"Greece: Staying with the Euro vs. Default and Exit" Dinner – Lecture in Los Angeles, CA

Alex Mizan
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"Greece: Staying with the Euro vs. Default and Exit" Dinner – Lecture in Los Angeles, CA

On Sunday, February 2, 2012, the American Hellenic Council and the Hellenic University Club of Southern California, in association with the Basil P. Caloyeras Center for Modern Greek Studies, will host a Dinner – Lecture at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with the subject of  “Greece: Staying with the Euro vs. Default and Exit”.

The featured lecturer will be Dr. Stergios Skarpedas. Dr. Skaperdas is a Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine. Born in Greece, he was awarded a BA in Economics from Reed College and both MA and PhD degrees, also in Economics, from Johns Hopkins University. He has received numerous academic distinctions and is a member of many think tanks. His research has been published in various economics and political science journals. Dr. Skaperdas’ recent New York Times article, “ How to Leave the Euro ,” promotes the idea that the sooner Greece leaves the Euro, the better for its economy.

The event starts at 4:00 pm and dinner will be served at 5:00 pm. The lecture will commence at 6:00 pm followed by a Q&A session. Cost to attend the Dinner will be $40. RSVP and tickets are available online at the American Hellenic Council website, or for reservations call 323-651-3507.

 

Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow Warmly Welcomes Christian Icon from Mount Athos

Fani Toli
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Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow Warmly Welcomes Christian Icon from Mount Athos

Within the framework of the annual religious-cultural conference organized by the Russian Orthodox Church, the Mt. Athos icon of Greece depicting the New Martyrs of Greece, Pontos, Minor Asia and Cyprus was warmly welcomed by the Orthodox Church in Moscow.

The icon was accompanied by monks from St. Dionysus Monastery and the Greek artist Ivan Masteropoulos of Greek origin, and was welcomed by representatives of the Patriarchate of Moscow and the Greek director Konstantinos Charalampidis at the airport of Moscow, who also wishes to establish a religious celebration in Moscow in honor of the New Martyrs of Greece.

Within the cultural events of the Russian Orthodox Church, the 2nd festival of church music has been initiated under the guidance of the Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk.

Finally, the Chorus of St. Daniil’s Monastery and the Byzantine Chorus ‘Ergastiri Psaltikis’, under the direction of the Greek Thanasis Paivanas, performed during the festival.

23rd World Congress of Philosophy to be Held in Athens

Fani Toli
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23rd World Congress of Philosophy to be Held in Athens

The World Congresses of Philosophy are organized every five years by the International Federation of Philosophical Societies in collaboration with one of its member societies. The xxiii World Congress of Philosophy will be held from August 4 through August 10, 2013, in Athens, Greece, under the auspices of the Hellenic Organizing Committee.
The Congress has several complementary aims:
To inquire into the world’s philosophical traditions and compare them in terms of their diverse contributions and possible mutual cross-fertilization.
To reflect on the tasks and functions of philosophy in the contemporary world, taking account of the contributions, expectations, and gaps in philosophical awareness associated with other disciplines, such as political, religious, social, economic, technological, and other activities, and with diverse cultures and traditions.
To emphasize the importance of philosophical reflection for public discourse on global issues affecting humanity.
Because of its cultural history and geographical situation, Athens is an ideal location for bring together and fostering discussion among scholars from across the world. The main theme of the 2013 Congress, ‘Philosophy as Inquiry and Way of Life’, emphasizes both theory and practice, and recalls the declaration of Socrates that the unexamined life is not worth living.
The 2013 Congress invites discussion of the nature, roles, and responsibilities of philosophy and philosophers today. It is committed to paying heed to the problems, conflicts, inequalities, and injustices connected with the development of a planetary civilization that is at once multicultural and techno-scientific.
(Source:WCP 2013, Official Page)

'Evliya Çelebi: The Book of Travels' Exhibition in Thessaloniki

Fani Toli
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'Evliya Çelebi: The Book of Travels' Exhibition in Thessaloniki

