569_DRAFT6.qxd

PHILADELPHIA - Researchers at

The Wistar Institute have deci-

phered the structure of the active

region of telomerase, an enzyme

that plays a major role in the devel-

opment of nearly all human can-

cers. The landmark achievement

opens the door to the creation of

new, broadly effective cancer

drugs, as well as anti-aging thera-

pies.

Researchers have attempted for

more than a decade to find drugs

that shut down telomerase—wide-

ly considered the No. 1 target for

the development of new cancer

treatments—but have been ham-

pered in large part by a lack of

knowledge of the enzyme’s struc-

ture.

The findings, published online

August 31 in Nature, should help

researchers in their efforts to de-

sign effective telomerase inhibitors,

says Emmanuel Skordalakes,

Ph.D., assistant professor in Wis-

tar’s Gene Expression and Regula-

tion Program, who led the study.

“Telomerase is an ideal target

for chemotherapy because it is ac-

tive in almost all human tumors,

but inactive in most normal cells,”

Skordalakes says. “That means a

drug that deactivates telomerase

would likely work against all can-

cers, with few side effects.”

The study elucidates the active

region of telomerase and provides

the first full-length view of the

telomerase molecule’s critical pro-

tein component. It reveals surpris-

ing details, at the atomic level, of

the enzyme’s configuration and

how it works to replicate the ends

of chromosomes—a process critical

to both tumor development and the

aging process.

ACHIEVING IMMORTALITY

In humans, telomerase adds

multiple repeats of a short DNA se-

quence to the ends of chromo-

somes, known as telomeres, thus

preventing damage and the loss of

genetic information during cell di-

vision.

When telomerase is dormant,

telomeres shorten each time a cell

divides, leading eventually to ge-

netic instability and cell death. By

preserving chromosomes’ integrity,

telomerase allows cells to continue

living and dividing. The enzyme is

active in cells that multiply fre-

quently, such as embryonic stem

cells, but is switched off almost en-

tirely in normal adult cells to pre-

vent the dangers of runaway cell

proliferation.

Cancer cells, however, often re-

gain the ability to activate telom-

erase, which has been implicated in

90 percent of human tumors. The

enzyme permits cells to replicate

indefinitely and achieve the cellu-

lar “immortality” that is the hall-

mark of cancer. Deactivating telom-

erase would stop tumor growth.

By Evan C. Lambrou

Special to The National Herald

NEW YORK – Some people seem to

have it all. On the surface, it might

seem that things just come easy for

them. But when you scratch the

surface a little, when you dig to

find what’s underneath, you realize

that it doesn’t always come easy,

not even for the most talented and

gifted among us. No matter how at-

tractive and intelligent someone is,

he or she still has to earn his or her

station in life. America is a meritoc-

racy, after all.

What might make it seem easier

for some is often simply a matter of

perception, however, and that per-

ception is often a product of what a

person radiates with his or her pos-

itive attitude.

Positive attitude is probably the

shortest way to characterize Melina

Kanakaredes, among the most suc-

cessful actresses in Hollywood to-

day. In speaking with the National

Herald, she was just bursting at the

seams with it.

The interview was unique. Call-

ing from the set of CBS’ hit show,

“CSI: NY,” she had to break away

three times in between shoots. In

the process, she managed to be

generous with her time and com-

plete the interview. Production for

the show began on August 11,

shortly after she returned from

Greece with her family. The studio

is presently shooting for October’s

shows. There are 26 episodes

planned this season, the show’s

fifth, and Melina will be working

five days a week through next May.

In spite of her hectic schedule,

she still finds time to be who she is:

a Greek American girl who grew up

to be a family-oriented woman

with a successful career, who also

remains committed to her cultural

heritage and way of life, which she

learned while growing up with a

close-knit family in Akron, Ohio.

“When you’re in this profession,

you’re always redefining yourself

based on the role you play, and if

you’re not careful, you can lose

yourself. You have to change to be-

come the character, but you don’t

have to change who you are in real

life,” the Emmy-nominated actress

told the Herald.

I think that I’ve been very

blessed. I have an amazing family.

And my love and adoration for our

cultural heritage is a result of my

upbringing in a loving family. Being

Greek American is extremely im-

portant to me, and it’s always been

something I emphasize in my life,”

she added.

Her other television credits in-

clude “Providence,” “NYPD Blue,”

“Northern Exposure,” “Due South,”

“Oz” and the daytime drama,

“Guiding Light.” Her film credits in-

clude “The Long Kiss Goodnight”

(starring Geena Davis) and “15

Minutes,” in which she played

Nicolette Karas, the girlfriend of

Robert De Niro’s character.

Though it might seem to diffi-

cult to a casual observer that a per-

son in her profession could remain

grounded in her ethnic heritage,

Melina has clearly managed to do

so. She is intensely proud of her

Greek background. She speaks

Greek fluently. She married some-

one Greek. She insists on raising

her children in the Greek tradition.

And she stays actively involved

with the Church, despite the chal-

lenges her career presents.

So how does she manage to do

all of that in light of the demands

her profession places on her?

“It’s so hard to say that I balance

anything out because it’s just who I

am. I really strongly appreciate

who we are as a people. I think

Greek Americans are special. We

live in an amazing country, and our

cultural heritage provides us with

that much more, so we can cele-

brate who we are. I remember ask-

ing my pappou (grandfather), ‘Am I

Greek or am I American?’ And he

said, ‘You’re an American first be-

cause this is your country. But you

Melina Kanakaredes Is

Unyielding about Her

Heritage: “It’s Who I Am”

By Theodore Kalmoukos

Special to The National Herald

BOSTON – “We thank God the city

was spared from a new catastro-

phe,” Rev. Anthony Stratis, Dean of

the Holy Trinity Cathedral of New

Orleans told The National Herald in

a telephone conversation on Mon-

day night, September 1. Along with

his presbytera and their two sons,

Fr. Stratis fled New Orleans on Sat-

urday evening and they drove all

night to Ft. Walton Beach Florida

where Fr. Constantine Mersinas ex-

tended them hospitality. With Hurri-

cane Gustav on the way and a

mandatory evacuation ordered by

the city’s mayor, Fr. Anthony prayed

for the best.

Asked if the Holy Trinity Cathe-

dral had suffered any damage, Fr.

Anthony said, “I have not been in-

formed of anything bad yet, I hope

whatever damage has occurred to

be minimum,” and he added “thank-

fully the storm did not hit with the

force we feared it was going to hit

and thus we anticipate the damage

is small.” Fr. Anthony made it clear

that “nobody has gone to see the

church as yet because as you know

the city was evacuated, but also as

we speak now Gustav continues to

punch the area.”

While the storm was hitting the

city of the New Orleans, Fr. Anthony

was in constant touch with a good

number of his parishioners who had

evacuated the city to safe areas. He

said, “happily everyone is well and

safe. My desire is to return back to

New Orleans as soon as possible and

I will do that as soon as the electrical

power is restored and the authori-

ties proclaim the streets to be safe. If

I have a chance I might go back to-

morrow (Tuesday) if not I will at-

tempt to return on Wednesday.”

On Saturday, August 30, Fr. An-

thony went to the Holy Trinity

Cathedral and communicated by

phone and e-mail with the majority

of his parishioners informing them

Hurricane Misses

New Orleans, Church

Avoids Heavy Damage

By Evan C. Lambrou

Special to The National Herald

NEW YORK – Cyprus’ rival Greek

and Turkish leaders started new

peace talks this past Wednesday

and said they hoped for a new deal

soon, one aimed at reaching a com-

prehensive solution to the thorny

problem and reuniting an island di-

vided by war 34 years ago.

The negotiation process has an

open-ended timetable, but the

United Nations has warned that the

talks can not go on indefinitely

without tangible progress.

Preparatory talks, held at com-

mittee level since March, have been

accompanied by confidence-build-

ing measures, notably the opening

of a border crossing in Ledra Street

linking the south and Turkish-occu-

pied north in the symbolic heart of

old Nicosia.

It is the first intensive push for

peace since a U.N.-reunification

plan was overwhelmingly rejected

by Greek Cypriots, but approved by

Turkish Cypriots, just a week before

the island acceded to the European

Union in 2004. Cyprus joined the

E.U. in May of that year as a divid-

ed island, with Turkish Cypriots de-

nied the bloc’s membership bene-

fits.

Optimists are pinning their

hopes on the personal chemistry

and shared leftwing politics of the

two leaders.

Republic of Cyprus President

Demetris Christofias met with

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali

Talat for two hours inside the U.N.-

Cypriot Leaders Upbeat after Talks

By Nicholas Paphitis

Associated Press

ATHENS – A priceless gold wreath

has been unearthed in an ancient

city in northern Greece, buried

with human bones in a large copper

vase that workers initially took for

a land mine.

The University of Thessaloniki

said in a statement Friday that the

"astonishing" discovery was made

during its excavations this week in

the ruins of ancient Aigai. The city

was the first capital of ancient

Macedonia, where King Philip II —

father of Alexander the Great —

was assassinated.

Gold wreaths are rare and were

buried with ancient nobles or royal-

ty. But the find is also highly unusu-

al as the artifacts appear to have

been removed from a grave during

ancient times and, for reasons that

are unclear, reburied in the city's

marketplace near the theater

where Philip was stabbed to death.

"This happened quite soon after

the original burial; it's not that a

grave robber took it centuries later

Ancient Gold Treasure Puzzles Greek Archaeologists

First Day of School

The sound of children once again echoed through the William Spyropoulos Day School in Flushing, N.Y. as

parents brought students in for the first day of school on Wednesday, September 3, 2008.

In this hand out image provided by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on Friday. August 29, 2008, a

2,300-year-old gold wreath among human bones in a water-logged gold jar found is seen.

Greek American Makes

Breakthrough in Deciphering

Cancer Causing Enzyme

By Marcos Charalambides

Cyprus Mail

Barack Obama’s choice of Sena-

tor Joseph Biden as his vice presi-

dential running mate has sparked

hopes among Greek lobbyists in the

United States that the promotion of

the Cyprus problem will take on a

more substantial profile.

Leaders of the Greek American

community as well as deputies in

Washington who deal with promot-

ing Greek national issues praised

Biden’s consistent philhellenic

views throughout his 35 years in

the Senate and considered his se-

lection the best thing that Greece

and Cyprus could hope for.

As far back as 1997, the Athens

News Agency reported, Biden had

firmly asserted, speaking to the

then newly appointed US ambas-

sador to Ankara, that the Turkish

government had violated interna-

tional law by invading Cyprus in

1974 and continued to violate in-

ternational law by keeping its

troops there. "Our policy is that

[the Turkish invasion and occupa-

tion] was illegal," he had stated.

More recently, he appeared with

his fellow Democrats, Barack Oba-

ma and Hillary Clinton, during the

23rd conference of the Internation-

al Coordinating Committee Justice

for Cyprus (PSEKA) in 2007, where

he expressed the view that, while

he supported Turkey’s EU acces-

sion, the United States’ position

should depend on Turkey’s adher-

ence to improving its citizens’ hu-

man rights and religious freedom

and its attitude regarding its differ-

ences with Greece over the Aegean

dispute and the Cyprus problem.

He went on to comment that the

United States should demand and

make perfectly clear that the foun-

dations of their relations with

Turkey would depend directly on

the way the Cyprus problem would

be resolved, on the complete with-

drawal of Turkish forces and on

whether Turkey would continue its

claims regarding its right to the oil

that had been discovered two years

ago in the waters between Cyprus

and Egypt.

During this year’s PSEKA confer-

ence, he announced his satisfaction

with Demetris Christofias’ election

as President and stated that he was

hopeful about the possibility of a

resolution to the Cyprus problem

since the two sides’ interests were

now beginning to converge.

Biden cautioned his audience

not to expect much from George W.

Bush and further expressed his

hopes that, in this year’s presiden-

tial elections, the United States

would elect a truly committed pres-

ident who would be willing to take

on some risks so that the procedure

can actually progress.

Biden, who heads the Senate’s

Foreign Relations Committee, is al-

so known to have voiced positions

against Turkey with regards to both

the Armenian and Kurdish dis-

putes, according to Phileleftheros.

Unsurprisingly, the Democrats’

choice of Senator Joseph Biden was

met unfavorably by the Turkish

press.

According to the English-speak-

ing version of Zaman, a leading

deputy of the ruling Justice and De-

velopment Party commented that

"it is not easy to be happy with this

Greek Lobby Excited About Biden as VP Pick

By Steve Frangos

Special to The National Herald

PART 1

The commanding presence of

Greek immigrants during the very

formation of Modern American En-

tertainment is well documented. As

promoters Greek immigrants were

among the most influential individ-

uals in an incredibly wide array of

entertainment arenas such as

dance halls, nickelodeons, music

halls, carnivals, and certainly

vaudeville and movie theaters.

Leaving the promoters aside, for

the moment, we need to begin re-

locating and re-assessing the ca-

reers of Greek immigrant perform-

ers.

The impact Greek immigrant

performers had on American enter-

tainment, again while document-

The First

Wave of Greek

Vaudevillians

Democratic vice presidential can-

didate Sen. Joe Biden, left, and

Democratic presidential candi-

date, Sen. Barack Obama.

Continued on page 5

Continued on page 7

Continued on page 4 Continued on page 3

Continued on page 3

Continued on page 7 Continued on page 4

New Orleans Parish Evacuates City Prior to Gustav

The National Herald

A WEEKLY GREEK AMERICAN PUBLICATION

September 6, 2008

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Feel the magic of Greece

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In addition to its role in cancer,

telomerase holds significant impli-

cations for the development of

therapies to combat aging and oth-

er age-related diseases. Finding

ways to activate telomerase under

controlled conditions and allow

some cells to begin dividing again

could result in healthier, younger-

looking tissue that lives longer.

AN ELUSIVE ENZYME

Telomerase is a complex struc-

ture made up of multiple protein

domains and a stretch of RNA,

which contains the template the

enzyme uses to synthesize telom-

eres.

Last year, Skordalakes and his

team solved the structure of a key

segment of the molecule—the so-

called TRBD domain, where RNA

binding occurs. However, the com-

plexity of telomerase has proved a

roadblock to determining the en-

zyme’s overall architecture—a goal

pursued by researchers worldwide

for more than 15 years.

To perform the necessary stud-

ies, scientists first must gather large

quantities of the enzyme in a spe-

cific conformation. Because the

complex structure of telomerase

most likely allows it to change con-

figuration, that process has been

challenging, Skordalakes says.

To find sufficient quantities of

the enzyme for the study, Sko-

rdalakes and his team looked be-

yond commonly relied-on sources

such as humans and yeast. By

screening a wide variety of organ-

isms, including protozoa and in-

sects, they discovered that a gene

from the red flour beetle could pro-

duce telomerase in copious

amounts, and a stable form.

“That was really the break-

through,” Skordalakes says. “Once

we found that the gene from this

organism expressed the protein in

the quantities we needed, we were

able to move quickly.”

The researchers used X-ray crys-

tallography, a technique that ana-

lyzes the diffraction patterns of X-

rays beamed at crystals of a mole-

cule, to determine the three-dimen-

sional structure of the enzyme’s ac-

tive region—the catalytic compo-

nent called telomerase reverse

transcriptase protein, or TERT.

The study revealed surprising

features, including the fact that the

molecule’s three domains are orga-

nized into a doughnut shape, an

unexpected configuration. Knowl-

edge of the structure allowed the

researchers to create a model of the

enzyme’s function.

“It’s extremely exciting,” Sko-

rdalakes says. “For the first time,

we can see how telomerase assem-

bles at the end of chromosomes to

initiate telomere replication.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Skordalakes plans to further

study TERT and search for new

telomerase inhibitors that could be-

come cancer therapies. He also will

look at modifying existing drugs.

Previous attempts to target telom-

erase have fallen flat, but knowl-

edge of the enzyme’s structure will

help researchers to determine the

limitations of existing agents and

make them more effective.

Skordalakes began his studies of

telomerase when he joined The

Wistar Institute in 2006 and estab-

lished his first laboratory. “I’ve al-

ways been interested in under-

standing, on a molecular level, the

function of protein nucleic acid as-

semblies and using that informa-

tion in the treatment of human dis-

ease,” he says. “Telomerase, be-

cause of its important role in cancer

and aging, was an obvious target

for me.”

He says though the process was

frustrating at times, his team was

determined to solve the structure.

“It required a lot of perseverance

and effort, but we really wanted to

do this,” he says.

The research was supported in

part by the Commonwealth Univer-

sal Research Enhancement Pro-

gram of the Pennsylvania Depart-

ment of Health and the Ellison

Medical Foundation.

