The National Herald 100 - ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ...
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The National Herald A WeeklY GReek-AmeRicAN PUblicATiON July 11-17, 2015 www.thenationalherald.com VOL. 18, ISSUE 926 $1.50 c v O C V ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915 NEWS 100 th anniversary 1915-2015 By Constantinos E. Scaros CHIOS, GREECE – In a July 3 interview with The National Herald, Member of Parliament Notis Mitarakis (New Democ- racy – Chios) said that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ ul- timate goal is to realign Greek foreign policy. Essentially, to move Greece away from the West. In the interview, which took place two days before the refer- endum vote, Mitarakis ex- plained that while he considered the referendum itself to be ille- gitimate insofar as what the people would be voting on was twice amended and expired be- fore the vote date, he is voting NAI-YES, because he sees it as a larger question: YES means Greece stays in the euro, and NO means it returns to the drachma. Mitarakis said that although some feel a NO vote gives Greece more leverage for a bet- ter deal, the Tsipras government is not seeking a better deal. The interview follows: TNH: Do you think Greeks should vote yes or no to the ref- erendum? NM: I think it’s a very unfair referendum. First of all, while no one disagrees that the public has to be consulted on major is- sues, it is the government that has the executive role to make decisions. This government was elected in January with a very clear mandate to renegotiate the terms of the bailout agreement within the European frame- work, and now they’re calling for a referendum with exactly the same question. I do not feel that they do not have their mandate, I cannot understand why they need to renew their mandate. And it is very unfair, also, be- cause the question being asked is no longer valid. We are asking the people whether they accept the terms of the Institution pro- posal, but that proposal has been amended twice. Techni- cally, it expired Tuesday night (June 30), as the Greek bailout program was terminated, and just before it expired, Prime Minister Tsipras sent a letter dated June 30 to [European Commission President Jean- Claude] Juncker, accepting 95% of the proposal. So the govern- ment is now asking the people For subscription: 718.784.5255 [email protected] With an ultimatum on the table to turn over a credible list of reforms by July 12 or watch Greece go under, international lenders have told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras this is his last chance as they waited to see what he's going to present. Tsipras, the Radical Left SYRIZA leader who had vowed to reverse austerity – and has a mandate from a July 5 referen- dum in Greece to do so – never- theless was reportedly ready to renege on both and agree to make reforms to pensions and the country's notoriously ineffi- cient tax system. Greece has been waiting since last year for release of a 7.2-billion euro ($7.9 billion) installment from the Troika of the European Union-Interna- tional Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) that was held back because Tsipras, after being elected on Jan. 25, refused to implement tough conditions in return. The country also failed, after getting a four-month bailout ex- tension on Feb. 20, to come up with list of reforms acceptable to the lenders and has fallen deeper into debt after failing to make a 1.6-billion euro ($1.77 billion) series of bundled op- tions due the IMF and has to pay the ECB 3.5 billion euros ($3.86 billion) which it can't do either. Faced with start reality, Tsipras has asked for a third bailout, unspecified as yet but said to be for as much as 50 bil- lion euros ($55.17 billion) over three years also he said he wants debt relief from the first two bailouts totaling 240 billion euros ($264.83 billion). EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici is hopeful that a new Greek bailout deal is pos- sible, in exchange for "concrete, complete" reform proposals from Greece's government. Moscovici said on France-In- ter radio that July 9 was "a de- cisive day" for Europe, as Greece's creditors await a de- tailed economic reform plan from Tsipras' government before a midnight deadline. Moscovici said, "I have the sense that the dialogue is estab- lished, or restored, and that there is a way out." Failure to reach a deal could be the first step toward Greece leaving the shared euro currency. International creditors dis- agree over whether to award the country debt relief. Moscovici said that is not cur- rently under discussion al- though the IMF, saying it would refuse to take less than what it borrowed, wants the EU to give Greece a debt break. WHAT TO DO? With the country's future rid- ing on what he does, Tsipras was due before turning over a rushed last-minute proposal to meet separately with key minis- ters, or possibly hold a cabinet meeting. He will have to tell them that he's backing away from some of the key provisions he vowed to resist, essentially reneging on the July 5 referendum he hailed as an historic moment of defi- ance. But with banks closed for a After Resounding “No” Referendum Vote, PM to Make Attempt at Striking New Deal By Constantine S. Sirigos TNH Staff Writer NEW YORK – Hellenes are well- represented in the ranks of economists around the world – Christopher Pissarides won the Nobel Prize in 2010, and Greek- Americans among them have been monitoring and publishing on the Greek crisis. Two distinguished Econo- mists communicated with The National Herald after this week’s Greek referendum, Charles W. Calomiris, Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions at Columbia Busi- ness School, and Nicholas S. Economides, Professor of Eco- nomics at NYU’s Stern School of Business. Economides was blunt: “Right now the situation in Greece is extremely critical… Greece is in deep trouble. The banks have been closed for 10 days…The roads are empty and the stores also, except for the supermarkets.” “An agreement must be reached in a few days, because of the condition of the banks and because they will not be able to pay the civil servants on July 15.” He thinks “the probability in not very high – 20 percent – but that is not negligible… the ref- erendum, however, has in- creased the probability of going to the drachma, and that will be a disaster.” “People in New York don’t understand how much more critical the situation is now than it was a year ago,” he said, but rather than turn the election into a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for the way he has handled mat- ters,” Economides said, “people voted emotionally. They say ‘we don’t want the Germans to tell us what to do anymore.’ “What is perplexing, verging on the tragic is that near the end of the most recent round of Economists Discuss Greece, Post-Referendum Greek PM Alexis Tsipras (L), German Chancellor Angela Merkel, 2nd left, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, 2nd right, and French President Francois Hollande, (R), meet prior to a Εurozone leaders summit in Brussels, Tuesday. (L-R): Supreme Treasurer Andrew Zachariades, Supreme President Phillip Frangos, Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman of the Board Nicholas Karacostas, and George Horiatis, who presented $30,000 from AHEPA District 5 for St. Nicholas at Ground Zero at the Grand Banquet. MP Mitarakis Says Tsipras’ Ultimate Goal is to Realign Greece’s Foreign Policy By Constantine S. Sirigos TNH Staff Writer SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Or- der of AHEPA hosted its 93rd annual AHEPA Family Supreme Convention at the San Francisco Hyatt hotel July 1-5. The out- going Supreme President of AHEPA Phillip T. Frangos capped a successful tenure by opening the Convention. John W. Galanis of Elm Grove, WI was elected to succeed him. At the installation ceremony, Galanis discussed his goals and challenges, but he added, "Ob- viously, our immediate thoughts and concerns are with the peo- ple of Greece during this most difficult and challenge time in Greece's history," he said. More than 1000 Greek Amer- icans and Philhellenes gathered for meetings, symposiums, dances and special events. Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco offered the open- ing prayer and continued to say that the AHEPA is a wonderful organization which promotes family values. The Supreme President was joined for farewell addresses by the Grand President of the Daughters of Penelope Anna He- lene Grossomanides, Supreme President of the Sons Jimmy Googas and Grand President of the Maids Deanna Socaris who have also completed their tenures. The consul general of Greece Demetrios Xenitellis also addressed the guests. The program of the Grand Banquet, the Convention’s cli- max, “was a testament to the AHEPA family’s grassroots capa- bility to raise much-needed funds for charitable causes. AHEPA and its affiliated organi- zations, the Daughters of Pene- lope, Sons of Pericles, and Maids of Athena, announced nearly $115,000 in new funds raised to help rebuild Saint Nicholas National Shrine at World Trade Center,” a press release noted. Philanthropist/Entrepreneur George Marcus presented The- ofanis Economidis with the 2015 AHEPA Aristotle Award, representing excellence in his profession and in service to his community. Archbishop Demetrios was the keynote speaker. Our AHEPA family leader- ship, led by Supreme President Phillip T. Frangos, each deliv- ered emotional farewell ad- dresses. There was also a commemo- ration of the Daughters of Pene- lope’s 85th anniversary. After the Convention’s first general session delegates were hosted aboard the San Francisco Belle for a glorious buffet dinner and cruise of San Francisco Bay with dancing and a karaoke con- test At the National Athletic Awards Luncheon, the accep- tance remarks from all the hon- orees were touching and mem- orable, as was the acknowledgement of Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, scholar athletes, and national award- winners. Basil Mossaides, AHEPA’s Ex- ecutive Director, congratulated Penelope House Executive Di- rector Tonie Ann Torrans for be- ing inducted into the Daughters of Penelope Athletic Hall of Fame. He also was thrilled that so many people “came from near and far—from our local San Francisco AHEPA family to our delegates and guests who came from Greece, Bulgaria, and Aus- tralia—and commend them for taking the time to be with us and to attend to the business of the Order.” The AHEPA Hellenic Cultural AHEPA Holds its 93rd Convention By Dr. Constantina Michalos HOUSTON, TX – I have a mam- mogram every spring. The preparation is the same. No lo- tion. No perfume. No deodor- ant. It is an uncomfortable exam, but the alternative hurts way more. I don’t really breathe until I get the results, and then I exhale a quick prayer of thanks when I hear the words, “Every- thing is fine. Continue self-ex- ams. Have another mammo- gram next year.” I’m not going to discuss the conflicting recom- mendations of when to begin getting mammograms or how often they should be done. I do what I do to insure my health and peace of mind. This year was the same – ex- cept for an ancillary issue. My older daughter has been ill for several months, and my body has responded with a spike in blood pressure that is off the charts. I did not have any symp- We’re Called “Patients” for A Reason PROVIDENCE, RI – Rhode Is- land State Senator Leonidas Raptakis joined with Minnesota Senate President Sandy Pappas in asking their respective dele- gations in the U.S. Congress to take action in response to the ongoing Greek crisis. Raptakis shared with TNH that “with youth unemployment rates in the country at a stag- gering 50%, the legislators are asking federal officials to raise the quota limit to allow more Greeks to enter the United States as their nation’s economy has gone into a free-fall. Both Senators said that by allowing Greek nationals with solid, mar- ketable job skills to come into the United States to put their talents to work, the U.S. gov- ernment would be providing an important lifeline to Greece. “‘While the financial melt- down in Greece has been in the news of late, the horrible eco- nomic conditions and youth un- employment rates have become a disturbing way of life for a generation of young Greeks,’ said Raptakis. ‘We have a chance here to take a basic step that will help provide some measure of relief to a country which has been a strong ally of the United States for many decades.’ “Pappas [who was featured in the Feb. 7, 2014 issue of TNH, “Messenia to Minnesota: Sen. Pappas Talks to TNH”] added, ‘this crisis has taken a terrible toll on the aspi- rations of educated, young Greeks who cannot find work and have little hope for the fu- ture. This would be a gesture of good will that will demonstrate to a new generation of Greek citizens that the United States is in their corner and willing to help in a time of need.’ “Both Raptakis and Pappas pointed to the support America provided Greece in the years fol- lowing World War II as a model for taking action here. While the United States cannot fix the Greek economy, it can help pro- vide an avenue of opportunity for young Greek citizens at this time of extreme crisis. “‘By allowing educated Greeks with strong job skills to come to the US, we can actually allow young people to put their job skills to work as engineers, doctors, and in a range of pro- fessional fields,’ the senators said. ‘The sad reality is that right now, many of those talented people are languishing in unem- ployment or toiling in low-end jobs that have nothing to do with their skills.’ Sens. Pappas, Raptakis Vie For Increased Grimmigration AP PHOTO Greece Faces the Lenders' Ultimatum, and July 12 is Decision Day Continued on page 3 Continued on page 7 Continued on page 8 Continued on page 9 Continued on page 3
Transcript of The National Herald 100 - ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ...
The National HeraldA weekly Greek-AmericAn PublicATiOn
July 11-17, 2015
www.thenationalherald.comVOL. 18, ISSUE 926 $1.50c v
O C VΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915NEW
S 100
1
th
anniversary
1915-2015
By Constantinos E. Scaros
CHIOS, GREECE – In a July 3interview with The NationalHerald, Member of ParliamentNotis Mitarakis (New Democ-racy – Chios) said that GreekPrime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ ul-timate goal is to realign Greek
foreign policy. Essentially, tomove Greece away from theWest.
In the interview, which tookplace two days before the refer-endum vote, Mitarakis ex-plained that while he consideredthe referendum itself to be ille-gitimate insofar as what thepeople would be voting on wastwice amended and expired be-fore the vote date, he is votingNAI-YES, because he sees it asa larger question: YES meansGreece stays in the euro, andNO means it returns to thedrachma.
Mitarakis said that althoughsome feel a NO vote givesGreece more leverage for a bet-ter deal, the Tsipras governmentis not seeking a better deal.
The interview follows:TNH: Do you think Greeks
should vote yes or no to the ref-erendum?
NM: I think it’s a very unfairreferendum. First of all, whileno one disagrees that the publichas to be consulted on major is-sues, it is the government thathas the executive role to makedecisions.
This government was electedin January with a very clearmandate to renegotiate theterms of the bailout agreementwithin the European frame-work, and now they’re callingfor a referendum with exactlythe same question.
I do not feel that they do nothave their mandate, I cannotunderstand why they need torenew their mandate.
And it is very unfair, also, be-cause the question being askedis no longer valid. We are askingthe people whether they acceptthe terms of the Institution pro-posal, but that proposal hasbeen amended twice. Techni-cally, it expired Tuesday night(June 30), as the Greek bailoutprogram was terminated, andjust before it expired, PrimeMinister Tsipras sent a letterdated June 30 to [EuropeanCommission President Jean-Claude] Juncker, accepting 95%of the proposal. So the govern-ment is now asking the people
For subscription:
With an ultimatum on thetable to turn over a credible listof reforms by July 12 or watchGreece go under, internationallenders have told Greek PrimeMinister Alexis Tsipras this is hislast chance as they waited to seewhat he's going to present.
Tsipras, the Radical LeftSYRIZA leader who had vowedto reverse austerity – and has amandate from a July 5 referen-dum in Greece to do so – never-theless was reportedly ready torenege on both and agree tomake reforms to pensions andthe country's notoriously ineffi-cient tax system.
Greece has been waitingsince last year for release of a7.2-billion euro ($7.9 billion)installment from the Troika ofthe European Union-Interna-tional Monetary Fund-EuropeanCentral Bank (EU-IMF-ECB)that was held back becauseTsipras, after being elected onJan. 25, refused to implementtough conditions in return.
The country also failed, aftergetting a four-month bailout ex-tension on Feb. 20, to come upwith list of reforms acceptableto the lenders and has fallendeeper into debt after failing tomake a 1.6-billion euro ($1.77billion) series of bundled op-tions due the IMF and has topay the ECB 3.5 billion euros($3.86 billion) which it can't doeither.
Faced with start reality,Tsipras has asked for a thirdbailout, unspecified as yet butsaid to be for as much as 50 bil-lion euros ($55.17 billion) overthree years also he said hewants debt relief from the firsttwo bailouts totaling 240 billioneuros ($264.83 billion).
EU Economics CommissionerPierre Moscovici is hopeful thata new Greek bailout deal is pos-sible, in exchange for "concrete,complete" reform proposalsfrom Greece's government.
Moscovici said on France-In-ter radio that July 9 was "a de-cisive day" for Europe, asGreece's creditors await a de-tailed economic reform planfrom Tsipras' government beforea midnight deadline.
Moscovici said, "I have thesense that the dialogue is estab-lished, or restored, and thatthere is a way out." Failure toreach a deal could be the firststep toward Greece leaving theshared euro currency.
International creditors dis-agree over whether to awardthe country debt relief.Moscovici said that is not cur-rently under discussion al-though the IMF, saying it wouldrefuse to take less than what itborrowed, wants the EU to giveGreece a debt break.
WHAT TO DO?With the country's future rid-
ing on what he does, Tsipraswas due before turning over arushed last-minute proposal tomeet separately with key minis-ters, or possibly hold a cabinetmeeting.
He will have to tell them thathe's backing away from some ofthe key provisions he vowed toresist, essentially reneging onthe July 5 referendum he hailedas an historic moment of defi-ance.
But with banks closed for a
After Resounding “No” Referendum Vote,PM to Make Attempt at Striking New Deal
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Hellenes are well-represented in the ranks ofeconomists around the world –Christopher Pissarides won theNobel Prize in 2010, and Greek-Americans among them havebeen monitoring and publishingon the Greek crisis.
Two distinguished Econo-mists communicated with TheNational Herald after thisweek’s Greek referendum,
Charles W. Calomiris, HenryKaufman Professor of FinancialInstitutions at Columbia Busi-ness School, and Nicholas S.Economides, Professor of Eco-nomics at NYU’s Stern School ofBusiness.
Economides was blunt:“Right now the situation inGreece is extremely critical…Greece is in deep trouble. Thebanks have been closed for 10days…The roads are empty andthe stores also, except for thesupermarkets.”
“An agreement must bereached in a few days, becauseof the condition of the banksand because they will not beable to pay the civil servants onJuly 15.”
He thinks “the probability innot very high – 20 percent – butthat is not negligible… the ref-erendum, however, has in-creased the probability of goingto the drachma, and that will bea disaster.”
“People in New York don’tunderstand how much more
critical the situation is now thanit was a year ago,” he said, butrather than turn the electioninto a vote of no-confidence inPrime Minister Alexis Tsipras forthe way he has handled mat-ters,” Economides said, “peoplevoted emotionally. They say ‘wedon’t want the Germans to tellus what to do anymore.’
“What is perplexing, vergingon the tragic is that near the endof the most recent round of
Economists Discuss Greece, Post-Referendum
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras (L), German Chancellor Angela Merkel,2nd left, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker,
2nd right, and French President Francois Hollande, (R), meetprior to a Εurozone leaders summit in Brussels, Tuesday.
(L-R): Supreme Treasurer Andrew Zachariades, Supreme President Phillip Frangos, ArchbishopDemetrios, Chairman of the Board Nicholas Karacostas, and George Horiatis, who presented$30,000 from AHEPA District 5 for St. Nicholas at Ground Zero at the Grand Banquet.
MP Mitarakis Says Tsipras’Ultimate Goal is to RealignGreece’s Foreign Policy
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Or-der of AHEPA hosted its 93rdannual AHEPA Family SupremeConvention at the San FranciscoHyatt hotel July 1-5. The out-going Supreme President ofAHEPA Phillip T. Frangoscapped a successful tenure byopening the Convention. JohnW. Galanis of Elm Grove, WIwas elected to succeed him.
At the installation ceremony,Galanis discussed his goals andchallenges, but he added, "Ob-viously, our immediate thoughtsand concerns are with the peo-ple of Greece during this mostdifficult and challenge time inGreece's history," he said.
More than 1000 Greek Amer-icans and Philhellenes gatheredfor meetings, symposiums,dances and special events.
Metropolitan Gerasimos ofSan Francisco offered the open-ing prayer and continued to saythat the AHEPA is a wonderfulorganization which promotesfamily values.
The Supreme President wasjoined for farewell addresses bythe Grand President of theDaughters of Penelope Anna He-lene Grossomanides, Supreme
President of the Sons JimmyGoogas and Grand President ofthe Maids Deanna Socaris whohave also completed theirtenures. The consul general ofGreece Demetrios Xenitellis alsoaddressed the guests.
The program of the GrandBanquet, the Convention’s cli-max, “was a testament to theAHEPA family’s grassroots capa-bility to raise much-neededfunds for charitable causes.AHEPA and its affiliated organi-zations, the Daughters of Pene-lope, Sons of Pericles, and Maidsof Athena, announced nearly$115,000 in new funds raisedto help rebuild Saint NicholasNational Shrine at World TradeCenter,” a press release noted.
Philanthropist/EntrepreneurGeorge Marcus presented The-ofanis Economidis with the2015 AHEPA Aristotle Award,representing excellence in hisprofession and in service to hiscommunity.
Archbishop Demetrios wasthe keynote speaker.
Our AHEPA family leader-ship, led by Supreme PresidentPhillip T. Frangos, each deliv-ered emotional farewell ad-dresses.
There was also a commemo-ration of the Daughters of Pene-
lope’s 85th anniversary.After the Convention’s first
general session delegates werehosted aboard the San FranciscoBelle for a glorious buffet dinnerand cruise of San Francisco Baywith dancing and a karaoke con-test
At the National AthleticAwards Luncheon, the accep-tance remarks from all the hon-orees were touching and mem-orable, as was theacknowledgement of AthleticHall of Fame inductees, scholarathletes, and national award-winners.
