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AUGUST 2007 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033

THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN

VEMAThe oldestcirculating

Greeknewspaper

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PAGES 8/26- 9/27

In this issue...

PAGE 7/25

World far from

beating AIDS

PAGE 9/27

Olive oil, Greek food

halts heart death: study

Happy New Year-

AGAIN!

PAGE 5/23

The country’s counterterrorism unitjoined a police investigation into the causeof a massive fire that burnt dozens ofhomes and hundreds of hectares of landin the northern suburbs of Athens onThursday 16 August, as the fire servicesaid it was virtually certain that arsonistswere responsible.

The blaze, was rekindled by strong windsbefore finally being extinguished a few dayslater.“This is a clear case of arson,” a senior fire

service official said, noting however that nodevice had been found. “It is difficult togather evidence from the ashes,” he said. Asenior counterterrorism official said thatnothing had been found to link the fire witha possible terrorist attack. “We are gatheringmaterial in case any usable evidence comesto light,” stated the official.Meanwhile, police were questioning a man

aged around 50 whom residents had spottednear Mount Pendeli where the blaze brokeout on the morning of Thursday 16th Au-gust. According to sources, the suspect losthis son, a volunteer firefighter, during a fire-fighting exercise in Halandri.Melissia Mayor Manolis Grafakos said that

he had received anonymous phone calls amonth ago, threatening that areas in hismunicipality would be burnt. “We did not

know whether they were serious threats...but there is a lot of forestland in Melissiabeing eyed for construction purposes,”Grafakos said.

Mount Pendeli’s new forest ranger,Alexandros Rigas, fueled suspicions ofarson as a likely cause of the blaze, remark-ing that “land on Pendeli has great value;there are interests at stake here.”

According to initial estimates, the devastat-ing fire ravaged up to 900 hectares of land inNea Pendeli, Melissia, Politeia and Kifissia.More than 50 homes are believed to havebeen damaged.The General Secretariat for Civil Protection

warned of a very high risk of fires in Attica,the Cyclades and on several other Aegeanislands.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE 15 DAYS IN AUGUST

Arson suspicions

grow over fire

on Mount Pendeli

Our Primate’s View

Immigrants are healthier, better educatedPAGE 7/25

Skiathos: a shady

assignmentPAGE 18/36

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/20 AUGUST 2007

SOVIETS INVADE

CZECHOSLOVAKIA:

August 20, 1968

On the night of August 20, 1968, approx-imately 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia tocrush the "Prague Spring"--a brief periodof liberalization in the communist coun-try. Czechoslovakians protested the inva-sion with public demonstrations and othernon-violent tactics, but they were nomatch for the Soviet tanks. The liberalreforms of First Secretary AlexanderDubcek were repealed and "normaliza-tion" began under his successor GustavHusak.

PARIS LIBERATED:

August 25, 1944

After more than four years of Nazi occu-pation, Paris is liberated by the French2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4thInfantry Division. German resistance waslight, and General Dietrich von Choltitz,commander of the German garrison,defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow upParis' landmarks and burn the city to theground before its liberation. Choltitzsigned a formal surrender that afternoon,and on August 26, Free French GeneralCharles de Gaulle led a joyous liberationmarch down the Champs d'Elysees.

JAPAN SURRENDERS:

September 2, 1945

Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay,Japan formally surrenders to the Allies,bringing an end to World War II. By the summer of 1945, the defeat ofJapan was a foregone conclusion. TheJapanese navy and air force weredestroyed. The Allied naval blockade ofJapan and intensive bombing of Japanesecities had left the country and its economydevastated. At the end of June, theAmericans captured Okinawa, a Japaneseisland from which the Allies could launchan invasion of the main Japanese homeislands. U.S. General Douglas MacArthurwas put in charge of the invasion, whichwas code-named "Operation Olympic"and set for November 1945.

29th August 2005 Hurricane Katrina

slams into Gulf Coast

Hurricane Katrina makes landfall nearNew Orleans, Louisiana, as a Category 4hurricane on this day in 2005. Despitebeing only the third most powerful stormof the 2005 hurricane season, Katrina wasthe worst natural disaster in the history ofthe United States. After briefly comingashore in southern Florida on August 25 asa Category 1 hurricane, Katrina gainedstrength before slamming into the GulfCoast on August 29. In addition to bring-ing devastation to the New Orleans area,the hurricane caused damage along thecoasts of Mississippi and Alabama, aswell as other parts of Louisiana.

31st August 1997 Princess Diana dies

Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in Paris'Pitie-Salpetiere Hospital after sufferingmassive chest injuries in an early morningcar accident. Her companion, Dodi Fayed,was killed instantly in the 12:25 a.m.crash, as was driver Henri Paul, who wasdrunk and lost control of the Mercedes ina highway underpass. He was driving atexcessive speeds in a reckless attempt toescape paparazzi photographers. Diana'sbodyguard, Trevor Rees Jones, escapedwith serious but nonfatal injuries. He wasthe only one wearing his seat belt. Thedeath of Diana, beloved by millions forher beauty and good nature, plunged theworld into mourning.

3rd September 1783 Treaty of Paris signed

The American Revolution officiallycomes to an end when representatives ofthe United States, Great Britain, Spain andFrance sign the Treaty of Paris on this dayin 1763. The signing signified America'sstatus as a free nation, as Britain formallyrecognized the independence of its 13 for-mer American colonies, and the bound-aries of the new republic were agreedupon: Florida north to the Great Lakes andthe Atlantic coast west to the MississippiRiver.

Greece is the word that ought

to be on investors’ lipsNIGEL BOLTON*

If you look at a satellite photograph of Europe at night, you’llclearly be able to pick out most of the major conurbations, withroads and urban centres outlined as a buzzing network of lights.However, as you look towards Greece, these lights dim, with onlyAthens and a few major roads visible.

Greece has some of the most impressive coastline which is ripe fordevelopment, yet the country still lags behind in terms of both coastaldevelopments and major infrastructure. This is a real anomaly inEurope that is set to change rapidly over the next few years and weare already seeing Greece come out of the dark in several respects. Greece is a relatively recent entrant to the eurozone. It qualified as amember in 2000 and was admitted on January 1, 2001. Its economyhas traditionally had more in common with its Eastern Europeanneighbours than with Western Europe.

Since joining the EU in 1981, the economy has benefited from EUgrants and assistance packages to finance major development proj-ects. Current EU infrastructure grants will see the country receivingmore than €20bn.

Greece is now one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe. Theeconomy grew by around 4.4% in the last quarter of 2006, one of thehighest rates in Europe, where average rates were around 2.7% overthe same period. Projections put expectations for economic growthfor this year and next at around 4%.

As we see the Greek economy emerge as a tour de force, we havedubbed it the “Ionian Tiger”. Economic conditions in Greece lookvery similar to those in Ireland, the “Celtic Tiger”, in the 1990s, whenover several years the economy transformed from one of the weak-est in Europe to one of the strongest.

So which sectors will be the main beneficiaries of this growth? TheGreek construction industry is a crucial market and infrastructureprojects will drive the construction industry forward after a lull fol-lowing the 2004 Olympics. Historically a cyclical and low-marginindustry, many companies in this sector are well positioned for futuregrowth, providing long-term opportunities for investors.

Construction in Greece is expected to centre around three areas:national infrastructure, residential property and commercial propertydevelopment. Of these, perhaps the most crucial area of growth is innational infrastructure - from major roads and bridges to public build-ings such as hospitals and schools. This is an area that has been sys-tematically underinvested in over the past 20 years.

One company that is already profiting from this trend is Michaniki,which develops real estate and offers construction services. The com-pany builds infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, tunnels,airports and ports as well as housing. As the largest cement companyin Greece, Titan Cement is also a key beneficiary of growth in infra-structure, as well as the development of residential and commercialproperty - areas where we see room for huge expansion.

The residential property market is picking up following years ofstagnation. The trend towards home ownership in Greece is acceler-ating, which is in turn driving the construction of residential build-ings. Legislation is changing to attract more house-buyers, bothnationals and foreigners.

The commercial property market is being driven by demand in theoffice sector. After a peak in demand in 2000, commercial propertyconstruction saw a five-year downturn from which a recovery hasonly just started. SWIP expects to see strong demand for office prop-erty over the next five years. Property companies such as BabisVovos are well positioned to be at the forefront of this development. The rise of the Ionian Tiger isn’t solely a construction story. Two fur-ther strengths of Greek companies are the high levels of quality man-agement and Greece’s strong position to expand into the growingBalkan and southeastern European markets.

We have identified some impressive companies with strong for-ward-looking management teams. Toy retailer Jumbo is a case inpoint: a real gem of a company, it is well run and plans to expandacross Greece and into the Balkans.

For investors looking for opportunities in Europe, Greece shouldcertainly be on the radar.

* Nigel Bolton is head of European equities at Scottish Widows InvestmentPartnership (SWIP)

Athens has highest proportion

of doctors per capita in Europe Athens has the highest proportion of doc-tors per capita (one doctor for every 138residents, compared to 475 in London)but there are serious staff shortages inthe provinces and on the islands.

In Athens alone, 2,000 doctors are unem-ployed or underemployed, earning as littleas 500-700 euros a month.

About 6,000 doctors have no specializa-tion; long waits to begin specializationtraining forces medical graduates to look forwork abroad, even if that means changingtheir original preferences.The temptation to emigrate is strong, since

the salaries of hospital doctors in Britain aretriple what they are here. However, of the3,000 Greek doctors working in Britain,only 300-500 have specialized.

The European Union has recently beenfocusing on the movement of doctors andnurses within its borders.

A study carried out in Britain found that25-30 percent of its medical personnel isfrom abroad. Of the 113,000 doctors inBritain in 2004, 76,700 had trained there,30,000 in other European countries, Asiaand Africa and 6,000 in Eastern Europe.Of the 32,000 nursing staff in 2005, 11,500

were from abroad and 1,040 of these fromEastern Europe.

In several countries, mostly in EasternEurope, concern is mounting regarding the

effects of doctors moving from low-paidareas to developed countries.

According to Panayiotos Kontoleon, gen-eral secretary of the Athens-PiraeusHospital Doctors’ Association, doctors gowherever the pay and working conditionsare better, where they have family ties, or toneighboring countries.The British study showed that Polish doc-

tors tended to go to Germany. Other coun-tries with cross-border migration of doctorswere Denmark and Sweden, Norway andFinland.Immigrant doctors are usually given high-

risk posts or those with heavy workloads,

such as emergency wards, psychiatric clin-ics or radiology. Only about 1 percent offoreign doctors get into surgery.

Clearly unplanned movements of medicaland nursing staff can be a potential threat tonational health systems, and this is some-thing EU authorities want to avert. TheEuropean Parliament recently ruled on uni-fied regulations for health services in mem-ber states.

Athens has the highest proportion of doc-tors per population (one doctor for every138 residents, compared to 475 in London)but there are serious shortcomings in theprovinces, particularly Viotia, were there isonly one doctor for every 1,490 people.

Medical centers on the islands are under-staffed and there is a lack of specialists,such as anesthetists.“I believe that it is a mistake not to have a

plan for the movement of medical staff; atpresent this is done through private agen-cies. Something has to be done or else thiscountry will become a outpost, with the out-flow of doctors being followed by patients,”explained Kontoleon. In Britain, for exam-ple, there was the case of Yvonne Watts, apatient who had to go to France for a hipoperation because of long delays at theNational Health Service, which was forcedto reimburse her for the cost of the opera-tion after a European Court of Justice rul-ing.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21

The times, they havechanged.

It’s late in the evening. One family memberseems to be asleep in front of the TV;another’s plugged into a computer; othersare singing and playing the piano – loudly.Their day’s work is complete, and they’reunwinding in their own ways.

Recently I went away for a weekend, andtook only a little amount of work with me.Instead of enjoying the break, however, Ifound sitting around in the evening just toounsettling and I eventually bought severalballs of wool and a crochet hook, just sothat I could keep busy. This was the causeof much amusement, and a certain amountof finger-wagging with dire warnings aboutwhat happens to people who can’t relax.There was a time, though, (not all thatmany decades ago) when people did notjust sit and do nothing.

When television first came into our lives,the women of the family sat down to watchit with their mending, knitting, crochetingor other needlework on their laps. It wasunthinkable to just sit and do nothing.When we visited, our fancywork went withus. I have very vivid memories of all the

old yia yia’s sitting around my grandpar-ents’ sun-room, crocheting their doyleys.As the years progressed, every householdseemed to acquire the same collection ofdoyley designs as the women lent aroundtheir own work for the others to copy.

Children also did not just sit in front of theTV doing nothing. There were stamp col-lections to sort out, jig-saw puzzles to com-plete, comics to read, colouring-in booksand magic paint-books to fill in, dollsclothes and matchbox furniture to make,and if one was truly lucky, Meccano settowers or cars to construct.

It’s interesting if we stop and think abouthow children and young people occupytheir time today – in front of the TV orplugged into computers – and how ill-pre-pared we, their parents, are in coping withthis. There were simply no home comput-ers when we were growing up, so it was nota problem for our own parents; hence wehave no model to follow. We were warnedabout strangers offering us lollies outsidethe school playground, but we never need-ed to be warned about people who mightpretend to be also children and ‘talk’ to usover the internet.

Interestingly, a writer friend noted on hercomputer blog this week that when she wasgrowing up she used to refer to her child-hood as sheltered. Instead, she now realizesthat, having been so protected by her par-ents, she was fortunate. As an adult, shealso realizes there was nothing wrong inhaving been allowed an extended child-hood. It doesn’t seem all that long ago, real-ly, when more value was placed on child-hood as a period of innocence.

Talking

Pointby Ann Coward

Summertime...

and reliving is easy

What the military badly need in order to re-

impose their rule in Turkey are enemies. The

unresolved Kurdish question could serve this

purpose. It wouldalso be a pity if the generals

could portray the EU as the enemy of the Turks

MARK DRAGOUMIS

If April is the 'cruellest month', July is the nicest one for reliv-ing past glories and celebrating liberation from oppression.

On the 4th, the Americans enjoy their Independence Day withfamily picnics where overeating can be excused by invokingpatriotism. On the 14th the French relive with great pomp andcircumstance the fall of the Bastille, conveniently forgettingthe guillotine.

In Greece too, the 24th of July marks the fall of a hated juntaand the change of regime (metapolitefsi) that restored democ-racy in the place where it was born two an a half thousandyears ago. The change was real and went deep. The politicalregime in Greece after the end of the civil war was called by arightwing politician "armoured democracy" (tethorakismenidimokratia), meaning a regime that kept the left under strictpolice control and the 'national thinking' (ethnikofrones)Greeks in power

The Communist Party was outlawed. It is the recollection ofthis columnist that only one rightwing Greek paper, Estia -admittedly a maverick one - and only one Greek politician,Spyros Markezinis - admittedly an oddball of sorts - advocat-ed in the 1950s the legalisation of the Communist Party argu-ing that once the Greeks came to know the Greek communists

face to face they would write them off for good.

Ever since, the more vociferously these pathetic flat-eartherspromoted their views, the more people they alienated. Nor dothe leftists seem to want acceptance in any form. Leaders ofboth parliamentary parties of the left (the Stalinist KKE andthe erratic Coalition) declined, this year, to attend the annualreception that the president of the republic holds on July 24 tocelebrate the change of regime in Greece. One can sympathisewith them wholeheartedly. It is really too much to ask of thesepeople to celebrate the birth of a democracy (without any qual-ifying adjectives) that led to their marginalisation.

There are those, of course, who complain that the freedom ofthe Athenians in 2007 has little to do with that enjoyed by theirpredecessors of the 5th century BC. What became - they ask -of the intellectual rationalising revolution that questioned con-ventional thinking about the nature of the world and man'splace in it? Why be good? Is there any absolute truth? Whyshould not the strong and the wise rule over the weak and thefoolish? Is 'justice' anything more than what you can get awaywith?

