the national herald...“jeffrey eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is america. he...

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The National Herald A WEEKLY GREEK AMERICAN PUBLICATION September 25-October 1, 2010 www.thenationalherald.com VOL. 13, ISSUE 676 $1.50 c v Bringing the news to generations of Greek Americans O C V ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915 For subscription: 718.784.5255 [email protected] By Theodore Kalmoukos TNH Staff Writer BOSTON - “The national issue of Cyprus is not going well at all” His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus said in an exclusive interview to The National Herald. The Arch- bishop sent a clear message to Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, who was in New York attending the United Na- tions opening ceremonies “not to accept an international meet- ing before the internal problems with the Turkish-Cypriots are re- solved.” The Archbishop said if that happened, “The solution which will be imposed will be un-favorable to the Cypriot peo- ple and in a few years Cyprus will become Turkish.” And, he added, “We cannot afford to make any more mistakes.” Asked if Christofias, who is trying to re-unify the divided is- land by offering a settlement that would allow a Turk to serve alternate terms as its President, is on the right track, he said, “Because I am not a member of the National Council I have no way of knowing details, but based on his public statements he will not accept a solution which is not going to serve the Cypriot People as it will not be a viable solution.” To a question about how Cypriot officials have approached the dilemma of part of the island being occupied since the Turkish invasion of 1974, the Archbishop said, “We have deflected from the right way,” and said that, “The prob- lem of Cyprus is the invasion and the occupation of the 37% of the land of the Republic of Cyprus by the Turks. We have gone away from that position and the issue has become inter- communal. The two sides have not quarreled. The Turkish- Cypriots and the Greek-Cypriots have lived together nicely for centuries. We do not even have a religious problem in Cyprus. The problem is the invasion. Again, Turkey invaded and con- tinues to occupy 37% of the land.” Chrysostomos said that, “The Turks want everything, they put forth maximalist positions. They speak of two Peoples, two States, two Nations; you under- stand that we are not heading towards a solution.” Christofias has been unable to make any headway with Turkish leaders since taking office on Feb. 2008, despite making unilateral con- cessions. Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum defeated the so-called Annan Plan for re-uni- fication, named for former U.N. leader Koffi Annan, and Christofias’ critics said he is giv- ing away too much and that part of his ideas mimic the rejected plan. NO SOLUTION SEEN Asked where he would like to see the Cyprus leadership go- ing, he said: “I believe that there is no possibility for a solution of the Cyprus issue,” and stated that, “The issue should be rede- fined on its original base, be- cause we had the worst possible invasion with many dead, miss- ing, and refuges. The problem is that Turkey wants to control geopolitically the Middle East and all of Cyprus.” As to what would be a just and viable solu- tion, the Archbishop said, “A Archbishops Sees No Solution, Says Church Is Not That Rich NEW YORK – When self-made billionaire Pete Peterson told an audience at a Leadership 100 meeting here Sept. 9 that that American Dream was fading, he also laid out a grim scenario that portrayed the United States slip- ping into an unrecoverable eco- nomic crisis for the simple reason that politicians and people today won’t do what the World War II generation did: save more than spend. The 84-year-old Peterson, a son of Greek immigrants, warned his talk “will not be a charismatic, uplifting, inspira- tional speech,” citing what he called his “negative charisma,” but more significantly startling and worrying facts about the American economy he said in many ways is worse off than Greece, which is on the edge of default. The key problem, he said, is the staggering American debt that politicians keep passing on, and a population unwilling to sacrifice for themselves or their family’s future. “If you were to ask me what the next crisis might be, it could well be a global debt crisis and it might well call for a global solution,” he said. He was talking to an audience that included many successful Greek American business leaders, professionals, and people who had come from as far as Califor- nia to attend the event, and had their rapt attention with a blunt speech short on diplomacy and tough with the truth. “Today, the majority of the American people do believe their children will do better than they. Yet Americans have been misinformed and, yes, dis-informed, sometimes quite in- tentionally, by politicians who be- lieve that the American people can’t take the plain, hard truth. Politicians are focused on the next election, not the next gen- eration. Politicians also believe that is not only politically incor- rect but politically terminal to ask for any shared sacrifice. I simply do not accept that,” he said. He said repeated patterns of spending had created a national debt that is $62 trillion, or $485,000 per household, or 10 times its earnings, and impossible to repay. “We owe more than we own,” he said. The only way to reverse that, he said, is with cur- rent Greek-like austerity mea- sures to increase revenues and reduce spending, while encour- aging Americans to save more so they don’t have to rely on bor- rowing. Most, he said, aren’t will- ing to do so, accustomed to the Peterson’s Simple Success Formula Americans: Save, Sacrifice, Choose, Hike Revenues NEW YORK – As truck drivers blocked roads and tried to storm the Parliament in Athens and unions planned yet another mass protest, Greek Prime Min- ister George Papandreou was in New York and Washington, con- tinuing to try to make a case that Greece’s economy is turn- ing the corner and that the country will not default on its obligations, including $146 bil- lion in loans from the European Union and International Mone- tary Fund. Papandreou used the occasion of the annual opening session of the UN General As- sembly to meet with New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) officials and then went to Washington to meet Vice President Joe Biden, who expressed continued sup- port for Greece’s economic and political reforms and praised Pa- pandreou for his tough stance, that has included cutting public sector salaries by more than 10%, raising taxes and slashing pension reforms to rein in the country’s runaway deficit and debt. Politics and economics were on the agenda wherever he went, with a range of issues that included Greece’s domestic and foreign policies. Biden ex- pressed his appreciation for Pa- pandreou’s efforts to advance the integration of the countries of Southeast Europe into Euro- Atlantic structures, and he em- phasized the need for leaders in Athens and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FY- ROM) to quickly agree upon a mutually acceptable solution to resolve their differences over the name issue, as the wran- gling heads toward its 19th year Papandreou, in U.S., Touts His Plans He may be having trouble back home with his unpopular austerity measures, but Greek Prime Minister was thronged by crowds when he came to the Greek consulate on New York’s upper East Side on Sept. 22 during part of his visit to the United States for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, and a swing to Washington to meet Vice President Joe Biden Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides reads from his latest work during a public reading at Ithaca College earlier this month. Eugenides is on leave from Princeton University this year to complete his new book, the title of which he has not yet disclosed. By Constantine S. Sirigos TNH Staff Writer ASBURY PARK, N.J. – Of all the Greek traditions, one of the most beloved, especially by young men who vie for the honor, is the Blessing of the Wa- ters, as they leap into the sea to see who can be the first to re- trieve a cross that is supposed to give them good luck through the year, an act even captured in some Hollywood movies. It’s usually held on January 6, but this year here, four young men emerged from the Atlantic Ocean clutching the Holy Cross beneath a brilliant blue sky on Sunday, September 19. They re- ceived blessings, a trophy and a gift of a cross of gold from Met- ropolitan Evangelos, and the ap- plause of hundreds of Greek Or- Blessing of the Waters at Asbury By Evan C. Lambrou Special to The National Herald ITHACA – If you ever heard an accomplished writer read from their own works, it would more than likely make you want to buy the book as the real voice comes through, in person as it does on the page, and from the source. Award-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides recently did a public reading at Ithaca College in up- state New York, bringing his unique voice, the sound of real literature and three-dimensional characters. The event, part of IC’s Distinguished Visiting Writers se- ries, drew more than 200 people from the area. Most were stu- dents, but a good number of lo- cal residents also attended. Eu- genides, who won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for Mid- dlesex, his second novel, read from his yet-to-be-completed third novel at IC’s Phillips Hall on September 7. Listening to him read from his own work in his sonorous voice was a riveting ex- perience, many people were heard telling each other after- wards. Eugenides, one of the most prominent of this genera- tion of Greek American writers, was introduced to the eagerly awaiting crowd by Jack Wang, creative writing professor at Ithaca College, who reflected on the first time he met the author, who is known for nuanced in- sight into his characters’ inner lives. “Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said. “I first met him when I was a visit- ing writer at the University of Arizona 15 years ago. Even then, people spoke in hushed, scandal- ized tones about his first novel, The Virgin Suicides, which bril- liantly captures the joy and tur- moil of being young,” Wang told the crowd. Published in 1993, The Virgin Suicides has been translated into 34 languages, and was made into a feature film di- rected by Sophia Coppola, who recently won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival for another of her works. “Its befuddled ret- rospection on youth from the vantage point of middle age lends The Virgin Suicides its ob- sessive quality,” Wang said. WHAT IS LOVE? Eugenides’ new novel, the ti- tle if which he has yet to disclose, is a college love story set in 1983 and, among other things, draws a distinction between sexual at- traction and falling in love. Leonard and Madeline, the new story’s two principle characters, are drawn together in a way which compels Madeline, by far the more stable of the two, to examine herself as she tries to determine the meaning of love and its place in her life. Made- line, a logical young woman of pure and sound mind, is not the excitable type. She is not inclined to get carried away. She would much rather curl up in bed with Eugenides’ Characters Bring Ponos By Demetri Tsakas TNH Staff Writer NEW YORK – A 30-year-old woman from Pennsylvania was killed in a deadly, tornado-like storm with winds up to 100 miles per hour which blasted New York City on Sept. 16, uprooting trees and tossing them like spears, choking off power to tens of thou- sands of people, and halting most trains in and out of Long Island. The ferocious winds sent a mas- sive tree crashing onto the car of Iline Levakis after she pulled off the Grand Central Parkway near Jewel Avenue in Forest Hills to escape the blinding rain. “She was totally crushed,” a police source told the New York Post. “You couldn’t even tell what type of car it was.” She was reportedly from Mechanicsburg, Penn. Remark- ably, her husband, Billy Levakis, 60, suffered only minor injuries. The couple, who were in town for a day trip, had just switched seats in the Lexus sedan before the storm hit. “He’s a wreck,” Billy Levakis’ son Steve told The Post. “He’s with family now. I’ve been with him since it hap- pened.” Several other people around the city were hurt by fly- ing debris and collapsing struc- tures. The intensity of the mon- ster storm stunned everyone - and left some Staten Island resi- dents convinced a twister had barreled through. “You could kind of see the tornado,” said Kelly DePietro, 18, who was working at Eggers Ice Cream in Tottenville. “It was spinning. Then it got black. The door flew open, and I couldn’t close it -- the winds were too strong. I couldn’t shut the door for the life of me.” Jeffrey Greenburg was driving on the Grand Central Parkway near where Levakis was killed. “I seen the tree flying right in front of my car - it went right on by like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, “ he told WCBS. “Before you know it, like half the trees were all over the road,” he added. The National Weather Service N.Y. Storm Fells Tree, Kills Woman By Steve Frangos TNH Staff Writer CHICAGO - George D. Kot- sonaros is one of the most unique Greeks ever to settle in North America. Kotsonaros was simultaneously one of the most successful powerhouse wrestlers and recognized character-actors of his generation. Even Jim Lon- dos, the heavyweight wrestling champion of the United States never had the success in Holly- wood that Kotsonaros achieved. Kotsonaros, over the course of his career as a professional wrestler, competed in Greece, Europe, North Africa, North America and Australia. While Kotsonaros’ film career covered only six years, readily available news accounts all agree that his two careers unquestionably complimented each other in the public’s recognition of him. Fi- nancially well to do, long before 1929, Kotsonaros continued his dual career as professional wrestler and movie actor when he experienced considerable losses in the 1929 stock market crash. Reading between the lines, and often in front-page headlines, Kotsonaros was at all times what his generation called a high roller. Boisterous, nearly always bursting with energy, a rough prankster to friends as well as enemies Kotsonaros was filled with life until his tragic and unexpected end. Kotsonaros was born October 16, 1892, in Napulie, Greece. News accounts of his exploits be- gin in 1914, although claims ex- ist that he had arrived in the United States sometime in 1909. In his first appearances in North America, Kotsonaros wrestled as a middleweight, between 158 and 165 pounds, but that didn’t keep him from frequently wrestling opponents who out- weighed him by 40 to 50 pounds or more. Initially Kotsonaros, wrestled bare-footed, which was counter to American rules, and only wore short trucks instead of full body tights. Using this method meant he could not be held by his shoes and when he began to sweat he was harder to hold in short trunks instead of full body tights. Kotsonaros’ reputation as a fair wrestler (who only turned rough when so treated) was established early in his career. As such, Kotsonaros was sought out as a referee not simply by wrestlers but the fans around the country. Well-edu- cated, Kotsonaros was a polyglot and an extremely adept busi- nessman. While all writers agree that Kotsonaros was physically one of the all time “most perfect built wrestlers” and “a husky athlete, with an unusual shoul- der, chest and arm develop- ment,” he was also frequently called “pug ugly.” Never to be Kotsonaros: Champion of Mat, Movies ITHACA COLLEGE/LAUREN DECICCA Chrysostomos Warns Christofias: Don't Bungle The Talks Continued on page 4 Continued on page 9 Continued on page 4 Continued on page 7 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 4 Continued on page 5 TNH/COSTAS BEJ

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Page 1: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

The National HeraldA wEEkLy GREEk AmERICAN PUBLICATION

September 25-October 1, 2010

www.thenationalherald.comVOL. 13, ISSUE 676 $1.50

c v

Bringing the newsto generations ofGreek Americans

O C VΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ

ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915

For subscription:

[email protected]

By Theodore KalmoukosTNH Staff Writer

BOSTON - “The national issueof Cyprus is not going well atall” His Beatitude ArchbishopChrysostomos of Cyprus said inan exclusive interview to TheNational Herald. The Arch-bishop sent a clear message toCypriot President DemetrisChristofias, who was in NewYork attending the United Na-tions opening ceremonies “notto accept an international meet-ing before the internal problemswith the Turkish-Cypriots are re-solved.” The Archbishop said ifthat happened, “The solutionwhich will be imposed will beun-favorable to the Cypriot peo-ple and in a few years Cypruswill become Turkish.” And, headded, “We cannot afford tomake any more mistakes.”

Asked if Christofias, who istrying to re-unify the divided is-land by offering a settlementthat would allow a Turk to servealternate terms as its President,is on the right track, he said,“Because I am not a member ofthe National Council I have noway of knowing details, butbased on his public statementshe will not accept a solutionwhich is not going to serve theCypriot People as it will not bea viable solution.” To a questionabout how Cypriot officials haveapproached the dilemma of partof the island being occupiedsince the Turkish invasion of1974, the Archbishop said, “Wehave deflected from the rightway,” and said that, “The prob-lem of Cyprus is the invasionand the occupation of the 37%of the land of the Republic ofCyprus by the Turks. We havegone away from that positionand the issue has become inter-communal. The two sides havenot quarreled. The Turkish-Cypriots and the Greek-Cypriotshave lived together nicely forcenturies. We do not even havea religious problem in Cyprus.The problem is the invasion.Again, Turkey invaded and con-tinues to occupy 37% of theland.”

Chrysostomos said that, “TheTurks want everything, they putforth maximalist positions. Theyspeak of two Peoples, twoStates, two Nations; you under-stand that we are not headingtowards a solution.” Christofiashas been unable to make anyheadway with Turkish leaderssince taking office on Feb. 2008,despite making unilateral con-cessions. Greek Cypriots in a2004 referendum defeated theso-called Annan Plan for re-uni-fication, named for former U.N.leader Koffi Annan, andChristofias’ critics said he is giv-ing away too much and that partof his ideas mimic the rejectedplan.

NO SOLUTION SEENAsked where he would like

to see the Cyprus leadership go-ing, he said: “I believe that thereis no possibility for a solution ofthe Cyprus issue,” and statedthat, “The issue should be rede-fined on its original base, be-cause we had the worst possibleinvasion with many dead, miss-ing, and refuges. The problemis that Turkey wants to controlgeopolitically the Middle Eastand all of Cyprus.” As to whatwould be a just and viable solu-tion, the Archbishop said, “A

Archbishops Sees No Solution, Says Church Is Not That Rich

NEW YORK – When self-madebillionaire Pete Peterson told anaudience at a Leadership 100meeting here Sept. 9 that thatAmerican Dream was fading, healso laid out a grim scenario thatportrayed the United States slip-ping into an unrecoverable eco-nomic crisis for the simple reasonthat politicians and people todaywon’t do what the World War IIgeneration did: save more thanspend. The 84-year-old Peterson,a son of Greek immigrants,warned his talk “will not be acharismatic, uplifting, inspira-tional speech,” citing what hecalled his “negative charisma,”but more significantly startlingand worrying facts about theAmerican economy he said inmany ways is worse off thanGreece, which is on the edge ofdefault. The key problem, hesaid, is the staggering Americandebt that politicians keep passingon, and a population unwillingto sacrifice for themselves or theirfamily’s future. “If you were toask me what the next crisis mightbe, it could well be a global debtcrisis and it might well call for aglobal solution,” he said.

He was talking to an audiencethat included many successfulGreek American business leaders,professionals, and people whohad come from as far as Califor-nia to attend the event, and hadtheir rapt attention with a bluntspeech short on diplomacy andtough with the truth. “Today, themajority of the American peopledo believe their children will dobetter than they. Yet Americanshave been misinformed and, yes,dis-informed, sometimes quite in-tentionally, by politicians who be-lieve that the American peoplecan’t take the plain, hard truth.Politicians are focused on thenext election, not the next gen-eration. Politicians also believethat is not only politically incor-rect but politically terminal to askfor any shared sacrifice. I simplydo not accept that,” he said.

He said repeated patterns ofspending had created a nationaldebt that is $62 trillion, or$485,000 per household, or 10times its earnings, and impossibleto repay. “We owe more than weown,” he said. The only way toreverse that, he said, is with cur-rent Greek-like austerity mea-sures to increase revenues andreduce spending, while encour-aging Americans to save more sothey don’t have to rely on bor-rowing. Most, he said, aren’t will-ing to do so, accustomed to the

Peterson’sSimpleSuccessFormula Americans: Save,Sacrifice, Choose,Hike Revenues

NEW YORK – As truck driversblocked roads and tried to stormthe Parliament in Athens andunions planned yet anothermass protest, Greek Prime Min-ister George Papandreou was inNew York and Washington, con-tinuing to try to make a casethat Greece’s economy is turn-ing the corner and that thecountry will not default on itsobligations, including $146 bil-lion in loans from the EuropeanUnion and International Mone-tary Fund. Papandreou used theoccasion of the annual openingsession of the UN General As-

sembly to meet with New YorkStock Exchange (NYSE) officialsand then went to Washington tomeet Vice President Joe Biden,who expressed continued sup-port for Greece’s economic andpolitical reforms and praised Pa-pandreou for his tough stance,that has included cutting publicsector salaries by more than10%, raising taxes and slashingpension reforms to rein in thecountry’s runaway deficit anddebt.

Politics and economics wereon the agenda wherever hewent, with a range of issues that

included Greece’s domestic andforeign policies. Biden ex-pressed his appreciation for Pa-pandreou’s efforts to advancethe integration of the countriesof Southeast Europe into Euro-Atlantic structures, and he em-phasized the need for leaders inAthens and the Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia (FY-ROM) to quickly agree upon amutually acceptable solution toresolve their differences overthe name issue, as the wran-gling heads toward its 19th year

Papandreou, in U.S., Touts His Plans

He may be having trouble back home with his unpopular austerity measures, but Greek PrimeMinister was thronged by crowds when he came to the Greek consulate on New York’s upperEast Side on Sept. 22 during part of his visit to the United States for the opening of the UnitedNations General Assembly, and a swing to Washington to meet Vice President Joe Biden

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides reads from his latest work during a publicreading at Ithaca College earlier this month. Eugenides is on leave from Princeton Universitythis year to complete his new book, the title of which he has not yet disclosed.By Constantine S. Sirigos

TNH Staff Writer

ASBURY PARK, N.J. – Of all theGreek traditions, one of themost beloved, especially byyoung men who vie for thehonor, is the Blessing of the Wa-ters, as they leap into the sea tosee who can be the first to re-trieve a cross that is supposedto give them good luck throughthe year, an act even capturedin some Hollywood movies. It’susually held on January 6, butthis year here, four young menemerged from the AtlanticOcean clutching the Holy Crossbeneath a brilliant blue sky onSunday, September 19. They re-ceived blessings, a trophy and agift of a cross of gold from Met-ropolitan Evangelos, and the ap-plause of hundreds of Greek Or-

Blessing ofthe Watersat Asbury

By Evan C. LambrouSpecial to The National Herald

ITHACA – If you ever heard anaccomplished writer read fromtheir own works, it would morethan likely make you want to buythe book as the real voice comesthrough, in person as it does onthe page, and from the source.Award-winning author JeffreyEugenides recently did a publicreading at Ithaca College in up-state New York, bringing hisunique voice, the sound of realliterature and three-dimensionalcharacters. The event, part of IC’sDistinguished Visiting Writers se-ries, drew more than 200 peoplefrom the area. Most were stu-dents, but a good number of lo-cal residents also attended. Eu-genides, who won the 2003Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for Mid-dlesex, his second novel, readfrom his yet-to-be-completedthird novel at IC’s Phillips Hallon September 7. Listening to himread from his own work in hissonorous voice was a riveting ex-

perience, many people wereheard telling each other after-wards. Eugenides, one of themost prominent of this genera-tion of Greek American writers,was introduced to the eagerlyawaiting crowd by Jack Wang,creative writing professor atIthaca College, who reflected onthe first time he met the author,who is known for nuanced in-sight into his characters’ innerlives.

“Jeffrey Eugenides writesabout the genius and nightmarethat is America. He captures thepathos of racial tension, suburbiaand urban decay,” Wang said. “Ifirst met him when I was a visit-ing writer at the University ofArizona 15 years ago. Even then,people spoke in hushed, scandal-ized tones about his first novel,The Virgin Suicides, which bril-liantly captures the joy and tur-moil of being young,” Wang toldthe crowd. Published in 1993,The Virgin Suicides has beentranslated into 34 languages, andwas made into a feature film di-

rected by Sophia Coppola, whorecently won the top prize at theVenice Film Festival for anotherof her works. “Its befuddled ret-rospection on youth from thevantage point of middle agelends The Virgin Suicides its ob-sessive quality,” Wang said.

WHAT IS LOVE?Eugenides’ new novel, the ti-

tle if which he has yet to disclose,is a college love story set in 1983and, among other things, drawsa distinction between sexual at-traction and falling in love.Leonard and Madeline, the newstory’s two principle characters,are drawn together in a waywhich compels Madeline, by farthe more stable of the two, toexamine herself as she tries todetermine the meaning of loveand its place in her life. Made-line, a logical young woman ofpure and sound mind, is not theexcitable type. She is not inclinedto get carried away. She wouldmuch rather curl up in bed with

Eugenides’ Characters Bring Ponos

By Demetri TsakasTNH Staff Writer

NEW YORK – A 30-year-oldwoman from Pennsylvania waskilled in a deadly, tornado-likestorm with winds up to 100 milesper hour which blasted New YorkCity on Sept. 16, uprooting treesand tossing them like spears,choking off power to tens of thou-sands of people, and halting mosttrains in and out of Long Island.The ferocious winds sent a mas-sive tree crashing onto the car ofIline Levakis after she pulled offthe Grand Central Parkway nearJewel Avenue in Forest Hills toescape the blinding rain. “She wastotally crushed,” a police sourcetold the New York Post. “Youcouldn’t even tell what type of carit was.” She was reportedly fromMechanicsburg, Penn. Remark-ably, her husband, Billy Levakis,60, suffered only minor injuries.

The couple, who were in townfor a day trip, had just switchedseats in the Lexus sedan beforethe storm hit. “He’s a wreck,”Billy Levakis’ son Steve told ThePost. “He’s with family now. I’vebeen with him since it hap-pened.” Several other peoplearound the city were hurt by fly-ing debris and collapsing struc-tures. The intensity of the mon-ster storm stunned everyone -and left some Staten Island resi-dents convinced a twister hadbarreled through. “You couldkind of see the tornado,” saidKelly DePietro, 18, who wasworking at Eggers Ice Cream inTottenville. “It was spinning.Then it got black. The door flewopen, and I couldn’t close it -- thewinds were too strong. I couldn’tshut the door for the life of me.”

Jeffrey Greenburg was drivingon the Grand Central Parkwaynear where Levakis was killed. “Iseen the tree flying right in frontof my car - it went right on bylike Dorothy from The Wizard ofOz, “ he told WCBS. “Before youknow it, like half the trees wereall over the road,” he added.

The National Weather Service

N.Y. StormFells Tree,Kills Woman

By Steve FrangosTNH Staff Writer

CHICAGO - George D. Kot-sonaros is one of the mostunique Greeks ever to settle inNorth America. Kotsonaros wassimultaneously one of the mostsuccessful powerhouse wrestlersand recognized character-actorsof his generation. Even Jim Lon-dos, the heavyweight wrestlingchampion of the United Statesnever had the success in Holly-wood that Kotsonaros achieved.Kotsonaros, over the course ofhis career as a professionalwrestler, competed in Greece,Europe, North Africa, NorthAmerica and Australia. WhileKotsonaros’ film career coveredonly six years, readily availablenews accounts all agree that histwo careers unquestionablycomplimented each other in thepublic’s recognition of him. Fi-nancially well to do, long before1929, Kotsonaros continued hisdual career as professionalwrestler and movie actor whenhe experienced considerablelosses in the 1929 stock marketcrash. Reading between thelines, and often in front-pageheadlines, Kotsonaros was at alltimes what his generation calleda high roller. Boisterous, nearlyalways bursting with energy, arough prankster to friends aswell as enemies Kotsonaros wasfilled with life until his tragicand unexpected end.

