MAKE HIM SH**T UP - Papandreou Refuses To Assume Responsibility, Claims ND Policies Led to Bailouts

The scientific community should really examine the phenomenon called "George Papandreou". The former Prime Minister and leader of the controversial PASOK party is still reluctant to recognize his mistakes and accept responsibility for Greece's downfall. There has to be a medical condition for the  severe case of Stockholm syndrome which has totally clouded his mind.

On Friday he began accusing the New Democracy party of what he said was catastrophic fiscal management, but he also had the audacity to note that in the past ND also maintained its clientelism, which resulted in Greece having to apply for a bailout.

Of course the minor detail that he was already in consultations -and worked underground- with the IMF prior to the bailouts as revealed by the former head of the IMF himself D. Strauss-Khan is a detail that George hopes will go unnoticed. (Wishful thinking of course)

Addressing the Symi Symposium which is being held on the island of Spetses, Papandreou said that in order to truly exit the crisis, Greece must first do away with public sector clientelism.

We agree of course, but again George seems to forget that most of the public sector was hired under all the PASOK governments before him. In fact, the amount of workers in the public sector skyrocketed under his own father's second term in office. But again... we understand that he sometimes forgets to note certain things because as we said earlier his case is quite unique.

During his speech he criticized the dominant pro-austerity camp in the EU, arguing that fiscal discipline and austerity are the solution to the crisis when little has been done to promote the financial and political union between EU member states. Following this he once again defended his proposal for a referendum, insisting that the active participation of the people in established procedures are paramount in a representative democracy.

True... But as revealed by Panos Kammenos, the proposal for the referendum simply fattened the wallets of Papandreou 's hedge fund buddies (Soros and friends), and damaged Greece's credibility on the international markets even more. If that was Papandreou's objective then we say job well done.

BUSTED - Reports Claim Owner of Olympiacos Is Corrupt - Why Is The Greek Press Silent?

By Jacob Serfas and Nikolas Leontopoulos (PressProject) - Billionaire shipowner, owner of Olympiacos F.C. and Piraeus strongman, Evangelos Marinakis has been implicated in a potential criminal ring which prosecutors say appears to have “approached and sought to manipulate… police officers, judges, politicians and other powerful individuals of the country.” Yet despite Mr Marinakis’s prominence (or perhaps because of it) few media outlets have chosen to report on the allegations against one of the country’s most influential men.

Last week SKAI TV published a recent decision by the Misdemeanor Council of Athens to allow secretly recorded phone conversations to be used in a preliminary investigation of Mr Marinakis and a number of other important figures suspected of a range of crimes. These include setting up a criminal organisation, conspiring to rig the outcomes of football matches, blackmail, bribery and violating the law regulating explosives. The Olympiacos owner and other club and Football Association officials are due to appear before prosecutors to offer explanations on the 20th of August. The investigation is ongoing; no indictments have been issued against the persons mentioned in the Council’s report.

The Council’s decision includes about 100 pages of transcripts of telephone conversations recorded in 2012 which, among others, appear to show Mr Marinakis abusing his influence as the head of Olympiacos. Andreas Koreas, the prosecutor in charge of the case writes:

“From the evaluation of the content of the transcribed telephone conversations, the following indications arise: That the president and close collaborators of Olympiacos… approached and sought to manipulate in order to serve their interests, police officers, judges, politicians and other powerful individuals of the country, some of whom they hired in important positions in the football club following their departure from key positions they held in the public sector.”

The prosecutor goes on to maintain that Marinakis chose, through the president of the Greek Football Association, Giorgos Sarris, specific referees to oversee key games in the playoffs of the 1st division Football League during the 2011-2012 season. Mr Marinakis is also alleged to have used his influence among individuals at smaller clubs loyal to him to secure the election of Mr Sarris as the head of the Football Association.

In several of the recorded conversations Mr Marinakis is heard apparently giving direct instructions to a high ranking Greek FA official. In one instance the official asks for Mr Marinakis’s approval over the referee selection for a lower division game. In another Mr Marinakis appears to tell the official of what the outcome of an appeal should be.

The documents also include testimony from a number of individuals who claim to have been the victims of campaigns of intimidation by people associated with Olympiacos club. The most damning of these comes from the FIFA referee Petros Konstantineas who testified before prosecutors that after being selected to referee a Superleague match (the top league in Greece) between Xanthi and Olympiakos during the 2011-12 season, various individuals from the Greek FA informed him in no uncertain terms that Olympiakos must win the match.

