Greek-American Nehamas Wins ... - The National Herald 2 · PDF fileThe National Herald A...
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The National Herald A WEEklY GREEk-AmERiCAN PUBliCATiON April 15-21, 2017 www.thenationalherald.com $1.50 c v O C V ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915 NEWS VOL. 20, ISSUE 1018 10 anniversary nd 2 1915-2017 In response to calls by the Greek authorities for invest- ments in the Greek market, and despite the ongoing crisis, a team of well-known, major Greek-American entrepreneurs along with two other partners, one of whom lives in Athens, have made a joint bid valued at approximately $1 billion for the acquisition of Ethniki Hellenic General Insurance Company (“Ethniki Insurance”), a sub- sidiary of the National Bank of Greece. Offers have also been sub- mitted by three Chinese groups. The expatriates are John Calamos, whose company Calamos Asset Management Inc. manages about $20 billion, John Koudounis who has 30 years of financial services expe- rience and serves as the CEO of Calamos Asset Management, global insurance executive Matt Fairfield, as well as Pavlos Kanellopoulos, a businessman based in Greece. Their company operates un- der the name EXIN Partners. This team, therefore, com- bines knowledge of the insur- ance and financial markets in general, as well as knowledge of the Greek market and reality. The selection of the preferred bidder is estimated to be made by the National Bank’s Board of Directors by the end of the month. EXPATRIATE REACTIONS The news of Calamos and Koudounis’ interest in the Greek insurance market - preceded by a series of reports in the Greek financial press – was widely dis- cussed in Greek-American busi- ness circles. Many worry that if expatriate investments in the Greek econ- omy are once again impeded, for various reasons, there will be very unpleasant long-term ef- fects. "If this occurs again," a Greek-American who requested For subscription: 718.784.5255 [email protected] By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON, MA – Esteemed busi- nessman and philanthropist George Behrakis has a dream and he is pursuing it decisively. He wants to make the children of Greece stop smoking ciga- rettes. The Behrakis Family Foundation is spending $10 mil- lion dollars for this antismoking campaign. In an interview with The Na- tional Herald, the Lowell-based entrepreneur said: “we have a problem in Greece because boys and girls 11 to 17 years old are being given cigarettes. I know the government voted for no smoking in restaurants and pub- lic places and the owners don’t obey; this is stupidity. Close them down for a night, espe- cially on their busiest night, and you will see how fast they will change. We have cut cigarette smoking in America by 50 per- cent; why are our restaurants and bars still doing business? Because they know how to obey the law.” Behrakis, who visited Greece a few weeks ago, also said that “the tax on cigarettes should be increased in Greece. Also, make sure you control the black mar- ket from coming in from Bul- garia, Turkey, Albania, Kosovo, and FYROM.” He explained that “I am do- ing this in Greece it because I am very discouraged when I sit outside a tavern and I see young people coming out from school smoking and I know health care costs in Greece are skyrocketing. The problem is they go home and they see their parents smok- ing. I am not interested in the parents but in the young kids. If I can cut smoking among the youth by 30 percent, it is a suc- cess. It is difficult, but remember Greece was under Ottoman oc- cupation for 400 years but Or- thodoxy and Hellenism sur- vived, and that sends a message that this endeavor will bring re- sults.” He said the recent trip to Greece was excellent. “I went to Thessaloniki; you wouldn’t know that there is a crisis in Greece. People were very happy; the shops in Thessaloniki were spectacular and reminded me Fifth Avenue in New York or Newbery Street in Boston.” He also said “without a doubt the people also are hurt- ing; the unemployment rate is too high.” But “Greece is in the ideal location. We have the cli- mate, we have the intelligence; A $10 million donation continues his efforts to end the terrible habit among young people By Theo Karantsalis MIAMI, FL – Nicholas Nehamas, 28, a Greek-American news re- porter, has won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize, the Miami Herald announced Monday. “The Miami Herald shared the Pulitzer Prize for Explana- tory Reporting with the Interna- tional Consortium of Investiga- tive Journalists and our parent company McClatchy for our work on the Panama Papers,” Nehamas told TNH late Monday afternoon, Apr. 10. “The stories brought together more than 300 reporters from around the globe to expose how criminals and the wealthy abuse the secret world of offshore companies to launder money and evade taxes.” The Panama Papers project was unique not just in the reve- lations of our reporting (which led to the resignation of Ice- land's PM and investigations around the world) but for the process we used to analyze the 11.5 million leaked files, Ne- hamas said. Journalists from dif- ferent newsrooms in different countries speaking different lan- guages were brought together to collaborate on this massive endeavor. “Nick, recently promoted to the Miami Herald's investigative team, is a bright young star who has quickly shown himself to be a talented team player,” said Mi- ami Herald Editor Steve Rothaus. Born and raised in New Jer- sey, Nehamas graduated in 2014 from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Nehamas also earned a bachelor of arts from Harvard University, where he studied the classics in Greek and Latin. “My father is from Athens and I'm sure he is busy telling all our friends and family in Greece about the good news,” said Nehamas. “My mom said she was always sure we would Greek-American Nehamas Wins Pulitzer Prize The icon of The Descent into Hades by an unknown painter from Constantinople in the late 14th century depicts Jesus Christ bringing salvation to all the righteous who had died since the beginning of the world. The triumphant moment takes place between the time of the Crucifixion and the Resur- rection. Enjoy our Easter special with this issue! Book Launch for Stratakis Christopher Stratakis, Esq. signs copies of his debut novel, the fictionalized memoir Appointment with Yesterday, at the Harvard Club in Midtown Manhattan. Stratakis is a senior partner of Poles, Tublin, Stratakis & Gonzalez, LLP. Greek Americans Offer to Buy Ethniki Insurance By Vasilis Papoutsis LOS ANGELES, CA – The Uni- versity of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Women’s Gymnastics team has won the NCAA Cham- paign Regional, a competition that coach Valorie Kondos Field considers ''the most stressful meet of the year'' and is now preparing for the NCAA Cham- pionships in St. Louis are set to begin April 14. Her teams have won six Na- tional Championships and de- spite the low scoring at the Re- gional, Field believes that if they have a great meet at the finals, they still have a chance to win. LIFELONG PASSION Field's impressive career as UCLA's women’s gymnastics coach has exceeded a lot of peo- ple's expectations, including her own. As a young girl she suf- fered from scoliosis, a condition of the spine in which the back- Hall of Fame Gymnastics Coach Leads UCLA Team Continued on page 5 George Behrakis’ Greek Youth Anti- Smoking Campaign Businessman and philan- thropist George Behrakis Kali Anastasi and Kalo Pascha Continued on page 9 Continued on page 6 TNH/COSTAS BEJ Continued on page 2
Transcript of Greek-American Nehamas Wins ... - The National Herald 2 · PDF fileThe National Herald A...
The National HeraldA wEEkly GrEEk-AmEriCAN PuBliCATiON
April 15-21, 2017
www.thenationalherald.com$1.50c v
O C VΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915NEW
S
VOL. 20, ISSUE 1018
10anniversary
nd21915-2017
In response to calls by theGreek authorities for invest-ments in the Greek market, anddespite the ongoing crisis, ateam of well-known, majorGreek-American entrepreneursalong with two other partners,one of whom lives in Athens,have made a joint bid valued atapproximately $1 billion for theacquisition of Ethniki HellenicGeneral Insurance Company(“Ethniki Insurance”), a sub-sidiary of the National Bank ofGreece.
Offers have also been sub-mitted by three Chinese groups.
The expatriates are JohnCalamos, whose companyCalamos Asset Management Inc.manages about $20 billion,John Koudounis who has 30years of financial services expe-rience and serves as the CEO of
Calamos Asset Management,global insurance executive MattFairfield, as well as PavlosKanellopoulos, a businessmanbased in Greece.
Their company operates un-der the name EXIN Partners.
This team, therefore, com-bines knowledge of the insur-ance and financial markets ingeneral, as well as knowledgeof the Greek market and reality.
The selection of the preferredbidder is estimated to be madeby the National Bank’s Board ofDirectors by the end of themonth.
ExPATRIATE REACTIONSThe news of Calamos and
Koudounis’ interest in the Greekinsurance market - preceded bya series of reports in the Greekfinancial press – was widely dis-cussed in Greek-American busi-ness circles.
Many worry that if expatriateinvestments in the Greek econ-omy are once again impeded,for various reasons, there willbe very unpleasant long-term ef-fects.
"If this occurs again," aGreek-American who requested
For subscription:
By Theodore Kalmoukos
BOSTON, MA – Esteemed busi-nessman and philanthropistGeorge Behrakis has a dreamand he is pursuing it decisively.He wants to make the childrenof Greece stop smoking ciga-rettes. The Behrakis FamilyFoundation is spending $10 mil-lion dollars for this antismokingcampaign.
In an interview with The Na-tional Herald, the Lowell-basedentrepreneur said: “we have aproblem in Greece because boysand girls 11 to 17 years old arebeing given cigarettes. I knowthe government voted for nosmoking in restaurants and pub-lic places and the owners don’tobey; this is stupidity. Closethem down for a night, espe-cially on their busiest night, andyou will see how fast they willchange. We have cut cigarettesmoking in America by 50 per-cent; why are our restaurantsand bars still doing business?Because they know how to obeythe law.”
Behrakis, who visited Greecea few weeks ago, also said that“the tax on cigarettes should beincreased in Greece. Also, makesure you control the black mar-ket from coming in from Bul-garia, Turkey, Albania, Kosovo,and FYROM.”
He explained that “I am do-ing this in Greece it because Iam very discouraged when I sitoutside a tavern and I see youngpeople coming out from schoolsmoking and I know health carecosts in Greece are skyrocketing.The problem is they go homeand they see their parents smok-ing. I am not interested in theparents but in the young kids.
If I can cut smoking among theyouth by 30 percent, it is a suc-cess. It is difficult, but rememberGreece was under Ottoman oc-cupation for 400 years but Or-thodoxy and Hellenism sur-vived, and that sends a messagethat this endeavor will bring re-sults.”
He said the recent trip toGreece was excellent. “I went toThessaloniki; you wouldn’tknow that there is a crisis inGreece. People were very happy;the shops in Thessaloniki werespectacular and reminded meFifth Avenue in New York orNewbery Street in Boston.”
He also said “without adoubt the people also are hurt-ing; the unemployment rate istoo high.” But “Greece is in theideal location. We have the cli-mate, we have the intelligence;
A $10 million donation continues his effortsto end the terrible habit among young people
By Theo Karantsalis
MIAMI, FL – Nicholas Nehamas,28, a Greek-American news re-porter, has won the 2017Pulitzer Prize, the Miami Heraldannounced Monday.
“The Miami Herald sharedthe Pulitzer Prize for Explana-tory Reporting with the Interna-tional Consortium of Investiga-tive Journalists and our parentcompany McClatchy for ourwork on the Panama Papers,”Nehamas told TNH late Monday
afternoon, Apr. 10. “The stories brought together
more than 300 reporters fromaround the globe to expose howcriminals and the wealthy abusethe secret world of offshorecompanies to launder moneyand evade taxes.”
The Panama Papers projectwas unique not just in the reve-lations of our reporting (whichled to the resignation of Ice-land's PM and investigationsaround the world) but for theprocess we used to analyze the
11.5 million leaked files, Ne-hamas said. Journalists from dif-ferent newsrooms in differentcountries speaking different lan-guages were brought togetherto collaborate on this massiveendeavor.
“Nick, recently promoted tothe Miami Herald's investigativeteam, is a bright young star whohas quickly shown himself to bea talented team player,” said Mi-ami Herald Editor SteveRothaus.
Born and raised in New Jer-
sey, Nehamas graduated in 2014from Columbia University'sGraduate School of Journalism.Nehamas also earned a bachelorof arts from Harvard University,where he studied the classics inGreek and Latin.
“My father is from Athensand I'm sure he is busy tellingall our friends and family inGreece about the good news,”said Nehamas. “My mom saidshe was always sure we would
Greek-American Nehamas Wins Pulitzer Prize
The icon of The Descent into Hades by an unknown painterfrom Constantinople in the late 14th century depicts JesusChrist bringing salvation to all the righteous who had died
since the beginning of the world. The triumphant momenttakes place between the time of the Crucifixion and the Resur-rection. Enjoy our Easter special with this issue!
Book Launch for StratakisChristopher Stratakis, Esq. signs copies of his debut novel, the fictionalized memoir Appointmentwith Yesterday, at the Harvard Club in Midtown Manhattan. Stratakis is a senior partner ofPoles, Tublin, Stratakis & Gonzalez, LLP.
Greek Americans Offer toBuy Ethniki Insurance
By Vasilis Papoutsis
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Uni-versity of California Los Angeles(UCLA) Women’s Gymnasticsteam has won the NCAA Cham-paign Regional, a competitionthat coach Valorie Kondos Fieldconsiders ''the most stressfulmeet of the year'' and is nowpreparing for the NCAA Cham-pionships in St. Louis are set tobegin April 14.
Her teams have won six Na-tional Championships and de-spite the low scoring at the Re-gional, Field believes that if theyhave a great meet at the finals,they still have a chance to win.
LIFELONG PASSIONField's impressive career as
UCLA's women’s gymnasticscoach has exceeded a lot of peo-ple's expectations, including herown. As a young girl she suf-fered from scoliosis, a conditionof the spine in which the back-
Hall of FameGymnasticsCoach LeadsUCLA Team
Continued on page 5
George Behrakis’Greek Youth Anti-Smoking Campaign
Businessman and philan-thropist George Behrakis
Kali Anastasi and Kalo Pascha
Continued on page 9
Continued on page 6
TNH/COSTAS BEJ
Continued on page 2
By Theodore Kalmoukos
BOSTON, MA – Both Board ofTrustees members and studentsof the Holy Cross Greek Ortho-dox School of Theology demandthe immediate removal of Rev.Christopher Metropulos as pres-ident.
In the analysis piece “What’sGoing on at the School of The-ology” (Nov. 30), this newspa-per reported about the boilingcrisis at the School.
Two meetings took place re-cently, presided by His Emi-nence Archbishop Geron ofAmerica Demetrios, who is alsochairman of the Board ofTrustees of Hellenic College andHoly Gross School of Theology(HCHC), a position that carrieslegal and fiduciary responsibili-ties. One of the meetings wasconvened at the Archdiocese inNew York and the other one atthe School. Trustees even sug-gested to break ties withMetropulos and pay him for hisremaining time under his con-tract. Some who now demandhis removal voted for his ap-pointment two years ago, inMay, 2015.
At some point the Trusteeswanted to go into Executive Ses-sion and Metropulos was askedto excuse himself, but he de-clined.
The Trustees proceeded totell Demetrios that Metropulosis unfit to be president of theSchool and has to go. Amongother things, they contendedthat he is often absent from theSchool and travels back andforth to and from Florida wherehis wife and family continue toreside. He had been priest at St.Demetrios on Fort Lauderdalefor a number of years before ac-cepting the School presidency.The Trustees also referred to hisunbecoming behavior towardstudents and staff.
Demetrios attempted to calmthings down, but seemed un-willing to make the decision toremove Metropulos.
“FIx THE SEMINARY”The School’s Graduating
Class of 2017 sent a letter onJanuary 21 to ArchdiocesanChancellor, His Grace Bishop An-donios of Phasiane, in whichthey point out many thingsabout Metropulos.
Alumni and current students
established a webpage to “Fixthe Seminary” (hchcseminari-ansforchange.wordpress.com) inwhich they publish revealing in-formation about the ongoings atthe School. Specifically, theyclaim that “the tragedy of thissituation is that the School hasnearly failed to be accreditedmultiple times because the StateBoard is aware that no learningtakes place here. During accred-itation visits, the faculty are ner-vous (as they should be) and ac-tually teach with lecture notes(a novel idea at HCHC). The bot-tom line: if you care about yourchildren’s education, withdrawthem from this Institution.”
They also wrote that “It is awell-known phrase around Hel-lenic College and Holy Crossthat after seven years ‘you comeout of here with about as muchknowledge as you had when youleft high school.’ This, in ouropinion, is completely true. Thereason, unfortunately, is notcomplex. The administration,like the vast majority of profes-sors at Hellenic College/HolyCross, is filled with the intellec-tually marginal and incompe-tent. They feel threatened bytrue talent and refuse to grantgood professors tenure.”
They also make references toprofessors “who fall asleep dur-ing their own lectures” alsoabout “incoherent professors”
and about “professors with se-vere emotional problems.”
The Hellenic College and theSchool of Theology have approx-imately 179 students and the an-nual operating budget is about$12 million.
When Metropoulos was cho-sen two years ago out of 41 can-didates, TNH had asked theArchbishop about the “koum-bari” spiritual relationship be-tween Metropoulos and theTrustees Board’s Vice Chairmanbut he disregarded the issue andpraised the integrity of thesearch process.
The search committee con-sisted of: Trustees’ Vice Chair-man Tomas Lelon, School rep-resentatives Robert Badavas,Helen A. Carlos, George Alex,Demetra Manis, Rev. ThomasFitzGerald, and Hellenic Collegerepresentative Aristotle Mi-chopoulos.
The candidates were inter-viewed my Demetria Manis, whowas a member of the Cathedral’sParish Council and an expert infinding high ranking executivesfor companies.
The Synod didn’t even knowthe candidates but was informedby reading TNH’s articles, asmany Metropolitans have toldus. TNH has also learned thatthe Trustee meeting attendeeswanted to keep the agenda fromleaking.
COMMUNITY2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017
a b
Crisis at Holy Cross School ofTheology, Calls for a New President
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America with Fr.Christopher Metropulos at his installation ceremony to thepresidency of the Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Or-thodox School of Theology
anonymity and who attemptedin the past to make a significantinvestment in Greece withoutsuccess told TNH, "it will bedecades before expatriates areinterested in major investmentsin Greece again and it is almostcertain that this will have con-sequences on the Greek-Ameri-can relations."
