than his vow that
cutting pensions was a Red Line
he would never cross before he
jumped over it, and the bodies
of pensioners, with glee to satisfy the country’s heartless international lenders.
Tsipras says the government
will instead raise the Social Security tax on businesses – killing
those already under his capital
controls – but the truth is pensions will be cut again, this time
in the name of SYRIZA. If that
doesn’t work, they’ll be cut
again. Let them eat cake.
AP PHOTO/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS
Pensioners take part in an anti-austerity protest in Athens.
[email protected]
VIEWPOINTS
14
Greek-Americans: Small Part of U.S. Population, but with Strong Heritage, Identity
For several decades, the total
number of persons of Greek ancestry has hovered around 0.4%
of the total population in the
United States. Despite the relatively small numbers, Greek
Americans maintain a strong
sense of Hellenic heritage.
This combination generates a
seemingly constant angst about
the ethnic group’s survival. The
American Hellenic Institute (AHI)
convenes an annual conference
entitled “The Future of Hellenism
in America.” Several Greek-American organizations consider the
preservation of the Greek language not just a priority but also
a matter of life and death for the
community.
Yet for all its professed concern
about preserving identity, the
Greek-American
community
knows relatively little about itself
in terms of its demography. For
example, the Jewish Americans,
whom Greek-Americans frequently cite as a model of ethnic
cohesion, do much better at constantly counting and assessing
their numbers in order to maintain their sense of community.
Brandeis University runs the
American Jewish Population Project; in 2001, Jewish American
organizations spent nearly $6 million for a National Jewish Population Survey. Meanwhile, others,
such as the Pew Research Center
conduct similar demographic inquiries about the Jews in America.
recorded the numNothing compaber of parishes and
rable exists for the
vital statistics such
Greek-Americans.
as baptisms, marThere was a nationriages and funerals.
wide Gallup survey
There is of course
of Greek America
the
information
commissioned by
available from the
Archbishop Iakovos
U.S. Census Bureau,
in 1980. Since then,
which valuable but
the only sources for
too general for any
assessing the comin-depth analysis,
munity’s profile are
not to mention that
small scale surveys
by PROF. ALExANDER
every
successive
generated by scholKITROEFF
decade seems to
ars such as the late
contain less and less
Alice Scourby and
Special to
The National Herald
information about
more recently by
European-origin
Angelyn BalodimasBartolomei among others. And ethnic groups.
At best, what is currently availfor a long time, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’s Yearbook has able from the census confirms
Syrian Issues: No Fly Zone, Boots on Ground, Russia
By Dr. Aris P. Christodoulou
The recent Paris massacres
and the Turkish downing of a
Russian military plane have crystallized elements of a highly
volatile mixture of components,
touching
on
geopolitics,
geostrategy, terrorism, leadership, and ethics.
How can we reconcile the
drama and its cast of characters?
It appears that ISIS’ attack on
Paris has created a new imperative to hasten the search for a
new equilibrium of the West
with Russia, following Russia’s
bold gamble to enter the Syrian
conflict militarily.
The Obama’s Administration
is in the middle of addressing
this issue, and has not yet resolved how to respond to the
Russian initiative, other than effecting minor coordination with
the Air Force on joint air sorties
against ISIS.
The basic question remains:
is Russia right by claiming that
President Assad of Syria should
be supported in office in the
near-to-medium term (and also
thereby protecting the Russian
bases) in order not to create a
vacuum that would be filled by
ISIS, whose takeover of Damascus would then increase the risk
of them acquiring WMDs (since
they would then graduate from
a quasi-state to a full state), or
is the United States right insofar
as Obama claim of two years ago
that Assad should be immediately deposed, regardless of the
consequences – despite America’s failure to find and arm sufficient responsible Syrian antiAssad forces?
France answered that question last week, following the
Paris attacks, as Premier Francois
Hollande transformed himself in
the process from a somewhat
passive, occasionally ineffectual,
leftist politician into a decisive,
vigorous, inspiring wartime
leader. Also, he decreed that a
France-Russia alliance be created
immediately to fight ISIS, and is
now trying to convince Obama
that that the United States
should join that alliance. The argument is that the United States
and Russia are the two leading
world nuclear powers, and containing WMDs from falling into
the hands of terrorists, especially
ISIS, will require both countries
to work together, with France being the catalyst for this union.