Aristotle admitted that "the law has no power to compel obe-dience..." This is still an unresolved case in modern Athens astraffic laws become harsher and harsher while their implemen-tation gets rarer and rarer. No matter. Discussion is free anduninhibited; democracy (unqualified by any adjective) nowworks in Greece.

Probabilities are that in one more country July will become,in the future, a month of celebration. Probabilities are that thelandslide in Turkey in favour of the party of Mr Erdogan willalso mark a change of regime (metapolitefsi).

The secular democracy, introduced in 1928 in good faith byKemal Ataturk, having degenerated into brutal army rule,mass corruption, maladministration, stagnation of the econo-my, runaway inflation and widespread abuse of human rights,is at an end. So now Turkey too can hope to become aEuropean democracy free of qualifications. Her candidacy to

join the European Union, however, puts her into a unique posi-tion.

So far, countries became eligible to join, having first got ridof their dictatorships. Greece did so in the 1970s, Spain andPortugal in the 1980s. In the 1990s the countries who used tocall themselves popular democracies became eligible aftershedding their 'popular' qualification and embracing the EUvalues, mores, rules and secondary legislation. Turkey isexceptional in that the very process of trying to qualify formembership has proved the most powerful catalyst for tamingthe 'deep state' and taking steps in the right democratic direc-tion. The Turkish case thus requires some finesse of approach.

What the military badly need in order to re-impose their rulein Turkey are enemies. To override the impressive mandate theTurkish people gave Erdogan, they need to project themselvesas the "defenders of the nation" over and above petty politics.The unresolved Kurdish question could serve this purpose butit has its drawbacks. An invasion of Iraq to destroy Kurdistan- the only region at relative peace that also happens to be closeto the US - would incur not just American displeasure butAmerican anger. The 'success' of such an operation would alsobe very doubtful. Turkey has not been able for decades now totame the PKK rebellion even when Saddam allowed theTurkish army its occasional raid into the Kurdish territories ofIraq. Why on earth would a large-scale incursion now, with theIraqi Kurds fairly well organised and armed, make any differ-ence from the military point of view?

It would also be a pity if the generals could portray the EU asthe enemy of the Turks in order to whip up the nationalist fren-zy they must create in order to regain the position they havelost. One hopes Karamanlis explained this to Mr Sarkozywhen he met him on July 30 with due rigour, vigour and con-sistency. One hopes he made him understand that the very longand arduous road to the EU that Turkey is now engaged in,should eventually lead to membership and not be declared animpasse right from the beginning.

ATHENS NEWS

AUGUST 2007

Editorial

Mr Paul Orfanos Community Relations Manager Bank of Cyprus and the Principal of St JohnsGreek Orthodox College Mr Neil Champion with some of the donated PC’s.

The Bank of Cyprus Australia continues to assist schools via its successful Oikade SchoolsProgram.

Over the last year the Bank has continued to fund an internet based live communication pro-gram between partnered schools in Cyprus, Greece and Australia.Furthermore the Bank has also organised successful Soccer and Golf Clinics for students at the

schools.Recently the Bank of Cyprus donated computers to St Johns and St Anargyri Greek Orthodox

Colleges, as well as Alphington Grammar School to further assist students to develop the PCskills.

Bank of Cyprus continues to assist schools

via the Oikade Schools Program

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA4/22 AUGUST 2007

A massive findA startling discovery of two prehistoric tusks - possibly the largest

ever found in the world - could prove to be a ‘goldmine’ for scientists

DEREK GATOPOULOS

The petrified remains of a mastodon - aprimitive elephant-like creature - with tusksmeasuring up to five meters long, werefound in an area where excavations haveuncovered the remains of several prehis-toric animals over the past decade.

A team of Greek and Dutch researchers saidit was the largest tusk ever found from theprimitive ancestor of the elephant.

“To find a tusk five meters long, that was abig surprise,” Evangelia Tsoukala, AssistantProfessor of Geology at the University ofThessaloniki, told the Associated Press in atelephone interview from the site. The second tusk found at the site near the vil-

lage of Milia, 430 kilometres (267 miles) northof Athens, measured 4.6 meters.

“That’s absolutely astonishing. This is a fan-tastic find,” said Dave Martill, a palaeontolo-gist at the University of Portsmouth inEngland, an independent expert not connectedwith the excavation.

“These animals, in their bones, hold a whole

load of information about the environment atthe time - not just the animal,” Martill said.Because the tusks have “growth rings in themand you can analyse each individual layer andpick up signals about climate. These offer fan-tastic potential for studying not just the ani-mals themselves but ancient climates.” Tsoukala led a team which excavated the two

tusks from the same animal, together with legbones and its upper and lower jaw still bearingteeth. “It’s a very significant find because withthese sections of the skeleton we can drawconclusions about this animal and its develop-ment,” she said. “We are also looking for cluesabout its extinction.”

Mastodons were similar to woolly mam-moths but had straighter tusks as well as differ-ent teeth and eating habits. They roamedEurope, Asia and North America, but how theybecame extinct remains a mystery. Mastodonsare thought to have disappeared in Europe andAsia some two million years ago but survivedin North America until 10,000 years ago. T soukala said the male animal discovered inMilia lived about 2.5 million years ago. “This animal was in its prime. It was 25 to 30

years old; they lived until about 55. It wasabout 3.5 meters tall at the shoulder, andweighed around six tonnes,” Tsoukala said.

‘It’s a goldmine’

Veteran Dutch researcher Dick Mol, whoaided the Greek excavation, said he hoped thefind at Milia could also yield clues about themastodon’s extinction. “It’s really a gold-mine,” said Mol, a research associate at theMuseum of Natural History in Rotterdam.“These are the best preserved skeletons in theworld of this species.”

Plant material found near the tusks will beanalysed in Greece and the Netherlands, andcould give scientists a “better idea of the envi-ronment this animal was living in,” Mol said. The Milia bone remains will also be scouredfor the remote chance of finding DNA materi-al.

Researchers from Germany and the UnitedStates recently analysed genetic material froman American mastodon recovered from fossilsup to 130,000 years old found in Alaska, pro-viding clearer insight into elephants’ evolu-tionary development.

If DNA is recovered from the much olderMilia animal - which Mol acknowledges is“very doubtful” - it could allow researchers tocompare it directly to European and Americanmastodons at an unprecedented level of detail.The five-meter tusk at Milia was discoveredlast October by an excavation machine opera-tor working at a sand quarry, but it tookmonths for the scientific investigation of thesite to be organised.

Tsoukala, who has been conducting excava-tions in the region since 1990, found anothermastodon tusk measuring 4.39 meters in thesame area 10 years ago. She said the latest dis-covery is more significant because the skeletonremains are more complete. Locally excavatedfossils are carefully removed from the groundafter being protected in plaster “jackets,” andare currently displayed at the village’s tinymuseum of natural history.

Tsoukala is urging the government to fund anew site. “We need a new museum becausethis is valuable material for international refer-ence,” she said. “Whoever wants to study thisanimal must come to Milia.”

(AP)

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Seeking solutions

from the experts It is quite clear that Greece has entered the

final stretch in the countdown to general elec-tions, the prospect of which has dominatedpolitical debate for months.

And unfortunately the average Greek knowswhat to expect over the next few weeks:Insipid verbal duels on television talk pro-grams and hackneyed political rhetoric are theorder of the day.

But the problems afflicting our country areserious and must be debated responsibly ifthey are ever to be solved.

Many are appealing to the technocrats andspecialist managers in Greek public life todirect certain key questions toward our politi-cians, irrespective of their affiliation.

Problems relating to our environment, aswell as widespread corruption and poor publicadministration all need to be solved in the nearfuture if our standard of life is to improve.

But unfortunately Greek politicians havebecome accustomed to generalized wishfulthinking and it is very difficult to convincethem to speak out on specific subjects (or offerconcrete solutions). Meanwhile, the chronicproblems plaguing our society are perpetuated.

Many believe that questions levelled byexperts could highlight specific cures for theills afflicting our country and help the differentpolitical parties see eye to eye.

If such an approach works, then, after theelections, we may witness a similar situation tothat in Spain or Germany when both primeministers and the leaders of the opposition metin the same room with experts to discuss pen-sion reform or other intractable problems anddid not emerge again until they had agreed onbold solutions.

KATHIMERINI

An impression of the mastodon by Dutch artist Remie Bakker Dutch researcher Dick Mol examines the jaws of the prehistoric mastodon

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 5/23

Our Primate’s View

By ArchbishopStylianos

of Australia

AUGUST 2007

For the Orthodox, and particularly for the Greek peo-

ple, the first 15 days of August is a time in the Church calen-

dar with a very distinct character and spirituality: Daily

Services of Supplication to the holy Mother of God. A time

of gentle and lenient fasting, as it is a period abundant in fruit

and vegetables. And above all confession, contemplation and

preparation for the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos.

However, this period of 15 days leading to the feast

would not be authentically Orthodox if it did not have a fur-

ther feature, which dignifies and fills it with a reverence wor-

thy of the Mother of God. This extra feature is given by a

feast day of the Lord which is found, almost silently we

could say, within the sacred setting of the first 15 days in

August. We refer to the feast of the holy Transfiguration. For

just as in our iconography we shall never see the holy Mother

Mary without Christ, so it is in our worship and theology that

there is no Mariology separate from Christology. This is the

substantial reason for which the Transfiguration of the Lord

is celebrated almost in the middle of the 15 days leading to

the Dormition.

Yet which other deeper relationship could connect

these two radiant peaks, that provide orientation to our spiri-

tual journey in August? What has the Transfiguration to do

with the Dormition? In answering this reasonable question,

we could summaries with the following:

the common denominator of both sacred occurrences in our

religious history is the assurance of the dynamism of lovewhich leaves nothing static or lifeless. To be more precise,

this relates not only to God’s love for the human person, but

also to the human person’s love for God. A love which testi-

fies in infinite ways with continually new surprises that God

is the God of the living and not of the dead (Mat. 22:32).

Let us explain this more clearly and analytically:

What is the meaning of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mt

Tabor? Is Christ not God, and moreover the Son of the livingGod? (Mat.16:16). And is God not unchanging, being the

same yesterday and today and unto the ages? (Heb.13:8). So

given that the essence of God neither changes nor fluctuates

– unlike His corruptible creations – what then does the

Transfiguration mean in the case of Christ? Before offering

an answer to these very natural questions of every religious

and thinking person, we should affirm that it would literally

be blasphemous to think, even for a moment, that Christ per-

formed a ‘magic act’ before His astonished Disciples. And

we should add that His Birth and Crucifixion and all major

events of His earthly life were not less wondrous and super-

natural than His Resurrection and Transfiguration.

But let us return to our initial question: What was

transfigured by Christ upon Mt Tabor? The passage of the

holy Gospel tells us clearly: And He was transfigured beforethem. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes becamewhite as the light (Mat. 17:2-3).

Thus we have His “face” on the one hand, and His

“clothes” on the other, which changed, shone and were trans-

figured, such that the Disciples present were dazzled and

frightened by the blinding and uncreated light, that revealed

the divine glory in one striking moment.

Therefore it was not the divine essence of Christ

which was transfigured. Rather only the human aspect (His

face and clothes) became like light and totally transparent. If

one should ask, Why all of this?, we respond: It was to

remind us of the dynamism of divine love, which does not

allow us to be weak in faith even before the most bitter

impasses of life. This at any rate is especially underlined by

the hymnographer of the relevant feast: “so that in seeing

Your wonders, the Disciples would not be timid at Your suf-

ferings”.

By transfiguring Himself, then, it was as if He was

saying to man: “just as I the invisible became visible, the

uncontainable became containable, God became human, to

approach you as much as possible and save you, in the same

way I shall never cease to be vigilant over you until your

final redemption, so long as you never forget that my love is

always ready to do anything for you.”

The message of the Dormition of the Theotokos is

similar. And her passing from this life to eternity was also

another transfiguration, showing that beyond the limits of

what is naturally possible there lies the omnipotence of love

which ties the Creator with the created.

Here also, the dynamism of divine love is in full

flight, allowing the hymnographer to state epigrammatically

in admiration once again: “Nature’s boundaries were over-

come in you, spotless Virgin…”

But is it not also true that, in the lives of each of us,

in every common person, the same dynamism of God’s love

causes a host of transfigurations? Our transition from non-

existence to existence, our development from an embryo into

a baby, our growth from an infant into a fulfilled adult who

speaks, thinks, sins, repents and is renewed while returning

to mother earth from where we were fashioned – are not all

these daily and great things countless transfigurations made

possible by the love of God alone? Who gives the strength to

the thief, the tax collector, the prodigal and the desperate to

return into the embrace of God, if not the dynamism of divine

love?

The Transfiguration of Christ is therefore a leading

and unapproachable milestone in our life. Also sacred and

unapproachable for us who are unworthy is the Dormition of

the Theotokos, a similarly sacred transfiguration. Yet both

these sacred events are a guarantee and consolation that the

same God of love will transfigure into incorruption anything

from each of us that is entrusted to Him with unshakeable

faith and complete humility. For we certainly do not forget

His fundamental promise, which is at the same time a com-

mand and annunciation: behold I make all things new (Rev.

21:5).

Translation by DK

SOME THOUGHTS

ON THE 15 DAYS

IN AUGUST

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA6/24

The function of a funeralWhen many of us hear the term funeral, we shudder at thethought of having to attend such an event. Some people avoidgoing to funerals all together. Given that death is guaranteed,what is it that stops some people from facing the consequencesof losing a loved one or accepting death as a part of life? Evenmore so, what stops us from viewing a funeral as a celebrationof life and a commemoration of the deceased person? It is atime that allows the survivors to make a meaningful goodbye.

Although grief is a very individual experience, there are cer-tain processes that people go through. Initially after the deathof our loved one, we are in a state of shock, we may even denywhat has happened or we may feel angry. It is a time of intenseemotions, whether they are sadness, helplessness and/or des-peration.

The days leading up to the funeral is the time when we maystart to deal with grief and the reality of losing our loved one,

whether it be our soul mate, our parent, our sibling, child orfriend. It is a time when we are able to begin accepting thereality of the loss. As painful as the acceptance is, it is impor-tant to go through this experience and to accept the loss bybeing present at the funeral both physically and emotionally.

The funeral is a time where the bereaved person prepareshim/herself to physically part with their loved one and find ameaning in their life without this person. It is a time for thebereaved to express their feelings in their own way, as bestthey know how and more so, as much as their pain permits. Itis therefore important for the bereaved to take an active role inthe funeral proceedings and remember not to rush intoarrangements and/or commitments on the day your relativedies. It is important to take time, perhaps a day or two to workthrough the arrangements. The time of the funeral, or the daysleading up to the funeral, is a time to say goodbye to thedeceased, to talk about the person who has died, to rememberthem, to remember the good times, the bad times, regrets, toexpress feelings of guilt relating to the relationship and howmuch they meant.

As we are all different, we all grieve in different ways, there isno set process or grieving path. Each person’s experience isindividual, in the intensity of grief and the time it takes to heal.During these difficult times it is advisable:� to seek the support of family and friends

� not to take any kind of numbing medication, unless oth-

erwise advised by your GP

� not to make any major life decisions within the 12

months from the death

� not to sell or get rid of any of the belongings of the

deceased for at least 6 months after the death

� to seek professional (psychological / psychiatric) assis-

tance if it is a sudden and/or tragic death (for example death

by suicide)

� to seek professional (psychological / psychiatric) assis-

tance if it is the death of a child (as this is a high risk time for

marital break–up)

Call your local GP, psychologist or the Australian Psycholog-ical Society (APS) Referral Service on 1800 333 497 for moreinformation.