CONCERN FOR THECHINESE
The increasing Chinese in-volvement in the Greek market,particularly in strategic sectorssuch as the port of Piraeus,causes concern for leading play-ers in Greece as well as theTrump administration - accord-ing to TNH sources - becausethey foresee that the Chinese’sultimate goal is the takeover ofthe National Bank of Greece.
Thus, if this happens, Chi-nese businesses, which are oftensubsidized by their government,will control strategic Greek as-sets and will potentially have asignificant influence on both thecountry and the surrounding re-gion.
NATIONAL SYMBOLSIt is worth noting that Eth-
niki Insurance was founded 125
years ago, specifically on June15,1891 with the National Bankof Greece as its principal share-holder and with the participa-tion of the Bank of Constantino-ple, the Privileged Bank ofEpirus and Thessaly, the GeneralCredit Bank of Greece and theIndustrial Credit Bank.
The company once insuredformer Greek Prime MinisterEleftherios Venizelos.
Greek Americans Offer toBuy Ethniki Insurance
TNH Staff
Embattled White House Chiefof Staff Reince Priebus, a Wiscon-sin native and Greek-American el-evated by President DonaldTrump to be – technically – hisright-hand man, could find him-self on the outs after a rocky startthat has seen a series of spectac-ular failures and infighting.
The website Axios reportedthat Trump, dogged by his con-nections to Russia, the pullbackof his centerpiece health care planand internecine political warfarebetween factions including hisfamily vs. others, may put a moreseasoned character in place ofPriebus.
The bus out could also includeChief Strategist Steve Bannon,who has alienated almost every-one outside the White House with
his brutal style. A top aide toTrump told Axios that the presi-dent is considering major changesbecause he’s unhappy the dirtylaundry is being played out inpublic, but also that everythingcould change in a moment giventhe president’s volatile nature.
The aide said that the situationis very fluid and the timing un-certain: "Things are happening,but it's very unclear the presi-dent's willing to pull that trigger."
If Priebus goes, his replace-ment could come for a short listthat reportedly includes: HouseMajority Leader Kevin McCarthy(R-Calif.), Wayne Berman ofBlackstone Group, David Urban,Gary Cohn.
The scene inside the WhiteHouse has been likened to Gameof Thrones, with everyone watch-ing their back.
Priebus Finds White HouseChief of Staff is a Hot Seat
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Ηappy Easter Christ is Risen
Continued from page 1
John Calamos
THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017 3
Greece Needs Help, so Let’s Give tothe Agency with a Proven Track Record:
PLEASE HELP IOCC HELP GREECE
www.iocc.org (click on DONATE NOW) TEL. 877-803-IOCC (4622)
“He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor (Proverbs 22.9).”
As we approach the upcoming Paschal season, which for Orthodox Christians is the holiest time of the year, let us also try to be mindful of our high Christian calling to help the poor and those in dramatic need.
And nowhere is this need more dire and urgent right now than it is in Greece, which is in the midstof a humanitarian catastrophe. Our brothers and sisters continue to undergo incalculable economichardship on an unprecedented scale for a member state of the European Union.
Since its inception almost 25 years ago, IOCC has performed with the quiet dignity of Christianfaith in vigorous action, as this remarkable agency continues to make us very proud with its unceasing efforts to help those who are most vulnerable all over the world.
From providing farmers with hundreds of metric tons of animal feed after devastating wildfiresscorched more than 665,000 acres of Greece’s pristine countryside in 2007; to furnishing peoplewith millions in much-needed medical supplies; to arranging that fresh food is made available to thousands of families at local supermarkets, IOCC has answered the call in Greece mosteffectively time and time again.
IOCC is already well positioned in the motherland. This outstanding agency has a crystal-cleanrecord, and with more than 85 percent of each philanthropic dollar administered directly to the people who actually need it most, IOCC is clearly the best agency to help Greece.
So let’s help the people of Greece by turning to our community’s own experts at IOCC – who alreadyknow where to go and what to do – and let’s provide the monetary resources IOCC needs to continueperforming its consistently splendid and noble work.
The Rangos Family extends its best wishes to the entire Greek American community – and allOrthodox Christians nationwide – a Happy and Blessed Easter.
ΚΑΛΗ ΑΝΑΣΤΑΣΗ και ΚΑΛΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ!
4 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017
COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017 5
TNH Staff
NEW YORK – The New YorkBlue Money Show took place onApril 7 and 8 at the Jay SuitesTimes Square in Midtown Man-hattan. Among the events in-cluded in this conference thatpromotes investment in Greecewas a presentation on healthtourism and Living Postcards“The New Face of Greece” a plat-form highlighting the creativework of Greeks today in a varietyof fields.
Organotecnica Group, orga-nizer of the New York BlueMoney Show, ZITA Group, andthe construction companyAVETEC presented an event forinvestment opportunities inHealth Tourism in Greece onApril 7. Speaker Zacharias Ka-planidis, Economist, President ofZITA Group and General Secre-tary of the Greek Association forHealth Tourism, noted the manyadvantages to promoting thisnew aspect of tourism in Greece.
Director of the Greek NationalTourism Organization in NewYork Greta Kamaterou welcomedthe attendees to the event andintroduced Kaplanidis. Amongthe treatments available throughprivate hospitals and clinics areaesthetic procedures, plasticsurgery, cosmetic dentistry, anddermatological procedures. Ka-planidis also spoke about as-sisted living facilities for seniorswith all the amenities, medicalcare, food, sports, the hospitalityand the climate of Greece, thatwill enhance the quality of life.The facilities are also remarkablyaffordable especially when com-pared to such facilities in theUnited States. The presentationwas followed by a Q&A sessionin which many of those in atten-dance expressed interest in thisgrowing sector of tourism.
Living Postcards, as founderand editor-in-chief noted on thewebsite, “began simply, five yearsago with the aim to introduceforeign visitors to the creative ac-tivities of Greece and help themescape the stereotypical imagethey had of our country. Operat-ing as a global platform that isaccessible to all, the site is up-dated every day. Working to con-tinuously discover creative newbrands and people that have astory to tell, the vision behindLiving Postcards is one of hope.”
Tech executive, writer, andentrepreneur Carol Malakasis led
the discussion, introducing thespeakers who are the “new faceof Greece.” Yanna Darilis- TVhost, producer, brand ambas-sador; Dionisis Liakopoulos- ex-ecutive chef at The Greek; GogoFarmaki- fashion blogger/en-tepreneur; and Francis Toum-bakaris- interior designer, Greek-Australian Nicholas Karytinos-architect, shared their stories andtheir positive outlook for the fu-ture of Greece.
Malakasis shared her ownstory, noting that she started tolove Greece when she moved toNew York, missing her mom’sfood, wanting to write about itand Greek products, and promot-ing the hardworking, creativeGreeks of today.
Darilis noted that the braindrain is tragic and her own par-ents left Greece in difficult timesin search of a better life in theUS, but nobody wants to leavetheir country and given the op-portunity, Greeks will thrive withso many talented people in somany different fields. Unity, sheadded, is the key for Greekseverywhere to work together andhelp Greeks help themselves byfinding their passion. Darilis willhost Mediterranean Blue, a travelshow soon to air on PBS.
Liakopoulos noted his love offood was from his father a chefand restauranteur himself, buthis father did not want him tobe a chef. Athenian restaurant
Kouzina was his first professionalkitchen experience before trav-eling to Cyprus, Italy, and Japan,always curious about new tech-niques. He attended the Culinary
Institute of America in New Yorkand cooked at excellent restau-rants in the city including ElevenMadison Park which was recentlynamed #1 restaurant in the
World's 50 Best Restaurantsawards. Liakopoulos will soonopen a new restaurant inTribeca.
Farmaki spoke about her jour-ney from drama school to fash-ion blogger noting that she al-ways dreamed of coming to NewYork. Having worked at AlphaTV, she is a well-known stylistand entrepreneur, owner of sun-glasses and accessories companyKisterss, co-founded with her sis-ter Olga. Their blog was namedthe best fashion blog by MarieClaire Greece. Her products areavailable at Soho Grand Hotel.
Francis Toumbakaris was bornand raised in Athens. Before turn-ing his attention to design andconstruction, he was a classicalballet dancer. World tours, Broad-way shows, film and televisionallowed him to travel and recre-ate home around the globe.Toumbakaris discovered hishandy nature at age 15 whilestudying in Switzerland. In a tinystudio in Lausanne on a shoe-string budget, he created his firsthome away from home. Toum-bakaris grew his interior designstudio, Francis Interiors, from hiswork as a licensed general con-
tractor under the name Greek &Handy. His impeccable taste,great eye for design, and atten-tion to detail in renovation pro-jects helped him build a greatreputation around New York City.
Greek-Australian architectNicholas Karytinos was raisedbetween Melbourne and Athens,then he ventured to the US toattend Cornell University. His ca-reer began in Athens during theenergetic period of the 2004Olympics, when he was involvedin large scale projects and mas-terplanning after which he re-turned to New York City. Karyti-nos met Toumbarakis after theyhad both worked on a loft andattended the loft owner’s wed-ding. He encouraged the interiordesigner to do bigger things andthe two began collaborating onmany projects.
The response from those inattendance was overwhelminglypositive hearing such upliftingstories of success. AHEPA Delphi#25 Chapter President ArgyrisS. Argitakos and his firm TheASTA Group coordinated and fa-cilitated the Living Postcards par-ticipation in the New York BlueMoney Show.
New York Blue Money Show and Living Postcards: The New Face of Greece
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people are very bright andhighly educated. The govern-ment should work to bring theindustry in. People cannot onlywork for the government. Thecountry cannot survive. If could-n’t balance the books; it sends amessage of incompetence.”
Would he invest in Greecepersonally, given the current po-litical and economic climate?
“No, I wouldn’t. My twobiggest disappointments werethe sale of Astir in Vouliagmenito Arabs and Turks for 400 mil-lion euros. I was born in theUnited States but I love Greece,and so to see the National Bankof Greece to sell the Astir ofVouliagmeni I thought it was adisgrace. Secondly, when I sawthe Hilton Hotel was sold I saidthere is something wrong here;we can’t sustain ourselves.”
As for Greece’s entry into theEurozone in the first place,Behrakis said the numbers were
falsified to begin with, and thatis coming back to haunt Greece.
“By bringing in illegal immi-grants,” he added, “it is creatinga major issue for Europe. This
is why we had the Brexit. Whydid the British pull out? Theydid not want all those peoplecoming in because number onethey don’t speak the language,
number two they don’t assimi-late with Europeans. They wantto be in their own little ghetto;that doesn’t work today, itworked years ago. The reasonthat the Greeks became success-ful in the United States was be-cause they knew they had tolearn the language. They had tobecome part of the system. Theywere not educated but they hadthe brains. The Greeks had theminds and they knew they hadto become part of the commu-nity. They owned stores, restau-rants, bars, but one thing theylearned it was they had to edu-cate their children, even thoughthey didn’t have an educationthemselves. That is why the sec-ond generation was successfuland the third was even moresuccessful.”
What is in store for the futureof the Greek-American commu-nity? “We need a big metamor-phosis, a change,” Behrakis said.“We need to come into the 21stcentury.”
The New Face of Greece- Nicholas Karytinos, Gogo Farmaki, Dionisis Liakopoulos, Yanna Darilis,Francis Toumbakaris, and Carol Malakasis.
TNH/ElENi SAkElliS
George Behrakis’ Dream for Stopping Greek Smoking
In a previous visit to Greece, George Behrakis (L) with HellenicRepublic President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
Continued from page 1
EurOkiNiSSi
TNH Staff
MIAMI – Multi-tattooed rapartist Nickolas Katsabanis, whoperforms as “Stitches,” was ar-rested in January on a series ofcharges including having mari-juana, a gun, bullets and Oxy-codone.
Katsabanis, 21, was appar-ently pulling his Porsche out ofa handicapped parking space ina Whole Foods parking lot whenhe was stopped by authorities,who recognized him from pre-vious arrests, TMZ reported.
The officer said Katsabanis’
car had a strong marijuana odorand when he asked if the rapperwas in possession of a gun,Katsabanis allegedly handed theofficer a joint, then said, “Sorryofficer.”
Both Katsabanis and his pas-senger repeatedly denied havingany weapons but a search of thevehicle allegedly revealed aGlock 19 under the driver’s seat,as well as two magazines con-taining a total of 46 bullets, andMason jar full of pot. Katsabanisalso had an Oxycodone pill inhis pocket, for which he did nothave a prescription.
Katsabanis, who told the of-ficer he carried the gun for pro-tection, was arrested andcharged with marijuana posses-sion, carrying a concealed gunand carrying prescription drugswithout a prescription.
Police had come to the siteafter receiving a report that avehicle without a proper identi-fication was unlawfully parkedin the handicapped spot.
Other reports said that whenthe officer pulled over and ques-tioned Katsabanis that the rap-per said he didn’t have any gunsand handed him a“rolled up
slightly burnt marijuana joint”and stated “sorry officer.”
When the officers inspectedthe vehicle, they noticed a Glockhandgun under the driver’s seatand a clear mason jar full ofweed, NBC Miami reported.
Katsabanis, who is also ofCuban descent, said he hadbeen frightened by the policeand thought they had asked ifhe had a firearm on his personand stated that he always keepsa gun in his car for protection.He reportedly apologized fordenying that he had a firearm.
Stitches is recognized by his
unique facial tattoos and his2014 song Brick in Yo Face.
Prior to adopting the nameStitches, he was known as LilPhil. Stitches' debut album wasreleased on Nov. 24, 2015, enti-tled For Drug Dealers Only.
He released his first mixtapecalled No Snitching Is My State-ment in 2014. He has receivedcriticism for ending his showsearly and in 2014, Katsabanis'wife reportedly ended a concertearly due to the singer providingaudience members with drugs.
The singer has claimed thathe began selling drugs and guns
to support himself after movingto South Beach, Florida fromMiami. He is married with threechildren.
In January, 2016, news out-lets reported he had beenevicted from the home he wasrenting due to several monthslate rent totaling over $8000.
bone curves to the side. Doctorsrecommended dancing as a wayto strengthen the back musclesand she began taking balletlessons at age 7.
She grew up in Sacramentoto parents Gregory Kondos, anaccomplished landscape painter,and Rosie Thalas, a hairdresser.Rosie was the Lodi Festivalqueen when her future husbandfirst noticed her and decided topursue her. "My father was likea Greek Picasso, very talentedand very charming but also veryvolatile as many artists are. Mymother was a saint,” Field said.
Along with her ballet lessons,Field also took piano lessonsand practiced Greek folk danc-ing at the Annunciation GreekOrthodox Church in Sacra-mento. Her piano lessons paidoff when she got a summer jobat age 16 playing piano for floorexercises at Agilities inCarmichael, CA. "While I wasplaying the piano I could notstop talking and giving instruc-tions to the athletes and even-tually I became a dance coach,”she said. When she graduatedhigh school her father told herto either go to college full timeor work as a dancer full time,but not do both. “My father en-
couraged me to live my lifelarge and follow my dreams,"she said.
She decided to pursue danc-ing and worked as a profes-sional dancer with the Sacra-mento Ballet, and Capital CityBallet in Washington DC. In1983 she was hired as a chore-ographer and assistant coach forthe women's gymnastics team.When in 1991 UCLA Athletic Di-rector Dr. Judy Holland ap-pointed Field in the head coach-ing position, the disapproval ofthe gymnastics world was loudand clear. To hire a choreogra-pher as a gymnastics head coachwas an unorthodox move. Fieldhad her own doubts: “I was notsure if I could be successful. Itold them I will take the job fora year until they find a morequalified candidate. And on thatpremise, I accepted the posi-tion."
WOODEN’S INFLUENCE Despite all her efforts, the
second year the team finishedin a worse position than in thefirst. Field was deeply disap-pointed and decided that it wastime to quit. "I was not succeed-ing as a coach and I was walkingto the athletic director's officeto resign. On my way there Istopped by the store and whilewalking around I glanced at
[renowned UCLA basketballcoach John] Wooden's book ALifetime of Observations and Re-flections on and off the Courtand started reading it." At thatmoment, she decided to go backto her office and kept reading.While reconsidering her deci-sion to quit, "I began asking my-self what qualities do I bring tothe job? I realized that a lot of
the traits that I had developedas a ballet dancer can be appliedto the field of gymnastics aswell," she said. That was theturning point. She did not quitbut she "stopped mimickingother coaches and decided tofollow my instincts and be my-self." Success soon followed andafter winning a couple of Pa-cific-12 championships in 1997,she won her first NCAA NationalChampionship. In 1998, she,along with her husband, UCLAAssociate Athletic DirectorBobby Field, invited CoachWooden to their home for din-ner even though they had nevermet him before. The coach ac-cepted and he and Field clickedimmediately. As Humphrey Bog-art famously said in Casablanca"it was the beginning of a beau-tiful friendship" that lasted formany years.
Wooden was not only Field'smentor and beloved friend, buthe also attended meets on a reg-ular basis even at age 95 whenhe did not have a ride, he drovehimself to Westwood for a meetbecause he wanted to keep hispromise.
Today, Valorie Kondos-Fieldis the most decorated coach inwomen gymnastics. In additionto six national NCAA titles, herteams have won 13 Pac -12championships. She has beenawarded National Coach of theYear honors 4 times and beenPac -12 Coach of the Year 5times. She also had the distincthonor to be named Pac -12Coach of the Century.
The most important factor inher success? "Discipline. Confi-dence and attention to detail arealso very important but disci-pline is on the top of the list.The pain of discipline is neveras great as the pain of regret."She mostly embraces Wooden’s"confidence and steady de-meanor. He never had to‘switch’ to his coaching person-ality. He was always himself. Hewas funny, polite and respectful,he was never mean or insulting."
MISS VALField, who is affectionately
called "Miss Val" is well knownfor her nurturing personality, atrait she inherited from herGreek mother. Stella Savvidou,who joined the team in 2016 af-ter graduating high school inAustralia and competing for the
Cyprus National Team, wantedto attend an American univer-sity with a great gymnastics pro-gram that would also be a greatacademic school. Savvidou, whohad three offers from other uni-versities including Yale, turnedthem down once she metUCLA's coach. "After meetingCoach Val I knew I wanted tocome to UCLA. She was a caringand loving person, she touchedmy heart." Her mother, Chrysan-thi, added to the coach's praises.“Once I met Coach Val, thechoice was obvious. We felt thatanytime in the sphere of Valo-rie's influence would be invalu-able. Everything that has hap-pened since only strengthen ourconviction."
