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ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ
ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915
The National Herald
cv
A wEEkly GrEEk-AmEriCAN PuBliCATiON
Bringing the news
to generations of
Greek-Americans
www.thenationalherald.com
February 21-27, 2015
VOL. 18, ISSUE 906
$1.50
Himonas is Despite the Impasse, Greece Foresees Debt Deal Happening
Varoufakis Envisions
Justice on
“Honorable Solution”
Supreme
From Disagreement
Ct. of Utah
TNH Staff
Greek Orthodox
Becomes Only NonMormon on Bench
On February 13 the Utah
Senate unanimously confirmed
the appointment of Constandinos (Deno) Himonas to the Utah
Supreme Court, the highest juridical body in the state.
The confirmation of Himonas
as a Utah Supreme Court Justice
is historically significant not
only to the Greek-American
community, but also to Utah’s
history as he, a Greek Orthodox,
becomes the only non-Mormon
on the state’s high court.
At his confirmation hearing,
Himonas told the Senate: "I am
deeply, deeply committed to a
textual approach to legislation
that comes out of this body and
the House, and an originalist approach to both the constitution
of this state and the Constitution
of the United States,” the Salt
Lake City Tribune reported.
Himonas worked as a trial
judge in Salt Lake City since
2004 and prior to that practiced
law privately for 15 years, the
Deseret News reported. He replaces Ronald Nehring, the
court’s Associate Chief Justice
on the Supreme Court. The
Court is comprised of five justices: the Chief Justice, the Associate Chief Justice, and three
AP PHOTO/EurOkiNiSSi, GiOrGOS kONTAriNiS
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) welcomes conservative former Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos at the Maximos
Mansion in Athens on Feb. 17. Pavlopoulos, 64, a law professor, must be approved by Parliament in a special process.
Greeks in the NBA Honored at New York Consulate
NEW YORK – They may not all
have been sports fans, but the
Hellenes who attended the reception at the Greek Consulate
in New York in honor of Greek
players in the NBA were brimming with pride on February 12.
The event was presented by
the Hellenic Basketball Federation and Yanna Darilis, president
of New Greek TV (NGTV) was
the emcee and event organizer
was Yanna Darilis.
Amb. George Iliopoulos, the
Consul General of Greece, told
The National Herald, “we are
happily hosting this event. Basketball is a sport that every Greek
has dear to his heart, not only
because we now have a long tradition, but because they excel at
it.”
The honorees included Kostas
Papanikolaou, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kosta Koufos and Nick
Calathes. Papanikolaou and Antetokounmpo were present in
New York because they were selected for the NBA All Star Game.
Koufos and Calathes had to remain with their teams and could
not travel to New York but Antetokounmpo was forced to miss
the event at the last moment because of a previously unscheduled practice.
Each will receive a plaque,
however. Papanikolaou, who was
given his by Matina Kolokotronis,
President for Business Operations
of the Sacramento Kings, said
"This plaque is the least I take
with me form here. I can feel only
joy and strong emotions…It's a
rare opportunity for us to find
ourselves in a place with so many
Greeks. Maybe it does not seem
important for some, but it is very
big thing for us to receive this
love."
The guests were also thrilled
at the chance to meet the legends
of international Greek basketball
like Panagiotis Fasoulas, Nikos
Katsikaris, Nikos Philippou and
the former star of PAOK and the
Sacramento Kings, Peja Sto-
jakovic.
Honorary plaques were also
presented to Amb. Iliopoulos, to
the Archdiocese of America for
operating Greek-American youth
basketball leagues – it was received by Stavros Papagermanos,
the Archdiocese’s press officer –
and to NGTV, received by Darilis,
for its contribution to the event.
Also present were Fox NEWS
star anchors Ernie Anastos and
Nicole Petalides, representatives
of the New York fan clubs of
Olympiacos and Panathinaikos,
Brooklyn Nets executive, Abner
Neufeld, and Greek-American
Continued on page 4
Cultural Foundation’s “Riddle of the Labyrinth”
Utah Supreme Court Justice
Constandinos Himonas.
By Constantine S. Sirigos
other Justices. Himonas is now
one of our non-Chief Justices
until among them, a new Associate Chief Justice is chosen.
State Senator Scott Jenkins,
Chairman of the Senate Judicial
Confirmation Committee, told
the News that the committee
"spent a great deal of time" examining Himonas' qualifications
and "found him to be a wonder-
NEW YORK – The HellenicAmerican Cultural Foundation
presented a lecture by Margalit
Fox, the award-winning New
York Times senior writer. Fox fascinated the guests who filled the
auditorium of the Rubin Museum of Art on February 12 for a
lecture on her book, The Riddle
of the Labyrinth: The Quest to
Crack an Ancient Code.
Fox’s book “recounts the halfcentury-long quest to decipher
Linear B, a mysterious script
from the Aegean Bronze Age, unearthed on clay tablets at Knossos in 1900…this thrilling intellectual detective story also brings
to light the forgotten history of
Alice Kober the obsessive, overlooked American scholar whose
work made the decipherment
possible,” according to the program notes.
Fox emphasized that previous
histories focused on Michael Ventris, the Englishman – his name
only sounds Greek – who ulti-
Continued on page 4
Doctors of
the World
Supported
By Aris Papadopoulos
TNH Staff Writer
ATHENS – Through the generous support of diaspora organization like The Hellenic Initiative (THI) and individual
Greek-Americans abroad, Doctors of the World – Greece have
been able to continue and expand their work, offering relief
to families that have been
harmed by the Greek crisis.
Through this assistance during the last two years many
Greek children were provided
with pediatric and dental care
and with vaccinations.
Specifically, Doctors of the
World, with the valuable support of THI, has implemented a
dental check program for primary and secondary children
and dental care for adults.
Continued on page 5
For subscription:
718.784.5255
subscriptions@thenationalherald.com
TNH Staff
Continued on page 3
Continued on page 11
Prof. Diane
Touliatos
Retires
By Constantine S. Sirigos
TNH Staff Writer
President Obama’s liberal
agenda, but it’s clear that’s what
Hillary Clinton and John
Podesta intend to give them.”
Founder of the Center for
American Progress (CAP),
Podesta is an impassioned environmentalist, for whom the
greener the politicians he serves
can be, the better.
Described by the New York
Times as the Democrats
“marathon man” – literally and
figuratively, he is an avid runner
– Podesta is credited by the
newspaper as “saving” Bill Clinton’s presidency from scandalous ruin and Obama’s presidency from fading into
irrelevance.
Long intrigued by Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs),
Podesta regretted, the Washington Post reported last week, that
ST. LOUIS, MO – Dr. Diane
Touliatos is an internationallyrenowned scholar in the areas
of Ancient Greek music, Medieval Byzantine and Western
music, and women composers.
The University of Missouri-Saint
Louis professor recently celebrated her retirement after 35
years of teaching, but her work,
a labor of love combining music
and history, continues.
It is a passion that extends
deep into her childhood. “I had
to cry and cry for a piano…my
mom gave my dad the ultimatum and he got me a piano and
that got me involved in music…
and to this day I still play my
piano.”
She earned degrees in piano
performance in addition to musicology, and choosing among
three job offers after her studies,
she picked St. Louis for its cultural riches, to which she added
with her piano performances.
She also enriched the educational experience of more than
4,000 students.
As a research scholar well
known to some of the world’s
great libraries she has written
over 60 scholarly research articles and six books. She is famous for the discovery of the
earliest female musical compositions that have been musically
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 5
TNH/COSTAS BEJ
(L-R) Ed and Diana Regan, Aris Christodoulou, Marilena Christodoulou, member of the Board
of the Hellenic-American Cultural Foundation and director of finance and administration of
the Rubin Museum and Nicholas Kourides, chairman of the board of the Foundation.
In Retrospect: Podesta Poised to Head “Hillary 2016”
Greek Mothers
Of WW Two
TNH Staff
By Steve Frangos
TNH Staff Writer
CHICAGO- Little is known
about the full spectrum of civilian programs supported by
Greek immigrants during World
War II. Some accounts do report
on the Greek War Relief efforts
and the singular role of Greeks
in the war bond drives. Still,
that is not the full scope, by any
means, of Greek immigrant war
work. Why such sustained and
diverse patriotic activities
should escape general notice
speaks more about those who
write history than any other set
of enduring factors.
Complicating this set of cirContinued on page 7
BRUSSELS, Belgium – Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis
is playing down the breakdown
of talks with the country’s European creditors.
Varoufakis said that, “We
know in Europe how to deliberate in such a way as to create a
very good solution, an honorable
solution out of initial disagreement.”
His comments come after a
meeting of the 19 finance ministers of the Eurozone over how
to make Greece’s debts sustainable broke down in seeming acrimony after barely more than
three hours.
European creditors issued
Greece with an ultimatum, saying it must accept a key condition in bailout talks by Feb. 20
or face having to meet its debt
commitments on its own.
Many in the financial markets
think that scenario would leave
Greece little option but to leave
the euro.
Prime Minister and Radical
Left SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras
and Varoufakis were staking
their bets on the belief that it
would be the Eurozone, fearing
a ripple effect in the other 18
countries, that would blink, back
down and give Greece debt relief
but it hasn’t happened yet so far.
Varoufakis said he had initially been given the text of a
possible deal from European
Economic and Monetary Affairs
Commissioner Pierre Moscovici
that Greece would have accepted
but that the terms were changed
so he would not.
ULTIMATUM LAID DOWN
Eurogroup President Jeroen
Dijsselbloem said if Athens doesn’t accept an extension to what’s
left of 240 billion euros ($272
billion) in two bailouts from the
Troika of the European UnionInternational Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMFECB) that Greece would be on
its own. “Then, that’s it,” he said.
“The general feeling in the
Eurogroup is still that the best
way forward would be for the
Greek authorities to seek an extension of the program,” he told
a joint press conference with
Moscovici and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.
Tsipras – who said he
wouldn’t talk to the Troika nor
recognize its authority but now
has – also said he would not accept an extension although Varoufakis proposed a “bridge agreement” which technically is the
same but using a different term.
If a request for an extension
Greek-American
John
Podesta, who recently stepped
down as Counselor to President
Obama and served as Chief of
Staff to President Bill Clinton,
is rumored to be an early favorite to become chairman of
Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, Politico reported.
The 66 year-old Chicago native, whose father John, Sr. was
of Italian descent and whose
mother, Mary (nee Kokoris) was
a Greek-American, has longstanding ties to the Clinton family. Hillary wanted him on her
2008 campaign team, Politico
reported.
Unquestionably a veteran of
Washington Politics, Podesta is
also an outspoken progressive,
whose political viewpoints often
veer to the left of both President
Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Politico sees Podesta’s heading
Hillary’s campaign as an opportunity for her to connect with
the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, a voting bloc
with which she has had a rocky
relationship in the past. Conversely, Podesta’s presence
might deter swing voters who
are not committed to voting Republican in every circumstance,
but would hesitate to pull the
lever for a Democrat who is too
liberal.
According to the Times, Republicans are delighted at the
prospect of Podesta heading
Clinton’s campaign. “You’ve got
to admire someone willing to
move from one sinking ship to
another that’s taking on water
before it’s even left port,” Republican National Committee
spokesperson Michael Short told
the Times. “Voters overwhelmingly don’t want a third term for
COMMUNITY
2
GOINGS ON...
GREEKS AROUND THE US
Houston Rodeo: Yahoo! Yippie Kai Yo Kai Yay!
By Dr. Constantina
Michalos
Aah, Houston, often Greek, diverse, and cosmopolitan. But sometimes, just ride ‘em cowboy.
rodeo. Try walking past one of
those suckers in a crowded
parking lot without impaling
yourself!
A rodeo wouldn’t be a rodeo
without some bar – b – cue. For
three days, more than 250
teams compete in brisket, ribs,
chicken and Dutch-oven dessert
categories. Teams also vie to use
the most unique pit, be the most
colorful, and present the most
entertaining skit. I really appreciate that they are also recognized for having the cleanest
cooking area and recycling the
most. And, of course, they raise
money for scholarships.
So now that everyone is
dressed and juiced, what happens?
The rodeo begins with a
Grand Entry into NRG Arena of
horses, buggies, carriages, hay
wagons and fire trucks carrying
Show officials, dignitaries, sponsors, volunteers and special
guests (the Astrodome, the 8th
wonder of the world and original home of rodeo, stands pathetically nearby awaiting its
fate at the hands of unsentimental Houstonians with a limited
sense of architectural history).
The American flag is carried
around the arena by a professional trick rider as a local
celebrity sings the national anthem, rousing the crowd to a
patriotic frenzy. “Nowhere Else
but Texas” is more than a Chamber of Commerce slogan around
these parts. The competitions include tie-down roping, bareback
riding, team roping, saddle
bronc riding, steer wrestling,
barrel racing, bull riding, chuck
wagon races, calf scramble and
mutton bustin’. For the most
part, these events are self-explanatory: professional cowboys
ride, ‘restle and rope horses and
bulls.
In the calf scramble, young
Texas 4-H and FFA members
chase and attempt to catch 15
calves that are released into the
arena. Each student who
catches a calf is awarded a
$1,500 certificate to purchase a
registered beef heifer or market
steer to show at the Livestock
Show the following year. The
student then shows in a special
competition and receives a $250
bonus if program requirements
are fulfilled. More than $10.3
million has been awarded in
certificates and awards to approximately 20,240 students
since 1942, underscoring the
rodeo mission to support Texas
youth and encourage agricultural enterprise.
Participants in the mutton
bustin’ competition must be between five and six and not
weigh more than 55 pounds.
They spring out of a chute clinging onto a sheep or mutton. All
contestants are winners in mutton bustin’, but the rider who
holds on the longest receives a
champion belt buckle and braggin’ rights.
Meanwhile, back at the
ranch – really just another space
in the NRG complex – the Livestock Show is going on. Pick an
animal, even some you wouldn’t
expect in Texas, like alpacas,
and there’s a competition. Last
year, more than 29,000 junior
and adult livestock and horse
show entries were recorded, and
auction totals exceeded $14 million. Remember that the next
time you bite into a steak!
Schoolchildren can also participate in one of five categories
in the rodeo School Art Competition: colored drawing, mixed
media, monochromatic drawing, painting and 3-D. Each entry receives a red, white or blue
ribbon. From the blue ribbon
winners, the Best of Show, Gold
Medal and Special Merit awards
are selected in each class: elementary, middle and high
school. All work by high school
participants is eligible for the
Show's School Art Auction. Last
year’s Grand Champion sold her
painting for $210,000, and the
Reserve Grand Champion sold
hers for $196,000. My younger
daughter won the Best in Show
purple ribbon with a colored
drawing of a Native American
when she was in middle school.
She got dinner at her favorite
restaurant and all the ice cream
she could eat.
If, at any time, you’ve had
enough ridin’, ropin’ and
‘restlin’, there are plenty of concerts to keep you entertained.
This year’s performers, at prices
far more reasonable than in traditional venues, include: Eric
Church, Hunter Hayes, Miranda
Lambert, John Legend, Alan
Jackson, Fall Out Boys, Justin
Moore, Tim McGraw, Brantley
Gilbert, Zac Brown Band, Pit
Bull, Billy Currington, La Arrolladora Banda El Limon, La
Maquinaria Nortena, Dierks
Bentley, Ariana Grande, Florida
Georgia Line, Blake Shelton,
The Band Perry, Brad Paisley,
and Luke Bryan. Years ago,
when I was seven months pregnant and before he got fat, we
saw Elvis Presley. He rode
around the arena floor in a huge
pink Cadillac, glowing and glistening in his white satin jumpsuit. Those eyes! That voice! I
jumped so much with excitement, it’s a miracle I didn’t go
into labor right then!
What self-respecting Livestock Show doesn’t have enough
carnival food to clog the arteries
of Rhode Island? Besides the
bar-b-cue, there are funnel
cakes, cotton candy, hot dogs (I
use the term loosely) topped
with anything and everything,
corn in a cup (in case eating
corn on the cob in public is
gauche) pulled pork, stuffed
baked potatoes, younameit onastick, and, of course, fried whatever – Snickers, Twinkies,
Oreos, Nutter Butters, chocolate-covered bacon. I’m making
myself sick just writing this.
I’ve lived in Houston for over
40 years. I’ve watched it grow
into a major metropolitan area,
albeit with no public transportation to speak of. God forbid Texans should give up their cars! I
hate the endless summers, but I
don’t miss the blizzards. I have
found New York-style pizza
from two brothers from Rego
Park, but I would kill for a
Sabrett. And I have rodeo – bigger, better and badder than any
celebration ever. Except for the
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Pontian Society
Komninoi
Celebrates
50th Anniversary
TNH/COSTAS BEJ
HOUSTON, TX – Every year, for
several weeks extending from
the end of February into March,
Houston, the fourth largest city
in America – diverse, cosmopolitan international (not least of
all, home to a thriving Greek
community) Houston transforms itself into the back lot of
a John Wayne western. Regular
people, i.e., transplants from
New York, wear boots and jeans
and fringes and hats that rival
any ugly Christmas sweater contest. And this stuff isn’t cheap!
The Houston Livestock Show
and Rodeo is a very big deal in
the city that is now more associated with oil and gas, medical
advances, and space exploration
than the wild West. The rodeo
is, in fact, “a Section 501(c)(3)
charity that benefits youth, supports education, and facilitates
better agricultural practices
through exhibitions and presentation. Since its beginning in
1932, the Houston Livestock
Show and Rodeo has committed
nearly $375 million to scholarships, research, endowments,
calf scramble participants, junior show exhibitors, School Art
participants, and other educational
youth
programs”
(http://www.rodeohouston.co
m/AboutUs/WhoWeAre.aspx).
Weeks before the actual
rodeo, the trail rides begin.
Recreating the cattle drives of
the old West, riders head toward
Houston from as close as Anderson, TX (69 miles) and as far as
Reynosa, Mexico (386 miles).
Los Vaqueros Rio Grande Trail
ride leaves Reynosa on February
7th. Try to imagine Houston drivers, not the friendliest or most
competent drivers in America,
as they negotiate daily traffic
complicated by horses and covered wagons! Try to imagine
opening your front door to retrieve the morning paper, only
to be greeted by a wagon train
wending its way through your
neighborhood on its way to the
rodeo! It definitely takes some
getting used to. By Friday, the
27th, 13 trail rides arrive and
camp out in Memorial Park. The
next morning, everyone convenes downtown for the annual
Rodeo Parade: colorful floats,
marching bands, horses, wagons, and more horses. But before the parade, there’s the
ConocoPhilips Rodeo Run. Last
year, more than 13,000 runners,
walkers and wheel-chair participants contributed $400,000 in
registration fees to the rodeo
Educational Fund. Since 1988,
ConocoPhilips has contributed
more than $4 million.
While the cowboys are riding
toward Houston, the cowboy
wannabes are getting ready.
Area “Go Texan” days begin on
January 30th and seem to continue well beyond the departure
of the last trail riders. Denim
and diamonds, fringes and formals, spangles and spurs –
choose an alliterative oxymoron
to describe the myriad auctions
and galas that help to fund the
rodeo charities. You know how
people decorate their cars with
reindeer antlers and red pompoms to simulate Rudolph’s
nose? That’s nothing compared
to the longhorns that people attach to the grills of their cars for
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
Children in traditional
costumes delighted
the members and
friends of the Pontian
Society Komninoi,
who filled the Astoria
World Manor catering
hall in Astoria for the
society’s 50th
anniversary dinnerdance. In addition to
the children’s
dancing, guests also
enjoyed performances
by musicians from
Greece and the
Society.
n FEBRUARY 20
MANHATTAN – You are cordially invited to our annual Hellenic Medical NY Mardi Gras
celebration on Friday, Feb. 20 at
7PM at the Cathedral Cultural
Center at 337 E. 74th Street in
Manhattan. This year again in
traditional Greek Carnival fashion, "Apokries" with live music
by Apollo Orchestras, traditional
Greek meats and wine, apokriatika songs and other surprises.
Make sure to make your table
reservations since there is limited space and availability. We
look forward to a pleasant
evening to warm up the winter
chill of February before we head
into Lent. Bring your masks or
costumes, smiles and dancing
shoes. Contact the Apokries
event Chairs Stella Lymberis,
MD (917) 622-9269, and Roula
Lambrakis (917) 865-1682.
Tickets and table reservations
Evangelia
Tsavaris
hellenicmed@gmail.com, Tel (718)
298-2440.
n FEBRUARY 21
MANHATTAN – Join us for a romantic drama by Director/ Actor Christoforos Papakaliatis set
in modern Athens against the
backdrop of the economic crisis.
“ ‘An’/What if...” shows two opposing perspectives in juxtaposition - one of a lonely bachelor,
Demetri, the other of a couple
in love…. and a decision that
may have Demetri unwittingly
standing on the precipice of a
life-changing decision. In Greek
with English subtitles. A suggested donation of $15 supports
the philanthropic work of our
Philoptochos,
sponsor
of
“Movies@ the Annunciation”.
Refreshments. February 21st at
6:30 pm, Annunciation Greek
Orthodox Church, 302 W. 91st
Street, (at West End Ave.) in
Manhattan. 212-724-2070.
n FEBRUARY 25 –
MARCH 27
FAIRFIELD, CT – Under the Auspices of the Consul General of
Greece in New York, the exhibition, “Photographs of the Caryatid Hairstyling Project,” will be
on view February 25 through
March 27, Monday-Friday 9AM2:30PM, at Fairfield University,
1073 North Benson Road in
Fairfield. The project began as
an experiment in 2009, led by
Dr. Katherine Schwab, Professor
of Art History at Fairfield University, to find out if the elegant
hairstyles worn by the famous
Caryatids from the Erechtheion
on the Athenian Acropolis were
creative idealizations or based
in reality. Student models from
Fairfield University had their
hair arranged by a professional
hairstylist and the results proved
that these ancient hairstyles
were based in reality. A short
film of the project has been
screened in Athens several
times, as well as in numerous
cities in the United States. This
exhibition, which is free and
open to the public, has been organized by the Art History Program at Fairfield University. For
further information about the
project, please visit www.fairfield.edu/caryatid.
n MARCH 12
MANHATTAN – In Celebration
of Women’s History Month, The
Officers and Directors of The Association of Greek American
Professional Women (AGAPW)
request the Pleasure of Your
Company at Our Signature Annual Greek American Woman of
the Year Award Gala Honoring
Ms. Paulette Poulos, Executive
Director Leadership 100. An Excellence Tuition Scholarship will
be Awarded in Honor of Ms.
Poulos. Thursday, Mar. 12, 79PM, 3 West Club, The Lounge
Room 3 West 51st Street in
Manhattan. Keynote speaker, Dr.
Eleni Panzoures Andreopoulou,
MD. Emcee, Ms. Anthoula Katsimatides. Wine and hors d’oeuvres reception. Please RSVP. Preregistration is required by
March 5th, 2015. Minimum sug-
gested donation $150. For further info, contact Dr. Olga Alexakos at oalexakos@agapw.org
or 917-405-6833.
n MARCH 13-15
SUN VALLEY, ID – The Greek Invitational Ski Race and Social
Weekend will take place Friday
through Sunday, March 13-15 at
Sun Valley, ID Sponsored by
AHEPA, Seattle Chapter #177.
Enjoy skiing on Bald Mountain,
walking around Historic Sun Valley Village, Ice Skate, Cross-Country Ski, Shop, Dine! Please see
www.eventbrite.com/e/greek-invitational-tickets for more details,
or call the Sun Valley Inn 208786-8259.
n MARCH 22
ASTORIA – The Athenians' Society of New York is organizing
the Second Book Exposition on
Sunday, Mar. 22, 3-7PM at the
Petros G. Patrides Cultural Center at The Saint Demetrios
Cathedral of Astoria, 30-03 30th
Drive in Astoria. For more information, please call Tassos
Mouzakis at (917) 859-5881 or
email: panos212@gmail.com
n MARCH 29
MANHATTAN – The Federation
of Hellenic Societies of Greater
New York is proud to present
the 2015 Greek Parade, celebrating the 194th anniversary
of Hellenic Independence, on
Sunday, Mar. 29 at 1:45PM on
Fifth Avenue between 64th and
79th Streets in Manhattan. Preparade events include: The
Grand Marshal Gala is held on
the Saturday before the parade
in one of the great Manhattan
Hotels. At the Gala the Federation honors the Grand Marshals
of the parade and the Grand
benefactors. The Pre-Parade
Gala is held the Saturday a
week before the Parade at the
Terrace on the Park in Queens.
