GreekNewsBlog: johnmetaxas.com

ARCHIVES

Vol. 3. #2

Friday, June 15, 2007

Archons oppose Aghia Sophia email effort

By John Metaxas

Chris Spirou's effort to "Free Agia Sophia" is not the only attempt at restoring the great cathedral. Perhaps you have received an email with the following message:

Dear Hellene or Philhellene,
Please add your voice to ours in asking that the church of Saint (Hagia) Sophia in Istanbul be allowed to revert to its original status as a church. The European Parliament is considering asking the Turkish Government to restore Saint Sophia Cathedral from a museum into a Greek Orthodox church. However the Parliament has set a requirement of one million signatures on a petition before it makes this request part of the negotiations for Turkey's admission into the European Union. To help, please log into http://www.hagiasophiablog.com and sign the petition. Also, please forward this email on to as many people as you can so they can vote, too! ....

A visit to the "Hagia Sophia blog" reveals a beautifully designed website that details the history of Aghia Sophia and concludes: "If Turkey aspires to join the community of Europe, the first step would be to show a spirit of understanding and a sense of justice, mutual respect and willingness to cooperate, as is the culture of the European Union. The time to restore the spirituality of Hagia Sophia as a place of Christian worship is now."

The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, however, have spoken out against this effort. In a recent commentary, "On Reopening Hagia Sophia / The EU Perspective," Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle says, "The call to action to which all women and men of conscience should respond is the call to protect the living institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople."

And Rev. Alexander Karloutsos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese requested of the EU and received a letter that states: "I can confirm to you that it is not accurate that ' the European Parliament has pressured the Turkish government to restore Saint Sophia Cathedral from a Museum into a Greek Orthodox Church." CLICK FOR PARTIAL IMAGE OF LETTER.

Evidently the church has concluded it is important not to stray from its focus on the struggle for the survival of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and that agitating for the restoration of Aghia Sophia would detract from the more important effort.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Chris Spirou to hold press conference in Athens regarding Aghia Sophia

The following is a press release we received from Chris Spirou announcing a press conference to be held in Athens today by the Free Agia Sophia Council, which he heads. In tomorrow's edition of the GreekNewsBlog we will provide further coverage of the Aghia Sophia issue, including reporting some recent comments from the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate:

Athens, June 12, 2007

INVITATION TO A PRESS CONFERENCE

The Honorable Chris Spirou, President of the «FREE AGIA SOPHIA COUNCIL OF AMERICA», will hold a press conference at the FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION OF GREECE, 23, AKADEMIAS STREET, ATHENS, GREECE,
ON THURSDAY, JUNE 14TH 2007, AT 12 NOON.

President Spirou will announce that he has been invited by Congressman Tom Lantos the Chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus to testify regarding “AGIA SOPHIA: A HOLY SITE VIOLATED” before the Human Rights Caucus of the United States Congress.

The Public Hearing on AGIA SOPHIA will be held at the Rayburn Congressional Office Building in Washington, DC and the Hearing will be chaired by Congressman Tom Lantos of California, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States Congress.

Chairman Lantos has extended an invitation to President Spirou to testify before the Caucus about the ongoing violations of the Turkish State to one of the most revered Holy Site of the Christian Faith, as well as on the efforts of the “FREE AGIA SOPHIA COUNCIL OF AMERICA” to restore the Great Church of Agia Sophia as a functioning Church of the Orthodox Christian Faith and as a Holy House of Prayer for all Christians of the world.

President Spirou will brief members of the Foreign Press Corps in Athens as well as Greek journalists on his upcoming testimony before the Human Rights Caucus and the historic importance of the Public Hearing before the Congress of the United States.

For more information contact:
Thanasis Bakolas
e-mail: abakolas@hau.gr

www.freeagiasophia.us
www.freeagiasophia.eu

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

GUEST COMMENTARY:

The Paris Hilton Syndrome: Spiritual Blind Spots

“Some of the Pharisees said to Jesus, "Surely we are not blind, are we?"
John 9:40

Rev. Marangos

By Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos

What do the celebrity “party girls” Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Nicole Richie have in common? Apart from donning the covers of most paparazzi-based supermarket tabloids, they are all noted for their unfortunate lack of discernment. They suffer from what I would like to call the Paris Hilton Syndrome - the inability to see situations and issues with clarity because of spiritual blind spots. As a result, they, and many teenagers like them, make unsuitable decisions resulting in serious problems with alcohol, drugs, low self-esteem, and authority.

Few issues should garner as much attention as the need for teenagers as well as adults to develop discernment in order to make appropriate life decisions. It is a valuable God-centered capacity that would help teens safely deal with issues such as peer pressure, friends, sexuality, loss, and emotional wellbeing. Since the Holy Church Fathers regard discernment as one of the most important spiritual gifts, it would be valuable to briefly reflect on its essential characteristics and its ability to guard against self-deception through clarity of vision.