Kotsonaros was born October16, 1892, in Napulie, Greece.News accounts of his exploits be-gin in 1914, although claims ex-ist that he had arrived in theUnited States sometime in 1909.In his first appearances in NorthAmerica, Kotsonaros wrestled asa middleweight, between 158and 165 pounds, but that didn’tkeep him from frequentlywrestling opponents who out-weighed him by 40 to 50 poundsor more. Initially Kotsonaros,wrestled bare-footed, which wascounter to American rules, andonly wore short trucks insteadof full body tights. Using thismethod meant he could not beheld by his shoes and when hebegan to sweat he was harderto hold in short trunks insteadof full body tights. Kotsonaros’reputation as a fair wrestler(who only turned rough whenso treated) was established earlyin his career. As such, Kotsonaroswas sought out as a referee notsimply by wrestlers but the fansaround the country. Well-edu-cated, Kotsonaros was a polyglotand an extremely adept busi-nessman. While all writers agreethat Kotsonaros was physicallyone of the all time “most perfectbuilt wrestlers” and “a huskyathlete, with an unusual shoul-der, chest and arm develop-ment,” he was also frequentlycalled “pug ugly.” Never to be

Kotsonaros:Champion ofMat, Movies

ITHACA COLLEGE/LAUREN DECICCA

Chrysostomos Warns Christofias: Don't Bungle The Talks

Continued on page 4

Continued on page 9

Continued on page 4 Continued on page 7

Continued on page 5

Continued on page 4

Continued on page 5

TNH/COSTAS BEJ

Page 2: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

COMMUNITY2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Vote on our website!You have the chance to express your opinion on our website

on an important question in the news. The results will be pub-lished in our printed edition next week along with the questionfor that week.

The question this week is: Would Prime Minister GeorgePapandreou be a good choice to be Secretary-General of theUnited Nations next year?o Yeso Noo MaybeThe results for last week’s question: Would you support

withholding church fees to the Archdiocese unless there is anaccounting of how they are spent?79% voted "Yes"21% voted "No"0% voted "Maybe"

Please vote at: www.thenationalherald.com

n SEPTEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 17

TARPON SPRINGS, Fl. – Dr. MaryCoros, director of the LevendiaDance Troupe, will be providingGreek dance lessons divided intonine different sessions from Sep-tember 22 until November 17.Learn to dance popular Greekdances and also learn about theorigin of and traditions surround-ing each dance. Dances practiceswill be held every Wednesdayfrom 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Tar-pon Springs Cultural Center.Prices for the dance classes are:$75 for nine week session, $50for any six classes and/or $10drop in rate. Register online at:www.tarponarts.org or call:(727) 942-5605. The TarponSprings Cultural Center is locatedat: Cultural Center, 101 S. Pinel-las Ave., Tarpon Springs, FL34689.

n SEPTEMBER 23-26MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - St. Johnthe Baptist Church will be hostingtheir Annual Greek Festival Sep-tember 23-26 from 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. For additional infor-mation, visit:www.stjohn-mb.org/events/fes-tival.htm.

n SEPTEMBER 24-26GREENLAWN, N.Y. - The Churchof Saint Paraskevi is hosting theirannual Geek Food Festival Sep-tember 24-26. Enjoy a traditionalGreek Menu offering a wide vari-ety of delicious foods and pas-tries. Listen and dance to thesounds of Greece in their heatedoutdoor tent and enjoy the per-formances by their talented SaintParaskevi dancers. There will alsobe a wide variety of vendors in-cluding Yia Yia's Attic, which con-sists of many new and gently useditems for sale. There will be manychurch tours explaining St.Paraskevi’s magnificent Iconogra-phy of the Seven Days of Creationand you can also visit their GrottoShrine where many miracles havetaken place from the healing wa-ters of Saint Paraskevi & the heal-ing oil of Saint Panteleimon. TheGrand Raffle consist of 50 prizesincluding the top draw for a 2011BMW 328I. Festival hours are Fri-day, September 24 11:00am-11:00pm; Saturday, September25 11:00am-11:00pm; and Sun-day, September 26 12:00pm-9:00pm. For more information,call: (631)261-7272 or visit thechurch website:www.stparaskevi.org with themost up-to-date information.

n SEPTEMBER 25CALVERTON, N.Y. – All SaintsGreek Orthodox Monastery ishosting a fundraiser luncheon onSeptember 25 at 12:00 p.m.where you can meet their newlytonsured nuns at the first GreekOrthodox Monastery on Long Is-land. The luncheon will followOrthros at 9:15 a.m. and DivineLiturgy at 10:15 a.m. with Fr.Vasilios Govits officiating andhear the nuns chanting. Sug-gested donation is $50.00 perperson. For further informationor to RSVP, call Maria MitrakosPistone at: (631) 698-3709 orMaryann Georgiou at (718) 631-8611. All Saints Greek OrthodoxMonastery is located at: 1676Middle Road, PO Box 802,Calverton, NY 11933.

n SEPTEMBER 26ΝEW YORK, N.Y. – The Associa-tion of Greek American Women(AGAPW) will be hosting an endof the year-welcome to autumn,Mediterranean BBQ/fundraiser.The event will be held at thehome of Vasilis and MartinaObletter-Katsikiotis in Allendale,New Jersey on September 26from 4:00-7:00 p.m. This will bea great opportunity to supportthe mission of AGAPW and tomeet and great each other as youcelebrate family, friendship andcommunity with great food andwine. There is no minimum re-quired contribution. For furtherinformation and/or to RSVP, call:Olga Alexakos at (917) 405-6833or email: [email protected].

HOUSTON, Texas - The Cretansof Houston in association withthe Hellenic Cultural Center ofthe Southwest present, GreekTango, on September 26 at 4:00p.m. Hrysoula Stefanaki, one ofthe most talented popular Greeksinger and musician, will performfor Houstonians under the direc-tion of world class arranger and

pianist, David Nachmias. Musicheavenly beautiful written in theearly 1900s from Greek com-posers such as, Attik, Gounaris,Giannidis and etc…will be re-or-chestrated by conductor DavidNachmias and performed bysome of the most talented operaclass musicians. There will onlybe one performance, seats arelimited. For further informationand to purchase tickets, contact:Yannis Remediakis at: [email protected]. The event will take placeat the Wortham Center at CullenTheater (House of Houston’sGrand Opera House). WorthamCenter is located at: 501 Texas,Houston, TX 77002.

TARPON SPRINGS, Fl. – Fundedin part with a grant from the Na-tional Endowment for the Arts’Folk & Traditional Arts Program,the Greek Arts Initiative aug-ments the integration of Greekculture into Tarpon Springs’ Cul-tural Treasures presentationsthrough a variety of program-ming. The Kalymnian TraditionalSongs with Irene Karavokiros willbe held on September 26 from12:00–2:00 p.m. at the HeritageMuseum. She will teach many ofthe older Kalymnian songs, in-cluding those sung for weddingsand other important occasions.The event is free. The HeritageMuseum is located at: 100 Beek-man Lane, Craig Park, TarponSprings. For further information,call: (727) 937-1130 or (727)942-5605.

n SEPTEMBER 28NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Forumon Orthodox Spirituality is host-ing a Welcome Back reception atThalassa Restaurant on Septem-ber 28 at 6:30 p.m. FOS is aministry of the Greek OrthodoxArchdiocesan Cathedral of theHoly Trinity conducted by Rev.Dr. Frank Marangos. FOS wascreated in response to the needvoiced by New York-area profes-sional men and women fordeeper spiritual illumination andnourishment. The reception willbe held in Thalassa’s Wine Roomand will feature live entertain-ment by Jazz Fusion Musician,Spiros Exaras, savory appetizersand a cash bar. Admission is $25and no RSVP is required. Tha-lassa Restaurant is located at:179 Franklin Street in Tribeca,Manhattan. For further informa-tion, call: (212) 941-7661 orvisit: www.thalassanyc.com

n OCTOBER 8-10ST. AUGUSTINE, Fl. - The 13thAnnual Greek Festival hosted byHoly Trinity Greek OrthodoxChurch will be held October 8-10 at the Special Events Field, 25W. Castillo Dr. St. Augustine, FL,next to the downtown Visitor’sCenter Parking Garage. A deli-cious assortment of Greek foods,pastries and beverages will beserved. Enjoy nonstop entertain-ment with live Greek music anddancing by beautifully costumedGreek dance troupes. Come joinin the fun and experience St. Au-gustine’s Greek heritage. Admis-sion is only $2.00 and free forchildren 12 and under. For moreinformation call (904) 829-0504or visit www.stauggreekfest.com

n OCTOBER 5 – JANUARY 3NEW YORK, N.Y. - The OnassisCultural Center explores the roleof heroes in society in the exhi-bition, Heroes: Mortals andMyths in Ancient Greece, on viewin Manhattan from October 5,2010 to January 3, 2011. The ex-hibition is supported by an in-demnity from the Federal Councilon the Arts and Humanities.Highlights of the exhibition in-clude a bronze Corinthian helmetfrom 700-500 B.C.; a black-figureamphora depicting Achilles andAjax playing a board game out-side Troy (late sixth centuryB.C.); a black-figure columnkrater (c. 510 B.C.) depictingOdysseus escaping from the caveof the cyclops Polyphemos; anda gold medallion with the bustof Alexander the Great (c. 218-235 A.D.; among many more.Guided tours of the exhibitionwill be offered to the public everyTuesday and Thursday at 1:00p.m. Tours can also be organizedupon request for school groups.A comprehensive brochure willalso be offered free to visitors.Exhibition Tour. For information,contact: Lillian Goldenthal at(212) 593-6355 or email: [email protected].

GOINGS ON...

By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer

NEW YORK - George Kiriazides,a 34-year resident of Mamaro-neck N.Y., has lived a life manyNew York area Greek Americanscan identify with, but as soon asyou meet him, you know he isunique. “He’s a character,” onewould hear said about him, butthe rest of the description usuallyinvolves his sharp mind (somemight just say sharp tongue) andwhat a great friend he is. Manydisagree with him but most peo-ple enjoy talking with him. Kiri-azides’ resume is founded on hisbeing an engineering graduate ofCCNY and a Master’s Degree inIndustrial Management fromBrooklyn Poly. He is President ofVision Identics Sys. Inc., a smalldistributor of Machine VisionComponents Inc. based in Ma-maroneck. He has taught Man-agement and Marketing atWestchester Community College.

His bio begins with his beingthe son of Greek immigrants whogrew up in the South Bronx andattended Brooklyn Tech HS andis crowned with references to histwo adult children, Alexis, an ed-ucator, and Drew, who is a realestate developer for a non-profit.He is justly proud of them.

Recently he celebrated his70th birthday with more than100 friends and family in atten-dance. He regards his cadre offriends and acquaintances as spe-cial, but as an animal lover, helives with three cats who he re-gards as his family and who bringhim great joy. Divorced, he saidhe would have liked to remarry,but that has yet to come to pass.

TNH: Tell us about growingup Greek in New York.

GK: My Father died when Iwas 12 and my mother Alexan-dra when I was 18, and I have ayounger brother and sister. I wasan altar boy at St. Constantine &Helen, which was located atBrown Place in the South Bronxbut then moved to Whitestone,

Queens and I have been involvedwith various Hellenic societies in-cluding, as President, Sigma Ep-silon Phi, the college group ofGreek College Clubs, the SolonSociety and for over 30 yearswith The Hellenic University Clubof N.Y. where I am presently theTreasurer and Chairperson of theScholarship Committee.

TNH: How has your life beeninfluenced by your Hellenic an-cestry?

GK: Both of my parentsstressed the special heritage thatwe Hellenes possess and con-stantly urged me to follow theHellenic path. Unfortunately, Ifought against their advice whenthey were alive. Later in collegeI joined the CCNY Hellenic Club,where I met my wife. From thatpoint on, I think my parentswould have been proud of me asI have associated himself withmany Hellenic Associations andactivities. I have a list of 125friends and acquaintances of Hel-lenic ancestry on an e-mail listwhom I call Hellenic Suspects,which advises on events of inter-est. (It sort of competes withTHN). Classmates from the Greektable at CCNY North Campushave yearly reunions which I or-ganize. I have been a serious Phi-latelist since I was 10 years old:my Greek Collection of HermesHeads is fairly complete. Collect-ing stamps is an excellent way tounderstand the history of a coun-try and perhaps my Greek Col-lection indicates I paid more at-tention to my parents’ than theyrealized. Byzantine and modernGreek history have now becomemy passion and I have privatelylectured on these subjects. TheBalkan wars of 1912 and the AsiaMinor catastrophe of 1922 arespecial for me as my parents wereaffected by them. My mother wasborn in Chios under Ottomanrule and my father a native ofConstantinople.

TNH: How have you influ-enced the people around you?

GK: There have been many

individuals who have met newfriends through their relationshipwith me. I hold several eventsthroughout the year at my homeincluding Memorial Day andNew Years Day luncheons, andEaster and Thanksgiving gather-ings. Many of my friends haveseen their first opera and otherclassical music events with me.

TNH: Do you have role modelor heroes?

GK:My father. He was an ed-ucated Constantinopolite whospoke five languages and wantedto advance himself in Americaand took courses in electronics.Those courses and electronic kitsinfluenced my choice to becomean electrical engineer. I wishedhe had lived longer so that Iwould have benefited from hisknowledge of the changes thatoccurred in Greece during theWWI years and the dislocationsthat affected so many people.There are so many unansweredquestions. Most of my discussionsare political in nature. I am a lib-ertarian at heart and I regardRonald Reagan as the GreatestPresident of the 20th Century. Ihave a marked disdain for So-cialism/Communism. Sadly, thepresent times do not measure up.

TNH: What are your great

pastimes? GK: There are several that I

wouldn’t label in the superlative.I do the Suduko puzzles from thePost and crossword puzzles fromthe Times that take an inordinateamount of time, however it reas-sures me that the mind is stillworking. I was an avid tennisplayer prior to my back injurylast year, but I hope to resumethe game next year. I enjoy goingto concerts and listening to clas-sical music composed prior to1870. I prefer straight theater,but My Fair Lady is my favoritemusical. I love Greek concertsthat include music by Hatzidakis,Theodorakis, and rebetika, and Ilove to go to Greek Theater thatis performed in Astoria. I loveGreek cooking and I have createda private Zagat rating of GreekRestaurants based on my experi-ence in NYC. My interests includeliterature, art films and impres-sionist art. In recent years I haveread the Russian Classics and ex-tensive histories of WWII. With afew close friends, I have acquireda fancy for Jane Austen’s novelsand can be considered a Janite. Ihave traveled extensively, visiting48 states and all the major mu-seums in the U.S. and Europe.About 30 years ago I took uppainting in oils and lately I havedone portraits of friends and fam-ily.

TNH: Share with us somewords of wisdom and what youwould change about yourself.

GK: I don’t claim to be a guru,however, I try to impress that be-ing of Hellenic Ancestry is a spe-cial responsibility for all Hellenes.It is important to understand ourroots and the special role that wehave in continuing the HellenicExperience. Most of my friendsregard me as very opinionatedand tactless. This is one charac-teristic that I would like tochange, however the feeling thatI am right most of the time per-sists.

[email protected]

In the Spotlight: George Kiriazides, Greek Character

George Kiriazides

The National Herald Publisher Antonis H. Diamataris (C) andGreek Prime Minister George Papandreou (next to him) at theGreek Consulate in New York.

The Prime Minister greets Federation President Elias Tsek-erides. To his right is Theodore Pavlakos, chairman of the Fed-eration's National Issues Committee. Dimitris Molohides, Pan-Pontian Federation President appears behind and to left ofArchbishop Demetrios.

PHOTOS: TNH/COSTAS BEJ

East 79th Street in Manhattan is flooded with Greek Americanswho came out under threatening skies to greet the Greek leaderGeorge Papandreou (center) and wish him and their homelandwell as they try to weather their economic crisis.

PM Papandreou takes a moment to greet the future as he isphotographed with the child of Elizabeth Tzoumakas (to hisright, in front of Greek Consul Evangelos Kyriakopoulos.Aphrodite Skeadas, President of the National Philoptochos is2nd from R).

Από το 1915για τον Ελληνισμό

ΤΟΤΕ και ΤΩΡΑ Εγκυρη και έγκαιρη ενημέρωση με μέτρο(718) 784-5255, 888-547-9527ext. 108 - 109 • Fax: (718) 472-0510e-mail στο [email protected] • www.ekirikas.com

Greek American Community Embraces Papandreou, Wishes Best for Him and Greece

Page 3: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer

NEW YORK - Greece is behindTurkey in many areas, includingtourism – and public relationsplans to promote the country, itseems, but now may be able topick up some pointers from itsrival. “Turkish Days in New York2010” was a lavish public rela-tions endeavor that was held inNew York from Sept. 16-22 thatwas sponsored by the Council ofTurkic American Associations,the Turkish Cultural Center ofNew York and the Turkish Amer-ican Business Improvement andDevelopment Council (TABID)and New York’s prestige spaceswere flooded with Turkish cul-ture as arts and crafts were pre-sented at Grand Central Station,Turkish food at an open airGrand Bazaar near Times Squareand a Turkish Movie Festival washeld at the New York Film Acad-emy to close out the festivities.

The most striking elementswere the dance presentation ofthe famous Whirling Dervishesand the huge photo of a domedbuilding on the western wall ofthe ornate Vanderbilt Hall atGrand Central that one GreekAmerican thought was the AghiaSophia but was in fact the BlueMosque, a common mistake,even among Greeks. The extrav-aganza was apparently designedto make a positive impact onAmericans who are not too fa-miliar with Turkey, its historyand its culture. The quality ofthe presentations and the cen-trality of the locations seemedto go a long way to ensuringgood results. Curious Americansof Greek descent stopped by, butdespite the friendliness andopenness of the organizers andparticipants to them, some as-pects of the presentation weredisturbing to them.

The official flyer distributedby aggressively smiling represen-tatives to passersby at GrandCentral Station describe the pre-sentation of “Turkic and BalkanFolklore, Kings and Queens ofTrojan, Roman and Ottomanempires.” Those not versed inthe history of Asia Minor wouldhave no clue that for more than3000 years the territory of theRepublic of Turkey was the siteof some of the greatest Helleniccities and achievements. Therewere no references to Greekcities, the march of Alexanderor the Byzantine Empire. On theother hand, some of the partici-pants, such as a representativeof the Turkish newspaper To-day’s Zaman, who reflected thatpapers’ moderate and Greece-friendly positions, went out oftheir way to stress not only theimportance of good relations be-tween Greece and Turkey butthat their country should wel-come visits by Hellenes withroots in Asia Minor and respectthe rights of the Ecumenical Pa-triarchate.

Gokhun Ozkuk, the President

of TABID, explained to TNH thatthe purpose of Turkish Days inNew York was to introduceAmericans to Turkish culture andpromote friendship between thetwo countries. Such initiativesare part of wider efforts aimedat helping to integrate the Turk-ish community into American so-ciety. He stressed that TABID isan NGO, non-governmental or-ganization, and not an entity ofthe Turkish government. Accord-ing to the Turkish Embassy inWashington, D.C. the TurkishCultural center took the lead inthe event’s organization. Despitethe fact that the phone numberof the Turkish consulate is listedon the web site of both the TCCand TABID, the embassy’s pressoffice said the TCC is not affili-ated with the consulate, al-though it is funded by the Turk-ish government. September 16and 17 featured “Performing Artsat The Terminal” at Grand Cen-tral. A stage was set up beneatha simulated Ottoman domedpavilion where an authenticTurkish orchestra performed mu-sic Greeks would recognize.ONCE THERE WERE GREEKS

Spreading out across the or-nate Vanderbilt Hall were boothshousing the products of differentregions and industries of Turkey,some adorned with the Turkifiednames of the great cities of AsiaMinor’s Hellenic past. One boothfeatured the highly decoratedglazed ceramic tiles of the cityof Iznik. The production of thebeautiful tiles, mainly coloredblue and white, peaked in thelate 17th century and thereafter

declined along with the Ot-toman Empire. Iznik, whosename is a modification of itsGreek name, Nicea, is known tohistory as the site of the seminalChristian event, the first Ecu-menical Council. A Greek’s ex-perience of one booth would bebittersweet. References to Izmir,the ancient Hellenic and Greek-dominated modern city ofSmyrna that was burned in 1922were sour notes that marred thesweet background music toGreek Americans.

Fine Turkish stonework wason display nearby, in a boothmanned by a gentleman fromthe city of Van. In what was inthe heart of the Armenian home-land, the region around LakeVan was the scene of one of thegreat debacles in Hellenic his-tory, the disastrous Battle ofManzikert in 1071 which costthe Byzantines control over mostof Asia Minor. Striking miniatureilluminations, elaborate, gildedbook illustrations, were beingsold at another booth labeledKonya, for the capital of thepowerful Turkish Sultanate ofRum established in the Byzan-tine heartland of Asia Minor af-ter Manzikert. Numerous at-tempts were made byConstantinople to recover theterritory controlled from that im-portant city, which was calledIkonion. It is ironic that Rum isthe Turkish word for Rome, asthe people Greeks call Byzan-tines called themselves Romans.

A man from Eskisehir, the im-portant Byzantine fortress townof Dorylaion, produced fascinat-

ing little carvings from the stoneof that region which at firstglance looked like ivory, and aneighboring booth contained sil-verwork by people from Mardin,which the Greeks probablycalled Marida. Famous hordes ofEarly Christian silver have beendiscovered in that region nearSyria. The Malatya Pazari serveddelicious cups of Greek/Turkishcoffee, and was named after thecity ruled by the Emir of Meli-tine, the father of the great heroof Byzantine literature, DigenisAkritas.

Perhaps the most charming

booth belonged to the shoemak-ers from Kahramanmaras, theRoman/Byzantine Germanicea,named for the relative of Caesarand Augustus who won impor-tant battles in faraway Germany.It may also have been the ances-tral home of the great ByzantineEmperors Basil I and Basil II.

Deputy Foreign Minister Spy-ros Kouvelis, speaking to TNHat a reception for young profes-sional at the Greek Consulate inNew York, was aware of TurkishDays and stressed the impor-tance of such endeavors. Heagreed that Greece can be

strongly promoted abroad evenin times of budgetary strain bydrawing on the talents and re-sources of the Diaspora, sayingGreece wants “to bring togetherpeople with good ideas” in manyfields in the Greek Americancommunity. He said that GreekAmericans with expertise and fi-nancial resources working withthe backing of the Greek gov-ernment can produce events thatrival or surpass Turkish Days inNew York. Perhaps Greek Daysin New York?

[email protected]

By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer

NEW YORK - The streets sur-rounding the Cathedral of St.Markella are typical of Queens,New York – stretches of rowhouses alternate with detachedhomes, some made of brick, oth-ers of stone or stucco – but justbeyond the Greek stores andrestaurants one would expect tofind in Astoria rise the sky bluedomes and cupolas atop Cy-cladic-white drums of the OldCalendar parish beloved of itsparishioners and neighbors.From September 16 through the19th, New York City obliged theparish by shutting down thestreet for its annual festival. Giftbooths, children’s games andrides and booths with religiousbooks and educational literaturestood nearby the food anddessert stands that one expectsat Greek festivals, but therewere a number of touches thatmade visitors feel more like be-ing in Greece than at almost anyother Grecian Festival.

There were the church bellsthat were ringing on Saturdaynight, the 18th. Then it becameclear that guests were leavingtheir seats under the tentswhere they ate and were head-ing into the church for vespers.Finally, one noticed that amongthe volunteers and clergy werethe energetic but peaceful anddedicated nuns.

After giving their regards toMetropolitan Pavlos, who wasgreeting guests from his wheel-chair at the entrance to thechurch, Parish Council PresidentIsidoros Spanos took a few mo-ments from his duties in thefood preparation areas to speakto The National Herald aboutthe community.

He spoke of its humble be-ginnings in a single house andof the love of the parishionersthat helped it grow and whosustain it today and into the fu-ture. Spanos, who is from Chios

– as are many member of theparish (St. Markella is the pa-tron saint of the Island) - spokewith pride about how the wholecommunity helped build thecharming church with its radi-ant icons and shimmering chan-deliers. It was modeled after thefamous Church of the Chora inConstantinople. The complexhas grown from one house tofive, and they are preparing tobuild a three-story rectory forthe nuns in place of one of thosehouses.

