The National Herald · Hittos, Bilirakis' deputy campaign manager, said of Tuesday's con-test. After all, Langheier was a first-time candidate, but so was Rep. Mike Bilirakis in 1982

TThhee NNaattiioonnaall HHeerraalldda b

VOL. 9, ISSUE 465 AA WWEEEEKKLLYY GGRREEEEKK AAMMEERRIICCAANN PPUUBBLLIICCAATTIIOONN SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 99,, 22000066 $1.00 - GREECE: 1.75 Euro

wwwwww..tthheennaattiioonnaallhheerraalldd..ccoomm

*090906*

By Theodore KalmoukosSpecial to The National Herald

BOSTON – A year after deadlyHurricane Katrina leveled the cityof New Orleans and wreaked hav-oc throughout the SoutheasternUnited States, the Cathedral ofthe Holy Trinity in New Orleans,the first Greek Orthodox parishestablished in the U.S., is back tonormal, according to its pastor,Rev. Anthony Stratis.

“We are now 95 percent back tonormal,” Father Stratis told theNational Herald in an interview.

The historic parish has beenholding services in the church andfunctions in its community centersince Christmas, Father Stratissaid, less than four months sincethe worst natural disaster in Amer-ica’s history inundated the BigEasy with the waters of Lake Pon-chartrain after the levees broke.

Telephone and Internet ser-vices were finally restored lastmonth, he added, although thereare still some costs: “A lot was cov-ered by insurance, but not all ofit… a lot depends on people com-ing up and helping out more thanthey did in the past, so it’s going tobe tough.”

Sadly, he said, many of the NewOrleans community’s familiesmoved away, and will probably notreturn.

As for the wider New Orleanscommunity, he said, New Orleansresidents were still edgy enough togo to Home Depot for supplieswhen they learned Tropical StormErnesto was approaching Florida,even though it was not expected toforay into the Gulf Coast.

Father Stratis recently offereda special prayer service thankingGod protecting Holy Trinity’sparishioners; for the sustenance ofthe church edifice itself; and forthe adjunct community center. Healso prayed for the prevention of anew disaster.

He told the Herald “the generalconsensus here is we do not needanother hurricane not even a smallone for many years.”

The text of Father Stratis’ ispublished below:

TNH: A year has gone by sinceHurricane Katrina struck your cityand parish. Please describe thecurrent conditions and circum-stances in the area, and specificallyin the city of New Orleans.

STRATIS: Basically, if youdrive through the areas surround-ing New Orleans and certain spotsthat were not affected as badly, lifeis picking up again. It’s getting al-most back to normal. In the neigh-borhood that our church is locat-ed, things are looking good.

TNH: Is the restoration of thechurch and the community centercompleted?

STRATIS: We could say that 90percent of the work is finished.Since Christmas, we hold servicesin the church and functions in thecommunity center. We finally gotback into the offices around East-er (at the end of this past April).The phones came on the last weekof May. We couldn’t do much inthe office until then. The comput-ers and high-speed Internet camein the first part of August. We arenow 95 percent back to normal.

AP/PHIL COALE

By Darren WaltonAustralian Associated Press

NEW YORK (AAP) – Hethrilled local fans, including aposse of Greek cousins, during hisCinderella run to this year's Aus-tralian Open final, and eighth-seeded Marcos Pagdatis will nownever be forgotten for his part inanother grand slam gem.

Andre Agassi, the overwhelm-ing sentimental favorite, may havewalked away as the victor (6-4 6-43-6 5-7 7-5) of their epic five-set,second-round match at the USOpen last Thursday night, August31, but Pagdatis stole many hearts,as well.

Just about everyone in the23,000-strong New York crowdwanted Agassi to win, but this was

Continued on Page 7

PPaaggddaattiiss WWiinnssHHeeaarrttss,, AAss WWeellllAAss LLeeggeenndd AAnnddrreeAAggaassssii’’ss RReessppeecctt

By Robin SteinSt. Petersburg Times

Gus Bilirakis' resounding victo-ry in the Republican primary thispast Tuesday put him one stepcloser to continuing the familylegacy in Florida's 9th Congres-sional District.

Neither the outcome nor themargin were unexpected. But theelection was the first litmus test ofhow voters will react to the end ofan incumbency which has spannedtwo and a half decades.

By 10 PM, the state Division ofElections website showed thatBilirakis had amassed a command-ing lead over David Langheier, achiropractor from East Lake.

"I'm energized," Bilirakis saidTuesday night, from a celebrationat an Oldsmar restaurant. "We'vebeen working hard for the pastyear and a half. But we're going tohave a big one in November."

In November, voters acrossnorthern Pinellas, western Pascoand suburban Hillsborough Coun-ties will decide whether to send asecond Bilirakis generation toWashington.

Gus Bilirakis will face Demo-crat Phyllis Busansky of Tampaand Andrew Pasayan, an indepen-dent from Holiday.

Already, Bilirakis' staff is care-ful not to underestimate the oppo-sition.

"The goal is 50, plus one," LizHittos, Bilirakis' deputy campaignmanager, said of Tuesday's con-test.

After all, Langheier was a first-time candidate, but so was Rep.Mike Bilirakis in 1982 when hewon his first election in District 9.

In one of the four new districts

Continued on Page 3

BBiilliirraakkiiss WWiinnssGGOOPP PPrriimmaarryy,,MMoovveess TToowwaarrddFFaatthheerr’’ss SSeeaatt

Continued on Page 4

HHiissttoorriicc CChhuurrcchhBBoouunncceess BBaacckk ffrroommHHuurrrriiccaannee KKaattrriinnaa

FFlloorriiddaa AAttttoorrnneeyy GGeenneerraall CChhaarrlliiee CCrriisstt rraaiisseess hhiiss aarrmmss iinn vviiccttoorryy aafftteerr wwiinnnniinngg tthhee pprriimmaarryy eelleeccttiioonn aanndd bbee--ccoommiinngg tthhee RReeppuubblliiccaann ccaannddiiddaattee ffoorr ggoovveerrnnoorr ooff FFlloorriiddaa tthhiiss ppaasstt TTuueessddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 55..

By Juliet WilliamsAssociated Press

SACRAMENTO (AP) – In abid to woo moderate voters,Democratic gubernatorial candi-date Phil Angelides has revampedhis campaign message, and ispushing an economic plan hehopes will resonate with the mid-dle class.

At the same time, he is givinghis personal image a makeover.The California State Treasurer,

who has had trouble captivatingvoters and acknowledges he issomething of a nerd, has dumpedhis staid suit-and-tie in favor ofopen-collar shirts – almost alwaysa comforting blue – and adopted amore casual tone on the campaigntrail.

He's even received policy tipsfrom the Democratic Party's mas-ter campaigner, former PresidentClinton.

It's all part of a strategy to rede-fine the candidate in a race which,

until now, has been largely domi-nated by highly controlled mes-sages from Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger's campaign.

Angelides' makeover is evenmore crucial because he began thefight against Schwarzenegger al-ready wounded by attacks from hisrival in the Democratic Primary,State Controller Steve Westly.

Angelides has spent the last fewweeks traveling the state promot-

Angelides Reaches Out to Voters

Continued on Page 2

By Steve FrangosSpecial to The National Herald

While many things can be saidabout contemporary Greek Amer-icans, being close readers of aca-demic journals is not the first thingthat comes to mind – which is ashame. For Professor Dan Geor-gakas, the guest editor of the latestissue of the Journal of ModernHellenism (Volume 21-22, 2004-05), has devoted more than 25years to producing special issuesdevoted to Greek Americana.

In this latest collection, Prof.Georgakas has yet again used hisconsiderable powers as a deft or-ganizer and coalition builder to as-semble a notable compilation ofessays. His latest two-part view-point in the National Herald (seeJuly 8 and July 15 editions), deal-ing with the same subject matter,also fully demonstrates his analyti-

cal skills and abilities.To date, Georgakas has served

as special editor on four all-GreekAmerican issues of the Journal ofthe Hellenic Diaspora, and now inthat same role, he has served asboth organizer and essayist for theJournal of Modern Hellenism. Inthe course of his more than half acentury as an educator, Georgakashas – aside from his career as aninternationally recognized laborhistorian and film critic – alsosomehow found time to spurscholars in both North Americaand Greece to contribute exten-sively researched and thoughtfularticles on an amazingly diversearray of literary, historical and cul-tural essays. No other scholar hasever successfully dedicated thismuch time and energy to the goalof the Greek American essay.

Let us understand this oneman’s accomplishment in real-

world termsSince its inception, the Modern

Greek Studies Association has al-ways carefully courted the GreekAmerican community. The vastmajority of the funding, and thenow nearly half-century of contin-ued support, for the ModernGreek Studies programs all acrossNorth America come directly fromthe local Greek communities.While I have no accurate figures,we can safely assume that theMGSA has always had more than100 dues paying members at anygiven time during its existence. Inall that time and with all those in-dividual members, the MGSA’sofficial publication, The Journal ofModern Greek Studies, has neveronce issued an entire issue devot-ed exclusively to Greeks in theUnited States.

Readings on the Community’s Future

Continued on Page 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)– Florida Attorney General Char-lie Crist won the Republican gu-bernatorial nomination this pastTuesday, September 5, to replaceGovernor Jeb Bush, defeatingChief Financial Officer Tom Gal-lagher by nearly a two-to-one mar-gin.

With 81 percent of precincts re-porting, Crist had 64 percent ofthe vote, compared to 34 percentfor Gallagher.

Crist is already looking pastTuesday's victory and onto theNovember general election.

"I believe Florida will make theright choice," Crist said. Crist willface Congressman Jim Davis onNovember 7.

At a standing-room only victoryparty, Crist thanked his supportersand then began something akin toa policy speech.

He rehashed his views on fami-ly values, insurance companies,national security and education.He also challenged the Democrat-ic nominee to two televised de-bates and spoke to foreign policyconcerns.

"I hope to be the first Floridagovernor in modern history to visita free and open Cuba," he said.

Crist pumped his fist as he leftthe podium, as supporters rapidlypopped balloons, making his exitsound like a fireworks' display.

Crist found success on the cam-paign trail portraying himself as aconsumer advocate and Bush-style

CCrriisstt WWiinnssHHaannddiillyy iinnFFlloorriiddaa’’ssPPrriimmaarryy

Continued on Page 4

GGrreeeeccee’’ss hheeaadd ccooaacchh PPaannaaggiioottiiss YYaannnnaakkiiss eexxpprreesssseess hhiiss ddiissmmaayy dduurriinnggtthhee WWoorrlldd BBaasskkeettbbaallll CChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss ffiinnaall aaggaaiinnsstt SSppaaiinn iinn SSaaiittaammaa,,JJaappaann llaasstt SSuunnddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 33..

MMaarrccooss PPaaggddaattiiss ooff CCyypprruuss,, lleefftt,, aanndd AAmmeerriiccaann tteennnniiss lleeggeenndd AAnnddrreeAAggaassssii ggrreeeett eeaacchh ootthheerr aafftteerr tthheeiirr eeppiicc mmaattcchh aatt tthhee UU..SS.. OOppeenn tteennnniissttoouurrnnaammeenntt iinn NNeeww YYoorrkk llaasstt TThhuurrssddaayy,, AAuugguusstt 3311..

By Evan C. LambrouSpecial to The National Herald

“Another such victory over theRomans, and we are undone” –Pyrrhos, King of Epiros.

NEW YORK – The Greek tri-umph over the United States dur-ing the World Basketball Champi-onships semifinal in Saitama,Japan last Friday, September 1,was cause for immense jubilationin Greece, and throughout theHellenic Diaspora.

But the amount of time for sa-voring that victory was brief, asSpain trounced Greece 70-47 inthe final to take home the gold justtwo days later.

The 101-95 upset over theAmericans could be described as aPyrrhic victory, as it left theGreeks without the steam theyneeded to overcome a solid Span-ish team, which was in the goldmedal game without its star player

(7-foot Pau Gasol, Spain’s leadingscorer and rebounder, who alsoplays for the Memphis Grizzlies,was sidelined with a partial frac-ture in his left foot).

A Pyrrhic victory is a winner’scurse; it is a victory which comes ata devastating cost to the victor.The phrase is a reference to KingPyrrhos of Epiros, who defeatedthe Romans in Italy at Heracleaand Asculum in 279 BC, but suf-fered severe and irreplaceable ca-sualties in the process.

According to Plutarch, after thevictory in Asculum, “The armiesseparated and, it is said, Pyrrhosreplied to one who gave him joyfulnews of his victory that one othersuch would utterly undo him.”While the term is most closely as-sociated with a military battle, it isalso used by analogy in sports todescribe any similar struggle whichis ruinous for the victor.

Continued on Page 6

Greece Beats U.S., butLoses to Spain in Final

AP/DUSAN VRANIC

AP/JULIE JACOBSON

ing his economic plan and castinghimself as a defender of the mid-dle class. It's an effort to counterattacks from Schwarzenegger thathe plans to raise taxes by billionsof dollars if elected.

Instead, Angelides says, hewould ease taxes on the middleclass through a tax credit for peo-ple who make less than $46,000 ayear and an increase in Califor-nia's child-dependent credit forcouples who make less than$100,000 annually.

He also said he would close thestate's budget deficit, partly bytemporarily raising taxes on thestate's wealthiest residents andclosing corporate tax loopholes.

For the first time, Angelides istaking control of his own image,rather than letting his opponentsportray him as a tax-and-spend de-veloper, said Mark DiCamillo, di-rector of the Field Poll.

"Up until now, before the

makeover, it had been pretty muchthe governor's campaign tellingpeople who he is," DiCamillo said."Now, Angelides, I think, is rebut-ting them with this new set of pro-posals."

Angelides' campaign teamhopes the economic plan, com-bined with a softer style on thestump, will mark a turning pointwhich helps him connect withmore voters.

He's dumped references to hisundergraduate Harvard Universi-ty education to better relate to av-erage voters. And he has droppedthe self-deprecating commentswhich drew attention to his slightphysique, such as this Spring at theState Democratic Party Conven-tion, when he called himself the"anti-Arnold."

"If you have any doubt, justlook at this body," he told dele-gates. "All-natural. God-given."

Angelides also has been sound-ing a little more colloquial. Duringan August campaign appearance

in San Francisco, supporter ChrisDaly, a San Francisco supervisor,said the Treasurer seemed to havedropped some of his "hard g"sounds, perhaps to sound a littlemore workin' class.

He said he asked Angelideswhether he'd been coached.

"He said no, but that he hadspent 90 minutes with Bill Clin-ton," after Clinton appeared withAngelides at a Los Angelesfundraiser, Daly said.

Angelides invoked the nameand some of the tone of the formerpresident as he presented his newprogram of tax cuts for middle-class families.

Clinton is excited about theTreasurer's new approach, An-gelides Media Consultant Bill Car-rick said.

"He basically told him, you'vegot to draw the contrast betweenyou and Arnold based on the mid-dle class tax issue and balancingthe budget. He was very enthusias-tic about all that," Carrick said.

"He didn't give him any hintsabout how to speak or anything."

One of California's mostprominent Democrats did, howev-er.

During Angelides' campaignappearance in San Francisco, a lo-cal television station caught Sena-tor Dianne Feinstein speaking un-wittingly into an open mike, advis-ing the candidate, "Don't let your-self smirk in between thoughts."

Smirking or not, Angelides isbecoming more familiar to voters,pollster DiCamillo said.

Less than a year ago, two thirdsof likely California voters surveyedby the Field Poll had no opinion ofhim. By this July, however, onlyone in five said they had no opin-ion, DiCamillo said.

But the most recent polls stillgive Schwarzenegger a double-dig-it lead. A recent Public Policy In-stitute of California poll foundAngelides is still struggling to ex-cite even members of his own par-

ty, while Republicans are backingthe centrist Schwarzenegger.

Angelides' recent makeoverlikely reflects a greater comfortwith his recent proposals, whichseem more aligned with his philos-ophy, said Barbara O'Connor, di-rector of the Center for the Studyof Politics & the Media at Califor-nia State University in Sacramen-to.

Angelides has struggled to de-fine himself ever since the bruisingprimary campaign, during whichWestly barraged voters with un-flattering attack ads, she said.

"He's grown. He's certainly alot better than he was when hestarted," O'Connor said.

But she noted thatSchwarzenegger, a well-knownface with a huge campaign warchest, is "looking very gubernatori-al… He's delivering a policy aweek on issues important to Cali-fornians."

Angelides would be wise not to

try too hard to mimic the actor-turned-governor, who is generallymore at ease in a crowd, advisedJack Pitney, a political science pro-fessor at Claremont McKennaCollege.

"I'm not sure he's going to bevery convincing trying to gain anew personality, particularly whenhis campaign is trying to portraySchwarzenegger as a flip-flopper,"Pitney said. "You get to that pointin life where you are who you are."

Angelides hasn't developed anew personality, Carrick said. He'ssimply becoming more comfort-able after weeks on the stump.

"He likes being with people, helikes feedback from people. He'svery comfortable with the townmeeting format. I think you'll seemore of that," Carrick added.

As for the soothing and ubiqui-tous blue shirt, Carrick said An-gelides has several – and is likely towear them often leading up toElection Day.

2 COMMUNITY THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

PPhhiill AAnnggeelliiddeess GGeettss MMoorree CCoommffoorrttaabbllee wwiitthh CCaalliiffoorrnniiaa’’ss VVootteerrss

By Jim Carlton The Wall Street Journal

California's agreement to cutemissions tied to global warming islikely to boost a resurgence inGovernor Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger's popularity, many politicalpundits say, potentially making itmore difficult for Democraticchallenger Phil Angelides to un-seat him in November.

The same day that the Governoragreed to the deal with the Califor-nia State Legislature's Democraticleadership, a new poll of likely vot-ers by the Public Policy Institute ofCalifornia showed him with a 13-point lead over Mr. Angelides.

The deal may give GovernorSchwarzenegger a decisive leadover his rival – and possibly posi-tion him for a United States Sen-ate run down the line – because

environmental issues resonatewith many California voters, somepolitical observers say.

"It's not game-over for An-gelides, but he's now got to shoreup his support among rank-and-file Democrats," said MarkDiCamillo, director of the FieldPoll, a San Francisco polling firm.

Under the deal announced onAugust 30, California will man-date a reduction in the state's

emissions of gases contributing toglobal warming to 1990 levels by2020. The cut would target thestate's biggest industrial emittersof greenhouse gases, such as pow-er plants, oil refineries and cementfactories.

But the deal also holds risks forthe Governor. Conservative Re-publicans could revolt over thispact and others he has made withthe Democratic-dominated legis-lature. That could deprive him ofsupport he may need for re-elec-tion if he fails to marshal enoughDemocratic voters in a state domi-nated by that party.

RRAACCEE WWIILLLL BBEEMMUUCCHH CCLLOOSSEERR

"I think the race will get muchcloser, and it will get down to aquestion of how much his moveswith the Legislature have hurt himwith his base," said Kam Kuwata, aDemocratic political consultant inLos Angeles. "Also, he could getswept out on a national rejectionof Republicans."

Still, Mr. Schwarzenegger isriding high for now, having mostlyrebounded from a decline in pollswhen he embarked on an unsuc-cessful campaign last year to trimthe power and influence of stateDemocrats.

Some political observers sayMr. Schwarzenegger could eventu-ally make a successful run for theU.S. Senate. In a recent interview,however, Mr. Schwarzenegger wasadamant that he would never takea position which would make himleave his adopted home state. Thisyear, the Governor has embracedDemocratic lawmakers on manyissues.

Over the past few weeks, he hasagreed to sign bills on Democratic-backed issues like raising thestate's minimum wage and provid-ing prescription-drug relief to theuninsured and under-insured. Healso forged a deal to put a mam-moth bond issue on the Californiaballot in November to patch up thestate's crumbling roads, bridgesand other infrastructure.

The bipartisan cooperation haswon back many of the Governor'sold supporters, as well as moreDemocrats, some pollsters say. Inthe Public Policy Institute poll, 82percent of likely Republican vot-ers said they planned to re-electthe Governor to a second term,along with nearly half the indepen-

dent voters and almost a fifth ofDemocrats.

By contrast, Mr. Angelides, thestate's Treasurer, won support inthe poll from just 58 percent oflikely Democratic voters – too lit-tle, pollsters say, to overcome theGovernor's current advantage, un-less Mr. Angelides increases sup-port rapidly (the poll of 989 likelyvoters has a margin of error of plusor minus 3 percentage points).

Strategists for Mr. Angelides,who won a hard-fought campaignin the Democratic Primary to takeon Mr. Schwarzenegger, say theyaren't worried, and plan a vigorouscampaign after Labor Day. "This isa guy who switches position everyten seconds in order to curry favorwith the voters, and we are goingto show that," said Bill Carrick,chief strategist for Mr. Angelides."I think we are going to see a realdogfight here."

But even Mr. Angelides'biggest political and financial sup-porters are giving the governorhigh marks for his bipartisanship.State Assembly Speaker FabianNunez, for example, is co-chair of

Mr. Angelides' campaign, and sayshe will work to get him elected thisfall. Mr. Nunez, who was a keyplayer in crafting the global-warm-ing pact, gives the Governor crediton seeing the deal through – espe-cially since one of his biggest polit-ical supporters, the CaliforniaChamber of Commerce, lobbiedagainst the measure on thegrounds it would prove too costlyto implement. Officials at theChamber of Commerce weren'timmediately available for com-ment.

One reason Mr. Schwarzeneg-ger was able to agree to the global-warming deal, say people involvedin the lobbying, was because hesaw that California's businesscommunity was divided on it. lastweek, a delegation of executivesfrom the high-tech industry jour-neyed to Sacramento to press forpassage of the legislation, saying itwould spur innovation in alterna-tive energy, and would help weantheir businesses off fossil fuels.

TThhee WWaallll SSttrreeeett JJoouurrnnaall ppuubb--lliisshheedd tthhee aabboovvee oonn SSeepptteemmbbeerr 11..