He responded that he ‘did not owe anything to anyone’ and that he would referee the match fairly and that the ‘best and luckiest would win.’ Olympiacos was defeated in the game. Subsequently, a bakery owned by Konstantineas was first vandalized and then several weeks later set on fire in an act of arson by unknown individuals who had placed an improvised incindiery device in the building.

Marinakis and the press

The court document is also revealing about Mr Marinakis’s apparent use and intimidation of the press to further his and Olympiacos’s interests.

In the past it has been alleged by the newspaper Avgi (affiliated to the leftist opposition party SYRIZA) that the newspaper Parapolitika is controlled by Mr Marinakis and that the shipowner used the newspaper to publish stories favourable to the right-wing Samaras government.

In response, Parapolitika sued Avgi several months ago, denying any links to Mr Marinakis. (Incidentally the lawyer in that case was Makis Voridis, at the time the parliamentary spokesman for New Democracy, now the Health Minister following June’s government reshuffle. Mr Voridis rose to prominence from the ranks of parties on the far-right.)

On paper, the newspaper as well as the other holdings of the “Parapolitika” media group (including a financial paper, a sports paper and an Olympiacos FM radio station) are all owned by the chief editor of Parapolitika, journalist Yannis Kourtakis.

Asked in a 2012 interview (link in Greek) about the financing of the Parapolitika paper Mr Kourtakis said, “Our resources and money are provided by our thousands of readers.” About his opinion of Mr Marinakis, Mr Kourtakis said “I follow, as you do, Mr Marinakis as a businessman.”

And in 2014, prior to the launching of a new radio station, Mr Kourtakis was asked in an interview whether it was perhaps an ‘expensive sport’ for a journalist turned publisher to run a radio station. He replied:

     “Healthy businesses, businesses without loans, those that want to have a leading role have only one source of funding: the public.” His interviewer insisted, asking, “Don’t you need a businessman to back you up?”

Mr Kourtakis responded:

     “The time when businessmen invested in the media losing money is over. Our criterion is the trust which the public show in us. That is our strength and out point of reference.”

Yet the assertion from Parapolitika and its chief editor that Mr Marinakis had no links with the paper, is directly contradicted by the transcripts of the wiretapped phone conversations which record Mr Marinakis talking with Mr Kourtakis in May 2012, conferring over the next day’s headline of the newspaper and with Mr Marinakis apparently giving the editor direct instructions.

Elsewhere Mr Marinakis is also heard instructing his head of communications to place stories in a number of ‘their’ outlets and in Parapolitika.

Aside from Mr Marinakis’s apparent use of ‘friendly’ outlets, in testimony other journalists have claimed to be the victims of intimidation by Olympiacos and/or Mr Marinakis. One journalist, George Tampakopoulos, testified that Mr Marinakis struck him twice in a restaurant, while reporters Antonis Karpetopoulos and Nikos Vasilaras testified to having been attacked by gangs of apparent Olympiacos supporters. The latter, according to the court documents, was also fired from his job allegedly following an order from Mr Marinakis.

Perhaps even more intriguing from a media point of view is the widespread silence regarding the latest court documents that implicate one of the country’s most influential shipowners in criminal activities.

While the story was broken by one of the main national broadcasters - SKAI, few others have reported on the recent court decision and associated transcripts. (Note that the owner of SKAI is Ioannis Alafouzos, another shipowner who is also the owner of Panathinaikos F.C. which is Olympiacos’s main rival. It is well known that there is little love lost between Mr Marinakis and Mr Alafouzos who rarely pass on opportunities to publicly attack each other.)

Many important newspapers and websites are entirely silent on the issue. A characteristic example is perhaps ToVima.gr, owned by the biggest media group, DOL, in the country. The newspaper reported a story about Mr Marinakis only two days after SKAI broke the story about the allegations. The article reports on comments the shipowner made to an Economist conference about the importance of shipping to the Greek economy, yet somehow managed to avoid a single mention about the allegations against Mr Marinakis. Nor does the newspaper report on them anywhere else.

Other news outlets have reported on the recent revelations, without however naming those who are investigated (including Mr Marinakis) nor publishing any of the content of the Council’s decision.

The pretext invoked by most such news outlets regarding their silence is that the leaked judicial files are part of a criminal investigation that is confidential and has not until now led to convictions. But in Greece publishing leaked judicial files that are part of an investigation is a daily routine for the press, and in many cases the same outlets that are currently invoking the secrecy of the investigation have been very active in leaking or reproducing such material. And one can only wonder at how a judicial report concerning one of the country’s top businessmen and the country’s top football club is not deemed newsworthy enough for those media outlets to report.

