The National HeraldA weekly Greek-AmericAN PublicAtioN

August 26 - September 1, 2017

www.thenationalherald.com$1.50c v

o C VΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ

ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915NEW

S

VOL. 20, ISSUE 1037

10anniversary

nd21915-2017

TNH Staff

LEFKOSIA, CYPRUS – PresidentNicos Anastasiades awarded theOutstanding Contributionmedal to six honorees of theCypriot Diaspora for their con-tribution to the promotion ofthe rights of the Cypriot people,on August 22. The honorees areNikos Mouyiaris, AntonisGerolemou, Andreas Karaolis,Costas Nikolaou, George Lazari,and Tasos Zambas.

Speaking during the cere-mony, President Anastasiadessaid that their country owesthem much and the award isnothing but a small gift for theircontribution.

Speaking at the PresidentialPalace during the reception inhonor of delegates of the WorldConference of the OverseasCypriots (POMAK), the Interna-tional Coordinating CommitteeJustice for Cyprus (PSEKA) andPOMAK Youth (NEPOMAK),Anastasiades noted the "act ofrespect and the obligation of theState towards its citizens, whocontributed and continue tocontribute selflessly and withoutcalculation.

“We honor tonight six of ourdistinguished countrymen whoacted and act on important de-

cision-making centers in the UK,the USA, South Africa, and Aus-tralia, countries with which theRepublic of Cyprus maintainsexcellent relations.”

He continued, saying that thehonorees contributed greatly inshaping their effective orga-nized network in the countries

in which they live, he said, ad-dressing the issue wheneverneed pushes us to seek supportfor a legitimate request.

“Cyprus has huge potentialand offers creative people, asdemonstrated by our sterlingcompatriots who today wehonor, excel everywhere, wher-

ever they live, around theworld,” he said.

Addressing Hellenes abroad,Anastasiades said that “youhave made yourself a perma-nent ambassador of our nationalproblem, our language, our cul-

Anastasiades Awards Six Cypriots of the Diaspora

Honoree Nikos Mouyiaris at the podium spoke on behalf of the six honorees at the reception inhonor of the delegates of the World Conference of the Overseas Cypriots.

By Demetris Tsakas

ORLANDO, FL – Dr. John N.Katopodis was sworn in and of-ficially assumed his duties as the141st President of the FloridaMedical Association. The swear-ing in, as the vice-president ofthe Association, Dr. Alix Millerpointed out during an interviewwith The National Herald, tookplace during the annual meetingof the Association, on August 5at Loews Sapphire Resort atUniversal Orlando and was ex-tremely moving.

Dr. Katopodis’ speech wasdedicated to his parents, Nondaand Georgia, his wife Evi(Paraskevi) and his children,and reminded the audience ofthe major role the family playedin shaping the character of theman and in instilling in him thevirtues and values of Hellenism.

Dr. Katopodis, a cardiologist,spoke touchingly, and the pres-ence of his parents, wife, andtheir children Christina, Nikos,

Dr. KatopodisNew Pres. ofFl. Med. Assoc.

For subscription:

718.784.5255subscriptions@thenationalherald.com

By Zois Marinos

MONTREAL, CANADA – Therecent report by The NationalHerald on the influx of new im-migrants from Greece toCanada, has piqued the interestof the President of the Panhel-lenic Veterinary Association,Athena Trachili, a member ofthe Political Committee of NewDemocracy.

Trachili, told TNH that theso-called brain drain, i.e., theflight abroad of Greeks with im-portant degrees and high-leveleducation, marks the “slowdeath of the country” and thecurrent government’s silence on

TNH InterviewTrachili onBrain Drain

TNH Staff

ATHENS – Having blossomedinto one of the NBA’s mostshown-off young stars after ris-ing from poverty in Greece tothe country’s star basketballplayer, Giannis Antetokounmpo,son of Nigerian immigrants, saidhe can’t play for the nationalteam because of a knee injury, aclaim harshly disputed by theGreek hoop federation.

The Greek organization saidAntetokounmpo was kept fromplaying on the national team inthe Eurobasket tournament be-cause of what it called an “or-ganized and well-staged plan”by the NBA and his team, theMilwaukee Bucks, to protecttheir asset. The league deniedit.

“The NBA and the Milwau-kee Bucks have followed all ap-propriate protocol under theNBA-FIBA agreement,” the NBAsaid in a statement released tothe Associated Press. “Giannishas an injury that has been con-firmed through multiple exami-nations and any suggestion tothe contrary is false.”

The “Greek Freak,” as he isaffectionally called because ofhis above-the-rim skywalkingand all-around versatile play asa shooter, rebounder, shot-blocker and playmaker hadwaved the Greek flag for hisadopted land when he wasdrafted by the NBA and hasbeen one of the country’s bestambassadors but found himselfdeflecting suggestions he wasfaking the injury to protect hiscontract and looming endorse-ments as well.

“The simultaneous report bythe Milwaukee Bucks and Gian-nis Antetokounmpo himself, byphone and social media fromfaraway China, and not by theappropriate official manner, ofhis inability to join the nationalmen’s team saddens us … but isnot surprising,” the federationsaid in the statement.

“A series of indications…hadconvinced us of the existence ofan organized and well-stagedplan by (Antentokounmpo’sNBA) team, with the full knowl-edge if not encouragement ofthe NBA that put the athlete onthe spot and forced him to an-nounce today that he is nolonger part of the men’s nationalteam,” indirectly accusing himof lying and faking the injury.

Takis Tsagronis, the federa-tion General Secretary, told stateTV ERT that a scan revealed noproblems with Antetokounmpo’sknee.

“We, on our side, did every-thing not to give the Bucks anexcuse,” Tsagronis said. “Wetook a magnetic scan of Giannis’leg and it was clean. What theBucks claim is not the reality;something else is happening.”

In his Facebook post, Ante-tokounmpo said he failed tocomplete physicals because ofexcessive pain. Antetokounmpois in China to attend, but not

Greek Hoop FederationSays NBA StagedAntetokounmpo Injury

TNH Staff

Jumping on his enemy mediasoapbox to denounce coverageof his comments about violencein Charlottesville, VA, PresidentTrump put ABC News’ GeorgeStephanopoulos – a former ad-visor to the Clintons – in hiscrosshairs, mocking the one-timeDemocratic operative’s stature,said to be either 5-4 or 5-7.

Continuing his pattern of dis-paraging personal insults againstthose he doesn’t like, Trump sin-gled out ABC and held his handparallel to the ground to illus-

trate Stephanopoulos’ height.The chief news anchor’s

height has reportedly been a sen-sitive subject at ABC News, theBritish newspaper The Daily Mailsaid.

Last month it was reportedthat Good Morning America gota redesigned anchor desk earlierthis summer, with two wide pan-els added to the front side of theset piece so that Stephanopoulos’legs couldn’t be seen dangling.

“GMA initially thought usingan anchor desk with elevatedchairs would help the problem.Still awkward, George's little-

boyish mini-legs were seen dan-gling,” the paper wrote.

Then Trump turned up theheat to the delight of a partisancrowd in Arizona, which cheeredhim on as he went after journal-ists and TV stations and the me-dia in general, citing his usualmantra of “fake news,” as hispopularity continues to plum-met.

“All the networks, I meanCNN is really bad but ABC thismorning- I don’t watch it muchbut I’m watching in the morning

Trump Mocks Anchor Stephanopoulos

The Great American EclipsePeople wearing solar glasses watch the solar eclipse in Falls City, Nebraska. The last total solareclipse to cross the United States was in 1918, the next one will be in 2024.

AP Photo/NAti hArNik

Mike Kentrianakis, Veteran Eclipse Chaser

TNH Staff

NEW YORK – Millions of Amer-icans converged on a narrowcorridor stretching from Oregonto South Carolina to watch themoon blot out the midday sunon August 21 for a wondrouscouple of minutes in the first to-tal solar eclipse to sweep coastto coast in 99 years.

Veteran eclipse chaserswarned the uninitiated to getready to be blown away.

Among those veteran eclipsechasers is Mike Kentrianakis ofthe Amateur Astronomers Asso-ciation of New York and theAmerican Astronomical Society(AAS) Solar Eclipse ProjectManager. Kentrianakis was pro-filed recently in the New YorkTimes along with other expertsabout the extraordinary and his-toric astronomical event.

“This is the most awesomeastronomical event there is, pe-riod. You’ll never ever forget it,”Kentrianakis said as reported inthe Times. He has spent yearspursuing totality, the momentwhen the moon aligns exactlywith the sun and darkness de-scends, traveling around theworld from the jungle inMikongo, Gabon, to the top ofa mountain in Tianhuangping,China, and to the frozen wilder-ness of Svalbard, Norway.

Kentrianakis’ excitement overthe “Great American Eclipse” ledhim to travel, beginning in2015, the coming eclipse’s en-tire path, a total of 3,000 miles,as part of his AAS work, theTimes reported.

The trip was not only to in-spire interest in the eclipseamong the people in the pathof totality, but also to warn themof the coming crowds of eclipsechasers, he has seen over andover wherever a total solar

Says of the rareastronomical event,“You’ll never, everforget it”

Continued on page 7Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis An-tetokounmpo Continued on page 4

Continued on page 3

Continued on page 4

Continued on page 7

Continued on page 2

By Stavros Marmarinos

TAMPA, FL – Rhode IslandState Senator Leonidas Raptakisspoke to The National Heraldabout a variety of issues affect-ing the Greek community.Among them, the very risky sit-uation in the Aegean with thecontinuing Turkish challenges,how Europe does nothing forGreece, about the need for moreand better "bridges" betweenGreece and the US, that theGreek language must be keptabroad, that US investments inGreece must be encouraged,and that the Greeks livingabroad should have the right tovote in Greek elections.

The Greek-American politi-cian returned a few days agofrom Greece, where he partici-pated in the 11th General As-sembly of the World Hellenic In-ter-Parliamentary Association(WHIA) which took place July24-26. From the United States,nine Greek-American politicianstook part. Raptakis is vice-pres-ident of this organization.

Members of the WHIA, com-posed of Greek-born MPs andSenators from various countries,met with the President of theHellenic Republic, ministers,committee officers, other offi-cials, and visited the NATO fa-

cilities on Crete and the 115thCombat Wing of the Hellenic AirForce.

Referring to Turkey, Raptakissaid Congress “blocked” the pur-chase of arms headed to Ankarafor President Erdogan’s body-guards, worth about $1.5 mil-lion, requested to be purchasedfrom a New Hampshire com-pany. “The amount is not big,but the ban is symbolic, afterthe security incidents that theTurkish President caused onMay 16 against protesters out-side the Turkish embassy inWashington,” Raptakis ex-plained.

He further noted that the sit-uation in the Aegean, withAnkara's continued challenges,is “very risky.”

During the discussions ofGreek diaspora MPs and sena-tors in Greece, the financial sit-uation of the homeland and theissues of education were exam-ined.

“Unfortunately, Europe doesnothing for Greece,” said Rap-takis. Speaking in Athens, henoted the constructive role ofAmerica towards Greece. In re-sponse to a Greek MP's obser-vation that Europe is in favor ofGreece, Raptakis told him thatin that case why are they nothelping to “trim” the Greek

debt. “I also said that since Europe

is helping Greece so much, thenwhy are there are no French orGerman warplanes on Lesbos,Chios, Samos, Rhodes,Karpathos, and other Greek is-lands, so that whenever Turkish

Aircraft violate Greek airspace,they can stop them.”

Regarding the visits to Crete,Raptakis pointed out that “wesaid there should be close coop-eration between Greece and theUnited States. America plays amajor role in the Mediterranean

and the Middle East, as isGreece with its geographical po-sition, as well as Cyprus and Is-rael. America needs to supportGreece, not Turkey, and we needto build more and better bridgesbetween the two countries.”

Raptakis is a strong sup-

porter of the Greek language.“It should not be forgotten,” hesaid. “The issue is how to keepthe Greek language in foreigncountries.”

Referring to tourism inGreece, Raptakis supported theneed for daily, if possible, flightsbetween America and Greece,which would help the economyof Greece.

In this regard, he added thatAmerican companies should beencouraged to invest in Greece.“Greek laws should help in this,so we can invest in Greece, fromthe United States, Canada, Aus-tralia, and other countries.”

Raptakis said the companythat owns the Greek grocerystore, Yoleni's, with its flagshiplocation in Kolonaki in Athenshas big expansion plans and ispreparing to open its first storein America and, specifically, inRhode Island.

“We helped them as much aswe could with our state govern-ment to help them begin open-ing such shops,” he noted.

Raptakis also supports thevoting rights of the Greeks livingabroad. “I do not understandwhy the expatriates cannot goto the Greek consulates in Amer-ica and vote in the elections inGreece.”

RI State Senator Leonidas Raptakis Talks to TNH about Greek IssuesCOMMUNITY2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

TH

E NATIONAL HERA

LD

www.thenationalherald.com • www.ekirikas.com

...and now you can follow us on:

We’ve come a long way...Don’t miss...

The National Herald’syearly insert

Coming September 9th!

Study AbroadIN GREECE

The National Herald proudly presents a special issue

devoted to Study Abroad in Greece Programs

on September 9th.

why consider a Study Abroad in Greece Program?

Greece: the cradle of western civilization, the birthplace

of democracy, the Olympic Games, Western Philosophy,

pioneer in fields including biology, geometry, history,

architecture, philosophy, physics, mathematics, poetry,

theater, drama. Creator of ideal beauty. one of the longest

and richest histories compared to any other country.

Numerous are the reasons why someone would consider to

study abroad in Greece. And any blend of these is more

than enough reason to combine learning and leisure in

such a beautiful country. oh, and please don’t forget greek

cuisine... Prepare your palate for an extraordinary

adventure to complete your experience...

By Demetris Tsakas

NEW YORK –The New York CityBoard of Elections removedRocky de la Fuente from the listof Republican Party candidatesfor the office of New York CityMayor, giving the Republicannomination officially to Greek-and Cuban-American New YorkState Assemblymember NicoleMalliotakis.

The Election Commission'srecent hearing announced thatthe millionaire de la Fuente,who came from San Diego, CA,failed to produce even half ofthe signatures required to beplaced on the ballot in New YorkCity.

De la Fuente challenged theCommission and asked for theMalliotakis’ signatures to becounted, but her signatureswere legal, and Malliotakis cancontinue her election campaign.

Nicholas Chamberas, who ispolitical director in the Mallio-takis election headquarters dur-ing an interview with The Na-tional Herald welcomed the factthat Malliotakis can focus on thegeneral election on November7, where she will take on the in-cumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio,who is the leader among the De-mocrats.

When she entered the race,Malliotakis there were alreadythree candidates for the nomi-nation of the Republican Party,including millionaire real estatesales executive Paul Massey,who had started months before

the campaign and until May hadraised more money than Mayorde Blasio.

Massey and the other candi-dates, when they realized thatthe Republican Party was in fa-vor of Malliotakis, withdrewtheir candidacy one by one.

This is considered a very pos-itive development since the Re-

publican Party presents a unitedfront going into the elections onNovember 7.

Four years ago, the primaryelection deprived the Greekcommunity of the opportunityto elect the first Greek-Americanmayor, businessman John Cat-simatidis, who had a strongshowing in his loss of the Re-

publican nomination to JoeLhota.

Chamberas pointed out thatMalliotakis managed to visit theneglected areas of the Republi-can Party of the city to rally thevoters. He said they are makingefforts to raise at least $60,000from contributions of $175 andless in order to receive $1.5 mil-

lion from matching program ofthe Campaign Finance Board.The incumbent mayor has al-ready received $2,579,427fromthe program, which is a recordthus far.

On August 22, Malliotakiswas set to participate in the pub-lic forum with candidates orga-nized by the Queens Tribune at

the St. John’s university, also in-cluding Independent candidateBo Dietl, other Democratic may-oral hopefuls Sal Albanese andRichard Bashner, ComptrollerScott Stringer, candidate forComptroller Michel Faulkner,Public Advocate Letitia James,and Queens Borough PresidentMelinda Katz.

Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, center, with Zaneta Markakos and George Poumakis, in Florida, spoketo TNH about relations between the U.S. and Greece.

tNh/StAvroS mArmAriNoS

De la Fuente out, Path Clears for Malliotakis to Win GOP Nomination

and they have little GeorgeStephanopoulos talking to NikkiHaley,” Trump said, before re-peating the nickname “littleGeorge” who was interviewingthe U.S. Ambassador to the UN– an institution Trump also hasderided – along with many oth-ers on his hit list.

Besides being ABC’s Chief An-chor, Stephanopoulos is a politi-cal correspondent, a co-anchorof Good Morning America, thehost of ABC's Sunday morningThis Week and a regular substi-tute anchor for ABC World NewsTonight.

Prior to his career as a jour-nalist, Stephanopoulos was anadvisor to the Democratic Partyand was a Communications Di-rector for the 1992 Presidentialcampaign of Bill Clinton andthen became White House Com-munications Director. He was

later senior advisor for policyand strategy, before departing inDecember 1996.

As someone who was close toPresident Clinton and his wife,Hillary, the 2016 Democraticnominee he stunned in an un-likely upset, Stephanopoulos wasa target for Trump. The presidentwas apparently upsetStephanopoulos spoke to Haleyabout his speech on the war inAfghanistan before turning herattention back to Charlottesville,without mentioning that he hasflip-flopped after previously say-ing he would dial down Ameri-can involvement but that he nowwants to ratchet it up.