WWiitthh DDoouubbllee--DDiiggiitt LLeeaadd,, AArrnnoolldd’’ss HHaanndd SSeeeemmss SSttrroonnggeerr RRiigghhtt NNooww

CCaalliiffoorrnniiaa SSttaattee TTrreeaassuurreerr PPhhiill AAnnggeelliiddeess,, tthhee DDeemmooccrraattiicc nnoommiinneeee ffoorr ggoovveerrnnoorr ooff CCaalliiffoorrnniiaa ((lleefftt)),, aannddDDeemmooccrraattiicc NNaattiioonnaall CCoommmmiitttteeee CChhaaiirrmmaann HHoowwaarrdd DDeeaann jjooiinn hhaannddss dduurriinngg aa ccaammppaaiiggnn eevveenntt ffoorr AAnn--ggeelliiddeess iinn SSaann FFrraanncciissccoo llaasstt mmoonntthh..

Continued from page 1

CCaalliiffoorrnniiaa GGoovveerrnnoorr AArrnnoolldd SScchhwwaarrzzeenneeggggeerr ddiissccuusssseess tthhee eennddoorrssee--mmeenntt ooff hhiiss rree--eelleeccttiioonn bbiidd bbyy sseevveerraall aannttii--ttaaxx ggrroouuppss dduurriinngg aa nneewwssccoonnffeerreennccee iinn SSaaccrraammeennttoo oonn AAuugguusstt 1166..

CCaalliiffoorrnniiaa’’ss DDeemmooccrraattiicc gguubbeerrnnaattoorriiaall ccaannddiiddaattee,, PPhhiill AAnnggeelliiddeess wwaavveess dduurriinngg aa ssppeeeecchh bbeeffoorree tthhee LLooss AAnn--ggeelleess CCoouunnttyy FFeeddeerraattiioonn ooff LLaabboorr AAFFLL--CCIIOO tthhiiss ppaasstt MMoonnddaayy ((LLaabboorr DDaayy)),, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 44,, aatt tthhee CCaatthheeddrraallooff OOuurr LLaaddyy ooff tthhee AAnnggeellss iinn ddoowwnnttoowwnn LLooss AAnnggeelleess..

AP/NICK UT

AP/PAUL SAKUMA

AP/RICH PEDRONCELLI

By Travis DunnEaston Star Democrat

EASTON, Md. – CongressmanWayne T. Gilchrest, (R-Maryland,1st, Congressional District) lost hisfirst bid for Congress in 1988,against Democratic incumbentRoy Dyson. Gilchrest tried again in1990, after Dyson had suffered se-rious political damage from rumorsand scandal.

Gilchrest won, ending Dyson’sdecade-long lock on the 1st Dis-trict’s Congressional seat. Despitegaining re-election in 1992 with amere 51 percent of the vote,Gilchrest has been virtually invinci-ble ever since.

Kostas Alexakis, 52, has facedGilchrest before, in 2004, as theDemocratic nominee for the 1stDistrict Congressional seat. ButAlexakis lost that race by a widemargin – 50 percentage points.Gilchrest received 75.77 percent ofthe vote, and in some counties,such as Talbot and Kent, he got 80percent. This Democratic defeatwas not quite as bad as in 2002,when Gilchrest trounced AnnTamlyn with 76.67 percent of thevote.

Alexakis is not deterred byGilchrest’s landslide victories,however. He was born in Sparta, acity in Greece historicallyrenowned for producing fiercewarriors claiming descent fromHeracles. While his ancient ances-tors may have cut their long locksafter their defeat at Thermopylae,Alexakis the Spartan maintains hismoustache and says he has no in-tention of truckling beforeGilchrest.

“The goal was not to run once,”he said. “It’s a conservative district.People don’t change their minds

too quickly. You must commit to along battle if you are going to suc-ceed.

Alexakis said he thinks“Gilchrest has been ineffective inrepresenting the district inCongress,” and that he believes hewill offer the leadership Gilchresthas failed to provide.

In particular, Alexakis thinksthe 1st District needs a strong voiceon the protection of the Chesa-peake Bay, and on the “totally bro-ken” public school system. Hechampioned both these issues in2004 – “those are nonpartisan is-sues” – and he intends to do thesame on the campaign trail this

year.“The problem with Congress-

man Gilchrest is he doesn’t do any-thing,” Alexakis said. “He’s notforceful. We need someone whowill forcefully pursue a plan to stopthe degradation of the Bay.”

“Enforcement action by the fed-eral government” is what is re-quired to stop pollution, he added.“I think you deserve to live in anenvironment that’s notBangladesh-like,” pointing to sew-er systems which routinely dis-charge into local creeks and riversafter a heavy rain.

Alexakis said he thinks educa-tion reform “requires pointing the

finger to those (school) districtsthat are failing to educate our stu-dents,” and while he doesn’t agreewith President George W. Bush onmuch of anything, he was a sup-porter of the No Child Left BehindAct, “the best that this Administra-tion has offered,” he said.

“The accountability measures inthat act were wise and well-thoughtout,” he added.

Regarding Iraq, Alexakis takesa decidedly un-Spartan view: Hewas an opponent before the inva-sion, and today he advocates with-drawal. And he is not concernedthat the predominantly conserva-tive 1st District may not respondwell to his views on the war, whichhe calls “a blunder.”

“I think that this war has provedto be a very sad chapter in Ameri-can history,” Alexakis said. “Thesolution is to step back and realizethat you can’t force people to goyour way with military might. Weneed to be reasonable and stop thecarnage. We have to leave, I think.The sooner, the better. You justcan’t justify being there. There’sjust no way.”

He came to the United States asa child. His parents settled in Ar-lington, Virginia. He currently livesin Arnold with his wife Laura andtheir 8-year-old daughter Eleni.

Alexakis, who earned a degreein electrical engineering fromGeorge Washington University,has a law degree and is member ofthe Virginia Bar Association. So inaddition to being a real estate de-veloper, financier and owner of asoftware company, Alexakis is alsoa lawyer.

TThhee MMaarryyllaanndd RReeppuubblliiccaann PPrrii--mmaarryy wwiillll bbee hheelldd oonn TTuueessddaayy,,SSeepptteemmbbeerr 1122..

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 COMMUNITY 3

GOINGS ON...

September 10NNeeww BBrruunnsswwiicckk,, NN..JJ.. Hellenic Linkof New Jersey is organizing a picnicat Johnson Park for its membersand friends on Sunday, September10. “It’s the best opportunity tomeet new people and make newfriends while enjoying Greek mu-sic, great food and drinks.” The $15admission price (children 4-14, $6)includes hot dogs, burgers, salads,beer, soft drinks and Greek pas-tries. Activities will include soccer,volleyball, backgammon and chess.For more information, contact An-dreas Verrios (732-991-7577), BillFottis (732-319-7639), JohnKarakis (908-889-6327,[email protected]) or PanosStavrianidis (732-873-3351). DI-RECTIONS: Take the New JerseyTurnpike to Exit 9, and then takeRoute 18 North to New Brunswick(about 3-4 miles). Turn right atRiver Road; Johnson Park is on theright. Proceed to Grove 1.

September 10 – March 25SSoommeerrvviillllee,, MMaassss.. The SomervilleMuseum (1 Westwood Road,Somerville, Tel: 617-666-9810) ishosting an exhibition, “Greek Im-migration & George Dilboy,” fromSunday, September 10, to March25, 2007. This will highlight theGreek settlement in Brickbottom,Somerville and the Boston area.Somerville was the largest settle-ment of people from Alatsata inAsia Minor, and the home ofGeorge Dilboy, the famous WorldWar I doughboy who astoundedthe Germans by single-handedly at-tacking Belleau Wood, which wasinfested with German machinegunnests, and wiping out three guns be-fore the Germans fled. GeneralJohn “Black Jack” Pershing listedDilboy, who was born in Alatsata,as one of the First World War’s tengreatest heroes (Pershing eventual-ly rose to the highest rank ever heldin the United States Army, “Gener-al of the Armies,” equivalent onlyto the posthumous rank of GeorgeWashington).

September 14WWaasshhiinnggttoonn,, DD..CC.. The AmericanHellenic Institute is hosting a NoonForum to commemorate the AsiaMinor Catastrophe and the Burn-ing of Smyrna in 1922 at the Hel-lenic House (1220 16th Street NW)on Thursday, September 14, at 12-1PM. Topic: “George Horton – AnAmerican Witness in Smyrna,” pre-sented by James Marketos, AHIChairman and Attorney at Law.Light refreshments will be served.RSVP to AHI by Tuesday, Septem-ber 12. Call 202-785-8430 or e-mailat [email protected].

September 15-17BBrrooookklliinnee,, MMaassss.. The Annuncia-tion Greek Orthodox Cathedral ofNew England in Boston presentsGreek Fest 2006. Come and enjoydelicious Greek food and drinks,gyros, pastries, loukoumades andtaverna. Dance to the music of theKostas Taslis Orchestra. Watch tra-ditional Greek Folk Dances. Alsoenjoy DJ, raffle, imports, jewelry,kids activities, flea market and reli-gious books and icons. Friday, Sat-urday and Sunday, September 15-17, from noon to 11 PM. Free Park-ing. Free Admission. Rain or Shine.Location: The Cathedral Center,162 Goddard Avenue, Brookline,MA near Holy Cross Greek Ortho-dox School of Theology. For moreinformation, call 617-731-6633.

September 16-20NNeeww YYoorrkk CCiittyy.. “The Persians” by

Aeschylus, directed by Lydia Ko-rniordou and performed by the Na-tional Theatre of Greece on Sat.-Wed., September 16-20 at the CityCenter on W. 55th Street, betweenSixth and Seventh Avenues in Man-hattan. Performances are at 8 PM(with two on Sunday, 9/17, at 2 PM& 7 PM – a discussion follows the1st performance). The play is aboutthe Greek victory of the Greeksover the Persians at the Battle ofSalamis from the point of view ofthe Persians, and is based on his-toric fact, as Aeschylus himself wasa veteran of the great battle. It is atale warning overly ambitious lead-ers and empires that there they risklosing all due to arrogance andgreed. Discounted tickets, whilethey last, can be obtained at 25%off the regular rate by calling theCity Center at 212-581-1212 andmentioning the special discountcode: THM. The regular ticketprices are as follows: Rear Mezza-nine $35, Mid Mezzanine $51, Or-chestra $75. The discount is subjectto availability and can not be com-bined with any other offer or dis-count. Blackout dates may apply.All sales are final; no refunds or ex-changes. Phone and Internet ordersare subject to service fees. Limit is8 tickets per order. Not valid onpreviously purchased tickets.

September 18GGrreeeennllaawwnn,, NN..YY.. Rev. DemetriosMoraitis and the Saint Paraskevicommunity in Greenlawn, NewYork invite the public to attendthe Saint Paraskevi 10th annualGolf Outing (Greater GreekOpen) on Monday, September 18,at 10:30 AM at the CalvertonLinks Golf Club. The event willfeature “Beat the Priest,” a longdrive competition. For more infor-mation, please call FatherMoraitis (631-261-7272), Paul Di-Consiglio (212-606-2182) or ChrisChristie (631-643-5204).

September 19 – October 3NNeeww YYoorrkk CCiittyy.. The 2/20 Galleryin Manhattan (220 W. 16th Street,TEL: 212-807-8348) is pleased toinform the community about LynnSinger’s photo exhibition, “An-cient Olympia: Peace Now,” inconjunction with Peace One Day,and supported by the Greek Na-tional Tourist Organization. Formore information, visit the web atwww.lynnsingerphoto.com.

September 27NNeeww YYoorrkk CCiittyy.. The HellenicAmerican bankers Association cor-dially invites the community to anevening with Jim Chanos at theNew York Athletic Club (180 Cen-tral Park South at 59th Street andSeventh Avenue, Manhattan) onWednesday, September 27, at 6-8:30 PM. Mr. Chanos is founder &managing partner of Kynikos Asso-ciates, the world's largest exclusiveshort-selling investment firm. Hehas identified and sold short sharesof numerous well known corporatefinancial disasters, including Tycoand Enron. Admission: $10 forHABA members in good standing(2006/2007), $40 or non-membersand guests. RSVP at 212-421-1057or [email protected].

NOTE TO OUR READERSThis calendar of events section is acomplimentary service to theGreek American community. Allparishes, organizations and institu-tions are encouraged to e-mailtheir information on any Greek-re-lated event to [email protected]

Kostas Alexakis Undeterred by 2004 Results

NEW YORK – On August 31, the Washington Post conductedbrief interviews and published quick profiles of the three Candidatesseeking the Democratic nomination to race against GOP IncumbentWayne T. Gilchrest for Maryland’s 1st Congressional District: KostasAlexakis, Jim Corwin and Christopher Robinson.

The National Herald is publishing the contents of Mr. Alexakis’profile, as well as his replies to the Post’s questions, in their entirety.

AAggee:: 52 RReessiiddeennccee:: Severna Park, Arnold (Maryland).EEdduuccaattiioonn:: B.S., engineering, computer science, George Washing-

ton University.OOccccuuppaattiioonn:: Businessman; lawyer; real estate developer; chief ex-

ecutive, Public Sector Solutions.EElleecctteedd OOffffiicceess//CCiivviicc AAccttiivviittiieess:: Board of advisers, American Hel-

lenic Institute; board of trustees, Hellenic American University; mem-ber, Virginia State Bar.

WWeebbssiittee:: www.alexakisforcongress.com ee--mmaaiill aaddddrreessss:: [email protected]

What is the most urgent problem facing your jurisdiction?"The district is not being forcefully represented in Congress and, as

a result, has not obtained the necessary resources to deal with therestoration of the (Chesapeake) Bay; the Eastern Shore is growingoutside the community's capacity to deal with the strain on even thesewage treatment requirements; the public schools are failing; the roadsystem is overwhelmed. Healthcare is becoming a luxury item; and theSocial Security safety net is evaporating."

Why should voters elect you?"Because I will bring home our fair share of resources necessary to

restore the bay, fix the failing sewage treatment infrastructure and fixpublic education."

AA bbrriieeff sskkeettcchh ooff MMrr.. AAlleexxaakkiiss’’ ccoommppeettiittiioonn ffoolllloowwss:: DDrr.. CCoorrwwiinn,,4499,, iiss aa pphhyyssiicciiaann aatt JJoohhnnss HHooppkkiinnss UUnniivveerrssiittyy,, wwiitthh aa bbaacchheelloorr’’ss ddee--ggrreeee iinn CChheemmiissttrryy ffrroomm BBoossttoonn UUnniivveerrssiittyy.. MMrr.. RRoobbiinnssoonn,, 5511,, iiss aannaattttoorrnneeyy wwiitthh aa bbaacchheelloorr’’ss ddeeggrreeee iinn PPoolliittiiccaall SScciieennccee ffrroomm AArriizzoonnaaSSttaattee UUnniivveerrssiittyy aanndd aa JJ..DD.. ffrroomm CCaatthhoolliicc UUnniivveerrssiittyy..

Brief Profile of Maryland’s Congressional Candidate for State’s 1st District

Florida gained as a result of the1980 census, Mike Bilirakis nar-rowly edged Democratic StateRep. George Sheldon, who de-scribed his campaign as "a referen-dum on Social Security and Medi-care."

No one has ever occupied theDistrict 9 seat other than MikeBilirakis, who is now 76. In 2004,the incumbent announced that his12th term would be his last, andsaid he hoped to be succeeded byhis son.

A week before the primaryelection, campaign coffers were

swelling, and the rhetoric wassharpening in the race for the Dis-trict 9 seat.

New campaign finance filingsshow that the younger Bilirakis'formidable war chest continued togrow between July 1 and August16.

Bilirakis' fundraising dwarfedthe cash flow to Langheier. It alsoleft Bilirakis with reserves fourtimes greater than Phyllis Busan-sky, the sole Democratic con-tender in the race.

After having raised about$317,000 and spending $147,000,Bilirakis ended the cycle withnearly $1.2-million cash on-hand.

Campaign contributions over theentire election season have totaled$1.8-million.

Busansky finished the cyclewith more than $530,000 in cash,after raising about $94,000 andspending $93,000. Overall, hercampaign has received more than$817,000 in contributions, noteven half of Bilirakis' totals.

"I have exactly what I'm sup-posed to have, and I will havemore. He can do whatever hewants," Busansky said. "The moremoney he makes, the more fright-ened he looks."

She may not be flustered by thegrowing gap in money, but she said

she was very angry about the Re-publican response to Max Cleland.The former senator from Georgia,a Silver Star veteran who lost bothhis legs and an arm in Vietnam, re-cently campaigned for Busanskyand other local Democratic candi-dates.

Busansky called for Bilirakis torepudiate Florida GOP ChairmanCarole Jean Jordan's "shameful at-tack." Rob Whitney, Bilirakis'campaign manager, said Clelandwas not really attacked, and thatJordan's comments painted a "his-torical picture of what took placein the buildup to Iraq and theglobal war on terror."

Gus Bilirakis Takes GOP Primary in Bid to Succeed his DadContinued from page 1

KKoossttaass AAlleexxaakkiiss,, ccaannddiiddaattee ffoorr CCoonnggrreessss iinn MMaarryyllaanndd

SAINT DEMETRIOS CATHEDRALΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΟΡΘΟ∆ΟΞΟΣ ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΣ ΑΓΙΟΥ ∆ΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΑΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ

GREEK ORTHODOXARCHDIOCESE

OF AMERICA

In the heart of Astoria for several years we have been teaching the Greek language to adults. In a warm and welcoming environment you will feel right at home, while learning Greek and understanding the culture. Our location is within walking distancefrom the N train, where you have access to restaurants, cafes and shops.

The program is tailored to small groups and instruction is based on student’s level interestand requirements. Lessons incorporate learning through conversation, grammar andaudiovisual aids. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced student, ourlessons are structured to meet your needs, advance your knowledge and make it work for you. Classes are held on Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuition fees are $500 per year.

For additional information and registration please call (718) 728-1718.

30-11 30th Drive • Astoria, N.Y. 11102Tel.: (718) 728-1718/9 • Fax: (718) 728-0079

LEARN THE GREEK LANGUAGESt. Demetrios Hellenic Community of Astoria

offers weekly classes in Greek to adults

●●●●

●● ●●

SEPTEMBER 8, 9, 10 and 15, 16 & 17Friday 6-11 p.m.; Saturday 2-11 p.m.; Sunday 1-9 p.m.

HOLY TRINITYGREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

10 Μill Road, New RochelleIntersection of Mill Road & North Avenue

From the Hutch: Southbound - Exit 18E; Northbound - Exit 17 From Route 22: Southbound - Left onto Mill Road & follow to end;

Northbound - Right onto Mill Road & follow to endFree Shuttle bus to & from Ursuline School and Anne Hutchinson School Parking Lots

DONATION: $1.00; Under 12 Free When Accompanied by a Parent

COME RAIN OR SHINE - WE’RE COVERED!

DDeelliicciioouuss GGrreeeekk FFoooodd aanndd DDeelliigghhttffuull PPaassttrriieess

GGaammeess aanndd RRiiddeess ffoorr tthhee WWhhoollee FFaammiillyy

Gigantic Flea M

arket for Bargain H

unters ñ Live M

usic & D

ancingMMaarr

kkeettpp

llaaccee

wwiitthh

JJeewwee

llrryy,, CC

rraaffttss

,, CClloo

tthhiinn

gg,, GG

iiffttwwaa

rree,,TT

ooyyss &&

MMoorr

eea

b

4 COMMUNITY THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

leader.But he wasn't afraid to step out

of line with the governor on someissues. He questioned Bush's deci-sion to intervene in the Terri Schi-avo right-to-die case, and differedwith Bush on the way to deal withclass size issues.

By contrast, Gallagher posi-tioned himself to come across al-most exactly the same as Bush allthe way down the line.

The campaign was marked bybitter ads which crammed the air-waves during the weeks leading upto the election.

Referring to Crist's chances ofwinning, Gallagher's ad featuredthe words "Sorry, Charlie" in a bigfont. Crist's ad portrayed Gal-lagher as someone who flip-flopson key issues.

PPLLAANNEE SSCCAARREEThe day before the Primary,

Crist, riding high for most of thecampaign, had a brief, bumpyscare on Monday, September 4,

when an engine on a plane he wastraveling in conked out.

Crist was barnstorming thestate on the day before the prima-ry election, and he was scheduledto fly from Jacksonville to Orlan-do, Fort Myers and BrowardCounty before ending the night inSt. Petersburg.

But shortly after leaving Orlan-do Executive Airport, one of twoengines on the six-passenger jetdied, forcing the plane bearingCrist to return to the airport.

Traveling with Crist were hiscampaign manager, GeorgeLeMieux, Crist's travel aide andtwo reporters.

"I've never been happier to beon the ground," he said in FortMyers, where he kept a plannedappearance to wave signs on amoderately busy street.

Asked what he thought whenhe heard the engine go dead, Cristsaid, "I hope we don't crash,"adding that the copilot expressedsome concerns the other enginewould also fail.

The delay caused Crist to can-cel events in Boca Raton.

The plane is jointly owned bytwo notable political figures:Zachariah Zachariah, a well-known GOP fundraiser who wasbacking Gallagher, the state’s ChiefFinancial Officer, in the GOP pri-mary; and George Zoley, the chair-man and CEO of the Geo Group, aprivate prison operator which over-sees some Florida prisons.

Going into the Primary, Cristhad jumped to a big lead over hisrival. According to the StrategicVision poll released less than aweek before the election, Crist ledGallagher by 16 percentage points.In a Quinnipiac University pollCrist led Gallagher by a whopping25 points (57-32 percent) amonglikely Republican voters in the gu-bernatorial primary. And, accord-ing to the SurveyUSA website,Crist was stomping Gallagheramong "likely voters" 60 -31 per-cent, with 8 percent undecided.