For humanitarian and other
reasons, the prevailing opinion
in America is that a no-fly zone
should be created by the coalition forces in Syria, ostensibly to
permit a safe haven for refugees
on the border between Syria and
Turkey . This would be similar
to the no-fly zone created in
northern Iraq earlier to protect
the Iraqi Kurds from Saddam
Hussein’s forces. Loud pronouncements recently by Hillary
Clinton, the media, retired generals and CIA directors, most Republicans, and many Democrats,
have now demanded a Syrian
no-fly zone. Obama has strongly
resisted this call, claiming that it
risks escalating the U.S. involvement, and risks shooting down
Russian planes.
Instead, what Obama did do
recently was introduce 50 Special Forces personnel into the
Syrian war zone (in addition to
adding 3500 troops to Iraq as
well).
But what can a mere 50 more
American troops do? Actually,
something very significant, if positioned into the Syrian-Turkish
thin strip of border now controlled by the newly-victorious
Syrian Kurds (who recently recaptured Kobani and Tal Abyad
from ISIS), it guarantees that
Turkish forces will not bomb the
Syrian Kurd areas in order to suppress their nemesis, the Kurds,
but it would also risk those American troops being killed.
In Iraq, instead of attacking
ISIS positions, Turkey attacked
Iraqi Kurds, thereby weakening
anti-ISIS forces, thus counteracting U.S. policy there. If my theory
is correct, it may be that Obama
is finally waking up to the duplicity of the Turkish state with
respect to the Kurds, ISIS, and
American policy.
It has been stated by many,
including the United States, that
post-Assad planning is insufficient. However, all agree that
boots on the ground are necessary to preserve the peace from
ISIS and other terrorists once Assad departs. However, neither the
United States, Russia, or France
(though it sent troops to Mali recently), and certainly not the local powers: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey, have offered to
send anti-ISIS troops to Syria.
The local anti-Assad forces supported by the United States to
date have been small and ineffective. Only the Kurds, also supplied by the United States, have
been numerous and effective
against ISIS, as noted above, despite the fact that they are more
anti-Assad than anti-ISIS.
Stability on the ground in a
post-Assad era will require a
Sunni-majority force, since Syria
is largely Sunni. Iran is Shiite,
and opposed by the rest. Kurds
are Sunni Muslims and would
qualify, and if the Syria-Turkish
border be made contiguous by
their capture of one last piece
north of Aleppo, or about one
third of the total length still in
ISIS hands, then almost the entire border up to the border with
Iraq would be in Kurdish control.
This would also cut the last remaining supply route from
Turkey to ISIS forces in Syria.
Once this contiguous strip is created, the way is cleared for declaring an independent , contiguous, Kurdish State.
Hopefully, this is Obama’s hidden agenda, which would address the post-Assad era. A November 24 New York Times
article by former UN Ambassador
John Bolton. “To Defeat ISIS, Create a Sunni State,” makes a similar point, and it is one of the
only times in my life that I have
agreed with Bolton. TNH’s Andre
Gerolymatos made the same
point (“Examining the World of
Terrorism and the Middle East”,
Nov. 21). The scenario regarding
the Syrian-Turkish border is also
addressed in the current New
York Review of Books (“The Syr-
ian Kurds are Winning”, by
Jonathan Steele, Dec. 3).
What does all this mean for a
newly energized Erdogan-led
Turkey? Since Ataturk canceled
the 1920 Sevres Treaty, which
guaranteed an independent Kurdish State (and incidentally gave
the Ottoman holdings of Syria
and Lebanon to French rule, and
Iraq and Palestine to British rule),
the over-30 million Kurds in the
region have become the largest
ethnic group without a state, and
the recent close accord between
the U.S. Central Command and
Kurdish forces have both infuriated and worried the Turks.
If the U.S., Russia, France, and
Turkey are all supposedly fighting
ISIS and thus are on the same
side, would an overflight by
American or French aircraft over
Turkey have caused Turkey to
shoot it down? What was the risk
to Turkey, invasion?
