WASHINGTON, DC – So big was the story that Vice President Joe Biden, who is mulling over the idea of running for president in 2016, met privately with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a darling of the progressives who declined to run so as not to compete directly with perennial Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

But with Clinton’s looming problems on the heels of an FBI probe into whether use of an unsecure server while she was secretary of state breached national security, leading to discussion about whether the nominee might be someone else, this suddenly opens the door for Biden, and reopens it for Warren.

That big story, then, overshadowed a related story: Biden met with Greek-American George Tsunis, the New York Times reported, who raised more than $750,000 for the Obama-Biden ticket in 2012. “I think he is doing the prudent thing, which is to look at it and lay down some groundwork should he run,” said Tsunis told the Times, indicating that if Biden runs, he knows Tsunis will help him.

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PARIS — Three Americans and a Briton who tackled an attacker bristling with guns and ammunition prevented carnage on the high-speed train carrying 500 passengers to Paris, France’s president said Aug. 24, presenting the men with the Legion of Honor and praised them as an example of the need for action when faced with terrorism.

President Francois Hollande said the two Americans who first tackled the gunman were soldiers, “but on Friday you were simply passengers. You behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men.”

Hollande then pinned the Legion of Honor medal on U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their longtime friend Anthony Sadler, who subdued the gunman as he moved through the train with an assault rifle strapped to his bare chest. The British businessman, Chris Norman, who also jumped into the fray, also received the medal.

The men showed “that faced with terror, we have the power to resist. You also gave a lesson in courage, in will, and thus in hope,” Hollande said.

The gunman, identified as 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani, is detained and being questioned by French counterterrorism police outside Paris.

El-Khezzani’s lawyer said her client doesn’t understand the suspicions of terrorism, media attention or even that a person was wounded. For him, there were no gunshots fired, Sophie David said.

The Americans, casual in vacation-style polo shirts and khakis against the backdrop of the highly formal Presidential palace, appeared slightly overwhelmed as they received France’s highest honor.

His arm in a sling, Stone, 23, has said he was coming out of a deep sleep when the gunman appeared.

Skarlatos, a 22-year-old National Guardsman recently back from Afghanistan, “just hit me on the shoulder and said ‘Let’s go.'”

With those words, Hollande said, a “veritable carnage” was avoided.

“Since Friday, the entire world admires your courage, your sangfroid, your spirit of solidarity. This is what allowed you to with bare hands — your bare hands — to subdue an armed man. This must be an example for all, and a source of inspiration,” Hollande said.

(SYLVIE CORBET)

The post Skarlatos, Two U.S. Friends, Get France’s Legion of Honor for Subduing Gunman appeared first on The National Herald.

NEW YORK – Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, co-Chair of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, was joined by Greek-American leaders in Manhattan on August 13, calling for the imminent lifting of capital controls in Greece as well as the restrictions to monies sent by Greek-Americans to their families and friends in Greece.

Rep. Maloney, a longstanding philhellene, contended that remittances by Greek-Americans sent to Greece exceed $800 million and not only help the crisis victims there personally, but also enhance liquidity, which is vital to Greece’s economic recovery.

Maloney (D-NY) announced that she and Caucus co-Chair Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) sent letters to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, as well as other federal officials who oversee banking and finance, impressing upon them the urgency with which they ought to lift the current restrictions.

As The National Herald has been reporting, the community was anguished by restrictions to funds they could send to Greece not only to their relatives who live there year-round, but also to those currently visiting there for the summer.

Maloney and Bilirakis also sent a letter to Elizabeth L. Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a government agency that mobilizes private investment to financially struggling countries throughout the world, calling upon OPIC to lend their support to this cause as well, namely by establishing an office and more of a presence in Greece. Maloney pointed out OPIC’s success in intervening in Portugal, another EU member nation that suffered economic peril.

OPIC’s involvement in Greece, Maloney said, not only would contribute greatly to Greece’s economic stability, but would serve American interests insofar as Greece is a strategic U.S. and NATO ally, and plays a geostrategic role in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The press conference setting, at Park Avenue and 54^th Street in Midtown, had particular symbolic significance, as it is across the street from a branch of Atlantic Bank – founded in 1920 as a subsidiary of the National Bank of Greece. Maloney and the other speakers captured the attention of passersby, their words ringing with indignation toward Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of Germany, and the notion perpetuated by the German and European media, they said, that Greeks are lazy.

Greek-American entrepreneur and 2013 NYC mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, who hosts the weekly radio show Cats Roundtable, also expressed his outrage. He said no bank and no government has the right to retain $800 million that Greek-Americans send to their Greek brethren. He called upon the Greek government to sign the agreement with the Troika (which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had approved and which, on the morning of August 14 was approved by Parliament), and said “shame on you, Mrs. Merkel, stop making our Greek brothers and sisters suffer.”

Lou Katsos, a member of the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce’s (HACC) Board of Directors, emphasized that the current sanctions impede Greek productivity, and discussed HACC’s efforts to support businesses in Greece. “They must stop this propaganda,” he said, pointing out that the negative press affects Greeks both in the homeland and abroad. “The Greeks are not lazy; they are hardworking and have pride.”

New York Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, who represents Astoria, described growing up Greek-American, with parents born in Greece, and how sending money back to needy relatives in the homeland is part of what the American dream is all about.

The money her parents would send to her grandparents in Greece “was a constant source of income for them. Therefore, remittances should reach their intended recipients without hindrance,” she added, and reiterated how such funds enhance Greek liquidity.