The exhibition ‘Evliya Çelebi: The Book of Travels’ opened on Tuesday, January 24th, and will run through the 17th of February at the Archaelogical Museum of Thessaloniki.
As part of the program ‘Our Shared Europe’, this exhibition aims to foster dialogue for mutual respect and understanding with the Islamic communities of Europe.
Evliya Çelebi, a 17th century traveler, is the hero of this exhibition. Inspired by a dream, he set out on a real life journey that simultaneously became a spiritual quest through the Ottoman Empire, which in those days extended from the depths of Anatolia to Europe and Northern Africa. He gathered his adventures in The Book of Travels known as Seyahatname. To this day a trained ear can hear how cities such as Constantinople, London, Cairo and Vienna echo with these narratives, which take us back to an age when ideas began to be exchanged.
This exhibition concerns exchange and mutual respect, the manner in which stories are created, and the constant dialogue between the Islamic communities and the cities of Europe. Valuable contributors to the exhibition include: Khalili Art Collection, Suki Chan, Royal Academy of Music, Adam Williamson, Mercan Dede, Emre Araci, Bethnal Green Library, Caroline Finkel, Donna Laundry, Gerald Maclean, Nabil Matar, Suraiya Faroqhi, Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Owen Wright.
Exhibition details:
Wednesday, 1st of February at 19:00: Presentation by the Professor of the University of Macedonia, Fotini Tsimpiridou
Sunday, 5th of February at 19:00 : Narration of a fairytale that belongs to the ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ collection.
Wednesday, 15th of February at 19:00:Presentation titled ‘Foreign Travellers in Thessaloniki’ by the art historian, Fani-Maria Tsigakou.
Exhibition Opening Hours:
Tuesday-Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00

Greek State Prize for Overall Contribution to Literature Goes To Dinos Christianopoulos

Stella Tsolakidou
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Greek State Prize for Overall Contribution to Literature Goes To Dinos Christianopoulos

Dinos Christianopoulos, Thomas Korovinis, George Makropoulos and Christos Oikonomou are the winners of the Greek State Literature Prizes for 2011, according to the relevant decision of the State Awards Committee of the Ministry of Culture announced earlier today.
The Major Prize of Greek Letters was unanimously decided to be granted to Dinos Christianopoulos, in recognition of his overall contribution to Greek literature.
In his interview to ANA-MPA, the 81-year-old poet from Thessaloniki stressed that he does not want either the Prize or the money. “I have no intention of showing up at the ceremony or putting my hands on that prize” added non-comformist Christianopoulos. Instead, he referred to an older poem of his entitled “Enantion” (trns.: against), making clear what he thinks of the Ministry of Culture distinction.
The Novel Prize was awarded to Thomas Korovinis for his work “Tour of Death”, the Novelle Prize to Christos Oikonomou for his work “Something will happen, you’ll see”.
George Markopoulos will be the recipient of the Poetry Prize 2012 for his work “Secret Hunter”, and the Best Review Prize was granted to Georgia Gotsi for her work entitled “Internationalization of Imagination – Interaction of Greek and Foreign Literature in the 19th Century” and to Venetia Apostolidou for her work “Trauma and memory: The prose of political refugees”.
The Travel Literature Prize was granted to George Ch. Theochari for his work “Distomo: 10th of June 1944 – The Holocaust”, while the Prize for Emerging Author was jointly presented to Michalis Gennaris for his work “Princes and Murderers” and Thodoris Rakopoulos for his work “Fayum”.

Cinema Admissions Drop Amidst Greek Debt Crisis

Stella Tsolakidou
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Cinema Admissions Drop Amidst Greek Debt Crisis

The Greek debt crisis has had its impact on the local film industry, with admissions in 2011 recording a loss of 1 million tickets in comparison to 2010.
According to Screen Daily, the main reasons behind this fall in admissions are piracy, the underperformance of both foreign and local productions, and the vast number of foreign films that the local market cannot absorb.
Award-winning, low cost productions did not manage to rank high in admissions despite their international recognition, while the 2011 top places were taken by Hollywood blockbusters, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and the latest film of the Harry Potter series.
Nonetheless, none of the above mentioned films managed to count more than 500,000 admissions, while local productions failed to make it to the top 10 list of 2011. The only exception concerned 3D movies, which still provide a major attraction to everyone interested in watching films at the movie theaters.
Cinema chains, such as Stern Odeon and Village, have lowered admission prices and even included for the first time the two-seats-tickets, a practice followed in other EU countries. The fact is, however, that the majority of people in Greece cannot afford to pay up to 8 Euros per admission to go to the movies in harsh financial times like these.