Most coaches emphasizewinning at all costs. Field loveswinning too, but she puts em-phasis on effort above all. "If weperform the best we can anddon't win on a particular day Iam okay with that. If we don'tput our best effort forward thenI have a problem with that." Herballet background has con-tributed to craft floor routinesthat excite audiences. At a re-cent meet at Pauley Pavilionmore than 12,000 peopleshowed up. UCLA women gym-nastics is also a hit in social me-dia as they have the largest so-cial media in the all womencollegiate sports ranking No.1onboth Instagram and Twitter. "Wehave the most entertaining floorroutines. They evolve as the sea-son progresses," said Savvidou,who has a ballet background aswell.
CHAMP OFF THE COURTTOO
Field is also a champion offthe court. When she got the callfrom her doctor that she hadbeen diagnosed with breast can-cer, she pulled off the freewayand started thinking of whatwill come next. "I heard a voicein my head saying to be anxiousfor nothing and grateful foreverything. God was speakingto me, telling me to fight.
"Breast cancer changed mylife for the better in every waypossible. I knew that if I did thetreatment and kept a positiveattitude I would have thechance to overcome it, so Iswitched my attitude com-pletely. I was grateful that I hadthe ‘opportunity’ to dochemotherapy so I said to my-self and others that I get to havechemo, not that I have to havechemo." Field called the medicalfacility she received chemother-apy a “chemo spa” because theword spa implies pampering.And she conveys this messageto the attendees of her speechestime and time again.
Field is in the process of writ-ing her first book, ChoreographYour Life. "People kept askingme ‘where can I buy your book?’I decided to write one, I wantto help people empower them-selves." Field was inducted intothe UCLA Athletics Hall of Famein 2010. Wooden was there."When I received the inductionletter I thought to myself, maybeI am a good coach now." Mod-eration aside, Field is not just agood coach, she has attainedlegendary status in women gym-nastics. Even the great JohnWooden would agree.
TNH Staff
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – An at-tack on Australian Greeks whileriding on a train through a pre-dominantly Muslim section ofSydney was reported by theSydney-based Daily Telegraph –a News Corp outlet unrelated tothe Telegraph Media Groupnewspaper– as an anti-Christianbias attack.
Mike, who feared being tar-geted for speaking out and with-held his last name, told theDaily Telegraph that four menof “Middle Eastern appearance”ripped his cross off his neck,stomped on it, and then kickedand punched his face, back, andshoulders. Two women attackedhis girlfriend when she tried tointervene.
Five uniformed transport of-ficers watched what happenedbut did nothing to stop it, Mikesaid, leaving the police to meetthe train at a later station.
“I was born in Australia ofGreek heritage,” Mike said, asreported in the Telegraph. “I’vealways worn my cross. For[them] to rip it off and step onit has to be a religious crime …It’s not on to feel unsafe in yourown country.”
Mike contacted Greek com-munity leader and formerSutherland Shire Councildeputy mayor Reverend GeorgeCapsis, who believes Christiansin Sydney are facing increasingpersecution by Muslim gangs.
“This is not an isolated inci-dent,” said Rev. Capsis, who ex-plained that Mike was thefourth Christian to contact himabout a religiously-motivated at-tack in the last six months, asreported in the Telegraph.
“There are gangs of theseyoung fellows of Muslim back-ground who have been harass-ing people they identify asChristian … You don’t hearabout it because no one’s report-ing it.”
The three previous victimswho went to Rev Capsis saidthey were also assaulted aroundpublic transport in the south-west of Sydney, as Mike and hisgirlfriend were.
“It’s like their territory,” hesaid. “They don’t want Chris-tians or other types of infidelsthere.”
The minister believes thatthe problem has to be “nippedin the bud” but, in the absenceof any strong action from au-thorities, he can only adviseChristians to hide their faith inthe presence of Muslims, so theydo not feel “provoked,” as re-ported by the Telegraph.
“People like Greek Orthodoxcarry a big cross,” he explained.“I tell them to be practical andif they’re in those areas andwearing a big cross and a groupof young guys comes, hide it inyour shirt. Why provoke it?”
A police spokesman said:“The incident [had] promptedpolice to remind the communitythat any bias-motivated crimewill not be tolerated.” He saidthe incident was still under in-vestigation.
Sydney Trains defended thetransport officers who did notintervene in the attack, theirchief responsibility is stoppingfare evasion and that they aretrained to observe from a “safespace” if passengers are as-saulted, as reported in the Tele-graph.
“It’s a multicultural society. Idon’t attack anyone’s beliefs butif they attack me for no reason,justice has to be served,” Miketold the Telegraph.
Rev. Capsis believes that, “Ifthis keeps up, someone will behurt. It’s got to be nipped in thebud.”
COMMUNITY6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017
Hall of Fame Gymnastics Coach Valorie Kondos Field UCLAContinued from page 1
Antigone Wows Audience Mana Products founder & CEO Nick Mouyiaris, Director Leonidas Loizidis, and Pancyprianfounder & president Philip Christopher attended the play at the Queens Theatre in New York.
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The leaf of the laurel tree is also known as the bay leaf (dafni, in Greek). Itis an essential ingredient in many cuisines, especially those of the Mediter-ranean. Used either fresh of dried, the leaves impart a subtle but distinctiveflavor and fragrance to food.
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Greek-American Rapper “Stitches” Katsabanis Arrested On Multiple Charges
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GreekAustraliansTold to HideCrosses inFear of Bias
Gymnastics Coach Valorie Kondos Field led UCLA’s NCAA Cham-paign Regional win, next up, the Championships in St. Louis.
COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017 7
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To my patience, colleagues and Helleneswishing you all
HAPPY EASTERCHRIST IS RISEN
By Steve FrangosTNH Staff Writer
For the past 105 years theNeptune Fountain of Goshen, INhas stood on the shaded EastLawn of the Elkhart CountyCourthouse. The Fountain wasnothing less than a thank-yougift from James Polezoes, a localGreek immigrant.
The Fountain is yet anotherof the many monuments raisedby Greeks in the United States.As with most such things, localGoshen residents and their im-mediate neighbors know aboutthis fountain than most Greek-Americans do. James Polezoesis at the heart of this tale andso we must learn somethingabout him, and his motivations,if we are ever to understandwhy such a monument exists tothis day in rural Indiana.
James Polezoes was born inSparta on July 4, 1887, immi-grating to the United States in1903. Polezoes joined hisbrother Peter in Ohio andshined shoes for nickels to earnhis living. Ambitious youngPolezoes soon sought to learnthe confectionery trade, frugallysaving his meager earnings. OnMay 10, 1910, Polezoes arrivedin Goshen, where he decided toopen a confectionery in a va-cated Main Street saloon, rightacross the street from the Cour-thouse. Somewhat off thebeaten path by 1913, Goshenwas one of the cities linked bythe newly finished Lincoln High-way, then a major Indiana thor-
oughfare. To be sure, the ven-ture gambled all of Polezoes'personal savings, some $800plus $600 borrowed from hisPeter. Nevertheless, tasty candyand fountain creations matchedby working from dawn untilmidnight, seven days a week,soon earned Polezoes a briskdaily business.
By early 1912, Polezoes hadsaved $1,400 more than enoughto launch another business, butthat is not what the youngGreek decided to do with hisearnings. On a business trip toChicago, Polezoes saw the Nep-tune statue. Unsure of himself,Polezoes “consulted a friend,publisher O. M. Kinnison.‘Goshen has been good to me,’Jim said hesitantly, ‘I'm grateful,I'd like to show it. Can I give afountain? Would it be all right?’Kinnison was at first surprised,then deeply touched. Jim’s sim-ple sincerity was obvious. More-over, Kinnison knew the shyyoung immigrant wasn't rich,and $1,400 in 1912 was a lot ofmoney (Culver Citizen (CulverIN) March 19, 1958).”
This conversation must havetaken place in the first coupleof months of 1912 because byearly February news reports onthe Fountain begin to appear.Among these reports we find theheadline: “Polezoes Fountain,”(which is how many of theGoshen newspapers initially re-ferred to the monument) andthen “The exact location of thePolezoes ornamental fountain incourt park will be determined
later. Commissioner Showalterwill represent the county on thecommittee. The county binds it-self to keep the fountain in re-pair. The city binds itself tomake the connections, furnishfree water supply and placedrainage (Goshen DemocratFebruary 9, 1912).”
Under the headline of “FinePublic Fountain for Goshen” wefind that Kinnison was able tonavigate through local channelssuch that “the handsome $1,000
fountain donated to the city ofGoshen by James Polezoes, aGreek, will be erected in Apriland by consent of the countycommissioners will be built incourt house park (Bristol Banner(Bristol IN) February 23,1912).”
The original design for thisNeptune statue was based onthe work of nineteenth-centuryFrench sculptor Gabriel-VitalDubray (1813-1892). Two cast-ing companies in the United
States produced versions of thisstatue. The one seen in Goshenwas manufactured by the J.L.Mott Iron Works company andis made of zinc coated in bronzepaint. When the water is run-ning, water spouts from themouths and nostrils of the seacreatures at Neptune's feet. Abronze plaque on the fountainreads: “ Donated to the city ofGoshen, IN, by J. Polezoes---A.D. 1912.”
On August 20, 1912, an elab-orate dedication ceremonymarked the formal presentationof this new public monument.A detailed description of thatevent can be found in the Au-gust 27, 1912 edition of theGoshen Mid-Week News-Times(GMWNT) newspaper. Therewe learn that “the park aboutthe fountain was decorated withcolored lights and the Greek andAmerican flags entwined gracedthe trees and fountain basin.”Then, at 7:30 PM, with an esti-mated audience of some 2,000Goshen residents massedaround the front steps of thecourt house, the Rogers' GoshenBand began to play a numberof songs.
At exactly 8 PM with the cit-izens gathered about the frontsteps of the court house thelights on the court house stepswere all turned on. The bandplayed the Star Spangled Ban-ner and the Rev. E. D. Burn-worth of the First BrethrenChurch pronounced the invoca-tion. Next Anthony Deahl, thena prominent citizen who wouldlater be a town banker andmayor, presented the Fountainto the Goshen’s citizens on Pole-zoes’ behalf. Mayor Samuel F.Spohn followed accepting thegift on behalf of the citizens.Mayor Spohn added that the en-tire dedication ceremony was inhonor of Mr. Polezoes. Themayor, next, introduced Pole-zoes, who had written a simplestatement but “when called tospeak, Jim could only blink tear-filled eyes and stand mute, histhroat choked (Culver CitizenMarch 19, 1958).” Deahl readit. “Mr. Polezoes stated that heappreciated the courtesies andpatronage extended to himsince his arrival in Goshen, andthat he wished to present thefountain to the citizens ofGoshen as a token of the appre-ciation he felt.”
The ceremony closed withthe prophetic observations ofLou W. Vail, lawyer, banker andoft-time county official. Vailsaid “that money is worth justwhat it will get a man. Thatwhile some had brought auto-mobiles and others sought otherpleasures, Mr. Polezoes had in-vested $1,100 in a fountain and
invited everybody to “take oneon me.” He thought the actgreat, and that Mr. Polezoes hadraised a monument to histhought and beneficence. Thou-sands will visit the fountain andwill rest and live refreshed, in-spire, uplifted. Thousands yetunborn will bless the name ofPolezoes (GMWNT August 27,1912).” The ceremonies endedwith the band playing the na-tional anthem of Greece as thecrowd waved handkerchiefs ina salute.
For all the celebration it wasa much harder job of maintain-ing the fountain than anyonefirst realized. Typical of all thelater issues is the following let-ter. Addressed to the editor ofthe Goshen Democrat, under theheadline, “Polezoes Fountain,”we read: “A few years ago Mr.James Polezoes donated to thecity of Goshen a fountain whichcost $1,000. The gift is the mostsubstantial of the character evermade here. Today, for some rea-son that has not been explained,this fountain, located in courtpark, remains in a state that isa disgrace to Goshen city andElkhart county. If there are nopublic funds available withwhich to bronze figure of Nep-tune, mend the leaks in thebasin and provide flowers forthe urns, doubtless people of thecommunity will raise the re-quired amount by individualsubscription. Certainly in its pre-sent condition the expensivePolezoes fountain is an object ofsad neglect. Transients inGoshen as well as most of thenatives are wondering what itall means (May 16, 1916).”
As for Polezoes, he remainedin Goshen and his various busi-ness enterprises are reportedupon from time to time. Onespecial event was Polezoes' mar-riage to Bertha (Pota) (neeGrammas) (1898-1986), thecouple had two daughters Helen(b. 1923) and Kostandina(Conie) (1926-2012).
James Polezoes passed awayin 1982. Goshen remains abustling rural town where localMennonites and Amish farmersare still a part of daily life. TheNeptune Fountain now serves asa unique unifying symbol of thiscommunity. This gift remainsthe most substantial ever madeby any Goshen citizen.
Monuments all across theUnited States are dedicated toor have been raised by Greek-Americans. Why does the Greek-American community remainunaware of these historic sign-posts our ancestors were soproud to bequeath to the fu-ture?
The Neptune Fountain of Goshen, IN: The Gift of a Greek Immigrant
Elkhart County Courthouse in Goshen, IN
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY
TNH Staff
WHITESTONE – On the Sat-urday of Lazarus, the studentsof Holy Cross Greek AfternoonSchool in Whitestone, GOYA,JOY, and Girl Scouts attended apalm cross-making event afterthe Divine Liturgy. Fr. DionysiosAnagnostopoulos attended theevent as did Greek AfternoonSchool Principal ChristinaMakridis to teach the youngpeople how to make the tradi-tional palm crosses distributedto the faithful on Palm Sunday.Hundreds of palm crosses weremade, some with a little helpfrom the teachers and parentsin attendance at the event. Thechildren enjoyed the learningexperience and look forward tomaking palm crosses next year.Effie Andreou, mother of twinsConstantia and Barbara, said theevent was “a great thing for thekids,” noting that they were ex-cited about participating in PalmSunday in this way, learningabout their faith, traditions, andthe meaning of the holiday.
Palm Sunday was celebratedthroughout the world on April9.
The attacks in Egypt addeda solemnity to the day as Chris-tians attended services com-memorating the entry of Jesusinto Jerusalem and the start ofHoly Week. After the DivineLiturgy, many churches offereda luncheon featuring the tradi-tional bakaliaro and skordalia.
The Gospel Reading for PalmSunday is from John 12:1-18.
Six days before Passover, Je-sus came to Bethany, whereLazarus was, whom Jesus hadraised from the dead. Therethey made him a supper;Martha served, and Lazarus wasone of those at table with him.Mary took a pound of costlyointment of pure nard andanointed the feet of Jesus andwiped his feet with her hair; and
the house was filled with thefragrance of the ointment. ButJudas Iscariot, one of his disci-ples (he who was to betrayhim), said “Why was this oint-ment not sold for three hundreddenarii and given to the poor?”This he said, not that he caredfor the poor but because he wasa thief, and as he had the moneybox he used to take what wasput into it.
Jesus said, “Let her alone, lether keep it for the day of myburial. The poor you alwayshave with you, but you do notalways have me.”
When the great crowd of theJews learned that he was there,they came, not only on accountof Jesus but also to see Lazarus,whom he had raised from thedead. So the chief priestsplanned to put Lazarus also todeath, because on account ofhim many of the Jews were go-ing away and believing in Je-
sus.The next day a great crowd
who had come to the feastheard that Jesus was coming toJerusalem. So they tookbranches of palm trees and wentout to meet him, crying,“Hosanna! Blessed is he whocomes in the name of the Lord,even the King of Israel!”
And Jesus found a youngdonkey and sat upon it; as it iswritten, "Fear not, daughter ofZion; behold, your king is com-ing, sitting on a donkey's colt!"His disciples did not understandthis at first; but when Jesus wasglorified, then they rememberedthat this had been written ofhim and had been done to him.The crowd that had been withhim when he called Lazarus outof the tomb and raised him fromthe dead bore witness. The rea-son why the crowd went tomeet him was that they heardhe had done this sign.
Easter With Christ Is A Major CelebrationIt is a major preparation and a major joy. We all come together eating, drinking and rejoicing
in peace. Together we have the Creator, the Lord of our life, the victory over death, the Lambof God, the Son of God, the Son of man, the Savior of the world, and the Perfection of knowl-edge and life. So rejoice my brothers! The kingdom of God is open to mankind. We see thedoor, and the name of the door is Jesus Christ. As He said, “I am the door: by me if any manenter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture,” John 10:9. He is a spir-itual door, educates perfectly the ones who want to pass through. This is the education ofGod. Perfection in everything without sin, is a perfect teaching which transforms you from awolf into a sheep. A sheep that you will celebrate with Him forever because He is the Shepherdof the sheep.
Are you truly a sheep? If you are, start dancing! Celebrating the history of Christ is a cele-bration of sheep. So rejoice my brother sheep! The everlasting perfection of God, your Father,He raises the dead, He Himself was resurrected, and He proved who He is John 1:10 – Hecreated the world. He is the resurrection of life, life after death for sure, the biggest historicevent and that is why the world says, “Before Christ & After Christ.” He changed the rhythmof the world. So we celebrate Easter from now to the everlasting, not only one day, month oryear, but forever. I do not know how you see it, but for me, I celebrate greatly and have joylike a river! I glorify the victory of Christ, my Lord and Savior. When John the Baptist sawChrist, he said “He is the Lamb of God that takes the sins of the world” John 1:29. He is theLamb of God, the perfect education for every man, which the whole world needs to receive tobecome free from the bondage of sin that produces death. You are in darkness when you walkin sin and say you in the light. The same thing happens if someone calls you sheep when youare a wolf.