The festival is the commu-nity’s only fund-raising festival,although many of the featuresare repeated as part of theparish’s Pascha celebration - 22lambs were roasted this year –which is free and open to theentire community, although the

lamb will cost you, of course.There is also an annualfundraising luncheon on the oc-casion of the feast of St. Basil inJanuary. This year ConstantinosTsamblakos served as festivalchairman. He and Spanos saidthey were grateful to all whodonated their products and ser-vices, including Telly’s Taverna,and the Sparta restaurant Sup-ply company. He also said thatSpanos, a restaurateur, wouldnot tell TNH so, but he was him-self a major donor.THEY KEEP COMING BACK

Spanos lives in Long Island,and noted that about 25-30% ofthe members now live outsideof Astoria. The Parish Councilconsists of 14 members whoserve four-year terms. Theybreak up into committees as

projects require attention, suchas the construction of the newrectory and an elevator to servethe elderly and handicapped.Like all council presidents,Spanos said he is most proud ofthe schools and the work in be-half of the children. The Sundayschool runs through the 6thgrade and the youth programsare managed by Fr. Kleanthi Ko-rkotas, who is the pastor of theirsister parish in Long Island ofSt. Isidoros in Bethpage.

The Metropolis is looking for-ward to this year’s nationalYouth conference, which will beheld in Detroit over the Colum-bus Day weekend. The after-noon school is run by Gerontissa(Elder) Syncletike, who wasbeen an educator for 65 yearsand has been with the St.

Markella school for 50. In 2004she was named TNH Teacher ofthe Year. She is one of four nunswho teaches at the school andwho stays in Astoria during theweek. On most weekends, theyreside at their retreat in Farm-ingdale, Long Island.

Sister Syncletike said she isproud of the achievements ofthe school and the thousands ofchildren taught there over theyears. She noted with some sad-ness, however, the decline in thenumbers of students, the resultof the near-cessation of immi-gration from Greece after the1970’s. As recently as 1998there were 275 students,thought the current enrollmentof 90 is above average for a typ-ical Greek Orthodox parish inthe U.S. There is pride, but per-haps also relief when she remi-nisces about the 11-hour daysmany of the teachers worked inthe old days. The Bethpageparish has held Greek school atBethpage High School, for 30years and Sister Syncletike saidshe is grateful for the supportof that institution.

FINDING THE FAITHShe also made sure to intro-

duce Sister Irene to TNH, a non-Greek convert and a teacherwho is also responsible for theproduction of the Metropolis’textbooks. Sister Irene wasraised in Arizona, far removedfrom Greek American life andHellenism. “She had never seenthe head of a fish until she camehere,” said Sister Syncletike,more a testament to the state ofseafood restaurants in theSouthwest than to the eruditeSister Irene’s knowledge. Shewas raised Protestant, and at-tended a Protestant bible col-lege, but after studying the his-tory of the ancient Church shesaid she realized that she hadnot experienced “the fullness ofChristianity” in her church life.One of her classes required aninternship at a hospice that wasrun by Orthodox priests who

were Christian Arabs from Is-rael. From them she learnedabout Orthodoxy, but she wasstill not sure where she be-longed spiritually. She wasdrawn to the monastic life, butat that time she believed therewere only Roman Catholic nuns,and said she knew that theCatholic Church was not theright place for her. One day shesaw a photograph of Orthodoxnuns – a copy of the very photohanging on the wall in the foyerof one of the St. Markella build-ings where she was speaking toTNH. At that moment she saidshe knew where God was lead-ing her and eventually she vis-ited the Astoria parish.

Spanos told TNH the parishhad its roots in the 1951 journeyto America of Bishop Peter, whoarrived from a monastery inMount Athos and told the storyof the Metropolis. The parish isnot part of the Greek OrthodoxArchdiocese of America. BishopPeter came to serve OrthodoxChristians who followed the Ju-lian (Old) calendar) and in1954 founded the church of St.Markella.

He was consecrated Bishopby the Russian Orthodox Churchin exile and established the Dio-cese of Astoria.

In 1998, Then-ArchimandritePavlos, who was born in Astoria,was elevated to Bishop and asMetropolitan he now leads whathas become the Metropolis ofNorth and South America of theChurch of G.O.C. (Genuine Or-thodox Church) of Greece,which is under the leadership ofArchbishop Chrysostomos ofGreece.

The Metropolis runs a num-ber of monasteries in NorthAmerica, including the relativelynearby Monastery of the HolyAscension in Bearsville, nearKingston New York, but thosewho’ve gone to St. Markellakeep coming back.

[email protected]

COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010 3

With Bells Ringing, Food Cooking St. Markella Holds Festival in Astoria

Who could resist this? The crew of volunteers at St. Markella’s showed off their wares at theirchurch festival. From left are Markela Igneri, Pavlo Igneri, Petro Igneri, Vaso Dumopoulou, An-tonia Themeli, Isidoros Spanos, Athena Psoras, Fotini Poulos, Georgia Zatsis, Tasoula Baltzis,Eleftheria Cherpelis, Michale Katsiaris, Ploumi Karras, Kalliope Menakis, and Irene Spanos

Turkish Days in New York: P.R. Extravaganza Greece Can Learn From?

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TNH/COSTAS BEJ

The Archangel Michael Church Social Services Foundation

in association with

the Frank Parlamis Hellenic Senior Citizen’s Centerof St. Demetrios Church, Jamaica, NY

and

The Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation (LIAF)will sponsor

a bilingual support program for individuals in the Greek-AmericanCommunity living with Alzheimer’s disease and related Dementias

LΙΑF staff members... specially trained professionals... will conduct a program exclusively

for the Greek-American Community at two convenient locations

Individuals are invited to attend an information session to:

• Learn how this innovative program will benefit loved one, caregiver and family member

• Learn about the services and resources available for aid in coping and caring for someone with Dementia

Guest speaker“Living with Alzheimer’s”

Dr. James Lolis, M.D.Division of Geriatrics

North Shore LIJ Health System

Plan to attend one of two information sessions

October 5, 2010 7:00-9:00 p.m.Archangel Michael Church, 100 Fairway Drive, Port Wash., NY 11050

October 6, 2010 7:00-9:00 p.m.Parlamis Senior Citizen’s Center

83-12A Parsons Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432

FOR INFORMATION AND DIRECTIONS, CALL: (516) 627-0580

Page 4: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

COMMUNITY4 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010

thodox from all the parishes inNew Jersey, and from specialguest, U.S. Senator RobertMenendez. It was the 63rd an-nual blessing of the waters atAsbury Park marking the GreekOrthodox feast of the Elevationof the Holy Cross. The youngdivers were divided into foursections, with George Kavarakasof host parish St. George of As-bury Park receiving the whitewooden cross for the juniorgroup of GOYA boys, andEfthimios Milos of Philadelphiafor the senior group. GeorgetteGaleana of St. Barbara of TomsRiver retrieved the cross amongthe junior group of GOYA girlsand Eleni Dendrinos of St. An-thony of Vineland among the se-nior GOYA girls.

The Metropolitan displayedfine baseball form, four timeshurling the cross above the on-rushing waves. The woodencross floated on the water - thechildren stayed close to theshore on a day of fairly roughseas at a Jersey shore troubledthis summer by dangerous riptides. Each time the cross wasretrieved, the waves rushedcloser into the beach, sendingonlookers and officials scram-bling back further. The day be-gan with the celebration of theDivine Liturgy, the only one cel-ebrated in the Metropolis ofNew Jersey that day, beneaththe golden proscenium archesof the famous Asbury Park Para-mount Theater.

The blessing of the Atlanticat Asbury Park was initiated bythe late Ecumenical PatriarchAthenagoras when he was Arch-bishop of North and SouthAmerica. There is an impressivestatue of a smiling Athenagorason the famous Asbury ParkBoardwalk next to the theater.Metropolitan Evangelos spoketo the congregation about themeaning of the Elevation of theHoly Cross, declaring thatthrough Christ’s life, crucifixionand resurrection, “evil has beendemolished and death has beenovercome, the power of theCross conquering all evil in the

world.” He added to his wordsin comments to The NationalHerald, saying, “We walk to-gether with the cross in ourhands, working for the Glory ofGod and the peace and well-be-ing of the whole world ... theend of all wars and conflicts.”The Metropolitan expressed de-light in the gathering of so manyof his parishes in one placeevery year that gives Greek Or-thodox Christians “a chance tomeet one another.”LET THE SWIMMING BEGIN

The procession from the the-ater to the sea was led by altarboys carrying the American,Greek and Cypriot flags fol-lowed by clergy, dignitaries andthe entire congregation. Otherparticipants waited for the pro-cession to begin on the sun-drenched boardwalk, an historicplace once filled with Greek-owned concessions, restaurants,and other businesses, includingthe old Howard Johnson’srestaurant right next to theParamount which closed a fewyear ago after it was sold by thePanos family. Maria from the St.Andrews Church of Randolphwas sharing the “beautiful day”with her children Stamatina,George and Spiro. John Obe-lenus of the Vineland Churchwas a spectator today, but fouryears ago he was a proud fatheras his daughter Eleni came upwith the cross. “But she went tothe Metropolitan and told himthat she didn’t actually catch thecross, rather, it just hit her, buthe smiled and told her that shewas a worthy cross receiver, “itwas Providence.”

Some of the divers weretrained swimmers, such as se-nior GOYA winner Efthimios Mi-los, who swims for his highschool team and whose familycomes from northern Epirus.Others, such as track and fieldenthusiast Eleni Dendrinos, areathletes participating in otherhigh school sports. After all thegroups had their turns diving,they assembled before a spe-cially built platform on thebeach for a commemorativephoto before the flower-be-decked icon of the Holy Cross.

The Metropolitan then awardedeach of the cross receivers withtheir trophies and crosses. Oneonlooker, referring to the bless-ing of the waters for the Feastof the Epiphany in January tolda friend, “The smart kids do itin September.”

Earlier in the day, in the the-ater following the liturgy, theMetropolitan welcomed SenatorRobert Menendez, but hequipped that he was welcominghim not as a politician, but as afellow Christian, to avoid com-

plaints that he favored the Sen-ator’s Democratic party. Hethanked the Senator for his sup-port of Greece and Cyprus andthe Ecumenical Patriarchate andhonored him with a gift of across. The Senator was given achance to address the congre-gation and expressed his admi-ration for his colleagues whoguided him regarding Hellenicissues, such as retired U.S. Sen-ator Paul Sarbanes. He pledgedto continue his work for a re-unified Cyprus and freedom for

the Patriarchate. He laterechoed his commitments in re-marks to TNH, when he alsosaid he would continue to workto strengthen and deepen U.S.relations with Greece andCyprus. The Senator told TNHthat Greek and Cypriot Ameri-cans of New Jersey should beproud of the contributions theymake to their state. The Metro-politan also too the opportunityto thank all those who have ledthe fundraising efforts for thenew Metropolis headquarters inWestfield, and declared that thecomplex was not his home, butthe home of all members of theMetropolis of New Jersey.

SO MUCH TRADITIONThe combined choir of New

Jersey parishes, conducted byKatina Kehayas, filled the gildedmovie palace that evoked thesplendor of Constantinople withByzantine hymns. Every yearthe altar boys’ and chanters’rank are also filled by partici-pants from many of the Metrop-olis’s parishes while other func-tions are rotated annually toindividual parishes. This year

the St. Barbara’s Church of TomsRiver handled the food tentacross the street from the the-ater, providing the souvlakia,loukoumades and other delightsand refreshments. Kimisis ofHolmdel ran the candle pangariand the collection trays. It’sParish Council President, RobertBucco, told TNH he enjoyed theopportunity to make newfriends among his fellow Ortho-dox Christians from parishes inother parts of his state. HopeDemitry, of St. George in Tren-ton, has been at the console ofthe electronic organ that isrented for the occasion everyyear since 1996 - it was notknown if the theater’s originalMighty Wurlitzer pipe organ stillworks. Hope, whose family hailsfrom the Greek island of Lem-nos, told the TNH that theliturgy has been held sometimesat the Paramount, other timesin the big convention hall nextdoor, and other years at theGreat Auditorium in nearbyOcean Grove.

The pastor of St. George ofAsbury Park is Father AndrewEugenis. Raised in the parish ofSt. John the Baptist in DesPlaines, Illinois, in the Chicagoarea, he has served at St. Georgefor 10 years. He explained thatdespite the wonderful history ofthe Asbury Park parish and thebeautiful church that was builton Grand Avenue in 1949, thecommunity decided to move toOcean Township, to be closer towhere the majority of its parish-ioners now live. The new churchand community center are un-der construction and should beready in one year. His parishPhiloptochos chapter, led by itspresident Anne Michaelsgreeted he guests on Sunday. St.George has many vibrant orga-nizations and programs but isvery proud of its Sunday school,whose directors Donna Karpo-dinis and Terri Lalli work hardfor their 150 students, and theGreek school program for 75students run by Effie Psomia.But once a year, the day belongsto the swimmers.

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a book on a Friday night than goout partying with her friends.

For Madeline, reading litera-ture can be a re-awakening ex-perience because literature oftenprovides “an articulation of whatshe had been mutely feeling,”Eugenides said. “It’s why sheloved books and the order theyexpress.” When Madeline firstmet Leonard, she was drawn towhat at first appeared to be hismodest, unassuming nature. A

serious person, Madeline is nottypical of young women whocan’t seem to get boys out oftheir minds. She had aUruguayan boyfriend prior to hersenior year, and while she likedhim, she did not developstronger feelings for him.

With Leonard, it is different.After spending a weekend withhim at his apartment, Eugenidessaid, she finds herself being con-cerned about the way he felt,and she began to wonder, “Washer worrying about how Leonard

felt a sure sign of love?”Not too long after she be-

comes sexually involved withhim, she encounters an obsessiveand manipulative person withreadily apparent psychologicalissues. She learns he has a trou-bled past, but by then, she is al-ready in love with him, and cannot help getting sucked into cop-ing with his rather sudden, inex-plicable and sometimes cruel be-havior. There is anotherimportant sub-theme in thestory: Madeline also meets and

starts getting to know Leonardat a time when she is readingFrench literary theorist andphilosopher Roland Barthes’Lover’s Discourse, which pointsout that lack of physical contactcan lead to “extreme solitude.”The more Leonard pulls awayfrom her, the more anxiousMadeline becomes, and the ec-stasy of sex with him becomesbased on his growing detach-ment.

Leonard is eminently awareof how she feels, and choosesto exploit her genuine feelingsand concern for him. Hisusurpation of Madeline’s love ispoignantly described by the“feeling of peril” that comesover her when Leonard haugh-tily refers to her declaration oflove for him (“I love you”) asthe pathetic “love cry” Barthesdiscusses. To an outside ob-server or (ostensibly) the reader,it’s clear that in light of the wayLeonard starts mistreatingMadeline, she should pull her-self away from him and stoppursuing a relationship withhim altogether because it is de-veloping a psychologically un-healthy dynamic. But Eugenides’book – at least the small part ofthe story from which he read in

public – makes it clear that itcan be immensely difficult forpeople to free themselves frompowerful emotional attach-ments. This can be particularlyoverwhelming for younger peo-ple, whose relationships are of-ten sexually charged. Askedwhether his new story is leadingto the realization which comeswith experience and maturitythat love is not only rooted inpassion, passionate, but is ulti-mately also objective – e.g.,

when someone is mistreating orbeing mistreated, it’s not reallylove, which is supposed to bekind and gentle – Eugenidessmiled and said he wasn’t pre-pared to give the whole storyaway yet. “I will say this much,though: None of us would fallin love unless we read about itfirst. Separating romantic lovefrom reality is a journey in andof itself, and it’s the explorationof love that’s important,” he toldThe National Herald.

Eugenides’ Characters Bring Agape, Eros, PonosContinued from page 1

Author Jeffrey Eugenides, reading from his yet-untitled thirdnovel had the audience at Ithaca College rapt with attention.

Blessing of the Waters at Asbury Park, And the Toss of the Cross

All four divisions of diverspose for a commemorativephotos before a platform con-taining dignitaries and thecross retrievers (above). Met-ropolitan Evangelos (left)shows off a fine throwing armon the beach at Asbury Park.

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A Reluctant Persona Jeffrey Eugenides is usually reluctant to ap-

pear in public and disclose details about his pri-vate life. He was born in Detroit, to parents ofGreek and Irish ancestry. He attended UniversityLiggett, a private school in Grosse Point. He re-ceived his bachelor’s degree from Brown Uni-versity in 1983, and earned his master’s in Cre-ative Writing at Stanford University. In 1986,he received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts& Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowship for his story HereComes Winston, Full of the Holy Spirit. Besidesthe Pulitzer Prize, his honors include fellowshipsfrom the Guggenheim Foundation and NationalEndowment for the Arts. His 2002 novel Mid-dlesex also won the Ambassador Book Award.

Part of it is set in Berlin, where Eugenides livedfrom 1999 to 2004, but it is chiefly concernedwith the Greek American immigrant experiencein the United States against the rise and fall ofDetroit (the urban decline of which has hauntedhim, he says.) It explores transgender experi-ence in the United States. Eugenides resides inPrinceton, New Jersey with his wife, the pho-tographer and sculptor Karen Yamauchi, andtheir daughter. He joined Princeton University’sCreative Writing faculty in the fall of 2007. Heis on leave this year, completing his novel. Hewrites short stories and is the editor of the col-lection of short stories titled My Mistress's Spar-row is Dead. The proceeds of the collection goto the writing center 826 Chicago, establishedto encourage young people's writing.

Continued from page 1

couldn’t confirm that it was a tor-nado, but said a funnel cloudwas reported swirling throughfour neighborhoods on Staten Is-land. NWS teams were to assesswhether it was officially atwister. The hardest-hit areas,weather officials said, were on

Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens,northern Nassau and northwest-ern Suffolk. Seven tornadoeshave been confirmed in NewYork City since 1974, the last be-ing in The Bronx two monthsago.

The intense storm, whether atornado or not, brought instantblack and fear to motorists and

pedestrians as lightning lit up theskies like a strobe light and treesfell like matchsticks, with reportsthe wind may have hit 125 mphin some places. Unlike HurricaneEarl, which came and wentaround Labor Day with not somuch as a huff and a puff, thisstorm suddenly appeared with-out warning, changing the sky

from sun to deep clouds to blackwithin 10 minutes, making dri-ving especially hazardous, par-ticularly on the Long Island Ex-pressway or Grand CentralParkway where motoristscouldn’t see or drive or get offthe road, the Long Island Pressreported.

The first apparent tornado

barreled through the Park Slopesection of Brooklyn with windsup to 80 mph, the NationalWeather Service reported. Thesecond hit Queens minutes laterin the afternoon, at 5:42 p.m. Itwent from four miles from Flush-ing to a mile north of Bayside,with winds as high as 100 mph.Meteorologists said that the ma-

jority of the damage came inQueens from a macroburst,which is an intense gust of windthat pours down from a storm.According to the NationalWeather Service, the macroburststarted in the Middle Village sec-tion of Queens and ended in For-est Hills, and was eight mileslong and five miles wide.

Sudden N.Y. Storm Fells Tree, Kills Visiting Woman in Car on HighwayContinued from page 1

Page 5: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

unified State, the majority willrule and the minority will be se-cured. A democratic constitutionbased on the population major-ity. One State, the Cypriot State,one nationality the Cypriot andto have everything in common.”He added that, “We are toosmall to be divided and to es-tablish two States.”

Christofias, in New York forthe U.N. General Assemblyopening, told the ambassadorsof the five permanent membersof the Security Council that evenhe sees no solution this year. Hesaid that Turkey’s intransigentpositions, presented by currentTurkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu, and refusal to acceptconstructive proposals left himpessimistic. Christofias offeredto link the issues of GreekCypriot properties now held byTurks on the divided island andthe of the Turkish occupied portof Famagusta with unblockingof opening more EuropeanUnion accession chapters forTurkey and the convening of aninternational conference onceagreement on the internal as-pects of the Cyprus is at hand.He stressed the need to main-tain the Cypriot ownership ofthe talks while at the same timeaccepting the position that nosolution should be imposed byoutsiders. “Certain people mayhave a different opinion as faras Turkey’s readiness to see asolution emerge by the end ofthe year,” he pointed out,adding that he has made it clearthat Turkey’s own actions do notfollow up on its rhetoric, whichserves only communication pur-poses and aims to avoid takingreal responsibility for its role inthe Cyprus problem.

NO U.S. VISITAsked if it is in his plans to

visit the United States, the Arch-bishop said, “I do not think so;there is no reason for that.When I first assumed the arch-

pastorship of the Church theCypriot Americans had invitedme. I told them that in order forthe visit to be successful itshould be organized well. Butwhen the late Papadopoulos(former Cypriot President Tas-sos Papadopoulos) lost the elec-tion and Mr. Christofias came topower, and because the policychanged and the representativesof the Cypriot American Com-munity always identify with thegovernment of Cyprus, my pres-ence was not necessary anylonger. They indicated somehowthat my presence was notneeded, and thus I do not desireto come to America.” The Arch-bishop said he disagrees on thepolitical procedure the govern-

ment follows. He said that, “Wedisagree in many points, we donot agree on everything.”

OF VATOPEDI,HOMOSEXUALITY

Asked to comment about theMonastery of Vatopedi of Mt.Athos, who were involved in aland swap scandal with theGreek government, and the con-nections of its Abbot and otherofficials with the Church ofCyprus, and specifically withMetropolitan Athanasios of Li-massol, Archbishop Chrysosto-mos said, “I wouldn’t want tocomment on that issue. At somepoint those brothers were withme but I expelled them.” He alsosaid, “I do not think that theiracts dealing with monies and

properties were the correctones. The Monastery shouldn’tget involved with money and in-vestments. I can accept the factthat the Monastery could havesome investments in order to beable to stand on its own feet,but it wasn’t its job to deal withtens of thousands of euro,” al-though the scandal wound upbeing hundreds of millions. TheArchbishop refused to reveal thereasons that forced him to chasethem away from the Church ofCyprus. He simply said, “Theycould not stay with me; this isnot the proper time to say more,and after all I chased them some30 years ago.”

As to what he believes abouthomosexuality in all the ranks

of the priesthood, ArchbishopChrysostomos said, “It is an un-acceptable situation which iscontemned firstly by God, ‘Theywill not inherit the kingdom ofGod.’ He added: “I am againstit (homosexuality). If they are,then they should not enter thepriesthood.” To the question ofwhether he would ordain some-one who is known to be homo-sexual, Archbishop Chrysosto-mos said “never.”

THE PATRIARCH CAN’T COME

He also spoke of the recentmeeting that the Orthodox Pa-triarchs of the Middle East areaheld in Cyprus. He said, “We dis-cussed the issues that all theChurches face in Middle East.”

Asked if Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew was invited, hesaid that, “Unfortunately the Ec-umenical Patriarch cannot visitCyprus because he is going tohave problems with the Turks,you understand. He is avoidinghimself to visit Cyprus, althoughwe have invited him many times,it would be a great joy to havehim in Cyprus. Our People wouldwelcome him with much joy.”

The Archbishop said he was“enthusiastic” about the newcharter of the Church of Cyprus,which was voted and acceptedunanimously.

The Church of Cyprus incomprised of 13 Eparchies, 17hierarchs, 659 priests. Thesalaries of priests are paid bythe Church. The Archbishopsaid, “The government gives a600 euro supplement to thepriests of the countryside, notthose in the big cities” and heexplained “the late ArchbishopMakarios had given fifteen andone-half acres of land to theState with the obligation to giveto the countryside priests asmall supplement to theirsalary.”

According to the Archbishopthe average salary of priests is“Around two and one half thou-sand euro. The learned (the the-ologians) make four to fivethousand euro. The Bishopsmake around three and one halfthousand euro, the Metropoli-tans more than four thousandand the Archbishop five.” Whenasked to comment on reportsthat the Church of Cyprus isvery wealthy, ArchbishopChrysostomos said, “The Churchis not very rich” and he re-vealed, “The Archdiocese lost arespectable amount of its invest-ments because the big invest-ments are in the banks and inhotels, both of which today arenot doing well. We lost about12 million euro per year, whichis a substantial amount; the en-tire Church has lost around 50million euro.”

good life bought by their parentsout of the post-World War IIyears. “If you doubt me, can youname a single sacrifice we havebeen asked to make since 9/11?”he said. “Because we consumefar more than we produce andbecause we save so little, we haveto borrow the rest from foreignsources,” he said. That includesChina, which is holding $1.4 tril-lion of American government pa-per, and Peterson warned theChinese might call in the chipsand create a crisis that could sinkthe United States, already in deepwater because of funding twowars in Afghanistan and Iraq tothe tune of $2 trillion, and payingfor U.S. President BarackObama’s health care programthat Peterson said should havebeen delayed until there was astronger recovery. “Now, if wehad more savings, at the nationaland the personal levels, our coun-try would not be as exposed tothese risks,” he added.