TOUGH QUESTIONStephanopoulos asked Haley

about the president’s remark that“there were very fine people onboth sides,” at the Charlottesvilledemonstration in which whitesupremacists protested and aman authorities said was a Hitleridolator used his car to run over

counterprotesters, killing oneand injuring 20.

“I picked up the phone, and Ihad a private conversation withthe president about Char-lottesville, and it was taken verywell,” Haley told ABC News.

Haley told the anchor thatTrump had clarified his response"so that no one can question thathe's opposed to bigotry and hatein this country,” which the presi-dent tried to do again even afterbeing praised by Ku Klux Klanleader David Duke.

Trump opened his politicalrally in Phoenix with calls forunity and an assertion that “ourmovement is about love.” Thenhe erupted in anger, not love.

He blamed the media for thewidespread condemnation of hisresponse to violence the Virginiarally organized by white su-premacists and shouted that hehad “openly called for healing,unity and love” after the tragedybut claimed he was misrepre-

sented without giving a motive.After that event he had also

railed against the “failing NewYork Times,” “pathetic CNN,”and the The Washington Post,which he called a “lobbying toolfor Amazon.”

He also accused the media ofgiving hate groups a platformand called journalists "dishon-est,” adding, "They're bad people.And I really think they don't likeour country. I really believe that,”discounting veterans amongthem and without stating whyhe thinks they’re opposed to theUnited States.

In Arizona, he reread his ini-tial statement on Charlottesvillefrom a paper he pulled out fromhis suit jacket.

Claiming the criticism overhis responses was unfair, Trumpsaid he condemned the bigotry,hatred, and violence in the“strongest possible terms” in hisfirst statement although, he hadblamed both sides for the trouble

in Virginia.Trump did not read his state-

ment from Aug. 12 in full andleft out his addendum that thehatred, bigotry, and violencecame from “many sides,” thephrase that set off a social mediastorm against him for implicitlyblaming the protesters who wererun over.

Of his media criticism, thepresident told the crowd of thou-sands shoehorned into thePhoenix convention center: “Youknow where my heart is. I’m onlydoing this to show you howdamned dishonest these peopleare.”

Well after his appearance hadended, Trump sent a tweet onhis Twitter account saying: “Notonly does the media give a plat-form to hate groups, but the me-dia turns a blind eye to the gangviolence on our streets.”

.(Material from the AssociatedPress was used in this report)

In Arizona, Trump Mocks Anchor George StephanopoulosContinued from page 1

TNH Staff

DETROIT – Greek-American Pe-ter Karmanos Jr. and his wifeDanialle, philanthropists andmetro Detroit community lead-ers, are donating $1 million forthe Fashion Accessories Design(FAD) program and studentscholarships at the College forCreative Studies (CCS) in De-troit. The school made the an-nouncement on August 16, asCrain’s Detroit Business re-ported.

The donation is a match tosponsorship dollars raised forthe 36th Detroit InternationalWine Auction, chaired by theKaramanoses. The annual event,which takes place on October21, raises money in support ofundergraduate CCS studentscholarships and free art pro-grams for Detroit youth. NinaHolden, vice president of insti-tutional advancement at CCS,said last year's event raised $3.4million, as Crain’s reported.

According to the school’spress release, “The Fashion Ac-cessories Design program wasdeveloped in collaboration withShinola and is the first and onlyof its kind in the Midwest. Theprogram educates students inthe design and manufacture ofproducts such as footwear,handbags, leather goods and ac-cessories hardware. It links

strong creative development toknowledge of manufacturing,trend forecasting, market re-search and merchandising for acomprehensive view of the in-dustry. Fashion accessories de-sign is a $51 billion business an-nually in the U.S. alone.”

The Karmanoses “have in-vested millions of dollars, alongwith their time and energy, sup-porting many causes specificallyrelated to better health, better

education, and better livingwithin the Detroit community,”the release noted.

Shinola/Detroit LLC supportsthe FAD program with dona-tions of leather and other mate-rials, Holden said, as reportedby Crain’s. The A. Alfred Taub-man Center for Design Educa-tion building in New Center isthe home of both Shinola andCCS.

“Peter Karmanos, Jr. is theson of Greek immigrants andbelieves strongly in educationas a tool for success. He is thefounder of Detroit-based Com-puware, and served as CEO andexecutive chairman until his re-tirement in 2013. He is a vision-ary credited with sparking adowntown Detroit renaissanceas the first CEO of a major cor-poration to move their head-quarters downtown. Pete hasbeen a major player in thecomeback of Detroit as a world-class city. His latest businessventure is guiding and investingin businesses impacting metroDetroit’s economic landscapethrough his new enterprise,MadDog Technology as well asother investment vehicles. Healso keeps his competitive juicesflowing as owner of the Na-tional Hockey League’s CarolinaHurricanes,” the press releasestated.

“Our Fashion Accessories De-

sign program is breaking groundin terms of preparing studentsto work in the global fashion in-dustry. This generous gift willhelp us recruit and support themost talented students fromaround the country and theworld, and educate them to bethe next generation of great de-signers," Aki Choklat, professorand chair of the fashion pro-gram, said in the statement an-nouncing the donation.

“Aki Choklat is a brilliant andcreative innovator and CCS islucky to have him," DanialleKarmanos said in the statement.She continued, “Aki’s work iswhat inspired Pete and I to chairthe Wine Auction this year andto engage our fashion-mindedfriends in the Greek Americancommunity, like John Varvatosand Tom Kartsotis, who arepartly responsible for the auc-tion's success this year.”

Danialle Karmanos, a CCStrustee, founded Danialle Kar-manos' Work It Out, which hashelped over 10,000 children re-duce their anxiety through yogaand education concerninghealthy eating. She and her hus-band also donated $5 million tocreate the Karmanos Center forNatural Childbirth at BeaumontHospital, a one-of-a-kind centerthat combines the comfort ofnatural home birth with the se-curity of a medical setting.

Karmanoses Donate $1 Million to Detroit SchoolCOMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 3

TNH Staff

SYOSSET, NY – The followingis the statement of the bishops ofthe Orthodox Church in America- the only self-governing canoni-cal Orthodox Church in NorthAmerica, on the recent events inCharlottesville, VA.

“For by Him all things werecreated that are in heaven andthat are on earth, visible and in-visible, whether thrones or do-minions or principalities or pow-ers. All things were createdthrough Him and for Him. AndHe is before all things, and inHim all things consist. And He isthe head of the body, the church,who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in allthings He may have the preemi-nence.” Colossians 1:16-18

To the Clergy, Monastics andFaithful of the Orthodox Churchin America,

Recent tragic events in Char-lottesville, VA have highlightedthe presence of un-Christianrhetoric and violent actionswithin our communities. At thesame time, the response to theseevents by our civil leadership hasunleashed a nationwide debatethat has created a certain moralambiguity, which in turn is fos-tering further division. Such a cli-mate requires a clear responsefrom the Church.

The Holy Synod of Bishops ofthe Orthodox Church in Americajoins people of faith and goodwill across the United States,Canada, and Mexico in unequiv-ocally, unreservedly and unam-biguously rejecting words and ac-tions which perpetrate, supportor encourage hatred, violence,racism, white supremacy, whitenationalism or neo-Nazism. AsOrthodox Christians, we believethat every human being is a childof God, created in His image andlikeness, and therefore we are allbrothers and sisters whatever ourrace, nationality or creed.

At the same time, we also re-ject the climate of condemnationof the individuals carrying outthese heinous activities. Indeed,Jesus rebuked his disciples whenthey suggested that he violentlyretaliate against his enemies.“You do not know what mannerof spirit you are of. For the Sonof Man did not come to destroymen’s lives but to save them.”(Luke 9:55-56). The Church of-fers to all – without exception –not condemnation but a path toforgiveness and peace in Christ.

As the Orthodox prayer ofconfession says: “O Lord God, theSalvation of Thy servants, gra-cious, bountiful and long-suffer-ing, who forgives us concerningour evil deeds, and desires notthe death of a sinner, but ratherthat he should turn from his wayand live: Show Thy mercy uponThy servants and grant untothem an image of repentance,

forgiveness of sins, and deliver-ance, pardoning their everytransgression, whether voluntaryor involuntary…”

We reject hatred and violence,and as Orthodox Christians weare also committed to the min-istry of reconciliation. We encour-age our clergy and faithful tohold fast to the Christian messageof healing, salvation and love of-fered by Christ, who is the Way,the Truth and the Life. At thesame time, we exhort our clergyand faithful to reject any at-tempts by individuals or groupsto claim for themselves the nameof “Orthodox Christian” in orderto promote racism, hatred, whitesupremacy, white nationalism orneo-Nazism. This is in keepingwith the Holy Gospels, the deci-sions of the Holy Councils andthe experience of the Saints.

We remind the faithful thatthe Orthodox Church in Americadoes not restrict membership tothose of a particular race or na-tionality and has historically wel-comed all, going back to theAlaskan Mission which embracedthe indigenous peoples of thatland and continuing to this dayin the multicultural and multi-ethnic context of North America.

Brothers and sisters, SaintJustin Martyr, writing at a timewhen Christians were persecutedin the second century, said, "Weused to hate and destroy one an-other and refused to associatewith people of another race orcountry. Now, because of Christ,we live together with such peopleand pray for our enemies." Maythat same spirit be ours today aswell.

With our paternal love andblessings,

The Most Blessed TIKHON,Archbishop of Washington, Met-ropolitan of All America andCanada

The Most ReverendNATHANIEL, Archbishop of De-troit and the Romanian Episco-pate The Most Reverend NIKON,Archbishop of Boston, New Eng-land and the Albanian Archdio-cese

The Most Reverend BEN-JAMIN, Archbishop of San Fran-cisco, and the Diocese of the West

The Most Reverend ALEJO,Archbishop of Mexico City andthe Diocese of Mexico

The Most ReverendMELCHISEDEK, Archbishop ofPittsburgh and the Diocese ofWestern Pennsylvania

The Most Reverend MARK,Archbishop of Philadelphia andthe Diocese of Eastern Pennsyl-vania

The Most Reverend IRÉNÉE,Archbishop of Ottawa and theArchdiocese of Canada

The Most ReverendMICHAEL, Archbishop of NewYork and the Diocese of New Yorkand New Jersey

The Most Reverend ALEXAN-DER, Archbishop of Toledo, Dal-las, the South and the BulgarianDiocese

The Right Reverend DAVID,Bishop of Sitka and Alaska

The Right Reverend PAUL,Bishop of Chicago and the Mid-west

Bishops of the OrthodoxChurch in America onCharlottesville

and Nonda, as well as mother-in-law Chrysanthi Nikolaou andsisters-in-law Demis, Cleopatra,and Michelle, who sat in thefirst row, made the ceremonyeven more moving.

Most of the was about hisgrandfather, Pericles Katopodis,who was a doctor and managedto save thousands of lives, aswell as his own father in the dif-ficult years of the German oc-cupation and the Greek CivilWar. Katopodis’ father in 1955,convinced that there was no fu-ture for him and his children inGreece, boarded a boat and setoff for Halifax, Canada, havingonly $18 in his pocket and hisdegree in chemical engineering,Katapodis told TNH.

He got a job at a meat factoryas a quality controller and withhis efforts managed to bring hiswife and two children toCanada. Although married withtwo children, he decided to un-dertake postgraduate studies atMcGill University.

His master’s in chemical en-gineering allowed him to cometo the United States legally, andthe family settled in Stamford,CT. His father worked at theMemorial Sloan Kettering Hos-pital. Over the years, he set uphis own laboratories under thename "Dianon" (DiagnosticNonda) where he and his wifeworked as lab technicians.

After a few years, it was ac-quired by Lab Corp for over halfa billion dollars.

Referring to his parents' pas-sion for education, Katopodisalso pointed out that they fullycovered the costs and the tuition

fees in cash for both himself andhis older brother Pericles and toattend the University of Penn-sylvania.

Katopodis referred to the roleof the Florida Medical Associa-tion and to what he has learnedover the last 15 years as an ac-tive member.

A special performance by thedance group of St. KatherineGreek Orthodox Church of Mel-bourne, FL was a highlight ofthe event.

Katopodis was elected presi-dent at the previous assembly,

his term is one-year and ends in2018.

The presidency of the Asso-ciation is co-chaired by thenewly elected president, Dr.Corey Howard, who will takeover the presidency next Augustfor the year 2018-2019, vicepresident Dr. Ronald Giffler, thesecretary, Dr. Michael Patete,and Treasurer Dr. Jason Gold-man, among others.

Dr. Miller praised the Greek-American President's speech andnoted that he would undoubt-edly do his best for the Florida

Medical Association, which ismade up of over twenty thou-sand doctors.

Dr. Katapodis practices inTallahassee, FL. He graduatedfrom New York UniversitySchool of Medicine in 1984 andhas been in practice for 33years. He completed a residencyat University of Michigan HealthSystem.

He is a member of the South-ern Medical Group in Tallahas-see, and also teaches at the Uni-versity of Florida School ofMedicine.

We reject hatred andviolence, and are alsocommitted toreconciliation.

Peter Karmanos, Jr.GreGG Forwerck/cAroliNA hurricANeS

Dr. John Katopodis, New Pres. Florida Med. Assoc.Continued from page 1

Left to right: Outgoing president Dr. David Becker, Dr. John Katopodis sworn in as the newPresident of the Florida Medical Association with his wife Evi (Paraskevi) by his side.

Are You A True Orthodox?When Will You Become One?

Are you an Orthodox according to Jesus or according to the Devil? Jesus is the Only PerfectOrthodox. He lived holy, never sinned, and obeyed God the Father perfectly. How about you?Are you that kind of Orthodox like Christ? He is your Lord and Savior. The Devil disobeyed Godand continued in sin. That’s why we call him the Devil. So what about you? Do you disobeyGod? Do you continue in sin? If so, who are you? Can we call the Devil an Orthodox? Can we?No way! But if you do what the Devil does then who are you trying to fool? God, the others, orme? Technically you are only fooling yourself because if you do not truly repent and truly changefrom a sinner to become a holy person in Christ, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.You are going, for sure, to hell. Have you ever read what Christ said? Here it is, let me put it infront of your eyes. Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone that calls me ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the king-dom of Heaven, only those that DO the will of my Father.” Do you understand what Christ said,that you cannot go to heaven unless you do what God tells you to do? Nobody else? God only?God gave you life, and you live in His property. He is the boss of all His children. None of Hischildren can become the boss to take His place. The Devil tried and he was kicked out from Hiskingdom. God sent Jesus so we can understand that God is the boss, and His will must be donealways, forever, not my will, not your will, and not anybody else’s. We must understand thatand not let the demons nor any man to fool us. This is extremely important. This is what Jesussaid to the Devil, “You will not live by bread alone but by ever Word that proceeds from themouth of God,” Matthew 4:4. This is the greatest responsibility for our lives so that we can besure what God wants and to obey Him. Even Jesus Himself spoke about and proved that. Hereis what true Orthodoxy says, John 5:19, “…The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seesthe Father do, for what things he does, these also do the Son likewise.” Did anybody else tellyou what Christ said about His perfect faith? Has any religious person ever told you this? Doyou understand that there is no other faith to follow? Do you understand we need Jesus’ faith,which is the perfect faith? Do you understand that this kind of true Orthodoxy began from JesusChrist and not from people during the Byzantine Empire? Do you understand that Jesus doesnot permit sin? Do you understand that people during the Byzantine Empire started this kindof Orthodoxy which permits you to follow a different kind of faith? Faith which you continue todisobey God; Faith to continue in sin. And yet you still get to be called “Orthodox” meaning thebest faith? Does this prove to be insanity? I want to say to the devil, to the demons, and to any-body else that to disobey God while continuing in sin is the faith of the Devil, not the faith ofJesus Christ! If you want to become a True Orthodox according to Christ, you must start to com-pletely and perfectly obey the teachings of Jesus. And that teaching of Christ is the Wisdom ofGod. It is the pure Word of God which is the perfect education for you, me, and anybody any-where. It will help you become a True Orthodox and have the best faith, the perfect kind offaith, the faith of Jesus. Amen.

With Christ’s Love,

Niko MAN OF GODsent by Christ, to evangelize the world with the wisdom of God.

Email us: ETWCMinistry@outlook.com8075 Broadview Rd., Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147 •(440) 759-6494

Advertisement

complete Speak Greekin 2 months

phonetic course:

1. Speak Greek in 2 months

2. english-Greek Dictionary

3. Greek Dialogues, Phrases, basic Grammar

4. visual Aids (no charge)total cost for books: $ 80.

cost for private lessons: email

Speakgreeknow@aol.com Website: www.speakgreeknow.com

a b

HELEN DUMAS

Special Features:1) Phonetic, accelerating method2) Personalized3) Simple, easy, quick, affordable4) Private lessons by phone or skype

instructor: helen Dumas

Authority in teaching Greek as 2nd language

- Native of Greece; uclA credentialed teacher- Director of Greek education

and culture of western u.S. 33 years.- Nationally recognized as "the teacher

of the year in uSA" twice- internationally recognized

by the Greek government three times. - From the Greek orthodox church in America,

helen was awarded "the medal of Saint Paul" - the highest honor!