I believe the shootdown was
done intentionally by an arrogant
Turkey, to disrupt the approaching accord with Russia, and the
approaching Kurdish State. It is
unlikely that Russia will respond
aggressively to this provocation,
as the stakes are bigger in the alliance scenario with the West, especially as it seeks some understanding by the West on its
actions in Ukraine. Turkey, however, is playing a dangerous
game, putting at risk its NATO
membership, and even the future
of NATO.
What does all this mean for
Greece? Because of the concurrent refugee crisis, in which frontline Greece is most vulnerable,
especially with FYROM now closing its borders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for a
three-part meeting among Germany, Turkey, and Greece on the
refugee crisis. Remembering the
close relationship between Germany and Turkey in the 19th and
20th centuries, it seems insane
for an overwhelmed, underprepared, and underleveraged
Tsipras Government to agree to
participate. TNH Publisher Antonis Diamataris has recently made
that point several times.
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1
what is common knowledge
about the community. The data,
such that it is, including a focus
on New York City, has been nicely
collated by Professor Nicholas
Alexiou of Queens College CUNY
and is available on the College’s
Hellenic American Oral History
Project website. To summarize,
compared to the average in the
United States, persons of Greek
ancestry are better educated, with
women ahead of men, they have
a higher rate of employment and
higher individual and family earnings and, not surprisingly, a lower
rate of poverty. In terms of employment the most common sectors for the Greek Americans are
education & health care, professional and scientific and retail.
These are barn door-size type of
categories that need further processing. Most disappointingly, the
census does not measure employment in the food industry where
the Greeks are so prominent.
Occasionally, additional information pops up in unexpected
sources. An example is an infographic, an eye-catching depiction of statistics, which recently
made the rounds of social media.
It represented the percentage of
small business owners among foreign-born immigrants in the
United States Drawn up by a proimmigration and pro-refugee advocacy group, Migreat, and based
on a survey by the New Yorkbased Fiscal Policy Institute, it
provided the added bonus of
shedding light on Greek immigrant entrepreneurs.
Although the overall numbers
of Greek-born business-owners
were naturally much smaller than
those from countries such as Mexico, India, Korea, China and Viet-
nam, nonetheless the Greeks
came out top in in terms of the
percentage of business owners in
relation to the total number of
migrants. The survey counted
74,798 persons from Greece in
the U.S. labor force and 12,105
or 16% of them owned small
businesses by the time they had
stayed in the country for a
decade, with 6% of them acquiring businesses in less than ten
years. Migrants from Israel/Palestine (the Census does not disaggregate the two) had the second
highest rate of business ownership with 13% of the total, followed by migrants from Syria
with 12%.
The overall results indicate
that immigrants from the Eastern
Mediterranean have a propensity
to become small business owners.
Why this happens is something
beyond the original concerns of
the Fiscal Policy Institute, but
credit to them for producing
much more detailed information
compared to that the U.S. Census
is designed to gather. To go even
further, and learn more about
these Greek immigrant businessmen for example the sectors they
are in, their gender distribution,
their overall economic clout and
their ties with the wider community and views about its future,
Greek America would have to get
more serious about investigating
its own numbers.
Professor Alexander Kitroeff
teaches history at Haverford
College and is writing a book
on the history of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese
of
America. Follow him on
Twitter @Kitro1908 or email
him at [email protected]
Pan-Orthodox Council:
Ready for 2016, beyond
By Dennis Menos
The need for a Pan Orthodox
Council to resolve the issues that
confront the Church in the modern era and also to further promote Christian unity, has been
debated in the Orthodox East for
many years. It came, therefore,
as no surprise when the Primates
of the Church announced in
March 2014 that such a Council
would convene in Constantinople
early in 2016.
The Council will bring together the Primates and Bishops
of all fourteen Autocephalous
Churches in the Orthodox East.
Chairing the proceedings will be
Ecumenical
Patriarch
Bartholomew, and all decisions
will be by consensus. Every
Church will have one vote, except
for the Autonomous Churches,
whose participation will be
through their “Mother Churches.”
Current plans call for holding the
Council in the church of Hagia
Irene in Constantinople, the site
of the 2nd Ecumenical Council.
