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Page 1: The National Herald€¦ · Priebus helped lead Michael Steele’s successful 2009 cam - paign for RNC Chairman. He was in charge of Steele’s tran - sition and became General Counsel

The National HeraldA wEEKLy GREEK AMERICAN PuBLICATION

February 19-25, 2011

www.thenationalherald.comVOL. 14, ISSUE 697 $1.50

c v

Bringing the newsto generations ofGreek Americans

O C VΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ

ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915

By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer

NEW YORK – Triggering a de-bate within the Communitywhether it signified a politicaldefeat for Greek Americans orwas the inevitable next step inthe face of powerful and seem-

ingly unaccountable govern-ment agencies, the Greek Ortho-dox Archdiocese of America andthe Church of St. Nicholas fileda suit in Federal Court in Man-hattan on February 14 againstthe Port Authority of New Yorkand New Jersey, the Lower Man-hattan Development Corpora-tion (LMDC) and the EmpireState Development Corporation(ESDC) over delays in the re-building of the only house ofworship destroyed in the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Thecomplaint also names PA Exec-utive Director Chris Ward andPA Chief of Capitol PlanningDavid Tweedy as defendants.The complaint hits hard fromthe start, accusing the PA ofreneging on a binding agree-ment and declaring, “This casearises out of the arrogance, badfaith, and fraudulent conduct ofthe Port Authority, as agent forall of the Agencies, in prevent-ing St. Nicholas from rebuildingits church at Ground Zero afterit was crushed by a falling towerin the attack on the World TradeCenter ... while the Port Author-ity has claimed publicly that itis in discussions with the Churchto foster the rebuilding effort,in fact, in March 2009 it sum-marily disavowed a longstand-ing agreement between theAgencies and the Church to re-build St. Nicholas at 130 LibertyStreet ... since that time the PortAuthority has rebuffed all effortsby the Church to work with itregarding the rebuilding.”

The legal document details asequence of events that illus-trates claims of the Archdioceseand the Parish to have co-oper-ated with the PA every step ofthe way, including agreeing “toreduce the bulk and height ofthe new church building fromthat which previously had beenagreed to by the agencies.” Italso describes tactics used by thePA the Church alleges were in-tended to trick the Church intoactions the PA has attempted toportray as constituting a rejec-tion of its “final offer” whichrendered void their previouslyagreed to deal. The complaints

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Showdown at GroundZero: St. Nicholas BringsSuit Against Port Authority

By Steve Frangos

Since their arrival in NorthAmerica, Greeks have influ-enced popular music and dance.All one has to do is name a mu-sical or dance genre; tap-dance,opera, Tin Pan Alley, ballroom,big band, jazz, avante garde,folk, blues, R&B, swing, tango,rock and roll, New Age, andeven country to find a Greekeveryone agrees is a quintessen-tial performer in that genre.Nick Gravenites is among thoseGreek-Americans who have for-ever changed the popular musicof North America. Gravenitesaccomplished this as a singer,composer, rhythm guitarist,record producer, and in typicalGreek fashion, a musical go-be-tween. In the tight fraternity ofGreeks who have become in-spired Blues musicians there is,aside from Gravenites, AlexisKorner, Johnny Otis (Veliotis,)his son Shuggie Otis, and NickTremulis. It is not in terms of

NickGravenites,Bluesman

By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer

NEW YORK – E.S. (Steve) Savashas scaled the heights of theworlds of business, academiaand government in the UnitedStates. He worked for IBM, NewYork City’s Mayor John Lindsayand President Ronald Reaganand has taught managementand public policy at ColumbiaUniversity’s School of Businessand at Baruch College, wherehe is a Presidential Scholar. Theauthor of 15 books and morethan 130 articles, the media hasdubbed him the Father of Pri-vatization, a movement at theheart of reform efforts in Amer-ica and elsewhere around theworld, yet he makes it clear thathis Greek roots and family areat the heart of who he is. He as-pired to be a nuclear physicistin his youth and has excelled inmany other areas. Almost a cen-

tury after the liberation ofsouthern Greece and the birthof the Greek state, the Greekswho lived in Skopos, a smalltown near Constantinople, werestill mired in the misery of Turk-ish rule. Savas’s father John wasborn in 1897, the year of afailed Greek revolt on the islandof Crete. In between his birthand WWI the Greeks feared fortheir lives and sought to escape.He would have been a sopho-more in High School when theBalkan Wars broke out in 1912,and while school had becomeimpossible long before, his bi-ography indicates he wouldhave excelled there. John waspart of a group of migrant farmworkers, but they were not pick-ers of olives or wheat gatherersbut a team of expert cheesemak-ers who travelled to Greece,Turkey, Bulgaria and as far asRomania.

Savas’ mother, Helen, one ofseven daughters, managed to goto school until 4th grade butwith a Turkish knife literally ather throat, her family had toleave. In 1916 her father wastold Turkish forces were goingto make a sweep of the area andhe prepared his family to leave.Gold coins were sewn into thelining of their coats, reminiscentof a scene from Elia Kazan’smovie Amerika Amerika. TheTurks came next day, and de-manded money. When Savas’grandfather denied having any,one of them took knife to hismother’s throat and barked:“Give us your money or we’ll slittheir throats one by one startingwith this one.” The Turksslashed the coats and his mothertold him how there were littlepiles of gold coins at the feet ofthe seven girls. She came to U.S.in 1922. His father came earlier.He arrived in America on Christ-mas Day 1913 on the S.S.

Steve Savas: Father ofPrivatization - GreekReform Godfather?

NEW YORK - Even in the wakeof the election of BarackObama, it’s still unusual inAmerican politics for peoplewith names that are difficult topronounce to rise to the top. It’seven more rare for one of themto have one that is tougher tosay than a Greek name. The po-litical and media worlds arelearning a new name this week:Reince Priebus was elected thenew Chairman of the Republi-can National Committee on Feb-ruary 11 at a watershed mo-ment in the history of the GrandOld Party. Born to parents of

Greek and German descent andraised in Kenosha, Wisconsin,the man described as “low-key”will lead the GOP’s charge tooust President Obama in 2012and add control of the U.S. Sen-ate to their recent conquest ofthe House of Representatives.Priebus is battle-tested for thewars against the Democratsfrom wars within his own party.

According to Politico.com,Priebus helped lead MichaelSteele’s successful 2009 cam-paign for RNC Chairman. Hewas in charge of Steele’s tran-sition and became General

Counsel of the RNC. Then,amidst RNC difficulties, thediminutive Priebus had a fallingout with the man he helped liftto power. According to the NewYork Times, “Other party leaderspersuaded him to run for Chair-man and try to turn around thecommittee.” Priebus’s mother,Dimitra, said in an interviewwith Politico that her son startedvolunteering for Republicancauses when he was 10 yearsold by putting signs in people’syards. His father, Roula, was

GOP’s New Greek Head: Reince Priebus

Reince Priebus was elected the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee on February11. It was an unlikely success for the son of a Greek-German family that began with humble roots.

EXAMINER.COM

Ambassador Kounalakis’ Road from Sacramento

PHILADELPHIA - Noted Greekscholar Edmund Keeley wasfeted at the 75th annual Jubileedinner dance of the HellenicUniversity Club of Philadelphia,attended by nearly 150 people,on the occasion of his 83rdbirthday. Following a signing ofhis book on the renowned Greekpoet C.P. Cavafy, Keeley wasgiven the Paideia award andthen read poetry to the crowdfrom several of his favoriteGreek poets, and a birthdaycake was brought out to histable. A long-time professor atPrinceton, he is a noted experton Cavafy and has written anumber of books celebratingHellenism and holds an Hon-orary Doctorate from the Uni-versity of Athens. Keeley markedthe occasion by taking a cuefrom one of his favorite writersabout Greece, Patrick Leigh Fer-mor, who wrote a book called ATime of Gifts, saying that he’sfelt that way about Greece sincehe was eight years old and hisfather was assigned an Ameri-can Consul in Thessaloniki.

Hellenic Club Honors Greek Poetry’s Keeley

By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer

NEW YORK – When ElizabethHatzis of the Sokrates School,which is affiliated with theChurch of Sts. Constantine andHelen in Cambridge, Mass., re-ceived the plaque that declaredher The National Herald’s Edu-cator of the Year 2010, she de-clared the award belongs to allthe Community’s teachers. Shealso acknowledged the parentsof the children, who she calledher allies, and thanked AntonisH. Diamataris, the Publisher andEditor of The National Heraldand Ethnikos Kirix for the honor.The Consul General of Cyprus,Koula Sophianou, and GreekConsul Evangelos Kyriakopouloswere present, representing whatthey said was their govern-ments’ support for Greek edu-cation in America.

Hatzis, deeply moved,thanked Diamataris and theTNH staff, especially Religion

editor and New England corre-spondent Theodore Kalmoukos,who was unable to attend dueto illness. Holding back tears,she said, “I am a simple teacher,

without a Master’s Degree or aPh.D.,” adding that despite theobstacles she encountered in herservice: “If I were given 1000more lives I would have doneexactly the same.” She said “Iendure everything I can in orderto teach (my students) to lovetheir country and their heritageand their unique Greek lan-guage, to have pride in their for-bears and faith in the Trinityand that Macedonia was and isGreek.” She concluded by tellingthe guests that she will dedicatethe award to her students andthe Sokrates School, while say-ing that, “Greek education is amatter of concern to all of us.”Sophianou said she learned ofthe honoree through the Peri-odiko supplement of EthnikosKirix and was pleased to be ableto congratulate her in person.She expressed her deep appre-ciation for Hatzis’ work andstressed the importance ofteaching the younger generationto speak Greek, to be proud of

their heritage and supportGreece and Cyprus. Kyriakopou-los praised TNH’s initiative inhonoring the community’steachers noting that educatorsplay a crucial role in shaping thecharacter of the Community’syouth. The National Herald’sveteran writer Dimitris Tsakaswas the Master of Ceremoniesand the highlight of the after-noon was the announcement byDiamataris that he was asked byan anonymous donor to presenta check for $1,000 to Hatzis,which she was authorized to useat her discretion as scholarshipsto deserving students. Thedonor also said that he wouldensure that the gift would begiven in perpetuity from hisfamily’s estate to the Teacher ofthe Year. Diamataris said hecould not keep such a grandgesture secret and acknowl-edged the donor as Stavros Vou-giouklakis. Diamataris thanked

TNH Teacher of the Year Hatzis’ Simple Message

Noted Philhellene Edmund Keeley drew a crowd around him at the 75th annual Jubilee dinnerdance of the Hellenic University Club of Philadelphia, attended by nearly 150 people. Followinga signing of his book on the renowed Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, Keeley was given the Paideiaaward and then read poetry to the crowd from several of his favorite Greek writers.

Elizabeth Hatzis of SokratesSchool, Cambridge, Mass.

By Andy DabilisTNH Staff Writer

Eleni TsakopoulosKounalakis’ father, well-knownCalifornia developer AngeloTsakopoulos, wasn’t yet quitethe big name he would becomewhen he was teaching his chil-dren the values of their Greekheritage and then took them –along with his wife and mother-in-law – to East Germany whenit was behind the Iron Curtain,so that, she said, they would un-derstand what it means to be anAmerican. “My father encour-aged me to go to new places andunderstand new communitiesand new cultures. He encour-aged me to travel around theword,” she said, rememberingthe hardships of live she saw inEast Germany when she was 13and forming adolescent impres-sions. Her father left Greece asa young man to come to theUnited States to make his way,and, eventually, a fortune, butshe said he was always struckby what would have happenedhad Greece’s fortunes turned outdifferently after World War IIwhen the Allies were carving upEurope and giving much of it toRussia and what would becomethe Soviet Union. “He decidedhe wanted to know what itwould have been like if historyhad turned out differently andGreece had fallen behind theIron Curtain. It had such a pro-found influence on me at thetime because what he was reallylooking for was an understand-ing of what his life might havebeen like, so we took a train andwent to Berlin and went thoughCheckpoint Charlie,” the divid-ing line between DemocraticWest Berlin and Communist EastBerlin, where many people diedtrying to escape to the otherside. She learned the lesson well.

Her Greek JourneyBegan With Fatherand Family Values

ELEFTHERIOS KOSTANS

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COMMUNITY2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

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

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

The question this week is: Should Greece sell its ancientmonuments to raise money?o Yeso Noo Maybe

The results for last week’s question: Do you still believe inGod?87% voted "Yes"7% voted "No"6% voted "Maybe"

Please vote at: www.thenationalherald.com

n FEBRUARY – MARCH 13TARPON SPRINGS, Fl. - The Cityof Tarpon Springs is presentinga series of free Greek Bouzoukiworkshops for beginning and ad-vanced students. Lessons willbe taught by George Soffos, whois considered by many as thebest bouzouki player born out-side of Greece. His repertoireincludes folk genres such as,rembetika, nisiotika and otherregional styles, as well as popu-lar and classical Greek works.Since he was 16-years-old, hehas entertained audiences inGreek night clubs and largevenues throughout the world.When top vocalists from Greecetour North America, George Sof-fos often accompanies them.Soffos will give workshops onSundays from 2:00-4:00 p.m. atthe Heritage Museum, 100 Beek-man Lane in Craig Park—exceptfor the workshop on February27 which will be held at the Cul-tural Center, 101 S. PinellasAve., Tarpon Springs. There willbe several bouzoukis availablefor students who do not haveone. Please call (727) 937-0686to reserve a place in the work-shop and a bouzouki if needed.The workshops are supported inpart by a grant from the Na-tional Endowment for the Arts.

n FEBRUARY 19-20NASSAU, Bahamas – The GreekOrthodox Church in Nassau ishosting their annual Greek Fes-tival on February 19-20. Enjoya variety of mouth-watering tra-ditional Greek foods, Greek beerand an assortment of deliciousGreek pastries. There will be anouzeri and kafenio on Churchgrounds, as well as, cookingdemonstrations. There will alsobe a live bouzouki band and tra-ditional Greek dancing. En-trance fees are: $3 for adults and$1 for children. Festival hoursare: February 19 at 11:00 a.m.and February 20 from 12:00p.m.-10:00 p.m. The festivalwill be located at the Greek Or-thodox Church Grounds on WestStreet, Nassau, Bahamas.

n FEBRUARY 24NEW YORK, N.Y. – The HellenicPublic Radio, COSMOS FM, ishosting its, Tsiknopempti:Apokriatiko Xefantoma, on Feb-ruary 24 at 7:30 p.m. at TavernaKellari. The traditional Tsi-knopempti feast will have per-formances by Grigoris Maninakisand the Mikrokosmos Ensemblewith guest vocalist Vicky Palma.Tickets are available at CosmosFM, 23-18 29th Street, Astoria,NY 11105. Tickets are $100. Forfurther information, call: (718)204-8900; visit: www.gaepis.orgor email: [email protected] Kellari is located at: 19West 44th Street, New York, NY.

n FEBRUARY 25NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Ameri-can Hellenic Institute, in coop-eration with the Cyprus Federa-tion of America, is hosting aviewing of the documentary,“Cyprus Still Divided: A U.S. For-eign Policy Failure,” on February25 at New York University. Theviewing will begin at 6:00 p.m.and will be followed by a paneldiscussion at 7:00 p.m. lead byJohn Metaxas, Anchor/Reporterfor WCBS TV and WCBS Radio.Featured speakers also include,Nick Larigakis, AHI Presidentand COO; Dr. John Brademas,former US Representative andPresident Emeritus of NYU;Nicholas Karambelas, foundingpartner of Sfikas & Karambelas;and Eugene T. Rossides, Assis-tant Secretary to the UnitedStates Treasury. A reception willfollow at 7:45 p.m. For addi-tional information, contact: AHIat (202) 785-8430 or via emailat: [email protected].

n MARCH 4-6TARPON SPRINGS, Fl. – TheCity of Tarpon Springs presentsTraditional Greek PercussionWorkshops with PanayotisLeague on March 4-6 at the Tar-pon Springs Cultural Center.Musician and ethnomusicologist,Panayotis League, will exploreplaying techniques and styles forthe touberleki (dumbek), daouli(two-headed drum), defi (tam-bourine), frame drums, snaredrum, and other instrumentsused in traditional Greek music.Students will learn dancerhythms from various regions,the role of percussion instru-ments in Greek ensembles andimprovisation within traditional

rhythmic structures. All percus-sionists and percussion instru-ments are welcome to the freeevent. Workshop hours are: Fri-day, March 4 from 7:00-9:00p.m.; Saturday, March 5 from12:00-2:00 p.m. and Sunday,March 6 from 12:00-2:00 p.m.The Tarpon Springs CulturalCenter is located at: 101 SouthPinellas Avenue, Tarpon Springs,Fl. 34689.

n ΜΑRCH 4-6CAMPELL, Ohio – ArchangelMichael Greek Orthodox Churchis hosting their annual GreekFestival from March 4-6. Enjoythe best traditional Greek foodsranging from authentic gyrosand souvlakia to lamb on thespit. There will be traditionalGreek music and performancesby Greek folk dancers. For fur-ther entertainment, there willalso be auctions, games for thekids, art, religious items, jewelryand CD’s. Admission is free.Festival hours are: March 4th,3:00-10:00 p.m. and March 5thand March 6th, 12:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. For further informa-tion, call the Church office at:(330) 755-3596 or the commu-nity center at: (330) 755-9072.Archangel Michael Greek Ortho-dox Church is located at: 40112th Street (between Porter andBlossom), Campbell, Ohio44405.

n MARCH 5TARPON SPRINGS, Fl. - The Cityof Tarpon Springs presents thesecond Gulf Maritime Festival onMarch 5 from 10:00 a.m.-5:00p.m. As one of Florida's few re-maining downtown working wa-terfronts, Tarpon Springs is thebest venue to showcase GulfCoast maritime folk-life. Demon-strators will explore sponge div-ing and sponge processing; mak-ing diving helmets, mullet nets,shrimp nets and cast nets; foodways; mullet fishing, grouperfishing, clam farming, boatbuilding and much more. Thefree festival will also present mu-sic and dance associated withGulf maritime communities, aswell as interviews with those in-volved in maritime activities.Among the many participants

will be National Heritage FellowNicholas Toth (sponge divinghelmets), as well as severalFlorida Folk Heritage Awardwinners: Taso Karistinos (spongediver/captain), Wayne Martin(bateau boats & old-time fid-dling), George Saroukos (Greekboatbuilding), Mike Berg (duckdecoys) and Stuart Pacetti (cast-nets). The Florida Maritime Mu-seum in Cortez will bring severalFlorida boats they have reno-vated or built in their workshop.The event is located at theSponge Docks on DodecaneseBlvd, between Athens and Roo-sevelt Streets. The Gulf Mar-itime Festival is supported inpart by a grant from the Na-tional Endowment for the Arts.For further information, visit:www.tarponarts.org.

n MARCH 5-7TARPON SPRINGS, Fl. – TheCity of Tarpon Springs is hostingfree Kalymnian Tsabouna (Bag-pipe) Workshops with ManolisChoullis on March 5-7 at the Tar-pon Springs Cultural Center.Manolis Choullis has been play-ing tsabouna in the style of hisnative Kalymnos for over 20years, and is a leader in themovement to preserve the in-strument. In addition to Kalymn-ian music, he has studied andperformed bagpipe music fromChios, Kythnos, Crete, andKarpathos at events in France,Italy, Turkey, and throughout theUnited States. Choullis holds agraduate degree in archaeology.Workshop hours are: Saturday,March 5 from 2-4 p.m.; Sunday,March 6 from 2-4 p.m. and onMonday, March 7 from 7-9 p.m.The Tarpon Springs CulturalCenter is located at 101 SouthPinellas Avenue, Tarpon Springs,Fl. 34689.

GOINGS ON...

NEW YORK – George Hero iswell named. He is one of thoseGreek Americans who have takento heart everything they weretaught by their parents andpriests and teachers – Greek andAmerican, and dedicated theirlives to passing the wealth of ourheritage to the younger genera-tions. Inspired by great men andwomen, Hero has dedicated hislife to inspiring and guiding thosefortunate enough to be his stu-dents, or have the privilege ofcalling him coach – he is theFounder and Head Coach of Mid-wood Wrestling as well as thefounder and advisor for severalextra-curricular organizationsthere (Hellenic Society, EasternOrthodox Christian StudentUnion of St. Innocent of America,Slavic Heritage Society, FilmClub, and Philosophy Club.)Hero’s devotion to his students iscomplemented by his dedicationto his profession. He is the Direc-tor of Social Science Research ofMidwood High School at Brook-lyn College and has taught Euro-pean History at Brooklyn Collegeand Byzantine/ Eastern Euro-pean History at Long Island Uni-versity (Brooklyn Campus). Healso serves as Education Coordi-nator of the Human Rights Com-mittee of the NYC chapter of theNGO World Federation for Men-tal Health.

TNH: Do you see yourself firstand foremost as a teacher?

GH: All of my professional ac-tivities are centered around edu-cation. They also reflect my per-sonal philosophy of maintaininga balance between the intellec-tual, physical, and spiritual. As ateacher of history, the social sci-ences, philosophy, and film, myfocus is on the intellectual whileas a wrestling coach it is on thephysical. My church activities em-phasize the spiritual. While mostof my students are high schoolor college students, I also en-counter adults when giving guestlectures, teaching evening

classes, or explaining the theol-ogy and history of the OrthodoxChristian faith to parishioners.Teaching puts me in contact withpeople of all ages and is the mostrewarding experience I can imag-ine. I believe it is also the mostimportant work anyone can do,despite the often-negative imagegiven of educators in the popularmedia and press. We often forgetthat Our Savior was a teacher -he was called rabbi.