The Strategic Vision poll alsoshowed Crist beating the two lead-

ing Democratic primary candi-dates, Rep. Davis and Rod Smith,handily, while Gallagher eithertied or lost to them.

The SV poll was based on tele-phone interviews with 1,200 likelyvoters over the age of 18 in Flori-da, and was conducted on August25-27. The margin of sampling er-ror was plus or minus 3 percentagepoints. The Quinnipiac Universitypoll – taken August 23-28, sur-veyed 317 Florida likely Republi-can primary voters, with a marginof error of plus or minus 5.5 per-cent; and 312 likely Democraticprimary voters, with a margin oferror of plus or minus 5.6 percent– had similar results, showing Cristwith 57 percent to Gallagher's 32percent, an all but insurmountablelead according to a poll official.

"It will take a political storm alot bigger than (Tropical Storm)Ernesto to give Gallagher muchchance to defeat Crist in the GOPprimary," said Peter Brown, assis-

tant director of the QuinnipiacUniversity Polling Institute. "Itwould be hard to think of a candi-date who has blown that large alead with so little time remaininguntil the actual voting."

According to the poll, Crist’slead in the Republican race wasrelated to the fact that those likelyto vote in the Primary had a betterimpression of him than they did ofGallagher. Fifty-one percent stat-ed they had a favorable impressionof Crist, compared to only 11 per-cent who view him unfavorably. Bycomparison, 32 percent view Gal-lagher favorably, with 17 percentviewing him unfavorably.

Last Sunday, churches were thefocus of campaigning on two daysbefore the Primary, with the candi-dates speaking to congregationsacross the state.

Gallagher visited churchesfrom Pensacola to Jacksonville,while Crist visited two Jacksonvillechurches, and then flew to Fort

Lauderdale. On the Democraticside, Smith and Davis targetedmainly black and multi-ethnic vot-ers with their visits.

Campaigning in Fort Laud-erdale, Crist could barely make hisway down a sidewalk on the ritzyLas Olas Boulevard during an artsfestival, as many people came upto meet him, including at least twowho asked him to autograph theirshirts. Afterward, he visited theGreek Islands Taverna restaurant,where he ate lamb chops, drank abeer and expressed confidence.

"I'm confident, but not compla-cent," he said. "We're on about the2-yard-line now, and we just haveto punch it in."

Ever the football player atheart, he managed to just that.

TThhee aabboovvee aallssoo iinnccoorrppoorraatteessiinnffoorrmmaattiioonn ffrroomm rreeppoorrttss ppuubb--lliisshheedd bbyy tthhee FFiirrsstt CCooaasstt NNeewwssaanndd SSaarraassoottaa HHeerraalldd--TTrriibbuunnee oonnSSeepptteemmbbeerr 66..

CChhaarrlliiee CCrriisstt TTaakkeess FFlloorriiddaa’’ss GGOOPP GGuubbeerrnnaattoorriiaall NNoommiinnaattiioonn

The repairs cost a lot of money. Alot was covered by insurance, butnot all of it.

TNH: Have all your parish-ioners returned to the church?

STRATIS: No. I would sayabout two thirds of them havecome back. We are moving along,but not at the pace and speed wewanted.

TNH: In terms of numbers,how many families are registeredwith the parish?

STRATIS: It is in the two hun-dreds right now. It was around 400before the hurricane.

TNH: Where are the other200?

STRATIS: A lot of them havemoved out. We had some whocame back, and then moved outpermanently. We had a couple ofprofessors who moved out.

TNH: Where did they go?STRATIS: A lot of them went

to Texas and Florida.TNH: What do you parish-

ioners tell you of their experiencesduring those difficulty days?

STRATIS: Almost everybodyleft. Some stayed during the storm,but then they also left. One oldergentleman died during the stormitself. Many of them got a lot ofhelp from our Greek Orthodoxparishes in Houston and Shreve-port.

TNH: How are you going to beable to sustain your historic parishfinancially?

STRATIS: We were fortunateto have some reserves, so we didn’thave to wait for the insurancemoney to go on and start things upagain. I think we have the numbersright now to sustain the parish. Ofcourse, a lot depends on peoplecoming up and helping out morethan they did in the past, so it’s go-ing to be tough.

TNH: Are you planning towrite a book about your experi-ence of Katrina?

STRATIS: It would be a goodidea for the parish to do something

like this.TNH: What do you hear? Is the

city’s population satisfied with fed-eral assistance or not?

STRATIS: It depends who youask. Some people did okay as faras the government is concerned.Others struggled mightily, andthey got too little too late. As far asthe city itself is concerned, there isa different feeling that there is nosufficient direction from the city,or even from the state. Federalfunds have been made available,but one of the issues is which areasare going to be rebuilt. The ques-tion is that they don’t worry abouthere (where the church is located)because those who lived here hadsome resources to draw on, so infive or ten years, this area will be

where it was, and in even bettershape. But you have some areasthat are highly debatable whetherthey should come back or not;meantime, politicians are playingon both sides of the fence.

TNH: What was the feelingthere when news broke that Tropi-cal Storm Ernesto was approach-ing Florida?

STRATIS: People weren’t talk-ing about it that much. I had goneto Home Depot to buy someitems; it was very busy, but not asbusy as it was a year ago. The gen-eral consensus around here is wedon’t need another hurricane –not even a small one – for manyyears.

TNH: Thank you, father,STRATIS: Thank you.

HHiissttoorriicc NNeeww OOrrlleeaannss CChhuurrcchh MMaakkeessAA CCoommeebbaacckk aafftteerr HHuurrrriiccaannee KKaattrriinnaa

Weekdays 7 PM-8 PM ESTSaturday 12 PM-3:30 PM ESTSunday 9 AM-1:30 PM EST

Listen to COSMOS FM worldwide via the web: www.gaepis.org

Preserving Our Heritage With Distinction

Daily News from Greece and Cyprus ñ Culture ñ Music

Hellenic Public Radio-COSMOS FM is a production of GAEPIS, Inc.a not-for-profit media, educational organization

28-18 Steinway Street, Astoria NY 11103Tel. 718.204.8900 Fax 718.204.8931

www.gaepis.org [email protected]

EG

AC

OM

MU

NIC

AT

ION

S IN

C. N

YC

The Greek Voice of New YorkThe Greek Voice of New YorkContinued from page 1


RReevv.. AAnntthhoonnyy SSttrraattiiss,, ppaassttoorr ooff tthhee HHoollyy TTrriinniittyy CCaatthheeddrraall iinn NNeeww OOrr--lleeaannss,, ssttaannddss iinnssiiddee tthhee cchhuurrcchh,, wwhhiicchh ssuussttaaiinneedd sseevveerree ddaammaaggeess dduurr--iinngg HHuurrrriiccaannee KKaattrriinnaa llaasstt yyeeaarr.. FFaatthheerr SSttrraattiiss ssaaiidd tthhee hhiissttoorriicc ppaarriisshhiiss ggeettttiinngg bbaacckk oonn ttrraacckk..

FFlloorriiddaa AAttttoorrnneeyy GGeenneerraall CChhaarrlliiee CCrriisstt,, rriigghhtt,, tthhee RReeppuubblliiccaann gguubbeerrnnaattoorriiaall nnoommiinneeee,, ssiittss wwiitthh hhiiss mmootthheerr,,NNaannccyy,, aass hhee wwaattcchheess tthhee pprriimmaarryy rreettuurrnnss tthhiiss ppaasstt TTuueessddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 55,, iinn SStt.. PPeetteerrssbbuurrgg..

FFlloorriiddaa AAttttoorrnneeyy GGeenneerraall CChhaarrlliiee CCrriisstt,, rriigghhtt,, hhuuggss hhiiss ffaatthheerr,, DDrr.. CChhaarrlleess CCrriisstt SSrr..,, ffoolllloowwiinngg hhiiss wwiinn iinn tthheepprriimmaarryy eelleeccttiioonn ttoo bbeeccoommee tthhee GGOOPP ccaannddiiddaattee ffoorr GGoovveerrnnoorr tthhiiss ppaasstt TTuueessddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 55.. CCrriisstt hhaadd 6644ppeerrcceenntt ooff tthhee vvoottee ttoo 3344 ppeerrcceenntt ffoorr TToomm GGaallllaagghheerr,, tthhee ssttaattee''ss cchhiieeff ffiinnaanncciiaall ooffffiicceerr..

AP/PHIL COALE

AP/PHIL COALE

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 HISTORY 5

Greek American Readers areperhaps most familiar with Geor-gakas’ writings through hisdecades of publication in the com-munity press. It was during themid-1980’s, in the now fabled ex-change between Georgakas andCharles Moskos, one of the coun-try’s pre-eminent sociologists,when a discussion about the verynature and future of Greek Amer-ica took place across the pages ofthe Greek American press.

Ultimately, the achievement ofthis lively exchange was nothingless than the revitalization ofGreek American Studies, spear-headed by the groundbreakingbook of essays, “New Directions inGreek American Studies” (Pella,New York: 1991).

With the most recent gatheringof essays in the latest issue of theJournal of Modern Hellenism, cer-tainly more than one sharp-eyedreader will note that 2004-05 is notwhat a nonacademic would auto-matically label “most recent.” Butherein lies the first clue about sus-tained academic labor: This vol-ume has just been released!

With Greek American Studiesbeing something of a stealth sub-field, at best, only someone as de-voted as Georgakas could weatherthe often exceedingly long roadfrom inception to publication.

Yet Georgakas’ real abilitydoes not rest merely in sheer bull-dog endurance. His true ability,evident in any of the special jour-nal issues one would care to name,is reflected by his careful selectionand thoughtful juxtaposing of writ-ers. Academics and non-aca-demics, community leaders or stu-dents, poets as well as veteranGreek American journalists, allsee inclusion in Georgakas’ criti-cally self-conscious selection ofwhat can only be called “voices.”

Georgakas is a product of anolder school of writing and educa-tion than is now prevalent. Not on-ly must the essays included in hisedited volumes have real-worldsubstance, they must also convey

that information in a way which at-tends to the very basics of goodwriting. That this is so fundamen-tally different from the vast major-ity of academic journals is a clichéwhich is, regrettably, based on fact.I am not suggesting that all thesewriters are sympathetic to eachother’s points of view – far from it.Variation is not only the spice oflife, but also makes for a more in-teresting and compelling readingexperience. Very often, writerswithin the same issue offer force-ful and convincing, as well as wellwritten, essays which, at times, cantotally disagree with one another.

Georgakas’ own, “The Nowand Future Greek America:Strategies for Survival,” opens thevolume. From the very first sen-tence, he sets the tone of his analy-sis: “The major concern of GreekAmerica at the turn of the 21stCentury is the same as at the onsetof the Great Migration of 1900-1924 one hundred years earlier:How can Greek identity be re-tained in America?”

As a close observer and long-time researcher on things Greek inNorth America, Prof. Georgakasoffers an evaluation which sub-scribes to no position other thanhis cool appraisal of the existingfacts. He concludes that, essential-ly, Greeks in America have solvedtheir own problem since a “bi-na-tional identity has risen sponta-neously as a means for individualsto maintain their Greek identity inAmerica.” He also urges that thisnascent identity be encouraged onall levels.

After Georgakas’ analytic pre-sentation, we find three essays onliterature and then three on histo-ry.

The first of the literary essays is“Albert Isaac Bezzerides: Trans-lating Ethnicity from Fiction toFilm” by Yiorgos D. Kalogeras.Here Kalogeras offers an extreme-ly detailed examination of not sim-ply Bezzerides’ work, but his owndeveloping sense of ethnic identi-ty. Given that Bezzerides is de-scended from an Armenian moth-er and a Greek father, this selec-

tion process, if you will, is what ab-sorbs most of Kalogeras’ thinking.While Kalogeras moves effortless-ly between Bezzerides’ novels,films and personal comments, Iwill leave it for the reader to de-cide if he has successfully made hiscase for why, or if, Bezzerides con-sciously chose the Greek over theArmenian identity.

“Cultural Roots and Reloca-tions in Greek American Poetry”by Anastasia Stefanidou is next,and here we find a discussion of anamazing array of poets such asChristophoros Agritellis, Theo-dosis Athas, Lili Bita, Miranda Pa-paretou Cambanis, RosemaryMarangoly George, YoulikaKotsovolou Masry and many oth-ers. How their poetry; the lan-guage in which they compose thatpoetry; and the subjects they dis-cuss all facilitate, limit or create aspace in which they express theirnew lives is at the heart of heranalysis. So much more is at workhere – especially just learningabout how many contemporaryGreek American poets are at work

– that anyone will be enriched bycarefully reviewing this sometimesdensely written article.

“Vaka Brown: The HistoricizedGeography/Geographic History ofan Immigrant” by Elefteria Ara-poglou reviews the work of thefirst self-conscious Greek Ameri-can female author. Arapoglou, aswell as Stefanidou, are building onthe work of Kalogeras, who has pi-oneered something of a resur-gence in the study of Greek Amer-ican literature. We can only com-mend any and all efforts in such anenterprise.

The historical section beginswith “Immigrant Entrepreneursand the Formation of Chicago’s“Greektown,” 1890-1921” by LaneDemas, which argues that the de-velopment of a Greek business dis-trict served to anchor the Greekresidents of the neighborhood.Next we have “Greeks in Kansasand Western Missouri 1900-1940”by Victoria Foth Sherry, which astraightforward historical accountof great value based on extensivefieldwork. Complimenting the first

two historical entries is the finelywritten historical memoir, “AGreek Priest’s Family in Mid-20thCentury Mid-America” by PhiliaGeotes Hayes.

A document section follows.Here, Georgakas offers to boththe academic community and thepublic at-large original documentson the Greek American experi-ence.

The first is “Proposal for Peo-pling his Majesty’s SouthernColonies on the Continent ofAmerica,” written by ArchibaldMenzies in 1763, which is said tobe the pamphlet which inspiredDr. Andrew Turnbull to establishthe New Smyrna Colony. “TheGrosse Pointe ‘Point’ System andGreek Americans” is Georgakas’review of the system employed forredlining this exclusive suburb justnorth of Detroit in the mid-1960’s.“Christodoulos M.L. Evangelides(1815-1881): An Early GreekAmerican Educator and Lobbyist”is drawn from Constantine G.Hatzidimitriou’s lecture notes.

Outside of Georgakas’ essay,

nothing in this volume deals withthe future, at all. The literature an-alyzed, the events reviewed by thehistorians and, most certainly, thedocument section all deal with thepast. So why preface such a collec-tion with a discussion of the fu-ture?

Greek America is at a cross-roads. We can either slowly assimi-late, or we can engage in a deter-mined revitalization. There is noother choice. Assuming the readeris interested in the continuation ofHellenic culture in North Ameri-ca, several questions immediatelyspring forth: How do we do it?How do we organize ourselves to-ward revitalization? How do weemploy our common past or ourshared cultural treasures to fuel acollective rejuvenation? This spe-cial issue offers a forum to beginthinking about how we are goingto accomplish those dauntingtasks.

RReeaaddeerrss iinntteerreesstteedd iinn ccoonnttaacctt--iinngg MMrr.. FFrraannggooss aarree ffrreeee ttoo ee--mmaaiillhhiimm aatt ggrreeeekkwwrriittee@@yyaahhoooo..ccoomm..

RReeaaddiinnggss oonn tthhee FFuuttuurree ooff GGrreeeekk AAmmeerriiccaa

On September 6, 1955 crimesagainst humanity took place in acountry which was a member ofNATO. The Turkish Governmentunder Adnan Menderes incitedterrorism against the Hellenes ofConstantinople and Imbros. First,the Turks bombed their own con-sulate in Thessaloniki and thenblamed the Greeks. Then they or-ganized fanatics and criminals,and encouraged them to attackTurkey’s Greeks, their Churches,homes and businesses.

In Smyrna, Greek Army offi-cers serving with NATO were as-saulted, and their wives were vio-lated. Throughout these terroristattacks, the Turkish Police did notinterfere.

During these attacks in Con-stantinople, Imbros and Smyrna,there were no condemnations,protests or sanctions coming fromWashington. Following theSeptember 6 pogroms, Secretaryof State John Foster Dulles wroteidentical letters to Greek PrimeMinister Alexander Papagos andTurkish Prime Minister Menderesurging the “allies” to consider NA-TO. There was no sympathy ex-pressed for Greece, nor was thereany condemnation of Turkey’s bla-tant aggression.

In the 1960’s, Turkish authori-ties proceeded to finish the job byethnically cleansing the remainingremnants of Hellenism.

Under the terms of the agree-ment regarding the exchange ofpopulations in the 1923 Treaty ofLausanne, the Greek populationof Constantinople – a thrivingcommunity – and the Muslim com-munity residing in Western Thracewere exempted from the exchangeprocess.

In the beginning of the 20thCentury there were 300,000Greeks residing in Constantino-ple.

They had managed to survive,despite centuries of oppressionand persecution under the Ot-toman yoke. But the Turks weredetermined to expel all Greeksfrom Asia Minor using all avail-able means. Thus, the Turks sys-tematically used the followingmeasures in order to accomplishtheir objective:

A. In May 1941, large num-bers of young men ranging in agefrom 18-38 were conscripted into

the Turkish army from the Greekand Armenian communities. Theintention was to exterminate theseyoung men through the well-known method of “forced-laborbattalions.” If this exterminationplan was not successful, it was dueto protests from the Western alliesand the defeat of the Germans inStalingrad in December 1942. See-ing the tides of war shifting, Turk-ish authorities permitted the dis-charge of these soldiers.

B. On 11 November 1942,the Turkish Government passed alaw regarding taxation of propertyof non-Muslims. Through this law,non-Muslim citizens had to sub-mit, without right of appeal, to thediscretion and arbitrary judgmentof Turkish tax clerks. The taxclerks, in turn, were instructed toappraise property at amountsmany times more than the actualvalue of each property. Then, ifthe individual concerned was un-able to make payments, the prop-erty was seized and the unfortu-nate owners were exiled to Anato-lia.

As a result these harsh and in-

humane measures, only 25,000people of Greek heritage were leftin Constantinople, rather than450,000 which should have beentheir numbers, given a normal rateof population growth in 35 years.

On the night of the 6 Septem-ber 1955, and using the Cyprus sit-uation as a pretext, the Turks dealttheir coup de grace to Con-stantinople’s remaining Greek in-habitants. The whole story of thispogrom is as follows:

On Saturday, 3 September1955, the wife of the Turkish Con-sul in Thessaloniki asked for, andreceived, from a photographer inThessaloniki a series of pho-tographs and films of the TurkishConsulate and the neighboringhome where Mustafa KemalAtaturk was born (supposedly fora keepsake). The very next day,she and her family left for Turkey.

At ten past midnight on 6September 1955, in the garden ofthe Consulate, between the twobuildings, dynamite exploded,breaking windows in both build-ings. Greek authorities rushed im-mediately to the scene. They es-

tablished that two more explosivedevices had been positioned in theConsulate yard, and that withinthe building, there was only oneTurkish guard. In the investigationwhich followed, it was determinedthat the explosives were placedthere by the guard and his accom-plice, a Turkish student at the Uni-versity of Thessaloniki LawSchool, Oktai Egin Faik, who hadbrought the dynamite from Turkeya few days earlier.

On September 6, Turkish news-papers – using forged versions ofthe photos of the Turkish consul’swife, and even before the explo-sion actually took place in Greece– depicted Ataturk’s birthplace astotally destroyed. By evening,newspapers all over Turkey knewof the alleged destruction of hishome, setting off waves of angeramong the Turkish populace.

Turkish authorities then trans-ported large groups of people intrains and military vehicles fromAnatolia to Constantinople.

The attack by the angry mobsbegan at 5:50 PM on September 6and ended at 2 AM on September

7. The police calmly assisted andeven guided the mobs in their re-lentless path of destruction.

Martial law was finally declared12:20 AM on the 7 September1955. The curfew began at 2 AM,and by 2:30 AM, Turkish authori-ties had restored a semblance oforder.

Screaming slogans like, “todayyour property, tomorrow yourlives,” the mobs had perpetratedterrible crimes. Those who guidedthem knew that, by terrorizingthem, the remaining Greek resi-dents of Constantinople would becompelled to desert their homesand properties, once and for all.Moreover, by destroying monu-ments which were proof of Con-stantinople’s glorious Greek past,they would eradicate even futurereminders of the Greek presence.

The results of the vandalismswere…

1. The Theological Schoolof Halki, the Marasleios School,the Monastery of Valoukli, theZappeion School for Girls andmany other sites, suffered greatdamage.

2. Of the 83 Greek Ortho-dox churches in Constantinople,59 were burned, and most otherssuffered serious damage to theicons and ancient paintings ofgreat value.

3. The tombs of patriarchswere destroyed; Christian ceme-teries and ossuaries were defiled.

4. 3,000 homes were lootedand destroyed.

5. 4,348 Greek-ownedstores were looted and destroyed.

6. 200 Greek women wereraped.

7. Hundreds of Greeks wereill-treated or tortured, such as oldBishop of Derkon; MetropolitanGennadios of Ilioupolis, whosebeard was cut off, and who wasthen dragged through the streets,left to die shortly thereafter fromill-treatment; and the Bishop ofPamphilos, who was thrown intothe burned ruins of ValoukliMonastery.

8. 15 Greeks were mur-dered; among them, Chrysosto-mos Mantas, a 90-year-old monkat the Valoukli Monastery, whowas burned alive. Many others inthe monastery were seriouslywounded.

After the pogrom, a great por-tion of the Greek population fledConstantinople.

In 1964, 12,000 Greeks whowere protected by the Treaty ofLausanne were deported from thecity by the Turkish Government.They took with them 3-4 timestheir number in relatives andfriends. Therefore, in the years1964-66, 48,000 Greeks wereforced to abandon their ancestralhomes.