Basil Mossaides, AHEPA’s Ex-ecutive Director, congratulatedPenelope House Executive Di-rector Tonie Ann Torrans for be-ing inducted into the Daughtersof Penelope Athletic Hall ofFame.
He also was thrilled that somany people “came from nearand far—from our local SanFrancisco AHEPA family to ourdelegates and guests who camefrom Greece, Bulgaria, and Aus-tralia—and commend them fortaking the time to be with usand to attend to the business ofthe Order.”
The AHEPA Hellenic Cultural
AHEPA Holds its 93rd ConventionBy Dr. ConstantinaMichalos
HOUSTON, TX – I have a mam-mogram every spring. Thepreparation is the same. No lo-tion. No perfume. No deodor-ant. It is an uncomfortableexam, but the alternative hurtsway more. I don’t really breatheuntil I get the results, and thenI exhale a quick prayer of thankswhen I hear the words, “Every-thing is fine. Continue self-ex-ams. Have another mammo-gram next year.” I’m not goingto discuss the conflicting recom-mendations of when to begingetting mammograms or howoften they should be done. I dowhat I do to insure my healthand peace of mind.
This year was the same – ex-cept for an ancillary issue. Myolder daughter has been ill forseveral months, and my bodyhas responded with a spike inblood pressure that is off thecharts. I did not have any symp-
We’re Called“Patients” forA Reason
PROVIDENCE, RI – Rhode Is-land State Senator LeonidasRaptakis joined with MinnesotaSenate President Sandy Pappasin asking their respective dele-gations in the U.S. Congress totake action in response to theongoing Greek crisis.
Raptakis shared with TNHthat “with youth unemploymentrates in the country at a stag-gering 50%, the legislators areasking federal officials to raisethe quota limit to allow moreGreeks to enter the UnitedStates as their nation’s economyhas gone into a free-fall. BothSenators said that by allowingGreek nationals with solid, mar-ketable job skills to come intothe United States to put theirtalents to work, the U.S. gov-ernment would be providing animportant lifeline to Greece.
“‘While the financial melt-down in Greece has been in thenews of late, the horrible eco-nomic conditions and youth un-employment rates have becomea disturbing way of life for ageneration of young Greeks,’said Raptakis. ‘We have achance here to take a basic stepthat will help provide somemeasure of relief to a countrywhich has been a strong ally ofthe United States for manydecades.’
“Pappas [who was featuredin the Feb. 7, 2014 issue ofTNH, “Messenia to
Minnesota: Sen. Pappas Talksto TNH”] added, ‘this crisis hastaken a terrible toll on the aspi-rations of educated, youngGreeks who cannot find workand have little hope for the fu-ture. This would be a gesture ofgood will that will demonstrateto a new generation of Greekcitizens that the United Statesis in their corner and willing tohelp in a time of need.’
“Both Raptakis and Pappaspointed to the support Americaprovided Greece in the years fol-lowing World War II as a modelfor taking action here. While theUnited States cannot fix theGreek economy, it can help pro-vide an avenue of opportunityfor young Greek citizens at thistime of extreme crisis.
“‘By allowing educatedGreeks with strong job skills tocome to the US, we can actuallyallow young people to put theirjob skills to work as engineers,doctors, and in a range of pro-fessional fields,’ the senatorssaid. ‘The sad reality is that rightnow, many of those talentedpeople are languishing in unem-ployment or toiling in low-endjobs that have nothing to dowith their skills.’
Sens. Pappas,Raptakis VieFor IncreasedGrimmigration
AP PHOTO
Greece Faces the Lenders' Ultimatum, and July 12 is Decision Day
Continued on page 3
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n THRU OCT. 31CHICAGO, IL – The NationalHellenic Museum, 33 S HalstedSt., in Chicago, pays tribute tothe legendary actor and artistAnthony Quinn, who brought tolife one of the greatest and mostlife-affirming literary charactersof our time – the irrepressibleZorba the Greek. The depth andbreadth of Anthony Quinn’s cre-ative genius is showcased in anexhibition of more than 80 ofhis emotive paintings and pow-erful sculptures. Visitors will seereflections of Anthony Quinn’slife experiences, traces of hisproud Mexican heritage, hislove of cultures throughout theworld, and the impact of hislong friendship with the Greekpeople. The exhibit is being Pro-duced in collaboration withKatherine Quinn, the AnthonyQuinn Foundation, and the An-thony Quinn Trust. It was orga-nized and curated by ConnieMourtoupalas, President of Cul-tural Affairs with assistance byChris Helms, Assistant Curatorof Collections & Exhibitions. Ex-hibition installation assistanceby Dimitra Alvazoglou, JohnAnagnostopoulos, Krista Bondi,Katerina Gailas, Stephanie Lar-son, Nikolas John Mour-toupalas, Katie Narayan, KaitlynPeterson. This is exhibit wasgenerously sponsored by JohnS. Koudounis & Family, Johnand Martha Cannis, Chris P.Tomaras-PanHellenic Scholar-ship Foundation, National Hel-lenic Invitational BasketballTournament, National HellenicSociety, Angelo and Mary Cap-pas & Family, and Mr. and Mrs.Ernest C. Karras.
n THRU NOV. 1TARPON SPRINGS, FL – Nightin the Islands returns to theworld-famous Sponge Docks ofTarpon Springs for 2015! Satur-days, 6-11PM: Jul. 11, Aug. 1,Sept. 12, and Oct. 3. A freeevent of Greek music, dancing,and dining! And we will offeran hour of free Greek dancelessons by the Levendia DanceTroupe from 6-7PM. The festivalis supported in part by a grantfrom the National Endowmentfor the Arts. Come join us forauthentic island fun in the warmFlorida sun and mark your cal-endar and make this a regulardestination! And if you’re justin town for a week or two, makesure to mark your calendar asyou will not want to miss this!Tarpon Springs is a uniqueGreek experience in the UnitedStates, one unlike any otherGreek community. Come be partof this one-of-a-kind Americanexperience that will make youfeel as if, truly, you are back inthe homeland!
n JULY 10-12LIBERTYVILLE, IL – The St.Demetrios Greek OrthodoxChurch, 1400 N. O'Plaine Roadin Libertyville, will hold its an-nual Greek festival from Friday,Jul. 10 through Sunday, Jul. 12from 11AM-11PM on all threedays. Our annual Greek Fest isone of the many ways that ourparish hopes to share our beau-tiful Greek heritage and tradi-tional Orthodox Faith with ourentire Lake County community.When you are ready to samplea taste of Greek hospitality, wehave prepared a number of tra-ditional Greek delicacies foryour dining pleasure! At theFood Booth, choose from succu-lent Souvlaki, AthenianChicken, Roasted Lamb, TastyGyros, Spanakopita (SpinachPuff) or Tyropita (Cheese Puff).While you are dining on our as-sortment of Greek delicacies, besure to save room for dessert!We offer a tempting variety ofGreek Pastries and Louk-oumathes (Honey Puffs) to sat-isfy your craving. Visit our KidzZone to entertain your children!Browse through our Greek Mar-ketplace and shop for artwork,music, clothing, jewelry, reli-gious items, books, and muchmore! Free parking and free ad-mission. For more information,call (224) 513-5530.
n JULY 11ASTORIA, NY – The Greek Cul-tural Center, 26-80 30th Streetin Astoria, will be casting for itsupcoming theatrical productions2015-2016 on Jun. 3 and 4. Weare looking for actors male andfemale, ages from 20 to 50.
Must speak Greek fluently.Those who are interested pleaseemail your resumes at [email protected] and call at718.726.7329 to schedule anappointment. Please come pre-pared.
JULY 12 CHICAGO, IL – The NationalHellenic Museum, 333 S Hal-sted St., Chicago, as a part oftheir summer film series isshowing Agganis: The GoldenGreek – Excellence To The End.Harry Agganis was the forceleading the Boston Universityfootball team to national promi-nence. But baseball was hisgame. Despite being the Cleve-land Browns’ first round draftchoice in the 1952 NFL draft,Harry signed with his home-town Boston Red Sox so hecould be close to his widowedmother. A humble, modest,handsome hero, he was adoredby the Greek community andheld in awe by anyone in hispresence. This is the story ofhow a driven young man froma struggling immigrant familysomehow managed to becomeso extraordinary. The event is$10.00 per person and includesmuseum admission.
n JULY 20SALEM, MA – Please join usMonday, Jul. 20, for the annualNicholas J. Bouras MemorialGolf Classic on the beautifulKernwood Country Clubcourse,1 Kernwood St, in Salem,designed by the legendary Don-ald Ross. Start the day with anearly lunch, followed by sou-vlaki and loukaniko servedcourse-side. After 18 holes, en-joy hors d’oeuvres, complimen-tary cocktails, and a raffle. Tro-phies and prizes awarded overa steak or lobster dinner.
n JULY 25POURTSMOUTH, NH – OPA!Come join us Sat, Jul. 25, forGreek Music Night at Café Nos-timo, 72 Mirona Rd., inPortsmouth. There will be liveGreek music, Greek dancing anda belly dancing performance.Join us for great music, greatfood and a great time at CafeNostimo. Featuring Music byChuck Koustas and RossRichardson and at 9PM a bellydancing performance by Zabel.Reservations Recommended.
n AUGUST 1SANTA BARBARA CA – SantaBarbara's Annual Greek Festivalis taking place from 11 am to7PM on Saturday, Aug. 1 andSunday, Aug. 2, in beautiful OakPark. The festival evokes thesights, sounds and tastes thatdefine the traditional Greek wayof life. Stroll through Santa Bar-bara's beautiful Oak Park, andexperience the simple pleasuresof life in a Greek village. Dozensof volunteers enthusiasticallystaff their booths, creating aconvivial, welcoming atmos-phere. Festivalgoers return yearafter year for the food. — De-lectable festival favorites like gy-ros and moussaka. And noGreek village would be com-plete without homemade pas-tries from Yia Yia's traditionalrecipes: baklava, melo-makarona, and kataifi are just afew of the sweet treats to de-light you. Listen to the distinc-tive sounds of the bouzouki andother exotic instruments playedby authentic Greek musicianswho perform traditional andpopular songs. Delight in thebeauty of the elaborate cos-tumes worn by performers asthey share their carefully prac-ticed steps and intricate danceswith the enthusiastic audience.Take advantage of a free Greekdance lesson, and enjoy partici-pating in the same dances youwould perform in the traditionalvillages of Greece. Relax and en-joy yourself under the oaks inthe warm embrace of the bestGreek culture has to offer.
n NOTE TO OUR READERSThis calendar of events sectionis a complimentary service tothe Greek American community.All parishes, organizations andinstitutions are encouraged toe-mail their information regard-ing the event 3-4 weeks aheadof time, and no later than Mon-day of the week before theevent, to [email protected]
GOINGS ON...
QUESTION OF THE WEEKHow would you have voted in Greece’s July 5 referendum,
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www.thenationalherald.comThe National Herald
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LANCASTER, PA – The Lan-caster Historical Society hostedGust. C. Kraras, now 94 yearsold, on June 11. Kraras is oneof the oldest surviving membersof the Office of Strategic Ser-vices (which preceded the CIA),and a veteran of numerous mis-sions behind enemy lines inWorld War II.
Born in Terspithea, Greece,Kraras immigrated to the UnitedStates in 1938 at age 17 andworked various jobs. After theattack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7,1941), Kraras volunteered tojoin the U.S. Army.
He fought in World War II,having served in the 101st Air-borne Division; 82nd AirborneDivision; 122nd Infantry Battal-ion (The Greek Battalion), aswell as the OSS.
As an OSS commando,Kraras crossed enemy lines inGreece, ambushing Germanyconvoys. As he told the ReadingEagle in an interview severalyears ago, “we’d use a bazookato disable the first and lasttruck, then open up on the restwith everything we had. Whenwe were finished, nothing muchwould be left, and we’d go backup into the hills.”
MEDALS AWARDED1. Presidential Unit Citation2. Bronze Star Medal3. British Paratrooper Wings4. American Paratrooper
Wings5. Special Forces named the
OSS OG’s as the Grandfather ofSpecial Forces and placed aplaque at Fort Bragg, NC to in-dicate this.
GREEK GOVERNMENT1. In 1993, awarded in Wash-
ington, DC the “Coin of Mace-donian Kings”
2. In 2005, Special Medal by
the Ministry of Greek NationalDefense
3. In 2007, a Plaque by theGreek Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Kraras continues to be a pil-lar in the parish of Sts. Constan-tine and Helen Greek OrthodoxChurch in Reading, PA, wherehe regularly chants on Sundaysand other Holy days, and worksin the kitchen during theChurch’s annual bazaar.
NEW YORK, NY – The famous“RESTAURANT” sign outside ofthe fictional “Monk’s Café” onthe iconic TV sitcom Seinfeld isreally Tom’s Restaurant in Man-hattan’s Morningside Heightsneighborhood, close to Colum-bia University and for decadesa regular feeding and wateringhole for Columbia students. TheNew York Times recently fea-tured Tom’s in a food journey
of New York relevant to the Se-infeld show. The tour, of course,includes The Original SoupMan, which was actually madefamous by the show’s classic“Soup Nazi” episode.
Tom’s was sold to a Greekimmigrant Tom (Thanasi) Jikasdecades ago, who later sold itto other Greeks, Nik Petakas andMinas Zoulis. Zoulis’ cousin’sson, Michael Zoulis, is the cur-rent owner.
LOS ANGELES, CA – Thefirestorm of controversy over for-mer Spokane, WA NAACP headRachel Dolezal, who steppeddown amid a media frenzy thatshe is not really African-Americanat all, brought to mind – andpress – references of anotherhigh-profile individual who,though Greek-American, identi-fied himself as African-American:
Johnny Otis. Otis, who was bornIoannis Alexandres Veliotis inVallejo, CA. His father, Alexander,owned a grocery store in a pre-dominantly black neighborhoodin Berkeley, and Otis soon self-identified as African-American. Asinger-songrwriter, bandleader,and impresario, Otis had a pro-found effect on American R&Band early rock and roll. He alsodiscovered numerous musicianswho went on to become legends,not least of all Etta James. He iswidely known in musical circlesas “the original king of rock androll” and “the godfather ofrhythm and blues.” Otis died inLos Angeles in 2012 at age 90,but his music lives on and, givenDolezal’s recent media spotlight,so does his conscious decision toidentify with a race into whichhe was not born, but aroundwhich he was raised.
The supremely recognizable exterior of Tom’s Restaurant, owned by Michael Zoulis, which be-came even more famous as a regular feature on the Seinfeld show.
HELLENIC HAPPENINGS FROM COAST TO COAST
COMMUNITY2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
MATTITUCK, NY – Concertsfeaturing a wide range of musicand performers have proven tobe an enjoyable and effectivemeans of fundraising for thepeople of Greece during the eco-nomic crisis. On July 4 approxi-mately 480 tickets were sold at$50 each for “An Anthology ofGreek Song” with Grigoris Man-inakis and the Mikrokosmos En-semble.
The event was presented bythe Hellenic Relief Foundationin cooperation with the GreekOrthodox Communities of TheTransfiguration of Christ of Mat-tituck – which hosted the con-cert in its courtyard – and theChurch of Ss. Anargyroi, Taxi-archis, and Gerasimos of Green-port, and the Hellenic AmericanTaxpayer and Civic Associationof Southold Township in NewYork.
HRF Board member DinoAvlonitis told The National Her-
ald that more than $15,000 wasraised despite the fact thatweather concerns limited theaudience to about 250 people.All net proceeds will be used topurchase food for needy familiesin Greece.
Joining Mikrokosmos wereguest vocalists Eleni Andreouand Elena Toumaras.
They performed songsbeloved by the community, andthe guests not only sang alongwith enthusiasm, but there wereoutbursts of dancing along withapplause.
The concert began at 8 PMand thanks to an agreementwith nearby Cooper Farms, thelatter’s 4th of July Fireworks dis-play was rescheduled to beginwhen the concert ended, allow-ing the audience, which fetedGreece, to also celebrate Amer-ica during the reception. Popu-lar chef Prokopis Zervas pre-pared the meze that wereserved.
Well-known businessmanKostas Zahariadis was the coor-
dinator of the event. Avlonitis noted that mixed in
with the fellowship and funwere serious conversationsabout the situation in Greece onthe eve of the recent referen-dum. They also expressed theirappreciation that HRF enablesthem to express their mutualsupport and solidarity with theneediest in the homeland.
He said that the members ofthe Board of Directors are con-tinually reviewing the deepen-ing crisis and are pursuing newand better ways to raise fundsand to help.
AID TO DATE 260K+HRF has remitted about
$260,000 and distributed about240 tons of food since its found-ing.
Philipas Vogiatzoglou waspresent during the May deliver-ies in Athens and Thessalonikiand Stelios Taketzis was presentduring the June Deliveries inAthens.
Board member Stelios Taket-zis told TNH “HRF is monitoring
the situation in Greece closely.If we detect problems withavailability of foods or the bankclosures last a long time wehave mechanisms ready to sendfood items for U.S. HRF has nocash reserves in Greek banks.”
During their most recentmeeting a few weeks ago, threemembers of the Brotherhood“Mani” committed a fair sum ofmoney, to be supplemented asneeded by HRF, for monthly dis-tributions of food to the mostisolated villages in Moni.
“These people are so proud,”Avlonitis said that they will notaccept any charity.” HRF de-cided that in cooperation withthe Brotherhood, a black sackcontaining food and water willbe dropped off outside the doorsof neediest families.
HRF is excited about afundraising concert in Manhat-tan in November featuring well-known Greek singing stars.
“We cannot reveal them yet,but they are big names,” Avloni-tis said.
HRF’s and Mikrokosmos’ Beautiful Music Helps Greece
CORRECTION:
The uncredited page one photograph accompanying the article “cri-sis, memories Generate refugee Generosity (Jun. 27),” by Dimitriskrallis, as well as the uncredited photographs of that article’s con-tinuation on page 9, were taken by michael Honegger.
talks, the Greek proposal andthe creditor’s proposal were ex-tremely close…the creditorsthought the deal would beclosed soon…’maybe we’ll giveyou something on the debt, asweetener, and the deal isdone,’” Economides believes thetroika was thinking.”
“And then suddenly Tsiprassaid “no, I will do a referen-dum.”
Economides said he did thatto attempt to avoid a split inSYRIZA, and that “In a very cow-ardly way, he put his party firstand his country second…he
went to referendum to avoidtaking responsibility.”
He believes the vote hurt theGreek position, because thebailout memorandum was al-lowed to lapse. “Now we mustcreate a new agreement fromscratch, and the parliaments of19 counties must ratify it, whichis much harder than making anamendment to the previousagreement. That is a huge stepbackwards for Greece.”
MISCALCULATIONS ANDSELFISHNESS
The original memorandumhas two parts, Economides said:the fiscal part with austeritymeasures to balance the budget,and the reforms part. “The cred-itors pushed much harder on thefiscal part. Maybe they thoughtthe reforms would happen au-tomatically because it was to thebenefit of the Greeks, but itdidn’t happen that way,” he said.
The problem was that variousgroups, even collections of asfew as 5000 who benefittedfrom the status quo, could blockreforms that would be good for11 million Greeks.
“SYRIZA and the communistssaid they did not want anychanges, even changes aimed atthe rich,” because they thoughtthat once reforms began any-where, eventually their own turfwould be invaded.
“There is a deeply rootedmentality” that is againstchange. There is also in Greecean emphasis on egalitarianism“even if it means mediocrity,” headded.
One area the left battles di-rectly is labor market deregula-tion. Economides agrees thatthere are countries in Europe,France for example, whose prac-tices lay in between those of themuch less regulated U.S. and themore rigid Greek rules that pre-vailed before the crisis thatSYRIZA wants to return to, butthere no evidence of progress inan area foreign investors see asa deal breaker.
Calomiris exchanged emailswith TNH and in an article pub-lished in Forbes magazine said“Even if the Greeks had votedyes, it was doubtful that theycould have remained in the eu-rozone.”
Debts and deficits are not itsroot problems, he says. Greece’seconomy is simply uncompeti-tive, which “reflects institutionalflaws that the Greek people haveshown little interest in fixing –inflexible labor laws that dis-courage hiring, anti-competitivebusiness licensing laws and reg-ulations that protect inefficientcronies, and little will to tacklecorruption,” according toCalomiris.
POSSIBLEREDENOMINATION?