TNH: Has your life path beeninfluenced by your Ancientand/or Modern Greek and Or-thodox heritage?

GH: My Ancient Greek her-itage and Orthodox Christianfaith have had an enormous in-fluence on my life. I have alwaysbelieved in the Classical Hellenicideal of a balance between themind and the body, and in theByzantine period the Greeksstressed the importance of spiri-tuality. I participate in the sacra-

mental life of the Church, and Iattend the Russian Orthodoxparish of the Holy New Martyrsand Confessors of Russia inBrooklyn, where I am an or-dained reader and serve on theParish Council.

TNH: You are dedicated toyour work. What are the personalbenefits of being an educator?

GH: I read, research, write,attend conferences, and pursuemy cultural interests (music, art,literature, poetry, theatre, film)while also training and wrestlingin competition. My career has al-lowed me to immerse myself inthese activities. What can bemore satisfying than making aliving discussing and participat-ing in the things one most en-joys? In addition, I have also au-thored several textbooks onEuropean history. I give work-shops to educators on teachinghistory and the social sciencesand prepared the curriculum for

the NYC Board of Education forteaching the Armenian Genocidein high school social studiesclasses.

TNH: What has been yourgreatest achievement so far?

GH: My cumulative accom-plishments in teaching, coaching,and working with people of allages is my legacy. One particularhonor I will always cherish wasin 2003 when I was selected asSocial Studies Educator of theYear by the Association of Teach-ers/ UFT Social Studies Supervi-sors. This recognition of my workin education by my colleaguesmeant a great deal to me. Yet thevisits, letters, and telephone callsfrom former students to thankme and tell me how important arole I played in their lives is themost rewarding part of my work.Knowing that I have had a posi-tive impact on so many people’slives will always be my greatestachievement.

TNH: What’s the greatest les-son you've ever learned?

GH: The greatest lesson I havelearned is that there is alwaysmore to learn and room for im-provement. When you start to be-lieve that you know it all, youare begin a process of self-delu-sion that winds up destroyingyou - some of our elected officialsshould take note of this. Whileyou should be proud of your ac-complishments and have confi-dence in your abilities, you mustalways remember that there arealways other ways of doingthings and more to discover.

TNH: Do you have a rolemodel?

GH: My father, Marcus Hero(May his memory be eternal),was my role model in manyways. His dedication to his family,friends, community, and nationwere a great inspiration to me. Aformer Marine, his “can do” atti-tude, no matter how challengingthe problem, taught me muchabout to deal with adversity. Hispositive outlook in the toughesttimes is something I will alwaysremember. He always quoted theold Greek proverb, «Καθε εμπο-διο για καλο» (Every obstacle isfor the best.) I have found thisway of looking at the world andovercoming challenges to be veryeffective. He also valued friendsand treated everyone he knew asfamily. Ι try to do the same,whether it is friends, colleagues,students, or fellow parishioners.

TNH: What’s your ultimategoal in life?

GH: To be a positive influencein as many people’s lives as pos-sible. I hope to instill a passionin others for the things I am pas-sionate about (Orthodoxy, his-tory, the social sciences, film, phi-losophy, the arts, wrestling) aswell as a respect and love oflearning in general. I also wantto raise general awareness of theconstant violation of humanrights around the world, espe-cially the continuing practice ofgenocide, and create public pres-sure on elected officials to takeaction against governments thatperpetrate it (Turkey of coursecomes to mind immediately).

TNH: What’s your most en-joyable pastime?

GH: There are many things Ilike doing and it is this multiplic-ity of pastimes that I most enjoy.I read, watch films, listen to mu-sic (mostly classical and jazz,)visit museums, attend concerts,wrestle competitively, and travelextensively. I also enjoy spendingtime with friends, usually over agood meal, and engaging in livelydiscussions (A very Greek tradi-tion).

TNH: Share with us somewords of wisdom.

GH: As The Bard wrote: “Untothine own self be true.” I firmlybelieve each individual needs topursue what they most enjoy. Wecan only be very good at some-thing we are truly passionateabout it. Too many people dothings that they really don’t likeand work at jobs they hate. Thereis much wisdom in the sayingthat one should live each day asif it is the last. This what I try todo everyday.

In the Spotlight: George A. Hero’s Life

Greek American educator George Hero at the podium of thenoted Midwood High School in the heart of Brooklyn.

Teach Us to Dance!The dance group of Labrys, the youth organization of theCretan Association Omonia, entertains guests at the Valentine’sDay Dinner dance held on Feb. 11 at the Cretan House in Asto-ria, N.Y. that featured authentic Cretan music. A good timewas had by all as the young people showed their stuff.

Mothers FetedThe Greek American Mothers Assn. shines with love. L-R: JennyPoulatos, Fotini Voulgaris, Niki Sideris honored as “SpiritualMother”, Angie Korakis, Eleni Tentolouris. Marina Moros &Georgia Pallas, not shown, Mother of the Year & HeroineMother respectively.

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filed in Federal Court cite viola-tions of the U.S. Constitutionand U.S. and New York State lawand charges that, “The Agencieshave trampled the Church’s con-stitutional, contractual, andproperty rights.” It added thatthe Church “prays for judgmentas follows: For an order declaringthat a binding agreement existsbetween the Church and theAgencies for the exchange of theChurch’s property rights at 155Cedar Street for property rightsin a parcel at 130 Liberty Street... and $20 million in assistancewith construction costs that willbe incurred to rebuild thechurch.” The complaint also asks,among other remedies: “For spe-cific performance requiring theAgencies to perform their oblig-ations under their agreementwith the Church, and for dam-ages in an amount to be deter-mined at trial; For an order de-claring that a binding agreementexists between the Church andthe Agencies to negotiate in goodfaith the remaining terms of theAgencies’ agreement with theChurch and to formally docu-ment that agreement; For resti-tution in an amount to be deter-mined at trial; For an orderenjoining Defendants from tak-ing the Church’s property.”DUELING PRESS RELEASES

In its press release, the Arch-diocese said, “The Parish and theArchdiocese would have pre-ferred to rebuild the Churchwithout litigation. However, theyhave been unable to do so sincethe Port Authority renounced along-standing agreement withthe Church to rebuild at GroundZero, seized the Church’s land,barred the Church from accessto it, and has refused to talk ormeet with the Church or theArchdiocese.” The PA issued astatement that echoed its previ-ous declarations, and PAspokesman Steve Coleman toldThe National Herald, that, “Ithink I will defer my commentto the statement right now,”which declared: ”The Port Au-thority does not comment on thespecifics of pending litigation.On the broader issue at hand, in

2008, the Port Authority workedhard to reach what was a verygenerous agreement with Ortho-dox Church representatives. Un-fortunately, after eight months ofnegotiations in which the de-mands of the Orthodox Churchcontinued to increase over andabove what was originally agreedto in 2008, the Port Authorityhad to make a practical decisionto move on or risk further delay-ing the entire World Trade Centerproject, which was a completelyunacceptable alternative. TheOrthodox Church continues tohave the right to build a churchon their original site, and, as weindicated last December, we re-main open to meeting with Or-thodox Church representatives,but they have thus far refused tomeet, choosing to initiate litiga-tion instead.” The statement’s fi-nal sentence flatly contradicts theChurch’s version of the disputeand provokes charges of badfaith on the part of the PA that isat the heart of the legal com-plaint, which refers to what it al-leges is “The Port Authority’sFraudulent Scheme” to back outof an agreement for reasons thatremain a mystery to the Churchand outside observers.

The Church charges that,“The Port Authority concocted astrategy for creating a record ofalleged disagreement on minordeal terms, which it could thenuse to claim that no agreementexisted.” The document notesthat on March 10, 2009, the PAsent the Church a term sheetwhich lists the terms and condi-tions of a business agreement.After all the parties agree withthe elements of the term sheet,the document guides lawyers inthe preparation of a proposed fi-nal agreement. The PA solicitedcomments from the Church,which was interpreted by theChurch to be part of what wasrequired to finalize the deal, butwhich it now alleges that the PA“could then use to claim thatthere was not an agreement onall terms and therefore allegedlyno agreement between the par-ties.” The complaint claims: “ThePort Authority knew that if it in-formed the Church that its termsheet was its final offer, then the

Church was likely to accept theterm sheet in full,” but thatwould and “deprive the Agenciesof the argument that not allterms had been agreed to,”which would enable them to getout of the deal. The complaintcontinued: “Therefore, the PortAuthority intentionally, fraudu-lently, and in bad faith chose notto advise the Church at the timeit sent the term sheet that theterm sheet was its final offer....Indeed, the Port Authority delib-erately misled the Church intobelieving that the term sheet wasnot a final offer by explicitly ask-ing the Church for its comments.On information and belief, thePort Authority was confident thatthis would cause the Church torepeat earlier comments on mi-nor, non-material terms regard-ing the logistics, timing, and clos-ing mechanics of the deal.”

On March 16, “As requested,the Church sent back its com-ments to the term sheet. Withthe Church’s minor commentsand questions in hand, the PortAuthority immediately—in littlemore than an hour—advised theChurch for the first time that theterm sheet was its “final offer”and further advised the Churchthat because it questioned someof the terms, the Port Authoritywas “terminating negotiations”and the Church would be “hear-ing from (their) attorneys.”

A RUSE?In a move that some observers

suggest was intended by Wardall along, the complaint notes “Ina letter dated April 20, 2009, inanticipation of a planned meet-ing between the Port Authorityand the Church at the Mayor’sOffice, Ward announced an al-leged new proposal: returningthe Church to its original locationat 155 Cedar Street. Ward sum-marily disavowed the parties’agreement to rebuild St. Nicholasat 130 Liberty Street: “As I haveexplained to the Mayor, the PortAuthority will not revisit re-loca-tion of the Greek OrthodoxChurch to the east side of theproposed Liberty Park, as thetime for discussion of such a planhas passed.” The suit alleges that,“Since that time .. the Port Au-thority has engaged in a bad faith

media campaign to defame theChurch.” The document is thesource of a new piece of infor-mation to the effect that, “Re-cently, the Church has been ad-vised that the plans for theVehicle Security Center may havechanged and that the plannedentrance to the VSC may havebeen moved from 155 CedarStreet to 130 Liberty Street.” St.Nicholas Parish Council PresidentJohn Couloucoundis had previ-ously explained to TNH thatthere were a number of reasonsthe parish could not return to155 Cedar Street, among them,that the topography of the sitehad changed, leaving a mound anumber of stories high where theChurch used to be which would

cause access problems. It had notbeen clarified at press timewhether the shift of the VSC’s en-trance means at least that parishconcern is no longer relevant.

Father Mark Arey, Director ofInter-Orthodox, Ecumenical andInterfaith Relations at the Arch-diocese expressed the frustra-tions of the community. “Howcan you treat a church – or anyhouse of worship - that was de-stroyed on 9/11 as if it weren’tthere? That’s immoral.” Still, hetold TNH, “The Archdiocese andthe parish are hopeful – evennow – that the PA will open itsheart and its mind and resumedirect talks with the church,” andreiterated the lawsuit was nec-essary to protect this interestsand property of the Church. “ThePA left us no choice. They aretreating us as if we don’t exist, “and he noted, “The great ironythat on 9/11 St. Nicholas wasobliterated in a terrorist attack,and the PA is treating is as if innever existed. It does exist. Theparish exists, and our propertyrights exist.”

He asked rhetorically “Whatare they really trying to say whenthey accuse the parish of beinggreedy? Is there a subtext, thatthese people are greedy immi-grants, a bunch of greedyGreeks?” and are not deservingof the sympathy and support ofthe media or the people ofgreater New York?

He pointed out that the struc-ture is larger than the originalchurch because its context andfunction have changed. “I givecredit to the parish and Archdio-cese to re-envisioning the churchas something bigger than theirown needs and interests and

making it a place of reflectionand remembrance for all peoplevisiting Ground Zero.”

Regarding the press coveragethe Church has received, someof it very negative, he said hefinds it remarkable that the me-dia has not gotten to Ward di-rectly and that, “They have notasked the tough questions of thePA.” The Greek American Com-munity will now shift gears andredouble its efforts in the face ofthe PA’s apparent indifference totheir plight. New York State Sen-ator Mike Gianaris told TNH, “It’sunfortunate that the Church isbeing put in a position to haveto go to court to force the PA tofulfill its explicit promise.” Hesaid he is angry about what hecalled its “outrageous betrayal ofits own word. It is now going towaste state money defending alawsuit that by all accounts theyshould lose. The Archdiocese hasmy full support.” Gianaris saidhe is working with other com-munity leaders on a letter to Gov-ernor Cuomo asking him “to in-tervene to get the PA to do theright thing.”

Nicholas Karacostas, SupremePresident of AHEPA, told TNHthat he recently sent a letter toGovernor Cuomo requesting ameeting about the issue. “All wehave been asking for is to go backto the table. It’s a negotiationprocess, so there should be a di-alogue. Their refusal to negotiatecalls their good faith into ques-tion,” he told TNH. Karacostashad not received a response priorto the filing of the complaint.

The complete text of the com-plaint can be found at thenation-alherald.com.

By Theodore KalmoukosTNH Staff Writer

LYNN, Mass. - The General As-sembly of the St. George GreekOrthodox Parish meeting hereon Feb. 16 voted, with only onedissenting voice, not to give into the demands of the Archdio-cese and the Metropolis ofBoston for a $20,000 hike in theannual allocation to the Arch-diocese. About 400 parishionersattended, and many spoke ofwhat they called the “blackmail-ing tactics” by MetropolitanMethodios of Boston and rec-ommended the leaders of theArchdiocese and the Metropolis“to read the Holy Bible.” Somesaid they wanted to take the is-sue to the Ecumenical Patriar-chate. Thomas Demakis, aprominent businessman andbenefactor of the Metropolisand Archdiocese, urged mem-bers not to pay the increase andsaid he will no longer make do-nations. He is a member of theParish Council of St. George, theBoard of Trustees and financialsupporter of Hellenic College-Holy Cross, an Archon of the Ec-

umenical Patriarchate and Lead-ership 100. Demakis and ParishCouncil President John Meklis

barred The National Heraldfrom attending the meeting.Meklis was belligerent and

threatened to call the police ifwe did leave, saying the ParishCouncil members didn’t wantreporters present. Othon Arse-nis, a member of the ParishCouncil said, “No such decisionwas made by the council,” andadded “they are lying” aboutwhoever said that.

Methodios had not replied toa written request by The Na-tional Herald to comment. AsTNH reported previously, theParish Council of the 106-year-old St. George’s Church refusedto pay the $20,000 increase andwas warned it may not be al-lowed to perform sacraments.The increase demanded by theArchdiocese, and MetropolitanMethodios of Boston, from$68,000 to $88,000, has infuri-ated members of the church.Parish Council President JohnMeklis, expressing the unani-mous consensus of the counciland with the agreement andsupport of the parish priestGeorge Tsoukalas, conveyed toMethodios that the church can-not afford the hike and will notpay more than $68,000. TheMetropolis in Boston oversees

63 Greek Orthodox parishes’churches in New England, butwill not give an accounting ofits budget nor how it spendsmonies it collects from the localparishes through the Archdio-cese.

The priest and the parishcouncil sent a letter to the mem-bers of the parish in January inwhich it addressed the situationand called for the General As-sembly. Parishioners were toldthat, “Your beloved St. GeorgeChurch is in a crisis situationand needs your help!” andurged them to come to themeeting to decide whether topay.

The Parish Council explainedthat, “The Metropolis is de-manding $20,000 in past due2010 payments and an addi-tional $88,000 in 2011 … ourfailure to meet their demandsto date has resulted in punitivemeasures that the Metropolishas taken against us, our priestand our Church. Your parishcouncil has remained firm thatour annual commitment will notexceed our budgeted $68,000.”The letter also stated: “The is-

sues are critical and the futureof your Church is at stake,” andwarned of the “possible tempo-rary closure of Church to savefunds.” Tsoukalas and Meklisdid not return TNH’s calls.

Three days before Christmas,Methodios sent a letter to Fr.Tsoukalas blasting him and pro-hibiting him from visiting otherparishes to participate in ves-pers, services and sacraments.He has also prohibited otherclergy from visiting the parishof St. George’s. The Metropolis’Chancellor, Fr. Ted Barbas alsosent a letter to St. George’sparish ordering Fr. Tsoukalas toget special permission everytime he wants to do a sacramentbut ordering him to first send$9,000 a month to the Archdio-cese.

Sources from within the Me-tropolis of Boston told TNH thatMethodios will not speak to Fr.Tsoukalas and sent him a mes-sage via a priest to denouncethe General Assembly and urgeSt. George’s member to meetthe demands for more money,and to resign as the church’spriest.

COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011 3

St. George’s Church Tells Methodios: We Won’t Pay the $20,000 Hike

The 106 year old St. George’s church of Lynn, Mass whosemembers are embroiled in a dispute with the Archdiocese.

Showdown at Ground Zero: St. Nicholas Sues the Port Authority

TNH ARCHIVES

once a union electrician andnow works in real estate. “We’dfill my car with signs, and I’ddrive him around,” she said. TheTimes however, reported that,“His earliest political memorywas from the third grade atPleasant Prairie ElementarySchool there, when he was theself-appointed manager ofRonald Reagan’s presidentialbid.”

The key to his appeal appearsto be the Republican Party’s des-perate need for unity in the teaparty Era. Politico reported that“After the tough defeats in 2008(Barack Obama carried Wiscon-sin by 14 points) ... Priebusworked really hard to preventsplintering and finger-pointingamong the state’s Republicancoalition by developing healthyrelationships with local TeaParty groups while maintaininghis close ties with others in theparty establishment. Constantlyprofessing humility has been abig part of his appeal in Wiscon-sin and now in Washington.Steele got into trouble at thestart of his tenure for saying hewas the leader.”

Tom Korologos, a respectedand influential Republican inWashington, D.C., noted that,“It will take some time to re-build the RNC, the finances are

a mess.” He told TNH he looksforward to seeing the contribu-tion that Priebus makes to theparty’s efforts. Priebus beganvolunteering for political cam-paigns when he was 16. Hegraduated from George NelsonTremper High School in 1990and earned his B.A. in PoliticalScience and English in 1994from University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. He was studentbody President and worked inthe Wisconsin Legislature for ayear before going to law schoolat the University of MiamiSchool of Law in 1998. Whilehe was a law student he in-terned for the NAACP legal de-fense fund in Los Angeles andjoined the law firm of MichaelBest & Friedrich in Milwaukeeafter graduation. When he failedto win a Senate seat in 2004 de-spite outspending an incumbentDemocrat almost 2-to-1, Priebusfocused on party politics.

Fr. John Ketchum, Pastor ofthe Kimisis tis TheotokouChurch in Racine, Wisconsintold The National Herald: “Theparish is very proud of him andwish him God’s (blessing) andwe hope he can fulfill his posi-tion with grace and dignity.”Highlighting Priebus’ meteroricrise, Fr. John said, “ I didn’t re-alize how quickly he movedthrough the ranks.” He knewthat that he was active in state

politics and served as a McCaindelegate at the most recent Re-publican National Convention,where he saw him on televison,but Fr. John didnt know he hadbecome legal counsel to theRNC.

Fr. John told TNH thatPriebus’ father had converted toOrthodoxy and was married inthe Greek Church, as wasReince, and that his two chil-dren, Jack, 5, and Grace, 1,were baptized in the Church. Fr.Ketchum said he is also pleasedthat Priebus is very vocal abouthis Pro-Life views. Priebushelped his community in numer-ous ways, including doing probono legal work. Rena Paros,the parish’s Secretary, told TNHshe and his mother were bothfrom the island of Mitilini andserved as Greek School teachersin the community.

Priebus and his wife, Sally,will now move to Washingtonwith their children. Priebus of-ten jokes about his name.Reince sounds like “Rhine” withan “s” at the end and his lastname is pronounced “pree-bus.”The Racine community wasextablished in 1916. Located be-tween Milwauke and Chicago,Racice was also an important in-dustrial center that attractedmany Greeks looking for factorywork after the turn of the 20thcentury.

GOP’s New Head Reince Priebus

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

NY-NJ Port Authority ExecutiveDirector Chris Ward, the neme-sis of St. Nicholas Church.