On the 20 September 1975, in aspecial 35-page survey section, TheEconomist reported as follows:“Turkish charges that the Moslempopulation in Western Thrace isharried by the Greek authoritiesare gross exaggerations. In 1923,there were 300,000 Greeks living inConstantinople and 110,000 Turksliving in Thrace. Today, there are15,000 Greeks living in Istanbuland 120,000 Turks in Thrace. TheGreeks ask, with some justifica-tion, which country has beenputting the pressure on which mi-nority.”

It is important to realize that,today, only 2,000 Greeks still re-main in Constantinople.

Black September: Destruction of the Greek Community in Constantinople

II.. JJaammeessoonn’’ss CChhrroonniicclleessVVoolluummee II .................... $6.95

VVoolluummee IIII .................. $6.95

BBOOTTHH FFOORR ..............$$1122..0000

WWrriittiinnggss ooff HHaarrrriiss PP.. JJaammeessoonn

IIII.. NNoovveell ““FFoorr SSuullllyy’’ss SSaakkee””........$10.25AALLLL TTHHRREEEE FFOORR ............................ $$2200..0000

NAME: ________________________________________________ADDRESS: ____________________________________________CITY: ________________________STATE: ____ ZIP: ________

MMaaiill ttoo:: JJaammeessoonn’’ss CChhrroonniicclleess3377 CCeennttrraall SStt..,, WWaakkeeffiieelldd,, MMAA 0011888800--11775555

TThhee NNaattiioonnaall HHeerraalldd

Travelling to the Landof the Ancient Gods?

Now, when in Greece,don’t miss an issue ofThe National Herald.Sold at newsstandswherever foreign languagenewspapers andmagazines are found.

CCaallll ((771188)) 778844--55225555ffoorr mmoorree iinnffoo


TTuurrkkiisshh ttaannkkss rroolllliinngg iinnttoo CCoonnssttaannttiinnooppllee aafftteerr mmaarrttiiaall llaaww wwaass ddee--ccllaarreedd ttoo ppuutt aann ooffffiicciiaall eenndd ttoo aa ccaarreeffuullllyy oorrcchheessttrraatteedd ppooggrroomm aaggaaiinnsstttthhee cciittyy’’ss GGrreeeekkss iinn SSeepptteemmbbeerr 11995555..

AAnn oovveerrttuurrnneedd ccaarr iinnddiiccaatteess aa rreemmoottee ffrraaccttiioonn ooff tthhee ddeessttrruuccttiioonn aannddvvaannddaalliissmm ppeerrppeettrraatteedd bbyy rraabbiidd TTuurrkkiisshh mmoobbss aaggaaiinnsstt CCoonnssttaannttiinnoo--ppllee’’ss GGrreeeekk ccoommmmuunniittyy dduurriinngg tthhee ppooggrroomm ooff SSeepptteemmbbeerr 66--77,, 11995555..

6 SPORTS THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

But history lessons aside, theloss to Spain, though a stingingone, does not take away everythingfrom what was an otherwise splen-did performance by Greece over-all. And beating the U.S., a teamloaded with NBA stars, is no smallaccomplishment and simply cannot be dismissed.

Houston Rockets-boundVasilis Spanoulis scored 22 pointsin the semifinal last Friday, asGreece used a sizzling stretch ofshooting across the middle twoquarters to turn a 12-point deficitinto a 14-point lead and beat theU.S., a team loaded with NBAstars.

“They played like a championplays,” United States forwardShane Battier said of Greece.

Michalis Kakiouzis added 15for Greece and 6-foot-10 SofoklisSchortsianites – nicknamed “BabyShaq” – added 14, shooting 6-of-7.The Greeks shot 63 percent (35-of-56) from the field and made 31out of 44 shots across the finalthree periods.

“Basketball is not just aboutdribbling and shooting,” saidGreece Coach Panagiotis Yan-nakis, who took a congratulatorycall from Greek Prime MinisterCostas Karamanlis after the game.“You can come off the bench witha clear mind and give the best ofyour talent, and that's what ourplayers did today.”

The European ChampionGreeks – with no current NBAplayers on their roster – danced ina circle at halfcourt after their vic-tory over the Americans.

“Big players play big games,”said guard Theodoros Papaloukas,the MVP of the 2005 European fi-nal who had 12 assists in the semi-final game. “And today I think weplayed very well.”

Done in again by their inept 3-point shooting – and they weren’tmuch better from the foul line –the Americans fell short of achampionship in a major interna-tional tournament for the thirdstraight time.

Carmelo Anthony scored 27points for the Americans, whocouldn’t overcome their 32 per-cent shooting from 3-point rangeor 59 percent from the foul line.Dwyane Wade added 19 and Le-Bron James had 17, but the threeU.S. captains were unable toavenge their disappointment fromAthens.

“To lose any game is a shock tous. We came in with the mentalityto win the game and the goldmedal,” Anthony said.

“Those guys are hurting,” saidUSA Basketball Managing Direc-tor Jerry Colangelo, who was putin charge of the program after asixth-place finish in the 2002worlds preceded the disappoint-ment in Athens.

The United States hasn’t evenplayed for a world championshipsince winning the last of its threetitles in Toronto in 1994. CoachMike Krzyzewski of Duke Univer-sity – who was looking for gold af-ter winning bronze with the 1990team – and a few American playerswalked to midcourt to congratu-

late the Greeks, while most oftheir teammates quickly headed tothe locker room.

The Americans, who ultimatelyhad to settle for third place afterbeating Argentina 96-81 last Sat-urday, September 2, put together anational team program this yearfor the first time after their recentfailures, and are now forced toqualify for the 2008 Olympics nextsummer in the FIBA Americastournament in Venezuela.

The United States seemed incontrol after Joe Johnson’s 3-pointer gave the Americans a 33-21 lead with about 6:30 left in thesecond quarter. It was around thenthat James told his teammates onthe bench: “They don’t know whatto do.”

Well, the Greeks figured it outin a hurry.

Greece scored nine straightpoints, pulling within three onTheodoros Papaloukas’ drive with3:51 left and forcing Krzyzewski tocall a timeout. Dwight Howardconverted a three-point play, butthe Greeks answered with a 13-2surge, featuring eight points fromSchortsianites, to open a 43-38 ad-vantage and force Krzyzewski tocall a second timeout.

Greece hit nine straight shots –its only miss in the last 5 minuteswas a heave from halfcourt as timeexpired – and led 45-41 at half-time. The Greeks shot 56 percent(15-of-27) in the half.

The Americans were 2-of-10from behind the arc – after going10-for-40 in their quarterfinal vic-tory over Germany, which Greecepummeled 84-47 in the final of theStankovic Intercontinental CupTournament in China, a presti-gious warmup for the WorldChampionships – and trailed atthe break for only the second timein the tournament.

The United States also hadnine turnovers – about two belowtheir tournament average for a

game – and was 11-of-17 (65 per-cent) at the foul line.

Greece kept it up in the thirdquarter, hitting 14 of its 18 shots,including all four 3-pointers in thefirst five minutes. Kostas Tsart-saris’ 3-pointer with 5:45 left in theperiod gave the Greeks a 65-51

lead – the biggest deficit the Unit-ed States faced in the tournament.

After shooting 4-of-12 in thefirst quarter, Greece was 25-of-33(76 percent) in the second andthird, and led 77-65 heading to thefinal period.

“It seemed like they didn’t miss

the whole third quarter,” Wadesaid.

Anthony, Wade and Jamescombined for the first 18 UnitedStates’ points in the fourth quar-ter, and the Americans eventuallygot as close as 95-91 on Kirk Hin-rich’s 3-point field goal with 36seconds to play. But the UnitedStates missed its final two attemptsfrom behind the arc, capping a 9-of-28 night.

In Athens, thousands of Greeksdanced in the streets, waved flagsand honked car horns to celebratethe upset victory.

“This is the biggest thing we’veever done,” former Greek starPanayiotis Fasoulas said. “TheAmericans are the most talentedplayers, but we have a better team.Right now, we’re the best in theworld. Beating the U.S. is evenmore important than the final.”

Offices and services came to astandstill as Greeks all overGreece watched the game, andthen left their workplace to cele-brate. Workers at one downtownoffice threw hundreds of sheets ofpaper out of windows onto a cele-brating crowd.

Prime Minister Karamanlis cutscheduled meetings short to watchthe end of the game, and ex-pressed gratitude to the Greek na-tional team.

“I wonder if a ‘thank you’ isenough, but I feel the need to say ittwice over to Coach Yannakis andhis guys,” Karamanlis said in astatement.

Chanting “Lift the cup,” fanswaved Greece’s blue-and-whiteflags and car horns blared, as mid-day parties sprang up in Athensand Thessaloniki, Greece’s secondlargest city.

Traffic-information screensflashed the final score, as mo-torists abandoned their cars to joincelebrating crowds. Teenagers setoff firecrackers and waved flags onmopeds as they headed to the cen-

ter of Athens.Cellular phone signals were in-

terrupted by the high volume ofcalls and text messages after thegame.

Thanassis Mallios, a kiosk own-er in Athens’ central Syntagma(Constitution) Square, sold Greekflags to passing fans. “All the smallones have been snapped up. Nowwe're selling the big ones,” he ssaid. A few yards away, revelerswrapped a flag around the shoul-ders of a Presidential Guard onduty outside the Hellenic Parlia-ment.

“This is a great moment for us –the biggest in our basketball histo-ry. Today the Americans bowed tous,” Sports Minister George Or-fanos, who watched the game inJapan, told Greek state television.“We were very strong. We’ve nev-er had a victory like this.”

Finance Minister George Alo-goskoufis, who watched the gamewith Mr. Karamanlis in Athens,agreed: “We’ve already given in-structions for the team to get itsbonus. To score a hundred pointsagainst America – that’s incredi-ble.”

Along the way, Greece over-came a terrible first quarter withan impressive third period andeventually crushed the HoustonRockets’ Yao Ming and China 95-64 on August 27, advancing to itsquarterfinal showdown withFrance on August 30, easily elimi-nating the French team 73-56.

The 7-foot-5 Ming, who en-tered the game against Greece asthe tournament’s leading scorerwith a 28.4 average, was unable toget the ball down low because histeammates usually turned it overbefore they had a chance to eventry to get it to him.

Greece coach Panagiotis Yan-nakis said his team did just what heasked in defending a player ofYao’s size and talent.

“We knew if he got the ball theway he wanted every time, he canscore so many in every way," Yan-nakis said. “We don't have enoughbig guys to thwart his shots, so wehad to keep the ball away fromhim for better results.”

Theodoros Papaloukas had 19points for Greece, which commit-ted just three turnovers while forc-ing China into 24.

“As the time was passing, Ithink we started to play our de-fense. And after, it was easy forus,” Papaloukas said. “This is theway we play. We try to force thegame in our rhythm by playing likethis, by pressing. We have bigguards, and all of our players arevery clever.”

But after downing the Ameri-can juggernaut, the Greeks (8-1)ran out of gas against Spain (9-0),with the injured Gasol cheering histeammates from the bench.

When Gasol broke his foot withabout a minute left in Spain’s 75-74 semifinal win over Argentina,his team’s gold medal hopesdimmed considerably, especiallyconsidering Greece’s near perfectperformance against the UnitedStates.

Gasol came out of the players’

AAfftteerr JJuubbiillaanntt WWiinn OOvveerr UU..SS..,, GGrreeeeccee SShhoowwss AAnnxxiieettyy aanndd LLaacckk

By Doug Smith The Toronto Star

TORONTO – Off they went to celebrate and greetthe dawn, disengaged from their group hugs, clamor-ing from the chairs they had been standing on as theycheered the most unlikely of basketball moments.

Sprinting down the stairs from the second-floorsports club, they raced, yelling, singing, chanting andwaving the flags they'd worn as capes for a frenetictwo hours of watching sports history unfold.

As much of the city slept early that Friday night,some of its most passionate sports fans sat transfixedin the home of the Olympiakos fan club just off theDanforth, a hundred or so of them filling nearly everychair in the room.

They cheered. They jeered. They screamed at eachother, and at the handful of televisions around theroom. They drank coffee and water and argued andhugged.

Then they celebrated – as only the Greeks can cel-ebrate: Long. Loud. And, eventually, in the middle ofthe Danforth. Because that's what they do.

"For us, this is amazing," said John Manaitis, who'djust spent the wee hours of the morning watching ontelevision as his beloved Hellas upset the mighty Unit-ed States 101-95 at the World Basketball Champi-onships in Japan.

"It is unbelievable. What a moment for Greece," hesaid.

And what a night for Greeks. Here's how it unfold-ed.

3:15 AM. The Olympiakos club room is about half

full, the patrons sitting amid the team photos andreplica jerseys and trophies which pay homage tosports heroes back home.

There may even be a supporter or two of archrivalPan-Athenaikos in the house, toting the blue andwhite of Greece, rather than their club colors.

Ten minutes later, the first cry of Hellas goes upfrom the crowd. It's going to be quite a ride. A minuteinto the game, when Lazaros Papadopoulous makes ahook shot for a 2-0 lead, it's like the Greeks have wonthe game.

"Just a close game, a good game, that's what wewant," says Tony Tsakanikas, who sits next to his fa-ther Yiannis along one wall, watching intently.

4:10 AM. Things aren't going so well. The Ameri-cans lead; the Greeks can't get near the basket; andthe only thing the crowd wants to see is one of its fa-vorites do something.

And it's apparent that Sofoklis Schortsianites iswho these folks want to see. He's listed as 6-foot-10and, luckily for him, the FIBA stats pages don't list aweight because he's 300 pounds if he's an ounce.Some folks call him Baby Shaq, a television commen-tator tabbed him Baby Tractor Trailer.

As the Greeks fall behind by eight, nine, ten, he'sthe object of scorn. When he misses a dunk, ,the jointerupts in laughter.

"They are too strong," Manaitis says of the Ameri-cans.

Maybe.4:25 AM. The place goes nuts when Baby Whatev-

er dunks to give Greece its first lead, part of a 22-5 runwhich turns the game on its ear.

The room is hopping, just like the 20-somethingkids at one end, who are far more emotional, but notmore vocal, than the older gentlemen who occupythe other end of the room.

4:30 AM. Halftime, the joint empties out likesomeone lit off a stink bomb. Smoke time. Even pri-vate clubs have to follow the rules. Pape Avenue isdead, the only noise coming from the gaggle of gen-tlemen puffing and talking on the sidewalk.

4:45 AM. John Giannakos has become a littlerestless sitting in his front-row seat in front of the im-pressive flat-screen television which dominates oneend of the room. He'd like to move back a row tohang with his buddies; curse the game when it'scalled for; smack his hands together; and let out acheer when something good happens.

He'd like to. But he can't. After all, Greece leadsgoing into the fourth quarter, and the crowd, at leastthis portion of it, is a superstitious lot. So back goesGiannakos to his regular seat, chided by his buddiesfor having the audacity to move.

"Okay, okay. I stay," he says. "This works."5 AM. At the other end of the room, the young

guys are dancing and chanting ("Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole"breaks out frequently). It's doubtful any of themhave been home, and the effects of a long night arestarting to show. They are in full throat when theGreeks take a commanding lead and victory seemsassured, rattling off a chorus which could wake theneighborhood.

An interloper leans over to Tsakanikas to find outwhat they are saying.

"It's gibberish," he says. "But they're having fun."

Greece might beat the United States for the firsttime ever in basketball. Of course it's fun.

5:28 AM. The impossible becomes the possible;history is vanquished; the Americans are beaten; andthe joint is jumping.

Chris Paul's desperation three from the cornerbounces off the rim with less than two seconds left.Theodoros Papaloukas knocks the rebound towardmidcourt at the Saitama Super Arena in suburbanTokyo, and the party begins on Pape Avenue inToronto.

It's been a long night of revelry, emotion and en-thusiasm, but there is still a tradition to be followed.About a minute after the game ends in a 101-95Greek win, and a minute of yelling and dancing andsinging and chanting "Hel-las, Hel-las" until theirvoices are almost done, the youngest sect of theovernight crowd makes for the street.

Off they go, horns honking and flags waving."Amazing," says Giannakos. "What a game for

Greece."And this little part of Toronto.5:38 AM. A few blocks down from Pape, at Lo-

gan, there's a bit of a commotion. About 40 revelersfrom the club, those who gave up a night to cheer fortheir country, are in the middle of the street, stop-ping traffic, telling confused drivers what has hap-pened. Letting everyone know that Greece has slainthe mighty U.S.

It's unbridled joy. The time be damned.

TThhee TToorroonnttoo SSttaarr ppuubblliisshheedd tthhee aabboovvee oonnSSeepptteemmbbeerr 22..

Cry HEL-LAS: Greek Win Over U.S. Has Fans Dancing Until Dawn in Toronto

Continued on page 7

GGrreeeeccee''ss MMiicchhaalliiss KKaakkiioouuzziiss ((1155)),, rriigghhtt,, KKoossttaass TTssaarrttssaarriiss,, cceenntteerr,,aanndd AAnnttoonniiss FFoottssiiss,, lleefftt,, cceelleebbrraattee tthheeiirr uuppsseett vviiccttoorryy oovveerr TTeeaamm UUSSAAdduurriinngg tthhee sseemmiiffiinnaallss ooff tthhee WWoorrlldd BBaasskkeettbbaallll CChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss iinnSSaaiittaammaa,, JJaappaann llaasstt FFrriiddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 11..


FFaannss wwaavvee GGrreeeekk ffllaaggss iinn AAtthheennss’’ OOmmoonniiaa SSqquuaarree llaasstt FFrriiddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 11.. TThhoouussaannddss ooff GGrreeeekkss rraann oouutt ooff tthheeiirr ooffffiicceess aanndd hhoommeess aanndd oonnttoo tthheessttrreeeettss ooff tthhee GGrreeeekk ccaappiittaall aanndd ootthheerr cciittiieess ttoo cceelleebbrraattee tthhee GGrreeeekk NN nnaattiioonnaall bbaasskkeettbbaallll tteeaamm’’ss 110011--9955 vviiccttoorryy oovveerr tthhee UUnniitteedd SSttaatteess aatt tthheeWWoorrlldd BBaasskkeettbbaallll CChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss iinn JJaappaann..

AP/ITSUO INOUYE

AP/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 SPORTS 7

By Bob RyanChicago Tribune

SAITAMA, Japan – There is a simple reason whythe United States played Argentina in the bronze-medal game rather than Spain for the gold.

There is a reason why there were Greek basket-ball players dancing in a circle at midcourt after theyplayed the Americans on September 1. There is areason why Greek coach Panagiotis Yannakis wasaccepting the congratulations of his prime ministervia cell phone minutes after the conclusion of thesemifinal game. There is a reason the place to be onthis Earth was anywhere in Greece last Friday.

USA Coach Mike Krzyzewski will give you thereason: "We lost to a team that played a great game,"Coach K said.

Yes, it's true. Team USA lost to Greece by a 101-95 score. The Greeks now join the Argentines(twice), Yugoslavians (OK, Serbians and Montene-grans, but they were "Yugoslavians" to the IOC),Spaniards, Puerto Ricans and Lithuanians as con-querors of the USA in this New World Order of in-ternational basketball. Beating the NBA representa-tives is no longer a miracle on Earth. It is an accept-ed rite of passage for any upstanding basketballcountry.

I must admit. I didn't see this one coming. Spainand Argentina? Trouble there, and everyone knew

it. But the Greeks?"Don't ask me how they ever won the European

championships." That's what I was saying. TheGreeks are always slow, and they can never shoot.No one is tougher, or plays harder, but the tradition-al Greek team of the 1990's was always a classicwannabe.

But this Greek team has nothing in common withthose other squads. This Greek team has the game ofbasketball figured out.

Its calling card en route to a 7-0 record enteringthe game against the USA was defense.

"Defense is the coach's heart," is the wayKrzyzewski had put it, the coach being Panagiotis"Pano" Yannakis, a cagey fellow who has both playedon (1987) and coached (2005) a European champi-on.

Defense, Defense, Defense. That's what Pano hasbeen preaching to his team. Offense was a matter ofsharing and caring. The Greeks entered this gamewith eight men averaging between 7 and 11 pointsper game. There was no "go-to" guy.

So what were the Greeks doing running up 101points on the Americans? In his wildest and craziestfantasies, Pano Yannakis never dreamed he'd everbeat the Americans by scoring 101.

And maybe it all was a fluke, but if it was, it wasthe most artistic fluke in the history of the worldchampionships. For after struggling to create offense

during the first quarter in the face of some sternAmerican defense, and after falling behind 33-21, 14and a half minutes into the game, the Greeks turnedinto an offensive monster, outscoring the stunnedNBA guys 44-18 over the next 9:46 to go up by 14and, frankly, never did much in the way of lookingback.

How did they do this? Better yet, how didn't they?They must have run the same pick-and-roll play suc-cessfully at least 84 times. They nailed threes. Theyposted up. The fairly amazing final stat sheet re-vealed that Greece had shot 63 percent overall and71 percent (27-for-38) on twos.

The Americans? Well, they shot a very re-spectable 50 percent overall and 63 percent on twos(24-for-38). They were good. But the Greeks werebetter.

"We talked about the high pick-and-roll they wererunning. We tried to make adjustments, but theywere running the same play," said the USA's ChrisBosh.

"They had one screen-and-roll," confirmed Le-Bron James, "and the big guy – and he is a big guy –rolling in front of our guards. It caused matchupproblems, and we just couldn't stop it."

In case you're wondering, the 12-man Greek ros-ter contains no current NBA players, although guardVassilis Spanoulis is expected to be signing with theHouston Rockets and that aforementioned "big guy,"

Sofoklis Schortsianites, is expected to find his way in-to the NBA someday (he's already a 2003 Los Ange-les Clippers draft pick).

Schortsianites goes by the nickname of "BabyShaq," you see, which is what happens when you are6-10 or so and weighing somewhere between 300 andmeat scale. As the product of an Nigerian father anda Greek mother, he is somewhat hard to miss whenthe Greeks take the floor.