LEARN FROM GREECEAs the world pillories Greece

for its economic problems thathave brought the country to theedge of default and roiled socialunrest, Peterson said the unthink-able could happen in the UnitedStates and other developed coun-tries as well. “There is a strongtendency to think that Greece isthe exception among developednations. Our studies establishthat this is emphatically not thecase. In fact, most developed na-tions have similar unsustainablefuture debt problems brought

about by demographic changes;namely, declining birth rates andtherefore declining numbers oftaxpayers, increased longevityand, huge and unfunded retire-ment promises. Wouldn’t it beironic if Greece, having beenforced to confront their problemsearlier may actually benefit frombeing forced to do so,” he said.The difference today is that peo-ple, unlike the previous genera-tion, are unwilling to make per-sonal and political sacrifices tosustain and change theirlifestyles, particularly Americans,he said.

“Our personal savings rate hasplummeted – gone from one ofthe biggest savers to the lowest –in some recent years, an unheardof negative personal savings rate.As recently as the early 1990s,we were saving 8%-10% of ourdisposable income. If we are go-ing to rescue our economic fu-ture, we, as a nation and we aspeople, simply must save moreand consume less.” He said that,“The Greatest Generation thatlived through the great depres-sion of the 1930s and World WarII confronted, grew, overcameand paid for public debts farlarger than those we face today.They also paid for the GI Bill, ahuge highway and infrastructureprogram and The Marshall Plan.There was one big difference, ofcourse, because we had a highsavings rate we owed it our-selves. We can do it again. In-deed, we must do it again,” hesaid. Raising the specter of to-day’s economic problems, he saidthey are graver than presented

by politicians. “Lest you think thisis overestimating the problem, letme first quote the very authori-tative National Journal, “Evenalarmists may be underestimat-ing the size of the debt problemand how quickly it will becomeunbearable. It’s worse than youthink.”

Peterson said he’s putting alot of his vast fortune, spending$1 billion, into trying to help,funding a study through his PeterG. Peterson Foundation to bringin top economic analysts to offerimmediate and long-term solu-tions to what he said is the great-est crisis the U.S. has faced in thepost-World War II generation,

coming on the heels of the 2008Wall Street-generated near eco-nomic implosion of the country’seconomy.

As Republicans battle Democ-rats, he said both parties havelost sight of what political wran-gling has done. For example, hesaid, eliminating former presi-dent George W. Bush’s tax cuts,which helped the rich, might lookgood politically for Democrats,but that they would represent lit-tle more than 1% of the country’sGross Domestic Product, whilethe cost of entitlement increasesalone is 9%. “It’s easy to blamepoliticians, but, again, remembermost consider these as careers,

and are focused on keeping theirjobs and on the next election notthe next generation,” he said.LIFE OR DEATH DECISIONS

One area Americans won’teven discuss, he said, is whethersustaining life is worth the cost,economically, or morally, and thatkeeping people alive whose qual-ity of life has diminished to thepoint where it may not be worthliving is just too expensive, oneof what he called “tough cost dri-ver questions.” “Is it the govern-ment’s obligation to prolong lifeindefinitely or is it only to pro-long life as long as a reasonablequality of life can be maintained?In other words, should the gov-

ernment be responsible for thevery costly heroic interventionsor should those be the responsi-bility of the individual taxpayer?This is but one example of avoid-ing the sticky political and ethicalquestions like who gets and whopays for what health care.” Hecited the example of La Crosse,Wisconsin, where 95% of thepopulation has living wills givingdirections on how they want tobe treated in the last years oftheir life if they have serioushealth problems. “Its costs in thelast two years of life are 20%lower than the national average,”he said.

“Entitlement benefit reformswould have to play a major rolein maintaining the solvency ofthese much needed entitlementprograms and making our un-sustainable fiscal imbalancessustainable,” he said. “We be-have as though being “deficitneutral” for new healthcare pro-grams is adequate, when thisdoes nothing about the unsus-tainable long-term costs of ex-isting programs of Medicare,” headded.” He said not all the newswas bad. “The good news is thatthere are many sensible andworkable proposals that alsoprotect the truly needy,” he said.But he said he’s worried aboutthe next generation and the costof not acting, which, he said,could lead Americans to ask:“How could we have done this,not simply to America, but toour own children and grandchil-dren? Could there be a worsefeeling? Can not trying really bean acceptable alternative?”

COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010 5

Chrysostomos Warns Christofias: Don't Bungle Reunification Talks

Archbishop Chrysostomos, leader of the Church of Cyprus ex-pressed his deep concerns over the conduct of negotiations forthe re-unification of his divided island in an interview with TNH.

Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias addresses a summit onthe Millennium Development Goals at United Nations head-quarters, Sept. 21, 2010.

Peterson’s Simple Success Formula, Save, Sacrifice, Choose, Hike Revenues

Pete Peterson, renowned for his career as a business executive and leader, offered some sageadvice for Americans, the U.S. economy, and how his upbringing as the son of Greek immigrantsshaped his life when he spoke to Leadership 100.

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Page 6: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

By John Papaspanos

My confidence in the futureof Greece is anchored in hertrack record of overcoming ad-versity. In the spirit of the2500th anniversary of the Battleof Marathon, we can draw in-spiration from the courage andself-sacrifice of Stylianos Kyri-akides, the 1946 winner of theBoston Marathon, and his effortto save his country. “It may bethe worst of times; but it maybecome the best of times.” Withthis premise, seven Greek Amer-icans, including myself, re-turned to the U.S. after partici-pating in the second annualForeign Policy Trip to Greeceand Cyprus, which was spon-sored by the American HellenicInstitute Foundation (AHIF) andled by its Executive Director, Mr.Nick Larigakis. During the rig-orous two-week program, wewere granted an invaluable op-portunity to learn about the im-portant foreign policy and de-fense issues concerning the U.S.,Greece, and Cyprus through aseries of briefings by Greek andCypriot policymakers, diplo-mats, parliament members, re-ligious leaders, think-tank orga-nizations, businessmen and

members of academia. Essen-tially, this educational experi-ence enriched our understand-ing of the ethnika themata byenabling us to gather informa-tion from direct and expertsources. And now that we havereturned to the U.S. and ourdaily routines, we are equippedwith the knowledge and the net-work base to make a contribu-tion in accordance with the mis-sion of the AHIF and the bestinterests of the U.S., which is touphold the rule of law in U.S.foreign policy, particularly inmatters regarding Greece,Cyprus, and Turkey.

As Greek and Cypriot Amer-icans, I believe it is our duty totransmit a better community forthe next generation of U.S. citi-zens and all members of the Ho-mogeneia by strengthening re-lations between the U.S. andGreece and Cyprus as being inthe best interests of the U.S. Byreading the materials providedby the AHIF, namely the essaysby leaders like AHI PresidentEugene Rossides, we learnedabout the importance of con-ducting effective public diplo-macy to educate others, and thecorollary task of engaging in ad-vocacy.

THE PUBLIC SERVICE LIFEPublic diplomacy is very im-

portant in the policy-planningprocess and for shaping publicopinion. It involves the use ofinformation to inform othersabout the complex issues re-garding Greece and Cyprus. Itcan take place in the office, at arestaurant, or in the universitylecture hall. We can also usesocial networking sites like Face-book as a platform to organizethe Greek and Cypriot grass-roots network. Recently, a suc-cessful online campaign causedpop star Jennifer Lopez to can-cel a planned concert in theTurkish-occupied territory ofCyprus. During the program, Iwondered if anything can bedone to help Greece in her in-ternal affairs. I realized that themany political, economic, andsocial problems that were majorfactors resulting in the debt cri-sis can only be addressed by theGreek people. When we were inAthens weeks after the tragicMarfin Bank incident, whenPresident Papoulias stated thatGreece has reached the “edge ofthe abyss,” I wrote the followingprediction in my notebook: “Inthe coming years, observers mayremember these recent months

as the ‘Worst of Times,’ but thesedark days may have ushered ina new era for Greece. The po-tential for a new, modernizedGreece is increasing as PrimeMinister Papandreou, a GreekAmerican, is executing transfor-mative policies. I hope his am-bitious agenda will achieve itsobjectives, including the recentsmoking ban in public places.

Even more difficult andtime-intensive than public diplo-macy is the challenge of engag-ing in advocacy. It involves themobilization of citizens to par-ticipate in the democraticprocess. Ideally, I believe theGreek government should investin Washington, D.C. lobbyistsand provide funding for thinktanks. If U.S. policymakers aremore aware of the strong strate-gic relationship between theU.S. and Greece, then perhapsGreece can assume a strongergeopolitical role and receivemore favorable treatment by theU.S. For example, we learnedduring the AHIF trip that a high-ranking U.S. official assigned todefense issues was unaware ofthe importance of the U.S. navalfacilities at Souda Bay, on theisland of Crete. Such informa-tion, along with other salientfacts provided to us by theGreek Ministry of Defense,should be relayed to both theWhite House and Capitol Hill bythe Greek Government. I believethe best course of action is forthe Greek and Cypriot youth tobecome politically active. Oneway is to develop advocacy skillsby interning or working for or-ganizations like the AHIF. Due

to the current diplomatic rift be-tween Turkey on the one sideand the U.S. and Israel on theother, we have a golden oppor-tunity to gain traction on someissues. For example, ChairmanBerman of the House ForeignAffairs Committee recently over-saw a hearing about the deteri-orating US-Turkish relationship.In his fourth point, Rep. Bermanstates: “It’s time for Turkey todraw down its absurdly hightroop level in northern Cyprus.And Turkey should cease set-tling Turkish citizens in northernCyprus.” Now that the windowof opportunity has widened, itis time for the youth to get in-volved and to learn how to un-dertake political action.

John Papaspanos earned hisbachelor’s degree summa cumlaude from Seton HallUniversity in International Re-lation in 2010. He is currentlyconducting research on energyissues with a Fulbright Scholar-ship at the Aristotle Universityof Thessaloniki, Greece and hewill be returning to the U.S. tostudy law at the University ofPennsylvania Law School, Classof 2014. He can be contacted [email protected].

A Call to Action Could Bring Back Some of Greece’s Old Glory Days

COMMUNITY6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010

Seven Greek American col-lege students participated in theAmerican Hellenic Institute’s(AHI) second annual CollegeStudent Foreign Policy StudyTrip to Greece and Cyprus fromJune 17 – July 2, 2010, and TheNational Herald is letting fourof them write about their expe-riences, starting with a piecethis week by John Papaspanosof Seton Hall University.

This was the second annualprogram designed to introducefuture Greek American leadersto the core foreign policy issuesimportant to the Greek Ameri-can community and their impacton U.S. interests in the south-eastern Mediterranean region.The trip began with briefings inWashington on June 17 and 18,followed by a series of activitiesand briefings in Cyprus (June19-24) and Athens (June 25 -July 2.) The program is open toGreek American and CypriotAmerican college students ingood academic standing whoare studying political science,international relations, history,law or foreign affairs.

Besides Papaspanos, theother students selected to par-ticipate were: Arviri (Roula)Adonakis, University of Michi-gan; Leah Barkoukis, George-town University; Georgea Poli-zos, Florida State University;Alfonso Romero, University ofCincinnati; Michael Savvas, SanDiego State and Ellen Youssios,Queens College, QUNY. AHI Ex-ecutive Director Nick Larigakisand AHI Director of Govern-ment Affairs and Media Rela-tions C. Franciscos Economidesled the group on its trip.

“I was honored to have hadthis wonderful opportunity to,once again, lead such an excep-tional group of Greek Americanstudents to Greece and Cyprusfor a hands-on experience andintroduce them to the foreignpolicy issues concerning the U.S.relations with Greece andCyprus,” said Larigakis regard-ing the successful outcome ofthe second annual student for-eign policy trip. “The AHIF looksforward to continuing to offerthis program as long as there iscontinued interest and support.And I feel certain there will beboth,” he said.

The program began June 17,2010 at AHI in Washington, D.C.with a briefing from AHI Boardof Director and Legal Counsel,Nick Karambelas and Larigakis.Following the briefings, the stu-dents visited the Cato Institutefor a meeting with Dr. Ted GalenCarpenter, Vice President, De-fense and Foreign Policy Stud-ies. On June 18, the AHIFhosted a working breakfast ses-sion at the Capital Hilton withState Department officials,which included Senior GreeceDesk Officer Adam Scarlatelli,Cyprus Desk Officer Terry Netos,Public Diplomacy Officer forSouthern Europe and CaucasusRuth Ann Stevens-Klitz, and Of-fice of Southern European Af-fairs Intern Melanie Ciolek.

After the breakfast the stu-dents visited the Embassy ofCyprus for a briefing from theAmbassador of Cyprus to theUnited States, Andreas Kak-ouris. Briefings at the Embassyof Greece followed and wereprovided by the Deputy Chief ofMission Ioannis Vrailas, ConsulConstantinos G. Alexandris andPress Attaché Aristotelis Papa-georgiou. Later that afternoonthe students departed forCyprus.

SEEING CYPRUSAfter their arrival in Cyprus,

the students went on a guidedday trip to the ancient site ofKourion and archaeological ex-cavations at Paphos in Cyprus

on June 20. On the first full dayof meetings on June 21, the stu-dents began the day with ameeting with YiorgosChristofides, director, Office ofthe Permanent Secretary of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, fol-lowed by a guided tour ofNicosia. After lunch, which washosted by the Ministry of For-eign Affairs at the Ministry, thestudents visited the U.S. Em-bassy in Nicosia where they metwith U.S. Ambassador to CyprusFrank C. Urbancic, Jr and hisstaff, a total of 11 persons. OnJune 22, the students had meet-ings with Marios Garoyian, Pres-ident of the House of Represen-tatives, and ArchbishopChrysostomos II, followed by aguided tour of the ByzantineMuseum. The day continuedwith a visit to the PresidentialPalace for a meeting with Presi-dential Commissioner GeorgeIacovou, and a working lunchhosted by Senior Press & Infor-mation Officer Miltos Miltiadou.

During the remaining part of theday, the students took a trip tothe Turkish occupied area wherethey viewed first-hand Turkishtroops, destroyed and dese-crated churches and cemeteries.The visit culminated with a stopin the ghost town of Famagusta.

On June 23, the day beganwith a visit to the UN Commit-tee on the Missing Persons inCyprus, which is located insidethe UN buffer zone. After, thestudents visited the House ofRepresentatives to meet withAverof Neofytou, Chairman,House Standing Committee onForeign Affairs. Later, long-timesupporter and friend of AHI,Efthyvoulos Paraskevaides,Chairman and CEO, J&P Ltd.,welcomed the students to his of-fice. Afterwards the studentstook a guided tour of the Fama-gusta free area where they sawtwo video presentations at theCultural Centre of OccupiedAmmachostos (Famagusta) re-garding the Turkish invasion

and continued occupation of thearea.

On June 24, a morning meet-ing took place with AlexisGalanos, Mayor of Famagusta,followed by a briefing at theColocassides guard post inNicosia and a visit inside theUnited Nations controlled bufferzone where they visited the oldNicosia airport, an area that re-mains mostly unchanged sinceTurkish military forces invadedCyprus in 1974.

IN GREECEDeputy Minister of Foreign

Affairs Spyros Kouvelis hosted awelcome dinner for the studentsupon their arrival to Athens onJune 24. The first full day ofbriefings for the students oc-curred June 25 when the groupmet with various departmentsat Greece’s Ministry of ForeignAffairs. With the A2 Depart-ment for Cyprus the studentsmet its Director, AmbassadorDimitris Yannakakis; with theA3 Department for SoutheastEuropean Countries, the groupmet with Counselors FranciscosKostellenos, Despina Kouk-oulopoulou, and Olga Anagnos-topoulou; and with the A4 De-partment for Turkey, thestudents met with CounselorPeriklis Boutos and First Secre-tary Lili Grammatika. In addi-tion, the students received a for-eign policy briefing at theAmerican Embassy in Athens.

On June 26, the students vis-ited The Center for Hellenismat the Damianos Foundation atSchinos Loutraki, Corinthos.This excursion was hosted bylong-time AHIF member, Dami-

anos Constantinou, who spentmany years in building up thisbeautiful center nestled withina natural setting. Constantinouled the students on a personaltour of the expansive groundsand center, and afterwards,hosted a splendid barbecue din-ner. The students enjoyed a pri-vate cruise to Aegina Island asa way to relax midway throughthe program on June 27.

The students resumed a busyschedule on June 28 with meet-ings with Spiridon Adonis Geor-giadis, member of the Perma-nent Committee for Hellenismand Greek Diaspora, AndyDabilis, Executive Editor of TheNational Herald and briefings atthe Foreign Ministry from theA7 Depratment for North Amer-ica: Ambassador Chryssoula Al-iferi, and Counselors NikosKotrokois and Maria Zissi. Theyalso met with Marios L. Evrivi-ades, assistant professor of In-ternational Relations, PanteionUniversity, Athens. In theevening, the group was led on atour and briefing at the very im-pressive headquarters complexof one of Greece’s leading pri-vate companies, S&B. The tourand briefing were led by long-time AHI member and sup-porter, and S& B’s Chief Execu-tive Officer, Efthimios Vidalis,who hosted a dinner for them.

On June 29, a luncheonbriefing was hosted by LockheedMartin at the Grande BretagneHotel. Hosting the event wasDennys Plessas, Vice President,Business Development Initia-tives for Europe, Middle East

and Africa for Lockheed Martin.Following the luncheon, the stu-dents went on a private tour ofthe Greek Parliament, and after-wards, they were received byKonstantinos Vrettos, Chairmanof the Parliament’s InternationalRelations & Defense Committee.Later that evening, a visit waspaid to The American Collegeof Greece, Deree. There, the stu-dents were given a campus tourfollowed by dinner that washosted by Dr. Todd G. Fritch,Vice President for Academic De-velopment and dean of Gradu-ate and Professional Studies.On June 30, an important brief-ing was held at one of Greece’sprominent think-tank organiza-tions, ELIAMEP (Hellenic Foun-dation for European and ForeignPolicy. Here the students werebriefed by noted Greek foreignpolicy expert, ProfessorTheodore Couloumbis, DirectorGeneral of ELIAMEP and Am-bassador Alexandros Mallias,former Greek Ambassador to theU.S., to discuss Greek foreignpolicy. The group later visitedthe new Acropolis Museumwere they were given a privatetour that also included the mu-seum’s president, ProfessorEmeritus Dimitrios Pandermalis.A working luncheon was alsohosted at the museum restau-rant by Panos Geroulanos, min-ister of Culture and Tourism.The day concluded with a visitthe Archbishop of Athens andAll Greece, His Beatitude Arch-bishop Hieronymos II.

LOTS OF BRIEFINGSOn July 1, the students vis-

ited the Greek Ministry of De-fense where informative and de-tailed briefings were providedby multiple officials, including:Ambassador DimitrisChronopoulos, director generalof Defense Policy & IR; HellenicNational Defense General StaffCol. Dimokritos Zervakis, De-fense Policy Division; and Hel-lenic Army General Staff Brig.Gen. Alkiviadis Stefanis, directorof Defense Planning & Program-ming Division.

The final afternoon in Athenspresented the students withunique experiences that werehighlights of their trip. First,the students were received byPresident of the Hellenic Repub-lic Karolos Papoulias. During themeeting, the President under-scored the importance of pro-grams that afford students theopportunity to visit Greece inorder to gain a better under-standing of multi-faceted issues.Following the visit to the Presi-dential Mansion, the studentswere presented with a specialopportunity that few are af-forded when they went to theHellenic Army Special ForcesTraining Center for briefingsand demonstrations by the Z’-MAK Unit of the Special Forces.While at the camp, the studentssaw demonstrations that in-cluded urban assault tactics,field maneuvers and a numberof amphibious assault exer-cises—all with live ammo.

After the demonstrations, theunit’s top military brass hosteda luncheon for the group. Thetwo-week trip ended with afarewell dinner hosted by theAHI Foundation at the GrandeBretagne Hotel.

The dinner was attended bynumerous individuals that thegroup met with during its stayin Athens, including: Konstan-tinos Vrettos, chairman of theParliament’s International Rela-tions & Defense Committee;Ambassador Chryssoula Aliferi,director, A7 Department forNorth America, Ministry of For-eign Affairs; Dabilis, and GeorgeEconomou, AHI-Athens chapterpresident.

John Papaspanos

For These Lucky Seven on AHI Trip to Greece, They Saw for Themselves

1. There was time for more casual mixing too, and here theygot the best view in the city, the Acropolis, from the rooftop ofthe New Acropolis Museum, thanks to Tourism Minister PavlosGeroulanos (C) and the museum’s director, Professor DimitriosPandermalis, next to him. 2. The Greek American college stu-dents on the AHI Foundation trip got a tour of the Greek Par-liament. (L-R) Alphonso Romero, Roula Adonakis, Ellen Yous-sios, Georgea Polizos, a guide, Leah Barkoukis, JohnPapaspanos, and Michael Savvas. 3. At the ancient site of Kou-rion in Cyprus.

Not forgetting that defense is a big part of Greece’s budgetand security, the students had a unique visit to Hellenic ArmySpecial Forces Training Center Z'MAK Unit.

“The AHIF foreign policy trip was a once-in-lifetime experi-ence that I will never forget. It allowed me to see firsthand whatI have read in books thereby enhancing my understanding of theissues. In Cyprus we were able to go to the ‘occupied area’ andsee the desecration of a Greek Orthodox Church and the ghosttown of Famagusta, which is still surrounded by barbwire.

• Aryiri (Roula) Adonakis

“AHIF's foreign policy study trip enhanced not only my un-derstanding of global politics but also contextualized some ofthe most fundamental issues relevant to the field and study ofconflict resolution. The ability to travel to the occupied area inCyprus demonstrated first hand the nature of enduring conflictsand will enrich my studies in my final year of graduate school.

• Leah Barkoukis

“I can safely say that the Foreign Policy Trip to Greece andCyprus was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had.The organization of the trip and quality of the access we hadwas unparalleled … I came out of this trip with a deep-felt sensethat I have a place in the debate and that I can make an impacton Greek-American issues. I know that as a result of these twoweeks, I will carry a strong commitment to working towardsGreek and Cypriot issues for the rest of my life.

• Georgea Polizos

“The study trip made me a better-informed Greek Americanand has put in a position where I can make a difference and ad-vocate for Greek and Cypriot issues in America.”

• Michael Savvas

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Page 7: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

outdone, Kotsonaros in his yearsin North America often braggedto the reporters (who alwaysflocked around him) that heplayed a Gorilla in a film withoutany make-up.

OLYMPIC CHAMPIONPublished accounts report

that Kotsonaros won six medalsat the Olympic Games at Athensin 1908 and placed fourth in themarathon race. I have only beenable to trace three of thesemedals: Kotsonaros won theworld’s amateur title in the light-weight wrestling at 125 pounds,first place in the Greek-style ofthe discus throw, and secondplace in the javelin throw. Thismay only be a typographical er-ror but the 2nd InternationalOlympic Games in Athens tookplace in 1906 not 1908. Kot-sonaros also reported that in1909, he went to Cairo and wonthe Old National middleweightwrestling championship. Clearlya person who never let any grassgrow under his feet, Kotsonarosoften claimed he was in theUnited States competing as aprofessional wrestler in 1909 notlong after his triumph in Egypt,although a fundamental elementof professional wrestling in theU.S. is hokum, but Kotsonaroswas very much a part of theGreek-American community allacross the nation. Certainly if hepersistently made claims abouthis professional awards, surelysome Greek would have let theAmerican press know. It must bestressed that finding reliabledocuments on the history andsequence of wrestling titles inthe U.S. is also difficult, espe-cially to positively locate espe-cially with the early divisions be-tween regional, national andinternational wrestling titles.Published accounts do exist stat-ing that in 1921, Kotsonaroswrestled and defeated CliffBinckley for Ohio’s heavyweightwrestling and that Kotsonarosalso held the wrestling cham-pion of Georgia from 1926 to1928

THE WRESTLER’S LIFE Professional wrestling has al-

ways involved far more thanmerely the contest between twomen. Even in the days whenwrestling matches would go onfrom one hour to five hours, thedaily life of the professionalwrestler was never consideredby the public or the press. Mostessential in this round of dailyevents was travel. The wrestlerswere invariably on a circuit trav-eling from town to town. Add to

this mandatory aspect of the av-erage wrestler’s life was time forrigorous daily training, a specialeating regimen, business man-agement such as signing con-tracts for matches, speaking withreporters, sending in letters tothe local press, all this and otherdreary but required tasks left lit-tle time for a personal life.American wrestling as a profes-sional sport did not begin untilafter 1865. The gradual appear-ance of a professional class ofwrestlers, while not difficult tochart, is made difficult to judgenot simply by the lack of reliabledocumentation on wrestling ti-tles but the appearance of re-gional championship titles andeven titles by race. For example,William Demetral initially wasthe “Greek” wrestling heavy-weight champion and matcheswere often advertised as Greeceagainst Canada or Greece versusPoland and so on.

Matches would go two to fivehours often involving threematches with the best two outof three being winner, taking apercentage of the house and sidebets. “In that grandiloquent, dra-matic style for which the Greekis famous, Kotsonaros, withmany gestures, announced thatafter the Carr bout he would beglad to pay to meet Hull for“$1.00, $5.00, $500, or $5,000,the Aberdeen Daily News re-ported on March 18, 1915. By1916, Kotsonaros claimed tohave wrestled 216 matches inthe United States and won 95%of them. But who did Kotsonaroswrestle? Among his most no-table opponents were Martin J.