The Wistar Institute is an inter-

national leader in biomedical re-

search with special expertise in

cancer research and vaccine devel-

opment. Founded in 1892 as the

first independent nonprofit bio-

medical research institute in the

country, Wistar has long held the

prestigious Cancer Center designa-

tion from the National Cancer Insti-

tute. The Institute works actively to

ensure that research advances

move from the laboratory to the

clinic as quickly as possible. The

Wistar Institute: Today’s Discover-

ies – Tomorrow’s Cures.

Vote on our website!

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press your opinion on our web-

site on an important question in

the news. The results will be pub-

lished in our printed edition next

week along with the question for

that week.

The question this week is: Did

the Republican National Conven-

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The results for last week’s

question: Did the Democratic

National Convention change

your opinion about Barack

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COMMUNITY

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

■ SEPTEMBER 6-7

WYCKOFF, N.J. – The St. Nicholas

Greek Orthodox Church cordially

invites the community to its 2008

Greek festival on the church

grounds at 467 Grandview Avenue.

The three day festival has a lot to

offer, homemade food, Greek Pas-

tries, Live Greek Music for your

dancing pleasure. The Youth of the

St Nicholas church will dance to

traditional Greek dances. Addition-

al activities are Wine and Ouzo, In-

door Taverna, Kafenio, Folk Danc-

ing, Children’s Rides and Games,

Cultural Exhibits, Boutiques and

Flea Market. There is additional

parking in three nearby locations

and free shuttle buses. Hours: Sat-

urday, noon to midnight and Sun-

day noon to 7 PM. Free admission

and parking. For more information

please call 201-652-4774.

■ SEPTEMBER 7

WILMINGTON, Del. – Holy Trinity

Church in Wilmington cordially in-

vites the community to its annual

picnic on Sunday, September 7 at

the church (808 North Broom

Street) immediately following the

Divine Liturgy. There will be enter-

tainment for the children, sign up

sheets for the Sunday School,

Greek School and all Youth Min-

istries and of course food and fun.

For more information, please call

302-654-4446.

■ SEPTEMBER 8

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The American

Hellenic Institute Business Net-

work and The New York Chapter of

the American Hellenic Institute

cordially invite the community to

its monthly Informal Networking

Reception for members and guests

at Avra Restaurant (141 East 48th

Street) on Monday, September 8,

2008 at 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Cash bar

& complimentary hors d'uvres.

Please RSVP to Col. Andonios Ner-

oulias at 212-759-8550 or ando-

[email protected].

■ SEPTEMBER 11

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The South-

east Europe Project, in conjunction

with the ?Kennan Institute and the

East European Studies Program,

cordially invites the community to

a forum, “Russia and the West:

Repercussions for Southeast Eu-

rope and Eurasia,” with Dr. Alexan-

dros Petersen, Southeast Europe

Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson

Center and Adjunct Fellow, Russia

and Eurasia Program, Center for

Strategic and International Studies

at the Woodrow Wilson Center

(1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW) on

Thursday, September 11 at10:00 -

11:30 AM. For more information

please email

sep@wilsoncenter.org.

■ SEPTEMBER 12-15

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – St. George

Greek Orthodox Church cordially

invites the community to its 2008

Greek Festival at the church (4070

Kingston Pike). This three-day fes-

tival has lots to offer such as all

homemade Greek pastries, live

Greek music, lots of authentic

Greek cuisine, shopping, kids

booths and many more festivities.

St. George has performed the

Greek Fest for 29 years and has a

large following of tens of thou-

sands people yearly. For more infor-

mation, please call 865-588-5043.

■ SEPTEMBER 18

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Smith-

sonian Resident Associate Program

cordially invites the community to

a tribute for “Ancient Greek Music:

Songs of Many Spheres,” on

Thursday, September 18, 2008 at

6:45 – 9 PM. Musicologist John

Franklin, an assistant professor of

classics at the University of Ver-

mont, provides an overview of the

kinds of ancient Greek music, such

as epic, lyric, choral, dramatic, and

elegy; discusses when it would

have been performed—such as at

symposia, invocations, festivals,

funerals, and military occasions—

and how it changed over time. For

more information, please call 202-

633-3030.

■ SEPTEMBER 18-22

LAS VEGAS – The 5th Annual Opa

Las Vegas & Greek Festival Trip will

beheld on Thursday,

September18th to Monday, Sep-

tember 22nd, at the Monte Carlo

Hotel. Group discounts available.

Book your room before the room

block fills up. Please use offer code

“xopa08.” Rates are $130 (Thurs-

day and Sunday), $205 (Friday and

Saturday). Call or book online

(TEL: 800-311-8999, web:

https://reservations.mgmmirage.co

m). For more information, e-mail

[email protected] or visit the

web at www.opalasvegas.org.

■ SEPTEMBER 19

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Hellenic

College/Holy Cross Greek Ortho-

dox School Of Theology cordially

invites the community to its 2008

Tennis Classic at Longwood Cricket

Club on Friday, September 19,

2008 at 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM. You

are invited for tennis on Friday,

September 19, 2008, at the presti-

gious Longwood Cricket Club in

Brookline MA. Our day at Long-

wood will be a fun day for all levels

of tennis players, and non-playing

spouses or friends are welcome as

well. To celebrate the start of what

we hope will become an annual tra-

dition. We are offering this inau-

gural event at cost to all past and

(we hope!) future supporters of

Hellenic College and Holy Cross.

The price for this year only will be

$125 for tennis players and $50 for

luncheon-only guests. For more in-

formation please call Dr. Nick Mari-

nakis at 781-334-6747.

■ SEPTEMBER 24

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Ameri-

can Hellenic Institute in coopera-

tion with Greek America Magazine

cordially invites the community to

a Capitol Hill Event “In Commemo-

ration of the Smyrna Catastrophe

of 1922” a presentation by Giles

Milton, journalist and New York

Times best-selling author, introduc-

ing his new book “Paradise Lost –

Smyrna 1922,” at Rayburn House

Office Building Room B-338 on

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at

5:30 – 7:30 PM. Light Refresh-

ments Will be Served. For more in-

formation, please call 202-785-

8430.

■ OCTOBER 17

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American

Hellenic Institute cordially invites

the community to the 5th Annual

Benefit Golf Tournament at Green-

dale Golf Course (6700 Telegraph

Road) on Friday, October 17.

Breakfast is at 7:30 AM; Shot-Gun

Start is at 8:30 AM. Christine Bren-

nan, USA Today Sports Columnist,

will be this year’s celebrity golfer.

Sponsorship: $5,000 – Tournament

Sponsor, Tournament named after

sponsor, name on all marketing

items and news releases, includes 8

golfers; $2,500 – Tournament Co-

Sponsor, Sponsor name on large

signs in clubhouse foyer, includes 6

golfers; $1,000 – Hole Sponsor,

Sponsor name on large sign, only

one sponsor per hole, includes 4

golfers; $500 – Golf Cart Sponsor,

Sponsor name on one golf cart, in-

cludes 2 golfers; $250 – Registra-

tion Sponsor, Sponsor name on

table, includes 1 golfer. Sign up in-

dividually or with a foursome. If

you do not have a foursome, we'll

assign you one. All levels of play

are welcome! Lots of wonderful

prizes Directions: Take Beltway Ex-

it 2 to Telegraph Rd. South approx-

imately 3.5 miles to the park en-

trance on the right. Dress Code:

Collared shirts, no denim. For more

information, call Nick Larigakis at

202-785-8430.

■ NOTE TO OUR READERS

This calendar of events section is a

complimentary service to the Greek

American community. All parishes,

organizations and institutions are

encouraged to e-mail their infor-

mation 3-4 weeks ahead of time,

and no later than Monday of the

week before the event, to

[email protected]

om.

GOINGS ON...

selection when looking from

Turkey and considering Biden’s al-

most two-decade-long firm support

of the Armenian diaspora’s efforts

for recognition of their allegations

of a genocide," and further asserted

that he believes the Turkish public

opinion will follow McCain’s strate-

gies "more closely than before giv-

en the disappointment over Biden’s

selection."

The daily also pointed to the

front page of the leading Turkish

newspaper, Hürriyet, which criti-

cized Biden’s selection and labelled

him as "inconsiderate" following a

1999 conversation between Biden

and the then prime minister of

Turkey, Bülent Ecevit, when the

senator had reportedly told Ecevit,

"if you do not solve the Cyprus

problem then I will not approve the

financial aid package of $5 billion

which you expect from us, from the

Congress" in a bid to put pressure

on the Turkish government.

Despite the overall contentment

with Biden’s selection prevalent

among the Cypriot media, some

have expressed worries that the

senator may now decide to loosen

his firm positions regarding Turkey

following his newly-appointed role

as Barack Obama’s right hand man.

Furthermore, as reported by the

Washington Post earlier this year,

although Obama doesn’t reject

their advice, he is not a big fan of

lobbies, declaring, "they won’t run

my White House, and they won’t

set the agenda in Washington."

Nonetheless, according to a recent

ABC News article, although Obama

may decry taking cash from federal

lobbyists, Biden doesn’t seem to

share this opinion and has taken

$344,400 from lobbyists since

1997, indicating he may be more

open to lobbies, including ones fa-

voring Greek and Cypriot national

interests.

Greek Lobby’s Joy at Obama

Choice for Running Mate

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QUESTION

OF THE WEEK

Continued from page 1

Greek American Makes Breakthrough in Cancer Research

Continued from page 1

Emmanuel Skordalakes

Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden, right, speaks

to a crowd of supporters as presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Oba-

ma, walks on stage behind him aturday, August 30, 2008.

AP PHOTO/JAY LAPRETE

By Alan Hustak

The Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL – A Pierrefonds man

has been ordered to remove the

huge Greek flag painted on the

garage door of his house because it

violates the borough's aesthetic

standards.

Quebec Superior Court judge

France Charbonneau ruled last

week that nothing prevents

Theodore Antonopoulos from fly-

ing the Greek flag on his property,

but that by painting blue and white

stripes on his garage door he has vi-

olated municipal restrictions gov-

erning the overall look of the

streetscape.

"A municipality has the authori-

ty to set uniform standards within

its jurisdiction and for the buildings

within it," Charbonneau writes.

News of the ruling, which is in

agreement with a previous ruling

from a lower court, has taken

Antonopoulos by surprise.

"It's a shock to me. I haven't

been informed, and the flag is still

there," he told The Gazette yester-

day. "I will speak to my lawyer and

see if there are grounds for an ap-

peal. None of the neighbors have

complained to me about it. None at

all."

“I'll speak with my lawyer and

see what's involved time-wise,

money-wise,'' Antonopoulos said.

Antonopoulos painted the two-

meter by four-meter flag on the

door of his double garage in 2004

to celebrate Greece's victory over

Portugal in the European Soccer

championship that year. The Greek

team had bucked the odds to win

Europe’s premier soccer tourna-

ment.

Shortly afterward, he was

slapped with a $138 ticket because

installing "a sign that is painted or

reproduced on a building or a

fence" violates Pierrefonds munici-

pal Bylaw 1047, Article 124.2.

Antonopoulos decided to con-

test the fine. Last year, Municipal

Court judge André Hotte ruled

against him, saying people cannot

paint whatever they want on their

houses.

"What if everyone painted their

sports team, their country's flag,

even Mickey Mouse on their

home?" Hotte said. "If everyone ex-

presses their patriotism, that is vi-

sual pollution and not harmonious

with the neighborhood."

The judge ruled the blue-and-

white painting is distracting to

passing drivers and ordered it to be

removed from the double garage

door of Antonopoulos' home.

Undeterred, Antonopoulos took

his case to a higher court. His

lawyer, Julius Grey, argued the mu-

nicipal bylaw is illegal because it vi-

olates the freedom of expression

guaranteed under the Canadian

Charter of Human Rights.

Much of Montreal’s Greek Amer-

ican community has rallied around

Antonopoulos.

Depending on the advice of his

lawyer, Antonopoulos is prepared

to continue the fight.

"It has cost me some money in

expenses to go to court," he said.

"But I'm not prepared to disclose

how much."

And despite the flap, the flag is

still there.

“I'm not sick of it at all,'' he said.

The Montreal Gazette published

the above on August 25, 2008.

Curtain Comes Down on

Patriotic Garage Door

ed, is for the moment hopelessly

scattered. Part of the problem is

that entertainment genres in the

late 1800s and early 1900s were

not defined as they are today. The

blurring of various genres allowed

for performers to move across and

among various performative set-

tings we would today see as totally

separate. All this back and forth

traffic makes locating and compar-

ing documents on specific individu-

als all the more challenging.

Take the Greek Strongmen, who

began appearing all across North

American immediately after the

American Civil War, they were es-

pecially prone to crossing enter-

tainment boundaries. Strongmen

such as George Costaky, Demetrios

Tofalos, Nicholas Protopapas, An-

toni Pierre, the Combis Brothers

and a host of others were a com-

mon feature of circuses, carnivals,

vaudeville houses, music halls and

sporting clubs around the nation.

These strongmen would wrestle in

sports clubs, music halls and other

venues, then without a moment’s

pause, these same individuals be-

came the starring figures of the cir-

cus, carnival and midway. Next,

these very same men would also

appear on the stages of music halls

and large theatres to not only wres-

tle but also perform in vaudeville

acts involving strength and/or ac-

robatics. Various accounts even re-

port that on one notable occasion

Demetrios Tofalos sang and was

heartily applauded.

Part of this effortless movement

between what we see today as dis-

tinctly separate genres had to do

with the times. Greek immigrants

as promoters and performers were

right there as American entertain-

ment evolved into their present

forms.

As a case in point North Ameri-

can vaudeville: “was a genre of va-

riety entertainment prevalent on

the stage in the United States and

Canada, from the early 1880s until

the early 1930s. Developing from

many sources, including the con-

cert saloon, minstrelsy, freak

shows, dime museums, and literary

burlesque, vaudeville became one

of the most popular types of enter-

tainment in North America. Each

evening's bill of performance was

made up of a series of separate, un-

related acts. Types of acts included

(among others) musicians (both

classical and popular), dancers, co-

medians, trained animals, magi-

cians, female and male imperson-

ators, acrobats, one-act plays or

scenes from plays, athletes, lectur-

ing celebrities, minstrels, and short

movies (wikipedia.com).”

A caveat. I am arbitrarily divid-

ing Greek immigrant performers

from the first generation of Greek-

American vaudevillians. Interna-

tionally recognized performers

such as the Andrews Sisters, the

Condos Brothers, Hermes Pan, Bet-

ty George and numerous others

make up what might be called the

second or even third wave of Greek

entertainers in North America. De-

marcating the chronological grada-

tions of Greek performers (and pro-

moters) in American entertainment

forms is an extended project for fu-

ture researchers to delineate.

Our survey, here, can begin with

a most unusual clown at Ringling

Brother’s Circus (and many other

venues) that is always identified as

only “Monsieur Natalie, the Greek

clown.” From 1883 to some time af-

ter 1895 Natalie toured the country

with his trained Arkansas razor-

back pigs. In 1895, Natalie’s troupe

of hogs included “Domino, Frisco,

Cinch, Pedro, and Keno (Hayward

Review May 3, 1895).”

Bowing to the audience on bent

forelegs when they all first entered

the ring was only the beginning. A

comedic exchange between Mon-

sieur Natalie and the porkers was

accompanied by singing, kisses,

and answering questions from the

audience. Taking turns nudging the

good Monsieur in his derriere with

their long snouts ended this part of

the act. After some more slap-stick

doings the act closed with an amaz-

ing synchronized bedlam of jumps

and dashing all-out-runs over an

elaborate series of hoops, sticks

and drums.

A persistent rumor among

Greek Americans centers on Hadji-

atis Yannaco. Known as “Long

Tom,” this Greek was one of the

group of Hellenes the US Army

brought to the American southwest

in the 1850s as part of the military’s

experiment with camels as dray-an-

imals.

As this story goes Long Tom took

some of the camels, in lue of pay,

and then joined the Ringling Broth-

ers circus. Furthermore, as this tale

continues Long Tom and his string

of camels are credited as being ‘the

first camel act’ in an American cir-

cus.

While I have heard this story

over and over and seen it printed

dozens of time I have never seen or

heard this act described.

At least three Greek magicians

annually toured the nation and

there certainly may be many more.

Costa Economou performed as a

magician under the stage name of

“LaVier.” Both the late Professor

Theodore Saloutos as well as the

late Steven G. Economou, M.D.

(nephew of this magician) have

written about this performer.