Sin is a spiritual wolf that lives in you. Everybody fell to sin but not Jesus. He is the Lambof God, never sinned, and is the Only Savior. Our sins fell upon Him, beat Him up, nailed Himon the cross, horrible pain to death, but He did not bend. He proved to be the Lamb of God.He teaches us to become like sheep just as He was. That’s why He says “Come unto me all”and “My sheep will hear my voice, and I know them…I will give them everlasting life. Theynever will be lost,” John 10:27. The voice of Christ is His perfect teaching. It does not needan add-on or a replacement. It is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Start to read it with yourown eyes and to eat with your brain until you become a lamb of Christ. Then personally youwill know the perfect knowledge of Christ and the Lord of your life. Then you can say to theones who try to pull you away from Christ, tell them to repent and to promote Christ with HisGospel to the world, not themselves.
Preachers that try to take believers away from Christ to themselves, there is Day of Judgmentcoming. The true believers belong to Christ, not to the preachers. Jesus called me to be apreacher all over the world to preach about Him and His Gospel only, nothing about me. With-out Him I am nothing. The Lord sent me by the Holy Spirit and with the wisdom and authorityof the Holy Spirit. This is by the grace of Christ. The first Apostles of Christ were preachingand promoting Christ and His Gospel, nothing about themselves or about others. The Apostles’Creed says “One HOLY, Catholic and Apostolic church” which means, we follow the first Apos-tles of Christ and His church must be totally holy. Since we are the body of Christ, Christ isHoly so we must be holy. Holy is the Lamb of God, holy must be His sheep. Then we are unitedperfectly, for a holy and perfect kingdom of God, and we have a perfect celebration, an Easterof holiness, with everlasting joy.
Christ’s love, Servant of ChristNiko MAN OF GOD8075 Broadview Rd.
Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147(440) 759-6494
Advertisement
Making Crosses for Palm Sunday in Whitestone
Twins Constantia and Barbara Andreou with Greek Afternoon School Principal ChristinaMakridis, on right, at the event at Holy Cross in Whitestone, after the Divine Liturgy.
EffiE ANdrEOu
By Eleni Sakellis
Eggs are one of the most nu-tritious foods, but if you got car-ried away with egg dyeing thisyear, you may be stuck with afew dozen hard-boiled eggs toomany. Luckily, eggs are also ex-tremely versatile and there areseveral different ways to usethem up. The following recipeswill help keep you from spend-ing the next two weeks eatingplain hard-boiled eggs for break-fast every day.
A nutrient dense food, eggsare an excellent source ofcholine and selenium, a goodsource of high-quality protein,vitamin D, vitamin B12, phos-phorus, and riboflavin, and arealso rich in the essential aminoacid leucine, which plays aunique role in stimulating mus-cle protein synthesis, for only
70 calories per egg. Recent stud-ies have shown that eggs havepositive effects on weight man-agement, muscle strength,healthy pregnancy, brain func-tion, and eye health. Eating anegg a day may even reduce therisk of stroke and adding eggsto salads may increase the ab-sorption of vitamin E.
Tasty Greek Egg Salad
6 tablespoons plain Greekyogurt1 tablespoon red wine vinegar1 clove garlic, minced6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped3/4 cup tomatoes, chopped3/4 cup cucumber, chopped6 tablespoons feta3 tablespoons kalamata olives,choppedFreshly ground black pepper6 whole-wheat pitas, toasted
In a mixing bowl, stir to-gether the Greek yogurt, redwine vinegar, and the garlic.Fold in the hard-boiled eggs, thechopped tomatoes, the choppedcucumber, feta, and choppedkalamata olives. Season withblack pepper to taste. Serve witha side salad and the toastedwhole-wheat pitas. If preferred,serve on toasted bread as an egg
salad sandwich.
For those unfamiliar with thelatest food trend, grain bowls arenot really a new concept. Theyare basically a type of salad withgrains as a base topped with avariety of vegetables, a protein ofyour choice, and usually a lightdressing. It’s a great way to useup leftovers as in the followingrecipe.
Greek Grain Bowlswith Eggs
2 cups cooked brown rice2 small cucumbers, diced1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved1 cup cooked chick peas1/2 cup chopped parsleyGreek sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper4 hard-boiled eggs, cut in halfFor the dressing:� cup Greek extra-virgin oliveoil2 tablespoons tahini4 tablespoons lemon juice2 garlic cloves, minced2 tablespoons water1½ teaspoons dried turmeric� teaspoon Greek sea salt,more to tasteFreshly ground black pepper
In a large bowl, stir togetherthe cooked brown rice, the cu-cumbers, cherry tomatoes, thechick peas, and parsley. Seasonwith salt and pepper to taste.Top the grain bowl with thehard-boiled eggs.
To make the dressing, in amixing bowl, whisk together theolive oil, tahini, lemon juice,minced garlic cloves, water,turmeric, sea salt, and pepper.Taste and adjust seasoning asneeded. Drizzle over the top ofthe grain bowl and serve imme-diately. Makes about 4 servings.
To cook the brown rice, bring3 ½ cups of water to a boil in asaucepan over medium highheat, reduce heat and add 1 cupof brown rice. Stir in 1/2 tea-spoon sea salt and allow to sim-mer until the water is absorbedand the rice cooked. Cover tokeep warm until ready to use.Store any leftovers tightly cov-ered in the refrigerator.
Recipes for Leftover EasterEggs, Salad and Grain Bowls
GREEK GASTRONOMY OUR EVERYDAY GREEK
By Dr. Dimitra Pontoporou
Βάφω means dye and τσουγκράω or τσουγκρίζω means clink,or crack together. At Greek Easter we dye red eggs and we crackthem together at dinner saying Χριστός Ανέστη (hriSTOS aNEsti),Christ is risen and responding Αληθώς Ανέστη (aliTHOS aNEsti),He is truly risen.
WE DYE RED EGGSGreek verb Pronunciation MeaningΕγώ βάφ-ω eYO VΑfo I dyeΕσύ βάφ-εις eSEE VAfis you dyeΗ Μαρία βάφ-ει EE maREEa VAfi Maria dyesΕμείς βάφ-ουμε eMEES VAfoome we dyeΕσείς βάφ-ετε eSEES VAfete you dyeΗ Μαρία και ο Πέτρος βάφ-ουν EE maREEa KE O PEtros
VAfoon Maria and Petros dye
1. Put the correct form of the verb βάφω.1.1.Το Πάσχα εγώ ….. με τη γιαγιά μου κόκκινα αυγά.1.2.Το Πάσχα εμείς ….. κόκκινα αυγά.1.3. Εμείς το Πάσχα ….. κόκκινα αυγά.1.4. Εσείς ….. κόκκινα αυγά;1.5. Η γιαγιά μου και η μαμά μου ….. κόκκινα αυγά.
WE CRACK RED EGGSΤσουγκράω is a conjugation B verb, while βάφω is a conjugation
A verb.
Greek verb Pronunciation MeaningΕγώ τσουγκρ-άω eYO tsooGRAo I crackΕσύ τσουγκρ-άς eSEE tsooGRAS you crackΗ Μαρία τσουγκρ-άει EE maREEA tsooGRAi
Maria cracksΕμείς τσουγκρ-άμε eMEES tsooGRAme we crackΕσείς τσουγκρ-άτε eSEES tsooGRAte you crackΗ Μαρία και ο Πέτρος τσουγκρ-άνε O PEtros KE EE ma-
REEa tsooGRAne Petros and Maria crack
2. Put the correct ending of the verb τσουγκράω, add the correctgender and case of the adjective red, ο κόκκιν-ος, -η, -ο.
2.1. Στην Ανάσταση τσουγκρά-.. το ….. αυγό μου με τον παππούμου και λέω Χριστός Ανέστη.
2.2. Το Πάσχα τσουγκρ-.. τα ….. αυγά και λέμε Χριστός Ανέστη.2.3. Η γιαγιά μου τσουγκρ-.. το ….. αυγό της με την αδελφή
μου και λέει Χριστός Ανέστη.2.4. Η αδελφή μου τσουγκρ-.. το ….. αυγό της με της γιαγιάς
μου και λέει Αληθώς Ανέστη. 2.5. Στην Ανάσταση ο παππούς και η γιαγιά μου τσουγκρ-.. τα
….. αυγά τους.
3. Add the missing words: Πάσχα, Χριστός, Ανέστη, Αληθώς,Ανάσταση, κόκκινο, κόκκινα, αυγά, τσουγκράμε.
3.1. Το ….. βάφουμε τα αυγά κόκκινα.3.2. Στην ….. τσουγκράω το ….. αυγό μου με τον παππού μου
και λέω Χριστός …..3.3. Στην Ανάσταση ….. τα ….. αυγά και λέμε ….. Ανέστη.3.4. Η γιαγιά μου τσουγκράει το ….. αυγό της με τον παππού
και λέει ….. Ανέστη.
3.5. Ο παππούς τσουγκράει το ….. αυγό του με της γιαγιάς μουκαι λέει Αληθώς …..
3.6. Στην Ανάσταση ο παππούς και η γιαγιά μου τσουγκράνε τα….. αυγά τους και λένε Χριστός …..
3.7. Ο Πέτρος και η Μαρία μετά την ….. τρώνε τα ….. αυγάτους.
IS TI RED OR YELLOW?4. Put the adjectives ο κίτρινος, -η, -ο (yellow) or ο κόκκινος, -
η, -ο (red) in the correct gender, nominative case, singular number,like in the given example:
Το μέλι είναι …..Το μέλι είναι κίτρινο.
4.1. Η μαργαρίτα είναι …...4.2. Η φωτιά είναι …..4.3. Η φέτα του λεμονιού είναι …..4.4. Η φλούδα του πεπονιού είναι …..4.5. Ο ήλιος στο ηλιοβασίλεμα είναι …..
5. Put the adjectives ο κίτρινος, -η, -ο (yellow) or ο κόκκινος, -η, -ο (red) in the correct gender, nominative case, plural number.
5.1. Οι φλούδες του πεπονιού είναι …..5.2. Τα αυγά του Πάσχα είναι …..5.3. Τα λεμόνια είναι …..5.4. Οι μαργαρίτες είναι …...5.5. Οι αχτίδες του ήλιου ….
6. Put the adjective ο κίτρινος, -η, -ο (yellow) or ο κόκκινος, -η,-ο (red) in the correct gender, number and case.
6.1. Μου αρέσουν τα ….. αυγά το Πάσχα.6.2. Μου αρέσουν οι …… μαργαρίτες.6.3. Μου αρέσει ο ….. ήλιος στο ηλιοβασίλεμα. 6.4. Μου αρέσει η ….. φωτιά.6.5. Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ ….. αυγά.
Review: At Easter Dinner Clink Red Eggs & Speak Greek
By Phyllis (Kiki) SembosSpecial to The National Herald
“We went to the parade Sun-day. It was so crowded Icouldn’t find any of you. Wereany of you there?” asked John,reaching out for a donut. “Sure!I wouldn’t miss it.
We go every year. My wifeand daughters and I all went.Took pictures, too. It was a fineparade excepting for a littlerain,” Dimos informed them,stirring his coffee. “I hope youall saw me,” Kipreos said withenthusiasm. “I held up a cornerof the flag, wore a ribbon acrossmy chest and marched with themembers of the Cypriots divi-sion, of course.” Having seenhim, they extolled their praise.John looked up. “George! I thinkI spotted you under the canopyof one of the buildings alongFifth Avenue.” George nodded,sipping his coffee. “My wife anddaughter were under a blue um-brella. We had a good spot.”Then, pausing to think, Dimos
asked, “Did anyone see Yiannis?Did he march?” John admittedhe hadn’t seen him. “Wasn’t hesupposed to march with hisMarousanakislaki group?”
George said, “Areti phonedmy wife a day before the pa-rade. She said she was workinghard letting out the seams dueto the extra weight he’d put on,ironed all hundred pleats andbleached the long white stock-ings. So, that means he pre-pared for it. He used the subwayto get there, she thinks. He’dnever take a taxi.” They allagreed to that. “So, where washe?” Reluctantly, Kipreos in-formed them that he’d seenYiannis loudly arguing with thepresident of the Marou-sanakislaki group. “I overheardthe president complain that hestill hadn’t paid last year’s duesand this year’s, either – thatYiannis had some nerve de-manding that he march up frontbeside the president and mayorof the town who had flown in
from Greece for the occasion.”Hearing that, they all expressedsurprise at Yiannis’ expectations.“Sometimes he could really bea little bit...ah, nervy,” John said,shaking his head. Dimos sighed.“Sometimes he could be unrea-sonable.” George’s headsnapped up, annoyed, “some-times?” Just then, Yiannis saun-tered in, got his coffee and satamong them after greeting themall jovially. “What a fine day!Too bad it wasn’t like this forSunday’s parade,” he told them.
“So!” began John. “Were you atthe parade Sunday?” Leaningback, Yiannis smiled broadlyand told them, “Of course! I wasin it! A little rain...but, Iwouldn’t miss it for anything –or anyone.” Dimos, confused,asked, “You marched? None ofus saw you.” “That’s right, Yian-nis,” John said.
Kipreos, omitting havingseen him arguing, hotly, withthe president of his society, toldhim, “I saw you dressed up, talk-ing to someone. But, I had to
go to my place.” George, beingmore assertive, said, “Youweren’t in the Marousanakislakigroup. So, where were you?”
Reaching out for a donut, aprideful Yiannis announced, “Iwas given a police escort. A verynice cop took me to the sectionof honor – where I truly be-longed.” Seeing their inquisitiveexpressions, he further ex-plained, “I had a minor dis-agreement with the president ofmy society because he insistedit wasn’t appropriate for me tomarch beside him and themayor of Marousanakislaki whowas brought to New York justfor the occasion. I disagreed.”The scene began to clarify itselfdifferently in their minds. “And,where was this place of honorthat you were escorted to?”asked John, hoping it wasn’t tothe police station. “Well,” beganYiannis, smugly, “After a discus-sion as to where I should be inthe parade, a policeman cameby and asked us what‘s going
on.” George nodding said, “Dis-cussing?” Annoyed, Yiannis toldhim, “Yes, George! Discussing!”He continued, “He heard us outand told me to follow him. Heled me to a police car and I wentin.” He grinned. “You shouldhave seen the president’s face –seeing me escorted by NewYork’s finest.” He paused. “Hegave me a choice; either I marchbehind the police division orpurchase a ticket to the Police-men’s Ball. I wasn’t interestedin that. I don’t dance. I pointedto my Tsaroukia that were get-ting soaked in the rain. He said,‘you wanna march here, or sitin the clinker’ – wherever thatwas. I didn’t want to sit any-where. So, he took me to thepolice section, and I marchedbetween them and a HighSchool band. What an honor!”There was nothing but to accepthis version of the events, con-cluding that only Yiannis couldturn a misdemeanor into self-glorification.
GREEK AMERICAN STORIES
Marching with the Law
By Eleni Sakellis
The Asia Minor and PontusHellenic Research Center (AM-PHRC), based in Chicago, IL hasreleased the sixth book in a se-ries on the Genocide of theGreeks of Asia Minor, Pontos,and Eastern Thrace and of theArmenians and Assyrians.
Genocide in the OttomanEmpire: the Armenians, Assyri-ans and Greeks, 1913-1923edited by George N. Shirinianincludes the recommendation ofthe International Conference onthe Ottoman Turkish Genocidesof Anatolian Christians, whichwas held at the Illinois Holo-caust Museum and EducationalCenter in May, 2013. The con-ference was the first without thelate Dr. Harry J. Psomiades, thevisionary, pillar, and benefactorof the Center. Shirinian, thebook’s editor, is the ExecutiveDirector of the International In-stitute for Genocide and HumanRights Studies, a division of theZoryan Institute. His publica-tions include Studies in Com-parative Genocide and The AsiaMinor Catastrophe and the Ot-toman Greek Genocide: Essayson Asia Minor, Pontos, and East-ern Thrace, 1913–1923.
AMPHRC Director GeorgeMavropoulos spoke to The Na-tional Herald, welcoming the
publication of the book and ex-pressing gratitude to Shirinian,the writers and academics, whooffer the reader and future his-torians the opportunity to real-ize that “the last years of the Ot-toman Empire were disastrousfor all non-Turkish, non-Muslimminorities.”
He noted that the new bookshows that the Genocide of Ar-menians, Assyrians, and Greekswas perpetrated at the sametime and recalls that the strug-gle for recognition of the Geno-cide is and should be shared.
Mavropoulos expressed hisgratitude to all who helped and
offered a donation for the pub-lication of the book and saidthat “the book was released theweek of the Diaspora celebrat-ing the 196th anniversary of theGreek Revolution.”
He also noted that on the dayof our national holiday at thePontic Club in Astoria, Greek-Russian businessman and one ofthe grand marshals of this year’sNew York Greek IndependenceParade, Ivan Savvidis, an-nounced the donation of$50,000 from his family foun-dation for the continuation ofthe project for the study of thehistory of Asia Minor Hellenismand its great cultural contribu-tions before and after the de-struction of their ancestralhomes.
This donation, Mavropoulossaid, is the largest the Centerhas received so far to rewardand reinforce its work.
Referring to the Genocide,Mavropoulos noted that from1913 to 1923, the leaders of theOttoman Empire deported,killed, or otherwise persecuteda large number of men, women,and children in an effort tomaintain a “Turkey for theTurks” creating a modern prece-dent for how a system may im-plement a genocide against itsown citizens for the pursuit ofpolitical objectives, while escap-
ing the attention of public opin-ion entirely.
Although this brutal story isbest known through the Armen-ian Genocide, very few todaycan appreciate the extent towhich the fate of the Assyrianand Greek nationals were linkedto that of the Armenians.
Mavropoulos said “this bookwill be introduced at universitylibraries and distributed topoliticians and historians to in-crease awareness of the historyand destruction of Hellenism inAsia Minor, Pontos, and EasternThrace.”