Page 4: The National Herald€¦ · Priebus helped lead Michael Steele’s successful 2009 cam - paign for RNC Chairman. He was in charge of Steele’s tran - sition and became General Counsel

Now, after a career that in-cluded being a copy-editor atThe Athens News in Greece, be-ing an environmentalist, politi-cal activist, fund-raiser for theDemocratic Party, interfaith di-alogue for the Greek OrthodoxChurch, and working for her fa-ther’s development firm, AKT.On Jan. 11, 2010, she becamethe U.S. Ambassador to Hun-gary, and is living in Budapestwith her husband, well-knownjournalist and former foreigncorrespondent MarkosKounalakis, and their two boys,Antoneo, 9, and Evangelos, 8,who are being taught what shelearned as well. That goes backto family life in her home inSacramento, California. “Wewere part of the Greek AmericanCommunity and most of ourEasters were with family andfriends. My parents and theirgenerations of friends had val-ues they brought with themfrom Greece and raised all of uswith those strong values. Theone value above all else waslove and appreciation for theUnited States and what Ameri-can offered all of us.” That in-cluded learning Greek, althoughshe said hers got much betterafter she finished her educationat Dartmouth College, an IvyLeague school nestled in themountains of northern NewHampshire, as far from the Cal-ifornia life style as you can get,but just another way of learningwhat life was like somewhereelse as a growth experience, shesaid. She then got her Master’sDegree in Business Administra-tion from the University of Cal-ifornia at Berkeley, served twoterms as a California StateWorld Trade Commissioner andsat on the board of directors ofthe Sacramento Metro Chamberof Commerce. Her career pathtook her to work in San Fran-cisco for a friend of her father’sand then with another closefamily friend, Phil Angelides,who had been President of herfather’s business for a while be-fore becoming California StateTreasurer and recently headinga commission investigating thesub-prime mortgage crisis in theU.S. that triggered a worldwiderecession in 2008 that is stillpersisting. Her father wooed herback to work for him but shekept her hand in politics, orga-nizing rallies for the 1992 cam-paign of then Presidential can-didate Bill Clinton. She servedfour times as a delegate to theDemocratic National Conven-

tion and as an at-large memberof the California State CentralCommittee. An active outdoor-swoman, she enjoys hiking andskiing with her family andserved as a trustee of RobertRedford’s Sundance Preserveand on the Conservation Fund’sNational Forum on Children andNature.

A GREEK HOME LIFEEven her position as an

American Ambassador doesn’tsupercede her family life. “Mychildren speak fluent Greek be-cause my husband’s first lan-guage was Greek,” she said. But,she added, “There’s so muchmore to being Greek Americanthan learning the language andthat’s universally believed andit goes back to the values thatare consistent with Americanvalues which is why you see somany Greek Americans doing sowell. That goes back to the sys-tem in the U.S. We have the bestsystem of government and thebest market system and themost transparent.” Why the Am-bassador’s life? “It was my hus-band’s idea. I always tease him,‘How did he marry a land de-veloper living in Sacramentoand 11 years later an Ambas-sador in Hungary.’ I was alwayscommitted to public service. Wewere so lucky to live in Americaand how important it was togive back and show that appre-ciation by being committed topublic service. I’ve always beenprogrammed that way soMarkos’ argument was that ifyou’re engaged as a businessleader … your actually the pro-file of the kind of person whocomes as a non-career Ambas-sador,” not a career diplomat.“We have one of those modernrelationships, we are a team to-gether … I did not see myselfdoing diplomatic work in my lifebut he’s had such a profound in-fluence on me in understandinginternational policy and politicsand he’s opened a lot of doorsfor me.” He’s now a Senior Re-search Fellow at Central Euro-pean University in Budapest.

Her husband was born in SanFrancisco to refugee parentsfrom Greece. His father, Anto-nios, was an underground guer-rilla fighter against the Nazis onthe island of Crete during WWII.He fought with Constantine Mit-sotakis, who later became PrimeMinister of Greece. Markos re-ported for Newsweek on the fallof the Berlin Wall and the endof the Cold War in Hungary,Czechoslovakia, East Germany,Bulgaria, and Albania.Newsweek also sent him to

cover the early phase of the Yu-goslav civil war. He went toAfghanistan and covered theHoly War Without End for TheLos Angeles Times Magazine.He and his friend, fellow GreekAmerican Paul Glastris, boughtthe venerable Washington

Monthly magazine and saved itfrom extinction, but Markosgave up his globetrotting afterbeing beaten while reporting inRussia.

“Markos had been in CentralEurope in 1989 (when theBerlin Wall fell) so when Bu-

dapest was mentioned he reallywas very thought good for us.We absolutely love it here,” shesaid. Another family friend, for-mer Speaker of the House forCongress, Nancy Pelosi, raisedthe idea and presented it to U.S.President Barack Obama, whomade the recommendation forher appointment. What happensnext? “I don’t know,” she said.“We are really enjoying everysingle day that we are here inBudapest. I could only haveimagined what it would be like,representing the U.S in this ca-pacity is truly the honor of mylife and it’s also a lot of work,”she said, noting that Hungarycurrently holds the rotatingPresidency of the EuropeanUnion, which brings many EUdiplomats to the city and coun-try.

Kounalakis and her husbandhave backed the American wayof life for a long time.

GIVING BACK They established the

Tsakopoulos Kounalakis lectureseries at the Woodrow WilsonInternational Center for Schol-ars, and, to further combinetheir dedication to Democracywith pride in their Hellenic her-itage, they established the Eleniand Markos TsakopoulosKounalakis Chair in Hellenicstudies at Georgetown Univer-sity and the TsakopoulosKounalakis Chair at Stanford, inhonor of Mitsotakis.

“The philosophy behind theChairs is that there was so muchsmart thinking going on in Clas-sics departments about the ori-gins of democracy in AncientGreece, but a lot of that thinkingwasn’t making its way into thepolitical science area. It was partor our experience … where wethought we could make a dif-ference … . we realized the val-ues and lessons we understandfrom democracy were still veryvalid.” Among her honors arethe Medal of St. Paul, the GreekOrthodox Church of America’shighest honor. Her appointmentby the Mayor of San Franciscoto serve as a trustee of therenowned San Francisco WarMemorial and Performing ArtsCenter allowed her to combineher skills in real estate with herlove of the arts. But in the end,she said, it’s Greek family lifeand what she and her husbandlearned from theirs that keepthem grounded. Her husband’sGreek-immigrant father was atruck driver in San Francisco,and Markos spent some timedriving construction vehiclesand dump trucks as a way topay off his Berkeley studentloans. “We’re raising our kidswith the same message of ourparents that we learned growingup in the Greek American com-munity,” she said.

“It is a privilege to be anAmerican, to serve our countryand represent our country.”

COMMUNITY4 THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011

From Sacramento to Ambassador: Eleni Kounalakis’ Greek Journey

Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, (2nd L) was a California businesswoman and political activistbefore she became U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. Her husband, Markos Kounalakis is at farright. Others (L-R) are her mother-in-law, Mrs. Antonia Kounalakis; Litsa Diamataris, wife ofThe National Herald Publisher Antonis Diamataris; and father-in-law Antonios Kounalakis.

(L-R) Former Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis, Markos Kounalakis, former GreekForeign Minister Dora Bakoyianni, and Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis during an event in SanFranscisco.

Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis with one of her sons at theMarch 25th Independence Day celebration in San Francisco in2005.

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the guests for their presence andexplained the newspaper’s com-mitment to the annual award.“For me, this is one of the mostimportant holidays for Hel-lenism in America because it isGreek education that con-tributes the most to the forma-tion of the Greek consciousnessand identity in the Community.”He cited the recently publishedarticle about the studies of Pro-fessor Dimitris Koutrelakos thatdemonstrated that Greek lan-guage and cultural educationand the Orthodox faith makethe greatest contribution to themaintenance of Greek identitythrough the generations.

Diamataris affirmed what hesaid was his strong belief thatGreek education makes theCommunity’s children morecomplete as human beings, hap-pier and more successful. “Itgives them wings,” he said. Healso declared the teachers he-roes for the sacrifices they have

made for the well-being of theCommunity’s children and ex-pressed his appreciation for thecontributions made to the Com-munity’s educational institutionsby such institutions as the Niar-chos Foundation, which wasrepresented at the event by Ste-lios Vassilakis in place of An-dreas Dracopoulos, the Co-Pres-ident of the Foundation, whowas unable to attend. Vassilakiswas asked if it was involved inany initiatives for teachingGreek history and culture inEnglish. He told TNH, “We’lllook into it.” He also thankedand recognized other benefac-tors of Community schools:Theodore Spyropoulos, Mercou-rios (Mike) Angeliades, NikosAndriotis and Stephanos Tser-pelis. The plaque presented toHatzis read as follows: “For herresolute commitment to thestruggle for Greek Education,for her pioneering work and herfaith in the perpetuation of thevalues of our heritage, The Na-tional Herald proclaims Eliza-

beth Hatzis as Teacher of theYear 2010.”

KEEPING GREEK ALIVETserpelis, a benefactor of the

schools and the community ofthe Church of St. Nicholas inFlushing, spoke briefly andthanked Diamataris for the an-nual tribute to the Community’seducators, and expressed appre-ciation to Hatzis for passing thetorch of learning to others. StellaKokolis, the 2009 Teacher of theYear and President of the Hel-lenic American Educators Asso-ciation, praised the honoree andthe efforts of her colleagues allover the United States. “We donot teach Greek, we teach Hel-lenism,” she said, conveying thegreetings of SAE President TedSpyropoulos. Hatzis’s daughterNikoleta, who was also her stu-dent, said, “I’m beyond happy formy mother.” She said the awardtook her family by surprise. Herclassmates told her they werehappy too, “Not because she’syour mother, but she’s the bestGreek school teacher we would

possibly ever have.” Her cousinChrysoula Vrotsos told TNH thatHatzis “is a tireless worker,teaching weekday afternoonsand Saturdays.” Mary Makedon,the Director of Education of theDirect Archdiocesean District(N.Y. Metro Area and Washing-ton, D.C.) told TNH that whatgives her the most satisfaction inher work are the events duringthis time of year that celebrateGreek Letters, which she saidgive her the opportunity to alsopresent the achievements andzeal for learning of Greek Amer-ican students. She said it’s im-portant for them to see their ef-forts and achievements arevalued and recognized. She saidshe was also pleased to be ableto present inspirational guestspeakers at those gatherings whoare able to convey to studentsand parents alike how the knowl-edge of the Greek language hashelped them to succeed in Amer-ica. Like Hatzis.

[email protected]

Teacher of the Year Hatzis’ Simple Message

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Continued from page 1

L-R: Eva Panagos, Stavros Vougiouklakis, Stella Kokolis,Stephanos Tserperlis, Mary Makedon, Mike Angeliades, ElizabethHatzis, Nikoleta Hatzis, Panagiotis Hatzis, Antonis Diamataris,

Litsa Diamataris, Consul General of Cyprus Koula Sophianou,Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, Greek Consul Evangelos Kyr-iakopoulos, Stelios Vasilakis and Tasos Fotopoulos.

TNH/COSTAS BEJ

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By Michelle MartinelliThe State News.Com

Rather than waiting for afamily gathering to celebrateher Greek heritage, MichiganState University senior gymnastNicole Argiros does just thatevery time she performs herfloor exercise routine. Since thebeginning of her gymnastics ca-reer, Argiros always has per-formed on the floor to tradi-

tional Greek music, setting her-self apart from customary rou-tines. “When it’s cool to havehip music, and it’s cool to havethe most popular song on theradio be your floor exercise mu-sic, she stayed strong and trueto her character,” MSU gymnas-tics head coach Kathie Klagessaid. Being 100% Greek, Argirossaid she wanted to continue per-forming to Greek music in col-lege to honor her heritage and

family. In addition to her rou-tine, she makes a trip to Greeceevery summer, bringing backmusic and traditions to incorpo-rate into her floor exercise. Thedifferent attitude toward thefloor is a nice change of pace,said assistant coach Katie Mina-sola, who also serves as the floorexercise choreographer.

“She comes back with newmusic from Greece,” Minasolasaid. “And it’s kind of fun, be-

cause then she’ll give me thepieces to work with, and I putthem together. It’s just really funto use her culture and her back-ground and incorporate thatinto her gymnastics becauseshe’s very proud of it.” Workingwith Minasola, Argiros - whoscored a 9.700 in her floor per-formance against Pittsburgh onSunday (Jan. 16) - has morethan just music honoring herheritage.

She said she returns from hertrips to Greece with new ideasand inspiration. “I try to dosome of the traditional Greekdancing in my floor routine andthe Greek poses that the godsused to do,” Argiros said. Shealso looks to her family for in-spiration and help when select-ing her music. Her family mem-bers always are excited andwilling to help her honor theirheritage, Argiros said.

“It’s kind of fun because thefloor music I have is from an ac-tual Greek song,” she said. “Sowhenever I hear my floor music,sometimes I start to sing alongin Greek.” Argiros and Minasolaalso add another twist to theroutine, involving the rest of herteammates and the audience.Almost always timing it per-fectly, the Spartans and fans yellthe Greek expression “opa” inthe middle of Argiros’ perfor-

mance, which gives her a senseof pride and a little extra boostof confidence. Klages said it isexciting and fun to have such aunique routine that honors Ar-

giros’ heritage and involves theteam, spectators and her family.“The ‘opa’ that comes out in thefloor routine - (everyone is) al-ways ready to do it right thereand right when it’s supposed tohappen,” Klages said. “It’s veryexciting, and her father gets intothat too quite a bit in the stands.“It’s kind of fun to see him ‘opa’at the same time, and so it’s funto see the whole thing develop.”

Argiros said her teammatesare supportive of her uniquemusic choice, and they enjoygetting involved with the “opa”in the middle of the routine.Making her proud, Argiros saidthe Spartans’ involvement in theperformance also has inspiredthe other gymnasts to learnmore about Greek culture andher family. “My teammates def-initely support me, and they’veactually come to my house be-fore on Greek Easter,” Argirossaid. “They’ve learned how toGreek dance, and they ate somelamb. “It’s really exciting for meto hear them say the Greekwords in my floor routine andto have them actually want tolearn to Greek dance and learnto be Greek.”

-Reprinted by permission of The State News (www.state-news.com) This article first ap-peared Jan. 20.

By Dinos AvlonitisSpecial to The National Herald

NEW YORK - At the heart of theGreek neighborhood in Brook-lyn, and particularly Bay Ridge,are the school community facili-ties, and the gym, where the chil-dren’s basketball championshipsare held. During a match break,we spoke with Flushing girls’team coach, Nikos Davatzis. Influent Greek and with great pas-sion for the Greek youths inAmerica, he said that, “My pas-sion in life is the Greek language,our culture, the continuation ofHellenism in America in thisgreat country. I believe that thecase of Hellenism in America hasa future. Of course, it all dependson us all.” So with the bestomens, he enters the “battle” ofthe … track/arena for the preser-vation of all the values he himselffound from the previous genera-tions: “There’s a lot of charisma.There are people who have themood and the time to promoteathletics to our children. Withinthe spirit of concord and coop-eration, an ancestral charismathat characterized our race whenwe made great achievements,basketball matches of childrenand young girls of the Diasporaare held. Within an athletic spiritand mutual respect, the childrenbecome friends, grow up to-gether, play. They start at the ten-der age of seven –eight and con-tinue till they are 17. You maysee them as opponents in thefighting ring, but when thematch is over, they talk together,become friends. Relationships

that last for many years are cre-ated. Maybe for years. Maybe forlife. Exactly the same way I ex-perienced it too in my youth.”

Born and bred in the Dias-pora, Davatzis, who has an in-tense presence in the Commu-nity, and was a well-knownbasketball player, for Long IslandUniversity and then for theGreek team Aris. “I was born inAstoria. Ever since I was very lit-tle I was occupied with sports.Especially with basketball. Istarted playing in the commu-nity colors of Astoria, where Ialso attended Greek school.Many years, later, when I gotmarried and had a family, Imoved to the community ofFlushing, the biggest Greek com-

munity in America. It was nat-ural I integrated in the commu-nity straight away and continueto offer my services to athletics.Family commitments kept meaway from the stadiums forsome years. But not for long. Ireturned to teach what I love,what I had learned here in Eu-rope... After grade 8 I went toThessaloniki. To the AmericanCollege. I was placed among theamateur team of Aris Thessa-loniki, with the Greek-Americancoach Harry Pappas. He was alsomy school coach and took us toa match. The coach liked me andtook me on the Aris Thessalonikiteam, a step below the first teamof Aris. I played for a year in1977. The next year I finished

school and returned to NewYork. I went to Long Island Uni-versity and as expected, I en-tered the first team of the uni-versity. Unfortunately, I brokemy leg when training, which asa result kept me away from theplaying field. Ever since then, Iam occupied with training,teaching what I love.” He added:“It makes sense, because boysand girls of past decades havechildren of their own today andare themselves coaches. So tra-dition carries on.”

There are some differencesthough. “The challenges are dif-ferent and bigger. Other biggerschools, colleges, teams may at-tract our children and drawthem away from the community.I believe though there will be ahandful of Greek children inevery community. I am certainenough children will remain andwith their initiative there will becontinuity,” he said. Will theCommunity help? “I don’t thinkthis is their first option. They areostentatiously occupied withsomething else. Philosophicaland ideological aberrations donot allow them to see the youngas their utmost priority. For me,the most important concern isyouth. That is where we shouldfocus all our efforts, teach themto be in concord, cooperate,healthy antagonism. Teach ourchildren to accept defeat be-cause they cannot always win.Or rather they have to knowhow to lose to learn how to win.We teach children basketball,but also a way of life. They learna great lesson from athletics

within the field that they willneed afterwards in their life,” hesaid. “If you do not have a phi-losophy to guide you, how andwhat will you teach the chil-dren? My eldest son and otherchildren from our communitiesare captains of their schoolteams. Everything plays a role.Way of behavior, character andgood grades. It is no coinci-dence! We teach the children

manners and behaviors becausethey deserve it, because we de-serve it as a race. Let us not for-get the factor consistency that istaught and enforced through thegame. The child-athlete must al-ways be on time for training andmatches. For my son, for mydaughters, for the children of theDiaspora, athletics is a big deal.Besides everything else, it is amatter of physical and mentalhealth. It is no coincidence ourtruly wise ancestors trumpeteda Sound Mind in a Sound Body.”Davatzis has spent much of hislife in basketball stadia andlaments there aren’t enough ofthem for youths. “There areshortages and overlookings. Letme start from something elsefirst. For many years now, I haveproposed to pick out children indifferent categories. Those un-der seven to eight years oldshould not play in competitivegames. At this age childrenshould play to learn the rudi-ments of the game. No scores.Teams of children nine to 10years old, 11-12. I find it difficultfor a nine-year-old to competewith a 13-year-old. There is afour-year difference. It’s notright. It is not an equal match.”He said more facilities areneeded as well. “There is a ne-cessity to find suitable cultural-athletic facilities if we truly if wewant to help our children. Thatis why I suggest to immediatelyconstitute a permanent commit-tee with volunteers and profes-sional staff, who, with dedica-tion, will care for acquiring thesefacilities.”

COMMUNITY SPORTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011 5

Davatzis Uses Basketball to Teach Children Life and Greek Values

Nikos Davatzis, with a coach’s index/board in his hands showsyoung girl players of Flushing, some of the plays they will usein their game.

Argiros Adds Greek Flair to Michigan State Gymnastics, With Style

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Nicole Argiros has shown un-usual verve and poise as a topgymnast for the MichiganState women’s team, usingGreek music when she’s doingher routines, which garner alot of audience attention.

KATy JOE DESANTIS/THE STATE NEwS

Hoop DreamsThe Knights of St. Demetrios of Astoria, N.Y. basketball team (L-R) are (front row) ManolisMalis, Evan Mennis, Nick Mennis, Francisco Kyricou, Demetri Koufakos, Mike Gianoutsos andSavo Majstorovic. In the back (L-R) are Coach Nick Akoumianakis, Costas Kalemkeridis, PavloPavlou, Panos Georgoulis, Demetri Kanellos, Kostas Akoumianakis, and Paul Asiemenos.

There’s plenty of awards forthe teams he coaches, butNikos Davatzis knows theones that are the best are thelessons they learn about life.

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overall numbers where theseGreeks find their enduring in-fluences but in the originality oftheir music. Gravenites is thecomposer of the classics Born inChicago (first recorded by PaulButterfield,) Work Me Lord,Buried Alive in the Blues (writ-ten for Janis Joplin,) East-West,Groovin’ Is Easy, as well asdozens of other notable songs.Gravenites is recognized as themain creative link between the

Chicago blues scene of the1950’s and the emerging blues-rock/psychedelic rock scene ofSan Francisco during the 1960’s.Even a short list of those whorecorded Gravenites’ composi-tions reads like a Who’s Who ofBlues and Rock; Elvin Bishop,Butterfield, Electric Flag, Joplin,Pure Prairie League, QuicksilverMessenger Service, and manyothers. This doesn’t include hislegacy as a singer, guitarist, orproducer. How did this Greekkid from the Southside ofChicago come to have such anenduring musical influence?

Gravenites was born on Oc-tober 2, 1938, on Chicago’sSouthside and raised on Thirty-Fifth Street in the Brighton Parkneighborhood. In his autobiog-

raphy, Bad Talkin’ Blues Man,Gravenites wrote: ”My familywere Greek-American immi-grants, and I am a candymaker’s son. The music I heardin the home was Greek stringband music; the soul food I atewas Greek soul food. I went toSt. Nicholas Greek OrthodoxChurch at 56th and Peoria, andattended the Greek school therewhere I learned what I could ofthe Greek language.” As Graven-ites recalls his father’s confec-tionery, “The store was called

Candyland, and it was a brilliantworld of mirrors and glass, mar-ble, wood, stainless steel andtile. We made our own icecream, made our own candies,our own syrups and flavorings,we had a giant humidor forevery cigar ever made, customdisplay cases, a magazine rackwith everything, a big Rock-Olajukebox. I read every comicbook, heard all the hits on thejuke box, wore an apron andserved the people of Chicago,and I started to get a feel forthings American.”