Yet another Greek immigrant,

George Canaris performed magic

under both the titles ‘Canaris the

Great’ and ‘Canaris and Cleo’ from

the early 1900s well into the late

1920s. By all accounts comedy, in

the form of “clever burlesque mag-

ic” was the act’s keynote theme. Ca-

naris’ billing suggests that when he

first arrived from Europe and tout-

ed itself as offering “Parisian Mag-

ic” (Colorado Springs Gazette Jan-

uary 16, 1915). Canaris toured the

country appearing in vaudeville

houses in towns such as Fitchburg

and Lowell, Massachusetts,

Portsmouth, Ohio and many oth-

ers. In New York City, Canaris and

Cleo appeared at Proctor’s East

125th Street Theatre (New York

Times March 1, 1914). Available

reviews are consistently good: “Ca-

naris, a Greek magician, and Cleo

are uncommonly good;” “Canaris,

the Greek magician is easily one of

the foremost of magicians…his act

closes with…some of the best leg-

erdemain ever seen in a local the-

atre” and so on.

From 1915 through 1934, news

accounts from across the United

States proclaim Professor Avdalas

as the Famous Greek Magician.

Never a small act Avdalas appeared

with a minimum of ten assistants,

known as his “Original Hindu Com-

pany.” Playing on the early 1900s,

preoccupation with Oriental

themes (which was a confusion of

Egyptian, Arabic and India tales

and popular culture stereotypes)

Avdalas’ individual tricks, within

his overall act, included The Cre-

mation, The French Spy, The Hu-

man Suspension Bridge, The Ra-

jahs Enchanted Chest “and fifty

other new and baffling effects

(Iowa City Citizen September 30,

1919).” Professor Avdalas always

closed his performance with his

most renowned illusion the fabled

Talking Tea Kettle (Sheboygan

Journal April 12, 1919).

Referred to as the Eight Wonder

of the World, news reports on the

Talking Tea Kettle were unani-

mous: “Among the many and new

mysterious features of the Great

Avdalas world magic show is his

“Talking Tea Kettle,” which is pro-

nounced the most mystifying and

sensational mental telepathy act

before the public. “The Kettle” an-

swers without hesitation and with

absolute accuracy any and all prop-

er questions submitted by the audi-

ence. Reads your thoughts, gives

advice and offers many valuable

suggestions. The most puzzling and

astounding feat ever presented suc-

cessfully by any magician at any

time (Iowa Citizen September 30,

1919).”

Now long-forgotten the Talking

Tea Kettle was a national sensation.

Along with other mystifying tricks

of the era the Kettle was cited by

Spiritualists as proof that the Spirit

World Could Contact Us at Will!

None other than Harry Houdini

(1874-1926), arguably among the

greatest American magicians of all

time, wrote an article reporting

that the Kettle worked by an early

form of radio. Unfortunately this

very controversy has obscured the

life and career of the ‘Famous

Greek Magician’ known as Profes-

sor Avdalas. David Phelps Abbott

(1836-1934) is credited as the in-

ventor of this trick. As any of you

that have seen the recent movie on

magicians of the 1880s to 1890s,

The Prestige, will recall, the very

intimate back-and-forth exchange

between inventors and magicians

was quite common.

It is perhaps difficult, from this

point in history, to comprehend ex-

actly how astounding Professor Av-

dalas’ Talking Tea Kettle was for

American audiences. Always a top-

billed act Avdalas The Great can be

seen in advertisement-after-adver-

tisement oppose such performers

then appearing at other local

venues such as stage actor John

Barrymore and film actors as

Claudette Colbert, Frederick

March, Laurel and Hardy and oth-

ers of similar stature.

From the very beginning of his

performances in North America it

was common for the arrival of Pro-

fessor Avdalas “and His Wonderful

Talking Tea Kettle” to replace or in-

terrupt ongoing performances. To

cite but one advertisement it re-

ports the good Professor’s arrival

replaced a popular movie serial

episode: “Owning to the engage-

ment of Professor Avdalas, the kind

of illusionists, we have postponed

the 7th episode of “The Diamond

from the Sky” to next Tuesday

(Racine Journal-News June 29,

1915).”

Clearly, more specific details

need to be teased out of the histori-

cal record on Greek immigrant per-

formers.

Readers who wish to contact Mr.

Frangos are encouraged to e-

mail him at

[email protected].

The First Wave of Greek Vaudevillians in America

COMMUNITY

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHER/

CINEMATOGRAPHER

INTERN WANTED

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Herald is looking for college-level

VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHERS for in-

ternship opportunities. Earn credit

towards your degree and gain valu-

able experience in the world of jour-

nalism. Send resume, cover letter,

and optionally, a link to a web-based

example of your work to: photoher-

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JOURNALISTS WANTED

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porters and assistant editor for

English weekly paper. Exceptional

writing/reporting skills and bilin-

gual fluency a must. Car a plus. Fax

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By Paul Papadeas

Special to The National Herald

This is Part II of an interview by

Paul Papadeas with Emmy nominat-

ed actor Thaao Penghlis.

TP: Have you read Orianna Fal-

laci’s, “A Man?” I’ve read it three

times. I’m also developing a One

Man show on Panagoulis and a

workshop with Milton. I found his

story fascinating. And his family

sent me a letter from Las Vegas and

in the middle of moving I lost it. I

wanted to get in touch with them.

He was younger than I was at the

time he went to prison. Because it

was theater, I wanted to take this to

the stage. It was a fascinating char-

acter study. Especially, when they

buried him thousands of people

came to his funeral. When they

were putting him into his grave the

priest slipped and fell on top of the

glass casket. He ended up leaving

in embarrassment. It's a fabulous

story on how Panagoulis was killed.

TNH: Tell me about your oppor-

tunities to work in Greece?

TP: They wanted me for a series

there and I wanted to do it for my

parents. It was called, “H Konini

Stragetha” (The Red Stamp). It was

about a Greek Lawyer and journal-

ist who expose government corrup-

tion. I met a Greek Producer who

made a less than savory offer and

wanted me to star opposite her sis-

ter, and I said "no." Needless to say,

she became very offended.

We had another meeting with a

big producer from Athens and we

were sitting at the dinner table and

he said to me, “Mr. Penghlis, how

much money do you want? I re-

sponded, “I’m terribly sorry, but I

would prefer not to discuss money

at the dinner table” But, no, he in-

sisted that I tell him. So, I said,

“You’re like my uncle.” And this Ex-

ecutive asked, “Do you love your

uncle?” I said, “No.” So, he looked

at me and I felt that this was not go-

ing to work. This is where I learned

the phrase, “Beware of Greeks

bearing gifts.” Then the original

Greek Producer arrives and she

crashes the dinner with this enor-

mous gift for me, kisses me and

then whispers into his ear which I

found out later was, “I got him first,

and I got him cheap.” And then she

leaves. And this caused such an up-

roar – because they hoped to get

me first and merely testing the wa-

ters. And the accusations started

flying. And I said to them, the only

reason I want to do this is because

of my parents, working there

would not change my life or career.

This was in 1998. Look, I was invit-

ed back and when things did work I

was unavailable. But I swore I’d

never work with them again.

TNH: Anything you’re develop-

ing right now?

TP: Well I have a few scripts that

I’m writing, I have something

called “The Gordian Knot,” and I

just got back from New York to

meet with editors. I’ve been writing

something called “Sacred Spaces”

about my journeys.

TNH: How did you make the

transition into soaps from film – I

know you were in such films as Al-

tered States.

TP: Right after I did a number of

films, there was a long nine month

strike and there was no work. Gen-

eral Hospital came with Elizabeth

Taylor and I felt that this would be

interesting. They made a wonder-

ful offer. And I went with it and I

followed that up with a stint on

Days of our Lives. In addition I

went on to act in a few Mini-Series

and from there I did Mission Impos-

sible television show.

I remember my parents dying in

1995, this shocked me, they both

left in four days of each other. I did-

n’t want to act anymore. I think my

dream was tied to my family. And

when they left, I felt the dream

died. I had to reinvent myself. I did-

n’t work again for seven years. I just

decided that I would rather do

something else and out of it came

the writing. I gave myself time off

and as you know in this town, when

you get off the train it’s hard to get

back on.

TNH: How did you manage it?

TP: I got a call one day while I

was writing and they asked me to

get back on Days of Your Lives.

When someone dies it places you in

the present – it smacks you across

your face. I couldn’t call my parents

anymore to tell them the good

news or about a journey nor to

share my most private moments

and special things in life. That was

no longer there. But, I slowly began

to come into myself. I was told once

that I was to be a long distance run-

ner and the best would come at the

end – in the last 25 years of life.

As Executive Producer and actor

I did an Indy film called “The Mir-

ror” which was accepted into the

Hollywood Film Festival last year

and was shown at the Cannes Film

Festival this year. I’m expanding,

and it’s taking me a long time to

think of myself beyond being an ac-

tor – because it’s been my bread

and butter and the thing that

opened most doors for me in life.

It’s come late but my ground is

pretty solid. All the experiences I

went through are part of who I am

today. When you go into a tunnel in

life you never know when you’ll see

the light again.

TNH: Most actors don’t handle

rejection well. How did you deal

with it over the years?

TP: I got into metaphysics. Also,

I have quite a mouth. You may be

my boss but I will not be disrespect-

ed. If I see any side of that I always

correct it and as succinctly as possi-

ble. I let people know who they’re

dealing with. It’s not about being

difficult. My motto is, "if you do not

know how to treat me, let me show

you." As for metaphysics - I take my

journeys. Last year, I followed

Moses' footsteps where he wan-

dered climbing Sinai and this year

I followed Paul Tarsis, the Apostle

in Syria.

TNH: Your generation of actors

may be the last of the greats as they

came directly from the theater.

TP: Yes, we came at the end of a

renaissance. Even when I did “Slow

Dancing in the Big City” for John

Avildsen in New York, it was right

after that I didn’t know what I was

going to be doing. I was taking care

of my friend’s place in New York, he

had just died and I was trying to

keep everything ready for his funer-

al. I remember the phone rang –

someone had seen me in a play and

it was my first movie part. She

wanted me to play the part of a

Choreographer and that is what I

was currently playing on one of

Milton Katselas’ productions of

“Jockeys.” I went in for the audi-

tion. I beat out two others for this

role. They gave me the part. I re-

member going out to Park Avenue

and buckling to the ground. It was

my first film! I can’t tell you the

feeling. Because those first steps –

you are breaking down doors. I was

then sent to Columbia during that

era where they were really serious

about finding actors that were

trained in the theater. I auditioned

and they told me, “This is some of

the best work we've seen here in 12

years.” Those first steps became

victories for me. It’s important that

in the early stages of an actor's life

they get solid footing and to build

on that, otherwise they get

smacked down and have difficulty

knowing how to get back up. And

in those days, they were tough and

highly critical. If you were no good,

they would tell you to stop wasting

your time. Today, you know you are

patronized. They tell you that you

need a bit of training or if you are a

pretty face that should be enough.

TNH: Why has it changed?

TP: What has taken over the in-

dustry is no longer the art. They

just go by what sells, what’s the lat-

est fad. Why do you think reality TV

has become so popular? It’s cheap-

er, there are no residuals, and it’s

the ordinary man trying to be fa-

mous for fifteen minutes. For those

of us who have trained well are not

a problem on the set, don’t waste

time, money and we know our

lines. I think this is the secret to

longevity in this profession. Now,

I’m in the position to show the

younger generation of actors how

it’s done, the way it was shown to

me, by those who came before me.

You’ve got to be your own coun-

selor. You must understand that it

has nothing to do with ego. I’ve al-

ways believed that we’re here and

the soul guides us. We come here

with a piece of the soul which has

never found God. So in this lifetime

you take that piece, you work it out

and then attach it in the other life

and you keep coming back until

you have completed it. The people

that have come along that are not

to my liking and vice versa – are

there to remind us that we’re doing

something well or misinterpreting.

Everyone is a teacher to me. Sign-

posts are very important. If you

want to discover what life’s about –

you go out and see what other cul-

tures are doing. That’s why I take

these journeys. They fill me up with

their simplicity and beauty of oth-

ers' lives and then I come back and

understand how it affects my life

and that to me is exciting. It's as if

these journeys have waited for me

to arrive there.

TNH: What is something you

wish you could have done?

TP: I wish I could have been an

archaeologist. Now, don’t get me

wrong. My life has been very re-

warding. I’ve been able to give peo-

ple some joy. But, the idea of dig-

ging into the earth and finding

something and understanding a

part of history that was ignored or

misunderstood is intriguing to me.

And that is why I take these person-

al journeys. Because I think I’ll find

out what somebody else has

missed. That’s what keeps me go-

ing on these voyages, or "journeys"

the thought that I have something

new to discover. It's like the life of

Ulysses, always trying to find the

way back home.

TNH: Have any younger inde-

pendent directors approached you?

TP: Sure. But I also keep a low

profile. This has been my choice be-

cause I’m more interested in the

journey than the celebrity. Now it’s

interesting, because I’m dealing

with the paranormal and it’s some-

thing I’m developing - it’s like a

good bottle of wine. I’ve had a great

education, have been blessed to

have great people who crossed my

path and have trekked across Jor-

dan , Turkey, Morocco, Italy, Greece

and South American - so many

things that have been part of my

life, such as spending time with my

spiritual teacher. A quick story -

when Joan Crawford died, I knew

her daughter Cristina – she said to

me, that when Joan passed away,

that she had burnt all of her pho-

tographs and letters and they found

her sitting with her wig off like a lit-

tle old lady. I thought with all of the

celebrity, in the end what’s it for?

To me, it’s about personal fulfill-

ment. Lots of people spend time in

developing career and not enough

time in developing self. I see this

with many of my actor friends who

did not spend time developing

themselves because they were try-

ing to get famous. They didn’t do

what I call – God’s work with self.

And now they are paying the price.

I think the way to keep one's path

alive is to walk on it and to find the

way through.

A Student of Life: Emmy Nominated Actor Thaao Penghlis

Actor Thaao Penghlis

Continued from page 1

A comedic exchange

between Monsieur

Natalie and the porkers

was accompanied by

singing, kisses and

answering questions.

that the there will not be a Divine

Liturgy on Sunday morning and also

urged them to evacuate the city as

soon as they could. He also recom-

mended to somehow create a com-

munication network among them-

selves and with him. He told the

Herald that “I received many replies

from my parishioners as to where

they had planned to go and thus we

had established a link between us.”

He then went into the church and

placed the Epitafio, the Analogio

(the cantor’s stand) the Bishop’s

Throne and other valuable sacred

items on high tables in order to be

protected as much as possible in

case the church was flatted again as

was the case three years ago with

Katrina. Fr. Anthony took with him

the Holy Artoforio, the Holy Gospel,

the Holy Chalice, the Antiminsion

and other sacred items from the Al-

tar he went home pick up his pres-

bytera and their two sons and left to

Ft. Walton Beach in Florida to stay

with Fr. Mersinas.

“I urged my parishioners to start

evacuating early this time before the

highways became jammed as hap-

pened three years ago,” he said.

After an all night drive, Fr. An-

thony and his family went directly to

the church of St. Markella in Ft. Wal-

ton Beach in Florida on Sunday

morning and participated in the Di-

vine Liturgy. “We prayed to God to

save our city, because as the Author-

ities were saying Gustav appeared to

be stronger than Katrina which had

turned our city into and ghost city.”

He also said “on the other hand no-

body can say accurately how strong-

ly and where it was going to hit until

it hits,” Fr. Anthony said. “Our peo-

ple here are used to these situations

and evacuations because the ex-

treme phenomena of hurricanes and

tornados are frequent in our area.

There is the possibility that the

storm avoids our city and in a day or

two we can regain our normal lives,

but you never know and never can

be sure.”

“Some of my parishioners re-

mained in the city due to their pro-

fessional obligations, some are doc-

tors, but they were in safe places,”

he said.

Asked how people feel that three

years after Katrina they are threat-

ened with a new powerful storm. “It

is difficult but what can you do,” he

said. “Here we have to deal with

hurricanes, in Boston you have the

snowstorms and the blizzards. I am

sure you remember the blizzard of

1978 which paralyzed Boston for

one week. Of course hurricanes are

more dangerous and catastrophic

than the snowstorms.” Speaking

about catastrophes, Fr. Anthony

said, “New Orleans has not yet re-

covered from Katrina three years

ago. I went to Biloxi, Mississippi for

a funeral and the situation there is

not any better from New Orleans.”

The Holy Trinity Cathedral itself

and also the Community Center suf-

fered heavy damages from Katrina

which were repaired and the parish

started to have its life back. Before

Katrina, the parish consisted of 400

families, today.

“We have a little over three hun-

dred families,” he said.

New Orleans Church

Avoids Hurricane Damage

Continued from page 1

Holy Trinity Cathedral suffered damage during Hurricane Katrina.