Among the chapters in thebook is The Assyrian Issue 1914-1935: Australian Documentsand Press by Stavros Stavridis,Found in Translation: Eyewit-ness Accounts of the Massacresin Nicomedia as Reported byGreek Journalist Kostas Faltaitsby Eleni Phufas, The Genocideof the Ottoman Greeks 1913-1923: Myths and Facts by TheaHalo, and Redeeming the Unre-deemed: The Anglo-HellenicLeague's Campaign for theGreeks in Asia Minor by GeorgiaKouta.
Genocide in the OttomanEmpire: Armenians, Assyrians,and Greeks, 1913-1923 editedby George N. Shirinian is avail-able online.
LITERARY REVIEW
New Book Released on Genocide in the Ottoman Empire
COMMUNITY8 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017
COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017 9
n
Chrysoula, please cut from thebottom as needed
THRU MAY 4MANHATTAN – The A.S. Onas-sis Program in Hellenic Studiesat NYU presents Greek CinemaToday Spring 2017 Film Serieson Thursdays through May 4 at6:30 PM at 12 Waverly Place,Room G-08, in Manhattan. Cu-rated by Visiting Prof. EleftherisAstrinaki, the series includesunique films such as SpringAwakening on April 13, GoldenDawn: A Personal Affair on April20, and Park on May 4. The filmscreenings are free and open tothe public and include appear-ances by the filmmakers. Moreinformation is available [email protected] or 212-998-3979.
APRIL 15EAST MEADOW, NY – The mid-night Vigil and Divine Liturgyfor Orthodox Easter will be heldon Saturday, Apr. 15 at 11:15PM at Holy Trinity OrthodoxChurch, 369 Green Avenue, inEast Meadow. A festive Paschalmeal will follow the service. ThePaschal Vespers for OrthodoxEaster will be held on Sunday,Apr. 16 at 12 noon. The outdoorchildren’s procession and Easteregg hunt will follow the service.All services will be conducted inEnglish. The full schedule forHoly Week can be found on theparish website’s calendar atwww.htocem.org. For more in-formation, call 516-483-3649 oremail [email protected].
APRIL 16WEBSTER, MA – Joy Easter EggHunt at Saints Constantine andHelen Church, 37 Lake Parkwayin Webster from 11 AM to 2 PMon Easter Sunday, Apr. 16. Fol-lowed by the Agape Vespers ofPascha at 12 noon, and PaschaLamb and Pot-Luck Luncheon at1 PM. More information is avail-able by phone: 508-943-8361and online atwww.schwebster.org.
APRIL 19LOWELL, MA – The WhistlerHouse Museum of Art willhonor internationally known USAmbassador to Spain and An-dorra, James Costos, with theJames McNeill Whistler Distin-guished Art Award. In his honor,the Lowell Art Association, Inc.will premiere a special exhibi-tion, Lowell: A Homecoming,presenting photographs andworks of art on canvas, at theUMass Lowell Inn and Confer-ence Center, 50 Warren Street,on Wednesday, Apr. 19, begin-ning at 4 PM, followed by acocktail reception at 5 PM, a cel-ebratory award dinner at 6 PM,a banquet and dance at 7 PM.Entertainment for the eveningwill be provided by SabrinaAviles and Flamenco Dance Pro-ject and music by ChampagneToast. More information andtickets are available by phone:978-452-7641 and online atwww.whistlerhouse.org/index.ph p / e v e n t s / e v e n t s - a t - a -glance/10-events/146-jmwdaa.
MANHATTAN – The Hellenic-American Cultural Foundation,the Hellenic-American Chamberof Commerce, and AmericanFriends of the Jewish Museumof Greece present Jews ofGreece: 25 Centuries of Contin-uous Presence on Wednesday,
Apr. 19 at 7 PM at the offices ofNorton Rose Fulbright, 1301 6thAve. in Manhattan. Dr. MimisCohen a founding member ofthe American Friends of theJewish Museum of Greece anda professor at the University ofIllinois at Chicago will give apresentation on the early inter-action of the Greek and “Ro-maniote” Jewish communitiesaround the Eastern Mediter-ranean. The program and recep-tion are free of charge, butplease note, due to building se-curity requirements, only regis-tered attendees will be admittedto this event. No walk-ins willbe permitted. RSVP [email protected].
APRIL 19 THRU JUNE 29WESTON, MA – The GreekLeague Basketball Games pre-sented by the Teddy KariotisFoundation andGreekboston.com- Enjoy a nightout with fellow Greeks of Bostonfor some fun competition!Games will be hosted at theSaint Demetrios Greek Ortho-dox Church, 57 Brown Street inWeston. This season will featureteams from Arlington, Boston,Roslindale, Lexington, Norwoodand West Roxbury. Games areplayed every Wednesday night.The season will conclude onThursday, Jun. 29 with theChampionship Game! Want tojoin our next season? Get intouch right away as we are al-ready preparing our Summerand Fall seasons! Check out ourFacebook Page: @thegreek-leagueboston for news, pictures,scores, and sign up information!Schedule for Wednesday, Apr.19: at 7:30 West Roxbury vs.Lexington, 8:30 Roslindale vs.Norwood, and at 9:30 Arlingtonvs. Boston. more information isavailable by phone: 781-237-5561.
APRIL 22LOS ANGELES, CA – Fresh fromtwo sold-out runs at the 2016FringeNYC and 2016 Fringe En-core Series, the play Rent Con-trol by Evan Zes, in an exclusiveengagement- one night in LA,on Saturday, Apr. 22 at the RubyTheater at the Complex Holly-wood, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd.at 8 PM. Phone: 323-465-0383.A struggling actor falls back-wards into a NYC rent-con-trolled apartment and turns itinto a lucrative Airbnb schemein this wild-but-true one-manshow. Tickets are available on-line at www.evanzesrentcon-trol.com/tickets/.
PARKVILLE, MD – InternationalOrthodox Christian Charities(IOCC), the Baltimore-based hu-manitarian agency of the As-sembly of Canonical OrthodoxBishops of the United States ofAmerica, is hosting a Big FatGreek Wedding Reception onSaturday, Apr. 22 at the HermesRafailides Center at St.Demetrios Greek OrthodoxChurch, 2504 Cub Hill Road inParkville, MD, to celebrate 25years of life-giving humanitarianassistance in over 60 countries.The benefit will feature dinner,music, and dancing as well as akeynote “toast” by IOCC Execu-tive Director and CEO Constan-tine Triantafilou. Doors Open at6 PM. Dress Code: Cocktail At-tire. More information is avail-able online atwww.iocc.org/baltimore.
GOINGS ON...
TNH Staff
CHICAGO, IL – An educationalprogram for our youth, AHEPA’sHellenic History Tournament isexpanding to include even morechapters and regions. The 3rdannual Chicago regional com-petition of the AHEPA HellenicHistory Tournament was held atthe Loyola University ChicagoSchool of Law, on March 11.
The competition featured 30high-school aged students par-ticipating in a Jeopardy-styletournament that quizzes partic-ipants on Hellenic history. Thetournament is a one-day eventwith high school students com-peting on teams of three spon-
sored by their local AHEPAchapters.
Teams compete in a head-to-head competition. Multiplechoice questions are displayedon a projector screen and readby a moderator. The questions,drawn from materials providedto all students upon registration,covers Ancient, Middle, andModern Greek history. Teamsadvance based on answering themost questions correctly withthe team winning the finalround receiving a $3,000 schol-arship prize ($1,000 per studenton the team) and the secondplace team receiving $1,500($500 per student). The partic-ipating students commit sub-
stantial time and energy to learnabout Hellenic history and an-cestors.
The tournament originatedin 2009 with Ahepan NicholasNikas of Greenwich, CT, formu-lating the concept and develop-ing the necessary materials tohost the tournament. The NewEngland tournament is hostedby AHEPA Yankee District 7(Connecticut and Rhode Island)and is held at St. Barbara’sGreek Orthodox Church in Or-ange, CT. The Chicago tourna-ment is hosted by AHEPAChicago Lakeshore Chapter 205.
Chapter President Themisto-cles Frangos said, “Nick Nikasis a true visionary in developing
such a wonderful program forour youth. Their study not onlyenables them to learn the his-tory of Greece, it also helpsthem to better understand whythe founders of this country re-lied on their knowledge of Hel-lenism in establishing the gov-erning structure of the UnitedStates.”
This was an exciting year be-cause AHEPA’s ultimate goal ofexpanding the tournament toother regions was realized.AHEPA District 5 (New Jerseyand Delaware) hosted a compe-tition for the first time. The cre-ation of a third regional compe-tition enables AHEPA to conducta National Championship tour-nament at this year’s SupremeConvention in Orlando, FL. Thetop two teams in each regionadvance to compete for the na-tional championship.
The winning team of thisyear’s Chicago tournament wasTeam Herodotus, sponsored byChapter 205. The team mem-bers were Ioanna Karra,Nicholas Tomaras, and GeorgiaTsiranidi. The second placeteam, Saints Peter & Paul GOYA2, was sponsored by AHEPANorth Shore Chapter 94 and in-cluded Elias Anderson, MitryAnderson, and Julia Economy.
The tournament included thefinancial support of a number ofsponsoring organizations and in-dividuals. Principal benefactorsincluded the AHEPA EducationalFoundation, the AHEPA NationalHousing Corporation, the RobertBuhler Family, and Past SupremePresident Phillip and Tula Fran-gos. The tournament hosts pre-sented the competition as a fam-ily affair with families andfriends attending and watchingtheir teams compete.
TNH Staff
GRANGER, IN – Helen Beris-tain, a Greek immigrant, votedfor Donald Trump in spite of thefact that her husband Robertois undocumented. She neverimagined he would be deportedto Mexico after nearly 20 yearsof living and working in theUnited States.
The Beristains have three mi-nor children ages 8, 14, and 15years. The couple owns therestaurant Eddie's Steak Shed inGranger, IN. “I don't think ICE(Immigration and Customs En-forcement) is out there to detainanyone and break families, no,”Beristain told CNN affiliateWSBT in March.
A naturalized U.S. citizen,Beristain worked as a waitresswhen she met her future hus-band in a restaurant in FortWayne, as reported by WSBT. ARepublican, she said she sup-ported Trump’s position on thedeportation of those illegalswho have committed crimes,but never imagined that herhusband, who has no criminalrecord, would fall victim to the
strict new policy.The authorities knew since
2000 that Roberto was living il-legally in the United States.
In a statement to CNN, ICEsaid that “on April 4, officerswith ICE’s Enforcement and Re-moval Operations (ERO) re-moved Roberto BeristainCegueda to Mexico via CiudadJuarez, Mexico. ERO officersturned him over to Mexican au-thorities at the Paso Del NortePort of Entry in El Paso, Texas.”
“I was scared because I didn'tknow where I was going. I didn'tknow what would happen withme. I've never been here,"Roberto said in Ciudad Juarez,where he is staying at a shelterfor immigrants, as reported byCNN.
“They suddenly told me itwas time to go,” 43-year-oldRoberto was quoted as sayingas reported by the Wall StreetJournal and other media outlets.“They told me to get my stuff,they put me in the back of a vanand sped toward the border.They took me to another facilitywhile in transport to sign paper-work. I asked to speak with my
attorney, but was told there was-n't time for that. At around 10PM, I was dropped off at theU.S.-Mexico border and walkedinto Mexico."
The U.S. reentry ban is validfor 10 years, despite the effortsof lawyers and their families toprevent deportation.
Beristain told WSBT the cou-ple married in 2001 and even-tually settled in the city ofMishawaka. They raised a childtogether from a previous mar-riage and then had three morechildren, all U.S. citizens. “Ithink our president is going tokeep all the good people here.He is not going to tear up fami-lies. I don't think he wants to dothat. He just wants to keep ussafe,” she told WSBT in March.
Roberto did not seek legalresidency through his marriagebecause he was afraid it wouldrequire him to go back to Mex-ico for some time, Beristain said,WSBT reported.
The current legal issue datesback to a 2000 family vacationto Niagara Falls, NY. The Beris-tains mistakenly crossed intoCanada, when they turned
around they were detained byICE, Ansari said, CNN reported.
“When immigration officialspicked him up at that time, theyclassified him incorrectly,” hisattorney Adam M. Ansari said.“If they had classified him cor-rectly, the voluntary departureorder wouldn't have been an op-tion and he could have followedother avenues.”
The incorrect classificationled to a voluntary departure or-der, Beristain entered a legallimbo in which getting a greencard proved all but impossible,and in the meantime, he madedue with a work permit and adriver’s license, Ansari said,CNN reported.
The National Herald con-tacted the restaurant and spokewith one of the workers who ex-pressed gratitude for the interestof the newspaper and promisedthat when she returns to therestaurant, Beristain will re-spond. TNH also reached out toAnsari and to Tara TidwellCullen Communications Direc-tor at National Immigrant Jus-tice Center of the Heartland Al-liance for comment.
By Eleni Sakellis
ASTORIA – On World AutismAwareness Day, April 2, the Car-nival of Love Foundation(COLF) participated in AutismSpeaks’ Light It Up Blue cam-paign whereby thousands oficonic landmarks, buildings,homes, and communitiesaround the globe ‘light up blue’in support of people living withautism.
COLF installed 5 custom,puzzle-piece skylines that willilluminate 30th Avenue inGreek-centric Astoria, in blueApril 1-30. The puzzle piece isthe universal symbol for autism,and the blue represents supportof the Autism Speaks Light It UpBlue campaign. COLF unveiledwhat will be an annual lightinginstallation at their “Light It UpBlue” event at Ovelia in Astoria.The event was complimentaryand open to all who support theeffort to increase understandingand acceptance of people withautism.
Cofounder/Executive Direc-tor Dennisia Slabakis spoke withThe National Herald about theevent and about COLF notingthat the mission of the organi-zation is to bring community,love, and joy to the lives of chil-dren and families affected byAutism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) and special needs in thelocal Queens community.
Youla Efthimiou, Parent Out-reach Director for COLF, advo-cate and parent of a child withautism also spoke with TNH.She said, it’s important to letparents and families know theyare not alone. Efthimiou pointedout that having a child withautism, it is easy for Greek fam-ilies especially to feel alone andbecome isolated and that earlyon, she herself felt isolated. It’s
difficult for many people to un-derstand that because you can’tsee a developmental delay in achild as obviously as you wouldsee a missing limb, it’s almostas if it doesn’t exist, so reachingout, increasing awareness andunderstanding, and overcomingthe stigma of having a child witha disability by sharing and em-powering parents to empowerthemselves through resourcesand support, creates a sense ofcommunity. According to a 2014study from the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention, 1in 68 U.S. children (1 in 42 boysand 1 in 189 girls), have autismspectrum disorder; and on aglobal scale, it’s roughly 1% ofthe population.
It is hard for Greeks to ac-cept, Efthimiou noted, and thereis a tendency to become iso-lated, but the word is gettingout in the community, and
though autism tests all relation-ships, COLF offers programs andworkshops that are making atremendous difference in manypeople’s lives. Efthimiou men-tioned taking groups bowlingand apple-picking, and settingup playdates that help to con-nect families and children withASD, and though COLF is doingits best, more still needs to bedone and raising awareness byteaming up with Autism Speaksto light up 30th Avenue on Sun-day is just part of the solution.“Hopefully, next year we’ll haveDitmars and Broadway lit up,too, for World Autism Aware-ness Day,” Efthimiou said.
Slabakis thanked all thosepresent for attending the eventand led everyone outside for thelighting ceremony. A family af-fected by ASD was stationed ateach of the five puzzle piecesalong 30th Avenue, to flip the
switch for the lighting ceremonywhich took place when the skydarkened enough so the lightscould be seen clearly. A briefcountdown was followed bycheers and photographs of theblue lit puzzle pieces decoratingthe avenue.
Among the world landmarkslit in blue on April 2 were theNational Theatre of Piraeus,Hadrian’s Arch in Athens, theCity Hall of Ioannina, and theZosimaia Historic Library inIoannina, the Empire StateBuilding, the White House, Uni-versal Studios in Hollywood andOrlando, Staples Center in LosAngeles, the Rock and Roll Hallof Fame in Cleveland, NiagaraFalls, the Tasmanian ParliamentHouse and Town Hall in Aus-tralia, CN Tower in Canada, andthe Chhatrapati Shivaji Termi-nus building in Mumbai, India.
win!”Nehamas' father is Princeton
University philosophy professorAlexander Nehamas, a brilliantscholar who has chaired theCouncil of the Humanities, theProgram in Hellenic Studies,and was the Founding Directorof the Society of Fellows in the
Liberal Arts. “It is an incredible feeling to
have your work honored with aPulitzer,” said Nehamas.
“But most of all I am gratefulfor the support of my fellow re-porters and editors at the MiamiHerald and all my colleagues atthe Herald and around theworld who share in this fantasticaward.”
Continued from page 1
Greek-American ReporterWins 2017 Pulitzer Prize
Editorial cartoonist Jim Morin, left, shakes hands with reporterNicholas Nehamas as they celebrate their Pulitzer announce-ment in Doral, FL.
Emily miCHOT/miAmi HErAld viA AP
Spouse Deported, Greek Wife Voted for Trump
Carnival of Love Foundation Raises Autism Awareness
The Carnival of Love Foundation event with blue balloons for World Autism Awareness Day atOvelia before the lighting ceremony on 30th Avenue in Astoria.
TNH/ElENi SAkElliS
AHEPA Hellenic History Tournament in Chicago
Winners of the tournament Team Herodotus (L-R) Ioanna Karra, Georgia Tsiranidi, and NicholasTomaras with Themistocles Frangos, President of sponsoring AHEPA Chapter 205.