Baby Shaq had himself a nice little game, scoringsix straight points (of his 14) during a key second-quarter stretch when the game momentum waschanging around irrevocably. The young fellow hasno lift, but he has the wide body and good hands, anda good feel for the game.

That first loss to Argentina back in 2002 was ashock. Then the USA lost two more, and everybodyripped the players. Then came the failure in Athens.

Now that the USA team of NBA players hasfailed to win a major championship for the third timein succession, Americans might finally be getting themessage. It's not "our game" anymore. It's every-one's. If we don't play good basketball, we can loseto any Emanus, Mindaugauses and Mihalises wemay happen to encounter – any time and anywhere.

TThhee CChhiiccaaggoo TTrriibbuunnee ppuubblliisshheedd tthhee aabboovvee oonnSSeepptteemmbbeerr 22.. MMrr.. RRyyaann iiss aa ccoolluummnniisstt ffoorr tthheeBBoossttoonn GGlloobbee..

Sorry, America – Greece is the Word: Greek Team’s Performance Stuns NBA Stars

tunnel before the game on crutch-es, wearing his red warmup topand jeans. As he sat on the benchwhile the teams were warming up,Schortsianites and Coach Yan-nakis came over to him for visits.

Felipe Reyes started in Gasol’splace and had 10 points in the firsthalf – one less than he had in thewhole tournament (he was limitedto three games because of backproblems).

Everything went Spain’s way, asit took a 43-23 halftime lead. Itsother stars were playing at theirnormal level, and the bench wasplaying well above its head.

Meanwhile, Greece lookednothing like the team that had re-ceived plaudits from around theworld for the way it convincinglybeat the Americans: Greece shot63 percent in the semifinal. In thefirst half against Spain, the per-centage was less than half of that(31 percent).

There was no big push fromGreece in the third quarter. Spainwouldn’t allow it. The lead was 54-34 with ten minutes to go. It onlygot bigger, and Greece couldn’teven score half as many points as itdid against the United States.

Jorge Garbajosa, who signedwith the Toronto Raptors thisSummer, and Juan Carlos Navarroeach had 20 points for Spain,which was fourth in 1982.Kakiouzis had 17 points forGreece, which finished fourth in1994 and 1998.

It was Europe’s third straightworld title – Yugoslavia won in1998 and 2002 – and it will havethe home continent advantage in2010 with the tournament inTurkey. The Turkish team lost toFrance 64-56 last Saturday, as theFrench took fifth place in the tour-nament. Greece also defeatedTurkey earlier in the tournament76-69.

The silver medal was also finewith fans in Greece, which extend-ed a heartfelt welcome to theGreek national basketball teamupon its return home.

Government SpokesmanTheodoros Roussopoulos said theGreek players played brilliantly,honored their country’s colors andproved they are only a step behindthe top of the world.

The crew of the Olympic Air-lines jet which departed from theLand of the Rising Sun warmlywelcomed the members of theGreek squad this past Monday,September 4. Along with congrat-ulations on their momentous suc-cess, the team received a bouquetwith the Queen song, “We Are theChampions,” echoing throughoutthe cabin, as the team openedtheir first bottles of champagne.On Wednesday, Mr. Karamanlishosted a reception in their honorof the team, to which the leadersof the three opposition partieswere also invited.

“Congratulations to the boys,they were all great throughout thetournament. All I can say is that,following the unbelievable victoryover the United States, we wantedto put an end to the final soonerthan we should have. Our eager-ness cost us the game. We wantedto win really badly, but we came in-to this game feeling very nervous,and even when we balanced thingsout in the second half, we didn’tavoid turnovers and lost a greatmany rebounds. But I’m veryproud. I have to thank all the boysfor their great cooperation. It wasa thrilling tournament, mostly af-ter dazzling the Americans andmaking it to the final. We musttake pride in the silver medal, wehave conquered gold and silver intwo major tournaments, and wewill keep up the good work foreven more outstanding achieve-ments in the future. Greek fans,and the world in general love usand respect us, and everyone hasto realize that this final was an un-fortunate break from our excellentperformances in the past twoyears,” Coach Yannakis said.

TThhee aabboovvee iinnccoorrppoorraatteess iinnffoorr--mmaattiioonn ffrroomm rreeppoorrttss bbyy AAssssoocciiaatt--eedd PPrreessss BBaasskkeettbbaallll WWrriitteerrss BBrrii--aann MMaahhoonneeyy aanndd JJiimm OO’’CCoonnnneellll..

ooff EEnneerrggyy iinn LLaacckklluusstteerr PPeerrffoorrmmaannccee AAggaaiinnsstt SSppaaiinn iinn FFiinnaall

no good guy versus bad guy con-test.

If Agassi was playing anyoneelse, they surely would have beenthe bad guy.

But so endearing has Pagdatisbecome to tennis fans this year thatthe charming Cypriot was merelyplaying the supporting role toAgassi in classic New York theaterworthy of a place on Broadway.

Pagdatis cramped so badly at 4-4 in the fifth set that he thought hewould have to forfeit a game. Be-cause he had already been treatedby the ATP trainer earlier in theset, the 21-year-old was not al-lowed another medical timeout.

Umpire Carlos Ramos issuedPagdatis a time violation.

Instead of venting his spleen,like most others player wouldhave, Pagdatis laughed off his mis-fortune, as he did throughout amatch which, during television

commentary, John McEnroe de-scribed as "one of the greatestmatches I've ever seen."

"I was on the floor. He (thephysical therapist) told me: 'I cannot help you. If you do not standup, you will lose the game, so Istood up'," Pagdatis said, as hejoked and smiled his way throughhis post-match press conference.

"I just wanted to fight. PlayingAndre in the Arthur Ashe centercourt, I wanted to just die on thecourt. I'd do anything to win," hesaid.

Earlier in the match, Pagdatistook a light-hearted view of aneasy missed overhead. When hisattempted smash into an opencourt – which would have won hima key game in the deciding set –caught the net and skipped wide,the colorful Cypriot was aghast.

He bent down, did a Hail Mary,kissed the cross on his necklaceand then tried to swallow the han-dle of his racquet.

Later, he explained just how hemanaged to maintain his sense ofhumor in the face of such adversi-ty, in an atmosphere Pagdatis con-ceded he had never encounteredbefore.

"Sometimes life is not easy, butyou have to accept it," he said.

Pagdatis said beneath his play-ful exterior, the defeat hurt. But henever once, not for a minute, for-got his opponent.

"Andre's playing great tennis,even at 36. I want to wish him goodluck, not just for this tournament,but for his life. He gave so much tothe sport. Whatever you say, it isnot enough. He is a legend. He ismore than a legend," Pagdatis toldthe crowd moments after warmlyembracing Agassi at the net andpatting the American repeatedlyon the shoulder.

Agassi said playing someonewith the class and charm of Pag-datis – who also delighted fans onhis journey to the Wimbledon

semifinals – made his decision toretire after his 21st and last U.S.Open feel right.

"It's a guy like that who makes iteasier to walk away from the gamebecause you see what kind ofhands it's in," he said. "He's just atrue professional with a lot of styleand a lot of charisma, and a lot oftalent."

Typically, Pagdatis was thinkingof others, not himself, when offer-ing his last words before departingFlushing Meadows, telling jour-nalists: "Thank you. Have a greatevening."

It was two in the morning andeveryone already had.

EEDDIITTOORR’’ss NNOOTTEE:: AAggaassssii lloosstthhiiss mmaattcchh aaggaaiinnsstt BBeennjjaammiinnBBeecckkeerr llaasstt SSuunnddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 33..BBeecckkeerr lloosstt ttoo AAnnddyy RRooddddiicckk tthhiissppaasstt MMoonnddaayy.. PPaaggddaattiiss bbeeaatt RRoodd--ddiicckk iinn tthhiiss yyeeaarr’’ss AAuussttrraalliiaannOOppeenn oonn hhiiss wwaayy ttoo tthhee ffiinnaallaaggaaiinnsstt RRooggeerr FFeeddeerreerr..

PPaaggddaattiiss GGaaiinnss TTeennnniiss LLeeggeenndd’’ss RReessppeecctt



MMaarrccooss PPaaggddaattiiss ooff CCyypprruuss lluunnggeess ffoorr aa rreettuurrnn ttoo AAnnddrree AAggaassssii ooff tthheeUUnniitteedd SSttaatteess aatt tthhee UU..SS.. OOppeenn tteennnniiss ttoouurrnnaammeenntt iinn NNeeww YYoorrkk llaassttTThhuurrssddaayy,, AAuugguusstt 3311..

LLEEFFTT:: GGrreeeeccee’’ss LLaazzaarrooss PPaa--ppaaddooppoouullooss,, 1144,, sshhoooottss aassTTuurrkkeeyy’’ss FFaaiitthh SSoollaakk,, 1111,, ddeeffeennddssoonn tthhee ppllaayy dduurriinngg tthheeiirr ffiirrsstt--rroouunndd ggrroouupp mmaattcchh aatt tthhee WWoorrllddBBaasskkeettbbaallll CChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss iinnJJaappaann.. GGrreeeeccee ddeeffeeaatteedd TTuurrkkeeyy7766--6699.. RRIIGGHHTT:: GGrreeeeccee’’ss sshhoooottiinngg gguuaarrdd,,VVaassiilliiss SSppaannoouulliiss,, wwhhoo iiss hheeaaddeeddffoorr tthhee NNBBAA’’ss HHoouussttoonn RRoocckkeettss,,ddrriivveess ffoorr tthhee bbaasskkeett aass mmeemmbbeerrssooff TTeeaamm UUSSAA ddeeffeenndd oonn tthhee ppllaayydduurriinngg sseemmii--ffiinnaall aaccttiioonn llaasstt FFrrii--ddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 11,, aatt tthhee WWoorrllddBBaasskkeettbbaallll CChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss.. BBEELLOOWW:: GGrreeeeccee’’ss TThheeooddoorrooss PPaa--ppaalloouukkaass,, cceenntteerr,, ccoovveerrss hhiiss ffaacceewwiitthh aa ttoowweell dduurriinngg tthhee cclloossiinnggmmoommeennttss ooff tthhee WWoorrlldd BBaasskkeettbbaallllCChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss ffiinnaall aaggaaiinnssttSSppaaiinn llaasstt SSuunnddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 33,,iinn JJaappaann.. SSppaaiinn wwoonn 7700--4477..

AP/ED BETZ

AP/KOJI SASAHARA EUROKINISSI

AP

/DU

SA

N V

RA

NIC

AADDEESS,, AANNTTHHEEMMOOSS –– TheChicago Tribune reported onSunday, August 27, that Anthe-mos "Mike" Ades passed away. Hewas the beloved husband of Lia(nee Makrias); loving father ofKyriaki, Despina and JosephGeorge Ades; devoted son of Kyr-iaki and the late Joseph A. Ades;dear brother of John Ades; fonduncle, cousin and friend of many.Visitation was held on Sunday,August 27, at the Smith-CorcoranFuneral Home in Chicago (ar-rangements by John G. Adinamis,funeral director, TEL: 773-736-3833). The funeral was on Mon-day, August 28, at Saint John theBaptist Greek Orthodox Churchin Des Plaines, Illinois.

BBEENNDDOOSS,, BBEETTTTYY KK.. –– ThePhiladelphia Inquirer reportedthat Betty Kardaris Bendos, 78,formerly of Huntingdon Valley,Pennsylvania and a fervent churchvolunteer, died of complicationsfrom cancer on Saturday, August12, at Casey Hospice in Gaithers-burg, Maryland. Mrs. Bendos andher husband Nicholas were active-ly involved with the building ofAnnunciation Greek OrthodoxChurch in Elkins Park, Pennsylva-nia in the 1970’s. The church hadformerly been in South Philadel-phia. She was active in fundraisingevents and attended every service,according to her niece, CarolDouvres: “The church was herlife.” Mrs. Bendos was a memberof the Philoptochos Society, whichpromotes programs for the needy.She and her husband, a veteran ofWorld War II, were active withthe Eleftheria Veterans of For-eign War Post in Upper Darby,Pennsylvania. The couple met at adance for Greek Americans inPhiladelphia, and were marriedfor more than 40 years until hisdeath in 1991. She was a graduateof West Philadelphia HighSchool. Mrs. Bendos is survivedby her daughters, Cathy Haverand Eve Muegar; a sister; and fivegrandchildren. A graveside ser-vice was held on Thursday, Au-gust 17 at Lawnview Cemetery inRockledge, Pennsylvania.

CCOONNTTRRAARROOSS--CCOONNIIDDEESS,, AANN--TTOONNIIAA –– The Winston-SalemJournal reported that Antonia“Toni” Contraros-Conides ofWinston-Salem, North Carolinapassed away on Friday, August 18,at the Kate B. Reynolds HospiceHome in Winston-Salem. Specialthanks are extended to lovingcaregivers Jackie Nikas, JanHarley and Jan Sneed, and to thestaff at Kate B. Reynolds HospiceHome, for their loving care. Mrs.Conides was born on December 9,1919 in Lowell, Massachusetts toStella Nicopolis and James G.Contraros. She was a member ofthe Greek Orthodox Church ofthe Annunciation in Winston-Salem and of Saint George GreekOrthodox Cathedral in Manch-ester, New Hampshire. She wasalso a member of the Winston-Salem Philoptochos and theManchester Anagenessis Society.She had been a resident of Win-ston-Salem for 14 years. Beforethat, she made her home in

Manchester. Mrs. Conides waspredeceased by her parents; herhusband Gregory J. Conides; andher sisters Bessie Contraros, So-phie Roux and Helen Sotiriou.She is survived by her daughter,Elaine C. Ross, of Pfafftown,North Carolina; seven grandchil-dren; eight great grandchildren;and her brother, George (Lola) J.Contraros of Tucson, Arizona.She leaves a legacy of goodness,style and grace to her family andfriends, who will always cherishher memory. “Mum, Yia Yia, Yi-ayoula, we will never not remem-ber you. We will miss you so.” Ser-vices were held on Wednesday,August 23, at the AnnunciationChurch. In lieu of flowers, thefamily requests that memorial do-nations be made to Crisis Control(200 E. 10th Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101), or to theGreek Orthodox Church of theAnnunciation (435 Keating Drive,Winston-Salem, NC 27104).

PPAAPPPPAASS,, GGEEOORRGGIIAA –– TheDetroit Free Press reported thatGeorgia Pappas, 82, passed awayon Tuesday, August 22. She wasthe beloved wife of the late LouisPappas; loving mother of CharlesL. (Kathleen) and Becky (Sal)Cipriano; and a loving grand-mother and great grandmother.Her funeral was held in state onFriday, August 25, at the Assump-tion Greek Orthodox Church inSt. Clair Shores, Michigan.Memorial contributions to the As-sumption Greek OrthodoxChurch (21800 Marter Road, St.Clair Shores, MI 48080) would beappreciated. Arrangements wereby Chas Verheyden FuneralHome (TEL: 313-881-8500).

PPAAPPPPAASS,, MMAADDEELLIINNEE –– TheStar-Ledger reported that Made-line Pappas, 93, of Ocean Town-ship, New Jersey died on Satur-day, August 26, at Jersey ShoreUniversity Medical Center inNeptune, New Jersey. Born inBrooklyn, Mrs. Pappas lived inWest Orange, New Jersey for 19years before moving to the Shorearea. She and her husband, thelate George J. Pappas, who diedin 1992, owned Madeline’s CoffeeShop in Spring Lake, New Jerseyfrom 1971 to 1974, and theStafford Hall Hotel in OceanGrove, New Jersey from 1972 to1978. Madeline had also workedat the McGraw-Edison Companyin West Orange for 15 years. Shewas a member of Saint GeorgeGreek Orthodox Church in As-bury Park. She will be truly missedby her family and friends and thestaff at Manor by the Sea inOcean Grove. She is survived byher two sons, James (Patricia) andEdward (Christine) Pappas; andfour grandchildren, James, An-drea, Emily and Mark. Callinghours were held on Tuesday, Au-gust 29, at the Francioni, Taylor &Lopez Funeral Home in Neptune.The funeral was held on Wednes-day, August 30, at Saint George’sChurch in Asbury Park. Burialwas at St. George Cemetery inNeptune.

SSIIAAPPKKAARRIISS,, JJAAMMEESS –– The

Chicago Tribune reported onWednesday, August 23, thatJames Siapkaris, 93, passed away.He was the beloved husband of thelate Olga (nee Lazaridou); devot-ed father of Gus (Dorothy), Mary(John) Cox and Tom (Sandra);fond grandfather of 11 and greatgrandfather of 11; and dear uncleof many nieces and nephews. Hewas a member of the GrammosBrotherhood. Visitation was heldon Wednesday, August 23, atSalerno's Galewood Chapels inChicago. The funeral was held onThursday, August 24, at HolyTrinity Greek Orthodox Church inChicago. Burial was at ElmwoodCemetery. Arrangements were bythe Hellenic Funeral Service(Nicholas M. Pishos, funeral direc-tor, TEL: 773-745-1333). In lieu offlowers, memorial donations tothe Leukemia Foundation wouldbe appreciated.

SSPPHHEEEERRIISS,, BBOONNNNIIEE KKAAYY ––The Milwaukee Journal Sentinelreported that Bonnie KaySpheeris entered into the king-dom of Heaven, while her familywas by her side on Saturday, Au-gust 19, at the age of 61. Specialgratitude is extended to the CedarLake Healthcare Center in WestBend, Wisconsin. Bonnie felt itwas her home, and the staff waslike her family. Born in IronwoodMichigan to Dan and HelenYoung, she was the beloved anddevoted wife of Paul J. Spheeris;"special mother" to Nicki (Fritz)Usinger; loving sister of Patricia(Clifford) Groth and Peggy(George) Tyler. She is also loving-ly remembered by many nieces,nephews and other relatives, andmany friends. Bonnie attendedUW-Whitewater. While there,she was a member of the Universi-ty Debate Team and TheaterGroup, and starred in many the-ater productions. She was alsomember of Alpha Sigma Sorority.Bonnie was an important help-mate to Paul at Spheeris BrothersSporting Goods Company. "Bon-

nie will always be known for hercaring heart, and her warm andbeautiful smile. She will always beloved and missed." Visitation washeld on Thursday, August 24 atthe Becker Ritter Funeral Home,Michael Feerick Associate inBrookfield Wisconsin (TEL: 262-782-5330). The funeral was heldon Friday, August 25, at SaintsConstantine & Helen Greek Or-thodox Church in Wauwatosa,Wisconsin, with Rev. Ted Trifonpresiding, followed by gravesideservices at Wisconsin MemorialPark. Memorial donations to thechurch (2160 N. Wauwatosa Av-enue, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin53213, TEL: 414-778-1555) wouldbe appreciated. For sympathy ex-pressions, please visit the web atwww.beckerritter.com.

TTAAPPAASS,, JJOOHHNN CC.. –– TheChicago Tribune reported on Au-gust 24, that John C. Tapas, 82,passed away. He was the belovedhusband of Constance (neeKavouras); loving father of ChrisTapas, Jeannie (Paul) Manos andDr. Nicholas (Katerina) Tapas;proud grandfather of Steven andAlexander Tapas, Dena and YanaManos, Daphne, Jordyn andKalista Tapas; dear brother ofAndrew (Eleni) and the lateNicholas (Marion) Tapas; fonduncle of George (Georgia) andMark Tapas. Dr. Tapas was a vet-eran of World War II with theUnited States Army Air Corps.He held a doctorate in Biochem-istry, serving as vice president ofResearch & Development withSandoz Crop Protection. His fu-neral was held on Thursday, Au-gust 24, at Saints Peter & PaulGreek Orthodox Church in Glen-view, Illinois. Burial was atMemorial Park. Arrangementswere by John G. Adinamis (funer-al director, c/o the Smith-Corco-ran Funeral Home, TEL: 773-736-3833). By his request, kindly omitflowers. Memorial donations tothe church (1401 Wagner Road,Glenview, IL 60025) would be ap-preciated.

TTSSIIOOLLIISS,, SSOOFFIIAA –– TheChicago Tribune reported thatSofia Tsiolis (nee Louras), 85,passed away on Sunday, August20, surrounded by her loved onesafter a brief illness. Born on April10, 1921 in Levidi of Arcadia inGreece, she was the cherishedwife of Niko Tsiolis; belovedmother of Nick, Peter, John (Peg-gy) and Gus (Dina); proud grand-mother of Sophie (Paul) Gryfakis,Jim, Bill, Jim N. (Debbie), Bobby,Chris, Nick and Michael Tsiolis;great grandmother of baby Alexis;dear sister of the late Dina andthe late Thanasi Koustas, Deme-tra (George) Vlahos, George(Christoula) Louras and Efstathia(Peter) Metrou; and fond aunt ofmany nieces and nephews bothhere and in Greece. Visitation washeld on Tuesday, August 22, atSalerno's Galewood Chapels inChicago. The funeral was held onWednesday, August 23, at HolyTrinity Greek Orthodox Churchin Chicago. Burial was at Elm-wood Cemetery. Kindly omitflowers.

8 OBITUARIES/CLASSIFIEDS THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

This is a service to the community.