Mina Candalepas is a Registered Psychologist. She is the sole director of

a Clinical Private Practice in the Campsie Professional Medical Practice,

Sydney NSW. Her particular speciality is in trauma and chronic pain

management and she also provides psychological therapy for depression,

anxiety, work-place issues and/or injuries, relationship issues, self esteem

and grief.

Therapy is conducted in either English or Greek. All services are by

appointment ONLY and strictly confidential. Her contact details are Tel

(02) 9591 7714, Mob 0410 493 806.

Mental Health

By Mina Candalepas*Psychologist MAPSReg NSW PS0057198

AUGUST 2007

ProviCare - counselling and rehabilitation of drug and alcohol abuse ph. 1800 010 575

Half of homebuyers don't know

what interest rate they payBy Colin Brinsden - AAP

While homebuyers may be already feelingthe pinch from the latest interest rate rise,new research shows that almost half ofmortgagees don't know what interest ratethey are currently paying.

A report by accounting body CPA Australiaalso shows that almost one in four homebuyersdidn't know what the interest rate was whenthey took out their loan.

Kath Bowler, CPA's Financial PlanningPolicy Adviser, says the study found thathomebuyers were "disturbingly uninformed"."Considering that the increasing cost of hous-

ing is making the Aussiedream of owning your ownhome harder to turn intoreality for many people, it isalmost as if people are turn-ing a blind eye to the costwhen choosing a homeloan," she said.

Ms Bowler says theresearch results are surpris-ing considering public anxi-ety about a potential interestrate rise."Even small changes to the

rate can have a significant impact on theirrepayments," she said.The Reserve Bank of Australia decided earli-

er this month to lift interest rates for the firsttime since November, increasing its cash rateto 6.5 per cent from 6.25 per cent, whichwould see the rate for standard variable mort-gages upped to 8.3 per cent from 8.05 per cent.The research found that borrowers were more

concerned about the relationships they havewith their lender than the interest rate they arecharged, with 43 per cent of respondentsclaiming existing or past relationships as theprimary reason for their choice, with fees and

charges second.Still, over half of the respondents under 35

years old said monetary aspects, such as com-petitive rates, motivated their choice of mort-gage product, compared with 27 per cent forthose aged over 40.Seventy per cent of respondents expect to pay

off their mortgage early, while 54 per centchose a mortgage product with features such asredraw, offset or all-in-one accounts on thebasis they would help them pay off the loanfaster.

"Redraws aren't always a fast track to finan-cial freedom," Ms Bowler said.

"In fact, 64 per cent of those interviewedadmitted they have usedtheir redraw, offset or all-in-one account for personal rea-sons.

"There's a risk that thesefacilities can turn into a resi-dential ATM, with mort-gagees constantly withdraw-ing the excess money to fundpersonal expenses, ratherthan to pay their loan offfaster."And of the 86 per cent who

said they had these mortgagefeatures attached to their loan, more than halfsaid they are not being charged extra for theseservices.However, interest rate data from the six major

banks compiled by consumer financial prod-ucts researcher CANNEX showed these facil-ities do cost more."On average, mortgagees are paying 0.67 per

cent more to have an offset facility and 0.68per cent more to have a line of credit," MamtaGrewal, from the CANNEX research group,says.

"That's equivalent to over $34,000 extra youwill pay on a $250,000 loan over 25 years."

$100 million flower industry not so rosyAustralia's $100 million flower industry is

under pressure from a shortage of skilledlabour and lack of market understanding,according to a Deakin University study.The industry is also being fragmented by

supermarket, roadside stall and internet salesof cut flowers which have become significantalternatives to traditional florist sales.

Professors Stuart Orr and Peter Oppenheimsaid the industry faced increased price compe-tition from poor-quality products.

"Growers in Victoria have done great things,but cooperation in the industry which featuresfragmentation and rivalry is an issue," Prof Orrsaid.

He said growers tend to produce what theyhave experience in growing, rather than whatthe market actually desires at different timesduring the year.

He said the lack of strategic planning by theindustry as a whole could result in ineffectivecompetition with rival products in the market-place.

However, Prof Orr said the growers inter-viewed believed the most immediate threat to

their business was the lack of skilled labour.While the future for the industry is quite

favourable, Australian per capita expenditureon cut flowers still remains low by world stan-dards."Nevertheless, I expect this to increase as the

proportion of the Australian population livingin flats and units increases," Prof Orr said.

Melbourne Markets group manager of busi-ness development Mary Stewart, who hasworked with the flower industry for 10 years,said it had come a long way but there was stillplenty of work to do.

"There is competition from a range of otheralternatives in the market place," Ms Stewartsaid.She said the export of Australian native flow-

ers was suffering because of competition fromother countries which were selling moreAustralian native flowers than Australia does.Currently, there is not a national body to rep-

resent the industry although there is a pushamong growers to set one up.

AAP

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 7/25AUGUST 2007

Immigrants

are healthier,

better educatedMigrants are better educated, morelaw-abiding, are generally healthierand less dependent on welfare thanthe average Australian-born citizen,a new report reveals.

The 18-month study, The SocialCosts and Benefits of Migration intoAustralia, was conducted by a researchteam from the University of NewEngland’s (UNE) Centre for AppliedResearch in Social Sciences.

UNE professor Kerry Carrington ledthe project, which included speakingwith government, business and com-munity leaders and comparing socialstatistics among migrants andAustralian-born citizens.

The costs of migration were found tobe low and mainly associated withmigrants adjusting to Australia aftertheir arrival.

Researchers found only a “marginal”incidence of racial prejudice to migra-tion, which was overshadowed by awidespread appreciation of the culturaland social benefits to Australia from itsmigration program.

“There are few social costs associat-ed with migration and most of these areshort-term integration issues that relatemostly to the humanitarian intake,”Prof Carrington said in a statement.

“However, most migrants, includingthose arriving through the humanitari-an intake, have over time, learntEnglish, acquired qualifications anddone well.”

Nearly 90 per cent of the 106,495immigrants entering Australia in the2006 financial year were skilledmigrants.More than six million migrants haveentered Australia since 1945, bringingthe country’s overseas-born populationto 25 per cent of the entire populationof 21 million people.

The report listed Australian Bureau ofStatistics figures showing migrantshave a slightly higher unemploymentrate but slightly higher labour forceparticipation rate.

Migrants are required to pass a seriesof health checks before acquiring tem-porary or permanent status in Australia.The report found migrants have alower hospitalisation rate thanAustralian-born citizens.

Most new immigrants are not eligiblefor disability or aged pensions until 10years after their arrival in Australiawhile non-humanitarian migrants mustwait two years before accessing socialsecurity payments.

UNE professor Jim Walmsley, co-editor of the report, said there was noevidence of a “migrant underclass” or“ethnic enclave ghettos” in Australiaand the report “dispelled a number ofmyths about the impact of migrants onthe host community”.

“On the contrary, the available evi-dence overwhelmingly supports theview that migrants to Australia havemade substantial contributions toAustralia’s stock of human, social andproduced capital,” Prof Walmsley said.

AAP

World far from beating AIDSThe world is still losing the fight against AIDS and arguing a con-trary view could lead to a global disaster, a top HIV researcher haswarned.

Leading British HIV consultant, Professor Brian Gazzard, has hit outwhat he says is unjustified optimism about the fight against HIV/AIDS,telling a major international medical conference in Sydney that the virusis out of control in much of the third world.

“The HIV epidemic is essentially uncontrolled, uncontrolled in Africa,uncontrolled completely in Asia right now,” he told journalists.

He said the statistics for India, where 5.7 million live with the disease,“are a very real indictment of what is ahead of us”.

“The scale of the endeavour needed to beat this epidemic (is something)nobody has even started to conceive of.”

Prof Gazzard, director of HIV research at London’s Chelsea andWestminster Hospital, was responding to views aired at the InternationalAIDS Society (IAS) congress that the end of the epidemic was imminent.Dr Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to FightAIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said in his opening address yesterdaythe world was on the cusp of beating the disease and he was optimistic thebattle would be won.

US HIV researcher Michael Lederman, a specialist in the mechanics ofthe disease, today agreed, saying the future looked “so bright.”

He said the life expectancy was once so poor that back in the 1980s hedidn’t even advise his HIV-positive patients to give up smoking. “Theredidn’t seem any point because they weren’t going to live,” said DrLederman, from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

“But now the outlook is so much better.”Prof Gazzard, however, said implying that “we’re on the cusp of dra-

matic development (and) that we’re going to beat AIDS would be a dis-aster - one, because it’s untrue and two, because it sends the very wrongmessage.”

The problem, he said, was that most of those commentating on the dis-ease “sit in an environment where it doesn’t seem to matter very much.”“Nothing could be further from the truth - it’s going to affect all humani-ty in due course.

The virus will not be beaten unless the developed world displays morehumanism toward the poor health of developing nations and more realismthat industrialised countries are not immune from the epidemic whichdecimates the rest of the world, Prof Gazzard said.

Internationally-acclaimed US HIV researcher Anthony Fauci, directorof the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said whilesome optimism was acceptable, the statistics were very sobering.

More than four million people were newly infected last year, and whileaccess to anti-retroviral treatments had increased dramatically since 2000,70 per cent of sufferers are still dying unmedicated.

“We can celebrate the extraordinary scientific and public healthadvances but we are far, far from victory in the fight against this pandem-ic,” Dr Fauci said.

“We have so much more to do before we can say we’ve even begun tosee the end of it.”

AAP

Facts & Stats

Low-paid women worse off under Work ChoicesThe federal government’s Work Choices leg-islation has been corrosive to family life, aNSW-government funded study says.

The study of 25 NSW women, entitled Downand Out With Work Choices: the Impact ofWork Choices on the Work and Lives ofWomen in Low Paid Employment, was jointlyfunded by the state government and theUniversity of Sydney.

Associate Professor Marian Baird, who co-authored the report with Dr Rae Cooper,brushed off Workplace Relations Minister JoeHockey’s criticisms of the small size of the sur-vey sample.

“I think it reflects his misunderstanding of theresearch process,” Professor Baird said.

“The purpose of the research is to understandwhat has happened to people after the introduc-tion of Work Choices. These are not made upstories.”

NSW Industrial Relations Minister John DellaBosca said the report showed Work Choiceswas negatively impacting on the finances,health and family life of women in lower paidjobs.

“The report shows Work Choices has had aknock-on effect beyond the workplace - thewomen’s choices in work, at home and in thecommunity have all been diminished,” he said.

Dr Cooper said the women were struggling topay for the essentials of family life - mortgages,rents, utilities and for their children’s shoes.“Work Choices has also proved to be corrosiveto family life,” Dr Cooper said.

The 25 women reported pay cuts, loss ofpenalty rates, higher job insecurity and frequentabuses of managerial powers.

The study also found the women were strug-gling financially as a result of changes at workand this was having a direct effect on theircapacity for financial independence.

To make ends meet, they were becoming more

dependent upon family members, male partnersand welfare.

As well, the study found considerable evi-dence that women had internalised many of thechanges and felt powerless and fearful as a

result.The report also said many of the women were

dismissed without reason, and with no recoursedue to the removal of the unfair dismissal laws.

“These were women whose wages were pre-viously guaranteed by the awards system,” ProfBaird said.

The workers in the report came from the childcare, aged care, hospitality, and retail sectors.They earned an average weekly pay of $450.

Prof Baird said the report provided “real evi-dence of the effect of Work Choices onwomen’s lives”.

All 25 interviewees were volunteers, and werenot affiliated with a union.

The subjects had to meet certain criteria in linewith statistical data in a report on employmentindicators, the authors said.

“That report showed us which workers in theAustralian economy would be most susceptibleto change. These workers were previouslyunder the award system,” she said.

“We knew, therefore, those people who wouldbe affected by changes to regulation.”

The researchers asked employers to partici-pate, but said none responded.

AAP

“Thw AIDS virus is out of control in much of the third world”, says lead-ing British HIV consultant, Professor Brian Gazzard

17,000 more properties needed every yearSome 17,000 new homes must be built each year for the next decade to ensure the most vul-

nerable Australians have access to affordable housing, a lobby group says.Australians for Affordable Housing has released a five point plan to tackle what it says is a

housing crisis.“Housing affordability in this country has never been worse ... (and) we see from the latest con-

sumer price index (CPI) figures that the risk of an interest rate rise is increasing in this country,”spokesman David Imber told reporters in Canberra.The Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that Australia’s trimmed mean CPI rose 0.9 per

cent in the June quarter, for an annual growth rate of 2.7 per cent.Mr Imber said Australia’s housing system could get even worse if the state, territory and fed-

eral governments do not work together to devise a serious plan to tackle housing affordability.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA8/26

Windows to Orthodoxy

AUGUST 2007

Happy New Year – AGAIN!By Guy Freeland*

September 1 marks the beginning of the Orthodox Church Year.So, Happy New Year to all my readers!

But, you might very well protest, we celebrated the New Yeareight months ago. We attended a parish New Year ball and theblessing of the Vasilopita. We might even have attended theDivine Liturgy had we not unfortunately overslept. Yes, wehave celebrated the New Year all right, what is all this nonsenseabout a second New Year?

Caesar’s New Year

The reality is that January 1 is simply the Civil New Year. Theecclesiastical celebrations, including the semi-liturgical bless-ing of the Vasilopita (the Eastern answer to the Western TwelfthNight cake, now sadly seldom baked), have nothing to do withthe Church New Year.

January 1 is certainly an important day liturgically. It is in facta double festival, both a feast of Our Lord, in which we com-memorate His circumcision on the eighth day after His birth inaccordance with Jewish law (Luke 2:21), and the feast of StBasil the Great, the renowned Cappadocian Father of theChurch.

January 1, the day on which the term of office of the Consulscommenced, became the official New Year’s Day when, in 45BC, Julius Caesar reformed the impossibly corrupt RomanRepublican Calendar. The reformed calendar came to be knownas the Julian Calendar in his honour. Working with theAlexandrine astronomer Sosigenes, Caesar brought the tradi-tional calendar dates for the solstices and the equinoxes backinto good alignment with the astronomical events themselves.

The Republican Calendar had taken March 1 as its New Year,which is why the four last months of our year are labelled theseventh, eighth, ninth and tenth months (i.e., September,October, November and December). Curiously, Venice tookMarch 1 as New Year’s Day until the Serene Republic fell toNapoleon in 1797.

The Quest for a Christian New Year

The absence of any good Christian ground for adopting January1 as New Year led many Christian states to opt for an alterna-tive. An obvious candidate was the Nativity of Christ.Christmas Day also had the advantage of being a mere eightdays from the Caesarean New Year.

A system for numbering the years from the Incarnation hadbeen devised in 525 by the monk Dionysius Exiguus, in draw-ing up a new set of tables for determining the date of Easter. Theyear designated by the chronology proposed by Dionysius isknown as the Year of Grace, annus gratiae, or the Year of theLord, annus domini (AD), which is short for, annus ab incar-natione domini, the Year from the Incarnation of the Lord.

Influenced, in particular, by the advocacy of the great scholarand saint, the Venerable Bede of Jarrow (c.673-735), the adop-tion of the Year of Grace beginning on Christmas Day becamewidespread in Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages.

However, was Christmas the right festival to adopt? Didn’t theAnnunciation, the conception of Christ, mark the beginning ofthe new era of the Incarnation rather than His birth? If so,shouldn’t March 25 mark the commencement of the Year ofGrace? This line of thinking led many states during the eleventhand twelfth centuries to adopt the Annunciation as New Year.

In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII instituted a corrected calendar.Julius Caesar’s calendar was too long, compared with the trop-ical year of the sun, by approximately one day every 130 years.Thus by the sixteenth century, March 21, the date taken by theCouncil of Nicaea (325) as the spring equinox, and which wasto be used in the determination of the date of Easter, was fallingten days later on the Julian Calendar than should have been thecase. Easter and other festivals were, alarmingly, beginning tomigrate from one season to the next.