Compiled byEraklis Diamataris
APRIL 12: On this day in 1871, Greek Prime Minister of GreeceIoannis Metaxas was born in Ithaca. Ioannis Metaxas began his ca-reer in the public domain with the Greek military. His first militarycampaign was during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 after whichhe left to study in Germany. Upon his return, Metaxas played acritical role in Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos’ successful at-tempts to modernize the Greek armed forces. As a result of Metaxas’and Venizelos’ efforts the Greeks entered the Balkan Wars withgreat advantages against their adversaries. Metaxas was promotedto Lieutenant General in 1916 and assumed diplomatic missionson behalf of his country to negotiate terms to end the two BalkanWars where Greece gained the regions of Epirus, Macedonia andThrace. Despite Metaxas helping to modernize the military for thePrime Minister, Metaxas was an ardent monarchist and didn’t wantGreece to enter World War I, the same stance as King ConstantineI. Metaxas wouldn’t obey Prime Minister Venizelos’ orders to helpthe allied nation in the Dardanelles campaign and Eleftherios
Venizelos consequently resignedfrom his post over this. Venize-los’ resignation prompted thegreat national schism betweenmonarchists and Venizelists thatwould plague the country forthe following decades.Venizelists established a sepa-rate state in Thessaloniki andwooed the rest of the countryto fall in line with EleftheriosVenizelos who once again be-came Prime Minister and notonly did Greece enter WorldWar I in 1917 but the King wasdeposed and exiled to Corsicawhere Metaxas followed him. Itwouldn’t be until the aftermathof the Leonardopoulos-Gagalidiscoup attempt in 1923 thatMetaxas returned to Greece on
a permanent basis where he delved into politics after the formationof the Second Hellenic Republic. In 1935 a plebiscite vote whoseresults were rigged allowed for George II, who reigned from Sep-tember 1922 to March 1924, to return to the throne on November3, 1935. The King sought to bring order to the chaos of the politicalsystem and appointed his trusted friend Ioannis Metaxas, who wasthe Minister of War, to be interim Prime Minister of Greece. Theappointment of Metaxas was confirmed by parliament and aftermass riots at industrial sites four months into his interim premier-ship Metaxas declared a state of emergency on August 4, 1936with the king’s backing. The state of emergency called for the dis-solution of parliament indefinitely, suspended numerous civil lib-erties, media censorship, the disbanding of political parties andthat he was sole power in the Greek state. The royalist Metaxasbecame a dictator at a time when fascism was on the rise in Europe
and he soughtto mirror BenitoMussolini’s fas-cist Italy in par-ticular. WhilePrime Ministera defining mo-ment came forMetaxas whenon October 28,1940 Metaxasreplied to Ital-ian demands forthe occupationof Greece with“Alors, c’est laguerre” or “so ,it is war”. Theleading legendof that day en-tails Metaxas telling the Italian diplomatic envoys “oxi” , “no” arare show of defiance in the midst of the fascist machine rollingover Europe. Italy invaded Greece and Italy was defeated in hu-miliating fashion and launched a Greek counteroffensive whichforced Adolf Hitler to come in and save his ally Mussolini and thatbegan the Nazi occupation of Greece. Ioannis Metaxas died onJanuary 29, 1941 in Athens, Greece at the age of 69 and is to thisday a polarizing figure in Greek history.
APRIL 15: On this day in 1896 the closing ceremony of theGames of the I Olympiad, more commonly known as the first in-ternational Olympic Games in modern history, occurred. Threedays prior to the closing ceremonies it is worth noting that thereigning Greek monarch at the time, King George I, held a banquetfor the competing, Olympic Champion and members of the foreignpress despite the fact that some sporting events had not yet beencompleted. King George I gave a speech to conclude the banquetwith his final thoughts being that the Olympic Games should bepermanently held in Athens, the first such claim from a high rankinggovernment official. At the closing ceremony which was delayedby one day due to rain the king awarded the prizes to the OlympicChampions. The first place winner got a silver medal, an olivebranch and a congratulatory scroll. Second place winners wouldget a copper medal, a branch of laurel and a similar congratulatoryscroll and the athletes in third place received nothing. Followingthe award and medal ceremony, newly minted Greek hero marathonrunner Spyridon Louis who won first place for his country led allthe athletes in a procession around the Panathinaikos Stadio atthe conclusion of which the King announced that the first modernOlympic Games were at a close. At the first modern Olympiad hostnation Greece won the most overall medals with 46 including 10first place medals and the United States won the most first placemedals with 11.King George I wouldn’t get his wish for the OlympicGames to permanently be in Greece and the original home of themodern Olympic Games would have to wait until 2004 to host theSummer Games again.
OBITUARIES/CLASSIFIEDS/GREECE10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017
DEATH NOTICES
n CARAS, CHRIS WILLIAMLOS ANGELES, CA (from theLos Angeles Times, published onApr. 8) – August 22, 1926 - April1, 2017 Chris William Caraspassed away on April 1, 2017at the age of 90 after a long andfulfilling life. Given the name ofChrist at birth, there is solacethat the services for his returnwill be held during Holy Week.Guided by his conviction andpassion for religion and selflessdevotion to others, he extendedthe love for his immediate fam-ily to others in the communityby becoming a devoted memberof Saint Katherine Greek Ortho-dox Church in Redondo Beach,Saint Sophia Greek OrthodoxCathedral in Los Angeles, andProvidence Little Company ofMary Hospital in Torrance. Chriswas born in Los Angeles on Au-gust 22, 1926, the first born ofSoteria and William Caras, im-migrants from the Pelopon-nesian Peninsula of Greece. Thefamily settled in Inglewood withbrother George and sister Patri-cia and with extended familyand fellow Greek immigrantsliving in adjacent homes andnearby. In 1957 he married JoanGeorggin from San Diego andthey raised a family in PalosVerdes Estates. The son of pio-neer immigrants, Chris helpedhis family forge a new life byjoining his father in pre-dawnvisits to the central market tobuy the fruit and vegetables
which they sold door-to-doorfrom a cart. He attended GeorgeWashington High School andUCLA where he graduated witha BA in accounting and was amember of the wrestling team.During high school, Chris devel-oped a love for cars which ledhim to enter the car mufflerbusiness, eventually saving themoney to purchase the land andbuild his own muffler shopwhich he named Caras MufflerService which he proudly ranfrom 1953 to 1965. He then re-directed his labor to developingreal estate, primarily in theSouth Bay, during the time thatthe area transformed from openand agricultural land to residen-tial and commercial uses. Chriswas also a founding board mem-ber of Bay Cities National Bank.One of his proudest accomplish-ments as a member of the St.Katherine Building Committeewas the recent completion of theJoan and Chris W. Caras Educa-tion Center at St. Katherine. Inaddition to the St. KatherineBuilding Committee, Chris wasa member of the Capital Cam-paign Committee, served on theAudit Committee from 2005-2010, and chaired the construc-tion of the community centerand kitchen in 1973. He was afounding director and alsoserved as Vice President of theSt. Katherine Foundation. Be-yond Saint Katherine, Chris wasan ardent supporter of the
Greek Orthodox Church in theUnited States and of otherparishes in Southern California.At St. Sophia, he served on theParish Council during the early1950's, and later on the BuildingFinancial Committee from2004-2009. Together with hiswife Joan, his philanthropic ef-forts in support of the Greek Or-thodox Church included estab-lishing a ScholarshipEndowment Fund with the St.Katherine Foundation, a Schol-arship Endowment Fund withSt. Nicholas School in North-ridge and, most recently, con-tributing to St. Nicholas GreekOrthodox Church in New Yorkwhich is now being rebuilt after9-11. Chris served on the Boardof Trustees and Executive Boardof the Archbishop Iakovos Lead-ership 100, an endowment fundof the Greek Orthodox Archdio-cese dedicated to maintainingthe life-sustaining ministries ofthe church. Chris also served onthe Board of Trustees of Patri-
arch Athenagoras Orthodox In-stitute ("PAOI") in Berkeley, Cal-ifornia, an institute that offersan opportunity for scholars tostudy Eastern Orthodox theol-ogy. For his outstanding serviceto the church and in recognitionof his well-known, distinguishedand well-regarded leadership ofthe Orthodox Christian Commu-nity, Chris received the honor ofArchon of Ecumenical Patriar-chate Order of Saint Andrew.Most recently, Chris received theMedal of St. Paul, the highesthonor bestowed on a lay personby the Greek Orthodox Church.Chris served on the Board ofTrustees of the Providence LittleCompany of Mary HospitalFoundation in Torrance for four-teen years. The surgical wing ofthe hospital bears the nameChris W. and Joan Caras in theirhonor. Most recently, Chris gavehis support to the Heart to HeartCampaign which benefits theLCMH Cardiovascular Center ofExcellence. He was a foundingdonor of the Norris Theater forthe Performing Arts as well as adonor of the Palos Verdes ArtsCenter. He served on the boardof the American Cancer Society- Beach Cities and has been amember of the Al MalaikahShrine since 1975. Chris en-joyed traveling, having traveledto six continents. His favoritetravels were to the Holy Landand throughout Europe with hiswife Joan.
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This Week in Greek History
TNH Staff
LOUTRAKI, GREECE – The em-inent Dr. Christos Katsetos, well-respected doctor and professor,was buried on April 6 inLoutraki. Relatives and friendsgathered to bid farewell at theHoly Virgin Mary GiatrissaChurch. Among those in atten-dance were his parents,Demetrios and Mary, and hisbrother Thanasis. Dr. ChristosKatsetos, who passed away onMarch 21, a day after the 59thbirthday, was born on March 20,1958 in Athens.
After earning a MD from St.George’s University School ofMedicine in Grenada, he studiedin the United Kingdom inSouthampton General Hospitaland at London's Institute of Psy-chiatry. Dr. Katsetos came to theUnited States in 1983 andtrained in pathology and neu-ropathology in Pittsburgh, PA,Brown University in Rhode Is-land, the University of Virginia,and Beth Israel Medical Centerin New York. In 1990, he initi-ated his academic career at Hah-nemann University as an Assis-tant Professor and Director ofNeuropathology at HahnemannHospital. Throughout the years,he was promoted to ResearchProfessor, Departments of Pedi-atrics and Neurology, and Pro-fessor, Department of Pathologyand Laboratory Medicine, atDrexel University College of
Medicine (DUCOM). He was theneuropathologist of the Depart-ments of Pathology and Labora-tory Medicine at HahnemannUniversity Hospital and StChristopher’s Hospital for Chil-dren (SCHC). Dr. Katsetos wrotemore than 100 papers for sci-entific journals and receivedmany international honors forhis work. Many of his articleson scientific subjects have sincebecome reference writings forscientists around the world.
A remarkable clinician, Kat-setos was always looking for theclinical-pathological or radiolog-
ical-pathological connections inthe diagnosis of autopsies andbiopsies. His great teachingskills were appreciated by all hisstudents, residents and fellows.As a researcher, he greatly con-tributed to a various areas ofmedicine, especially in the areasof Neonatal Neurology and Mi-tochondrial Disorders. His fore-most contribution to science hasbeen in the study of brain tu-mors.
Messages from friends in theUnited States and Greece, char-acterized him as a “rare man”and “a diamond of knowledge
and wisdom.” An outstandinghuman being, colleague, andfriend, he was always availableto help others. His life has beenan example of energy, optimism,and vitality.
Katsetos was ill with pneu-monia and then suffered astroke, was admitted to the in-tensive care unit, but unfortu-nately passed away.
A longtime daily reader ofthe National Herald, Dr. Katse-tos had communicated regularlywith the newspaper, becauseabove and beyond his scientifictraining and professionalachievements, he was also a fer-vent Greek patriot and caredvery much about the nationalissues of Greece.
His brother Thanasis deliv-ered the eulogy at the funeral.He said, “Although Christosspent the last 41 years away,having chosen to make a careerabroad, we were still veryclose.”
All those present in thechurch were moved by emotionwhen the bereaved mother,Mary, spoke in a tremblingvoice, “My Christakis, I will sooncome and find you, I feel it.”
A memorial service was alsoheld for Katsetos on April 7 atSt. Christopher's Hospital forChildren in Philadelphia. In lieuof flowers memorial contribu-tions in his name may be madeto the Pediatric Brain TumorFoundation: fcancer.org.
Dr. Christos Katsetos Laid to Rest in Loutraki, Greece
TNH STAff PHOTO
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ATHENS – Greece’s latest sur-render to international creditorshas left Finance Minister EuclidTsakalotos trying to explain toRadical Left SYRIZA dissidentsand weary Greeks that it was acompromise the once anti-aus-terity party had no choice but toaccept.
The agreement with theTroika of the European Union-European Central Bank-Euro-pean Stability Mechanism (EU-ECB-ESM) means the radical leftparty of Prime Minister AlexisTsipras has once again renegedon anti-austerity promises andagreed to more pension cuts in2019 – election year – as well astaxing low-income families,breaking a promise of “not onemore euro of austerity.”
“The Greek economy,” he an-nounced, “is ready to leave thecrisis behind it,” Tsipras said, al-though only he seemed to be-lieve it.
He, and Tsakalotos, said thebrutal new measures would beoffset by countermeasures al-though it wasn’t explained in de-tail and an earlier announce-ment of the same was rejectedby the Troika which said itwould depend on the country
meeting fiscal targets, which itrarely has.
“It is in the nature of everyagreement for there to be com-promises,” Tsakalotos said, theBritish newspaper the Guardianwrote in a report detailing histhankless task of getting whatidealists are left in SYRIZA aswell as voters to believe it.“There are things that will upset
… the Greek people,” he said.It hasn’t upset Tsipras, who
critics said is following a policyof public defiance of the Troikafollowed by humbling conces-sions that he said weren’t hisfault because he was left withno choice, a pattern his detrac-tors said is meant only to keephim in power as long as possibleeven if polls show it will end in
a crushing defeat in 2019 to theNew Democracy Conservativeshe beat twice in 2015 and whosaid they will reverse their for-mer pro-austerity policies if tri-
umphant.“Measures will be imple-
mented in 2019 and 2020 onlyif interventions (relief) are madeover the (Greek) debt,” he saidin another call for relief from the326 billion euros ($345.28 bil-lion) in three bailouts.
That includes a third for 86billion euros ($91.09 billion)that came with such harsh newmeasures that Tsipras – whosought the deal in July, 2015 af-ter saying he wouldn’t – draggedout negotiations until he had torelent, with the government fac-ing a 7.2-billion euro ($7.63 bil-lion) to the Troika in July.
The government has report-edly agreed to cuts equal to 2percent of the country’s GrossDomestic Product (GDP) of256.53 billion euros, some$242.2 billion.
Tsakalotos said the counter-measures – if they can be imple-mented at all – would includeincreased spending by a futureGreek government “to combatjuvenile poverty… the problemsof the younger generations in
(finding) employment; they willdeal with reducing the contribu-tion of pensioners in (buying)medicine, as well as an invest-ment package, the newspapersaid.
“In 2020 the positive mea-sures will weigh in on the sideof tax (relief), with changes inthe ENFIA (property tax) andprimarily in the income tax,” hesaid, although the big caveat re-mained.
“We have an agreement overthe primary axes … there aremany compromises; there arethings that don’t satisfy us, andthings that satisfy us,” he said,using language lost on the com-mon Greek who’s known auster-ity from every government.
Tsipras said rival political par-ties tried to undercut his dealwith international lenders. Hesaid the major opposition NewDemocracy which holds double-digit leads in polls after he re-neged on anti-austerity promiseshoped to block the deal so therewould be early elections.
GREECE CYPRUSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017 11
After Pension Cut Deal, Tsakalotos Promises Offsetting Measures
France's President Francois Hollande, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and Cyprus' Pres-ident Nicos Anastasiades, from left, listen to Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during ajoint statement at the end of the southern European Union countries summit in Spain.
a b
Καλή ΑνάστασηPeter A. Vlachos
and Family
a b
“With a touch of nostalgia and a lot of good humor, this novel celebrates a Greek-culturesearch for the‘sweetness of life.’”
Pallas Gates
McCorquodale, ForeWord Reviews
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
TNH Staff
NICOSIA – Cypriot PresidentNicos Anastasiades, with col-lapsed unity talks resuming,started by telling his counterpartthat exploratory energy drillingoff the island can’t be a cause oftension.
Turkish-Cypriot leaderMustafa Akinci had said thedrilling might ire Turkish Presi-dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whowon’t recognize Cyprus, bars itsships and planes and said hewants a share of any finds of oilor gas.
Akinci had earlier walkedaway from the talks, angeredover the Cypriot Parliament pass-ing a measure allowing an an-
nual commemoration of a 1950referendum seeking unity, orEnosis, with Greece, but Anas-tasiades got that diluted enoughto satisfy his rival.
But Akinci and Erdogan saidthey won’t negotiate any de-mands to withdraw a Turkisharmy and Ankara said it willkeep the right to invade againwhen it wants, as it did in 1974.
Speaking on the sidelines ofan Easter celebration event in De-likipos, Anastasiades said he has“never accepted,” nor will he everaccept, for “any issue touchingon the sovereignty of the Repub-lic of Cyprus to be on the negoti-ating table,” the Cyprus Mail re-ported.
Commenting on Akinci’s as-
sertion that the current formatof the negotiations has been ex-hausted and that the TurkishCypriot leader is ready to hearsuggestions by the UN, Anastasi-ades said that “in fairness, whathas been said by [UN special ad-viser Espen Barth] Eide himself,and what has been agreed, is noarbitration, no mediation, andno non-papers.”
The rival leaders are hopingto claw back diminished trustand lost momentum after a two-month halt. But the UN-medi-ated negotiations still face diffi-cult challenges, withAnastasiades accusing the break-away Turkish Cypriot leader ofbackpedaling on key issues.
See the full story online.
Cyprus Unity Talks Restart, Energy Issues
AP PHOTO/frANCiSCO SECO
EDITORIALS LETTERS12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017
Criticism of Parade’s Low Attendance
To the Editor:It is understandable that a
newspaper focused on theGreek-American communityshould be supportive of thatcommunity’s efforts. But to printor allow to go unchallenged as-sertions that the Greek Indepen-dence Parade in New York thisyear was “supported by a hugecrowd of people” or to state thatthere was an “excellent turnout”is a disservice to our communityand is more in line with a cruel
joke.The fact is that this year's pa-
rade was very poorly attended,and attendance has fallensharply over the past fewdecades; I have been at the Pa-rade every year since well be-fore 1975 when attendance hita record, due to the 1974 inva-sion of Cyprus; attendance hasplummeted since then. Worse,over the past decade, it has beenclear that marchers well out-number spectators.
This year was particularlysaddening to see our Evzonesand children from many Greek-American schools marching toscant applause and supportfrom sidelines, because of thelack of people attending.