FEATURE

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

are also a Greek American, which

makes you a better American.’ I like

that, so I try to live by his philoso-

phy,” she said, adding that striving

for excellence is an innate part of

being Greek.

That innate Greek American dri-

ve to succeed and do well, she ex-

plained, is what probably helps her

keep that precious balance between

family and career.

“We all do this, and I think we

each do it in our own way. Every

time I meet someone Greek, I dis-

cover that special pride within us –

that drive to succeed and excel that

we’re born with – and whether

you’re an actress or a physician or a

priest, it’s something that’s in our

hearts. You can’t take that away. It

forms the person you are. I learned a

long time ago that I should give as

much as I can to my career, but also

to separate the fine line between

who I am and what I do,” she said.

“Splitting the difference between

our lives at home and what we do

for a living is something that we all

experience, but our culture is truly a

gift, and I tell my kids that. I make

sure my kids go to Greek school. My

girls learned to speak Greek before

they could speak English, and let me

tell you, in Los Angeles, that’s no

easy feat. It’s very important to us to

give our kids a Midwestern upbring-

ing, even though we’re on the West

Coast,” she said.

“Ultimately, what keeps me

grounded is my family. My children

and my husband are the most im-

portant thing in my life – and our

community. Growing up in Akron,

we had one church (the Annuncia-

tion), and anything Greek was asso-

ciated with ekklisia (church). I was

very active with GOYA and church

camp each summer,” she added.

Melina and her family are now

members of Saint Sophia Cathedral

in Los Angeles. She works hard to

maintain her family’s Greek identity

and culture in California. Her par-

ents still have a home in Akron, but

they also live with her and her hus-

band several months out of the year,

so the children are also being raised

by their grandparents for part of the

year.

Melina is a second-generation

American of Greek descent. Her par-

ents, Harry and Connie, were born

in the United States, while both sets

of grandparents came from Greece.

Her maternal grandparents were

from Naoussa, “where all the great

wine is from,” and her paternal

grandparents were from Palia

Eretsou in Asia Minor.

Her maternal grandmother, Areti

Temo, died recently. Melina was

very close to her, and considers her

to be among her greatest sources of

inspiration, citing her as a woman

with a liberated attitude.

“She stood for something with-

out even knowing it. She turned

down the customary proxenio (an

arranged meeting and subsequent

wedding initiated by introductions

through a mutual acquaintance)

and married out of love. She came to

a new country, and raised a family.

She was a true matriarch,” Melina

said.

“I speak Greek fluently because

my yiayia (grandmother) spoke on-

ly Greek to me, and I was very fortu-

nate to have her in my life for so

many years. She met both of my

daughters. My grandfather was also

a very forward-thinking person who

could think outside the box. My

mother and both her brothers went

to college. It wasn’t, ‘exo dyo paidia

kai mia kori (I have two children

and one girl).’ It was, ‘exo tria paidia

(I have three children),’ all of whom

were treated equally. There was no

difference between the daughter

and the two sons,” she said.

But while her grandmother holds

a special place in her heart, she also

said she considers her source of in-

spiration to be family-wide: her par-

ents, sisters, cousins and uncles.

“If I fall, there are many sets of

hands to catch me and push me

back up. If I didn’t have the security

of that love, that solid grounding

from everyone, I don’t think I

would be the person that I am

now,” she said.

Melina’s mother was born in

Youngstown; her father in Akron.

The two met in Akron. Her mother

moved there as a little girl after

spending part of her childhood in

Greece. Melina is the youngest of

Harry and Connie Kanakaredes’

three children. She has two sisters,

Areta and Lia.

She married Pantelis (Peter)

Constantinides a first-generation

American of Greek descent who is

originally from Chicago, a chef by

trade who is now a real estate devel-

oper. They have been married for 16

years and have two daughters, Zoe

and Carina.

Asked what propelled her to

pursue a career in the performing

arts, Melina said she developed an

affinity for music, dancing and the-

ater at an early age, noting that her

father exposed her and her sisters

to the many different sides of the-

ater when she was still a schoolgirl.

“I was exposed to the New York

cultural scene. My dad would take

the station wagon and drive us

there, and we’d go see three shows

in a single weekend, and then turn

around and head back home for

school after the weekend was over.

We were always seeing a grand mu-

sical hit on Broadway, but my dad

would also insist that we see some

small plays, too, to see what the

younger playwrights were writing,”

she said.

Greek parents would not typical-

ly push their children to pursue a

career in the performing arts, Meli-

na said, but her parents were very

open to the idea and got behind her,

although they also pre-conditioned

their support on getting an educa-

tion.

“Needless to say, I didn’t think

theater was going to catapult me

onto my the A-list of my father’s ca-

reer choices, but he showed me the

opposite. Both he and my mother

were extremely supportive. My par-

ents’ attitude was, ‘As long as you

get another degree,’ so that I would

always have something to fall back

on. Not going to college was not an

option,” she said. Melina attended

Ohio State University, and is a 1989

graduate of Point Park College in

Pittsburgh.

Being Greek Orthodox is also ex-

tremely important to her, she said,

and she was invited by Archbishop

Demetrios of America to join the

Archdiocese delegation to Rome at

the end of this past June.

“I had the pleasure of going to

Rome with His Eminence and His

All Holiness (Ecumenical Patriarch

Bartholomew of Constantinople)

for the feast day of Saints Peter &

Paul this summer. It was such an

amazing experience. The fact that

the Pope recognizes our Patriarch as

an equal, and to hear them both re-

cite the original Creed in Greek so

beautifully together – it was so

wonderful to be there for that. The

Patriarch has the most beautiful

voice. And for my young daughters

to have had the opportunity to feel

the power of all that was just in-

credible,” she said.

The experience was so moving,

“my daughters and I are currently

writing a children’s book about

meeting the Pope and the Patri-

arch,” she said.

“And for me, I’m one of those

people who feel very strongly about

doing things in Greek. I can’t take

the Greek out of the Liturgy. It’s one

of the reasons I speak Greek, and it’s

part of who I am. We received so

much of our culture in this country

from the Church. I can’t separate

the two, and I want to have that for

my girls,” she added.

That Greek thing just keeps com-

ing up with Melina, who fiercely re-

sisted Anglicizing her name to make

some people in Hollywood happy.

“Every agent from every place,

except for the one I’m with right

now, and who I’ve been with since I

started in this business, told me to

change my name – from Melina K to

Melina Kane to Melina Karides. But

I decided a long time ago that,

whatever I end up doing, I want to

be Melina Kanakaredes. Several

years ago, Kirk Douglas wrote a

book called, ‘Let’s Face It.’ I got a

call from a friend of mine in New

York. She told me I’m listed in his

book. In it was a section about how

he ended up having to change his

name (from Issur Danielovich), and

he was saying hats off to the

younger generation of actors who

didn’t do that – like De Niro and Pa-

cino – and then to the little ones like

me who kept their name. I laughed

when I read that because I wasn’t

doing it to make any kind of state-

ment. I was just doing it because I

work very hard, and I want to be

who I am,” she said, noting that she

is also involved with writing, direct-

ing and producing.

Melina is currently involved with

a project called “Summer Rental,” a

movie written by Vlas and Charley

Parlapanides, which she is helping

to produce, and in which she and

Michael Chiklis are also starring.

The film is scheduled to begin

shooting next summer (the Parla-

panides brothers recently sold the

rights to “War of the Gods,” now

budgeted for $80 million).

She also tries to spend as much

free time as possible using her

celebrity status to advance good

causes like the Children’s Brain Tu-

mor Foundation, as well as raising

awareness about breast cancer and

Thalassemia.

“There is a gift in celebrity.

Celebrity status isn’t anything I

searched out. It’s simply a part of

this business. But the gift of celebri-

ty can make a difference in raising

money for good causes. Cancer in

any form is tragic and unaccept-

able. To see kids who are born with

tumors is just heart-wrenching.

There’s nothing worse than to see

innocent children suffering from

something like that. I have to do

something to try and help. So if

there’s anything I can so to help

shed light on these conditions; to

raise public awareness; and to raise

money, I will,” she said.

As someone who takes so much

pride in her heritage, has she ever

thought about using her celebrity

status to push for or promote Greek-

themed films?

“Absolutely. ‘Summer Rental’ is a

story about a Greek family. And I

have been supportive of the Greek

Film Festival here in Los Angeles. I

always like to try and hire Greek ac-

tors, if possible. I feel it’s important

for us to support each other. No-

body ever gave me a job because I’m

Greek, but I believe in merit. You

have to be good at what you do, and

Greek people have a knack for

working hard and creating opportu-

nities for themselves. I’m always so

proud of Greeks. I always look at

the final credits in a movie to find a

Greek name, and I’m always wishful

about somebody Greek doing some-

thing great. We take pride in each

other, and we want to help give

each other opportunities when

someone has merit. And for the

younger generation, I think it’s

about pride and a sense of wanting

to unite and move forward as Greek

Americans because we really are re-

markable people,” she said.

For the complete text, please visit

our website at www.thenational-

herald.com.

Melina Kanakaredes Is Unyielding about Her Heritage: “It’s Who I Am”

Continued from page 1

LEFT: Melina Kanakaredes as Detective Stella Bonasera on CBS’ hit show “CSI: New York,” currently in its

fourth season. The Emmy Award-nominated actress also played Dr. Sydney Hansen on NBC’s “Providence”

for five seasons. RIGHT: Greek beauty at its best. Melina was born and raised in Akron, Ohio.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CB

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The Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church is located on

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On the internet at: www.dormitionchurch.org

OBITUARIES

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

CBS News

NEW YORK – Ike Pappas, the long-

time CBS News correspondent

whose live radio report of Lee Har-

vey Oswald's murder following the

assassination of John F. Kennedy se-

cured him a special role in history,

died Sunday of heart failure in Vir-

ginia Hospital Center in Arlington.

He was 75.

During his 23-year career at CBS

News, Pappas covered wars, politi-

cal events and the civil rights

protests of the 1960s. But perhaps

the defining moment of his journal-

istic career came as a radio reporter

for WNEW New York covering Os-

wald's prison transfer in 1963.

As he asked Oswald a question,

Jack Ruby brushed past Pappas to

shoot and kill Oswald. “Oswald has

been shot … mass confusion,” re-

ported Pappas during his live broad-

cast, which also captured Oswald's

last words. Pappas later offered key

testimony at Ruby's trial and ap-

peared before the Warren Commis-

sion investigating Kennedy's assas-

sination. “The man in the white

raincoat,” as he was identified, was

also an integral part of the best-sell-

ing record album about the tragedy,

“Four Days That Shocked the

World.”

Pappas joined CBS News 11

months later in October 1964 as a

writer and reporter for the radio se-

ries “Dimensions.” He also served as

a general assignment reporter cov-

ering major stories including the

1964 presidential election, the his-

toric Selma civil rights march and

racial troubles in New York City.

He was named a CBS News cor-

respondent in May of 1967 after re-

turning from a seven-month assign-

ment covering the Vietnam War.

Based in Chicago, he reported on

several key stories for “The CBS

Evening News with Walter

Cronkite” including the funeral of

former President Harry S. Truman,

the assassination and funeral of Dr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and college

campus unrest.

Pappas was on the Kent State

University campus with a CBS News

film crew when the Ohio National

Guard shot four students in May

1970. He also covered the Six Day

War in 1967 and the launch of Apol-

lo 11 from Cape Kennedy in July

1969.

In 1970, while reporting on the

civil war in Jordan, Pappas was de-

tained along with several other

journalists and held in a hotel dur-

ing some of the conflict.

Pappas served as a Pentagon cor-

respondent for seven years begin-

ning in 1975. During this time, he

went overseas to cover the conflict

in Lebanon, reporting the advance

of Israeli troops into Beirut. In

1985, he became the CBS News

congressional correspondent.

He began his career as a maga-

zine writer and then became a re-

porter for United Press Internation-

al before joining WNEW Radio in

New York in 1958.

Pappas left CBS News in 1987 as

one of more than a dozen on-air re-

porters and 200 other staffers laid

off in a cost-cutting move by new

ownership.

In the following years, he started

his own television production com-

pany, Papas Network Productions,

through which he produced

fundraising videos and local pro-

gramming, including “Crimewatch

Tonight,” a syndicated nightly

crime report he anchored himself.

He also worked to create entertain-

ment television programming and

provided media coaching to indi-

viduals. Of his separation from CBS

News, Pappas told Electronic Media

in 1988: “I come from a line of

Greek people who have always

greeted tough times with a determi-

nation to make things better. I took

a negative and turned it into a posi-

tive and I couldn’t be happier.”

Pappas made an appearance in

the 1988 comedy, “Moon Over

Parador,” playing himself in the film

starring Richard Dreyfuss and Raul

Julia. This led to another appear-

ance as himself in the Gene Hack-

man - Tommy Lee Jones film “The

Package” the next year.

Born Nestor Papademetriou in

Queens, NY on April 16, 1933, Pap-

pas attended local schools before

graduating from Long Island Uni-

versity. He served in the U.S. Army

in Germany from 1954-56, con-

tributing to the Armed Forces Net-

work and Stars and Stripes.

He is survived by his wife of 45

years, the former Carolyn Hoffman

of Pekin, Il.; three children:

Theodore of Newport Beach, Calif.;

Alexander of Sugarland, Texas; and

Sarah Thomason of Greenville, SC.;

and two grandchildren: Christos

and Nicholas Pappas.

Ike Pappas, Former CBS Newsman Who Reported Oswald Killing on Radio, Dead At 75

■ ACKERMAN, HELEN

CLINTON, Mass. – The Worcester

Telegram & Gazette reported that

Helen (Lambros) Ackerman, 87, of

Clinton, formerly of Ludlow, MA,

died Friday, August 29, 2008, in

Sterling Healthcare, Sterling, after

an illness. Her husband of 38 years,

Anthony J. Ackerman, died in

1991. She is survived by a sister,

Christine Lambros, with whom she

lived; four sisters-in-law, Mar-

guerite Lambros of Sterling, Freda

Lambros of Dudley, Angelina Lam-

bros of Shrewsbury, and Demetra

Lambros of Cranston, RI; three

nephews: Peter Lambros and his

wife, Elaine of Lafayette, CO,

Steven Lambros and his wife, Kim

of Leominster, and Nicholas Lam-

bros and his wife, Joanna of

Cranston, RI; five nieces: Maris

Rafer and her husband, Gerson of

Osterville, Nikki DeLouchry and

her husband, Michael of Marlbor-

ough, Louellyn Lambros and her

husband, Ramiro Rivera of Scitu-

ate, Susan Lane and her husband,

Jack of Shrewsbury, and Elaine

MacKenzie and her husband,

Christopher of New Canaan, CT;

seven grandnieces; eleven grand-

nephews; two great-grandnieces;

two great-grandnephews; one

great-great-grandniece; one great-

great-grandnephew; and several

cousins in the United States, and in

Greece. Four brothers, George,

Frank, Andrew, and Nicholas Lam-

bros, and three sisters, Nicoletta

Lambros, Angela Vaughan, and

Jennie Lambros, predeceased her.

Helen was born in Clinton, the

daughter of Harry and Stavroula

(Despotopoulos) Lambros. She was

a 1938 graduate of Clinton High

School, and attended Springfield

College. A resident of Ludlow for

many years, Helen returned to

Clinton to live with her sisters,

Christine and Jennie, following the

death of her husband, Anthony.

From 1938-1953, she worked for

Eastern Isles Importing Co. of Clin-

ton, advancing to the position of

credit manager. She then worked

for several years as a credit manag-

er for Totsy Manufacturing of

Springfield. Helen was a member

of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox

Church, and its Ladies Philopto-

chos Society, the Daughters of

Penelope, the Clinton Hospital

Guild, and the Clinton Historical

Society. She was an ardent support-

er of WGBH Public Television. An

avid reader, she had a great appre-

ciation for the works of Shake-

speare. She enjoyed buying an-

tiques, and giving them away to her

loved ones. During their time living

in Ludlow, Helen and Anthony fre-

quently baked miniature pies,

which they gave away to their

friends. The funeral was held on

Tuesday, September 2, 2008. Burial

was at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Memorial donations to Holy Trinity

Eastern Orthodox Nursing & Reha-

bilitation Center (300 Barber Ave.,

Worcester, MA 01606).