Gregory’s commissioners chopped ten days off 1582 andamended the leap year rule to yield the more accurate calendarknown as the Gregorian. At the same time, Caesar’s January 1New Year was restored. Although not all states changed back toJanuary 1 at the same time that they switched from the JulianCalendar, eventually under the sway of the Gregorian reformJanuary 1 became the Civil New Year universally. (That hasn’tmeant, of course, that religious and traditional new years, suchas the Chinese Lunar New Year, have ceased to be celebrated.)

In broad terms, Catholic countries were swift to adopt theGregorian Calendar, but Protestant much slower and Orthodoxcountries slower still, in fact not until the twentieth century.England continued to keep March 25 as New Year until 1752,when it changed over to the Gregorian Calendar. Scotland,which will occupy us in the next section, adopted January 1 in1600.

Hogmanay

When I was growing up in Southern England (and I am not thatantique) New Year was not a public holiday and its celebrationwas low-key, almost totally eclipsed by Christmas. The, to mymind regrettable, popularity of today’s wall-to-wall internation-al-airport celebration of New Year – even by very manyOrthodox who have a more meaningful New Year of their own– owes much to the decline in observance of the Church Yearand the influence of the Scottish celebration of Hogmanay. Thestory of Hogmanay is a cautionary tale worthy of the telling.

Whereas some Churches that underwent the Reformation, suchas the Church of England and the Church of Sweden, retainedmuch of the traditional Liturgical Year, others almost entirelyabandoned it. Unlike England, which was influenced more byLuther and such homegrown reformers as ArchbishopCranmer, it was the more austere Calvinism that took root inScotland, and the keeping of traditional festivals came underattack.

Particularly strong were the attacks on the celebration ofChristmas as it was regarded as a Popish neo-pagan feast. Theresult was that the observance of Christmas, which enjoyed avery special place amongst the annual feasts in Britain, as itdoes still today in England, was forbidden by the Kirk (= theScottish Church) from the seventeenth through to the mid-twentieth century. Consequently, December 25 became an ordi-nary working day in Scotland.

The Kirk might have succeeded in suppressing Christmas but itcouldn’t suppress the urge for a celebration to bring a bit of joyand warmth into the midst of the bleak northern winter. Theresult was that New Year became a substitute for Christmas asa mid-winter festival.

But it was ceremonies deriving from the old pre-Christian cel-ebration of the winter solstice, which had persisted in someform in many places, that were transferred to what becameknown as Hogmanay. (There is no agreement as to what theword actually means.) Today, both January 1 and 2 are public

holidays in Scotland, presumably to allow recovery from theexcesses of Hogmanay.

So the net result of the Kirk’s virulent attack on the observanceof Christmas was that a wave of pagan ceremonies poured in tofill the vacuum, attaching themselves to New Year. These cere-monies included lighting huge bonfires, rolling barrels of flam-ing tar down hills and tossing flaming torches around. AtStonehaven in Northern Scotland, enormous balls of fireattached to metal poles are still, I gather, borne up the HighStreet at Hogmanay. The great firework displays on SydneyHarbour and elsewhere are descendants of such pagan revels.

The Hogmanay celebrations also included dressing up in ani-mal skins and burning cattle hides, as the stench this occasionedwas believed to drive off evil spirits. Such ceremonies as thesehave now all but died out, but apparently a ritual is still per-formed on the Isle of Lewis by young boys in which the lead-ers of the revels clothe themselves in a sheep’s skin.

But now we need to backtrack to Late Antiquity to consider:

The Indiction

Under Diocletian, a mean and nasty sort of year hit the Romanworld, a tax year. At the end of each agricultural year, all levies(in grain, wine, clothing or whatever) due to the State in theforthcoming year were assessed. The indictio told each personliable exactly what they were up for. As the agricultural yearended with the ingathering of the harvests in autumn,September 1 was chosen as the beginning of the indiction.From 287 the indiction was counted in cycles of three years.

Constantine the Great adopted the indiction as the administra-tive year for the Empire and the Church followed suit. In theEast, September 1 also became the beginning of the liturgicalyear, which is why the Menaion (the work which details theservices for the fixed feasts month by month) commences withSeptember. In the West, however, although the indiction wasadopted, the First Sunday of Advent (the fourth Sunday beforeChristmas) was appointed as the start of the liturgical year.

From 312 the indictions were counted in cycles of fifteen yearsand the number of the current year of the indiction (1st, 2nd, 3rd

… 15th) was often used in dating documents. September 1,2007 marks the beginning of the last year of the current cycle.

But, from a Christian perspective, is September 1 any moremeaningful as New Year than January 1? Well, yes it is, and thereason is the Jewish New Year:

Rosh Hashanah

The two-day Jewish New Year or Festival of Trumpets, RoshHashanah, begins on the first of the lunar month, Tishrei(Leviticus 23:23-25, Numbers 29:1-6). From this feast are cal-culated calendar years and sabbatical years (every seventh yearwhen the land is rested, the fields left fallow and harvests notgathered), and Jubilees (every 50th year, when slaves who wereJewish were freed). Jewish legend tells us that it was on Tishrei 1 that God completed the Creation.

In actual fact, Judaism keeps a second New Year, the first of thelunar month Nisan, which marks the start of the NorthernHemisphere spring. It is at the full moon of Nisan that Passoveris kept. However, it is the more ancient Rosh Hashanah thatconcerns us here.

Unlike the Jewish, the Julian and Gregorian calendars haveschematic months, months that are not determined by the cycleof the phases of the moon. However, the schematic month thatmost closely equates with Tishrei is September; so theBeginning of the Indiction equates with the Jewish New Year,even if the two do not exactly coincide.

In placing the New Year in the Northern Hemisphere autumn,at the close of the agricultural year, the Jews were followingearly Mesopotamian practice. New Year was a feast for givingthanks for the Creation and for the fruits of the earth that had

ProviCare - counselling and rehabilitation of drug and alcohol abuse ph. 1800 010 575

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 9/27AUGUST 2007

Cont. from previous page

been harvested. Equally it was the time to ask God’s / the gods’blessing on the new agricultural year ahead.

As a consequence of the correspondence between Tishrei 1 andSeptember 1 the liturgy for the Beginning of the Indiction isable to draw on Old Testament texts and teaching that reflectthemes of the Jewish New Year.

The Liturgy

The Liturgy Gospel reading appointed for the Beginning of theIndiction is Luke 4:16-22, which tells of Christ, at the begin-ning of His ministry, reading and preaching on a text fromIsaiah in the Synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath. The likelypassage Jesus read was (or included) Isaiah 61:1-10, whichforms the first reading at Vespers, but Luke actually combinesand adapts Isaiah 61:1, 2 and 58:6.

… there was given to him the book of the prophetIsaiah. He opened the book

and found the place where it is written,“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has

anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim

release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty

those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”And he closed the book, and … began to say to them,

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17-21 RSV.)

There is a tradition that Christ’s sermon in the Synagogue atNazareth was preached at Rosh Hashanah. Whether this is so ornot (no passage from Isaiah appears in the Synagogue lec-tionary for Rosh Hashanah), Isaiah 61:1-10 is peculiarly appro-priate both to Rosh Hashanah and the commencement of Jesus’ministry.

From the lips of the Word (Christ), “the acceptable year of theLord” takes on a much more profound meaning than just a ref-erence to the forthcoming year. The Gospel reading appointedfor Mattins, Luke 24:1-12 (also the fourth of the cycle ofResurrection Gospel readings appointed for Sunday Mattins)was obviously partly chosen because of its opening words, “Buton the first day of the week, at early dawn … ”. Clearly, we areinvited to see a parallel between the beginning of the week, theLord’s Day, and the beginning of the year.

But there is a deeper reason why a Resurrection Gospel is soappropriate to the feast. Christ’s resurrection inaugurated a newcreation and a new age. The Old Testament New Year was buta foreshadowing of the new age to come. The “scripture hasbeen fulfilled” (Luke 4:21) and time has been swept up intoeternity, the eighth day, the Day of the Lord. The eternal king-dom of God to come is already with us. In Christ, time has beenvanquished.

The third reading appointed for Vespers, Wisdom 4:7-15,makes the point that it is not longevity that matters but qualityand righteousness of life; a message which badly needs to beconveyed to today’s world (see my article on the fear of deathin the May edition of Vema). It is not time and a mentality cen-tred on the flesh which matters but eternity (which is a presentreality not just something projected into the future) and thephronema of the Spirit (see Romans 8:6).

With its emphasis on the Creation, the land and the agriculturalyear, it is not surprising that in 1989 the Ecumenical PatriarchDemetrios I chose September 1 as a day of special prayer and

supplication for the environment. The Patriarch, conscious ofthe contribution that Orthodox tradition might make to the ame-lioration of the global crisis, was concerned to engage theChurch in the environmental movement. The work that he ini-tiated has been energetically pursued by his successor, the pres-ent Patriarch, Bartholomaios I.

The second Vespers reading for the Beginning of the Indiction,Leviticus 26:3-12, 14-17, 19-20, 22-24, 33, 40-42 (the versesdiffer slightly in different lectionaries), is particularly relevantto the environmental crisis. It contrasts the blessings that flowfrom obedience to God’s commands and a right attitude to theenvironment with the dire consequences that result fromungodly attitudes and actions.

I can think of a few people who urgently need to dust off thefamily Bible and read Leviticus 26.

* Guy Freeland is an Honorary Lecturer at St Andrew’s GreekOrthodox Theological College, Sydney.

Questions & AnswersWhat virtues of the Theotokos should women imi-

tate?

Because the Theotokos, that is, Mary the mother of our Lord, is the first and chiefamong the saints, she is a model not only for women, but for all Christians: men,women, young people, boys and girls. From the fact of God’s choice of her to bearJesus Christ, His Son, we learn some things about her. She was “full of grace” (kehar-

itomene), the “Lord was with (her)” and she had “found favour with God” (Luke 1:28, 30). Inorder for her to have been chosen by God to be the human mother of Jesus Christ, she was aspecial person, in that she loved God, she was devoted in prayer and personal commitment toGod and she lived in communion with Him. This is an example for each and every one of us.Further, she was and remained a virgin (Luke 27), that is she was morally pure. Those who areunmarried, as she was, should follow her example of purity; those who are married exercisetheir purity by remaining faithful and committed in all things to their spouses. When the angeltold her at the Annuciation what was about to take place, she did not accept it blindly, butinquired so as to understand what God was doing and how it was to happen. Thus, she is anexample to all, not of blind and unreasoning faith, but of a faith which engages the whole per-son, including the mind (Luke 1:31 – 35). She gives us, as well, the example of freely givenacceptance and conformance to the will of God, when she responded to the angelic announce-ment these words: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word” (Luke1:38).As a parent, she cared for her child in a proper fashion (Luke 2:12), following the religious prac-tices of her people as regards children (Luke 2:27 – 32). Mary and Joseph trained Jesus as theywould have any child. During the episode at the Temple in Jerusalem when He was 12 yearsold, we see how Mary and Joseph involved Jesus in Church life. We also see an example of

concerned parenthood in her . Mary went back to Jerusalem to find Jesus and when she foundHim, she said “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been lookingfor you anxiously” (Luke 2:48). Certainly an example of parental love. When they went home,we see another aspect of the Virgin’s life. The Scripture tell us that “His mother kept all thesethings in her heart” (Luke 2:51), indicating that she also was reflective and meditative, seekingto find deeper meanings in the ordinary events of life. She was not a “surface person,” but rathershe connected daily events with God’s will and purpose. Christians, thus, in the same way seekto “see sermons in stones” for their own lives. Later, at the Cross, Jesus’ Mother showedcourage and devotion (when even His disciples had abandoned Him) as she stayed near theCross, an example of loyalty and commitment to the Lord in difficult, trying and unpopularmoments (John 19:25). The Theotokos is truly an example for every Christian.

From the Orthodox Church: 455 Questions and Answers, by Stanley S. Harakas, published by Light and Life.

If you have any questions about the Orthodox faith which you would like answeredin the VEMA, send them to

Vema -Q.&A., P.O.Box M59 Marrickville South,

NSW 2204

or e-mail them to:

vema@bigpond.net.au

QA

Olive oil, Greek food

halts heart death: StudyNew research shows Australians who regularly eat a

Grecian-style diet .. rich in olive oil .. vegetables and lightcheese .. are halving their risk of dying from heart disease.

The benefits of Mediterranean foods are well documentedin Greece and Italy .. but a newly-released Melbourne studyhas confirmed the same benefits can be reaped Down Under.

The 10-year study has tracked the dietary and health patternsof about 40-thousand Melburnians .. and shows aMediterranean diet had the strongest links to good health.

Monash University researchers have found people who fre-quently ate traditional Mediterranean foods had a 30 per centlower risk of dying from cardiovascular problems .. like heartattack and stroke.

And for coronary heart disease in particular .. the risk ofdeath was 50 per cent less.The study's been published in the latest American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition.The Mediterranean diet is characterised by higher intakes of

plant foods and fish .. moderate intake of wine and lowerintake of animal products. AAP

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA10/28 AUGUST 2007

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA

MMAACCBBEETTHH PPLLAAYY SSTTAAGGEEDD AATT NNIIDDAA OONN TTHHEE 33rrdd AAUUGGUUSSTT 22000077MMAACCBBEETTHH PPLLAAYY SSTTAAGGEEDD AATT NNIIDDAA OONN TTHHEE 33rrdd AAUUGGUUSSTT 22000077

We thank all those who sponsored this years production of Macbeth that was staged at NIDA on the 3rd August 2007- Bank of Cyprus,

Baby Kingdom, Barbouttis Tylers Accountants, Laiki Bank, Metropolitan Demolitions Group, Jetset Marrickville, Alec Pappas Architects,

Sydney Plumbing Services, Super-Tech Security & Sound, Maroubra Optometrists, Icon Eyewear, Kingsford Removals, CTC Group,

Designer Kutz Hair & Beauty, South Sydney Plumbing and Zissis Cleaning Services.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 11/29AUGUST 2007

To purchase tickets for Snapshots 2007 please contact the office of St. Spyridon College on (02) 9311 3340.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA12/30

Health

The fastest growing chronic disease inAustralia is diabetes .Approximately one anda half million Australians have diabetes. By2010 the number of Australians with diabetesis predicted to reach 1.8 million. Every hour inAustralia approximately eleven adults arediagnosed with diabetes. That is 275 people aday or 1925 people a week on average arediagnosed with diabetes.

There is no cure for diabetes but diabetes canbe controlled. Diabetes can lead to potentiallyserious complications including heart disease,strokes, kidney failure, blindness and lowerlimb amputations.

WHAT IS DIABETES?DIABETES, or correctly known as DiabetesMellitus is a disorder caused by the decreasedproduction of a hormone called insulin, or bythe decreased ability of the body to use insulin.In short, diabetes is a condition that developsdue to the body’s inability to convert food intouseable energy.

The food digested in the body, releases glu-cose, a form of sugar, into the blood. The pres-ence of sugar in the blood causes certain cellsin the pancreas to release insulin into thebloodstream.

The pancreas is a gland in the abdomen. Theinsulin released from the pancreas aids intransporting glucose from the blood into theliver and muscle cells, where it is stored untilit is required to be re-released into the blood tobe used in metabolism.In diabetes, the cells cannot take up glucose,resulting in high glucose levels in the blood.

TWO TYPES OF DIABETESThere are two main types of diabetes:

• Type 1 , also known as insulin dependentdiabetes or juvenile onset diabetes; and

• Type 2 , known as non-insulin dependentdiabetes or maturity onset diabetes.

Type 1 is the least common form. It affects 10– 15 % of all cases. Type 1 can occur at anyage , but it is usually diagnosed in childhood orearly adulthood and must be treated with injec-tions of the hormone insulin.