At the Pre-Parade Gala the Federation honors all the volunteers
of the parade. The Bowling
Green Flag raising ceremony is
held the Friday before the Parade at the Bowling Green Park
in Lower Manhattan. The Dance
Exhibition is held the Saturday
before the Parade. All dance
groups are welcome. As the Parade nears, more information
will become available, so please
continue to check in for additional details. For information
regarding the Parade and Parade-related events, please contact
hellenicsocieties.org.
Phone: 1-718-204-6500.
n MARCH 31
CONCORDVILLE, PA – Paul
Kotrotsios, founder of Hermes
Expo International, has invited
Delaware County and Greater
Philadelphia businesses specializing and or targeting in health
care and the hospitality industries
to participate in this year’s Hermes Expo, a trade show providing exceptional networking opportunities for businesses in the
Delaware County, Brandywine
Valley and the Greater Philadelphia area. It will be held Tuesday,
Mar. 31 in The Best Western Hotel, 675 Conchester Highway in
Concordville, 9:30AM-5:30PM,
and is open to Trade and Public
and with no admission fee. (Just
bring your business card). The
Expo enables regional business
owners to make connections with
their counterparts from the
Greater Philadelphia Area, North
America, Southeastern Europe
and the Eastern Mediterranean.
This year will mark the launching
of The Ted Spyropoulos Seminar
Series. Mr. Spyropoulos was an
inspirational leader in the Greek
American community who believed that if we worked together,
we could move mountains. For
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK
If Greece strengthens its ties with Russia, what is more important to you – whether that is good for Greece, or harmful
to the United States?
Please
email
your
response
to
scaros@thenationalherald.com
We may publish some responses as Letters to the Editor in
a future issue.
COMMUNITY
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
3
Greek Cultural Center Presents “Songs of Love and Struggle” in Astoria
By Constantine S. Sirigos
TNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – The Greek Cultural Center (KEP) presented soprano Anna Paidoussi, pianist
Areti Giovanou, and guitarist/vocalist Serafim Lazos in a concert
of “Songs of Love and Struggle”
at the headquarters of the Kefalos
Society of America on February
15.
The guests who have waited
a long time to hear Paidoussi sing
again were richly rewarded, but
everyone who braved bitter cold
to fill the hall built by the
Cephalonians of Astoria shared
a heartwarming experience.
The opening songs set the
tone for a night of music that expressed the great Greek passion
for Eros and Justice.
As the lights dimmed Giovanou played the bass opening
notes that accompany the lyrics
(in Greek) “Ask me to tell you…
about an old wound that still
bleeds, ” by the Greek composer
Attik.
Paidoussi then sang two
pieces from “Epitafios. ” With
great tenderness she told of a
mother cradling the head of her
bloodied son, a victim of the labor demonstrations of 1936 in
Thessaloniki.
The guests appreciated
Paidoussi’s occasional commentary on the songs and their creator and enjoyed her humorous
banter.
She explained the back-
(L-R) Serafim Lazos, Anna Paidoussi and Areti Giovanou received flowers from the Greek
Cultural Center after their concert at the Kefalos Society’s headquarters in Astoria.
ground of Epitafios, which was
written by Yannis Ritsos and introduced “The Ballad of Mauthausen” by Iacovos Kambanellis.
The latter is about a young man
whose beloved perished in
Hitler’s gas chambers. “Girls of
Auschwitz,
Bergen-Belsen,
Dachau…have you seen my
love? Nobody knew how beautiful she was.” Both pieces were
set to music by Mikis Theodorakis.
Each of the performers was
exceptional. Giovanou’s fine accompaniment often felt like a piano recital, but without obtruding on the singing. Lazos’ guitar
virtually sang along with him,
and Paidoussi’s pieces were as
much dramatic readings as wonderful renditions of songs from
the audience’s youth.
The audience was also delighted by the mix of English
songs that also reflected the
themes. Paidoussi’s sultry yet
poignant “We’ll Meet Again,”
which comforted millions in the
darkest days of WWII sung by
Very Lynn, was followed by
“Kane kouragio Ellada mou –
Have courage my Greece,” which
was sung by that country’s war
angel, Sophia Vembo. Paidoussi’s
moving rendition of the beloved
song was punctuated by applause for both its performance
and its meaning.
When she finished her first set
and invited Lazos to the stage,
she thanked him for being “the
first foolish man to give me a job
singing Greek music.”
Lazos began with “Αsteri
Mou, Feggari Mou” with words
and music by John and Miki
Theodorakis respectively.
The lyrics of Lazos’ final song
were written by Paidoussi’s
mother, Eleni, which he set to
music. It was the tragic tale of a
boy who left Mitiline when he
was 19 for America. Rather than
thrive, he was among the many
who were devoured by the immigrant experience and who are
not heard from.
Paidoussi began the third part
of the program with Cool river,
with it lyrics “Cool river brush
my tears away to the sea, to the
sea,” proving her voice thrills on
operatic, jazzy and bluesy pieces.
The lyrical “Aspro mou Rodo
– Μy White Rose” which followed, once again demonstrated
how her Greek repertoire shines.
One guest said “I can’t wait to
hear her sing rebetika.”
Paidoussi paused before the
final four songs to explain they
were all about a parent’s love for
her children – “I can’t decide if
they are about love or struggle…
children are about fervent love
and our most difficult decisions.”
John Lennon’s “Beautiful
boy,” Abba’s “Slipping through
My Fingers” and especially Billy
Joel’s “Lullaby,” with its sweet
lyrics “good night my angel,”
brought tears to the eyes of many
parents after announcing she was
not sure if she could get through
them herself without crying.
Paidousi brought the program
to a dramatic end in a similar
vein with Kate McGarrigle’s Proserpina, a lament by goddess the
Demeter over the loss of her
daughter Persephone.
The delighted crowd called
back all three performers for an
encore.
Eleftheria Tourtoulis, KEP’s
secretary, presented the artists
with flowers and invited the
guests to remain for sweets and
fellowship. Iraklis Kremmidas,
KEP’s president thanked everyone for attending and Kefalos for
hosting the event.
“It was superb. Awesome,”
said Anna Mallis, whose family
is from Samos and Milos. “I’ve
known Anna from the 1908s. She
is extremely talented, and so was
her mother. I remember her in
the Greek nightclub playing her
tambourine and singing with
Grigoris Maninakis,” she said.
Eleni Kalogeras said she liked
the children’s songs the most.
”They reminded me of my years
as a young mother singing lullabies to them.”
Terry Delis agreed “It was
phenomenal. It brought me back
to the 1970s when all this great
music was being played and we
were in the spirit of liberating
Greece from the dictatorship.
We’ve come full circle – we need
another liberation.”
“Winter” from Greece, Imagination, Great Beyond
The Cultural Foundation’s
“Riddle of the Labyrinth”
By Constantine S. Sirigos
TNH Staff Writer
mately deciphered the script in
1952.
She makes clear, however,
that is was Kober who “meticulously and brilliantly brought the
decipherment to the brink of
fruition,” the notes indicate, “before her untimely death in
1950.”
Some people become disappointed when they learn that the
tablets are mainly accounting
records, but Fox said, “They are
still the records of how flesh and
blood people lived.”
The last chapter of the book
is a reconstruction of Mycenaean
life based on the tablets.
The third member of the team
was John Chadwick. The three
made use of sophisticated statistical techniques. Today the work
of linguists is greatly assisted by
computers, but Kober said “I
have no use for IBM machines.”
Scholars need to
address hunches
cautiously: a wrong
turn could lead to
flawed hypotheses.
Fox said the meticulous
scholar was just right for her
time, however. For a long time
there was no data to be fed into
a computer. “It took 50 years to
even determine the character
set.” Among the challenges was
to study enough tablets to enable
them to determine whether
some letters were the same or
different.
Finding the truth sometimes
requires very sophisticated practices and Fox clarified a number
of issues non-experts need to understand what the work entails.
Acting on the thought that
“this feels Greek” is problematic
and deciphering ancient texts illustrates the limits of intuition.
If a hunch steers scholars wrong
in the beginning, it leads to years
wasted driving towards dead
ends as their ingenuity finds
ways to demonstrate to their satisfaction that their intuition is
right Fox said.
Premature reports that Linear
A is also Greek illustrate the challenges. When Fox was asked why
Linear A has yet to be deciphered, she explained that there
simply are not enough text to examine.
That Linear B was deciphered
is partly due to the good luck of
us moderns, but the misfortune
of the ancient writers: the fires
that burned down the palaces
baked the clay tablets for us.
Nevertheless, years of hard
work were required and Fox explained how some the tools
work.
She said decipherers look for
linguistic survivals of other languages and noted that Kober
paid attention to pre-Greek elements in Homer, such as words
ending in “ynth” – like Labyrinth,
and “inthos.”
Fox also pointed out that the
scholars were fortunate to have
tablets from Pylos, on the Greek
mainland, which were written
200 years after the Cretan materials.
Ventris saw that certain
names appeared only in the Cretan texts and he correctly
guessed that they were the
names of cities on Crete – like
Cnossos.
He eventually determined
that Linear B was Greek after
years of believing that was not
the case.
Fox said that Kober, who was
born in Manhattan’s Upper East
Side Yorkville neighborhood to
Hungarian immigrants, “was
hungry to see the Pylos tablets”
but never did because WWII
caused them to be locked up in
the vaults of the Bank of Greece.
Although Ventris made great
progress, Fox said he panicked
at one point because he could
not find the word “the” in the
text. Chadwick calmed him
down by noting that even in
Homeric Greek, “the” was rarely
used.
The lecture, which was followed by an enthusiastic Q & A,
was the first cultural event of the
year for the Hellenic-American
Cultural Foundation. Nicholas
Kourides, Chairman of the board
of the Foundation, welcomed
everyone and introduced Fox,
who holds degrees in both journalism and linguistics.
Asked how the Foundation
came to invite her, Kourides told
TNH “We read the book and
were fascinated by it… we look
at all aspects of culture and this
was an aspect we hadn’t pursed.”
Coming up for the Foundation is the third installment of
the Peter T. Kourides Lecture Series featuring a fireside chat between former CIA Director
George Tenet and Mike
Emanuel, the chief political correspondent for Fox TV in Washington, DC on April 29 at the
University Club. In June Joan
Mertens, the curator of Greek
and Roman art at the Metropolitan Museum, will present the
essence of her book How to Read
Greek Vases.
In October the Foundation
will again co-sponsor the New
York Greek Film Festival and
they also plan a recital by a
young trio at Merkin Hall in November.
NEW YORK – Imagination and
resourcefulness have characterized the Greeks in the face of
challenges for 4000 years, enabling them to survive – and to
create art even in times of troubles. That spirit lives on Kostas
Koutsoliotas, the director of the
film O Xeimonas – The Winter,
produced by his wife Elizabeth
E. Schuch, who was also its art
director.
Of course, challenges are
harder if you are not sure they
are real.
In the movie Niko, an aspiring
writer and Greek expatriate in
England, loses his job after the
financial crash and is having a
hard time getting his act together.
His focus turns to memories
of his late father, who died mysteriously and whose own issues
caused Niko’s mother to divorce
him.
The father planted ideas in the
son that in addition to ghosts,
there was some kind of treasure
in their ancestral home.
Without telling anyone, including his worrisome mother, he
returned to the centuries-old
house in the dead of winter – to
find himself, and to seek – God
knows what.
“Surrounded by the ghosts of
the past, Niko must uncover the
mystery of his father's death and
retain his grasp on reality.”
Koutsoliotas and Schuch were
born in their countries’ Northern
regions – he in Larissa and she in
Chicago – and they shared a fascination with ghost stories and
fantasy.
They took a class in 3-D animation at the Glasgow School of
Art in Scotland and soon worked
together on school projects. A
year later they were married.
Schuch’s path to film making
began in theater design and his
in psychology, and the film was
born of a blend of topics that interested them and practical concerns.
The idea came to them during
a visit to Koutsoliotas’s parents’
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To whom – or what – is Niko, portrayed by Theo Albanis, talking to in the 500 year-old house
filled with memories in the film “The Winter” directed by Kostas Koutsoliotas?
house in mountainous Siatista in
Northern Greece.
Koutsoliotas and his father regaled her with the family ghost
stories, but the house also imposed its will.
Beyond being a cheap location, Schuch realized “This place
needs to be filmed – it’s dying to
have a story told about it,” she
thought. “We began to develop
what kind of character would go
there and what would happen
and we wrote the script together.”
Koutsoliotas heard the ghost
stories all his life, but he is a skeptic, with a complex relationship
with religion. His musing informs
The Winter: “When there are no
people around, what is fantasy,
what is reality – how can you
judge? And even with people
around, who is to say who is right
and who is wrong…”
Asked if skeptics in his family
would tell the storytellers that
they were talking nonsense, he
said “of course – but then they
would tell their own ghost stories!”
Schuch became intrigued by
the contrast between the way
Americans and Greeks would
share supernatural experiences.
In the Midwest, stories are about
wild over-the-top experiences,
while in rural Greece, “the ghosts
were part of the natural fabric of
village life –tales of that grannies
tell…reading coffee cups, exorcisms and ‘the mati’ are woven
into one’s experience” and interpretations of everyday life.
The end result is a thoughtprovoking movie that explores
the nature and perceptions of reality, but it delves even deeper,
into questions about evil – is it
man made, a product of imagination, or elemental? Who can
help us understand it? Is it rooted
in man’s nature but mediated
through corrupt or decayed institutions that are not up to its
challenges, like the Church?
The Winter also poses a practical question to viewers: are
there two murders, or one (or
none)?
The director used all his tools,
most of all wonderful cinematography, to keep the borderlines between different worlds and
worldviews blurry – but compelling.
Schuch told TNH “Kosta is
amazing at the effects. He has a
fantasy oriented mind,” conditioned by the graphics of novels
by his favorite writers like H.P.
Lovecraft and Edgar Alan Poe…
That kind of visual poetry and
imagery had an effect on the
film.”
His favorite films include
Brazil and Dark City, “that get
into your head,” he said.
The Winter is a low budget,
self-funded film, shot in 18 days
in Greece, and few days in London. “Our crew consisted of good
friends and industry contacts
from Greece, England, the USA,
and Poland and INKAS is the production company that assisted us
with casting and advice,” Schuch
said.
They feel fortunate to have
found artists like first-time actor
Theo Albanis, who fell in love
with the script, and established
Greek indie actor Vaggelis
Mourikis.
“We were also lucky to have
the music of Active Member…
Mihalis Mytakidis music was a
second layer of characters …The
music is beautiful and complements the story line. It gives you
an insight into the soul of Niko,
who is often seen alone with his
thoughts in the house.”
Koutsoliotas, who worked on
digital composition for 300, was
VFX supervisor for The Winter.
The film opened at the Thessaloniki Film Festival and the
New York Greek Film Festival in
2014 and it will soon open in
Greece. After that, it will either
be made available online or distributed as a DVD. The trailer can
be
seen
at:
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=K7Ob0w1wtg4#action=sh
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4
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Support of Greece’s Music Schools
ATHENS (Press Release)– The
educational benefits of musical
learning and the integration of
musical art into school programs
are well established and recognized internationally. In Greece
Music Schools cultivate and promote musical education and
train students within a specialized educational framework that
recognizes and promotes the talent and music inclination of students. In light of the important
role of public Music Schools and
their significance in promoting
creativity the Stavros Niarchos
Foundation (www.SNF.org) announced a new initiative aiming
at providing direct support to all
music schools in the country.
Specifically, the Foundation
approved a €940,000 grant to
support all 43 Music Schools of
Greece. With this grant, the SNF
seeks to cover the increased
needs of these schools in musical
instruments. It will offer 1,201
high-quality musical instruments
of 54 different types, such as
classical guitar, violin, saxophone, tambouras, bouzouki,
mandolin. Many will be handmade by experienced Greek instrument makers. The traditional percussion instruments
will be crafted by the members
of the workshop of traditional
musical instruments KETHEA
PAREMVASI under the guidance
of professional instrument makers.
The grant is expected to sig-
nificantly enhance both the work
of the teachers as well as the
9,200 students currently enrolled in these music schools—a
number which is expected to increase over the following
years—in order for them to cultivate their musical skills, to obtain new educational and cultural stimuli and to deepen their
knowledge in European and
Greek traditional music.
The idea for this grant
emerged after a Music School
visit to the Visitors Center of the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Cultural Center (SNFCC) and
the initiative of a student to contact the Foundation and share
his thoughts regarding the
SNFCC and the future of music
education in Greece.
In order to ensure the integrity of the design and the effective implementation of the
grant, the Foundation thoroughly researched, documented
and examined the needs of each
Music School; a process that
lasted 7 months (June 2014 –
January 2015). Over this period,
the Foundation contacted the
administration and staff of the
43 music schools and made visits
to their premises in order to gain
a complete picture of their individual needs. At the same time,
the SNF collaborated closely
with the Ministry of Education’s
Artistic Committee in an effort
to better understand the operational issues of the Music
Schools.
For the procurement of the
musical instruments, an extensive research of the domestic
market of professional instrument makers took place. This is
a small sophisticated industry
which is particularly active in
building high-quality, export oriented musical instruments, and
who welcomed our initiative
with great enthusiasm. Further,
our collaboration with expert
musicians ensured the necessary
technical and quality control of
all musical instruments, before
delivery to schools and students.
“Greece is strong in integrating music learning into secondary education in public
schools which have both committed teachers with a vision
and students with great potential”, said Elina Klaridopoulou,
program officer at the Stavros
Niarchos Foundation. “It is our
hope that this new initiative will
enhance the efficiency of the
music schools, wider the offering
for students and benefit the
wider community. Further, with
this grant there is a small community of young instrument
makers which we wish to support and bring it closer to the
student, the end user of the musical instruments”.
“This is a significant grant
both for the support it offers to
the Greek Music Schools and
their students and also for the
way it was designed and ap-
Andreas Dracopoulos, co-President of the Stavros Niarchos
Foundation.
proached”, said Andreas Dracopoulos, co-President of the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
“Before today’s announcement,
there was a systematic and careful mapping of the landscape of
music schools and their needs
which lasted seven months and
was conducted in close collaboration with the Music Schools
and their designated Governing
body. The manner in which this
grant was implemented addresses the actual needs of the
music schools, as these were
identified by the schools themselves. Furthermore, this particular grant directly illustrates the
effectiveness of proper cooperation between the Public and Private sector”.
It is noted that the Foundation’s new grant to support music schools across the country
complements the School Support Program which the Foundation has been implementing
from 2007 until today, having
provided support in technological equipment and educational
materials to a total of 309 public
schools throughout Greece.
This latest grant is part of the
Foundation’s three-year Initiative Against the Greek Crisis,
which was recently completed.
The online version of Out
Here, a documentary about the
Initiative Against the Greek Crisis, will become available February 25.
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) (www.SNF.org) is
one of the world’s leading international philanthropic organizations, making grants in the areas
of arts and culture, education,
health and sports, and social
welfare. The Foundation funds
organizations and projects that
exhibit strong leadership and
sound management and are expected to achieve a broad, lasting and positive social impact.
The Foundation also seeks actively to support projects that fa-
cilitate the formation of publicprivate partnerships as effective
means for serving public welfare.
From 1996 until today, the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation has
approved grant commitments of
$1.57 billion / €1.20 billion,
through 2,816 grants to nonprofit organizations in 110 nations around the world
In 2012 and 2013, the Foundation announced two new initiatives of €100,000,000 ($130
million) each, to help the efforts
to address the crisis in Greece.
While the initiative in 2012,
which has almost been completed, aimed to provide immediate relief against the adverse
effects of the deepening crisis,
the one in 2013 aims to address
the high percentage of youth unemployment, seeking to create
better employment prospects
and new opportunities for the
young..
The Foundation’s largest single gift ($796 million / €566
million) is the Stavros Niarchos
Foundation Cultural Center
(SNFCC) in Athens, which is expected to be completed in 2016.
The project includes the new facilities of the National Library of
Greece, and of the Greek National Opera, as well as the
Stavros Niarchos Park. The
SNFCC is a testament and a
commitment to the country’s future. It is also an engine of shortto mid-term economic stimulus.
Catsimatidis Says Greeks Support New Government
TNH Staff
A recent New York Times article credits Greek-American John
Podesta for saving the Clinton and Obama presidencies. Can
he do the same for Hillary’s presidential aspirations?
Podesta may Head “Hillary 2016”
Continued from page 1
the White House has not been
transparent enough in disclosing its UFO investigations to the
public.
Amid all of the speculation,
few are mentioning the fact that
Hillary Clinton has yet to declare her candidacy – though all
factors indicate that she will run
indeed. She has about a 40point lead over the next-highest
contender, and very well may
be the most crucial candidate to
a major party in decades. Can-
didate Hillary Clinton remains
the odds-on favorite to win the
election, over every conceivable
Republican. Conversely, any
other Democrat would be the
underdog against most GOP
contenders.
John’s older brother, Tony,
also has a long and distinguished career in politics, and
is at least as left-leaning as his
brother. Tony has worked on the
political campaigns of liberal
standard-bearers George McGovern, Edward Kennedy, and
Michael Dukakis.
NEW YORK – John Catsimatidis
– the Greek-American self-made
billionaire, 2013 NYC Mayoral
candidate, and host of Cats
Roundtable on New York’s 970
AM Radio – told Bloomberg
news that the people of Greece
support their “new, strange government.”
When Bloomberg’s “In the
Loop” host Betty Liu pointed out
that the likelihood of Greece
leaving the Euro has surpassed
50 percent and is trending upward, the veteran businessman
replied: “it’s all about negotiation, I think they’re going to
work it out [and remain].”
“Greeks are very emotional
people,” Catsimatidis said, who
raise the issue that they never
received reparations for Nazi
atrocities during World War II
from Germany, which is now
taking a hard line in negotiations.
“They’re going to work it out
because they can’t afford to
break up the Eurozone,” Catsimatidis said. “Next will be Portugal and Spain,” which is why
he thinks that Greece’s tough
stance at the moment is to make
a point. “If you jump up and
down enough, they believe that
you’re serious.”
So the Greek people are behind the new government, Liu
asks, but does that include Cat-
John Catsimatidis says Greeks are backing the new government. He believes that all the talk is
a negotiating tactic and “they’re going to work it out.”
simatidis himself? “Look, I’m an
American,” he responded. “I am
behind the Greek people as a
whole.”
FINANCES AT HOME
Speaking of the United
States, then, should we raise interest rates, Liu asked? No, he
replied. “We’re not doing that
well,” Catsimatidis said, comparing the United States to Europe, “maybe the Europeans are
doing worse,” but it doesn’t
mean we’re doing well enough
to raise interest rates.
Catsimatidis also believes
that “as long as President
Obama is president,” the Federal
Reserve will hold the line on
raising rates.
What does it have to do with
who is president? “I’ve spoken
to a lot of Republicans,” Catsimatidis says, “and they think the
right thing to do is to trend
[rates] up.” Notably, he added:
“and I’m not sure that’s the right
thing to do.”
“Are you saying the Fed[reral
Reserve] is politicized?” Liu
asked. “Nobody wants to think
that,” Catsimatidis responded,
but the Fed Chair “is a presidential appointment” and so the
person in that seat tends to go
with the trend. “It’s not supposed to be politicized, but it is
more so than not.”
The New York Consulate
Honors Greek of the NBA
Continued from page 1
businessmen and journalists from
Greece, the diaspora and the
American news media.
Fasoulas was very satisfied
with the event. He told TNH,
“This is an important night because among the elements of
contemporary Greek history is
the story of Greek basketball…
Greek basketball has been a mark
of excellence in Greece for many
years.”