Speak Greekin 2 months coursestarts 10/2/17

SPEAK GREEK in 2 MONTHSTEENS/ADULTS - WITH PROFESSIONAL TEACHER

COMMUNITY4 THE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

n THRU OCTObER 3ASTORIA – Greek Nights atAthens Square Park, 30th Avenueand 30th Street in Astoria, pre-sents live music every Tuesdayat 7 PM, July 11-October 3.Panos Adamopoulos and GeorgeDelis, 2017 Program Directors.Free admission. Upcoming per-formers: Aug. 29- Laiki Compa-nia; Sept. 5- Grigoris Maninakis,Mikrokosmos; Sept. 12- Julie Zi-avras and Kostas Psaros; Sept.19- Nisafi Band; Sept. 26- Pan-cyprian Choir of NY, directorPhytos Stratis; and Oct. 3- Hel-lenic Voices of Long Island. Moreinformation is available onlineathenssquarepark.org.

n AUGUST 24-27PORT JEFFERSON, NY – As-sumption Greek OrthodoxChurch, 430 Sheep Pasture Roadin Port Jefferson, invites you tothe annual Greek Festival/Raffle.Hours: Thursday, Aug. 24, 5-10PM; Friday, Aug. 25, 5-11 PM;Saturday, Aug. 26, 1-11 PM; andSunday Aug. 27, 1-10 PM. Enjoythe food and fun plus a spectac-ular fireworks show on Fridayand Saturday. More informationis available online at: portjeff-greekfest.com and by phone:631-473-0894.

n AUGUST 25-27FRESNO, CA – The 57th AnnualFresno Greek Fest takes place onthe grounds of St. George GreekOrthodox Church, 2219 N. Or-chard in Fresno (SW corner ofFirst & Clinton) Aug. 25-27. En-joy fun, food and entertainment.There will be over 30 GreekThemed vendors and excitingnew additions to the Festival:Cooking demonstrations, ex-panded kids’ play area with wa-ter slides, Youth Olympics, arttours with noted art experts, con-venient handicap parking, shut-tle service, and Greek wine tast-ing. Admission: $6 for Adults,Seniors (65+) & Children (un-der 12) are free! Hours: Friday,Aug. 25 – 4pm-Midnight, Satur-day, Aug. 26 – 11am-Midnight,Sunday, Aug. 27 – 11AM-6PM.More information is available byphone: 559-233-0397 and onlineat: fresnogreekfest.com.

n AUGUST 26-27MANCHESTER, NH – Assump-tion Greek Orthodox Church,111 Island Pond Road in Man-chester, holds its annual GreekFestival Aug. 26-27. Hours: Sat-urday, Aug. 26- 11 AM - 9 PMand Sunday, Aug. 27- 11 AM - 7PM More information is availableby phone: 603-623-2045 and on-line at: assumptionnh.org.

n AUGUST 26-27HONOLULU, HI – Saints Con-stantine and Helen Greek Ortho-dox Cathedral of the Pacificholds its 36th Annual Greek Fes-tival at McCoy Pavilion at AlaMoana Beach Park, 1201 AlaMoana Blvd in Honolulu, onAug. 26-27, 12 Noon- 9 PM withlive music, dancing, Greek foodand marketplace. General Ad-mission is $3, children 11 andunder and active military- free.Wear a Toga and get in for only$1. More information is availableby phone: 808-521-7220 and on-line at: greekfestivalhawaii.com.

n SEPTEMbER 1-4ORANGE, CT – The 37th AnnualGreek Festival Odyssey 2017 atSt. Barbara Greek OrthodoxChurch, 480 Race Brook Road inOrange, takes place on LaborDay Weekend, Sept.1-4. Hours:Friday-Sunday noon-10 PM, andMonday noon-7 PM. Admission

is free. Enjoy the pantheon ofculinary delights, dance to therhythmic beats of our Greek mu-sic, and allow yourself to 'travel'to Greece and experience itsbeauty here in Orange. More in-formation is available online at:saintbarbara.org and by phone:203-795-1347.

n SEPTEMbER 2-4BELMONT, CA – Belmont GreekFestival Church of the HolyCross, 900 Alameda de las Pul-gas at Ralston Avenue in Bel-mont, takes place on Labor DayWeekend, Sept. 2-4, Saturdayand Sunday: Noon - 10 PM,Monday: Noon - 8 PM. Greekfoods including lamb, chicken,gyros, spanakopita, desserts-loukoumades, baklava, etc. Liveband, folk dancers and singers,Taverna, mythology play, cook-ing demos, bookstore, churchtours, Agora white elephantroom, children's entertainer,bouncy houses, and games. Freeadmission between Noon and 2PM on Saturday and MondayOnly. At other times: General Ad-mission: $5, Seniors & Youth(13-17): $2.50, Children (12 &under): Free with an adult. FunZone for children open fromNoon - 7 PM. The Agora- ourWhite Elephant Room, openfrom Noon - 6 PM. Parking andfree shuttle service available.More information available atgoholycross.org/Festival/ and byphone 650-591-4447.

n SEPTEMbER 2-4LONG BEACH, CA – The As-sumption of the Blessed VirginMary’s 68th Annual Long BeachGreek Festival By the Sea, 5761E Colorado Street, takes place onLabor Day Weekend, Sept. 2-4,noon to 9 PM each day. Join usfor Greek food and homemadesweets, beer and wine, carnivalrides, and specialty shops. Moreinformation is available onlineat www.lbgreekfest.org and byphone: 562-494-8929.

n SEPTEMbER 6SAN DIEGO, CA – The San DiegoPadres would like to invite theGreek Community to be a partof the Padres' 1st Annual GreekNight at Petco Park, 100 ParkBlvd, on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at7:10 PM. Tickets only $20.25each (field level 135). Arriveearly to enjoy an on-field cere-mony where a few representa-tives from the Greek Communitywill be honored and a GreekNight performance at Park at thePark before the game. Yourticket includes: heavily dis-counted field level ticket, accessto view pre-game performance,group scoreboard message, anda chance to win 4 field level tick-ets to a mutually-agreed upongame for the 2018 season! Moreinformation and tickets availableonline at:www.groupmatics.events/#/event/Greek4

n SEPTEMbER 8-10BOULDER, CO – Saints Peter &Paul Greek Orthodox Church,5640 Jay Road, holds its annualGreek Festival- A Taste of Ortho-doxy. Enjoy authentic food, beer,and wine, live Greek music withJesse Manno and Friends, danc-ing performances, church tours,Byzantine Choir Singing, books,icons, gifts, and free admissionand parking. Hours- Friday, Sept.8, 5-10 PM; Saturday, Sept. 9,11 AM-10 PM; and Sunday, Sept.10, 11 AM-5PM. More informa-tion is available online atwww.tasteoforthodoxy.org andby phone: 303-581-1434.

GOINGS ON...

the subject or tendency todownplay the situation in orderto reinforce its argument that“things are being corrected inGreece” when the reverse is trueabout the economic and socialsituation.

“The reality is exactly whatTNH described. And in my opin-ion, perhaps, a little worse,” saidTrachili, adding that prolongedunemployment, lack ofprospects, and the uncertaintyexperienced by many young sci-entists and scholars, are pushingmany of them to look for a way

out abroad, with first choicecountries where they can findrelatives, friends, colleagues, orjust an invitation to work withdecent pay and professional sta-bility.

“Until recently in Greece wesaid that every family had anunemployed person. Now, un-fortunately, we say every familyhas a new immigrant,” notedTrachili. As President of the Pan-hellenic Veterinary Associationand head of one of the fourhealth representative bodies ofthe country (the other three arethe Panhellenic Associations ofDoctors, Dentists, and Pharma-

cists), Trachili has a clear pictureof the flight of thousands ofGreek healthcare professionalsabroad from 2011 and after.

For example, the Medical As-sociation of Athens has issuedmore than 9,500 certificates toits member doctors who decidedto leave abroad from 2010 untilthe end of 2016. The top desti-nation was Great Britain, fol-lowed by Northern and CentralEuropean countries, and alsothe United States or Canada.

“As far as veterinary sur-geons are concerned, I can tellyou that the certificates we haveissued in recent years, for col-leagues who have chosen tolook for their future beyond theborders, are more than 350.And with an upward trend,”Trachili said.

Most Greek vets choosecountries such as Great Britain,the United States, Saudi Arabia,and Dubai, as well as countriesin Northern Europe, where theworking conditions for their sci-

entific specialization are morecomfortable and more reason-able than the suffocating envi-ronment in Greece, where con-tributions, taxes, and other costsabsorb the bulk of their meagerincome.

Trachili has roots in Achaiaand Aitoloakarnania. She has agood knowledge of what is hap-pening in these two areas ofWestern Greece. “I do not hideit. I hear it almost every day, inthe cities or in the countryside,about someone who has left oris about to leave. Most children,I feel, follow the urge of theirparents to tell them that underthe current conditions there isno future in Greece. And theyseek, through relatives andfriends abroad, a first helpinghand until they can stand ontheir feet there and gain inde-pendence. That's why I was im-pressed by your report thatmade this point,” through testi-monies of various HellenesAbroad.

eclipse occurs. Kentiranakisnoted, “this is two years out.They didn’t know what wascoming. We knew. No one canpredict the future, except for aneclipse chaser.”

Planetariums and museumshave already posted "sold out ofeclipse glasses" on their frontdoors. Signs along highways re-minded motorists of "SolarEclipse Monday," while cars borethe message "Eclipse or Bust,”the Associated Press reported.

With 200 million peoplewithin a day's drive of the pathof totality, towns and parksbraced for monumental crowds.This is expected to be the mostobserved, most studied andmost photographed eclipse ever.Not to mention the most festive,what with all the parties.

In Salem, OR, a field outsidethe state fairgrounds was trans-formed into a campground inadvance of an eclipse-watchingparty for 8,500. "It's one of those'check the box' kind of things inlife," said Hilary O'Hollaren,who drove 30 miles from Port-land with her two teenagers anda tent, plus a couple friends.

Astronomers consider a fullsolar eclipse the grandest of cos-mic spectacles.

The Earth, moon and sunline up perfectly every one to

three years, briefly turning dayinto night for a sliver of theplanet. But these sights nor-mally are in no man's land, likethe vast Pacific or the poles. Thiswill be the first eclipse of thesocial media era to pass throughsuch a heavily populated area.

The last coast-to-coast total

eclipse in the United States wasin 1918.

In fact, the U.S. mainlandhasn't seen a total solar eclipsesince 1979 – and even then,only five states in the Northwestexperienced total darkness be-fore the eclipse veered inCanada. The 1979 eclipse was

the one that began Kentrianakis’obsession.

Kentrianakis shared his firsttotal solar eclipse experiencewith the Times. In 1978, at age14 on Long Island, he read anarticle in a local newspaperabout an exhibition to Mani-toba, Canada, to observe theeclipse on February 26, 1979.The article noted that there wasone seat available to join the re-search team. Kentrianakis’ par-ents gave him permission to callthe team and they invited himalong for the trip to snowy Lun-dar, Manitoba. Researcher FredHess’ excitement at the time wasunforgettable for Kentrianakisduring the eclipse.

“He’s reading it out and he’slosing control. He goes, ‘Look!Look! Look! Look!’,” Kentri-anakis noted about Hess’ count-down to totality, as the Timesreported. The overwhelmingsight took just 2 minutes and 47seconds, but made an indelibleimpression on the young Ken-trianakis.

“I’m looking at this corona inthe sky and thinking, ‘Wow, thisis really strange and beautiful,’”he said, the Times reported.

Monday's total eclipse willcast a shadow that will racethrough 14 states, entering near

Material from the AssociatedPress was used in this report.

TNH Staff

OMAHA, NE – Connected to theeclipse of the sun, this year'sthree-day festival of the historicGreek Orthodox Church of St.John the Baptist in Omaha, hasbeen held for over 40 years. Thefestival, which took place Au-gust 18-20, attracts thousandsof visitors every year.

However, this year there wasanother reason to join the greatannual Greek festival of Omaha.The so-called "Greek eclipse",i.e. the identification of a long-awaited astronomical phenom-enon with the events of thisyear's festival.

Since August 18, many peo-ple have flocked to the festivalthat combines Greek tradition,music and flavors, Greek cul-ture, and Orthodoxy.

The festival was hosted in aspace near the Church of St.John the Baptist, one of themost historic Greek Orthodoxchurches in North America. InOmaha, the Greek communityhas been active since 1904, andalready by 1907 more than2,000 Greeks lived in the sur-rounding area, mainly concen-trated on the southern side ofthe city.

In 1909, 32 Greek-owned en-terprises were registered, and atabout the same time, the

Church of St. John the Baptistbegan operating in its first loca-tion. Today, the presiding priestis Father Peter Pappas.

The Greek festival of Omahaalso attracted the interest of localNebraska media. The website

3newsnow.com refers to the"Greek eclipse" as well as to thevariety of traditional dishes avail-able to the visitors, prepared withthe help of the many volunteerswho contribute their time and ef-forts each year to the festival.

In the context of the Omahafestival, visitors had the oppor-tunity to get to know the GreekOrthodox church, which is inthe Byzantine style, throughtours of the interior and com-mentary about its history andits contribution to preservingnot only the faith but also theGreek identity in the region.

Preparations for the festivalstart months in advance. Duringthe three-day celebration, atten-dees had the opportunity tolearn Greek traditional dances.There was also a small marketwith souvenirs, pictures, clothes,handicrafts, and more.

This year’s excellent atten-dance was helped by particu-larly good weather. And, ofcourse, the inexhaustible funthroughout the events. Specialcare was given to the youngergeneration with a lot of activi-ties for children as well.

"One of the secrets of the suc-cess of the festival is traditionalhomemade flavors, food andsweets, thanks to the valuablehelp of our volunteers," the or-ganizers report on their website.

It continues, “Many of thesevolunteer cooks and bakers of-ten use recipes that can betraced to their great-grandpar-ents and are characteristic of themainland and islands ofGreece.”

Festival, Greek Eclipse in Omaha Draws Crowd

Omaha's St. John the Baptist Church.

PRINTED EDITION OF THE NATIONAL HERALD

vIA THE POST-OFFICE: o1 month $11.00 o3 months $22.00

o6 months $33.00 oone year $66.00

vIA HOME DELIvERy (Ny, NJ & CT): o1 month for $14.00 o3 months for $33.00 o6 months for $48.00 oone year for $88.00

vIA HOME DELIvERy (New England) o 1 month for $18.00 o 3 months for $41.00 o 6 months for $57.00o one year for $109.00

ON LINE SUbSCRIPTION o one year for $88.99 www.thenationalherald.com

SPECIAL PACKAGE SUbSCRIPTIONSmail & Digital: $107.87home Delivery (Ny,NJ,ct) & Digital $133.87home Delivery (mA, Nh) & Digital $149.95

NAme: ................................................................................ADDreSS: ............................................................................city:.......................................StAte:.............ZiP: ..............tel.: .......................................cell: ....................................e-mAil: ................................................................................PLEASE SEND A GIFT SUbSCRIPTION TO:NAme: ................................................................................ADDreSS: ............................................................................city:.......................................StAte:.............ZiP: ..............tel.: .......................................cell: ....................................e-mAil: ................................................................................Please specify method of paymenti enclose a check/money order for $ .................................made payable to: The National Herald, Inc., 37-10 30th Street, Long Island City, NY 11101 - 2614or please debit my o mastercard o visa

o American express

cArD Number: .................................................................exPirAtioN DAte: ...........................................................SiGNAture: ........................................................................

Facebook/omaha’s original Greek Festival

Mike Kentrianakis, Eclipse Chaser on Historic Event Continued from page 1

Colton Hammer tries out his new eclipse glasses from the ClarkPlanetarium in Salt Lake City in preparation for the eclipse.Eye doctors urge strict adult supervision for eclipse watchersunder 16 years old.

Scott G wiNtertoN/the DeSeret NewS viA AP

a b

T: 973.278.2800, F: 973.278.7943 |www.kontos.com

Kontos Foods, Inc. | Po box 628 Paterson, NJ 07544find us on

/ Kontos Foods

MEDITERRANEAN FOODS

FLATBREAD

• Over 50 Varieties of Flatbreads• Mediterranean Pastries• Ethnic Meats & Imported Foods

SPECIALDISCOUNTSOFFERED TO:Communities, Organizations, Church Festivals and Other Events

The Original Pocket-Less Pita®

We Are Flatbread TM

Trachili Talks to TNH about Brain Drain in GreeceContinued from page 1

Athena Trachili, President of the Panhellenic Veterinary Asso-ciation and member of the Political Committee of New Democ-racy.

courtesy of Athena trachili

sub

scri

be

By Eleni Sakellis

August 27 is the feast day ofSaint Fanourios the Martyr. Tra-ditionally, on the day before thesaint’s feast day, fanouropita isbaked and taken to church forblessing at the Great Vespers,the evening service, for thesaint. At the conclusion of theservice, the fanouropites areshared among those in atten-dance. According to tradition,at least nine people should havea piece of the delicious and nis-tisimo cake.

Saint Fanourios the Martyr isalso known as the Newly-Foundsince his icon was first discov-ered in the year 1500 on the is-land of Rhodes. The icon de-picted the saint in the garb of aRoman soldier holding a crossof martyrdom in his left handand a lit candle in his right handalong with twelve scenes fromhis martyrdom. From his cloth-ing and the severity of the tor-tures he suffered as a Christianat the hands of the Romans,Saint Fanourios is thought tohave lived some time in the sec-ond or third century A.D. Thesaint is often called upon to helpfind lost things after which a

fanouropita isbaked and sharedas a thanks-offer-ing.

Among themany churches inthe New York area,Holy Cross GreekOrthodox Churchof Whitestone’sGreat Vespers ofSaint Fanouriosand the blessing ofthe fanouropitesbegins at 7 PM onAugust 26. The Di-vine Liturgy onSaint Fanourios’Day takes place onthe 27th, begin-ning with the Or-thros at 7:30 AM.