John Tsunis, Chairman and CEO of Gold Coast Bank, noted that Greeks love Greece and revealed that he performed the “Dance of Isaiah” (i.e., was married) on the island of Santorini. He added that not only Greek-Americans, but all Americans, should support Greece, as it is an ally of the United States. “By supporting Greece, we protect the interests of America itself.”
Mark Arey, Executive Director of The Hellenic Initiative (THI), spoke of the organization’s support for Greek entrepreneurship and efforts to provide relief.

Tasos Pardalis and Anthony Kammas, who serve on the Hellenic American Leadership Council’s (HALC) Board of Directors, spoke of the initiatives of the Jaharis Family Foundation and Nick Mouyaris to double every dollar donated to help the children of Greece victimized by the crisis. They emphasized that through the website Help Greece Now, they raised $100,000 within 70 hours, which was promptly doubled by the Foundation and Mouyaris, each contributing $50,000.
Banker Kimon Bakos, representing Atlantic Bank President Nancy Papaioannou (who could not attend because she is in Greece), announced that Atlantic Bank will help them any effort and initiative taken to assist the homeland.

Loula Loi Alafoyiannis Founder and President of the Euro-American Women’s Council (EAWC), also expressed her discontent for the perception that Greeks are lazy, a perception that she characterized as false.

Other attendees included Atlantic Bank VP Artie Gyftopoulos, Capital Link President Nicolas Bornozis, and Ionian Management Chairman Spiros Milonas, who congratulated Congresswoman Maloney for the initiative and for her support of Greece.

The post Maloney, Greek-Am. Leaders Call for Lifting of Greek Funds Restrictions appeared first on The National Herald.

China’s sudden economic slide and growth slowdown has caught many financial analysts asleep at the wheel, but not Jim Chanos.

Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates, a $3 billion New York hedgefund that specializes in short-selling, was the first person to figure out, some 15 years ago, that Enron was going to crash and said that six years ago he saw there was big trouble in big China.

In a piece in the New York Times, Op-Ed columnist Joe Nocera pointed out that Chanos could see what was coming and gave the right advice about it.

Chanos said he realized that commodity producers had been largely unaffected by the financial crisis and were profiting while other sectors were hurting.

Behind that, he said, was an orgy of commodity buying of everything from copper to iron ore that led him to believe a credit bubble was building and heading toward a burst and bet on China’s slide.

Chanos said he realized the fast-growing Chinese economy was being sustained not just by its export prowess, but by a property bubble built on mountains of debt encouraged by a go-for-broke government to keep the economy thriving.

The result: China’s debt is now $28 trillion, or some 71 times more than Greece’s unsustainable $390 billion.

Chanos said China was building buildings that couldn’t be filled just to have the illusion of building growth that one day would collapse faster than overweight sky cranes because there wouldn’t be enough revenues to pay for them, what he called “the treadmill to hell.”

Chanos disputed the convention belief China would just keep on growing at any cost. “It reminded me of 1989, when everybody said that we should emulate the Japanese model,” he told Nocera.

“They used to say, ‘They can get stuff done and we can’t’ ” — just as the supposed experts were now saying about China.

While others were buying China, he wasn’t and began shorting the stocks of a number of companies who depended on the country for their own growth prospects.

With Wall Street turning volatile on China tremors, Chanos made the right call first and confidence in the Chinese government’s ability to fix it has evaporated. Just like he said.

The post Chanos on China: He Knew What Most Didn’t appeared first on The National Herald.

Olympic diver Greg Louganis is quite possibly “the greatest ever in the sport,” the New York Times recently wrote, but was never honored with his likeness on the cover of a box of Wheaties, a cereal dubbed as “The Breakfast of Champions,” produced by General Mills, which has been around for close to 100 years.

Wheaties typically features a well-known athlete on the front of the box. The HBO documentary Greg Louganis: Back on Board points out that Louganis has never been on the cover of a Wheaties box – in the documentary, Louganis is shown perusing various Wheaties boxes and with a shrug, says, “I never got a Wheaties box.”

When Julie Sondgerath learned about this, the Time wrote, she started a petition drive on Change.org to demand that General Mills correct this omission.

“It kind of broke my heart,” Sondgerath told the Times. “This is a guy who did everything right. He trained from his teens. He went to the Olympics. He won silver in 1976. He won gold in 1984 and again in ’88. He did everything right.”

This Olympic champion, who won three-gold medals and is along with being arguably at the very top of his sport, is probably diving’s most recognizable figure as well. Why, then, the snub by Wheaties?

GAY AND HIV POSITIVE

The answer – as Louganis himself suggests in the documentary – may lie in the fact that Louganis is openly gay, having come out publicly at the 1994 Gay Games. The following year, he acknowledged that he had tested HIV-positive just prior to the 1988 Olympics. A General Mills spokesman, the Times wrote, said that nobody from that period was left to discuss why Louganis might have been excluded.

Complicating the matter was that Louganis did not inform his doctor of his HIV status when the doctor treated him for a bloody wound Louganis received in a preliminary dive in the 1988 Olympics. “It was such a different time,” he told the Times. “There was a mentality of fear.” Could it be, then, that the decision was based on Louganis’ failure to disclose his condition to the doctor, or was it simply because Louganis is gay?

LOUGANIS’ GREEK HERITAGE

Louganis is of Samoan and Swedish descent. Born to two 15-year-old parents who concluded they were too young to raise him and put him up for adoption. Taken in by his adoptive parents, Peter and Frances Louganis, Gregory Efthimios Louganis became a Greek-American.

CHANGING TIMES

Would Louganis’ sexual orientation or HIV-status have prevented him from making the cover of Wheaties if he were a competitive athlete today? The answer is not evident, though longtime Wheaties spokesperson Bruce Jenner, another Olympic Champion, recently identified as a woman, with a new first name: Caitlyn.