Yet, just like the Blues menhe would associate with in laterlife Gravenites had early expe-riences with pain. “My fatherdied when I was 11 years old,and I got my first taste of the

Greek blues. My mother was acountry Greek to the bone, andshe mourned like one. She woreblack clothing for 10 years. Shewould sit alone in the livingroom and sing and cry her painin the sad, melismatic style weGreeks call, metaloyia, and itwas a music I never forgot.”

LEARNIN’ THE BLUESIn 1956, Gravenites entered

the University of Chicago wherehe also joined the Folklore Club.Gravenites was soon organizingthe annual folklore festival, ashowcase for blue grass instru-mentalists, country blues singersand gospel quartets. It waswhile attending university thatGravenites began to seek outlive musical performances ofwhat he had only been able tohear on commercial records.This was not so simple. BadTalkin’ Blues Man, written withthe help of Andrew M. Robble,details not only Gravenites’ earlylife but a view of the complexmulti-racial Blues Scene inChicago during the 1950’s andearly 1960’s. Segregation wasstill the norm. At a time whenwhites could not be in neigh-borhoods where blues wasplayed, Gravenites began hang-ing out with a loosely knit groupof young white music aficiona-dos such as Bishop, Butterfield,Michael Bloomfield, and MarkNaftlin, who would not onlyseek out Southside blues clubsto hear Muddy Waters, BuddyGuy, Howlin’ Wolf, John LeeHooker, Little Walter, JimmyReed, Otis Rush, and others butmanaged to become regular pa-trons. While many Americansrecognize the electrified big cityblues music indigenous toChicago’ Southside, few realizethat this street music was alsoregularly heard in Greektownon Halsted Street. In the 1960independent film, Kali NiktaSocrates (Good Night Socrates,)which depicts the demise of theGreektown neighborhood, thereare, apart from the traditionalGreek music used to score thefilm, some really jumping localelectrified blues music. The onlyAmerica heard in this Greekmovie is the sounds of the giantbulldozers leveling the commu-nity and the local blues.

After leaving the Universityof Chicago, as Gravenites ex-plained, he began living the lifeof the blues. Locating Graven-ites’s movements betweenbands, his song writing, and hisjamming with individual musi-cians is anything but linear. Socharting his precise musical par-ticipation or movements is dif-ficult. A self-identified Beatnik,in the late 1950’s Gravenites be-gan to travel between Chicagoand San Francisco. A keen par-ticipant of the music scenewherever he was located,Gravenites spent nearly 10 yearscommuting between Chicagoand San Francisco before set-tling in Northern California inthe mid-1960’s. Another aspectof Gravenites’ overall influenceon popular music was that dur-ing this period he also foundwork as a club manager. He wasthen in a position to hire bandsand individual musicians to per-form in these clubs.

In the early 1960’s, Graven-ites was lead singer in a bandalong with Bloomfield and har-monica player Charlie Mussel-white. At some point, Graveniteswas in the Paul Butterfield Bandthat played to enthusiasticChicago audiences, at the BlueFlame Club, then located at39th and Oakwood, the 1015Club, The End, on Rush Street,and other nightspots. Then, theproverbial, break. Here is howthe Marshall Cavenish’s Illus-trated History of Popular Musicdescribes this moment: “Late in1965, the Butterfields BluesBand entered Electra’s studios

to record the monumental East-West, the focal point of whichwas the 13-minute title track,written by keyboardist Naftlinand Gravenites. An awesome in-strumental built on an ascend-ing raga scale; it displayed thesolo talents of Bloomfield, But-terfield and Bishop to the full.A revelation at the time, it setthe scene for numerous ‘jams inthe latter half of the Sixties. ‘Itwas the best band I’d ever beenin,’” Bloomfield said later. ThePaul Butterfield Blues Band en-tered the popular music scenenot just with a bang but quicklybecame recognized as the “pro-tean powerhouse of watershedwhite blues.”

WAVING THE FLAGIt was the 1960’s, after all,

and musical development andcross-cutting influences hap-pened at an astonishing pace, soit is not hard to understand howGravenites moved on to a new,and especially short-lived group,Electric Flag. The band took itsname from the electrically acti-vated blower used to keep a flagwaving. In June 1967, ElectricFlag officially debuted at theMonterey International Pop Fes-tival. The band included Bloom-field on lead guitar, Barry Gold-berg as organist, Harvey Brooksas bass player, Buddy Miles ondrums, and Gravenites onrhythm guitar as well assinger/songwriter. The band wasan immediate success. ElectricFlag’s first album, A Long TimeComin,’ released in early 1968,“proved to be a subtle mix of

R&B and soul, featuring originalnumbers interspersed with a fewblues classics.” The album madethe Top Forty, but the band onlylasted 18 months it broke up,but it had recorded enough ma-terial for a second album, TheElectric Flag.

After the breakup, Gravenitesjoined Joplin’s group BigBrother and the Holding Com-pany as composer and lead vo-cal. Gravenites had met Joplinand Big Brother in Chicagoyears before when the groupquite literally couldn’t get anywork. Joplin’s impassionedreading of Gravenites’ songWork Me Lord on the pathbreaking album Kozmic Blues isa classic of the 1960’s. Joplinhad already left the band whenGravenites joined. Be A Brotheris a Gravenites composition andthe title-track for the album.Here is a fragment from an Au-gust 29, 1971 musical review ofthat album from the TrentonEvening Times: “After Janis quitand the group disbanded fortwo years, they reemerged withtwo new members and Be aBrother. Freaky guitarist JamesGurley had switched to bass andace bassist Peter Albin to guitar,new arrival David Schallockplayed lead, and Gravenitescontributed half the locals, butthe Big Brother feeling was stillthere. A couple of terrific songs,a few duds, a great instrumen-tal, the group had come backfrom the dead to turn us on. ForBe a Brother, Big Brother was,indeed, together.” Gravenites

stayed with the band, on andoff, until it disbanded in 1972.Along the way, other Gravenitessongs, Joseph’s Coat, HeartachePeople and Buried Alive in theBlues were recorded by theband, to critical acclaim.

There was a great deal moreinterplay between musiciansand groups. Gravenites’ ac-claimed first album My Labourswas released in 1969 on theCBS label, and he wrote thescore for the cult 1967 film TheTrip. Somewhere in this creativeturmoil Gravenites also pro-duced the debut album forQuicksilver Messenger Service,including several of his compo-sitions, Joseph’s Coat, the onemost often cited. A period re-view of Bloomfield and Graven-ites at the Rainbow Tavern isunexpectedly bittersweet.“Many of the tunes were by NickGravenites, Bloomfield’s long-time cohort, and he sang thembeautifully. When he did BuriedAlive in the Blues, it broughtback memories of Janis Joplin,for whom he wrote the tune.She died only days before it wasto be recorded (an instrumentalversion was included in Joplin’sposthumous Pearl” album), theSeattle Daily Times reported onMay 28, 1977. Gravenites is stillperforming and recording.Among his album credits areLive at Bill Graham’s FillmoreWest (1969,) Steelyard Blues(1973,) Blue Star (1980,) Funk-yard In Malibu (1981) withJohn Cipollina (former lead gui-tarist with Quicksilver Messen-ger Service,) Monkey Medicine(1982,) Live At The Rodon(1991,) Don’t Feed the Animals(1996,) Kill My Brain (1999,)and the live album Buried Alivein the Blues (2005.) Graveniteshas worked on more than 50studio albums, more often as aproducer than performer. In1997, Gravenites,’ Born inChicago was inducted into theBlues hall of Fame in the cate-gory of Classic Blues Record-ings. As Gravenites came to livethe life of the blues he createdout of the depths of his being aliving vibrant music basedsolidly in the American Blues.But listen to his music becauseit says it all.

[email protected]

ARTS&CULTURE6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011

“What Greece gave me early onwas a beloved new language, agolden landscape, an insightinto the meaning of friendship,a belief in the virtues of gen-erosity and pride, access to dra-matic history, finally a 60-yearmarriage, and so much else thatI was able to celebrate in richexperience and finally translateinto fiction and non-fiction overthe years.” He said what has dri-ven him most of his life is hislove for Greek poetry, much ofwhich he has translated, partic-ularly Cavafy, Nobel LaureatesGeorge Seferis and OdysseusElytis, and Yiannis Ritsos, whoKeeley said should also havewon a Nobel Prize. He readCavafy’s poem Ithaca, Seferis’The King of Asine, and Ritsos’work Penelope’s Despair. Hesaid Cavafy’s poem was “Amode of paideia that celebratesthe virtues of a life of adventureand discovery, of selecting what

is truly significant in the journeywe all take on our way to ourown version of Ithaka.”

He said that Seferis was hisfavorite, “The poet closest of allto my heart, a man as ample inhis insight and range of interestsas his physical presence, his con-versation always touching onsomething significant, whetherin literature or politics, his modeauthoritative yet colored by sub-tle humor. He refused to be con-sidered the voice of his country,but that is what he was on sev-eral occasions, both in his poetryand beyond it.” He said the Kingof Asine was an imposing work.“In Seferis’ hands the king’s fatebecomes a metaphor for the in-escapable losses of our humanexistence and the inevitabilityof being forgotten, which ex-tends, in the course of the poem,even to poets and those creativeartists with the power for carv-ing a few signs on the stones,as Seferis phrases it elsewhere.”Keeley, who lives in Princeton,

N.J., introduced many Englishspeakers, from the 1960’s on, tothe works of Cavafy, Seferis, Rit-sos, to name a few. He co-editeda weighty new Norton anthol-ogy entitled The Greek Poets:Homer to the Present, andwrote a novel about the vista-destroying mega mansion trendthat he saw in his own neigh-borhood.

His 1989 non-fiction workThe Salonica Bay Murder, ColdWar Politics and The Polk Affairwas re-released in Greek lastyear by publisher EllhnikaGrammata, with a new intro-duction by John Iatrides, offer-ing the latest in the case of the1948 murder of CBS journalistGeorge Polk. He’s writing ananalysis of a Cavafy poem for aHarvard compilation as well as“a little essay on Ritsos,” saidKeeley, adding: “You can’t getaway from them.” Keeley gavemost of his papers to PrincetonUniversity, where he taught fornearly 50 years.

Hellenic Club Honors Greek Poetry’s Champion Translator Edmund Keeley

The professorial Keeley signing his works for admirers. He may be best known for his translationsof the renowned Greek poet Cavafy but his range extended to many other Hellenistic greats.

On The Trip YouAre Taken On the trip you are takenBy the horseman of the nightAnything that he offers youYou must refuse outright.

And if you thirst, don’t drinkFrom the world belowThe forgetfulness cursed drink,Poor uprooted mistletoe!

Do not drink and totallyAnd eternally forget us!Leave behind your marksTo find the way to get t’us.

And small as you still are,And as a swallow light,And a hero’s noisy armsDon’t hang on your side,

Do your best to foolThe sultan of the night,Slide quietly, in stealth,And fly to the upper light,

And in our broken homeReturn, oh darling mine,And become a gentle windSweetkissing us one more time.

Kostis Palamas (1859-1943)Translated by Alex Moskios

GREEK POETRY

ALL HISTORY

Nick Gravenites, The Bad Talkin’ Blues Man, Still Knows The ScoreContinued from page 1

Gravenites can still bring it like he was back in the 1960’s,here with the Chicago Blues Reunion in recent years, poundin’and wailin,’ his voice still sounding the pain.

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Continued from page 1

Gravenites with the late John Cipollina (L,) a guitarist bestknown for his role in leading the prominent San Franciscorock band Quicksilver Messenger Service

Gravenites can still bring it like he was back in the 1960’s,here with the Chicago Blues Reunion in recent years, poundin’and wailin,’ his voice still sounding the pain

ELEFTHERIOS KOSTANS

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FEATURETHE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011 7

Athenian, along with two of hiscousins, Aristotle and Demos-thenes Savas, who went on toChicago and whom ProfessorSavas first met when he studiedat the University of Chicago.

His parents were introducedin a classic Greek proxenio –arranged marriage. His motherlived at 108th Street andColumbus Avenue, near thechurch of St. Gerasimos, andmoved to Washington Heightswhen she got married. Savas’ fa-ther owned a grocery store on163rd Street off Amsterdam Av-enue, near where a small buthardy group of Greeks remainto this day – on the other sideof Broadway. He and his oldersister Despina worked there,weekends and after school.Savas is a product of the then-excellent New York publicschool system. At George Wash-ington High, where he was Vale-dictorian, he was preceded acouple of years earlier by HenryKissinger, who became the U.S.Secretary of State. Savas likedmath and science in high school,hence his interest in Physics. Hewas accepted to a number offine schools but like many im-migrants, his parents were notin a position to guide him. Hedreamed of going to CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, but hishigh school physics teacher, whowas not Greek - advised him togo to the University of Chicagoto get a liberal arts educationfirst, then go to graduate schoolfor science. It was a choice thatserved him well when his careerpath shifted. Ironically, otherthan a couple of requiredcourses, he did not ever studyeconomics, political science orpublic administration, but heearned Bachelor’s and Master’sDegrees in Chemistry. He was

drafted and served in the Ko-rean War, in the chemical corpsat a time when there was a realfear of chemical warfare.

He returned to New York andearned his Ph.D. in Chemistryat Columbia, which yielded nu-merous opportunities at Ameri-can industrial giants. IBM wasin the mix because Dr. Savas’wife worked at Columbia,where its Watson Laboratorywas located. He and his wife He-len, whose family is from the is-land of Mytiline met in highschool from Mytilene. Theyhave two sons Jonathan andStephen.

Helen told him IBM waslooking for chemists to do some-thing new, computer controlledindustrial processing. He endedup writing the first book on thesubject for McGraw Hill in 1965,although he was not an engi-neer. That was perhaps the firsttime when Savas’ analyticalmind, which he had trained fora career in science, was nudgedin another direction, his gift forgrasping complex processeseventually to be applied to thetasks and challenges of manage-

ment and government. WhyIBM? “It seemed like an inter-esting thing,” adding that it at-tracted his intellectual curiosityand maybe he liked the chanceto “move away from the molec-ular level of life to a largerscale.”

His career took the turn thatwould come to dominate his lifewhen IBM underwent a pro-found strategic change. Man-agement decided the companyneeded more scientists in itssales force and fewer businessmajors because the customerswere getting smarter and tech-nologically and the salesmenhad to be able to communicate

on a higher level. IBM placedhim in the office of the VicePresident of Personnel and puthim in charge of recruiting en-gineers, scientists and systemsengineers for IBM field offices.The demand was partly gener-ated by the needs of the defenseresearch that was triggered bythe space race and arms racewith the USSR. He oversaw therecruiting process and the de-velopment of the informationsystem to track it.

CONVENIENTHAPPENSTANCE

Success led to promotion,and the choice to join the urbansystems group, which was ad-dressing the cutting edge ques-tion of how to apply moderncomputer technology to urbanproblems, but chance andbreaks played a role in movingSavas into worlds he neverimagined. Lindsay had beenelected at a time when socialand economic problemsspawned the perception thatcities like New York had becomeungovernable. Lindsay wantedto bring in management scienceand other tools from the busi-

ness world and his colleaguesbegan to look for new talent.Savas told The National Herald:“The Deputy Mayor of New Yorkwas teaching a course at theNew Schools and we began talk-ing about our work. After a yearI was recruited to be FirstDeputy City Administrator. Lind-say was a moderate Republicanwho was drifting to the left.Savas was shifting in the oppo-site direction. He joined theLindsay camp when he was aliberal Democrat from the UpperWest Side of Manhattan – heliked to shock his future ReaganAdministration colleagues by re-minding them that Bella Abzugwas his Congresswoman. Savastold TNH he entered govern-ment without any political toolsor experience, “But I wasbrought in to do this gee whizstuff for the Mayor.” The bigevent in his government careerwas the blizzard that crippledvast sections of New York in Feb-ruary 1969, similar to theChristmas blizzard of 2010.Lindsay’s reputation never re-covered, but he immediately as-signed people to determinewhat went wrong with the City’sresponse.

Savas was one of the leadersof the effort, which led to a ma-jor study. The city’s snow planwas completely revised, but hebegan to have ideas that wentbeyond that incident. He real-ized that even during a severeemergency, the Department ofSanitation was only working50% of the time. Half the work-ers’ time was devoted to coffee,washup, warmup and fuelingbreaks. He wondered what wasgoing on when there wasn’t acrisis, so he did a study compar-ing the city’s activities to privatecarting companies and foundthe latter were more efficientand cheaper by far. Like thegood scientist he was trained tobe, he recommended an experi-ment. He wanted to hire privatecarters for some parts of the cityfor a rigorous comparison, butthe unions went berserk. ThenLindsay decided to become aDemocrat and run for President,Savas had enough with city gov-ernment. It was time for some-thing new.

A REAGAN GUYHe told TNH a number of

universities became interestedbecause he was the first to directa management science unit inany city in America. Savas re-turned to Columbia, to itsSchool of Business, were he be-came a Professor. He securedlarge grants to undertake thefirst major study comparingpublic and private solid wastedisposal. He made a big splashbecause in many cities andtowns city councils are not full-time public servants. “They arebusinessmen who like the no-tion of efficiency in govern-ment,” he said. That was the be-ginning of his research onprivatization, which eventuallylanded him on lists of the all-time great contributors to public

service in history, and visit tothe Oval Office in Washington,D.C. In 1980, seven months be-fore the Presidential election,Savas was contacted by a Rea-gan campaign official who cameacross his work, and a day afterthe election he was asked to joinan urban affairs task force. Hewas appointed by President Rea-gan to be Assistant SecretaryU.S. Department of Housing andUrban Development. He wasconfirmed by the U.S. Senateand served from 1981-1983. Hetold TNH he was proud to haveworked with Reagan. He sawhim frequently, but was in theOval Office just once, though hedid attend numerous cabinetcouncil meetings. He told thestory of a Cabinet Council meet-ing (a subset of the presidentialcabinet) the day Reagan re-turned after the attempt to as-sassinate him. Savas recalledthat Dick Schweiker, Secretaryof Health and Humans Services,was making a complex presen-tation on reforming Social Se-curity that everyone had troublegrasping. At one point Reagansaid, “Dick, excuse me, do youmind of I interrupt you?” Rea-gan continued: “What would bethe effect of this proposal for awidow with a 16-year-old child?

Savas had his turn at per-suading the Great Communica-tor. Savas argued that it did notmake sense for government tobuild more public housing, and

that it should switch to avoucher system. He had thebacking of HHS but Dick Stock-man, the powerful Director ofOffice of Management and Bud-get, disagreed. They decided toappeal to Reagan himself in abattle of flip charts. In a bril-liant opening move, Stockmanframed the debate by calling thevouchers “housing stamps,”knowing that Reagan hatedfood stamp programs from hisdays as Governor of California,but Reagan agreed with Savas’proposal. Congress battled it fortwo years, opposed by buildersand developers who wereamong the biggest campaigncontributors of key members ofCongress, but it prevailed.Vouchers remain at the heart of

U.S. housing policy and Savasis also proud that he argued tomake them mobile so peoplecould follow job opportunitiesand not feel trapped in housingcomplexes.

IDEAS FOR GREECETNH discussed privatization

with Savas in the context of theGreek economic crisis. He saidhe believes, “Privatization is avery powerful tool that can beused right now in Greece. Theysuffer from a Soviet-style men-tality in terms of the excessiverole of the state in the nationaleconomy. Other nations, formereastern bloc nations, are movingaway from that pattern andGreece should have been mov-ing much more aggressively inthat direction.” He said the mainidea behind his thinking is thatthere are many functions thatgovernment should not be do-ing. More aggressive than mostanalysts on the issue, he said,“There are relatively few thingsthat cannot be done by the pri-vate sector under correct com-petitive conditions.” Criticsagree in principle, but havedoubts about how broadly coun-tries can realize those condi-tions, including countries thatcould most benefit from priva-tization, such as Greece. Savassays “The whole point of priva-tization is to get the economyinto the hands of entrepreneurs,businessmen who can providegood services and products at a

fair price.” He has met many times over

the years with Greek officialsand business leaders and saysthey finally seem to be moreopen to privatization. Savasspoke recently at the Constanti-nos Karamanlis Institute forDemocracy through a joint in-vitation from the U.S. embassyin Athens. The thrust of his pre-sentation was to reduce the roleof government, explaining theway it interferes with the effec-tive running of the economy. Heargued against “the absurd li-censing restrictions in certainprofessions such as pharmacistsand truck drivers.” Savas alsoweighed in on the public em-ployee pension costs thatthreaten the finances of so many

American states and other coun-tries. He stated bluntly that theproblem is that, “The public em-ployee unions exercise monop-oly control and they are exploit-ing the public. Governors(Andrew) Cuomo (N.Y.) and(Chris) Cristie (N.J.) and (N.Y.)Mayor (Michael) Bloomberghave recognized that “There hasbeen an enormous rip-off by thepublic employees, particularlypolicemen and firemen gettingoutrageous pensions,” he said,though he said he believes infair pensions for them. “The bal-ance has tilted too far in theirfavor,” and he said public em-ployees unions have been usingpublic money to buy votes dur-ing election campaigns.