He added, “we are thrilled to
have four men in the NBA…And
we hope that the 40-50 Greeks
who play basketball on scholarship at American universities will
also make their way to the NBA.”
He is also part of a not-forprofit organization that will provide those student athletes with
advice and guidance on all matters of importance to them in the
United States.
“They come to a foreign country at the age of 17 or 18 and often they don’t know who to turn
to for assistance. I experience that
myself and as father and I am
concerned about my own daughter who will attend Boston College on scholarship next year,”
Fasoulas said.
Gus Costalas, the CFO of
Lenox Hill Hospital, was pleased
to attend and express his appreciation for “the Consulate, which
has done a great job working
with Lenox Hill…and we are
here to support this wonderful
event, which nog only makes me
proud as a Greek-American but
is also great for our presence here
in this country.”
“I am proud Greek-American
her to celebrate other Greeks and
tonight shows the breadth of the
success the Greeks have in every
industry and every place,” she
said, adding that she is a basketball fan. “I also played for GOYA
and the Maids of Athena when I
was in college. My kids also play
and this is the one event they
came to without complaints.”
Coach Kostas Katsikaris told
TNH “This is my first time in New
York but it is also special for me
to meet and talk to Greeks who
have been born and raised in
America…and basketball is one
of the things that connects us.
Greek basketball has brought joy
to people all over the world.
Tonight’s event is a beautiful
thing and I am glad to be here.”
Emcee Yanna Darilis, Coach Kostas Katsikaris, unidentified
man, Kostas Papanikolaou of the Houston Rockets, Amb.
George Iliopoulos, Consul General Yannis Kostalas, Stavros
Papagermanos, Coach Panagiotis Fasoulas, Peja Stojakovic and
Manos Koubarakis, Greek Consul.
By Constantine S. Sirigos
Utah Supreme Ct: Mostly
Mormons, and a Greek
Continued from page 1
A Greek flag is held on the
court before Milwaukee Bucks'
Giannis Antetokounmpo, of
Greece, competed in the NBA
All-Star Slam Dunk contest on
February 14 at Madison
Square Garden.
ful, delightful individual" who
possesses the traits that exemplify a Justice.
Significantly, close to 60% of
Utahans are Mormon – members of the Church of Latter-day
Saints – the only state in the nation with such a high concentration from that denomination.
In stark contrast, Orthodox
Christians (Greeks included) in
Utah comprise less than 1/2 of
1 percent (.005) of the population.
That Himonas now occupies
such an influential seat and
breaks the Mormon unanimity
on the bench is a significant
turning point in Utah’s history.
THE PEOPLE REACT
An array of interesting comments followed the News’ story
online, by readers, most of An-
glo ancestry – which is Utah’s
largest ethnic demographic.
Some blasted the news for referring to Himonas as a “GreekAmerican,” emphasizing that
“we are all Americans, I don’t
call myself a Welsh-American,”
etc., while others praised Himonas specifically, and also applauded the advancement of a
“Greek-American” to the state’s
high court.
Comments by Tribune readers were equally impassioned.
One Greek-American wrote that
she was “extremely offended”
that Himonas’ ethnicity was
even mentioned, and that his
merits alone should be the topic
of discussion. But another
reader, emphasizing the Mormon Church’s dominance in
Utah politics, replied: “I think
it’s a miracle in our theocracy,
so it is worth reporting.”
The Utah Supreme Court was comprised entirely of Mormons
until Constandinos Himonas, a Greek-Orthodox, was appointed
to replace retiring Justice Ronald Nehring.
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
COMMUNITY
5
LIU Announces George Polk Award Winners
By Constantinos E. Scaros
BROOKLYN – The George Polk
Awards, established in 1949 by
Long Island University (LIU) to
commemorate George Polk, announced their 66th annual
award recipients in a press release on February 15.
Dan Gillmor of PBS famously
wrote in 2010, in his rebuke of
fluff media awards that are
based on cronyism and other
questionable criteria, that the
Polk is “one of only a couple of
journalism prizes that means
anything.” Ironically, the Polk
winners mentioned herein are
far more familiar to the public
than the man for whom the
award was created in 1948:
George Polk.
Polk was an American journalist who worked for CBS New
and was in Greece in 1948 covering the Civil War there, which
started in 1946 between the conservative Greek government’s
army, which was backed by the
United States, and the communist rebels. Concluded in 1949
with the government’s forces
thwarting the rebellion, the
Greek Civil War is widely considered the first significant postWWII battle that was a portend
to the decades-long Cold War
that ensued. Polk was found
dead – shot at point blank range
– on May 16, 1948, and to this
day there is great controversy
about who killed him.
A few months following
Polk’s death, the Polk Award was
established in his honor, and 65
years later continues to be presented by the Polk Awards Center of Long Island University.
The National Herald wrote
an extensive piece on Polk last
year (George Polk Awards: a
Legacy of the Reporter Murdered in Greece,” Feb. 22,
2014).
This year’s awards went to
“reporters who risked their lives
in 2014 to cover the Ebola epidemic, traced the rise of the Islamic State, and revealed secret
ransoms paid for the release of
hostages,” the press release
stated. “Additional honorees include reporters who uncovered
systemic failure in two federal
agencies, the Secret Service and
the Veterans Administration, as
well as journalists who exposed
brutal treatment of prison and
jail inmates.”
The winners include Carol
Leonnig of the Washington Post
for National Reporting, Rukmini
Callimachi of the New York
Times for International Reporting, and Rania Abouzeid for Foreign Reporting on the Islamic
State, published in Politico. New
York Times journalists Adam
Nossiter, Norimitsu Onishi, Ben
Solomon, Dr. Sheri Fink, Helene
Cooper, and Daniel Berehulak
shared the award for Health Reporting, covering the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Diaspora’s Support of the Doctors of the World
Continued from page 1
The dental care was made
available to vulnerable groups
of young people and adults
through the Open Polyclinic of
Athens and Perama, which are
run by Doctors of the World, but
also through schools in various
locations.
The provision of vaccines is
of crucial importance and THI
provided vaccinations for children who do not have access to
the National Health System.
Vaccinations were conducted
through the pediatric department of Open Polyclinics in
Athens, Perama, Thessaloniki,
Patras, and Chania, as well as
other various locations between
February 2014 and 2015.
The endeavor has also received vital funds from the Jaharis Family Foundation. The
Foundation demonstrated that
members of the Diaspora appreciate the importance of social
solidarity with the people of
Greece and do not hesitate to
show it in practice.
Specifically, during 2013 and
2014, the Foundation provided
important financial support to
the Open Polyclinics.
As a result of this support,
there was an increase in the
number of beneficiaries in polyclinics of Athens and Thessaloniki and in Northern Greece
through an increase in medical
visits by mobile units.
The principal beneficiaries of
the Foundation's aid where families with children who have experienced social marginalization.
Doctors of the World directed
funding to provide primary
medical care and vaccinations
for children.
The organization has also acquired a solid network of cooperating pediatricians.
Doctors of the World has aslo
The Times was also well-represented for Justice Reporting,
with two of its journalists,
Michael Schwirtz and Michael
Winerip, along with the Miami
Herald’s Julie K. Brown sharing
the award for their exposure of
abuse of prison inmates.
The award for Commentary
will go to Ta-Nehisi Coates of
the Atlantic.
The Awards Ceremony will
take place at the Roosevelt Hotel
in New York City on April 10.
Boy Scout Troop 568, which is based in the St. Paul’s Cathedral
community, celebrated in 55th anniversary in the sanctuary
and with a luncheon which followed the Divine Liturgy.
Dr. Liana Maili, a pediatrician with Doctors of the World, Greece, checks the weight of sevenmonth old Panagiota at the free Open Polyclinic in Perama, near Pireaus.
received funding from the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation
(SNF) for the purpose of creating its first Mobile Eye Unit,
which will provide free eye exams in remote locations. The
mobile units are self-contained
and equipped with modern
medical equipment. Their staff
performs preventive and diagnostic services for adults and
children.
SNF aslo provided funding
over the past two years to the
Open Polyclinic of Patras.
Doctors of the World has also
focused on the elderly. In 2014
medicine was given to 313 elderly people and 1,500 received
free medical consultations.
2015 will mark 25 years of
continuous service by Doctors
of the World, which has been
recognized globally as a reliable
and effective organization. Hellenes have come to know it as
an organization that promotes
and supports the principles of
solidarity in Greek society.
The organization, originally
active in third world countries,
mainly in Africa, became active
in Greece when crisis began to
affect an explosive percentage
of the population. Its Greek
members turned their attention
to the people at home and they
continue to stand beside their
fellow citizens who have been
weakened by the humanitarian
crisis.
Greece is in its seventh consecutive year of recession as
austerity measures coupled with
a drastic reduction of the state
budget for social services and
benefits have led to a collapse
of the health system.
It has been reported, for example, that ii 2013, the total
number of uninsured in Greece
reached 3,000,000 people, of
whom 250,000 are children
(See: Greek Crisis Review,
“More than 3 million Greeks
have no access to public health
care system”.)
The impact of the crisis on
the social fabric of the country
is magnified when taking the
huge numbers of unemployed
who are without insurance. In
July, unemployment stood at
26.4 percent for the general
population and 50.7 percent for
people under 25 years of age.
Renowned Professor Diane Touliatos Has Retired
Continued from page 1
notated, written by Casia
(known among Greeks as
Kasiane).
Touliatos was born in Memphis, TN. She is the only child
of Greek immigrant parents.
“That’s why I am married to my
books and music, and to my
sweet husband, Gus Miles.”
They met when he became enthralled with a presentation she
made at a conference in Florida
and he interviewed her for his
radio program. They have an
adopted daughter who is pursuing a business career.
Her father, Nikos, followed
the many Touliatoses from
Cephalonia that settled in Memphis and her mother was from
Patras.
“I didn’t learn English until I
went to first grade, but it was a
wonderful place to be. I got a
great education including going
to Greek school…I used that
Greek later on.”
She didn’t think she would,
but when she got involved in
the musicology of Byzantium, it
helped her ease into studies of
Byzantine Greek.
When she was searching for
a specialization that was unique
she reached out to distinguished
Byzantinists like Milos Veramirovich, who pointed her in
the direction of the 118th (119)
psalm, the longest in the Bible.
Among the places she travelled to study manuscripts was
the Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies in Thessaloniki.
“They had microfilms from Mt.
Athos, where as a female I could
not set foot,” she said.
Her dissertation on the 118th
psalm was very well received.
Among the notable aspects of
that work was studying the
more than 40 composers who
set one phrase or another to music through the centuries.
Her magnum opus is A Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Manuscript Collection of the
National Library of Greece:
Byzantine Chant and Other Music Repertory Recovered, 660
A stamp in honor of George Polk, the U.S. journalist whose murder while covering the Greek Civil War remains a mystery. The
prestigious Polk Awards for journalism are named after him.
St. Paul’s Boy Scouts #568
Celebrate 55th Anniversary
By Kathy Boulukos
Special to The National Herald
HEMPSTEAD, NY – More than
200 scouts, leaders, dignitaries,
and friends were present for the
celebration of the 55th anniversary of Troop 568 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Hempstead,
NY.
The recognition began with
the formal observance of the annual National Boy Scout Sunday
ceremony held within the
Cathedral. Awards were presented to the various Scouts for
their individual achievements.
This was followed by a formal
luncheon given at the Rev.
Nicholas J. Magoulias Cathedral
Center.
The 55th Anniversary celebration was given to recognize
the accomplishments of this remarkable troop, which has a
thriving Cub Scout and Boy
Scout unit. It was chartered in
1960 and since its inception, 64
boys became Eagle Scouts.
Many of these Eagle Scouts
were present to participate in
this program, which made it a
great reunion since many came
from a great distance to attend.
Guests remarked that the
55th Anniversary event was an
excellent tribute to the dedica-
tion of the past and present
leaders, parents and clergy for
working together to include
scouting as a viable part of the
parish youth program.
Some of the speakers included several of the past Scoutmasters, including Peter Xanthos, whose father-in-law was
one of the founders of the troop
in l960.
Terry Perperis, Chris Comack, who spoke in memory of
his father, and the current scoutmaster, Peter Paris.
Each anecdote contained fascinating insights into the program that continues to stimulate
and enhance each boy and how
scouting impacts each boy as he
matures into manhood.
One of the guest speakers
was George Boulukos, the head
of the Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting, who is a
lifelong scout, and a recipient
of the highest BSA award, the
Silver Buffalo. He reiterated the
importance of having scouting
be an integral part of the youth
programs nationally for our
parishes. He thanked all the individuals, past and present, for
their ongoing support of the
Scouting program. “A program
like this one cannot function
without their dedication.”
Grecian Look
www.grecianlook.com
UNIQUE GREEK GIFTS
Dr. Diane Touliatos, author of six books and 60 articles, at a
scholarly conference, above, and holding an award, left. In
2007 she was awarded the Rigas Feraios medallion.
pages which included commentaries in Greek and English on
the importance of each manuscript.
That work contributed to her
receiving the award she is most
proud of, the Rigas Feraios
medallion she was presented in
2007 by Greek President Karolos Papoulias and the presidents
of all the other Balkan countries.
She was honored for pioneering
work in Byzantine musicology.
“It was totally unexpected and I
am still in awe,” she told TNH.
For the past five years she
has been working on her book
on Casia. “I have found 53 of
her compositions and each one
is unique – the woman was brilliant, far ahead of her time. Casia used musical techniques that
had never been done, she said.
“Her poety was almost Shakespearean and her text always
blended with the music… with
descriptive coloring: if there is
a reference to going down to
hell, the musical notes descend…the text becomes a pictorial of the music.”
Some of the texts are associated with other names, like the
Monk Germanos, but Touliatos
said we know the writing is Casia’s “because she was devoted
to defended women.”
Musicians can’t wait to receive her work so they can
record the hymns.
Among the people she
worked with was the late historian Eva Topping. “She was like
a mother to me.” Topping focused on the poetry and Touliatos on the music.
Her studies often migrate
into areas of historical rivalry as
Greeks and Latins claim priority
in certain practices and creations. “While I am there working in the Vatican libraries I
keep my mouth shut,” she said.
“I stay out of the political
arena.”
Touliatos noted that many
practices were improvised and
thus not written down, giving
rise to controversy. She si among
those who believe that he use
off the ison – the drone note –
by chanters long preceded textual evidence for it.
Touliatos has served as Director of the Center for the Humanities at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis since 1995,
and she is proud that she and
her husband spearheaded the
fundraising that led to the creation of the Endowed Professorship for Greek Studies at the
University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The drive culminated with a
generous gift from Nicholas
Karakas of the Karakas Family
Foundation.
RELIGIOUS ITEMS
ALL YOUR FESTIVAL NEEDS
Gregory Laware
P.O. Box 541
Wibraham, MA 01094
413.626.9446
info@grecianlook.com
www.GreekKitchennyc.com
COMMUNITY
6
Vasilis Tsitsanis: Different Perspective of a Legend
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
ANALYSIS
Alas, if Only There Were
Leadership in the Church
By Grigoris Maninakis
Perhaps there is no better
time to write an article about
Vasilis Tsitsanis, the composer
and lyricist of “Synnefiasmeni
Kyriaki,” the song most Greeks
refer to as the “National Anthem” of Greek music, than the
centennial year of his birth. Yet,
in attempting to write this article, I have a humbling, prevailing question, in my mind: could
I pay him a tribute, worthy of
his legacy and could I bring out
interesting, non-routine, anecdotal facts about the man, that
people do not already know? After all Tsitsanis, having composed more than 500 songs, is
the most prolific and very likely,
musically speaking, the most influential Greek composer of all
time, a fact that has been acknowledged and frequently
stated by everyone who wrote
about him, no less so, by our
two most respected world
renowned Greek composers:
Mikis Theodorakis and Manos
Hadjidakis. Finally I have decided to put aside any fears and
proceed with a somewhat different “Tsitsanis Story”.
A couple of years ago, a longtime friend and colleague,
aware of my long term involvement with Greek music, and in
particular with rebetika, called
up and said that in his recent
his life, there is something
unique about this particular interview as he (Tsitsanis) insisted
that he will only answer in writing, a set of written questions,
as he was “frustrated and tired”
of having his words twisted
from his many verbal inter-
trip to Greece he bought Elias
Petropoulos’ book, Rebetika
Songs, which he graciously offered to me to browse through.
The book, now in its 10th edition, while occasionally a subject of controversy, is a 700-page
classic of its kind. It was first
published in the late 1960s, and
very likely it represents the most
elaborate and thorough research
write-up, on the history of rebetika, to date. It has nearly 500
pages of historical text about rebetika, including interviews and
commentaries by other writers
and researchers, followed by a
real treasure of more than 200
pages of original, rare photos
and hand written notes by most
of the protagonists, ending with
a 12-page index. It was on page
273 of the book, that I came
across a section headed by the
title: “S. Gauntlett: An interview
with Tsitsanis.” This interview
was first published, in the
Spring and Summer of 1975, by
the Hellenic Society of Melbourne, Australia
After reading through it, I
had all the reasons I needed to
proceed with writing this commentary about Tsitsanis.
While Tsitsanis has given a
great many interviews through
views. It is thus reasonable to
assume that this unique interview brings out Tsitsanis’ precise
views on the various questions.
According
to
Mr.
S.
Gauntlett, the interviewer, it
took Tsitsanis six months to answer the questions, as they were
given to him in March and he
completed the answers them in
September. Naturally, my intention is not to list every question
and answer of this unique interview, but rather to selectively,
bring out and highlight some of
the least known aspects of his
life, views and personality. As a
case in point, it was quite interesting and rather surprising,
reading his experiences and
opinions about traditional folk
songs, byzantine music and rebetika, as well as his non-critical
opinion of the State’s censorship
on some songs during the prewar years by the Metaxas dictatorship. Here are some of the
questions and answers, interesting and telling in my opinion,
translated from the Greek to the
best of my ability:
Q: I know you were born and
raised in Trikala (Thessaly).
Could we conclude that you
were significantly influenced by
Greek folk (demotic) songs ?
By Theodore Kalmoukos
Legend Vasilis Tsitsanis, who wrote "Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki," Greece's virtual "National Anthem."
A: I was neither influenced
nor impressed by the Greek demotic songs. In fact, I could say
that I rather disliked them and
paid no attention to them.
Q: With what other traditional music styles you had contact with during that time?
Byzantine, Eastern, European, Rebetika?
A: I had no clue what Byzantine or (Middle) Eastern music
was all about. I had a very
strong dislike and distaste for
“amanedes” (Middle Eastern
song vocal improvisations). Of
the rebetika I was listening to
at the time I liked very-very few.
Q: When did you first come
to Athens and how did you manage at the beginning?
A: I came at the beginning of
1937. (Tsitsanis was just 22
years old then). I left my home
town after I had graduated from
high school. Poor and hungry, I
had with me 35 songs and several instrumental compositions.
As it was impossible for me to
continue my education (i.e.:
University studies), due to lack
of money, I was making the
rounds at various tavernas along
with a guitarist, entertaining
customers and getting by collecting tips.
Q: Many of your best songs
were written during the years
of the Nazi occupation. It seems
that the occupation played a
major role in forming your artistic personality.
A: The occupation was for
me an inexhaustible source of
inspiration. It was the great
bridge on which the Greek popular song stepped on and took
off. It was the period when there
were no differences and distinctions and everyone, rich and
poor, arms together, were
singing my songs. Even “Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki,” which I actually recorded in 1949, was an
inspiration during and from the
occupation.
Q: How did you manage with
the censorship that was periodically imposed (on songs) in
Greece?
A: During the Metaxas era,
government censorship cut off
all the hashish songs. (Hasiklidika).
For many ways I can say that
this had a beneficial effect, as
“amanedes” and “crying-likemusical notes” were all rejected.
(He is referring here to the Asia
Minor middle eastern heavily
modal melodies.)
As a result of this practice our
popular song was more “Hellenic-befitting” and in good taste.
Actually during the occupation the censorship was a nonissue or functional, for there
were no recordings . The Germans and the Italians had occupied the premises of the record
producing factory building and
had destroyed all recording
equipment. That is why the first
song records came out at least
18 months after our liberation.
Q: As far as the way you create your songs do you first come
up with the lyrics and the music
next?
A: Usually, I first write the
music and then I try to come up
with the proper lyrics to fit the
color and the climate created by
the music. This type of song creation is the more difficult one.
Vasilis Tsitsanis, was born in
Trikala, Thessaly on January 18,
1915 and passed away at the
Royal Brompton Hospital in
London on the day of his 69th
birthday, January 18, 1984.
There is no doubt his memory
and his legacy will be eternal.
Grigoris Maninakis, a vocalist,
is Professor of Engineering
Technology at the State University of New York – Farmingdale.
The case of Fr. James Dokos, former presiding priest of the Annunciation Parish in Milwaukee, WI has brought to light once again
a lack of leadership in the Greek Orthodox Church, on the Archdiocesan and Metropolis levels. The Milwaukee DA has charged
Dokos with theft of trust funds, and Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos
with attempt to interfere with the judicial process.
First of all Fr. Dokos should not have been involved with financial issues involving his parishioners including assuming the role
of caretaker of the trust established by the Franczak family.
Undoubtedly, this entire unholy incident could have been dealt
with from the very beginning some three years ago when it was
first made public, if there had been true leadership.
The official charge by the authorities against Fr. Dokos proves
very clearly that in this great country of law and order, nobody is
above the law – not even priests.
Certainly, we all should keep in mind that a charge of a crime
does not necessarily equate guilt. The accused, after all, are considered innocent until proven otherwise.
Nonetheless, when a priest who is the “steward of the mysteries
of God” is being accused for theft, I think it should concern the
whole Church and especially those who hold official administrative
positions and responsibilities.
It is well-known that there are priests who, unfortunately, from
time to time approach old and lonely parishioners, showing them
concern and pastoral care, in return for cash, cars, and even real
property, as did Margaret Franczak, who transferred her Florida
home and car to Fr. Dokos. There are also cases that priests spent
hours and hours day and night in the hospitals at the bedside of
old and childless individuals and become under shady conditions
executors of their Wills and Trusts or, worse yet, beneficiaries.
It seems strange as to how and why Bishop Demetrios of
Mokissos using his authority as chancellor of the Metropolis of
Chicago transferred Dokos from the Annunciation parish of Milwaukee after 22 years of pastorship there to the parish of Saints
Peter and Paul in Glenview, IL, in turn compelling Fr. Angelo
Artemas to be transferred from Saints Peter and Paul to the Annunciation. It seems even more strange that Dokos gave money to
Bishop Demetrios from Franczak’s Trust since he is in a direct way
his ecclesiastical superior. Dokos also gave monies to Metropolitans
Tarasios of Buenos Aires and Nikitas of Daranellia, Director of the
Athenagoras Institute of Orthodox Theology in California.
If there was Archbishopric leadership in the Archdiocese, this
issue should have been alarming. Once again, ecclesiological and
canonically speaking, there is only one ruling Bishop in this Archdiocese, Archbishop Demetrios of America, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, simply because there only one Ecclesiastical
Eparchy, the Archdiocese. The rest of the Metropolitans are a
strange mixture between Titular Metropolitans and Auxiliary Bishops. We are talking about an “ecclesiological travesty” here because
the Metropolitans are commemorated in the Liturgy and in other
Sacred Services as “shepherds” (Poimenarches) from Monday to
Saturday, but when Archbishop Demetrios visits a Metropolis on a
Sunday morning, only he is commemorating as “shepherd” and
the local Bishop simply as “hierarch.” The Metropolises are not autonomous and self-sustained Metropolises having their reference
directly to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, although they commemorate the Patriarch’s name in the Eucharist and in the Sacred Services
because if they commemorated the Archbishop’s name the Archdiocese automatically would have been Autonomous.
Proposals: 1) The archbishop should issue an order to prohibit
all priests in getting involved in the finances of their parishioners
such as wills, trusts, etc.