Burns (a/k/a Farmer Burns,)Earl Caddock, Jimmie Corrigan(the Masked Marvel,) William(the Greek Demon) Demetral,Renato Gardini, John Kilonis, Ed(Strangler) Lewis, Jim Londos,Nick Lunze, Gus Sonnenberg,and Stanislaus Zbyszko, all one-time heavyweight champions.Kotsonaros never gave up hisdream of one day being theHeavyweight Champion ofNorth America and sought amatch against every heavy-weight champion of his genera-tion. A challenge from Kot-sonaros was not to be takenlightly.

As was frequently reported,“Kotsonaros is especially adeptin the defensive art of wrestling,and when placed in a dangerousposition by an opponent cancover up and protect himselfagainst the headlocks and scis-sors holds which are usually thebeginning of the disfigured earsan face. The Grecian grappler’smethod has taken the fans allover the country by storm. He isa clean-cut wrestler, and proba-bly one of the brainiest men onthe mat today. His countrymendeclare him equal to, if not bet-ter than, the famous Jimmy Lon-dos. In fact, the Greeks have ex-pressed their opinions to thewriter state that they considerKotsonaros equally as good awrestler at the present time,with far greater possibilities thanLondos will ever possess,” theSalt Lake Tribune reported onJan. 1, 1927. Yet even Kot-sonaros suffered injuries.“George Kotsonaros incurred abroken right collar bone in his

match with William Demetralfor the Greek heavyweightwrestling championship at theHaymarket Theater. The injuryoccurred on a back roll after onehour and fifty minutes ofwrestling,” the Chicago Tribunereported on March 15, 1917. Re-ports of other injuries abound.

A CASH SPORTWhere American professional

wrestlers first competed is espe-cially interesting since it showsthe stages through which thesport progressed as an evolvingform of entertainment. Commonvenues for wrestling from 1865to 1895 and for some time afterwere opera houses, theaters (in-clusive of vaudeville theaters,)gymnasiums and traveling car-nivals. In the earliest days ofAmerican wrestling matcheswere both events one couldwatch and one that you couldparticipate in as a wrestler. Assimply a watched contest oneprofessional would meet anotherfor a fixed sum of money, a sidebet that the winner would re-ceive, and/or a percentage of themoney collected by the pro-moter. Amateur wrestlers seek-ing a match with a professionalusually took place in local gym-nasiums and sports clubs. Butanother venue soon came to pro-vide the willing amateur with achance to test himself againstthe trained professional. Carni-val or sideshow wrestling, an of-ten overlooked aspect of profes-sional wrestling in NorthAmerica, eventually took theform of a professional well-known wrestler taking on allcomers, most often local ama-teur wrestlers, for “short periodwrestling matches of ten min-utes and up. In order to secureopponents for the champion themanagement is making specialinducements to anyone who willgo with him of $1.00 a minute,”the Pueblo Chieftain reported onJune 14, 1919.

In 1918, Kotsonaros wrestledin this manner for the Parker’sGreatest Show Then, and in1919 he returned to the circuscircuit again with the RussellBrothers Show. As was generallyreported about Kotsonaros in hisrole as the carnival champion hewas “a good, clean wrestler andplays the game in a fair way,never resorting to any foul orunderhand methods in trying tobeat his man. He will take onanyone, regardless of size,weight or reputation. Whatmakes the matches so interest-ing is the fact that the (profes-sional) wrestler must stick thefull time or he does not get any-

thing. In that way the local boysgo out to win and assures thepublic that they are going to geta run for their money. Many mengo on with the champion andstay the short matches. Thecrowds of ladies, gentlemen andchildren that pack the showspeaks for itself, as to its popu-larity, the Pueblo Chieftain wroteon June 19, 1919. What thenewspapers do not report arethe various side-bets made dur-ing the majority of thesematches.

Kotsonaros was a recognizedshowman. His flamboyantspeeches were legendary aswere his ringside challenges tothose who would not meet himinside the ring. Gardini oncesaid, “If he could wrestle as goodas he could talk he would bechampion of the world.” OnJune 26, 1933, Kotsonaros andboxing’s World HeavyweightChampion Jack Dempsey

“staged a mock fight … for thepress at the train station” in At-lanta Georgia. Kotsonaros andDempsey were old friends andKotsonaros had trained withDempsey before Dempsey’s bigfights with Tommy Gibbons andthe first bout with Gene Tunney.Seventeen days after his mockfight for the public press, Kot-sonaros was dead on a back roadin rural Alabama. Still the por-trait of Kotsonaros is flawed.Kotsonaros’ ringside and carni-val fans all knew him, or of him,as the half-man half-gorilla ofthe 1927 film sensation TheWizard or one of his many darkgangster roles in silent films.Kotsonaros’ career as a profes-sional can not be fully under-stood until we know more abouthis considerable Hollywood ca-reer. (Part One of a two-part se-ries)

[email protected]

FEATURETHE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010 7

www.GreekKitchennyc.com

George Delis, LLCConsultant, Public Relations

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Kotsonaros: Champion of the Mat and Movies, Showed His MovesContinued from page 1

George Kotsonaros (on the left) versus Tom Lurich, in Mel-bourne Australia, circa.1930. Kotsonaros traveled the world insearch of a good grappling match and would take on all comers,including ringside hecklers who thought they could take him.

LIVING HISTORY

By Stavros T. Stavridis

The migration and settlementof Greeks to Australia can be di-vided into three periods: 1829-1890, 1890-1950 and 1950-1972.The first arrivals wereconvicts and adventurers whereasby the 1890s a small permanentcommunity began to emerge inthe Australian Colonies. It wasn’tuntil the post-1950 period thatGreeks arrived in large numbersin search of a better life and eco-nomic opportunities after the tur-moil of World War 2 and the CivilWar to Australia.

CONVICTS ANDADVENTURERS: 1829-1890

During the Greek War of In-dependence, the British brig Al-ceste, sailing from Malta toAlexandria laden with cargo wasintercepted and boarded by thecrew of the Greek vessel Heraklis.The Greeks pillaged and removedmuch of the cargo and then al-lowed the Alceste to continue itsjourney onto Alexandria. A fewdays later, the Heraklis was inter-cepted by the British ship HMSGannet off the coast of Crete andboarded by the captain to makean examination of its cargo. Thecaptain ordered the Greeks to betaken to Malta. Andonis Manolis,Damianos Ninis, Ghikas Boul-garis, Georgios Vasilakis, Konstan-tinos Stroumboulis, Nikolaos Pa-pandreou, Georgios Laritsos,Lalekhos and Bouff were held inprison and later charged withpiracy. The Greeks were trans-ported on a convict ship for NewSouth Wales (NSW) arriving atPort Jackson on August 27, 1829.After their arrival in Sydney, theyconvicts were assigned by Colo-nial officials to work in Sydneyand surrounding districts. Spyri-don Tricoupis, who became thefirst appointed Greek Minister tothe Court of St James, intercededon behalf of the convicts, whowere pardoned and allowed toreturn to Greece. Five, Ninis, Vasi-lakis, Papandreou, Stroumboulisand Laritsos returned to Greece,but Boulgaris and Manolis stayedbehind.

The next wave of Greeks ar-rived in Australia during the goldrushes of the 1850s and 1860’s.These early Greeks were adven-turers who had no intention ofsettling in Australia who simplywanted to make their fortune and

return to Greece. Many jumpedship in Melbourne and Sydneyand proceeded to the gold fields.In the early 1850’s, NicholasEmellen, Andreas Lecatsas, Geor-gios Doikos, Nicholas and SpiroLambert, Mihalis Manousou andKonstantinos Argyropoulos andmany other Greek sailors ran offto the gold fields in search of ad-venture and to seek their for-tunes. The majority of theseGreeks were not successful intheir gold seeking ventures. Theseearly Greek adventurers camefrom every corner of the Hellenicworld, including Kythera, Ithaca,Limnos, Tenedos, Lesvos, Samos,Rhodes, Corfu, Zakynthos,Smyrna, Constantinople, Kefalo-nia and Skopelos. LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS:

1890-1950During the 1890’s the Greeks

of Melbourne and Sydney estab-lished their first communities in1897 and 1898. In Melbourne,Alexander Maniakis, AntoniosLecatsas and Grigorios Matorikosfounded the Greek OrthodoxCommunity of Melbourne(GOCM) and purchased land forthe building of Evangelismos (An-nunciation) Church in 1902. Itwas the only Greek organizationin Melbourne during these earlyyears that met the cultural andreligious needs of the community.Later on, the Ithacans establishedthe Association of Odysseus andthe Pan Hellenic Association ofOrpheus by the Samians. In Syd-ney, the Greek and Syrian mi-grants met in 1896 and the firstchurch Holy Trinity was com-pleted in 1898 due to the gener-ous contributions of the Greekswho originated from the islandof Kythera. Between 1924-1945,Sydney was the center of Greekactivity in Australia. It had tworival newspapers, a division ex-isted between the laity andchurch and this community po-larization was reflected with tworival churches. These communitydivisions made it extremely diffi-cult to solve the problems thatbedeviled the Greek Communityof Sydney.

In Victoria, the GOCM was pe-ripheral due to the Greek Churchand Greek Consulate Generalhaving its center in Sydney. TheGOCM saw a decline in migrantparticipation during the years1924-35. However it was in-

volved in charitable works suchas raising monies for an earth-quake appeal and local hospitalsand providing some assistance tothe needy Greek unemployed.Other Greek communities wereestablished in Perth (West Aus-tralia,) Adelaide and Port Pirie(South Australia,) Darwin (North-ern Territory,) Hobart (Tasmania,)and Brisbane, Innisfail andTownsville Queensland).

Education and newspapersplay an important role in thepreservation and maintenance ofan ethnic identity. The Sydneyand Melbourne Greek communi-ties established schools in theirearly years. In Melbourne aschool operated as early as 1898,however, it did not achieve anysense of permanency as a schooluntil the 1950’s which coincidedwith the period of mass migration

to Australia. Anastasios Tamisnoted: “The generosity of the re-gional organizations, the good-heartedness of individuals, par-ticularly businessmen, theconscientiousness of teachingstaff and the anxiety of the par-ents saved the school from per-manent closure.” The operationof two schools reflected the dis-putes and schism that existed inthe Greek Community of Sydney.Parents faced the problem of sup-porting one of the factions in theircommunity. The Greek OrthodoxChurch was actively involved inthe teaching of the Greek lan-guage to young Greek-Australianchildren. It should be noted thatGreeks of Perth were untouchedby the schism in the easternstates.

Newspapers also played animportant part in helping theearly Greeks to maintain theirethnicity. The first Greek news-paper Australia was founded inMelbourne in 1912 and pur-chased by the Marinakis brothersin 1923, who relocated it to Syd-ney. It later changed its name toEthnikon Vima (National Tri-bune.) Panellinios Keryx (Pan

Hellenic Herald) of Sydney waslabeled a community newspaperand was not considered friendlytowards the clergy. Furthermoreit urged the creation of a Federa-tion of Greek communities aimingto curb the authority of theChurch. On the other hand, theEthnikon Vima adopted a conser-vative policy and supported theMetropolitan and later on theArchdiocese. It should be notedthat the two Greek –Australiannewspapers of Sydney reflectedthe divisions that existed in theGreek community of Sydney. Phoswas founded in Melbourne in1936 and was very active in theGreek community. It was notedfor its very strong anti-communiststance and supported the Greekdictator, Ioannis Metaxas. Therewere other Greek-Australiannewspapers who due to theirsmall circulation numbers andlimited economic resources didnot survive for very long. 3. FROM IMMIGRANTS TOCITIZENS: 1950- 1972

After 1945 the Australian Gov-ernment embarked on its largestimmigration program. The Aus-tralian Government signed anumber of migration agreementswith Italy, Malta and Greece(1952) where migrants were tobe given assisted passages underthe Inter-Government Committeefor European Migration (I.C.E.M)scheme. From 1947-52, migrantswere sponsored by family mem-bers in Australia. Under theI.C.E.M program, approximately270,000 Greeks arrived fromGreece, Egypt, Romania, Turkey,Middle East and Cyprus to Aus-tralia during the period 1954-74.Many post-1950 Greek migrantssettled in the major capital citiesof Australia, especially with Mel-bourne and Sydney absorbing thevast majority of them. Theytended to live in the inner suburbsof Melbourne and Sydney whereemployment, cheap housing,shopping centers, markets,churches, sporting clubs and com-munity organizations were lo-cated. The Greeks came usuallyfrom rural areas of Greece withvery few skills and low educa-tional attainment.

In Australia, they were em-ployed as unskilled and semi-skilled laborers in factories. Thosewith professional and trade qual-ifications from Greece faced the

problem of non-recognition oftheir credentials and weren’t ableto work in their chosen occupa-tion. Many of them were forcedto find employment as laborers.During the entire post-war periodfive commercial newspapers werein circulation in Melbourne andSydney. The ecclesiastical issuedominated the pages of thesenewspapers till the end of the1970s. The Archdiocese soughtalign itself with one of threenewspapers, Pyrsos, Phos or NeosKosmos. All these Greek-Aus-tralian publications sought tokeep the Greek migrant informedon local community news, sports,Australian politics and Greek po-litical developments in the Greeklanguage. Neos Kosmos’ successcan be attributed in maintainingits circulation and attracting ad-vertising revenue. It also hasadapted to the realities of themarketplace with its decliningGreek language readership overpast 15 years by enclosing anEnglish language supplement forits Australian-born Greek readers.Unfortunately, Phos and Pyrsosexperienced financial difficulties,declining readership, inability toattract advertising revenue andas a consequence, became bank-rupt.

From the mid-1950’s to themid-1960’s, limited Greek lan-guage broadcasts could be heardon radio station 3AK (Melbourne)and Nick Anton’s program in Co-lac (country Victoria.) These weresmall steps in Greek languagebroadcasting prior to the adventof Special Broadcasting Servicecreated in 1975. SBS Radio (2EASydney and 3EA Melbourne) in-troduced and later SBS TV by theWhitlam and Fraser Governmentsin the mid to late 1970’s allowedGreek migrants and other ethnicgroups to hear radio programs intheir own languages. This waspart of the Australian govern-ments commitment towards amulticultural and pluralistic soci-ety. SBS-TV shows foreign moviesin foreign languages displayingan English sub-text at the bottomof the television screen. As abroadcaster, SBS has exposed An-glo-Australians to overseas pro-grams that otherwise would nor-mally not be screened oncommercial television. The onlyprivate Greek private radio oper-ating in Melbourne is Radio Hel-

las 3 XY which also publishes theweekly newspaper Ta Nea. Com-munity TV station Channel 31 hasa number of Greek programs thatare shown over the course of theweek. Soccer receives attentionon Channel 31with Victorian pre-mier league soccer games shownon Wednesday nights and SouthMelbourne Football Club TVshow (aka Hellas) on Saturdaymorning.

In 1959 the so-called after-noon Greek schools were ailingwith only a small number oper-ating. The organization of theseschools was very poor and oper-ated outside normal school hours.Many Greek parents were indif-ferent to their children’s Greekschool education due to longworking hours. The oral and lit-eracy level of students was verydivergent which faced the indi-vidual teacher. It must be notedthat some of these so-calledteachers did not possess any for-mal teaching qualifications eitherin Greece or Australia. ThereforeGreek students were possibly be-ing taught incorrectly which didnot assist their Greek languageeducation. It was in the 1970’sunder the Whitlam and FraserGovernments’ that ethnic studieswere encouraged in line with theofficial policy of multiculturalism.Modern Greek studies includinglanguage spread to all educationlevels in Australia. In the Saturdaymorning schools teachers are re-quired to hold the requisite teach-ing qualifications in order to teachGreek language and culture. Asteaching qualifications and stan-dards rose from the late 1970’sonwards, the number of Aus-tralian students of Greek originstudying the Greek language atprimary, secondary and tertiarylevel steadily increased over thenext 20 years. This is attributedto the baby boomers who mi-grated to Australia in the 1950’sand 1960’s whose children at-tended Greek school. There isnow a slow but marked declinein Greek studies across the edu-cation spectrum, with third gen-eration Greek-Australians not tak-ing up Greek language studieslike their parents. The Greek-Aus-tralian community faces some in-teresting challenges over the com-ing years of maintaining andpreserving its identity down un-der.

These early Greeks wereadventurers who had nointention of settling inAustralia who wanted tomake their fortune andreturn to Greece.

A Brief History of Greek Migration and Settlement to Australia

Page 8: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

n BAHAVIOLOS, PETERTORONTO, CANADA – TheToronto Star reported that PeterBahaviolos, 54, passed awaypeacefully with his family by hisside at Mt. Sinai Hospital onSeptember 13. He was prede-ceased by his father, Gus. He issurvived by his beloved mother,Chrisoula; his brother, Chris(Roula); his nieces, Chryssa andDeena; and many aunts, uncles,cousins and many friends. Visi-tation was held at the Turner &Porter Yorke Chapel. Funeralservices were held at the An-nunciation of the Virgin MaryGreek Orthodox Cathedral. Ifdesired, donations to the Cana-dian Cancer Society or a charityof your choice would be appre-ciated.

n BOBOKIS, DONNAFALL RIVER, Mass. - The Heraldnews reported that Donna R.Bobokis, 64, passed away onSeptember 10 at Provena St.Joseph Medical Center with herloving family by her side. Shewas a member of all Saint'sGreek Orthodox Church ofJoliet. Donna loved to paintporcelain figurines and she wasa great lover of animals. Shewas predeceased by her parents,Theodore and Lutie Wisneski;her daughter, Tammy Bobokis;her beloved husband of 40years, William Bobokis Sr.; herson, William Bobokis Jr.; hergrandchildren, Jessie Gerkheand Lily Barto; her great-grand-children, Catrina and Shawn;her brothers, Jimmy (Linda)Wisneski, Ted Wisneski and Tim(Sandy) Wisneski; her extendedfamily, Nicole Barto and AngelaFox; her best friends, JanetDavis, Linda Green; and numer-ous nieces, nephews andcousins. Visitation and a Trisa-gion prayer service were held atthe Blackburn-Giegerich-Son-ntag Funeral Home. Funeral ser-vices were held at All Saint'sGreek Orthodox Church withRev. Stephen Bithos officiating.In lieu of flowers, donations tothe family would be appreci-ated. Arrangements by: TapellaFuneral Services@ Blackburn-Giegerich-Sonntag FuneralHome. For further information,call: (815) 726-4054.

n BOGLES, STEFANATORONTO, CANADA – TheToronto Star reported that Ste-fana Bogles, 92, passed awaypeacefully at the Trillium HealthCentre on September 11. Shewas born on March 12, 1918 inOschima, Trigono, Greece. As ayoung beautiful woman of only16 years old, Stefana marriedher late husband Petros Boglesin 1934. She immigrated toCanada in 1950 to join her hus-band and was reunited with allof her three children in 1955following the Greek Civil War.Stefana Bogles was the founda-tion of the family. In partnershipwith her husband, they built asuccessful and prosperous lifefor themselves and their family.Stefana will be remembered asa loving and giving mother,grandmother and great-grand-mother. Her greatest joy was be-ing surrounded by her family.This gave her the strength andwill to live a fulfilled and joyfullife to the age of 92. She is sur-vived by her children, John,Michael and Lefa; her daughter-in-law Toula; her grandchildren,Peter Jr., Jenet, Christine, Bon-nie, Stefanie and their husbandsJoseph, Graham and Bill; heradoring great-grandchildren,Michael, Natalie, Christopherand Alexandra; and her brother,Ilias (Sotira). Visitation and fu-neral services were held at theTurner & Porter Neweduk-ErinMills Chapel.

n COTZIAS, BETTYRICHMOND, Va. – The Rich-mond Times-Dispatch reportedthat Betty Cotzias, 86, passedaway peacefully on September13 at Sunrise Assisted Living inRichmond. Mrs. Cotzias wasborn in Springfield, Illinois, butmoved with her family back totheir native country of Greecewhen she was five. Mrs. Cotziasgrew up in Greece, where sheworked for the Greek Under-ground Resistance during WorldWar II and was imprisoned fora short time. She escaped fromthe Nazi prison during a lapsein security on Hitler's birthdayand shortly after returned to theUnited States. In 1952, she mar-ried George Constantin Cotzias.During the 1950s, Mrs. Cotziasworked for the Greek Consulate,where she had diplomatic sta-tus. She is survived by her son,Constantin; her granddaugh-ters, Nikita and Zoe; and herbrother, James Ginos. Visitationand funeral services were heldat the Central Chapel of BennettFuneral Home.

n DARRAS, TOULACHICAGO, Il. – The Chicago Tri-bune reported the passing ofToula Darras, nee Diamon-dopoulos, beloved wife of SamF. Darras; loving mother of Dr.Frank Darras, Chris Darras andOlga Tzakis; proud grand-mother of Frank, Nick and AlexDarras and Sam Tzakis; dear sis-ter of Voula Chrisos and John

Diamondopoulos, Katy Grea-nias, Froso Antoniou and Geor-gia Diamondopoulos; sister-in-law of Kally Darras, Rena Darrasand Mary Ellen Brault; God-mother of John Kotsonis; auntand great-aunt of many. Visita-tion was at Smith-Corcoran Fu-neral Home and the funeral washeld September 23 at SS. Peter& Paul Church. Memorial dona-tions to Greek American Reha-bilitation & Care Centre, 220 N.First St. Wheeling, IL 60090.

n FABRICATORE, EUGENIASTAMFORD, Conn. – The Stam-ford Advocate reported that Eu-genia Fabricatore, 71, passedaway peacefully with her familyby her side on September 12 inher home. She was born onApril 23, 1939 in Athens,Greece. Eugenia is survived byher husband of 50 years, EgidioA. Fabricatore; her sons, AngeloP. and Gary M. Fabricatore; hersisters, Sophie Mace, MaryKakunes and Niki Karagiannis;her brother, Dimitri Karagiannis;and several nieces and nephews.She was predeceased by herparents, Pangiotis and TasiaKaragiannis and her brother,John Karagiannis. Eugenia willbe dearly missed by her lovingfamily and all who knew her.Funeral services were private.The Nicholas F. Cognetta Fu-neral Home & Crematory, 104Myrtle Ave., Stamford, CT06902 is in charge of arrange-ments. To leave online condo-lences, visit www.cognetta.com.

n KOPASAKIS, SOPHIACLEVELAND, Ohio - The PlainDealer reported that SophiaKopasakis, 82, passed awaypeacefully. She is survived byher beloved husband, Andreas;her children, George (Popi)Kopasakis, Kathy (Spiros) Pat-erakis and John (Lynn)Kopasakis; her grandchildren,Manolis, Sophia, Andreas, Yan-nis, Nicholas, Sophia, Kristinaand Avgero; her siblings, Paul(Pat) Kantos, Katina and Aspa-sia; and many nieces, nephews,aunts and uncles. Funeral ser-vices were held at the Annunci-ation Greek Orthodox Church.Visitation and a Trisagion prayerservice were held at the YurchFuneral Home.

n KOURAFAS, NICKFRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Beereported that Nick Kourafas, 88,passed away peacefully on Sep-tember 10. He was born inFresno on August 17, 1922. Hewas the youngest son of Greekimmigrants, Lena and TonyKourafas. He grew up in Fresnoand graduated from Fresno Techin 1941. In high school he ex-celled and lettered in track andwas all-city in basketball. Afterhigh school he briefly workedat Gottschalks until the warbroke out. He served three yearsin the United States CoastGuard, off the coast of Califor-nia. After the war, he went towork for Nabisco as a truck dri-ver for 38 years; he retired in1984. Along with his wife anddaughter they traveled theUnited States, Canada, Italy andGreece. He enjoyed gardening,gambling, playing the lottery,crossword puzzles, rooting forthe San Francisco Giants, the49ers and the Fresno State Bull-dogs. He enjoyed watchingM.A.S.H., John Wayne moviesand war movies. Many mayknow him from various estab-lishments in the Fresno area. Hewas preceded in death by hisbeloved wife of 35 years, Vera;his brothers, Tom and BillKourafas and his sister, GeorgiaKourafas Strusis. He is survivedby his only child, DeniseKourafas; his nieces, Dena Tri-antis, Elaine Tekelidis, MariaDortch, Dena Siskey, PennyPrice and Christine Robinson;his nephew, Louie Strusis andtheir families; his sister-in-lawand brother-in-law, Mary andBob Nichols; and brother-in-lawand sister-in-law Eligio andRene Filippi; and numerouscousins. Visitation and a Trisa-gion prayer service were held atWhitehurst, Sullivan, Burns &Blair Funeral Home. Funeralservices were held at the St.George Greek Orthodox Church.Remembrances may be made tothe St. George Greek OrthodoxChurch or to the donor's favoritecharity.