Sadly, “One could also addthat there is no evidence of po-tential political leadership thatis capable of articulating theseproblems much less crediblyconfronting them…Currentleaders display a combination ofjuvenile thinking about econom-ics, a strange rapture aboutCuban communism, and a coun-terproductive need to put athumb in the eye of Germany atevery opportunity.”
His criticism is accompaniedby solutions, however. Calomiris’approach combines two policyinitiatives: redenomination – an
internal devaluation of 30 per-cent while still in the Eurozone– and competitiveness reforms.
Redenomination entails “gov-ernment action to write downthe value of all euro-denomi-nated contracts enforced withinGreece,” making “all existingcontracts – wages, pensions, de-posits, and loans – legally worthonly, say, 70% of their currentnominal value.”
He says this kills several birdswith one stone: It would “signif-icantly reduce pensions…satis-fying Troika demands for fiscalsustainability,” but in a way thatwould also mitigate the purchas-ing power consequences for pen-
sioners, because an across-the-board redenomination wouldlower prices throughout theeconomy…By applying rede-nomination to deposits andloans, banks’ health would berevived.”
Greece must also move to-wards matching “the long-termproductivity growth of Germanyand other members,” thoughmajor reforms to labor laws andcompetition policies, and a cred-ible war on corruption, as HongKong’s did in the 1970s.
“In the case of Greece todaythe key is to involve its Europeanpartners (who would play therole of the UK in Hong Kong inthe 1970s) to establish a sepa-rately funded and administeredanti-corruption commission withfull legal authority. The first goalof such a commission would bea thorough reform of Greece’scorrupt courts and civil service,”he said.
If Greece took these steps,Calomiris believes the troikawould be willing to “substan-tially reduce Greece’s unbear-able debt burden, as the IMF hasrecognized is necessary, and alsoprovide the short-term liquidityto allow its banks to reopen.”THERE IS A RATIONAL PATH
Dr. Rania Antonopoulou, aGreek-American economist whois a Member of Parliament with
SYRIZA and is serving Greek Al-ternate Minister for CombattingUnemployment, communicatedwith friends on Facebook theday after the referendum: “Ithank you all for your messagesof solidarity with our people.Yesterday is gone and with it thetime of confrontation must beleft behind… There is still time,but for that swift action and po-litical maturity must prevail…Debt restructuring is possible.The IMF certainly thinks so.”
To TNH, she said: “The com-mon objective is to seek a solu-tion which will ensure: 1) Theadequate coverage of the finan-cial obligations of the country,
2) Reliable reforms, based onthe fair distribution of burdensand promoting development,with the least possible recession-ary effects. 3) A Powerful, front-loaded, development program,primarily for combating unem-ployment and encouraging en-trepreneurship. 4) Commitmentto start substantive discussionon dealing with the problem ofsustainability of the Greek publicdebt”.
Antonopoulou, who is direc-tor of the Gender Equality andthe Economy program at theLevy Institute of Bard College,continued on Facebook, “Wemust move forward with politi-cal wisdom and responsibility.Our government and our EUpartners-lenders must workhard to prove that the Europeanproject is alive and well, andthat rationality will prevail. Adefeat for Greece will be a dis-aster for all parties involved...Decision-makers must bear thefull responsibility of actionstaken and I hope they feel theweight of history as they con-template every step they take,”she said.
She also offered an exhorta-tion: “So dear friends, come visitus!!! Spread the word – we arehere, here to stay. And while thenegotiations are on, yes, we areopen for business!”
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – The OrthodoxTheological Society of America(OSTA) and the Orthodox Chris-tian Studies Center (OCSC) ofFordham University co-sponsoredand presented a “Conference inPreparation for the Great andHoly Council of the OrthodoxChurch,” the gathering represent-ing all the canonical OrthodoxChurches scheduled to take placein Constantinople in 2016.
Dr. Aristotle Papanicolaou, co-founder with Dr. George Dema-copoulos of OCSC, told TNH“The conference emerged from adesire to contribute and com-ment upon and find a voicewithin the Pan Orthodox Councilof 2016.”
“It was unique in that it wasquite diverse, with clergy, laity,and scholars. It was pan Ortho-dox, with representatives evenfrom the Coptic Church,” he said.
Among the highlights of theJune 26-27 event was OSTA’s an-nual Florovsky Lecture, presentedby Metropolitan Kallistos of Diok-leia and titled “The Decisive Im-portance of Councils in the Lifeof the Church.”
TNH has been informed thatthese are the Council’s agendaitems: 1.The Orthodox Churchand the Ecumenical Movement;2. Relations of the OrthodoxChurch with the Christian World;3. The Contribution of the Or-thodox Church to the Realizationof Justice, Freedom, Brotherhoodand Love Among Peoples, andthe Elimination of Racial andother forms of Discrimination; 4.Impediments of Marriage (i.e.,inter-Christian and interfaithmarriages); 5. Fasting Regula-tions (i.e., adaptation of ordi-nances regarding fasting); 6. TheOrthodox Diaspora, 7.Easter (i.e.,the question of a common calen-dar); 8. Autocephaly (and theway it should be proclaimed); 9.Autonomy (and the way it shouldbe proclaimed); 10. The Dip-tychs.
Not all the items have beenapproved yet.
In the Pope Auditorium onFordham’s Lincoln Center cam-pus on June 26, Gayle E. Wol-
loschak, OSTA president, intro-duced Kallistos, who is Ortho-doxy’s most famous convert andtheologian, and exponent.
Kallistos supplemented hishistorical presentation with hisobservations about preparationsfor the Council.
Kallistos first spoke of the lifeand work of Fr. GeorgesFlorovsly, and praised the manwho was not his professor, butwhom he is honored to have hadas a mentor. “It was his writings,”he said, along with those of AlexiKhomiakhov of the 19th centuryand Vladimir Lossky in the 20th“that drew me into the OrthodoxChurch.”
He began his presentation bywondering, given their history ofturbulent proceedings that some-times led to schism and even vi-olence, whether councils are aburden or a blessing. He notedthere were always dissident mi-norities that could not be recon-ciled to the decisions of the coun-cil. On the other hand, not havingcouncils would not make dis-putes disappear.
Kallistos spoke of St. Gregoryof Nazianzen leaving in disgustover the backbiting he witnessed,but who nevertheless believedthe councils’ “doctrinal decisionsare inspired by the Holy Spirit, apermanent and irrevocable ele-ment in Holy Tradition.”
There are no doctrinal ques-tions on next year’s agenda, but
many importance councils dealtmainly with ecclesiastical mat-ters.
He elicited laughter when henoted that the Orthodox worldappears to run on different timefrom the rest of Christendom.
The last Ecumenical Councilwas held in 787, although therehave been numerous importantcouncils since. The 2016 councilhas been a long time coming,however, The time the idea of apan orthodox council wasbroached in our time was in1903, in an encyclical by Patri-arch Joachim III.
That prompted Kallistos towonder whether the 2016 datewill slip.
One reason for optimism isthat after many pre-conciliarmeetings of various kinds overthe past century, a date and placehas been set.
The items on the agenda areimportant, and while Kallistossaid they are of “secondary sig-nificance,” there are two majorissues that should be considered:the organizations of the Ortho-dox Church in the West, and theOrthodox Church’s place in theecumenical movement.
Discussions of marriage issuescould a highlight, including thecomplications of mixed unionsand the question of second mar-riages – especially after divorces– for priests. Kallistos said the Ec-umenical Patriarchate says no,but the churches of Russia andRomania make exceptions.
A matter that is technicallyripe for discussion is re-unionwith the Oriental OrthodoxChurches, including the Coptsand the Armenians.
The International Joint Com-mission for Theological DialogueBetween the Catholic Church andthe Oriental Orthodox Churches26 years ago “reached sufficientagreement on doctrinal mattersto restore Eucharistic commu-nion,” Kallistos said.
He concluded by saying he isnot sure what will happen at theCouncil, and warned people notto expect too much.
“My own hope is that the2016 Council will be the first ofseveral such meetings. Perhaps itwill set up ongoing committees
to examine particular issues. So-lution may emerge not just froma conciliar meeting or a few daysin duration, but from a muchlonger process of consultationand exchange.”
OSTA normally has its annualmeeting at one of America’s Or-thodox theological schools butlast year Fordham invited them
to present a joint conference.“It was fabulous. It was well-
attended, the discussion was ata very high level with interestingideas,” Wolloschak told TNH.
The information will be dis-seminated through Fordham’sblog, where all the panelists’opening statements will beposted, along with some of the
papers.Wolloschak is a professor at
Northwestern University and hasa PhD in biomedical sciences, butshe also earned a Doctor of Min-istry in Eastern Christian Studies.She teaches a bioethics course forSt. Vladimir’s and writes aboutthe relationship between religionand science.
Commission featured formerU.S. Ambassador to HungaryEleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis,who presented her book,"Madam Ambassador: ThreeYears of Diplomacy, Dinner Par-ties, and Democracy in Bu-dapest"
Kounalakis is the first GreekAmerican woman appointedU.S. ambassador. The Daughtersof Penelope presented the am-bassador with its Civic Respon-sibility Award in April.
Sons of Pericles and Maids ofAthena, the community’s up andcoming leaders, were offered in-spirational remarks by Arch-bishop Demetrios.
In his acceptance speech,Galanis, who is a founding part-ner of Galanis, Pollack, Jacobs& Johnson, S.C., a Milwaukee-based law firm, said "My sincereappreciation is given to the con-vention delegates who placedtheir support and trust in me tolead this vibrant, venerable, andunique organization in the com-ing year. I am excited to workwith our seasoned SupremeLodge and our membership tokeep AHEPA on the steady pathset forth by my predecessors ina spirit true to our mission."
Addressing the upcomingyear’s agenda, he said "Also, weaim to complete our capitalfundraising campaign to help re-build Saint Nicholas and focusour internal efforts on member-ship growth and retention. Inaddition, the community contin-ues to face a multitude of chal-lenges that are important to ad-dress as the need for communityservice is never ending, both inthe United States and abroad,and the promotion of Hellenicideals will always be a priorityfor AHEPA."
The Supreme Lodge is the in-
ternational governing body ofAHEPA and its 2015-16 mem-bers include: Canadian Presi-dent Kenneth N. Matziorinis,Pierrefonds, Quebec; SupremeVice President Andrew C.Zachariades, Brick, NJ; SupremeSecretary George E. Loucas,Esq., Cleveland, OH; SupremeTreasurer Carl Hollister, Mason,OH; Supreme Counselor GeorgeG. Horiates, Esq., Moorestown,NJ; Supreme Athletic DirectorLouis G. Atsaves, Lake Forest,IL; and Sons of Pericles NationalAdvisor James Kokotas, Brook-lyn, NY.
The eight Supreme Governorsare: Region I:Demetrios C. Kirk-iles, Esq., Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Re-gion II: James Stasios, Wilming-ton, NC; Region III: ChristopherGallis, Flushing, NY; Region IV:Frank P. Fotis, Lexington, MA;Region V: George L. Kalantzis,Canton, OH; Region VI: TomGober, Region VII: Timothy Joan-nides, Cheyenne, WY; RegionVIII: Nick Perdaris, Van Nuys,CA; and Region X: Nicholas C.Papadopoulos, Voula, Greece.
Elected to positions on theBoard of Trustees were: NickAroutzidis, London, Ontario;and Lee Millas, Trenton, NJ.Michael Papaphotes, Brooklyn,NY was elected to the Board ofAuditors.AHEPA FAMILY ELECTIONS
The organizations that com-prise the AHEPA Family alsoheld elections. Connie Pilallis,Boca Raton, FL, was electedDaughters of Penelope GrandPresident; Andreas Christou, Al-bany, NY, was elected Sons ofPericles Supreme President; andDeanna Socaris, Albany, NY waselected to a second term asMaids of Athena Grand Presi-dent.
The 2016 Supreme Conven-tion will convene in Las Vegason July 24.
COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015 3
At AHEPA Convention, NewSup. Pres. Galanis on Greece
Economists Discuss Greece, Post-Referendum
Fordham is Scene of OSTA, OCSC Conference on 2016 Orthodox Council
AHEPA’s new Supreme President John Galanis receives theOath of Office from his son-in-law, Dean Economou as his wife,Patricia, and daughter, Lia, look on at the Hyatt.
Continued from page 1
Continued from page 1
Metropolitan Kallistos ofDiokleia, renowned author ofThe Orthodox Church and TheOrthodox Way, presented afascinating overview of the2016 Great and Holy Council.
Charles W. Calomiris, Henry KaufmanProfessor of Financial Institutions at Co-lumbia Business School.
Nicholas S. Economides, Professor ofEconomics at NYU’s Stern School of Busi-ness.
Dr. Rania Anotonopoulou, Greece’s Al-ternate Minister for Combatting Unem-ployment.
COMMUNITY4 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Simple economicsdictates that one of the impor-tant paths out of the Greece cri-sis is exports, especially, in thebeginning, agricultural prod-ucts. The rising global respectfor the Mediterranean diet is in-creasing the world’s apprecia-tion for Greek produce, but mar-keting initiatives, like the recentevent organized in Manhattanby Agreeno, the Association ofRice Producers from Greece, arevital.
The highlight was a presen-tation by world famous chef, au-thor and food journalist DianeKochilas, who introduced freshsummer recipes which intro-duced the new indigenousBistro Rissoto rice from North-ern Greece.
Apostolos Digbasanis, TradeCommissioner at ConsulateGeneral of Greece in New York,invited Amb. George Iliopoulos,Consul General of Greece, topresent opening remarks at theevent supported by the GreekTrade Office and the Press andCommunication Office ofGreece in New York.
Iliopoulos noted that “thetraditional Greek diet is themodel for what is called theMediterranean diet, consideredto be the healthiest, most nutri-tional diet in the world.”
He said the diet could be de-scribed as mostly vegetarian,and described the reasons forthat fact. As a mountainouscountry, there is limited grazingground for cattle in Greece, someat production is lower therethan in Northern Europe, andas a relatively poor country, con-sumption was always limited.“Meat was a luxury, reserved forspecial family celebrations,” he
said. “The Greek Orthodox calen-
dar also includes more than 180fast days,” so that other proteinsources like lentils and beanswere also important dishes,products, which along withchickpeas, are also marketed byAgreeno.
He said it is not very wellknown that that Greece’s appre-ciation for rice was goes as farback as Herodotus, who notedits high nutritional value. Il-iopoulos also pointed out “thatrice cultivation and consump-tion was introduced in Europeby the returning soldiers ofAlexander the Great.
It is also understood by nu-tritionists, however, that cul-tures that consume either riceor beans experience malnutri-tion, something that is avoided
in the Greek diet that includesboth.
Greece produces nearly120,000 tons of rice per year, ofwhich almost half is exported tothe rest of Europe and Iliopoulospointed out that while Greecehas limited agricultural land,“with a perfectly balance cli-mate and the right soil, we pro-duce agricultural products of thehighest standards and we cansee significant exports in the fu-ture.”
The market in the UnitedStates is very sophisticated,however, and Iliopoulos empha-sized that professional endeav-ors are required. He said “theGreek rice producers meet itsdemands and requirements andtherefore we can be optimisticof food partnership that willbenefit both the American con-
sumers and the Greek produc-ers.”
Marc Schmettau, Agreeno’sInternational Development Di-rector, told TNH about the im-portance of such events. Henoted that programs like RiceUp co-financed by Greece andthe EU gives Agreeno the abilityto connect with local people andfacilitate entering the U.S. mar-ket.
Agreeno is celebrating its60th anniversary as a coopera-tive of farmers – some of themdo have their own brands – thatpackages and distributes theproduct worldwide.
Schmettau said that the func-tion has not changed since thefunction, but the focus haschanged. “The rice and legumesgrowers are now more focusedon the export market.”
Agreeno is expanding its for-eign market expertise regardingcountries’ import proceduresand quality standards and theyrecently we satisfied the require-ments of international retailershe said.
According to its website,www.agrino.com the qualitycontrols are performed in thetwo fully equipped laboratoriesthe company has in its factoriesat Agrinion and Thessaloniki.”
The guests enjoyed the re-ceptions that preceeded and fol-lowed the presentation – theBistro Risotto was among theofferings and Greek wines im-ported by Stellar Importing wasalso provided.
Among the guests was SaraBaer-Sinott, the President ofOldways, a food and nutritionnon-profit based in Boston thatwas founded in 1990 and is bestknown for developing theMediterranean Diet Pyramid to
easily communicate its contentand importance. “We workedwith two of the best scientists,”in the nutrition field, “who areGreek, Antonia Trichopoulouand Demetrios Trichopoulos –who sadly died this past Decem-ber. Antonia is known as theMother of the MediterraneanDiet and we’ve had the pleasureof working with her for the past20 years.”
“When we started 25 yearsago we got together a group ofscientists, Antonia andDemetrios being two of them.The idea was to describe theMediterranean diet and createa sensible and delicious eatingguide.”
Baer-Sinott is a big fan ofKochilas and was happy to comeall the way from Boston at Dig-basanis’ invitation. She has beento Greece many times, whereshe has held symposiums.
TNH Staff
NEW YORK – As the Greek cri-sis threatens to turn darker, Di-aspora groups like the Philop-tochos Society are closelymonitoring developments. In2012 the philanthropic organi-zation created the Aid to Greeceand Cyprus Fund. To date,$450,000 has been disbursedthrough this fund to helpGreeks, in Cyprus and Greece,affected by ongoing hardship.
An additional $32,000 hasbeen distributed in Greecethrough the National Philopto-chos Emergency Fund and Gen-eral Medical Fund, for a total of$482,000 from 2012 through2014.
“After six years of recession,the crisis is expanding and deep-ening, affecting all sectors of so-ciety. Both countries require hu-manitarian aid and the needincreases daily. There is 26 per-cent unemployment in Greeceand the child poverty rate is17.5 percent. While Cyprus hasweathered its banking crisis, thedomestic situation remainsgrim,” the Society noted in a re-cent press release.
The release continued “Vol-unteer organizations andchurches are stretched beyondtheir capacity while trying toprovide for those in need. Foodkitchens in both countries feedthousands daily, and childrenand senior citizens are particu-larly at risk for malnutrition.There has been a dramatic risein depression and suicideamong citizens, as many feeltheir plight is hopeless.”
National Philoptochos Presi-dent Maria Logus said, “Provid-ing aid for this crisis is consis-tent with our continuing
commitment to support relief ef-forts throughout the world.Greece and Cyprus, along withNepal, are examples of our cur-rent areas of focus. Through ourAid to Greece and Cyprus Fundand other pertinent campaigns,National Philoptochos has dis-tributed close to half a milliondollars to a number of philan-thropic organizations.”
Monies go towards providingfor medical needs, assisting fam-ilies that do not have basic ne-cessities and for after schoolprograms for children in impov-erished neighborhoods, to namejust a few examples.
Bishop Sevastianos of Zela,National Philoptochos SpiritualAdvisor, said, “in the face ofsuch great suffering of ourbrothers and sisters in Greeceand Cyprus we cannot remain
indifferent, Christ and theChurch calls us to action toshare what we have with thosein need giving them hope andthe assurance that they are notforgotten and that this crisis bythe Grace of God should pass.”
For the efforts to date “Na-tional Philoptochos expressesgratitude to Philoptochos chap-ters and the many friends ofPhiloptochos nationwide whohave contributed to the Aid toGreece and Cyprus Fund andother campaigns.”
Donations may be sent to Na-tional Philoptochos, 126 East37th Street, New York, NY10016 or can be made online atwww.philoptochos.org.For moreinformation contact:
Rania Richardson, Communi-cations Manager, Greek Ortho-dox Ladies Philoptochos Society.
Phone: (212) 977-7770 x203Email: [email protected].
COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015 5
Informative and Entertaining, Greek Agricultural Producer Event a Hit
Diane Kochilas, chef and author, was the featured speaker at the event organized by Agreeno,which also participated at the Fancy Food show at the Javits Convention Center.
Law Firm
G. Dimitriadis & Associates
Our company aims to provide high quality services, adapted to thespecific needs of our clients.The main areas of our activities include:• Legal services• Financial managerial services• Real EstateOur wide network of contacts in Greece guarantees the immediateand unified handling of our clients’ matters.