The followinge a s y - t o - m a k erecipe to share and enjoy inhonor of Saint Fanourios can bemodified to personalize thecake.

Fanouropita3 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour1 cup sugar1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 teaspoon Greek sea salt1 1/3 cups orange juice1 cup Greek extra virgin oliveoil1/2 cup ouzo1 cup chopped walnuts1 cup raisinsSesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 de-grees. Grease a 13 by 9-inchbaking pan with oil, dust lightlywith flour, and set aside. In alarge bowl, whisk together theflour, sugar, baking powder,baking soda, cinnamon, andsalt. Make a well in the centerand add the orange juice, oliveoil, and ouzo. Stir until justcombined. Fold in the walnutsand raisins. Pour the batter intothe prepared baking pan andsprinkle with sesame seeds.Bake for one hour or until askewer or cake tester insertedin the center comes out clean.Cool completely and cut intosquares or diamond shapes toserve.

If preferred, cognac, such asMetaxa, can be substituted forthe ouzo, chopped almonds forthe walnuts or half walnuts andhalf almonds, golden raisins or

dried cranberries for the raisins,and slivered almonds for thesesame seeds. Powdered sugarcan be used instead of sesameseeds as a topping for the cake,just omit the sesame seeds andallow the cake to cool com-pletely before sifting the pow-dered sugar over the cake. If us-ing powdered sugar as atopping, use only 1/2 cup ofsugar in the cake recipe.

Saint Fanourios the Martyrand the Fanouropita

GREEK GASTRONOMYOUR EVERYDAY GREEK

By Dr. Dimitra Pontoporou

MAIN PHRASES

1. WELCOME GREETINGSUpon arrival your relatives in Greece will welcome you with

one of the phrases below. Note that they all have the same mean-ing.

Καλώς τον/την (kaLOS ton/teen), καλώς ήρθες (kaLOS EErthes),καλώς όρισες (kaLOS Orises)= welcome for one person.

Καλώς τους (kaLOS toos), καλώς ήρθατε (kaLOS EErthate), κα-λώς ορίσατε (kaLOS oREEsate)= welcome for many persons.

Your response:Καλώς σε βρήκαμε (kaLOS SE VREEkame) is the response to

welcome, when we meet one person.Καλώς σας βρήκαμε (kaLOS SAS VREEkame): is the response to

welcome, when we meet many persons.

Try to match the phrases in English with their translation inGreek:1. Καλώς τη Μαρία! 1. Petros, welcome!2. Καλώς τον Πέτρο! 2. Nice to see you!3. Καλώς ήρθατε! 3. Welcome, Maria!4. Καλώς σας βρήκαμε! 4. Welcome (many persons)!

2. INTRODUCTIONSPappou and yiayia love to introduce their relatives to their

friends. When introduced to someone, we can use one of thesetwo phrases:Χαίρω πολύ! (HΕro poLEE) Nice to meet you!Τι κάνετε; (TEE KAnete?) How do you do?

Give your response in Greek, when introduced to a friend, some-one’s grandpa or grandchildren, like in the given example:

Αυτός είναι ο Πέτρος. Χαίρω πολύ!

1. Αυτός είναι ο φίλος μου.2. Αυτός είναι ο Δημήτρης.3. Αυτός είναι ο εγγονός μου.4. Αυτή είναι η εγγονή μου.5. Αυτός είναι ο παππούς μου.

3. KERASMA (OFFERING A DRINK)Pappou will invite you to the kafenio to offer you drinks. Try to

match the phrases in English with their translation in Greek:

1. Καλώς τα παιδιά. 1. Maria, I will buy you some orangejuice.

2. Θα σε κεράσω ένα φραπέ. 2. What shall I offer you?3. Μαρία, θα σε κεράσω μία πορτοκαλάδα. 3. Welcome, guys.4. Τι θα σας κεράσω; 4. I will buy you a frappe.

4. AT GRANDMA’S KITCHENAsk grandma what she cooks. Try to match the phrases in English

with their translation in Greek:

1. Γιαγιά, τι κάνεις; 1. Are we going to eat stuffed vegeta-bles today?

2. Γιαγιά, τι μαγειρεύεις; 2. Are we going to eat lamb with pota-toes tomorrow?

3. Γιαγιά, τι θα φάμε σήμερα; 3. Grandma, how are you?4. Γιαγιά, τι θα φάμε αύριο; 4. Grandma, what are we go-

ing to eat tomorrow?5. Σήμερα θα φάμε γεμιστά; 5. Grandma, what do you

cook?

6. Αύριο θα φάμε αρνάκι με πατάτες; 6. Grandma, whatare we going to eat today?

BASIC VOCABULARYGreek word Pronunciation MeaningΑυτός afTOS he, this (male)Αυτή afTEE she, this (female)Είναι EEne is Ο εγγονός o egoNOS grandsonΗ εγγονή EE egoNEE granddaughter Μου ΜΟΟ myΧαίρω πολύ HΕro poLEE Nice to meet youΟ φίλος O FEElos friendΤι κάνετε; TEE KAnete? How do you do?Το καφενείο TO kafeNEEo traditional Greek café Τι TEE whatΘα THE will (future)Σε, σας SE, SAS you (singular, plural)Θα σε/σας κεράσω THA SE/SAS keRAso I will buy you a drinkΈνα Ena one (masculine grammatical gender)Μία MEEa one (female)Η πορτοκαλάδα EE portokaLAda orange juiceΟ φραπές O fraPES Greek ice coffeeΓιαγιά yiayiA grandmaΤι κάνεις; TEE KAnis? How are you?Τι TEE whatΜαγειρεύεις mayiREvis you cookΤα γεμιστά TA gemiSTA stuffed vegetablesΓια yiA for Σήμερα SEEmera todayΘα THA will (future)Τι θα φάμε; TEE THA FAme? What shall we eat Θα φάμε THA FAme we will eatΤο αρνάκι TO arNAki lambΗ πατάτα, -ες EE paTAta, -es potato, -esΟ φούρνος O FOOrnos ovenΣτο φούρνο STO FOOrno in the ovenΑύριο Avrio tomorrow

PRONUNCIATION KEYi (idiom), ee (needle), e (energy), o (organism), oo (boot), y

(yes), h (helium), th (theory), d (the). The capitalized syllablesare accented.

Review: We Speak Greek with Pappou and Yiayia

By Phyllis (Kiki) SembosSpecial to The National Herald

Every Sunday, the localnewspaper features couples re-cently engaged to be married,couples already married and afew – very few – couples cele-brating their umpteenth wed-ding anniversary followed by aphoto of the original day of theirnuptials. In the original we seean ecstatic couple ducking ashower of rice, holding handsand leaping into a car that takesthem away. Then, beside it is arecent photo of the same couple,a lot older, serious and not run-ning anywhere. The reporterasks the husband, “what is thesecret to having been marriedso many years to Jeanne?” Helooks up and asks, “Who?”

The real truth is I’ve come tobelieve there is truly no suchthing as “and they lived happilyever after.” That’s an exagger-ated fairy tale ending created tomake the story more palatable.The real truth is the couple stays

married as revenge for thosewho made bets it wouldn’t last.Then, we read about coupleswho decide to renew their vows.Why? I didn’t know they expire.Like a driver’s license? I’d bettercheck the expiration date on mylicense. I could call a meetingand draw up some new rules.

I suspect, especially in Greekmarriages, Greeks tend to re-main married the longest be-cause getting the applications,making the preparations, choos-ing a Koumparo, the guest list,the paraphernalia and expensethat follows plus the threateninglooks by the suspicious in-lawsis so intimidating that the brideor groom decides to stay in thesituation “for better or forworse,” till death do them part.Or whatever comes first.

In many cases, the wisesthusbands are those who viewthe situation with a more prac-tical or philosophical eye. Whenthey sit down and consider thecost of a divorce – the lawyer,the scandal, the alimony he’d

have to shell out, finding anapartment to live in, and/or ifchildren are involved it gets ahell more complicated, he’d re-think the matter and realize it’scheaper to keep her. Hence, themarriage contract receives a vol-untary or involuntary, reprieve.Now, that’s being real smart!

If only the couple involvedconsidered taking a test before

signing that lifelong contractthings might have been recon-sidered with more reality. If youare contemplating that hugeleap into the unknown, let megive you some sound advice be-forehand. First, have your eyeschecked. Remember you haveto wake up and see that personevery morning for a very verylong time. Then ask yourself, “is

that what I want to see when Iwake up on a beautiful morn-ing?” You could be asking your-self, “When did that nose get sobig?” Or, “Oh, God! Are thoseher teeth in that glass?”

Then, get a physical. Youhave to be stronger than you be-lieve in order to carry that brideover the threshold - unless youwant to start off married lifeseeing a chiropractor or wearinga brace. Then, there’s taking outthe garbage, carrying the billsout of the mail box, walking thebabies at two or three o’clock inthe mornings to get little cutiepie to sleep. Hey! You twopromised to share everything,remember? The wife can’t do allthat, y’know, and then expectbreakfast later? Next, find ahobby. That could really saveyour marriage. There will betimes when you’ll have to findsomething to say to the personyou’ve said everything to in thefirst five years of marriage. Thelong, deafening silence couldget very scary when you find

yourself face to face with your‘partner for life’; trying to findsomething to say before he orshe begins thinking you are amindless bozo with the IQ of aturtle.

Boredom could spell doom.It’s when he starts to find thecashier at the super market sud-denly fascinating, her glibtongue, that nose pierce, thepurple hair, her tattoo of an ex-prisoner. Or, somehow she findsthe repair man irresistible –those muscles, his expert ‘know-how’ with the pipes in the base-ment, all those fascinating tools.

On a happier note, I want toexpress my hope that when nextyou read the society column innext Sunday’s newspaper you’lllook at the announcements witha more discerning eye and say,‘Yeah, yeah’. Then, look acrossat your spouse who is now,probably, overweight, saggy andtoothless, is as sexy looking asa walrus and tell yourself, “Hey!I didn’t do so badly!” That’s thereal truth!

GREEK AMERICAN STORIES

The Real Truth

FEATURETHE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 5

By Eleni Sakellis

Nikos Dimou wrote his fa-mous book On the Unhappinessof Being Greek during the mili-tary junta and published it afterits fall. It became an interna-tional bestseller and was trans-lated into several languages. Itwas published in a paperbackEnglish edition by Zero Booksin 2013. As relevant today as itwas when it was first publishedin 1975, the book still inspiresan emotional response fromreaders who either love whatDimou has to say or hate it.

In recent years, the Athens-born writer became a memberof To Potami (The River) partybut resigned after his controver-sial remarks about Holy Fire atEaster and the cost of having aprivate plane fly from Jerusalemto Athens to bring it to the faith-ful caused an uproar. As The Na-tional Herald reported, he saidhe felt he had to step down fromthe party because of the nega-tive publicity that his commentshad attracted.

“I was just a simple memberof the party but my name is wellknown and the media identified

us as one and the same,” Dimousaid in a statement in 2014.“That is how the party and Iwound up in trouble.”

Perhaps best known for hisnon-conformist attitudes and re-signing from mainstream media11 times, Dimou, who speaksfour languages (Greek, French,German, and English) also de-signed the famous Never ForgetCyprus image during his time inadvertising. On his official web-site, he said, “The “Den Xehno”symbol was created on August

14, 1974, the day Attila II cutCyprus in half. Hearing thenews on the radio, I had an im-age of Cyprus being stabbed,and visualized the Attila line asa slow flux of blood ebbingdown the island. I was theowner of an advertising agency- I called my art director DimitriGeorgiopoulos, gave him a mapof the island and the copy. Therest is history.

“We printed a few thousandstickers, send them out to themedia and we were over-whelmed with requests formore. We printed as many aswe could afford, gave out copiesof the artwork to anybody re-questing the right to print, pre-pared translations in many lan-guages (Greek students all overthe world asked for them). Wereceived hundreds of letters -the most important being oneby Archbishop Makarios.

“This symbol has now prac-tically become public domain -very few people remember itsorigins. But for me it remainssomething very personal: a trib-ute to the parts of Cyprus - Kyre-nia, Bellapais, Salamis, Fama-gusta - which I had visited and

loved three years before the in-vasion.”

In his book, Dimou chal-lenges the reader to have anopen mind about what it meansto be Greek which can be diffi-cult for those who love their cul-ture, heritage, and language soprofoundly. In the 2012 post-script for foreign editions of thebook, he wrote, “People who en-joy reading this book are prob-ably not Greek. For a Greek thisbook is painful. He may smileat some aphorisms, even laughsometimes, but closing it, he willfeel well …unhappy. It portraysthe basic problem of his exis-tence, his urge for more and hisinability to cope with less. Con-flicts undermine his identity,make him uncertain andchangeable. He is divided be-tween his glorious past and hismeager present, between hisEastern mentality and his Euro-pean aspiration – torn asunderby forces of tradition (like theOrthodox Church) and moder-nity. His is a difficult fate.”

On the Unhappiness of BeingGreek by Nikos Dimou is avail-able online and in bookstoresand libraries.

LITERARY REVIEW

Nikos Dimou’s On the Unhappiness of Being Greek

OBITUARIES/CLASSIFIEDS/GREECE6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

DEATH NOTICES

n EFSTATHION, CHRISPALATKA, FL (from the FloridaTimes-Union published on Aug.17) – Chris Efstathion passedaway on Sunday August 13,2017 after a recent hospitaliza-tion. He was 86. Chris was bornin 1930 in Palatka, FL; Palatkais his lifetime home. He was theoldest son of Chris and Eva Efs-tathion, who emigrated fromthe island of Cyprus (Greece).He graduated from Palatka HighSchool and attended both theCitadel and the University ofFlorida. Chris married DespinaJ. Tsagaris in December 1953.They have three children: Evie,Chris, and Leah. After highschool, college, and serving inthe Navy, Chris returned toPalatka and at age 26, decidedto open his own store. Chrislearned about the retail businessfrom working at Belks inPalatka. Chris, along with hiswife Despina, served the com-munity for 60 years throughKiddie Kampus and has been avital part of Palatka and PutnamCounty. He and his wife wererecently honored as Grand Mar-shalls in the 2016 PalatkaChristmas Parade. Chris was a

member of St. John the DivineGreek Orthodox Church in Jack-sonville, FL. He served in theUnited States Navy during theKorean War. Chris received thedistinctive 65-year pin from thePalatka Masonic Lodge #34F&AM. He was a member of theMorocco Temple and PutnamCounty Shrine Club, Ancientand Accepted Scottish Rites. Hewill forever be remembered forhis gruff front that could nothide his big heart. He was oneof a kind, a devoted husbandand father, creative and fun-lov-ing grandfather, and a loyalfriend. He will be more thanmissed. Chris was preceded indeath by his parents, Chris andEva Efstathion; and his youngerbrother, Theodore Efstathion.His is survived by his wife of 63years, Despina T. Efstathion; histhree children, Evie EfstathionBodine (husband, Robert Bod-ine), Christopher Efstathion,(wife, Ann Efstathion), andLeah Efstathion; grandchildren:Erin Efstathion, Evan Bodine(husband, Carl Feather), Jen-nifer Colvin (husband, Ryan),Rachel Efstathion, and Christo-pher Efstathion; nieces and

nephews: Terri Tsagaris, JohnTsagaris (wife Patricia), DespinaTsagaris, Miles Bennett, TheoTsagaris, Phoebe Tsagaris,Theodore Efstathion, Denise Ef-stathion Hayes (husband,Corey), and Brett Efstathion;and cousin James Efstathion(wife, Cheryl Efstathion). In lieuof flowers, a donation can bemade to the St. John the DivineGreek Orthodox Church Build-ing Fund in Jacksonville, FL.

n GEORGIOU, PAvLOS SCARBOROUGH, ON (from theToronto Star, published on Aug.14) – Pavlos Georgiou 1948 -2017 Passed away peacefullywith his family by his side onFriday, August 11, 2017 at theage of 69 at Scarborough Gen-eral Hospital after a courageousbattle with cancer. He was bornon May 20, 1948 in Florina,Greece. He was a devoted hus-

band, father and grandfatherwho worked hard to provide forhis family and was a loving fam-ily man. He was predeceased byhis father George Georgiou andhis mother Elizabeth Georgiou.He is survived by and lovinglyremembered by his beloved wifeFanoula (Frances) Georgiou of46 years, his three sons, Georgewith his wife Amanda andgranddaughter Lyla, Evan Geor-giou and Michael Georgiou. Fu-neral Service will be held at St.John's Greek Orthodox Church,1385 Warden Ave., on Wednes-day, August 16th.

n KAPOGIANNIS, SOFIAPOUGHKEEPSIE, NY (from thePoughkeepsie Journal, pub-lished on Aug. 15) – Sofia Ka-pogiannis passed peacefully inher sleep at her home on Sun-day, August 13, 2017 in Pough-keepsie, NY. She was born in herbeloved mountainous village ofLevidi, Tripolis, Greece onMarch 23, 1935, the fourth offour children. The daughter ofMaria and Theodore Kallimanis,she married Theodore Ka-pogiannis in Levidi, Greece onMarch 26, 1961, and immi-

grated to the United States, set-tling in Poughkeepsie, NY. It wasthere that she raised her twochildren and lived for 55 years.Over these years, she hadworked at Bond Clothing Com-pany, Schatz Federal Bearings,and IBM East Fishkill, fromwhich she retired. She was a de-voted servant of Kimisis GreekOrthodox Church, attending ser-vices, making prosforo for theOctober liturgies, and volunteer-ing to bake pastries and makeloukoumades for each festivalfor the community to enjoy.When she was not working, shewas always busy creating a com-fortable home for her family,who brought great joy to herlife. She tirelessly prepared tra-

ditional food for loved oneseach holiday for all to gather.She also would enthusiasticallymake Greek cookies and pastriesfor friends, neighbors, andcoworkers during the holidays,as she was a talented baker andthat was one of her passions.Her later years were blessedwith twin grandchildren whomshe loved dearly. To her family,she was the pillar and heart ofthe home, providing a warmand loving life. Even in the yearsof her declining health, her pres-ence alone brightened the dayand lightened the load of every-one who interacted with her.She continued to convey andshow her love with her warm,expressive eyes and smile. Sheis survived by Theodore, herhusband of 55 years, her daugh-ter Maria of Poughkeepsie, herson Chris and daughter-in-lawDemetra of Lagrange, and pre-cious grandchildren Theodoreand Sophia. She is also survivedby her sister Aggeliki, of Tripolis,Greece, and many beloved sis-ters-in-law, brothers-in-law,cousins, nieces and nephews, inboth the United States andGreece.

this is a service to the community.