While Wheaties has not complied with the petition’s request to put Louganis on the cover of its, box, the company has not ruled out that option, either. “Greg Louganis was certainly a world-class diver and truly embodied the championship mentality of a Wheaties athlete,” it said. “While we do not discuss future marketing decisions, we will look into how we celebrate his accomplishments.”

The post Why Was Louganis Snubbed by Wheaties? appeared first on The National Herald.

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Why are some people overweight, no matter what they try, whereas for others, being slim and trim comes naturally? Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including Greek-American Manolis Kellis, think they have found the answer.

They have discovered a new genetic pathway that controls metabolism, i.e., whether excess fat is burned or stored.

“Obesity has traditionally been seen as the result of an imbalance between the amount of food we eat and how much we exercise, but this view ignores the contribution of genetics to each individual’s metabolism,” Kellis says.

The researchers showed that they could indeed manipulate this new pathway to reverse the signatures of obesity in both human cells and mice, MIT announced.

MIT Professor Manolis Kellis

By manipulating this new pathway, we could switch between energy storage and energy dissipation programs at both the cellular and the organismal level, providing new hope for a cure against obesity,” Kellis says.

The researchers are currently establishing collaborations in academia and industry to translate their findings into obesity therapeutics. They are also using their approach as a model to understand the circuitry of other disease-associated regions in the human genome.

The post Prof. Kellis Unlocks Obesity’s Secrets appeared first on The National Herald.

“We should be able to reestablish the brakes and restore normal cell function,” said Prof. Panos Anastasiades of the Mayo Clinic’s Department for Cancer Biology, the Telegraph reported, regarding the ability to revert cancerous cells back to being harmless by reversing the process that allows them to replicate too quickly.

Though the technique to date has only been tested on human cells in a laboratory setting, researchers are optimistic that it oculd be used to target large tumors in some aggressive type so cancer, like breast, liver, and bladder.

“Initial experiments in some aggressive types of cancer are indeed very promising.

“It represents an unexpected new biology that provides the code, the software for turning off cancer,” Anastasiadis said.

The post Mayo Clinic’s Prof. Panos Anastasiades Puts Brakes on Cancer Cells appeared first on The National Herald.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The first season of renowned magician CRISS ANGEL’s show MINDFREAK on A&E is celebrating its 10^th anniversary, and the DVD capturing it remains a classic Digital Journal reports. Angel is Greek-American a Las Vegas-based illusionist, born CHRISTOPHER SARANTAKOS.

The DVD includes some of Angel’s greatest feats, including: 1) being burned alive with fire for over 45 seconds; 2) levitating publicly on Vegas’ Fremont Street; 3) escape from inside a wine barrel suspended 80 feet in the air; 4) laying on a bed of nails; and 5) hanging from a helicopter over the Valley of Fire park.

The post Chris Angel: 10 Years of Illusion and Stardom in Las Vegas appeared first on The National Herald.

PITTSBURGH – The Greek-American community is filled with businesses whose success is driven by hard work and out-of-the box thinking. Chris and Chrysoula Balouris at Salonika Imports, located in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, are classic examples of both, and they want to apply that formula to helping Greece weather the economic crisis.

“The Balourises and one of their employees, Sotiris Aggelou, are encouraging Pittsburghers to branch out and try more Greek products to help funnel dollars” to Greece,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Chris said: “The Greek situation is difficult. The everyday Greek is afraid of the unknown.”

From the time they arrived in America at the turn of the 20th century, Greek businesses distinguished themselves both for their innovativeness and their dedication to authenticity.

The Balouris family blends the two by promoting the old ways as the new way.
For example, they want to introduce their fellow Americans to genuine gyro.

“The gyro sandwich that’s so familiar to you — composed of slices cut from a cylindrical loaf of meat on a spit — isn’t the same thing Greeks are eating when they order the pita-wrapped sandwich in the motherland,” the Post-Gazette reported.

“A more authentic Greek gyro,” says Mr. Balouris, “is made with pork shavings or even chicken thighs. One such version debuted on a recent Friday for lunch service at Salonika: a gyro stuffed with pork curlicues with crisped edge, the Gazette noted.

“There’s no filler and it’s gluten free…This version is much healthier than the one you usually get here, and as a result, you feel better after eating it,” Chris said

He hopes some of the approximately 50 restaurants Salonika supplies in Western Pennsylvania and other locations will adopt their gyros. “We know it will take some time to educate consumers,” he said.

The family just enjoyed their annual trip to Greece. They visited relatives in Athens and Crete, and they also have relatives in Evia, Peloponnese and Patmos.

Chris spoke of “his relationships with Greek artisans that he has built as an importer over the past 25 years, to the Post-Gazette.

“These are the folks that have been hit hardest by the economic crisis in Greece,” he said and he wants to help them expand.

“I meet with these companies to not only purchase products, but to generate ideas on how to grow their business in the United States…We’re currently working on a unique concept that would incorporate Greek culinary expertise and apply it to the U.S market,” he explained.

“Salonika, at 3509 Smallman St., has been operating in the Strip District since 1994. Balouris purchased it in 2006. All of his employees are from Greece. Sixty to 80 percent of the goods sold there are imported from Greece, depending upon the time of the year and the stock. The rest of the inventory is mostly from Turkey, Bulgaria or Spain,” the Gazette reported.

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WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY), co-Chair of the Hellenic Caucus with Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Ranking Democrat of the Joint Economic Committee, announced on August 26 that she will vote against ratification of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, the New York Daily News reported.

“I am against it,” Maloney said.