Phone: 01130 210 3390080 • cell.: 01130 6977 469888Fax: 01130 210 3390044
e-mail: [email protected]
www.dimitriadislawfirm.gr
Philoptochos Fund for Needy in Greece, Cyprus
National Philoptochos’ Aid to Greece and Cyprus Fund has been assisting people hurt by theeconomic crises. Above: Greeks line up for food distributed by a charity group.
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Now there is a new way toaccess cash from an ALMA BankATM, and it does not even re-quire a card. ALMA Bank isproud to be the first bank onthe East Coast, it said, and oneof the few banks in the UnitedStates to introduce a service thatallows customers to securelywithdraw cash by using theALMA Mobile app on theirsmart phone. It is faster, moreconvenient and safer than usingan ATM or debit card. No per-sonal information is stored onan ALMA Bank app or smartphone, and without a card thechance of your information be-ing “skimmed” is eliminated.
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“The public is constantlylooking for emerging technologyand innovation when it comesto banking, while demandingguaranteed security on their ac-count information”, said GeorgeKatsiaunis, the President andCEO of ALMA Bank. “In the caseof a lost phone, the customercan feel safe. Account informa-tion cannot be accessed as theALMA Bank app will automati-cally sign off once the transac-tion has been completed, mak-ing this a faster and more secure
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OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015
DEATH NOTICES
n BELLIOS, VICKIEPITTSBURGH, PA (from the ErieTimes-News, published on Jul.1) – Vickie Bellios, devoted wife,and loving mother and grand-mother, died peacefully, onMonday, June 29, 2015. Born inTripoli, Greece and raised inNaplion, Greece, Vickie was ayoung radio personality beforeimmigrating to the UnitedStates to marry Gust Bellios.Vickie had three boys Phillip,George and Chris, born inAshtabula, Ohio, before movingto Erie, Pa. with her husbandand sons. In Erie, she was ahomemaker, seamstress andbaker. In 2000, Vickie and Gustmoved to Pittsburgh, Pa. Vickiewas passionate about her faith,and was a member of severalGreek Orthodox churches inPittsburgh, including her homeparish Holy Trinity Greek Ortho-dox Church, in the North Hills.She was a member of the churchchoir for twenty years, as wellas the Greek Orthodox LadiesPhiloptochos Society, where sheserved as president. Her infec-tious smile, bigger than life per-sonality and huge heart wereknown to so many. She was apassionate volunteer for almostany organization or event. Shegave her time at the soupkitchen in Erie for over tenyears. She also volunteered athospitals in Erie and Pittsburghfor a total of twenty years. Shehad a fierce love of God andfamily, and she especially lovedher three boys. She was also aloving grandmother and rel-ished the role as she showeredthem with affection. She is sur-vived by her husband Gust andsons Phillip (Toula), George(Elaine) and Chris (Karen), aswell as her grandchildrenChristopher, Colin, Maive, Mariaand Constantine.
n DEMETRACOPOULOS,GEORGE
DOVER, NH (from Fosters, pub-lished on Jun. 28) ¬– GeorgeDemetracopoulos, 93, of Mt.Vernon St. died Thursday, June25, 2015, at Colonial PoplinNursing Home in Fremont, rest-ing quietly in his sleep, after along illness. Born in Aetofolia,Greece April 16, 1922, the sonof Ioannios and Panayiota(Tsikrikou) Demetracopoulos.He was the widower of DemetraDemetracopoulos, his wife of 53years, who died in March 2004.He is survived by his children;Anthony Demetracopoulos ofEpping, NH and White Plains;John Demetracopoulos and wifeJean Goodwin of SouthBerwick, Maine; ConstantinaDemetracopoulos of Decatur,Ga., and Anastasia Demetra-copoulos of Dover; grandchil-dren Emily Ana, John andJames; a great-grandchildChloe; and many nieces andnephews. He was a member ofthe Annunciation Greek Ortho-dox Church and for many yearsthe AHEPA. George immigratedto the U.S. in August of 1958,accompanied by his three youngchildren, to join his wife whohad established a Dover homea year earlier. He worked atM&M Bakery and Weiss &Lawrence shoe factory for years.In 1968, he opened and oper-ated George's Barber Shop onMilk St. until he retired in 2004.He was known among his manyloyal customers for his vegetableand flower gardens. In his lateryears he enjoyed meeting hisfriends for coffee and conversa-tion at Dunkin' Donuts. May hisMemory Be Eternal. Memorialsin his name may be made to An-nunciation Greek OrthodoxChurch, Cemetery Fund, 93 Lo-cust St., Dover, NH 03820.
n DOUNELIS, FR. GEORGE H.MATAWAN, NJ (from the AsburyPark Press, published on Jun.30) – Fr. George H. Dounelis,age 67, fell asleep in the Lordon June 28th in Matawan, NJafter an 11 year battle withbreast cancer. He was prede-ceased by his parents Harry andRita Dounelis, his in-lawsThomas and Jean Phuros andhis brother John. He is survivedby his wife Kathryn, his daugh-ter Gina Michelle, his son AthasGeorge and his beloved grand-son and buddy George James,as well as his many relatives andfriends. He was born in Mineola,NY on July 31, 1947 to Harry J.and Rita Dounelis. He lived inHicksvile, NY, before attendingSeminary and in Flushing NYand Madison WI, before settlingin Aberdeen NJ where he livedfor the last 35 years. He at-tended Long Island LutheranHigh School in Brookville NYand graduated from there in1966. He later attendedFranklin Pierce College in Ringe,New Hampshire before attend-ing Hellenic College in Brook-line Massachusetts, where he re-ceived a BA in Liberal Arts. In1973 he graduated from HolyCross School of Theology in
Brookline, receiving a Mastersof Divinity. On June 10, 1973he married Kathryn Phuros. InJuly he was ordained to theHoly Diaconate at the IonianVillage in Greece by his GraceBishop Theodosius, and in Sep-tember of that year was or-dained into the Holy Priesthoodat St. Nicholas Greek OrthodoxChurch in Flushing, NY by HisGrace Bishop Melois. He servedthe parish there for 2 years be-fore being assigned to Assump-tion Greek Orthodox Church inMadison, Wisconsin. In July1979 his daughter GinaMichelle was born. In April1980 he was assigned to KimisisTis Theotokou in Holmdel, NJand in August of 1984 his sonAthas George was born. Heserved the parish and the com-munity for 35 years until 2013.He dedicated his life to the com-munity and opened his heart toall without question or hesita-tion. He was involved in theBayshore Ministerium andserved as its president for manyyears. He was a member of theMaroon and Steel Booster Clubat Matawan High School formany years serving as its presi-dent and the Chief Grill Masterfor all Football games. He alsovolunteered to cook for teambreakfasts and summer campwhere he enjoyed interactingwith the students. He was affec-tionately known as Daddy D. tothe team and often led them inprayer at team dinners. In lieuof flowers, donations for the ed-ucation of Fr. George's Belovedgrandson, George JamesDounelis, can be made payableto Kathryn Dounelis for the ben-efit of George James Dounelis.
n ELLIS, JOHNGENEVA, IL (From the ChicagoTribune, published on Jul. 5) –John D. Ellis, age 93, of Geneva,passed away on June 28, 2015.Loving husband of 57 years toTula nee Kacheres. Beloved fa-ther to Gina (Rich) Fritz, Louis(Mary) Ellis, and Melia (Nick)Linardos. Cherished grandfatherto Michael, Anna, Demi, Nicole,Christine, John, Tina and Con-nie. John was born November25, 1921 in Greece, and cameto America on Valentine's Day,1951. He attended Wright Ju-nior College. Lifetime Memberof the Order of AHEPA GarfieldChapter 203. Upon his move toSt. Charles, he was involvedwith Kacheres Properties forover 50 years. He will alwaysbe remembered for his workethic, kindness and love for hisfamily and extended family.Contributions in his memorymay be made to AssumptionGreek Orthodox Church Schol-arship Fund, 601 S. CentralAve., Chicago, IL 60644 or theAhepa Scholarship Fund - 13thDistrict Scholarship Foundation,Inc., P.O. Box 576, Bedford Park,IL 60499.
n GEANOPOULOS,KONSTANTINO
GLENVILLE, NY (from the DailyGazette Co., published on Jul.1) – Konstantino Geanopoulos(Dino), 66, of Glenville, NY,went to be with the Lord in thehospital in Athens, Greece onJune 3, 2015, after a brief ill-ness. He was born in Paleopana-gia, Sparta, Greece, which isalso his final resting place. Hecame to America in 1964 to pur-sue his dreams. He was prede-ceased by his parents, Demetriosand Angela Geanopoulos; hisbeloved wife of 40 years, AthenaDamaskos Geanopoulos; and hissister, Valerie (Emanuele) Pen-esis of Chicago. His sons,Demetrios (fiance Kimathena)and Athanasios (fiance Audra)of Scotia; and his granddaugh-ter, Isabella; as well as his pre-sent wife, Antonia Tabakas; andstepson, Kostas, survive Dino.His sisters, Dina (John, de-ceased) Papoulis, of Florida, An-tonia (Anastasios,deceased)Mikropoulos and Maria (Owen)Huggins of Glenville, NY; andmany nieces, nephews, cousinsand dear family and friends alsosurvive him. Dino enjoyed golf-ing, playing cards with hisfriends and spending time withfamily in Sacandaga Lake. Hewill be remembered as an out-going, affectionate and endear-ing person who was very gener-ous and warm hearted. Heworked as a baker for Mt. Pleas-ant Bakery for over 40 years andwas looking forward to retire-ment and a happy second mar-riage. Sadly, he was able to en-joy those for only a few years. Aspecial memorial service of re-membrance will be held on Sun-day, July 5, 2015 at 10AM at St.George Greek Orthodox Church,107 Clinton Street, Schenectady,NY 12305. Those wishing to re-member Dino in a special waymay send a contribution to St.George Greek Orthodox Church.
n HOUNTALAS, VASSILIKISAN FRANCISCO, CA (from theSan Francisco Chronicle, pub-lished on Jul. 4) – Loving, de-voted wife, mother, grand-mother, great-grandmother,sister, cousin and aunt, VassilikiHountalas of San Francisco, Cal-ifornia, passed away peacefullyon June 30, 2015 surrounded
by her family. Vassiliki is sur-vived by her doting children,Marie (John) Tourlos, Dan(Mary) Hountalas, and pre-ceded in death by son JohnHountalas; four grandchildrenEleni Tourlos, Tina Thompson,Vickie Burgin and MichaelHountalas; nine great-grand-children Alexander, Christopher,Eleana, Phillip, Sarah, Max,Connor, Jason and Cole. Shewas predeceased by her hus-band Michael John Hountalasand sisters Penelope and Kon-standina; she is also survived bymany nieces, nephews andcousins in the U.S.A. and inGreece. Cecilia Bonito and EmieBlanco - thank you for youryears of loving care and dedica-tion to our mother. Vassiliki wasborn in Kandila, Arcadia,Greece, to Demosthenes andMaria Paisopoulos. She marriedMichael Hountalas in Greece inJanuary 1931. Vassiliki lovedraising her grandchildren and,with her quick wit and infec-tious sense of humor, regaledher family with her life experi-ences in Kandila and in SanFrancisco. Vassiliki was an ac-tive member of Holy TrinityGreek Orthodox Church in SanFrancisco. Family and friendsmay visit Tuesday July 7, 2015from 5pm and are invited to at-tend the Trisagion at 6PM andthe Funeral Service WednesdayJuly 8, 2015 at 11AM all at HolyTrinity Greek Orthodox Church,999 Brotherhood Way, San Fran-cisco. Interment will be private.Donations may be made to HolyTrinity Greek Orthodox ChurchGeneral Fund.
n KATSIKARIS, GEORGEPETER
WESTON, MA (from the BostonGlobe, published on Jun. 28) –George Peter Katsikaris of We-ston, June 27, 2015. Belovedhusband of the late Diane(Theophiles) Katsikaris. Lovingfather of Peter Katsikaris and hiswife Maria of Wellesley and PaulKatsikaris and his wife Stacy ofMedfield. Proud grandfather ofDiane, George, Genna, andCharlie. Brother of the lateKosta Katsikaris. Son of the latePeter and Stamatina Katsikaris.George was the owner of theFells Market in Wellesley withhis wife for over three decades.George came to America fromGreece with the Greek Navy in1957. He fell in love with Amer-ica and saw opportunity andlived the American Dream. Hewas a hero to his family and hewill be missed. In lieu of flowersexpressions of sympathy may bemade in George's memory to St.Demetrios Greek OrthodoxChurch, Weston.
n KOREGELOS, GEORGIAVASILIS
PIEDMONT, CA (from the SouthBend Tribune, published on Jul.1) – Georgia Koregelos passedaway at home in Piedmont onJune 17, 2015, at the age of 89.Loving mother of Angela Ko-regelos of Piedmont, CA, andDiane Blackberry of CrescentCity, CA; loving grandmother ofJohn Jogopulos of Piedmont,CA. She was pre-deceased byher husband, George Koregelos,and her parents, Themes Pap-pademos and Nicholas Vasilis,both from Greece. She was bornin South Bend, IN, grew up inElkhart, IN, and attended theChicago Academy of Fine Arts.After the Academy, she workedas a fashion illustrator for nu-merous newspapers and adver-tising agencies. She met herbeloved husband while he wasattending school in Elkhart, IN.They married in 1950, movedto California, had two daughtersand together they established asuccessful music business,House of Woodwinds in Oak-land, CA. They were married for62 years. Georgia had a lifelonginterest in music, was an accom-plished pianist and a member ofthe Etude Club of Berkeley. Anavid supporter of music educa-tion, she and her husband werefounding members of CHIME(Citizens Highly Interested inMusic Education) in Piedmont,CA. She was a member of theGreek Orthodox Cathedral ofthe Ascension in Oakland, CA.Georgia was the essence ofbeauty, grace and dignity. At theheart of it all was her deep andreverent love of the church, herfamily and her loyalty to herfriends. May her memory beeternal.
n MITSOPOULOS, MARIAFORT WAYNE, IN (from the FortWayne Newspaper, published onJun. 30) – Maria Mitsopoulos,74, passed away Sunday, June28, 2015, at Lutheran Hospital,Fort Wayne. Born in Florina,Greece, Maria was a loving wife,mother, grandmother, andgreat-grandmother. Maria en-joyed gardening, sewing, knit-ting, baking, and spending timewith her family. She was a mem-ber of Holy Trinity Greek Ortho-dox Church. Surviving are herhusband, Stavros Mitsopoulosof Fort Wayne; daughters, Soula(Rick) Rifkin of Roanoke andToula (Scott) Fuller of Gilroy,Calif.; grandchildren, Illana andAlexandra Rifkin, Stephanie
(Michael) Acosta, Todd(Sharylin) Wester, and AmeliaWester; great-granddaughter,Nova Jane Wester; and sister,Magda. She was preceded indeath by her parents; and foursiblings. Service is 11AM Friday,July 3, 2015, at Holy TrinityGreek Orthodox Church, 110 E.Wallen Road, with entry prayersat 9:45AM. Father AndrewWalsh officiating. Calling is from2PM- 4PM and 6PM- 8PM.Thursday, July 2, at D.O. Mc-Comb & Sons Pine Valley ParkFuneral Home, 1320 EastDupont Road. Burial in Green-lawn Memorial Park, FortWayne. Memorials may be madeto the American Stroke Associ-ation.
n NUNLEY, ROBERTWINDHAM, NY (from the Port-land Press Herald, published onJul. 1) – Robert B. "Bob" Nunley,87, died on June 28, 2015,seven months following a diag-nosis of pancreatic cancer. Heshared his journey with his lov-ing wife Sheila. Their 58 yearsof marriage was one of devotionto each other and their threechildren and four grandchil-dren. Although he was mostcomfortable at home in thehouse he and Sheila built onWebb Road, during the lastmonths they made their homeat Gorham House. Never beingone to sit around, Bob stilldrove home to Webb Roadwhenever he could. Bob wasraised in Marshfield, Mass., byhis large extended family. Hismother, Carolyn Smith Nunleypassed away when he wasseven and he and his youngerbrother Dick went to live withhis aunt and uncle Agnes andBob Dow. He spoke emotionallyabout his Principal at Marsh-field High School who recog-nized his intellect and encour-aged his study introducing himto the Co-Op Program at North-eastern where he majored incivil engineering. Bob was in-quisitive by nature and an ad-venturer at heart. He workedfor Metcalf & Eddy, a multi-na-tional construction firm build-ing airbases in Greenland from1951-55. He was one of the Pi-oneers of Thule in the summerof 1951 when he was one of 20men in the advance party livingin tents. Many of those heworked with in Greenland re-mained in contact with him theremainder of his life. His workin Greenland led him to theHinman Company, the precur-sor to Blue Rock Industries. Hewas employed by Blue Rock formore than 40 years. Most ofthat time was spent managingthe materials division supplyingstone, sand and gravel for thecompany's operations includingmultiple hot top, and ready-mixed concrete plants in Maine.He served on the Board of Di-rectors of the National ReadyMix Concrete Association, wasan arbitrator in constructiondisputes, taught classes and, af-ter retirement from Blue Rock,he served as a resident engineeron multiple construction pro-jects. Throughout his time inGreenland he took advantageof the off-season to travelspending time in Montreal, au-diting classes at McGill and ski-ing in the Laurentians. He soonfound a kindred spirit, the loveof his life Sheila White. A longdistance relationship led totheir marriage in 1957 and theirmany hiking and skiing adven-tures continued over the years.Bob and Sheila settled in Wind-ham in 1957 where they wereto meet many friends and val-ued neighbors. Bob was notonly devoted to his professionand family, but he was con-cerned for society. Through hismembership in the WestbrookRotary, he was involved in thebuilding trades program atWestbrook Vocational HighSchool. He was a member of theWindham School Committeeand for many years served onbuilding committees overseeingthe expansion of schools intown. An active member of theWindham Hill United Church ofChrist, he was a leader on theBoard of Trustees and BuildingCommittee. He was an active inBoy Scout Troop 802 and a hostparent and active volunteer forthe American Field Service for-eign student exchange program.He shared his many interestsand talents through numerousother organizations includingthe Appalachian Mountain Cluband the Maine Beekeepers As-sociation. Bob's values of kind-ness, thrift, learning and self-reliance remain a visible legacyin the bee hives, asparagus bedsand raspberry bushes that stillgrace his home and in the fam-ily he raised and friends he in-spired. Bob is survived by hiswife, Sheila; his brother Richardand his wife Sue of Portland,Ore., his sisters-in-law KarenNunley of Hudson, Mass.,Dorothy White and MarlynWhite of Ottawa, Canada; hischildren Phil Nunley and hiswife Eileen of Falmouth, DavidNunley and his wife Teri ofBrea, Calif., Carolyn Cairns andher husband Scott of Nyack,N.Y.; six grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild. He was pre-deceased by his father Byron W.Nunley and mother CarolynSmith; his uncle Robert Dowand aunt Agnes Dow; hisbrother John Nunley; hisnephew Jacob Nunley; hisbrothers-in-law Patrick andRoger White; and AlexandraKastamonitis of Corfu, Greece,who was his Greek daughterthrough AFS. A memorial ser-vice will be held at 1PM on Sun-day, July 12, at the WindhamHill United Church of Christ inWindham. A reception will beheld after the service at Fellow-ship Hall behind the church.Condolences to the family maybe expressed at www.dolbyfu-neralchapels.com
n STAMBOULIDIS, ANNAANN ARBOR, MI (from theDaily Times, published on Jul.5) – Anna Stamboulidis (neeAnna Kirifides) passed away onJune 29, 2015 in Port Jefferson,NY. Anna was born to Paul andElizabeth Kirifides in Athens,Greece on January 27, 1926.She grew up in Chester, Penn-sylvania, and graduated fromChester High School with theClass of 1945. Although petitein stature, quiet and unassum-ing, she had a smile big enoughto brighten anyone’s day, and agreat heart that made her un-waveringly loyal to family andfriends. She married Konstanti-nos G. Stamboulidis in 1963 andthey had one child. Anna livedmost of her married life in NewYork and New England, but herhometown of Chester alwaysheld a special place in her heart.Anna was the sister of Lazarus
P. Kirifides, Mary Andreades,and the late Helen Mears. Annais survived by her daughter,Maria. The funeral will be heldon Tuesday, July 7, at St. GeorgeGreek Orthodox Church, 30 E.Forge Road, Media. Visitationwill begin at 10AM; the funeralservice will begin at 11AM.Memorial contributions may besent to the University of Michi-gan, Classical Studies, 2160 An-gell Hall, 435 South StateStreet, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003, for the Konstantinos andAnna Stamboulidis Fund forClassical Arts and Culture (FundNumber 731972).
n SVIGOS, KATINACHICAGO, IL (from the ChicagoTribune, published on Jun. 30)– Katina Svigos nee Pistas, bornin Lykouria, Kalavrita, Greece.Beloved wife of the lateDemetrios. Loving mother ofGeorge (Tasia), Diamando (Ted)Touzios, Michael, John (Anas-tasia), Paul (Susan) and Dino(Eva) Svigos. Proud grand-mother of 24. Great grand-mother of 1. Dear sister of Crys-tal Haldes. Sister-in-law of AnnaPistas, Stella Pintas, and John(Helen) Svigos. Katina was amember of the Kalavrita Societyand Lykouria Society. Familyand friends will meet Wednes-day morning at St. DemetriosGreek Orthodox Church 2727W. Winona St., Chicago, IL60625 for visitation from9:00AM until time of funeralservice at 11:00AM. IntermentMemorial Park Cemetery. Kindlyomit flowers. Memorial dona-tions to St. Demetrios would beappreciated.