Announcements of deaths may be telephoned to the classified Department of the National herald at

(718) 784-5255, monday through Friday,

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. eSt or e-mailed to:

classifieds@thenationalherald.com

Days and dates of funerals,memorials, and other events di-rectly correspond to the originalpublication date, which appearsat the beginning of each notice.

TNH Staff

ATHENS – Russian cosmonautof Pontic-Greek descent Fyodor(Theodoros) NikolayevichYurchikhin Grammatikopoulosafter a seven-and-a-half-hourwalk outside the InternationalSpace Station (ISS), manuallylaunched the world's first Russ-ian nanosatellite, made entirelywith a 3-D printer.

The aim is to study the ef-fects of space on compositepolymers and ceramic materialsproduced by a 3-D printer. Thetiny CubeSat satellite has di-mensions of 30x11x11cm andweighs 3.7kg, or about 8.16 lbs.

In addition to its electronicsensors, it will transmit 437.025MHz radio waves to Earth in tenlanguages, which were recordedby students of the Tomsk Tech-nical University in Siberia,where the Tomsk-TPU-120 satel-lite was built in cooperationwith the Russian aerospace com-pany S.P. Korolev Rocket &Space Corporation Energia.

Yurchikhin, commander ofthe ISS mission 52, accompa-nied by Russian cosmonaut, en-gineer Sergey Ryazansky, car-ried out the mission.

Two mini-satellites namedTanyusha were launched one onthe occasion of the 60th an-niversary of the launch of thefirst artificial satellite in history,

Sputnik 1 of the USSR, and theother for the 160th anniversaryof the birth of Russian scientistKonstantin Tsiolkovsky, father ofthe theoretical astronautics andmissile program of Russia.

Finally, two more satellites,TNS-0 and TS530-Zerkalo, inthe shape of a metal spheremuch like the original Sputnik,were released in space to testthe first experimental naviga-tion system and the second totest the density of the Earth's at-

mosphere.The two cosmonauts of the

Russian Space Agency (Roscos-mos) also collected samplesfrom various locations outsidethe Space Station as part of thestudies on the microbial com-munities living outside it. Theyalso placed handles and polesthat will help astronauts in theirfuture space walks.

Finally, they made the firsttest of a new and more sophis-ticated space suit for Russian

cosmonauts. The outfit isequipped with an automatictemperature and computer con-trol system and provides betterprotection against damage.

The cosmonaut's spacewalkbegan at 17:36 GMT on Thurs-day and ended at 01:10 on Fri-day, lasting seven hours and 34minutes (instead of the sixhours initially scheduled). Untiltoday - after the most recentspacewalk - Yurchikhin had"walked" in space for 59 hoursand 28 minutes, holding thefourth place on the list of all theastronauts in the world.

The experienced Yurchikhin,who has been honored with thehighest distinction as Hero of theRussian Federation and the Orderof the Phoenix of the Hellenic Re-public, was born in 1959 in Ba-tumi, Georgia, and frequently vis-its Greece. He is currently makinghis fifth space travel and thefourth in the ISS, where he is inApril. He is the eighth Russiancosmonaut who has reached thefive space travels and the secondoldest cosmonaut in space.

Yurchikhin’s Pontic Greekparents now reside in Sindos,Greece. He is married to LarisaAnatolievna Yurchikhina (bornin Shchyolkovo) and they havetwo daughters.

Material from the ANA-MPAwas used in this report.

TNH Staff

ATHENS – The final farewell forZoe Laskari, the star stage andscreen, was held at the Churchof Saint Dionysios in Kolonaki.After the funeral service, thewhite coffin of the beloved ac-tress, who passed away suddenlyat the age of 72, was transferredto the cemetery for burial in thetomb of the Lykourezos family.

Early in the day, surroundingstreets were closed to trafficaround the Church of St. Diony-sios and Skoufa Street, the sidestreets remained closed and ahuge crowd of people had gath-ered for the final farewell.

The President of the Republic,Prokopis Pavlopoulos, personallyexpressed his condolences to thefamily, Laskari’s husband Alexan-dros Lykourezos, her daughtersMaria-Eleni Lykourezou andMartha Koutroumanou, andgranddaughter Zenia Bonatsou.

Mourner actors of Greek cin-ema and theater included Non-ika Galinea, Vera Krouska, ZozoSapountzaki, Faidon Georgitsis,Fotis Metaxopoulos, Stamatis Fa-soulis, Yannis Vogiatzis, AnnaFonsou, Elena Akrita, and manyothers attended the funeral.

Representatives of the politi-cal world, Maritime MinisterPanagiotis Kouroublis, State Sec-retary Alekos Flambouraris, thehead of Potamos StavrosTheodorakis, former ND chair-man and MP VangelisMeimarakis, Evangelos Venize-

los, Sifis Valyrakis, MEP Eliza-beth Wozenberg and a wreathwith red carnations sent by thesecretary general of the KKE KE,Dimitris Koutsoubas.

Close friends of Laskari,among them, former King Con-stantine, said farewell to theirfriend and the actress, who leftan indelible impression on an en-tire era of Greek cinema.

Her husband, Alexandros Lyk-ourezos, was mournful for hisown "Zouzou", as he called her

tenderly, standing over her cof-fin, surrounded by her favoritebougainvilleas, brought fromtheir garden in Porto Rafti. Hesaid, “I'm standing next to you,holding you in my arms and Iwant to talk to you, as I havenever done: in the difficult timesthat we lived through together,if I stood by you once, you stoodten. You knew how to kiss withthe enemy, to lose generously. Inall of your life you did not acceptthe black and the mourning that

surrounded you early on, you al-ways responded in white. Youturned the darkness to find your-self on the side of light. A girlthat the world baptized withlove, Zoitsa. The crown that tiedus 41 years ago is and will re-main alive and bright as youwanted.”

Zoe Laskari was buried in theFirst Cemetery of Athens, underthe sound of a warm and pro-longed applause by friends andadmirers.

Greek-Russian Yurchikhin Grammatikopoulos in Space

The Final Farewell for Actress Zoe Laskari in Athens

In Memoriam:Of your loved one

commemorate your loved one in the pages ofthe National herald. Announcements may betelephoned or e-mailed to the classified Department.

For more information call (718) 784-5255 ext. 106

• classifieds@thenationalherald.com

The National Heraldwww.thenationalherald.com

Ratcliff Law, PLLC. Articles filed w/ SSNY8/4/17. Office in NY Co. SSNY designated forservice of process and shall mail to: 145 E.84th St. New York, NY 10028. Purpose: Anylawful purpose.

275950/18796

Notice of Formation of N’MCAL ASSOCIATESLLC (DOM. LLC). Articles of the Organizationwere filed with the Secretary of State of NewYork (SSNY) on 08/05/17. Office location:Kings County. SSNY has been designated asagent of the LLC upon whom process against itmay be served. SSNY shall mail a copy ofprocess to: Mr. Christopher Mcalpin, 1049 E52nd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11234. Purpose:For any lawful purpose.

275947/20495

Notice of Formation of EMPRESS LANICEPUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY LLC (DOM.LLC). Articles of the Organization were filedwith the Secretary of State of New York(SSNY) on 07/14/17. Office location: KingsCounty. SSNY has been designated as agent ofthe LLC upon whom process against it may beserved. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to:Ms. Jessica Lanice Chalmers, 285 SchenectadyAve., Apt. 3E, Brooklyn, NY 11213. Purpose:For any lawful purpose.

275946/20494

Notice of Formation of ISLAND RENOVATIONAND REPAIRS, LLC (DOM. LLC). Articles ofthe Organization were filed with the Secretaryof State of New York (SSNY) on 07/31/17.Office location:Nassau County. SSNY has beendesignated as agent of the LLC upon whomprocess against it may be served. SSNY shallmail a copy of process to: United States Corpo-ration Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: For anylawful purpose.

275943/20492

Notice of Formation of MELANGE ENTERPRISES, LLC (DOM LLC). Articles ofthe Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 05/05/2017.Office location: Nassau County. SSNY has beendesignated as agent of the LLC upon whomprocess against it may be served. SSNY shallmail a copy of process to: United States Corpo-ration Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: For anylawful purpose.

275953/20496

Notice of Formation of 2810 PRODUCTIONSLLC (DOM LLC). Articles of the Organizationwere filed with the Secretary of State of NewYork (SSNY) on 07/25/2017. Office location:Kings County. SSNY has been designated asagent of the LLC upon whom process against itmay be served. SSNY shall mail a copy ofprocess to: Mr. Steven Russell, 1578 E 29thStreet, #2, Brooklyn, NY 11229. Purpose: Forany lawful purpose.

275942/20490

Notice of Formation of ACADIAPROFESSIONAL, LLC. Articles of the Orga-nization were filed with the Secretary ofState of New York (SSNY) on 07/10/17. Of-fice location: Nassau County. LLC formed inNJ on 04/11/17. SSNY has been designatedas agent of the LLC upon whom processagainst it may be served. SSNY shall mail acopy of process to: The LLC, 55Headquarters Plaza, Morristown, NJ 07960.Certificate of Formation on file with NJDept. of the Treasury, PO Box 308, Trenton,NJ 08646. Purpose: For any lawful purpose.

275935/20487

Notice of Formation of DAGILOS, LLC (DOMLLC). Articles of the Organization were filedwith the Secretary of State of New York(SSNY) on 07/24/17. Office location: NassauCounty. SSNY has been designated as agent ofthe LLC upon whom process against it may beserved. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to:Mr. Carlos Sorto, 125 Fairview Blvd., Hemp-stead, NY 11550. Purpose: For any lawful pur-pose.

275934/20486

Notice of formation of MORCOS KEY, LLC.Art. Of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State ofNY (SSNY) on 04/10/17. Office in KingsCounty. SSNY has been designated as agentof the LLC upon whom process against itmay be served. SSNY shall mail process tothe LLC, 1209 Dekalb Ave Apt 502 Brooklyn,NY 11221. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

275929/19027

Notice of formation of TINERVIN ENTER-PRISE, LLC. (DOM. LLC). Articles of Orga-nization filed with the Secretary of Stateof New York (SSNY) 02/21/2017. LocationKing County. SSNY designated for serviceof process and shall mail copy of processserved against the LLC to RegisteredAgent: UNITED STATES CORPORATIONAGENTS, INC. 7014 13TH AVENUE,SUITE 202, BROOKLYN, NY 11228Purpose: any lawful purpose.

275925/20481

Notice of formation of ATLANTICGLOBAL TRANS LLC. (DOM. LLC).Articles of Organization filed with theSecretary of State of New York (SSNY)July 05, 2017. Location King County.SSNY designated for service of processand shall mail copy of process servedagainst the LLC to Registered Agent: AN-DREY ANISIMOV 3319 KINGS HIGHWAY,APT. 2 L BROOKLYN, NY 11234. Purpose:any lawful purpose.

275908/20469

Notice of formation of PERSONS PRO-DUCTIONS, LLC. (DOM. LLC). Articles ofOrganization filed with the Secretary ofState of New York (SSNY) 05/02/2017.Location King County. SSNY designatedfor service of process and shall mail copyof process served against the LLC toRegistered Agent: UNITED STATES COR-PORATION AGENTS, INC. 7014 13TH AV-ENUE, SUITE 202, BROOKLYN, NY 11228Purpose: any lawful purpose.

275912/20473

APOSTOLOPOULOSApostle Family - Gregory, Nicholas, Andrew - Funeral Directors of RIVERDALE FUNERAL HOME Inc.5044 BroadwayNew York, NY 10034(212) 942-4000Toll Free 1-888-GAPOSTLECONSTANTINIDESFUNERAL PARLOR Co.(718) 745-1010Services in all localities - Low cost shipping to Greece

ANTONOPOULOS FUNERAL HOME, INC.Konstantinos Antonopoulos - Funeral Director38-08 Ditmars Blvd.,Astoria, New York 11105(718) 728-8500Not affiliated with any other funeral home.

FUNERAL HOMES

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

CLASSIFIEDS

to PlAce your clASSiFieD AD, cAll:

(718) 784-5255, ext. 106, e-mAil:

classifieds@thenationalherald.com

Greek-Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Grammatikopoulos.AP Photo/kirill kuDryAvtSev, Pool, File

Laskari’s husband Alexandros Lykourezos, her daughters Maria-Eleni Lykourezou and MarthaKoutroumanou, and granddaughter Zenia Bonatsou were among those saying a final farewell.

By Zois Marinos

MONTREAL, CANADA – Thehelp of American and CanadianHellenes is needed to continuethe efforts of the Church of theEvangelistria in Nafplion, whichprovides meals daily to feed about140-160 poor people in the city,the church’s presiding priest Fr.Eleftherios Michos told The Na-tional Herald.

The common meal at thechurch with the help of volun-teers and donors has evolved overthe last few years into the most

important structure of support forNafplion citizens who are strug-gling financially.

“There are people who are notfar from us but are right next tous. They really need even a dishof food. So we all have a duty toour fellow human beings to help,to support, even with a piece ofbread. Our life must be interwo-ven with love and charity. In thiseffort, it is, of course, welcomeand absolutely necessary for thesupport of our expatriate or vol-untary organizations from theUnited States and Canada,” Fr.

Michos told TNH.Food is delivered to the long-

term unemployed, elderly, dis-abled, single mothers and others.In recent years a concerted efforthas been made, by the church,the Holy Metropolis of Argolis,the Municipality of Nafplio, andthe Peloponnese Region to im-prove the conditions of mealpreparation by building new fa-cilities beside the church.

The Church of Evangelistria ison the road to Palamidi and, asMichos said, our goal is that thereis not a single human being in

Nafplion who is deprived of food.“The truth is that the crisis has

left thousands of Greeks in des-peration. A new class has beencreated. This so-called new-poor.That is, people who before thecrisis had their jobs and a decentliving standard. Now, however,the recession turned their livesupside down and they live inhomes that do not even have elec-tricity, they cannot find work andeat in the mess hall. It is the re-sponsibility of all of us to standup for those people who face suchsurvival problems.”

Nafplion Church Needs Help to Continue Feeding the Poor

eurokiNiSSi

TNH Staff

ATHENS – Disputing polls show-ing he’s fading toward into obliv-ion, Prime Minister and RadicalLeft SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsiprasis said to be preparing a plan topersuade voters he can lead themto recovery, while he wants abump up in popularity.

Tsipras has paid a heavy po-litical cost for repeatedly reneg-ing on anti-austerity promises insurrendering to internationalcreditors even though he said thepolls are wrong.

Kathimerini said aides toldhim to shake up his Cabinet again– a tactic he tried before withoutsuccess – and act before the an-nual September Thessaloniki In-ternational Fair (TIP) whichpoliticians use to make wild

promises they rarely keep.He’s got a fragile balance to

deal with as, while the hardcorein his party have bent to his willto cave in to the lenders they aresaid to be disgruntled and unsat-isfied with his coalition partner,the marginal, pro-austerity, jin-goistic Independent Greeks(ANEL) led by Defence MinisterPanos Kammenos, a frequentgovernment critic.

He also has to convinceGreeks he did the right thing tosave the country by employing atactic he criticized former gov-ernments for: doing the biddingof the Troika of the EuropeanUnion-European Central Bank-European Stability Mechanismand Greece’s other creditor, theDC-based International MonetaryFund.

Tsipras reportedly wants tokeep his coalition intact until histerm runs out in 2019, which sur-veys show he will lose badly, pre-dictions he said are wrong evenas he said he wants to reverse aslide he said he’s not on, contra-dicting himself.

Breaking his vows, he agreedto more devastating pension cutsand taxes on low-income familiesas well as earlier to letting banksforeclose on homes of people whocan’t pay because of big pay cuts,tax hikes, slashed pensions, andworker firings he continued.

Three international bailouts of326 billion euros ($383.37 bil-lion) will run out in the middleof 2018, after which Greece musttry to return to the markets orface a fourth bailout, a likelydeath knell for his government

which has fallen to 10 percent inpolls.

After conceding to the Capi-talists and bankers in return forthe release of 8.5-billion euros($10 billion) more from a stag-gered, delayed third rescue pack-age of 86 billion euros ($101.14billion) he sought and acceptedin July, 2015 after saying hewould do neither, Tsipras andSYRIZA have put their Leftist hatson again in an apparent strategyin which they opposed what theysaid they were forced to do whilethey try to woo back their base.