■ ANTONOPOULOS, CHRISTOS

HAVERHILL, Mass. — The Eagle-

Tribune reported that Christos

Antonopoulos, 89, of Haverhill,

joined his wife, Chrysoula (Zo-

ganas) Antonopoulos, in heaven on

Sunday, August 24, 2008. He was

born in Klepa Nafpaktias, Greece,

Aug. 30, 1918, son of the late

Demosthenes and Ekaterini (Pa-

pachristos) Antonopoulos. He and

his late wife were married in

Greece, Aug. 23, 1942. Educated in

Greece, Mr. Antonopoulos served

in the Greek Army and fought in

World War II. He survived being

captured by the Italians and Ger-

mans. After the war Christos want-

ed to make a better life for his fam-

ily. He made the journey to the

United States in 1955 in hopes of

saving enough money to have his

wife and four children join him. He

worked many jobs to be able to pro-

vide for his family back home in

Greece as well as save enough mon-

ey for their upcoming journey to

the United States. Chrysoula and

their four children joined him on

Oct. 2, 1958. They first settled in

Lowell and then made their home

in Haverhill. Christos worked in the

then thriving shoe industry in

Haverhill while providing for his

family. In March of 1967 he became

a United States citizen. Christos re-

tired in 1974 spending time be-

tween Haverhill and Florida even-

tually settling down in Haverhill.

He was very active in the Greek

Community and was instrumental

in helping many Greek immigrants

settle in the Haverhill area. He was

a member of the Greek Orthodox

Church of the Holy Apostles. Chris-

tos enjoyed spending time with his

grandchildren and great-grandchil-

dren and telling stories of the "Old

Days" in Greece and how he would

go to Honolulu one day. He is sur-

vived by his children, Ekaterini

Christoforakis, James Antonopou-

los and his wife Stella, Charles

Antonopoulos and his wife Felicia

all of Haverhill, Danny Antonopou-

los of Florida and his companion

Suzanne McGilvray of Exeter, N.H.;

grandchildren, Panagiota Christo-

forakis of Haverhill, Chrisoula La-

bella and her husband Joe of Rocky

Hill, Conn., Angela Antonopoulos,

Maria Dimakis and her husband

Nick, Nicholas Antonopoulos, all of

Haverhill, Raymond Antonopoulos

and his wife Erin of Woodland

Hills, Calif. and Danny Antonopou-

los of Haverhill; great-grandchil-

dren, George Davis, Danny

Meleitte, Manoli and Antonios Di-

makis, Charlie Antonopoulos, Macy

Jo Antonopoulos, as well as many

nieces and nephews. The funeral

was at August 27 at The Greek Or-

thodox Church of The Holy Apos-

tles in Haverhill. Burial was at Wal-

nut Cemetery. Memorial donations

to the Greek American Benevolent

Association (P.O. Box 81, Haverhill,

MA 01831).

■ CONSTANTINE, KATHERINE

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Beacon

Journal reported that Katherine

Constantine, 86 of Akron, died on

September 1, 2008 at Rockynol As-

sisted Living after a long illness.

She was born on January 9, 1922 in

Erie, Pa. and has spent most of her

life in Akron. Katherine owned and

operated Constantine's Florist, was

a member of the Greek Orthodox

Church of Annunciation where she

was active in many of their organi-

zations, and also served as presi-

dent of Elpis. Kay had a very soft

spot in her heart for the elderly and

would visit with flower in hand to

many of the nursing homes in the

Akron area. Her passion for travel-

ing took her around the world 8

times. Katherine was preceded in

death by her parents, Charles and

Anna Fevas. She is survived by her

daughter, Anna Marie (Lyle, Jr.)

Frederick of Sharon Twp; sister,

Mary Petrackis; grandsons, Jeffrey

(Debbie) Frederick and Jason

(Melissa) Frederick; great-grand-

children, Jason, Brandon, Jordan,

Tyler, Ryan, Lauren and Lindsey

Frederick; and niece, Connie (Ted)

Sarros. The family would like to

thank Rockynol Assisted Living 4th

Floor Special Care and Hospice

VNS for all their love and care. The

funeral was held on September 5 at

Annunciation Greek Orthodox

Church in Akron.

■ HAMILOTHORIS, GERASIMOS

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The

Home News Tribune reported that

Gerasimos "Jerry" Hamilothoris, 80,

of South River passed away peace-

fully at his home with his family at

his side. Born in Tinos, Greece, he

had resided in Keyport and Perth

Amboy before moving to South Riv-

er 30 years ago. Before his retire-

ment in 1989 he was employed as a

baker for 40 years, retiring from the

DuVille Diner in East Brunswick. He

was a member of St. George Greek

Orthodox Church in Piscataway. He

was predeceased by his parents,

Achilles and Penelope Hamilotho-

ris. Surviving are his wife of 45

years, the former Stella Karra; his

son, Achilles and his wife, Laurie of

Delran; his daughter, Stella

Lemieux and her husband, Mark of

Tulsa, Okla.; his sister, Irene Lam-

briodis of Reading, Pa., and his

brothers, Jimmy Hamilothoris of

Pompano Beach, Fla., and John

Hamilothoris of Tinos, Greece. The

funeral was held on August 29 at St.

George Greek Orthodox Church in

Piscataway. Burial was at Washing-

ton Monumental Cemetery in South

River.

■ HOOD, VIVIAN

KITCHENER, Ontario – The Guelph

Mercury reported that Vivian Far-

faras slipped gently away with her

family at her side, at Guelph Gener-

al Hospital, on Sunday, August 24,

2008. She was 49. Devoted wife of

Stephen Hood. Beloved mother of

Phillip and Christopher. Loving

daughter of George and Anastasia

Farfaras of Guelph. Dear daughter-

in-law of Rita Hood and the late

Victor. Sadly missed by her siblings,

Tom, Chris, Angie and Peter, nieces,

nephews and aunts, uncles and

cousins in Athens and Tripoli,

Greece and the USA. Vivian's many

community roles and contributions

in the past included teaching Greek

to children within the Canadian/

Greek community of Saints Peter

and Paul Greek Orthodox Church in

Kitchener, organizing multicultural

activites in Guelph, supporting

many charitable events and organi-

zations and parent teacher coun-

cils. Vivian was a 1978 graduate of

GCVI. After studies at the universi-

ties of Guelph and Athens and after

her employment at Agriculture

Canada, Vivian returned to school,

graduating in 1992 from the Uni-

versity of Waterloo School of Ac-

counting. At the Globe & Mail, Vi-

vian provided financial analysis to

InfoGlobe/Globe information Ser-

vices, Report on Business and ROB

magazine. In Guelph, she managed

the finances at the River Run Cen-

tre from 2001 to 2006. Other past

coworkers and friends were at Em-

ployment Insurance Canada and

Hillson & Co. All of these roles

notwithstanding, Vivian's truest vo-

cational passion was in raising her

two sons and being a great partner

to her husband of 22 years. Many

thanks to the dedicated staff of the

Guelph General Hospital Oncology

Clinic and 4 West for their care and

support. The funeral was held on

August 28 at the Saints Peter & Paul

Greek Orthodox Church in Kitchen-

er. Memorial donations to the

Canadian Cancer Society.

■ MOUSTAKAKIS, VASILIOS

HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford

Courant reported that Dr. Vasilios

“Bill'' Moustakakis passed away on

Tuesday, August 26, 2008. He was

born on January 8, 1942 in

Karpathos, Greece. He was the son

of the late Michael and Zoe (Kafezi-

dakis) Moustakakis. He is survived

by his wife, Joyce (Chryssos) Mous-

takakis of Houston, TX. He began

his American dream in 1962 when

he entered this country in search of

a better life. He graduated from

MIT in 1966 with a Bachelor of Sci-

ence degree in Civil Engineering.

He then worked for the Connecti-

cut Department of Highways and

Transportation and resided in New

Britain. He received a Master of Sci-

ence Degree in Applied Mechanics

from the University of Connecticut

in 1971. He received his Doctorate

in Engineering Mechanics form

Penn State University in 1975. He

had a long and successful career in

the engineering field and was well

respected amongst his colleagues

at ExxonMobil, where he spent

most of his career in numerous lo-

cations, most recently in Houston,

TX. Besides his beloved wife, he is

survived by his children: Dr.

Michael Moustakakis and his wife

Dr. Emily Daponte of West Hart-

ford, Dr. Emmanuel Moustakakis

and his fiancee Ms. Christina Rous-

sakis of Astoria, NY, and Mrs. Anne

Guess and her husband Mr. Bobby

Guess of Katy, TX. He was a loving

``Pappou'' to his three grandchil-

dren: Will and Hope Moustakakis

of West Hartford and Zoe Isabella

Guess of Katy, TX. He is also sur-

vived by his three brothers: Alex

Moustakakis of Greece, George

Carr of Apex, NC, and Pericles

Moustakakis of New Britain. He

was predeceased by his sister: Anna

Sakelliadou of Greece. He is also

survived by numerous nieces and

nephews whom he loved dearly.

Dad will always be fondly remem-

bered for teaching us the value of

hard work and the power of a

dream. He was a man that believed

that the American Dream was a liv-

ing thing and he realized his own

with great dedication and hard

work. We are grateful for his many

sacrifices and for giving us his

shoulders to stand on. The funeral

was held on August 30 at St. Basil

the Great Greek Orthodox Church

in Houston, TX. Memorial dona-

tions to St. Basil the Great Greek

Orthodox Church (1100 Eldridge

Parkway, Houston TX 77077).

■ NEDELKOS, CHRISTINA

MANSFIELD – The News Journal

reported that Christina Nickolaou

Nedelkos, 78, died Thursday, Au-

gust 21, 2008, at home. She passed

on with her loved ones by her side.

Born Aug. 15, 1930, in Neret, Mace-

donia, Greece, she was the daugh-

ter of Velios and Katherine Noleff

Nickolaou. She was a member of

Saints Constantine and Helen

Greek Orthodox Church and the

Philoptochos Society of Mansfield.

She was an excellent homemaker

with a great sense of humor who

loved to cook her ethnic foods and

enjoyed crocheting items for her

family and friends. Christina took

great pride in her vegetable garden

and her many rose gardens, receiv-

ing numerous awards for her out-

standing flower gardens. She en-

joyed attending her grandchildren's

functions which included sporting

events and school activities. She is

survived by her husband, Lazaros G.

Nedelkos; four children, Maria Ned-

elkos, Christos L. (Melissa)

Nedelkos, Georgann (Dennis)

Echelberger, and Catherine

Nedelkos, all of Mansfield; grand-

children, Christopher and Alyssa

Nedelkos, and Nicole Echelberger;

brother, George (Mary) Nickolaou

of Battle Creek, Michigan; and sis-

ter-in-law, Millie Nickolaou of

Crown Point, Indiana. Numerous

cousins, nieces, and nephews also

survive. She was preceded in death

by her parents; brother, Nick Nicko-

laou of Crown Point, Indiana; and

sister, Katherine Dimitropaulos of

Melbourne, Australia. The funeral

was held on August 26 at Saints

Constantine and Helen Greek Or-

thodox Church. Burial was at Mans-

field Cemetery. Memorial donations

to Saints Constantine and Helen

Greek Orthodox Church or Special

Wish Foundation.

■ PEFKAROS, KYRIACOS

MIAMI, Fla. – The Miami Herald re-

ported that Dr. Kyriacos Pefkaros,

husband, father, father-in-law,

grandfather, son, brother, beloved

friend, trusted doctor, and lover of

classical music passed away. Kyria-

cos' life began on August 18, 1948

in Limassol, Cyprus, the son of

Chrysoula and Charalambos. He

and his brother Marios grew up

spending summers in the moun-

tains of Pafos with their grand-

mother Sapho. At 17, Kyriacos

moved to England where he would

study medicine at Leeds University.

There he met a Cypriot medical stu-

dent who would become his wife,

Athena. They were married soon

after their graduations from med-

ical school and moved to the United

States to practice medicine. Kyria-

cos and Athena settled in Miami,

Florida in 1977. They had two chil-

dren, Chryso and Soula. He carried

his Nikon camera everywhere they

went capturing beautiful images of

Soula and Chryso learning, grow-

ing, and adventuring. On Saturday

mornings he'd lure them out of bed

for Greek school by whipping up a

batch of homemade pancakes. Dur-

ing his medical career, Kyriacos

taught at the University of Miami

Medical School and practiced at

Doctor's Hospital, Baptist Hospital,

and finally at Mercy Hospital where

he practiced for over 20 years. Sad-

ly, and much to his disappointment,

he was forced to retire after a heart

attack in 2005. His retiring meant

the loss of an exceptional and

much-admired cardiologist. He was

deeply loved by his patients and

colleagues who saw him not only as

a doctor but also as a friend and

confidante. He always dedicated

precious time to his patients, treat-

ing them medically but also show-

ing care for their personal lives -

their loves, losses, marriages, ca-

reers, triumphs, struggles. In 2002

he gained a son when eldest daugh-

ter Chryso married Lambros Kat-

soufis. In 2006, Kyriacos became a

grandfather when Chryso gave

birth to her daughter Zoe, now two

years old. Zoe brought a tremen-

dous joy to the last two years of

Kyriacos' life. On August 31 he died

suddenly due to complications of

his medical conditions. At the time

of his death he was surrounded by

the unending love of his wife

Athena, daughters Chryso and

Soula, brother Marios, son-in-law

Lambros, and friends who came to

be by his side. The spirit of this lov-

ing friend and wise physician will

ever be in the sounds of the Rolling

Stones and the arias of Maria

Kallas, the waves of the Mediter-

ranean Sea, a warm plate of Greek

meze, and a good rain storm. Most

importantly, it will ever be in the

hearts and minds of those loved

ones who continue on. He will be

buried in his homeland, Cyprus.

The funeral was held on September

5 at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox

Cathedral, in Miami. Memorial do-

nations to Kyriacos' name to United

Order True Sisters Cancer Camp,

Miami Children's Hospital.

■ TARAS, BESSIE

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Commer-

cial Appeal reported that Bessie

Varnavas Taras 89, of Memphis,

died on Tuesday, August 26, 2008

at Baptist Memorial Hospital after a

long illness. She worked tirelessly

for church, was past president of

the Ladies Auxillary Elpis Philopto-

chos Society, one of the founding

members of the Greek Festival, and

founder of the Junior Greek Ortho-

dox Youth of America Memphis

Chapter. She was preceded in

death by her husband, Bill K. Taras,

co-founder of Jim’s Place Restau-

rants. She leaves a daughter, Tina

Liollio (Angelo) of Memphis; two

sons, Costa Taras (Nancy) and

Dimitri Taras (Mary Katherine),

both of Memphis; two special

nephews, Kosta N. Taras of Mem-

phis and Kosta J. Taras of

Huntsville, AL; three sisters, Mary

V. Lenis, Ann Vergos and Doris

Anagnos,all of Memphis; six grand-

children, Bill Taras (Melissa) of

Memphis, Chris Taras of Dallas, TX,

Victoria Liollio Riordan (Bill) of At-

lanta, GA, Evan Liollio (Tricia) of

Spartanburg, SC, James Taras of

Memphis, and Sam Taras (Sheley)

of Memphis; four great-grandchil-

dren, Robert and James Liollio, Ana

Sophia Riordan and Alexander

Taras. The family would like to

thank her caregivers for their sup-

port during her illness. The funeral

was on August 28 at Annunciation

Greek Orthodox Church. Burial

was at Memorial Park Cemetery.

Memorial donations to the Annun-

ciation Greek Orthodox Church.

■ VALHOS, HELEN

SOMERSWORTH, Del. — The Sea-

coast Online reported that Helen

Valhos, 75, of Somersworth died

peacefully on Tuesday, August 26,

2008, surrounded by her loving

family after a courageous battle

with cancer. Predeceasing is He-

len's mother and father, Stella (De-

mopoulos) and Arthur Melitus; sis-

ters Dinah Marouthis, Olympia

"Bea" Jones, and Dorothea "Dot"

McCarthy; and brothers George

"Butch" Melitus and James Melitus

I. Surviving is Helen's husband,

George Valhos of Somersworth;

daughter Kelly Abbott and husband

Steven of Kittery, Maine; son

Nicholas Valhos and wife Lisa of

Berwick, Maine; her beloved and

treasured grandchildren, Cody Ab-

bott of Kittery, Maine, Shelley Val-

hos of Dover, and Stephanie Swan-

son and husband Robert of Raleigh,

N.C.; and her new great-grand-

daughter, Callie Rose Swanson of

Raleigh, N.C. Also surviving is her

sister, Mary Valoras of Dover;

brother James Melitus and wife

Kathleen of Dover; and several

much loved nieces, nephews and

friends. The family would especial-

ly like to thank the Hyder Family

Hospice House for the exceptional

care and support they provided.

Born and raised in Dover, Helen ap-

preciated the gift of life to its

fullest. Among her greatest accom-

plishments was her 56-year mar-

riage to her loyal and loving hus-

band, George Valhos. Helen was a

self-starter from a young age; she

and her husband owned a restau-

rant and nightclub in Kittery,

Maine, as well as a waterfront bed

and breakfast in Alton Bay, for sev-

eral successful years. Helen will be

sorely missed, but never forgotten.

