Free Republic

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 9 (UPI) -- Israel's rapprochement with onetime strategic ally Turkey is a vital element in Ankara's drive to become the intercontinental east-west energy hub in the Mediterranean and many expect it to produce an energy alliance that will transform the region. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan has, since taking power in 2002, transformed his country's economic prospects through a wide-ranging diplomatic drive aimed at restoring Turkish leadership in the region. He has long sought to transform Turkey, which has no energy resources of its own, into the unassailable central hub for transporting oil and gas...

"...Greek scientific thought had been in the world for a long time before it reached the Arabs, and during that period it had already spread abroad in various directions. So it is not surprising that it reached the Arabs by more than one route. It came first and in the plainest line through Christian Syriac writers, scholars, and scientists. Then the Arabs applied themselves directly to the original Greek sources and learned over again all they had already learned, correcting and verifying their earlier knowledge. Then there came a second channel of transmission indirectly through India, mathematical and astronomical work,...

All primary schools will be expected to teach foreign languages to pupils from 2014 as part of a major drive to boost education standards, it emerged. At least one subject from a seven-strong shortlist – French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Latin and ancient Greek – will be offered to seven- to 11-year-olds. The move – outlined in a consultation document published by the Department for Education – could result in a major rise in the number of pupils studying the classical languages at a young age....

The cargo volume here is three times the level it was two years ago, before Fu Cheng Qiu was put in charge by his employer, Cosco, a global shipping giant owned by the Chinese government. In a 2010 deal that put 500 million euros ($647 million) into the coffers of Greece’s cash-starved government, Cosco leased half of the port of Piraeus and quickly converted a business that had languished as a Greek state-run enterprise into a hotbed of productivity. The other half of the port is still run by Greece. And the fact that its business lags behind Cosco’s is...

There are two categories of Biden idiocies, the ones that are genuinely offensive ("They gon' put y'all back in chains") and the ones that aren't really offensive but would certainly be treated that way if he was a Republican. This one is a category two, I think, although admittedly the line is fine. If he went up to a table of Italian men and called himself "Joe Bidini," that's probably okay. If he went up to a table of Jewish men and called himself "Joe Bidenstein," a little dodgier. If he went up to a table of Chinese men and...

Retirement In Germany May Rise To Age 69 While Greece Is At Age 58 A senior German retailer pointed out to me that the current economic environment in Europe is unfair and that retirement age for workers should be higher – not lower as the situation exists for workers in Greece. He believes that a productive country is a healthy country. He is pessimistic for the near term outlook of retail trade in Europe, saying that any bailout will lead to higher taxation and depress sales. In 2007 Germany raised its retirement age from 65 to 67 and the German...

An arrest warrant has been issued for the spokesman for Ilias Kasidiaris, Greece's far-Right Golden Dawn party after he physically assaulted two female left-wing MPs on live television during a morning political show

ATHENS—Greek depositors withdrew €700 million ($898 million) from local banks Monday, the country's president said, as he warned that the situation facing Greece's lenders was very difficult.

Bank of Greece complicit in broadscale embezzlement revealed by respectable Greek health site... The illegally denied default of Greece entered a dramatic new phase this afternoon with the revelation by mainstream Greek public health website Health News that, shortly before midnight on March 8th – the eve of Greece's psi completion on Friday March 9th – on average 70% of public utility funds in varous large, interest-bearing accounts at the Bank of Greece were raided. These included most of the state's regional hospital budgets, various universities, and (it is alleged) at least one utility company. The shortfalls came to light...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers inched towards approving a second bailout for debt-laden Greece on Monday that would resolve Athens' immediate repayment needs but seems unlikely to revive the nation's shattered economy. Agreement on a 130-billion-euro rescue package on strict conditions would draw a line under months of uncertainty that has shaken the currency bloc, and avert imminent bankrupcty. As the ministers met, officials were struggling to make the numbers add up. EU sources said they had to cut a further 6 billion euros, via various means, to make the financing work, and private investors might have to...

Wise Men from the East and the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord Wise Men from the East | Sandra Miesel | The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord We Three Kings of Orient are,Bearing gifts we traverse afar. . . . Who were these gift-bearing kings, these Wise Men of the East? What has their mission meant to Christians across the ages? The Wise Men—not yet called kings—make only a single appearance in Holy Scripture. St. Matthew's Gospel (Mt 2:1-12) tells of their arrival in Jerusalem shortly after the birth of Jesus. They have come seeking the...

