John Metaxas is a lawyer,
admitted to the bar in New York, and a
journalist with the award-winning news teams at WCBS Newsradio and
WCBS-TV. John publishes this blog as a source of information for
Hellenes
and philhellenes around the world. JOHN
METAXAS REPORTS
Plant One Tree for Every Greek American in the Census Dan
Georgakas submitted the following essay, which appeared
in September 29 issue of The National Herald:
By
Dan Georgakas
The
fires that devastated Greece this summer have mobilized the Greek
American community in an unprecedented manner. Every parish, social
group, and parea is involved in raising money to assist the ancestral
homeland in some fashion. Aid valued in the millions has already gone
abroad.
A
few persons in Greece and the United States have written to me that
this helter-skelter ground level fundraising is inefficient. They
believe administrative costs will heavily cut into funds that actually
go abroad. They also fear and that some regions in Greece may be
neglected as the deciding factor, more often than not, will be family,
organizational, and regional ties rather than the scope of the
need.
My own view is that although a single, national effort makes more
organizational sense and would be more efficient in the long run, the
popular groundswell of multi-centered support has numerous
advantages.
Cumbersome state bureaucracies are being sidestepped. I doubt any needy
region will be neglected and those with personal ties will make sure
that the groups they have targeted for assistance actually get the aid
their specific organization has arranged.
That
said, when we turn to the problem of long-term solutions for the
calamity the fires have created, ad hoc efforts will not suffice. The
problems are too complex. Among those complex problems is how to
reforest Greece. We are not talking about volunteers planting seedlings
and nourishing them with a watering can. Nor is this a project to be
measured just in years, much less months. Further complicating the
problem is the muddled situation in terms of property lines and other
legal matters.
CLICK
TO CONTINUE.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Police destroy file on Dink murder suspect
From
Today's Zaman:
The
police file on a prime suspect in the murder case of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink has been destroyed on grounds that the file was a
“state secret,” the private NTV station reported on
Wednesday.
The İstanbul court, which is currently trying 19 suspects in the murder
of Dink, who was shot outside his newspaper’s office by an
ultranationalist teenager in January of this year, had not demanded to
see the police files on Erhan Tuncel, a former police informant facing
trial for having incited the gunman to kill Dink. The court’s
request was turned down by the Intelligence Department, where
Tuncel’s file is stored, which said the document was
destroyed to protect state secrets.
The prosecutors carrying out the investigation had seen the police file
on Tuncel, a former informant who worked for the Trabzon police.
However, the file was apparently destroyed before the court had a
chance to see the document. Erdal Doğan, a lawyer representing the Dink
family, said this was a “legal scandal.”
Friday, September 28, 2007
Greece withdraws history text book after complaints from church,
academics
From: International Herald Tribune
The
Associated Press Tuesday, September 25, 2007
ATHENS,
Greece: Greece's conservative government withdrew a sixth-grade history
textbook from state schools Tuesday following complaints by the
Orthodox Church and right wing critics who said it was inaccurate and
unpatriotic.
New
Education Minister Evipidis Stylianidis said the book was removed from
the national curriculum after a panel of ministry experts reviewed it
Monday.
"Given
the serious reservations regarding the content of the book, it has been
decided that the book will be withdrawn," Stylianidis said. "It will be
replaced with the older textbook until a new book is ready."
The
book had been issued during the previous academic year. But it faced
fierce criticism from conservative commentators and many academics who
argued that it minimized the suffering of Greeks following the
country's defeat by Turkey in a 1919-1922 war.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Canada recognizes FYROM as "Macedonia"
CONTRIBUTE TO GREEK FIRE RELIEF
By now you have
heard about the catastrophic fires that have ravaged Greece resulting
in the deaths of so many innocent victims, the displacement of entire
communities, villages and regions, the destruction of property and the
devastation of nature. We are all so saddened and join in the
mourning of the victims. They need our prayers and our help.
We
are all called upon to help during critical times such as this and we
hope the following is useful. The following
websites provide links to authorized organizations committed toward
relief efforts:
This
fund was established by the Archdiocese in response to the catastrophic
fires which resulted in the loss of 70 lives and devastated large areas
of the Peloponnese area of Greece as well as left countless people
homeless and without a means of supporting themselves for years to come.
The IOCC is undertaking relief
efforts for victims of the fires. IOCC undertakes its
missionary work around the world and is spearheading special relief
efforts in Greece.
AHEPA
has launched a Emergency Greek Fire Relief Fund that will channel all
funds directly to on the scene relief efforts that are underway to
assist displaced victims of the fires.
Plant
Your Roots Foundation is tackling the enormous challenge of
reforestation—the enormity of this task will require
substantial assistance.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Nicholas Burns meets with Ecumenical Patriarch
From AsiaNews:
Istanbul
(AsiaNews) – Support for the re-opening of the Halki School
of theology and appreciation expressed for the Patriarchates commitment
to peaceful coexistence and environmental protection. These were the
comments expressed by the deputy secretary of state Nicolas Burns
following his meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew. Burns was
visiting Ankara in an attempt to strengthen US – Turkey
relations under strain in the aftermath of Turkey’s refusal
to concede military bases for the Iraq operations in 2003.
Following
his encounter with the Patriarch, Burns declared: “we
expressed our respect and consideration for the ecumenical
Patriarchate, an institution which exists for over 17 centuries and
which plays an important role in the world in the light of
it’s’ initiatives, contributing to peaceful
coexistence among peoples. As well as the important issue of
environmental protection”.
Burns
added that they had ample and far reaching discussions on many themes
and that he expressed the United States support for the re-opening of
the Halki theological school, which the Turkish government
impedes. “We hope – he added –
that the Ankara government will begin discussions,
without
preconditions, with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. We are
certain that there will be progress”.
CLICK TO CONTINUE.
Istanbul
(AsiaNews) – Support for the re-opening of the Halki School
of theology and appreciation expressed for the Patriarchates commitment
to peaceful coexistence and environmental protection. These were the
comments expressed by the deputy secretary of state Nicolas Burns
following his meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew. Burns was
visiting Ankara in an attempt to strengthen US – Turkey
relations under strain in the aftermath of Turkey’s refusal
to concede military bases for the Iraq operations in 2003.