She explained, in her official statement, that: “Since President Obama and Secretary Kerry announced an agreement to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, I have given the agreement, which is one of the most important issues to come before the U.S. Congress in decades, the thoughtful and detailed study it deserves. I have carefully examined the issues, reviewed classified material, talked with administration officials, consulted with experts on both sides, and heard from numerous community leaders and constituents.

“The President and the Secretary deserve credit for choosing the path of diplomacy in an effort to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. There are strong arguments for and against the agreement but, as a matter of conscience, I have decided to oppose it.”

US Senator Chuck Schumer

Other New York members of Congress, such as Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Jerry Nadler, both Democrats, have also voiced their opinion about this deal, which remains divisive but is not necessarily drawn on party lines.

The Jewish-American community, echoing the sentiments of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, strongly opposes it. Nadler, in fact, is the only Jewish member of Congress who supports it.

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One of the Greek crisis’ worst consequences is the growing number of Greeks immigrating to foreign countries to pursue a better life.

This, of course, is not the first time Greeks chose to migrate. During the 1920s, 1950s and 1960s, many people made the difficult decision to leave behind family and friends with the hopes of finding better opportunities. During those decades, droves of people left Greece to go abroad, especially to the United States, for a better life.

Comparing the migrations of then and now, there are many similarities, but also significant differences.

The most important common characteristic is the feeling of pessimism about the Greek economy, coupled with the high unemployment rate.

Immigrants of the past and present also share the fact that they must acquire a new language, acquire legal documents – visas and work permit – to obtain lawful unemployment.

The vast majority of Greeks who migrated in the past were poor and unemployed. Also, they were usually uneducated because at that time, education was considered a luxury.

Today the social character of migration has changed radically as the young people leaving Greece are educated – many with postgraduate degrees – are homeowners, and have money. Until recently, they had good jobs in Greece and had a very high standard of living.

By contrast, the first Greek immigrants who came to America in the 19th Century worked in restaurants, pizzerias, construction etc… Over the years they made money, purchased homes and educated their children. Immigrants in the past spoke of Greece with nostalgia and love, and dreamt of the glorious day they would return home.

Today’s new immigrants speak about Greece with bitterness. They blame governments and politicians and hold them responsible for Greece’s demise and for their own emigration.

All immigrants want to come to America in search of a better life. But is the United States still the Promised Land? Is it still the country where all dreams and ambitions come true? Is hard work the key to success? Do all those living in this great country have the same opportunities and chances to live a better life? Do the new Greek immigrants have the same opportunities to improve their lives as the previous ones did?

The answers to these questions are not easy, because the times have changed.

Although the United States still is the wealthiest country in the world, conditions for achieving social and economic success are much more difficult now than in the past.

Experts say it is easier to acquire wealth in Canada and Europe nowadays than in the United Sates. For example, a child born in poverty in America has only a 4% chance to become rich when he grows up, whereas its chances in England is 12%.

But what do these statistics mean for the new immigrants from Greece?

Certainly, they will likely encounter better circumstances and opportunities than they experienced in Greece. they will face in their new homeland, America will be much better than those they had to face in Greece. But they also will face many challenges.

NEW GRIMMIGRANT STORIES

TNH recently spoke with some new Greek immigrants, all of whom expressed concern about the difficulties they faced, but also expressed optimism for their future.

“We moved to Greece 10 years ago believing that life here in America was difficult,” said one recent immigrant. “They all said how nice and relaxing life was in Greece. When we went in the beginning, life was very good, but as the years passed things became more and more difficult. My husband and I both lost our jobs. He was an electrician in a company and I was employed as hotel clerk. So we took the plunge back and returned here. Unfortunately, life here is much more difficult than it was before we left. The cost of living is higher. My husband just recently found a steady job and I do various temporary jobs. New York is a very expensive city. We find it hard to raise our three children. Maybe we will move to another state where life is cheaper.”

Another expressed frustration at the long wait in obtaining legal permanent residence, having filed her papers over a year ago. “I need to work and I cannot. I was a professor of literature at a high school in Greece and because my husband is an American citizen, we made the big decision to come to and live here, for our two young children. They had no future in Greece. We were okay in Greece, we both had our jobs, but what about our kids? What future would they have in a collapsed country? So we came here, but unfortunately after 15 years of service as a teacher in Greece now I’m unemployed and I can’t get a job because I have not yet received legal authorization to do so. Fortunately my husband found work quickly.”

All these descriptions depict that new immigrants are certain to face many challenges, at least early on. But if they are like their counterparts of decades past, they will overcome those challenges and live the American dream.

(By Michael Kakias)

The post Will The New Gremigrants Be Happy? appeared first on The National Herald.

NEW YORK – It takes one to know one. An entrepreneur, that is. Marina Hatsopoulos is an investor and high tech entrepreneur, and when there are challenges and opportunities in either context, she revs up into high gear. She is also a Hellene, and what she has recently learned about young Greek entrepreneurs has her very excited.

Her family, which has a home in Paros, which she loves visiting each summer, has roots in Constantinople, Asia Minor, and Central Greece. But although her parents, renowned scientist and entrepreneur George and Daphne Hatsopoulos, have been involved in efforts to help Greece, Marina was not active until recently.

She followed in her father’s footsteps. Hatsopoulos, who wanted to run her own business since childhood, was the CEO of Z Corporation, a pioneering 3D printing company which she co-founded in 1994, and sold in 2005.

A recent article about her in MIT News – she earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1993 – is titled “Recovering Greece – How do you cure a distressed economy? One startup at a time,” but for a long time her main impression of the Greek crisis was “emotional despair” gripping Greek citizens.