n KOUTANIS, DIONISIOSLAS VEGAS, NV – The Las VegasReview-Journal reported thatDionisios Kountanis, 70, passedaway peacefully at his homesurrounded by his loving familyon September 9. He was bornon September 13, 1940 inNymfasia, Greece. He immi-grated to the United States in1970; he resided in Las Vegas.He worked in the restaurant in-dustry until he retired in 2001.He was a loving husband, father,generous grandfather, a lovinguncle and brother. Dionisios issurvived by his beloved wife,Panagiota Kountanis; his son,Spyros Kountanis; his daughter,Christine (Jason) Walker; hisgranddaughters, VictoriaNounna Kountanis and NicoleMartinez; his brothers, Fotis,Kostas and Panos (Vicky) Koun-

tanis; his sisters, Antonia(Kostas), Theodora (Tassos),Maria (Nikos), Dina (Athana-sios) and Triantaffili (George);his niece, Dimitra (Panagiotis);his brothers-in-law, Dean De-mopoulos and Chris (Rosa) De-mopoulos; his sister-in-law, DinaKinney; his Godson, Grover Kin-ney; his nephew, George Kin-ney; and his niece and God-daughter, Christina Kinney.Visitation, a Trisagion prayerservice and funeral serviceswere all held at the St. JohnGreek Orthodox Church.

n LEWNES, GEORGEANNAPOLIS, MD - The Capitalreported that Judge George Pe-ter Lewnes, 86, passed awaypeacefully on September 12.Judge Lewnes was born on No-vember 21, 1923 in Brooklyn,New York to the late Peter andPauline Karambelas Lewnes. Mr.Lewnes served in the UnitedStates Army in 1942 and partic-ipated in the European Cam-paign with the 3rd Cavalry Re-connaissance Squadron underGeneral George Patton. He washonorably discharged in 1945.He attended New York Univer-sity, Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology, Brooklyn Collegeand Cornell University and ma-jored in civil engineering, ac-counting and law. He graduatedNew York Law School and re-ceived his LLB in 1955. Mr.Lewnes was then admitted be-fore the bar of the State of NewYork, the District of Columbia,US District Court for the Districtof Columbia and the U.S.Supreme Court. Between 1955and 1956, Mr. Lewnes was em-ployed by the U.S. Departmentof State as Special Investigatorin Athens, Greece. From 1956-1959 he was Attorney Advisorfor the United States Depart-ment of State, Passport Office,Fraud & Litigation branch. Hewas employed as Trial Attorneyin 1959 by the Federal PowerCommission and promoted toAssistant General Counsel in1970. Mr. Lewnes was nomi-nated in 1973 and again in 1974by the Federal Power Commis-sion for the Justice Tom C. ClarkAward for outstanding achieve-ments as a government attorney.In 1976 he was appointed Ad-ministrative Law Judge for Fed-eral Energy Regulatory Commis-sion and retired in 1996. He waspreceded in death by onebrother, Nick and one sister,Tula. Judge Lewnes is survivedby his beloved wife of 55 years,Gloria Rose Lewnes; his chil-dren, Peter, Mark, and ValerieKim. Visitation and funeral ser-vices were held at the St. Con-stantine and Helen GreekChurch with Father Kosmas Kar-avellas officiating. Arrange-ments by Donaldson FuneralHome & Crematory, PA., Oden-ton.

n MAKRIS, MARYALTANTA, Ga. – The AtlantaJournal-Constitution reportedthat Mary Evdokias Makris, 82,passed away peacefully on Sep-tember 13. She was born inNew York. Mary was presentedwith the Archangel MichaelAward, from the Metropolis ofthe Greek Orthodox Church inAtlanta, for outstanding servicein the community and thechurch. She was a member ofthe Philoptochos Society and afounding member of the SaintsRaphael, Nicholas and IreneGreek Orthodox Church. Shewas predeceased by her parents,George and Stella Evdokias; herhusband, Steven Makris in1995; and her brothers, Alexan-der Evdokias and Gabriel Dukas.She is survived by her lovingpartner, John Litsios; her chil-dren, Nicholas (Jennifer)Makris, Susan (Mark) Durfeeand Alexis (Robert) Sulyma; hersister, Grace Chihlas; her grand-children, Benjamin, Andrew,Ryan and Luke; her sister-in-law, Angie Dukas; and hernieces and nephews. Funeralservices were held at the Sts.Raphael, Nicholas and IreneGreek Orthodox Church. Visita-tion was held at the McDonaldand Son Funeral Home & Cre-matory. In lieu of flowers, do-nations may be made in Mary'sname to the Pancreatic CancerAction Network at: www.pan-can.org or at: 2141 RosecransAve., Ste. 7000, El Segundo, CA90245; to the Lustgarten Foun-dation (for Pancreatic Research)at: www.lustgarten.org or 1111Stewart Ave., Bethpage, NY11714, or to Sts. Raphael,Nicholas and Irene Greek Or-thodox Church at:www.stsrni.org or 3074Bethelview Rd., Cumming, GA30040. Condolences may be ex-pressed online at: www.mcdon-aldandson.com. Arrangementsby McDonald and Son FuneralHome & Crematory, 150Sawnee Drive, Cumming, GA30040 (770) 886-9899.

n NIKIAS, MANNYSARASOTA, Fl. - The Herald Tri-bune reported that MannyNikias, 45, passed away sud-denly on September 11. Visita-tion and a Trisagion prayer ser-vice were held at the ToaleBrothers Funeral Homes. Fu-

neral services were held at St.Barbara Greek OrthodoxChurch. He is survived by hisdaughter, Tiffany A.; his brother,George N.; and his mother, Ar-gyri Nikias.

n PARASHIS, PETERSAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – TheSan Francisco Chronicle re-ported that Peter GeorgeParashis, 95, passed awaypeacefully on September 11. Hewas loved by many late and sur-viving family members andfriends. Peter was born in SanFrancisco to the late George andConstantina Parashis. He is sur-vived by his loving daughter,Joyce (Tom) Triantos; his ador-ing sister, Martha Capinaris; hisgrandchildren, Bill (Elisia)Triantos, Marie (John) Campo,Peter (Tammy) Parashis,Michael (Stacey) Triantos, An-gela Triantos and SuzanneParashis; his adoring great-grandchildren, Justin, Jessica,Thomas, Matthew, Zoe andAlyssa Triantos and Ava, Julia,and Ella Parashis and AndreasRabbitt; his Godchildren, Gail(Michael) Kelechava, Tony(Joan) Anderson and JoannaCoulouris; his many dearnephews and nieces, George E.Parashis, Jay (Sandy) Parashis,Harry (Tish) Parashis, Connie(late Gary) McIntyre, George P.Parashis, Stephanie Parashis,Tina (Don) Mintz, Elizabeth(John) Fredrickson, AnnetteVassallo, and Stan Pappas; andhis cousins, Helen (Homer)Coreris. He was predeceased byhis son, George (Marion)Parashis and siblings, Ernest(Georgia), Phil (Sophie), andJames (Marie) Parashis. Peterloved to fish, golf and was anavid San Francisco Giants and49ers fan. He devoted his timeto his family and friends andwas a long-time servant of theLord at Holy Trinity Greek Or-thodox Church. Peter was in-volved in many clubs and asso-ciations throughout his greatlife, including the Native Sonsof the Golden West, The G.O.L.FClub (Greek Orthodox Links Fel-lowship), Yerba Buena AnglersClub, Seniors in Retirement andPan-Arcadian Society. A Trisa-gion prayer service and funeralservices were held at Holy Trin-ity Greek Orthodox Church. Inlieu of flowers, please send do-nations to Holy Trinity GreekOrthodox Church.

n POURIS, BARBARANEWARK, N.J. -The Star-Ledgerreported that BarbaraPagoulatos Pouris, 85, passedaway peacefully on September10. A viewing was held at Hig-gins and Bonner Echo Lake Fu-neral Home in New Jersey andfuneral services were held at theHoly Trinity Greek OrthodoxChurch. Barbara was born in Pi-raeus, Greece, and lived in Eliz-abeth and Clark before movingto New Mexico in 1977. Sheworked and supported the fam-ily fast food business, George'sDrive-In, located in Elizabeth formany years. After the sale ofGeorge’s Drive-In, she workedas a sales associate at Hahne'sin Westfield to continue to fulfillher desire to remain active withpeople. A large part of Barbara'slife was her gift of giving to all.She had a kind, gentle and gen-erous heart, living her life forher family as a loving wife,mother and grandmother. Thosewho knew Barbara will miss herhearty laugh, amazing cooking,her never-ending baking, hercontinued thoughtfulness andher unrelenting faith in God.She was an active member ofHoly Trinity Greek OrthodoxChurch in Westfield and later atCalvary Chapel in Rio Rancho.Barbara was predeceased by herhusband, George Pagoulatos in1966; her second husband, LouPouris in 1986, and her brother,Jerry. Barbara is survived by hersister, Helen; and her belovedsons, Tom (Barbara) Pagoulatos,Peter (Joanne) Pagoulatos andGeorge (Vivian) Pagoulatos; hergrandchildren, Kristi, Dannyand Stacy, Alexis and Amanda,and Alexander, Jason, andGeorge.

n TOURIS, MARIECOLUMBUS, Ohio – The Colum-bus Dispatch reported thatMarie Touris, 50, passed awaypeacefully on September 14.Marie was born in Youngstown,Ohio, daughter of Peggy Tourisand the late Dr. Thomas Touris.Marie graduated from Board-man High School, Class of 1978and then went onto attend both,the Ohio State University andYoungstown State University.Marie was the ‘rock’ of her en-tire family. She valued relation-ships and spending time withfamily and friends was some-

thing that she cherished. Mariehad a great sense of humor, wasvery caring and was also veryhonest and direct with people.She was an animal lover andvolunteered at the FranklinCounty Animal Shelter. She alsowas currently employed with Al-liance Data Systems. She en-joyed watching any sportingevent, especially the PittsburghSteelers, enjoyed traveling, par-ticularly her trip to Greece, aswell as gardening and the occa-sional family poker game. Sheis survived by her partner, LeeAnn Vogelsberger; her mother,Peggy Touris; her siblings, Re-nee Sudimack, John (Joyce),Jaimee, and Mark (Kyla) Touris;eight nieces and nephews; andmany other extended familymembers and dear friends. Fu-neral services were held at theAnnunciation Greek OrthodoxCathedral with Father MichaelKontos officiating. Visitationand a Trisagion prayer servicewere held at Schoedinger EastChapel. Contributions may bemade to the Franklin CountyAnimal Shelter. To share mem-ories or condolences, please visitwww.schoedinger.com.

n TSIGRIMANIS, STEFANOSNEW YORK, N.Y. - Stefanos Tsi-grimanis, 29, passed away in atragic bike accident in Brooklynon September 7. He was born

in Greece on November 28,1980. He was a member of aseminar at Columbia Universityand a valued member of thecommunity. Stefanos came toNew York City from Greece in2005 to study at the Departmentof English and Comparative Lit-erature at Columbia. Soon aftergraduation, he was awarded ascholarship to join the Ph.D pro-gram in Performance Studies atNYU, where he thrived andfound the ideal home for his var-ied creative talents. He alsofound Nicole, his soul mate.Since 2007, he led conversationclasses at the Program in Hel-lenic Studies at Columbia and hequickly established a lively andwarm rapport with his students.He was to accept full teachingresponsibility for Columbia’s be-ginners’ class in Modern GreekLanguage and Culture. Stefanoswas vital to this community inall senses of the word. He was amercurial guitarist, photogra-pher, avant-gardist, writer andpoet. A number of his closestfriends and collaborators com-memorated his life and times ata memorial that took place forhim on the Columbia campus.Funeral services were held at St.Paul’s Chapel. Contact GerryVisco at [email protected] further information or any in-quiries or visit: http://www.co-lumbia.edu/cu/earl/chapel.html

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of feuding. Biden praised Papan-dreou for the “excellent work heis doing in the handling of theeconomic crisis and, God will-ing, he will put his country onthe right path again.”

Speaking to reporters after-wards, Papandreou said his talkswith Biden covered a wide rangeof issues, such as the global eco-nomic crisis, the Middle East is-sue, the Cyprus problem as wellas the FYROM name issue. Thetwo leaders discussed the recentdecision by the InternationalCourt of Justice on Kosovo’s de-claration of independence andhow to move forward so that thepeople of Serbia and Kosovo areable to become fully a part of aEurope whole and free and atpeace. Biden and Papandreoualso discussed the situation inCyprus and expressed their fullsupport for the Cypriot-ledprocess, under the UN, toward asettlement that reunifies Cyprusas a bi-zonal and bi-communalfederation. Biden applauded ef-forts by Greece and Turkey tostrengthen their relations. Papan-dreou and Biden also discussedthe Middle East. The two leadersemphasized their support for thedirect talks between Israel andthe Palestinians, and the needfor both sides to continue theprocess until they reach anagreement on two states. TheVice President reiterated theneed for Iran to comply fully andunconditionally with UN Secu-rity Council resolutions relatedto its nuclear program.ECONOMIC CHALK TALKPapandreou had a series of

meetings in New York in a bid tobolster Greece’s battered imageabroad and drum up interest ininvestments that will bringmuch-needed liquidity into thedebt-ridden economy. In aspeech at the New York Stock Ex-change, Papandreou said hiscountry had taken “unprece-dented and difficult steps totackle the crisis” and was making“real progress in fulfilling itscommitments” to its interna-

tional creditors, including the EUand IMF, who have imposedharsh conditions on Greece in re-turn for the money, which in turnhave set off storms of strikes,protests and demonstrations, in-cluding the truckers assault onthe Parliament where they werepushed by back riot police. Unionofficials said their members willtake to the streets on October 7for the seventh general strike thisyear, but Papandreou said hishands are tied by the EU andIMF, although public workersfear more drastic measures arecoming and teachers have saidthey’ve heard their pay will becut further over the next coupleof years, as much as 40%. Thathas set off a run on early retire-ments under current, better pen-sion regulations, and there is talkamongst teachers of mass emi-gration to other countries withbetter pay and conditions. Pa-pandreou insisted that his ad-ministration was “on track” withits efforts to reduce a gapingbudget deficit and push throughlong-delayed reforms. He saidthe changes would create “newopportunities for investments intransport, tourism and the de-velopment of the green econ-omy.”

At the NYSE, Papandreou re-iterated that his policies are

working and “that gives us thestrength to carry on with thechanges necessary so that we willbe not only proud of our countrybut we will have the Greece andthe economy that we deserve.Here, at the NYSE, we had theopportunity to present the greatchanges we have made in recentmonths in Greece. We presented

our tough but successful coursein reducing the deficit, on theone hand, but also, on the otherhand, all the new opportunitiesarising for investments in ourcountry, for investments in trans-ports, tourism, green develop-ment and elsewhere,” the Greekpremier added. Papandreou alsosat at a lunch hosted by NYSE

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Duncan Niederauer, which wasattended by Wall Street officialsand senior executives of US fi-nancial and credit institutions.After the lunch Papandreou, ac-companied by Niederauer,signed the NYSE visitors’ bookwhile, in reply to press questions,stressed that Greece is emerging

stronger from the crisis andnoted that there was now a cli-mate of optimism not only forthe Greek but also the Europeaneconomy.

He said Greece is on target tomeet its deficit cutting goals thisyear, reducing the deficit thatstood at 13.7% deficit by morethan 40% with the aim of return-ing to international markets.

He noted the country is “tak-ing the pain of reform” and“making real progress.” Headded too: “Europe will comeout stronger.” While the countryis making “major structuralchanges,” he said there are noplans to issue a global bond soonand he also indicated that hisgovernment is focused ongrowth policies, including busi-ness-friendly legislation and fast-tracking big investments whileciting interest from the UnitedArab Emirates, Russia and China.“Greece has been undervalued,”he added. He finally said Greecewould create 250,000 jobs in thegreen energy sector, and toutedGreece’s potential for developingwind energy in particular. Papan-dreou also met with Iranian Pres-ident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad onthe sidelines of the UN’s GeneralAssembly and talked to himabout Iran playing a stabilizingrole in the Middle East.

Papandreou, in the U.S., Touts His Painful Plans To Save Greece

Vice President Joe Biden (R) meets with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in the Roo-sevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Sept. 21, 2010.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, (C,) gets a tour of the trading floor at the New YorkStock Exchange Sept. 20, 2010, in New York City.

Protesters confront riot police outside the Greek Parliament in Athens, Sept. 21, 2010, as aflare burns in the background during a protest by truck drivers who oppose government plansto reform their sector and abolish strict licensing rules. Some 2,500 truckers marched andstayed the night outside.

By Sylvia KlimakiTNH Staff Writer

ATHENS - In his career as ajournalist, Stelios Kouloglou hasshown an old-school propensitynot just to get the facts straightand the story right, but to getthe story behind the story, evenat the cost of alienating peoplewho didn’t want it to come out.He was the producer of Re-portage Without Borders, ahighly regarded current affairsand documentary weekly seriesbroadcast by the Greek NationalTelevision ERT. The show wasnominated best informative pro-gram of Greek television for fourconsecutive years (1998 to2001) and Kouloglou, who wasnominated for the award ofJournalist of the Year in 2006and 2007 also worked as a spe-cial envoy in the former Yu-goslavia and a correspondent inParis and Moscow. In 2008, Re-portage Without Borders endedabruptly when he quit after ERTrefused to air his documentarycalled The Generation of 700Euro, describing the life ofyoung Greeks and workers mak-ing that limited amount ofmoney a month, creating a newgeneration of poor. In an inter-view with The National Herald,he said he left because he “hadbeen asked not to air this par-ticular show or the networkwould not renew (his) contractfor the coming season.”Kouloglou didn’t like the board’sdecision and told them so. Hesaid he thought it was his “dutyto show the Greek nation thehuge social problem that existsin our country - that of losing

the most gifted young peoplewho seek a better future abroaddue to the low domestic wages.”Kouloglou took the decision “notto air the show and leave theTV network.”

This year, the current Minis-ter of Tourism and Culture, Pav-los Geroulanos, asked Kouloglouto join the Board of Directors ofERT, the station that effectivelyforced him off the air, removingone of the few quality series onother Greek television stations,filled mostly with dreadfulcomedies, reality shows andcelebrity news. Now, Kouloglouquit again - this time only fromthe board - so he could resumehis award-winning show, Re-portage Without Borders, whichwill pick up again in November.He’s already been in the UnitedStates doing some of his famedlegwork and pesky questioning,the serious, sober manner thatmakes him stand out in a timeof celebrity so-called journalistswho are just glorified newsread-ers with no real background injournalism. He said his intentionwhen he first left ERT was toshow “younger generations ofGreek journalists that theyshould oppose when beingasked to do things against theirmorality.” He added: “Saying‘no’ does not mean that your ca-reer will end.” He said he’s de-lighted by the turn of eventsthat brought him back on theair. “Censorship did not prevail,”he said. But he said he’s not op-timistic about the state or qual-ity of Greek TV or media, partlybecause the economic crisis hasmade stations and newspaperspull in their spending. It’w

worse on TV, he said, becausethe economic crisis demands “Astrong reduction on the budgetshow that leads to cheaper pro-ductions with lower quality.” Hesaid he would show that hisshow could prove you don’tneed big budgets, just a big de-sire, to produce good TV.“Where there is a will there is away to produce good quality,low-budget shows,” he said.

CITIZEN JOURNALISTS Another idea the maverick

producer has successfully cre-ated is TV Without Borders - anonline project he “had in mindfor a long time.” After he lostjob in 2008, he had time to fo-cus on the idea. His vision was

to create an axis of independentjournalism that could competeon an international level withanalogous websites. Kouloglou’sstrong belief, he said, is that“one of the main culprits for thischaos in Greece is the media.”So Kouloglou is proud of havingcreated an interactive onlinecommunity that even “went onstrike one day as a form ofprotest against an article,” thathe wrote. “This is a true democ-ratic agora,” he said, wherereaders can post their comments-TVWB staff cuts only offensivemessages. The show has man-aged so far to project the posi-tive aspects of the Internet, al-though Kouloglou points out

that citizens’ journalism can onlybe conducted within certain lim-its; modern societies need jour-nalists to do legwork investiga-tive journalism. Truth huntingcannot and should not be con-ducted by citizens, since “thereis no substitute to that,” he said.Many times, he said, online com-mentators use the web’sanonymity in order to “ virtuallyattack” others who merely callinto question their arguments.Kouloglou translated that as “anonline form of bullying” since“attacking people who simplyhave a different opinion thanyour own, goes against the veryfoundations of democratic soci-eties.” After success in the lastcouple of years TV Without Bor-ders is now offering an onlinemonthly subscription for as lowas the cost of a Greek coffee.

A REAL HIT Kouloglou is also the director

of several documentaries includ-ing the award winning Commu-nism: the Great Utopia of the20th Century, and Apology ofan Economic Hit Man, whichtells the story of the best sellingauthor John Perkins, based onhis book of the same name. Ac-cording to Perkins’ narration, hewas a prominent member of thetop-secret team of “economic hitmen”, who used all sorts offraudulent and illegal methods(rigged elections, payoffs, mili-tary coups) to establish Ameri-can interests in impoverished,third world countries. Based onrare material, it is a film noirwith all the relevant elements:“a sexy femme fatale, corruptionand assassinations, no goodguys, secret meetings of the em-

pire’s jackals in rooms full ofsmoke” along with the voice-over narration of Perkins addsan aroma of mystery.

Kouloglou first read aboutPerkins at Democracy Now! -anAmerican TV/radio program-and “thought his story was grip-ping.” After having establisheda good relationship with the au-thor, Kouloglou suggestedPerkins should go to Ecuadorand ask for an apology from thepeople there.

After a long internal strugglebetween his guilt and the fearof telling the truth, Perkins metthe daughter of an assassinatedpresident and spoke out in frontof an angry Latin-American au-dience. Kouloglou said he neverexpected this to become “sucha major political event forEcuador.” “But the plotline andthe final sequences of the film,when the protagonist apologizesin front of the Ecuadorian peo-ple for his actions, give way tooptimism: in a world full of cyn-icism and wars, there is alwaysroom for redemption and hope,”Kouloglou wrote on the movie’swebsite. As for the political di-mensions of the film Kouloglousaid he thinks, “We should con-stantly push governmentsworldwide for better gover-nance, no matter how well theyperform.” For this coming sea-son Kouloglou said he is lookingforward to resuming his dutiesas the director and producer ofReporters Without Borders: “Mystory is a good paradigm that inGreece things can change,” hesaid, reiterating that “Saying‘no’ does not mean your careerwill end.” He proved it.

Continued from page 1

Stelios Kouloglou: A Reporter Without Borders - But With Ethics

Journalist Stelios Kouloglou will be back on Greek NationalTelevision this November with his esteemed documentaries.

EUROkINISSI

George Papandreou: WorldTraveler, Next UN Leader?TNH Staff

If Prime Minister George Papandreou saves Greece,will he be given a chance to save the whole world?Taking time out from his duties related to the openingsession of the UN General Assembly and meetings de-signed to promote investment in Greece, Papandreoumet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadon September 20. In addition to strengtheningGreece’s traditionallly good bilateral relations withIran, a state now seen by much of the west as a pariahnation seeking to obtain nuclear weapons, the meet-ings might also have a wider diplomatic context.Coinidentally, there were reports in the Greek media

prior to his departure for New York that Papandreouwas interested in being a candidate for U.N. SecretaryGeneral at the expiration next year of the term of BanKi-Moon. The response of a government spokesmanto questions about it only fueled sepcualation. Ratherthan denying the rumors categorically, Girgios Petalotissaid: “We have so much work to do as a governmentthat all this feverish reporting and scenario analysisreally does not help the country.”

Former U.S. Ambassador and TNH columnistPatrick Theros largely dismissed the reports, asking“Who would consider pulling out a sitting Prime Min-ister in the middle of a grave national crisis? In anothertime, it would make sense. Greece is popular in theThird World and Papandreou would be an improve-ment over Ban Ki-Moon and other recent SecretariesGeneral, but markets could react badly – they wouldsee him as bailing on Greece. It would be horrific formarket perceptions of Greece.”

Regarding the meeting with Iran, Dr. Andre Geroly-

matos of Simon Fraser University and also a TNHcolumnist suggested that the Ahmadinejad meeting isjust what it seemed to be. “Papandreou is trying toappear even-handed to the Moslem world after theopening to Israel,” said Gerolymatos, but he also said,“I believe he is genuinely trying to make a effort toget a peaceful resolution to the nuclear power dispute.Sometimes small countries can play a valuable diplo-matic role because they don’t carry the baggage oflarger states,” again bringing to mind the UN specula-tion.

Regarding the meeting’s effect on Greece’s ties withthe U.S, he said no harm was done there, adding thatit might have been an opportunity to pass a messagefrom Iran to the U.S. Theros’ take was that the meetingwould elicit typical knee-jerk negative reactions in theU.S. but said was good for U.S. foreign policy. He alsonoted that Papandreou and previous Greek prime min-ister Costas Karamanlis worked to have reasonablygood relations with Iran.