2) The archbishop should recall immediately Bishop Demetrios
from the Chicago Metropolis to the Archdiocese in New York because in reality and canonically Bishop Demetrios is Archbishop
Demetrios’ auxiliary Bishop.
3) The archbishop should place Bishop Demetrios on Liturgical
suspension until this whole scandalous issue is resolved in the
courts.
4) The archbishop should direct Bishop Demetrios, and intervene
to Patriarch Bartholomew to the other two, Tarasios and Nikitas,
to return the money because essentially, it belongs to the Annunciation parish.
5) The archbishop should invite Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago
to retire due to his age, now with dignity before things get further
out of control. Certainly other Metropolitans should leave for reasons of age as well, and also because they have really destroyed
their Metropolises and have paralyzed many parishes.
Greek American
Mothers of New York
Host Valentines Party
Fotini Voulgaris was
honored by the Greek
American Mothers of NY at
their Valentine’s Party and
Riccardo’s Catering in
Astoria. (L-R) Seated:
Fotini Voulgaris and Angie
Korakis. Standing: Touula
Pepelias, Eleni
Tentolouris, Maria
Spentzouris, Evangelia
Katsouras, Koula Pappas,
Aglaia Panagiotakos,
Fotini Toras, Eleni Goras
and Ekaterini Tsartsalis.
Federal Probe Leads to Arrest of Dr. Nicholas Kaloudis for Drug Dealing
TNH Staff
NEW YORK – Dr. Nicholas
Kaloudis, a Long Island endocrinologist, was arrested on February 12 on charges of engaging
“in an interstate distribution
scheme involving more than one
thousand oxycodone tablets obtained through medically unnecessary prescriptions over a twoyear period,” according to a
Department of Justice press release.
“Oxycodone can result in addiction similar to an addiction
to codeine or morphine, and
there is an illegal market for
oxycodone, as a substitute for –
or adjunct to – other illegal narcotics, such as heroin,” the press
release noted.
The National Herald was informed by the office of the U.S.
Attorney’s office that Dr.
Kaloudis was arrested on the
morning of February 12 and was
presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger
that afternoon, when he was released upon surrendering his
passport.
The
evidence
against
Kaloudis includes FBI video that
captures a confidential source
asking him "what can you write
me for today?" referring to prescriptions. Kaloudis replied
"whatever you want."
The announcement of the
unsealing of the complaint was
made by Preet Bharara, the
United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
and Diego Rodriguez, Assistant
Director-in-Charge of the New
York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Bharara has been in the news
recently in cases related to political corruption in Albany, including the arrest of former
New York State Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver.
According to the press release: “Starting in approximately 2013 and continuing
through
February
2015,
Kaloudis operated out of medical clinics in Long Island, where
Kaloudis, a Board certified, state
licensed doctor, wrote medically
unnecessary prescriptions for
more than one thousand oxycodone pills in exchange for
cash payments. On multiple occasions over the course of this
two-year period, Kaloudis
charged hundreds or thousands
of dollars in cash for “patient
visits” that involved little, if any,
actual examination and resulted
in the issuance of a prescription
for a large quantity of oxycodone, typically 30-milligram
tablets. Some of the oxycodone
illegally prescribed by Kaloudis
was subsequently resold, including in Virginia, resulting in the
unlawful interstate distribution
of thousands of oxycodone
tablets.”
“The defendant is charged
with one count of conspiracy to
distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone,
which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The
statutory maximum sentence is
prescribed by Congress and is
provided here for informational
purposes only, as any sentencing
of the defendant would be determined by the judge.”
WHATEVER YOU WANT
The Dept. of Justice made
available to the press the official
complaint, which included testimony by Bruce Wayne, FBI
Special Agent, who revealed information obtained through a
confidential source, identified
Dr. Nicholas Kaloudis was arrested on February 12 after an
FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office investigation of allegation that
he was involved in illegal distribution of pain killers.
as “CS-1”
Wayne said “In or about
2013, CS-1, who was not cooperating with law enforcement at
the time, was introduced to
Nicholas Kaloudis, the defendant, by a co-conspirator not
named as a defendant herein
("CC-1"). CC-1 had previously
assisted CS-1 with efforts to illegally obtain oxycodone…On
or about February 4, 2015, now
acting at the direction and under the supervision of law en-
forcement, CS-1 made a consensual video and audio recording
of a meeting with Nicholas
Kaloudis, the defendant, at Office-1,” the defendant’s office in
Manhasset.
“During this meeting, CS-1
paid Kaloudis $5,000, provided
to CS-1 for this purpose by law
enforcement, in exchange for
prescriptions for CS-1 and another individual for the following controlled substances: i)
Two prescriptions for 150 count
oxycodone 30 mg, one in the
name of CS-1 and one in the
name of another individual; ii)
One prescription for 120 count
oxycodone/ acetaminophen
("Percocet") 5/325 mg, in the
name of CS-1; and iii) One prescription for 90 count of Adderall 10 mg, in the name of another individual,” during this
meeting.
Community members who
spoke to TNH were disturbed
but not shocked by the news.
One person said “he attended
the Church of the Holy Cross in
Whitestone, NY regularly,” while
others acknowledged that he
was wrestling with some inner
demons.
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
COMMUNITY
7
ALL HISTORY
In Retrospect: the Greek Mothers of World War II, Unit 109 Incorporated
Continued from page 1
cumstances one degree further
is that unexpectedly, those involved in these war time programs came to enjoy their public
service. How they expanded
upon their war duties is yet another untold tale. What follows
is an all too brief case study of
one such organization and it’s
under reported contributions to
aid local and national life.
On August 29, 1943, in Gary,
IN the St. Konstantine parish
chapter of the Greek Phalanx of
World War I called a meeting.
These local Greek-American veterans of World War I called
upon the mothers of those who
had volunteered or been drafted
to serve in the new war to attend. The purpose of the meeting ‘was to establish an organization of these mothers to aid
veterans and their families and
to promote the serviceman’s
general welfare whenever possible.’ It was unanimously decided to take steps in this direction. At that time temporary
officers for this new organization were elected: Christina Harbelis, was elected president;
Mary Anogianakis, 1st vice-president; Jennie Georgiadis, 2nd
vice-president; recording secretary Katherine Glicofridis and
treasurer Mary Apostolou.
On September 17, 1943,
through the efforts of Demitrios
Glicofridis, Gus Vasilatos, and
Spiros Vlahos the mothers went
through the procedures of applying for membership, through
the stat e of Indiana, to the National Chapter of Mothers of
World War II, Incorporated. On
December 3, 1943, their request
was granted and authorized by
National President, Gretta
Roush, as Unit 109 within that
organization.
At their first official meeting
25 mothers became members
and elected permanent officers
Christina Harbelis, was elected
president; Mary Anogianakis,
1st vice-president; Jennie Georgiadis, 2nd vice-president;
recording secretary Katherine
Glicofridis and treasurer Mary
Apostolou; color guards and
color bearers Sirmo Spaliaras,
Georgia Maimonis, Helen Kotakis and Efthymia Georgiou;
sergeant at arms, Stella Kaponis;
chaplin Angeline Coveris and financial secretary Mary Pappas.
While most certainly this gathering of ladies knew their own
minds and the types of local and
national service they could pro-
June 1943 photo of the Gary, IN Greek Mothers of World War
II taken inside the Sts. Constantine and Helen Church there.
On the back wall are photos of then-President Franklin Roosevelt, and Greek-American WWI Hero George Dilboy.
vide they were not shy, in the
early days of their organization,
to call upon the advice and consul of local individuals such as
Louis H. George, Nick Coveris
and Dan Drakos.
On Mother’s Day 1944, the
new Gary, IN Mothers of World
War II Unit 109 (hereafter Unit
109) held a banquet to introduce itself to the community at
large. The proceeds were used
to send various items of food
and clothing to servicemen in
the United States and overseas.
Hospitals in northeast Indiana
quickly heard of the new Unit
109 and requested (and eventually obtained from this group)
supplies and equipment for hospitalized veterans.
Unit 109 engaged in numerous activities throughout the
war. Some of their activities included the donation of food and
clothing to needy servicemen
and their families. Holidays
were a special time of activity
such that Easter, Christmas,
New Year’s, and so on provided
times when these Greek-American mothers sent food, clothing,
money, cigarettes and other supplies to servicemen overseas.
Never forgetting the servicemen
stationed in area camps the
ladies were careful to see that
these men received their attention as well.
So service men passing
sent all that they accomplished
without reducing their efforts to
a long list. During Christmas
holidays Unit 109 members
were known far and wide for
sending as much as 150 pounds
of chocolates at a time to servicemen overseas. Among their
ongoing donations to hospitals
Unit 109 provided monies expressly for new books. Aside
from what we have described so
far Unit 109 assisted with the
war bond drives by sponsoring
a local booth. And in typical
style such were their collective
efforts that the unit received a
citation from the Secretary of
the Treasury Fred M. Vinson
commending their accomplishments in selling victory bonds.
Before we go any further it
must be stated that some of the
women in Unit 109 wanted
something for themselves for all
their sustained efforts. And they
weren’t afraid to let others know
about it or to petition for it
openly. From an undated newspaper clipping we read the following: “Request for the granting of citizenship to 12 Gary
mothers of World War II veterans is on its way to the house
judiciary committee today,
thanks to the help of Gary’s International Institute. All the
women are of Greek descent
and members of chapter 109,
Mothers of World War II. To
through Gary were met with
endless dinners and temporary
housing. In time, given the increased traffic due to the war
Unit 109 made sure housing
was always available to servicemen at the local YMCA.
Unit 109 participated in numerous benefits for hospitalized
veterans such as, but not limited
to, furnishing crutches, wheel
chairs, food, clothing and other
badly needed supplies and
equipment requested by the
hospitals. Aid was also given to
the children of hospitalized veterans. An undated clipping from
a scrapbook gives us specific details on just such a donation:
“The Greek Mothers of World
War II, unit 109, at their recent
monthly meeting completed
plans for sending a gift to the
Billings hospital in Indianapolis
and since have made this donation as well as a gift of seven
and one-half pounds of rayon,
silk and nylon hose to the veterans’ administration in Marion.
Serving a dinner recently at the
service center was another part
of the contribution to the war
effort.
The addition made to
Billings’ hospital supplies included 14 bed sheets, 5 linen
handkerchiefs, and 8 dozen tray
napkins.”
Unit 109 was so active in its
war efforts it is difficult to pre-
date their efforts to get citizenship papers have been to no
avail.
“Some of the women are
blocked because they can neither speak nor write the English
language. Others, although they
have filed for citizenship papers
several times, have been held
up by red tape and parliamentary delay.” In time these
women received “the prize” they
had more than earned, American citizenship.
At the end of the war Unit
109 planned and hosted a gala
victory dance in honor of the returning servicemen at the Hotel
Gary ballroom. One would think
that this event would have also
signaled the triumphant end of
Unit 109 but that was far from
the case. Unit 109 did not disband but continued in its work
to aid local hospitals as well as
other worthwhile projects not
just nationally but around the
world.
A few of the projects to
which Unit 109 offered its aid
included, but was certainly not
limited to, were donations made
annually to Queen Frederika’s
fund for the orphaned children
in Athens. Contributions were
made to Patras, Greece for the
express purchase of books and
school supplies for these orphaned children. Donations
were made annually to blind
servicemen in Greece.
Ever alert to the complex political circumstances caused by
total war Unit 109 members enlisted the assistance of Gary
mayor Eugene Schwartz (19501951) to come to the aid of the
children displaced by the Greek
Civil War.
Unit 109 was as active in local and national programs as
they ever were during the war.
One newspaper clipping dated
simply as 1953 quickly itemized
some of the Unit’s programing
for that year: “they included
contributions to the Red Cross,
the Cancer Fund, the Lake
County Crippled Children’s Society the Polio Drive, the Community Chest and SS Constantine and Helen’s Church. Gifts
were sent to Parramore Sanitarium and to seven state veterans’
hospitals; to veterans overseas
and stationed in this country,
and veterans’ orphans were assisted.” Unit 109 always seemed
to keep up with the changing
times as their gift of a television
set to the Billings hospital attests.
Every Memorial Day Unit
109 also held services each year
for the four soldiers killed in action that came from their community: Jim Logan, George
Panagiotopoulos,
Franklin
Saetes and George Cralis by
placing a wreath of flowers at
the veteran’s monument in the
church yard.
The Mothers of World War II,
Unit 109 celebrated both their
twentieth and twentieth-fifth
anniversaries in typical style;
they gave a banquet for others
each time. I do not know when
or even if Unit 109 ever disbanded. Unidentified news clippings report that the Unit never
numbered more than 64.
It is worth noting that the
phrase ‘The Greatest Generation,’ coined by journalist Tom
Brokaw, describes “the generation who grew up in the United
States during the deprivation of
the Great Depression, and then
went on to fight in World War
II, as well as those whose productivity within the war's home
front made a decisive material
contribution to the war effort.”
The activities of Unit 109 does
credit not only to their community but to all other GreekAmericans across the nation.
More deserves to be known
about them and their dedicated
service.
hellenenow1@yahoo.com
GREEK AMERICAN STORIES
Becoming Famous
By Phylis (Kiki) Sembos
Special to The National Herald
Yiannis entered Dixon’s
wearing a peculiar grin, his reddish hair combed forward on his
forehead, and a colorful kerchief
round his neck.
“Going somewhere?” asked
Dimos, eying his particular
swagger. “Not ‘going somewhere’, Dimos; but, going
places.” John asked, “What
places is that?”
Leaning back, coffee in hand,
he told them about a woman
who approached him two days
ago. “She handed me her card
and said, ‘you look like a good
candidate for T.V commercials.’”
The card he passed around,
read: GOLDIE MALDOON, ASSISTANT ADVERTISEMENTS
AGENT, CBS Building, New
York, N.Y. Suite 302.
George said, “And, they
wanted YOU? What kind of
commercials? Not Securities, I
hope!” Yiannis told his contrary
friend it didn’t matter what kind
of advertisements.
“I’d be making two hundred
dollars for reading a couple of
lines. If they like me, I’d be doing more. Hey! I could become
famous. People will notice me
on the street and say, ‘There he
is! The guy on T.V.’ and make
money, too!” He rubbed his
hands together, greedily. “In
fact, I’m to report to the studio
tomorrow.”
John, dubious, pointed out,
“What if you don’t like what
you’ll be representing – like
some pill with more side effects
than a cure?” Yiannis laughed.
“So what! I don’t have to use it.
All I have to do is read a couple
of lines printed on a chart. I’m
to say, ‘My name is Yiannis Pappas. And I believe this product
has helped me, tremendously. I
advise you to use it because
you’ll find it as effective as I
have. That’s a promise! Thank
you!’Then, collect my check.
Two hundred dollars!”
George, who knew that for
that kind of money he’d eat a
roach, regarded him cautiously.
“You’d be famous, alright. Remember that advertisements appear in every state in the U.S.”
Smiling broadly, Yiannis told
him, “It’s O.K. with me. I could
be as famous as Mr. Clean. Or,
those guys that sell new cars.
Maybe, get a bonus – Perks!”
Kipreos warned, “Maybe, you
should have an agent representing you, Yiannis. They’d protect
your interests.”
Yiannis waved his hand.
“Nah! They’d want 15 %. I earn
it! I take it!” They all wished
him well. Next Sunday, they
awaited their celebrity friend
who made his appearance late.
But, minus the swagger. “Well?
How’s show business?” asked
Dimos, grinning. Somberly,
Yiannis said, “It’s...not..what I...
expected. They put make up on
my face, stood me before a camera.” A long pause followed.
Kipreos asked, “What kind of ad
was it?” Yiannis preferred stuffing his mouth with a donut.
“When will it appear?” asked
John. “It’s already appearing, I
think.” Dimos asked him if he
got paid. “I got paid, alright.
But, I changed my mind. But,
they said I couldn’t back out. I
pocketed the money before I
went on,” he sighed, “So, the ad
has to be aired,” Clearly, they
all knew there was something
Yiannis was finding it difficult
to admit. Hesitatingly, Yiannis
confessed, “It’s that...I...don’t
like talking about ...bodily problems.” George, suppressing a
grin, asked, “None of us told
them about your bodily problems. Right, guys?” Yiannis, not
feeling humorous, told him to
shut up. John patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry! People don’t
pay attention to ads. I don’t!”
Kipreos said, “I do!” They gave
him a scornful stare. George
shrugged. “Why do you care if
it’s only an advertisement?”
Yiannis’ voice got raspy. “Because I told the whole world my
name! That’s why!” Curiosity
deepening, they tried guessing
at what the ad could have been
about. “Halitosis?” John suggested. Yiannis shook his head.
“Acid Reflux,” ventured Kipreos.
“I don’t want to talk about It,”
whispered Yiannis. George, sup-
pressing a smirk, said, “I know!
It’s your exhaust pipe.” Yiannis
ignored him.
Dimos, recalling that Yiannis
was 20 years older than Areti,
approached him with cautious
sensitivity, “Not...not about....a
male...a manly... dysfunction!”
His silence continued, wishing
the entire subject would die a
natural death and be forgotten.
But, just then, a little boy with
his mother entered the cafeteria,
heading for a table, when he
looked up and noticed Yiannis,
recognizing him, immediately.
He pointed at Yiannis, excitedly,
and said, in a voice heard
around the room, “Look Ma!
There’s Yiannis Pappas! The
man with the painful hemorrhoids.”
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OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS
8
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
DEATH NOTICES
CLASSIFIEDS
274200/10709
n ACHI, DIMITRA GIACOUMOPOULOS
PALMER TOWNSHIP, PA – (From
the Express Times, published on
Jan. 26) – Dimitra N. Giacoumopoulos Achi, 33, of Palmer
Twp., PA, passed away on Saturday, January 24, 2015 in her
home. Dimitra was born in Easton, PA, a daughter of Nick and
Susan (Karam) Giacoumopoulos
of Bethlehem, PA. Personal: Dimitra was married to Elie "Raymond" Achi. She received her
Bachelor's Degree in History and
Education from Moravian College. She was known for her generosity, compassion, and kindness. Most importantly she was
a loving mother of two beautiful
young girls, her pride and joy.
Memberships: Dimitra was a
member of Our Lady of Lebanon
Maronite Catholic Church and
Hellenic Orthodox Annunciation
Church of Wilson Boro. Survivors: In addition to her parents
and her husband, Dimitra is survived by her daughters Aya
Sophia Achi, and Houda Achi,
both at home; a sister Anastasia
Giacoumopoulos of Philadelphia,
PA. She is also survived by uncles,
aunts, and cousins in the United
States, Lebanon, Greece and Australia. Services: Calling hours will
be held on Wednesday from 6:00
pm - 8:00 pm with Prayer of the
Incense at 7:45 pm. An additional calling hour will be held
on Thursday from 9:30 am 10:30 am in Our Lady of
Lebanon Maronite Catholic
Church, 4th & Ferry Streets, Easton, PA, followed by a Divine
Liturgy on Thursday at 10:30 am
in the church. Interment will be
in Gethsemane Cemetery, Palmer
Twp. Funeral arrangements are
under the direction of Morello
Funeral Home, Inc., 3720
Nicholas Street, Easton, PA
(Palmer Twp). Memorial Contributions: In lieu of flowers, contributions in Dimitra's memory
may be made to Our Lady of
Lebanon Catholic Church, 55
South 4th Street, Easton, PA
18042, or to Hellenic Orthodox
Annunciation Church, 319 S.
20th Street, Easton, PA 18042.
Online condolences may be offered at www.morellofuneralhome.com.
n ANDRIANOPOULOS,
PETER A.
WILMINGTON, DE (From the
News Journal, published on Feb.
4) – Peter A. Andrianopoulos July
12, 1930-January 30, 2015. Peter
A. Andrianopoulos - father,
brother, grandfather, uncle, bartender extraordinaire, veteran,
and great friend - passed away
peacefully on January 30, 2015.
The youngest of three children,
he was born in Chicago, IL, to
Effie (Danos) Andrianopoulos
and Alex Andrianopoulos. After
the family moved east to the
Chester/Eddystone area, Peter
graduated from Eddystone High
School and enrolled in classes at
the Wharton School of Business
at the University of Pennsylvania.
He served in radio communications during the Korean War as a
member of the United States Air
Force. Peter married Faith Prassas
in 1965. Together, they had two
children - Alexis and Anthony. Peter's kids were his pride and joy.
For 25 years, Peter owned and
operated the Brandywine Village
Pub, a small but popular bar in
the Brandywine Village section
of Wilmington. Known to all as
Pete's, the bar attracted young
professionals from downtown, local politicians, and scores of law
students from the nearby
Delaware Law School. Peter
asked each patron to bring in a
pennant from their college, all of
which he proudly hung. Known
for its overstuffed sandwiches at
lunch and Peter's killer Bloody
Mary recipe, Pete's was called
"yuppie" when the term was first
coined in the early 80s. With no
signs advertising it and picture
windows filled with beautiful
plants, Pete's was often mistaken
for a florist instead of a pub. After
Pete's closed in 1985, Peter
tended and managed bars at
other local establishments including the Greenery Too and
Cromwell's. Many of his loyal patrons from Pete's followed him,
and he also had the opportunity
to meet new customers and make
new friends. Peter's customers became like family to him, and he
often spent holidays with friends
he had met through tending bar.
At Cromwell's, Peter was known
for his daily sports trivia question,
a testament to his vast knowledge and love of sports. In fact,
Peter's love of sports was so wellknown and he was so loved at
Cromwell's that his employee
number was retired and a banner
in his honor was hung on the
wall behind the bar when he retired from employment. While he
loved all sports, his favorites were
college football and college basketball, especially the University
of Delaware. In 1985, Peter had
the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream and go to the Big
Days and dates of funerals,
memorials, and other events directly correspond to the original
publication date, which appears
at the beginning of each notice.
Dance - the NCAA Final Four with his son Anthony. He travelled throughout the region many
additional times for the Big East
Tournament and Eastern Regional Tournament, even making
it back to the Final Four one more
time when it was played at The
Meadowlands. Closer to home,
Peter also was a regular fan at
Haverford College volleyball
games - especially the away
games, where he was often
Haverford's only fan - to watch
his daughter Alexis play in the
mid-80s. Afterward, he frequently drove Alexis and a few
teammates back to campus, with
a detour for ice cream or other
treats on the way. In addition to
sports, Peter loved Greek music,
especially singer George Dalaras
(whom he called the Bruce
Springsteen of Greece). A true
night owl, Peter travelled
throughout the region to see
Dalaras perform live and always
managed to find out where the
band was dining after the show.
Alexis and Anthony would find
themselves eating a second dinner at 1 a.m. at a table conveniently located next to Dalaras
and his bandmates. Peter was a
great consumer of news. His television was always set to a news
or sports station, and he read several newspapers daily. He also
loved brain-teasers like crossword puzzles, cryptograms, sudoku, and word find and would
do all the puzzles in each day's
newspaper. In addition to his parents, Peter was preceded in death
by his sisters, Theone Frangos
and Constance Kakaroukas. He
is survived by his children Alexis
(Dave Gross) of Wilmington and
Anthony (Debra) of New York,
his granddaughter Ella, nephew
Nick Kakaroukas (Suzanne), former wife and current friend Faith
Andrianopoulos, dozens of
cousins around the country, and
friends dating all the way back
to Eddystone High School. We
will miss his sense of adventure,
delicious cooking, unique sense
of humor, late night escapades,
and pop quizzes about sports and
music trivia. Friends may call
Wednesday, February 4 from 6-8
p.m. at the Doherty Funeral
Home, 1900 Delaware Ave.,
Wilmington.. Services will be
held Thursday, February 5, at 11
a.m. at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 808 N. Broom Street
in Wilmington. Buriel will be in
Silverbrook Cemetery. The family
would like to thank the caring
staffs at Shipley Manor, Wilmington Hospital, and Compassionate
Care Hospice at St. Francis Hospital.
n MANTzIARIS, IRAKLIS
HARTFORD, CT (From the Hartford Courant, published on Jan.