The enormous importance of
the event cannot be overstated.
There has not been a comparable
Pan Orthodox meeting in over
1,200 years, and though it will
not rank as an “Ecumenical
Council” because of the absence
of Rome, it could turn out to be
the most important happening in
modern Orthodox history.
To be sure, there are potential
problems, and it would be wrong
not to take note of them. Fortunately, they are secular and administrative in nature rather than
doctrinal, and as such should be
easier to resolve. Some of the
problems trace their origins to
the parochialism that unfortunately afflicts many of the Autocephalous Churches; others are
a reflection of current political
realities. Through the years,
preparatory meetings held on the
island of Rhodes, in Switzerland,
and in Constantinople, have aired
these problems in sufficient detail
to facilitate their consideration
by the Council. Still, how the
Council will rule on each of them
remains to be seen.
Of the problems, one of the
hardest to resolve, will be that of
the Orthodox Churches in the Diaspora (specifically those in Western Europe, the Americas, and
Australasia), because as presently
organized, they do not comply
with the Canon of the Church
that allows the appointment of
only one Orthodox Bishop per
city. Today, in the cities of the Diaspora there are more than 170
Orthodox Bishops, Russian,
Greek, Romanian, etc. Fifty-five
of them alone in the United
States. It is all the result of immigration that has transplanted
millions of Orthodox faithful during the past century from the East
to new homes in the West, blurring in the process the jurisdictional lines of the existing Orthodox Churches and at times
creating new ones.
Under dispute, also requiring
resolution by the Council, will be
the issue of the procedure for
granting Autocephaly to an Orthodox Church (i.e. the authority
to run its own affairs and to elect
its bishops and archbishop). This
is an especially critical issue because of conditions in the
Ukraine, where in effect there are
today three competing Orthodox
Churches. How this issue will
play in the Council is hard to predict. At the present time, there is
reluctance on the part of the
Church of Russia to grant this authority to the Ecumenical Patriarchate alone, because the Patriarchate refuses to recognize the
autocephaly status of the Orthodox Church in America, which
was granted earlier by the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The rank order of the fourteen
Autocephalous Churches and disputes between Patriarchates,
such as currently is the case between Jerusalem and Antioch
over the church of Qatar, will
similarly be troublesome issues
for the Council to consider. Historically, the status of the Ecumenical Patriarch as the “first
among equals” in the East has
been undisputed. Not so, any
longer. A very powerful Church
of Russia with its 165 plus million
members is challenging the leadership of Constantinople. The
pressure has eased somewhat under the leadership of Patriarch
Kirill, but there is no assurance
that it will continue to be so in
the future.
A dozen or so additional secular issues will likewise confront
the judgement of the Council.
They concern such moral and
bioethical issues as surrogate
motherhood, rules for marriage
and fasting, the adoption of a
common calendar, and preservation of the natural environment.
And, of course, the key question
on continuing the dialogue with
other Christian Churches, especially Catholicism. The issue of
Papal primacy looms strong on
the latter issue. In any final EastWest reconciliation, will the Pope
merely hold the honorary title of
the first among equals, or would
he have also real authority over
the Churches in the East? Until
this issue is resolved it will be difficult to proceed in earnest with
the Orthodox- Catholic dialogue.
What is the outlook for the
Pan Orthodox Council of 2016?
It will depend on its agenda. Will
the important issues of the Diaspora, Autocephaly, and Rank Order of the Patriarchates be addressed? What about the terms
for the hoped for reconciliation
with Rome? Will bioethical questions be answered for the guidance of the faithful? Decisions
will come difficult under the rules
adopted, that require agreements
to be by consensus, and with
every Autocephalous Church in
effect holding the power of veto.
Still, the urgency for readying
the Church for the 21st Century
and preparing it for reconciliation
dialogues with Rome and other
Christian Churches, is overriding.
The problems under consideration may be difficult, but with
guidance from the Holy Spirit solutions will be found.
Dennis Menos is the author of
The
Justinian
Diaries,
a
historical novel that focuses on
Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
He
can
be
reached
at
[email protected].

The National Herald GR

Transcription

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