The reports indicated Tsiprasbelieves he can return to powerin 2019 if the economy gets backon track despite alienating votersand having tax authorities freeze930,000 banks accounts to con-fiscate funds from debtors to the

state who can’t afford to pay.The newspaper, however, said

he also cautioned his team that itmay be necessary to call earlyelections and as he’s said to beanxious the IMF, which has stayedout of the third bailout, may callfor more the austerity measuresthe agency admitted hasn’tworked but wants more of to beimposed.

That would be, a backbreaker

for the premier who swore “notanother euro more of austerity,”a pledge which turned into 13.5billion euros more.

He also failed to get debt reliefas he said he would and as hiscoalition is nervous it won’t meetfiscal targets in 2018, whichwould trigger more automaticspending and pension cuts andtax hikes that could spell the endof SYRIZA and Tsipras.

TNH Staff

With signs Cyprus could beheaded toward permanent par-tition after unity talks collapsed,President Nicos Anastasiadessaid it will not become a protec-torate of Turkey as that country’sPresident Recep Tayyip Erdoganis said to want.

Talks between Anastasiadesand Turkish-Cypriot leaderMustafa Akinci fell apart at the

Swiss resort of Crans-Montanain July over Erdogan’s insistenceon keeping a standing 35,000-strong standing army there andthe right to invade further, as itdid in in 1974, unlawfully seiz-ing the northern third of the is-land it still occupies.

Turkey’s EU minister has justsaid as well that the talks, whichthe United Nations brokered andhopes to resurrect were not sus-pended or frozen but are “over,”

signaling Turkey isn’t ready tocome back to the bargainingtable.

Speaking in the village of Pa-phos the night of Aug. 19, Anas-tasiades said he will willing totry again but would not surren-der Cyprus to Turkey.

“It is unthinkable that somebelieve Cyprus could become aprotectorate of Turkey,” he said,the Cyprus Mail reported, eventhough there were reports that

he was willing as part of a unitydeal to let a Turkish-Cypriot torule the island every other term.

“I am willing to compromiseif I feel that our country is trulyindependent and sovereign andit is not controlled, and will notbe controlled by Turkey, and that(a settlement) will serve the in-terests of Cypriots and not of anythird country,” he said.

“I know that many have beendisappointed by the results – so

was I – but at the same time itwas not possible – for the sakeof any settlement – to returnwith a solution that would serveonly those who wanted perma-nent military presence, perma-nent guarantor and interventionrights,” Anastasiades said.

Turkey, along with Greeceand the United Kingdom, theformer Colonial ruler, which stillhas a military base on the island,are guarantors of security, butonly Turkey wants to keep thatdesignation as Erdogan said itsarmy will be “there forever.”

A member of Cyprus’ techni-cal negotiating team, Erato Koza-kou Markoulli, told the Greeknewspaper Kathimerini therewon’t be a resolution any timesoon and said her side wasn’t toblame for the talks failure, whichalso led UN Special Envoy EspenBarth Eide to throw in the toweland quit, the latest in a long lineof diplomats to give up.

Instead, she said, it was theTurkish-Cypriot side which ex-hibited a “bulimic and greedystance” without clarifying whatshe meant.

Anastasiades said he wouldtry during the opening of the UNGeneral Assembly in New Yorkin September to see if there’s away to resurrect the talks he saidwere close to being settled be-

fore Turkey refused to take itsarmy off the island.

If Anastasiades had agreed,that would have led to a foreigncountry with an army in a Euro-pean Union country. Cyprus is amember of the EU but the north-ern third is not and nor isTurkey, which has been tryingfor years to get in but refuses torecognize the legitimate govern-ment and bars Cypriot ships andplanes.

He said at the end thatTurkey will willing to reduce thenumber of its troops to 1,800but would relent no further, aprospect he said he couldn’tabide and that he offered an in-ternational police force insteadto replace the UN peacekeepingforce there for 43 years.

Anastasiades told a gatheringof Cyprus’ Diaspora in the coun-try’s divided capital that unitytalks aimed at bringing the is-land together again 43 years af-ter Turkey invaded failed be-cause outside interestsintervened.

He said there could be unity“as long as neither Greek Cypri-ots nor Turkish Cypriots areturned into vessels serving thirdparties” referring to Turkey,Greece, and the United King-dom, guarantors of security onthe island.

GREECE CYPRUSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 7

Anastasiades Says Turkey Will Never Rule Cyprus, Blames “3rd Parties”

ture, and our traditions” while“transferring your Cypriot origininto a title of honor along withthe ethos that this title encom-passes.”

Speaking earlier, the Com-missioner for Humanitarian Af-fairs and Overseas Affairs FotisFotiou said that “we are honor-ing six of our respected overseascompatriots today” within theframework of the institution es-tablished over the past twoyears for the award of honor bythe President of Cyprus Republicfor the Outstanding Contribu-tion medal to important person-alities.

These people, through theirpersonal and longterm activitiesabroad, have worked tirelesslywith perseverance and determi-nation to defend the rights of

Cypriot Hellenism and havemade the greatest contributionto community affairs, said Fo-tiou.

Significant factors for honor-ing them are their action inhighlighting the national prob-lem and their unselfish contri-bution to the struggle to resolveit, he concluded.

Speaking on behalf of thewinners, Nikos Mouyiaris gavethanks for the honor that, hesaid, belonged to all the Greeksabroad, while making specialreference to PSEKA PresidentPhilip Christopher and his con-tribution to Cyprus and Greece.

“We struggled and will con-tinue to struggle for a free andindependent Cyprus,” saidMouyiaris, adding that we allneed to work together, “left,right, centrist, and independent,for the good of our country and

people.”“Love for the homeland is a

way of life,” said Mouyiaris andcalled on those who could tohelp financially in the efforts ofthe expatriates. Noting the ex-ample of Jewish organizationsabroad, he said that “we needmoney to organize profession-ally in America, London, Brus-sels, and elsewhere” to influencedecision-makers.

Also present at the receptionwere representatives of politicaland state leadership, deputies,and state officials.

It was preceded by the brief-ing of the Central Council of theOverseas by President Anastasi-ades and the placement ofwreaths at the statue of the firstPresident of the Republic ofCyprus, Archbishop MakariosIII, in the prefecture of the Pres-idential Palace.

President Anastasiades Awards Six Cypriots of the Diaspora

Migrants Protest in Athens

The refugee crisis continueswith reports that moredesperate people are makingthe dangerous journeycrossing the sea to reachsafer shores on the islands ofthe Aegean while Afghanmigrants who live in Greeceprotest in central Athensdemanding legal rights forrefugees, on Tuesday, Aug.22, with banner at centerreading in Greek “Close thecamps.” More than 60,000migrants and refugees arestranded in Greece amidreports that Germany willsend more back this summer.

play in, a basketball tournamentin Shanghai, as an NBA ambas-sador.

He was to have rejoinedGreece after his China tour toprepare for the Eurobasket start-ing on Aug. 31, but his kneeproblems, which forced him tomiss all but one of Greece’swarmup games, alarmed theBucks, who administered thephysical in China.

“It is by far the biggest dis-appointment in my career,” An-tetokounmpo posted, in Greek.“I must deal with the problem.Last year, I could ‘freeze’ thedeal on my new extension con-tract. This year, I have nochoice.”

As if anticipating the ques-tions over his absence, Antetok-ounmpo added: “I ask everyonenot to make of my absence morethan it already is, and focus in-stead on the guys who will fightat the Eurobasket for a successthat has eluded us for years.”

Antetokounmpo’s new four-year, $100 million contract withthe Bucks begins in September.

Last season in the NBA, hefinished in the top 20 in totalpoints, rebounds, assists, steals,and blocks and was a humanhighlight film, even amazing hispeers with his flying acrobaticsand above-the-rim play as wellas his generalship on the floor.

The Bucks agreed with theirmedical staff’s recommendationfor Antetokounmpo not to play,General Manager Jon Horstsaid. The All-Star forward re-ported to the Bucks that he washaving right anterior knee painfollowing certain movementsbut no details were given.

Antetokounmpo is nowscheduled to return to Milwau-kee this week to begin daily

treatment and rehab to be readyfor Bucks’ training camp, whichbegins in roughly five weeks.

Horst said the Bucks con-tacted the Greek national teamafter Antetokounmpo reportedthe injury and they requestedthat the forward stop on-courtrunning and jumping for a pe-riod to rest. The Bucks’ teamphysician spoke with his coun-terpart on the Greek nationalteam and Antetokounmpo con-tinued to sit.

Bucks strength and condi-tioning coach Suki Hobson thenput Antetokounmpo through aseries of exercises to evaluatethe knee while in China, wherethe player traveled recently foran appearance.

Hobson reported that Ante-tokounmpo was still “experienc-ing significant pain on basicmovements,” the Bucks said, andit was at that point that the teamdoctor recommended that Ante-tokounmpo return to Milwaukeefor more evaluation and rehab.

“While he is very disap-pointed that he will not be com-peting for his national team atthis time, we agree with ourmedical staff’s recommendationand feel this is in Giannis’ bestinterest,” Horst said.

Antetokounmpo averaged22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and5.4 assists in 2016-17, leadingthe Bucks to a second playoffappearance in three seasons. Hewas named the NBA’s Most Im-proved Player.

Even with him, Greek youthteams couldn’t win world titlesand the 2016 national teamfailed to qualify for theOlympics and has fallen to 13thin the world after several yearsof poor results.

(Material from the AssociatedPress was used in this report)

By Eraklis Diamataris

AUGUST 28: On this day in 1909 (August15 with the old calendar) a bloodless militarycoup d’état took place in Greece at the armybarracks located at Goudi just outside ofAthens. The coup took place as a result ofarmy officers acting on the already tense at-mosphere in Greece following the failedGreco-Turkish war of 1897. The officers weredemanding reforms that the shaky govern-ment couldn’t act on. There was even disillu-sionment with how the public felt about hav-ing a monarchy. The coup d’état would be aturning point in the history of Modern Greeceas it did away with the old political systemand allowed for the arrival of Cretan revolu-tionary Eleftherios Venizelos.

The coup began with inspiration derivedfrom the revolutionary actions of the YoungTurks in the Ottoman Empire who sought tochange their empire from an absolute monar-chy to a constitutional monarchy. Junior offi-cers in the Greek military founded an organi-zation in secret called the Military Leaguewith Colonel Nikolaos Zorbas as their leader.On the night of August 28, 1909 the groupreleased a notice to the government demand-ing that Greece modernize its armed forcesand to commence a comprehensive turn-around of the country’s ailing fortunes. Themonarch, King George I, sought to appeasethe rebelling officers by replacing Prime Min-ister Dimitrios Rallis with KyriakoulisMavromichalis but the change did little tosway the officers.

Following the rejection of the monarch’sreplacement Prime Minister, the revolting of-ficers reached out to Eleftherios Venizelos whoagreed to come to Athens from Crete on thepremise that free elections would be held. Heagreed to run the country so long as the elec-tions were fair and democratic, they were andVenizelos became Prime Minister.

Venizelos became Prime Minister of Greecein November 1909 and immediately began

to enact the reforms that the officers de-manded as he too sought a liberal-progressiveagenda with foreign policy guided by theMegali Idea. The military humiliations of thewars against Turkey pre-1910 and govern-ment corruption had left Greece embarrassedon the national stage and bankrupt. Becauseof the reforms carried out by Venizelos, Greecewas more adequately equipped for the comingBalkan wars and for World War I. InitiallyVenizelos and the crown got along becausethe King considered Venizelos and his re-formist agenda to be a pivotal tool to stemthe tide of anti-monarchism that had surfacedfollowing Greece’s embarrassing military de-feats to the Ottoman Turks. Whilst George Ilived (1845-1913) he and Venizelos agreedthat military reform was paramount toGreece’s national security.

In 1911 alone, 50 constitutional amend-ments were made due to the far reaching re-forms as a result of the coup d’état and thesubsequent competent leadership of Venizelos.Agriculture education was expanded so thatfarmers may know better how to use the landthat they had, farming cooperatives were cre-atead, civil service posts were filled by publicexamination and not just done as a means ofpatronage, child labor was abolished, womenno longer were forced to work the evenings ifthey didn’t want to and Sunday was made aday of rest.

Additionally, primary education was freeand mandatory, a social insurance system wasput into place for the first time and and taxevasion was curbed allowing Greece to reporta surplus in 1911 and 1912 after decadesupon decades of deficit which allowed Greeceto borrow once more from the markets. TheGoudi Coup of 1909 fundamentally changedthe legal system of Modern Greece and indeedModern Greece itself.

AUGUST 29: On this day in Nea Ionia,Athens legendary Greek Laïkó genre singerStelios Kazantzidis was born. Stelios was born

the first of two brothers to parents who mi-grated from Southern Turkey to Greece fol-lowing the Greco-Turkish war of 1919-1922.At the age of 13 Kazantzidis’ father was tor-tured to death by far-right extremists duringthe Greek Civil War.

This forced the young Stelios to seek em-ployment at an early age where he wouldmove from job to job until he landed at a tex-tile mill near his home. His life and Greece’slaïkó genre of music changed when one dayhis manager at the textile mill heard himsinging and gifted him a guitar. He devotedendless hours to learning how to play the gui-tar and began making public appearances atnight clubs in the early 1950s and 1952 hemade his first studio recording under the Co-lumbia studios record label with the featuresong being, “Για μπάνιο πάω”. His initial songgained almost no traction but from there onout he then released a cover of Giannis Pa-paioannou’s “Οι βαλίτσες” which was a hugehit and from there on out chasm see this onerecord and many more heads and would ap-pear at the biggest clubs of his era. In additionto having many hits and singing and perform-ing at the best clubs, he got to work withsome of the greatest Greek composers of themodern era like Manolis Chiotis, Manos Had-jidakis, Vassilis Tsitsanis and Mikis Theodor-akis. Kazantzidis’ voice was marked by a deepbaritone with the ability to hit notes in thehigher ranges and with a profound sense ofanguish.

His musical style and voice made him abeloved son of Greek migrants in the mid andlatter 20th century because they believed himto be the singer most capable of capturingtheir sorrow and sense of longing for leavingthe homeland. Kazanztidis along with his con-temporary Grigoris Bithikotsis are consideredthe male benchmark pillars of singing excel-lence in the laïkó genre. Kazantzidis died of abrain tumor on September 14, 2001 at theage of 70 in Athens and he was given a na-tional funeral.

This Week in Greek History

Greek Hoop Federation Says NBAStaged Antetokounmpo Injury

AP

Pho

to

/Pet

ro

S G

iAN

NA

ko

ur

iS

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

President Nicos Anastasiades, awarded the medal for Outstanding Contribution to NikosMouyiaris and five other Cypriots of the Diaspora at the Presidential Palace in Lefkosia.

Fading Prime Minister Tsipras Wants Do-Over for Faltering SYRIZA

EDITORIALS LETTERS8 THE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

The War of Words:North Korea and the U.S.

To the Editor:I realize that The National

Herald is a Greek-Americannewspaper, but there are timeswhen world events require com-ment even if not specifically re-lated to Greece or Cyprus. Theescalating war of words be-tween the United States andNorth Korea is not helping thesituation for either country orfor the world, for that matter.

The Korean War, which neverofficially ended, may flare upagain as the result of carelessinsults and taunts exchangedbetween two leaders who areacting more like children in aschoolyard than leaders of na-tions. The fact that the dates ofthe Korean War are set at 1950-53 is misleading because theconflict was undeclared by allparticipants and ended not witha peace treaty signed, but onlywith an armistice that set up theKorean Demilitarized Zone.

Greece was one of the na-tions that sent troops as part ofthe United Nations forces, andmany Greek-Americans servingin the U.S. military also fought

in Korea. Their efforts were ap-parently a waste. The Cold Warnever ended and again we seemon the verge of who knows whatin the region.

Whatever happened to diplo-macy? Is diplomacy even possi-ble when the leaders of coun-tries are only willing to escalatetheir war of words?

When so many lives are atstake, why can’t world leaders“use their words” like we tellchildren in playground disputes,to settle arguments?

Maybe they should meet andtalk it out before they sendyoung people to risk their livesover, what exactly is North Ko-rea’s problem with the UnitedStates?

Is it American imperialism,capitalism? Does the North Ko-rean dictator want to be incharge of the world? Can he doa better job than everyone else?

The footage of soldiersmarching in super-straight linesdoes not inspire confidence inthat regard. It only reminds usof the goose-stepping Nazis andwe all know what happened tothem.

Panagiota G. PhilippouSeattle, WA

On Cyprus: Unbelievable…but True

To the Editor:Fifty three years ago on Au-

gust 8, Turkish fighter planesbombarded villages in theTilliria region using outlawedchemical napalm bombs againstinnocent civilians and burningmen, women and children alive.Turkey was never held account-able for those atrocities commit-ted against humanity and theGreek population – not even bythe UN.

Each year the Turkish Cypri-ots celebrate those barbaritieswith parades, offering speechesof bravery in a display of na-tionalism and arrogance overthose same brutalities.

It’s pathetic for the Cyprus

government to reach so low onallowing a string of convoys fullof Turkish Cypriots and GreyWolves to cross over so they canenter the enclave of Kokkinaand celebrate those atrociousevents of 1964; events the Turksconsider a victory

While Cypriot Greeks com-memorate the dead of Black Au-gust, the government’s decisionto accommodate the Turks it’snot only insulting and humiliat-ing but an outright stupidity! In-stead of blocking their entry toKokkina, it issued permits so thehorde can cross over unhin-dered and dance on the gravesof Greeks. How stupid is that?Unbelievable.