Greek Bank Run Hits The Big Time... Joe Weisenthal Dec. 6, 2011, 2:00 PM On Drudge right now... the red link goes to this story about Greeks taking money out of their bank accounts.

Athens. It is believed that the tomb of Alexander the Great and the Ark of the Covenant have been found on the Greek Island of Thasos, announced Russian Grekomania.ru, which is information partner of the Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and opposition leader Antonis Samaras have agreed on a new coalition government, the office of the country's president said on Sunday.

After a tumultuous day of political gamesmanship, Prime Minister George Papandreou called off his plan to hold a referendum on Greece’s new loan deal with the European Union, opened talks on a unity government with his conservative opponents and vowed to continue in office despite rumors he would resign. In an address to his party’s central committee on Thursday evening, Mr. Papandreou said there was no need for a referendum now that the opposition New Democracy Party had said it would back the debt deal. He invited that party to become “co-negotiators” on the new deal. “The question was never...

Greeks have launched a wave of civil disobedience against the embattled government's austerity measures designed to appease international creditors, which provided rescue loans to the country. The latest example of rebellion is the Athens municipality of Nea Ionia, where authorities are urging people not to pay a much reviled new property tax being charged through electricity bills. "Our constituents can't pay, they don't have the ability to," Nea Ionia mayor Iraklis Gotsis said. "We consider the new tax to be illegal. But in essence, the truth is our people just can't pay."

BRUSSELS (AP) — Private investors agreed Thursday morning to accept losses of 50 percent on their Greek bonds, a European Union official said, removing the last apparent roadblock to a broad plan to solve the continent's debt crisis. The deal with private creditors would significantly cut Greece's debt load, the very problem that kicked off the eurozone's debt drama almost two years ago. At an emergency summit in Brussels, European leaders had already agreed to force banks to raise euro106 billion ($148 billion) by June — partially to ensure they could weather the expected losses on Greek debt. They also...

Why It's Actually A Big Deal That Greek Bond Haircuts Talks Have Been Suspended Simone Foxman Oct. 26, 2011, 9:53 AM Talks on the losses private Greek bondholders will take are deadlocked and have been suspended. This news just hit the wires from Bloomberg. So far, U.S. markets don't seem to care. However, this could be a big deal, for two reasons: - Debt sustainability in Greece is virtually impossible without significant writedowns of sovereign debt. The numbers are just too big to allow for anything else. More private sector involvement (perhaps coupled with public sector involvement) is seen as...

The parliament approved a painful set of austerity measures on Thursday, defying violent protests in central Athens and a general strike which shut down much of the country. The government won the parliamentary vote with 154 votes in favor and 144 against, despite the decision by one deputy in the ruling party to oppose one article in the package. The victory should ensure the European Union and International Monetary Fund release a vital 8 billion euro loan tranche which the government needs to keep paying its bills past November. The mix of deep pay and pension cuts, tax hikes and...

She looks like any old bag lady scavenging for cast-offs in the rubbish as the world looks the other way. But this is no ordinary woman - she is Olga Onassis, 90, a woman linked by marriage to one of the richest dynasties in the world. She has now fallen, like her country, on desperate times. She is a regular at a church soup kitchen in the Greek capital Athens and roots around in the overflowing garbage containers of the city for clothes.

ATHENS -- A Bulgarian baker was arrested after serving cocaine-sprinkled cookies to guests at a Greek funeral, news website Novinite reported Wednesday. Mourners phoned for help after the traditional Greek cookies caused them to act strangely, and police discovered the cookies were sprinkled with cocaine instead of powdered sugar. The baker, who is a Bulgarian national, was involved in drug trafficking and sent the cookies to the funeral service by mistake, police said.

Debt Crises: What a sorry spectacle to watch Greeks rioting in the streets in reaction to austerity measures. As if tantrums can change reality. It's Exhibit A of how socialism infantilizes citizens. The only cure is free markets. As Greece's legislature heads for a vote Wednesday to cut the size of its government by $40 billion in exchange for the last $17 billion of a $156 billion International Monetary Fund bailout on July 3, the world's television screens are flooded with images of young "indignantes" calling a riotous 48 hour-strike in Athens. Steeped in socialism for decades, these Greeks see...