He quoted MargaretThatcher, who said, “The prob-lem with socialism is that youeventually run out of other peo-ple’s money.” Interwoven withSavas’ discussion about his life,ideas and work were expres-sions of pride in his Hellenicheritage. He said that one of hisproudest moments was to haveserved as Master of Ceremoniesfor Greek Letters Day. He also isa great admirer of ArchbishopIakovos, “Who transformed aminor, immigrant religion intoa national American religion.”

He explains there are severaldifferent forms privatization cantake, such as selling off stateowned enterprises. Though heacknowledges that “Russia is go-

ing about it in a crooked man-ner, he feels strongly govern-ment should not be in certainbusinesses such as telephoneand even postal services – hesaid Germany has successfullyprivatized the Deutsche Post.

Another form is contractingout, outsourcing. “Many munic-ipal functions are best done thatway – bus operations, for exam-ple, has been outsourced in Den-mark, parts of the U.S and SouthAmerica. Done properly undercompetitive conditions, the ser-vices such as solid waste re-moval, street repair, etc. are pro-vided more effectively and atlower cost. The best thing gov-ernment can do is break up un-necessary public monopolies andintroduce competition.” Savastold TNH that many studies haveshown that outsourcing of com-mon municipal and state servicessave about 30% with same qual-ity and level of service. “Ameri-cans deserve those savings,” hedeclared. But he said the deal-ings must be transparent. “With-out it, the public will have noconfidence in what is done. Ifthere are sweetheart dealsthrough corruption, bribery andextortion,” it won’t be accepted,he said. “The key is to introducecompetition into the process,”but noted, “The biggest problemis poorly managing the privati-zation process, failing to writegood specifications and failing toenforce performance specifica-tions.” He added, “When govern-ment contracts out services theymust monitor contractor perfor-mance.”

[email protected]

Steve Savas: Father of Privatization - Godfather to Greek Reform?Continued from page 1

For Dr. E.S. Savas, working in business, government and acad-emia has made the benefits of privatization very clear.

During his visit to TNH headquarters in NY, Dr. Savas discusses the the merits of privatizatonand the challenges facing Greece and the U.S. with his former student at Columbia Publisher-Editor Antonis Diamataris.

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Page 8: The National Herald€¦ · Priebus helped lead Michael Steele’s successful 2009 cam - paign for RNC Chairman. He was in charge of Steele’s tran - sition and became General Counsel

Charlie Callas, a versatile co-median whose zany faces and an-tics made him a regular for morethan four decades on television,in films and on casino stages,died in a hospice in Las Vegas onJan. 27, his sons Mark and LarryCallas said. He was 83. Callaswas a rubber-faced, wiry framedcomic whose rapid-fire deliverydrew laughs and made him a fre-quent guest on variety and com-edy shows. “Everybody that methim, he left them with a smile,”Mark Callas said. For years, Char-lie Callas made Johnny Carsonlaugh on the Tonight Show, butCarson banned him from return-ing after Callas shoved Carson offhis chair in a bid for laughs in1982. Mark Callas said his fatherknew every member of the RatPack, a group of actors that in-cluded Frank Sinatra, Dean Mar-tin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishopand Peter Lawford.

Callas toured with Sinatra andTom Jones, had a role with JerryLewis in the movie The BigMouth in 1967, and was a gueston TV variety shows hosted byJackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan, MervGriffin, Andy Williams and FlipWilson. Callas guest-hosted onthe Joey Bishop Show. He alsoplayed restaurant owner Mal-colm Argos in the 1970’s TV se-ries Switch with Robert Wagnerand Eddie Albert, and had roles

in Mel Brooks’ films High Anxietyand History of the World: Part I.Besides nightclub gigs and guestspots on other talk shows, hewent on to appear in severalmovies. Among them were thehorror-film spoof Hysterical(1983); in which he played Drac-ula; Amazon Women on theMoon (1987) a bizarre take onlow-budget movies in which hedid his own stand-up shtick; andMel Brooks’ Dracula: Dead andLoving It (1995), a parody of theBram Stoker novel. In the 1977live-action and animated filmPete’s Dragon, Callas providedthe voice of the title character, adragon named Elliot.

Callas grew up in Brooklyn,N.Y., and served in the U.S. Armyin Germany during World War IIbefore beginning a career as adrummer with big bands starringTommy Dorsey and Buddy Richand was one of the best, as canstill be seen on YouTube in laterperformances. But he was a nat-ural comic, and it wasn’t long be-fore he gave up drumming forstandup routines. He dropped avowel from his legal name, Cal-lias, when he took to the stage.“He was just messing aroundwith the guys and it worked, Iguess,” Mark Callas said. He wasCharlie Callas when he made hisfirst television appearance in1963 on the Hollywood Palace

variety show. Mark Callas, whoproduces the American Super-stars celebrity impersonatorsshow in Las Vegas, said he en-couraged his parents to move toLas Vegas from New York in2002. Larry Callas said the deathof his mother, Evelyn Callas inJuly at age 80, broke his father’sheart.

The New York Times, in itsobituary, noted that Callas was arubber-faced comedian who ca-vorted on television and thenightclub circuit in the 1960’s,‘70’s and ’80;s, often punctuatingpunch lines with sound effectsemanating from his motormouth and described him as “astring bean of a man with aCyrano-size nose.” “There weretwo things he could do thatmade his career,” Tony Belmont,Executive Director of the Na-tional Comedy Hall of Fame inSt. Petersburg, Fla., told theTimes in an earlier interview. “Hecould think very fast on his feet,and he had an unbelievablenumber of sounds that he madewith his voice.” For example, Bel-mont said: “He would tell a jokeabout two guys hunting. If youor I told it, the joke wasn’t sofunny. But Charlie made it hys-terical by sticking in thesesounds; so you would hear thegun cocking, the duck flyingoverhead, the explosion of the

shotgun and then the duckfalling and screaming all the wayto the ground.”

While performing he wouldengage in madcap antics, crack-ing up audiences and musiciansalike, inspiring him to turn tocomedy in 1962. A year later hemade his first network televisionappearance on The HollywoodPalace. Soon he was opening forFrank Sinatra in nightclubsaround the country. Callas waspredictably unpredictable, Bel-mont said. In 1973, when thecrusty insult comedian Don Rick-les was the target of a Dean Mar-tin celebrity roast on NBC, Callasstepped to the microphone anddecided to set aside his plannedbit. “Instead,” Belmont said, “Hestarted rattling on as thoughRickles — sitting at his side —had died. And as the mock eu-logy ran, Rickles was laughing sohard that he couldn’t lift his headoff the table.” At a roast for Sina-tra, Callas was introduced asSinatra’s former bodyguard,Carlo Cappuccino. Dressed in agangster-style suit and widewhite tie, he told of growing upin a neighborhood where “youcould walk 10 blocks and neverleave the scene of a crime.” Plac-ing his broad-brimmed hat overhis heart and looking towardheaven, he said, “I’d like to sayhello to Frank’s friends.”

n FELECOS, PERRYPerry Felecos, 54, passed awaysuddenly in Greece on January10. He was a retired D.E.A. Spe-cial Agent who served at theAmerican Embassy in the Ba-hamas and a Country Attaché forthe U.S. Embassy in Athens andCyprus. Perry was also a Super-visor at D.E.A. Headquarters inWashington D.C., the Chicago Di-vision and Merrillville, IN. FormerCorporal of the Uniform PatrolDivision and Motorcycle Unit ofthe Munster Police Departmentand member of the F.O.P. Lodge147. Perry retired early to enjoyhis life with his parents and sisterwho he dearly loved. He loveddriving his Harleys, Corvettes andvacationing at his summer homein Greece. Perry was a very lovingand caring person to all. Perrywas predeceased by his father,Demetrios Felecos. He is sur-vived by his mother, Sophia andhis sister, Sylvia Felecos.

n PETHERIOTES, JAMESMr. James Petheriotes, 89, passedaway peacefully on October 28,2010. He was a life-long mem-ber of the Annunciation Greek Or-thodox Cathedral, serving a termas President of the Church Coun-cil. He was a World War II vet-eran, a graduate of the Universityof Houston and co-owner ofPetheriotes Bros. Coffee Co. forover 40 years. He was also a 50year Mason and life-long memberof AHEPA. The American HellenicEducational Progressive Associa-tion was James’ hobby and pas-sion. He, along with his uncleAngelo, started a local scholarshipfund which has grown tremen-dously and to which he continuedto contribute annually ever since.He is only one of four AHEPAN’sawarded the life-time achieve-ment award. James was lovedand respected by many, and wasthe Godfather to many Orthodoxchildren. In 1998, he wasawarded the Ellis Island Medal ofHonor for his philanthropy, andcivic and local activity and sup-port. He is survived by his sister,Beulah Petheriotes; his nephews,Michael Matandos and Georgeand Stephen Petheriotes; hisbeloved wife, Brenda; his niece,Stacey McIntyre; and his great-nephew, William McIntyre. Visi-tation and a Trisagion prayer ser-vice were held in the JasekChapel of Geo H. Lewis & Sons.Funeral services were held in theAnnunciation Greek OrthodoxCathedral in Houston. In lieu ofcustomary remembrances, thefamily requests with gratitudethat contributions in James’ namebe directed to the A.H.E.P.A. Dis-trict 16 Scholarship Fund, 3304Centenary Avenue, Dallas, Texas75225.

n ANGELOPOULOS, SPIROKNOXVILLE, TN – The KnoxvilleNews Sentinel reported that SpiroAngelos, 69, passed away peace-fully on January 9 at his resi-dence. He is survived by Lena An-gelos; his parents Konstantinosand Konstantina Angelopoulos;his children, Kosta (Gena) An-gelopoulos, Chris (Garnet) An-gelopoulos, Sebastian Angelopou-los, Ariadne Angelopoulos andDena Angelopoulos; his siblings,George (Nina) Angelopoulos,Paul (Gee Gee) Angelopoulos,Athanasios (Nitsa) Angelopoulos,Elias (Evgenia) Angelopoulos,John (Krini) Angelopoulos andSofia (Dimitris) Stasinos; hisgrandchildren, Alexia Angelopou-los, Christina Angelopoulos, JohnAngelopoulos and Isaac An-gelopoulos; and numerous niecesand nephews. Funeral serviceswere held at St. Georges GreekOrthodox Church in Knoxvillewith Father John Kostas officiat-ing. For further information, call:

(423) 334-3661.

n BABAIE, RULASAN JOSE, Calif. – The San JoseMercury News reported that RulaBabaie, 52, passed away peace-fully on February 7. She wasborn in Athens, Greece on Octo-ber 28, 1958 and immigrated tothe United States as a youngwoman hungry to begin a newchapter in her life. She had beena resident of San Jose for 20years. She is survived by herbeloved husband, Kardel Babaie;her children, Jennifer and YianniBabaie; and the family dog,Athena. Visitation and funeralservices were held at St. NicholasGreek Orthodox Church. Pleasemake any contributions to TheSilicon Valley Community Foun-dation, Re: The Rula BabaieMemorial Fund in lieu of flowers.All proceeds will be used to assistothers facing the challenges ofliver cancer.

n BOUZAS, DIMITRIOUSDAYTONA BEACH, Fl. - The Day-tona Beach News-Journal re-ported that Dimitrious Bouzas,84, passed away peacefully onFebruary 8 at Kindred HospitalNorth Florida in Green CoveSprings. He was born on April 1,1926 in Greece to the late Con-stantinos and Maria Bouzas. Asa young man he proudly foughtin the Greek Civil War and in1951 he immigrated to theUnited States with his wife anddaughter. They built a life andfamily in New York until 1982when they moved back to Greeceand began living part time be-tween Greece and New York. In1994, he and his wife moved toFlorida and enjoyed travelingback and forth to Greece everyyear to visit family and friends.He loved watching soccer, west-erns and game shows. His devo-tion to music ranged from classi-cal, opera to all the Greek songs.Dimitrios was a true family man,honorable and religious and at-tended the Holy Trinity Greek Or-thodox Church. Dimitrios is sur-vived by his beloved wife of 62years, Eleni; his children, Mary(John) Manis, Dean (Jodi)Bouzas and Anna Bouzas; hisadored grandchildren, John Jr.,Anna, Irene Eleni, James,Natasha, Eleni Samantha andVictoria; and his great-grandchil-dren. He will be greatly missedand his memory will live onthrough his loving family andfriends. Funeral services wereheld at the Holy Trinity Greek Or-thodox Church in St. Augustineand visitation was held at thechapel of Craig Flagler Palms Fu-neral Home. Donations in hismemory may be made to HolyTrinity Greek Orthodox Church.For online condolences, visit:www.craigflaglerpalms.com.

n GROMBANOPOULOS,JOHN

TORONTO, CANADA – TheToronto Star reported that JohnGrombanopoulos passed awaysuddenly at his home on Febru-ary 9. He is survived by hisbeloved wife of 44 years, Sophie;his children, Gina (Steve) Tas-sopoulos and Michael (Georgina)Grombanopoulos; and his grand-children, Stephanie, Christina,Matthew, Sophia and John. Visi-tation was held at the HighlandFuneral Home, Markham Chapeland funeral services were held atSt. Nicholas Greek OrthodoxChurch.

n KANELLOPOULOS, PETERCHICAGO, Ill. – The Chicago Tri-bune reported that Peter Kanel-lopoulos, 82, passed away peace-fully. He was born in Renesi,Tripoli, Greece. He is survived byhis beloved wife, Anna; his son,

Angelo P. Kanellopoulos; andmany nieces, nephews andcousins here and in Greece. Visi-tation was held at the Smith-Cor-coran Funeral Home and funeralservices were held at St. Haralam-bos Greek Orthodox Church. Inlieu of flowers, memorial dona-tions to St. Haralambos Churchwould be appreciated. Arrange-ments are in the care of John G.Adinamis, Funeral Director, LTD.For further information, call:(773)736-3833.

n MOULOPOULOS, JOHNCHICAGO, Ill. – The Chicago Tri-bune reported that JohnMoulopoulos passed away peace-fully. He was predeceased by hisparents, Kostas and GaryfaliaMoulopoulos. He is survived bythree brothers; his nieces andnephews, Cathy (Stelios) Mougo-lias, Dimitri (Tina) Mougolias,Garyfalia (Kostas) Tzouganatos,Rania, Sophia and ChristinaTzouganatos and their familiesand George Chionis; his great-niece, Katerina Mougolias; andhis cousin, Athanasia Chionis. Vis-itation was held at the Smith-Cor-coran Funeral Home and funeralservices were held at the St.Demetrios Greek OrthodoxChurch. Arrangements are in thecare of John G. Adinamis, FuneralDirector, LTD. For further infor-mation, call: (773)736-3833.

n NICOLAOU, THEODORESACRAMENTO, Calif. – TheSacramento Bee reported thatTheodore A. Nicolaou passedaway peacefully on February 6.He was born in Istiea, Evia,Greece and immigrated to theUnited States, entering throughEllis Island with parents Argyrisand Helen. He served in theUnited States Air Force in WWII,stationed in Guam. He marriedhis beloved wife Ann Kyriakopou-los on May 19, 1946. He is sur-vived by his children, Elaine, Johnand Marianne; his grandchildren,Nicole, Stephanie, Stacy, Codyand Troy; his great-grandchil-dren, Phoebe, Alexa and Sarah;his daughter and son-in-law,Karen and Walt; his siblings, JimNicolaou, Eva Detsikas and ChrysNicolaou; and his nieces andnephews, Gary, Chris and Gina.Visitation and a Trisagion prayerservice were held at Nicoletti,Culjis & Herberger FuneralHome. Funeral services were heldat the Annunciation Greek Ortho-dox Church. In lieu of flowers,the family prefers a donation tothe Annunciation Greek OrthodoxChurch, 600 Alhambra Blvd.Sacramento, CA 95816.

n PALAMIOTIS, NICHOLASLOS ANGELES, Calif. – The LosAngeles Times reported thatNicholas A. Palamiotis, 84, passedaway peacefully on February 5 atMethodist Hospital of SouthernCalifornia. He was born on Octo-ber 6, 1926 in Lamia, Greece, sonof Athanasios and Maria Palami-otis. Nicholas served honorablyin the United States Army, thenattended the University of Utahand graduated with a degree incivil engineering. In 1953, hemarried Thetis Tsilimangos in SaltLake City, Utah. In 1954, he wentto work for the Los AngelesCounty Road Department and re-tired with 35 years of service inthe Highway Division. Nicholas issurvived by his loving wife; hisdaughters, Maria and Sophia; hissons-in-law, James W. Hronas andTaki Papadatos; his grandchil-dren, Anastasia, Erini, Nicole andNicholas; his great-grandchildren,Ezekiel, Emma, Teadora, Noahand Mason; his brothers, Alexan-der and Constandinos; and manynieces and nephews. A Trisagionprayer service and funeral ser-vices were held at Saint Anthony

Greek Orthodox Church inPasadena. Pierce Brothers Turner& Stevens Mortuary is assistingthe family. For further informa-tion, call: (626) 287-0595.

n SENGOS, GEORGEJERSEY CITY, NJ - The JerseyJournal reported that GeorgeSengos, 72, passed away peace-fully on February 8. George wasborn on November 28, 1938 inThiva, Greece and immigrated tothe United States in 1967. He wasa foreman for Frutarom MeerCorp. in North Bergen, New Jer-sey. He is survived by his belovedwife, Konstantina; his children,Helen (Alex) Maravegias andChris (Meletia) Sengos; andadored grandchildren, Theodora,Timothy, George, Peter and Dina.George is also survived by manyloving family and friends in theUnited States and Greece. Funeralservices were held at the GreekOrthodox Ascension Church.

n SOTIRELIS, AGLAIAHOUSTON, Texas – The HoustonChronicle reported that AglaiaSotirelis, 86, passed away peace-fully on February 8 after a longand courageous battle with anillness. She was born on the is-land of Samos, Greece in 1924and immigrated to the UnitedStates shortly after her marriageto her husband Chris Caridas in1946. To her family and friends,she was known for her genuinelove, compassion, and dry senseof humor. She is survived by herloving and devoted children,Evangeline and Nick Caridas; andby numerous nieces, nephews,and cousins, both here and inGreece. A Trisagion prayer ser-vice and funeral services wereheld at the Annunciation GreekOrthodox Church. In lieu of flow-ers, donations in Aglaia's namemay be made to AnnunciationGreek Orthodox Cathedral or thecharity of your choice.

n STRANTZALIS, vASSILIOSPRIMOS, Penn. - The Daily Timesreported that Vassilios Strantzalis,57, passed away peacefully onFebruary 11 surrounded by hisfamily at his home in Claymont.Vassilios was born in Kavala,Greece and immigrated to theUnited States at the age of 17.He resided in Marcus Hook andhas lived in Claymont since 1992.Bill worked for the InternationalUnion of Painters and AlliedTrades Local No. 921 for morethan 30 years. He was a volunteerat both, Linwood and Reliancecompanies, where he organizedtheir bingo events and activities.Bill was an avid Philadelphiasports fan and enjoyed going tothe casinos in Atlantic City. Billwas also a coach for the MarcusHook Vikings Softball team. Hewas also a longtime member ofSt. George Greek OrthodoxChurch. He is survived by hisbeloved wife of 31 years, PatriciaRooney Strantzalis; his children,Albert Strantzalis, Laura (Hank)Fulmer, Eleni (Danny) Coale andAmber Strantzalis; his sister,Joanne Perdikis; his grandchil-dren, Phillip, Austin, Hayley, Dy-lan, Daniel, Jenna, Makis andKaya; and many nieces andnephews. Funeral services wereheld at St. George Greek Ortho-dox Church.

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The Last Laugh: Charlie Callas, the Comic’s Comic, Big Band Drummer

He was called the man of a thousand voices and faces, andCharlie Callas really knew how to break up an audience, in-cluding his peers.

DEATHS

Page 9: The National Herald€¦ · Priebus helped lead Michael Steele’s successful 2009 cam - paign for RNC Chairman. He was in charge of Steele’s tran - sition and became General Counsel

ATHENS – The sense amongGreeks that it is the so-calledTroika – The European Union,European Central Bank, and In-ternational Monetary Fund(IMF) – who are running Greecebecause it has lent the country$150 billion to keep from goingunder gained some validity whenofficials of the international or-ganizations ordered more re-forms and privatizations of state-run enterprises, drawing a sharprebuttal from Greek officials andPrime Minister George Papan-dreou. That led to an about-facefrom the Troika, which voicedsupport for Papandreou’s harshausterity measures and for work-ing Greeks suffering its effects,but no pullback on calls forGreece to raise $67 billion byselling off part of its debt-crushed entities, such as the rail-ways system few people use. Astatement from Troika officialswho were in Athens examiningthe country’s books ahead of thenext road of loans, said it recog-nized “the difficult challengesfacing the Greek economy andwe have the deepest respect forthe tremendous efforts beingmade by the Greek people.” TheGreek government had reactedharshly to a news conference inwhich the three institutions saidGreece must privatize state en-terprises and speed structural re-forms in the next few months tokeep the country’s troubled fi-nances afloat.