Where no leadership exists,stupidity reigns supreme.

Andreas C ChrysafisLondon, England

No Longer a NoveltyGreek-Americans are everywhere. Of course, as a community

newspaper, we are in a position to notice that more than most.But in any case, Greek-Americans appear in the public eye inan array of fields on a regular basis. In fact, their profile seemsnot to have merely risen, but to have soared over the pastdecade or two.

Excitedly, Greeks often exclaim to one another about some-one like Jennifer Aniston: “Did you know she’s Greek?” Yet fewGermans, Brits, or Irish express that sort of joy in similar situa-tions, when a celebrity is “one of their own.” Part of the reasonfor that may be that those immigrant groups have been Ameri-can longer than the Greeks, but another part is that those eth-nicities are represented in American society on a far greaterscale. But, now, the Greeks too are becoming more prevalent.

Just take a look at our news stories over the past month. Inpolitics, Reince Preibus left his position as White House Chiefof Staff, and now George Sifakis has also left the Trump Ad-ministration as Director of the Office of Public Liaison. Eventhough they are leaving, not entering, their departure is in noway a blemish on their images or reputations, and so both men– in the primes of their lives – likely will have long and promisingcareers for decades to come.

In recent weeks, New York State Assemblywoman NicoleMalliotakis has emerged as the main challenger to Bill de Blasioin the upcoming New York City Mayoral Election in November,and of course that will keep her front and center in the publiceye. If she wins, she will make history in at least three differentways, as she would become the first woman, the first Latina,and the first Greek to be elected mayor of New York.

In the world of sports, Giannis Antetokounmpo, the basket-ball star who plays for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, routinelymakes headlines throughout the country – not just in the Mil-waukee and Greek media.

Part of the reason Greeks are rising to high-profile positionsin American society faster than ever is because of how many ofthem are perched at the level immediately below, therefore giv-ing them ample opportunity to make just one more jump in or-der to reach the limelight. Analogously, it is like a president’sappointment of federal judges. The high-profile appointmentsare those made to the Supreme Court, but the foundation forthose is built by the appointments to the lower federal courts.

Similarly, that today’s Greeks are entering all sorts of profes-sions means that in the years ahead we will see more and moreJennifer Anistons, Nicole Malliotakises, and Giannis Antetok-ounmpos making news on a regular basis.

In some ways, it is hard to imagine the day when we willnot be particularly excited when a Greek rises to great heights.But if that happens, it will mean that such an occurrence hasbecome commonplace, and that is the most exciting part of all.

Erdogan’s DangerousInterference

The ever-growing crisis in Turkish-German relations interestsus, for obvious reasons.

Recently, an issue arose between the two countries, concern-ing whether a nation has the right to ask its expatriates how tovote in elections in the country in which they now reside. Inother words, to use its emigrants as a Trojan horse.

Specifically, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan askedTurkish immigrants living in Germany to vote against incumbentChancellor Angela Merkel in the upcoming election.

Merkel’s reaction was immediate: she asked Erdogan to re-spect the basic principle underlying relations between countries.In other words, not to interfere in Germany’s internal affairs.

To bring the message home, consider what would happen ifPrime Minister Tsipras called upon Greek-Americans to voteagainst a presidential candidate, or if president Trump calledupon our community to ask our friends and relatives in Greeceto vote against a political party and leader.

Erdogan, I am afraid, has opened a dangerous chapter inthe immigrant story. He probably gave ammunition to the op-ponents of immigration, and those set against the equal treat-ment of immigrants, essentially rendering them second-classcitizens and, of course, being against their right to vote.

What Erdogan did sets a dangerous precedent likely to favorhis plans in the short run. However, it can have a long-termnegative impact on Turkish immigrants in Germany, and on im-migrant communities worldwide.

Disgraceful MisinformationI felt shame watching the refusal of the Minister of Justice,

Transparency and Human Rights of Greece to send a delegationto a conference, entitled "The heritage in the 21st century ofthe crimes committed by communist regimes".

"We believe," writes the Minister, "that the initiative of orga-nizing a conference with the specific content and title, sends awrong and dangerous political message ... revives the Cold Warclimate that brought so much suffering in Europe, contrary toEU values and certainly does not reflect the perspective of theGreek government and the Greek people, which is that Nazismand communism could never exist as the two sides of the sameequation."

The issue of course is not the historical truth about the com-munist regimes which has long been documented beyond anydoubt.

The point is the incredible position espoused by the Minis-ter.

However there is another unpleasant dimension to this thatshould trouble us: it appeals to a significant, statistically speak-ing, percentage of public opinion. That’s the whole point.

It is absolutely revealing, if we want to see the reality, of themajor problems facing the country and is a prerequisite for thesituation it finds itself in.

And this, dear readers, is the problem. And let me say that itis a serious problem because it shows that a part of the Greeksociety for many reasons is vulnerable to disgraceful misinfor-mation and unprincipled political exploitation.

And this the government Tsipras has turned it into an art.So rather than discussed ways of dealing with the dire situ-

ation in which the country and instead of saying, as required,where did the Prime Minister spend his holiday and disappearedfor nearly ten days, they offer a fig leaf to ... communism.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COMMENTARY

In our August 19 issue wepublished a Letter to the Editorthat criticized my frequent de-fense of President Trump, alongwith my response. I appreciatedthe letter as well as the barrageof comments that followed onour website (“Editor’s Reply onCriticism”). Even though mostwere critical, they were respect-ful in tone and seemed to bequite sincere. A good, healthy,difference of opinion is essentialto getting closer to “the truth” –whatever that may be.

Also, more than a week haspassed since the unspeakablyhorrific events in Charlottesville,VA, and so reflection in the in-terim, coupled with the numer-ous comments about the presi-dent stemming from the letterand my reply, have promptedme to write this follow-up piece.

A group of people weregranted a permit to protest theremoval of a statue of Confed-erate General Robert E. Leefrom Emancipation Park (for-merly Lee Park) in Char-lottesville, and many showed upto the rally brandishing clubs,guns, torches, and white su-premacist signs. A group ofcounterprotesters also showedup, and soon enough, the twosides began to clash, violently.As the chaos mounted, policewere practically powerless tohalt the mayhem, which tragi-cally culminated in the death ofa woman who was hit by a carrammed into a crowd of peopleby a driver linked to white su-premacist groups.

To suggest that there is amoral equivalency betweenthese two specific groups of peo-ple who were there on August12 is profoundly wrong. Onegroup clearly spewed hate ofpeople (blacks, Jews, etc.). Theother group spewed hate not ofpeople (e.g., whites) but ofracism itself.

There was also no violenceequivalency. The protesters werethe clear instigator via theirhateful and bellicose language.We don’t know who threw thefirst punch, but it doesn’t mat-ter. It was the fault of the haters.

President Trump never sug-gested that there was a moralequivalency, but did blame“both sides” on more than oneoccasion for the violence. Thattriggered a firestorm of criti-cism, some of it warranted, butmuch of it completely out ofline.

Let us begin with where thepresident was wrong. At times,he is, unfortunately, a clumsyspeaker, and often shows reck-less disregard for the accuracyor consequences of his words.That, by the way, does not makehim a liar, as some suggest, butnonetheless leaves a good dealto be desired for the existenceof a filter between his mind andhis mouth. He has on numerousoccasions blasted leftist extrem-ists for violence and destruction,such as at Berkeley in protest ofthe speaking invitation ex-tended to Milo Yiannopoulos.He has also seen the left vio-lently disrupt his rallies, includ-ing one in Chicago in 2016 thathad to be canceled for publicsafety reasons. His “blaming

both sides” seemsto stem from his in-nate desire not toexcuse the extremeleft. But the time todo it was not in theimmediate after-math of Char-lottesville.

Next, because ofhis anathema to-ward violent leftistprotesters, his in-stincts failed him interms of how dam-aging it was toblame “both sides.”

Most Americansare good, sensible people whocondemn violence of any kindand acknowledge that the ex-treme right and left are bothguilty of engaging in it. Butthere is a deep divide amongthem about which is worse,

which is more prevalent, andwhere the priority should be interms of eradicating it.

A typical white, male, rural-dwelling Trump supporter, whois not racist and knows of noracists among his circle of ac-quaintances, surely understandsthat neo-Nazis and the KKK con-tinue to exist, but thinks of thosegroups as fleeting and insignifi-cant in this day and age. Thereal problem, as he sees it, aresome members of Black LivesMatter who chant “What do wewant? Dead cops! When do wewant them? Now!” in thestreets.

Compare that to an urbanAfrican-American woman whois also not a racist and does notassociate with racists, who con-tinues in this day and age to feeldiscriminated against becauseof the color of her skin. She isfollowed by security when shop-ping in department stores. Shenotices that cabdrivers won’tstop when she hails their taxis.She senses “the look” she getsfrom whites who are uncomfort-able in her presence. The real

problem, to her, isa nation in whichinstitutional racismhas flourished forcenturies, andthough there hascertainly been im-provement sincethe days of slavery,Jim Crow, and seg-regated schools,life for non-whitescontinues to be adaily struggle.

She too con-demns the violenceon the other side,but thinks that

compared to white suprema-cists, the left’s smashing win-dows and roughing up peoplewearing “Make America GreatAgain” hats are rare and ran-dom.

Though I cannot be certain,

I suspect Donald Trump fallsmore into the first category, andthose outraged by his “blameboth sides” comments fall moreinto the second.

I have long defined racism ashatred toward and/or feelingsof superiority over another race.By that definition, I have no rea-son to believe President Trumpis a racist, and I consider thenotion that his refusal to exclu-sively blame white supremacistsfor Charlottesville and not todisavow white supremacy inevery single speech he makes tomean that he advocates groups

like neo-Nazis and the KKK tobe the epitome of absurdity.

Suppose, for example, thatBilly and Bobby are playing inthe den. Billy takes a flairmarker and writes his name onthe wall, once. Bobby takes aletter opener and carves hisname into the wooden furnitureall over the den. He also spray-paints his name all over thewalls. The adult (who shouldhave been watching them)comes into the room and says:“You are both to blame for thismess!” To blame Billy consider-ing the context of the entiremess is wrong. But to equateblaming Billy with defendingand supporting Bobby’s actionsis preposterous.

Finally, racism is not goingto be eradicated by a president,whether perceived by the elitemedia to be an instigator, like

Donald Trump, or a healer, likeBarack Obama. Our hope forridding our nation of thescourge of racism is for there tobe more conversations betweenthat proverbial rural white manand urban black woman, so thatthey can better understand theproblem by viewing it throughone another’s eyes.

Constantinos E. Scaros' latestbook, Grumpy Old Party (aboutthe 2016 presidential election),is available for purchase onamazon.com and in bookstoresnationwide.

The Difference between Valid Critique and Psychodrama

The National HeraldA 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

Assistant Executive Editor Eleni SakellisReligion Editor Theodore Kalmoukos

Contributing Editor Constantinos E. ScarosWebsite Editor Achilleas Kouremenos

Production Manager Chrysoula Karametros

The National Herald (USPS 016864) is published weekly byThe National Herald Inc. at 37-10 30th Street, LIC, NY 11101-2614

Tel: (718)784-5255, Fax: (718)472-0510, e-mail: english.edition@thenationalherald.com

Democritou 1 and Academias Sts, Athens, 10671, GreeceTel: 011.30.210.3614.598, Fax: 011.30.210.3643.776, e-mail:

athens@ekirikas.com

Periodical postage paid at L.I.C., N.Y. and additional mailing offices.Postmaster send change of address to:

THE NATIONAL HERALD, 37-10 30th Street, LIC, NY 11101-2614

TO OUR READERS

the National herald welcomes letters from its readers intended forpublication. they should include the writer’s name, address, andtelephone number and be addressed to: the editor, the Nationalherald, 37-10 30th Street, long island city, Ny 11101. letters canalso be faxed to (718) 472-0510 or e-mailed toeleni.sakellis@ekirikas.com. we reserve the right to edit letters forpublication and regret that we are unable to acknowledge or returnthose left unpublished.

by CONSTANTINOS E.SCAROS

Special to The National Herald

Geo

rG

e SA

rA

FoG

lou

/ SP

eciA

l to

th

e N

Atio

NA

l h

erA

lD

This June 23, 2015 file photo shows the carving depicting Confederate Civil war figuresStonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, in Stone Mountain, Ga. Following thedeadly violence surrounding an Aug. 12, 2017, white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., aDemocratic candidate for Georgia governor said the carvings should be removed.

GUEST EDITORIALS

the National herald welcomes manuscripts representing a variety ofviews for publication. they should include the writer’s name, address,and telephone number, and be addressed to the editor, the Nationalherald, 37-10 30th St., long island city, Ny 11101. they may alsobe e-mailed to scaros@thenationalherald.com. we reserve the rightto edit any manuscripts that we publish, and we do not return orotherwise acknowledge unpublished ones. Due to considerations ofspace we enforce a strict 850-word upper limit.

AP Photo/JohN bAZemore, File

VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 9

The fires that tore acrossGreece this summer were obvi-ously, as the ruling Looney LeftSYRIZA believes, a conspiracyto discredit them – not reallypossible given how far they havefallen in anti-popularity polls af-ter reneging on anti-austeritypromises.

That cockamamie claim isn’tthe despicable part. That be-longs to Prime Minister Alexis“The Great Reneger” Tsipraswho said the horror of the 2007infernos that killed 84 peoplewere the fault of his now majorrival, the New Democracy Con-servatives who were in powerat the time.

Just when you thought hecouldn’t go any lower. Shame-less. “I didn’t kill anybody butyou did, yanna nanna nannnana!” That’s the answer a PrimeMinister gives?

Tsipras was still in shortpants then, an obscure figure ina more obscure party until aNew Democracy gaffe – puttingup one of its own to be GreekPresident – led to early electionsand SYRIZA’s rise.

As dozens of fires ragedacross Greece, what used to bea kind of annual tradition sothat developers could build onburned-out land and get richwhile stepping over the charredbones and ashes of families andother victims, Justice MinisterStavros Kontonis and other offi-cials said it was a conspiracy offire against SYRIZA as it tum-bled in the polls.

“We had 15 fronts at thesame time on Zakynthos. If thisis not an organized plan of ar-son, then what is?” he toldKathimerini.

What is an organized plan ofarson is what people who cov-eted forest land have been al-lowed to do with impunity foryears because there’s money tobe made.

Fires were set to get arounda law prohibiting building onforest land: unless it’s burned

and there’s no lawyet prohibiting that,encouraging the ar-s o n - f o r - p r o f i tschemes.

It goes hand-in-hand with the noto-rious and condonedpractice of lettingpeople unlawfullybuild homes onstate land and inparks and forestsand pretty muchanywhere theywant, with the gov-ernment then legal-izing it later if a fineis paid, which reportedly has al-lowed nearly a million unlawfulstructures to now be legal.

The conservation groupWWF Hellas and the NationalAgricultural Research Founda-tion tracked fires between 1983-2008 and concluded there wasan average of 1,465 a year,Kathimerini reported, with theloss of 1.235 million acres ayear.

There’s little doubt manyfires, this year and in 2007,were arson as investigatorsfound evidence, including gascanisters next to lenses to inten-sify the sun’s heat.

But Kontonis said it went be-yond arson to gain land forbuildings and that that the mul-tiple fronts on the island of Za-kynthos were “planned” to cre-ate social disarray, whileGreece’s Fire Service said there

were “well-founded suspi-cions of foul play.”

You can dismissKontonis, a Com-mie lover unlessyou count Stalin ashe apparently isone of those farLeftists in SYRIZAwho still adore theCommunist daysbut not one of itschief heroes. Kon-tonis wouldn’teven go to a Euro-pean Union con-ference on Com-

munist crimes, which, ifcatalogued properly, would havebeen a three-month affair atleast.

Not wanting to get soot onhis suit – the same way he didn’twant to get it wet when he vis-ited the island of Lesbos andsaw refugees struggling for theirlives offshore in rubber dinghieswithout pulling over to see ifthey needed help – Tsiprasstayed on vacation and waiteduntil this year’s fires were outbefore surveying the scene. Atleast he didn’t have to worryabout ruining a tie from thesmoke smell.

As firefighters were onstandby after struggling to putout dozens of blazes – many sus-pected to be arson, a populartool for those who then want tobuild on burned-out land –Tsipras said Greece had

“avoided the worst,” whichthose living or vacationing nearthe waterfront and wooded areaof Kalamos which burned downmight dispute.

Government spokesmanDimitris Tzanakopoulos belit-tled criticism of Tsipras for notgoing to the fire scenes until af-ter they had been put out, say-ing the Premier had been in con-stant contact with Citizens’Protection Minister NikosToskas.

The phone conversationmust have gone something likethis:

TSIPRAS: “Can you describethe fires to me?”

TOSKAS: “Not really sure asI’m not there either, but I heardthey’re big and hot.”

TSIPRAS: “Okay, keep meposted. I’m going to lunch.”

Here’s what they forgot andreally don’t care to think aboutor hear about if it interferes withgoing swimming or creatingconspiracy theories to downplaytheir ignorance: people died inhorrible ways because no gov-ernment has really given theFire Services the staff and equip-ment they need, preferring touse the money, as Tsipras has,to hire unqualified hack cronieyes-men friends as Special Ad-visers, and for personal andparty gain.

You can spread the blamearound as easy as spilling gaso-line in a forest and having signsready saying: Coming Here NextYear, Luxury Properties.