This is a service to the community. Announcements of deaths may be telephoned to the
classified Department of The national Herald at (718) 784-5255,
monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. esT
or e-mailed to: [email protected]
Days and dates of funerals,memorials, and other events di-rectly correspond to the originalpublication date, which appearsat the beginning of each notice.
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Notice of Formation of FINFEED, LLC. (DOM.LLC) Articles of Organization filed with theSecretary of State of New York (SSNY) on03/03/15. Office location: Kings County. SSNY isdesignated as agent of the LLC upon whomprocess against it may be served. SSNY shall mailcopy of process to: c/o United States CorporationAgents, Inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202,Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful pur-pose.
274502/19575
Notice of Formation of AMARILYSFUSION EXTENSIONS & HAIRSTYLES,LLC a (DOM. LLC). Articles ofOrganization filed with the Secretary ofState of New York, (SSNY) on03/25/2015. Office location: NassauCounty. SSNY is designated as agent uponwhom process against the LLC may beserved. SSNY shall mail process to:Amarilys Fusion Extensions & Hairstyles,LLC, 400 Garden City Plaza, Suite 110,Garden City, NY 11530. Purpose: AnyLawful Purpose.
274481/18714
FROJO LLC Articles of Org. filed NYSec. of State (SSNY) 06/03/2015.Office in Kings Co. SSNY desig. agent ofLLC upon whom process may be served.SSNY shall mail copy of process to c/oComerford & Dougherty, LLP, 1122Franklin Ave., Garden City, NY 11530.Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Principalbusiness location: 502 Henry St., Brook-lyn, NY 11231.
274474/19138
ANT BUILT, LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/SSNY 6/9/15. Office in NY Co. SSNYdesignated agent for service of processand shall mail to Reg. Agent: US Corp.Agents, Inc, 7014 13th Ave. Ste. 202,Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Anylawful activity.
274473/18796
Notice of formation of KFS SALES GROUP,LLC a (DOM. LLC), Articles. of Organi-za-tion filed with the SSNY on 03/27/15. Of-fice location: Nassau County. SSNY is des-ignated as agent upon whom processagainst the LLC may be served. SSNYshall mail process to: KFS Sales Group,LLC, 86 Doyle Street, Long Beach, NY11561. General Purposes.
274460/19557
H & Z Associates LLC. Arts of Org filedwith Secy of State of NY (SSNY)on10/03/14, Office located in Nassau Co.SSNY desig as agent of LLC upon whomprocess against it may be served. SSNYshall mail process to: H & Z AssociatesLLC, 150 George Street, Brooklyn, NY11237. Purpose: General.
274457/19555
245 KINGSLAND LLC, a domestic LLC,filed with the SSNY on 5/5/15. Office lo-cation: Kings County. SSNY is designatedas agent upon whom process against theLLC may be served. SSNY shall mailprocess to The LLC, 11 Rolling Hill Rd.,Old Westbury, NY 11568. General pur-pose.
274450/10709
Maxine Blake PLLC. Art. of Org. filed w/NY Sec. of State 6/2/15. Office in NY Co.SSNY designated agent for service ofprocess and shall mail to 175 West 93 St,New York, NY 10025. Purpose: Law Prac-tice.
274457/18796
"Notice of formation of George Folias &Assc. LLC. Articles of Organization filedwith the Secretary of State of New York (SS-NY) on April 14, 2015. Office Location: Nas-sau County. SSNY designated for service ofprocess to C/O The LLC, 408 Waukena Av-enue, Oceanside, NY 11572. Purpose: Anylawful activity."
274444/19544
"Notice of formation of C 2 HEALTHCARECONSULTANTS, LLC. (DOM. LLC.)Articles of Organization filed with the Sec-retary of State of New York (SSNY) on05/18/2015. Office Location: NassauCounty. SSNY designated for service ofprocess to: THE LLC, 8 Roads End,Brookville, NY 11545. Purpose: Any lawfulactivity."
274442/19279
Basura LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/ SSNY2/27/15. Office in NY Co. SSNY designatedfor service of process and shall mail to Reg.Agent: U.S. Corp. Agents, 7014 13th Ave.Ste. 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Anylawful activity
274440/18796
Notice of Formation of BEEKMAN PICTURES,LLC a (DOM. LLC). Articles of Organizationfiled with the Secretary of State of NewYork, (SSNY) on 04/28/2015. Officelocation: Kings County. SSNY is designatedas agent upon whom process against theLLC may be served. SSNY shall mail processto: THE LLC, 2111 Beekman Pl. Apt. 3G,Brooklyn, NY 11225. Purpose: Any LawfulPurpose.
274447/19548
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toms – that’s why hypertensionis called a silent killer. O Theosme fotise, and I slipped my arminto one of those blood pressurecuffs in the supermarket and al-most passed out when I read mynumbers. I already stand in theshallow end of the gene poolwhen it comes to cardiac health,and I work hard to stave offcomplications. But a sick childdefies all nutrition plans, exer-cise regimens, mindful medita-tion – even prayer – to wreak aspecial kind of havoc.
So I’ve been in my car-diologist’s office almostevery week since. It’slike we’re going steady.He has changed meds,altered doses, run tests.I wear compressionhose, a lovely fashion ac-cessory I have aban-doned during the day inthe Houston heat, andcheck my blood pressureat home three times in themorning and three times be-fore I go to bed. I can spend theevening watching TV or readinga novel, yet my numbers are stillway too high. I’ve had a headCT, a chest CT, and apelvic CT to rule out vas-
cular issues. Everything is neg-ative, and we continue to befrustrated. Until he prescribedan antihypertensive/diureticthat is seldom used in theUnited States but is common inEurope and South America. Andhere’s your free medical advice– the reason you’re reading thisarticle. Indapamide has madethe difference. My BP is finallycoming down, and I don’t haveto see my doc for three months.You’re welcome.
Except – and this is a big one– the radiologist saw somethingon my chest CT. My doc and Iwere preternaturally calm as wediscussed an ultrasound to eval-uate the CT and rule out breastcancer. Houston is home to theworld-famous Texas MedicalCenter; among its many hospi-tals that specialize in cancertreatment are M.D. Anderson,Texas Oncology, Methodist, St.Luke’s, and Memorial Hermann.M.D. Anderson and MemorialHermann have partnered to pro-vide breast cancer care and,since I get my mammograms atHermann, I quickly made an ap-pointment for the ultrasound.First mistake – my doc didn’t or-der a second mammogram,which the radiologist wanted forcomparison. Something waswrong with his phone systemthat morning, so the order camein late, and I had to return thenext day. Second mistake – theradiologist did not have the CTreport. It was immediatelyfaxed, but the actual DVD tooktime to recreate, so I had to
come in yet another day. By then, I expected donuts
and coffee when I arrived.Everyone was helpful and gra-cious, acknowledging the seri-ousness of the matter and howthese delays were frighteningme. I couldn’t help but think Iwas losing precious time be-cause the left hand didn’t knowwhat the right hand was doing.At that point, the only goodnews was that the Inda-pamide was control-ling my BPeven witht h i s
added stress.So on day three, I sat in the
waiting room of the Breast Cen-ter at Hermann, distracting my-self with a novel about the Holo-caust (perhaps not the bestchoice given the circumstances).As a writer, I have a habit ofwatching the people around meand constructing fictions abouttheir lives. I wear dark sun-glasses so that no one suspects.Four women of various ageswere busy making out forms,exhibiting the normal apprehen-sion under the circumstances. Ifound the two men waiting farmore interesting. One was in his40s, sporting a T-shirt, jeans,work boots, and a man-bunthat, unfortunately, is making itsway back and still only lookspassable on a 20-something guy.The other was older, in his 60s,wearing khakis, tennis shoes,and a faded UT T-shirt. Theyboth held their IPhones on theirthighs.
Then they each spoke to noone in particular. “Da--,” saidthe bunhead. “I’ve been herethree hours!” “Jeez,” said theLonghorn. “It’s been forever!” Iturned and looked at them. Iwondered if they were waitingfor their wives, mothers, sistersor daughters. I wondered if thethree hours they had spent wait-ing had cut into something re-ally important they had sched-uled that day, like working on acure for cancer or negotiatingpeace in the Middle East. I won-dered if they considered whattheir wives, mothers, sisters or
daughters were going throughwhile they waited.
I wondered if they knew thatthey could be diagnosed withbreast cancer. Because menhave breast tissue that developsin the same way as it does inwomen, it is also susceptible tocancer in the same way. Just like
in women, breast can-cer in men can be-
gin in the ductsand spreadinto sur-r o u n d i n gcells. Morerarely, mencan developinf lamma-
t o r y
breast cancer or Paget’s diseaseof the nipple, which happenswhen a tumor that began in aduct beneath the nipple movesto the surface. Male breasts havefew if any lobules, and so lobu-lar carcinoma rarely, if ever, oc-curs in men. Nonetheless, about2,000 men are diagnosed withbreast cancer annually, andabout 450 deaths occur eachyear.
Male breast cancer treatmenttypically consists of mastectomy,followed by radiation therapy,chemotherapy, hormone therapyand/or targeted therapy. Sincemany male breast cancers arehormone receptor-positive, thedrug tamoxifen is often a stan-dard therapy for male breastcancer. For men whose cancerhas not spread to the lymphnodes, adjuvant therapy (ther-apy given after surgery) is gen-erally the same as for a womanwith breast cancer. For menwhose cancer has spread to thelymph nodes, adjuvant therapymay include chemotherapy plustamoxifen and/or other hor-mone therapy. Treatment formen with cancer that has spreadto other parts of the body mayinclude hormone therapyand/or chemotherapy(http://www.cancercenter.com/breast-cancer/types/tab/male-b r e a s t -cancer/?source=MSNPPC&channel=paid+search&c=paid+se
arch%3ABing%3ABroad%3ANon+Brand%3ECancer+Type%3A+Breast%3ABroad).
I wondered if they ignoredsymptoms because they associ-ated breast cancer with women,and if they were diagnosed,their friends might think theywere lesser men. In the HBOprison series OZ, inmate RyanO’Reilly, head of the Irish gangsand a drug lord, is diagnosedwith breast cancer. He actuallyconsiders forgoing treatment be-cause he fears the enmity of theother prisoners. Of course heundergoes surgery and chemobecause we need him in the sto-ryline. But real men do not havethe luxury of fictional charac-ters, though they may sharetheir apprehensions and preju-dices. In a PSA for prostate can-cer, the tag line is Don’t Diefrom Embarrassment. This holdstrue for breast cancer as well,but I’ve never seen such a PSAfor men.
When I finally joined theother women in white robeswaiting to be called, I wonderedif any of them was related tothe two men I’d been thinkingabout. One was older – couldhave been with the Longhorn.
She was reading, unper-turbed by the wait. Twoother women were sleep-
ing. A fourth was accompaniedby her daughter, who was thereto do consecutive translations inVietnamese. Something waswrong on her mammogram, andthey were waiting for anotherexam. A fifth woman did lookill. She pushed a walker, andwas wearing bedroom slippersand a sweatshirt over her gown.Her hair hung limp against heremaciated cheeks, and shetalked to no one in particularabout nothing specific. I contin-ued to read about the Holo-caust. By the time I was called,the two sleeping women hadgotten good results, the womanwith the walker was called butnever returned to the waitingarea, the other reader had comeand gone at least three times,and the Vietnamese woman wasstill there. My second mammo-gram was negative. I didn’t needthe ultrasound. “Everything isfine. Continue self-exams. Haveanother mammogram nextyear.” Thank you to the nurse.And then a silent thank you.
The two men were gone bythe time I left the Breast Center.I wondered what the diagnoseswere for their loved ones. Iprayed that everything was neg-ative. But I also hoped that ifanything were wrong, theywould be patient caregivers. Ifever they were called upon tobe the strong, silent types, thiswas it.
FEATURETHE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015 7
There is a Reason that We are Called Patients
Hypertension is the Silent Killer; Check your blood pressure regularly.
GREEK AMERICAN STORIES
By Anthe Mitrakos
ATHENS – Amidst a financialcrisis and teeter totting businessenvironment of crippling uncer-tainty, The Hellenic Initiative(THI) has taken a leap for Greekentrepreneurship, hosting itsfirst Venture Fair at the HiltonAthens, June 24.
Following THI’s 2015 Hel-lenic Entrepreneurship Awardscelebration June 22, the net-working and pitching eventbrought together a total of 19promising early-stage businesseswith an audience of more than100 potential investors repre-senting the U.S. and Europe.
Each company had five min-utes to pitch their plans beforethe investment community,which included, among others,businessmen C. Dean Metropou-los and John P. Calamos, Sr. Theparticipating groups then re-ceived feedback on their presen-tations by a judging panel, com-prised of experienced businessprofessionals.
Considering that the eco-nomic crisis in Greece has madeit extremely difficult for entre-
preneurs to get the critical fund-ing they need to take their com-panies to the next level, the Ven-ture Fair’s goals are to “drivegrowth, create jobs, and em-power the future of Greece.”
A global movement of theHellenic diaspora established in2012, THI aims to provide asafety net for crisis-stricken at-risk communities, as well as of-fer mentoring and monetarysupport for entrepreneurshipand new Greek businesses.
“We have a constellation ofprograms…so far, we havehelped over 100 companies kickoff in a period of 18 months,”THI Program Director MichaelPrintzos said of the initiative’svarious pro-business activities.
Participation in the VentureFair included a THI-sponsoredcomprehensive training for allcompanies, through the VentureGarden program in Athens atALBA, and Thessaloniki at Ana-tolia College. Mentor for theteams was Kurt Heiar, of theJohn Pappajohn EntrepreneurialCenter at the University of Iowa.
“The feedback we got fromthe presenting teams was amaz-
ing,” Printzos said. “They haveacquired a new skillset that theycan use in the future,” he added.
The young founders andteam members behind earlystage and startup companiespresenting that evening repre-sented a number of emergingbusiness industries includinghealth care, web development,and logistics.
Born and raised in Hollandwhere she studied supply chainmanagement, Roxane Kout-soloukas decided to move backto Greece to discover her rootsabout three and a half yearsago. Working in Greece, sheidentified inefficiency in thefragmented transport market,and decided to launch her newbusiness JoinCargo(joincargo.gr), an online ship-ping platform whose mission is
to increase productivity in thebulk transport industry.
“Greece is the perfect placeto kick off with JoinCargo, be-cause a crisis calls for innova-tion,” she said.
Representing the world ofhealthcare at the Venture Fairwas Evangelos Pappas, professorof medical physics and founderof RT Safe (rt-safe.com), a med-ical technology company thathas developed a new approachto quality assurance, signifi-cantly enhancing the safety andaccuracy of radiotherapy forcancer and other medical con-ditions.
“We are offering the globalmarket an innovative solutionthat ensures safety, and rightnow we are starting to have ourfirst revenues,” Pappas said.
And though the companywill soon be based in the UKwith a legal entity in the US toensure the business’s securitywhile the Greek government de-cides which cards to play withthe EU, Pappas asserted that RTSafety’s research and develop-ment will always be carried outin Greece.
“Potential investors needcontracts to be done in a morestable environment,” he said.“Our Greek offices and labs arealready producing our productsand we are going to continueresearch and developmenthere,” he added.
A recipient of last year’s Hel-lenic Entrepreneurship Award,a joint THI and Libra Group ef-fort, Pappas said he is gratefulto be part of a privileged groupof young businesspeople. “Weare honored and proud of thissupport from the Libra Group.It's a safety net for us,” he said.
What the teams took fromthe first THI Venture Fair werementorship, training, and expo-sure to potential investment.
“The venture fair gave methe opportunity to fine tune mypitch, which gives great handlesto present JoinCargo to the tar-get audience, like investors andcustomers,” Koutsoloukas said.“The enthusiasm and support ofthe investors give energy to takeJoinCargo to the next level, andwe are in discussion to come toa fruitful collaboration,” sheadded.
As for how the economic andpolitical situation is affectingthese budding companies, Pap-pas expressed his concern, butsaid he believes in the countryand wants to stay.
“It is strange and unsecure,”he said of the current situationof heightened unease in Greece.Still, he has not lost hope for abetter tomorrow. “Right now wecannot import our raw materialswith which we can produce ourproducts, but at the end of theday, there is only one thing forsure…that we will stay here andeverything that is new will beborn in Greece. We will do ourbest for developing new prod-ucts to help the cancer patientsociety,” he added.
With times so tough, andspare funding difficult to comeby, the livelihood of some ofthese companies hangs by astring. But the folks at THI be-lieve the Venture Fair has a fu-ture, and can offer serious as-sistance.
“We’re thinking that if thewhole situation in Greece al-lows, we will repeat the eventin a year’s time,” Printzos said.
By Phylis (Kiki) SembosSpecial to The National Herald
When Yiannis hadn’t appeared at Dixon’s Kipreos asked why.“Areti called my wife to say that he’s sick,” George told them. “Se-rious?” asked John, taking up a donut. George shrugged. “Aretiwasn’t very clear. A cold of some kind, I think. But, she’s at work,Barbara’s at school and he’s home alone.”
Dimos, after a while, suggested they call him. “Maybe he’s sickerthan she thinks. Maybe, he needs something and can’t get it.” So,using the cafeteria wall phone Dimos called his house where theyheard a barely audible, hoarse voice say, “I’ll...be alright....Ithink...maybe. Who knows?” Then, the line went dead.
Concerned, Dimos suggested they go to his house and see what’sailing their friend. George, shaking his head, said, “Somehow, itwill end up with us spending money. I’m not going.” John said,“Aw, George! Like what? A cold medicine? A gargle? That’s notmuch!” George frowned, “Like sending him to Florida for a cure,that’s like what!” John laughed, “Let’s go, anyway. He’d do thesame for one of us, don’t you think?” George shook his head. “No,he wouldn’t!” Kipreos suggested they bring him donuts and coffee.“That’ll cure him, I’ll bet!”
So, armed with a half dozen, freshly baked donuts from thecafeteria and a container of freshly brewed coffee they traveleduptown to his apartment on Eighth Avenue, third floor up. Theyknocked and waited. After a few minutes, a pair of shuffling feetopened the door where a drowsy, pale face with lids at half-mastpeeked out at them. “Oh, I don’t know if you should come in. Icould be contagious, you know. I don’t want to be responsiblefor...” eyeing the familiar container of donuts and coffee, the dooropened wider. Contagion forgotten, he motioned them to come in.
Back in his bed, Dimos asked about his symptoms. To whichYiannis said that he had every symptom you could think of. “Fever,sore throat, achy joints, headache...hunger...” he reached out forthe coffee. John asked, “Have you taken anything?” Kipreos said,“Maybe, you should go to the hospital and get yourself checkedout.” Yiannis waved both hands around, wildly. “NO! Never! If Ihave Bubonic Plague I won’t go!” Seeing a bottle of aspirin on thenight stand, John asked if he’d taken any yet. “It’s new. Areti got itlast night.” Dimos reached out for it. “Here! Take a tablet now.”Dimos studied the bottle cap that had tooth marks on it. “Whathappened to it?” asked Dimos. Yiannis shrugged. “That *#@+ capdoesn’t come off!”