The Parade itself, though,was well-organized, to thecredit of the Federation of Hel-lenic Organizations of GreaterNew York, and other organizers.
The lack of attendance is astudy in miniature of the declin-ing self-interest and cohesion ofthe Greek-American community.Rather than evoking false con-gratulatory bravado, the lack ofattendance should serve as a callto action to Greek-American or-ganizations to redouble their ef-forts to stem the tide of apathy,and the lack of self-identity andpride among Greek-Americansin this country.
Getting people to the Paradeto see for themselves who weare, what our accomplishmentshave been, the enthusiasm of acore of Greek-Americans whomarch in the Parade, and to re-call the immense sacrifices ofthe heroes who made an inde-pendent Greece a reality andthat of those who defend it eventoday can be the spark for astronger self-identity and prideamong the Greek-Americancommunity.
Would it be too much for theorganizers of the Parade and itswealthy supporters next yearand thereafter to take out adsin major print media like theNew York Times and have radiospots on the major news net-works urging Greek-Americansand Philhellenes to step up andstand up along Fifth Avenue inNew York and support Greecefor one afternoon in March?
Paul J. Kutscera, Esq.Bayside, NY
Trump Stands up for ChristiansOnly a few days after the triumphal reception of Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the White House, two suicidebombers – carrying out a mission on behalf of the terrorist or-ganization ISIS – caused the death of forty-four people whowere inside two Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday. Oneof these barbaric attacks occurred at St Mark’s Coptic Cathedralin Alexandria.
These were the bloodiest attacks against Christians in Egyptin decades.
Circumventing the policy of his predecessor as well as theone followed by both parties for decades, President Trump wel-comed el-Sisi to the White House and praised him for guaran-teeing security in Egypt and in the fight against the ISIS terror-ists.
However, just days after returning home, el-Sisi’s allegedprovision of security was pulverized by the carnage caused byISIS’ attack on churches.
The terrorists apparently targeted Christians because theyare disliked, and therefore relatively harmless, in a countrywhose vast majority of the population is Muslim, but also be-cause the West’s reaction to such attacks so far has been rela-tively limited.
But, unlike in the past, something very important happened:the American president personally spoke with el-Sisi to conveyhis “deepest condolences to Egypt and to the families who lostloved ones in the heinous terrorist attacks against Christianchurches on Palm Sunday.”
Furthermore, according to the White House statement, “thepresident also expressed his confidence in President el-Sissi’scommitment to protect Christians and all Egyptians.”
In other words, he would do well to protect them...We repeat that President Trump’s intervention is an important
action that will contribute to the protection of Christians in theMiddle East. It will do so because the president’s interest willbe incorporated in America’s policy in the region, resulting inthe allocation of resources by the United States, and it will alsodrive various countries to do what they can to protect theirChristians.
So, we warmly salute President Trump’s correct and neces-sary position, and express hope that it will help to put an endto any kind of persecution suffered by Christians by their coun-tries of origin.
It has gone too far. It is time for this issue to be resolved.
Pulitzer and Fake NewsNicholas Nehamas, a 28-year-old Greek-American investiga-
tive reporter at the Miami Herald, has won – along with his col-leagues – the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. Hedeserves wholehearted congratulations.
The question that inevitably comes to mind is: could he havewon a similar award for related work, i.e., for revealing a scan-dal associated with the public interest, if he worked for a news-paper in Greece? Certainly not, as we shall see below.
Nehamas won the award for exposing the scandal known asthe Panama Papers. Specifically, the Panamanian law firm Mos-sack Fonseca leaked more than 11.5 million documents belong-ing to owners of offshore companies, which were used by de-positors from around the world as a "haven" for launderingmoney and evading taxes. Due to their explosive dimensions,the revelations have had a global impact and went so far as toforce the prime minister of Iceland to resign for secretly owningan offshore firm without being able to explain where the moneycame from.
This research, which was a collaboration of more than 300reporters, lasted over a year.
The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 by the Hungar-ian-born newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is adminis-tered by Columbia University. The winner in each of its 20 cat-egories receives a certificate and a $15,000 cash award. Anessential prerequisite for the establishment of such a prize isthe potential for competition in journalism. The potential tochase the news, regardless of where it may lead. And that is thecrucial point. Journalistic competitiveness for the lead, for suc-cess, helps the media fulfill its role, which is the control ofpower, and to make revelations such as the Panama Papers.
On the other hand, the direct or indirect control of the jour-nalistic product, either by governmental entities or in our daysby business interests hinders the checking and balancing ofpower, thus leading to abuse of power and scandals.
Accordingly, the independent exercise of the journalistic mis-sion is a national treasure. But that requires that a newspapers– which are usually the ones able to make big revelations – befinancially independent, so that they may withstand the pres-sures of the powerful and so that journalists may be able towork for long periods of time on a story, such as one thatexposes scandals.
As is known, the Greek media outlets are experiencing oneof the worst economic and moral crises in their history and, asa result, are discredited in the eyes of their readers, making thecrisis even worse with the passing of time.
Their owners – the vast majority of them – are rich Greekswho buy sports teams and publish newspapers for reasons oftheir own. In doing so, they practice controlled journalism andultimately harm national interests. Therefore, the award thatwould be established would not be equivalent to the Pulitzer,but would award misinformation instead.
Appointment with YesterdayI will wait until I have read Christopher Stratakis’ first book,
Appointment with Yesterday, before commenting on it, (I hopeit is soon translated to Greek as well), but I cannot help butwrite a few words about the high standards of the book presen-tation, intellectually speaking – both on the part of its selectpresenters, as well as of the author, by whom I was impressed.
The issue of immigration – and its toll on the migrants, eventhe most successful ones – is an important issue that affects usall and requires more research.
And the book by the quiet, yet publicly involved attorneyStratakis, based on the opinions that I have heard, offers agreat service in this direction.
Without question, I see it becoming one of the classic booksin its field written by a Greek-American author.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
COMMENTARY
By Stavros T. Stavridis
From 1924 the quota systemlimited the number of immi-grants entering the UnitedStates. Australia seemed an at-tractive and a far distant placefor Greeks to begin a new life.
The Honorary Greek Consulin Melbourne, Alexander V. Ma-niachi wrote a letter to the LordMayor of Melbourne, SirWilliam Brunton (1923-26) inJanuary, 1925 explaining theplight of unemployed Greeksand hoping the latter would "use[his] influence to get these menon the land, or to assist in repa-triating them." Maniachi wasborn in Zakynthos in April, 1851and arrived in Melbourne in1886. He became a naturalizedBritish subject in 1904 andacted as an Honorary GreekConsul for many years. As abusinessman, he was a mercan-tile broker mainly dealing withtimber imported from the Amer-ican West Coast.
His letter was discussed in aHouse of Representatives debateon July 15, 1925 to amend theImmigration Act 1901-24. Thebill was designed to deport rad-ical unionists and to limit theinflux of undesirable immi-grants. Amendments werepassed by the Senate and Houseof Representatives and signedinto law by the Governor-Gen-eral, Lord Forster. The letter out-lined the parlous condition ofsome 200 Greeks who arrivedin Melbourne in 1924 in searchof employment. Conditionswere so bad that Maniachi"signed the passport for 50 or60 disappointed Greeks" so theycould return to Greece. Thosewho had little or no money re-mained in Melbourne wherethey resided inside Greekrestaurants and some receivedcharity from their compatriots.
Maniachi mentioned thatGreeks unlike the Italians "weresupported by rich governments,"whereas his compatriots had torely on their own wits. "Manyof these men have come to Aus-tralia because of encouragingletters received from friendshere, and others have deceivedthem by agents in Italy, whohave made money out of them",he added. There were no Greeklabor agents in Australia like inthe United States who could "as-sist" under them to find employ-ment.
Overseas agents advancedimmigrants their fares wherethe money would be repaidupon finding work. Individualswho did not pay would see rel-atives in Greece paying theirfare. Maniachi called such be-havior "something tantamountto terrorism." The vast majorityof those Greeks were farmerswho were told that they couldearn good money between 3 or4 Australia pounds a week (US$15-19). Some of these Greekshad been enlisted in the Greekarmy for some 7-8 years andcould not speak English.
In the ensuing parliamentarydebate, a number of interestingpoints of view were raised bygovernment (National andCountry Parties) and opposition(Australian Labor Party alsoknown as ALP). One idea con-sidered was the introduction ofa quota system similar to theUnited States that had achievedgood results. There was no usefor Greeks and other SE Euro-
peans coming to Australia andbeing unemployed. Unfetteredimmigration of SE Europeanswould lead to the lowering ofwages for Australian workers.These immigrants would do anywork at lower wages which theALP and labor unions vigorouslyopposed.
Another view that it was"necessary to limit the influxinto Australia [of] Yugoslavs,southern Italians and Greeks.But it must also be admittedthat if we are to retain Australiafor the Empire we must increaseour population." In 1925, Aus-tralia's six million people occu-pied a territory the size of theUnited States. Australia's immi-gration Act 1901 aimed to pro-hibit the entry of non-Europeans(colored and Asians) and Immi-gration officers could apply adictation test in any language.Preference was given to British-ers considered kith and kin.
Moses Gabb (ALP) suggestedthat some government ministersmight have supported the intro-duction of Greek labor as a wayof lowering wages and condi-tions of Australian workers. Heurged Prime Minister, StanleyBruce (Nationals) to lift the pro-hibition on German immigrantswho made excellentsettlers.Gabb preferred Germansto Greeks and other SE Euro-pean immigrants. Another par-liamentarian commented thatGreeks did not readily assimilateand stayed within their owncommunity; they would nevermake good Australian citizens;were unskilled and unsuitableto work on farms; and were nohelp in developing Australia'soutback areas.
Percy Coleman (ALP) quotedstatistics by William Morris (Na-tionals) and SenatorBarnes(ALP) showing the totalnumber of Italians entering Aus-
tralia during the period 1922-1925. He mentioned that 126Greeks had entered the UnitedStates in 1870 whereas thenumbers had swelled to 26,000by 1910. His argument was thata trickle had become a flood anddid not want the same situationoccurring in Australia. Colemanfailed to mention Hughes andBarnes figures of Greeks enter-ing Australia with the formerhighlighting 468 and 82, 921and 61, and 1985 and 159 ar-rivals and departures from1922-24 respectively. The latterindicated that from January 1to April 30, 1925, 450 Greeks(404 men and 46 women) ar-rived in Australia.
Bruce indicated that Aus-tralia had taken steps to stemthe flow of Greek immigrationand that a quota system was al-ready in operation. It aimed tolimit Greeks to 100 a monthwhich also applied to Yugoslavsand Albanians. They were re-quired to speak English, pass-ports would be issued to thosewho would find work, had 40pounds upon arrival, permissiongranted by the Australian Gov-ernment on application by rela-tives or friends in Australia andundergo a medical examination.Failure to pass the medical re-sulted in exclusion from enter-ing Australia. It was importantthat Australia was not seen dis-criminating against friendly Eu-ropean countries and its mi-grants who were of soundhealth and eligible for admis-sion.
Many Greeks left Australiaand returned to Greece with theonset of the Great Depression in1929.
Stavros T. Stavridis is ahistorical author, history pro-fessor, and historical consul-tant.
Goodbye America, Hello Australia: Greek Immigration
The National HeraldA weekly publication of the NATIONAL HERALD, INC.
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The National Herald welcomesletters from its readers in-tended for publication. Theyshould include the writer’sname, address, and telephonenumber and be addressed to:The Editor, The National Her-ald, 37-10 30th Street, longisland City, Ny 11101. letterscan also be faxed to (718) 472-0510 or e-mailed [email protected] reserve the right to editletters for publication and re-gret that we are unable to ac-knowledge or return those leftunpublished. GEOrGE SArAfOGlOu / SPECiAl TO THE NATiONAl HErAld
Observations By Antonis H. Diamataris
Bidding Farewell to ChristosKatsetos – an Exemplary Greek-American
People rightfully consider us Greek-Americans “odd” for usually being veryfrank in our relationships. When we love,appreciate and admire someone, we do itwith incredible selflessness; we give all ofourselves, without a second thought. Onthe good days and the not so good days.Both in life andafter death.
Christos Kat-setos, a profes-sor at the DrexelUniversity Col-lege of Medi-cine, recentlyand unexpect-edly passedaway at age 59.
The Philadel-phia-based pro-fessor wouldopen his soul topreach the wordof Hellenism and fight for the nation, reach-ing far to the ends of the earth.
He was not alone in this. There are sev-eral expatriates who consider the matter ofthe Greek nation as being their own per-sonal responsibility and obligation, and tryto awaken, inspire, inform, encourage, andraise the alarm for both acquaintances andstrangers.
They act as a kind of informal and unco-ordinated Filiki Eteria (the secret nationalistorganization that was formed to help liber-ate Greece from the Ottoman Empire).
I was impressed by the correspondencerelated to Christos, via e-mail, from his ac-quaintances and friends that I received afterhis death. Spontaneous, genuine correspon-dence.
I was mostly impressed by the warmth,love, appreciation, and respect that thesepeople felt for him.
That is how I learned about his burial,which took place recently in Loutraki,Greece, a 1½ hour drive from our offices inthe center of Athens. And so, I asked myassociate Vasilis Koutsilas to represent allof us, both you and me, to cover the funeralservice. It was a debt that our communityowed him and this newspaper – which hefaithfully read.
So, we bid farewell to a remarkable man,one of our own, and we chronicled his fu-neral for future historians.
I do not know if his countrymen, the fewwho attended his funeral, were aware ofthe deceased’s merit and contribution. Ifthey are not, they are justified because theydo not live here. But we knew. And we actedaccordingly.
The following are three comments fromthe many (over 50) of those emails I re-ceived from Greek-Americans, expressingtheir appreciation of this man:
“I feel as if someone from my own familyhas left. Christos was a spiritual brother, hedevoted his entire life to medical science,he was charitable with everyone, especiallydoctors, he was an aristocrat in his behav-ior....”
(Philippos Grammatikos, Professor Emer-itus at the Aristotle University of Thessa-loniki and Editor in Chief of the HellenicJournal of Nuclear Medicine)
“The loss of Christos Katsetos is very dif-ficult for us all. I feel great sorrow for the
loss, which was unexpected... He was al-ways positive, dynamic and optimistic andmade plans for the future. He gave himselffreely for what he believed in...He alwayshelped people with generosity and selfless-ness, and provided expertise and supportin many ways. His presence was well-rounded, as were his knowledge and psy-che.” (Alexandra Economou)
“Those who were fortunate enough toknow him personally loved him and re-spected him. Those who knew him fromafar admired him. We will miss his prudentand calm discourse and the kindness of hissoul. As an academic friend of his men-tioned, 'the only word that comes to mymind after his loss is loneliness for the restof us. Cherished, genuine, and multidimen-sional.’” (Theodoros Karyotis)
May his memory be eternal.
Competent U.S. Officials
The statements by U.S. Secretary of StateRex Tillerson reflect power and clarity.
They are statements by a spokesman ofthe world’s leading nation.
For example, he recently stated bluntlythat the Assad dynasty in Syria is comingto an end and called upon the Russians –while he was en route to Moscow – tochoose between Assad and the UnitedStates.
The more I follow President Trump’steam at both the State Department as wellas the Pentagon, the more convinced I amthat he has formed one of the most capablenational security teams in the country's his-tory.
Australia had taken steps to stem Greekimmigration with a quota system.
VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017 13
It’s easy to get rich in Greece– if you steal – and there are fewbetter positioned for that thanpoliticians and ministers whocan trade on favors to fill theirbank accounts without having todo any heavy lifting or realwork.
No one did it better than Akis“Arrogant” Tsochatzopoulos,who used his tenure as DefenseMinister from 1996-2001 withthe PASOK Anti-Socialists to linehis pockets and pilfer from hiscountry.
You can run on for a long timebut sooner or later God is gonnacut you down and so in 2013 thisflat-out thief was convicted ofstealing millions, perhaps scoresof millions or hundreds of mil-lions, of euros from defense con-tracts, jacking up the costs andusing the money to finance a lav-ish lifestyle, including a Parisfive-star wedding to Vicki Sta-mati, who was caught up in theweb of greed and also convicted.
“He took so many kickbacksthat even he didn’t know howmuch,” chief public prosecutorGeorgia Adeilini told the AthensAppeals Court at the time, un-derscoring just how financiallyevil Tsochatzopoulos was.
But, eh, this is Greece wherethe rich and well-connected whoare convicted of a crime - usuallyunlikely in the first place - canbuy out jail time. That’s justwhat Tsochatzopoulos’ succes-sor, Yannis Papantoniou didwhen he and his wife – corrup-tion is a family affair in Greece– to avoid spending any time inthe hoosegow after being con-victed of failing to disclose his
wealth.Papantoniou’s
also been caught upin coming newcharges of allegedbribery and graftand all-aroundwrongdoing at theDefenseless Min-istry, which is essen-tially a private ATMfor ministers to stealas much as theywant.
So now Tsochat-zopoulos will followhis wife in gettingout of jail. She usedthe “I’m a Mom” card afterspending much of her sentencein a psychiatric facility, overcomewith grief at the loss of the man-sion she and her husbandbought with stolen money.
Tsochatzopoulos is gettingout because he’s ill. So are thou-sands of other Greeks who don’thave his clout and who were putin their plight because criminalslike him stole so much therewasn’t enough left over for ade-quate health care.
He should have been left torot and die in jail for what hedid because his avarice, indi-rectly, put many Greeks intopoverty and six feet under be-fore their time. Instead, he’ll befree under house arrest andwon’t be able to leave the coun-try.
A judicial court ordered hisrelease because of his allegedfrail health if he could post200,000 euros ($212,130) bailbut his lawyer said he couldn’tcome up with the money. Hard
to dig up millionsof euros youburied somewherewhen you’re notfeeling well.