In 2007, then-Premier andNew Democracy leader Costas“The Invisible Man” Karamanlissaid the killer fires must havebeen set. “So many fires break-ing out simultaneously in somany parts of the country can-not be a coincidence,” Karaman-lis said in a TV address, adding:“The state will do everything itcan to find those responsibleand punish them.” He didn’t.

adabilis@thenationalherald.com

By Dimitra Pontoporou

Tourists reading signs in Greek? Yes, de-spite the common expression “It’s all Greekto me,” many seem familiar to reading andrecognizing letters of the Greek alphabet.This is not only due to the fact that theGreek alphabet is the basis of the Latin,Gothic, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic and manyother writing systems, so that Eastern Eu-ropeans and Western World citizens do rec-ognize some Greek letters. Greek letters areused all over the world in many fields andin social culture.

Greek alphabet let-ters are familiar to stu-dents in the UnitedStates and other coun-tries, because universityand college fraternitiesuse a set of identificationsymbols including Greekletters, which are some-times written on the dor-mitories’ walls. Besidesthe student societies, thenames of the Greek let-ters are widely used inthe scientific terminol-ogy. All over the worldkids at school are taughtvarious concepts ofmathematics and physicswhich are representedby Greek alphabet let-ters; They are used inthese disciplines as inter-national symbols.

Greek letters are used in the terminologyof engineering, in computer science, in soft-ware in chemistry, pharmacology and biol-ogy, in cosmology and orbital mechanics,in meteorology and in other fields. Beloware some examples of both well known andless known elements and concepts denotedwith the Greek letters. Among the bestknown are the Gamma radiation from nu-clear physics and the geographical termriver delta. It has been named after the let-ter Delta because its triangular shape ap-proximates the upper-case letter delta.

Greek letters are widely used in cosmol-ogy and astronomy. For instance the termbeta angle describes the angle between theorbit plane of a spacecraft or other bodyand the vector from the sun. Εpsilon is inastronomy the fifth-brightest star in a con-stellation and the name for Uranus' mostdistant and most visible ring. Omicron isfrequently used to designate the fifteenthstar in a constellation group, using a com-

bination of magnitude and position. Starswith the omicron designation include Omi-cron Andromedae, Omicron Persei. In pop-ular culture the last one is well known as asetting in science fiction (Star Trek). BesidesOmikron the words or the letters Alpha,Beta, Delta, and Omega occur in sciencefiction movies. Memory Alpha is a collabo-rative project to create the most definitiveand accessible encyclopaedia for everythingrelated to Star Trek.

In other disciplines Greek letters indicateconcepts, measurements and phenomena.

Some of them are used in Computer Sci-ence, example being the term beta meaningthe last testing release or the preview re-lease in the software release life cycle beforethe final release version. In oceanographythe small Greek H is the measurement ofsea-level height above or below the meansea-level at that same location. In meteo-rology Greek letters like Beta, Gamma, Zetawere used as hurricane names during the2005 Atlantic hurricane season. In neuro-science the letters Alpha, Beta, Delta, andTheta indicate a brain signal frequencyranging from 4–8 Hz. In psychology andpsychiatry the letter Kappa indicates a mea-sure of diagnostic reliability. Sometimes insports, like in rock climbing, Greek lettersdefine actions. For instance the term betarefers to advice on how to successfully com-plete a particular climbing route, or cruxsequence.

The most commonly used Greek letterin everyday English is X. Pronounced as Chiis used to abbreviate the name Christ, as in

the holiday Christmas, Xmas.In finance, beta is a measure of invest-

ment portfolio risk. In the world market,Greek letters have been chosen by compa-nies as part of logo or trademark, or asmodel names, examples being Delta Air-lines, Kappa Airlines, Omega Watches, Al-pha Bank, Ypsilon car model. In English,the noun Alpha is used as a synonym forbeginning, or for the first in a series. Theterm alpha also denotes position in socialhierarchy (alpha males), or the best in termsof quality.

Finally in the New Testament God de-clares himself to be the “Alpha and Omega”,“the beginning and the end." Alpha, the firstletter of the Greek alphabet and Omega thelast.

Consequently Greek alphabet letters docross ethnic boundaries, can bridge lan-guage barriers and link cultural horizons.Not to mention the Greek words that existin the terminology of the world languages.The truth is that world citizens use in theirown language vocabulary thousands ofGreek words, without even knowing it.Therefore they can easily become familiarto their transliteration and meaning inGreek.

Wouldn’t the development of classes ofsimple Greek language lessons that wouldintegrate the Greek cultural tradition in theunique landscape of the land, where theevolution of the Greek language and thedevelopment of concepts originated, be at-tractive for the world citizens? Do we realizethat our alphabet is a precious asset?

The Greek Alphabet in the World’s Languages

LETTER FROM ATHENS

Letting Greece Burn, Even if it Kills People

by ANDyDAbILIS

Special to The National Herald

History – espe-cially that of Mod-ern Greece – is re-plete with tragediesarising from ideo-logical ankyloses. Inthe name of ab-solute adherence topolitical or otherideologies, the indi-vidual qualities be-hind human re-sources areflagrantly over-looked as pragma-tism and reality takea back seat to thesubjective preferences of ideo-logues. The arrival of Septemberand the infamous anniversary ofthe Asia Minor Catastrophe re-sulting in the final chapter of thegenocide of Asia Minor’s indige-nous Christian populace and vi-olent uprooting of the millennia-old presence of Hellenism thereby the army of Hitler’s idol KemalAtaturk serves as an all too fa-miliar reminder.

Ernest Hemingway, then ayoung war correspondent, sumsit up perfectly in his piece for theToronto Daily Star published onNov. 3, 1922, entitled “The GreekArmy’s Betrayal:” "The Greek sol-diers were first-class fightingmen," Captain Wittal said. "theywere well officered by men whohad served with the British andFrench at Salonika and they out-classed the Kemalist army. I be-lieve they would have capturedAngora (Ankara) and ended thewar if they had not been be-trayed. "When Constantine cameinto power all the officers of thearmy in the field were suddenlyscrapped, from the commander-in-chief down to platoon com-manders. These officers hadmany of them been promotedfrom the ranks, were good sol-diers and splendid leaders. Theywere removed and their placesfilled new officers of the Tino(Constantine) party, most ofwhom had spent the war inSwitzerland or Germany and hadnever heard a shot fired. Thatcaused a complete breakdown ofthe army and was responsible forthe Greek defeat. Captain Wittaltold me how artillery officers who

had no experience at all tookover the command of batteriesand massacred their own in-fantry. He told about infantry of-ficers who used powder, facepowder not gunpowder, androuge, and about staff workwhich was criminal in its igno-rance and negligence.”

Of course, one might be hard-pressed to hold an historical dis-cussion on this topic with the av-erage Greek adolescent, becausein addition to the royalist orVenizelist renditions of history,the last few decades have seenthe rise of the internationalist re-visionist approach – perhaps themost tragic version of all, sincedenial is the final stage of geno-cide – with this historic genocidebeing downplayed as a simple“crowding” of ethnic Greeks inthe port of Smyrna, waiting totake the next boat to Greece tocomplete the population ex-change...

Sadly, the ultimate irony ofthe purportedly leftist govern-ment being used as the perfectinstrument for the implementa-tion of the cruelest and most in-humane neo-liberal agendaGreece has ever seen follows thesame vicious cycle of ideologicalabsolutism that has plaguedmodern Greece since its nationalrebirth in 1821. The currentcoalition government, led by the

upstart SYRIZAparty, which waspropelled from thefringes of the polit-ical spectrum whereit dwelled since itsformation in thelate 1980s to be-come Greece’s rul-ing party on a pop-ulist platformpromising to repealthe hated memo-randum responsiblefor the nation’splunge into an eco-nomic abyss sur-

passing even the Great Depres-sion, has, like its predecessors,opted to implement every irra-tional directive issued by Greece’slenders, who seem intent on liq-uidating the nation rather thanrebuilding it.

However, in order to retainsome semblance of their politicalidentity and not admit that theyhave eradicated whatever notionremained of the left in the 21stcentury, and so as to compensatefor their neo-liberal shift in eco-nomic policy, the current govern-ment is trying to cater to the ide-ological whimsies of the mostextreme elements in its party ap-paratus by handing over the all-important areas of education,public sector management, andjustice as lambs led for slaughteron the altar of their ideologicalhangups. Patriotism and histori-cal conscience are branded as na-tionalism, pursuit of excellenceis billed as elitism, cronyism tri-umphs as political affiliationtrumps effectiveness, violenceand vandalism are protected asfreedoms of expression, etc. Ofcourse, Greece’s previous govern-ments were guilty of much thesame…The only thing that thecurrent government’s politicalethos has proven is that youthand a clean political slate do notconstitute someone immune tothe mistakes of the past. In fact,having been weaned on themores of the very same systemof corruption and cronyism, theirsudden rise to power and fear ofreturning to their former diminu-tive state makes them perhapsmore likely to abuse their powerthan their predecessors. To top itall off, with no serious reformistagenda being offered by the po-litical opposition, who are con-tent on merely presenting them-selves as better managers of thesuicidal memorandum beinglethally injected into Greece byits lenders, the prospect of elec-tions – whenever they may arrive– appears as grim as ever.

But as usual, the Greek Dias-pora is not exempt from the samepitfalls. Whether manifested inthe royalists vs. republican rivalrythat once cause a major divisionin the Diaspora, the destructiverole of para-ecclesiastical organi-zations that are protestantizingthe Church, including theologicalassociations like Zoe and Sotir,independent Bible-study groups,or lay organizations like OCL (formore information on this readChristos Yannaras’ highly infor-mative work Orthodoxy and theWest: Hellenic Self-Identity in theModern Age), or the general lackof meritocracy in many of our es-tablished institutions, Hellenismabroad has suffered many set-backs because of the ideologicalfixations of its leadership.

Since the Diaspora appears toimitate the Greek metropolis, onehas to look no further than theeducation crisis. Despite all theself-aggrandizement surroundingsupposed Greek-American entre-preneurial genius, the conditionof our Greek community schoolsreveals a very different, harsh re-ality. Likewise, to satisfy the cu-riosity of a reader questioning therecent characterization of HolyCross Seminary/Hellenic Collegeas a money pit, considering the180 some-odd students com-manding its annual $12 millionbudget, the unwillingness to re-cruit top theologians like Metro-politan Hierotheos of Nafpaktosto the faculty, or the insufferablypoor knowledge of Greek exhib-ited by its graduates, even incomparison to non-Hellenic (andfar more affordable) schools likeSt. Vladimir’s, stands as furtherevidence of the damage that ide-ological ankyloses can cause.

Follow me on Twitter@CTripoulas

The Vicious Cycle ofIdeological Fixation

The National Herald BookstoreBooks to add to your Reading List

up to Discount

50%

The Furnace Takis Tranoulis $8.91

Love Poems Dionysia Nick Garbi $11.52

Greece the next 300 years Stephen Tzikas $12.00

National Herald, Inc. 37-10 30th Street, L.I.C, NY 11101-2614 • 718-784 5255 • fax 718 472 0510 • info@ekirikas.com

by ChristopherTRIPOULAS

Special to The National Herald

tNh ArchiveS

A photograph taken by anAmerican onboard a ship,shows the crowds pouring tothe shores of Smyrna afterTurks set fire to the city.

FEATURE10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

a b

The National Herald BookstoreBooks to add to your Reading ListDiscount up to 50%

IcarusCatherine Grigoriou

Catherine Grigoriou works in Greek and English. Bornand raised in Greece. She had a classical education(Ancient GreeK and Latin). She has first degree inFrench Studies and Linguistics from Athens Universityand a Master of Philosophy Degree in StrategicStudies from Cambridge University.

The MiracleLeonidas Koumakis

“This book was a triple miracle for me: Intellectual,sentimental and spiritual.”

Bernard Marjollet, Professeur de Lettres Classiques

Evris KontosA Greek-Cypriot Immigrant and the American Dream

Michael RichardsonHis All Holiness, Bartholomew, Patriarch of Constan-tinople (highest human office in Greek OrthodoxChurch), received Evris Kontos, an Archon Aktouariosof the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Later in America, Mr.Kontos was named “Ellis Island Medalist” as a Greek-Cypriot achiever of the American Dream.

Stairway to HeavenPlato Papajohn

“More than merely a book of memoirs to crown a lifewell-lived, Stairway to Heaven is powerful account ofa man’s existential response to some of life’s greatestthemes: War, Passion, Love, Adventure, Illness,Death, and God Himself.”

Rev. Fr. Paul Costopoulos, Dean of the Holy Trinity-HolyCross Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Birmingham, Alabama

$15.40

$9.24

$14.50

$8.70

$28.95

$17.37

$30.73

$22.00

O R D E R F O R MPrice includes shipping and handling.

Please return this form with your check or money order payable to:

National Herald, Inc. 37-10 30th Street, L.I.C,

Ny 11101-2614 • secretary@ekirikas.com • info@ekirikas.com

or charge your credit card:

o American express o master card o visa o Discover

αCCOUNT: εxPIRATION DATE:

ναμε:

αDDRESS: CITy:

STATE: zIP CODE:

PHONE: FAx:

CELL: E-MAIL:

SIGNATURE:

Greece the next 300 yearsStephen Tzikas

Stephen Tzikas explores a variety of possible scenarios, in-cluding how economies may be revolutionized in the near fu-ture; how democracy may come under threat by technology,even in the United States; how Marxism may challenge theworld capitalist system.

Love Poemsby Dionysia Nick Garbi

$20.00

$12.00

$19.21

$11.52

By Dr. AnthonyParaskevopoulos

Music therapy today can betraced back many years. Themodern purpose of music ther-apy is to improve and restoremental and physical health. But,the roots and branches of itshealing power on our personalhealth – and behavior towardsone another – stem from AncientGreece.

The Ancient Greeks foundtheir music to be extremely in-spirational not only in times ofwar but, in peaceful ones aswell. It was considered to be“therapeutic” to their body, totheir social interactions with oneanother, to the dominion overelements of nature and, perhapsmost importantly, to their minds.

As far back as 200 AD accord-ing to Athenaios, persons sub-jected to the disease sciatica(neuritis of the hip and thigh)would always be freed from painif pipes were played in the Phry-gian mode over the affectedbody parts. In social interactions,according to a well-known myth,the famous music master Ter-pander, was called to Spartaupon the request of the city'scouncil to eliminate the animos-ity that prevailed among the var-ious factions in that city. As in-structed, he played his Kithara

and the opposing groups becamereconciled to one another. Con-cerning the dominion over ele-ments of nature; the Greekscould express their uniquenessas creative beings by reaffirmingtheir alliance with the gods.

In the year 620 BC, Sparta –again – was struck by a plague.The people of the city went tothe poet Thaletas for help. Withhis beautiful hymns, he ap-peased the gods and the plague

was lifted. Orpheus subdued thebeasts of the forest with hissongs and accompanied by hislyre playing -- he was able to en-ter Hades. Arion through hiswonderful singing enlisted the

help of dolphins to carry him ontheir backs and away from hisenemies.

Many of the first mortal mu-sicians were poets who had beenblinded as a sort of reward/pun-ishment by the gods. In TheOdyssey, for example, Homer(himself blind) describes the sit-uation of the poet, Demodocus.“The muse loved him above allother men and gave him bothgood and evil. Of his sight she

deprived him, but gave him thegift of sweet song.” And we read,later, of two more poet-musi-cians, Tiresias and Thamyris.They incurred the anger of themuses in some way and were

blinded as a result, but whowere, at the same time, en-dowed with musical talent.

As Greek civilization devel-oped and the character of thecountry as a nation of highly or-

ganized city-states emerged, themythological theories of musicwere replaced with ones moresuited to the needs of the times.

The Greeks did not find theirmythological beliefs to be infe-rior to their scientific ones. Infact, the mythical powers andeven the magical properties ofmusic were felt by the Greeks ofthe Periclean era (the GoldenAge) just as strongly as theywere felt in archaic times. Thisis evident in Plato's Republic.Music was always a powerfulforce in Greek life.

According to the Greeks ofthe fifth century BC, when thisdoctrine was most widely pro-mulgated, music had the powerto influence the will or characterof mankind in several ways. Aris-

totle, in the Poetics, claimed thatthe various musical modes (orscales, to use the modern corre-late) produced differing effectson the listener. Some “depress,”some “enfeeble the mind,” someproduce a “settled moderatemood,” while some “inspire en-thusiasm.”

It is no surprise; therefore,that music was taken quite seri-ously as an educational forcewhose elements were a matterof state policy. Thus, we learnthat in Arcadia, music educationwas required of all citizens upto age 30, while in Athens,Sparta, and Thebes, the playingof the aulos and participation inthe chorus was the duty of allconscientious citizens. But per-

haps the greatest testimony tothe vital presence of music in thelives of Ancient Greeks was thefact that the musicians and poetswere not honored by merely asmall group of educated and cul-tured elite who had the meansand time to appreciate such anesoteric form of expression. Likethe best athletes and warriorswho lent their physical efforts tothe glory of the state, the bestof these spiritual victors werealso crowned with the laurelwreath and became national he-roes in the eyes of their coun-trymen.

Anthony Paraskevopoulosholds a doctorate in music & ed-ucation from Columbia Univer-sity.

Ancient Greek Tradition and Perspective on Music Therapy

The modern purpose ofmusic therapy is toimprove and restoremental and physicalhealth. But, the roots andbranches of its healingpower on our personalhealth – and behaviortowards one another –stem from Ancient Greece.