Dimos, thinking that ridiculous, studied the cap that had aplastic seal coat over the entire top. After peeling it off with aknife – and getting a small cut - Dimos read the directions thatsaid that after you get the cap’s arrow to meet with the second ar-row on the edge of the lid, you, ‘then, press down and rotate.’After a few tugs the bottle remained shut tight. John reached out,“Let me try.” Taking it, firmly, in his hands he rotated the capseveral times while pressing down and still the bottle remainedsealed. Coffee and donut in hand, Yiannis lay back against his pil-lows and watched and waited while the three took turns trying toopen the bottle. Kipreos explained, “It’s to prevent a child fromgetting at them.”
John, annoyed, said, “When I need aspirin my daughter opensit.” Dimos asked Yiannis if he had a tool box. “Under the sink,” hetold him. Taking out a wrench, he, finally, succeeded in getting thecap off, destroying the cap in the process. Under the cap was analuminum seal that, in order to release the contents, needed aknife and, again, getting another cut. “Well! It’s opened!” said Di-mos, triumphantly. “Do you have bandages?” “In the bathroomcabinet,” said Yiannis, taking a second donut. Inside the unliddedbottle, a huge wad of cotton was stuffed in that, sticking his fingerin, John couldn’t remove.
“Let me try,” said Kipreos, while Dimos bandaged his fingers.But, the cotton sank further down into the bottle. John, irritationrattling his nerves, took a pair of pliers from the tool box. Finally,the cotton was removed and a folded paper inside warned aboutthe side effects of taking aspirin. “They should be warning us aboutopening a bottle of aspirins,” said Dimos, plainly irritated. Yiannistook two aspirins and sank back into the fluffy pillows, said,“Thanks!’ And fell asleep. Tiptoeing out of the apartment, Dimos,touching his head with his bandaged fingers, said, “I got aheadache.” John said, “So, do I!” Kipreos, looking concerned, said,“Let’s get a bottle of aspirins!” They gave him very cautionary looksas they headed for Dixon’s.
Entrepreneurship is on Display at the Hellenic Initiative’s First Venture Fair
C. Dean MetropoulosAnd John P. Calamos, Sr. were part of theinvestment communityat the Venture Fair.
Aspirins Can GiveHeadaches
Continued from page 1
The world-renowned Texas Medical Center in Houston.
www.GreekKitchennyc.com
GREECE8 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015
to vote no, to an agreement towhich in essence, it has said yes,and an agreement that has ex-pired.
So the question is, actually,what is it that we are asking thepeople to do? Some critics, andI am one of them, believe thatthe actual question behind thereferendum is whether we wantto remain within the Europeanframework. Because that is howthe whole planet is interpretingthis referendum. And I find thisreferendum to be dishonest, be-cause it is not asking the peoplewhat is clearly at stake. A muchbetter question to ask wouldhave been: “are you in favor oragainst remaining a part of theEuropean Union (EU)?”
The other thing which I thinkpeople need to understand isthat since January, the economyhas frozen. This government hastaken a stance against the pri-vate sector, investments, and in-vestors, and actually has onlyfocused on the public sector.The cost of the new bailout ismultiplying. People have seen atough proposal by the Institu-tion, a tough proposal by Tsipras– and these proposals are eighttimes the size of what wasneeded in December, becausethe underlying need of the econ-omy has increased.
We [the New DemocracyParty] tried very hard in 2012to change the perception of the
Greek economy, focusing ongrowth, and in 2014 achievedthat for the first time since2007. In 2013 and 2014 we hada positive balance of paymentsfor the first time since 1948. Allthis was not accomplished with-out sacrifices. And not withoutmistakes. Clearly, the people arevery right to be angry. Theyhave seen their standard of liv-ing go down over the past fouryears. But instead of talkingabout the causes, we are talkingabout the effects. [Is the currentgovernment] trying to cure theeffects by lying to people? Isausterity bad? Of course it’s bad.But ending austerity [has tomean] producing more. Theseare the challenges the people
have to face, and unfortunately,the government is not beinghonest with them.
TNH: So your “yes” vote tothe referendum, then, is reallya yes vote in the broader senseof Greece remaining in the euro.
NP: Yes, exactly. Some peoplethink that a “no” vote means this
government will pursue a betterdeal, but it will not. And I saythis now, before the Sunday(July 5) vote.
TNH: Why do you thinkTsipras and his government arehandling things as they are?What is their goal? And, do youthink they will be successful inaccomplishing it?
NM: I think the goal in theend has to do with realigningGreek foreign policy away fromthe West. Let’s look at Greece,at the big picture: Greece afterthe Second World War was apoor and destroyed economy.The standard of living at thetime was not dissimilar to thatof our neighbors to the Northand to the East. Two genera-tions later – and even after thecrisis – Greece ranks among thetop developed economies in theworld. In that time, we’ve hadfive different governments, ofdifferent political attitude, dif-ferent constitutional legitimacy– we had democracy and alsothe military coup.
So, how did Greece manageto achieve a high standard ofliving, educate its children, andhave most of the advantages ofa developed country (electricity,water, cars, education, health)?Because we belonged to theWest.
That was consistent amongall those governments. But now,we are revisiting, questioning,that fundamental dogma that al-lowed Greeks to emerge frompoverty into European prosper-ity.
Since joining the EuropeanUnion 35 years ago, Greece hasexperienced prosperity, security,and stability. But many [Greek]people do not appreciate that.There is a lot of anger, especiallyamong the younger generations,which do not see the same op-portunities available that theirparents had.
And that is Greece’s biggestchallenge: giving the youngergeneration a sense of hope. Butwe can only give that hope inan economy driven by the pri-vate sector within the Europeanframework. We need to be apro-market, pro-growth societyand economy.
And no one has offered tohelp Greece economicallythrough this crisis other than its
European partners. TNH: As many of our Greek-
American readers – who re-member visiting Greece underthe drachma in past decades –ask: why it would be so bad forGreece to return to thedrachma, at this point, consid-ering they had the drachma allthese years before, and thingsdidn't really seem that bad?
NM: If things were so goodunder the drachma, so manyGreeks wouldn’t have leftGreece. If you look at the rela-tive prosperity of Greece, it hasgrown through its years in theEuro membership. There is al-ways some nostalgia about thepast – it’s a natural human ten-dency, and to remember that “itwas better then.” This is a nat-ural bias. The stability and se-curity, the ability to attract in-vestments, to have foreignersbring money into Greece with-out risk of devaluation, no cap-ital controls regarding the trans-fer of their wealth in and out ofthe country.
Greece still imports a lot ofgoods: technology, cars, food,medicine, energy, and [withoutthe euro], it would take usmany, many years to be able toproduce these things ourselves,and have them be of high qual-ity and at a competitive price.
Also, it is about security. Welive in a very difficult neighbor-hood of the planet. We are thelast border of Europe to theEast. Hostilities are not manykilometers away from us, andso we need to remain part ofthe EU.
TNH: What must the NewDemocracy Party do to regainthe trust of the people, consid-ering they lost significantly inthe last election?
NM: We did not lose signifi-cantly in the sense that we kepta percentage in the public voteclose to that of 2012; simply,our opponents gained momen-tum from other parties. Politi-cians are accused of not tellingthe truth, but when they do tellthe truth, they do not becomepopular. We were honest withpeople: we imposed taxes, andthat made us very unpopular,but that was the only way tomeet our economic needs. Theonly way to pay for salaries,pensions, education, health, and
defense. Some critics said wewere not tough enough to com-plete the reforms, and there issome merit to this argument.New Democracy needs to renewits message to the Greek people,about the economic model thatGreece needs to follow to exitthe crisis and stay out of the cri-sis. Because it is not about theshort-term exit of crisis, butrather not to have a similar cri-sis again.
TNH: The American media,particularly the conservativemedia, portray Greece as acountry in which the people re-tire in their 50s, with a full pen-sion, get a month off at Christ-mas, and sleep in the afternoon.Conservatives in particular pointto that as a prime example ofthe failure of society run by biggovernment (i.e., the ObamaAdministration). Is that an ac-curate portrayal, and if not,please clarify what the real pic-ture is.
NM: Greece, unfortunately,has been used as a political ex-ample from political peoplefrom the left and the right allaround the world, trying tomake judgments and find com-monality with their own prob-lems. According to the EuropeanStatistics Office (Eurostat),Greeks are the hardest-workingpeople in Europe. They do notretire that early, and they dowork hard. The problem withthe Greek economy is that weneed more of a private sector,structural pro-growth policies,and more scale (the cost advan-tage that arises with increasedoutput of a product) in the econ-omy. And so I wouldn’t likeGreece to be used as an exampleby anyone for their own domes-tic agendas.
TNH: If you were prime min-ister of Greece right now, whatwould you do differently fromwhat Tsipras is doing?
NM: The best way to havesolved the crisis would havebeen to prevent it. We wouldhave prevented the crisis [if wewere in power.] Greece wasabout to exit the [bailout] pro-gram in February, and was readyto go back to the markets. If wecompleted the structural re-forms, Greece would not haveneeded another program. Wewould have been able to pro-duce more, reduce tax rates,and create a positive cycle in theeconomy.
TNH: Turning to Chios, I no-ticed that there are a lot oftourists here from Turkey. Thisis obviously a good sign forChios' economy, but does it alsoenhance Greek Turkish relationsas a whole?
NM: I hope it does. Therewas always a good border rela-tionship between the two coun-tries. Greeks also travel toTurkey. It is good that we arehaving so many Turks come, butit is negative in the sense thatwe rely so much on one market(country) for tourism. We needto balance this market [oftourism] better.
TNH: Is there anything elsethat you would like to sharewith our readers?
NM: I would like to thankthe Greek-American communityfor being very supportive of themotherland. As there are nownewer generations of Greek-Americans, I am very happy tosee a lot of them coming toChios. Please keep on coming,and let us continue to maintainthis historical link.
MP Mitarakis: Tsipras’ Ultimate Aim is to Realign Greece’s Foreign Policy
ABOVE: A view of Aplotaria, Chios’ main shopping district, from the balcony of ParliamentMember Notis Mitarakis’ office. LEFT: Greek MP Notis Mitarakis.
This week, on July 4, 1978,was born. Kaya has been mod-eling since she was spottedwalking the streets of Greece atthe age of 14. She has lived inNew York City and Paris. Shehas worked in Germany, Milan,and London.
Over the years Kaya has,worked and walked for an ex-tensive list of designers, shothundreds of magazine coversand has been interviewed fortop magazines too.
In 2007, Kaya became thespokesperson for the famous Ital-ian car company Lancia. Duringthis time she walked the red car-pet at the Venice Film Festival.Vicky made her acting debut onthe cinema playing the leadingfemale role in the blockbustermovie “Sirens in the Aegean.”Kaya has hosted numerousevents including the 2005 Thes-saloniki International Film Festi-val. In 2007 Vicky took the lead-ing female role in the musical“The Producers” by Mel Brooks.Stamatis Fasoulis, a highly-ac-complished theatrical director inGreece, directed the perfor-mance. Her performance wasawarded "Best Newcomer" at theWomen of the Year Life and StyleAwards 2007. Among all herother accomplishments, shefounded “Vicky and Friends,” anonprofit charity initiative. Itsgoal is to put the spotlight onsmaller charities, helps them to
boost their profile, and raisesmoney by organizing fundraisingcampaigns and events.
Kaya is also heavily involvedwith Fashion Targets BreastCancer Hellas. In recognition ofher work Vicky has recentlybeen awarded the position of
“Target Ambassador” by thecharity. Most recently she wentwithout shoes for the campaign“One Day Without Shoes” withTOMS Shoes to help raiseawareness of the impact a sim-ple pair of shoes can bring to achild's life.
This Week in Greek History:
Supermodel/Actress Vicky Kaya is Born
ACROSS1 Brand of powdery surface cleaner5 Snow quantities10 Scientist's office13 Use15 Mixed drink16 Annex17 Aloft18 Heeds19 By way of20 Japanese money21 Land measurement23 Thoughts25 Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (abbr.)26 Meekest28 National capital31 Long boat32 Shinny cloth33 Association (abbr.)34 Still37 Location38 Front40 Stadium41 Revolutions per minute42 Bowed stringed instrument43 Eigtheenth Greek letter44 Fourth Greek letter45 Invasions46 ___ Gandhi49 Pappas of baseball50 Evade51 Corn syrup brand52 Wing55 Negative56 Machine man59 Rover61 Part of a min.62 White poplar63 Third Greek letter64 Fire remains65 Nincompoop66 Rove
DOWN1 Out2 Agree3 Long time4 40, to Nero5 Inlet of the sea6 Lubricate7 Brew8 Lock's partner9 Fifth Greek Letter10 Dyke11 Anonym12 Blow up14 Dull22 Twenty-second Greek letter24 HST's successor25 Capital of Western Samoa26 Gather
27 Institution (abbr.)28 Despot29 American Association of Retired Persons(abbr.)30 Detail31 Waitress on Cheers34 Meditation35 TV award36 What Celestial Seasonings makes38 Kodak product39 Ninth Greek letter40 Mold42 War returnee43 Bye (2 wds.)44 Father45 Evergreen tree46 Elite intellectuals' society47 Soothing agents48 Starsky's partner49 Nautical "friend"51 German city52 Bullets53 Dalai __54 A Cartwright57 Kimono sash58 A Cartwright60 Rowing tool
P A G E E S T E E A K A
T H E T A S H A R P D O N
S O N A R S A G E S H A G
D Y E A D A M I D O L S
O B E Y W I L D C A T
M O S A I C C A N O E
A L P H A A S S N P H D
P E R U Y A C H T M A U I
S O Y H E R A R A N G E
P O L I O R H Y T H M
B I S H O P S S H O O
A D M I T S H O D S A G
T E A I T A L Y E N T R Y
C A R N E P A L S A Y E R
H S T G E T B Y P E S O
Solution to last week’s puzzle
THE HERALD SQUARETNH's Crossword Challenge
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27
28 29 30 31
32 33 34 35 36
37 38 39 40
41 42 43
44 45
46 47 48 49
50 51 52 53 54
55 56 57 58 59 60
61 62 63
64 65 66
www.CrosswordWeaver.com
WORD BANK: Aarp, abele, above, acre, adam,adhd, aeon, ajax, ala, ale, alias, aloes, ammo,apia, area, ash, assn, away, ben, blast, canoe,carla, chi, dad, dde, deaden, delta, dirt, dome,ell, elude, emmy, epsilon, film, fir, first, fjord,flake, forays, gamma, hutch, ideas, inst, iota, item,jibe, julep, karo, key, koln, lab, lama, levee, lube,mahatma, mass, matey, mensa, mildest, milt,ninny, nomad, not, oar, obeys, obi, roam, robot,rpm, satin, sec, sigma, solong, taipei, teas, tsar,veteran, via, viol, wield, xlv, yen, yet, yoga.
Continued from page 1
ATHENS – Greece is known theworld over for its historic sites,sparkling sea, and lovely, vine-shaded restaurants. Add riot po-lice, shuttered banks, and linesat cash machines and the pictureclouds.
This is the reality facingtourism in Greece this year, asthe peak summer season in thepopular destination is threatenedby a financial crisis of frighteningproportions and with reportslast-minute cancellations.
Even though tourists are ex-empt from capital controls thatset a 60-euro per day limit forclients with Greek bank ac-counts, they still have to standin long lines, sometimes morethan an hour or two, to get ac-cess to money.
More are throwing up theirhands and deciding it is less has-sle to go to rival destinationssuch as Turkey where there’s noeconomic crisis and no worrythat ATMs will empty.
Up until now, the charmingcafes and outdoor restaurantsnear the Acropolis have re-mained overflowing withtourists, but considering the badpublicity of the past week’sevents, many businesses say theyare beginning to see cancella-tions and a slowdown in reser-vations.
“Our future bookings aredown 20 to 30 percent,” said Ed-ward Fisher, who owns and op-erates Athens Backpackers andAthens Studios, with prime loca-tions near the Acropolis thatcater mostly to youthful travelerswithout mega-budgets.
He blamed the global mediafor the marked slowdown, andsaid he believes it will only be a“temporary blip” because ofGreece’s timeless appeal.
“There’s something mysticalabout Greece,” said the Aus-tralian who started his business12 years ago. “It tickles a differ-ent sense. (…) So we’re not pan-icking. But I want to avoid a hu-manitarian crisis here.”
Tourism and the foreign
funds it generates are vital forGreece’s hoped-for recovery fromits deeply indebted state.
The World Travel andTourism Council said tourism’sdirect contribution to the Greekeconomy was more than 29 bil-lion euros ($32 billion) in 2014,accounting for just over 17 per-cent of the country’s GDP.
As such, the Greek NationalTourist Board is taking steps toreassure tourists that their creditcards and bank cards will worknormally and that restrictions ap-plied to Greek citizens will notapply to visitors.
Lyssandros Tsilidis, Presidentof the Hellenic Association ofTravel and Tourist Agencies,maintained an optimistic view,saying tourism figures are hold-ing steady nationwide.
“There are more rumorsabout cancellations than actualcancellations and reservations
are still coming in,” he said.“Tourists are having no prob-lems.”
Visitors to the famed Acropo-lis and surrounding areas agreed,telling The Associated Press theyhad been able to enjoy normalholidays without disruption.
“I have seen a few lines atATMs but there are no hugelines,” said Luciane Souza, aBrazilian lawyer making her firsttrip to Greece. “I love the place.For having fun, it’s no problem.”
John Kopari, visiting from Du-luth, Minnesota, added the crisishasn’t affected him and his fam-ily “one bit.”
But for those who haven’t yetbooked their trips, such assur-ances are not soothing fears thatthe ATMs and the banks maysoon run out of cash altogether,unless there is an infusion of eu-ros delivered by the EuropeanCentral Bank or another emer-
gency source.And some restaurants and ho-
tels have posted signs sayingthey will not accept credit cards,despite the government’spledges.
A COUNTRY IN RUINSTour guide Christina Poulo-
giani, exhausted after leadingGerman, Austrian and Swisstourists to the Acropolis in thehot sun, said July 7 was thebusiest day of the year, but thatfuture bookings are in doubt.
“People are waiting beforethey commit,” she said. “Business
is good right now but people areworried because groups are notcommitting.”
The crisis could not havepeaked at a worse time from thepoint of view of the hundreds ofthousands of Greeks who dependon income from the frenetic sum-mer months to keep their fami-lies going during the slack wintertime.
Elman Vasileios, manager ofthe Majestic Travel agency incentral Athens, said the bankshutdown has made it impossiblefor him to conduct business asusual.
To make matters worse, ma-jor airlines have emailed hisagency in the last day telling him
he cannot issue any tickets, evento customers with cash.
“We cannot operate as weused to because we have noquick access to funds if peoplepay by credit cards,” he said. “Wealso have a huge amount ofmoney stuck in the bank that wecan’t get access to.”
His agency is still acceptingcredits cards, but it’s taking daysor weeks for him to be able toget his hands on the money viavarious electronic bank transfersystems.
He has several overlapping
problems: Tourists are shorten-ing or cancelling their trips toGreece, and, a substantial num-ber of Greeks concerned abouttheir own finances (and particu-larly their supply of cash) havecancelled their own summer hol-idays, traditionally taken onsome of the treasured islandsthat dot the Mediterranean here.
“Greeks going on holiday thissummer have fallen to zero andI mean zero,” he said. “I just hada group of 40 cancel. They don’thave access to their funds andthey don’t know when they will.This season has been destroyed.Foreign embassies are warningpeople about problems so peoplethink twice about coming to
Greece.”JUMPING SHIP FAST
Last-minute tourist reserva-tions plunged nearly a third be-fore the July 5 referendum be-cause of fears of a Greek exitfrom the Eurozone an no accessto ATMs, the Greek Tourism Con-federation said.
Since June 27, when PrimeMinister Alexis Tsipras an-nounced a snap referendum,“There has been a drop in latebookings only, to the order ofabout 30%,” the confederation’sdirector, Alexander Lamnidis,said, RTE reported.
He said such bookings ac-count for around 20% of tourismtravel to Greece whose world-class attractions aren’t enough tokeep people coming comparedto the fear of not having anymoney if ATMs empty.
When it wasn’t clear whetherGreece would strike a deal withits lenders, Lamnidis said failureto do so would end any hopes ofa third straight record tourismseason in an industry that is thecountry’s biggest revenue driver.
(If) we have one or two orthree weeks more of this situa-tion, we feel that we will starthaving some problems especiallywith supplies,” he stated.