Announcements of deaths may be telephoned to the Classified Department of The National Herald at

(718) 784-5255, Monday through Friday,

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

[email protected]

DDeeaatthhssAdes, AnthemosBendos, Betty K. Contraros-Conides, AntoniaPappas, GeorgiaPappas, MadelineSiapkaris, JamesSpheeris, Bonnie KayTapas, John C. Tsiolis, Sofia

vviiaa tthhee ppoosstt--ooffffiiccee ❑ 1 Month for $$99..9955 ❑ 3 Months for $$1199..9955❑ 6 Months for $$2299..9955 ❑ One Year for $$5599..8855

vviiaa hhoommee ddeelliivveerryy ((NNYY,, NNJJ && CCTT))❑ 1 Month for $$1122..9955 ❑ 3 Months for $$2299..9955❑ 6 Months for $$4433..9999 ❑ One Year for $$8800..0000

vviiaa hhoommee ddeelliivveerryy ((NNeeww EEnnggllaanndd,, PPeennnnssyyllvvaanniiaa && WWaasshhiinnggttoonn DD..CC..))❑ 1 Month for $$1155..9955 ❑ 3 Months for $$3377..4455❑ 6 Months for $$5511..7755 ❑ One Year for $$9999..0000

OOnn lliinnee SSuubbssccrriippttiioonn www.thenationalherald.com❑ Non subscribers: ..........................❑ One Year for $$2299..9955 ❑ One Month for $$33..9955❑ Subscribers: ..................................❑ One Year for $$1199..9955 ❑ One Month for $$11..9955Name: ...........................................................................................................................................................................Address:........................................................................................................................................................................City:.........................................................State:..........................................................Zip: .............................................Tel.: .................................................E-mail: ..................................................................Cell .........................................

Please send a GGiifftt SSuubbssccrriippttiioonn to:Name: ...........................................................................................................................................................................Address:........................................................................................................................................................................City:.........................................................State:..........................................................Zip: .............................................Tel.: .................................................E-mail: ..................................................................Cell .........................................

PPlleeaassee ssppeecciiffyy mmeetthhoodd ooff ppaayymmeennttI enclose a check/money order for $ ............. made payable to:

NNaattiioonnaall HHeerraalldd,, IInncc..,, 3377--1100 3300tthh SSttrreeeett,, LLoonngg IIssllaanndd CCiittyy,, NNYY 1111110011 -- 22661144or please debit my ❑ Mastercard ❑ Visa ❑ American Express ❑ Discover

Card number: ....................................................................Expiration date: ..................................................................Signature: ........................................................................

subscribeTThhee NNaattiioonnaall HHeerraalldd

For additional information please call 771188--778844--55225555 or fax 771188--447722--00551100

Please enroll me as a subscriber to the printed edition

of the National Herald

todaytoday

By Lisa RosettaThe Salt Lake Tribune

SALT LAKE CITY – A talent-ed businessman, Sam W. Souvallloved seeing other people succeed.

Souvall, a CEO of multiplecompanies, including SouvallBrothers, a wholesale sundriesfirm, mentored dozens of peoplein the business world, including hisown children, said his son, Sam V.Souvall.

"He's always been my mentorand my adviser," he said of his 86-year-old father, who passed awayon Thursday, August 31, after atwo-year battle with prostrate can-cer. "Even at that older age, hecould evolve in his thought pro-cess."

The son of Greek immigrants,Souvall liked to see people "buildbusiness and build value, and passit onto their family," his son said.

Souvall was well known in busi-ness circles as a man of honesty,integrity and high morals.

Souvall was born to Williamand Kome Souvall on April 11,1920. He graduated from MurrayHigh School in 1937, and laterserved as a captain in the UnitedStates Army during World War II.

In 1946, he married Mary Sar-getis – with whom he celebrated 60years of marriage this year – andhad four children.

In addition to serving as CEOfor Souvall Brothers, Souvall wasco-founder of the Western Mer-chandisers Trade Association. Healso served as chairman of theboard of Alta Industries, and was aboard member of J.P. Realty.

Souvall went onto serve as a di-rector of Valley Bank and TrustCompany, and was chairman from1984 to 1988.

He also served as chairman ofthe board of directors of UtahBancorporation from 1980 to1989.

More recently, he ventured intothe real estate investment businesswith his children and brother,George.

Active in the Greek Orthodoxcommunity, Souvall served on theparish council for several yearsand was a parish council presidentin 1967. He was also a member ofthe Greater Salt Lake Greek Or-thodox Foundation and boardmember of the Salt Lake Libraryfor seven years.

John Price, another friend andbusiness associate, said Souvallhad a sharp analytical mind: "Hewas just real good with figures. Itwas just always a pleasure to bearound him because of his knowl-edge, and how he dealt with is-sues."

Despite his successful businessventures, however, Souvall always

put his wife and children first, hisson said. "He was fiercely loyal tohis family and friends. EveryWednesday, he took my mother ona date," he said.

Souvall was very personable,and had a good sense of humorand a great memory – he and hisbrother, Pete, tried to outdo eachother by memorizing hundreds ofsongs, his son said.

Souvall is survived by his wife,four children, 13 grandchildrenand two great grandchildren.

The viewing and a Trisagion

prayer service was be held onMonday, September 4, at ProphetElias Greek Orthodox Church. Aprayer service is at 7:30 p.m. Fu-neral services were held on Tues-day, September 5, at Prophet EliasChurch. Burial was at MountOlivet Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributionsmay be made to the Prophet EliasPavilion Fund, 5335 S. HighlandDrive, Holladay, UT 84117.

TThhee SSaalltt LLaakkee TTrriibbuunnee ppuubb--lliisshheedd tthhee aabboovvee oonn SSeepptteemmbbeerr 33..

Sam W. Souvall, Talented Businessman who Liked Seeing Others Succeed, Passes Away at 86 years of Age

REAL ESTATE

LITRAS FUNERAL HOMEARLINGTON BENSONDOWD, INC FUNERAL HOME83-15 Parsons Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11432(718) 858-4434 ñ (800) 245-4872

APOSTOLOPOULOSApostle Family - Gregory, Nicholas, Andrew - Funeral Directors of RIVERDALE FUNERAL HOME Inc.5044 BroadwayNew York, NY 10034(212) 942-4000Toll Free 1-888-GAPOSTLE

CONSTANTINIDESFUNERAL PARLOR Co.405 91st StreetBay Ridge - Brooklyn, NY 11209(718) 745-1010Services in all localities - Low cost shipping to Greece

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

FUNERAL HOMES

To place your classified ad, call (718)784-5255, ext. 106, or e-mail:

classifieds@ thenationalherald.com

CLASSIFIEDS

BBaassiill GG.. LLiittrraassManaging Director

75 years of Funeral Service Honoring Hellenic Family Tradition

OUR PERSONAL SERVICESARE AVAILABLE IN ALL COMMUNITIES

Executive Offices111177 WWaasshhiinnggttoonn AAvveennuuee,, PPlleeaassaannttvviillllee,, NNYY 1100557700

TTOOLLLL FFRREEEE NNAATTIIOONNWWIIDDEE

((886666)) 772255--44887722

LLYYRRIISSTT((LLYYRRIISSTTAAKKIISS)),, JJOOHHNNJohn Lyrist (YIANNIS LYRISTAKIS), 79, of Sayreville, New

Jersey passed away on August 11 2006 at Raritan Bay Medical Cen-ter emergency room. He was born on February 18, 1927 to a promi-nent family on the Dodecanese Island of Karpathos. Despite hisstrict father's demands, Yianni befriended and helped people of allbackgrounds, becoming well known and loved throughout the Island.

He inherited his loving mother's poetic abilities, spontaneouslycomposing brilliant rhymes (mantinades) sung at village feasts allover Karpathos, of course to the accompaniment of the lyra andlaouto. These glentia were traditional at major social events, and hispresence captivated everyone waiting to hear what Lyristakis wouldcome up with next, especially in response to mantinades sung by hisbeloved contemporaries. Many of these are remembered and quotedby Karpathians to this day.

After graduating from the University in Athens ( Anotati Empori-ki), he married and immigrated to the U.S. In New York, he attend-ed Columbia University, receiving a master’s degree in Business in1956. At Columbia, he was befriended by shipping heir Elias Ku-lukundis, and upon graduation began working for this company, MarTrade,

Other shipping companies he later worked for were the CentralAmerican Steamship Co. (owned by Aristotle Onassis), Farrell Linesand Maritime Overseas Corp.

Over the years, friends from Karpathos who had also immigratedto the U.S. sought his professional advise and knowledge as they en-tered the restaurant and diner business. He went into business forhimself developing his own accounting practice as a member of theNew Jersey Association of Public Accountants.

He was an accountant, mentor and friend to countless patriotswho became successful business owners. The love of his clients andfriends was surpassed only by the joy and satisfaction he felt in hismission to see them fulfill their dreams.

He loved seeing them and all his friends and relatives inKarpathos, especially while sitting on the balcony of his harbor-fronthome, or at the nearby cafe, where he would quickly be surroundedfor hours.

He was preparing for another trip to Greece at the time of hispassing.

He is survived and deeply missed by his wife Sophia, daughters,Maria, Caroline and Anna and former husband Dr. WilliamPalomino and daughter Cathy and Chris and family; son Nick (Niki-tas), daughter-in-law Linda; grand-daughter Arianna; sisterDorothea; nephews, including the large Kapetanakis family; and alsothe Basil Chrissas Family of Ohio. Funeral services took place onAugust 16 at St. Spyridon Church, New York, N.Y.

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 GREECE/CYPRUS 9

By John F.L. RossAssociated Press

ATHENS (AP) – Prime Minis-ter Costas Karamanlis, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin and Bul-garian President Georgi Parvanovvowed this past Monday, Septem-ber 4, to overcome delays in astalled pipeline project to carryRussian oil from Bulgaria toGreece.

"Russia is one of the world'sbiggest energy producers, andGreece and Bulgaria are close al-lies. Today's common agreementhas long-term effects," Putin saidafter meeting with Karamanlis andvisiting with Parvanov.

The 175-mile Burgas-Alexan-droupolis pipeline would funnelRussian oil directly to SoutheastEurope – bypassing Turkey's busyBosporus Strait – and boost Greekaspirations to become a key re-gional transit point for energy ex-ports.

Monday's declaration of politi-cal support for the project pavesthe way for an intergovernmentalagreement before the end of 2006.It also calls for closer cooperationon transportation of natural gasand electricity generation.

"A dream that began 13 yearsago is becoming a reality," Kara-manlis said.

Political indecision, fundingdisputes and competing pipelineproposals have held up the esti-mated $1.3 billion project. Buthigh oil prices, strong world de-mand and uncertainty over someMideast supplies have rekindledinterest in the plan, which wouldbolster energy links between cen-tral Asian oil fields and world mar-kets.

"Russia is not imposing harshterms. It just wants projects withtraditional allies to be carried out,"said Putin, who traveled ontoSouth Africa and Morocco afterstopping in Greece.

"We have been negotiating thissince 1993. If we don't work withour allies, then we won't have re-sults, and all (pipeline) routes willbypass us, and we will have eco-

nomic and political losses," hesaid.

"It's one thing to discuss prob-lems of energy security in Europe,and another to have energy infras-tructure facilities on one's territo-ry – oil and gas depots, terminals,pipeline systems, to get taxes fromthis, and to influence Europeanenergy policy – to exercise a practi-cal influence by one's participa-tion," he added.

Burgas-Alexandroupolis is oneof several proposals aimed as al-ternatives to shipping oil throughthe congested Bosporus.

"It is clear to all of us that fur-ther delay in implementing thepipeline could be fatal," Parvanovsaid.

Competing routes include alonger pipeline from Burgas toVlore in Albania, for which theUnited States funded a feasibility

study.Others suggested include Con-

stanta in Romania to Trieste, Italyvia Omisalj in Croatia; Odessa toBrodiy in Ukraine; and a secondTurkish line, from Samsun to Cey-han, following the opening thissummer of the 1,600-kilometer(1,000-mile) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhanpipeline from Azerbaijan to theMediterranean.

Interest in the Balkan pipelines– bolstering energy links betweencentral Asian oil fields and worldmarkets – has been rekindled bystrong world demand and uncer-tainty over some Mideast supplies.

In 2001, Russia said it preferredthe Greek option as the shortestand cheapest, and the three coun-tries signed a memorandum of un-derstanding in April 2005.

Burgas-Alexandroupolis wouldinitially bring 700,000 barrels of oil

a day to the northern Greek portvia a 36-inch pipeline from Burgason the Black Sea. Capacity couldeventually rise to more than a mil-lion barrels per day.

Russia is expected to be thedominant partner in the interna-tional consortium being cobbledtogether to fund the venture. Par-ticipant companies are expected toinclude Gazprom-Neft and Russo-British venture TNK-BP, alongwith Rosneft from Russia, Bul-gargaz and Terminal UniverselBourgas from Bulgaria, and Greekcompanies Promitheas Gas, Hel-lenic Petroleum and Petrola.

Russia supplies half of Eu-rope's gas imports and a quarter ofits oil. Putin visited Greece a yearago to discuss the pipeline projectand other energy ventures, and vis-ited the Orthodox Christian sanc-tuary of Mount Athos.

NNeeww OOiill PPiippeelliinnee PPrroojjeecctt MMoovveess FFoorrwwaarrdd

By Derek GatopoulosAssociated Press

ATHENS (AP) – A Germanuniversity returned a tiny sculp-ture taken from the 2,500-year-oldParthenon – a gesture the GreekGovernment said it hoped wouldbolster efforts to bring back theElgin Marbles from the BritishMuseum.

The 8-by-12-centimeter (3-by-5-inch) relief sculpture of a man'sfoot was handed back to Greece bythe University of Heidelberg thispast Tuesday.

"This is a major symbolic ges-ture ... a new page in the previous-ly deadlocked debate for the re-turn of all (Parthenon) sculpturesfrom museums abroad," CultureMinister George Voulgarakis saidon Tuesday, a day after visiting thesouthern German university.

In return, Voulgarakis said,Athens will send the university amarble head from a Roman statue,"not as a tradeoff, but as a goodwillgesture."

Greece is seeking the return ofa much larger collection ofParthenon sculptures – the ElginMarbles – from the British Muse-um in London, arguing that theyare an integral part of temple onthe Acropolis hill.

The Marbles were removed,with tacit Ottoman consent, byGreat Britain's Lord Elgin, the sonof a Scottish aristocrat, in the early19th Century.

Greece failed in a bid to bringthe Marbles back, on loan or per-manently, in time for the 2004Olympics in Athens, but haspressed ahead with the campaign

and construction of a new $165million museum at the foot of theAcropolis which is due to be com-pleted next year.

Voulgarakis said space in thenew museum had been reservedfor all Parthenon sculptures stillhoused abroad.

The University of Heidelberg"has taken the first step toward re-uniting the Parthenon sculptures,recognizing that there was no sci-

entific or legal justification for re-taining possession of them," Voul-garakis said.

"The case of the Parthenon isunique, and does not set a prece-dent for other monuments andcollections," he said. "This is not anissue of national pride. I will neverstop saying it: The reunification ofthe sculptures is a debt toward his-tory. For us, even a gram from theParthenon equals thousands ofyears of world history," Voulgar-akis said.

The Heidelberg sculpture be-longs to the north section of theParthenon frieze.

NNEEWW WWIINNDD BBLLOOWWIINNGGAthens has stepped up pressure

in recent months to reclaim an-cient artifacts.

Last week, two sculptures werereturned by the J. Paul Getty Mu-seum in Los Angeles: a marble re-lief from the northern island ofThassos and a blackstone tomb-stone believed to be from nearThebes, an antiquities-rich townabout 56 miles northwest ofAthens, dating to the Sixth andFourth Centuries BC.

Greek authorities vowed tostep up their fight to reclaim thecountry's plundered heritage aftertaking delivery of two ancientsculptures returned by the J. PaulGetty Museum in Los Angeles lastThursday, August 31.

Presenting the artifacts inAthens, Voulgarakis said theirrepatriation was important onboth the symbolic and practicallevels.

"The days when foreign muse-ums and private collectors wereable to buy undocumented antiq-

uities are over," he told reportersat the National ArchaeologicalMuseum, where the sculptures willbe temporarily displayed. "A newwind is now blowing."

In a landmark decision in July,the private U.S. museum agreed toreturn the two sculptures after in-tense pressure from Greece, whichmaintained they were illegallyspirited out of the country.

Greek officials and Getty offi-cials will hold more talks in Athensnext month on the possible returnof a gold wreath and a marble stat-ue currently in the museum's col-lections. A deal could involvelong-term loans of Greek antiqui-ties to the Getty.

Voulgarakis said Greece willseek the return of "every ancientGreek artifact for which we haveevidence that it was illegally exca-vated or trafficked… We do notwant to empty foreign museums,but the antiquities trade must obeymoral codes and legal strictures."

Voulgarakis also said he wasplanning a common front with Italyand Cyprus – fellow Mediterraneancountries whose rich heritage hasbeen extensively despoiled – toform a common European policyon the illegal antiquities trade.

The Thassos relief, which de-picts two women offering gifts to aseated goddess, was found byFrench archaeologists about 100years ago and stolen from a store-room. The Getty bought it in 1955.The tombstone, incised with thefigure of a young warrior namedAthanias, was acquired by theGetty in the early 1990's. Both willbe eventually displayed at muse-ums in Thebes and Thassos.

NNeeww WWiinndd BBlloowwiinngg?? GGrreeeeccee GGeettss SSoommee ooff iittss TTrreeaassuurreess BBaacckk

By Constant BrandAssociated Press

STRASBOURG, France (AP)– A European Parliament commit-tee warned Turkey on Tuesday,September 5, that its refusal to al-low Greek Cypriot ships andplanes to enter its ports couldbring to a halt its negotiations tojoin the European Union.

Dutch conservative Camiel Eu-rlings said the E.U. Parliament'sinfluential Foreign Affairs Com-mittee endorsed his draft reporton Turkey's progress to join the25-nation bloc, notably on its fail-ure to implement key E.U. de-mands, particularly in recognizingE.U. member Cyprus.

Eurlings told reporters that theE.U. Assembly had also seen aslowdown in democratic reforms,including the protecting of minori-ties, freedom of expression and re-ligious practice.

CCLLEEAARR SSLLOOWWDDOOWWNN"We have seen a clear slow-

down, and that is regrettable," Eu-rlings told reporters. "Stagnationmeans regression."

The Committee report, whichwill be debated by the full 732-member Assembly later thismonth, puts added pressure onAnkara, and comes ahead of thehighly-anticipated progress reportby the European Commission, theE.U.'s executive arm.

The Committee was also criti-cal of Turkey's refusal to recognizethe killing of Armenians by Ot-toman Turks around the time ofWorld War I as genocide, and thereport recommended making suchrecognition a prerequisite forTurkey joining the E.U.

The report was critical ofAnkara's refusal to fully imple-ment a protocol extending its cus-toms union with the E.U. to tennew nations which joined the EUin 2004, including the dividedMediterranean island republic ofCyprus.

That means Cypriot ships andplanes can not serve at Turkish airand sea ports.

Cyprus has been divided sinceTurkish troops invaded in 1974 af-ter Turkey exploited a brief coupattempt by supporters of unionwith Greece.

The Greek Cypriot south hasan internationally recognized gov-ernment. Only Turkey recognizesthe breakaway Turkish Cypriotnorth.

SSEERRIIOOUUSS IIMMPPLLIICCAATTIIOONNSSTop EU officials hinted in July

that entry talks with Turkey, whichbegan in October 2005, are likelyto stall because of Ankara's con-tinuing failure to recognize Cyprusor allow in its ships and airplanes.The Committee report warns that

the "lack of progress in this regardwill have serious implications forthe negotiation process, and couldeven bring it to a halt."

Danish Prime Minister AndersFogh Rasmussen also said, duringa visit to Cyprus this week, thatTurkey's failure to implement itsobligations to all E.U. members –including Cyprus – could severelycomplicate its efforts to join thebloc.

Finnish President Tarja Halo-nen, whose country currentlyholds the rotating E.U. presiden-cy, said her government would doeverything to avert a crisis withTurkey. "Both sides have to dotheir job," she told reporters at theEuropean Parliament.

On the killing of Armenians,the report noted that legal caseshave been brought against writersand others who have called thekillings genocide, under a lawmaking it a crime to "insult Turk-ishness."

Eurlings said, "We clearly urgeTurkey to change the penal codeonce again."

Armenians say that as many as1.5 million of their ancestors werekilling in an organized genocidalcampaign by Ottoman Turks, andhave pushed for recognition of thekillings as genocide by the 25-na-tion E.U., and by other nations.

DDOONN’’TT EEXXPPEECCTTUUSS TTOO CCHHAANNGGEE

Turkish Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan slammed the Par-liamentary report on Tuesday.

"The decisions taken by the Eu-ropean Parliament are not bind-ing. So far, we did not accept sucha thing, and our position regardingthe so-called Armenian Genocideis very clear. Nobody should ex-pect us to change it," he said.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry wasalso critical, saying the report puttoo much emphasis on "elementsthat have nothing to do withTurkey-E.U. relations; that willnot contribute to relations; andare far from being reasonable andobjective."

E.U. Warns Turkey thatNegotiations Could Stop

AA ffrraaggmmeenntt ffrroomm tthhee 22,,550000--yyeeaarr--oolldd PPaarrtthheennoonn,, sshhoowwnn bboottttoomm rriigghhtt,, iiss rreessttoorreedd ttoo aa ssccuullppttuurree iinn AAtthheennss..GGeerrmmaannyy''ss UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff HHeeiiddeellbbeerrgg rreettuurrnneedd tthhee ssmmaallll rroocckk ((mmeeaassuurriinngg 88 bbyy 1122 cceennttiimmeetteerrss)),, tthhee rreelliieeffssccuullppttuurree ooff aa mmaann’’ss ffoooott,, ttoo GGrreeeeccee tthhiiss ppaasstt TTuueessddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 55..

RRuussssiiaann PPrreessiiddeenntt VVllaaddiimmiirr PPuuttiinn,, lleefftt,, aanndd GGrreeeekk PPrriimmee MMiinniisstteerr CCoossttaass KKaarraammaannlliiss aatttteenndd aa nneewwss ccoonn--ffeerreennccee aatt tthhee PPrreemmiieerr’’ss ooffffiiccee iinn AAtthheennss,, tthhiiss ppaasstt MMoonnddaayy,, SSeepptteemmbbeerr 44.. PPuuttiinn aanndd tthhee lleeaaddeerrss ooff GGrreeeecceeaanndd BBuullggaarriiaa aaggrreeeedd ttoo pprroovviiddee ggrreeaatteerr ssuuppppoorrtt ttoowwaarrdd aa ssttaalllleedd ppiippeelliinnee pprroojjeecctt ttoo ccaarrrryy RRuussssiiaann ooiill ffrroommBBuullggaarriiaa ttoo GGrreeeeccee..