Type 2 is the most common type and usuallyoccurs over the age of 40. Type 2 represents85 – 90% of cases, and occurs when theinsulin is not produced in the amount the bodyneeds or when the insulin is not working prop-erly.

WHO IS AT RISK OF DEVELOPINGDIABETES?There may be a number of reasons why insulinmay not work properly. The first is that theType 2 diabetes can be hereditary. That is theremay be other people in one’s immediate fami-ly who have or have had diabetes. Hence afamily history of diabetes is a good reason tohave a check for diabetes!

As one gets older, the risk of developing Type2 diabetes increases, so too does the riskincrease if one is overweight or lacks regularexercise.

Diabetes can be associated with heart diseaseand high blood pressure.Diabetes can occur more frequently in womenwith polycystic ovarian syndrome and canoccur in some women during pregnancy.

SYMPTOMS OF DIABETESDiabetes may cause any of the followingsymptoms:

•Feeling tired

•Feeling excessive thirst

•Loss of weight

•Passing urine more frequently

•Recurrent skin infections

•Blurred vision

HOW IS DIABETES TREATED?Diabetes is diagnosed with a blood test. Theaim of treatment of diabetes is to get theinsulin in the body working to control theblood glucose levels. This is done throughhealthy eating, regular exercise and whererequired, with medication which may be in theform of tablets or insulin injections.

COMPLICATIONS OF DIABETESDiabetes is a life-long disease. At present,there is no cure. The disease must be con-trolled to avoid serious complications.The risk of developing complications fromdiabetes is significantly reduced with goodblood glucose control. Regular check-ups willensure early detection of complications andwith prompt treatment, much can be done toprevent complications from getting worse.Complications occur if the level of blood glu-cose remains high for a long period of time.Excess glucose builds up in the tissues, andhas a particularly bad effect on blood vesselswhich may become narrowed. Diabetes is amajor cause of blindness and kidney failure. Itcontributes to heart disease, stroke and poorcirculation to the legs, which may lead to gan-grene. It may damage nerves causing diabeticneuropathy which may lead to numbness,especially of the feet.

IMPAIRED GLUCOSE TOLERANCEImpaired glucose tolerance or ‘pre-diabetes’ isa condition when blood glucose levels arehigher than normal but not high enough for adiagnosis of type 2 diabetes. It is a risk factorfor developing type 2 diabetes and if leftuntreated, may develop into type 2 diabetes

within five to ten years. In addition, peoplewith pre-diabetes are more likely to have aheart attack or stroke.A number of trials have shown that peoplewho were already at high risk for developingtype 2 diabetes could reduce their risk by asmuch as 60% by being more active and losinga moderate amount of weight.

HOW TO REDUCE THE RISK OF COM-PLICATIONS OF DIABETES AND HOWTO REDUCE THE RISK OF DEVELOP-ING PRE-DIABETES.The steps to reduce the complications of dia-betes and the steps to prevent diabetes are thesame.

It is important to be physically active and aimfor at least thirty minutes of moderate intensi-ty physical activity most days of the week.Overweight people should lose weight.Smokers should stop smoking.

It is important to adapt a healthy eating planwhich includes whole grains, fruit and vegeta-bles and to select high fibre, lower GI (gly-caemic index) carbohydrate foods. The dietshould be low in fats, especially saturated fats,and low in salt. It is important to drink plentyof water.

SCREENING FOR DIABETES

If you are over 40, overweight , have a familyhistory of diabetes, don’t participate in regular exercise or havesymptoms of tiredness, excessive thirst orexcessive urine production, weight loss orblurred vision ,you are at risk of diabetes. It’stime to see your doctor!

* The information given in this article is of ageneral nature and readers should seek advicefrom their own medical practitioner beforeembarking on any treatment.

HEALTH NEWS

WITH DR. THEO PENKLIS *

DIABETES

AUGUST 2007

Ethnic Australians suffer

alarming diabetes ratesBy Jane Bunce

Australia's diabetes epidemic is even worse among some eth-nic groups, experts warn, in some cases with one in fiveadults affected by the disease.Professor Paul Zimmet, Director of the International DiabetesInstitute in Melbourne, said urgent action was needed to stemthe alarming levels of diabetes among some ethnic communi-ties.Prof Zimmett presented research at a diabetes forum inCanberra showing the rates are as high as 20 per cent amongsome groups.The higher rates are occurring because ethnic groups whomove to Australia are changing their traditional lifestyle anddiet, he said.Prof Zimmet said the government should make them a focusof preventative efforts."One of the problems is of course that many of the people inthe ethnic communities don't speak English well, they live inlower income areas and don't necessarily have the best healthcare accessibility. The impact of course are a high cost for thehealth system."Prof Zimmet found the disturbing statistics after analysing theresults of a 2000 survey of 11,000 Australians.The study initially found that overall 7.4 per cent of adultsaged over 25 suffered diabetes.But a new analysis of the figures found much higher ratesamong people who identified themselves as being from par-ticular groups, including Asians, Pacific islanders and thosefrom the Middle East. AAP

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 13/31AUGUST 2007

ProviCare - counselling and rehabilitation of drug and alcohol abuse ph. 1800 010 575

STORIES OF PEOPLE AND PLACES AROUND THE WORLD ALLIGATOR

ON THE LOOSE

LOS ANGELES.- An alligator who acquired celebrity status in

Los Angeles by eluding capture for monthshas made headlines again after escaping fromhis zoo enclosure.A hunt for the alligator - known as Reggie by

media and local officials - was launched afterhe was discovered missing from his pen atLos Angeles Zoo, where he had been placedlast week following his capture in a lake inMay.Afrantic search of the zoo found Reggie lurk-ing near a loading dock before he was caughtand placed in quarantine, officials said.

Zoo officials said they believed the alligatorhad broken out of his new home after scalinga side wall in the exhibit."Reggie's a crafty alligator," Zoo spokesman

Jason Jacobs said.AFP

UGANDA'S OLDEST

CHIMP

CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY

ENTEBBE.- Uganda's oldest captive chimpanzee turned

43 recently with a banana cake and "regularlove and grooming" from his female compan-ions, his keepers said.

Zakayo, who was taken into captivity afterbeing attacked by poachers, was presentedwith a specially baked banana cake, which hehad been trained to cut with a wooden knife,but instead he chose to grab it with his hands,delighting hordes of schoolchildren.

The 67-kilogram alpha male was broughtinto captivity in 1972 after his group wasattacked by poachers in Uganda's south west.

Greying and with deep wrinkles on hischeeks, Zakayo, who heads a group of 11 res-cued chimps at the centre, has become afavourite with visitors. Over the decades, hehas fathered eight children and adopted manyyoung orphaned chimps introduced to hisgroup. The average life span of chimps in thewild is between 40 and 50 years, officials atthe centre say."He gets regular love and grooming from his

wives, care and food from the keepers andrespect from the rest of his group," said PeaceNakitto, a conservation educator at the centre."The guy has a stress-free life, which I thinkis why he's lived so long."

AP

WHAM NOISE

NUISANCE

LONDON.-Abad boy Wham! fan tortured British neigh-

bours by blasting out their hit Last Christmasall night.

For several hours Brian Turner repeatedlyplayed the festive favourite at full volumefrom 1am onwards one night in May this year.Now he has been silenced after becoming the

first noise nuisance to be prosecuted byNewcastle City Council's Night Watch team.

Magistrates fined Turner, of Sandyford,Newcastle upon Tyne STG200 ($A480) andordered him to pay STG215 ($A515) in costs.

Gosforth magistrates heard how he was vis-

iting friends in a flat in Walker on May 15when the night of hell started for tormentedresidents.He played the classic hit by George Michael,

whose hits with Wham included Bad Boysand Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, relent-lessly from 1am to 4am.Finally a neighbour snapped and called in the

noise squad, which eventually gave residentspeace by seizing the stereo.

PA

1,000 TWINS

PLEUCADEUC.- Two was certainly not a crowd at the 14th

annual "Two and More" festival in westernFrance, as around 1,000 French and foreigntwins met up to celebrate their duality.Hundreds of pairs of identical cyclists, farm-

ers, students, and retirees came together forthe two-day event at the little town ofPleucadeuc in Brittany, Europe's self-pro-claimed "twin capital."

Over the years, the town of Pleucadeuc hasbecome a place that attracts twins from allover France and beyond. This year, twinscame from the Netherlands, Switzerland andBelgium, according to Launay.

"Thanks to the internet and TV programsabout us, we have hosted twins from othercontinents for the last four years, includingIndians, Japanese and Chinese," he said.

AFP

BLIND DRIVER

BUSTED - AGAIN

TALLINN.- Estonian police have asked a court to seize a

car owned by a blind man who was caughtdriving drunk twice in a single week, saying itwas a "dangerous repeat offence."

"We are seeking a court order to confiscatethe car from the man, and for him to be placedunder arrest," police spokeswoman MargeKohtla said. "This is a dangerous repeatoffence."The 20-year-old was stopped twice last week

while drunk-driving with the help of his pas-sengers near the southern Estonian city ofTartu. On the first occasion Kristjan, whoowns the vehicle but has no driving licence,was guided at the wheel by a 16-year-old boywho also lacks a driving permit. Six dayslater, Kristjan was again caught driving underthe influence of alcohol, this time while beinggiven instructions by three fellow passengersin another neighbourhood of Tartu.

Estonian law does not forbid the blind fromowning cars.

AFP

LIVERPOOL

PHILHARMONIC

PLAYS SECOND LIFE

LONDON.-A British orchestra will become the first to

perform a professional music concert in thevirtual online world of Second Life.The Liverpool Philharmonic today said audi-

ence members from across the world would"sit" in a three-dimensional virtual version ofits home venue in the north-west England cityand listen live as the real orchestra played.

The concert on September 14, featuringworks from Rachmaninov, Ravel and con-

temporary Liverpool composers JohnMcCabe and Kenneth Hesketh, will be con-ducted by its principal conductor VasilyPetrenko.Just like a real concert, the orchestra said the

audience would be able to interact with eachother, buy sweets from the refreshments shopand even nip to the toilet.A question and answer session is planned for

after the event with the conductor.Second Life, set up by San Francisco,

California-based Linden Lab in 2003, current-ly has almost nine million "inhabitants" acrossthe world. These avatars - alter egos of thereal-life users - can socialise and trade online.

Orchestra bosses said the initiative was partof a drive to tap into a potentially global audi-ence and make music more accessible.

AFP

IT PAYS TO LOSE

WEIGHT

MILAN. - Overweight residents of an Italian town will

be paid to lose weight, the mayor says.Men living in the northwestern Italian town

of Varallo will receive 50 ($A81) for losing 4kg in a month, Mayor Gianluca Buonannosays. Women will get the same amount forshedding 3 kg.If they can keep the weight off for 5 months,

they will get another $US200 ($A237), hesaid. The town of 7,500 people started thecampaign on Friday and some residents havealready signed up, he said.

Reuters

PRINCESS

SEES ANGELS

OSLO.- A leading Norwegian newspaper has called

on Princess Martha Louise to renounce herroyal title after she claimed that she commu-nicates with angels.

The 35-year-old princess, who is fourth inline to the throne, has come under intensemedia scrutiny for her involvement in analternative school that aims to teach peoplehow to get in touch with angels.

Some observers have questioned whetherher work for the private institute, dubbed "theangel school" in Norwegian media, can becombined with her official duties as a memberof the royal family. Many commentators saida member of the royal family should not beinvolved in spiritual healing, and some evenquestioned her mental health.

In an interview Saturday on national broad-caster NRK, Martha Louise tried to explainher view on angels, saying they were notphysical beings."Some feel them, others see them ... For me,

they are beings of light, like a feeling of apowerful presence, a strong sense of love."

The palace said last month that MarthaLouise had taken a leave of absence due to ill-ness, but didn't reveal any details.

AP

ANXIETY-PRONE

ELEPHANT

ABILENE.- A stressed-out elephant that had been treated

with the anti-anxiety drug Xanax has died in aTexas zoo aged 49, according to a mediareport.Tanzy was believed to have been the second

oldest African elephant in North America, theAbilene Reporter-News reported. An ele-phant's average lifespan is 33 years. In 2005after zookeepers at the Abilene zoo noticedthat Tanzy was grumpy and subdued, theystarted mixing Xanax into her feed twice aday, along with some ibuprofen to ease herarthritis-related discomfort. Zoo officials toldthe newspaper that the therapy was effectiveand seemed to improve Tanzy's quality of life.

AP

PAPER BATTERIES

LONDON.- Paper batteries could soon be powering

household gadgets, medical devices and elec-tric vehicles. Scientists have devised a newkind of ultra-thin battery that resembles a sim-ple sheet of black paper.More than 90 per cent of the battery is made

of cellulose, the same plant material used innewsprint, writing paper and packaging.

Researchers at Rensselaer PolytechnicInstitute in Troy, New York, US, embeddedthe paper with carbon "nanotubes", tiny tube-like structures which act as electrodes. Thepaper battery can be rolled, twisted, folded orcut into any number of shapes without losingits ability to function.

Professor Robert Linhardt, who led theresearch team whose work was reported todayin the journal, Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences, said: "It's essentially aregular piece of paper, but it's made in a veryintelligent way.

The researchers are now working on a wayto mass produce the devices cheaply. Theyhope ultimately to produce the paper batteryusing a newspaper-type roller printer.

PA

WORLD'S OLDEST

PERSON DIES

TOKYO.-The world's oldest person, a Japanese

woman who counted eating well and gettingrest as her hobbies, has died aged 114, a newsreport says.

Yone Minagawa, a widow who lived in anursing home but was still sprightly late inlife, died "of old age" this evening, KyodoNews reported. There was no immediateanswer to a telephone call placed to city hallin her town in southern Fukuoka prefecture.

Born on January 4, 1893, Minagawa wasalready in her 50s when Japan surrendered inWorld War II.

Despite her advanced age, Minagawa wassaid to enjoy eating sweets and counted eatingwell and getting a good night's sleep as thesecrets of her longevity.

AFP

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA14/32

Guide to a healthy pregnancy

When we start any new project, we lay downthe foundation with appropriate preparation.Therefore, why should having a baby be anydifferent? A healthy conception depends on twohealthy parents.

It is very important to establish good healthprior to a conception. The reason is, in humandevelopment, most abnormalities are estab-lished very early on in the pregnancy, generallyduring the first eight to ten weeks of gestationor pregnancy (It is known as embryonic stage).The embryo develops at an amazing rate. Atfirst, the number of cells in the embryo doublesapproximately every 24 hours. If cell divisionand number are limited during a critical period,full recovery is not possible. For example, thecritical period for neural tube development(part form which our brain and spinal corddevelops), is from 17 to 30 days of the embry-onic stage. Therefore, it is most vulnerable tonutrient deficiencies, nutrient excesses or toxinsduring this critical time, when most women donot even realize that they are pregnant.

This means that the most crucial period fornutritional and lifestyle interventions shouldoccur in the first few weeks before and imme-diately after conception. Therefore it becomeshighly important to have healthy nutritional andlifestyle habits established before bringing ababy out into the world. Afour month time peri-od is the minimum period required for thepreparation for conception.

Prior to pregnancy, a woman has a uniqueopportunity to prepare herself physically, men-tally and emotionally for the many changes tocome.

Following are some of the habits that can beestablished before conception:� Achieve and maintain a healthy bodyweight – Women who are underweight or over-weight as well as their newborns can haveincreased risk of complications.� Choose an adequate and balanced diet –Malnutrition decreases fertility and also affectsthe early development of a baby.� Be physically active – Good physical activ-ity should be part of our whole life not only dur-ing certain stages of life.� Avoid harmful influences – Both maternaland paternal ingestion of harmful substances(such as cigarettes, alcohol, drugs or environ-mental contaminants) can alter genes or theirexpression, thereby affecting fertility and lead-ing to abnormalities.