The capital controls are pre-venting Greek businesses frompaying money abroad for goods,including meat.
“There are some fears - noproblems yet - about food sup-plies and what would be hap-pening within the next two orthree weeks,” he said.
On the islands, “There aresome problems now and thenwith cash, with cash machines,”the tourist confederation directorsaid.
Last year, a record 24 milliontourists visited, spending €13.5billion, according to the confed-eration, which this year had beenhoping for the figure to go up,to 25 million visitors.
(Material from the AssociatedPress was used in this report)
GREECE CYPRUSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015 9
Two Greeces: Citizens Languish at ATMs as Tourists Frolic on Beaches
second week, the country broke,unable to borrow from the mar-kets and tax revenues at a stand-still, Tsipras has his finance stafftrying to tweak proposals toshow Greece will accept somereforms as he tries to save faceat the same time and still risksa showdown with SYRIZA MPsif he backs down too far fromthe troika.
Greece's last bid was beingput together by new FinanceMinister Euclid Tsakalotos, ap-pointed after Eurozone officialsrefused to work with his com-bative predecessor Yanis Varo-ufakis, who said they were try-ing to impose financial"terrorism" on Greece and in-sulted them at every turn.
Tsakalotos was being aidedby a French representative ofthe European Stability Mecha-nism (ESM) and a EuropeanCommission official to showGreece is serious about reformsafter presenting a series ofvague outlines while demandingmoney in return.
Tsipras has nowhere to turn:if he didn’t agree to imposemore austerity he campaignedagainst and which Greeks toldhim by a big margin on July 5to resist, Greece will fall into fi-nancial chaos amid predictionsby some EU officials of riots inthe streets and a major bank col-lapse.
If he relents to get the moneyand a third bailout, he willalienate the hard left factions inhis party who said the referen-dum mandate was for him torefuse to implement austeritybut get the troika's money andkeep Greece in the Eurozoneanyway, a contradiction interms. Some in SYRIZA want toleave the financial bloc and re-turn to the drachma and stepaway from Europe.
Whatever Greece deliveredon July 9 was to be discussed ata Eurogroup meeting on July 11ahead of a crucial meeting thenext day of the heads of all 28European Union countries whowill decide Greece's fate, withmany so furious and frustratedthey said they don't care whathappens.
DEVIL IN THE DETAILSThe proposal submitted by
Tsakalotos to the ESM on July 8asked for a three-year loan pro-gram and pledged to legislatetax and pension reforms earlynext week but without offeringdetails.
Eurogroup President JeroenDijsselbloem asked creditors todetermine whether the requestcould pose a risk to the Euro-zone’s banking system as onlydaily cash injections from theECB are keeping Greek banksfrom going under.
Speaking in Washington, IMFDirector Christine Lagarde saidGreece needs to continue re-
forms but the European lendersalso need to lighten its debt loadbut said her agency wouldn't goalong with it and demandedGreece pay in full and let its EUpartners pass on the cost of debtrelief to the taxpayers in theother 18 Eurozone countries.
“The other leg is debt re-structuring, which we believe isneeded in the particular case ofGreece for it to have debt sus-tainability,” she said. “Thatanalysis has not changed. It wellmay be that numbers may haveto be revisited but our analysishas not changed.”
THE RIVALS RISEOpposition parties in Greece
said they suspect Tsipras, witha hard Communist past andoverseeing a party filled withradical leftists and anarchists,secretly wants to take Greeceout of the Eurozone and the EUand create a failed Soviet-styleRepublic.
New Democracy Conserva-tive leader EvangelosMeimarakis met with Tsiprasand four other party leaders onJuly 6 and, with them, signedan agreement to back a deal but
then said he wouldn't meet withTsipras again and demanded thePremier tell Parliament whathe's doing.
Meimarakis said he wantedTsipras’ comments to be offi-cially recorded and said he wassending party stalwarts DoraBakoyannis and Costis Hatzi-dakis to Brussels for discussionswith officials there.
Former PASOK Socialistleader Evangelos Venizelos sug-gested that Tsipras is trying totrap the opposition parties so hecan call snap elections withoutreaching any agreement with theinstitutions even though Greece'sbanks would fail and analystssaid there would be chaos andshortages of food, medicine, fueland other essentials.
After meeting Tsipras, thehead of the centrist Potami,
Stavros Theodorakis, said hestill had differences with Tsiprasbut would continue to supporthim even though Theodorakishad earlier blasted the Premierfor putting Greece on a path toexit the Eurozone.
“There are people in Europewho are moving in the same di-rection as us but there are oth-ers who want us out of Europe,”said Theodorakis, adding that anew meeting of political leadersmay take place in the next fewdays although there's no time todo so with the ultimatum loom-ing. Potami has reportedly beenconsidering sending its own ob-server for the negotiations inBrussels.
Tsipras also met with Presi-dent Prokopis Pavlopoulos, aNew Democracy member, andassured him that the govern-ment is attempting to reach a"viable" deal, repeating whathe's been saying for months andwhich the troika has contra-dicted repeatedly. Tsipras spokewith new PASOK leader FofiGennimata of PASOK by phoneafter meeting with Pavlopoulos,who has no powers.
Greece Faces the Lenders' Ultimatum, and July 12 is Decision Day
ABOVE: Tourists take photos on the medals podium at themarble Panathenian Stadium, venue of the first modernOlympics in 1896, in central Athens. RIGHT: Pensioners waitoutside the main gate of the National Bank of Greece to with-draw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) in Athens, July 9.
Nascent talks to unifyCyprus, divided since an unlaw-ful 1974 Turkish invasion, havebrought optimism for a solution,but some Turkish analysts areurging caution.
Bubbles have been burst anumber of times over thedecades as a long line of diplo-mats, including internationally,have come and gone and failedto make a single step of progressin on-again, off-again talks.
There was new hope with therecent election of a moderate,Mustafa Akinci, to be the Presi-dent of the unlawful Turkishside of the island as he andCypriot President Nicos Anas-tasiades offered each othersome olive branches.
The initial excitement hasdied down and it’s been left totechnical teams on both sides totry to find some answers.
Following a meeting withAnastasiades July 2, Ak�nc� saidthat if the current pace of talksand determination of the sideswas maintained, the talks couldbe successfully concluded inmonths, the Turkish newspaperToday’s Zaman said.
Ak�nc� also said that the twosides discussed core issues forthe first time and made progresson some issues. “Step by step,the work is coming to fruition.We managed to make progresson issues like electricity, mobilephones and some other issues,”Ak�nc� said.
But Professor Mehmet Has-güler from �anakkale 18 Mart
University told the newspaperhe already sees parallels withpast talks that began with hopesand were crushed with disap-pointment.
“I find the statements of theleaders positive. But we heardsimilar remarks from previousleaders [in Cyprus]. I think itbetter to adopt cautious opti-mism,” said Hasgüler.
Ahmet Kas�m Han, a lecturerat Kadir Has University, saidboth sides in Cyprus had failedto maintain the pace gained atthe beginning of the talks andsaid that the positive remarks ofthe current leaders in the island
should be approached with cau-tion.
Hasgüler also said that theapproach of the new govern-ment in Turkey toward thepeace talks will determine thefate of the talks as President Re-cep Tayyip Erdogan had previ-ously said he, not Akinci, hasthe final word.
LOOKING FOR TRUSTThe coming phase of reunifi-
cation talks between Cypriotsand their Turkish counterpartswill aim to build trust for aprocess lacking it for decades.
That assessment came fromBaris Burcu, the spokesman for
Akinci just before the kick-started talks warmed up again.
Burcu said: “The measuresfor developing trust should con-tinue, that’s the main principle.There is no need for new mis-trustfulness, misunderstandingsand conflicts,” the Anadolunews agency reported.
He said that Turkish Cypriotsalong with Turkey had a man-date to resolve the Cyprus issueand hoped Anastasiades wouldhelp build a common vision.
What to do about the aban-doned resort city of Varosha,which Turkey calls Maras, is akey, he acknowledged.
“Firstly, there has to be a fea-sibility study in the abandonedresort city of Maras and theremight be a need to set up a teamon this issue, but the develop-ments during talks are givinghope about creating opportuni-ties,” he said.
The European Parliament ina report had called on Turkeyto begin withdrawing its troopsand transfer the city to theUnited Nations jurisdiction.Anastasiades this week said ifTurkey doesn’t remove its troopsfrom the island then the talksare dead again.
Akinci said he hoped thetalks could culminate during theUN’s annual general assemblyin September in New York,where the guarantor countriesTurkey and Greece could alsotake part.
The Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot sides have met three
times since talks resumed onMay 15. With the help of UNSpecial Adviser Espen BarthEide of Norway, both sides havealready agreed to some low-level concessions but key stick-ing points remain, including thepresence of 30,000 Turkishtroops as Turkey has kept astanding army in the northernthird of the island it has occu-pied since an unlawful 1974 in-vasion.
Turkey also won’t revealwhat happened to as many as2,000 Cypriots who are stillmissing 41 years after the inva-sion and for whom no account-ing has been given. Turkey alsowants to let Turks who movedinto homes owned by Cypriotsto keep or have the right to sellthem and their property, whichEuropean courts have ruledagainst.
On May 28, Akinci and Anas-tasiades agreed on a five-stepplan to help bring resolution, in-cluding opening more crossingpoints, interconnecting powergrids, allowing mobile phone in-ter-operability on both sides ofthe island, resolving the issue ofradio frequency conflicts, andforming a joint committee ongender equality.
Peace talks were unilaterallysuspended by the Greek Cypriotadministration last October afterTurkey sent a warship and en-ergy research vessel into Cypriotwaters in search of oil and gasbut they resumed after the shipswere taken out.
Another Bubble Burst? Big Hopes for Cyprus Unity Subside a Bit
Cyprus' president Nicos Anastasiades, left, and Turkish Cypriotleader Mustafa Akinci, right, arrive at an event where theyshared their respective visions for a Cyprus after a settlementinside the UN controlled buffer zone that divides the Cypriotcapital, in Nicosia, Wednesday, July 8.
AP PHOTO/PAvlOs vriOniDes
Continued from page 1
Greek Prime Minister AlexisTsipras, standing at center,
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EDITORIALS LETTERS10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015
Ha, Ha, Ha!, TNHAnd Tsakopoulos
[In response to the full-pageadvertisement of Angelo K.Tsakopoulos in the July 4 issueof TNH, calling upon Greek-Americans to contact theirrelatives in Greece and urge themto vote YES in the July 5referendum.]
To the Editor:When I received my latest is-
sue of The National Herald onMonday, July 6, 2015, I laughedat the ad on page 3 for several
reasons. 1) The vote was already over.
[Editor’s note, FYI: the editionwas on newsstands and homedelivered on July 3, but deliveryvia regular US mail takeslonger.]
2) The amount of moneyspent by Mr. Tsakopoulos couldhave been better spent on help-ing Greeks who want to immi-grate to the United States.
3) Greeks do not need Amer-icans to tell them how to vote.
4) We Americans have ourown problems to deal with (i.e.,Illegal Immigration).
5) Ads like this are offensiveto the intelligence of Greeks.
But the one who laughed lastwas The National Herald, which
laughed all the way to the bank.
Van Argyrakis, Esq.Omaha, NE
Two Worlds CollideIs it possible for nations to commit suicide? Is it possible for
a people to make the worst decision at the most critical mo-ments?
It is. Our nation’s history has taught us that numerous times.On July 5, the most recent case, the referendum vote was
catalytic. A formidable 61.31 percent of the electorate, 6.1 mil-lion people, voted OXI – NO!
It was not a marginal result. There was no doubt about theoutcome.
We can spend time blaming the people for many things.And perhaps, with good reason. But it is not worth it. It ismuch more helpful to make a thorough effort to draw the rightconclusions from what happened. To answer the question ofwhy such a large percentage voted NO.
Our conclusion is there is much more suffering in Greek so-ciety than it seems. And not just financially. That is why thepeople took advantage of the referendum produce a cry of an-guish, that it no longer has anything to fear. Whatever couldbe lost was already lost. What else is there to lose?
They flipped the coin – took another shot at the previousera’s political class. They gave more power to decide the futureto a relatively uneducated, inexperienced, young man whogrew up in communist organizations.
They voted NO to further reductions in their standard ofliving – can we really call it stubbornness? They cried NO tonew taxes. NO to more reductions of their pensions. NO to theso-called reforms that are just more austerity measures.
But of course, this creates two worlds:One is the land of “Let’s Pretend,” where most Greeks still
live. There dwell constant references to Democracy – as if theother countries in Europe have a different form of government– and a strong sense of self-righteousness.
And the other place is the world of reality. The taxpayers ofthe other nations. The creditors.
These two worlds are colliding.The roads don’t unite them, but divide them. They are di-
vergent paths. Because, regardless of what extra assistance theEuropeans give tomorrow, like a little debt relief, more moneyfrom the European Central Bank for the Greek banks, that willnot amount to anything without reforms in the Greek econ-omy.
Soon, Greece will return to the same point: the ancient Sisy-phus – struggling to roll a boulder uphill only to watch it rolldown again – in all his glory.
US-Iran TalksWhile the world’s eyes are all focused on Greece – not least
of which this newspaper – an issue vital to the security of notonly the United States, but also Greece and the entire world,talks between the United States and Iran for the latter to curbits nuclear ambitions, has been largely overlooked.
But the Washington Post is closely monitoring the situation.In a recent editorial, the Post pointed out that at best, the dealwill be “an unsatisfying and risky compromise. Iran’s emergenceas a threshold nuclear power, with the ability to produce aweapon quickly, will not be prevented; it will be postponed, by10 to 15 years. In exchange, Tehran will reap hundreds of bil-lions of dollars in sanctions relief it can use to revive its economyand fund the wars it is waging around the Middle East.”
It continued: “Whether this flawed deal is sustainable willdepend on a complex set of verification arrangements and pro-visions for restoring sanctions in the event of cheating. Theschemes may or may not work; the history of the comparablenuclear accord with North Korea in the 1990s is not encourag-ing. The United States and its allies will have to be aggressivein countering the inevitable Iranian attempts to test the accordand willing to insist on consequences even if it means strainingrelations with friendly governments or imposing costs on West-ern companies.”
The editorial noted that the “recent controversy over Iran’scompliance with the interim accord now governing its nuclearwork is troubling. The deal allowed Iran to continue enrichinguranium, but required that amounts over a specified ceiling beconverted into an oxide powder that cannot easily be furtherenriched. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency,Iran met the requirement for the total size of its stockpile onJune 30, but it did so by converting some of its enriched ura-nium into a different oxide form, apparently because of prob-lems with a plant set up to carry out the powder conversion.
“Rather than publicly report this departure from the accord,the Obama administration chose to quietly accept it. When arespected independent think tank, the Institute for Science andInternational Security, began pointing out the problem, the ad-ministration’s response was to rush to Iran’s defense — andheatedly attack the institute as well as a report in the NewYork Times.”
The Post deemed the Obama Administration’s response as“weak,” and implored that both President Obama and his suc-cessors will have to respond to Iran more firmly and less de-fensively.
We remind our readers that it is only natural for attentionto be focused on Greece now. But the important nuclear talksbetween the U.S. and Iran should not be ignored. We do notknow if the Post’s skepticism is overstated, but for the sake ofour nation, and the world, we certainly hope it is.
Of course, we would like to see the two nations reach anagreement. But it must be one that truly prevents Iran fromobtaining a nuclear weapon.
Moreover, as the American people respond to these ongoingtalks, we advise a logical, objective approach. Barack Obama isneither a perfect president, incapable of making a mistake, assome of his unconditional followers purport, nor is he an enemyof the United States who intentionally seeks a bad deal in orderto harm our country, as the conspiracy theorists implore.
Just as we continue to hope for a beneficial accord in Brus-sels, we hope for one in Teheran as well.
LETTERS TO THE EDITORThe National Herald
A weekly publication of the NATIONAL HERALD, INC. (ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΗΡΥΞ),
reporting the news and addressing the issues of paramount interest to the Greek-American community of the United States of America.
Publisher-Editor Antonis H. DiamatarisAssistant to the Publisher, Advertising Veta H. Diamataris Papadopoulos
Executive Editor Constantinos E. ScarosReligion Editor Theodore KalmoukosSenior Writer Constantine S. Sirigos
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Production Manager Chrysoula Karametros
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GeOrGe sArAFOGlOu / sPeciAl TO THe nATiOnAl HerAlD
AGORA – THE ORIGINAL MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS
GEORGAKAS PRESENTS HISPOINT OF VIEW
Dino, an attack on Social Se-curity has begun in earnest. Re-publican heavyweights such asJeb Bush, Paul Ryan, and ChrisChristie have all pledged to ex-tend the retirement age to 70and to lower payments for anyrises in the cost of living. Theyclaim this will protect the finan-cial integrity of the system, ad-justs to medical progress, andgenerally benefits the economy.These claims are bogus and dis-guise what is a lowering of theAmerican standard of living.
A cornerstone argument forprolonging the retirement ageis that more Americans are liv-ing longer than ever before.Mass media tells us that 70 isthe new 60. Alas, noone informed MotherNature. Even the mostproperly-fed and exer-cised human bodies be-come progressively in-efficient. The new 70 isphysically the old 70.The increase in averagelife span is due to fewerAmericans dying beforethe age of 20, im-proved sanitation ser-vices, and many se-verely ill people havingtheir lives extended byserious medical inter-ventions.
Studies of Ameri-cans who retire at 66show they live muchlonger than those whoretire at 70. The rea-son, especially for thosewho do physical orother stressful work, isthat our weakeningbodies are more easily injuredand have fewer resources tofight off infectious diseases. Inany case being forced to workuntil 70 inevitably means re-tirees will have fewer years toenjoy the financial fruit of theirlifelong labors.
The supposed savings areephemeral. Every older personforced to keep a full-time jobmeans one less job available foryounger people. Moreover, olderworkers are usually at the higherend of payment for work doneand the younger persons at thelower. Extending the retirementage will not greatly affect se-niors, only their children andgrandchildren who will be com-pelled to work more years thantheir parents.
If no changes are made, So-cial security will be remain sol-vent until at least 2037. Duringthe Great Recession that flowedfrom the economic policies ofconservatives, Social Security’sreserve fund shrank. Even withthe modest Obama recovery,that reserve is again growing. Ifthe Republican promises to getgrowth up to 4% materialize, the
years of guaranteed solvencywill continue to increase.
Politicians genuinely con-cerned about Social Securitycould work to increase ratherthan decrease funding to inves-tigate fraudulent claims whichcost Social Security billions peryear. Political leaders also couldaddress the problem of workersin the underground economywhose employers, like theirworkers, do not pay into SocialSecurity. Given the enormousdisparity in American incomes,the cap on those who must paysocial security can be raisedfrom the first $118,000 in in-come to $125,000.
Most troubling about the con-cept of increasing the age of re-tirement is that it reverses posi-
tive reforms. In the last century,America finally established the40- hour workweek. Paid holi-days, sick leave, and vacations,although much shorter than thatin other advanced nations, havebecome employment givens. Asa result, most contemporaryAmericans have considerablymore time to enjoy their family,friends, and activities they con-sider part of “the pursuit of hap-piness,” the promise enshrinedin the Declaration of Indepen-dence that we celebrate everyFourth of July.
Many candidates in the forth-coming election, Democrats aswell as Republicans, are proudlydeclaring they aim to lowerrather than raise our quality oflife. Do we really want to makethe destiny of Americans to beone of working until near death?Is that our new national vision?
SCAROS RESPONDSDan, you raise some very
good points. Let me begin bysaying that this is not a make-or-break issue for me. To put itanother way, my decision, say,about whom to vote for presi-
dent in 2016 would not be basedon whether he or she wants toraise the retirement age or leaveit intact. Nonetheless, as youhave made a strong argumentagainst changing the status quo,I will provide some counterar-guments that ought to be con-sidered.
I, too, believe that people are“younger” today than they wereat the same age generations ago,in more ways than one. I onlyagree with you that “70 is notthe new 60” insofar as I thinkthat 70 is the new 50.
Even though there is morejunk in our food and pollutantsin our air than was the case, say,50 or 100 years ago, the pros faroutweigh the cons: people havean easier life to begin with. Far
fewer infants struggle with life-threatening diseases from themoment of birth, which taxestheir physiological well-beingfrom the onset. As students, theyno longer have to walk miles toget to school – sometimes withholes in their shoes or even bare-foot. Housewives no longer haveto lug grocery bags through thestreets – they have cars, or theyeven buy groceries online. Peo-ple are living longer becausethere is less wear and tear ontheir bodies.