Anyone who has lived in Greece can see why the question of default or a “haircut” is not a matter of if, but when. It is a wonder that crazy things have lasted as long as they have there. The symptoms are well known: Tax evasion is now an art form and a matter of pride; pensions are absurd to the point of caricature; the public sector is self-righteous, bloated, and inefficient; and what little industry there is does not meet European standards of efficiency and productivity. [....] Finally, there is no way out except either sudden or gradual default...

The crisis in Greece took another step forward today as opposition leader have asked Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to step down. In response, Papandreou offered to resign. Unfortunately, Papandreou placed strings on the offer. Party Defections Reduce Papandreou's Majority to 4 VotesPapandreou's majority in parliament is a mere 4-5 votes out of 300. In recent days members of his socialist PASOK party have defected over austerity measures.With a slim and potentially vanishing majority, Papandreou is not in a position to be demanding much of anything. Indeed, his offer to resign with strings attached, increases the likelihood he will be...

Modern methods are slowly helping us build a history of the Heroic Age. The exploits of the Sea Peoples are perhaps not as distinctly preserved in the Greek tradition as those of the Achaeans who sacked Troy, probably sometime during the 1180s BC, with the nostos of Odysseus recently dated to 1,178BC. The lack of distinct information may be, in part, due to the fact that the Sea Peoples were active mostly away from the Aegean, and in lands where Greek colonization did not occur centuries later, and hence were cut off from the Aegean world. The memory of the...

Many countries have restrictions and requirements on doctors, nurses, lawyers etc. Greece carries the idea to extreme. According to Keep Talking Greece "closed professions" include beauticians, drama and dance school instructors, bakers, antiques dealers, insurance agents, insurance consultants, employment consultants, diagnostics centre staff, translators, divers, cameramen, driving school instructors, cab drivers, tourist bus drivers, newspaper stand owners, electricians, sound technicians, private school owners, tobacco sellers, gun manufacturers and sellers, hairdressers, private investigators, port workers, real estate agents, lifeguards, carpenters, financiers, opticians, auditors, movie/theatre director and even car mechanics. Restrictions will be lifted July 2. That is a much needed maneuver, and the...

Comparing Christianity and the New Paganism The most serious challenge for Christianity today isn't one of the other great religions of the world, such as Islam or Buddhism. Nor is it simple atheism, which has no depth, no mass appeal, no staying power. Rather, it's a religion most of us think is dead. That religion is paganism — and it is very much alive. Paganism is simply the natural gravity of the human spirit, the line of least resistance, religion in its fallen state. The "old" paganism came from the country. Indeed, the very word "paganism" comes from the Latin...

Featured Term (selected at random):ALPHA AND OMEGA A symbol witnessing to the divinity of Christ. Words spoken by Jesus of himself: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Apocalypse 1:8). This combined symbol is often used in conjunction with the cross and together are favorite symbols in ecclesiastical decorations on altars, walls, and vestments. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Weisenthal Center demands Theodorakis be stripped of International Music Prize; composer: "US Jews behind Greek economic crisis." Mikis Theodorakis, best known for composing the musical score to the film Zorba the Greek, recently declared on Greek television that he was “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.” “Everything that happens today in the world has to do with the Zionists,” was one such comment. Another was “American Jews are behind the world economic crisis that has hit Greece also.” Theodorakis also blasted Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou for establishing closer relations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was guilty, he said, of “war crimes...

The Greek government has unveiled plans to construct a wall along its 128-mile land border with Turkey in order to tackle the influx of illegal immigrants. Interior minister Christian Papoutsis said the wall was a necessary measure after more than 100,000 people illegally entered the Mediterranean nation last year. But the plans - which have compared with the 650-mile barrier along sections of the border between the U.S. and Mexico - have been criticised by the European Commission as a 'short-term measure' that does not deal with the root of the problem. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343885/Greece-follows-U-S-example-building-giant-border-wall-illegal-immigrants.html#ixzz1A5Sq0itZ

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) called Wednesday for the Greek Orthodox church to remove the Metropolite of Piraeus, Seraphim, after the high-ranking priest sounded an anti-Semitic rant on Greek TV. Speaking on the morning show on Mega-TV, the largest television station in Greece, Seraphim blamed world Jewry for Greece's financial problems. "Mixing Freemasons with Jewish bankers such as Baron Rothschild and world Zionism, the Metropolite said that there is a conspiracy to enslave Greece and Christian Orthodoxy," JTA reported. He also accused "international Zionism" of trying to destroy the family unit by promoting one-parent families and same-sex marriages. Thirteen minutes...