25) – Iraklis Mantziaris, 84,
beloved husband of Aristoula
(Tzickas) Mantziaris died peacefully on Friday, January 23rd surrounded by his loving family.
Born in Kaloni Grevena, Greece
he was the son of Christos and
Panagiota Mantziaris. He grew
up in Kaloni and moved to
Larissa before immigrating to the
U.S. with his family in 1968 and
settling in Hartford, CT. Iraklis
spent his life in the U.S. working
as a mason. Religion was a major
part of his life and he was a long
time parishioner of St. George
Greek Orthodox Cathedral. One
of his proudest accomplishments
in life was building the Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church
at the University of Connecticut
with his son Chris. He was also a
long time member of the community's Macedonian society. In
their 57 year marriage, Iraklis
and Aristoula enjoyed many travels and adventures, with especially fond memories of their trips
to Greece. He also enjoyed his
weekly fishing trips always with
his wife by his side. A loving and
devoted husband, father, and
pappou, Iraklis is survived by his
wife of 57 years Aristoula
Mantziaris, his daughter Panagiota Anagnostopoulos, and her
husband Nikos of Alpine, NJ, and
his son Chris Mantziaris and his
wife Marilyn of Wethersfield, CT,
six beloved grandchildren who
he adored Apostolos and his wife
Panagiota, Iraklis, Stavroula,
Iraklis and Yianni. He is also survived by his sister-in-laws, Georgia Giannakopoulos and her husband Theofilos and Efstathia
Tzickas and many cousins,
nieces, and nephews both here
and in Greece. The funeral will
be Tuesday January 27, 2015,
11:00 am at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 433 Fairfield
Ave. Hartford. Contributions in
his memory may be made to: St.
George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 433 Fairfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06114. To share a memory with the family, please visit,
www.dillonbaxter.com.
n MIKOS, ATHANASIA
MARION, IN
(From
the
Courier Press, published on Feb.
1) – Athanasia (Sia) Michos
Marion, Ind. Athanasia (Sia) Michos, 100, mother of Mary Bennett, Newburgh, grandmother of
Nikki Presley, Evansville, and
Chad Bennett, Newburgh, passed
away January 28, 2015. Sia was
born in Kalion, Doridos, Greece
June 15, 1914 to Demetrius and
Zoitsa Papandreou. As a new
bride, she came to the United
States in 1931 with her husband,
Nickolas. They settled in Gheen,
Minnesota, a very small community of about 50 families in northern Minnesota where her husband worked as a section
foreman for the railroad. She
spoke no English, so the local
ladies in the town would have
her come to their weekly sewing
circle to listen to them as they
chatted. This was her English
class. In 1936, they moved to
Marion, Indiana with their young
daughters, where Nick joined his
brother, John, and cousin,
George, in the restaurant business. In later years she and Nick
opened their own restaurant,
Nick's Chile Bowl, which was a
very popular place in Marion.
Nick passed away in 1961. Sia
operated the restaurant for a
short time after that before retiring. Other survivors include
great-grandchildren, Alicia Presley and Donovan McNeal of
Evansville, Ashton Bennett and
Jackson Bennett of Newburgh, a
daughter, Zoe Smith, Indianapolis, grandson, Jay Smith, Indianapolis, granddaughter, Lisa
George, Indianapolis, greatgrandchildren, Jillian Smith,
Nickolas Hargrove and Jake
Smith of Indianapolis, and 4
great-great-grandchildren of
Evansville.
She was a member of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Indianapolis. Visitation will be from
10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday February 2, 2015 at Raven Funeral
Home in Marion, Indiana with
service time at 11 a.m. Fr.
William Bartz from Holy Trinity
is officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 3500
W 106th, Carmel, IN 46032.
n NACKOS, NICK
HURRICANE, UT (From the
Spectrum & Daily News, published on Jan. 22) – Nick C.
Nackos, beloved and respected
gentleman, community icon, and
American Patriot passed away
Saturday, January 17, 2015 in
St. George in the loving embrace
of Laura, his wife of 73 years.
Nick was born April 27, 1921 in
Salt Lake City, Utah. He went to
Greece when he was an infant
and attended grade school in
Athens. He returned to the US
and attend some school in Bingham, Utah where he knew only
Greek. By the time he attended
West High School in Salt Lake
City, he was fluent in both Greek
and English, and "Determined to
speak perfect English with no
trace of an accent," he would tell
later. Nick married the love of
his life, Laura Edrie Dalton January 31, 1942 in Ely, Nevada. After becoming members of the
LDS Church, they were sealed in
the temple in Alberta, Canada.
Nick served valiantly in the US
Army, surviving two historical
battles that changed the tides toward victory in World War II. Returning again, he would serve as
an MP in the Korean War. He was
highly decorated, earned two silver stars and four bronze stars.
In WWII he was a member of E
company, 26th Infantry Regiment, who in Normandy
stormed ashore on "Omaha"
Beach on "D-Day", 6 June 1944.
The "Big Red One" pushed Germany eastward, Nick led his men
through Battle of the Bulge, 16
December 1944 through 25 January 1945. Finally, leading a
prominent role as Staff Sergeant,
he and his men cleared houses
in bitter urban fighting in
Aachen. He was wounded
shortly thereafter, in the Battle
of Hurtgen Forest, tripping a German booby-trap that caused an
explosion which wounded him
and resulted in the Purple Heart.
Nick was an accomplished businessman and entrepreneur. After
the war he strategically developed and launched what would
become a large supermarket distribution company in Southern
California. He sold this business
to move to Utah so Laura could
be by her mom and started over,
eventually working up to the position of Vice President of Public
Relations for Zions Bank in St.
George. Nick was involved in
many community organizations
including Director of the Chamber of Commerce for St. George
and Hurricane, President of the
Washington County American
Cancer Society and was on the
board of directors of the State
American Institute of Banking.
He was in high demand as a motivational trainer/speaker, delivering Key Note appearances for
numerous business and educational organizations across the
country. He was also once chosen
the "Total Citizen for the State
of Utah.” Nick served in three
different bishoprics for the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, and has the honor of
being the first person of Greek
descent to be called to the office
of bishop. Nick also cherished
serving as a counselor in the
Southern California Mission
Presidency. One of the most treasured times of his life was as
Bishop of the Buena Park Ward
in California. He would recall
many times throughout his life
the relationships, experiences
and friendships that were main-
tained and retold up to the day
he passed. Bowling was among
the most enjoyable activities of
his golden years. The leagues
they played in and the resulting
friendships have been a source
of great joy to both he and Laura.
His family thanks Dixie Bowl and
Sunset Bowl for the loving care
over the years. Nick is survived
by his adored sweetheart and
wife, Laura Dalton Nackos and
his five children: Lila Nackos of
Flower Mound, TX; Lorraine
Nackos of Las Vegas, NV; Chuck
& wife Brenda Nackos of Enoch,
UT; Kelly & wife Patti Nackos of
Draper, UT; and Scott & wife
Julie Nackos of Windsor, CO. He
is also survived by brother Gust
Nackos of Redondo Beach, CA,
Sister Mary & husband Tony Caputo of Salt lake City, UT; sister
Helen & husband Aristophani
Delphos of Stanton island, NY;
and Sister-in-law Margaret
Nackos of North Hollywood, CA.
He is proceeded in death by his
father & mother Isadore and Elleni Nackos of Greece, Sister
Peggy Nackos of Greece, his oldest brother Jim Nackos of
Springville, UT; brother Harry
Nackos of North Hollywood, CA.
n PIHIOU, RITSA
CANONSBURG, PA (From the
Observer-Reporter, published on
Feb. 4) – Ritsa K. Pihiou, 74, of
Canonsburg, died Friday, January
30, 2015, in Allegheny General
Hospital, Pittsburgh. She was
born February 26, 1940, in
Rhodes, Greece, a daughter of
the late George and Victoria Fotaras Kentros. Prior to her retirement, Mrs. Pihiou worked as a
master seamstress. She was a
member of All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, where she was
active with Philoptochos, the
choir and the Pan Rhodian Society. Mrs. Pihiou enjoyed designing dresses, gardening, baking
and cooking.
On July 30, 1961, she married
her husband, Andrew J. Pihiou,
who survives.
Also surviving are two sons,
James A. Pihiou and his wife Tricia of Canton, Mich., and George
A. Pihiou and his wife Dia of
Canonsburg; brother Michael
Kentros and wife Lana of McMurray; two sisters, Audrey Scoumis
and husband Petro of Canonsburg and Gigi Kavalieros and
husband Michael of Rhodes; and
several nieces and nephews.
Deceased are brother Gus Kentros and granddaughter Stella Pihiou. Friends will be received
from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and 10 to 11 a.m., the time
of services, Wednesday, February
4, in All Saints Greek Orthodox
Church, 601 West McMurray
Road, Canonsburg, PA 15317,
with Father George L. Livanos officiating. Burial will follow in Oak
Spring Cemetery, Canonsburg.
Trisagion services will be held at
7 p.m. Tuesday. Arrangements
are entrusted to Sollon Funeral
Home Ltd., 30 East College
Street, Canonsburg, J. David Sollon, supervisor, Phillip L. Sollon,
director, 724-746-1000. The family kindly suggests memorial contributions be made to All Saints
Greek Orthodox Church. Please
visit www.sollon.com to leave
condolences.
n SAVOPOULOS, ANTONIA
ATLANTA, GA (From the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, published
on Feb. 1) – SAVOPOULOS, Antonia Antonia "Toni" Zachos
Savopoulos of Charles Town,
West Virginia, passed away on
January 28, 2015 at the age of
80. Mrs. Savopoulos was a long
time resident of Atlanta moving
to West Virginia in November of
2014 to live with her daughter
and son-in-law. Born in 1934 in
Mavromati, Greece to Michael
and Eleni Vlassis Zaharogiannis,
Antonia immigrated with her
family to the United States in
1954 and married Savas "Sam"
Costantinou Savopoulos in
1957. Toni proudly became a citizen of the United States on July
4, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia and
traveled to Greece most recently
in 2010. Since her move to West
Viginia, Toni became a football
fan. She cheered for whatever
team her son-in-law Jim supported. She loved watching old
movies, her soap opera "The
Young & The Restless", and most
of all cooking Greek food for her
family. Antonia is survived by
her daughter: Sophia Tallant of
Charles Town, West Virginia,
son: Costa Savopoulos of
Winder, Georgia, daughter-inlaw,
Marsha
Savopoulos,
brother: Harry Zachos of Kennesaw, Georgia, grandson: Grant
Savopoulos, nieces: Lisa Pierce,
Elaine Taylor, Eleni Ware, Helen
Oakley, Sherri Adams and Eleni
Zachos, nephews: Dr. Obie Powell, Stavros "Shane" Zachos,
Michael Zachos, Paul Zachos,
Costa Zachos, Christo Zachos
and Michael Zaharogiannis. Antonia is also survived by numerous great nieces and nephews,
in-laws along with many friends
all of whom she loved dearly.
Mrs. Savopoulos is preceeded in
death by her husband Savas
"Sam" Costantinou Savopoulos,
brothers: George, Paul "Pete", Peter "Gus" and sister: Angela. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 11:00
LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of Formation of Sterling Sports, LLC.
Art. of Org. filed Sec'y of State (SSNY)
5/20/14. Principal Office: 105 Stewart Ave
NY, Nassau County. SSNY designated as
process agent. Process Service address: 105
Stewart Avenue, Garden City, NY. Purpose:
Any lawful activity.
274261/19386
Notice of Formation of BONOMO DESIGN &
ILLUSTRATION, LLC a (DOM. LLC). Articles of
Organization filed with the Secretary of State
of New York, (SSNY) on 12/16/2014. 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,
61 Broadway, Suite #1405, New York, NY
10006. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.
274229/19351
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of formation of GLIFN MEDIA LLC, a
(DOM. LLC). Articles of Organization filed
with the Secretary of State of New York
(SSNY) on 11/05/2014. Office location:
Kings County. SSNY is designated as agent
upon whom process against the LLC may be
served. SSNY shall mail process to: Legalinc
Corporate Services Inc., 90 State Street,
Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207. Purpose:
Any Lawful Purpose.
274264/19390
LEGAL NOTICE
MARY HOWARD STUDIO, LLC, Arts. of Org.
filed with the SSNY on 11/04/2014, filed
with an exist date of: 01/01/2015. Office location: Kings County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against
the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail
process to: 505 Carroll St., Brooklyn, NY
11215. Reg Agent: Mary Howard, 505
Carroll St., Brooklyn, NY 11215. Purpose:
Any Lawful Purpose.
274226/16818
LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of formation of 17LEFT, LLC a
(DOM. LLC). Articles of Organization
filed with the Secretary of State of New
York (SSNY) on 01/09/2015. Office location: Kings County. SSNY is designated as
agent upon whom process against the LLC
may be served. SSNY shall mail process
to: Abigail Kramer, 242 Leferts Ave #1,
Brooklyn, NY
11225. Purpose: Any
Lawful Purpose.
BARRLAND HOLDINGS LLC Articles of Org.
filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 2/20/2014.
Office in Kings Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC
upon whom process may be served. SSNY
shall mail copy of process to 359 16th St.,
Brooklyn, NY 11215, which is also the principal business location. Purpose: Any lawful
purpose.
274221/19138
274256/19383
LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of formation of INTERNATIONAL MIX
ARTIST GROUP ENTITY, LLC a (DOM. LLC).
Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on
07/31/2014. Office location: Kings County.
SSNY is designated as agent upon whom
process against the LLC may be served. SSNY
shall mail process to: c/o United States Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Avnue,
Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any Lawful
Purpose.
Notice of Formation of TRI-LOX
MILLWORKS, LLC a (DOM LLC). Articles of
Organization filed with the Secretary of
State of New York, (SSNY) on 12/03/2014.
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, 125 Jericho Turnpike,
Jericho, NY 11753. Purpose: Any Lawful
Purpose.
274218/19339
274257/19384
FUNERAL HOMES
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of formation of RIO GOODIE LLC.
Articles of organization filed with the Secretary of State of N.Y. (SSNY) on 10/27/14.
Office location: Nassau 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, 979 Port
Washington Blvd., Port Washington, NY
11050. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
ITRAS
VASILIOS LITRAS
OF THE ORIGINAL
ITRAS FAMILY OF
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
asil
itras
Funeral Home
274245/19196
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of formation of THE MACSTERN
GROUP, LLC. (DOM. LLC). Articles of organization filed with the Secretary of State of
N.Y. (SSNY) on 1/07/2015. Office location:
Kings County. SSNY has been designated as
agent of the LLC upon whom process
against it may be served. SSNY shall mail
process to: Kristin MacQuarrie, 39 E 2nd
Str., Brooklyn, NY 11218. Purpose: Any
lawful activity.
274244/19368
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of formation of COCONUT
COCONUT AND COCONUT, LLC. (DOM.
LLC). Articles of organization filed with
the Secretary of State of N.Y. (SSNY) on
1/02/2015. Office location: Kings County.
SSNY has been designated as agent of the
LLC upon whom process against it may be
served. SSNY shall mail process to: Yair Tygiel, 315 Seigel St., Loft 310, Brooklyn, NY
11206. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
274242/19364
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice of formation of 216 PPW REALTY
LLC. (DOM. LLC). Articles of organization
filed with the Secretary of State of N.Y.
(SSNY) on 1/05/2015. Office location:
Kings County. SSNY has been designated as
agent of the LLC upon whom process
against it may be served. SSNY shall mail
process to: Robert Panza / 216 PPW REALTY
LLC, 205 Rumson Road, Rumson, NJ
07760. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
274240/19363
LEGAL NOTICE
VIRTUALIZE, LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/
NY Sec. of State (SSNY) on 8/12/14.
Office in Kings Co. SSNY designated
agent for service of process. SSNY shall
mail process to Reg. Agent: U.S. Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Ave. Ste.
202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any
lawful activity.
274233/18796
LEGAL NOTICE
YOURMBR LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/ NY
Sec. of State (SSNY) on 1/20/15. Office
in Kings Co. SSNY designated agent for
service of process. SSNY shall mail
process to: Karina Mikhli, 1338 E15 St,
Apt. 3, Brooklyn, NY 11230. Purpose: Any
lawful activity.
117 Washington Ave.,
Pleasantville, NY 10570
Nationwide Toll Free
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for your convenience.
Not affiliated with
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LITRAS FUNERAL HOME
ARLINGTON
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FUNERAL HOME
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APOSTOLOPOULOS
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RIVERDALE
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ANTONOPOULOS
FUNERAL HOME, INC.
Konstantinos Antonopoulos Funeral Director
38-08 Ditmars Blvd.,
Astoria, New York 11105
(718) 728-8500
Not affiliated with any
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274232/18796
LEGAL NOTICE
OSTMANGROUP LLC, a domestic LLC,
filed with the SSNY on 12/11/14. Office
location: Kings County. SSNY is
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274209/10709
a.m. at The Greek Cathedral of
the Annunciation, Atlanta, Georgia.
n SEKOULOPOULOS,
ALExANDRA
LORAIN, OH (From the Morning
Journal, published on Jan. 31) –
Alexandra Sekoulopoulos (nee
Epitropoulos), 88, of Lorain, fell
asleep in the Lord Thursday, January 29 surrounded by her family
following a sudden illness. She
was born May 27, 1926 in Agios
Germanos, Macedonia, Greece.
She immigrated to Lorain in July
of 1960. Shortly after arriving in
the US. Mrs. Sekoulopoulos
worked for John Christ Winery,
Avon Lake, along with other immigrate women from her village.
Mrs. Sekoulopoulos retired from
The May Company, Sheffield
Center after 20 years of service.
This is a service
to the community.
Announcements of deaths
may be telephoned to the
Classified Department of
The National Herald at
(718) 784-5255,
monday through Friday,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST
or e-mailed to:
classifieds@thenationalherald.com
TO PlACE yOur
ClASSiFiED AD, CAll:
(718) 784-5255, ExT. 106,
E-mAil:
classifieds@
thenationalherald.com
Alexandra was a member of
Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Church of Lorain. She
also attended St. Nicholas Greek
Orthodox Church of Lorain.
Alexandra and her late husband
enjoyed traveling. Most of all she
loved spending time with her
children and grandchildren, they
were the love of her life. She will
be deeply missed by her daughters Asimenia (Dan) Eichler of
Elyria Township, Dorothea
(Todd) Redilla of Oberlin; son
Athanasios (Linda) Sekoulopoulos of Amherst; grandsons,
Daniel, Philip, Chad, Shawn,
Corey, Nikolas and Stephen and
one great grandson, Landon;
brother,
Periklis
(Maria)
Epitropoulos of Lorain; sister-inlaw Vasaliki Epitropoulos of
Toronto Canada and many nieces
and nephews. Alexandra was
preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Petros Sekoulopoulos in 2007; her parents
Sotirios and Neda (Genilandras)
Epitropoulos; sister Zoe (John)
Seculopoulos and a brother Chris
Epitropoulos. Her family suggests
memorial contributions to Saints
Cyril and Methodius Orthodox
Church, 3056 Reeves Ave, Lorain,
OH 44052 or Saint Nicholas
Greek Orthodox Church, 2000
Tower Blvd, Lorain, OH 44053.
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
GREECE CYPRUS
9
Young Cypriot Entrepreneurs Show the Way, Change People’s Mindsets
By Constantine S. Sirigos
TNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK –According to
economist Marina Theodotou
Cyprus has finally seen the light
after failing to appreciate the
entrepreneurial potential of it
talented youth.
Theodotou told TNH that
during the past three years an
entrepreneurship community –
an ecosystem – has been growing in Cyprus. It now consists of
actual startups and various initiatives by individuals and organizations and is accompanied
by the elusive Hellenic unicorn:
a change in people’s mindsets.
“The young have begun to
shift away from the notion that
the government must take the
lead in everything and take care
of us,” she said, and they now
reject their parent’s hopes for
them to obtain “paper-pushing
jobs with the government.”
Since habits die hard, however, some took their tender entrepreneurial aspirations to the
government, and were disappointed.
Three things are required
Theodoratou told TNH “you
need people with brains, money
and guts – and a legal infrastructure,” and some of those
elements – funding and structural programs, and certainly
Economist Marina Theodotou and her friends have been focused on creating an entrepreneurship ecosystem on Cyprus.
tax code changes, pointed toward government doors.
They brought their energy
and ideas but found that the
doors were open for the wellconnected but not for them.
Groups like Cypriot Enterprise Link (CEL) and the Cyprus’
Junior Achievement chapter
Theodotou helped found in
2010 had projects “that we submitted to organizations like the
Research Promotion Foundation, which receives EU funding
they are supposed to direct to
programs around the country,
but it would only go to the few
‘usual suspects,’ over and over
again.”
“Nobody would listen…they
said we were too young and inexperienced, that we didn’t have
the necessary gravitas,” she said.
The media also dismissed
them.
“So we looked beyond
Greece…and we decided to
build around the closed doors,”
she said. “I decided look and see
what is happening around the
world and see what such ecosystems need in order to thrive.”
She authored as study
funded by KP&G about Cyprus’
entrepreneurial ecosystem that
focuses on several sectors
benchmarked with best practices in Denmark, Israel, Estonia
and Ireland that includes a
seven-year road map.
She gave tourism as an example. “The whole industry
needs more customer and service-quality focused.” Young IT
geniuses can help by developing
aps that can be deployed around
the world. Paphos Treasure
Hunt is already driving people
to Cyprus.
IDEAS + HOPE = WOW
They also created TedX
Nicosia in 2011. “That broke the
pattern. We created a new platform and proved we didn’t need
the local media.”
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is set of confer-
ences run by the private nonprofitSapling Foundation, under
the slogan "Ideas Worth Spreading" that helps promote ideas
and generate support for worthwhile endeavors.
“We opened a window” for
the world to look at what young
Cypriots, are doing. People said
to me ‘TED came to Cyprus?
Wow!’”
They selected speakers from
the community “to show that all
around us there are ordinary
people doing extraordinary
things.”
“We proved,” she said, “that
we can create something out of
nothing. We produced the TEDx
event with in-kind contributions
and help from small startups
and money from a few key people.”
Some of the participants
have already branched off into
their own entrepreneurial or
publishing initiatives.
Theodotou helped create a
start-up accelerator for clean
technology endeavors. One of
them, Chrysalis LEAP, “did so
well that the EU selected them
to lead clean tech efforts in
Cyprus and Greece through
mentoring and training and directing them to EU-wide competitions.”
WE WILL SEE YOU NOW
And the government is fi-
nally paying attention. Officials
are examining Theodotou’s
KP&G study. Progress includes
being able to register a business
in three days. “That is good, but
it’s not enough. You need excellent IT and wifi on the one
hand, and a modernized legal
and tax system on the other.
For example “Israel has an
angel law, a tax break for investors in start-ups,” she said,
“and in late 2012, based on a
recommendation we made, the
government tax department reviewed Israeli and EU law…I
am now proud to say that
Cyprus amended its investment
law last July.”
The government also recently announced a 9 million
euro fund for women entrepreneurs and a youth program for
23 million.
Theodotou, who is a refugee
from occupied Kyrenia, has a
Master’s in economics from the
University of South Carolina.
She has worked for Bank of
America and when she returned
to Cyprus she established a consulting firm and helped build
the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency as its COO from
2007-2009.
She is now a portfolio manager in New York for the prestigious American Management
Association.
Hydrocarbons: Oil & Gas Exploration and Production, Case on Ioannina
TNH Staff
[Tekmon Geomatics is a land
surveying consultancy based in
Ioannina. Its team shares the
latest land development projects
taking place across Greece with
the Greek Diaspora. Tekmon
provided the following interview
to TNH, which it conducted with
Dr. Costas Tzimeas. For more
articles on Land Development in
Greece
visit
http://www.tekmon.eu/monthly
columnseries.]
In an attempt to boost the
country’s Oil and Gas Exploration and Production (E&P) industry, in 2012 the Greek Government approved its Licence
Agreement for hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation on
the Ioannina block located in
North-Western Greece - a few
miles away from the Albanian
border. This region, although
challenging in terms of morphology holds significant potential according to the company
whose assignment is to research
the region for what may be a
forefront discovery.