In an interview published inthe Sunday newspaper ProtoThema, the Troika’s EuropeanCommission representative, Ser-vaas Deroose, appeared to betelling Greece what to do, pro-voking the ire of Greek FinanceMinister Giorgos Papaconstanti-nou. “Over the next two yearsyou will proceed with privatiza-tions worth euro 15 billion ($20billion) ... euro five billion ($6.7billion) will come from sellingthe (former Athens airport) andthe other euro 10 billion ($13.5billion) from (state-controlledcompanies.) The government

will tell us which companies willbe privatized,” Deroose wasquoted as saying. Deroose wenton to say, according to the paper,that, in 2013-15, the governmentwill sell off airports, ports andother state property “from whichit must get euro 35 billion ($47.2billion.) There is also non-inven-toried state property we haven’tincluded in our estimates,” he re-portedly said.

Papaconstantinou snappedright back. “The alleged state-ments by the representative of theEuropean Commission to Sundaynewspapers are, to say the least,careless, and certainly inaccurate... we develop state property, wedo not sell public land. And thedecisions are taken...by the Greekgovernment and no one else,” hesaid in a statement.

The three institutions, whichare supervising the bailout deal,“have full respect for the prerog-

atives and initiatives of the gov-ernment in all areas of economicdecision-making,” they said. “Itis regrettable if a different im-pression was perceived at anytime.” The reforms, which in-clude cutting public sectorsalaries and pensions, increasingtaxes and opening up highly reg-ulated professions to broadercompetition, have been highlyunpopular, with labor unions or-ganizing frequent demonstra-tions and strikes.

The head of the Eurozone ofcountries using the euro as theircurrency, Jean-Claude Juncker,and European Economic AffairsCommissioner Olli Rehn, alsobacked Greece’s efforts to im-prove its public finances follow-ing a meeting where the prospectof extending the repayment pe-riod for the country’s emergencyloan package was discussed as aform of restructuring. Juncker

described as “impressive”Greece’s efforts to meet the tar-gets set by the Troika and saidhe was satisfied with plans to pri-vatize $67.5 billion worth ofstate assets over the next fiveyears. Following the meeting inBrussels Rehn also commentedon the controversy over Greece’sprivatization plans, saying thatit was “unfortunate” that repre-sentatives of the Commissionand the IMF should announcethe scheme before the Greekgovernment. “The Greek govern-ment has sole responsibility forthe decisions that will affect theprivatization program inGreece,” he said.

UNDIGNIFIEDThe first public indication of

the potentially damaging spatbetween Greece and the Troikaappeared in an unusually harshlyworded statement by govern-ment spokesman Giorgos Petalo-

tis, in which he described the be-havior of the Troika representa-tives as unacceptable. “We haveneeds, but we also have limits.And we do not negotiate the lim-its of our dignity with anyone,”Petalotis said. “We take ordersonly from the Greek people.”IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn phoned Papandreou, whoalso told the IMF head that thedelegates’ behavior had been un-acceptable, Papandreou’s officesaid. The debt inspectors saidGreece must privatize euro 50billion ($68 billion) in state as-sets — seven times larger than atarget set only three months ago— and speed up structural re-forms. IMF mission chief PoulThomsen dismissed a suggestionin a reporter’s question thatGreece might sell its ancientmonuments to raise money, butargued that “the mismanage-ment of public property is a ma-jor source of waste” in Greece.He also said Greece’s long-termreforms were being “fiercelytested by vested interests” andthat some of the frequentdemonstrations against theGreek government’s reformswere being carried out by groupsangry at losing their “unfair ad-vantages and privileges,” liketruck drivers and pharmacistswho work in closed industriesthe government is trying to openup. “We asked them to help andwe are fully honoring our com-mitments. But we didn’t ask foranyone to intervene in our coun-try’s internal affairs,” Petalotissaid in his statement, adding thegovernment would make clearthat “everyone must understandtheir role.” The Greek govern-ment has taken extensive mea-sures and structural reforms,such as cutbacks on salaries andpensions, to slash a budgetdeficit, which stood at 15.4% ofGross Domestic Product (GDP)in late 2009 by 6% by the end of2010.

A CONCRETE SOLUTIONState Minister Haris Paboukis

continued the government’s at-

tempt to win the public relationsbattle after its falling out withthe Troika by insisting that min-isters would not become “real es-tate agents” as part of Greece’sprivatization program.

Speaking to Skai TV’s NewFiles program, Paboukis said thatthe government has no interestin selling public land to investors.“We are not real estate agentsand we never talked about sell-ing (land,) only about makingcommercial use of public assets,”he said. Paboukis, one of severalministers responsible for attract-ing investments to Greece, saidthat the government has to drawup more detailed plans abouthow it will manage to raise 50billion euros from sell-offs in thenext five years, as set out by theEU-ECB-IMF team. “How wemeet these targets is up to us,”he said. “50 billion euros is a veryambitious target and it is a chal-lenge as it is a very broad targetand we will have to work on thedetails.” Paboukis suggested thatGreece will attract between fiveand seven billion euros ($6.7-$9.4 billion) in investment by de-veloping the site of Athens’s for-mer airport in Elliniko, whichwas planned to become thebiggest green space and park inthe European Union before morerecent government plans to paveover most of it and build a seriesof concrete buildings. Paboukissaid it was unrealistic for peopleto expect the government wouldkeep its promise to transform thesite into a park when Greeceneeds money, as the newspaperKathimerini noted in its report.Qatar signed a memorandumwith Greece last September ex-pressing interest in investing asmuch as $5 billion in areas ofthe Greek economy such astourism and real estate. It hasbeen suggested that Elliniko willbe one of the areas to be devel-oped but no plans have been an-nounced. Paboukis said therewas still “a long way to go” interms of Greece’s agreementwith Qatar.

GREECE CYPRUSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011 9

The Troika Gives Greece Hard Marching Orders: Privatize or Die

By Andy DabilisTNH Staff Writer

ATHENS – Leaders of America’sJewish community, in Greece af-ter an invitation last year fromPrime Minister George Papan-dreou who met them during avisit to the United States, toldthem everything they wanted tohear: Greece supports theiragenda and will help Israel repairits fractured ties with the Euro-pean Union and gain access toits markets. “We see the (Euro-pean) market expanding to theMediterranean and certainly wewould like to integrate Israel intothis European market,” he said.“I think this is vital for Israel’seconomy but also for its strategicsecurity.” Relations between theEU and Israel began to fray twoyears two years ago, after Israel’smilitary assault on Gaza and con-stant criticism over the buildingof Israeli settlements in eastJerusalem and the West Bank,and there was unhappiness lastyear when Israeli commandoesstormed a convoy sending hu-manitarian aid the Palestinians,killing eight Turkish citizens theIsraelis said attacked its soldiers.Greece has traditionally close tieswith the Palestinians and Arabcountries and only establisheddiplomatic ties with the JewishState in 1990. But in recentmonths, Greece and Israel havelaunched a series of negotiationsfor potential cooperation deals.

Daniel Mariaschin, ExecutiveVice President of B’Nai B’Rith In-ternational in Washington, D.C.,was one of those who praised Pa-pandreou and stood and thankedhim for helping trying to retrievethe archives of Greek Jews in Rus-

sia from Moscow. Later, in an in-terview with The National Her-ald, he said Papandreou “hasworked assiduously on this issue,”and that he believes Greece has astrong regional role to play vis-à-vis Israel and American Jewishambitions in the Middle East andEurope. He also said the Greekand Jewish Diasporas, especiallyin the U.S. have much in commonin their struggles to be acceptedand overcome prejudice and dis-crimination. L. Roy Cohen of NewYork, a former CEO at AlpharmaPharmaceuticals, said he was de-lighted Papandreou has forgedcloser ties with Israel and said itwould be returned. “Israel has agreat interest in being friendswith as many countries as possi-ble,” he said in an interview be-fore Papandreou spoke. He alsosaid Greece has more power thanit knows because “of its strategicposition in terms of shipping,”which is often overlooked whenmeasuring international com-merce. Richard Stone, Chairmanof the National Conference on So-viet Jewry (NCSJ) said, “Greecehas a lot of weight,” when itcomes to leveraging AmericanJewish and Israeli ambitions, andthat was one of the reasons somany Jewish leaders from the U.Scame to visit and meet govern-ment and business leaders as wellas the country’s Jewish commu-nity. Papandreou said the visit ofso many prominent members ofthe American Jewish communityhelps him in relations with Israelas well as other countries. He alsonoted there has been a doublingin the number of Jewish touristscoming to Greece.

Officials in Israel and Greecehave said they are holding pre-

liminary talks on potential energydeals involving newly discoveredIsraeli offshore natural gas de-posits that include fields near thePalestinian Gaza Strip, and Amer-ican Jewish leaders are watchingdevelopments closely, shoring uptheir own support for the belea-guered Papandreou, whose un-popular austerity measures, im-posed in return for $150 billionin emergency loans from the Eu-ropean Union and InternationalMonetary Fund to keep fromgong bankrupt, have set off a se-ries of protests in the streets. AlanP. Solow, Chairman of the influ-ential Conference of Presidents ofMajor American Jewish Organi-zations, said the gas discoverycould be “highly significant” forIsrael, but said commercial via-bility and exploitation boundarieswith other countries must beworked out. “What is sure is thatif the finds are significant, every-one in reach will try and make aclaim for a piece of the pie. I’mhopeful that it will be workedout,” Solow said in an interviewwith Bloomberg, and he pledgedto back Greek efforts to attractmore foreign investment. “Is thereall of a sudden going to be a greatinflux of Jewish money intoGreece? It doesn’t work that way.... But we will help put Greece onmore people’s radar screens,” hesaid.

Before Papandreou met thedelegation, Greece’s Ministers ofForeign Affairs, Investment, Pub-lic Order, Tourism and Defenseheld closed meetings with them.Papandreou said Greece wasseeking cooperation in tourism,agriculture, defense and high-tech innovation and that the twonations would hold a joint Cabi-

net meeting in Israel in April.Greek officials also said while thecountry is moving closer to Israelit doesn’t want to jeopardize itsrelations with Turkey, whose ownrelations with Israel have cooled.The U.S. Jewish leaders were inGreece as part of Greek efforts toimprove relations with Israel andalso went to Thessaloniki, whoseonce-large Jewish populationwas nearly wiped out by theNazis during World War II.Deputy Foreign Minister DimitrisDollis announced that beginning

next month, Greek Jews whosecitizenship was revoked immedi-ately after WWII would be enti-tled to reclaim it. Many Jews re-turning to Greece after the warwho wanted to immigrate wereforced to relinquish their Greekcitizenship to obtain a passport.

Many Greek Jews, especiallythose in Israel, have tried overthe years to reclaim their citizen-ship, mostly without success. Thelaw will apply to their childrenas well, and Papandreou’s an-nouncement that it extends to

Holocaust survivors living in Is-rael drew applause during hismeeting.

The Presidents Conferencedelegation also met with Israel’sAmbassador to Greece, ArieMekel; the U.S. Ambassador toGreece, Daniel Smith; the Presi-dent of the Athens Jewish com-munity, Beni Albala; and thePresident of the Central JewishBoard of Greece, David Saltiel.

It was the organization’s firstvisit to Greece, the governmentsaid. For more than two decades,prior to its annual LeadershipMission to Israel, Presidents Con-ference leaders visit a differentcountry. The American leaderswent to Jerusalem after its Greekvisit. Athens only officially rec-ognized Israel in 1991. Papan-dreou has now stepped up effortsto attract Jewish investment toGreece’s debt-struck economy. Is-raeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu and Foreign MinisterAvigdor Liebermam both recentlyvisited Athens and Greek officialshave also traveled to Israel to dis-cuss potential projects in recentmonths. “Relations with Israelhave never been better,” Saltieltold Agence-France-Presse (AFP.)“There is daily contact betweenGreek and Israeli ministers... andthis also strikes a blow againstanti-Semitism,” he said. Over theyears, Greek Jewish leaders haverepeatedly complained to the au-thorities over vandal attacks tar-geting community cemeteriesand monuments. The Greek gov-ernment last year was also forcedto condemn televised claims bya prominent bishop that worldZionism is trying to destroy na-tions and that Jewish capital hadbankrolled Adolf Hitler.

Papandreou Tells U.S. Jewish Leaders Greece Is On Their Side

By Christopher GalakoutisHellenicAthletes.com

The Greek sprinter KaterinaThanou, currently embroiled ina criminal matter inside anAthens courtroom, is in posses-sion of the Sydney 100 metergold medal that was strippedfrom the American sprinter Mar-ion Jones. HellenicAthletes.comhas learned that Ms. Thanou re-ceived the medal in a confiden-tial agreement with the Interna-tional Olympic Committee (IOC)shortly before Christmas lastyear. The IOC was not expectedto make any formal announce-ment, as it is seeking to not pub-licize or make official the newsthat it had seen fit to reverse its2009 decision to leave the goldmedal spot vacant rather thanawarding the top prize from oneof the marquee events of anyOlympic Games to the contro-versial Greek athlete. It is un-derstood Ms. Thanou is not en-tirely happy with this outcome

but is unwilling to pursue anyfurther action.

It is also unclear given thecircumstances whether the In-ternational Association of Ath-letics Federations (IAAF) mightnow remove the asterisk by Ms.Thanou’s name (for not beingawarded the gold medal) in theofficial results of the Sydney100m race, where she is listedas the winner. The IAAF ischarged with reporting on theresults of the race and hadbumped up Ms. Thanou to thewinner’s spot following the dis-qualification of Ms. Jones,whereas the IOC was in chargeof awarding the medals.

An email sent to the IAAF rep-resentative Nick Davies for com-ment was not immediately re-turned. With the mutual pursuitof a pound of flesh apparently atan end, one is left to wonderwhat has been gained by the IOCafter a long search for heinouscrimes that were not committedby Ms. Thanou in the lead up to

Sydney, and their efforts to applyretroactive judgment and pun-ishment using the 2004 case astheir measuring stick. The latestchapter of this Greek tragedycomes after an unprecedentedseries of moves from each sidefollowing one of the greatestscandals in Olympic history. Ms.Thanou and fellow Greeksprinter Kostas Kenteris stand ac-cused of faking a motorcyclecrash on the eve of the AthensGames to cover up a missed dop-ing test. The athletes, both goldmedal favorites in the 100 meterand 200 meter respectively,ended up withdrawing fromthose Games and Ms. Thanouwas also barred by the IOC fromcompeting in Beijing in 2008. Inthe summer of 2009 HellenicAth-letes.com learned that the IOCoffered the Sydney gold medalto Ms. Thanou in return for ac-knowledgement of guilt and fullresponsibility for the missed drugtest that led to her withdrawalfrom the Athens Games.

The IOC’s lawyers had deter-mined that they could not legallywithhold the medal from Ms.Thanou as there was no evi-dence that she had done any-thing wrong in the lead up tothe 2000 Games, but IOC presi-dent Jacques Rogge had contin-ued to resist moving forwardwith the recommendation andresolving the matter. Helleni-cAthletes.com reported at thetime that the IOC’s offer wasturned down by Ms. Thanou’slegal team.

In early December 2009, theIOC’s executive board finally re-allocated the 200m gold medaland long jump bronze strippedfrom Ms. Jones for doping, butdeclined to upgrade Ms. Thanoufrom silver to gold in the 100m.The IOC said Ms. Thanou didnot deserve the gold because sheevaded drug tests before the2004 Athens Olympics – the casecurrently being heard by aThree-Member Criminal Courtin Athens.

That decision led to Ms.Thanou initiating legal actionagainst the IOC shortly there-after as well as sending a letterto the IOC’s Ethics Commission,where the now retired Greekathlete brought to the Commis-sion’s attention ten allegationsof misconduct against the IOC,including discrimination, abuseof power and a violation of hu-man rights.

“On an image issue, I wouldprefer to err on the side of notgiving the medal and let hersue," were the comments of DickPound, a Canadian IOC memberand former head of the WorldAnti-Doping Agency at the timeof the IOC’s decision to not up-grade Ms. Thanou. He added, “Ifa Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS) panel thinks that she'slegally entitled to it, then letthem take the heat.” In 2010 theEthics Commission replied thatit was not a disciplinary bodyand could not deal with the is-sues raised, at which time Ms.

Thanou’s legal team was pre-pared to take her case to theCAS in Lausanne, Switzerland,as well as proceed with, and file,other lawsuits. The threat ofsuch action led to the confiden-tial December meeting in Lau-sanne where the medal was fi-nally handed over to Ms.Thanou. By handing it over, theIOC believed it was effectivelyremoving a significant compo-nent underpinning any legalchallenge.

(Editor’s note: The IOC has de-nied Thanou has the told byGalakoutis, who has broken anumber of stories about theaffair of Thanou and Kenteris,said he stands by his story)

Used by permission of Helleni-cAthletes.com. Chris Galakoutisis a business and sports writer,as well as the founder of Hel-lenicAthletes.com. He can bereached at [email protected]

Does Disgraced Greek Greek Sprinter Thanou Hold The Sydney Gold?

The International Monetary Fund’s Poul Thomsen, (L) speaks next to the European Union’sServaas Deroose, (C) and the European Central Bank’s Claus Masuch listen question during anews conference in Athens, on Feb. 11, 2011 where they said Greece’s ambitious program toovercome its debt crisis has reached a “critical juncture” and faster structural reforms areneeded, the international bailout inspectors emphasized.

AP PHOTO/PETROS GIANNAKOuRIS

Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou meets with AlanSolow (R) Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of MajorAmerican Jewish Organizations, in Athens, Feb. 10, 2011. Pa-pandreou said Athens could help Israel gain access to Europeanmarkets, in a speech to Jewish American leaders visiting Athens.

AP PHOTO/PETROS GIANNAKOuRIS

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EDITORIALS LETTERS10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011

Kudos to Music ColumnistGrigoris Maninakis

Dear Gregoris, I love your satires. What an

entertaining way to say the sad(black) truths. Aristophaneswould have had a great timefrom the Volevontes Vouleftesto the simple citizens. Do youbelieve that the latest disclo-sures about the deficit, govern-ment theft, Siemens, Batopedi…etc will change the old attitudesof the population in Greece forthe better? Or will they go intobankruptcy as some economistsbelieve here in this country? Iwatch religiously conversationswith Charlie Rose and others.For the past few months, Ichanged to Verizon Fios whichoffers the “Antenna” channel ,so I also watch the Greek newson TV. I have never subscribedto the National Herald but I willnow.

Angela VitellasWhite Plains, N.Y.

The Problem With Turkey isMore Than Obama

To the Editor:Mr. Rossides assertion in The

Problem With Turkey is a GuyNamed Obama should not sur-prise anyone. The United Statesand Turkey share an alliancethat has been forged over manydecades. This bond has neverbeen challenged seriously byany American President, so whyshould that change now? Unfor-tunately the Greek Americanlobby does not have sufficientinfluence in Washington. Fur-thermore, while Greece finds it-self in a sad predicament acrossthe Aegean, Turkey has becomea beacon of dynamism and en-ergy. Confidently asserting itselfon the global stage. In foreignpolicy strength triumphs overweakness. Sadly progress canonly be made by changing thisbalance in our favor.

Nick GatsoulisLong Island City, N.Y.

Now we’ve heard it all!Donald Rumsfeld’s recently published memoir entitled “Known

and Unknown” shocked and awed us.Not because of what he says about the wars as the Pentagon

chief or even of his relations with President George Bush and hisfight with Condoleezza Rice, but because of what he said about us.

"For many years I had considered Turkey," he writes, "a keycountry for the United States –a West-leaning Muslim democracyand NATO member that could function as a link between East andWest.

I had always been concerned by the American tendency to favorGreece over Turkey at least in part because of our large politicallyactive Greek American population." Wow!!!

We are shocked: the U.S. "favors Greece over Turkey?" Really?That is news to most of us. If that were the case, where was the U.S.when Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974? Couldn't Henry Kissinger,Rumsfeld’s mentor, the man in charge at the time, as Nixon was em-broiled in the Watergate scandal, have prevented it from happen-ing?

For decades the Greeks turned against the U.S. for what they be-lieved was our tilt towards the Turks, not only in Cyprus but also inthe Aegean. They will find Rumsfeld’s assertion insulting. It is cer-tainly the first time that anyone made such an assertion.

Could there be another explanation for what he wrote? Is hetrying to justify the Pentagon’s tilt towards Turkey as a counterbalanceto a supposed State Department favoring of Greece? Perhaps. Exceptthere was only one bias at work, on both the part of the State De-partment and the Pentagon - a bias in favor of Turkey.

Rumsfeld –and America- was rewarded handsomely for his sup-port of the Turks: when, as Secretary of Defense, he asked Turkeyfor permission to use her territory as a stage for the northern invasionof Iraq, as we all know, the Turks refused, costing, in Rumsfeld’swords, many American lives.

That’s your “key” country, Mr. Rumsfeld.As for his reference to the influence wielded by the community

well that is flattering. We will agree with Rumsfeld that we are “politically active” as a

community. We would wish, however, that more of us would get in-volved.

Still we are thrilled to see that many Greek young men andwomen are rising to leadership positions across the country, likeReince Priebus. Rumsfeld has not seen anything yet.

Thank a (Greek) teacherWhen the son of a member of our staff thanked his father for

pressuring him to go to Greek school though he had heartily resistedas a child, the father almost fell off his chair.

It was a struggle, twice a week, to get him ready for Greekschool. The kid would rather hang around with his friends or playsports at school than start another school day in another languagehe thought he would never use in his life as an adult.