AP PHOTO/EVI ZOUPANOU

AP PHOTO/SUSAN wALSH AP PHOTO/DAVID GOLDmAN

GREECE THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010 9

Page 10: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

EDITORIALS LETTERS10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010

Take A Stand AgainstGreece’s Corrupt Elite

To the Editor:Michael Lewis, Journalist of

Vanity Fair Magazine paints agrim picture of Greece today, asociety in “financial and moralcollapse”. As a proud GreekAmerican, I am angry at the cor-rupt Greek politicians who arenot being prosecuted and I havepity for the plight of the simpleGreek people. Furthermore, Iwant to stress that there are an-other ten million people ofGreek extraction who live out-side Greece with a remarkablereputation of operating in ameritorious fashion based on aheroic history, a humanistic re-ligion, strong family ties, and fi-nancial prudence. If these peo-ple organize effectively, they canhelp Greece rise from the abyss.

Spyros G.E. Mezitis, MD, PhD

President, Federation ofHellenic Medical Societies of

North AmericaNew York City

Answering the UnasweredQuestionsTo the Editor:

I very much appreciate the

National Herald’s editorial, Un-answered Questions,” Septem-ber 4-10, 2010. Bravo for chal-lenging the conflation ofre-building St. Nicholas with theill-founded dispute about the Is-lamic Community Center, point-ing out the unseemly participa-tion of our clergy in politicalpress conferences, and calling

for transparency in the Archdio-cese’ dealings with the Port Au-thority and other governmentagencies. Your principled standfavoring construction of the Is-lamic Center is commendable.Were there really no written of-fers, counter-offers, notes, orminutes of meetings? Is theArchdiocese leadership that

naive and unprofessional? Ab-sent transparency, good recordkeeping, and accountability,what basis is there for any com-plaint? Are we to be left withan uncomfortable sense that theArchdiocese was seeking to gainout of the 9/11 tragedy?

Jason C. MavrovitisSonoma, Calif.

Can We Please Have One Truth on Ground Zero?

We are confused: is our Archdiocese engaged in “sensitive ne-gotiations” with the Port Authority over the re-building of SaintNicholas or not? For the past month we have been told, by amongothers the office of Archbishop Demetrios, that the reason he couldnot comment on Saint Nicholas was because sensitive negotiationswere under way which could be jeopardized by his comments. Fairenough.

This week, however, Father Mark Arey of the Archdiocese - inan opinion piece in the Daily News, here in New York - states cat-egorically that no negotiations are taking place.

“There have been no further negotiations with the PA in wellover a year” he writes. What are we supposed to make of this?

Father Arey, the Ecumenical officer of the Archdiocese, makessome other interesting points: “The Port Authority,” he writes, “has virtually seized the property of the St. Nicholas Greek OrthodoxChurch at 155 Cedar Street and has refused to make good on itspromise to help rebuild the historic church that was destroyedthere on 9/11 … in March 2009, the newest Port Authority admin-istration sent the archdiocese a curt e-mail that stated, ‘We are ter-minating negotiations and will be proceeding with an alternativeapproach’ … The PA reneged on its agreement to rebuild the churchat a nearby location, 130 Liberty St., and at the same time -without the church's permission or even informing it - excavatedthe original site, rendering it unusable …. We have engaged inhonest, forthright negotiations with the Port Authority. We wouldprefer to resolve this issue by sitting back down at the table withthe PA. At the same time, the Archdiocese has no choice at thispoint other than to appeal to the public, to our civic leaders and tothe elected officials of New York and New Jersey — and, if necessaryand with regret, to proceed with other avenues afforded to usunder our system of government...”

God help us. While the site at Ground Zero is fast being devel-oped we are still at the point of threatening to “proceed withother avenues afforded to us under our system of government.”Now, we all know how long litigation usually takes.

Meanwhile, Father Arey makes no mention of the $60 millionthe Port Authority – as was stated in its press release - had offeredto the Archdiocese, but which was turned down. Is this true? If itis true, why was it turned down? Is $60 million not enough to re-build a church? The grandiose plans that perhaps the Archdioceseshad in mind, while admirable, might not be appropriate in today’sfinancial environment.

Why not build a sensible church, we might ask, as sensible asthe $60 million will allow, enshrined with a memorial to the victimsof 9/11 that honors their memory in a fitting way, and turn it overto its owners, the community of Saint Nicholas? Father Arey,through his article in the Daily News, made an “appeal to thepublic” to pressure the PA to return to the negotiation table. Onewonders if he would not get more of a response by appealing tothose who care about Saint Nicholas the most, the readers of TheNational Herald, the Greek American community.

In any event, for any appeal to be effective, the Archdiocesewill have to:

1. Come out and explain why the negotiations failed 2. Understand that they have to work within the system rather

than trying to circumvent it3.Give a full accounting of the money raised, who contributed,

and who is in charge of itOtherwise, even if The New York Times were to print Father

Arey’s article, it would not make a bit of a difference.

Getting Serious about CyprusIt is well established that the Archbishop of Cyprus does not

mince his words. In his exclusive interview with The National Her-ald, however, he stated views which are usually whispered, notspoken out loud in public.

We should point out that the Church of Cyprus is a powerfulforce, and we remind you that the most important leader since theindependence of Cyprus from the British was Archbishop Makariosof blessed memory. The most shocking statement of His Beatitude,Archbishop Chrysostomos, is his assertion that unless a solution isfound with the Turkish Cypriots, then a solution will be imposedwhich will lead “Cyprus to become Turkish.”

It is a frightful notion and one, which possibly is being expressedas warning, or a wake up call to the Greek Cypriots first, and to usall that “more mistakes means Cyprus will become Turkish.”

In that respect His Beatitude is playing a very useful role. Pollsshow that many Cypriots in Cyprus have become rich and compla-cent, content to accept a solution that “safeguards” their bordersand lets the Turkish Cypriots go their merry way.

The problem with this view is that Cyprus is too small to ac-commodate two states, as Chrysostomos stated, and furthermorethe growth rate of the population in the occupied north, in additionto the importing of settlers from Turkey is such that before toolong there will be too many of them to be accommodated, andthey will start pressuring the Greeks for more space. That is why alasting solution has to be found now, one based on the historicfacts of the case, that is this a pure and simple case of invasion andoccupation that has no basis in today’s world and which GreekCypriots, indeed all Hellenes and all sensible and decent people,will not accept.

P.S. The New Yorker magazine in its July 26th issue carried adevastating indictment against Cyprus for the way it “slaughters”ampelopoulia, songbirds. “I was worried, the author writes, thatwe might not see any action but the first orchard we walked into,was full of lime sticks: straight switches about thirty inches long,that are coated with the glue gum of the Syrian plum and deployedartfully to provide inviting perches, in the branches of low trees …all the sticks had feathers on them. In a lemon tree we found amale collared flycatcher hanging upside down like a piece of animalfruit” (they show an awful looking picture of it) and so it goes on,page after page - all 12 of them.

There are also condemnations of Malta and Italy, but the articlespends most of the space on Cyprus. These birds might be a delicacyfor some Cypriots, but it is unlawful to kill them in Europe, andCyprus needs to do something about it so they will not lose thegoodwill and support of an important and active part of the world’spopulation.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COMMENTARY

By Armodios N.Papagianakis

Greece Will and Should De-fault. Now that Greece has re-ceived the latest loan install-ment from the recentIMF/EU/ECB bailout packageand the Troika’s “stamp of ap-proval,” global capital marketshave seemingly breathed a fi-nancial sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, that “sigh”will only act to further inflatean already bloated Greek debtballoon. The latest loan install-ment is exactly as it reads - anadditional loan at slightly betterthan market interest rates thatwill allow the largest holders ofGreek bonds/debt (mostly largeEuropean banks) to receive theirprincipal and interest paymentsin full but ultimately increaseGreece’s debt load from an al-ready unmanageable 115% ofGross Domestic Product to anestimated 150% to 180% ofGDP by 2013 - which by thenwill require additional funding.The theory expounded by thebureaucratic philosophers inAthens and Brussels, is that theIMF/EU mandated reforms willprovide enough growth and sta-bility for Greece to return to the

global capital markets and raisenew money on its own. IfGreece could not borrow fromthe capital markets on afford-able terms this year, when its

debt ratio was only 115% andits debt was at 270 billion Euros,why on earth would the worldwant to lend it money in 2014with a debt ratio of somewherebetween an estimated 150%and 180% and its debt near anunsightly 350 billion Euros? Noneed to consult the Oracle ofDelphi, the answer is painfullyobvious.

The Greek government hasalready taken drastic measuresto improve its economic plight,as Greek citizens have enduredthe ignominy of government im-posed austerity programs (someof which were arguably longoverdue,) including reducedsalaries and pensions, forced re-tirements and/or increased re-tirement age, steep tax increasesand even rumored “Islands ForSale” (all of which will in-

evitably lead to further strikes,riots, gas shortages etc.) DespiteFinance Minister Papaconstan-tinou’s vapid threats to specula-tors who would lose their shirtsbetting against Greece andPrime Minister Papandreou’shollow cries of defiance regard-ing any potential default, Greecewill, barring an economic mira-cle, very likely default - andfrankly, the sooner the better.

A default would not only al-low Greece to immediately re-duce its onerous debt load bynegotiating a formal restructur-ing with its creditors who failedto properly assess the inherentrisk of investing in Greek sover-eign bonds, but perhaps evenmore importantly, it will providethe necessary financial breath-ing room to allow the Greekgovernment to implement itseconomic policies with a moremeasured approach as opposedto hurriedly bludgeoning Greekcitizens with a one-size fits-alltax hammer.

In fact, restructuring its debtwould allow taxes to be low-ered, not raised, as did theshortsighted Papandreou gov-ernment, which now finds itselfdesperately chasing wealthyseafaring Greeks from marina to

marina for lifestyle tax evasionas revenues are already fallingbehind budget projections.

Higher taxes combined withexasperating and mind-numb-ing bureaucratic red tape ishardly the type of economic en-vironment that will spur invest-ment and attract foreign or do-mestic capital to Greece.Investment capital flows towhere it is treated best. It’s nosurprise to see nations/statessmaller than Greece, such asSwitzerland, Singapore andHong Kong with low tax rates,minimal bureaucratic red tapeand, (incredibly) almost no nat-ural resources, are among themost prosperous economies inthe world on a per capita basis.Instead of empty nationalisticrhetoric, Greece requires aggres-sive market-oriented economicreforms combined with a signif-icantly smaller debt load to pro-vide a clean monetary and fiscalslate; Greece will then be ableto control its economic sover-eignty while growing to pros-perity.

Armodios N. Papagianakis isManaging Director of DynamisCapital Management inMineola, N.Y.

Greece Should Default And Restructure Its Debt Now

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Greece will, barring an economicmiracle, very likelydefault

ΛΟΓΟΣ

OPA! The sun was shiningand the sea appeared to be moreblue than ever in Rethymno,Crete, Greece, on Wednesday,September 15th, a very specialand much anticipated day formyself and my spouse, Elaine.Over several months we hadbeen making arrangements withour close friends, family mem-bers, and other partners inRethymno to host the very firstsecular celebration, a kind ofName Day, of Greece’s (andGreek) contributions to theworld. To be known as “OPA!Day,” the 15th of September wasproposed as the date for such acelebration - one that we envi-sioned would take place eachyear in as many locations as pos-sible around the world. Becausewe felt strongly that it was nec-essary and obviously most ap-propriate for the very first OPA!Day to be held in Greece, andbecause we wanted to launchthe idea in 2010 in a practicalway that could be shared andexpanded well into the future,we proposed Rethymno, Crete,as the initial site and worldwideepicenter for OPA! Day. WhyCrete, you ask? Well besides theBig Island’s mythological, his-torical, political, and culturalsignificance, from the early Mi-noan period to the present day,Crete, as regular readers of thiscolumn know, is where the Pat-takos family is deeply, strongly,and proudly rooted--both in itssoil and soul - beginning inSfakia. For example, in the 18thCentury, Manousos Pattakosserved as second-in-commandto the famous rebel leader,Daskalogiannis and assumedcommand to fight against Ot-toman rule after Daskalogian-nis’s brutal execution on June17, 1771.

Another member of the Pat-takos family, my great-greatgrandfather, Apostolos Pattakos,helped to lead the quest for anindependent Crete in the 19thCentury and, among other

things, served as amember of the firstNational Assembly.Over many years,the “μεγάλη” Pat-takos familybranched out acrossCrete, first in theA m a r iValley/Rethymno,followed by otherparts of Greece andeventually the Dias-pora. So you cansee that it was nota difficult decisionfor us to settle onCrete, and specifi-cally Rethymno, as the site ofthe very first OPA! Day celebra-tion in Greece! And we were notdisappointed at any time, eitherduring the planning stage or onthe Day itself! For OPA! Day2010, we were blessed with alocal partner in Rethymno, theAegean Pearl Hotel, who be-lieved in the idea from the startand whose leadership and staffdemonstrated their commitmentto the OPA! Day mission in aDaskalogiannis-like spirit. To besure, Elaine and I could nothave had a better partner!

On the Day of the specialevent, the Aegean Pearl Hoteltruly became OPA! Day Central.Besides beautiful decorationsthat included plentiful blue &white ballons, flowers, and thelike, the hotel staff prepared anincredible array of traditionalGreek/Cretan mezes, as well asdrinks that included newly-in-vented OPA! Day cocktails (i.e.,blue ouzo, blue raki, and evenblue-colored water) made spe-cial for the occasion. There wasalso an OPA! Day cake bakedand appropriately iced to markthe birthday of what hopefullywill become a worldwide phe-nomenon, beginning in 2011, inrecognition of all things Greek.

On September 15, 2010, thatis, OPA! Day, I am very proudand honored to report that wewelcomed over 400 people from

across Greece andCrete, and fromaround the worldto be a part of his-tory in the making.After introductoryremarks by Mr. Eu-genios Fragiadakis,who led the incred-ible Aegean Pearlteam and whoseintegrity is truly ex-traordinary, Elaineand I introducedand briefly ex-plained the ratio-nale behind and vi-sion for OPA! Day.

Then the Mayor ofRethymno, Mr. George Mari-nakis, shared some very inspi-rational thoughts about the sig-nificance of this idea and itsimplications for Rethymno, forCrete, for Greece, and for theworld. The fact that the Mayorwas accompanied by Ms. PepiBirliraki-Marnalaki, who servesas Vice-Mayor and Councillor

with responsibility for Cultureand Tourism, shows further thathis remarks were authentic andthat he meant what he said. TheMayor’s presentation andproclamation of OPA! Day inRethymno was followed by theofficial cutting of the OPA! Daycake, enthusiastic and engaginginteractions among the many in-ternational attendees, presen-ters, and local dignitaries, andtraditional music and dancingin costume that, as always, ulti-mately recruits and seeks to in-volve everyone in attendance!

The OPA! Day event also waswell covered and reported bythe local media. In addition toarticles in the Rethymno-areanewspapers, Elaine and I wereinterviewed by three television

channels, each of which coveredOPA! Day extensively which,once again, demonstrated thecommitment to this emergingconcept if for no other reasonthan to “re-brand” Greece in apositive, meaningful light. Ourfirst OPA! Day experience inRethymno already provided ev-idence that such a re-brandingopportunity not only exists butis within reach for Greece. Sincethe event was attended by somany international representa-tives, across Europe and fromother parts of the world, theprognosis looks good whenviewed through the eyes ofthese representatives. In this re-gard, people from other coun-tries genuinely would like to seeGreece thrive, not simply sur-vive the current economic crisis.

With the worldwide mega-trend of health & wellness ex-panding its reach every day,Greece holds a unique and en-viable position to leverage itsnatural (e.g., environmental,people, cultural) assets andachieve a win-win-win scenarioas more and more people seekincreased happiness, well-beingin mind, body and spirit, and adeeper sense of meaning andpurpose in their lives. As I’veespoused many times before inthis column, Greece’s Second“Golden Age” is coming. Thecelebration of OPA! Day inRethymno, it is our hope and in-tention, will be just a seed thatcan be planted, cultivated, andharvested around the world inthe years to come.

Dr. Pattakos, author ofPrisoners of Our Thoughts, isco-founder of a new businessinitiative on how to live ahappy, healthy, meaningful lifeinspired by and based on Greekculture. Readers may contacthim with questions, comments,and/or suggestions for topicsat: [email protected] orvisit his web site: www.theop-away.com.

OPA! A New Day is Born! Bringing Greek Meaning

by Dr. ALEXPATTAKOS

Special to The National Herald

"A re-brandingopportunity not onlyexists but is within reachfor Greece”

Page 11: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010 11

Even Bill Clinton had to facethe music and testify about hisAnimal House lifestyle in theWhite House, a wonderfulsideshow watching him squirmand try to explain what is is af-ter desecrating the Oval Officewith high school sophomoreshenanigans, chasing youngwomen like Groucho Marx inheat, making him the most dis-appointing U.S. President, al-most sheerly on squanderedtalent and wasted potential.That he got off, so to speak,was expected because no onesaid life is fair and the rich andpowerful almost always getaway with it, but at least hewas charged, impeached, andimpugned, none of which puta dent in him.

In Greece, they are un-touchable and, in the words offormer Louisiana Gov. EdwinEdwards, who knew how poli-tics is played (how could henot, coming from the statewhere Huey “The Kingfish”Long showed how successful arapscallion can be) a Greekpolitician couldn’t even becharged with being in bed witha live boy and a dead girl.

Greek politicians know howto protect themselves, startingwith sovereign immunity fromprosecution while they’re in of-fice, a legal tactic designed toforestall frivolous accusationsthat would thwart them fromdoing their jobs, but Greeklawmakers use it like a forcefield to prevent anybody fromgoing after them for anything.This extends even to formerprime minister Costas Kara-

manlis, first elected in 2004 ona platform that included “zerotolerance” toward corruption,only until it was found out thatmeant his New Democracycenter-right party officialscould put a big number in frontof a lot of zeros and rake incorrupt cash hand over fistwithout being charged withanything, and none of themhave yet.

There’s no evidence Kara-manlis did anything wrong orimproper, which is all the morereason you’d expect him tocome out swinging and defendhis honor against charges thatare either scurrilous or accu-rate, neither of which will everbe known because this beingGreece, we will never knowwhether Katerina Peleki - wifeof Karamanlis’ former Mer-chant Marine Minister, GiorgosVoulgarakis, whose tenure in-cluded enough scandals to sinkan aircraft carrier – was a liardefending herself and her hus-band or telling the truth whenshe said Karamanlis himself or-dered approval of the Vatopediland swap deal with Mt. Athosmonks.

That scandal brought downhis government and inflamedsociety, and was the center-piece of a recent Vanity Fair ar-ticle, which essentially saidmost Greeks were crooks, nota word you want next to yourname if you were prime minis-ter.

In a deposition, Peleki, notthe kind of person you’d wantas a character witness becauseshe was knee deep in Vatopedi

herself as a notary -although she deniedmaking any money- said there was a“central political de-cision” behind thedeal, alleging that itcame from Kara-manlis’ office, impli-cating him and hisaides. Somebody’sgot some ‘splainingto do.

I don’t knowabout you but ifsomeone wrongfullyaccused me of hav-ing even a tangen-tial role in a scandal which en-riched monks, destroyed acountry and nearly broughtdown the European economy,you’d have to tie me down tokeep me from their throats.

Instead, Karamanlis, whoslinked from office nearly ayear ago after five scandal-rid-den years in office which justabout ruined his reputation asan honest man who toleratedthe crooks around him, isincognito and deeper in hidingthan someone in the WitnessProtection Program and if thiskeeps up we’re going to needCSI or the Cold Case cops tofind him.

You would have thoughthe’d have come forward a longtime ago to defend himselfagainst charges from the Euro-pean Union that said his Ad-ministration cooked the booksand lied about the state of theGreek economy so treacher-ously it has put millions ofGreek lives teetering on the

brink, but not aword, nada,nothing, tipota.If that didn’tbring him outswinging, you’dhave thoughtPeleki’s stingingwords would.

Instead, he’shiding behindpress releases,apparently un-caring that itwill sully thefamily name, hislegacy and placein history, which

now threaten to be a footnotein Wikipedia (*Costas Kara-manlis, served two terms asGreek Prime Minister, 2004-09,leaving office in disgrace afterhis government had so manyscandals a Cray supercomputerand Chinese abacus championcouldn’t keep count).

Peleki’s testimony to a par-liamentary committee, panelseffective as a screen door on asubmarine because they arepatently partisan devices toprotect their party, led to callsfor Karamanlis to show up anddefend himself.

There’s precedent for ahead of state to do so, such asClinton’s prevarication tapdance to a grand jury that gavemen everywhere an excuse tocheat and say they were justfollowing the strict ClintonianRules.

Karamanlis left his party,like his people, twisting in thewind to defend him, as feebleas it was.

“A former prime ministerdecides for himself the timeand circumstances that areright for him to talk,” said NewDemocracy spokesman PanosPanayiotopoulos. Really? Inmost civilized countries, that’sleft up to the justice systemand not the whim of a formerleader, unless his name isStalin. As the saying goes, ifyou ain’t nothing to hide, whyare you hiding?

The Vatopedi deal was soonerous it tainted the name ofGreece back to the Battle ofMarathon and cost taxpayersan alleged $130 million atleast, the price for selling youronce good name. Peleki saidshe was surprised nobody fromNew Democracy wanted to tes-tify because she said the landswap wasn’t criminal so theydidn’t have to worry about be-ing prosecuted. If they were,they’d just find some way toget out of it anyway.

Even George Karatzaferis,the near-shameless leader ofthe far-right extremist PopularOrthodox Rally LAOS party,which would prefer to have im-migrants put on boats and setadrift at sea, called on Kara-manlis to face the music al-though “not as a defendant butas a key witness,” becauseKaratzaferis knows one day it’sthe likes of him who could beon the other end of a subpoena(scratch that, Greek politicalleaders testify only voluntarilyand so far none have.)

If he doesn’t want to defendhimself, maybe Karamanlis cantry to salvage the detritus of

his party, now in the hands ofAntonis Samaras, who’s got noarguments left to do it and wasforced to attack the SocialistPASOK party of Prime MinisterGeorge Papandreou with thelimp line, “The Socialist gov-ernment has told several lies,”not exactly the specter youwant to raise when your partybuilt its platform on lyingthrough its teeth.

The sad part is that Kara-manlis is better than this, andfor reasons only the monks onMt. Athos probably will everknow, didn’t care that he wassurrounded by scoundrels.Here’s the chances he will tes-tify: 0, as in zero tolerance forcorruption, which is what hesaid he had once upon a time.If a man has honor and de-cency, he has to know they’reworth defending, even if itrisks going before a parliamen-tary committee, which wantsto put on a circus.

Just be the circus leader andmake them jump through thehoops instead. Checking thecurricula at the Fletcher Schoolof Law and Diplomacy at TuftsUniversity near Boston, wherehe did postgraduate studies,there was nothing showing po-litical cowardice was a goodtactic, even for a diplomat, soit sure isn’t for a former primeminister who, in Greece we aretold decides for himself thetime and circumstances thatare right for him to talk.

How about now, beforeyour name means zero too?

[email protected]

No More Hide-and-Seek, Mr. Karamanlis, Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You AreLETTER FROM ATHENS

by ANDYDABILIS

Special to The National Herald

With less than twomonths remaininguntil the Novemberelections, the Democ-rats are desperatelytrying to hold on topower in both housesof Congress, theirmomentum fadingfast as the nationcontinues to flail ina jobless economicrecovery that threat-ens to turn into phasetwo of the proverbialdouble-dip recession.Republicans are crit-icizing the Democratsfor running up the deficit, ignoringIran’s nuclear ambitions, idlystanding by as the economy sput-ters along, and prematurely takingcredit for victory in Iraq. Today’sDemocrats are simply borrowinga page from their Republican pre-decessors, who were ousted in2006. It is no surprise, then,that the latest attempt at politicalexploitation is a pending con-struction project known as Park51, slated to be built in lowerManhattan, that has informallybeen referred to as the GroundZero Mosque. Depending onwhom you believe, it is eithergoing to be a wonderful commu-nity center that, in the true spiritof America, will bring warringreligious zealots together in peace,or it will be a monument cele-brating radical Islam’s violent vic-tory over freedom. The followingFrequently Asked Questions(FAQ’s) will help shed light onthis controversy and to debunksome of the myths about potentialthreats that are perpetuated by“information terrorists.”

Is the structure really going tobe built on Ground Zero, wherethe Twin Towers stood?

-No. It will not be built onany part of the former WorldTrade Center complex, now re-ferred to as Ground Zero. Its in-tended site is the former locationof the Burlington Coat Factory, acouple of blocks away.

Yeah, I read that in the Huff-ington Post, which also said thatit’s not really going to be a mosqueat all. Is that right?

-Well, not exactly. The Huff-ington Post’s argument that Park51 is not a mosque is ratherflimsy. Granted, Park 51 is sup-posed to be a community center,open to people of all faiths, repletewith an art studio and a basketballcourt and, unlike a mosque, willnot be adorned with a dome orminarets. The imam behind Park51 supported the terrorist acts of9/11, right?