She got a different perspective during an October, 2014 visit. The MIT Enterprise Forum Greece (MITEF Greece), in existence for only two years, invited her to make a presentation.

Hatsopoulos was surprised to see “a great interest in entrepreneurship…a radical shift in aspiration” for a country whose best and brightest were steered into the public-sector for decades.

“I had just visited Israel, and seen how they created a start-up economy in 50 years, with rockets firing at them…A light bulb went off: If Israel could do it in such a difficult environment, why not Greece,” she said.

MANY CAN DO THIS

She told TNH “it struck me when I was there that I was uniquely positioned to help in a way that was not heavy lifting but that could make a difference…I’m well connected within the Boston entrepreneurial/technology community,” and she can help people connect – a model that fits the busy lives and passions for Greece of many successful Greek-Americans.

She noted that Greece can benefit from better connections to the rest of the world. “They are very isolated, so having access to funding, mentors, partners, investors, customers,” as well as employees for offices set up in the United States, is extremely valuable, she said.

“The idea is to be the bridge and help make those connections.”

Hatsopoulos found excited partners in Greece and America and after getting help from the MITEF global office they began to strategize about helping Greek entrepreneurs.

Hatsopoulos is a catalyst at the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, from which she learned that an international technology startup boot camp at MIT had been planned for this past June.

MITEF Greece chairman Vassilis Papakonstantinos, who was running a startup competition in Athens in 2015, directed some of the best candidates to Hatsopoulos for the Cambridge boot camp, and with financing from The Hellenic Initiative (THI),for which she expressed appreciation, eight MITEF semifinalists and two other Greek entrepreneurs arrived for the June boot camp, which was led by Luis Perez-Breva, MIT research scientist and co-director of MIT Innovation Teams.

Just before the boot camp, Hatsopoulos “threw a networking party at her Boston condo. Over sushi and cocktails, 10 young Greek technology entrepreneurs pitched business ideas to 50 Boston-based Greek and Greek-American investors and business leaders,” MIT News reported.

We didn’t know each other at all…but one thing about the Greeks — we can become best friends overnight,” she said.

“This event began a week-long series of business-building opportunities, engineered by Hatsopoulos…If everything clicked the way Hatsopoulos hoped, the entrepreneurs would leave with their business dreams much closer to reality, MIT News continued.

She said, “They were so excited and couldn’t wait to tell you about their ideas,” MIT News noted that “mentoring by Hatsopoulos, and her Boston-based entrepreneurial network during the boot camp, and in subsequent months, has already begun to pay off for the visiting Greek entrepreneurs. Three participants of the boot camp won top honors at the MITEF Greece startup competition in July, and other groups have found potential investors and collaborators.”

“For these startups, the costs are so low, and they have access to really good and affordable talent, which is a huge advantage…I want to continue to work with MITEF Greece to help them out, and the next step is to make the U.S. network more cohesive and provide these entrepreneurs access to funding,” she said.

Hatsopoulos is now optimistic about Greece’s future. Regarding the emerging entrepreneurs, she said “They are so totally different in spirit from the country overall…They have this amazing excitement and energy. They see only upside.”

Her degree from MIT is in mechanical engineering, “but no one has ever paid me to be an engineer so I am reluctant to walk on a bridge that I designed,” she said with modesty and humor, but the links she is helping to forge between Greeks and the rest of the world will be the foundations for the new Greece.

“The community in Boston is so rich and vibrant and well-connected and the idea is to make the entrepreneurs in Greece feel like they are part of the community,” she said.

Hatsopoulos will be following up on her Greek efforts. “There is still a lot to be done, learning how to build a community by connecting people virtually as well as physically and establish concrete connections between Greece and the diaspora.

Modern communications technology makes it much easier as transatlantic relationships can be maintained through devices such as Skype conferences she told TNH.

One of her biggest areas of interest – which is vitally important for Greece’s economic development – is technology commercialization.

“Greek Universities have a lot of research going on,” Hatsopoulos told TNH, “but there isn’t a culture yet of commercializing the technology. Figuring out how to make that happen is an important next step,” and she wants to help make it happen.

She likes projects like THI’s Fellowship of a New Economy that sends early and mid-career professionals to year-long placements in leading US companies, and she would love to see Greek-American business, science and high tech students and recent grads be embedded in Greek companies to share cutting edge knowledge and practices.

“That kind of cross-breeding of cultures can be extremely helpful,” Hatsopoulos said.

The post High Tech Pioneer Marina Hatsopoulos Supports Young Greek Entrepreneurs appeared first on The National Herald.

NEW YORK – SkyGreece, the Canada-based discount airline that has angered and frustrated hundreds of travelers to Greece with its abrupt flight cancellations and poor communication, finally issued a message.

On the evening of August 27 the company declared it must “temporarily cease all operations,” and that it expects to resume its flights “soon.”

That SkyGreece did not provide a specific date for resuming operations was met with skepticism.

Hundreds of travelers remain stranded as a result of the cancellations.

The National Herald has attempted to communicate with the airline’s principals, including investor Ken Stathakis. During a call to the Octagon Restaurant in Toronto, owned by Stathakis, TNH was told he was not there and that no one at the establishment had any dealings with the airline.

Aris Sideratos, the owner of SkyWay Tours Ltd. a travel agency that sold some of the SkyGreece tickets, issued a statement in which he said, among other things, “SkyGreece Airlines would like to apologize to all of its passengers who have been affected as a result of the company’s current operational crisis…The founders, managers, and employees of SkyGreece care deeply about their passengers and have been working around the clock to resolve the problem.”