A prosecutor -that’s prosecutor -supported Tsochat-zopoulos’s release,saying that the for-mer minister’s con-tinued residence atAttica’s high-secu-rity KorydallosPrison “wouldcause irreparabledamage” to hishealth. Can’t have
that, of course.Forgotten is that in 2013
Adeilini demanded tough sen-tences because, among his othersins, another court had alreadysentenced Tsochatzopoulos toeight years in prison for submit-ting false income declarations.
It also ordered the seizure ofhis mansion in central Athensunder the Acropolis and im-posed a 520,000-euro($706,800) fine, a minisculeamount of what he was con-victed of stealing.
The corruption case stemmedfrom a scandal over a contractfor the purchase of German sub-marines and for Russian anti-air-craft missiles. Tsochatzopouloshad been accused of acceptingbribes between 1997-2001 toaward the contracts.
Because bribery has a statuteof limitations in lenient Greece,he was convicted of money laun-dering for using the proceeds ofthe alleged bribery. He deniedall the charges, of course, and
said he was a political prisoner. He was a prominent member
of PASOK and eyed the PrimeMinister’s office for himself,probably drooling over howmuch he could steal with thatseat of of power before he be-came the temporary sacrificialgoat to deflect criticism fromother political thieves and in-competent hacks.
The trial was watched closelyacross Greece and came duringa spate of other corruption casesand right in the heart of an eco-nomic crisis that saw the countrysurrender to international cred-itors and accept repeated aus-terity measures.
The ex-minister showed “ar-rogance and contempt” forGreece’s institutions and people,Adeilini said, adding that the ev-idence against the former PA-SOK Socialist stalwart was“overwhelming.” A second crim-inal prosecutor, PanayiotisPanayiotopoulos, describedTsochatzopoulos as a “white-col-lar criminal” who deserved to goto prison for life. That turnedinto 3 ½ years.
The prosecutors called for 17of the 19 defendants, includingTsochatzopoulos’ wife anddaughter, to be convicted andthey were and now they’re freetoo.
Prosecutors said only a frac-tion of the kickbacks had beentraced by authorities. “Whoknows in what secret placesthose millions of euros are hid-den?” Panayiotopoulos said.We’ll never know.
Exactly 419 days after the un-timely death of Supreme CourtJustice Antonin Scalia, fordecades the preeminent voice ofjudicial restraint and original in-tent, the U.S. Senate confirmedhis successor, Neil Gorsuch, onApril 7, by a majority vote of 54to 45.
On March 16, 2016, a fulleight months before the presi-dential election, PresidentObama nominated Merrick Gar-land to replace Scalia on thebench. At that point, the onlything that stood in Garland’s wayof joining the other eight justiceson the High Court was officialconfirmation by the Senate, asper the Constitution’s “adviceand consent” clause.
And that’s where the processbroke down.
The Republicans wouldn’teven hold a confirmation hearingto vote on Garland, citing the im-minence of the upcoming elec-tion as the determining factor,contending that its result wouldreflect the people’s choice aboutwhat type of justice ought to suc-ceed Scalia. Granted, no onewould mistake Garland for an-other Scalia in terms of judicialphilosophy. But he is no one’sidea of a radical judicial activist,either. After all, when PresidentClinton nominated Garland tothe U.S. Court of Appeals in1997, the Republican-controlledSenate overwhelmingly ap-proved him; the vote was 76 to23.
But that was twenty yearsago, and in that time span an ad-vice-and-consent process thatwas intended by the Framers toguard against blatant conflicts ofinterest (for instance, if PresidentTrump had appointed his sister,Maryanne Trump Barry – who is
actually a federaljudge and generallywould be well-qual-ified – to theSupreme Court),has become an un-abashed ideologicalbattle. For the mostpart, one can“count on” certainjustices voting acertain way on is-sues like abortion,the right to beararms, affirmativeaction, freedom ofreligion, the envi-ronment, immigra-tion, and a host of others.
That’s why when Scalia diedsuddenly, Republicans scrambledto ensure that their strict con-structionist lion wouldn’t be re-placed by a progressive activist.Democrats, in turn, salivated atthe prospect of doing just that.
That the Republicans allowedall of 2016 to pass without evenso much as a hello to PresidentObama’s judicial consideration isdisgraceful. That Democrats de-cided two wrongs do in factmake a right, and lambasted andfilibustered the eminently quali-fied Gorsuch is equally disgrace-ful.
Justice, after all, is supposedto be blind and just, isn’t it? YetSupreme Court justices havelong been criticized for decidingwhat position to take and thencherrypicking the law that sup-ports that position. And thatshould be no surprise, given thatbefore they became judges, theywere lawyers.
Keep in mind, lawyers arehired guns. They don’t seek whatis just – they seek what is in theirclients’ best interests. If a casecan go either way, with plenty of
law to support ei-ther side, attorneyswill make sure tostick to the side thatserves their clients.Why, then, shouldwe be surprisedwhen these samelawyers continue toput that mindsetinto practice oncethey becomejudges? Old habitsare tough to break.
The same holdstrue for U.S. Sena-tors (and politiciansin general). Many of
them were once lawyers too.Like Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell (R-KY) and Mi-nority Leader Chuck Schumer(D-NY).
In a rare display of evenhand-edness, Meet the Press hostChuck Todd on April 2 asked ex-cellent questions of both Senateleaders. To McConnell: whydidn’t the Republicans give Gar-land an up or down vote duringall that time? To Schumer: if De-mocrats insist on a filibuster now,why did they establish the fili-buster-busting “nuclear option”when they were in charge of theSenate?
Lawyers that they are, Mc-Connell and Schumer mealy-mouthed. Had they a shred ofintegrity, they would havereplied: “Because we’re hyp-ocrites. We don’t give a damnabout fairness or justice. This isan ideological battle – our teamvs. theirs. Our goal is to pack thecourt with likeminded thinkers,to make our side look good, andthe other side look bad, so as tohoodwink gullible voters intovoting for us and against them.”
Granted, these are all gener-
alizations. Certainly, there are at-torneys, judges, and elected offi-cials who are decent, honest, andselfless human beings. But theyare as difficult to find as a Trumpsupporter in the faculty loungeof an Ivy League institution.
One of the reasons Trump en-joyed appeal on the campaigntrail is “because he is a business-man.” Perhaps a clearer readingof that sentiment is: “because he’snot a lawyer.” Maybe Congress’approval ratings often fall below20 percent and well below eventhe ratings of the most unpopularof presidents, because far toomany of them arrive at CapitolHill directly from the practice oflaw – a profession that encour-ages them to do whatever theycan, within legal bounds, to fur-ther their clients’ interests, evenwhen that runs contrary to thegreater good. Is that the profes-sion from which we ought tochoose our politicians?
Thankfully, the percentage ofattorneys in Congress is slowlydwindling; we can only hope thevoters will pick up the pace ofvoting them out.
Meanwhile, the next time youwonder why a congresspersoncan’t give a straight answer, orwhy the court handed down adecision that smells foul, look be-neath the veneer and picturethose elected officials and juristsarguing before a court of law, ordrafting a motion from their lawoffices – because that’s wherethey learned how to mealy-mouth.
Constantinos E. Scaros' latestbook, Grumpy Old Party (aboutthe 2016 presidential election),is available for purchase on ama-zon.com and in bookstores na-tionwide.
The Problem is Senators and Judges Were Once Lawyers
LETTER FROM ATHENS
After Stealing Millions, Tsochatzopoulos Out of Jail
by ANDYDAbILIS
Special to The National Herald
Where has Pres-ident Trump’s mis-sile strike on a Syr-ian air base leftU.S.-Turkish rela-tions?
Once again, weare confrontedwith the iron lawof unexpected con-sequences. A fewdays ago, it ap-peared that theUnited States hadchosen a path inSyria diametricallyopposed to the in-terests of TurkishPresident Recep Tayyib Erdogan.Until last week, President Trumphad limited American interestsin Syria to the “destruction” (notfurther defined) of ISIS in Iraqand Syria. The American com-mand had decided that the mosteffective military force on theground to accomplish that objec-tive were the Syrian Kurdish mili-tias known as the YPD. We didnot regard the Syrian Arab mili-tias controlled by Ankara as ef-fective fighters. The Turks regardthe YPD as an affiliate of theMarxist-oriented PKK which haswaged a Kurdish war of indepen-dence in Turkey for more thantwo decades. Turkey faced aHobbesian choice: cede controlof its border with Syria to a Kur-dish political party allied to itsworst nightmare, or commit reg-ular Turkish Armed forces intothe Syrian quagmire fightingboth Kurds and ISIS as well aspossibly running afoul of theUnited States.
To add to Turkey’s problems,the Trump administration hadmore or less publicly announcedthat regime change in Damascuswas not a practical option. Erdo-gan had declared the removal ofAssad a vital national interestand a necessary precondition toending Syria’s civil war and thethreat to Turkish stability. Turkeyfeared a rapprochement betweenPresidents Trump and Putin thatwould leave Erdogan on the out-side looking in. Accordingly, Er-dogan had begun to tack to-wards Russia on the assumptionthat with the United States play-ing a limited role, Russia wouldbe left holding most of the cards.Erdogan had even gone so far asto state that Assad’s fate wouldbe “decided by future negotia-tions.” The Russians respondedpositively and co-opted the Turksinto a Moscow-sponsored peaceprocess isolating the UnitedStates and pushing Turkey intoworking with the Iranians tokeep the Kurds in their place.The prospects for a U.S.-sup-ported Kurdish controlled areaon its borders and Trump’s deci-sion to leave Assad in power notonly tilted Ankara towardsMoscow but frightened Erdoganinto treating visiting AmericanSecretary of State Rex Tillersonrather shabbily.
The missile strikes, even if sofar mostly symbolic than militar-ily effective, rearranged theboard. American policy appearsto have veered significantly awayfrom Assad and Russia. Our UNAmbassador, Nikki Haley, deliv-ered a scathing condemnation ofthe Russian Government and As-sad personally in a manner thatmust have delighted the TurkishPresident. Although the U.S. fol-low-up to the events of lastweekend remains a matter ofmystery, one cannot blame Er-dogan for believing that tackingback towards the United Stateswill work to his interest. “Safe-zones” for Syrian civilians guar-anteed by American airpower, along-time Turkish demand, ap-
pear to be back onthe table. The safezones would allowTurkey to push alarge percentage ofthe three millionSyrian refugees cur-rently in Turkeyback across the bor-der. He might evenfind an opening toinsert Turkishground troops withAmerican supportand under a U.S. airumbrella into Syrianborder areas. Suchan intervention
would not only deny the YPDcontrol of strategic terrain butwould position the Turks to takecontrol of the attack on the ISIS“capital” of Raqqa and attack theYPD later when ISIS had beenmanaged. In a best-case sce-nario, Turkey would then havemade itself the “protector” oflarge Sunni-inhabited areas cur-rently under attack from Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia forces from theeast and Russian-backed SyrianGovernment and Hezbollah(Shi’a) militias from the west.
Erdogan has milked the mis-sile strikes for domestic con-sumption, arguing that theUnited States has finally seen thelight of his (Erdogan’s) sage in-sistence that Assad must go inhopes that this will persuadeTurkish voters to give him themajority in the referendum forhis new constitution. Should hewin, he will rule as Turkey’s vir-tual dictator for the next decadeor more. If he loses, he will haveeven more need to act aggres-sively. History indicates thatmegalomaniacs such as Erdogan(I am no psychiatrist but the ev-idence for this diagnosis appearssolid) cannot rest on their lau-rels. Continuing aggression be-comes the necessary conditionfor survival in their minds. IsraeliPrime Minister Netanyahu’s sub-tle shift away from neutrality tolabeling Assad and his Iranianand Hezbollah allies as a greaterthreat than ISIS, may also con-vince Erdogan that he canweaken Israel’s ties to Cyprusand Greece. Knowledgeable Is-raeli contacts insist that Ne-tanyahu hates Erdogan too muchfor such a change, but megalo-maniacs do engage in self-delu-sion. In any event, Erdogan con-tinues to rattle sabers in theEastern Mediterranean, threat-ening he will not permit Cyprusto develop its gas fields and con-tinuing aerial and naval viola-tions in the Aegean. If he doesbelieve he has American and Is-raeli acquiescence for further ad-ventures he can do a lot of dam-age.
This admittedly alarmist viewcould prove unfounded. Trumpmay declare himself satisfied thathe has proven his manhood witha single missile strike. If the Syr-ians and Russians are not foolish,they will permit Trump to bragthat he is much tougher than hispredecessor and not provoke himfurther. Erdogan would then findhimself in the same box, far toobusy to do much more thanthreaten his Western neighborsverbally.
The Hon. Ambassador Theros ispresident of the U.S.-Qatar Busi-ness Council. He served in theU.S. Foreign Service for 36years, mostly in the Middle East,and was American Ambassadorto Qatar from 1995 to 1998. Healso directed the State Depart-ment’s Counter-TerrorismOffice, and holds numerous U.S.Government decorations.
Missile Strike and U.S.-Turkish Relations
The failure of a Republican-drafted health care act to clearthe Republican-controlledHouse is a plus for nationalhealth care. President Trumpmust be commended for not giv-ing in to the ill-named FreedomCaucus. Among many shortcom-ings of the failed legislationwere a mean-spirited elimina-tion of Meals on Wheels, strip-ping vital funds from the Centerfor Disease Control, and knock-ing 24 million Americans out ofexisting insurance without a re-alistic alternative.
Rather than gloating over thedefeat of House Speaker Ryan’spet project, Democrats need todeclare that despite its manyvirtues, the Affordable HealthCare Act (Obamacare) has seri-ous shortcomings. They need toimmediately put forward a listof reforms that cut the costs ofnational health without lower-ing its quality or coverage.
Two reforms ignored by theRepublicans involve fraud andthe cost of medications. Oba-macare prohibitsMedicare/Medicaid from bar-gaining with drug companiesover prices. Such bargaining isroutine for other federal agen-cies, including the one providing
health care for Congress. Bar-gaining on prices would savemulti-millions of dollars forMedicare/Medicaid and its 100million enrollees. This sum issmall by federal standards butis a solid step forward to con-tinued solvency. Those with co-pay policies would see immedi-ate cuts in prescription drugcosts. Only drug producerswould be the losers as theirprofits would be reduced fromsuper percentages to levels nor-mal for other capitalist enter-prises.
A second reform involvesfraudulent claims that consume10% of Medicare/Medicaidfunds ($70 billion annually).Over the past decade, for everydollar spent on enforcement,four dollars have been saved.Increasing funding for more in-vestigations is a no-brainer.Most savings would come fromcorrupt doctors and clinics. Justas important, are the many“back injuries” and other ail-ments that may or may not ac-tually disable a person. Genuineenforcement of regulationswould lead doctors to be lesshasty in authorizing a disabilityruling. Individuals also wouldbe more careful about making
claims that couldcause them legalproblems.
Both of theabove reformserase the ideologi-cal divide separat-ing left-wing andright-wing pop-ulists. The fraudu-lent issue will beespecially wel-comed by the gen-uine law-and-ordercrowd suspiciousthat many Medic-aid recipients havebogus claims. Pres-ident Trump has supported bothreforms.
Democrats also need to ad-dress the maze of regulationsgenerated by Obamacare thatforce considerable professionaltime to be wasted on bureau-cratic red-tape. The inept healthexchanges need to be broughtto state-of-the-art efficiency.Small business needs relief froma maze of regulations that oftenworks against the interests ofworkers as well as employers.Allowing health insurance com-panies to compete across statelines is also worthy of consider-ation. On many of these issues,
valuable input andsupport can be pro-vided by the nu-merous governorsand other electedRepublican officialswho have advo-cated these andsimilar reforms.
Some Democ-rats fear that ad-vancing health careproposals accept-able to PresidentTrump and adultRepublicans wouldallow Trump toclaim he has begun
genuine health reform anddemonstrated his ability to workin a bipartisan fashion. His pop-ular support would indeed growbeyond its present low numbers.
The other side of the samecoin is that the Democrats couldlegitimately claim that althoughthey are the minority party theyhad achieved money-savinghealth reforms without sacrific-ing the programs most popularwith their constituents. Theirmain talking point would bethat they are a Can Do partyrather than an Always Votes Noopposition. A bonus in these cir-cumstances is that Trump would
be freed of dependency on theFreedom Caucus and other eco-nomic hawks who prioritizespending cuts despite long-termnegative social and financialconsequences.
Democrats differ from Trumpon many fundamental issues,but health care need not be oneof them. The same can be saidfor repairing our national infra-structure, already supported bythe Democrats. Trump also hasemphasized the need to dealwith our decaying bridges, air-ports, tunnels, and roads. IfTrump does not have the sup-port of Democrats, ideologicaldifferences within the Republi-can party will make this essen-tial reform unlikely.
An ideological given of theFreedom Caucus and its allies isopposition to any increase in to-tal federal spending. They donot understand that spendingon infrastructure is an invest-ment, not a short-term give-away. Imagine the Americaneconomy without the invest-ment the Eisenhower adminis-tration made in a creating aninterstate highway system.Imagine America without Roo-sevelt Era spending projectssuch as the Tennessee Valley Au-
thority, Nevada/Arizona’sHoover Dam, and New York’sLincoln Tunnel and La GuardiaAirport.
If the Democrats do not showlegislative imagination, the po-litical vacuum will be filled bypresidential and congressionalsabotage of Obamacare to makesure its cracks widen.
This would be followed withanother extreme attempt to “re-peal” Obamacare and infrastruc-ture repair and modernizingwould likely return to the leg-islative back-shelf. The majorloser in these scenarios is thepublic.
Trump has declared thatObamacare is owned by the De-mocrats. He’s right. The best re-sponse for the public and for theDemocrat party is for the De-mocrats to advance serious re-forms. That would demonstratetheir willingness and ability togovern even when it meansamending their own legislationand working with an executivethey despise.
Prof. Georgakas is Director ofthe Greek American StudiesProject at Queens College –CUNY and Consulting Editor ofCINEASTE magazine.
The Democrats Own Obamacare
by CONSTANTINOS E.SCAROS
Special to The National Herald
by AMb. PATRICK N.THEROS
Special to The National Herald
by PROF. DANGEORGAKAS
Special to The National Herald
14 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 15-21, 2017
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