Nutrition care for pregnancy:A big misconception about pregnancy andbreastfeeding is that a woman should be eatingfor two! Whilst food consumption should beincreased minimally during pregnancy andbreastfeeding, intake of many nutrients shouldat least double!!So rather than eating for two during pregnan-cy, a woman really needs nutrients for two!!Research has shown that infertility, miscar-riage, premature and stillbirth, prolongedlabour, reduced birth-weight, congenitaldefects, inability to breast feed and poor healthin neonates can be linked to nutritional defi-ciencies. It can also lead to stretch marks, vari-cose veins, breakthrough bleeding, gestationaldiabetes, eclampsia and many other conditions.Compromised nutrition to the baby during

pregnancy has also shown to influence on thedevelopment of chronic degenerative diseasessuch as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease inthe baby later in adulthood.

Dietary guidelines for pregnancy:What to eat:� Try to eat organic produce.� Eat whole, unrefined foods� Increase consumption of green vegetables� Appropriate balance of protein, carbohy-drate and fat in the meals.� Protein – The protein requirement for pre-gnancy is an additional 25 grams per day high-er than for nonpregnant women. � How to calculate protein requirement-During the periods of pregnancy and breastfeeding, a woman needs a protein portion that isthe same size as the palm of her hand and thesame thickness as her palm, plus one third� Pregnant women can easily meet their pro-tein needs by selecting meats, eggs, milk prod-ucts such as yogurt and cheese and protein con-taining plant foods such as legumes, wholegrains, nuts and seeds.� For carbohydrates – You can choose 2palm-sized portions from the following list:asparagus, cabbage family, capsicum, chickpeas, eggplant, lentils, lettuce, mushrooms,onions, apples, apricots, cherries, grapes, mel-ons, oranges, peaches, pears, and strawberries.You can choose one palm-sized portion of fol-lowing list of carbohydrates: baked beans, car-rots, corn, peas, potato, sweet potato, banana,dates, figs, fruit juices, bread, pasta, rice, andtacos/tortillas.� Eat healthy fats or oils: Fats and oils are asource of oil-soluble vitamins (i.e. vitamin A, Dand E). Sources of healthy fats are –cookingoils (olive and sesame), seeds (flax, pumpkin,sesame), nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts),and avocado.� Drink at least 2 L of purified water.

What not to eat:� For the list of foods to avoid, look into thesection on ‘Food-borne illness’.

Supplementation:Avoid isolated nutrients. Obstetricians havelong acknowledged the increased nutritionalneed of pregnancy and have routinely pre-scribed extra calcium and iron. More recentlythe benefits of taking extra folate have beenhighlighted. However, other nutrients are alsoimportant since they all work in unison.Therefore taking one or two in isolation canupset the balance of others.� Folic acid supplementation during preg-nancy prevents neural tube defects (such asspina bifida) in offspring. Folic acid neveroccurs alone in nature and should always betaken with other B vitamins. Taking it alone foran extended period of time could induce a defi-ciency in vitamin B1, B2 and B12.� Calcium – is often leached from women’sbones during pregnancy and this calcium defi-ciency can contribute to osteoporosis later inlife. Calcium helps leg cramps that often occurduring pregnancy. Calcium also helps to pre-vent pregnancy-induced toxaemia (such as pre-eclampsia and eclampsia). Women using calci-um supplements during pregnancy shouldavoid the use of the calcium carbonate form ofcalcium as this form inhibits the absorption ofiron.� Iron is an important nutrient for womenduring pregnancy as it helps to prevent irondeficiency anaemia in pregnant women. Ironsupplements should be in an organic form ifiron stores are low.� Magnesium (along with calcium) also alle-viates the muscle (leg) cramps that other occurduring pregnancy.

� The other essential trace elements such asmanganese, chromium, cobalt are importantand can be taken along with multivitamin andmineral combination.� The body’s requirement for vitamin C andvitamin K are also very important.� Zinc – Taking individual supplements ofinorganic iron (commonly prescribed foranaemia before conception and often routinelyduring pregnancy) can deplete levels of thetrace element zinc. Adequate zinc levels help toreduce likelihood of stretch marks. Zinc isneeded for the formation and function of thebaby’s brain and immune system, adequatefoetal growth and full-term birth. Adequate zinclevels can prevent many types of congenitaldefects and can also prevent long labours, postnatal depression, cracked nipples and difficultto settle babies. An easily administered “Tastetest” can be carried out on a regular basis and ifzinc status is below the desired levels, thenappropriate supplementation can be recom-mended.� Vitamin A- while birth defects have beenreported as a result of taking this nutrient inhigh doses, a deficiency of vitamin A can alsolead to a baby with problems. A dose under4,000 – 5, 000 i.u. is considered safe or youmay simply consider taking beta or mixedcarotenes.� Essential fatty acids (EFAs) – should beadded. EFAs are required for normal develop-ment and function of all tissues during pregnan-cy (especially the baby’s eyes and brain).During labour, they have a role in making theuterus contract and they are important duringbreastfeeding as well. During the first fewmonths, the baby’s nervous system grows veryrapidly and the EFAs are important in its opti-mal development.

Exercise during pregnancy:An active physically fit woman experiencing anormal pregnancy can continue to exercisethroughout pregnancy. Staying active canimprove fitness, prevent or manage gestationaldiabetes, facilitate labour and reduce stress.Women who exercise during pregnancy reportfewer discomforts throughout their pregnan-cies. It also maintains the habits that help awoman lose excess weight and get back intoshape after the birth.A pregnant woman should participate in ‘low-impact’activities, and avoid sports in which shemight fall or be hit by other people or objects.Walking is good. Swimming and water aero-bics are particularly beneficial because theyallow the body to remain cool and move freelywith the water’s support thus reducing backpain.

Other life-style changes:� Alcohol consumption during pregnancycan cause irreversible mental and physicalretardation of the foetus. Foetal alcohol syn-drome (FAS) is one of the leading causes formental retardation. FAS is the only one that istotally preventable. Alcohol consumption bymen also affects fertility and foetal develop-ment.� Medicinal drugs can also cause complica-tion during pregnancy, problems in labour andserious birth defects. Do not take any medica-tion without consulting your health practition-er.� Illicit drugs – Drugs of abuse such ascocaine, an marijuana, they are responsible forpre-term (premature) births, low-birth weightbabies, newborn deaths and sudden infantdeaths. If these newborn survive, brain damageis evident. Their cries, sleep and behaviourearly in life are abnormal, and their cognitivedevelopment later in life is impaired. They maybe hypersensitive or under aroused. Those

babies who test positive for drugs suffer thegreatest effects of toxicity and withdrawal.� Smoking – smoking cigarettes at any timeexerts harmful effects. Smoking restricts theblood supply to the growing foetus and so lim-its oxygen and nutrient delivery and wasteremoval. A positive relationship exists betweensudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and bothcigarette smoking during pregnancy and post-natal exposure to passive smoke. Smoking dur-ing pregnancy may even harm the intellectualand behavioural development of the child laterin life. Any woman who smokes and is consid-ering pregnancy or who is already pregnantshould try to quit.� Environmental contaminants – infants andyoung children of pregnant women exposed toenvironmental contaminants such as lead, showsigns of delayed mental and psychomotordevelopment. Mercury should also be avoided,as it also can harm the developing brain andnervous system. As we now know that fatty fishare good for omega-3 fatty acids, but some fishcontain large amounts of mercury. Avoid shark,swordfish, king mackerel and tuna.� Food-borne illness – These illnesses canarise when people eat foods that contain infec-tious microorganisms or microorganisms thatproduce toxins. At best, the vomiting and diar-rhoea associated with these illnesses can leavea pregnant woman exhausted and dehydrated;at worst food-borne illness can cause meningi-tis, pneumonia or even foetal death. Pregnantwomen are about 20 times more likely thanother healthy adults to get the food-borne ill-ness.� Listeriosis: It is an illness caused by thebacteria Listeira monocytogenes, which can bekilled by pasteurisation and cooking, but cansurvive at refrigerated temperatures; certainready to eat foods, such as hot dogs and delimeats, may become contaminated after cookingor processing, but before packaging. To prevent listeriosis: � use only pateurised juices and dairy prod-ucts; � avoid soft cheese, feta cheese, brie, Came-mbert, and blue-veined cheese.� Thoroughly cook meat, poultry, eggs andseafood� Thoroughly reheat hot dogs, luncheonmeats and deli meats, including cured meatssuch as salami.� Wash all fruits and vegetables� Avoid refrigerated pate, meat spreads, andsmoked seafood such as salmon or trout.� Caffeine – Caffeine consumption must besensible to limit coffee to one cup or two.Research studies have not proved that caffeinecauses birth defects in human infants as it doesin animals.� Herbal supplements – Pregnant womenshould seek health practitioner’s advice beforeusing any herbal medicines. Some may be safebut many others can be harmful.

IN SUMMARY: To enjoy healthy pregnancy,� Get prenatal care.� Eat a balanced diet, safely prepared.� Take prenatal supplements as prescribed.� Gain a healthy amount of weight.� Refrain from cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs(including herbs) unless prescribed by a physi-cian.

CLINICAL INSIGHTS INTO HEALTH AND NATURAL SOLUTIONS

AUGUST 2007

* Christina Scalone is a very experienced and successfulnaturopath with over 20 years experience. She holds aDegree in Health Science, a Diploma in Botanical Medi-cine, Diploma in Homoeopathy and a Diploma in Nutri-tion. She has maintained a full time practice, has held aposition as a senior practioner/ naturopathic consultant, aclinic manager and trainer for Blackmores and is a clinicstudent supervisor as well as a lecturer at the AustralianCollege of Natural Therapies. She also maintains her ownprivate practice with successful results.

BY CHRISTINA SCALONE*BHSc, Dip. Bot. Med, Dip.Hom, Dip. Nut

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 15/33AUGUST 2007

A Thessaloniki court is expected to rule soon on

whether those who hold the Cambridge or

Michigan English-language proficiency

certificate have the right to teach

KATHY TZILIVAKIS

A Court in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, will soon decidewhether a language proficiency certificate is enough to teachEnglish at a private foreign-language school, or frontistirio, orwhether a university degree ought to be required. A ruling isexpected as early as September.

The aim of this test case, which was brought before the judi-cial system by a group of Greek university-trained Englishteachers in March, is to abolish the eparkeia (certification),which currently allows holders of a language proficiency cer-tificate to teach at a frontistirio. The ruling could have a big impact on Greece’s multimillion-

euro English-language teaching (ELT) industry. If the court rules to strike down eparkeia as a basis for teach-

ing, it would deprive English-language proficiency certificateholders from Michigan or Cambridge universities of the right toteach at frontistiria.

Thousands of Greek high-school students sit for one of thesetests each year. By law, those who pass are eligible for anEnglish-language teaching licence on their 21st birthday. Asmany as 10,000 people apply to the education ministry for for-eign-language eparkeia each year; the majority of them wish topursue a career in English-language teaching.

“The principle of eparkeia was established back in the 1940swhen there was a shortage of university-educated foreign-lan-guage teachers,” says George Kotsonis, who filed the lawsuit.“The situation has changed since then. It’s common sense tochange the rules. The competition is just not healthy... I firmlybelieve it’s not enough just to pass an exam in order to becomea teacher,” he told the Athens News. “Our argument is quitesimple. We Greeks cannot teach the Greek language justbecause we speak Greek. I think that this is all based on com-mon sense.” Fani Kafetzopoulou, director of an internal Cambridge exam-

ination centre in Halkida, central Greece, agrees. “The Cambridge Proficiency Certificate is certainly a strong

indication that one has a very good command of the Englishlanguage, but this does not mean this person can teach the lan-guage,” she says. “This proficiency certificate does not prepare

you to teach. It simply attests for your knowledge of the Englishlanguage.” “I am personally not in favour of [eparkeia],” she adds. “As an

English literature university graduate I feel that it underminesmy degree.”

Short of abolishing eparkeia for proficiency certificate hold-ers, Kafetzopoulou proposes a middle road: “Let’s require cer-tificate holders to take a course in methodology, or somethinglike that,” she says. But the ELT labour market in Greece is not stuck on eparkeia. Very few people teach with just the eparkeia. Most people

who apply for a job at a frontistirio are required to have com-pleted methodology courses. For instance, as many as 400 stu-dents take methodology courses offered by the Hellenic-American Union in downtown Athens each year. Numerous professional development seminars and workshops

for English-language teachers in Greece are organised eachyear by TESOL Greece, an independent, non-profit profession-al association for teachers of English as a foreign language.

Other foreign languages

A court decision to abolish eparkeia, however, could be detri-mental to the teaching of other foreign languages like Chinese,French and Spanish because there may be too few university-trained teachers of languages other than English to meetdemand. This is one of the reasons the education ministry ishesitant to change the eparkeia rules.

The education ministry’s pedagogical institute in 2005 saidthere are some 8,000 frontistiria operating in Greece. Greekhouseholds spend half a billion euros each year on private lan-guage tuition fees, according to the National Statistical Agency. Meanwhile, the eparkeia landmark case is not the only devel-

opment threatening to bar large numbers from frontistirioteaching. The education ministry recently revived a rule where-by EU nationals must take a Greek proficiency exam in orderto teach a foreign language in frontistiria.

ATHENS NEWS

Court to rule on proficiency

For the bibliophiles...The Christians as the Romans saw them

By Robert L. Wilken (Yale University Press)

As with many detailed discussions on any period in history, thisbook would more useful if the reader first equipped him/herselfwith some basic knowledge of religious practices and conceptsin the ancient Greek and Romans times. It’s well-written, easyto read, with a smattering of footnotes. The information present-ed, while not in stark contrast to popular images of earlyChristian communities, is challenging – in short, a book thatneeds to be read in conjunction with others dealing with thesame historical period.

Early Christian Writings: the Apostolic FathersTranslators: Maxwell Staniforth & Andrew Louth

(Penguin Classics)

This small paperback begins by setting this collection withinthe historical context of the availability of early Christian writ-ings and defining the term ‘Apostolic Fathers’. The writingscontained in this particular collection (freed, as far as possible,from what have been clearly pieces added on here and thereover time), in theory, were by authors known to the Apostles,faithful to their teachings and their works. Included amongstwritings (such as the Didache) and several letters (epistles) byunknown authors are writing by Clement of Rome, Ignatius ofAntioch and Polycarp. As with the book outlined above, thisone forms part of a mosaic and needs to be viewed as part of anongoing quest for knowledge about the early Christian period,from the viewpoint of both Christians and those amongst whomthey lived and worked.

A.C.

Ancient tannery at risk

MARTA FALCONI

An ancient tannery that is being dug up in Rome - believed tobe the largest ever found in the capital - is threatened by railwayconstruction, and archaeologists said on July 31 they mightneed to move the entire complex.

The 1,050-square metre complex includes a tannery datingbetween the 2nd and 3rd century, as well as burial sites and partof a Roman road. At least 97 tubs, some measuring 1 metrediameter, have been dug up so far in the tannery, archaeologistssaid.

The complex, located in the Casal Bertone area on the out-skirts of Rome, lies between two tunnels of a high-speed rail-way being built to link Rome and Naples, said Stefano Musco,the director of the archaeological excavations.

"(Even though) there are only 100 metres of railway left tobuild, the archaeological complex has no chance of surviving,"Musco told reporters during a tour of the dig. "Either it stays theway it is and the works are stopped or, if the railway must bebuilt, these remains will have to be cut out and rebuilt entirely,"possibly in a nearby park.

Experts would scan the complex with a 3-D laser to helparchaeologists replace the items in their exact positions, Muscosaid. The archaeologist, who declined to say how much theproject would cost, said technical problems might arise fromthe fragmentation of the structures and the vastness of the site.