By Suzan FrazerAssociated Press

ANKARA (AP) – Turkeyagreed this past Tuesday, Septem-ber 5, to send peacekeepers toLebanon to monitor a tense cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah,becoming the first Muslim countrywhich has relations with Israel todo so.

Parliament voted 340-192 in fa-

vor of sending hundreds of troopsto Lebanon, with one lawmakerabstaining, after a lengthy debateon the floor.

Earlier, more than 10,000Turks protested outside the Turk-ish Parliament against deploy-ment.

The decision was timed to coin-cide with the arrival of United Na-tions Secretary-General Kofi An-nan, who has urged Muslim na-

tions to take part in the force mon-itoring the ceasefire between Is-rael and the Hezbollah. He metwith Turkish leaders on Wednes-day.

The vote also is expected toplease Europe, the United Statesand Israel, which are keen to seepeacekeepers from Turkey in theU.N. force in the hopes that strongMuslim participation – particular-ly from NATO's only Muslim na-

tion, and one of few with ties to Is-rael – will avert any impressionthat the force is primarily Chris-tian.

The decision is a victory forTurkish Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan, who calledTurkey's participation a moral du-ty which would contribute to re-gional stability and raise Turkey'sprofile on the international stage.

"We are the children of a nation

that has always extended a helpinghand to the needy. We could notremain indifferent to the suffer-ings of women and children inLebanon. Inshallah, we will helpput out the fire there," said law-maker Egemen Bagis, an Erdoganaide, after the vote.

"It is good for our interests tocontribute to the peace and stabili-ty in the region," Foreign MinisterAbdullah Gul said.

TTuurrkkiisshh PPaarrlliiaammeenntt AAggrreeeess ttoo SSeenndd TTrrooooppss ttoo LLeebbaannoonn

AP/KOSTAS TSIRONIS

AP/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS

10 EDITORIALS/LETTERS THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

We all remember what we were doing that September morning fiveyears ago. How can we not? How can we forget the shock we felt whenthe Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked? The flames, thesmoke which could be seen from miles away? The agony we all felt? Andthen the dramatic crumbling of those proud skyscrapers, monuments tothe ingenuity and prowess of America and its people? The death of al-most 3,000 innocents?

How can we forget that, through all this, Osama bin Laden and his co-horts were celebrating and promising to inflict even more damage uponour country?

America has not been the same since. We all live with, and are influ-enced by, those memories. The threat of terrorism hangs above us likeDamocles’ sword. The United States Government has spent hundreds ofbillions of dollars on the war against terrorism. America has invaded twofaraway lands, all in the name of fighting terrorism.

The country is now polarized between those who support and thosewho oppose the war in Iraq. Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden is still free.

Internationally, America’s image has been tarnished. According tothe Wall Street Journal, things got so bad in Turkey that “Turks feeltwice as warmly toward Iran as they do toward the U.S. Of the 12 coun-tries and entities listed in the survey, only Israel was less well-liked byTurks than the U.S.”

Does it matter that America is not liked around the world? Yes, itdoes. Not that any country should tailor its interests just to please foreignaudiences, but when the level of antipathy around the globe is raised sohigh, it harms the interests of the despised country.

Lifeblood of the communityThe summer of 2006 is – unfortunately – over. It belongs to our mem-

ories.It’s now time to go back to work – and back to school. Our communi-

ty’s parochial schools, like all others, also opened up this past week,while the afternoon schools open next week.

The fact that they open once again is, alone, of tremendous import.These schools – few as they are – are the lifeblood of the community;

they are the training grounds for our faith and heritage, and for Greeklanguage. They are places where lifelong friendships are forged amongour youth.

It is often argued that, somehow, schools do not pay their way – thatthey are a burden to their communities. Nothing could be further fromthe truth. The schools support the communities of today and tomorrow.

Can a price really be set on education, and on Hellenic education inparticular? We think not. So let’s support our schools.

New generation of leadersA few short months ago, many of us despaired at the news that U.S

Senator Paul Sarbanes and Congressmen Mike Bilirakis were retiringfrom public office after many years of distinguished service.

They were preceded by John Brademas, Mike Dukakis and the latePaul Tsongas. A historic cycle was coming to a close. Only SenatorOlympia Snowe intended to remain in high office. So the question natu-rally came up: Now what?

Today, there seems to be plenty of hope. Charlie Crist just won theRepublican nomination for governor of Florida, and Gus Bilirakis, MikeBilirakis’ son, won the GOP primary for his Congressional district inFlorida.

The big day is in November, of course, when at least ten Greek Amer-icans – among them, Phil Angelides, who is running for governor of Cali-fornia – hope to gain some important seats.

Some argue that, just because someone’s name is Greek, it does notmean he or she qualifies for the community’s automatic support – thatthe person needs to demonstrate a keen interest in the community; un-derstand and clearly support Hellenic issues; and be genuinely proud ofhis or her heritage.

Nor does it necessarily mean that, if elected, he or she will continue tobe actively involved with the community, or advocate strongly for Greekinterests, but then again, they can be held accountable for their promis-es.

Adelphi, ten years laterFew people today remember Peter Diamandopoulos, once President

of Adelphi University on Long Island. But not America’s leading news-paper, The New York Times, which ran about 60 articles on that story.

This week, on the tenth anniversary of the event, the Times ran onemore story, a self-congratulatory article seeking to prove how right Dr.Diamandopoulos’ opponents were in revolting against him and membersof the board of directors, most of whom were Greek Americans.

The article, “University Enjoys a Renaissance after 90’s Strife,” re-peats unfounded accusations that he “enriched himself” as “criticswarned that Adelphi was doomed to a death spiral.” The article alsonotes that, “while Dr. Diamandopoulos rode in an $82,000 Mercedes,Dr. Scott – the current president – drives a Toyota.”

Dr. Diamadopoulos was not flawless. But as far as his performance asa university president is concerned, it was above average. He set ambi-tious goals to turn Adelphi into a first-class university where students,even those from poor families, could receive a first-class education. Oneexample was Adelphi’s Honors Program, which had begun to deliver im-pressive results when he was forced out.

The truth is that, had Dr. Diamandopoulos not tried as hard as he did,and had he not stepped on so many toes (like those of the professorsfrom whom he demanded that they work harder and stay closer to thestudents), he would still be president of Adelphi, rather than a professorat Boston University.

9/11, five years later

AHEPA RaisesMore Money thanMost People Think

To the Editor:With respect to the editorial

concerning AHEPA scholarshipsin your August 12 edition, and thecomment that AHEPA’s “entiremembership… needs to step up,” Iwish to clarify that the 90 scholar-ships in question were only thoseon the national level.

They do not include scholar-ships given by the entire AHEPAfamily at the local and district lev-els across the country. The Daugh-ters of Penelope awarded 16 schol-arships nationally totaling $17,500in 2006, for example.

There are 22 districts in theUnited States, plus Canada. Ourdistrict, #22, awarded 12 scholar-ships in June 2006 in the amountof $12,250. We have approximate-ly $135,000 in our foundation. TheAHEPA family membership inDistrict #22 is less than 700 mem-bers.

Larger districts with largermemberships give up to threetimes the amount we do.

If we add up what the AHEPAfamily does nationally, plus whatthe districts do, we easily raisemore than $400,000 in scholar-ships annually.

In conclusion, we have steppedup for many years. We are just qui-et about what we do, and we aretrying to keep it “in the family.”

These scholarships are givenonly to members of the AHEPAfamily. The Sons of Pericles andMaids of Athena apply as mem-bers; or if their parents are mem-bers of AHEPA or the Daughtersof Penelope, they can still apply.

Also, Dr. Mike Sypropoulos is awonderful person and works very,very hard on the national level forAHEPA and Hellenic Studies. Heis one of our key people for thesuccess of the Hellenic Studies atthe University of Michigan in AnnArbor.

Thank you for your interest inthe Order of AHEPA. It truly isappreciated.

Respectfully submitted,Cleo Rumpakis

Portland, Oregon

Greeks Need to beAware when theyAre Being Insulted

To the Editor:On Saturday, August 12, I at-

tended the “Out of Doors” eventat Lincoln Center. This was a mul-ti-cultural concert called “The In-ternational Spirit of the Blues.”

The program included Portuguesefado, Cypriot rebetica and Gypsyflamenco, et al.

When time came for the Greekmusicians to perform the rebetica,the announcer, a non-Greek, in-troduced the Greek band, Fanta-sia, by stating that they were goingto play “hashish” music. This was amost derogatory introduction andidentification of Greek music andculture, and it was stated not once,but twice.

In the 1930’s, rebetica are in-deed identified with the marginal-ized and lower working class; how-ever, none of the songs made ref-erence to, or indicated and pro-moted, the use of “hashish.”

Obviously, for the announcer toidentify Greek music as “hashish”music, someone must have con-veyed that information to him. Itwas most disconcerting that, dur-ing an event organized to promotethe multi-cultural aspects of cur-rent American ethnic groups,Greek music would be introducedto the American public in such anegative, degrading and damagingmanner.

My question to the Greek orga-nizers of this event is the follow-ing: If rebetica are considered tobe “hashish” music, why is it thatthe rebetica were the focus of thepresentation? Did they not stop tothink that, if the music is consid-ered or identified as “hashish” mu-

sic, it could be damaging to theGreek image? Moreover, is it“hashish” music Greek composersare noted for? Are Theodorakisand Hatzidakis, as composers,known for creating “hashish” mu-sic?

It should be noted that no otherethnic group was introduced insuch a derogatory manner thatevening. It would have been betterif the Greeks were not participantssince the Greek music presentedwas wittingly or unwittingly down-graded as the creation of a drugculture of “hashish” origins.

Respectfully submitted,Athanasia Gregoriades

New York, New York

TO OUR READERS

The National Herald welcomes let-ters from its readers intended forpublication. They should includethe writer’s name, address, andtelephone number and be ad-dressed to: The Editor, The Nation-al Herald, 37-10 30th Street, LongIsland City, NY 11101. Letters canalso be faxed to (718) 472-0510 ore-mailed to [email protected]. We reserve theright to edit letters for publicationand regret that we are unable toacknowledge or return those leftunpublished.

TThhee NNaattiioonnaall HHeerraallddA weekend publication of the NATIONAL HERALD, INC. (∂£¡π∫√™ ∫∏ƒÀ•),

reporting the news and addressing the issues of paramount interest to the Greek American community of the United States of America.

Publisher-Editor AAnnttoonniiss HH.. DDiiaammaattaarriiss

Assistant to Publisher, Advertising VVeettaa HH.. DDiiaammaattaarriiss PPaappaaddooppoouulloossManaging Editor EEvvaann CC.. LLaammbbrroouu

Production Manager CChhrryyssoouullaa KKaarraammeettrroossWebmaster AAlleexxaannddrrooss TTssoouukkiiaass

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

Tel: (718)784-5255, Fax: (718)472-0510, e-mail: [email protected]

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

Subscriptions by mail: 1 year $59.85, 6 months $29.95, 3 months $19.95, 1 month $9.95Home delivery NY, NJ, CT: 1 year $80.00, 6 months $43.99, 3 months $29.99, 1 month $12.95

Home delivery New England States, Pennsylvania & Washington DC:1 year $99.00, 6 months $51.75, 3 months $37.45, 1 month $15.95

On line subscription: Non subscribers: 1 year $29.95, 1 month $3.95;Subscribers: 1 year $19.95, 1 month $1.95

Periodical postage paid at L.I.C. NY and additional mailing offices.

Postmaster send change of address to: THE NATIONAL HERALD, 37-10 30th Street, LIC, NY 11101-2614

By Nick MadiganThe Baltimore Sun

In more than 30 years as a writ-er, social commentator and politi-cal gadfly, Arianna Huffington hasset her steely, hazel-eyed gaze oneveryone from Pablo Picasso toDick Cheney. Few have emergedunscathed.

"Chutzpah doesn't even beginto describe the Vice President ofthe United States, suggesting thatthe outcome of the Connecticutprimary might embolden 'al Qaedatypes,' " she wrote recently on herwebsite, HuffingtonPost.com,about U.S. Senator Joseph Lieber-man's loss to an anti-war chal-lenger.

While some detractors seeHuffington as a one-person public-ity machine – from her campaignagainst gas-guzzling sports utilityvehicles to her blip-on-the-radarrun for the California governorship– there is no one who questions herdetermination.

It has carried her from thestreets of Athens, where she grewup, to the somber halls of Cam-bridge University and the headyheights of New York, Washingtonand Los Angeles society. She mar-ried and divorced a U.S. congress-man, and made a highly publicizedideological conversion from rightto left. In April, TIME magazinenamed her one of the world's 100most influential people.

Now, a little more than a yearsince founding her website – nowbooming, it has 750 contributingbloggers, is getting about 30 mil-

lion page views a month, and re-cently received $5 million in invest-ment funding – Huffington hasturned her focus to far more per-sonal concerns in her 11th book,"On Becoming Fearless" (Little,Brown), in stores today.

In it, Huffington, the 56-year-old mother of two teenage girls, re-veals that, far from the relentlessforce of nature she is sometimesdepicted as being, she had to over-come many instances of fear, un-certainty and doubt in her quest forserenity, and that even now, thedemons linger.

Just the other day, she admittedin an interview from her Los Ange-les home, she became anxiousabout her 15-year-old daughter,who was on the bustling SantaMonica pier. She couldn't reachher by cell phone.

"I really had to watch myself,"Huffington said, her accent lacedwith inflections from her roots inGreece and England. "I literallyhave to practice everything Ipreach about observing your fears,which is the first step in taking do-minion over them."

In the introduction to her book,Huffington writes, "As I watch mygirls in their teenage years, I'mstunned to see all the same classicfears I was burdened with: How at-tractive am I? Do people like me?Should I speak up? ... I hadthought that, with all the gainsfeminism has brought, my daugh-ters would not have to sufferthrough the fears I did. Yet here isour younger generation, as uncer-tain, doubting and desperate as we

were, trying to fulfill the expecta-tions of others. What happened toour bold little girls?"

It's a question she tries to an-swer in the 230-page book, whichincludes essays from prominentwomen such as Diane Keaton andNora Ephron. Above all, Huffing-ton said, her model for fearlessnesswas her own mother, who walkedout on a faithless husband at a timewhen it was rare for a woman inGreece to do so; stared down Nazisoldiers' guns during World WarII; and had no compunctions aboutinsisting, years later in London,that her plumber sit down withPrime Minister Edward Heath todiscuss politics over dinner.

"I was scared to death that Icould never live up to that," Huff-ington said of her mother, whodied in 2000. "She had these amaz-ing values of not believing in anyhierarchies."

In her book, Huffington de-scribes instances in which she wasalmost stopped cold by fear;among them, her daughter Isabel-la's fever-induced seizure as a ba-by; publishers' repeated rejectionsof her second book; and, after hermother's death, the fear of livingher life "without the person whohad been its foundation."

"I realized that as I was experi-encing my fears – that whenever Ididn't let them stop me, goodthings happened," she recalled."And the first good thing that hap-pened was that I survived. Fear-lessness is not the absence of fear,but the mastery of it."

After writing biographies of Pi-

casso and the diva Maria Callas, abook about Greek gods, and politi-cal satires such as Greetings fromthe Lincoln Bedroom, Huffingtonsaid, she decided to put her grow-ing awareness of the power of fear-lessness into a book dedicated toher daughters.

The cultural images they andother women are absorbing "domi-nate how they respond to theirbodies," Huffington said. "You cannever look good enough."

She had to laugh, she said, whenshe saw the story about, as she putit, "shrinking Katie Couric," whensomeone decided to trim the figureof CBS' new evening news anchorin a publicity photograph.

"How truly insane our country isbecoming," Huffington said, "totake a perfectly beautiful womanand feel they have to shrink her.Whoever did it reflects that cultur-al ideal, and women have internal-ized it. It leads to a tremendousamount of fear."

Inevitably, a droll take on theCouric story appeared on Huffing-tonPost, a clear indication, Huffin-gton said, that the site does nottake itself too seriously.

"I love the fact that, while themainstream media is sufferingfrom attention deficit disorder, theblogosphere is obsessive-compul-sive," she said. "I love the fact that Ican write about the war in Iraqendlessly without someone tellingme, 'You wrote about that twodays ago.' "

TThhee BBaallttiimmoorree SSuunn ppuubblliisshheeddtthhee aabboovvee oonn SSeepptteemmbbeerr 44..

LLooookkiinngg IInnwwaarrdd,, HHuuffffiinnggttoonn DDeeaallss wwiitthh hheerr FFeeaarrss

By Angie TooleNorthwest Florida Daily News

FORT WALTON BEACH,Fla. – When Melanie Karis Pana-giotopoulos moved to Shalimar asa teen and graduated fromChoctawhatchee High School, shenever imagined she would grow upto live in another country. Even asa Florida State University student,she didn't suspect what her futureheld. But God had a plan for her,Panagiotopoulos says – one whichincluded being sidetracked on atrip to Greece; meeting and fallingin love with a Greek medical stu-dent; marrying him; and ultimatelyraising a family with him inGreece.

The author of inspirational ro-mance novels didn't always see theplan, however. Initially, she foughtleaving her home in the UnitedStates. "God insisted I live inGreece, regardless of seven yearsworth of pleadings on my part toreturn to the States," she said.Now, the author of more than adozen books has a different per-spective. Each turn off the pathshe envisioned for herself broughther closer to God.

Living in Greece has given herthe opportunity to study at historicsites where early Christians oncelived and died for their faith. And

with her writing gifts, she shareswhat she's learned. "I was whereGod wanted me to be," she said.

Not that living in a beautifulcountry with a man she loved was ahardship:

"Greece is a beautiful, wonder-ful country. And one of the great-est things about it is that it's aChristian land. Because everybodybelieves in the same thing, theyconsider each other brothers andsisters in Christ. When I firstmoved there 25 years ago, theylaughed at me for locking our doorat night. Even though there's morecrime now, Greece still has one ofthe lowest crime rates in theworld," she said.

Early in their marriage, thecouple lived in a small mountainvillage where her husband,George, worked in a rural physi-cian program. Panagiotopoulosdrew inspiration from the settingfor a series of books.

A Greek Orthodox priest whoinspired her became a character inother books. Even her own fairytale, or "Godtale," as she calls it,influenced her writing. She and acousin were taking a trip and hadto make an unplanned stopover inRome. They adjusted their travelplans, which led her to meet herhusband.

"George later admitted to 'a

thunderbolt' hitting him upon hisfirst meeting me. I, too, knew thatthere was something very specialabout him from the first moment,"she said.

"I remember being amazed athow right it felt to hold his hand. Itwas the most perfect thing, notstrange or forced. But rather, hishand wrapped around mine wasalmost an extension of my own,"she added.

With a friend accompanyingthem, they had a whirlwind ro-mance. They visited Delphi, manymedieval and Byzantine churchesof Athens, the Acropolis, the Ago-ra of Athens and Cape Sounion,where a temple to Poseidon stillstands.

Within six months of meeting,the two married. Panagiotopoulossaid her parents and grandparentsmet with the same sudden attrac-tion, so she does believe in love atfirst sight.

"I believe these romances havethe definite stamp of God's planon them," she said.

"These 'God-tales,' if you will,are the only kind I know. There's alittle bit of my story in every one ofmy books."

Furthermore, she sees a defi-nite parallel in the ongoing appealof inspirational romance and thegreat romance people share with

God.Panagiotopoulos said her path

soon may take yet another turn:She talked with crossover authorDebbie Macomber while attend-ing the Romance Writers ofAmerica 26th Annual Conferencein Atlanta at the end of July. Pana-giotopoulos now plans to branchout into more secular romance.

"But with a Christian heart," sheexplained. "When I started writingbooks and my daughter was 12years old, I promised myself that,whatever I would write, I couldfeel comfortable with a 12-year-old reading it. I would never wantto be the one who turned a younggirl down the wrong path. I hearsome writers say, 'I wouldn't wantmy grandmother to know aboutthis book,' but I believe someonemore important than your grand-mother would know."

Panagiotopoulos said that,while her books will never have anintense sensuality level, they stillcan feature all the "good parts"people yearn for in a romance:finding someone who's right foryou; making that romantic connec-tion; and discovering new thingsabout each other.

TThhee NNoorrtthhwweesstt FFlloorriiddaa DDaaiillyyNNeewwss ppuubblliisshheedd tthhee aabboovvee oonn AAuu--gguusstt 55..

GGrreeeeccee IInnssppiirreess FFaaiitthh iinn GGoodd ffoorr RRoommaannccee NNoovveelliisstt

PRESS CLIPPINGS

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 VIEWPOINTS 11

WASHINGTON, D.C. – TheAmerican Hellenic Institute hasprepared and sent the followingquestions to all Congressional can-didates, incumbents and chal-lengers. In the actual questionnaire,each candidate has the option ofchecking a box “yes” or “no.” In theinterest of helping the Greek Amer-ican community understand the is-sues and formulate questions, thequestionnaire is presented here.

CCYYPPRRUUSS July 2006 marked the 32-year an-

niversary of Turkey’s invasion ofCyprus and occupation of 37.3 per-cent of Cyprus. Since 1974, UnitedStates policy on the Cyprus problemhas been a foreign policy failure.Cyprus became a member of theEuropean Union On May 1, 2004 asa divided and occupied nation, itsnortheastern territory still under il-legal Turkish military occupation.