This is the story of almost anyone who went to Greek school.Later on, however, usually parents hear appreciation instead of

whining.What kids cannot know or understand is that their teachers are

also struggling to teach them the Greek language, religion, history,songs etc., because of the none- too-pleasant conditions underwhich they work: their salary is a disgrace; there are no retirementbenefits; and sometimes, they lack the vital support or appreciationof the leaders of the church to which the schools belong.

We believe their work is invaluable. They are the unsung heroesof this community. That is why – for the past 18 years - we havegiven the leaders among them our Teacher of the Year award. Justto say thank you.

Elections in Greece?Perhaps not since then-U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig fa-

mously declared in the confused aftermath of the assassination at-tempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981 that, “I’m in control here,”has there so much uncertainty over exactly who’s running a country.

Well, maybe in Egypt, but its also the situation in Greece, wherePrime Minister George Papandreou was unceremoniously put in hisplace by the gaffe of Servaas Deroose, the European Union represen-tative of the Troika, the body of international debt inspectors over-seeing Greece’s economy.

He told a news conference in Athens that Greece had been toldwhat to do in terms of how much money it needed to raise by priva-tizing its notoriously inept state-run enterprises. The EU, EuropeanCentral Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are loaningGreece $150 billion over the next three years to keep the countryfrom defaulting on its debt.

So maybe Deroose was feeling a little heady when he started offby saying, “Over the next two years you will proceed with...” Thoseare orders, not requests and Papandreou’s press release mill quicklyput out a statement declaring otherwise. The Prime Minister toldIMF chief Dominque Strauss-Kahn to have the Troika delegationtread a little more softly on Greek soil, even if they own it for thenext few years.

As unseemly as their conduct was, what the Troika representativeswere saying when they unwittingly presented their words as marchingorders is that’s what you get when you go hat-in-hand to people tobeg for money because you couldn’t keep your own house in order.Papandreou was correct in dressing them down, and it wasn’t longbefore the Troika types put out an apologetic statement.

Papandreou wasn’t about to be humiliated by an EU functionary;especially by one of its loan officers. Deroose was an economics pro-fessor and is Director of the Macroeconomy of the Euro Area and theUnion, and, judging by the condition of the 17-member Eurozone ofcountries using the euro as a currency, he isn’t in a position to tellanyone how to run a government. Papandreou might be soft-spokenand look like he can be steamrolled, but he properly took back thereins from the debt inspectors who have been living it up in nicehotels in Athens and enjoying the country’s hospitality when theycome to check the books. Perhaps only through diplomatic channels,he showed them, if only theoretically, who’s in charge. Too bad hecan’t do the same with the rich tax evaders who contribute mightilyto this mess.

One wonders, however, if this is all a bizarre prelude to taking thecountry to early and possibly disastrous elections.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

ΛΟΓΟΣ

The sale of The HuffingtonPost, a progressive news websiteand blog founded by Greek-American Arianna Stassinopou-los Huffington, to AOL is amajor development not only forthe so-called new media butalso the mainstream media, forreasons that go beyond businessmaneuvering and related indus-try dynamics. The jury is stillout in terms of AOL’s potentialreturn on investment from itsacquisition of HuffPo, whichstrategically is an integral partof AOL’s continuing efforts toreposition it by expanding itsholdings in the online mediasector. Any references that sug-gest Huffington may have soldout by agreeing to sell are illfounded and those critics don’tunderstand or appreciate the in-trinsic motivational base fromwhich she operates. While shemay refer to herself as an ordi-nary Greek peasant girl, Huffin-gton is not. Readers of TheNational Herald should pay at-tention and display pride forwhat she has accomplished andwhat may yet come. Besides re-lying on what she calls herGreekness as a foundation forsustaining her during challeng-ing times, her Greek upbringingand value orientation are essen-tial parts of the engine that dri-ves her to achieve. A large partof Huffington’s well-deservedsuccess is due to what I wouldcharacterize as not being a pris-oner of her own thoughts. In-stead, it is her innate ability togo with the flow, be open to op-portunities, trust her intuition,exercise the freedom to chooseher attitude, and extend beyondherself by relating to somethingmore than herself that hasguided her through thelabyrinth of life, much likeGreek hero Theseus used theball of thread given to him byKing Minos’ daughter, Ariadne,to find his way out of the CretanLabyrinth after slaying themythological Minotaur.

I started writing for The

Huffington Post inAugust 2008. Theinvitation to do socame via an intro-duction by Ari-anna’s sister AgapiS t a s s i n o p o u l o swho, in addition tobeing a well-estab-lished author andm o t i v a t i o n a lspeaker, manifeststhe deeper meaningof her given Greekname with anethics of authentic-ity that has a mag-n e t i c ,meaning-focused quality. An ex-pert on gods and goddesses(one of her books is entitledGods and Goddesses in Love,)her empowering work includeshelping teenagers build theirself-esteem and realize theirdreams. Besides collaboratingwith her sister on various pro-jects, Agapi was featured re-cently as a special guest inGreece: Quest for the Gods, apublic television special.

I received the invitation viaAgapi to contribute to HuffPowith enthusiasm and viewed itas an opportunity that shouldn’tbe missed, and I haven’t beendisappointed. Nor have I everfelt like a galley slave as somecritics have alleged, especially inthe aftermath of the recent AOLacquisition. The new partner-ship is as much a benefit toHuffPo’s future as much asAOL’s as a transformationalleader in the online media in-dustry. There are those on theLeft of the political spectrumwho are concerned about thisuncharted, merged future (willthe HuffPo lose its liberal dar-ling identity and sacrifice toomuch of what brought it towhere it is today?) just likethere are those on the Rightwho are concerned the newly-endowed AOL media group willfollow HuffPo to the Left. Huff-ington, widely recognized as thecrowned Queen of New Media,

has been namedthe leader of thisconglomerate andit is called TheHuffington PostMedia Group.

If HuffPo goesanywhere, it willbe toward the mid-dle or center. It isunlikely thatHuffPo’s directioncan be unhookedfrom its founder.Much like OprahWinfrey, Huffing-ton has become abrand with an un-

mistaken identity. It would befoolish for Huffington to go inone direction and HuffPo in an-other. Huffington will move tothe center, not only because ofthe AOL deal but because it is inher Greek DNA and in line withher spiritual purpose.

Even though I’ve been asso-ciated with The Huffington Postonly since 2008, I’ve been famil-iar with Huffington’s work formany years going back to herearliest publications. I was moststruck by a book that she pub-lished in 1994 called The FourthInstinct: The Call of the Soul,which was released around thesame time I was becoming in-volved in an international non-profit group, RenaissanceBusiness Associates, dedicatedto advancing sound businessethics and elevating the humanspirit at work and the work-place. I also was passionatelypursuing my own writing on thesearch for meaning, a topic thatessentially framed what shecalled The Fourth Instinct, andit was not much later that ViktorFrankl urged me to write mybook, Prisoners of OurThoughts.

It wasn’t a coincidence thatshe chose to begin her bookwith a chapter entitled, TheSearch for Meaning. Huffingtonunderscored that: “The FourthInstinct serves as our ‘highestcommon denominator,’ enabling

us to overcome alienation andachieve community. It leads usto inner peace and outer har-mony, reconciling our first threeinstincts with our spiritual pur-pose. To follow the Fourth In-stinct is to obey the law ofhuman development. It is a uni-versal law, but it expresses itselfdifferently in each individual.Indeed, there are as many pathsto wholeness as there are thosewho would walk them, threadsthrough the labyrinth of life thatwe can follow to the center ofourselves and of all existence.”

To follow and leverage theFourth Instinct in her life, andrespond to the call of her soul,Huffington will seek to lead oth-ers to inner peace and outerharmony, reconciling her spiri-tual purpose with the otherbasic human instincts (survival,sex, and power.) She’ll be ableto help transform the limitingeffects of the other three in-stincts and help provide threadslike Ariadne, through thelabyrinth of life, so people canfollow to the center of them-selves and existence. This is nota Left or Right kind of chal-lenge. Rather than being a po-larizing force, it must involvereconciliation, cooperation, andcollaboration and provide for acommon understandingthrough dialogue; a process thatcan only be achieved success-fully by being open to diversityof thought and give all sides toan issue to reach commonground by going to a higherground. This is Arianna Huffin-gton’s manifest destiny andlegacy. It transcends anythingthat she’s done before, includingher mega-deal with AOL, andshe’s up to the task. How couldthe “fastest-rising Greek sinceIcarus” not be!

Dr. Pattakos is co-founder of abusiness initiative on how tolive a meaningful life based onGreek culture. Readers maycontact him at: [email protected]

Arianna Huffington: Threading Through Life’s Labyrinth

COMMENTARY

It would be remiss not tocongratulate the Federation ofHellenic Societies of GreaterNew York for its decision toschedule this year’s Greek Inde-pendence Parade on Fifth Av-enue on Sunday March 27,2011 - so close to the actualdate of Greek Independence(March 25th) which could cre-ate a carryover of the pride, ex-citement, and leftover patrioticsentiment from the holiday. Arisk of inclement weather is asmall price to pay for a paradewith gusto … something thatcouldn’t always be said for thepost-paschal parades of recentyears.

All that’s left now is to allowstudents to march first. Anotherpleasant surprise came with theannouncement of this year’sGrand Marshals: Sir BasilMarkesinis, U.S. Senator ChuckSchumer, Greek-American ac-tress Tina Fey and the head ofthe National Greek Television ofAmerica, Demetris Kastanas.Markesinis is an academic whoenjoys international promi-nence, is very opinionated aboutGreek foreign policy and couldadmirably serve as a ForeignMinister in someone’s Cabinet.Markesinis, 66, holds many doc-torates or honorary doctoratesfrom European universities, in-cluding Athens, and led severallegal chairs at Oxford. He hasheld the Jamail Regents Chairat the University of Texas for 10years. He has authored or co-authored 37 books on topics

dealing with law,geo-politcs, artand psycho-biogra-phy which havebeen written ortranslated intoFrench, German,Italian, Greek andChinese as well asmore than 120 le-gal articles pub-lished in leadinglaw journalsthroughout theU.S. and Europe.He has lecturedextensively in 25different law faculties world-wide, where he has held VisitingProfessorships. He has receivedhigh decorations from the Pres-idents of France, Germany,Greece, and Italy, and wasknighted by Queen Elizabeth IIin 2005 for Distinguished Ser-vices to International Legal Re-lations, and was appointedQueen’s Counsel in 1997. He’sthe son of Spyridon Markezinis,who was briefly Prime Ministerduring the aborted attempt atdemocratization of the Greekmilitary regime in 1973, tomixed reviews about whetherhe helped restore parliamentaryrule or lost credibility by accept-ing appointment by DictatorGeorge Papadopoulos.

Markesinis last autumn re-leased a book, A New ForeignPolicy for Greece, where he ad-vocated keeping equal distancestoward the US, Russia andChina, and stresses that war can

be waged withoutmilitary confronta-tion, in the form offinancial pressure,embargos, imposi-tion of tax duties orinterventions inelectronic media. Inrecent interviewsand articles,Markesinis under-lined the manythreats the Greekstate is facing fromits Turkish neighbor,which is growingmore powerful and

independent. In a recent letterpublished by Markesinis – alongwith Greek American ProfessorTheodore Kariotis of the Univer-sity of Maryland – Turkish at-tempts to change the status quoin the Aegean are stressed, as isthe attempt to exclude it fromthe international law governingsea boundaries.

Markesinis is a strong be-liever that Greece should exer-cise its EEZ (Exclusive EconomicZone) rights, delineating its seaborders and solidifying its sov-ereign right to its territory. Asimilar move made by Cyprus

has been okayed by Israel, aswell as major energy conglom-erates eager to start explo-rations, much to the dismay ofthe Turkish government.Markesinis says Greece couldcut the same deal with Israel.

Markesinis argues againstbuying into what he says arebankrolled think tanks’ lies thatTurkey has turned into Greece’sbest friend, a myth some Greekpoliticians promote. Frequentencroachment of Greek water-ways and airspace by armedTurkish vessels and aircraft isample proof of this. He also ad-vises delaying Turkey’s acces-sion into the European Union,citing the many problems thatTurkey’s entry would cause. Hisadvice for his country: “Restor-ing confidence to our country-men, strengthening their beliefin their past, their history, andreligion, while also ‘gutting’ asquickly as possible the propa-ganda of foreigners and Greeksas well, which has formed aguilt and inferiority ‘complex’that possesses Greeks in regardsto Turkey.” That’s the kind ofman you want leading a Greekparade.

Greece’s True Defender Markesinis Heads The Parade

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Page 11: The National Herald€¦ · Priebus helped lead Michael Steele’s successful 2009 cam - paign for RNC Chairman. He was in charge of Steele’s tran - sition and became General Counsel

VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011 11

By Evan C. LambrouSpecial to the National Herald

“For truly I say to you, if youhave faith as a grain of mustardseed, you will say to this moun-tain, ‘Move hence to yonderplace,’ and it will move (Matthew17.20).”

NEW YORK – Governor An-drew Cuomo reappointed ChrisWard executive director of thePort Authority at the end of lastmonth. In early January, billion-aire Larry Silverstein, the chiefdeveloper of Ground Zero – overwhich the Port Authority haseminent domain – gave a six-figure check to help the Gover-nor combat labor unions op-posed to Mr. Cuomo’scost-cutting agenda.

None of this bodes well forSaint Nicholas Church onGround Zero.

Mr. Ward, a Harvard DivinitySchool graduate who is hostileto the long-overdue reconstruc-tion of the church, is makingsure all of Mr. Silverstein’s onsitedevelopment plans are “on tar-get” for the tenth anniversary of9/11.

But those plans no longerproperly include Saint NicholasChurch, and several times overthe past few months, Port Au-thority officials have publiclycited the use of eminent domainas an “option” to kick the churchoffsite entirely.

As the main power broker fordevelopment on Ground Zero,Mr. Silverstein is probably emi-nently aware of the church’splight – it’s hard to imagine oth-erwise – so it appears he at leasttacitly approves of Mr. Ward’shostility.

It’s unclear whether Gover-nor Cuomo is against rebuildingthe church – he is a new gover-nor, after all, so the church isprobably not very high on hislist of priorities at the moment– but he hasn’t been approachedby the Greek Orthodox Archdio-cese about this issue yet (at leastnot openly); he has reappointedMr. Ward; and construction-wise, everything else is proceed-ing on Ground Zero… exceptSaint Nicholas Church.

WRITING ON WALLNotwithstanding the fact that

the inordinate reconstructiondelay is unconscionable, thewriting is on the wall: The PortAuthority of New York & NewJersey (quite likely with Mr. Sil-verstein’s consent) plans to ex-pel Saint Nicholas Church fromGround Zero altogether, anderase the memory of that churchfrom its historic setting – as if itwas never there.

The arguments for rebuildingSaint Nicholas Church onGround Zero are irrefutable:

1. The church, a spiritualrefuge for Greek sailors and WallStreet traders alike since 1916,was there long before there waseven a World Trade Center, letalone a Ground Zero. It waspart-and-parcel of what was de-stroyed on 9/11, so it should bepart-and-parcel of what gets re-built. The church has a right tobe there; to be at least in thevicinity of where it once stood.

2. Ground Zero, which is go-ing to be a national monument(i.e., the World Trade CenterMemorial), belongs to all Amer-icans. It was a target of extrem-ism rooted in fanatic intoler-ance.

3. The church was an inno-cent casualty of that intolerance.In a land where all religions aretolerated – where freedom of re-ligious expression and practiceis guaranteed by the Constitu-tion – opposing a Christianchurch’s right to build or rebuildis unacceptable and ultimatelyunconstitutional.

4. When a powerful publicagency like the Port Authorityblocks a minority faith commu-nity like the Greek OrthodoxChurch from rebuilding a houseof worship, it’s a clear-cut caseof bigotry and oppression whichactually matches, albeit nonvio-lently, the religious intoleranceof the terrorists who attackedour country. In 21st CenturyAmerica, this is inexcusable.

5. The church, a symbol of apeaceful religion, must also risefrom the ashes of that terribleday, along with everything elseonsite, in order for the WTCMemorial’s message of tolerantfreedom to be complete.

6. The Port Authority isspending billions to help erectother structures on GroundZero, so $20 million it promisedto help the church become com-mensurate with the rest of theMemorial site is hardly unrea-sonable (an additional $40 mil-lion for a blast-proof foundationis the Authority’s obligation tosite security and public safety –it is not the church’s responsi-bility).

But no one is arguing force-fully enough along those lines.No one is taking up the bannerto openly champion this cause,which is noble and just. No oneis stepping forward to help theArchdiocese help Saint NicholasChurch. No elected official is ac-tively and openly trying to stop

the Port Authority from execut-ing its insidious plans to foreverkeep the church in its ongoingstate of limbo. Worse, no onewho is in a political position tohelp has openly been asked todo so.

Since the end of last Septem-ber, I have been exhorting HisEminence Archbishop Demetriosof America and his brother bish-ops on the Holy Eparchial Synodto openly commence with en-gaging key elected officials; tosend a substantive joint letter toGovernor Cuomo; to arrange ameeting with Mr. Cuomo face-to-face; to secure his commit-ment to support the church pub-licly; and to contact keylegislators at the federal, stateand local levels. I have urgedthem to contact AHEPA, thecountry’s largest grassroots or-ganization of Hellenic heritage,about organizing a demonstra-tion, which would make a muchgreater impact than any peti-

tion; to start engaging the main-stream media more regularly;and to stop relying on promisesmade behind closed doors, a tac-tic which clearly hasn’t workedin the church’s favor.

All these things are necessaryto exert and maximize publicpressure on the Port Authority,and the Archdiocese must stopfalling back on old methods, orit will fail. It must change its be-havior in order to achieve dif-ferent, more desirable results.

Rev. Alexander Karloutsos,considered by many to be theArchdiocese’s most influentialclergyman, sent a letter thank-ing me on the Archbishop’s be-half, and telling me that my in-sights were “on the mark.”When I spoke with him, FatherAlex told me he was confidentGovernor Cuomo would bemore helpful than were his em-battled predecessors (EliotSpitzer and David Paterson).

Nothing so far, although I’mtruly honored if the Archbishopreally thinks my judgment issound. But I’m honestly just call-ing things as I see them, and I’mstill genuinely alarmed aboutSaint Nicholas Church’s chancesof getting rebuilt.

Perhaps the Archdiocese isworking on something as wespeak. But other than filing alawsuit against the Port Author-ity and associated agencies thisweek, and a flurry of news cov-erage as a result of that decision,there’s no credible evidence –tangible or apparent – that theArchdiocese is tackling this issuein a consistent, open and politi-cally savvy manner.

In recent weeks, I have con-tacted the offices of severalelected officials myself – to in-clude Governor Cuomo, NewJersey Governor Chris Christie,U.S. Senators Chuck Schumerand Kirsten Gillibrand of NewYork, U.S. Senator RobertMenendez of New Jersey, NYSAssembly Speaker Sheldon Sil-ver (the church is actually in his

Assembly district), and MayorMichael Bloomberg – and I ex-horted them to intercede withthe Port Authority on thechurch’s behalf.

I contacted the offices of Con-gressman Jerrold Nadler, NYSSenator Daniel Squadron andNYC Councilor Margaret Chin(the church is in their respectivedistricts). Councilor Chin wassupposed to bring a resolutionbefore the City Council urgingthe Port Authority to resume ne-gotiations with the Archdiocesein good faith, but she has yet tomove on that.

I spoke with Nick Karacostas,supreme president of AHEPA.Nick wants to secure a meetingwith Governor Cuomo, and toldme AHEPA stands ready to helpthe Archdiocese.

And of course, I reached outto Greek American legislators:U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe ofMaine, Congressmen Gus Bili-rakis of Florida and John Sar-

banes of Maryland, NYS SenateMajority Leader Dean Skelos,NYS Senator Mike Gianaris, andNYS Assemblywomen AravellaSimotas and Nicole Malliotakis,as well as Congresswoman Car-olyn Maloney and NYC Coun-cilor Peter Vallone Jr., both ofwhom have consistently sup-ported Hellenic issues over theyears.

To their commendable credit,Reps. Bilirakis and Sarbanes andboth Greek American assembly-women all assured me theywould start squawking loudlyabout this issue. No feedbackfrom Senator Snowe or StateSenators Skelos and Gianarisyet, but Mr. Gianaris has en-joyed good relations with Mr.Silver and presumably has someaccess to Mr. Cuomo, so he ishopefully engaging the Gover-nor and the Speaker. And per-haps Senator Snowe and Mr.Skelos will also talk to a fewpeople, if they haven’t already.

In any case, the general con-sensus among those I spoke to –whether directly or throughtheir aides – is that the Port Au-thority has been unjustly mis-treating Saint Nicholas Church,and they all say they would liketo help the church avert the on-coming injustice of eminent do-main.

I also contacted some of mycolleagues in the mainstreammedia to discuss the issue in aneffort to help re-activate theirinterest in the story from aproper perspective. And I wouldnote that my actions are in ac-cordance with Archdiocese Ex-ecutive Administrator JerryDimitriou’s statement in theSeptember 2010 edition of theOrthodox Observer (page 4):“Each and every one of us is em-powered to contact our electedofficials, and ask them to con-front the Port Authority on thisissue.”