MHNC Releases Second Book of "The Ancient Roots of Medieval History" Trilogy

Stella Tsolakidou
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MHNC Releases Second Book of "The Ancient Roots of Medieval History" Trilogy

The second book of the trilogy “The Ancient Roots of Medieval Europe (5th-15th century)”, titled “The Pan-Europeanism of Ancient Greek Medical Science in the Middle Ages”, has just been released by the Museum of the Hellenic Nobel Collection’s (MHNC) publications, in a luxurious large size (33×24), 302-page tome.
Hailed abroad as a unique literary, scientific and artistic work, a collectors’ item, the treatise has received an Outstanding Distinction from the Academy of Athens and other organisations in the US, Britain and Italy.
The book, written by MHNC founder and president Professor Giorgio S. Marcou, contains previously unknown and unpublished manuscripts of Latin codes, engravings and rare full-color works of medical contents from Marcou’s and the Museum’s private collections.
The unpublished material also includes the renowned handwritten code of Hippocrates’ “Prognostics”, which was taught in Europe’s first universities from the 14th to the 19th century, and is kept at the Marciana Biblioteca in Venice.
The tome, prologued by eminent international scientists, further contains statements by 100 international personalities of the 20th century, including heads of state, prime ministers and Nobel laureates, on Greece’s accession to the then European Economic Community.
The sponsors of the book are the Athens Eye Hospital, founded by Gerasimos and Haralambos Rallatos, and Professor Panayiotis Zafirakis.
(Source: AMNA)

Greece Expects One Millon Russian Tourists in 2012

A. Makris
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Greece Expects One Millon Russian Tourists in 2012

Russia is an important market for Greek tourism. The Greek tourism board expects a successful year, even if the country leaves the Euro zone.
The Association of Greek Tourism Companies (SETE) named the year 2011 the best year for tourism in Greece. According to their estimates, the total number of tourists coming to the country reached 16.5 million, with revenues exceeding the 2010 figures by 10%, which corresponds to 1% GDP growth. SETE expects this year to be successful as well and the results of 2012 to be even more impressive, reported Tourprom.ru.
Among the most prospective source markets is Russia. The Greek Tourism Board expects that the country will welcome more than 1 million Russian tourists in 2012. Last year brought a significant change in issuing entry visas for Russian tourists when the Greek consulate started issuing visas for multiple entries. This step was yet another stimulating factor for increasing the demand for tours to Greece.
However, in terms of promotion, some tourism stakeholders are quite critical of the tourism authority activities. “Last year the Greek National Tourism Board spent about 30 million Euros on tourism promotion. ‘Aegean Airlines’ spent 7 million Euros. I believe that the state support should be bigger,” said Dimitris Girogianis, Managing Director of Aegean Airlines.
Currently there is also the question of possible withdrawal of Greece from the Euro zone and a return to the drachma. However, according to the Greek tourism industry experts, in such a case the country would become a paradise for tourists and a popular budget destination since the local prices would decrease dramatically.
(source: SETE, tourism-review)

ELSTAT: Arrivals from Abroad Increased by 10.4%

A. Makris
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ELSTAT: Arrivals from Abroad Increased by 10.4%

According to the Border Statistical Survey conducted by the Bank of Greece, in the period from January to September of 2011, arrivals of non-residents from abroad increased by 10,4%, compared to the same period in 2010.
More specifically, arrivals from Europe, which account for the majority of arrivals of non-residents to Greece (90,0%), registered an increase of 11,2% in Jan-September 2011 as compared with the same period of 2010, while arrivals from the Member States of the European Union recorded an increase of 5,6%. Arrivals from Portugal (89,9%), Albania (75,9%), Russia (58,0%), Luxembourg (52,6%), France (35,9%) and Belgium (32,3%), showed a significant increase. On the other hand, a significant decrease of arrivals was observed in the cases of Cyprus (21,8%) and Austria (9,8%)
As regards to the distribution of arrivals by country of origin, the largest number of arrivals came from Germany (13,1%), the United Kingdom (10,4%) and France (7,3%).
The analysis of the data by means of transportation and by point of entry shows that most arrivals were by air, while airports with the largest proportion of traffic were those of Athens (Eleftherios Venizelos) (17,7%), Iraklio (13,3%) and Rhodes (10,7%).
(source: capital)

Olli Rehn Confident Greek PSI Talks Will End Shortly

A. Makris
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Olli Rehn Confident Greek PSI Talks Will End Shortly

Greece’s talks with private-sector creditors on a deal to restructure its debt are progressing well and hopefully will be wrapped up this week, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Monday.
“The talks have been moving well at a technical level.. I’m confident that we will conclude the negotiations on the PSI [private-sector involvement] shortly, preferably in the course of this week,” he said.
Asked if the euro zone was prepared to give more money to Greece if needed, he said “we have made decisions in October and we are working on the basis of those decisions.”
That meeting envisaged EUR130 billion in fresh aid for Greece, including a contribution of around EUR30 billion towards a writedown of debt held by the private sector.
Rehn also said finance ministers will assess the latest anti-crisis policies put in place by Italy and Spain.
He added that ministers plan to put the final touches on the fiscal pact–a set of tighter fiscal rules agreed upon by most European Union governments in December.
(source: Dow Jones)

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