We spoke with Dr. Costas Tzimeas from Energean Oil & Gas,
a private E&P company with a
strong track record of over 30
years in the field. In 2014, Energean was granted the license
to explore the Ioannina block
for potential hydrocarbon discoveries.
TG: Tell us about Energean
and its main activities.
CT: Our main activity is to
explore and produce hydrocarbons. Energean was established
in 2007 but our affiliate company is Kavala Oil, which has
been producing oil from the Prinos block in Northern Greece
for over thirty years now. Currently, we’re actively involved in
E&P in Greece, Israel and Egypt
and we’re always on the lookout
for new collaborations. We participate in public tenders in
countries like Montenegro and
South-East Europe has become
a strong area of interest for us.
We’re optimistic about the future in this region.
TG: For those of us who don’t
know, what are hydrocarbons?
CT: Hydrocarbons is essentially what we call ‘fossil fuel.’
In other words, hydrocarbons
are combustible organic materials that we burn for energy.
Those in liquid form are known
as crude oil and those in gas
form are known as natural gas.
From a geological perspective
it’s taken millions of years to
produce hydrocarbons. The primary material is always organic
matter which stems from the remains of animals or plants.
When adding exceptional climatic circumstances and underground temperatures and pressures, these decayed organic
remains are converted to hydrocarbons that subsequently are
expelled from the rocks they
were initially buried in and migrate into porous rock formations. Hydrocarbons are eventually locked in these porous
rock formations and hydrocarbon reservoirs are formed. As a
whole, we first need rocks rich
in organic material also known
as source rock, the right temperature-pressure circumstances
and migration to a porous rock
formation that can trap hydrocarbons. All these factors have
to co-exist in order to offer evidence of existing hydrocarbons.
Hydrocarbons are then produced and processed in refineries.
In terms of the Ioannina
block, exploration will be a chal-
lenge because of its geological
and tectonic settings. There are
many risks because commonly
used geophysical and non-geophysical methods have proved
to be relatively unsuccessful in
similar environments.
TG: Despite the challenges
due to the area’s land morphology, what opportunities did you
foresee that prompted you to
bid for the block’s exploration?
CT: Exploration in Ioannina
isn’t new. The Italians made an
attempt at shallow drilling after
the Second World War. Following that, a consortium between
the Greek and French governments also drilled in the area
and most recently (in the late
1990s early 2000s) there was
Enterprise, a Canadian company
later absorbed by Shell, which
had also made an attempt but
to no avail. So the area is well
known in terms of hydrocarbon
potential. There is even surface
evidence of hydrocarbons near
river beds and elsewhere. So,
there is no doubt that hydrocarbons exist. The challenge it to
discover the correct subsurface
structures, find the right deposits, in sufficiently large quantities and all this within budget
to make it worthwhile.
TG: How did Energean gain
exploration permission?
CT: The Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate
Change put forward an Exploration and Production tender for
the Ioannina block in 2012. The
bidding round, proposal assessments, Greek Parliament approval and granting of all permits took a little under 3 years.
Since October 2014, Energean
is the block’s official sponsor. It
wasn’t quick but it’s been almost
20 years since the area was last
explored so the Ministry took
additional precaution, especially
in terms of environmental protection measures. Right now,
we’re at the stage of implementing our technical and financial
work programme precisely as
stated in our bid.
TG: Tell us about your work
programme?
CT: Our work programme
will last 7 years and will include
3 exploration phases. Phase 1 is
research only. At the beginning
of phase 1 we have to submit
an environmental baseline report which will outline how we
will preserve and protect the environment. If drilling were to
take place, this would inevitably
happen in Phase 2.
The plot we’re exploring is
4,200 square kilometers. We’ve
trekked the entire plot. I can tell
you that the terrain is quite
dense with a rough relief. Now,
it’s obvious that we will not explore every inch of the plot because this isn’t financially viable.
Our research will show which
areas are worth exploring.
Phase 1 will allow us to focus
on the areas we deem of interest
in other words, where we find
evidence of trapped hydrocarbons. By the end of 2015 we’ll
have a better idea of worthwhile
locations for later seismic surveys that will point us to the
right reserves.
TG: How will the local area
benefit?
CT: If we discover and are in
a position to exploit deposits,
the community will benefit from
additional income stemming
from taxation and royalties,
while new jobs will be created.
25% tax on profits is standard
national tax, among which 5%
goes to the local community.
During the exploration phases
we will require the services of
local businesses and labour,
therefore, creating work opportunities for the local community.
It is estimated that, for each new
job that is directly created, three
more are created in the wider
economy. In turn, a new project
builds new skills in the local
workforce and local staff will
benefit from professional training, while there is also the
chance of discovering and producing natural gas in an area
which is not approached by
Greece’s National Transmission
System. We also foresee Energean sponsoring local events
and community projects. We
look forward to long term collaborations with local authori-
ties and the local community.
More importantly, we want
to reassure the local community
that out work programme will
not have any consequences on
the natural environment. At Energean, we take environmental
issues very seriously. Our baseline environmental report and
impact assessments are extremely important to us and we
take every measure possible to
avoid conflict with the local
communities. We have an excellent track record as shown with
our exemplary Prinos block
where we haven’t had any problems for almost 35 years of oil
and gas production. We’ve recruited local companies and individuals and have taken all
measures to build a sound reputation. It’s all in good management and it’s entirely our responsibility to raise awareness
and inform the local area of any
possible risks to put their concerns at ease.
TG: Is the plot your exploring
private or public ownership?
CT: It could be both. The
government has leased the plot
to us for exploration purposes.
We don’t own the land that
we’re exploring. We pay rent per
square meter per year for permission to explore. There is legislation that will entitle land
owners compensation for their
land if deemed fruitful. But
we’re talking about minute sized
areas, perhaps a few acres.
TG: What quantities do you
which the Canadian firm,
Bankers Petroleum, produces
circa 20,000 bbls daily. Our objective is to discover carbonate
rocks, such as limestones known
as a ‘reservoir rock’ that contains
hydrocarbons. Granted, that is
an additional challenge because
the tectonics of fold-and-thrust
belt regimes such as in Ioannina, and Epirus in general, isn’t
quite as straightforward. Similar
landscapes exist in the
Carpathian region of Romania
and in the Middle East such as
Iraq. It’s very difficult to reach
our desired goal but deposits,
as demonstrated in the aforementioned regions, may be so
significant that they’ll reward
the effort many times over.
There is still a long way ahead.
TG: Upon discovery of Oil
and Gas, how do you plan on
making it commercial?
CT: As long as we pay our
dues to the Greek government
on production, as we have been
doing for the last 30 years with
the Prinos block, the company
is at liberty to market the product as it wishes - within or outside the country’s borders or
both. For example, we have
signed a 6-year off-take agreement with BP for the entire production from Prinos. Of course,
it all depends on daily production. The Oil and Gas industry
in Greece is heavily regulated.
Our production is strictly monitored by the relevant authorities
so that all royalties incurred are
foresee in terms of oil and natural gas deposits?
CT: It is really early to say,
but we are encouraged from the
fact that in neighbouring areas
proven or even producing oil
fields exist, i.e. the Patos Marinza field in Albania, from
paid to the state as agreed in
our contract’s terms and agreements. It makes sense; the
Greek government has to receive a piece of the pie, through
taxation and disbursement of
royalties.
Otherwise
we
wouldn’t be able to produce.
That’s the agreement. We are
monitored on production only.
Hence we pay tax and royalties
on production.
TG: Today the price of oil has
reached historically low levels.
How will this affect Energean’s
activities?
CT: There is an impact. However this will not affect our work
programme for the Ioannina
block. Low prices hit our profits.
In terms of the Ioannina block,
we’re still at the exploration
phase. If we were to drill, it
would be no less than three
years from now. At that point,
it’s difficult to predict what
prices will look like. Oil prices
have a cycle of 6-7 years. For
the Ioannina block, the current
drop in oil prices may be a benefit because we’re still exploring.
For our other blocks, where
we’re producing, we’ve been affected.
TG: The morphology of
Epirus is not exactly flat. How
do you plan on building well
site locations?
CT: There are solutions, expensive ones, but they exist. If
we have to drill on a rough
topographic landscape we may
drill from further afield, so at a
distance. Drilling isn’t only vertical; it can be done horizontally
as well, especially when we’re
dealing with challenging topography.
There are strict environmental laws around drilling and so
the drilling itself does not leave
any footprints. The only foot
print that may exist, and that is
if we reach a production stage,
will be on the few acres where
we’ll have to install facilities.
The foot print is minimal. Of
course, the company’s main responsibility is to keep the public
well informed on all drilling
techniques and their impact,
however minor, on the environment. That is assuming we even
reach that stage.
TG: Would hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking,
used religiously in the U.S., be
practiced?
CT: There is no legislation regarding the use of hydraulic
fracturing in Greece. We will use
conventional methods.
TG: Are you optimistic?
CT: Yes. If you’re not optimistic about a project of such
magnitude then it would be best
not to get involved. There is evidence of deposits so we’re not
going on a hunch. The question
we need to answer is the one
posed by the Ministry: Will deposits be significant enough to
prove that the area is worth investing in? That’s our assignment.
Samaras is under Siege by New Democracy Dissidents
ATHENS – Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is under a
growing assault by lawmakers
in his contentious New Democracy Conservatives who blame
him for the party’s election loss
to the Radical left SYRIZA.
Ex-Foreign Minister Dora
Bakoyannis joined other party
officials in lambasting him and
the European People’s Party for
a statement that Europe’s Conservatives put out calling on
Greece to accede to demands to
international lenders as Samaras
did.
Bakoyianni had been an outcast from the party and formed
her own before Samaras let her
back in. Her brother, Samaras’
former Administrative Reform
Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is
said to be interested in taking
over the party from him.
Greece’s new coalition, led by
the Radical Left SYRIZA leader
and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
who unseated Samaras is locked
in tough talks with the Eurozone
over restructuring a debt deal
and trying to wiggle out from
under the austerity measures the
former Premier imposed.
The EPP, and Samaras, said
in the statement that Tsipras
should “respect all commitments
made by the previous Greek government” and not to be an “obstacle.”
“What a shame for the EPP,”
Bakoyianni tweeted. “They underestimate that in a national ne-
gotiation, we are above all
Greeks.” She didn’t mention that
while serving Samaras, she followed his orders on how to vote
and supported the conditions he
implemented.
Bakoyannis’s comment came
after sharp criticism from ex-Interior
Minister
Yiannis
Michelakis and ex-government
spokesman Evangelos Antonaros, who accused the EPP of
suggesting that Athens should
not negotiate with its lenders but
give in, as Samaras did.
Former Education Minister
Marietta Giannakou joined in the
bandwagon attacks on Samaras
and ripped his leadership after
SYRIZA walked all over the party
in the Jan. 25 elections after
Samaras did the bidding of the
lenders and imposed big pay
cuts, tax hikes, slashed pensions
and worker firings. Giannakou
continued her attack on Samaras’
leadership of New Democracy.
“New Democracy must be a
European, democratic party,” she
told Real FM. She, too, didn’t
speak up before when serving
Samaras who is now under siege
by the people who once followed
him loyally.
“It cannot be a party where
the decisions are taken by two
or three people. A small team of
people cannot decide to take the
party in one direction or the
other,” she said in a shot at
Samaras who is facing a leadership challenge.
FEATURE
10
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
From our Website’s Travel Section
Taking Time to Smell the Apples: a Visit to Mount Pelion in the Winter
By Anthe Mitrakos
A friend and I wanted to take
a trip outside Athens but since
we had separately been to so
many nearby mainland Greece
destinations, where we would
head exactly was a rather difficult choice to make. After giving
it (too) much thought and hearing a little advice from some
friends, we decided on Pelion.
Pelion is a mountain in Central
Greece, in close proximity to the
port of Volos.
In Greek Mythology, the
mountain,
named
after
Achilles’s father King Peleus, is
said to have been inhabited by
the half-man half-horse creatures called centaurs. The most
famous of these mysterious
beasts is Chiron the Centaur
who coached and mentored
great heroes like Hercules, Jason, Achilles, and Theseus.
For those longing for a bit of
adventure, (we went for some
snow but it had pretty much
melted into an icy slush) Pelion
is covered in rich forest, scattered with traditional villages
and filled with stone paths and
trails that lead to fresh-water
springs. In the wintertime, it’s
host to a ski resort that was not
open when we visited, sadly, as
the prospect of skiing in Greece
sounded rather exciting to me.
Anyway…we decided to
head to the traditional village
of Makrinitsa. Zooming through
mountainous terrain and countless trees, we arrived at the foot
of the village where we were
greeted by a closed-for-the-season café. Having been to that
café before (but in the summertime), I was much looking forward to visiting again as it is situated among trees, vines, and
running stream water.
In any case, we moved on to
stone-paved
paths
into
Makrinitsa. Left and right were
little shops all selling pretty
much the same things: classic
souvenirs (the donkeys, magnets, and kompologia), traditional pottery for home cooking,
locally-grown herbs, tsipouro
(the area’s trademark liquor)
and an array of colorful translucent spoon sweets, marmalades,
and preserves in shiny glass jars.
Soon enough, we reached
A winter visit to Mt. Pelion is living proof why Greece isn’t just for summertime travel.
the village center where we
found a unique bazaar, the 18th
century church of St. John the
Baptist, and a very old tree
whose history I don’t know, but
you can walk through it. Imagine a large tree trunk about 2.5
meters wide at the base completely empty to its core. It actually feels like you’re entering
a cave when you walk inside.
I’m not sure how this tree has
survived in that form, but it is
surely one of nature’s more
unique miracles!
I also noticed that Makrinitsa
We took time out to smell the apples. Not these specific ones, but the abundant apple orchards
is filled with scattered fountains
near Volos – filled the air with the sweet and pleasant aroma of apple juice.
with fresh running water. I don’t
know about you, but every time
I see one of these I simply must
touch the crisp ice-cold liquid
(especially in the summertime),
if not drink it as well. So I did!
Moving on, we were greeted
by some friendly long-fur felines. Their coat was perfect for
the weather, which was just
chilly that day, nothing too cold
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
2 Expresses
to bear. After flipping a coin to
decide which of the two nearby
Nether
3
14
15
16
restaurants with a view we
4 A Papandreou
would dine at, we decided to go
17
18
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the onelitthat the coin sug5 Nottobrightly
gested we skip, and it was inRght.
away! (abbrev.)
6
20
21
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deed a great choice.
7 Famous
I amIrene?
not one to suggest
restaurants
unless the experi25
26
27
28
capital
8 Egypt's
ence is a worthy one, and at tranut tavern “Apolausi,” we
9 Oak
ditional
29
30
31
32
33
34
had
a mix
of cozy
atmosphere
stat.
(abbrev.)
10 Baseball
(we chose to dine inside), with
35
36
37
38
39
11 Manner
home-style and well-prepared
delicious
dishes,
and super clean
Atlantic
Treaty
12 North
40
41
42
43
washrooms (a must). I had the
Organization
lamb with lemon-flavored pota44
45
46
47
toes
and my
friend
had the
Dhabi
Stock
Exchng.
13 Abu
kokora (rooster) with tomato
48
49
50
(abbrev.)
sauce and hilopites. Combined
a
colorful
salad, drinks,
and season
Sullivan
21 Asner
51
52
53
54
55
56
and a wonderful view, our din23 Concede
ing experience was one of our
trip’sbeliefs
highlights.
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
26 Basic
We decided to do just a little
___ of the
28 Johnny
more sightseeing
in Makrinitsa,
64
65
66
67
68
which is famed
Godfather,
Pt. for
2 its traditional
homes built with a grey slate
69
70
71
30 Rodent
roof. Further down the road was
a bench situated
before a comwristwatch
31 "Ultimate"
72
73
74
memorative statue of a woman.
brand?
If you’re visiting Makrinitsa,
www.CrosswordWeaver.com
take at least a moment to sit
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down and enjoy the truly re34 Meets
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markable panoramic view from
ACROSS
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11 Manner
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1 Baby's ACROSS
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so when we finished eating and
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5 Capital
Socialist Party
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taking a few photos, we hit the
16 Learn
Gas burner
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remains
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(init.)
2848
Johnny
of the Godfather, Pt. 2
road for some more exploring.
17 Jewelry
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we did not see these
18 Speedy
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close up, there is a famous café
19 Doings
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15 Abraham's son
or average
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called Theofilos
which features
20 Blasphemed
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artwork by renowned Greek fine
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35 Stone age abode
artist Theofilos Hatzimichail, as
24 Garden tool
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47 Muscle builder
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Speedy Andretti
Reprtng. (abbrev.)
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vegetable
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39
Greek
Socialist
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prefix
pertaining
to
stars
Doings
GayParty (init.)
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32 Saint honored on July 20
Barack
4262
Standard
or average
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of meat
Deflect
Opera solo
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tool
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dictator
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of surprise
sister
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Beginning
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Epochs
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surprise
TNH
56 Take
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43 Univ. in Armidale, Australia (abbrev.)
27 White vegetable
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Osmond Brothers' sister
44 Against
57 House, to Fernando
5670
Take
by surprise
46 Fuel 29 Greek prefix pertaining to
This week in 1983, on FebUncanny
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57 House, to Fernando
47 Antes
ruary 17, boxer Marios KaperoMs. Minelli
stars
5871
Persia
48 Fire remains
nis was born
in Patras. After exknowledge
60 Traditional
60
Traditional
knowledge
49 Perfume
celling in bouts throughout
32 Saint honored on July 20
72 After awhile
soccer
team
61 Greek
61 Greek soccer team
51 Famous fabler
Greece,
Kaperonis
achieved inBraid Studies Assn. of Korea (abbrev.)63 American
6373
American
54 Fate 35 Taxis
ternational
fame
as an
amateur,
Studies
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American
Society for Nutrition
57 Cntr. 38
for Investigative
Reprtng. (abbrev.)
and competed in the 2004
Type of meat
Scallion
of Olympics
Korea (abbrev.)
67 Dept. of Education and Science (abbrev.)
59 _____ Gay
in his home country.
Award
39
62 Barack
The 21 year-old
Societylighteweight
for
65 American
64 Opera40
soloExpression of surprise
was beaten, though, by Amir
DOWN
Nutrition
Solution to last week’s puzzle
66 Saber
Kahn of Britain, who went on
41 Tablet
68 Epochs
to become
one of theand
most sucDept.
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67
A I D S
J I F
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cessful boxers of our time, havSwamps
43 Univ. in Armidale,
1
B L E W
Science
A R O
W A I V E
70 Uncanny
ing won(abbrev.)
an world championship
C A R M E L L A
E N R I C O
71 Ms. Minelli
as a lightweight and then mov72 After awhile
ing up to the welterweight diviT O N
K N E E L
H E R A
73 Braid
sion, where he currently holds
F E E
H I S
V A N E
74 Scallion
a world title.
S O R T
M I L E A G E
Kaperonis did not turn pro,
I P O
U A P I
D A R + E N
and now, at age 31, is a boxing
DOWN
coach, teaching the “sweet sciZ E N I T H S
B A R B A R A
1 Swamps
ence” to the next generation.
E N T R E E
G A M Y
N I P
2 Expresses
He recently spoke in his
E T N A
S P R A I N S
3 Nether
hometown of Patras, explaining
D A H
U C L A
D M S
4 A Papandreou
that he has no regrets and that
5 Not brightly lit
he considers boxing a good
S N O B
E R O D E
N R A
6 Rght. away! (abbrev.)
sport for today’s youth. He says
E U B O E A
E M M A N U E L
7 Famous Irene?
the physical contact is boxing is
X E B E C
I
R
L A
S E A
8 Egypt's capital
“cleaner” than in other sports,
L I M B
S O D S
A D M
9 Oak nut
and so there is less of a chance
of injury.
well as the Pelion Museum of
Folklore and History where you
can see over 1,500 artifacts from
everyday Makrinitsian life including weapons, jewelry, artwork, and more.
VOLOS
On our journey, we passed
by a flourmill and the atmosphere smelled of, well, flour.
When driving through apple orchards near Volos, the air was
suddenly filled with apple-juice
smell. Olive groves smelled of
fresh-pressed olives, and at
some point we smelled chips. I
looked left and right and noticed a Chipita facility. At that
point, we laughed. I don’t remember having experienced so
travelled. It was a truly winding
road all the way downhill!
In any case, we had already
stopped in Volos for a quick
walk before heading to
Makrinitsa and we didn’t care
much to go back for a night
visit. Volos has a pretty lengthy
waterfront lined with cafes and
restaurants from one end to the
other. The place makes for a
nice stroll during any time of
the day and from what I recall
during a past visit, the nightlife
here is not too lively. In the summertime, bars and mini clubs
keep their music on the down
low and close their doors to further block out the sound when
it gets late.
many distinct (pleasant) smells
on one journey before…that’s
why I was so amused.
Anyway, after visiting the traditional village of Makrinitsa
with its grey slate roof houses
and stone-paved paths, we
headed to Zagora. Accompanying us on our way there through
thick forest and what was left
of previous snowfall was a
Zagorin Hellas company truck
probably on its way to pick up
some apples. Zagora is apparently known for its apples,
though we didn’t get to taste
any during our visit – which was
very short. The sun was about
to start setting soon and we didn’t spend much time at all in
this village.
We turned back around and
headed to Volos, though we
must have missed some turn
over conversation and ended up
taking a much longer route
back. I got dizzy on the way
down because this road seemed
endless and had many turns.
Viewing a map the next day I
realized we look the road less
Having visited Volos a summer some three years ago after
a trip to the more buzzing
Northern Sporades (mainly
Skiathos), I noticed the contrast
in nightlife immediately. And
there is something strange
about the place. The waterfront
seems quaint, filled with sailboats and smaller yachts. And
since no cars are allowed access
there, the stretch is perfect for
walking and biking around, or
to sit and enjoy your favorite
drink with a calming view,
whatever be the season. On the
street just behind all that, however, the place takes on a dusty
city look. With gas stations, fast
food joints, neon lights, cement,
trash bins, and cars…you get
the essence you’re in an urban
environment. The stark difference from one street to the next
startled me the first time I experienced it and I cannot say I
did not like it, for whatever reason. But this time was my third
time in Volos and I did not have
much interest in staying even
for coffee. Maybe next time!
THE HERALD SQUARE
TNH's Crossword Challenge
This Week in Greek History:
Boxer Marios Kaperonis is Born
Solution:
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
GREECE CYPRUS
11
SYRIZA’s Molon Labe to Troika Restores National Pride of the Hellenes
ATHENS – A side-effect of the
rise of the Radical Left SYRIZA’s
to Greece’s Premiership has been
that it – not the ultranationalists
of Golden Dawn – has made
Greeks proud again after nearly
five years under the boot heels
of international lenders.
They might be in the Greek
equivalent of the Alamo – or like
King Leonidas faced the Persian
might at Thermopylae in 490 BC
– but Greeks are echoing his cry
to demands and SYRIZA’s answer that they throw down their
weapons: Molon Labe. Come
and take them.
Since 2010, a succession of
Greek governments controlled
essentially by the once-dominant
twin powers of the New Democracy Conservatives and the PASOK Socialists, together and in
coalition, had ceded the country’s sovereignty in return for
240 billion euros ($272 billion)
in two rescue packages from the
Troika of the European UnionInternational Monetary FundEuropean Central Bank (EUIMF-ECB).
The lenders demanded, and
got, humiliating austerity measures that created record unemployment and deep poverty and
made many Greeks feel like beggars dependent on foreigners for
their survival.
SYRIZA, under its leader and
now Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras, had fought ferociously
against the big pay cuts, tax
hikes, slashed pensions, and
worker firings and got rewarded
with a thumping victory in early
national elections on Jan. 25.
While SYRIZA is locked in a
struggle with the lenders over
unfinished reforms, and Tsipras
is backtracking on some of his
promises to better social bene-
AP PHOTO/PETrOS GiANNAkOuriS
A Greek flag for sale waves as people walk in Syntagma square Monday, Feb. 16, 2015.
fits, for now at least a lot of
Greeks feel like someone is
standing up to banks and foreign
politicians.