POLITICAL ACTION ANDINSTITUTIONAL STRENGTH

It remains to be seen, of

course, but there may be somemovement afoot at the legisla-tive level, as well as in the me-dia. Contrary to a passive storyon the front page of September2010’s Orthodox Observer, how-ever, the Archdiocese is not vis-ibly grabbing this bull by thehorns. Unless the Archdioceseitself officially and openly askspeople directly to get involved– unless the Archdiocese acti-vates its latent institutionalstrength – individual effortscould end up being in vain, andI suspect the Port Authority,which is basically doing Mr. Sil-verstein’s bidding on GroundZero, will soon begin displacingSaint Nicholas Church with an-other (presently) inconspicuousproject.

Moreover, people in govern-ment who are in a position toactually help deserve to beasked officially and directly fortheir support. If the Archdiocesedoesn’t do this – or worse, if theArchdiocese actually turns themaway after they offer to help –then pragmatists and cynicsalike have a right to allege thatthe Archdiocese, under Arch-bishop Demetrios’ administra-tion, is not sincere about re-building Saint Nicholas Church.

Could the Archdiocesemerely be grandstanding withthe forthcoming lawsuit? Per-sonally, I’m not willing to be-lieve that, and the Archdiocese’slegal position is not withoutsome merit: The American Cen-ter for Law & Justice arguesthat, by refusing to finalize theland exchange with the church,the Port Authority has violatedthree Constitutional Amend-ments (I, V, and XIV), as well asthe church’s rights under federallaw (42 U.S.C. 1983).

But a lawsuit is risky becauseit could go either way. Due tofailings in human judgment, itcould easily backfire. I’m notsuggesting that the Archdioceseshouldn’t defend itself legally.But we don’t want the Churchto be solely at the mercy of sec-ular courts, where narrow read-ings of the law could potentiallywork against us.

So in addition to the lawsuit,the Archdiocese should aimopenly for a political solution,which would be far more expe-dient. Political leverage couldcertainly be used at least in tan-dem with legal efforts.

I don’t want to be overly crit-ical. The Archbishop usually hasan awful lot on his plate. But inthe end, we all reserve the rightto pose some valid questions:Why is it taking so long for theArchdiocese to disengage fromits current state of seeming in-action? When will the commu-nity see some transparent polit-ical action?

Saint Nicholas Church is ourcommunity’s most crucial do-mestic concern. Its reconstruc-tion is vital to our national iden-tity as Americans of GreekOrthodox Christian faith andheritage. If we do not succeedin rebuilding one of ourchurches right here on our ownsoil, how can we reasonably ex-pect to have any measurable im-pact on Hellenic and OrthodoxChristian issues overseas?

If we fail to win this fight,we will only affirm our own po-litical impotence and insignifi-cance as a community. If weemerge triumphant, however,we could accomplish the oppo-site, and thereby enter a newrealm of political maturity inthis country.

Right now, the Archdioceseappears to be a sleeping giantwhich needs to wake up andmarshal its resources to facedown the enemies of theChurch. This is ArchbishopDemetrios’ moment. Hopefully,it will also prove to be his finesthour, and hopefully, the peoplearound him will also step for-ward to help him proceed in anassertive political manner on be-half of Saint Nicholas Church.

They can all start by meetingwith Governor Cuomo andSpeaker Silver face-to-face, andask them to put pressure on thePort Authority and Mr. Silver-stein to do the right thing. Theycan also outright ask MayorBloomberg – who respects theArchbishop, and who has statedpublicly on several occasionsthat he supports reconstructionof Saint Nicolas Church – toconcretely prove his support byspeaking with Mr. Silverstein di-rectly and firmly about re-in-cluding the church on theGround Zero blueprint. Mr. Sil-verstein is the likely lynchpin onthis issue, and surely, there mustbe some way he can re-accom-modate this historic little churchonsite.

It’s time the Archdiocese putsfaith into action to move thismountain.

It’s no longer about simplycrying foul. It’s about organizingourselves, and bringing ourcomplaints strategically beforethe right people.

Mr. Lambrou, a graduate ofHoly Cross Greek OrthodoxSchool of Theology in Boston,was managing editor of the Na-tional Herald in 2004-09.

When Will the Sleeping Giant Wake Up?

Many peoplethink it’s hard to dobusiness in Greece.That’s nonsense,and the 50,000 or sobusinesses that haveclosed because thecountry’s on theverge of being bank-rupt because thegovernment slashedworkers wages andraised taxes so highthat no one hadmoney to shop toois proof. They justclosed for a long va-cation and are wait-ing for better times, or until theturn of the century, whichevercomes first. The atmosphere hasgotten much, much better thanwhen I first came in 1988 to visitwith my father, to see his father’svillage of Kalambaka, home ofthe famed Meteora. He was abuilding contractor and sincethere weren’t enough hotels forthe many hundreds of thousandsof tourists annually he had theidea to build a 5-Star facilitythere, and hire locals and paythem much more than the pre-vailing wage. That’s when he firstlearned how easy it was to dobusiness in Greece. The local of-ficials were very helpful, explain-ing in easy-to-follow detail justhow much each would have tobe paid, under the table ofcourse, and even where to buythe tiny envelopes to put the cashin, and what denominationdrachmas to use. This was a timebefore the euro destroyedGreece, and there were no ATM’sand tourists had to carry Ameri-can Express Traveler’s Checks,which, even if stolen, were hardfor officials and politicians tocash, except through theircousins at the bank. The hotelwasn’t built because when all wasadded up, the cost of bribes, kick-backs, and payoffs and assortedother payments made it prohibi-tive but that wasn’t their fault. Itwas just the way of doing busi-ness in Greece, and still is. Afterall, the Greeks are following thefamed American business model,as explained by Rodney Danger-field’s character Thornton Mellonin the 1986 movie Back toSchool. Mellon was a successfulbusinessman but a high schooldropout who schemed his wayinto going to a college attendedby his son, and has a classic ex-change with a business professorlecturing on the costs of startingup a business.

“Whoa, you left out a bunchof stuff,” Mellon said. “Oh really,like what for instance?” asked theprofessor, who, like most, hadn’tleft a classroom since getting aPh.D in the theory of business.Mellon gave him the real-worldlesson. “First of all, you’re goingto have to grease the palms ofthe local politicians for the sud-den zoning problems that alwayscome up. Then there’s the kick-back to the carpenters. And ifyou’re planning on using any ce-ment in this building, I’m surethe Teamsters would like to havea little chat with you, and thatwill cost ya. Oh, and I hope youhave a little something for thebuilding inspectors. Then thereare the long-term costs, such aswaste disposal. I don’t know ifyou’re familiar with who runsthat business, but I assure youit’s not the Boy Scouts.” The pro-fessor, who obviously never vis-ited Greece either, was quite up-set. “That will be quite enough,Mr. Mellon. Maybe bribes andkickbacks and Mafia payoffs arehow you do business but they arenot part of the legitimate busi-ness world … the next questionfor us is where to build our fac-tory.” Mellon had the right an-swer. “How about fantasyland?”although Greece would do.

Sadly, you can’t believe every-thing you read so I, for one, wasaghast that the World Bank,which gives money away toAfrican dictators like candy, ma-ligned Greece in its Doing Busi-ness Report which measures reg-ulations in 183 countries and theease of, well, doing business in acountry, by ranking this proud,business-friendly country as109th, down 12 places from theprotest-ridden year of 2010.

Prime MinisterGeorge Papandreousays that’s not trueand he sure knowshow to cut wagesand raise taxes anddo business theright way. The bankwent so far to rankGreece a lowly149th in the ease ofstarting up a busi-ness, 154th in pro-tecting investorsand 153rd in regis-tering property, ob-viously believingcritics who said

even Greece was the only Euro-pean Union country not to havea Land Registry until 2009, andthat there is no central comput-erized system for researchingland titles. Nonsense. This is notan impediment. The clerks havethem memorized, learning thisprocess in the criminally under-rated Greek school system. Anddon’t believe the conspiracy the-ories of disgruntled Greek Amer-icans that Greek lawyers andbank officials change the titles onproperties owned by GreekAmericans to steal their land. TheWorld Bank noted that you canget all the documents necessaryto open a business within one tofive days, dissing critics who saidthat was a typo and that it takesone to five years. Everyoneknows the Americans run theWorld Bank and, as famed com-poser Mikis Theodorakis hascharged, this is yet another Amer-ican conspiracy to destroyGreece, just like importingHarley-Davidson motorcycles soGreeks, who don’t wear helmets,will go too fast and fall off andscramble their brains. Why elsewould the World Bank rankGreece behind the Marshall Is-lands, the terrorist strongholds ofYemen and Pakistan; Jamaica,which exports reefer and reggaemusic; Ethiopia, whose naturalresource is sand; the Pacific is-land of Kiribati; Zambia; Mongo-lia; Moldova; Belarus, run by theLast Dictator in Europe, Presi-dent-for-Life AlexanderLukashenko; Kazakhstan, a sillynation also known as Borat;Botswana; Bulgaria; FYROM,known to the rest of the worldoutside Greece as Macedonia;Georgia, which is really still aprovince of Russia; Mexico,American’s primary drug sup-plier; Iceland, whose banks failedthree years ago and a countrythat was bankrupt; andBangladesh, the same countrythat 40 years ago needed a ben-efit concert of western rock artiststo keep its people from starving.That’s proof this list is a lie.

World Business Culture,which gives advice on doing busi-ness in countries, highlightedhow the culture in Greece is wel-coming. “Meetings can often ap-pear to be noisy, boisterous affairsto those from cultures more ac-customed to a reserved, calm ap-proach where everybody politelyawaits their turn to speak,” itsaid, proving there is Socratic di-alogue even in business meet-ings, unlike in America where aboss tells you what to do and youhave to do it. There’s no “It’s myway or the highway” in Greece,unless you’re a road contractorwith a contract from your cousinin the ministry. The laissez-fairemanagement style in Greece waspraised. “When people have beenused to very precise instructionsfrom a directive boss, vague re-quests can seem very confusing:“What exactly am I expected todo here?” A Greek worker doesn’thave to worry that the answerwill be “Work,” a sound businesspractice for foreigners to under-stand. Then there are the busi-ness hours in Greece, proof thatGreeks are so productive youdon’t have to worry about push-ing them. The websiteKwintessential explains: “FromMay to October the workingweek is from Monday to Friday,8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and then 4p.m. to 7:30 p.m. However, thelunch break may be extendedslightly.” Yes, until 7:30 p.m.when everyone goes home be-cause all the work is done. If it’snot, it will just be left until an-other time, such as the nextdecade. Greek businesses knowhow to plan ahead, as the sitenoted. “Appointments are neces-sary and should be made one totwo weeks in advance, but onlyfrom 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.” Andremember there’s a certain busi-ness etiquette. “The OK sign (cir-cled thumb and forefinger) maybe considered obscene. Neverraise an open palm at face level,as this is an insult. If you see aGreek make a puff of breaththrough the lips, they are ward-ing off the evil eye. This is usuallydone after receiving a compli-ment.” So there you have it, allyou need to know about doingbusiness in Greece, but maybe Ileft out a bunch of stuff. Nowwhere’s those envelopes?

[email protected]

An Easy Guide to DoingHard Business in Greece

LETTER FROM ATHENS

by ANDYDABILIS

Special to The National Herald

A Greek worker takes a breakfrom his busy day.

ABOVE LEFT: As chief developer of Ground Zero, Larry Silver-stein is considered the site’s main power broker. ABOVE RIGHT:New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has not stated publiclywhether he supports the rights of St. Nicholas Church to rebuildon Ground Zero. BELOW LEFT: NYC Councilwoman MargaretChin has yet to present a resolution before the City Councilurging the Port Authority to resume negotiations with the Arch-diocese. BELOW RIGHT: St. Nicholas Church in downtownManhattan, shown here with the World Trade Center in thebackground, was obliterated on 9/11. Over nine years later,reconstruction of the historic church, which was built in 1916,has yet to commence.

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THE BACK PAGE12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, FEBRUARY 19-25, 2011

Barbara Euser knows Greece.Among her many books is Ventur-ing in Southern Greece: ThroughVillages and Vineyards, takingtravelers through a region oftenoverlooked by tourists stopping offin Greece before heading off tothe islands. With her friend ConnieBurke – another writer who haslived in Greece – Euser wrote Golfin Greece, the luxurious side oflife. She is a former political officerwith the U.S. Foreign Service andthe State Department. Her articlesand essays have appeared in manymagazines and anthologies, andshe is a co-founder of WritersWorkshops International, and hasa special bent for Greece. With hernew book, The Neighbor and the

Stone, she has created a sweet,simple fable of relations betweenpeople that have an earthy, Greekvillage sensibility and the wayGreeks tend to deal with eachother – and outsiders. A children’spicture book, it is deeper than thatand doesn’t drone on with heavy-handedness, but makes its pointswiftly and in a soft, touching waythat goes to the heart of how peo-ple should deal with each other,especially in a time that rock leg-end Neil Young sang about in hisnew Grammy-winning song AngryWorld. The book is sharply – yetwith a kind of dulcet sense – byaward-winning artist Jim DeWitt,who posed the protagonists forthis tale from the Greek country-side. In a dry, mountainous land

of rocks and olive trees, a misun-derstanding between neighbors isresolved with gentle humor andcreativity. It’s based on a true ex-perience of Euser, who said thestory can be used to promote dis-cussion of what it means to be agood neighbor, how to solve prob-lems, and what respect is allabout. She owns an olive farm inthe southern Peloponnese, whereshe farms organic olive oil andwrites. Here’s how she describesher life in Greece and what moti-vated her work:

HER GREEK ODYSSEYAn old Greek adage says, “If

you have never married and if youhave never raised a child and ifyou have never built a house, youknow nothing of life.” I have beenmarried and have raised twodaughters. Now I am building myhouse in Greece. In 2005, I arrivedin Neapolis, Lakonia, on the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese, tocheck out the location for a travelwriters’ workshop. The concept ofthe workshop was to assemble agroup of writers, along with a cou-ple of instructors, give the writersas many experiences as possiblein the area to inspire their storiesand publish an anthology of theessays they wrote. I was lookingfor an area rich in history and cul-ture, offering lively day-to-day op-portunities for writers to explore.The town of Neapolis was not anobvious tourist attraction, butthrough local friends, I discoveredit offered all the ingredients nec-essary for a successful workshop.In the summer of 2006, I returnedto Neapolis with 12 Americantravel writers for the workshopand subsequently edited and pub-lished an anthology entitled Ven-turing in Southern Greece: TheVatika Odysseys. It marked the be-ginning of my own Greek odyssey.

Formerly the municipal centerof Vion, Neapolis has ceded it po-sition to Molais, center of thenewly designated municipality ofMonemvasia. In Vion, ruggedmountains criss-crossed with pathslead down to the sea. Across theshining Bay of Neapolis, Kythera’sblue profile rises from the water.The lights of nearby ElafonissosIsland wink in the night. The moretime I spent in Neapolis, the longerI wanted to stay. Learning Greekwas imperative, so I began Greek

conversation lessons with a youngwoman who was part of the GreekDiaspora, born in Australia ofGreek parents, fluent in both Eng-lish and Greek. As part of mylessons, we began reading the clas-sified ads in the local newspaperTa Vatika. In addition to decipher-ing the Greek alphabet, I wantedto learn if I could afford to buy apiece of land with a few olive treeson it. My dream has been sharedby many: to retire in Greece, livein a traditional white-washedhouse, surrounded by a garden ofhibiscus and bougainvillea, alemon tree and enough olive treesto provide olives for the table andoil for the kitchen. And like manydreams, when it came true, itbrought me far more than I had

imagined. LEARNING REAL GREEKFrom the family of my Greek

language teacher, I purchased fourstremata of land on a steep hillsideoverlooking Neapolis Bay. Onehundred and twenty-three olivetrees, figs, pears, plums, mulberryand pomegranate trees were wellestablished on seven interlockingstone terraces. A large overhang-ing rock offered shelter from rain-storms: four stone troughs hadbeen built there years ago to pro-vide water for sheep or goats teth-ered in its shade. As on all farms,dry stone terraces need constantupkeep and repair. In addition torepairing the existing terraces, Ienvisioned a stone-paved patioand outdoor kitchen under the

overhang. A local contractor un-derstood my vision and he hiredan experienced Rumanian stone-mason to repair the terraces andbuild the patio. The events thattranspired provided the inspirationfor The Neighbor and the Stone.There are many lessons to belearned when undertaking a con-struction project, leading, onehopes, to a better understandingof the meaning of cooperation,compromise and life itself.

I wrote the story in 2008. In2010, my friend, well-known artistJim DeWitt, agreed to illustratethe children’s picture book. Jim isbest known in the San FranciscoBay area for his large format paint-ings of racing sailboats – wavescrashing and spinnakers flying. He

has lately taken on more sedateprojects: portraits of people and –his favorite – dogs. The Neighborand the Stone is his first illustratedbook and his imaginative use ofcolor enhances the story. Jim usedphotographs of my property inGreece and photographs of livemodels acting out the story to cre-ate the illustrations. The book isitself a work of art. My currentproject is a blog on golf tourism inGreece: www.golfholidays -greece.com, created in collabora-tion with Toula Victor and ConnieBurke. I continue to organize andconduct writers’ workshopsthrough Writers’ Workshops Inter-national and am looking forwardto upcoming workshops in otherregions of Greece.

The Neighbor and the Stone – A Modern Greek Fable

Barbara Euser

Many people, Greek Americans and Phil-hellenes and Greeks of the Diaspora alike,dream of retiring to Greece, as Euser wroteabout in her book. It’s not an easy as itsounds and you need to do a lot of researchabout what’s required, permits and docu-ments especially, and the labyrinthine bu-reaucracy, especially when it comes to buy-ing property and land. Have a very goodlawyer who knows the intricacies of theconvoluted Greek system. Many retirementsites put Greece high on their lists. Interna-tional Living’s index lists Greece 17th in theworld, while the United States is 22nd. Theassessors weighed real estate costs, enter-tainment, recreation and culture, cost ofliving, safety and stability, health care, cli-mate, special benefits, and infrastucture.Here’s what Best Places to Retire in theWorld said about Greece, but keep in mindsome of these calculations are off, especiallyas regards the cost of living in areas suchas food, which is among the highest in theEuropean Union.

THE MAGIC OF RETIRING IN GREECEWhen you are approaching the age of

retirement, if you find yourself feeling low,remember that you’ll be able to do plentythat wasn’t possible before. Among otherthings, you’ll have the world at your feet.After an active working life, you will befree to spend your time as you like and toretire wherever you want – speaking ofwhich, you couldn’t do much better thanretire in Greece. Greece will offer you thebest of everything when it comes to a low

cost of living, beautiful surroundings thatare steeped in history, friendly people.Larger cities such as Salonica and Athensare rather more expensive. However, evenhere, prices are much lower than you wouldfind in many other European countries. Ifyou have a fondness for history, you willnever be able to get enough of Greece, withits historic landmarks, cobbled streets andbeautiful parks. You’ll find housing rela-tively cheap here, partly because it is con-sidered not quite up to the standards of theUnited States. In fact, you’ll find many peo-ple living in houses that could be hundredsof years old. You have to admit that this israther quaint, to say the least. It certainlydoes add to the sense of history here.

Greece is also gaining ground over otherEuropean countries as the cheapest placein which to retire. Food products, vegetablesetc. are extremely cheap here. This is par-ticularly true on the island of Rhodes, wherethere are no import duties. This is widelyregarded as a government initiative to pop-ularize Rhodes as a destination for retire-ment. Rhodes is often regarded with a kindof reverence, somewhat fitting of a divinedestination. It is here that you will be ableto find the best of bread, wine, beer andolive oil. In Greece, you will be charmedby the scenery and allure of the place, alongwith the historic atmosphere. You will findpeople pleasant here and wonderful sightsto see such as the parks in the town ofRhodes. Absorb the flavor of Plato, Aristotleand Homer in this city that is associatedwith the Trojan War, where the surrounding

walls are still strong enough to withstand asiege. Prices of property and daily goodsand services are also low here. All in all,this is one of the best places that you couldchoose to retire in.

Here’s an excerpt from one woman whomoved to the island of Spetses, unlike thosesuch as Euser who prefer the Peloponnese.

FIRE IN THE KITCHEN – LIVING ON A GREEK ISLAND

By Meg Bailey(From EscapeArtist.com)

As a single woman, I never was much ofa cook when I lived in California's SiliconValley. But when I moved to Spetses, a smallGreek island in the Saronic Gulf eighteenmonths ago, it seemed a good idea to learn.It's hard for Americans to find work here,especially in the winter when the touristeconomy suffers, so I figured if I could learnto prepare my own meals I could save afew drachmas and eat more often. Also,options for fast food are a little limited. Ac-tually, we don't have any. My friends haveall been real good about letting me comeover and watch them cook. Most families'mothers start cooking in the morning forthe main, mid-day meal. So I can go overfor a coffee in the morning, pinch their left-overs from the hot meals they cooked theday before (one friend has a microwave!),and sit at their kitchen tables while theirkids are in school, sipping my coffee withmy chin in my hand while I watch themwork.

Living in Greece: Ah, the Good Life! (Is It?)