-Wrong. The leader in ques-tion, Feisal Abdul Rauf, absolutelyrepudiated the attacks, and saidthat terrorism has no place in Is-lam.

Now I am officially confused!Well, it’s true that President Obamasaid they have a right to a mosquethere, and he supports the initiative,doesn’t he?

-Sorry to confuse you evenmore, but the answer to that isboth yes and no. Obama did saythat private citizens have theright to build a mosque on anyprivate property in the UnitedStates, which is true, and a basicConstitutional right.

But Obama did not expresslycomment on whether building a

mosque so close toGround Zero, atwhich heinousatrocities were com-mitted in the nameof Islam, would beappropriate.

So, is the fact thatthose terrorists justhappened to be Mus-lim only a coinci-dence?

-No, it’s not a co-incidence at all. Ifthey were all left-handed, all Virgos,or all weighed 160pounds, those

would be coincidences. Their Is-lamic faith, however, was notmerely coincidental, it was thevery reason that they implement-ed the attacks. But they are inthe minority; most Muslims wouldnot kill innocent civilians in thename of their religion.

Oh, just like most Christianswouldn’t bomb an abortion clinicor kill people for not going tochurch on Sunday?

-Yes, I think you’ve got it!Why, then, is there just a dis-

parity in perception between peace-loving Christians and peace-lovingMuslims?

-Well, that all depends onwhere you’re taking that poll. Inthe United States, for example,about 80% of the people areChristian. But do you know howmany Muslims are here? Aboutsix in every 10,000! To put it inperspective, if you tried to builda Christian church in Indonesia,where about 88% of the residen - ts are Muslim, they might lookat you funny.

What do you say to folks whoargue that allowing Park 51 to bebuilt so close to Ground Zero is avictory for terrorists, because that’swhat they want?

-I say: Colin Ferguson, a blackman who went on a killing spreein New York in 1993, was sen-tenced to life in prison. Shouldwe set him free because his in-carceration pleases white su-premacists, who might considerany imprisoned black man a vic-tory for the white race?

It sounds like you support build-ing Park 51 near Ground Zerothen, right?

-Actually, I do not.What??? Now I’m really con-

fused! Explain yourself.-Well, there is one more group

I haven’t heard from. They haveyet to speak or, at least speakoften enough and loudly enough–

Wait, don’t tell me, let me guess:the Democrats? The Republicans?The residents of lower Manhattan?The Tea Party? Who?

-The majority of AmericanMuslims. You know, the ones whoare down at Ground Zero rightnow, the actual Ground Zero,praying every day.

Why are they down there pray-ing? For the terrorists who flewthe planes? For Park 51 to bebuilt there?

-I was thinking more for thelives of all of the victims, includingtheir own family members.

Wait a minute, are you sayingthere were Muslims killed during9/11?

-Yes, and Jews, too! So, as Iwas saying, these mainstreamMuslims need to become more

vocal and to actively, regularly,emphatically, and categoricallydenounce the terrorists who, inBush’s words, “hijacked” the Is-lamic faith. I might support theflying of the Confederate flag inthe South when Southerners, bythe millions, gather in Washingtonto condemn slavery. I might evenconsider amending Arizona’s im-migration law when legal immi-grants, by the millions, gather todenigrate illegal aliens. And I willconsider endorsing the buildingof Park 51 two blocks fromGround Zero when Muslims, bythe millions impugn the 9/11atrocities and any past or futureacts of terrorism.

Constantinos E. Scaros is an au-thor and expert in Americanpresidential history, with a back-ground in Ancient Greek history.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Ground Zero Mosque - and The Answers

by CONSTANTINOS E.SCAROS

Special to The National Herald

By Evan C. LambrouSpecial to TNH

Amid the public furor over Park51, the proposed 13-story Is-lamic community center twoblocks from Ground Zero whichalso has a mosque inside it, thepublic had almost forgottenabout the only house of worshipwhich was actually destroyedwhen the Twin Towers camecrashing down after the 9/11terrorist attacks. St. NicholasGreek Orthodox Church indowntown Manhattan wasfounded in 1916. It served thespiritual needs of 300 Greek Or-thodox Christians, who now at-tend services in Brooklyn, anx-iously awaiting the day theirparish can once again reopen itsdoors. Nine years later, recon-struction of the church, whichhas actual property rights onGround Zero, has yet to com-mence. Unfortunately, the PortAuthority of New York & NewJersey, which has eminent do-main over the World Trade Cen-ter Memorial site, broke off dia-logue with the church and theGreek Orthodox Archdiocese ofAmerica last year. Port Authorityofficials claim the church wasbeing uncooperative, citing thisas their reason for abruptly con-cluding negotiations. This is ared herring, so a little historicbackground is in order: in ex-change for a larger parcelnearby, the Port Authority askedthe church to move from its orig-inal property to accommodatefor the Memorial’s vehicle secu-rity center. The church had torelocate. In July 2008, the Au-thority agreed to accommodatefor a 24,000-square-foot edifice,and offered $20 million to helpsubsidize construction, plus $40million for a blast-proof founda-tion and platform. Building alarger church than the originalwas not simply to make thechurch a monument of thetragedy, but to help make thenew church commensurate withthe rest of the WTC Memorial.When we stop to consider thescope of the entire Memorialproject, this is hardly unreason-able, even if costs need to be re-

examined. In March 2009, thePort Authority yanked its offer,claiming that the church was“making too many demands.”This is absurd. Why would thechurch not be satisfied with anadditional $60 million for alarger building? In reality, thechurch has been very coopera-tive and patient. While the Au-thority makes false promises andpulls its bureaucratic strings, thechurch reconstruction projectgets buried underneath theweight of a billion paper clips.

In September 2007, a PortAuthority spokesman told theNational Herald that St.Nicholas Church was an “inte-gral part of the master plan,”that the people of St. Nicholas“have been a great group of peo-ple to work with,” and that thechurch is an “important piece ofa very large puzzle.” That waswhen Anthony Shorris was ex-ecutive director of the Authority.Chris Ward, the current Execu-tive Director, is now telling thepublic that, really, it’s theChurch’s fault; that Greek Or-thodox officials were being un-reasonable by asking to reviewplans after being told the PortAuthority needed to downsizethe church. In the process, thePort Authority is trying to makeit seem as though church offi-cials shouldn’t have the right toreview plans which stand to af-fect its reconstruction.

So what’s changed since2007? Why is the Port Authorityputting up more roadblocksnow? One obvious answer is themoney: The Authority doesn’twant to part with $60 millionfor the church. Another obviousanswer is the administration:Faces have changed at the Au-thority, faces which are clearlyunsympathetic to OrthodoxChristian sensitivities and basicreligious rights. A not-so-obviousanswer is that something moresinister could also be at work be-hind the scenes. There just mightbe non-Orthodox interests com-pelling Mr. Ward to pull awayand move ahead without St.Nicholas Church. This would bedifficult to prove, of course, asno public official today would

care to admit he or she harborsprejudice of any kind. But is itreally so far-fetched to considerthat this is also a possibility? Notwhen you stop to consider Park51, which many people opposebecause Islam is foreign to them.Constitutionally, it’s inane to ar-gue that an Islamic centerdoesn’t have a legal right to setup shop on private property. Andwhile there are many sides tothe argument concerning thewisdom of building a Muslimcommunity center so close toGround Zero, all Americansshould try to understand that, ifwe stand in Park 51’s way, weviolate our own democratic prin-ciples and ideals. If we do that,then the terrorists win.

New York Mayor MichaelBloomberg and others are vig-orously defending Park 51’srights to develop. Regrettably,however, Mr. Bloomberg andothers are not doing the samefor Orthodox Christians, a mi-nority group in this country –none of whom did anything tooffend or violate American sen-sitivities, yet all of whom are al-lowed to be at the mercy of arecalcitrant government agencywhich is now pretending it’s thechurch’s fault the project hasstalled. Some critics argue thatthe two issues are totally differ-ent. Park 51 is trying to developits privately owned property,they say, whereas St. NicholasChurch is caught in a tangledweb of Ground Zero-specific bu-reaucracy. But while the churchis part of a larger public project,its rights to rebuild are still beingstonewalled by a powerful gov-ernment agency. Whether it’s or-dinary citizens shouting againsta mosque or bureaucrats restrict-ing reconstruction of a church,oppositional forces are at workin both cases, yet hardly anyoneis coming to Orthodox Christiandefense.

As long as public officials andthe mainstream media establish-ment stay silent, bureaucrats willcontinue to railroad an innocentgroup, and in the end say, “We’resorry. We told you that you coulddo it on your own, but we hadto proceed without you, so you

have to take what’s left.” Thissort of benign hostility is a so-phisticated way of excluding mi-norities. It is also typical of civi-lized barbarism. It doesn’tmatter if violence is averted; jus-tice is not always fairly and faith-fully served by the law, and legaltechnicalities often end updrowning what’s right.

Rebuilding St. NicholasChurch is not a matter of bu-reaucracy. It’s a matter of reli-gious freedom. If public officialsare willing to defend Muslimrights in America, they shouldalso be willing to stand up forChristian rights by exerting pres-sure on a wayward governmentagency. And other religious lead-ers should also join the fight.They should all come forwardon behalf of St. Nicholas Church,a genuine religious symbol ofwhat died on 9/11, and that isstill waiting to rise from theashes of that terrible day. If theydon’t, they compromise every-one’s constitutional rights, in-cluding their own. As for theGreek American community,while we need to carefully re-assess the situation, now is notthe time for us to be criticizingour own selves. We need to uniteunder one banner and do ourpart – with God’s help – to en-sure the proper reconstructionof an historic church, which ispart of the post-9/11 Americanfabric. Since AHEPA, the coun-try’s largest Hellenic heritagecivic organization, is currentlyworking on organizing someprotests, it would behoove theArchdiocese to cooperate withAHEPA. The Archdiocese willhopefully also reach out to ourbrethren under the country’svarious Orthodox jurisdictions.Though they have beenstrangely silent so far, our fellowOrthodox ought to join us quitereadily. All Orthodox Christiansin America should mobilize tomake sure Saint NicholasChurch is properly rebuilt. If thisisn’t a Pan-Orthodox concern, Idon’t know what is.

Mr. Lambrou was managingeditor of The National Heraldfrom 2004 to 2009.

Sadly, Benign Hostility and Civilized Barbarism Prevail

Patricia Riley, 32, of Southampton, N.J., (C) participates in a demonstration opposing the pro-posed Islamic community center near Ground Zero in New York.

AP PHOTO/DAVID GOLDmAN

Page 12: The National Herald...“Jeffrey Eugenides writes about the genius and nightmare that is America. He captures the pathos of racial tension, suburbia and urban decay,” Wang said

By Matt Barrett Special to The National Herald

ATHENS- The US Embassy is-sued a warning that travelersshould avoid the neighborhoodof Exarchia. This made senseto me. The area is behind thePolytechnic University, whichis historically a hotbed of ac-tivism with many of the majormarches originating here. It isalso the neighborhood whereAlexander Grigoropoulos waskilled by a policeman’s bullet,setting off several days of riot-ing in December of 2008. Sincethen police cars don’t patrolthe area because they are reg-ularly pelted with bottles, rocksand the occasional Molotovcocktail. They just station riotpolice dressed like futuristicgladiators on the corners thatsurround Exarchia to keeptrouble in and off the streetsof the rest of downtownAthens. Last night I went toExarchia to meet some friends

and to visit one of my favoriteouzeris and I discovered thereal reason the US embassydoes not want its citizens toventure into this dark world.They don’t want people tohave fun! Exarchia was theliveliest place in Athens on thishot and humid Tuesday inJune. There was some kind ofrally going on in the square,which is also a venue for rockconcerts. Every bar and cafewas full and music of all typespoured out of each of them.There were people lined up forsouvlakia in the psistarias, al-most all young in black T-shirtsand shorts, with girls dressedlike modern hippies with style.Colorful posters of bands andsummer rock festivals wereplastered on walls. There weredrug addicts here and thereamong the crowds, just sort ofdoing their own thing asjunkies tend to do. Would yourather be with them or a crowdof young people dissatisfiedwith what we old people havedone to the world they areabout to be stuck with? Whowould you rather stand nextto? A Greek junkie or Jack theRipper? OK. Let me get seriousfor a moment.

Obviously, if you are myage and even somewhatyounger, Exarchia will have alimited appeal to you. In factif you are not able to run fastenough to get out of troubleas easily as you get into it, likefor example running fromcops who mistake you for theguy who just tossed their tear-gas canister back at them, youshould stick to the Plaka, Psiriand Gazi. But my impressionlast night which sort of cameover me like an epiphany wasthat if the American kids whovisit Greece knew about thisplace they would come likeMuslims to Mecca. This is thecenter of counter culture.Exarchia is Ann Arbor, Berke-ley, and the East Village onsteroids. Is it a scary place?Yeah. To anyone over 30 it isterrifying. A place for youngpeople where cops are not al-lowed? No wonder the US em-bassy does not want us to gohere. What if we importedExarchia to the USA? It’s arevolutionary ghetto. It is theworld that groups like theMC5 and the Bad Brains imag-ined they could create withtheir music. To the establish-ment it is a cancer that has tobe contained, thus the cops onthe corners with bus loads ofreinforcements nearby. It’s adark and scary world ofMegadeath t-shirts and tat-toos, an entire neighborhoodthat looks like your kid’s fa-vorite rock club or even hisbedroom. Exarchia = Evil. Perhaps theend of civilization.

And yet there is somethingvery civilized about it. Art gal-leries. Nice tavernas. Interest-ing cafes of all styles. Bars,

clubs, pedestrian streets, com-puter shops, and great CD andused record shops. And rightthere on the edge, my favoriteLesbian hangout, the LesvosCafeneion, like the embassy ofthe older generation in this is-land of rebellious youth. Idrank my Dimino ouzo and atemy meze of fried gavros,shrimp, bakaliaro, potatoes andeggplant I gazed around at myfellow-travelers who lookedlike they just came back fromtending their sheep, obliviousto the inhabitants of the rockand roll kingdom that passesby on their way to and fromExarchia square. The Russianlady who plays violin drove byon her motorbike and a minutelater she was serenading me.My family and friends were to-gether on the sixth floor bal-cony of Elizabeth and Mihosapartment a few blocks away,drinking raki and sending metext messages begging me tocome and join them, but I was

lost in this worldat street level. Idid not want toleave and at thesame time I didnot want them tocome. In the endwe compromisedand arranged tomeet at midnightat a taverna witha big garden wayup on Kalidromiouon the hill of Strofithat overlooksExarchia. I wentthere but theynever showed upwhich was goodbecause I reallydid not want toeat or drink any-more. I walkedback to Kypseli,past the gladiatorcops who greetedme uneasily whenI smiled and saidKalispera.

Thinking nowabout the cops and theirnightly battles with the anar-chists and the Athenianteenagers who come into thecity from the suburbs just totaunt and hit and run, remindsme of this song that was a hitin the late 1960’s called TheYears of Othon about whenthey wanted to clean up theriff-raff that had taken overAthens during the periodwhen Greece was first beingestablished as a country. Theysent a proclamation to all thetowns and villages of Creteand the Mani, areas where theyoung men were known to becourageous and tough, thatthey needed policemen tocome to Athens. It’s one of my

favorite songs. So here are themodern versions of these guys,dressed to kill, but they arescared kids, maybe from thevillages, maybe from theneighborhoods of Athens, paidvery little to fight other kidsand protect the interests of so-ciety. It must be a strange po-sition to be in. I think of theway American cops wouldhandle an army of angryyoung people who are peltingthem with rocks and bottle-bombs and I am pretty surethat they would wade in withclubs swinging in organizedmilitary fashion, taking pris-oners and focusing on the gen-erals. Whereas the Greek po-lice are just satisfied withcontainment, and why not?These are not highly trainedprofessionals, skilled in the artof crowd control. They are kidswith less experience than therebellious youth they are sup-posed to be fighting. Theymight very well be with thedemonstrators if they did notneed to make a living.

For those who are readingthis as a disagreement withthe US Embassy about visitingExarchia, you should not takeit that way. There are certainlytimes when you should notvisit the area and since youprobably have no way ofknowing when these times areyou may want to play it safeand stick to the carefreeneighborhoods of Plaka, Psiri,Monastiraki, and Gazi. Butyoung college aged peoplelooking for a scene that maybe a little darker than whatyou are used to may find theattraction of Exarchia hard toresist. Sure Exarchia may bethe scariest place in Athens.But that depends on your de-finition of scary.

One person’s “scary” is an-other person’s “home.”

(This was written in June,as Athens began a series ofstrikes and protests)

TRAVEL12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2010

ATHENS – Exarchia, the graf-fiti-scarred, anarchist hotbedneighborhood of central down-town Athens looks pretty gritty,but underneath the menacingsigns it’s one of the places theyoung and hip most like to be,even if they’re rubbing elbowswith someone who may havejust come back from a riot afterthrowing a Molotov cocktail. It’salso a place that Matt Barrettknows perhaps as well as any-body, where he’s visited justabout every nook and crannyand alley to describe it for visi-tors on his website www.greek-travel.com. It’s complete, unbi-ased and tells you the good, thebad, and the ugly, all of whichyou’ll find in Exarchia, but let’slet him describe it, here in anexcerpted version.

Exarchia is the name of aneighborhood in downtownAthens, Greece close to the his-torical building of the NationalTechnical University of Athens.The region is famous as astomping ground for Greek an-archists. It took the name froma merchant named Exarchoswho opened a large generalstore there. Exarchia is borderedon the east by Kolonaki and isframed by Patission Street,Panepistimiou Street andAlexandras Avenue.

It’s also home to the NationalArchaeological Museum ofAthens, the National TechnicalUniversity of Athens and StrefiHill. The central square featuresmany cafes and bars with nu-merous retail computer shopslocated mainly on Stournari

Street, also called the Greek Sil-icon Valley. Located on Exarchiasquare is one of the oldest sum-mer cinemas of Athens, calledVox, as well as the Antonopou-los apartment building, knownas the Blue Building, because ofits initial color, which is a typicalexample of the modernist move-ment of Greek architecture inthe inter war period. Due to thepolitical and intellectual char-acter of the region, many book-stores, fair trade shops and or-ganic food stores are alsolocated there, along with manyhaving comic book shops.

The district was created be-tween 1870 and 1880 at the con-fines of the city and has playeda significant role in the social andpolitical life of Greece and waswhere the Athens Polytechnicuprising of November 1973 tookplace. Exarchia is a place wheremany intellectuals and artists liveand an area where many social-ist, anarchist, and antifascistgroups are accommodated. Po-lice stations and other symbolsof authority (and capitalism)such as banks are often targetsof far-leftist groups. Exarchia isalso an art hub where theatricalshows and concerts take placearound the central square. In De-cember 2008, the shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropou-los in Exarchia caused riotingthroughout Greece. WELCOME ALMOST ALLWhen the United States Em-

bassy in Athens put out a warn-ing for travelers to avoid theneighborhood it prompted anumber of e-mails to me frompeople asking if their hotel wasanywhere near this area. Sincethere are few hotels in Exarchiaand only a handful even close

to it these people were easily re-assured. The neighborhoodstrikes fear into the hearts ofmany Athenians, particularlythose who would proudly callthemselves “establishment,”who have seen televised imagesof masked and hooded anar-chists battling the police on theback streets and even the mainsquares, tires burning to coun-teract the tear-gas, broken win-dows, torched SUVs and olderfolks complaining to TV newsreporters about the lawlessnessof their little corner of the city.

Actually it is more like a collegetown within the city of Athens,similar to the East Village ofNew York BG (Before Guiliani.)Exarchia sits between the Uni-versity of Athens and the Po-litechnion and is home to stu-dents, immigrants, Greekfamilies of different economicstrata, restaurants, cafes, com-puter shops, used vinyl and CDshops, terrific guitar shops, usedbookshops, boutiques, clubs,bars, anarchists, drug addicts,stray dogs and just about everykind of person, except cops. Thepolice don't really go to Exarchiaexcept in extreme situations be-cause for them just to enter theneighborhood creates trouble.So on many weekends in down-town Athens you will see policeand soldiers stationed strategi-cally on corners aroundExarchia, not to keep peopleout, but to keep large groups ofanarchists or troublemakers in.Of course when you have anarea of rock clubs, cafes andrestaurants in a sort of cop-freezone it attracts young people,many of high school age, andother counter-culture types. Thiscreates something of a scene,where you can go for yournighttime entertainment neversure of what is going to happen.

If you are a happy touristfamily visiting Athens and ex-ploring the city, maybe youshould stick to the Plaka andMonastiraki and the archaeolog-ical sites and museums. But ifyou are of college age and mind-set and are looking for an alter-native area where you can findcool rock clubs, cheap tavernas,excellent used CD and recordshops and a couple of the bestrembetika clubs in Athens, then

Exarchia is worth a visit. Thecenter is Exarchia Square, aseedy little square with a num-ber of cafes and fast-food restau-rants, some ornery stray dogs… a few drug addicts and man-gas and a large number of peo-ple who are just passingthrough. Most of the really coolstuff is on the small streetsaround the square. At first pass-ing it just looks like a confusingmess of shops, posters, graffitiand weird people but that is allpart of being in a strange placefor the first time and not feelingcomfortable. If you wanderaround you will certainly findsomething that interests you,maybe something that youthought would not interest any-one but you. If you consideryourself countercultural you arehome.

OF SHRINES AND ARTFor those who want to pay

their respects or are just curious

you can visit the Shrine toAlexander Grigoropoulous, onthe corner of Mesolongiou, nowunofficially renamed AlexanderGrigoropoulou Street and Tz-abella Street. The wall has someof the most intense graffiti andart of anywhere in the city andpeople are always leaving flow-ers and personal things in mem-ory. Nearby is one of several peo-ple's parks that were squatted bylocals to thwart the city's planto turn them into parking lots.There is a sort of cafe in the mid-dle where you can get a coffeecooked on a fire or gas burneror maybe an electric burner thatuses an extension chord thatgoes to someone's apartmentdown the street. Or you maycome here and wonder what Iam talking about because thesquatters went home and thecity took advantage of their in-difference and built their park-ing lot anyway. If you love wallart and graffiti or even if youcan't stand it, you will findplenty of it in Exarchia whereevery building is considered acanvas and nothing is sacred,not even good graffiti art whichis often defaced by teens who

come from the suburbs, spray-cans in hand, to tag every lastinch of Athens in a mindless pleathat someone, anyone, recognizethat they exist. Political postersannouncing strikes and demon-strations compete with musicposters for space and any emptystorefront is fair game. Withrents for shops cheaper than inmost areas, because what re-spectable business would wantto be in Exarchia, there areplenty of alternative musicshops, one on almost every blockit seems, some specializing inheavy metal, others in rare andused vinyl. Low rents attractartists and there are several gal-leries in Exarchia includingCheap Art.

There are those who wouldsay that encouraging tourists togo to Exarchia is irresponsibleand some things are best left un-written. A traveler with limitedtime in Athens can be quite

happy in the center of the citywalking the pedestrian streets ofthe Plaka, Monastiraki, Thissionand Gazi. There is no need forthem to even know the existenceof places like Exarchia just assomeone sight-seeing in NewYork City does not really need atour of the Bronx. But I seeAthens as the sum of its partsand Exarchia is an importantpart of the city, maybe more sotoday because of the unrest ofthe youth and their frustrationwith this mess of a world thatwe have created and are leavingto them to try and figure out andmake the best of. So if you areanti-globalization, love Che andChomsky, think the Clash andBad Brains were the godfathersof revolutionary music, and arenot in Greece to dance on theislands to techno-pop but tomeet kindred spirits, then maybea visit to Exarchia is in the cards.You may learn something. Itmight not be about urban war-fare. It might just be the realiza-tion that nowhere is as scary aspeople say and that there peoplejust like you and me trying tomake a life that works for themin Exarchia.

Counter-Culture, Comic Books, But Few Cops HereA Night in Exarchia: To Be Young Again

Alexander Grigoropoulos was 15 when he was shot dead by police officers in Exarchia in De-cember of 2008, setting off the worst riots the city has seen in years.

Matt Barrett (don’t let the last name foolyou, he’s Greek) knows how to savor lifethe Greek Way, but he doesn’t restricthimself to tourist traps and usual haunts.

“So here are themodern versions ofthese guys, dressed tokill, but ... scared kids ”

EUROkINISSI

A walk through Exarchia is an adventure, unlike strollingthrough the rich enclave of Kolonaki just up the hill. 1-Themain square of Exarchia offers trees and benches, but alsosome squatters. 2-The cafes here are funky and the coffeegood. 3-This is the spot where Alexander Grigoropoulos waskilled in 2008, now a shrine. 4-You’re know you’re in Exarchiaby the graffitti.

book · worm. - noun1. One who spends much time reading or studying.2. Any of various insects, especially booklice andsilverfish, that infest books and feed on the paste in thebindings.Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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