"This is an ancient industrial area - not a craftsmen's work-

shop, but a big complex where several people used to work," hesaid. Musco said the project will have to be approved by theItalian culture ministry. Officials at the ministry said the projectwould have to be discussed by a panel of experts. "I would obviously prefer not to touch anything," Musco said.

"It will be quite frustrating to see this thing being taken away."The system of roads that spread from the capital across theancient empire is considered one of ancient Rome's greatestengineering feats, and today's transport networks in Italy oftenclosely follow the routes chosen by builders two millennia ago.

AP

Should English-languageteachers have a universitydegree? This question will

soon be answered by a courtin Thessaloniki

Dating back to the 2nd-3rd century AD, the significant

archaeologicalcomplex is threatened by railway construction

The tunnels of a high-speed railway dominate the backgroundof the ruins of an ancient tannery dug up on the outskirts

of Rome

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA16/34 AUGUST 2007

By Nikos Konstandaras

The turmoil on the markets over the past few daysmerely confirms that we are living in an age ofextreme - even total - flux.

The planet seems to be made of up communicat-ing chambers: from the rise in temperatures thataffects climates and habitats in different corners ofthe globe to the lightning-quick financial transac-tions that link one side of the earth to the other everysingle day.The irony is that the absolute flux of the open mar-

kets has provoked the expression of fears that thesemarkets are not fluid enough.So what happened? Carried away by the boom on

the real estate market over the past few years, banksand mortgage firms in the USAstarted issuing loansto citizens who did not have the required solvency.

As happens with every «bubble», the greed ofinvestors and their fear of missing out on a big partyof profits led to the suspension of all necessary fore-sight and caution. This is a story that we have cometo know very well in Greece.In the USA, this was the first major bubble to burst

since the rise and fall of the so-called «dot com»firms in 1995 and 2001 respectively. (It seems thatoptimism generally triumphs over experience.)As long as money exists, it will always seek an out-

let.With open markets and so many barriers having

collapsed on the domestic level, all of us are influ-enced by developments in the farthest corner of theglobe; so when the most influential market in theUS gets a knock, we are certainly going to feel it.Over the past few months, mortgage firms havebeen on shaky ground and the impact upon theinternational credit system has been impossible toignore.The Americans are being cautious having reduced

the size of the loans they are issuing and curbedtheir pledges for the future considerably.Cash reserves are running dry and this is causingturmoil at banks and hedge funds all over the world.These developments have also created concerns

regarding the progress of the US economy and thisis draining cash from the world’s stock exchanges.The European Central Bank was obliged to boost

money markets by 95 billion euros last Thursdayand by another 61 billion euros on Friday. Theequivalent authority in the USA, the FederalReserve, was also obliged to throw 45.5 billioneuros into the market within 24 hours in order tokeep interest rates stable and avert a dangerousslump in the economy.Whatever the manifold repercussions of this mini-

crash may turn out to be, it has demonstrated thatthe actions of the individual citizen are capable ofshaking the international economic system. Inshort, this is what happened: poorer US citizenswere given the chance to get mortgages; the valueof their homes was then exploited to develop acomplex credit production system which draggedthem further and further into debt; when they wereno longer able to meet their payments, real estatemarket values started falling and so the supply anddemand of new mortgages fell dramatically. Thischain reaction provoked the current crisis. An airtraveller can transmit a rare and dangerous diseasefrom one side of the globe to the other in just a fewhours. The pollution emitted from a manufacturerin the US or China can lead to ice melting and to thefuture flooding of our coastal areas. In the sameway, the behaviour of a foreign consumer can haverepercussions on our own financial and real estatemarkets.However much we may feel that we are unable to

influence international developments, today’s crisisis a reminder to all citizens thinking of borrowing,to banks investing in these dreams and to the offi-cials who must ensure the smooth functioning ofour societies that prudence and a serious approachare as important now as they were in the times ofour grandparents.

We should feel the same responsibility that ourforefathers did regarding the impact of our actions -or inaction - on our fellow citizens and our environ-ment.

KATHIMERINI

The citizen and the markets

St Euphemia College

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

ST. EUPHEMIA COLLEGE 19TH ANNUAL BALL 2007LIST OF DONATIONS

Parent’s & Friends Committee $40,000

Mr Con & Mrs Mimi Ange

(plus $10,000 each year for 5 years) $10,000

Mr George Ferizis & Family $10,000

Mr & Mrs Taleb (R.I. Taleb Australia Pty. Ltd)

$3,500

Mr Con & Jenny Angelakis $2,000

Anonymous $2,000

Bank of Cyprus $1,000

Mr Arthur Georgoulas (Sweet Fantasy) $1,000

Mr Andrew Kapos $1,000

Mr Nick & Mrs Mary Kotsidis $1,000

Mr Dragan & Mrs Vukica Miladinovic $1,000

Mr Chris Papachristou – Watkins Taylor Insurance

$1,000

Mr Nick & Mrs Joanna Saroussidis (Poseidon Cleaning

Services) $1,000

Mr Tim and Mrs Amelia Stathis $1,000

Mrs Christine Theophilou $1,000

J. & C. Hardy Funerals (Mr & Mrs Spence) $700

Mr John & Mrs Dina Mitrothanasis $500

Floral Creations by Helen (Mr & Mrs Delimitros)

$500

Imbrian Association $500

Mr Michael Chambouras $500

Mr Chris Christou $500

Mr Panagiotis Chrysou $500

Mrs Kyriaki Houtris $500

Mr John & Mrs Katsiris $500

Mr Michael Katzakis $500

Mr Christos Koliris $500

Kosmos Newspaper $500

Laiki Bank $500

Mr John Manetas (Quick Spark Electrical) $500

Mr Nick Retsas $500

Mrs Lambrini Gourvelos $300

Mr & Mrs Plomaritis $300

Mr Dimitrios Papapetrou $150

Mr & Mrs Souleles $150

Mr & Mrs Tsanis & Family $150

Anonymous $150

Anonymous $150

TOTAL AMOUNT $ 85550

RAFFLE TICKET WINNERSPrize Winners

1st Prize Return Ticket to Greece donated by Cynthia TheoDonated by Mr L. Polyviou – Kyrenia Travel Ticket Number: 9947

2nd Prize Two return Tickets to the Gold Coast G. DeiddaTicket Number: 304

3rd Prize 51cm colour TV Elpis BollasDonated by the Ladies Auxilliary Ticket Number: 0298

4th Prize Microwave Oven Anastasia ParasirisDonated by Mr & Mrs Madouris Ticket Number: 5195

5th Prize National CD Player Nicolas Zafiriou

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 17/35

Food & Wine

AUGUST 2007

Culinary Bookworm, part 1:

Essential IngredientsBy Imogen Coward

Maybe you want to try your hand at hautecuisine, want to know a bit more about themyriad of spices that exist or the effects ofphylloxera on wine production or are look-ing for that perfect gift for a history or foodloving friend or relative? Starting thismonth I thought I’d share with you a selec-tion of the most interesting and useful food-related books that inhabit my bookshelf.Some of them are new publications, someare old classics more likely to be found in asecond-hand bookstore, some have alreadyfound their way into previous VEMA foodarticles but all, hopefully, will whet yourappetite.

Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Tech-niques by Jeni Wright and Eric Treuille(Murdoch Books, 1997)If you think of food and reference books thetitle that will most likely come to mind is theLarousse Gastronomique. As weighty andinformative as this tome is, the Cordon BleuComplete Cooking Techniques is a moreaccessible, visually interesting and inspiringbook. Laden with pictures and separatedaccording to type of food, each chapter notonly introduces you to the various foods (fromeggs to mangosteens to croquembouche) andhow they can/should be prepared and cookedbut also provides assistance in choosing thebest quality produce, handling it safely andpresenting it with style. It is, without doubt,one of the most often used and delightfulbooks on my shelf.

The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbook forall Seasons (ACP Publishing, 2002)Divided according to season, each section pro-vides a wealth of recipes for starters, mains anddeserts. From good old fashioned ChristmasPudding to Mediterranean style offerings tocontemporary fusion foods blending Asian andWestern flavours this book is packed with ahuge variety of recipes to suit every taste andevery occasion. Full-colour photographs of thedishes offer fantastic ideas for presentation andit’s reassuring to know that all the recipes havebeen tested by the Women’s Weekly test kitchenbefore making their way into the book. Be sureto try the ‘Passionfruit and strawberryCharlotte’; a particularly delightful desert forthe coming summer months.

The Australian Women’s Weekly Cakes andSlices Cookbook (ACP Publishing, ISBN 0-949128-10-4)In short this is the most extensive, reliable cakeand slice cookbook I have ever come across.Whether it’s a simple butter-cake or a multi-layered black-forest cake the recipes veryrarely need any adjustment and always giveexcellent results. A must for every kitchen.

Spice Notes by Ian Hemphill (Macmillan,2000)The Hemphill family are synonymous withherbs and spices in Australia. This weightycompendium of herbs and spices not only pro-vides insight into each individual one’s uses inthe kitchen but also delves into their respectivehistories, the various names the herb/spicemay go by and, often provides a recipe using

that particular spice/herb just for good meas-ure. An excellent reference book that nokitchen should be without.

The Official Shoppers Guide to: FoodAdditives and Labels (Murdoch Books/FoodStandards Australia New Zealand)This pocket guide offers basic information onthe food labelling laws of Australia and NewZealand and how to interpret the labels thatappear on our food. It also decodes the variousfood additive numbers into the substances forwhich they stand. Handy if you know there arecertain additives you wish/need to avoid forhealth reasons, the book however only pro-vides the name and class (emulsifier, colouretc) of the additive without going into anydetail on the known effects of consuming

them.

The Rituals of Dinner by Margaret Visser(Penguin, 1991)While we’re on the topic of food-safety it’sworth giving a thought to the various protocolsthat surround dining; protocols a diner ignoresat his/her peril (perhaps!). Have you everstopped and wondered why Westerners eatwith forks and knives while chopsticks are thepreserve of the East? Or perhaps wonderedwhy table manners are so varied from region toregion? Answers to these questions and manymore are contained in The Rituals of Dinnerbut be warned, as fascinating as the subject is,with nearly 400 pages of small print laden withreferences it is not something you can readquickly.

Wyndham Estate Bin 333 Pinot Noir, 2006

Pinot Noir is a notoriously fussy grape. A good Pinot Noir is elegantand subtle yet complex while a bad one is simply another red winewithout the flavour of a Merlot or the strength of a CabernetSauvignon. Sourced from various regions in South Australia, thiswine lies somewhere in between the two extremes. It is subtle withlayers but lacks the complexity found in some of its New Zealandcounterparts. Crimson red in colour with a sweet nose, the flavour hasa definite maraschino cherry character with strawberry like crispnessand a hint of vanilla. Best consumed young.Cost: under $15

���

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 18/36AUGUST 2007

Travel Skiathos: a shady assignment

JONATHAN CARR

I am prepared for disappointment as Sea Cat5 departs from the nondescript little port ofAgios Konstantinos, a drop-off point on theroad between Athens and Lamia, and tears upthe placid channel of water that lies betweenthe mainland and the northern tip of Evia withits big, noisy wake. There are eleven mainislands in the group towards which we areheaded, four of which are inhabited - Skiathos,Skopelos, Alonnisos and Skyros. All of themare remnants of land once joined to the penin-sula of Mount Pelion before volcanic indiges-tion long ago left them all Sporadic.

I am on assignment, and that means trying toget a feel for the atmosphere of a place. Ourimmediate destination is beach-famousSkiathos. I am not saying there’s anythingwrong with lounging around in the companyof a lot of other people on burning sand, but it’snever been my thing. I know, though, what Ihave to do. In a matter of hours from now, Iwill be lying on a sunbed on a blinding whitebeach, sand stuck up every crack and pore,alternately groaning at the heat and tippingmyself into the warm greasy water, maybedoing some water-skiing or (duty mightrequire) having a go on the bungie-jump crane,joining the beach bar scene when the sunbegins to tire, ears and heart throbbing to rapmusic, a sexy-sounding cocktail in my hand...

I have nothing against the sea nor a goodrocky coastline. But even empty sandy beach-es are overrated as far as I’m concerned. Soorganised beaches? I can be counted on to runfor it. But don’t worry. I cannot run forever. Ipromise I will get there in the end.

Diversions

Skiathos has a colourful past that might pro-vide reasons to put off the trip to the beach. Forexample, from somewhere on its western coastnervous Greek lookouts in 480BC would havefound reason to breathe more easily when asudden storm blew up to destroy about 400Persian ships in Xerxes’vastly superior fleet asthey sailed down the opposite coastline. It wason Skiathos, too, that in 1807 the Greek flagwas first woven and raised and plans hatchedby key resistance leaders (including TheodoreKolokotronis and Andreas Miaoulis) to liber-ate the country from Turkish rule. And in thesecond world war, the island became animportant staging post for Allied troops cut offby the Germans. But over the last thirty yearsit has worked its way into the history books assomething very different - one of Greece’s pre-mier package tour destinations.

Whatever my apprehensions about raidingthe devil’s larder, when Skiathos first comes

into view I am quite beguiled by its colour. Theclue is in the island’s name, probably chosenby its first Pelasgian settlers because of thequantity of available shade (‘skia’ - η σκια)they found here. It is always a delight to comeacross expressions of floral exuberance in hot,dry Greece. The unwary can be taken abackand that is how I feel this morning as we passEvia’s Cape Artemisio and begin to cross theopen sea. Skiathos is extraordinarily gentle onthe eyes. The shelter of a thick pelt of pine for-est gives a moist, velvety hue to whatever hardrock lies beneath, lending it movement,enabling it to tremble with life in the morningheat haze. The soft green mounds are embed-ded in a thin layer of creamy white sand andthe whole miraculous concoction floats gently,and in silence, on a flat and tepid sea.

Even the first sight of Skiathos town is com-forting. The spread of red-tiled roofs andwhitewashed walls that hug the two low hillsoverlooking the harbour look neat and sturdywithout being ostentatious. On arrival, we skirtwhat is known as the ‘Bourtzi’, a prominentneck of land that divides the harbour in two, sonamed because the Venetian Ghisi brothers, ontaking control of Skiathos in 1207, built them-selves a castle there that would be occupieduntil Turkish rule began in 1540. To the east isthe main port and, as soon as the water stops,the ominous black stripe of the airstrip. Closeup, some of the new-builds are not too impres-sive but I am not in the mood to acknowledgethis yet. After such a hopeful start, I wantSkiathos to keep on surprising me. And it will.

To the west lies a small fishing boat harbourand that is the direction I take. The road isquiet, almost free of traffic and not at all aschaotic as might be expected of a busy touristdestination. Instead, past a small fishmongerwhere a large and allegedly ‘local’mayiatiko isin the process of being delivered (a catch sobig it takes two men to carry) are some oldsteps that must have survived the generaldestruction that was wreaked on the town bythe departing Germans in 1944. It is quiet uphere, some old people are chatting under theshade of pine and chestnut trees on a smallpromontory below, a few bodies are sprawledout on rocks, the water sparkles invitingly andwhile searching for a room a plum tree puts itsripe fruit in the way of my fingers.Disappointed? Not at all. It feels a bit too goodto be true.

More than beaches

Another bright morning and big crowdedKTEL buses, skimpy banners strapped to theirrears advertising bars and cocktails, are leav-ing regularly for Koukounaries in the south-west, a beach that is regularly cited as being

one of the best in Greece. Meanwhile, a smalllocal minivan does just three trips a day in theother direction, up towards the island’s highestpeak, Karaflydzanakatakes (a modest 433m). Ihead for the beach.