In an analytical feature, the
Reuters news agency pointed
out the stark difference, even if
warnings that the country will
go bankrupt unless it buckles
come true.
“The message of impending
doom appears to have gone
largely unnoticed on the streets
of Athens, where a mood of
hope and optimism bordering on
euphoria reigns as Greeks see
themselves finally shaking off
foreign shackles to shape their
own destiny,” it reported.
“Bankrupt but free” proclaimed a banner at a pro-government demonstration that
drew thousands while hardliner
motorcycle-riding Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis - compared
to Bruce Willis in Die Hard - is
drawing rave reviews from fans
as he stands up to the lenders,
particularly Germany, the biggest
contributor to the loans and the
demander of austerity.
“For the first time in years I
feel proud to be Greek,” said
Lena Dousiou, a 32-year-old
who worked in a printing shop
before being laid off two years
ago. “We went to the Europeans
with our head held high and told
them ‘Enough is enough!’”
Another TV feature on Varoufakis had the pop hit “Can’t
take my eyes off you” in the
background while women from
Spain to Germany swooned for
his rebellious stance and tough
guy talk even though he hasn’t
materialized a deal.
Two polls showed that over
three-quarters of Greeks support
Tsipras line-in-the-sand position
against the Troika and Eurozone
even if it alarmed markets.
An opinion poll showed 79
percent of Greeks backed
Tsipras’s policies and 74 percent
believed his negotiating strategy
will succeed, even though
Greece has so far found not a
single ally among the other 18
Eurozone countries.
It’s a far cry from the panic,
despair and Jimmy Carter-like
malaise that dominated under
former PASOK Socialist Premier
George Papandreou, hounded
out of office by relentless
protests, strikes and riots, and
New Democracy Conservative
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’
submission to the Troika.
Greeks felt since many had
nothing, they had nothing to
lose, and were enraged that
politicians, the rich and tax
cheats escaped austerity and
prospered while workers, pensioners and the poor were punished and forced to bear the burden of generations of wild
spending and runaway patronage by New Democracy and PASOK.
“We’d hit rock bottom,”Minas
Kontogeorgopoulos, 59, who
works in a key-cutting shop in a
dimly lit arcade in central Athens
where some shops are boarded
up and others bear For Sale signs
told Reuters.
“The Europeans have humiliated us. I don’t know if Tsipras
will succeed but someone had
to tell them enough is enough.”
PRIDE AND DIGNITY
In an emotional first speech
to Parliament as prime minister,
Tsipras mentioned the word
“dignity” 11 times, a word
buried since the Troika came to
down and essentially ordered
around Greek leaders who had
to bow and curtsy, as Papandreou did when he first went to
them hat-in-hand asking for
money after he told voters there
was plenty.
A skilled orator with a keen
sense of the public mood, Tsipras
has made restoring Greek pride
after four years of “national humiliation” at the hands of what
he paints as dogmatic foreign
technocrats a cornerstone of his
rhetoric.
“We declare categorically that
we will not negotiate our history,” Tsipras thundered in parliament to rapturous applause.
“We will not negotiate the
pride and dignity of this people.”
It was uplifting stuff to people
who’d been forced to their knees
by their leaders.
Greeks have long harbored
conspiracy theories that foreign
interests want to control the
country, and particularly peculiar beliefs that the United States
is lurking behind a curtain and
trying to victimize Greeks.
It’s a sense that goes back
hundreds of years to being occupied by the Ottomans and a
bevy of other foreigners, right
up to the Nazis and, more recently, the Troika, seen as an
economic occupier.
Many senior SYRIZA officials
have spent years portraying
Greece as a victim of foreign interests. New Foreign Minister
Nikos Kotzias published a book
a year ago titled Greece: Debt
Colony. European Autocracy and
German Primacy - and he studied and lived in Germany and
speaks German.
“They are the only ones sticking up for the people,” Nikos
Baltopoulos, a 47-year-old engineer told Reuters. “I didn’t vote
for Tsipras because he seemed
too radical, but maybe this is
what we need. Austerity had
numbed us all these years, we
started accepting whatever we
were told.”
It may not last, but it feels
good.
Tsipras Nominates ND’s Pavlopoulos For President
TNH Staff
ATHENS – Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras, the Radical Left
SYRIZA leader, put forth the
name of New Democracy Conservative lawmaker Prokopis
Pavlopoulos to be the country’s
symbolic President.
Pavlopoulos served his party
leader and former Premier Antonis Samaras and occassionally
barked about some of the harsh
austerity measures that came
with international bailouts but
supported them.
Pavlopoulos, 64, is a lawyer
who was a former Minister of
the Interior and Public Order
and served his party leader and
former Premier Antonis Samaras and occasionally barked
about some of the harsh austerity measures that came with international bailouts but supported them.
Pavlopoulos will need to get
180 votes in the 300-member
Parliament in voting which begins on Feb. 17. SYRIZA and its
coalition partner, the Independent Greeks, (ANEL) have 162
and the choice of a lawmaker
Prokopis Pavlopoulos
from the Leftist's bitter political
rival could be a hard sell to
some die-hard far-leftists in
SYRIZA.
Traditionally, a Premier picks
a compromise candidate from
another party for the job but
Samaras brought his downfall
as Prime Minister by trying to
push through his party's VicePresident Stavros Dimas for the
position but lost that battle,
leading to early national elections which elevated SYRIZA.
Tsipras had to pick a candidate to replace Karolos Papoulias, whose term is expiring and
until Pavlopoulos was named
the frontrunner was another
New Democracy stalwart and
the country's European Commissoner and former Athens Mayor,
Dimitris Avramopoulos.
But Avramopoulos didn't
back have the backing of ANEL
leader Panos Kammenos, now
Defense Minister, who broke
from New Democracy in a bitter
dispute and has been a fierce
critic of the party and Samaras.
Speaking to SYRIZA's parliamentary group, Tsipras said the
decision to nominate the former
conservative Interior Minister
reflected the need for political
and social consensus even
though it meant he had to nominate someone whose political
positions are anathema to him.
ANEL had liked New Democracy lawmaker Dora Bakoyian-
nis, who also had been an outcast for a while from the Conservatives and formed her own
party, only to be invited back in
before turning on Samaras after
he lost.
Kathimerini said that SYRIZA
officials told Tsipras the only
conservative candidates the
party could accept were
Pavlopoulos, as he has been critical of the bailout agreements,
and former Education Minister
Marietta Giannakou who has
been snapping hard at Samaras
for the party’s defeat.
The nomination is a defeat
for some forces in SYRIZA
though who wanted a more
Leftist-oriented choice, such as
author Ioanna Karystiani, filmmaker Costa Gavras, and former
Finance Minister Manolis Drettakis, who left PASOK in 1984
and later joined Synaspismos
Left Coalition, the precursor to
SYRIZA.
“The will of the Greek people
has to be completely satisfied
and this will come if the President is from the left,” said
SYRIZA veteran and MEP Manolis Glezos, a WWII hero.
Despite Impasse, Greece Sees Debt Deal Coming
Continued from page 1
is made, Greece can present alternative measures but not roll
back previous reforms or take
“unilateral steps,” Dijsselbloem
said, noting that Greece’s demand for a “bridge” agreement
was essentially “just another
word” for an extension.
The Eurogroup chief underlined the need to “rebuild trust.”
He suggested that a new program would not differ greatly
from the previous one. “The rules
and regulations talk about strict
conditionalities. It would still be
about fiscal sustainability,” he
said.
Varoufakis insisted that he
was prepared to sign the text he
was shown by Moscovici “there
and then” but didn’t know why
the wording was changed
He still said he believed a deal
would be struck before what’s
left of the rescue packages runs
out on Feb. 28 and that Athens
is confident of a four-month extension he said isn’t an extension
an that the government was willing to relent on some conditions
it had opposed.
“I have no doubt that within
the next 48 hours Europe is going to come together and we
shall find the phrasing that is
necessary so that we can submit
it and move on to do the real
work that is necessary,” he said.
Moscovici, however, stressed
that there is “no alternative to
the extension of the current program.”
He called on the Greek government to request an extension,
adding that there would be “flexibility over the short term.” “During the extension, we will have
time to work on details,” he said.
“We have to be logical, not ideological.”
Moscovici said the Greek side
Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos, right, greets Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis
during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday.
had put forth vague ideas during
earlier talks with Troika envoys,
leaving the lenders and the Eurozone flummoxed about just
what Tsipras and Varoufakis
want as the SYRIZA team keeps
an eye on the electorate it
promised relief from harsh austerity measures imposed by earlier governments on Troika orders.
Varoufakis, who had said that
Greece would reject the Troika
memoranda outright now said it
will accept 70 percent of it but
the lenders want it all or said it
will be they, not Greece, who will
walk.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made
a last-ditch effort at a compromise but Varoufakis said it was
torpedoed by Eurozone finance
chiefs playing hardball with
Greece.
Varoufakis said it was Dijsselbloem who changed the terms
and demanded that Greece stick
to the deal that SYRIZA had
flatly rejected while campaigning
and as soon as it took office after
the Jan. 25 elections.
“The next step has to come
from the Greek authorities,” Dijsselbloem told reporters. “They
have to make up their minds
whether they will ask for an extension.”
Varoufakis said Greece had no
choice but to refuse the statement on offer. “In the history of
the European Union nothing
good has ever come out of ultimatum,” he told reporters after
the meeting.
Greece is willing to extend the
current aid program as long it’s
done on the right terms, Varoufakis said.
A cornerstone of Syriza’s election victory was there would be
no extension. In return for billions of rescue money, successive
governments have had to impose
a series of economic reforms and
spending cuts, which the Greek
government blames in large part
for the country’s ills.
“It would be an act of subterfuge to promise we will complete a program we were elected
to challenge,” said Varoufakis.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head
of the so-called Eurogroup, said
the program should be extended
to get more time to agree on a
lasting solution. “My strong preference still is to get an extension
of the program, and I think it is
still feasible,” he told a press conference after the talks ended.
Malta’s finance minister, Edward Scicluna, worried about the
implications of a failure by
Athens to request an extension:
“Then we won’t meet. There
won’t be anything. It will be a
disaster.”
(Material from the Associated
Press was used in this report)
AP PHOTO/PETrOS kArADJiAS
Bank of Cyprus Car Burns
A man and a woman stand by a burnt vehicle in Strovolos, a
suburb of Cyprus’ capital Nicosia, Tuesday, Feb. 17. Police are
investigating the fire that destroyed a vehicle belonging to the
Bank of Cyprus, the country’s largest lender. The car was
parked in a cul-de-sac, near the home of Bank of Cyprus CEO
John Patrick Hourican who is currently out of the country.
Cyprus Showing Signs
of Looming Rebound
NICOSIA – With President Nicos
Anastasiades saying Cyprus is
on the road to recovery, investors are showing keen interest in pouring money into the
country, while the country is
working on a gas pipeline deal
with Egypt and easing money
transfers abroad.
Fund managers from companies such as Goldman Sachs, the
Bank of America, Societe Generale, HSBC and at least 15
funds from the Arab world, listened to officials during the
two-day Cyprus Investors Summit, trying to persuade them
about stability and a looming
comeback.
Antenna TV reported that
high on the list was the Mall of
Cyprus in Nicosia and the Limni
Bay Resort, both operated by the
Shacolas Group, the Venus Rock
resort in Paphos, the Nicosia
City Mall in Lakatamia, as well
as other mostly property related
projects.
The investors Mohammed
Elqeheisi from Saudi Arabia and
Colin Wright from the Buena
Vista Group.
Other projects presented included the Makronisos Marina,
Lord Byron Tower, Sandarosa
Tower, Neapolis Eco City in Paphos, Vasa Gold Resort, Macedonitissa States, Pafilia Tower
and Limassol Landmark, St Elizabeth Gold Resort, Elea Estates,
Pavilion Business Center and the
Delmar in Limassol.
The Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) presented 18 major projects and Finance Minister Haris Georgiades
and Privatisations Commissioner Constantinos Herodotou
talked about the government’s
plan to sell state-owned companies.
Cyprus and Egypt have tightened their energy cooperation
with an agreement to sort out
the technical details of laying an
undersea pipeline that would
carry offshore natural gas to
Egyptian processing facilities.
Egyptian Petroleum Minister
Sherif Ismail and Cypriot Energy
Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis
agreed in Cairo on Feb. 16 to
find a way to transport gas from
a field off Cyprus that is estimated to hold 3.6 trillion to 6
trillion cubic feet of the fossil
fuel.
A statement said details will
be examined with other companies involved in gas transport
and processing and a deal is expected to be hammered out
within six months.
Ismail said in November that
his country is looking to import
Cypriot gas both for domestic
use and for possible re-export
to other countries.
Meanwhile, coming up on
two years since Cyprus asked
the Troika of the European
Union-International Monetary
Fund-European Central Bank
(EU-IMF-ECB) for a 10 billion
euro bailout that came with attached harsh measures, the government is letting up even more
capital controls that had been
put into place to prevent a run
on the banks.
In a further easing of restrictions
on
money
transfers,Cyprus’ Finance Ministry says it has raised the
amount of money individuals
can now take out of the country
at any one time to 50,000 euros
($57,000).
The Finance Ministry announced the increase from the
previous limit of 20,000 euros.
Cyprus imposed the restrictions
amid concerns over bank runs
when it required a bailout package in 2013 that hit its financial
sector hard. The limits are being
lifted gradually.
Last month, Cyprus scrapped
a 2-million-euro limit on the
amount of money businesses
can take out of the country.
EDITORIALS LETTERS
12
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The National Herald
From our Website
Greek Orthodox Church
Deserves to Go Broke
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Greeks and Germans
First, Play Chicken…
The question is, who will blink first, Greece or Germany?
Most reasonable people would say that depends on who has
the greatest need. And that is not Germany. The clock is ticking.
Greece must reach an agreement within a few days. If that does
not happen, Pandora's Box will open and what emerges will hit
the people of Greece and the Tsipras government very hard.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis says that time is the most
valuable commodity. It is an unrenewable resource. But the
question remains, how much time is left?
It is crystal clear by now that Prime Minister Tsipras, under
strenuous time constraints, is looking for a lifeline. Thus, he
has begun his attempts to fool the people. For example, the
troika has been re-Christened "the representatives of the institutions." Yet, a critical issue looms: to what extent can politicians
deceive voters before elections and what price will they pay
when the people figure out the fraud?
In the Greek context, the current government appears to be
fighting to keep its promises to the people, but is confronted
with a different reality in Europe. It would certainly be a thousand times better to tell the truth: “O fellow Greeks, we fought,
we struggled, but in the end we did not get the desired results.
So, instead of leading the country into adventures, we considered it our patriotic duty to retreat.” The people surely would
show more understanding if they were spoken to in that manner,
rather than with a spirit of deception.
Germany has the support of all the other Eurozone countries,
each for its own reasons.
The consensus is that changing the rules midstream for
Greece would destroy the Eurozone’s credibility. Why make an
exception in Greece and not, say, in Spain?
And if a compromise is not reached, the consequences would
be terrible. The logic of “don’t press us or we will jump of the
cliff and take you all with us" doesn’t work. The Germans have
taken precautions. They will have to deal with real economic
turmoil and pain, but that will be temporary. What they are
not prepared to do is to continue to deal every now and then
with the effects of the ongoing Greek crisis. Simply put, they
are tired of that game.
…then, Kick the Can
It would surprise us if current negotiations do not result in a
compromise ensuring that Greece, at least for the time being,
will remain in the Eurozone.
No thanks to Yanis Varoufakis’ Game Theory, which delivered
no miracle. None either to the Germans being emotionally moved
by the solidarity the Greek people have shown in backing their
new leader, Alexis Tsipras. They weren’t.
Moreover, a compromise will not materialize because European Central Bank President Mario Draghi would lose any sleep
if Greece was out of the Eurozone. He wouldn’t.
The reason is none of the above: it is because of the role the
United States is playing, albeit for its own geopolitical interests,
in advocating for Greece’s cause. We remind that is why President
Obama specifically pressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel
about Greece in their recent joint press conference. And that he
encouraged her to develop a strategy for the Greek economy
within the Eurozone.
The United States continues to lobby intensely for Greece.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew spoke directly with Tsipras, instead
of his Greek counterpart Varoufakis, while Secretary of State
John Kerry spoke with his own counterpart in the Greek government, Nikos Kotzias.
We can easily surmise that similar phone calls were made by
the Americans to Germany, and elsewhere. What did they talk
about? It is not difficult to imagine.
Essentially, that in a tumultuous world from the dangerous
crisis in Ukraine, to a Middle East fast approaching the brink of
disaster – with a looming threat over Israel about a potentially
nuclear Iran – and an unpredictable Turkey under Recep Erdogan’s leadership, the last thing the United States would need is
the destabilization of Greece and increasing influence by Moscow
spreading in Athens and Cyprus.
America’s strong support of Greece after World War II, as evidenced by the Truman Doctrine, was not for naught. Certainly,
the United States would not let those efforts go to waste and
allow Greece to fall into Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s clutches,
over a few billion euros.
That is why we believe that, even as the Germans will continue
to insist upon the agreed-upon conditions, the Eurozone’s principles and values, and the need for reforms, in the end they will
agree on a formula that will simply kick the can down the road,
for now. A formula that both Tsipras and Merkel can present to
their respective nations as a “win-win.” Until the next crisis.
The Way it Is
“That’s the way it is” was the motto of Walter Cronkite, the
legendary anchorman who was touted “the most trusted person
in America.” More so than with anyone else, Americans felt
confident that if Cronkite said it, it must be true.
That is why we agree with NBC News’ decision to suspend
without pay its popular and successful chief anchor, Brian
Williams, for not telling the truth.
Williams significantly embellished a story: while in Iraq in
2003, he said his helicopter was hit by a grenade and was
forced to land. Turns out, Williams was in a helicopter about
an hour behind.
Though it is unfortunate that Williams’ career might be destroyed because of a “fish tale,” by suspending Williams NBC
sent a clear message: integrity trumps ratings. It is a sad day
for Williams, but a great day for journalism.
To the Editor:
In response to “Priest Blows
Whistle On Bishop, Says He
Fears Retaliation For Talking,”
by Theodore Kalmoukos:
You are preaching to the
choir. This clown should not
only resign but he should be de-
TO OUR READERS
The National Herald welcomes
letters from its readers intended for publication. They
should include the writer’s
name, address, and telephone
number and be addressed to:
The Editor, The National Herald, 37-10 30th Street, long
island City, Ny 11101. letters
can also be faxed to (718) 4720510
or
e-mailed
to
scaros@thenationalherald.com.
we reserve the right to edit
letters for publication and regret that we are unable to acknowledge or return those left
unpublished.
frocked by the archbishop, but
you know that won’t happen.
If Parishioners start tightening their wallets, then the archdiocese will see insolvency coming fast unless the clowns at the
top who live a lavish lifestyle
are removed or resign. I am not
giving a red cent to these clowns
anymore. I will send my money
to wonderful programs like St.
Jude’s Hospital for children,
which does tremendous work.
HIs Eminence must retire
and Bishop Demetrios must resign. I am no longer going to
give monies to the church until
they weed out the criminal embezzling types. In the non-ecclesiastical United States, these
guys would be on trial for embezzlement and racketeering.
The priestly vestments do not
give them free pass. I am done
giving to the Greek Orthodox
Church. Let them go under: they
earned it.
trianjo
tinos E. Scaros:
I truly enjoyed this column
because your analogies were
perfect.
I don’t understand that transfer of power either. Maybe Mr.
Tsipras is a” brilliant” individual,
with street smarts, and has figured everything out. This is the
reason why after WWII Greece
has never had a government
that its people could benefit
from and trust.
That is why just like my par-
ents, my husband, and millions
of Greeks, I abandoned Greece,
and never looked back after
many years.
Another fact that I don’t understand is why Greece needs
to have almost as many legislators (Parliament) as we have
(Congress), and if I’m not mistaken, about forty political parties.
Hence the old saying, “too
many cooks…”
pkoutsa7
GEOrGE SArAFOGlOu / SPECiAl TO THE NATiONAl HErAlD
A weekly publication of the NATIONAL HERALD, INC.
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reporting the news and addressing the issues of paramount interest
to the Greek-American community of the United States of America.
“Hello, I’m Alexis,
Welcome to Walmart”
In response to “Is Alexis
Tsipras the New Walmart
Greeter of Greece?” by Constan-
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:
www.thenationalherald.com
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Government is Keeping Mum
GEORGAKAS PRESENTS HIS
POINT OF VIEW
Dino, I am wary when President Obama, Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell, Goldman Sachs, House Speaker John
Boehner, and the Bank of America all agree that an international
economic agreement is just what
the financial doctor ordered. My
skepticism is further roused by
the insistence this should be “fast
track” legislation. That mass media is virtually ignoring the issue
also is troubling. I am referring
to the Trans-Pacific Partnership
agreement soon to be acted on
by the Congress.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership
agreement would be the largest
trade agreement in history. It involves most of the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean (China
excluded). These nations have
some eight hundred million citizens and account for 40% of the
world’s economy. Some of the
wealthiest companies in Japan,
the United States, and South Korea would be direct beneficiaries
of an agreement that essentially
frees corporations from national
regulation.
The agreement is touted as
protecting intellectual property
rights and allowing free enterprise to flourish. An example of
what this means in reality is that
drug firms will be allowed to
hold exclusive rights to a drug
for a longer period than
presently which would prevent
low-priced generic drugs from
being manufactured. Additional
“protections” of patents will increase the costs of producing
generic drugs even after they are
authorized. Another aspect of intellectual property rights involves
the complex issues surrounding
Internet access and control.
A particularly outrageous aspect of the Trans-Pacific Agreement is that disputes will not be
handled at a governmental level
but by an International Tribunal
of private attorneys immune
from any nation’s legal system.
This Tribunal would be mandated to protect corporations
from “unfair” national legislation
if it harms their profits. Getting
past moralistic linguistics, this
means that laws regarding environmental protection, workplace
safety, and human rights could
be deemed “unfair.” The corpo-
President Obama and nine other TPP nation leaders. Why are both major parties, huge American
banks, and a dozen countries trying to pass this deal on the fast-track, while the media has
kept mum about it? Scaros and Georgakas both call for more trasparency in government.
rations then could do as they
pleased. American laws would
be compromised.
I am reminded of the
decades-long struggle by Vermonters to close a malfunctioning nuclear reactor. Even after
Vermont’s governor and legislature voted to close the facility,
the federal government delayed
the process for years under the
rationale that it would harm the
provider’s balance sheet and
might result in insufficient energy. When the reactor was finally closed, no power shortages
followed and the utility remains
profitable. An International Tribunal of producers could easily
thwart such citizen initiatives.
The International Tribunal
also would decide on any damages to be paid due to oil spells,
harmful products, personal injuries, and other legal claims
against corporations. Other provisions are so hostile to standard
labor regulations in America that
the swishing sound you will hear
is that of more American jobs going overseas just when American
manufacturing is starting to revive.
Of equal concern is that
Obama wants this legislation
passed by what is called fast
tracking. If that procedure it accepted, Congress would cede to
the President its constitutional
obligation to debate and modify
trade laws. Although the Congress would still have to ratify
any agreements a President negotiates, it could not make any
changes in them. Moreover, Congress would be forced to approve
or disapprove any agreement
within 90 days. One can easily
imagine the economic handouts
that would be embedded in the
details of such agreements.
I believe the Trans-Pacific
Partnership agreement will be
very profitable for the 1% of
America’s superrich and harmful
for the rest of us. Moreover, fasttracking blurs the difference between the executive and legislatives branches of government. I
am wondering how you perceive
the Trans-Pacific Partnership
agreement proposal and the desire to enact it via the fast track
approach.
SCAROS RESPONDS
Dan, it is a good thing that
you raised this issue because, as
you say, it has hardly been mentioned in the mainstream media.