In 1840, William Henry Har-rison was elected president ofthe United States at 68 years ofage – which many people (right-fully, at the time) considered “fartoo old” for the job, and right-fully so. At the time, Americanswere barely living into theirfifties, so 68 back then was like88 today. In an act of foolishmachismo, Harrison chose to si-lence his critics by delivering thelongest inaugural address in his-tory, outside in the bitter cold,wearing just a shirt (no jacket,no overcoat). He developedpneumonia, and the doctorsbungled his care. They “bled”
him – as was the crude practicein those days – yet another indi-cation of how times havechanged for the better. He diedafter only 32 days in office.
Yet today, many of the presi-dential candidates who have de-clared for 2016 or are mulling itover – including perennial fa-vorite Hillary Clinton – are 68or older, and not a peep aboutany of them being too old – evenas the American presidency re-mains, in my view, the moststressful occupation in theworld.
Raising the retirement agefrom 65 to 70 is negligible, asthe 70 year-old of 2015 is in farbetter shape than the 65 year-old in 1933, and will outlive that1933 counterpart by more than
five years, even withthe additional fiveyears in the labor forcebefore retirement.
Sure, there are ex-ceptions. A coal mineror piano mover couldreally use the earlierretirement, but a lot of65 year-olds don’teven want to stopworking. I, for one, donot wish to retire at65, and not because ofnecessity or greed. Be-cause I hope and ex-pect that my mind andbody will be soundenough where if all Idid was sail aroundthe world, I’d getbored after a while.
On the other hand,the benefits of retiringat 70 are plentiful, ifthe added savings tothe federal budget are
utilized wisely. Then, there is something else
to consider: people get a laterstart in life these days. I don’tthink the average 18 year-old to-day is nearly as mature as his orher counterpart 80 years ago.They really don’t fully enter theworkforce until their mid-20snowadays.
That said, raising the mini-mum retirement age by itself isnot a panacea. How about tyingSocial Security to net worth?Does Warren Buffet really needit, for example? And, as you sug-gest, having better working con-ditions overall? Sure, conserva-tives love to mock Greeks andother Europeans for their after-noon siestas, but is our nation,full of employees rushing toplease their masters like ham-sters on a wheel a better alter-native?
For these reasons, raising theretirement age from 65 to 70 isa good and relatively harmlessstart, but one that needs to becomplemented by other labor re-forms.
WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?
Should the U.S. Raise the Retirement Age from 65 to 70?
By Dan Georgakas and Constantinos E. Scaros
From time to time, an issue emerges andinspires various minds to converge, often atodds with one another, to discuss it. Hopefully,collective enlightenment will result from suchconversations. The Ancient Greeks did that in
the Agora, the original marketplace of ideas,and we, their modern-day descendants, aspireto continue that tradition.
We respect one another’s opinion very much,but often times we will disagree on particularissues. We would never fabricate a differenceof opinion for the sake of writing an interestingcolumn.
Rest assured, anything we write here areour sincere, heartfelt thoughts.
We will share them with you every twoweeks. We hope you enjoy them, and we lookforward to your taking part in the discussionas well – by contributing letters to the editor inresponse, and/or commenting on our website:www.thenationalherald.com
Georgakas says raising the minimum retirement age from 65 to 70 would be amistake. Scaros says it is a good and relatively harmless start to much-neededreforms. What’s your opinion?
VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015 11
How’d that Big NO work outfor you SYRIZANs? Unlessthings change – which is a dis-tinct possibility in Greece – andPrime Minister and Looney Leftleader Alexis “Che” Tsipras gavein to the Troika and imposesmore heartless austerity againsthis will, then you can say good-bye to Greece and hello tochaos.
The rabid zealots of SYRIZAand their walking dead follow-ers – who boogied deep into thenight after winning a July 5 ref-erendum in which 61 percent ofGreeks told Tsipras to defy thecountry’s international lenders(but keep Greece in the Euro-zone) – will be doing the LastTango if their leader, El Presi-dente, decided to follow Cheinto the grave and bring Greecewith him.
They were all comrades-in-arms after the referendum,basking in the glow of spittingin Tony Soprano’s face beforeasking him for more money(you know how that alwaysends up).
But once the realized the BigNo meant the banks would stayclosed; Tsipras would likely becoming after a big chunk of theirsavings; pharmacies and super-markets and gas stations wouldrun out of supplies, they’d turnon each other like cannibals.
In case you missed it, Greeceis in default after failing to pay1.6 billion euros ($1.76 billion)to the International MonetaryFund, which, with the EuropeanUnion and European CentralBank makes up the EU-IMF-ECBTroika that has put up 240 bil-lion euros ($263.33 billion) intwo bailouts since 2010 to save
Greece’s economyfrom generations ofwild overspendingand runaway pa-tronage by the NewDemocracy Capital-ists and PASOKAnti-Socialists.
Again, all betsare off if Tsipras re-lented to a last-minute ultimatumto come back to theTroika with thesame, or even moreconcessionary, re-forms that would bejust about prettymuch the same proposal hewalked away from, calling the60-million euro party that camewith the referendum that madeGreeks feel ephemerally goodbefore dying later that day.
Just so people don’t confuseopinion with fact, Greece out ofthe Eurozone would enter theArgentina Zone and follow thatcountry’s path to poverty afterits 2001 default. That is, ofcourse, unless Tsipras pulled adead rabbit out of a hat andconvinced the Troika to givemoney without condition to acountry that can’t pay it back.
What the Troika demanded,and got, was reprehensible be-yond words in what it did toworkers pensioners and thepoor while Greece let politi-cians, the rich and privilegedand tax cheats escape with nearimpunity.
But the Troika didn’t invadeGreece, it was invited in, andwhen you borrow from the mobthe terms are going to be toughand you can’t complain aboutthe vigarish if you like walking
on two straightlegs.
When Ar-gentina defaulted,the people dancedin the streets in de-fiance at thelenders too, but itdidn’t take themlong to bringdown the govern-ment and try tobreak into thebanks keepingtheir money.
Greece wouldbe Argentina Re-dux unless Tsipras
decided he’d do the same as hispredecessors, New DemocracyCapitalist leader Antonis Sama-ras and then-PASOK Anti-Social-ist leader and then-PremierGeorge Papandreou in imposingmore austerity measures.
At stake for Tsipras wasGreece being forced out of theEurozone, back to the drachmaand into economic collapse,chaos, and as France’s centralbank chief warned, riots in thestreets. Nothing like hunger toturn a Big No into a Big Yes.
Unless Greece dealt and gotrelease of a long-delayed 7.2-billion euro ($7.9 billion) in-stallment from the Troika, it wasalso facing having to come upwith 3.5-billion euros ($3.87 bil-lion) to pay the ECB on July 20,which it wouldn’t be able to do.
A Greek exit from the Euro-zone would have far more neg-ative consequences than manyanalysts realize, Domingo Cav-allo, Argentina’s Minister of theEconomy at the time of thatcountry’s default in 2001, toldthe BBC.
“Defaulting not only on theforeign debts but also on the do-mestic debts and all foreign con-tracts at the beginning of 2002was really a tragedy for Ar-gentina,” he said.
After the default, Argentina’sunemployment rate almost dou-bled, the country’s Gross Do-mestic Product (GDP) fell by 11percent and the number of peo-ple living in poverty rose about50 percent. Such is life afterLefty loonies.
Now Greeks have to believethat Tsipras, who said therewouldn’t be a referendum, thebanks wouldn’t close, therewouldn’t be capital controlsand, for the last four monthssaid a deal was coming “any daynow,” would be benevolentwhen the banks go bust and sodid the state coffers. The BigCaveat being he gives in, getsthe money and blames theAmericans, the Europeans, Cap-italists, bankers, Zionists, Ma-sons, Martians and all the otherimaginary enemies SYRIZA andits ilk believe get together everyThursday night over beers tomount more conspiracies.
Tsipras said Greece couldn’tafford to pay debt it built up byborrowing money and he wentway back to Ancient Greece tomake his case that he was right.
“Sophocles taught us that thegreatest of all human laws is jus-tice … and I think that is some-thing we have to remember,”Tsipras said. So let’s go to Aris-totle (no Wally Cox anymore)to block. "In the case of loans,debtors wish their creditors didnot exist.”
All the polling companieshad indicated that the vote onthe Greek referendum waswithin the margin of error. Myown sample poll, binding onlyfor a smallish village in Lefkadapopulated mostly by my rela-tives indicated only a slight ten-dency to vote “No.” I did con-clude, however, that they allbelieved that no matter whatthe result, they lose. They sawthe question as “Vote No if youbelieve the current situation isso bad that the situation cannotpossibly get worse and Yes if youthink it can.” (Apparently Irishbookmakers lost big on the “No”vote.)
Now they expect that nomatter how the referendumturns out, their situation cannotimprove. With a solid “No” voteunder his belt, Alexis Tsipras hasdropped the ball squarely intothe German (AKAEurogroup/ECB) Court. Givenher recent rhetoric, one wouldexpect that German ChancellorAngela Merkel would refuse todeal with an unrepentant GreekPrime Minister and wait for hisreplacement by a politicianmore to her liking.
But the wishful thinking hasended. French PM Francois Hol-lande and Merkel just an-nounced they would meet inParis to discuss this painful turnof events followed by a Eu-rogroup Finance Ministers meet-ing on Tuesday. By the time youread this article certain crucialsteps must have taken place. Itwould appear very unwise torefuse meetings with theGreeks. Greek FM Yanis Varo-ufakis’ resignation will sparethem from having to listen tohim sarcastically say “I told youso.” Nor can they ignore the fearthat the “No” vote may provecontagious to the voters in Spainwho share with Greeks a na-tional proclivity for suicidal re-sponses to insult. Hopefully,Messrs. Juncker, Schaubele andDjesselbloem learned thatthreatening Greek voters was abad idea – and could do thesame in Spain. Mrs. Merkel andMr. Tsipras both overplayedtheir hand. In fairness to theGreek PM a democratic reckon-ing was overdue; but theplebiscite should have been helda month ago.
But the clock is ticking onGreek liquidity and action can-not wait for the outcome of newnegotiations if the Eurogroup
and Greek govern-ment wish to avoidthe tempest. TheGovernor of the Eu-ropean CentralBank, MarioDraghi, must de-cide if he wishes totake personal re-sponsibility forforcing a Greek ex-ist from the Euro-zone. Unlike the in-dependent CentralBanker he claims tobe, Mr. Draghiclosed the ELA (theEuropean LiquidityAssistance Program) lendingwindow to the Greek CentralBank, which, in turn, precipi-tated the institution of capitalcontrols. Draghi did so under or-ders from Germany, hoping tofrighten the Greeks into votingYes. If the ECB fails to act quicklythe Greek banks will have runout euros sometime during thisweek and thus render furtherdiscussions moot. Mr. Draghishould not ask for instructionsfrom the Germans. If history isany indicators, Mrs. Merkel willdither and delay. We should notforget that Mrs. Merkel’s dither-ing in 2010 transformed theGreek bailout from a €50 billionto a €110 billion problem andinjected today’s uncertainty intoEuropean markets.
Unless they consciously in-tend to crash the Greek econ-omy as a lesson to others, theEurogroup table the old offer, a
singularly punitivedocument which ifapplied woulddrive tourism fromGreece by raisingthe VAT, threatensocial stability byfurther reducing in-comes and gut na-tional defense at atime when theM e d i t e r r a n e a nworld is aflame.German FinanceMinister Schaubelerecently hinted atan alternative: aGreek “suspension”
from the Eurozone, the intro-duction of a parallel currencyand an open door for a returnto the fold in the medium termfuture. To accomplish this, theECB must reopen the lendingwindow immediately. If the newFinance Minister and the GreekCentral Bank prove nimbleenough they can organize a sys-tem of IOU’s to pay the Govern-ment’s bigger domestic obliga-tions and provide liquidity forthe local expenses of mostGreeks. Greek bankers provedduring the 2008 financial crisisthat they are a very skillful lotand I believe could manage thetransition efficiently. If this goeswell, tourists should feel rela-tively little inconvenience andbenefit from declining localcosts. However, Tsipras, if he isa statesman, must take his man-date as authority to negotiatepro-growth economic policies
and not continue playing to hisbase. He must address the rootcauses of corruption and cronycapitalism if he wishes to restoreconfidence in the economy.
Greece will not soon exit theEurozone. The Greek Govern-ment, the Eurogroup leadershipand Mrs. Merkel all insist thatthis will not happen. Mrs.Merkel may, in fact, be the onlytruly sincere one of the threesince she does not want herlegacy to include underminingthe Euro. Most important, all ofEurope needs to get the Greekcrisis behind it. The politicalconsequences vis-à-vis the myr-iad of other problems facing theEU, e.g., migrants, Russia andthe Ukraine, a possible Britishexit next year, should give allthe protagonists pause. TheGreeks have at least as much in-terest in seeing those challengesaddressed as any other EU coun-try. The people of Europe, in-cluding Greece, should pray thattheir leaders stop posturing po-litically and seek quick and re-alistic solutions.
The Hon. Ambassador Theros ispresident of the U.S.-QatarBusiness Council. He served inthe U.S. Foreign Service for 36years, mostly in the MiddleEast, and was American Ambas-sador to Qatar from 1995 to1998. He also directed the StateDepartment’s Counter-Terrorism Office, and holds nu-merous U.S. Government deco-rations.
“No” Landslide? Well, that Caught Everyone by Surprise
LETTER FROM “ARGENTINA”
Last Tango in Athens: Tsipras is Dancing with the Devils
by ANDYDABILIS
Special to The National Herald
By Phyllis “Kiki” Sembos
What makes a great person?To find the answer, one must lookto those who have achieved great-ness and analyze why history haschosen to memorialize them.
Many have done deeds worthyof being remembered, praisedand honored. Many had no in-tention of acceding to thoseheights. It just happened; somewith careful planning, some un-expectedly. It is one thing to haveambitions to achieve greatness,and quite another to love only theglory expected with greatness.
Abraham Lincoln was modest,intelligent, and very sensitive to-ward other people’s feelings. Thatis why he is remembered so longand so well. Mahatma Gandhiwas, truly, extraordinary to havegained his country’s freedomwithout guns or fighting – butwith wise words. Franklin DelanoRoosevelt was another great per-son. Eleanor Roosevelt was, to mymind, even greater.
And, those who are chosen bythe people to represent themthrough the voting process shouldhave the people’s welfare in mindbefore their lofty ambitions. Invoting, people bestow their trust,their hopes in that person. It is ahuge responsibility. When suchpersons leave office, they muststep down with grace. They hadtheir time, their moment, andtheir chance to prove what theycan do.
Of course, national issuesdon’t always come out as hoped.But, the elected official who stepsaside should do so with dignityand with the knowledge of havingserved honestly and with princi-ples. A man who truly loves hiscountry shouldn’t lament losinghis crown. Instead, he shouldpledge his allegiance to the pre-sent wearer of the crown andwish him well. That is called be-ing magnanimous. Homer said,“A great mind will neither giveoffence nor bear it.” Of all thevirtues, being magnanimous is hewho recognizes it in others.
Today, Greece is facing a verydifficult time. It isn’t the first time,of course. Where were her friendswhen Turkey caused mass chaosand catastrophe in Asia Minor?Where were her friends whenTurkey grabbed half of Cyprus?
There were leaders then but,none forceful enough to stand upto the silence and indifference onthe other end. Today, the newly-elected officials in Greece, to mymind, are showing their mettle,giving it a good strike. Many inGreece, including politicians, ad-mit to never having known aboutthe robbery of Greece’s gold andother treasures perpetrated byGermany in WWII, the extent ofthe impoverishment, humiliationand destruction. Israel receivedrestitution and continues to re-ceive. Japan and Germany, theenemies, were bailed out after thewar – enough to regain their for-mer economic status. But forGreece – very little assistance!
So, therein arise problemsnever having been resolved. But,when problems are not resolvedquickly, people tend to becomedisenchanted and impatient. Itshould not be. If the elected peo-ple are working, struggling andtrying their best, they should re-ceive everyone’s support. It givesthe government the incentive tokeep struggling.
That support should includeformer leaders. Imagine if NewDemocracy’s defeated Prime Min-ister Antonis Samaras decided tocome forth and pledge his sup-port to the SYRIZA party in theuphill struggle to assist Greece.Imagine if others came forth tovolunteer their services to thecountry they profess to love! In-stead, there are sore-losers andgripers and those who ridiculeand wish the newly-elected ill,mostly, merely for being left.What small minds, indeed!
Imagine if we heard Mr. Sama-ras declare, “I love my countrywith a respect more tender, moreholy, and profound than my ownlife. So, I wish to offer my servicesif requested, in dealing with thosewho have chosen to belittle anddemean us in every way. Our pastis glorious; our presence is in thebalance, our future must be de-fended. Let us put aside uselessambitions, bickering, self-servingattitudes, conceit, and avarice. Letus all now pledge ourselves to liftour glorious land to greater glory.It can be done!” In unity there isstrength. A politician cares onlyabout his party. A statesman caresabout his country.
Statesmen Make Country, NotSelf-Interests, Primary Goal
By Constantinos E. Scaros
The current crisis mode inwhich Greece finds itself con-jures images of a pitiful type ofperson I had long forgottenabout – one who thrived inGreece in decades past – but onewho may see the light of dayagain. I call him: “the uglyGreek-American.” A variation of“the ugly American” knownthroughout the world as thetourist of opulence and arro-gance. But in this case, it is anugly of the Greek variety.
There is that disgusting char-acter trait in some peoplewhere, rather than be humbleand grateful for their good fi-nancial fortune, have an obses-sion about letting others knowhow rich they are. Greek-Amer-icans, in particular, enjoyed do-ing that in decades past. Return-ing to the homeland as theconquering hero, and having themasses wait on him hand andfoot, waiting for a handsome tipin return.
While this went on in, say,the 1970s and 1980s, I was justa kid. The “money” I carriedaround in Greece was whatevermy father would give me, ac-cording to my needs as ateenager. Enough for a coupleof souvlaki kalamakia and aCoca Cola with which to washthem down.
By the time I had “real”money, as an adult, Greece nolonger looked upon Americanswith envious admiration. TheGreeks’ clothing was better, aswere their wristwatches, andcertainly their cellphones. Wewere, by comparison, thefrumpy Americans. And it wasa role that I welcomed. After all,when a guest in someone else’scountry, it is they – not I – whoshould be the big shot.
But now, walking throughthe streets of Greece, conspicu-ously dressed as a tourist – notonly because of my white fedoraand carry-all camera bag, butbecause I don’t own any brightred and blue 100% polyesterFila shirts, or any biker shortsthat say “Brooklyn” on them,even though those who wearthem couldn’t point to Brooklynon a NYC map, even if you tookthe Bronx and Staten Islandaway just to tilt the odds a bit –I am swarmed by those whowant financial help: one euro,half a euro, whatever I canspare.
I know that some of my shal-lower fellow Greek-Americans,devoid of personal character,might relish this role of patron-izing caretaker, but I, for one,find it embarrassing. I don’twant to be seen as “Greece’sCroesus.” I don’t’ want to be“the rich guy” in another per-son’s country. I find somethingdisturbing about being able towalk into someone else’s neigh-borhood and withdraw 500 eu-ros from the ATM while they arelimited to 50. It is just plainwrong.
I hope that Greece can getthrough this crisis and go backto being my well-dressed, nou-veaux-riche relative. So that Ican go back to being the crude,struggling, poorly-dressedAmerican they felt sorry for adecade or two ago. Then, I canenjoy my vacation!
Constantinos E. Scaros’ latestbook, about the 2016 presiden-tial race, will be published thissummer. It is titled Grumpy OldParty: 20 Tips on How the Re-publicans Can Shed theirAnger, Reclaim their Re-spectability, and Win Back theWhite House.
Life as Greece’s Croesus
by AMB. PATRICK N.THEROS
Special to The National Herald
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is pictured at the European Parliament in Strasbourg,eastern France, Wednesday, July 8. Tsipras earned both cheers and jeers as he addressed law-makers at the European Parliament, where he said his country is seeking a deal that mightbring a definitive end to his country's financial crisis, not just a temporary stop-gap.
AP PHOTO/JeAn-FrAncOis bADiAs)
12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 11-17, 2015