She proudly saw her grandchildren

achieve some of the biggest goals of

their lives this past year. Helen's

granddaughter, Shelley Valhos,

graduated from college this past

May; her grandson, Cody Abbott,

graduated sixth in his high school

class; and her granddaughter,

Stephanie Swanson, gave birth to

Helen's first and only great-grand-

child, Callie Rose Swanson, in Au-

gust. The funeral was held on Au-

gust 29 at the Greek Orthodox

Church of the Annunciation in

Dover. Burial was at the Greek Or-

thodox Cemetery in Dover. Memor-

ial donations to Hyder Family Hos-

pice House (285 County Farm

Road, Dover, NH).

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]

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An undated file photo of long-

time CBS newsman Ike Pappas.

AP PHOTO/FILES

GREECE CYPRUS

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

By Barney Spender

Reuters

ATHENS – AEK Athens overcame

midweek European disappoint-

ment to beat Panathinaikos 2-1 in

the opening round of the Greek

league on Sunday, August 31.

AEK's season got off to a poor

start when they were knocked out

of the UEFA Cup by Cypriot side

Omonia and their Brazilian World

Cup winner Rivaldo decided to

leave for Uzbekistan.

Their response, however, sug-

gested they had not lost their spirit

and they went 2-0 up at home to a

Panathinaikos side that had com-

fortably eased through to the

Champions League group stage.

Edinho curled the ball into the

top right-hand corner of the net on

20 minutes and shortly before half-

time Ismael Blanco converted from

the penalty spot.

Panathinaikos made most of the

running in the second half al-

though AEK's Ignacio Scocco had

one shot rebound off the bar.

Georgos Karagounis got a late

goal for Panathinaikos in the fourth

minute of added time when his

floated free kick drifted over the

heads of everyone in the box and

into the goal.

A second-half double from Ar-

gentine winger Luciano Galletti led

champions Olympiakos Piraeus to a

3-1 home win over Asteras Tripolis

on Saturday, the opening day of the

Greek Super League season.

Olympiakos, dumped out of the

Champions League by Anorthosis

Famagusta in midweek, went be-

hind before halftime when Danijel

Cesarec converted a penalty.

Galletti levelled with a long-

range shot that flew past the goal-

keeper in the 61st minute before

netting his own penalty two min-

utes later.

Olympiakos had several more

chances and Darko Kovacevic

wrapped up the points when he got

on the end of a long pass to slide

the ball into the net.

Ergotelis and PAOK Salonika al-

so got off to winning starts.

Visiting Ergotelis went a goal

down to promoted Panthrakikos

when Cesar Henriquez scored in

the 19th minute.

Nigerian striker Patrick Ogunso-

to equalized seven minutes into the

second half before the same player

made it 2-1 in the closing stages.

Brazilian defender Marcos Anto-

nio gave PAOK an eighth-minute

advantage at OFI Crete and former

Portugal midfielder Sergio Conce-

icao completed a 2-0 win.

There were good wins also for

Larissa, Aris, Xanthi and new boys

Panserraikos.

Aris were made to wait until the

second half for their goals before

scoring two in five minutes to beat

Levadiakos 2-0. Javito got the first

on 65 minutes with Polish striker

Piotr Wlodarczyk adding the sec-

ond shortly after.

Larissa got all their goals in the

first half, dispatching newly pro-

moted Thrasyvoulos Filis 3-0.

Argentine striker Facundo Parra

scored twice either side of a goal

from compatriot Marcelo Sarmien-

to.

Nabil Taider's sixth minute goal

was enough for Xanthi to win away

at Panionios while Burkina Faso in-

ternational Patrick Zoundi scored

twice in the first half for Panser-

raikos in their game at Iraklis.

Serge Die pulled one back for

the hosts in the second half but

Panserraikos ended their first game

back in the top flight after 16 years

with a 2-1 win.

AEK Defeats Panathinaikos in First Week of Greek Super League

patrolled buffer zone which sepa-

rates the two communities.

When the leaders emerged from

their first round of talks, they ex-

pressed confidence that they will

reach a settlement. They are ex-

pected to meet again on September

11, according to U.N. officials.

Wednesday’s meeting was the

fifth this year between the two

leaders – paving the way for more

substantive negotiations initially

focusing on power-sharing. Mr.

Christofias and Mr. Talat are now

expected to meet at least once a

week. The two have also agreed to

set up a hotline so they can remain

in constant telephone contact.

“We will try our utmost to

achieve a settlement as soon as pos-

sible. Neither I nor Talat could

guarantee this tomorrow or the day

after tomorrow. This is a common

will, a common desire, and we shall

make common efforts,” Mr.

Christofias said.

Mr. Talat said he hoped agree-

ment could be reached by the end

of the year. He denied that Turkey, a

guarantor of the island’s 1960 inde-

pendence agreement, was poised to

block any concessions in the negoti-

ations.

“We are in favor of a solution,

and Ankara is supporting us,” he

said. “That’s why, after four years of

stalemate, we are confident that we

will succeed in concluding a com-

prehensive agreement – hopefully

as soon as possible, and hopeful-

ly… this year.”

Cyprus – an island of fewer than

a million inhabitants – has been di-

vided since 1974, when Turkey in-

vaded to exploit a brief coup aimed

at uniting the island republic with

Greece.

Turkey keeps 35,000 troops in

the breakaway Turkish Cypriot

north, while a small number of

Greek troops are stationed in the

south. The island was ruled by

Great Britain, which still has two

sovereign bases on the island, until

1960. Turkey and Britain are also

guarantors of the independence

agreement.

Past efforts to reach a settlement

have been scuttled by disagreement

on issues like power-sharing, prop-

erty rights for Greek Cypriot

refugees and the nature of a future

federation. But prospects of

progress were raised by repeated

commitments made by Mr.

Christofias and Mr. Talat toward

finding a solution.

On Wednesday, Mr. Talat insist-

ed differences between the two

sides were “not insurmountable.”

Mr. Christofias said an agree-

ment must be a federal model, and

not a partnership of separate states,

noting that the foundations of an

agreement are fully described in

the High Level Agreements of 1977

and 1979, which provide for the

transformation to a federal state.

“In our efforts, we must be guid-

ed by the relevant United Nations

Resolutions, which endorse the so-

lution of a bi-zonal, bi-communal

federation with political equality, as

described in the relevant Security

Council Resolutions, with a single

sovereignty, citizenship and inter-

national personality,” he said.

Alexander Downer, the U.N.’s

special envoy and former Aus-

tralian foreign minister, said the

two Cypriot leaders had to per-

suade their communities that a so-

lution would benefit both sides,

noting that the groundwork has

been laid because of the two lead-

ers’ strong and steady leadership,

and that the process has been facili-

tated by hundreds of meetings

which were already held at a tech-

nical (committee) level.

“This, of course, is your process,

and we at the U.N. stand ready to

support you at all junctures, accord-

ing to your needs as you express

them to us. But it is worthwhile to

acknowledge that significant

progress has already been made in

a fairly short time to build confi-

dence and create a solid foundation

on which to start formal negotia-

tions,” he said.

“The negotiations which you be-

gin today can and must have a suc-

cessful outcome. You own this

process and, as a result, your con-

tinuing leadership is a critical ele-

ment to make it succeed,” he

added.

The United States Government

has also expressed its full support

for direct talks between Mr.

Christofias and Mr. Talat, but noted

that both sides need to show the

necessary political will.

“We fully support this new effort

to reach an agreement. We our-

selves are taking a look at whether

or not it’s appropriate to have a spe-

cial envoy for this effort. But if the

basic work is going to be done, and

if we are going to reach an agree-

ment, that hard work is going to

have to be done by the two sides. So

we fully support this meeting as

well as the resumption of this ef-

fort,” he said.

Asked to comment on a state-

ment by Turkish President Abdullah

Gul that “the solution must be

found on a new partnership estab-

lished by the two equal political

communities and founder coun-

tries,” Mr. McCormack said the U.S.

is not going to interfere with the

process by imposing its will.

“We are always supportive of a

bi-zonal, bi-communal effort, an

agreement that is arrived at by both

parties. We’re not going to try to

dictate the specific conditions.

Those are for the parties to work

out. However, the international

community is ready to support this

effort, to nurture this effort, and

when required, to try to make pro-

posals. We ourselves, are not in that

position right now. But make no

mistake about it, the international

community supports this effort,” he

said.

The Russian Government, mean-

while, has stressed that it will not

recognize the illegal Turkish Cypri-

ot regime in northern Cyprus, say-

ing that Moscow has not changed

its position on the Cyprus question.

“The Ambassador of Russia to

Turkey was clear when he was

asked by Turkish reporters (on

Monday) about the possibility of

recognizing the self-styled regime.

He said it was not possible for

Moscow to recognize this pseudo-

state and reiterated the U.N. resolu-

tions,” said Vladimir Maystrenko,

the Russian Embassy Spokesman in

Nicosia. “We can not but express

our regret that some people are led

astray by (other) reports.”

The above incorporates informa-

tion from reports posted by the

Australian, the Cyprus News

Agency and the Associated Press.

Cypriot Leaders Upbeat after Talks

and hid it with the intention of

coming back," excavator Chrys-

soula Saatsoglou-Paliadeli told The

Associated Press.

"It probably belonged to a high-

ranking person."

The "impressively large" copper

vessel contained a cylindrical gold-

en jar with a lid, with the gold

wreath of oak leaves and the bones

inside.

"The young workman who saw

it was astounded and shouted 'land

mine!'" the university statement

said.

Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, a profes-

sor of archaeology at the university,

said the find probably dates to the

4th century B.C., during which

Philip and Alexander reigned.

"Archaeologists must explain

why such a group ... was found out-

side the extensive royal cemetery,"

the university statement said.

"(They must also) work out why

the bones of the unknown — but by

no means insignificant — person

were hidden in the city's most pub-

lic and sacred area."

During the 4th century B.C.,

burials outside organized cemeter-

ies were very uncommon.

In a royal cemetery at Vergina,

just west of Aigai, Greek archaeolo-

gists discovered a wealth of gold

and silver treasure in 1977.

One of the opulent graves,

which contained a large gold

wreath of oak leaves, is generally

accepted to have belonged to Philip

II. The location of Alexander's tomb

is one of the great mysteries of ar-

chaeology.

The sprawling remains of a large

building with banquet halls and or-

nate mosaics at Aigai — some 520

kilometers (320 miles) north of

Athens — has been identified as

Philip's palace.

Aigai flourished in the 6th and

5th centuries B.C., attracting lead-

ing Greek artists such as the poet

Euripides, who wrote his last

tragedies there.

The Macedonian capital was

moved to Pella in the 4th century

B.C., and Aigai was destroyed by

the Romans in 168 B.C.

Ancient Gold

Wreath Puzzles

Archaeologists

Artifacts Return Home

LEFT: A part of a grave stele, 410-400 B.C, is displayed at the archeological museum of Athens on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, after the return from New York, US to Greece. It

was in the collection of the antique dealers S. White and L. Levy. The grave stele depicts a youth and a bearded warrior. RIGHT: A bronze calyx krater with a separate stand and a

thin disc-shaped cover, 340 B.C, are displayed at the archeological museum of Athens on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, after the return from New York to Greece. The antiquities

were in the collection of the antique dealers S. White and L. Levy. Ancient luxurious and intact bronze vases are rare. Kraters were bowls for mixing wine with water.

By Maria Petrakis

Bloomberg

ATHENS – A group of worshippers

of ancient Greek gods held the first

service at the Parthenon temple in

more than a millennium, prompted

by the removal of statues on the

site to a new museum.

About a dozen worshippers sang

hymns to Athena, the goddess of

wisdom and ancient patron of

Athens, to avert evil as they faced

the 2,500 year-old Parthenon tem-

ple. The Parthenon was built in the

5th century B.C. to worship

Athena.

“Not one ruler has removed the

sculptures from the Parthenon over

the centuries,” Yannis Kontopidis,

vice- president of Ellinais, a group

campaigning to revive the worship

of ancient Greek gods.

“Moving these sculptures to a

museum that is foreign and hostile

to the Greek environment is like

breaking up a family.”

Greece moved sculptures from

the Acropolis last year to install

them in the glass-and-concrete

New Acropolis Museum, built to

convince the British Museum to re-

turn sculptures from the Parthenon

that it holds.

tect Bernard Tschumi and Greece's

Michael Photiadis, the museum is

scheduled to open this year.

Ellinais has defied Greek gov-

ernment bans to hold prayers at

several ancient temples. The

Parthenon was converted into a

Christian church in the 6th century

A.D. and into a mosque under the

Ottoman Empire in the 1460s.

AP PHOTO/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS

Greek Pagan

Service Held

At Parthenon

Continued from page 1

Cypriot president Dimitris Christofias, left, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, right, and UN Secre-

tary-General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus Alexander Downer, center, exit from a UN compound at the UN

buffer zone after their meeting in the divided capital of Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.

AP PHOTO/PETROS KARADJIAS

Panathinaikos' goalkeeper Mario

Galinovic challenges for the ball

with Daniel Maistorovic of AEK,

during their Greek Super league

soccer game in Athen's Olympic

stadium, on Sunday, Aug. 31,

2008.

AP PHOTO/PETROS GIANNAKOURIS

SPORTS

bbooookk ØØ wwoorrmm..

noun

1. One who spends

much time reading

or studying.

2. Any of various insects, especially

booklice and silverfish, that infest

books and feed on the paste in the

bindings.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the

English Language, Fourth Edition

TThhee NNaattiioonnaall HHeerraalldd

BBooookkssttoorree

(718) 784-5255

[email protected]

EDITORIALS LETTERS

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

Obama Has the Characteristics

To Be a Leader in Foreign Affairs

To the Editor:

VENI, VIDI, VICI. During this

Presidential campaign, we have

heard many times that 2008 Demo-

cratic Presidential Nominee Barack

Obama is inexperienced in interna-

tional affairs, while his Republican

opponent John McCain is.

Yet many of our most effective

and beloved Presidents, who left a

great legacy behind, had little or no

experience in international matters

when they took office. Abraham

Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Bill Clin-

ton and Ronald Reagan are good

examples.

Their lack of foreign policy ex-

perience aside, these Presidents all

had some crucial characteristics:

great communication skills, integri-

ty and good judgment. That is all a

good President needs; the rest is ic-

ing on the cake. If one couples

these crucial characteristics with

great energy and organizational

skills, while pursuing what is good

for the country rather than for spe-

cial interests, then one will clearly

see that it is not Senator McCain,

but Senator Obama, who has the

necessary criteria.

Recently, Mr. Obama, in order to

dispel the notion about inexperi-

ence in international affairs, visited

several countries and met one-on-

one with various heads of state

(friendly or not). The response was

phenomenal. Many heads of state

met him at the tarmac and person-

ally drove him around. Obama

looked like the “de facto” leader of

the free world; a person to be trust-

ed; a person who foreign leaders

were willing to listen and work

with to solve common problems.

Let George W. Bush or Mr. McCain

match that.

Wherever Obama went, he at-

tracted thousands of ordinary peo-

ple. In Germany alone, 200,000

people gathered to listen and ap-

plauded his speech. Their applause

and approval is still reverberating

around the world. And he is not

even the President of the United

States yet.

Lets face it, and take it from an

old Republican, whether we like it

or not, Obama is the man to bring

real change to our beloved country;

to clean up the cesspool called

Washington; to bring integrity and

respect back to our country and

pride to all of us. He will motivate

us to become the people our forefa-

thers envisioned and expressed in

the Constitution and the Declara-

tion of Independence, one Nation

under God with Liberty and Justice

for all. He will bring family values,

good judgment, clear vision, com-

mon sense and a bounty of energy

to be successful.

McCain is George W. Bush’s sur-

rogate dressed in a lamb’s skin. I

am not sure, but if ever John Mc-

Cain becomes our President, Heav-

en forbid, that he would be able to

push the right button when that red

phone rings at 3 AM. That’s why I

strongly believe Barack Obama is

the right choice and the right man

to send to the White House in No-

vember.

Constantine Gletsos, Ph.D

Pomona, New York

Andy Dabilis Articles Show True

Love and Respect for Greece

To the Editor:

For good reasons, Andy Dabilis’

column is the first one I turn to when

my weekly English edition of the Na-

tional Herald arrives. His column

mirrors much of what many of us

who have traveled to Greece over

the years know to be true.