While it can be difficult to criticise newspapers for what they choose not to report on, in this case the silence is somewhat deafening.

TPPI conducted a simple survey of the frontpages of all of the top political, economic and sports newspapers of July 9th, the day after the leak of the council’s decision. With the exception of a few newspapers, (some of which are known to be linked to business interests that rival those of Mr Marinakis) the majority chose to completely ignore the issue, despite it concerning one of the most powerful businessmen in the country (or perhaps because of it?).

Of particular interest is the situation concerning sports newspapers. In Greece, surprising as it may seem, over 10 sports newspapers circulate nationwide on a daily basis. The majority of these have club allegiances. Perhaps unsurprisingly all those that support Olympiacos chose not to print a word about the investigation into Mr Marinakis and the alleged match fixing ring. However what is more alarming is that even those that are self-described as being independent (Sportday and Goal) also do not mention Mr Marinakis, (Sportday refers to the case somewhat uneasily without, however, mentioning any names - link in Greek).

In this context it is also worth mentioning that sports journalism is likely to become even less independent than it already is. Evangelos Marinakis and Yannis Alafouzos, and the football clubs owned by them (Olympiacos and Panathinaikos), are expected to further increase their grip on the sports media. According to press reports, Mr Marinakis, owner of Olympiacos FC, has already agreed to buy Sentra FM, a sports radio station, and Goal, the sports newspaper. Meanwhile Mr Alafouzos, for his part, is in talks to buy Novasport FM, the biggest sports radio broadcaster in the country, and Sportday, another sports newspaper. If the deals materialize, the two shipping magnates and owners of Greece’s two biggest football clubs will control the two biggest sports-related media groups in the country.

Was Putin's plane the real target that led to Malaysia Airlines crash?

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that Ukraine is responsible for the disaster with Malaysia Airlines plane, which occurred on Thursday, July 18. The Russian president urged the Russian authorities to assist in every way in the investigation of this crime.

     "Undoubtedly, the state, on the territory of which it happened, is responsible for this terrible tragedy," Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the State for Economic Affairs, which he proposed to start with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the terrible disaster.
     "This tragedy would not have happened, if there had been peace in the world, and if the fighting in the south-east of Ukraine wouldn't have been resumed," Putin said.
Putin ordered the Russian government to do everything possible to establish an objective picture of the disaster.
     "I ask the Russian government through available opportunities of civilian agencies to do everything to thoroughly investigate  this event," said the president.
     "We must do everything in our power so that an objective picture of what happened became available to the general public of Russia, Ukraine and the whole world," Putin stated.
     "These are absolutely unacceptable things, and nobody has the right to pass this by without making appropriate conclusions, without obtaining objective information about the accident," said the president of the Russian Federation.

Putin also reiterated his condolences on behalf of the Russian government to all the families of the victims, as well as the governments of those countries, whose citizens were flying in the crashed plane.

Amid the versions of the reasons of the crash of the MA Boeing 777, officials with the Russian Federal Aviation Agency, Rosaviation, believe that the passenger jetliner was shot down.

The original target could be the airplane of Russian President Putin.

     "The presidential jetliner and the Malaysian Boeing intersected at the same point and at the same echelon. This happened near Warsaw, on 330th echelon at an altitude of 10,100 meters. Air Force One was there at 16:21 MSK, the Malaysian plane - at 15:44 MSK," an anonymous source said.
     "The contours of the two aircraft are generally similar, the linear dimensions are also very similar, and as for coloring, it looks almost identical at a remote distance," the source said.

Afterwards, an official spokesman for Rosaviation that the agency never comments on the routes of Air Force One.

Advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, said that the plane was shot down with anti-aircraft missile system Buk.

At the same time, armed supporters of Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway republics denied any involvement in the crash of the plane. They do not exclude that the Ukrainian Air Force is responsible for the disaster. Donetsk People's Republic Prime Minister Alexander Boroday said that the plane could be shot down by Ukrainian air defense, which, according to him, were set on high alert on July 14. In addition, the website of the People's Republic of Luhansk says that eyewitnesses saw a strike fighter attacking the Malaysia Airlines Boeing.

Check relevant video: http://cdn.rt.com/files/news/2a/66/80/00/putin-plane-crash-0600_480p.mp4?event=download

pravda.ru

Have you called your US Congressman in the name of Greek Human Rights?