CLICK TO CONTINUE.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Poll reveals Greeks see Turkey as threat, Turks see U.S. as threat

From Zaman:

A joint public opinion survey simultaneously conducted in Greece and Turkey has concluded that while Greeks view Turkey as the major threat to their country, for Turks, the US poses the greatest threat to their national security.

CLICK TO CONTINUE.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Royals select Moustakas with 2d pick in baseball draft

By John Metaxas

The Kansas City Royals have selected power-hitting California high school infielder Mike Moustakas with the second pick in baseball's annual amateur draft, held Thursday in Orlando, Fla.

The selection comes after the Tampa Bay Devil Rays chose hard throwing left-hander David Price of Vanderbilt University with the first pick.

Moustakas attends Chatsworth High School in California, along with teammate Matt Dominguez, who was the 12th overall pick selected in the first round of the draft. Moustakas who plays shortstop and Dominguez who plays third base for Chatsworth are only the fourth high school teammates ever selected in the first round of baseball's draft.

A left-handed power hitter, Moustakas set the single season homerun record for a California high school athlete with 24, and the career record with 52.

One scouting report says, "Moustakas has good athleticism, and currently plays shortstop, but is expected to slide over to third base at the pro level, with some scouts believing he could catch given his lateral quickness and strong arm." The Royals, however, reportedly believe the 6-feet, 195-pound prospect can remain at shortstop.

Moustakas is represented by the agent Scott Boras who is known for the large contracts he has obtained for such clients as Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees ($252 million), Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets ($119 million) and Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants ($126 million). Moustakas has a commitment to play college ball for USC, though he says he is looking forward to playing for the Royals, "obviously, the sooner the better." Boras has been known to hold his clients back from signing professional contracts until he gets his price.

See also: KC feels strongly about first-round pick; Moustakas raises his standards

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Chios is the word for flavor

From Chiosnews.com:

By Kim Upton
TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
May 23, 2007

Feta and Mastiha Spread

"It's just like Greece used to be," said my traveling companion, Clark. I agreed -- even though I don't have the vaguest idea what Greece used to be. What I can tell you is that Chios, one of the largest and least visited of the Greek islands, is certainly what we would want Greece to have been and to be still. (The same goes for Italy, Spain, England and, for that matter, the rest of the world.) It is friendly, charming, historically interesting, devoid of tourists and, of course, cheap in the best sense of the word.

I had traveled to Chios, just a few miles from Turkey, to eat and to visit the island's famed mastic towns as a guest of the Chios Gum Mastic Growers Association. The restaurant sampling was rich with sweet pumpkin, fresh mushrooms, olives, fried cheeses and horta, the delicious wild greens sauteed in olive oil with lemon.

CLICK TO CONTINUE.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Greece is awaiting huge wave of tourists

From International Herald Tribune:

By Niki Kitsantonis
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

ATHENS: Greece is bracing for an unprecedented influx of visitors this summer in a boom that is cheering the tourism industry but causing concern among environmentalists, who warn that overbuilding along the country's pristine island seafronts would mar their beauty and create environmental risks.

The number of tourist arrivals this year is expected to increase by 7 percent to 16 million visitors, according to the Institute for Tourism Research and Predictions. Santorini, which is one of hundreds of Aegean islands, expects a million visitors, 20 percent more than last year, despite the sinking of a cruise ship off its coast in March.

At least a third of arrivals will come from Britain and Germany, Greece's most loyal markets. But the biggest increases are expected from the United States and Russia, with arrivals set to rise by 50 percent and 20 percent respectively, bringing in about 1.7 million tourists. A marked increase is also expected from residents of new European Union member states in the Balkans.

CLICK TO CONTINUE.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Verisign Founder, Sclavos resigns

From San Jose Mercury News:

Wall Street analysts say reason for exec's departure unclear
By Ryan Blitstein
Mercury News
Article Launched: 05/29/2007 09:50:28 AM PDT

Stratton Sclavos, founder and chief executive of VeriSign, resigned Tuesday in a surprise management shake-up that left more questions asked than it answered.

The Mountain View Internet infrastructure provider was vague about the reasons for the departure, which comes in the wake of an internal investigation into stock-option granting practices that may cost VeriSign $250 million.

"I am proud of my role in building VeriSign into the great company it has become, and wish all of my associates the very best in the coming years," Sclavos said in a statement released by the company.

Two board members will take over executive management of VeriSign, the largest of the companies that manage Internet domain names. Bill Roper, formerly a lead independent director at VeriSign, will serve as president and CEO, and former Williams-Sonoma CEO Edward Mueller will become chairman.

An evasive conference call with financial analysts Tuesday left Wall Street puzzled as to why Sclavos, who has led VeriSign since it spun off from RSA in 1995, walked out, and whether he did so willingly.

CLICK TO CONTINUE.