Sideratos was more agitated in his response to questions from CTV: “We have absolutely no clue of what’s going to happen to all the passengers…I must have received 30 to 40 calls from Greece over the last couple of days…and unfortunately, we don’t know what to tell them.”

CTV reported, “he said he expects to hear from SkyGreece soon so he can help his clients get home, adding that so far he’s been unable to find enough space on flights to help his stranded clients. He said most flights are sold out.”

Travel agent Jimmy Georgiadis, based in Montreal, also sold SkyGreece tickets. He says people should check with their travel agencies about insurance coverage and that “Anyone who bought tickets using a credit card directly from the airline is advised to call their credit card company to see if they’re covered. In Quebec, those who bought their tickets through a travel agency are automatically protected by a provincial fund that exists to protect travelers,” noted CTV.

SkyGreece has told customers to contact their travel agents to arrange alternative flight plans.

Although customers will still have to buy their return tickets for other airlines, they can seek reimbursement from SkyGreece when they return home.

On August 27 the airline cancelled a flight from Toronto’s Pearson International, which followed cancellations on August 26 of three flights to and from Toronto.

CTV quoted a statement from Mark Bonokoski, a spokesperson for Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, that the Canadian government was “aware of the long delay experienced” by passengers, adding, “please be assured that our government expects consumers to be treated fairly by air carriers, and a process is in place for the impartial investigation of concerns.”

Bonokoski told passengers to write directly to SkyGreece and that if they did not receive satisfaction, that they should contact the Canadian Transportation Agency at 1-888-222-2592.

SkyGreece, which has been in operation for about a year, owns only one plane, which is based in Toronto, and leases a second one that is based in New York.

One of those planes has been grounded at Pearson for the last couple of days.

Frustrated passengers created a Facebook group called “SkyGreece Troubles,” where one person reported that the Pearson grounding is the result of the airline’s having failed to pay landing fees for the airport.

CTV reported that SkyGreece itself has declared that they are dealing with “system-wide, multiday delay” as a result of recent technical issues. The airline did not elaborate what those issues were but said they suffered “financial setbacks” shortly after launching its international service in May due to the Greek economic crisis. The airline said there was an “immediate and dramatic reduction” in ticket sales, but company officials worked to maintain its scheduled service.”

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NEW YORK – The Albanian government’s destruction on August 26 of a Greek Orthodox Church in the Chimara region provoked a condemnation from the Panepirotic Federation of America and demands for a new sites and funds for the rebilding of the Chuech

“The razing of St. Athanasius Church echoes the brutal actions of the Stalinist regime that ruled Albania for half of the last century when government forces executed priests, turned churches into stables and imprisoned anyone wearing a cross or reading the Bible,” said Nicholas Gage, president of the Federation. “It is a shameful act for a country trying to shed its violent past and become a member of the European Union.”

The former Communist nation prohibited all forms of religious worship and the brutal destruction of the Church of St. Athanasius in the town of Drymades, known in Albanian as Dhermi by government agents acting on the authority of Albania’s Interior Ministry, has raised fears in Albania’s large community of ethnic Greeks of renewed persecution. Orthodox Christians, who constitute a third of the country’s 3.5 million people.

Gage said the only way Tirana can make amends for its brutal actions is to offer an alternative site for the construction of a new church and to provide the funds to build it.

St. Athanasius was first destroyed in 1972 by agents of Stalinist dictator Enver Hohxa and its stones were used to build a water depot. When communism fell in the country in 1992, residents built a new church on the site of the old one. It served the Orthodox Christians in the town as a place of worship for 23 years.

U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu reportedly met with Prime Minister Edi Rama to protest the destruction of the church as insensitive to the rights of the Orthodox faith in Albania and the ethnic Greek minority and to urge him to seek a solution to the problem acceptable to both.

Last week as worshipers were observing religious services, government agents removed icons and other religious objects and began to destroy parts of the building.

The demolition continued the following day when the agents returned in cars without license plates and continued the demolition despite the protests of the local priest who was almost crushed by falling debris.

By August 26 the whole building was razed to the ground.

The Orthodox Church of Albania, leaders of the ethnic Greek minority, human rights activists and foreign diplomats have all condemned the destruction of the church by Albanian authorities as arbitrary, brutal and in violation of the country’s own laws. A spokesman for the Orthodox Church of Albania noted that Law 10057 passed in 2009 that ratified a previous agreement between the Albanian nation and the Orthodox Church guarantees the inviolability of places of worship and their protection by the state.

Omonia, the largest advocacy group representing the Greek minority, and the Human Rights Party of Albania, the minority’s political organization, both issued statements condemning the brutal destruction of the church and warning that it will seriously harm relations between the government of Prime Minister Rama and all minorities in the country.

Those warnings were echoed by the leaders of the Panepirotic Federation of America both in the United States and in Albania, where the organization’s vice president, Menelaos Tzelios, is traveling to assess the treatment of minorities in the country. Tzelios called on the Albanian government to move quickly and decisively to repair relations with its Orthodox Christians citizens if it wants to claim a rightful place in the community of civilized nations.

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SOUTHAMPTON, NY – A unique fine art contemporary art exhibition aiming to promote a vision of Modern Greek civilization to the American public opened last week under the auspices of the Muses of the Hamptons next to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in Southampton. It opened on August 9 and will run through September 8.

At an extremely difficult political time in Greek history, and under adverse financial circumstances, “Greek Colors” is a reminder of the beauty, harmony, and perseverance of a great historical culture that helped shape the course of Western Civilization.

In honor of the Greek Contemporary Art, The Muses of the Hamptons displays a special selection of 60 artworks and 21 artists from Greece, and an additional private collection of important Greek artists of the 20th Century.