US Congress (credit: jessie owen)

Recently, Operation Antioch asked all Greek-Americans to take 5 minutes from their busy lives and call their Congressmen, in order to prevent the United States from sending $500 million in aid to the so-called “moderate” Syrian Opposition. The current American policy of aiding terrorists in the hopes of forcing regime change in Syria has backfired. Instead, it has led to the rise of a radical Islamic Caliphate, which now threatens all the sacrifices made by the young men and women of the United States military in neighboring Iraq.

As Greek-Americans, we have a direct connection to this conflict, even if we do not realize it. The second largest ethno-religious minority, behind the Kurds of Syria, are ethnic Greeks; the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christian minority. Commonly referred to as ‘Roum,' they make up the last remnant of Hellenism in this part of the world. Once Greek-speaking, these now Arabic-speaking Roum are the often forgotten Antiochian Greeks of the Levant.

These Antiochian Greeks, alongside ethnic Armenians, Assyrians, and Alawites have been targeted for extermination by radical Islamic jihadists inside the Syrian Opposition. Extremists who have even dared to threaten to take their war to Greece and Cyprus*. As Greek-Americans, the duty falls upon us to prevent the arming of these forces, which mean to murder our ethnic kin, and conquer our homeland. Please take five minutes of your time to call your Congressional Rep, and urge them to say NO to sending aid, of any kind, to the Syrian Opposition.

Follow the link below to find your congressional contact info - http://www.house.gov/representatives/

Below you will find an example script you could use if calling your Congressional Rep.

EXAMPLE SCRIPT FOR PHONE CALL

Hello, my name is __________ and I'm calling you from __________ (city or town).

I’d like to voice my concern towards President Obama's proposal to send $500 million in aid to so-called moderate rebels in Syria. To send aid to any Syrian opposition group would be a mistake, and most likely result in further arms falling in the hands of radical extremists. The United States cannot afford to keep suffering blowback from an ill-advised foreign policy. As a Greek-American, I am directly concerned for the well-being of the Antiochian Greek Christians who are being exterminated, alongside Armenians and Assyrians, at the hands of the Syrian Opposition. How many innocent Christians must continue to perish until our government realizes that regime change in Syria, is not a smart policy? Please tell the (Congressman/Congresswoman) to stand against sending aid to Rebels in Syria.

Thank you for your time

WANT TO DO MORE? WHY NOT WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR 

Take the time contact your local Newspaper and submit your own Letter to the Editor, voicing your concerns towards further aid to the Syrian Opposition. Below you’ll find such a letter written by OA Organizer Alex Aliferis, entitled “We need to stop meddling, spend our money at home”

LETTER: WE NEED TO STOP MEDDLING,SPEND OUR MONEY AT HOME
http://www.lodinews.com/opinion/letters/article_7ac53838-0285-11e4-8175-001a4bcf887a.html

* ISIS "trying to widen its presence in Cyprus" – reports
http://famagusta-gazette.com/isis-trying-to-widen-its-presence-in-cyprus-reports-p23991-69.htm

ISIS Map of the World, Plan for Global Domination
http://myocn.net/daily-mail-isis-map-world-plan-global-domination/

Stay up-to-date with Operation Antioch at by visiting their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/operationantioch

Stay up-to-date with Operation Antioch Scandinavia by visiting their Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/operationantiok

For more information on what is happening to the ethnic Greeks of Syria and what you can do, visit http://operationantioch.blogspot.com . To learn more about the organizers of Operation Antioch visit:
http://daimonesofhellenism.blogspot.com

Authorities Issue Formal Warrent Against Maziotis After Questioning Him At Hospital

Judicial authorities on Friday formally issued a warrant for the arrest of recently-apprehended suspected terrorist Nikos Maziotis after visiting and questioning him at the “Evangelismos” hospital. It should be reminded that Maziotis was hospitalized after suffering a gunshot wound in a shootout earlier in the week with Greek authorities following a failed robbery.

A warrant has also been issued for another man believed to have been Maziotis' accomplice.

The warrant for Maziotis’ arrest was a formality so that he may begin serving the 25 years sentence he has previously received for his participation in the “Revolutionary Struggle” militant group. The warrant notes five felonies as well as a series of misdemeanors, which include attempted manslaughter, possession of an illegal firearm, violations related to explosives, holdups while in disguise (one of which resulted in grievous bodily harm), participation in a criminal organization, robberies, falsifying official documents and arson.