You will notice that I am less
committed to this issue one way
or the other than is usually the
case with our exchanges, and
part of that is certainly because
as these Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) negotiations continue in
secrecy, I am just as in the dark
about what’s going on as most
everyone else.
Granted, I am not a conspiracy theorist, and when virtually
the only websites that appear in
a TPP Google search are the
same ones that usually purport
that 9/11 was an inside job,
Washington DC is an elaborate
Masonic labyrinth, etc., I tend to
think there’s no real issue here.
That said, however, I am leery
of free trade in general, fast-track
legislation specifically, and any
type of secret negotiations that
do not involve national security.
I must admit – the notion of
any deal that does not involve
China or Russia sounds sweet.
Moreover, if even more nations
join the venture, I have read that
the United States might enjoy an
additional quarter trillion dollars
in income every year, which may
put the country on a whole other
fast track…to a balanced budget.
Nonetheless, at the end of the
day these statistics are meaningless if they do not translate to a
better quality of life for Americans. I am less concerned about
a record-setting stock market
than I am about the continued
wealth gap. And something tells
me more free trade will lead to
fewer American jobs, and more
corporate fat cats getting richer
by using cheap labor overseas.
Even as I respond to you here,
I have good reasons to support
TPP and equally good ones to
oppose it. Certainly more attention ought to be paid to this issue
by the U.S. and international media. That will help shape the debate an alert a largely unaware
world to it.
I have defended President
Obama often on the whole, but
his is probably the most secretive
administration since Richard
Nixon’s. I am happy that you
chose this topic for this week’s
Agora, Dan, because at the very
least, this article will now appear
in future Google searches about
the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and
hopefully it will convey the message that people ought to demand transparency from their
government.
WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?
Observations By Antonis H. Diamataris
Tsipras through Diaspora’s Lens
Developments in Greece are once again
monopolizing the Diaspora’s attention.
How will the situation develop under the
new government? Will Greece remain in
the Eurozone or not? Those are the usual
questions.
But first, let us look at how the Greeks
of Greece see it: the euphoria there with
the election of Alexis Tsipras and the patriotic tone of his Parliament address have
rekindled interest, but not one of great magnitude.
As for Greek-Americans, the majority of
them care about substance, not rhetoric. In
America, actions speak louder than words.
Accordingly, they are worried whether
the new government will be able to address
the major challenges facing the country.
They worry that some top SYRIZA officials
are ideologically trapped in failed theories
of the past.
What is certain is that the business world
– among them Greeks and non-Greeks alike
–including those who have invested or were
planning to invest in Greece, are expressing
disappointment in what they are seeing.
They believe it is essential not only to continue with the reforms enacted so far, but
to accelerate them.
If this unquestionably negative climate
is not reversed soon, it will further complicate the situation in Greece.
As to whether Greece will remain in the
Eurozone, I see a shift and a change of tone:
from "not under any circumstances" to
"there is no alternative, no matter however
painful it might be in the short and mid
term."
And most are expressing this view not
in whispers, as they did before. Neither do
they consider valid the presumption that a
Grexit would demolish both the country and
the continent.
The majority of experts with whom I
have recently spoken believe it was wrong
for Greece not to leave the Eurozone in
2010. But once Greece decided to remain,
they say, it had to endure any political sacrifice that was necessary in order to implement the most serious and complex reforms
with vigor and expeditiousness.
But since Greece did not do so, the country is not competitive, and any accommodations now have little significance. Moreover, given that the current government
presents an anti-reforms image – see the
most recent statements of Reconstruction
Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis – that makes
things even worse.
Regardless of what unfolds with the Europeans, even if the government achieves a
great “victory,” it will not be long before
the country will need to ask for more help
– that is to say, a new memorandum.
But how many times can this be repeated?
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
VIEWPOINTS
13
Is Merkel about to Pull the Lost in Space: Proposals for Cyprus Hydrocarbons Policy
Old Bait and Switch Routine?
By Nicos A. Rolandis*
Special to The National Herald
emotional but illAt a conclave I
considered decision
had the luck to atto undermine Samatend last week,
ras on the eve of the
about a dozen or
elections by limiting
more of the most
the extension of the
distinguished
bailout to two
names in American
months instead of
and international
six.
finance discussed
We should not
the current Greek
underestimate Mrs.
crisis. The discusMerkel. She must
sants divided themknow that she canselves into three
by AMB. PATRICK N.
not continue her
roughly
equal
THEROS
present austerity
groups. One third
policies but needs a
took the position
Special to
The National Herald
face-saving way out.
that Greece conNick argues that she
tracted its debts
and had no choice but to pay could easily take a page out of
them off; to allow otherwise the way the Americans managed
would encourage the other dead- the 2008 crisis. In early Septembeats in the world to welch on ber of that year, Lehman Broththeir debts. Forgiving Greek debt ers, one of the most important
would open the floodgates of Wall Street institutions, effec“moral hazard.” Former Prime tively went broke. The US TreaMinister Antonis Samaras, they sury Secretary and the Federal
asserted, was on the right track, Reserve Chairman decided after
Greece had achieved a re- a series of all-nighters (not unlike
spectable primary surplus, priva- the current Varoufakis-EU negotization was well underway, and tiations) to let Lehman Brothers
its GDP on the macroeconomic go under. Although Lehman’s collevel had registered the best im- lapse did indeed threaten to
provement in the EU. (For the bring down the rest of the Amerrecord, one can say Greece looks ican financial system, it also
good only because the rest of the scared the pants off all the fiscal
EU looks so dismal.) Another conservatives (whose fiscal conthird argued with equal passion servatism includes protecting
that the whole world knows that their own personal fortunes) in
German-imposed austerity has finance and politics. The Lehman
failed in Greece and no possible collapse provided excellent politscenario would allow Greece to ical cover for the GOP to find a
even lower its debt-to-GDP ratio, way to temporarily suspend its
let alone pay it off. They argued free-market rhetoric and opened
that Mrs. Merkel’s policies repre- the door to TARP and other fisented the real “moral hazard” nancial sector rescue schemes
because they threatened the in- that would have been politically
tegrity and cohesion of the Euro- impossible a few weeks earlier.
The United States halted conzone and even the EU, so that
she could continue to win elec- tagion by reversing course immetions. The third cohort had a diately after making an example
more interesting take on the sit- of Lehman Brothers. Mrs. Merkel
uation. They argued that several has one dramatic option open to
simple and easily-applied solu- her to save both her political fortions were available and known tunes and the overall German
to the protagonists on both sides. and EU economies. Hold the line
(In the interests of brevity, we on Greece, force it into bankcan summarize the solutions as ruptcy and do whatever possible
extending loan periods and lim- to publicly punish it for its insultiting interest repayment to a ing behavior, thus satisfying a dosmall percentage of surplus GDP, mestic voter base screaming for
while giving the Greek Govern- Greek blood. Then, with enough
ment both breathing space and safety measures in place to give
meeting tough macroeconomic her a few weeks before the percriteria to implement its new pro- nicious effects of Greek default
grams, such as cracking down on and a “Grexit” spread across the
tax evasion.) They generally EU, she can pivot dramatically
agreed that domestic politics fu- and announce that she will save
eled by ugly bilateral rhetoric Europe and the Euro by taking
(e.g., lazy Greeks and Nazi Ger- strong emergency measures.
mans) made it politically impos- Within a few weeks she can bring
sible for either Mrs. Merkel or austerity to an end, reflate the
Mr. Tsipras to accept such a com- German economy and tell her
minions on the troika to relax repromise.
I recounted the events to a strictions on the other sinful Euclose friend whom I shall call ropeans. Taking this action, she
Nick. He remarked that Merkel would probably have a willing
has enlisted the support of some ally in Christine Lagarde, the
very unhappy allies (Spain, Managing Director of the IMF.
France, Portugal) in staring down Ms. Lagarde has made no secret
the Greeks. She no doubt argued, of her belief that the EU austerity
that if Tsipras succeeds, the pop- programs, based on flawed asulist anti-austerity parties in their sumptions, have failed and need
own countries will probably reversal. Nor has she ever atsweep them out of office and, as tempted to disguise her contempt
has occurred in Greece, into the for the Greeks. If this works, and
dustbin of history. Tsipras must it certainly has a fair chance of
fail or European voters across the working, Mrs. Merkel could romp
entire continent will understand to electoral victory at home and
that all their current politicians bask in the glory of the savior of
are themselves a bunch of no- Europe. As a final bonus, she
would satisfy her personal anigood lazy bums.
Nick noted that perhaps Mrs. mus by dancing on the grave of
Merkel does understand that aus- Greece. The Greek negotiators
terity has failed, even in Ger- need to prepare for this scenario.
many, and its continuation does
The Hon. Ambassador Theros
in fact threaten the entire European project. However, she has is president of the U.S.-Qatar
so demonized the Greeks as a Business Council. He served in
worthless and parasitical lot as a the U.S. Foreign Service for 36
key part of her electoral strategy years, mostly in the Middle East,
that she dare not show any flexi- and was American Ambassador
bility in dealing with the hated to Qatar from 1995 to 1998. He
nation. Furthermore, Mrs. Merkel also directed the State Departprobably hates Greece and ment’s Counter-Terrorism Office,
Greeks on a personal level as and holds numerous U.S. Govdemonstrated by her arguably ernment decorations.
Nicos Anastasiades took over
the helm of Cyprus, after an adventurous and destructive course
of 50 years (1963-2013).
So, where is Cyprus today?
How do the powerful players of
the Cyprus chessboard view two
of the pivotal issues, the Cyprus
problem and natural gas? Are we
hovering somewhere in the
Mediterranean Sea, or do we, in
reality, sail lost in space?
1. For the United States of
America, the perennial position
expressed by former Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger in his book
World Order applies: “America
must play a leadership role to preserve world order – not as a moralizing global policeman, but as
a hard-nosed great power…to
maintain equilibrium and keep
the threat of war within tolerable
limits.” So, despite the goodwill
of Vice President Joe Biden,
Cyprus is in reality a small pawn
in the maelstrom of American
strategic, political and economic
interests.
2. Europe focuses its attention
much more on opening up its
gates to Turkey and to the large
Turkish market than on human
rights in Cyprus. The economy
(GDP) of Turkey amounts to $815
billion compared to $16 billion of
Cyprus. Furthermore, Turkey is a
strategic partner of Europe in one
of the hotbeds of the world. It
should also be remembered that
Europe is not on the same page
with us on a number of aspects
of the Cyprus problem and on the
hydrocarbons. This is why we are
taken aback on many occasions
by the decisions in Brussels.
3. For the United Nations,
Cyprus is one of the dozens of
problems in its agenda, smaller
than the very large issues it has
to address nowadays. Furthermore, it is obvious that the UN is
“tired” of us. We may believe that
justice is totally on our side, the
truth however is (and the international community is well aware
of this) that we are not sinless.
4. Russia is a good friend of
Cyprus, but a good friend of
Turkey, too, who will never disregard its huge interests (strategic, financial etc.) with its neighbor. Among many other
considerations, the Turkish
Stream, which was announced by
Russian President Vladimir Putin
recently and which will replace
the South Stream, will transport
from Russia to Europe via Turkey
2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas annually, of a value of approxi-
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the
tenant of the palace of more
than 1000 rooms, appears to
be powerful, obstinate, and
unpredictable.”
mately $25 billion.
5. Greece, the mother-country,
is extremely weak financially.
From a military and defense point
of view, Greece did not manage
to be of help in the past and cannot be of help today, either.
6. The neighboring countries,
Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and
Lebanon: They are all friends of
Cyprus and there may be good
cooperation with them in certain
fields. It is obvious and natural,
however, that none of these countries would be prepared to go to
war for our sake.
7. Finally, Turkey and her leadership. This is how Turkey’s daily
Today’s Zaman presents Turkey
in an article of the 3rd February
2015 by Robert Ellis: “The rise of
the Turkish empire: Totalitarian
leaders of the 20th century were
known variously as Der Fuhrer
(Germany), Il Duce (Italy), Generalissimo (Spain) and El Maximo
Lider (Cuba), and now neo-ottoman Turkey has its Reis
(Leader) Recep Tayyip Erdogan”.
The tenant of the palace of more
than 1000 rooms appears to be
powerful, obstinate, and unpredictable.”
In the context of the above,
Cyprus reminds me of a poem by
Greek writer Zacharias Papantoniou: “Where do you sail small
boat, in such a stormy weather
The sea is violently hitting
you, are you not scared?”
Things are really extremely
difficult. What makes the situation though even more intractable
is that, in the negative atmosphere of the collapse of the econ-
omy and the incredible incidents
of corruption, the problem of
Cyprus and that of the hydrocarbons are stagnant. And it seems
that there is no way to break the
deadlock.
We say:
• There will be no talks unless
the Turkish Navtex is withdrawn
and also Barbaros and the Turkish
warships depart from our Exclusive Economic Zone.
• Turkey refuses to comply,
unless the drilling for oil and gas
ceases. This is not accepted by us.
• Furthermore, the Turkish
Cypriots refuse to come back to
the talks unless the drilling is discontinued.
• Turkey states in a very clear
language it will bring its own rig
to pump the hydrocarbons of
Cyprus and will not allow the exploitation of the wealth in the sea
by the “Greek-Cypriot administration.”
Based on my experience I believe that Turkey will not give in.
After all, if it retreats from the
above positions taken personally
by Erdogan, it will destroy his
hegemonic image. So, are we
moving to the direction of a headon collision?
The impasse entails many
questions and many risks:
1. Shall we manage to sell the
gas in block 12 (Aphrodite) to
e.g. Egypt? How shall we find an
investor for the undersea pipeline
(cost approximately $2 billion),
once the investor will know that
Turkey objects to such a sale and
that before the pumping of the
gas commences Turkey may arbitrarily intervene and stop it?
2. What will happen if an investor for the pipeline is found
and at the end of the day Turkey
intervenes and stops the process?
3. How will Turkey react, not
necessarily now, but at the stage
when the collection of funds from
the sale of hydrocarbons is
reached? Will it remain idle? Will
it threaten? Will it intervene militarily?
4. Who will stop Turkey from
pumping, through its own rig the
hydrocarbons of Cyprus?
It should be remembered that
the Turkish argument about the
protection of Turkish-Cypriot interests is in general terms adopted
by the UN and Europe.
In a number of articles in recent years, I underscored all the
above. And I proposed, when
Mehmet Ali Talat was “president,”
the following solution: We continue the process of drilling. We
deposit a just and fair percentage
to be agreed, of all net collections
from the sale of oil and gas, in an
escrow account in favor of the
Turkish Cypriots. This amount
will become payable either when
the Cyprus problem is resolved or
after a period of, say, 15 years,
whichever happens earlier. The
above arrangement was viewed
positively by the Turkish Cypriots;
our side did not even react. We
thought, in a naïve way as usual,
that we would be able to use natural gas as a trump card. We
acted in exactly the same manner
in the 1960s, again in a naïve
way, when our leaders thought
that the Turkish Cypriots “would
eventually boil in their own juice.”
As a result we finally lost 37% of
the territory of Cyprus in 1974.
Nowadays, we risk losing the hydrocarbons. And nobody will extend a helping hand, as nobody
did in 1974. None of our many
“friends” showed up. None….
Unfortunately, we do not follow Greece’s example, which for
the past 40 years has been cautious in the Aegean Sea.
If we want to stop history from
repeating itself – and I have no
doubt that history will be repeated if we are not cautious – I
would propose the following
Plan, if it is not already too late:
1. Commence Proximity Talks.
In this case the two sides would
be talking to the United Nations
and not to each other. Consequently the position “I do not talk
unless…” is circumvented. (Such
talks were carried out successfully
in the second half of 1984. Finally
we scuttled the whole process in
January 1985.)
2. The Cyprus problem and
the hydrocarbons would be discussed at the Proximity Talks.
3. Barbaros would depart, the
drilling would continue and the
interests of the Turkish Cypriots
would be protected through the
escrow account described above.
The Proximity Talks may
prove to be a solution of a sort.
Maybe….
Otherwise, the small boat of
poet Papantoniou will continue
its voyage, lost in space, expecting
– I do not know what is left anymore – probably a divine intervention, as the poem goes…
“The Christ touches my helm..
And Virgin Mary stands at my
bow.”
Mr. Rolandis was the Cypriot
Government’s Foreign Minister
(1978-83) and Minister of
Commerce,
Industry
&
Tourism (1998-2003). He was
also a member of the Cyprus
House of Representatives
(1991-96) and chairman of the
Liberal Party (1986-98).
ANALYSIS
Precisionless Polls: Why the Pundits Haven’t Got a Clue
A recent Washington Post
piece titled “Why is Ted Cruz
Doing So Poorly in the 2016
Pre-Race?” reminded me of an
advanced political science
course I used to teach at New
York University a few years ago,
in the years between the 2004
and 2012 elections. One of the
classroom activities was for the
students to predict who would
be the Democratic and Republican nominees – first in 2008,
and after that election, in 2012.
The students – who semester in,
semester out were the most politically astute I’ve ever had in
over 20 years of teaching college
and university courses – didn’t
even come close to the mark. In
fact, each new crop of students
would chuckle at the predictions
their immediate predecessors
made, about candidates who either dropped out early, fizzled
right away, or didn’t even enter
which apparently
the race.
means the voters
The point is, it’s
don’t like anyone.
always fun to make
Except for Webb,
predictions, but it is
who has as much
far too early at this
chance of leapfrogpoint to take them
ging
Elizabeth
seriously.
Warren and topThe post cites a
pling Hillary ClinNewport University
ton for the DemocPoll featuring 11
ratic nomination as
presidential hopeDick Cheney does.
fuls – 8 Republicans
As for Ted Cruz,
and 3 Democrats –
by CONSTANTINOS E.
a Republican U.S.
and asks how favorSCAROS
Senator from Texas,
ably or unfavorably
he is not doing any
they are perceived.
Special to
The National Herald
more poorly than
Only 1 of the 11
most – it is just that
candidates, former
U.S. Senator from Virginia he is down in a crowded pack of
(where the poll was taken) Jim contenders, all of who are gazing
Webb finished with a higher fa- up at current frontrunner Jeb
vorable rating than unfavorable, Bush – the former governor of
and that was by a single digit: Florida and father/brother to two
35 to 34 percent. Every other presidents – and Wisconsin Govcandidate was perceived more ernor Scott Walker, the GOP’s flaunfavorably than favorably, vor of the month.
Besides, Iowa has not exactly
served as an accurate barometer
for winning one’s party nomination, especially if that party
is the Republicans. Last time
around, Rick Santorum beat
eventual nominee Mitt Romney,
and in 2008, nominee John McCain finished fourth. Perhaps
most notably, far and away the
most popular Republican of our
time, Ronald Reagan, lost the
1980 Iowa Caucus to George
H.W. Bush.
At this point, poll responses
reflect the old adage: ask a silly
question, get a silly answer.
Constantinos E. Scaros’ latest
book, about the 2016 presidential race, will be published this
summer. It is titled Grumpy Old
Party: 20 Tips on How the Republicans Can Shed their Anger,
Reclaim their Respectability,
and Win Back the White House.
LETTER FROM ATHENS
What’s in a Name? Whatever You Call Them, Greeks Live with Legacy of Austerity
There’s an old axiom that you
can tell politicians are lying
when their lips are moving, so
Prime Minister and Looney Left
SYRIZA leader Alexis “Che”
Tsipras can drizzle all the honey
on his BS Baklava he wants and
try to sell it to Greeks as pastry
but it’s still the same old product
they swallowed under the PASOK Anti-Socialists and the New
Democracy Capitalists.
The only difference between
Tsipras and his predecessors, former PASOK leader George “The
Money is There” Papandreou and
New Democracy’s maybe-to-beousted Antonis “Mr. Bean
Counter” Samaras is that the former Premiers didn’t even pretend they cared about workers,
pensioners, and the poor they
hammered with harsh austerity
measures on orders of international lenders.
Papandreou and Samaras
signed memoranda with the
Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB)
imposing big pay cuts, tax hikes,
slashed pensions, and worker firings in return for 240 billion euros
($272 billion) in two rescue packages, a big chunk of which they
turned over to their banker buddies who still can’t balance the
books.
Tsipras, sensing a good kill in
the making, opposed those terms
because while he hasn’t had much
of way of a real job, he can add
and figured a majority of people
didn’t like being brutalized while
politicians, the rich and tax cheats
skated, leaving the rest of Greeks
on thin ice hoping they’d fall
through and leave more for them.
During his relentless onslaught
against austerity, Tsipras vowed,
swore, promised, and pledged he
would refuse to negotiate with
the Troika nor recognize the sovereignty they seized from Greece;
that he would walk away from a
big chunk of the unsustainable
debt unless the lenders promised
relief; that he would restore the
minimum wage, and that he
would halt and reverse privatizations he characterized as the pillaging of Greece at bargain basement sales that he said was being
done to benefit private profiteers.
Apparently none of voters
who backed him, nor the SYRIZA
Samaras.
zealots, a cuckoo
Tsipras
said
mix of Communists,
Greece would never
Anarchists,
Niaccept an extension
hilists,
Maoists,
of the bailouts.
Stalinists, RadicalVaroufakis said the
ists, Activists, and
government would,
people who’d like to
however, accept a
have all Greeks
“bridging agreeearning the same
ment,” which is an
pay and driving
extension under an1957 Chevies, noother name no matticed his lips were
ter how much
moving when he
by ANDY
wrapping you put
rolled out that imDABILIS
on that package.
possible laundry list
Putting
more
because he’s using
Special to
The National Herald
perfume on the
more euphemisms
crap they’re pedto explain why he
can’t do it than the CIA trying to dling, where Tsipras said he
explain why assassination is just would never negotiate with nor
termination with extreme preju- recognize the Troika cross-hisheart-and-hope-to-die, it took
dice.
At least Tsipras is smart less than two weeks for him to
enough to have bought himself authorize Varoufakis to do just
a pit bull pet, the talk-the-talk- that, but say it was just talking,
but-not-walk-the-walk econo- not negotiating. Yes, and vigorish
mist/blogger Yanis Varoufakis as isn’t interest, it’s just repayment
Finance Minister. He’s in charge of a promise.
Tsipras said he would restore
of using different language to
disguise why SYRIZA will have the minimum wage but, changto go along with at least 70 per- ing his tune, said that couldn’t
cent of what the Troika de- happen all at once, but that it
manded from Papandreou and would take time, the same kind
of words used by Papandreou
and Samaras and every other
politician no matter what alleged
ideology they espouse because
in the end they’re all the same.
There’s a lot of SYRIZA
spielmeisters, including party
spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis,
who bent himself into a word
pretzel to explain why if Greek
gets a bridging agreement (extension) after talking (negotiating) with the Troika SYRIZA
doesn’t recognize that it won’t
really be what it is, which takes
the Marx Brothers to translate.
Greece is committed to not
continuing an international
bailout similar to the ones agreed
with the Troika by previous governments, Sakellaridis said, hoping you wouldn’t notice that it’s
implicit in that sentence that
there will be a bailout extension
under a different name.
And that it will come with
some of the conditions candidate
Tsipras repudiated before he became Prime Minister Tsipras and
pulled a Samaras, an acrobatic
trick named for the man who opposed austerity then accepted it,
then opposed it, a perfect 10 ex-
cept for the 3.8 from the East
German judge named Merkel.
"(Greece) will not continue
with a program which has the
characteristics of the programs
of previous governments,” Sakellaridis told Greek TV. Translation
for people who don’t speak Realpolitik: Greece will continue
with a program which has some
of the characteristics of previous
governments.
Sakellaridis also said that
Greece has agreed with its European partners that there needs
to be a “national reform plan” to
deal with decades-long issues of
the economy. We’re looking that
one up on the Political Dictionary
but so far it means SYRIZA, just
like PASOK and New Democracy,
will have to abide by some unpleasant measures and will not,
as Tsipras vowed, walk the walk
and act unilaterally.
Sakellaridis said that the new
government would not clash
with the public based on orders
from outside so the Troika will
have to slip Tsipras an envelope
giving him his marching orders.
adabilis@thenationalherald.com
14
THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 21-27, 2015
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