The artists are inspired by Greece’s intense light, vivid colors, mythical landscapes, and the endless, magical seas of blue.

Each contemporary artist has lived the challenge to transform the daily crisis of present Greece into a personal and harmonious, visual statement from Greece to demonstrate the current face of Modern Greek painting to the residents and visitors of the East End.

The exhibition is organized under the title “Colors of Greece,” exploring contemporary artists and their painterly depictions of the illuminated, inexorable Greek Spirit along with the collaborative support of the Greek artists themselves. We encourage the community at large to visit this important, creative, art event.

The exhibition is located at The Muses, 111 Saint Andrews Road in Southampton. The Muses is an ideal venue for such an exhibit, as its own décor complements the arts, including a crystal chandelier commissioned by England’s King George V.

Admission is free.

THE ARTISTS
The artists, alphabetically listed, are: Daphne Angelidou, Paschalis Angelidis, Angelos, Stefanos Daskalakis, Maria Filopoulou, Savas Georgiadis, Irene Iliopoulou, Sophia Kalogeropoulou, Theofilos Katsipanos, Yannis Kondaratos, Olga Maria, Tassos Missouras, Ignatios Mitrofanous, Nikos Moschos, Eva Nikolaki, Christos Pallantzas, George Tornaritis, Phillip Siaras, Betty Vakali, Vago, and Chryssa Vergi.

More information about the exhibit, including biographies of the artists, is available at vandiri.com.

PHOTOS:© DIMITRIOS PANAGOS-GANP/ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΟΣ

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CHICAGO – Chicago friends and admirers of the late Theodore Spyropoulos honored him by erecting a statue in the Kalavryta Forest, near his birthplace, that has benefited from the reforestation efforts of “Plant Your Roots in Greece, Inc.,” which he founded.

The base of the statue bears  an inscription in Greek which calls him “The Ever-Present Benefactor.”

Last November, Halsted Street, in the heart of Chicago’s heralded Greek community “Greektown,” was been officially renamed Theodore Spyropoulos Street, honoring the recently-deceased benefactor.
The Municipal Council made it official on November 14 with the unveiling of a plaque bearing the new name.
Attending the event were Spyropoulos’ wife, Erika, and daughter Mariyana, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and Secretary of State Jesse White, Consul General of Greece Ioanna Efthimiadou, and numerous other dignitaries.

In the above photo, Spyropoulos’ beloved wife Erika places flowers on the statue.

Spyropoulos’ seemingly countless community positions and initiatives included:

U.S.A. Regional Coordinator, Alternative President of the World Council of Hellenes of Hellenes Abroad (S.A.E.)
President, Plant Your Roots in Greece, Inc
President, Theodore and Erica Spyropoulos Foundation
Honorary and Past President, Hellenic American National Council U.S.A.
Past President, ENOSIS of Hellenic American Organizations of Illinois
President and Founder, Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce U.S.A.
Vice Chairman, American Hellenic Institute (AHI) http://www.ahiworld.com/
Chairman and Founder, The Spyropoulos Scholarship for Hellenic American Students in the USA and Hellas
Director, Automotive Wholesalers of Illinois
U.S.A. Regional Coordinator, Alternative President of the World Council of Hellenes Abroad (S.A.E), World Council
Director, Chicago Sister Cities International Program
Member, AHEPA
Member, Automotive Service Industry Association (ASIA)
Member, Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMA)
Member, Export Council of USA
Member, International Political Advisory Council
Member, Businessmen’s Democratic National Committee (BDNC)
Member, American European Committee Association USA
Member, AGEI Hellenic Interests of Greek Americans
Founding member of Technopolis, Thrace, Hellas, International
Member of EEC International Visiting Council

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SOUTHAMPTON, NY – The fifth annual Blue Dream Gala for charity of the Kimisis Church of the Hamptons attracted more than 430 Greek-Americans and their friends on August 29 to an event that has set the standard for great parties for good causes in the New York Metropolitan Area.

Co-pastors Father Alexander Karloutsos, Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Father Constantine Lazarakis, respectively welcomed the guests and offered the invocation.

Refugees International (RI), represented by Michel Gabauda, its president, and Amani Global Works (AGW) were this year’s honorees and fundraising beneficiaries. Dr. Jacques’ Sebisaho, the founder and his wife and coworker, Mimy, received AGW’s award and addressed the guests, as did Gabauda.

Actor Matt Dillon, a member of the boards of both organizations and the event’s Honorary Chair, and Fox News anchor Rosanna Scotto, Master of Ceremonies, greeted the guests and introduced the honorees. Scotto also conveyed warmest regards from her colleagues Ernie Anastos and Nick Gregory.

The evening began with a cocktail reception featuring fellowship and networking in the Muses Cultural Center and the surrounding grounds. The dinner was held inside a huge billowing tent nearby that evoked a night on a Greek isle.

At previous Blue Dreams the magic worked by noted event planner Angela Giannopoulos had an exotic dimension. This spirit of this year’s gathering was one of simple Mediterranean elegance as live greenery flowed from the canopies that graced many of the dinner tables and the shadows of tree branches were projected onto the surface of the tent.

The soft, white wooden floor added to the warmth and was a magnet for dancers who enjoyed the Greek music performed live by Milos International and lead singer Sophia and the non-Greek music presented by DJ Sava.

The army of dedicated volunteers were led by event chairs Olga Palladino, Karen Mehiel, Maria Samuels, and Giannopoulos, with her usual special touches added by Presbytera Xanthi Karloutsos.

Fr. Karloutsos departed from the program to acknowledge the tragic shootings of journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward, praised Scotto and her colleagues for their work and the sacrifices they make “seeking truth in the darkest places.”