The extreme leftist fugitive is currently being held under tight security at the 8th floor of the Evangelismos hospital after undergoing surgery on the shoulder injury he suffered during the shootout that lead to his capture.

He has already met with his attorneys and relatives, who were the first to visit him following his arrest.

Meanwhile, Greek authorities have begun combing the Greek capital in a hunt for accomplices who aided Maziotis over the last two years in robberies and other such crimes. The number one suspect of course is his partner, Paula Roupa, who is still at large.

Roupa had disappeared in 2012 along with Maziotis when they both violated their conditional release after charges in April 2010 for participating in the group, Revolutionary Struggle. For those charges, Maziotis had been given a 50-year sentence.

The handgun

The 9-millimeter USP handgun used by Maziotis was examined by the Department of Penal and Criminological Research and according to one report from To Vima  ballistic tests found that it did not match any weapons that had been used in past criminal or terrorist attacks.

Who is Nikos Maziotis?

Maziotis was among one of the most wanted men by the Greek police suspected of involvement in robberies and domestic terrorism. According to Kathimerini, the Greek police believe Maziotis has been involved in 6 bank robberies between May 2012 and March 2014, stealing a total of 15 million euros. Police have also implicated him and accomplices in two murders

Maziotis had been arrested in 2010 together with his companion Panagiota Roupa and several other individuals on suspicion of involvement in the domestic terror group ‘Revolutionary Struggle’ which was behind a number of bombings between 2003 and 2009 (causing mainly material damage as well as several injuries). Maziotis is thought to have been the ringleader of the group.

However the prosecution stalled and Maziotis and Roupa were eventually released, as required by law, following 18 months in pretrial custody. The two were released on the condition that they check in at the police station of Exarchia in the center of Athens three times a month. However in June of 2012 the couple disappeared, embarrassing the police who launched a nationwide man-hunt for the pair offering a four million euro reward for information

Sources - Protothema, Kathimerini, The PressProject

Greek Judge Warns Of Media 'Propaganda' Against Council of State

An organised propaganda campaign is being waged in various publications, TV shows and social media against the functioning of Greece's Council of State, which has been criticised by the the IMF over its 'adverse court rulings' that represent 'downside risks' for the country's austerity programme

The Council of State The Council of State The head of the country’s supreme administrative court has notes that an organised campaign is being waged by the media against his institution and that this “propaganda” could have implications for the independence of the body.

In a communiqué issued to judges and other officials on July 2, the Council of State’s president, Sotiris A Rizos, refers to the existence of a “campaign of publications, TV shows and social media” targeting the institution.

     “The propaganda is being exercised in an organised manner and could potentially harm the freedom of judgment of the judiciary and, eventually, cause irreparable harm to the judicial work of the court,” he added.

This would serve to reduce the willingness of judges to offer legal protection to citizens, the communiqué continued, which was published on the court’s website (pdf).

Rizos said that the propaganda campaign against the court, which determines whether government laws and decisions are compatible with the constitution, has resulted from recent decisions that reversed a number of wage cuts imposed as part of troika-mandated austerity. These decisions restored the pay of judges, military, police and other uniformed state employees to 2012 levels.

These decisions were described in a recent report by the IMF, one of the bodies making up the troika, as “adverse court rulings” that represented "downside risks" for the country's austerity programme.

Independent investigative journalist Apostolis Fotiadis, who blogged about the communiqué on July 10, said that no major news organisation has dealt with the judge’s letter.

     “Is there a country that a warning from the president of the highest court against an organised attempt by mass media to distort the normal function of the judiciary would pass unnoticed?” he asked.

Sources:
Eleytherotypia
apostolisfotiadis.wordpress.com

ANALYSIS - The BRICS Countries & Greece

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Antonis Karakousis (TO VIMA) - The infamous nouveau riche BRICS group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – recently carried out an act of emancipation from the USA and Europe. During their summit in Brazil they decided to form their own reserve fund and growth bank.

As such, five countries are going to contribute more than 100 billion euros for the new fund and 50 billion euros for the new growth bank.

Basically, they are attempting to create an equivalent organization to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank because they feel that the Americans and Europeans are not listening or dealing with their problems.

As is known, the IMF and World Bank, which were established after the second World War in order to ensure the stability of the financial system, were governed exclusively by Americans and Europeans and the truth is that over time their role did not turn out to the best for the developing countries and the third world.

Since then a lot has changed.