First of all, he writes well, the

obvious result of a successful jour-

nalistic career. But more important-

ly, his obvious love of Greece is al-

ways apparent to anyone who reg-

ularly reads Letter from Athens,

even when it is tempered, as it

should be, by unfailing criticism of

things gone wrong.

As a Greek American, I came of

age in a small midwestern town de-

void of other Greeks, learning the

language of Greece and its history

at the feet of immigrant parents

during a time when it was not fash-

ionable to have an exotic name or

speak with a foreign accent. As a

cohort of like immigrants of the Di-

aspora, we lived in isolated areas

devoid of support systems of

church, social clubs and schools,

yet managed to maintain our faith

and live with a profound awareness

of our heritage.

Keep up the good work. Write

about current events, societal is-

sues, and the politics where it all

began. But at some point, talk also

about those of us who, to our

neighbors, appeared as American

as apple pie, yet in the wilderness

we found ourselves and remained

Greek to the core.

James C. Rouman, M.D.

Hartford, Connecticut

McCain is Stuck in the Past

With No Vision for the Future

To the Editor:

Up front and center in Senator

John McCain’s campaign is his Viet-

nam War experience of 40 years ago.

Stuck in a time warp, he avoids ar-

ticulating the bread-and-butter is-

sues of overriding importance to all

Americans in a meaningful way.

McCain’s ideas for change are

hackneyed platitudes, uninspired

and uninspiring. Do we the people

need a president who can not get

beyond his own past, even though

he served unremarkably in the Sen-

ate for 26 years?

In a fast-changing world when

all nations face the same critical is-

sues of energy supply, among oth-

ers, we need a futurist with a vision

and creative ideas to experiment

and to solve problems.

McCain’s campaign platform

has abortion as one of its most im-

portant issues. This alone defines

the intellectual dwarfism that

everyday working people are ex-

posed to. Going backwards as Mc-

Cain wants to do is a surefire way

to disaster.

Katherine Aliferis

Franklin Square, New York

Ill-advised and plain wrong

No matter how you slice it, Republican Presidential Nominee John Mc-

Cain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for the vice presidency was

ill-advised and plain wrong, if not downright political suicide, for the GOP

and the country.

This has nothing to do, and should have nothing to do, with the revela-

tion that Governor Palin’s unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

That’s a personal issue, a family problem if you prefer, though most defi-

nitely a very poor example for the youth of America. But it should not have

any political ramifications.

Those of us who are parents with teenage children understand this

very well, for we have a realistic of this issue.

Thus, the political war that is raging among the major parties and

throughout the media about the wisdom, or lack thereof, concerning Sen-

ator McCain’s running mate selection is mainly based on the fact that Gov-

ernor Palin was almost totally unknown to the American people until now,

and that she lacks any foreign policy experience (although Cindy McCain

expressed the view that this is not the case since Ms. Palin is the governor

of the state that is… closest to Russia).

Speaking to her church just this past June in the town of Wasilla, where

she was first elected mayor, the Governor herself said that the war in Iraq

was “a task that is from God.” Now that’s simply dangerous talk.

It is now becoming clear that not only has Mr. McCain selected an un-

known governor with just 22 months of executive service under her belt,

thereby burning the only strong card he had over his Democratic oppo-

nent, Barack Obama – that of Senator Obama’s relative inexperience – but

also on top of that, he made his choice on the basis of a few phone conver-

sations and two brief meetings, with little (if any) background checking on

Ms. Palin.

Now that a few revelations about her past are starting to come out,

there are naturally many questions about the judgment of the man who

wants to lead this country – and the rest of the free world – and his man-

agement skills.

For example, it has been reported that Ms. Palin hired an attorney to

represent her in a case involving the firing of the supervisor who refused to

fire her sister’s cop ex-husband. It has also been reported that her hus-

band, “the first dude,” belonged to a party advocating the secession of

Alaska from the United States.

Was Mr. McCain aware of these issues? Did she tell him about these

things before she was selected? We don’t think so.

This past Wednesday night, Ms. Palin’s combative and, at times, sarcas-

tic style electrified the delegates of the GOP Convention who are deeply

worried about the controversy surrounding her selection. She performed

as best as she could have been expected to perform.

This prompted John McCain to ask the enthusiastic delegates, “Do you

think we made the right choice?”

Unfortunately, once the dust settles, the answer will be no.

Time will tell, of course, but the other night, Peggy Noonan, a speech-

writer for Ronald Reagan and a respected columnist, was caught on a live

microphone on MSNBC saying the other night about the selection of Ms.

Palin, “It’s over.”

Another school year

As the Labor Day weekend signaled the end of summer 2008, never to

come back, lucky are those who managed to take some days off; stop their

daily routines; and get away from it all, hopefully in some beach on a

Greek island and heal their burned-out bodies and souls.

And what surer sign that the summer is over than, thank God, schools

opening once again, as have our own parochial schools.

We have said it before, and will say it now, and keep on repeating it for

as long as we can, our schools are the hope of this community’s future, as

they are in any society.

For as long as we witness the opening of Greek American schools, their

playgrounds filled with children, we know there is a strong, vibrant com-

munity fighting for its survival. Should the time ever come that no Greek

schools exist, then we can be certain the community will have ceased to

exist.

This year, the enrollment at our schools is the best it has been for years.

More than 650 students are attending Saint Demetrios School in Astoria.

Principal Anastasios Koularmanis says that the future looks even brighter:

“In the lower classes of our schools, we are seeing a large increase in the

number of students, larger than what we had five years ago. We have 150

students in the Pre-K program, compared to the 80 we had last year. And

this number may increase even further.”

Still everybody knows that these numbers constitute a small percent-

age of students that could attend Greek schools. And everybody also

knows that the number of schools available constitute a fraction of the

schools that we should have across the country. This is not daydreaming. It

could become reality if only we would decide that Greek schools matter, if

only we would decide to make it happen.

New Cyprus Talks

It’s not clear whether the two leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot

communities accomplished much with their meeting on September 3. But

at this juncture, it’s probably not that important.

What is important is that they were smiling at the conclusion of the

talks, calling each other “comrade” and “friend.” This is a sea change in the

atmosphere of the countless of meetings held over the last 34 years since

Turkey invaded and occupied a significant part of Cyprus.

They will have to produce results soon, of course, if the talks are to con-

tinue meaningfully. We will know soon, since the next two meetings are

scheduled on September 11 and 18, just a few weeks away.

Sources close to the negotiations tell TNH that this is the first time a re-

al chance for a breakthrough appears imminent. Two new leftwing lead-

ers, who enjoy overwhelming support in their communities, genuinely

want to reach a solution. And they are helped by international develop-

ments, as well as by Turkey’s desire to join the European Union.

Still, Turkey might balk at the last minute. It could be that the military

might have the last word, again. And up to now, their last word has been

to abort any meaningful progress.

What Mr. Talat told reporters, in response to questions during a post-

talks press conference concerning Turkey’s influence, is telling: “We are

here. We support a solution. Ankara supports a solution. And we are con-

vinced that a total solution will be found… hopefully by the end of the

year.”

Mr. Christofias also spoke eloquently: “The time has come to respond to

the calling of history; to achieve the vision of a reunited fatherland, which

will belong to its people, the people of Cyprus, who will decide for their fu-

ture without the intervention of third parties and self-proclaimed protec-

tors of our communities.”

Who can argue with that?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PRESS CLIPPINGS

By Nikos Konstandaras

Kathimerini

Reading Barack Obama’s speech,

with which he accepted the Democ-

ratic Party’s nomination as its candi-

date in the presidential election, I

felt envious of the way in which the

Americans choose their leaders. The

candidates are obliged to visit every

corner of the land and listen to the

problems of citizens, so that they can

both shape and present the policies

on the basis of which they will seek

votes. We do this in Europe too, but

in each country separately: We can-

not all vote together for the presi-

dent who, with his or her team, will

lead Europe, that potential other su-

perpower.

Obama’s speech in Denver on Au-

gust 27 was a clever synthesis of all

that he is and all the things he had

seen and heard during his long

march to the nomination. The fre-

quent references to the problems

faced by women, workers, low-in-

come households, the ill, injured war

veterans and pensioners were at the

heart of his speech. He associated

them with his own adventure, in

which he, the son of a single working

mother managed to study, to get

ahead, to be elected to the Senate

and to now seek his country’s presi-

dency. He wanted to show that he is

an ordinary American, just like the

people to whom he referred, and not

the inexperienced favorite of the

elite, as his rivals present him. At the

same time, with his tale of transfor-

mation and victory, he wanted to tell

his audience that they too can bring

about change in their lives, by voting

for him.

Obama was toughened up by the

electoral process. He got to meet and

listen to voters and he gained experi-

ence that he lacked when the cam-

paign against the other Democrat

candidates began. The process

shaped the candidate. As Obama

noted: “The change we need doesn’t

come from Washington. Change

comes to Washington. Change hap-

pens because the American people

demand it – because they rise up and

insist on new ideas and new leader-

ship, a new politics for a new time.”

As a European I felt envy when

Obama spoke about America’s pow-

er. “This country of ours has more

wealth than any nation, but that’s

not what makes us rich. We have the

most powerful military on Earth, but

that’s not what makes us strong. Our

universities and our culture are the

envy of the world, but that’s not

what keeps the world coming to our

shores,” he said. “Instead, it is that

American spirit – that American

promise – that pushes us forward

even when the path is uncertain;

that binds us together in spite of our

differences; that makes us fix our eye

not on what is seen, but what is un-

seen, that better place around the

bend.”

This American faith in the future

works as a self-fulfilling prophecy,

whereas the concern of Europeans is

not so much for a better future but

rather how they will maintain what

they have already achieved. Those

were my thoughts, until the end of

the speech, when Obama summed

up the aims of his campaign. “Ameri-

ca, we cannot turn back,” he said.

“Not with so much work to be done.

Not with so many children to educate

and so many veterans to care for. Not

with an economy to fix and cities to

rebuild and farms to save. Not with

so many families to protect and so

many lives to mend. America, we

cannot turn back. We cannot walk

alone. At this moment, in this elec-

tion, we must pledge once more to

march into the future.” The future, in

other words, demands an improved

education system, the securing of

health care for all, the protection of

the social security system, and so on.

In the most important speech of

his life, at the moment that he was

revealing his vision of the future,

Obama, the candidate of “Change,”

spoke almost exclusively about the

past. A better future means a return

to the old values and to a lost sense

of security. That future is Europe’s

present. It is us that others envy. But

we do not seem to have realized it:

Instead of strengthening our union

in order to safeguard and further de-

velop what we have, each country

sinks into its own problems and we

allow the vision of a strong Europe to

vanish. And it takes a visionary and

charismatic American to show us

what we have.

Kathimerini published the above

on September 1.

Obama’s Message Should Be a Wake Up Call for Europe

By Judy Dempsey

International Herald Tribune

BERLIN – As a signal to Russia that

NATO will not be intimidated, its

ambassadors will travel to Georgia

this month. They want to see the af-

termath of a war in which Russian

troops last month occupied parts of

Georgia, gained control of the

breakaway regions of South Osse-

tia and Abkhazia and then recog-

nized them as independent states.

The envoys also want to assess

whether Georgia is ready to be of-

fered, in December, a road map to

join the alliance.

Russia is furious with NATO's re-

fusal to back down from its com-

mitment to admit - one day - Geor-

gia and Ukraine into the U.S.-led

military alliance, a pledge made

during its summit meeting last

April in Bucharest and repeated

since Russia rolled into Georgia af-

ter the Georgians attacked South

Ossetia. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian

foreign minister, told students of

Moscow's diplomatic academy

Monday that “there is a feeling that

NATO again needs front-line states

to justify its existence.”

NATO diplomats dismiss such

charges. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,

NATO's secretary general, has re-

peatedly said that democratic

countries flanking Russia should be

an asset, not a threat, to the Krem-

lin. But Russia does not trust NATO.

In Moscow's view, NATO, and the

EU, have become more anti-Russ-

ian since the former Communist

countries of Eastern Europe and

the Baltic states joined both organi-

zations. It also sees the alliance as

encroaching on regions Russia con-

siders within its sphere of influ-

ence.

But inside NATO, despite the

show of unity over the Russia-Geor-

gia crisis, there is no consensus as

to whether the alliance should ex-

pand deep into the Caucasus, or ad-

mit Ukraine, birthplace of Russian

Orthodoxy. Indeed, Georgia is just

the latest challenge to the alliance's

identity: since the end of the Cold

War, NATO has been trying to rein-

vent itself.

Inside the alliance, there are

three competing tendencies. First is

the legacy of the Cold War. NATO

claims it is a collective security or-

ganization committed to Article 5

of its charter in which its members

pledge to defend another member

if attacked. Before 1991, it was as-

sumed a Soviet Army onslaught

would activate Article 5. For some

in NATO, Russia's actions in Geor-

gia recall this East-West standoff.

Then there is the enlargement

process begun in the late 1990s. It

was designed to complete the re-

unification of Europe by bringing

the former Communist countries of

Eastern Europe into the Euro-At-

lantic orbits of NATO and the EU.

But while countries from the Baltic

states to Bulgaria are now members

of both organizations, NATO has

gone further. It has established spe-

cial partnerships with countries

stretching as far as Azerbaijan and

now appears determined eventual-

ly to admit Ukraine and Georgia,

both former Soviet republics.

NATO diplomats say the point

about creating membership road

maps and partnerships is to expand

security by encouraging the democ-

ratization of armed forces, to in-

crease political transparency and to

introduce accountability into the

intelligence services. But Henning

Riecke from the German Council of

Foreign Relations says expanding

democracy through partnership

agreements runs counter to the

possible commitments of Article 5.

“They contradict each other. It is as

if Article 5 is still about containing

Russia,” he said.

The third element is NATO's in-

volvement in the fight against ter-

rorism. After the Sept. 11 attacks in

2001, Article 5 was in fact invoked

for the United States - which reject-

ed help - and the battle against Al

Qaeda and its allies was supposed

to transform NATO into an agile or-

ganization capable of dealing with

new threats.

In practice, this has proved a

highly risky development. NATO

now operates “out of area” in

Afghanistan, far away from the Eu-

rope it was originally supposed to

defend. The alliance is paying a

high price. Riding on the back of

the “peace dividend” that came

with the disappearance of the Sovi-

et threat, NATO countries in the

1990s reduced their armed forces,

particularly the conventional ones,

and slashed defense budgets. The

result: insufficient personnel, train-

ing and equipment to cope with the

insurgency in Afghanistan.

It does not help that the alliance

is at odds over how to balance

these three strands.

There are, for example, differ-

ences over the goals of enlarge-

ment. The United States wants the

alliance to expand closer to the ar-

eas of conflict, such as the Middle

East. That was one reason to estab-

lish U.S. bases in Bulgaria and Ro-

mania, as points from which small

and flexible forces could be de-

ployed quickly. Washington also

wants to use the alliance to support

its allies, such as Georgia and

Ukraine.

Poland and the Baltic states

have their own reasons for support-

ing Georgia and Ukraine joining

NATO. “They believe these coun-

tries would be more stable and se-

cure if they were in NATO,” said

Tomas Valasek, a defense analyst at

the Center for European Reform in

London. “But it is also about creat-

ing a buffer zone between them

and Russia. Russia is still seen as

the threat.”

Poland's enduring fear and sus-

picion of Russia was one of the

main reasons Warsaw wanted the

United States to deploy part of its

antimissile defense shield on its ter-

ritory. It was not the shield, as such,

that Poland wanted, according to

its Defense Ministry. It was the

presence of American troops and

the security guarantees the United

States would give Poland against

any possible attack - from Russia.

Donald Tusk's center-right govern-

ment does not believe NATO would

be prepared to protect Poland by

using Article 5, which says a lot

about Poland's trust in the alliance.

Germany and some other Euro-

pean countries are uncomfortable

with these views of enlargement.

Germany's conservative chancellor,

Angela Merkel, and her Social De-

mocratic coalition partners do not

want NATO to be used to face off

against Russia. Nor do they want

German troops to be dragged into

any conflict in the Caucasus. This is

why Merkel is still reluctant to

agree to a road map for Georgia

and Ukraine next December.

“There is no common basis upon

which to judge which countries

should join the organization or

what NATO wants to do with a big-

ger alliance,” said Gunilla Herolf, a

security analyst at the Stockholm

International Peace Research Insti-

tute. Until that issue is resolved,

trips to Georgia by NATO ambas-

sadors will merely disguise the dan-

gerous fault lines running through

an alliance preparing for its 60th

birthday next year.

TO OUR READERS

The National Herald welcomes

letters from its readers intended

for publication. They should in-

clude the writer’s name, address,

and telephone number and be

addressed to: The Editor, The Na-

tional Herald, 37-10 30th Street,

Long Island City, NY 11101. Let-

ters can also be faxed to (718)

472-0510 or e-mailed to

english.edition@thenationalher-

ald.com. We reserve the right to

edit letters for publication and re-

gret that we are unable to ac-

knowledge or return those left

unpublished.