The Central Philosophy of AGW is “to Care, Cure and Make Whole by providing healthcare to one of the most impoverished and forgotten areas of Africa, Idjwi Island. AGW works to provide accessible healthcare to all residents of Idjwi by focusing on maternal healthcare, child healthcare, and malnutrition, as well as other factors that contribute directly to the region’s health crises such as education, agriculture, and transportation.”

RI is a leading advocacy organization which campaigns for lifesaving assistance and protection for refugees and people who have been displaced by conflict, persecution or natural disasters.

Dillon spoke about how he became involved with both organizations – “You must meet my friend Jacques” Palladino urged – and how meaningful they are to him. Of Palladino he said “she is shy, but we wouldn’t be here today without Olga,” who first dreamed the Blue Dream.

Gabauda provided an overview of the international refugee crisis, but just as the numbers began to feel overwhelming – tens of millions uprooted by war mixed in with tens of millions more seeking to escape poverty – he impressed many with a philosophy of targeted advocacy.

By bringing the plight of specific groups to the attention of UN and U.S. policymakers, better responses come about which are not just drops in a bucket – the lives of entire communities can be dramatically changed.

He emphasized that the financial support from the guests allows RI to operate independently of governments, lending more credibility to its advocacy work.

Dr. Sebisaho thanked all those present and noted that many of the major benefactors were introduced to him by Palladino and her husband Mark Palladino,  and how deeply he appreciated the way he and his wife were embraced like family, but he overflowed with pride and appreciation when he spoke of how the support they have received enabled the previously marginalized people of Idjwi to receive medical treatment in beds like those in New York’s top hospital and that he is no longer the only doctor there. He was thrilled to announced that that the children are now connected to the internet.

Mimy added expression of appreciation for what their benefactors have helped them create, “giving life and joy to a forgotten place.”

Palladino brought the speaking program to a touching close when she said “when I look out at this place I am absolutely amazed. This event was spawned by an impromptu conversation amongst some women at a church event and I never imagined it would become the event that it is.”

She continued “It is such a success because of so many, one is my dear friend Matt Dillon, a person always willing to help a person in need… and Rosanna Scotto, who graciously gave her time yet again to help makes this event great.”

Palladino said “this is truly God’s work” and thanked all the guests and volunteers and offered special thanks to her co-chairs Mehiel and Giannopoulos and last but not least – eliciting a burst of applause – “to my parents Father Alex and Presbytera Xanthi Karloutsos, my brother in law Father Constantine and my sister Anastasia.”

Matt Dillon, who is Irish Catholic, told TNH about growing up with Greek friends in Westchester, so he blends right in at Blue Dream – though he regrets he does not dance Greek.

Among the dignitaries were Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Co-chair of the Hellenic Caucus on Capitol Hill and N.Y. State Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis.

The dinner was overseen by celebrity chef Maria Loi and among the highly-desired prizes, which included fine jewelry and fashion, was a dinner for 10 in the winner’s, to be catered by Loi.

Attorney George Zapantis and Dr. Andy Adamidis, directors in charge of the Young Professionals of the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce were present. Zapantis told TNH “I can’t believe how many people showed up – I am impressed by the number of young people – to support the incredible causes and the parish.”

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NEW YORK – Doctors of the World, part of the global Médecins du Monde network (MdM) has announced a $50,000 challenge gift today from Jaharis Family Foundation, Inc. (JFF) to expand MdM’s mobile medical programs in Greece.

Designed to serve vulnerable people in hard to reach areas, the mobile clinics serve children, the uninsured, and the elderly, MdM explained. JFF will match every dollar raised for MdM Greece’s mobile programming, up to $50,000.

“We are enormously thankful to the Jaharis Family Foundation for strengthening MdM Greece’s mobile medical program,” said Miranda Sissons, Doctors of the World USA executive director. “This is a great, practical way for us to double our impact in Greece, at a time when it’s most needed.”

The Greek healthcare system has taken a major hit in the current economic climate. As a result of crisis and austerity policies, state-run hospitals have cut budgets by up to 50 percent and facilities lack basic medical supplies and staff. One quarter of the Greek population lacks medical coverage, and MdM research indicates children’s access to vaccinations has been severely impacted.

In this new environment, MdM programs – which in the past mostly served vulnerable populations, such as undocumented migrants, the uninsured and the homeless – now serve a growing number of Greeks affected by the economic crisis.

MdM has worked in Greece since 1990 to provide primary care, consultations, social services, psychological support, pharmaceuticals and harm reduction programming. Its work focuses especially on migrant, homeless, youth and aging populations.

In 2015, the JFF has also provided a gift of $250,000, in addition to the challenge gift, to strengthen MdM’s mobile medical clinics and polyclinics. Together these initiatives serve more than 80,000 people per year, providing essential vaccinations, medication, primary health care and psychological support.

The Foundation has generously supported MdM programs for children and elderly populations in Greece since 2012. The challenge gift runs until December 31.

Michael and Mary Jaharis

ABOUT DOCTORS OF THE WORLD

Doctors of the World USA is a non-profit that is part of the global MdM network. Médecins du Monde network. It provides emergency and longterm medical care to vulnerable people, while fighting for equal access to healthcare worldwide. Founded in France in 1980, the MdM cares for the most vulnerable through 350 programs in 80 countries, including in the United States. For detailed information on access to medical care in Europe, see MdM’s 2015 report, Access to Healthcare for Children and Pregnant Women in Europe.

Those wishing to donate may contact Fraser Mooney at fraser@doctorsoftheworld.org or visit bit.ly/Nai2Greece.

More information is available at doctorsoftheworld.org.

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