Globalization has offered opportunities and capital to Asian, Latin American and African countries, thus increasing their demands from the richer and more powerful countries on the planet.

In time though, they realized that the Americans and Europeans had their own priorities and that they were not prepared to give up any of their financial power and they became indignant.

That is more or less how they decided to establish their own institutions and gain greater flexibility in handling their problems and covering their needs.

It is interesting that the handling of the Greek financial crisis was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Many may not remember this, but the greatest objections to the IMF’s rescue program for Greece came from Brazil, Russia and Mexico.

These countries considered the aid towards a developed European country like Greece to be excessive, compared to what was offered to Asian or Latin American countries.

The objections obviously went unheard, since the Americans and Europeans considered the Greek crisis capable of disrupting the stability of the European economy primarily and the American economy secondarily.

That is more or less why the nouveau riche, indignant from the stance of Europeans and Americans, decided to carry out this act of emancipation and create their own financial institutions.

Nobody can tell how this attempt will turn out.

The first step has been made though. The doubt is a given and indicative of the new multipolar world that has emerged from the burgeoning globalization.

The world is more interconnected and interdependent than ever. The financial interest of countries are interlocked and intertwined. No country can feel safe just because it is a member of an economic zone.

That is what become clear in the navel-gazing Greek politics; the world is more complex, more competitive and intertwined to the greatest degree.

There are many dangers, but many more opportunities. All that is necessary is for the house to be neat and protected.

The Telegraph: Karavostasi - The Unsung Beach of Europe

The Telegraph listed Karavostasi in Epirus amongst one of the best unsung beach holiday retreats in Europe. Journalist Marc Dubin said that “you have to really want to get to Karavostasi – tucked away several kilometres off the main coastal highway between busy Syvota and Parga – but the journey is worth it.”

In his article he described the area as being cradled between two headlands and offers visitors a glimpse to the tip of Corfu on the horizon and the capes of Syvota to the right as well as Paxi. Meaning “stopping place of the ship”, Karavostasi is definitely a place that is far from the maddening tourist crowd.

Mr. Dubin, a travel writer, says that the area combines natural beauty with culture. In antiquity, the area was a navigable bay rather than the beach it is today. It is worth leaving the scattered seabeds that line the beach to head to the environmentally protected area at the north end and the ancient ruins at Dymokastro.

Full article can be read at the Telegraph, CLICK HERE.

Ukranian Priests Mirdered For Helping Self-Defense Forces

The mutilated bodies of two priests from Slavyansk and of two sons of one of them were found, confirmed the adviser of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko.

     "We found a grave of two priests from Slavyansk, who were tortured and killed by the Ukranian nationalists. The whole country and the whole world will know about the terrible atrocities that terrorists conducted. You will learn about it from concrete evidence," said Gerashchenko.

He said that the priests were killed for helping self-defense forces. According to him, the bodies of two sons of one of the priests were found in the grave as well. On July 8 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced that a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was kidnapped in Donetsk, Kiev Patriarchate Archpriest Yuri Ivanov.

In late May, an Orthodox priest Vladimir Maretsky who was detained by the Ukrainian military, was released and reported that he was beaten, in order for him to confess in his assistance to self-defenders.

Before that, the head of the Odessa diocese Metropolitan Agafangel confirmed the threats from the radicals.

In early April, the priest of Russian Orthodox Church Oleg Mokryak and the head of the Union of Orthodox Citizens of Ukraine Valery Kaurov were persecuted by Ukrainian Security Service, which found in their words calls for separatism.

Secretary of the Odessa diocese, Archpriest Andrei Novikov left his hometown and moved to Moscow after "the same investigator, who recently came for Archpriest Oleg Mokryak with Ukrainian Security Service, called him."

     "I'm sure if this government keeps its position, it will handle the physical liquidation of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine," said Novikov to the newspaper Vzgliad.

Voice of Russia

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GREEK FOOD? - Try The New Free Dishionary App

Dishionary – an application that translates local cuisine into travelers’ own languages – was launched by the father-and-son team of Israeli-based publishers who head “Books in the Attic”.

A report in ProtoThema notes that the new technology comes to break down language barriers for travelers eating in Greece, showing them that there’s more to hellenic cuisine than Greek souvlaki.

     “Every time I travel to Greece, which is my favorite place on earth, I am struck by the sheer ignorance of tourists coming into its wonderful taverns and restaurants. The reason is simple – travel guides don’t tell them what to eat and Greek menus leave them at the same point – it’s all Greek to them” said Ilai Melzer, CEO of Dishionary.
     “That’s why we decided to create a food travel app that covers everything that is delectable in Greek cuisine and makes it available for the non-Greek speaker, in their own language”.