War in Georgia Exposes Fault Lines in NATO Letter

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VIEWPOINTS

THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

Now that the Democratic and

Republican National Conventions

are over, and the candidates are of-

ficially nominated, the 2008 Presi-

dential contest is entering the

homestretch. This is a good time to

review the dynamics of this elec-

tion.

Five months ago, when the

hopefuls were still battling with

their rivals for their party’s nomina-

tion, the consensus was that the

Democratic candidate, no matter

who it might be, was bound to win

by a landslide. In its eight years in

office, the Bush Administration,

had piled up a questionable record

reflected in the dismal lows of the

President’s popularity. Now, how-

ever, as the contest enters the final

and most crucial stage, public opin-

ion polls show that this is going to

be a tight race.

Senator Obama had run an ex-

emplary campaign during the pri-

maries, overpowering the formida-

ble “Clinton machine” – Senator

Hillary Clinton and her husband,

former President Bill Clinton.

Strangely, once Obama had secured

the nomination, his campaign

seemed to run out of steam. For

several weeks during July and Au-

gust, he left the field to McCain

forces. They aired many – and very

effective – ads, well placed on the

electronic media. By contrast, the

Obama ads were mostly tepid and

ineffectual.

For months, many commenta-

tors were pointing out that the cen-

tral strategic narrative the Obama

campaign needed was to turn the

election into a referendum against

the Bush Administration’s eight

years. Specifically, they said, once

Senator McCain had won the nomi-

nation as the Republican candi-

date, the Obama aim should be to

tie John McCain to George W. Bush

and tar McCain with all the real

and imagined sins of the President.

During July and August, the

Obama campaign tried to focus on

the McCain-Bush connection. The

effort had limited impact. By con-

trast, the McCain strategists were

able to highlight Obama’s “inexpe-

rience,” while portraying McCain

as a “maverick,” in effect distancing

McCain from President Bush.

At the same time, McCain tried

to shift public attention from the

economy to the issue of national se-

curity. A brief flare-up over Iran’s

nuclear program in June and then a

worsening of relations with Russia

over Georgia in August reduced

Obama’s 10-point advantage from

49 to 47 percent just before the De-

mocratic Convention in Denver.

The impressive DNC did not

change these percentages very

much, as Obama did not get the

usual bump.

Now that the RNC is over, Oba-

ma and his strategists

will have to roll up

their sleeves and show

the voters why they

should elect Obama in-

stead of McCain as the

next President of the

United States.

Indeed, there is

much at stake. The

tenor of America’s re-

lations with the rest of

the world is one funda-

mental issue. In a mul-

ti-dimensional world,

armed might alone can

not carry the day.

Imagination, flexibili-

ty, diplomatic acumen and old-

fashioned principles of “winning

hearts and minds” have to be part

of the mix.

Obama seems to have a different

view of the world than McCain. The

voters need to know what to ex-

pect.

For the past eight years, a neo-

con leadership imposed policies

which cost our country dearly in

both treasure and human suffering.

McCain professes to agree that the

record of the past eight years is not

so good, yet he vows to keep and

continue some of the key policies.

The voters need to know what to

expect.

A Republican President would

have the opportunity to appoint at

least three new

Supreme Court Jus-

tices in the next four

years. These appoint-

ments stand to bring a

Conservative majority

of 7-2 which will very

likely give a conserva-

tive tilt to the Court’s

decisions for the next

25-30 years. This is a

matter of paramount

significance to

women, as well as to

Democratic and Inde-

pendent voters

throughout the coun-

try. The voters need to

know.

For his part, Senator McCain has

been effectively promoting the idea

that he is a “maverick.” During the

GOP Convention – thanks to Hurri-

cane Gustav – he was fortunate

enough to avoid having President

Bush on stage with the inevitable

pictures of the two of them embrac-

ing. Such pictures would have tar-

nished McCain’s efforts to distance

himself from President Bush and

the Republican Party. But the vot-

ers still need to know how different

McCain’s policies are from those of

President Bush.

A major talking point of the Mc-

Cain campaign was Obama’s “inex-

perience.” Since Obama’s record is

rather thin, the argument carried

weight. Now that Senator McCain

chose Governor Sarah Palin of Alas-

ka as his running mate, the issue of

“inexperience” has taken a differ-

ent hue. The young governor has

an even thinner resume than Oba-

ma. If elected, she will be a heart-

beat away from the Presidency.

It is evident that McCain chose

Palin primarily because she is a

woman and has a strong record as a

religious conservative. Traditional-

ly, however, Presidential candi-

dates have professed that, in choos-

ing a running mate, the primary

consideration was the ability of the

Vice President to take over at a mo-

ment’s notice. What does this selec-

tion tell the voters about McCain’s

judgment and priorities?

Beyond the assets and liabilities

candidates, being human, bring to

any election, there are factors in

this election which are seldom

mentioned in public, yet they may

decide the election regardless of

the contestants’ merits.

Let us remember that the Presi-

dent is “elected” by the members of

the Electoral College, and that a

candidate receives all the delegates

in each state where he manages to

win a plurality of the public vote.

Because of this, a candidate may

win the most votes nationwide and

still lose the election.

During this year’s election, there

are many thousands of Democratic

and Independent voters in the

South and elsewhere who may stay

home because of Obama’s African

American origin. This is not a wild

guess. We often hear that Obama

needs to win over the so-called

“blue-collar workers.” These voters

have typically voted Democratic.

Why are they showing such reluc-

tance at this time?

Another factor lurking under the

table is the possibility that an inter-

national crisis may erupt some-

where. There is no shortage of hot

spots around the world. Such an

occurrence could easily refocus

public opinion toward national se-

curity and away from the economy.

This would help McCain, as did the

two incidents during the summer

we mentioned above.

Summing it all up, the impon-

derables in this election are too

many to allow a prediction of the

outcome with any degree of cer-

tainty at this time. The race is too

tight, and it’s still too early to tell.

Dr. Kousoulas is professor emeri-

tus of Political Science at Howard

University in Washington, DC. He

is the author of several books,

notably “The Life and Times of

Constantine the Great,” and nu-

merous scholarly articles. Read-

ers who would like to contact

him directly can e-mail him at dk-

[email protected].

Obama vs. McCain: Entering the Homestretch

In the dog days of summer, an ar-

tillery barrage from Georgia on its re-

calcitrant province, South Ossetia,

sparked a Russian invasion which has

lured the United States into a con-

frontation with Russia. It is a some-

what slow-moving crisis in which

both sides are raising the scales of a

conflict that may reach a point where

neither side will be able to back

down. The Bush Administration is

reckless, and the occasional saber

will not salvage the out-going Presi-

dent’s reputation for incompetence.

However, provoking the Russian’s

will cost America dearly with respect

to international stature and allies.

The Europeans depend on Russia for

40 percent of their oil and gas. The

French may sound tough (and they

do not lose an opportunity to wave

the flag of France’s dignity), but it’s

only short-term bluster. At the end of

the day, Europe needs the oil and gas.

Perhaps, the current race for the

White House is a metaphor of what is

going wrong in the United States. On

one side is Senator Barack Obama

(D-Illinois), charismatic and today’s

darling of America’s liberals, but ef-

fectively a neophyte in foreign af-

fairs. Instead of using the caution and

reflection he has been celebrated for,

he rushes to condemn the Russians in

what is a very complicated situation,

and essentially overlooks that the

Georgians provoked the crisis.

This is not how a head of state

should react to an international prob-

lem. More remarkable is the fact that

Obama is falling into a fast-emerging

quagmire organized by Bush and

company. It is even more astonishing

how a bumbling, ignorant Bush Ad-

ministration is leading the Democrats

into a new, and potentially deadly,

crisis in the Caucasus. Aren’t Iraq and

Afghanistan enough? Apparently

not, and it seems Obama does not

think so, either; otherwise, he would

have chastised Bush for committing

the U.S. to yet another reckless ad-

venture. Perhaps Americans might

realize that the Presidency is not a job

for well-intentioned men or women

whose appetite is greater than their

abilities.

In this context, John McCain is

touted as the more experienced man

in international affairs and supposed-

ly more steady – a man of reflection.

Yet not only does he rush to cheer-

lead Bush’s Georgia folly, but under-

scores his naivety by choosing a vice

presidential running mate who more

than likely does not even know

where Georgia is. Sarah Palin is a po-

litical featherweight

who lacks any Presiden-

tial attributes or, for

that matter, being gov-

ernor of any state larger

than Alaska. To call her

a “hockey mom” is an

insult to hardworking

women with families

and careers.

How will this ex-

beauty queen and semi-

airhead deal with some-

one like Vladimir Putin?

For that matter, how

will Obama or McCain

stare down the ex-KGB

chairman, President

and current Prime Minster of Russia.

Putin would have them for breakfast,

and Palin for dessert. The only one

who stands above the bold, beautiful

and reckless is Senator Joe Biden (D-

Delaware), and one has to feel sorry

for the man who, if Obama wins,

must spend the next four years as a

foreign policy tutor, while Obama

babbles the over-used Evangelist-

style rhetoric – e.g., “we are the sum

of our parts, not parts of the sum” –

on everything from the price of gas to

foreign affairs.

Some critical historical analysis

should be on the menu for all politi-

cal contenders before they attempt to

solve complex issues with simple po-

litical rhetoric.

The problem between Georgia

and Russia is complex,

and has a long history

which the current can-

didates for the White

House should take into

serious consideration.

Georgia emerged out of

the Kingdoms of Colchis

and Iberia in the dim

past. The latter, one of

the first countries to

adopt Christianity as an

official religion early in

the 4th Century, subse-

quently provided a nu-

cleus around which the

unified Kingdom of

Georgia was formed

early in the 11th Century.

After a period of political, eco-

nomic and cultural flourishing, this

kingdom went into decline in the

13th Century and eventually frag-

mented into several principalities in

the 16th Century. Three subsequent

centuries of Ottoman and Persian

hegemony were followed by a

piecemeal absorption into the Russ-

ian Empire in the 19th Century. In

the wake of the Russian Revolution

of 1917, Georgia had a brief period

of independence as a Democratic

Republic (1918-21), which was ter-

minated by the Red Army invasion

of Georgia, and the country became

part of the Soviet Union in 1922. Al-

though a small part of the Russian

Empire, it contributed Joseph Stalin

and other key leaders such as

Lawrenti Beria of the USSR.

After regaining its independence

in 1991, the early post-Soviet years

were marked by civil unrest and eco-

nomic crisis. Georgia began to grad-

ually stabilize in 1995, and achieved

more effective functioning of state

institutions following a bloodless

change of power in the so-called

“Rose Revolution” of 2003. But

Georgia continued to suffer from the

unresolved secessionist conflicts in

Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Rela-

tions with Russia remained tense

over these issues, as well as over

Georgia’s aspiration of NATO mem-

bership.

This past August, Georgia en-

gaged in an armed conflict with Rus-

sia and separatist groups from South

Ossetia. On August 26, at the request

of the Russian Parliament, President

Dmitry Medvedev declared that Rus-

sia officially recognized the Georgian

regions of South Ossetia and Abk-

hazia as independent nations. Ameri-

ca and other Western countries con-

demned the declaration.

Effectively, the Russians jumped

at the opportunity to move in, and it

is unlikely that they will pull out of

Georgia in the foreseeable future.

From their perspective, South Osse-

tia is now less deserving of “indepen-

dence” than Kosovo. If the U.S. can

support secessionist regions in the

Balkans, why can the Russians not do

likewise in the Caucasus?

Lest we forget, the Kosovo-South

Ossetia breakaway syndrome is the

legacy of the Clinton Administration.

President Clinton set the precedent

by advocating the breakup of Yu-

goslavia, and followed it up by going

to war with Serbia.

The end result is that, by taking

Georgia, the Russians will now con-

trol all the practical overland access

to the vast petroleum reserves in

Caspian Sea – the proposed U.S.

pipeline over Afghanistan is really

just a pipe dream – and unless there’s

an all-out destructive war, will domi-

nate the economy of European Union

countries in the near future. America

deserves more than the kind of lead-

ership spewed out by the reckless-

ness of this year’s primaries.

Dr. Gerolymatos is Chair of Hel-

lenic Studies at Simon Fraser Uni-

versity in Vancouver, British Co-

lumbia and the author of “Red

Acropolis, Black Terror: The Greek

Civil War and the Origins of Soviet-

American Rivalry.”

Georgia is the World’s Next Big Battleground

Talk about being

caught between Scylla

and Charybdis:

Greece, and now, par-

ticularly, Prime Minis-

ter Costas Karamanlis,

is being torn between

long-standing al-

liances with the West –

the United States, the

European Union, and

NATO – and leanings

that existed long be-

fore that, to the East,

and these days that

means Russia. It’s too

early to say which way

this will play itself out,

but there are more indications all

the time that Greece is beginning to

favor its more natural ethnic and

religious relationship with Russia,

not because of ethnicity or religion,

but for the same old reasons that al-

ways motivate governments: pow-

er, politics and business.

It’s a burgeoning shift that

threatens to become the clichéd sea

change, and a play on the old Greek

saying that the power of a woman

can draw a ship. This time, the se-

duction is coming from Mother

Russia and Prime Minister Vladimir

Putin, the wizard behind the screen

who had to give up the presidency

after serving two terms but made

sure his hand-picked puppet Dimit-

ry Medvedev would be his succes-

sor so that Putin could keep pulling

the business and foreign policy

strings, and he’s playing Greece like

a balalaika. The winds of change

are blowing from Moscow to

Athens.

Greece has been an ally of the

United States in every major war,

even though being badly treated as

a second-rate partner as America

has favored Turkey because of that

country’s size, trade and geograph-

ical advantage to Asia and as a bul-

wark against Russia. Greece just

hasn’t had that much to offer, but

the US keeps pretending it cares

when the truth is that it would sell

out Greece in a heartbeat if it were

in the American national interest.

Karamanlis, educated at Tufts Uni-

versity outside Boston and a savvy

observer of US foreign policy, has-

n’t been duped by the American

fake pretensions that Greece mat-

ters, and has begun to align Greece

more and more with Russia, even

visiting Moscow and hosting Putin

in April of 2007 in Athens to sign

the $900 million Bourgas-Alexan-

droupolis oil pipeline to carry Black

Sea oil to Greece, part of Putin’s en-

ergy gamesmanship to make coun-

tries dependent on Russia. Since

the US isn’t going to be providing

any energy, Karamanlis had no

choice, really, but the pipeline was

just the start of how Greece was be-

ing pulled closer to Russia like a

tractor beam was doing the draw.

In Athens, where he was treated

more like a Czar than a President,

Putin said that, “The pipeline al-

lows diversification in the oil

routes, in the best interest of our

countries, our peoples and the

economy,” while Karamanlis said,

“This visit bears witness to the ex-

cellent ties between the two na-

tions.” Translation: Greece is now

lined up with Russia where it

counts, especially as Putin had

twice come to Athens to talk busi-

ness.

Since then, Greece agreed to by-

pass signing with the European

Union-sponsored and US-backed

Nabucco natural gas pipeline to

carry gas from Turkey to Austria

through Bulgaria, Romania and

Hungary as a weapon to lessen EU

dependence on Russian gas, in fa-

vor of the Kremlin’s South Stream

pipeline that goes from Russia’s

Black Sea coast to Bulgaria and

splits en route to Italy with one part

going through Greece. It is operat-

ed by the Russian gas monopoly

Gazprom, which Putin has used

against American and western in-

vestors, as he has with Russia’s oil

industry, blackmailing foreign com-

panies into ceding control of their

operations to Russia or be fined in-

to oblivion for fake environmental

problems.

Development Minister Christos

Folias said everything was on

schedule, and that the pipeline

would be complete by 2014. He

said, as he had to, that South

Stream isn’t a rival of Nabucco –

which it is and which it will bank-

rupt before it starts – and that

South Stream would be a boon as

demand for gas in Greece and the

EU was constantly rising. The pro-

ject was formally ratified by the

Greek parliament in August, which

means while the rest of Europe is

freezing in the dark, Greece is guar-

anteed gas and an alliance with

Russia that has grown

stronger. The $10 bil-

lion project will carry

30 billion cubic meters

of gas a year – much of

it through Greece, so

now it’s in Russia’s nat-

ural interest to keep

Greece safe and happy.

Even the opposition

weaklings of PASOK

accepted the agree-

ment and they’d op-

pose a resolution the

sun will rise tomorrow

if New Democracy