Just kidding. The mini-van takes a massivefive of us on a beautiful drive up through acresof olive groves that ends in the LekhounioGorge, a densely wooded enclave with mag-nificent sea views, at the head of which standsthe island’s most famous monastery -Evangelistrias.

The monastery’s courtyard is immaculatelypresented. Potted shrubbery, herbs and flowersare sitting on steps, resting in the shade, pro-viding a colourful contrast to the red-tintedgrey stonework of the main buildings.Lorikeets, parakeets, Australian finches andcanaries sing for you in their cages. Cedar treessoar upwards, pointing at the blue sky.

It was not, though, always as well-kept as itlooks today. Demetris, a short, elderly manwith a lilting voice and engaging smile is oneof the local volunteers who works here, man-ning its impressively-stocked shop. Just ten orfifteen years ago, he explains, the place was ashambles. To attract EU funding for its restora-tion certain archictectural standards had to bemet and that was a costly process in itself. Toraise the necessary money, it was decided thecommunity should put some of themonastery’s land to agricultural use and theproduce in the shop today - ranging fromwines and tsipouro to honey and fruit jams - isevidence of those efforts. The money wasraised, funding duly arrived, the work wasundertaken and the monastery’s two foundingfathers - Chios-born Niphon and SkiathianGregorios Khadjistamatis - would doubtlesshave no trouble recognising the restoration ofthe building that was first built under theirdirection between 1794 and 1806, down to itsroof of genuine blue-grey slate brought in fromthe slopes of Mount Pelion.

Demetris is keen to tell the story ofEvangelistrias, and it is a good one. Niphonwas the leader of a group of 85 monks who leftMount Athos in 1772 following disputes overwhat sounds to a layman a rather technicalpoint - the celebration of Requiem Masses onSaturdays rather than Sundays. The ‘rebel’kol-lyvados monks travelled first to Samos andthen Patmos, Lipsi and Ikaria. Though theybuilt a monastery on Ikaria, whenKhadjistamatis inherited a large amount ofland on Skiathos he persuaded Niphon toabandon Ikaria’s “all-pervading barrennessand unwholesomeness” in favour of his ver-dant homeland. They did.

And it was here, in this cheerful peacefulcourtyard, in the year following themonastery’s completion, that the first Greek

flag with its white cross on a blue backgroundwas designed and raised. And it was here too,in this cheerful peaceful courtyard, whereFather Niphon blessed the oaths taken by keyresistance leaders Theodore Kolokotronis,Andreas Miaoulis, Papathymios Vlakhavas,Iannis Stathas and others to liberate Greece.

Demetris explains that in addition to the cur-rent displays (one is a large musical instru-ments collection donated by the Deligiannisfamily) there are plans to open two moremuseums, restore two churches, the library, anold olive press.... He digresses into a more gen-eral history of the island which inevitably takeshim to the old Kastro and he is soon regalingus with tales of people being thrown over thecliff edge by pirates and of defence strategiesthat included pouring hot oil through zema-tistres (protrusions built for the purpose) ontothe enemy. Restoration is also beginning there,he says. A sigh, that evidently comes from onewho has seen too much unpleasant changeoverrun his island. “We have more than justbeaches,” he says.

Kastro

By late afternoon, the day-trip caiques thatinclude Kastro on their itinerary are long goneand the dirt road that leads down towards theisland’s once-illustrious northern stronghold isdeserted. There is only the sound of our foot-steps, the beat of cicada wings and the occa-sional low hum of a bee. Colours are beingrevived in the gentler light, returning to theiressence as the sun retreats. When the rockyoutpost first appears below, sighted through ascreen of olive trees, it looks small andexposed. Close up, though, one soon gets a feelfor how impregnable it must have seemed toits attackers.

Built sometime in the 14th century, it wassurrounded by sea on three sides and original-ly accessed from land via a wooden draw-bridge (there are steps now). At its time ofgreatest need it contained about 300 smallstone houses, over 20 churches and providedsanctuary for about 1,200 people. It was here,in 1538, that Barbarossa, the most viciouspirate of them all, led a party of Turks in asiege that lasted seven days. The Kastro wastaken and atrocities followed.

It was eventually abandoned in 1829 butrestoration is now being undertaken on somechurches in the Kastro - as Demetris men-tioned - and the centrepiece is Agia Marinawith its reworked frescoes and, outside, itspine tree shade and spring of fresh water. Asthe light fades and the Kastro lies cradled by adrowsy Aegean, the scene looks deceptivelyinnocent.

ATHENS NEWS

(L to R) Part of the interior of writer Alexandros Papadiamantis’ house. A panoramic view of Skiathos town from Agios Nikolaos. Mandraki, a popular destination on the beach-famous Skiathos .View of the Kastro, the island’s once-illustrious northern stronghold

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 19/37

Until August 29th , Australia’s Migration Museum presents anexhibit which opened in June and which highlights Cypriotmigration entitled “Cyprus: From ashes to prosperity”Presented by a number of Cypriot families who have settled in

South Australia, this exhibition - a display of courage, survivaland identity in a new-found home - aims to demonstrate themajor part of the Greek-Cypriot experience in this country andto enrich the experience of the general public of Australia’s his-tory.

The exhibition traces the history of Greek-Cypriots in SouthAustralia with major themes on The Island Nation, MigrantStories and Cypriots Arriving in South Australia. With manytales uncovered, there is a strong focus on the personal storiesof those involved in migrating to Australia, looking back as faras 1914 in Adelaide. The personal stories will be accompanied by a wonderful array

of objects that will provide further insight into the developmentof Greek-Cypriot migration from the l890s through to the mid-1970s when the Turkish invasion occurred.

The use of historical and contemporary photographs, docu-ments and artefacts, such as passports and personal diaries, willbe used to depict each story. There will also be embroidery,national costume, pottery and replicas of ancient relics on dis-play. A DVD presentation will be showing in the gallery tohighlight the growth of Cyprus as a major European tourist des-tination.

The Cyprus Story:

From Ashes

to Prosperity

By Nicky Park

Buffet breakfasts, happy hours and lazydays are stock standard for most Aussieholiday-makers.

Indulgences like these go hand in hand withstacking on the extra kilos and returning toreality with a thud, slightly heavier than whenyou left.

British supermarket chain Somerfield foundthat of the 1,664 Brits they surveyed, a whop-ping 67 per cent returned from holidays heav-ier.

Whilst an Australian study hasn’t been con-ducted, Melanie McGrice from the DietitiansAssociation of NSW says that anecdotallyAussie travellers are in the same boat.

There are, however, things that can be doneto prevent the bulge taking hold while relish-ing the next getaway.

McGrice, a weight management specialist,says that when people pack their bags theytend to switch onto “treat yourself” mode.She reassures that it’s fine to give in to tastytemptations when on holiday but the key is

moderation.“Enjoy indulging but watch portion sizes,”

she says.As a guide, the servings dished up on airline

meals are an indication of a reasonable por-tion size, says McGrice.

She says it’s alcohol that tends to trip mostpeople up.

“People tend to drink a lot more when theyare on holidays.

“You don’t need to have the whole bottle toenjoy one glass,” she suggests.

President of the NSW Personal TrainersCouncil James Short agrees.

He suggests that for every alcoholic drinkknocked back, match it with a glass of water.

“This will make sure you are getting ade-quate water and help to minimise the alcoholintake,” he says.

Short says that travellers should aim to eattheir biggest meals during the day when thereare more hours left in the day to be active.“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince

and dinner like a pauper,” Short says.“That doesn’t mean you can stock up on the

hash browns at breakfast though.”

According to Short there are ways to includeexercise in the itinerary without it taking theform of a daunting workout.“Ditch the hire car and take in the tourist sites

by foot,” Short suggest.Apparently, 47 per cent of Brits try to get in

shape before packing their bags.Likewise, Short says he has a number of

clients with the desire to get a bikini bodyprepped for the beachside bungalow.He believes that having a goal before globe-

trotting can help to sustain motivation whilstsoaking up the sunshine.

McGrice agrees that preparing for extraindulgence is helpful.

“Be a little stricter on yourself leading up tothe holiday,” she says.

The Somerfield study found that Greece isthe “healthiest” travel destination.

On the other hand, McGrice believes thatthere are no boundaries for the health-con-scious holiday. Rather, preparation is the key.“Be aware of the desire to indulge. If it is hot

have an icecream but make it a sundae andshare with a friend.”

Both health professionals point out that

water quality may be questionable so be pre-pared to fork out a few dollars to keep upimportant H2O levels.

Don’t hesitate when locking in the nextsojourn. With a pinch of preparation and ahint of willpower it is still possible to live it upfree of muffin top.

AAP

Think healthy: Don’t stack

on the kilos while travelling

‘Greece is the “healthiest” travel destination’

Wages remain moderate, no need

for RBA to rush in againWages growth remains moderate andsuggests there is no need for theReserve Bank of Australia (RBA) torush in with another interest rate risejust yet.

But mortgage rates could rise furthereven without the hand of the RBA ifvolatility continues on internationalfinancial markets, and further increasesborrowing costs for big business andhome loan lenders.

Still, Prime Minister John Howard andTreasurer Peter Costello can breathe asigh of relief that a tight labour market isnot pushing up wages to a degree thatwould further fuel inflation and on theirown trigger another politically damagingrate rise.

The labour price index released by theAustralian Bureau of Statistics grew aseasonally adjusted 1.1 per cent in theJune quarter, for an annual rate of 4.0 percent.While this was a little above the 1.0 per

cent economists had been expecting, theannual rate is comfortably below theRBA's perceived "line in the sand" at 4.5per cent.

"What they (the data) show is that thiseconomy has maintained strong, but con-tainable wages growth," Mr Howard toldparliament.Mr Costello also said the data was good

news for the economy."What this illustrates is that notwith-

standing record low unemployment at a33-year low, wages continue to be mod-erate.

"The importance of that is this, that onprevious occasions we have experienced

either a terms of trade increase, or whenwe have experienced a surge in employ-ment, it has always set off inflation in thiscountry."

Still, recent gyrations in financial mar-kets caused by defaults in the US sub-prime mortgage-backed market hasincreased the borrowing costs for banksand home lenders on international mar-kets.

This, says Aussie Home Loans chiefJohn Symond, could lead to higher mort-gage rates even without another movefrom the RBA."The cost of money has increased (but)

not yet significantly enough to push usand banks and others to increase ourinterest rates on normal mortgages," MrSymond told ABC Radio.

"But you've got to be honest with con-sumers and say there's a thunderstormbrewing here, it could turn out to be quiteaggressive.

"And if it really hits, there is a chancethat interest rates could trickle up a littlebit and that's beyond what the Reserve

Bank does."He said non-traditional home loan

lenders would be the hardest hit by acredit squeeze because their capital rais-ings for mortgages aren't as highly ratedas more uniform mortgage-backed secu-rities.

"Some of those will struggle becausethey might not be able to raise money tofund their mortgages," he said.

Finance Minister Nick Minchin saidsub-prime home loan lending - low-doc-umentation (low-doc) loans as they arecalled in Australia - form only about oneper cent of the Australian mortgage mar-ket.Such housing loans are made by lenders

to individuals who are self-employed, orhave poor credit histories, and are there-fore deemed riskier.

Senator Minchin said the Australiansub-prime market is much smaller thanin the US, but because it is experiencingdifficulties, there is potential for that toflow through to here.

"It can affect the price of money, andmoney is like anything else in the world,there is demand and supply and a priceset in the marketplace.

"The RAMS of this world are experi-encing the fact that the price of money isaffected in the US market."

Recently listed on the Australian StockExchange, RAMS Home Loans said yes-terday that while it has no direct expo-sure to the troubled US sub-prime mar-ket, volatility in international credit mar-kets could have a material impact on itsfiscal 2008 accounts.

AAP

AUGUST 2007

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA20/38 AUGUST 2007

By Anthee Carassava

Ending months of speculation, PrimeMinister Costas Karamanlis set the nationon a political footing, telling voters to pre-pare for an early election on Sept. 16 intend-ed to secure a fresh mandate for overhaul-ing the economic and social systems.

Greeks last headed to the ballot box in 2004,and the conservative government had consis-tently said it would serve out its four-yearterm, ending next March.

But on Friday 17 August, Karamanlis, stungby a string of scandals, allegations of cronyismand widespread public outrage over the gov-ernment’s handling of a spate of deadly sum-mer forest fires, said a trip to the polls inSeptember was “vital” for the country’s effortsto turn the economy around with sustainedgrowth.

“We have taken important steps forward andsucceeded in meeting important targets,”Karamanlis said in a nationally televisedaddress. “But we are obligated, now, to ensureour gains.“We must forge ahead with fresh momentum

and greater speed.”Karamanlis spoke after meeting with

President Karolos Papoulias, who approvedhis request to dissolve Parliament.

Under the Constitution, early elections can beinvoked for reasons of utmost national impor-tance, and analysts have questioned the truepretext of the prime minister’s decision. Evenso, the call Friday was no surprise.

Early parliamentary elections have beenexpected since the European Union lifted thethreat of sanctions against Greece in June fol-lowing three and a half years of relatively aus-tere fiscal policy that brought the country’sbloated budget deficit in line with financial

rules that underpin the stability of the euro.Speculation mounted in recent weeks, how-

ever, as the government unveiled a raft of ini-tiatives, including a multibillion-euro poverty-reduction program in what has been seen as acentral pillar of its re-election campaign.It also moved to create a new unemployment

fund, increase pensions for officers in theGreek armed forces by 11 percent, and hirethousands of jobless in efforts to reduce unem-ployment and lift two million Greeks out ofpoverty.

Minority groups like the Roma were prom-ised quick driver’s licenses, and the country’s50,000 disabled were offered free access todigital television.

With 20 percent of the nation’s householdsliving below the poverty level, or less than€11,864 a year, or about $16,000, Greece ranksamong the EU’s poorest members.

Yet in recent years, a program of piecemealeconomic changes has put the country’sfinances back in order, slashing the deficitfrom 7.8 percent of gross domestic product in2004 to an expected 2.4 percent this year.Unemployment has also dropped - from 11.3

percent to 8.4 percent - foreign direct invest-ment has swelled, and economic growth is run-ning at 4 percent rate this year.

“The economy’s improvement is the trumpcard for the conservatives, and it’s unlikely thatGreeks will risk changing this course,” saidGeorge Kirtsos, editor of a newspaper, TheCity Press, and a senior political analyst.

The question, he warned, was whetherKaramanlis would be able to “effectively dealwith a number of tough policy issues that heswept and kept under the carpet this term.”

Among them: selling off unprofitable stateenterprises, including the country’s ailingnational carrier, Olympic Airlines; slashingpublic sector spending, and overhauling an ail-

ing pension system.Karamanlis, 50 and the country’s youngest

prime minister, soared to power in 2004 prom-ising to clean up crooked finances and publiclife after 11 years of socialist government.

His decisive victory translated into a bouncein popularity that greets most new prime min-isters and governments.

But today, nearly four years later, controver-sial education changes, a bond-trading scandaland austerity measures have seen his party’spopularity slip to a wafer-thin 2.5 percent leadagainst socialist opponents.

“According to a flurry of public surveys,Pasok has failed to break the conservatives’lead since 2004.

More important, head-to-head opinion pollscomparing Karamanlis and Papandreou have

shown the prime minister leading against hisrival by 15 percentage points.Yet with widespread voter dissatisfaction and

apathy measured at 12 percent in the latestpoll, campaign strategists predict a highlycharged campaign period to woo undecidedvoters.

On Friday 17 August, and during his 10-minute televised address, Karamanlis warnedagainst growing political polarization, saying itwas a factor that weighed in his decision to callfor early elections.“We haven’t been perfect in our decisions and

we don’t claim to be perfect,” he said. But“petty politics and attempts to polarize the cli-mate are damaging national unity and, worseyet, undermining democratic normality.”

AP

Early election in Greece is keyed to economic overhaul

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