Specifically, it offers nine languages – English, Spanish, Russian, Italian, French, Hebrew, Arabic, German and Chinese.

DISHIONARY

Each Greek dish comes with a picture, it lists ingredients and the history of the dish. Furthermore, it also gives the correct spelling and pronunciation as well as an interactive guide with other travelers who have tried the dish.

The Israeli-based publishers are also known for their series of philosophy books and translations of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter into Hebrew. The focus on Greek cuisine is just the start with additional cuisines of Italy and Turkey to be available soon.

And the best news yet – the application is 100% free! It is available at http://www.dishionary.com/

NASA Says Humans Will Prove That ‘We Are Not Alone In The Universe’ In 20 Years

NASA (Photo credit: Luke Bryant)

 
NASA predicts that 100 million worlds in our own Milky Way galaxy may host alien life, and space program scientists estimate that humans will be able to find life within two decades.

Speaking at NASA’s Washington headquarters on Monday, the space agency outlined a plan to search for alien life using current telescope technology, and announced the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Surveying Satellite in 2017. The NASA administrators and scientists estimate that humans will be able to locate alien life within the next 20 years.

     “Just imagine the moment, when we find potential signatures of life. Imagine the moment when the world wakes up and the human race realizes that its long loneliness in time and space may be over — the possibility we’re no longer alone in the universe,” said Matt Mountain, director and Webb telescope scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018.
     “What we didn’t know five years ago is that perhaps 10 to 20 per cent of stars around us have Earth-size planets in the habitable zone,” added Mountain. “It’s within our grasp to pull off a discovery that will change the world forever.”

Describing their own estimates as “conservative,” the NASA planet hunters calculate that 100 million worlds within the Milky Way galaxy are able to sustain complex alien life forms. The estimate accounts for the 17 billion Earth-sized worlds scientists believe to be orbiting the galaxy’s 100 billion stars.

End of Times

Troika Wraps Up Greek Mini-Audit Ahead Of Fall Review

Inspectors from Greece΄s EU/IMF lenders said on Thursday they had concluded a short, interim checkup of the country΄s performance under its bailout and will return for a more comprehensive audit in late September.

According to Reuters, the scheduled visit was an unusually low-profile one to review the pace of reforms and lay the ground for the more crucial audit of fiscal targets and funding gaps in September, when talks on further debt relief are also expected to begin.

     "The meetings were productive, and it was agreed that the full mission should continue discussions in the second half of September," the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund said in a joint statement.

Speaking to reporters in Athens, a senior Greek finance ministry official confirmed the inspectors΄ week-long visit had gone smoothly. "We had constructive talks, they wanted to take stock of where we are in terms of the (bailout) program," said the official, who declined to be named.

The two sides held talks on privatizations, structural reforms to make the economy more competitive, tackling bad loans that are burdening Greek banks, and the state of public finances, although no major decisions were taken.

EU officials in recent weeks have warned that Greece is slowing down on the reform front after the opposition, anti-bailout Syriza party won the country΄s EU election in May.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has also promised austerity-weary Greeks gradual tax relief as Athens expects to post another budget surplus before debt servicing costs, but that has not yet won the backing of EU/IMF lenders.

Athens needs to push through a set of six reforms, including merging auxiliary pension funds, to qualify for its next tranche of 1 billion euros in aid but so far has only managed one - passing a law to privatize major power utility PPC.

      "August will be a month of tough work for us, there is a list of issues that we need to speed up," the official said. "There are a few remaining milestones."

Bailed out twice, to the tune of 240 billion euros, Greece΄s fortunes have revived sharply in recent months, helping it raise 4.5 billion euros by selling bonds since April after a four-year exile from debt markets.

But analysts say the country is not out of the woods yet, given fragile political stability and the prospect of early elections later this year or next year.

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Greek Choir Wins Silver At World Choir Games

Over 480 choirs from 74 countries participated (ing) at the 8th World Choir Games that are set to wrap up in Riga, Latvia on July 19. The Greek choir “Manolis Kalomoiris” was awarded several days ago with the Silver Diploma in the category “Mixed Choirs”.

The Greek choir began its musical journey in 1989 as a children’s chorus under the professor of Musicology in Athens University, Nikolaos Malliaras. It then worked alongside major symphonic and choir groups such as the Philharmonic Orchestra of London and the National Symphonic Orchestra of former Greek National Broadcaster (ERT).