The effort by the United Nationsto resolve the Cyprus problem in2003-04 under the so-called AnnanPlan was flawed because, as written,it was undemocratic, unworkableand not viable financially, and re-warded the aggressor, Turkey, andpunished the victims, the GreekCypriots. It also violated key U.N.resolutions and the EuropeanUnion’s democratic norms and ac-quis communautaire (total body ofEuropean norms and law).

The U.S., in its own interests ofhelping to provide peace and stabili-ty in the Eastern Mediterranean,needs to support a solution forCyprus based on democratic values.QUESTIONS:

1. Do you support a settlementof the Cyprus problem through ne-gotiations based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in a sovereignstate, incorporating the norms ofconstitutional democracy, the E.U.acquis communautaire, U.N. reso-lutions on Cyprus, and the pertinentdecisions of the European Court ofHumans Rights.

2. Do you support a settlementfor Cyprus which would be demo-cratic, fair, workable, financially vi-able and just for all the people ofCyprus?

3. Do you support the immediatedemilitarization of Cyprus?

4. Do you support the prompt re-turn to Turkey of the more than120,000 illegal Turkish settlers inCyprus in violation of the GenevaConvention of 1949.

5. Do you support the tearing

down of the Green Line,the Turkish barbed-wirefence across the face ofCyprus?

6. Do you support therights of all Cypriots tobuy property and livewherever they chosewithout being limited byethnic quotas?

7. On February 16,2005 RepresentativeFrank Pallone (D-NewJersey) introduced thebipartisan American-Owned Property In Oc-cupied Cyprus ClaimsAct, H.R. 857. The bill,initiated by AHI, now has 32 co-sponsors. This bill would enableU.S. citizens who own property inthe Turkish-occupied territory ofCyprus to seek financial remedies inU.S. courts from either the currentillegal inhabitants of their land orthe Turkish Government. Will yousupport legislation in the 110thCongress similar to H.R. 857?

AAEEGGEEAANN SSEEAA BBOOUUNNDDAARRYYTurkey has made claim to one

half of the Aegean Sea, but refusesto take its claim to the InternationalCourt of Justice at The Hague(ICJH) for a binding ruling. TheU.S. should publicly state that themaritime boundary betweenGreece and Turkey in the AegeanSea has been long established bytreaties. The relevant agreementsare the Lausanne Treaty of 1923;the Italy-Turkey Convention of Jan-uary 4, 1932; the Italy-Turkey Pro-tocol of December 28, 1932; and the1947 Paris Peace Treaty, underwhich the Dodecanese Islands andadjacent islets were ceded by Italy toGreece.

The U.S. is a signatory to the1947 Paris Peace Treaty, and is obli-gated by U.S. law to carry out itsprovisions. The State Departmenthas failed to declare publicly whatthe law is, and should do so. TheU.S. should urge Turkey to submitits claim to the ICJH for binding ar-bitration.

H.R.137, a bipartisan resolutionwith 31 co-sponsors was introducedby Representative Robert E. An-drews (D-New Jersey) in April of2005, expressing the House of Rep-resentatives view that the boundarybetween Greece and Turkey in theAegean has been long-establishedby treaties and anyone disagreeingshould take their claim to the ICJH.

QUESTION: Willyou support similar legis-lation in the 110thCongress?

EECCUUMMEENNIICCAALLPPAATTRRIIAARRCCHHAATTEEThe Turkish Govern-

ment has tolerated as-saults against its GreekOrthodox religious mi-nority and the Ecumeni-cal Patriarchate in Con-stantinople, and contin-ues the illegal closure ofthe Greek Orthodox Pa-triarchal School of The-ology on the island ofHalki near Istanbul. U.S.

law, as expressed in Section 2804 ofthe Fiscal Year 1999 Appropria-tions Bill, calls for the Turkish Gov-ernment to safeguard the Ecumeni-cal Patriarchate, its personnel andits property, and to reopen the Hal-ki Patriarchal School of Theology.

His Eminence ArchbishopDemetrios, Primate of the GreekOrthodox Church in America led apanel discussion at the U.S. Helsin-ki Commission on March 16, 2005which presented a clear picture ofhow religious human rights viola-tions by the Turkish Governmenthave been working to exterminatethe Ecumenical Patriarchate andthe Turkey’s Greek Orthodox com-munity.

U.S. Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Congressman Christo-pher H. Smith (R-New Jersey) stat-ed, “The concern of this Commis-sion is the protection of religiousrights and freedoms. Turkey’s treat-ment of the Ecumenical Patriar-chate violates its obligations underinternational human rights law.”Rep. Smith blamed Turkey for sys-temically attempting to prevent theactivities of the Patriarchate by dis-allowing the opening of the HalkiTheological School (forcibly closedin 1971); destroying churches bycreating hurdles preventing their re-pair; denying the Patriarchate theopportunity to purchase and or sellproperty; and not recognizing thePatriarchate’s ecumenical status –in effect, denying its universal sta-tus.

QUESTION: Do you agree thatthe U.S. should use its influencewith the Turkish Government to en-sure the protection of the Ecumeni-cal Patriarchate by supporting Sec-tion 2804 of the Fiscal Year 1999Appropriations Bill, as well as as-

suring that positive steps are takento reopen the Halki PatriarchalSchool of Theology, and to establishconditions to ensure religious free-dom in Turkey?

Do you agree?VVIISSAA WWAAIIVVEERR PPRROOGGRRAAMMParticipation in the Visa Waiver

Program is a priority for Greece, asit will facilitate short-term businesstravel and enhance tourism betweenour two nations.

Greece has met all the technicalrequirements for participation. Thenew machine-readable passportscomply with all relevant provisionsof the International Civil AviationOrganization. Administration offi-cials have recognized that Greece’snew “state of the art” passportsshould serve as a model for othercountries.

Greece and the U.S. have beenallied in every major internationalconflict of the 20th century. GeneralAndrew J. Goodpaster, formerSupreme Commander of NATO,called Greece’s role in World WarII and its defeat of the communistinsurgents in the Greek Civil Warturning points in world history.

Greece was deemed ready forprompt participation in the VisaWaiver Program in 1999. Given allthat Greece has accomplished, it isinconceivable that Greece remainsthe only Schengen country whichdoes not participate in the program(The 1985 Schengen Accord is anagreement among European stateswhich allows for common policy onthe temporary entry of persons anda border system).

QUESTION: Would you pro-vide support by urging the Depart-ment of State and Department ofHomeland Security to includeGreece as a full member in the VisaWaiver Program?

AALLBBAANNIIAAAlthough some improvements

have been made lately in the condi-tions and treatment of the Greekminority in Albania, continuing actsof discrimination and persecutionare tolerated by the Albanian Gov-ernment against that country’s eth-nic Greek minority. Albania suc-cessfully sought a census to measurethe Albanian minority in neighbor-ing FYROM (Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia), while it re-sists the E.U. demand to measure itsown minorities.

QUESTION: Would you sup-port hearings on the issue of Alba-

nia’s treatment of its minorities? FFYYRROOMM

The “Macedonia” issue stemsfrom the 1991 secessionist Skopjeregime’s naming itself in the mostprovocative way possible as the so-called “Republic of Macedonia”and requesting worldwide recogni-tion.

When the late Marshal Tito fash-ioned the puppet “Socialist Repub-lic of Macedonia” from the south-ern Yugoslav province of Vardar-Banovina in 1945, he did so to fo-ment disorder in northern Greece,and in furtherance of his plans tocommunize the Balkan Peninsulaand gain control of the key port cityof Thessaloniki. “Macedonian” na-tionalism was a product of Tito’sfabrications. Then U.S. Secretary ofState Edward Stettinius, in a circu-lar airgram to diplomatic officers onDecember 26, 1944, wrote the fol-lowing:

“This Government considerstalk of Macedonian ‘nation,’ Mace-donian ‘Fatherland,’ or Macedo-nian ‘national consciousness’ to beunjustified demagoguery represent-ing no ethnic nor political reality,and sees in its present revival a pos-sible cloak for aggressive intentionsagainst Greece.”

The Truman Doctrine with itsmilitary aid to Greece enabledGreek forces to defeat the commu-nist insurgency supported by Titoand Stalin in the Greek Civil War of1946-49.

The State Department’s reversalof policy on November 4, 2004 bythe recognition of the FYROM asthe “Republic of Macedonia” wasan act of disgraceful proportions inrelation to our staunch ally and sup-porter in the Balkans, Greece. Thisact is harmful to U.S. interests in theBalkans. Since antiquity, the name“Macedonia” referred to a geo-graphical region, not to a nationali-ty.

QUESTION: Do you supportthe U.S. pressing FYROM to nego-tiate with Greece for a solution tothe name issue which does not in-clude the word “Macedonia?”

TTUURRKKEEYYTurkey is a proven unreliable ally

which refused to allow the U.S. touse bases in Turkey to open a north-ern front against Saddam Husseindictatorship in 2003 because Turk-ish authorities wanted another $6billion – in addition to $26 billion of-fered by the Bush Administration

through then Deputy Secretary ofDefense Paul Wolfowitz – for a to-tal of $32 billion. An Administrationofficial called Turkey’s negotiatingtactics “extortion in the name of thealliance.”

The U.S.’s defeat of the SaddamHussein dictatorship without accessfrom Turkey proved Turkey’smarginality as a strategic military re-source in the region. Today, theU.S. has access to alternative mili-tary facilities in the region, includingcountries in the Balkans, MiddleEast, Central Asia and Afghanistan,as well as within Iraq itself.

Turkey’s unreliability is not new.During the Cold War, Turkey ac-tively aided the Soviet military, tothe serious detriment of the U.S.During the 1973 Mid East War, pre-dating the Turkish invasion ofCyprus by one year, Turkey refusedthe U.S. military overflight rights toresupply Israel, and granted theU.S.S.R. overland military convoyrights to resupply Syria and Iraq, aswell as military overflight permis-sion to resupply Egypt. In the 1977-78 conflict in Ethiopia, Turkeygranted the Soviets military over-flight rights to support the pro-Sovi-et minority of Ethiopian communistinsurgents led by Colonel Mengistu,who eventually prevailed.

According to CongressmanThaddeus McCotter (R-Michigan),a member of the International Re-lations Subcommittee on Europe &Emerging Threats, “It’s my belief inthe larger picture that what theUnited States has to do is funda-mentally reexamine its relationshipwith Turkey. If the United Statescomes to the realization that our in-terest, as it has always been, is indealing with other just nations toadvance the cause of constitutionalgovernment and human rights, I be-lieve that this course of action willbe beneficial to everyone.”

QUESTION: Will you support afundamental reexamination ofUnited States with Turkey?

Call and write to your two Sena-tors and your Representatives, andask them to respond to the AHIquestionnaire. Their answers canhelp you decide whether they aresupportive of Hellenic interests.

MMrr.. RRoossssiiddeess iiss PPrreessiiddeenntt &&FFoouunnddeerr ooff tthhee AAmmeerriiccaann HHeelllleenniiccIInnssttiittuuttee iinn WWaasshhiinnggttoonn,, DDCC aanndd iissaa ffoorrmmeerr aassssiissttaanntt sseeccrreettaarryy ooff tthheeUU..SS.. TTrreeaassuurryy..

A Hellenic Questionnaire for 2006 Congressional Candidates

“No one starts a war – or rather, noone in his senses ought to do so – with-out first being clear in his mind whathe intends to achieve by that war, andhow he intends to conduct it” – Carlvon Clausewitz, Book I

War, to further quote Clause-witz, remains the “ULTIMATE ar-gument of kings (emphasis mine).”History is littered with the remainsof countries which failed to under-stand both maxims. Today, the mostpowerful world power and the mostpowerful regional power in the Mid-dle East, once again, seem doomedto repeat that history.

The United States and Israelboth have overwhelming militaryforce over their neighbors. In thecase of the United States, our neigh-bors are the entire globe. Unfortu-nately, it appears that, in both coun-tries, national mindsets exist whichwe can shoot our way into any placewe want to go; against any oppo-nent; with the ability to turn our re-spective neighborhoods into nuclearwasteland.

This knowledge determines howwe act. Put bluntly, both countrieshave contempt for the role of diplo-macy and economics in the conductof policy. In the current jargon,Americans and Israelis regard “softpower” as the resort of decadent,weaklings (e.g., the Europeans).

Neither country lacksdiplomats of quality andintelligence. Both coun-tries have strongeconomies and the abilityto shell out cash and fa-vors without any notice-able drain on their owntaxpayers. In the Ameri-can case, we should addour overwhelming cul-tural presence – even ifwe entertain doubtsabout the ethics ofspreading McDonald’s,Wal-Mart and gangsterrap to the world.

To the contrary, our respectivepolitical leadership takes pride in itsrefusal to engage our adversariesand competitors. When we do “en-gage,” it is to punish and coerce, notto convince. We prefer militaryforce, unless something painfullyobvious (e.g., the nuclear factor)makes it impossible.

Mindless politicians have con-vinced mindless voters in both coun-tries that diplomacy and foreign aidare “taxpayers’ giveaways.” U.S.politicians do not publicize the factthat defense expenditures exceed 5percent of the U.S. Gross DomesticProduct, while the full costs of diplo-macy, including foreign aid, are ap-proximately 0.02 percent of thesame figure – a ratio of 250:1.

This has been a bipartisan Amer-ican mindset and, generally, a fail-ure.

Generations of Presidents, start-ing with John F. Kennedy, have re-fused to deal with an insignificantCaribbean Island a few tens of milesoff our coast other than by force, thethreat of force or economic warfare.

Fidel Castro has outlasted eightAmerican Presidents and outlivedfour of them. Cuba was tailor-madefor the use of soft power; can anyoneargue that a full American embrace– tourism, business, exports and im-ports, McDonalds and so forth –would not have made the BrothersCastro irrelevant decades ago?

Lyndon Johnson lied shameless-ly to convince the American peoplethat a pipsqueak Asiatic state

(North Vietnam) at-tacked us. A little lessthan four decades later,Bush and the gang liedwith equal lack of shameto persuade us to invadeIraq. Both adventureswere conducted withoutbenefit of diplomacy,and both have becomedebacles for the UnitedStates.

The current adminis-tration has simplybrought the practices ofits several predecessorsto their inevitable “logi-

cal” conclusion: diplomacy and oth-er forms of “soft power” are useless.Talking to the Iranians, for example,only “rewards bad behavior” andshows weakness, we believe. Bushand company believe only in the ef-ficacy of brute military strength (asmall digression: Secretary of De-fense Rumsfeld’s many pronounce-ments about the “transformation”of the U.S. military to a “smart andnimble” force are an oxymoron. Nomatter how smart and nimble ourforces might become, in the end, weare still talking about blowing thingsup as the only way of persuading theother guy to our way of thinking).

American politicians haveheaped contumely on the few bril-liant exceptions to this mindsetamong American Presidents. Presi-dent Eisenhower “lost” the KoreanWar, and Nixon did the same in In-dochina, according to theDemocrats of that time. GeorgeH.W. Bush has suffered the crueltyof a son’s obvious disdain for refus-ing to “march on Baghdad” in 1991.

The Israelis have generally es-poused this same mindset since thecreation of the Jewish State in 1948.In that year, they won a hard-foughtcontest against the armies of severalneighbors. In the same year, Jor-dan’s King Abdullah made it clearto the Israelis who wanted to workout a modus vivendi: Bring hostili-ties to an end and move ultimatelytowards a peaceful relationship.

The Israelis interpreted his over-tures as a sign of weakness, immedi-

ately violated the 1948 ceasefireagreements and spent the next 50years trying to destroy the Kingdomof Jordan. In 1956, Israel – aidedand abetted by France and GreatBritain which had financial interests– exploited a crisis which was beingsolved, attacked Egypt. It did thesame in 1967, and then attacked Jor-dan – which had provoked the at-tack – and Syria, which had actuallywithdrawn its troops from the Golanin order to avoid provocation.

From this great military victory,Israel has reaped a 37-year plague:the painful occupation of 2.5 millionpeople who have come to hatethem, and which has corrupted theinstitutions of the Israeli state.

Israel’s most recent refusal to en-gage politically has reaped it a hu-miliating setback in Lebanon. ForIsrael, there is no light at the end ofthe tunnel. Its leaders refuse to con-sider diplomacy and other forms of“soft power” to build alliances withtheir neighbors.

In fairness to the Israelis, theyhave not completely abandoneddiplomacy. Rather, the State of Is-rael has put all its diplomatic talent,and the brains and resources of itsDiaspora, to achieve one objective:to ensure that the United States willguarantee Israel’s overwhelmingmilitary superiority. Unfortunately,thousands of Israelis and tens ofthousands of Arabs have died be-cause these valuable “soft power”assets have never been mobilized tobuild ties to the Arab world.

The other side of the coin, how-ever, can be found in Europe’s ex-cessive and dismal reliance on “softpower” and getting stingy with themilitary.

The U.S. has allowed Europe tolead negotiations with Iran only be-cause Iraq has immobilized Ameri-can military power. But Europe’slack of military power requires thatit wield an American, and not a Eu-ropean, stick against Iran.

The Iranians are no dummies;they string the Europeans along andneutralize Russia and China eco-nomically, while working hard tofurther weaken American strength

in Iraq, the Persian Gulf and now inthe Eastern Mediterranean.

Europe provoked the Yugoslavcivil war, and then could nothing tostop it without President Clinton’sinterventions. In Greek eyes, Eu-rope’s greatest humiliation cameduring the Imia crisis. Turkey, anon-European state, landed troopson European territory, an act of warin other times. Lacking militarymuscle, and therefore political will,Europe dithered while Greece hadalready dispatched planes and war-ships “weapons-free” into the crisisarea. Only President Clinton’s vigor-ous intervention prevented war be-tween two NATO allies.

Greek history teaches us severalcogent examples of relying exces-sively on only one course of action.Athens achieved the leadership ofthe Hellenic World against Persiathrough an adroit combination ofnaval strength, commercial predom-inance and adroit diplomacy withthe other city-states. A few years lat-er, the Athenian democracy appar-ently imbibed a little too much com-mercial and naval power, and em-barked on a process of converting itsalliance, the Delian League, into theAthenian Empire. This led to thecatastrophe at Syracuse and the fi-nal lunacy of attempting to domi-nate Chios, which possessed anequally strong fleet. The Chioteswent over to the Spartans andhelped Sparta to victory, thus end-ing the Peloponnesian Wars andhumbling Athens.

For a thousand years, the Empireat Constantinople maintained itselfthrough a masterful combination ofeconomic strength, cultural expan-sionism (i.e., spreading Orthodoxy),impressive public relations (such asvisits to the Blachernae Palace forbarbarian envoys), a good intelli-gence service, adroit diplomacy (in-cluding arranged Imperial mar-riages), a strong militia for self de-fense, and a powerful professionalArmy and Navy which could showup whenever the other elements ofpolicy needed help.

Western hatred for the Greeks,including the word “Byzantine” as a

pejorative, stemmed in large partfrom jealousy and avarice. But it al-so reflected a martial society’s con-tempt for the Greek preference forachieving objectives with meansshort of war. Basil II defeated theBulgarians brutally, but followed uphis military victory with diplomaticlargesse to restore the BulgarianKingdom to almost full indepen-dence. He converted an enemy intoan ally.

All this came to a catastrophicend with the Comnenoi Emperors.An early incarnation of DefenseSecretary Rumsfeld convinced theEmperors to substitute taxation formilitary service, hire mercenariesand outsource the Navy to Genoaand Venice (it WAS cheaper).

Today, in Iraq and elsewhere, wefind the U.S. military can no longergo into battle without Halliburton,Blackwater and others bringing upthe rear. But this time, it isn’t cheap-er, neither in terms of quality of sup-port or the missing billions of dollarswhich can’t be accounted for.

In the Byzantine period, the mer-cenaries deserted the Emperor atthe disastrous battle of Manzikert,helping to establish Turkish superi-ority. And the Venetian fleet, unhin-dered by Greek ships, brought theCrusaders to Constantinople in1204, the real terminal date of theEmpire. We did recover the Citysome 50 years later, but the eco-nomic base of the Empire had beendestroyed. Byzantine diplomacyhung on for another century, butwithout military force, diplomacycould not defend the Empire muchlonger.

Fast forward 600 years, and wefind that our leaders in the UnitedStates and Israel have read none oftheir history, and are thus doomingus all to its repetition.

AAmmbbaassssaaddoorr TThheerrooss sseerrvveedd iinntthhee UU..SS.. FFoorreeiiggnn SSeerrvviiccee ffoorr 3366yyeeaarrss,, mmoossttllyy iinn tthhee MMiiddddllee EEaasstt,,aanndd wwaass AAmmeerriiccaann AAmmbbaassssaaddoorr ttooQQaattaarr ffrroomm 11999955 ttoo 11999988.. HHee aallssooddiirreecctteedd tthhee SSttaattee DDeepptt’’ss ccoouunntteerr--tteerrrroorriissmm ooffffiiccee aanndd hhoollddss nnuummeerr--oouuss UU..SS.. GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt ddeeccoorraattiioonnss..

Hard Power vs. Soft Power: Is History Doomed to Repeat Itself?

GUEST EDITORIALS

The National Herald welcomesmanuscripts representing a variety ofviews for publication in its View Pointspage. They should include the writer’sname, address, and telephone numberand be addressed to the View PointsEditor, The National Herald, 37-1030th Street, Long Island City, NY11101. They can also be faxed to(718) 472-0510 or, preferably, e-mailed to [email protected]. Due to considerations ofspace we enforce a 1,400-word upperlimit. We reserve the right to edit forrepetitiveness, diction and syntax. Weregret that we are unable to acknowl-edge or return manuscripts, publishedor unpublished.

by Amb. Patrick N.THEROS

Special to The National

Herald

by EUGENE T.ROSSIDES

Special to The National

Herald

12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

The National Herald · Hittos, Bilirakis' deputy campaign manager, said of Tuesday's con-test. After all, Langheier was a first-time candidate, but so was Rep. Mike Bilirakis in 1982

Documents