The winning repertoire included major symphonic works such as “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff and Choral Finale “Ode to Joy” of the 9th Symphony by Beethoven, musical tales by Nick Xanthoulis, Greek and foreign songs and nursery rhymes by Manolis Kalomiris.

SECURITY - Transcendence & DARPA's Restoring Active Memory

English: This was the most up-to-date DARPA logo as of January 2009. It is obsolete now. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Tony Cartalucci - LocalOrg, LandDestroyer) - In the movie "Transcendence," the lead character, an artificial intelligence researcher, is uploaded to a super-computer before his body dies. His consciousness survives and his mind, unencumbered by the weakness of his physical body, begins expanding exponentially. While science fiction, the movie's premise is not entirely impossible. While the human brain is highly complex, accessing it, decoding it, and interfacing with it has long-ago already begun.

The US Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, has announced its "Restoring Active Memory (RAM)" project - which intends to develop a prosthetic for the brain to record and store memories for those with degenerative neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease or victims of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).

Science Daily in its article, "DARPA taps Lawrence Livermore to develop world's first neural device to restore memory," reported:

    The research builds on the understanding that memory is a process in which neurons in certain regions of the brain encode information, store it and retrieve it. Certain types of illnesses and injuries, including Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy, disrupt this process and cause memory loss. TBI, in particular, has affected 270,000 military service members since 2000.
    The goal of LLNL’s work — driven by LLNL’s Neural Technology group and undertaken in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Medtronic — is to develop a device that uses real-time recording and closed-loop stimulation of neural tissues to bridge gaps in the injured brain and restore individuals’ ability to form new memories and access previously formed ones.
    The research is funded by DARPA’s Restoring Active Memory (RAM) program.
In essence, RAM would also allow humans to expand their brains into non-organic systems. While the project states it intends to restore memory function to those with deficiencies, the same prosthetic could also be used to expand the memory capacity of people with normal brain functions. While the device currently is intended to be an implant, future reiterations may include external devices either linked physically or perhaps even wirelessly. The implications may lead to devices and systems that allow our "minds" to expand beyond the physical confines of our biological brains, opening the doors to both great opportunities and equally frightful threats.

Threats and Opportunities 

For starters, the digitization of our neurology opens the doors to all the threats and opportunities that befall or benefit existing digital devices, including those connected to the Internet. Collaboration, control, viruses, hacking, surveillance, exponential intellectual progress, personal empowerment, and even human-drones are all in the cards.

And while a climatic and apocalyptic "war with the machines" lingers menacingly in the back of our collective minds, what if devices like that which DARPA is developing led to man merging with machines instead? There would be no war with machines, we would be the machines.

In this context, we face two possible futures: one like that portrayed in science fiction films like Terminator or the Matrix where humans hide amid the ruins of their once proud civilization fighting a desperate resistance against far superior machines that turned on them, or a future like that portrayed in the Japanese anime films and series, Ghost in the Shell. In the latter, the lines are blurred between man and machine and a tenuous balance of power is maintained throughout human civilization, between extremes of both organic and cybernetic natures.

With advances like that announced by DARPA, the latter scenario is the most likely one. A merge between man and machine is the most likely scenario - whomever controls cybernetic technology however, will determine how utopian or dystopian our future will be. Currently, DARPA and other corporate-financier monopolies control this research and technology, while they monopolize other realms of scientific progress including molecular biology, genetic engineering, and information technology. This power in such few hands is surely a recipe for disaster - at least for those without access or say in how the technology is used - or in other words - for the vast majority of us.

A consumerist paradigm that has neurological implants tied to our information technology infrastructure would lead to abuses that would make the NSA's current overreaching authority look placid in comparison. It could also transform our military's abilities into the most effective and most horrifying of both human and drone combat.

Instead, this technology must be democratized, opened up, and disseminated across society. People to be fully free and in charge of their destiny must not focus on "democracy" and "civil literacy," but rather on technological literacy, as it is technology that forms the foundation upon which modern society is built and controlled. If we want a say in this modern, technological society, we must understand how it works - currently such an understanding lies in so few hands.

We will not "un-invent" neurological implants that expand the landscapes in which our minds may occupy. We can either choose to boldly embrace and take control of such technology, or cower and complain as others leverage this technology against us to cement an ever expanding disparity between their domination of humanity, and our subservient futility under their dominion.