Athens, Oct 7 (DPA) Civil servants in Greece embarked on a 24-hour strike Thursday in protest over the government's austerity programme, forcing the closure of public institutions, and the cancellation of dozens of domestic and international flights. Schools, municipal offices and universities were shut, while hospitals were operating on emergency staffing. Flights to and from the country were grounded for four hours as of 1200 GMT after air traffic controllers joined the strike. Greek airlines Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines cancelled 40 domestic and international flights. Other airlines were also affected, officials at Athens' International Airport said. More than 2,000...

Featured Term (selected at random):I.H.S. Iesus (Jesus) Hominum Salvator (usual interpretation), Jesus Savior of Men. Really a faulty Latin transliteration of the first three letters of JESUS in Greek (IHS for IHC). See Also: IESOUS HEMETEROS SOTER,See Also: IESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR,See Also: JESUS All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

A CELESTIAL event in the 5th century BC could be the earliest documented sighting of Halley's comet - and it marked a turning point in the history of astronomy. According to ancient authors, from Aristotle onwards, a meteorite the size of a "wagonload" crashed into northern Greece sometime between 466 and 468 BC. The impact shocked the local population and the rock became a tourist attraction for 500 years. The accounts describe a comet in the sky when the meteorite fell. This has received little attention, but the timing corresponds to an expected pass of Halley's comet, which is visible...

Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Democratic nominee for US Senator, [and member of the Greek Orthodox Church] supports homosexual marriage. Here’s the introduction from the Greek Star (a Chicago newspaper with Greek readership): Alexi Giannoulias, Democratic nominee for US Senator, shares why he supports the freedom to marry for all, including people of the same sex. This is something that many of his supporters, and especially Greek-Americans may be opposed to. ... He stated, “There may be many individuals that may not be happy with my particular stance”. The Greek Orthodox church does not allow, or support, same sex marriage. Giannoulias in...

This movie is a spin-off from Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Jonah Hill is in both films, but as two different characters. Kristen Bell reprises her role as Sarah Marshall in a cameo.See more »

Possum Creek Stone and Anomalous Cherokee DNA Point to Eastern Mediterranean Origins In memoriam Gloria Farley Donald N. Yates DNA Consultants Keynote address for Ancient American History and Archeology Conference, Sandy, Utah, April 2, 2010 SUMMARY  Three examples of North American rock art are discussed and placed in the context of ancient Greek and Hebrew civilization. The Red Bird Petroglyphs are compared with Greek and Hebrew coins and the Bat Creek Stone. The Possum Creek Stone discovered by Gloria Farley is identified as a Greek athlete’s victory pedestal. The Thruston Stone is interpreted as a record of the blending of...

US Economist Fears Greek Debt Default in August Greece will eventually default on its debt because the country is highly indebted and the euro zone's approach towards saving it is the wrong one, Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told CNBC Friday. A restructuring of Greek debt could happen as soon as August, when the Balkan country is due to receive another tranche of funds from its lending agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union, according to Weinberg. "You can't take a country that's over-borrowed and make it more creditworthy by lending it more...

This was supposed to have been the final triumph of John Maynard Keynes, the crisis in which governments actually did what he urged them to do during the Great Depression, the proof that an elite of puppeteers in control of monetary and fiscal policy could make the innumerable actors in economic life march wide-eyed toward recovery. Keynes' idea is simple; in fact, it is simple by construction, for it focuses on the very short term within a closed economy. If consumers won't spend, the government will spend for them; if businesses won't invest, the government will invest for them; and...

We've all been watching the video of the Greek riots of late. The coverage, even on Fox News, seems to be clearly implying that the Greek citizenry are angry over upcoming spending cuts due to Greece's horrific financial situation, need for EU bailout monies, etc. In effect, we are being told that this is just a bunch of spoiled brats who are used to sucking off of the public teat and are angry that their cushy pensions, etc. may be cut even slightly. Well, according to a conversation I had this afternoon, this is anything but the case. I have...

ATHENS—Greece's fiscal crisis took a new turn to violence Wednesday when three people died in a firebomb attack amid a paralyzing national strike, while governments from Spain to the U.S. took steps to prevent the widening financial damage from hitting their own economies. U.S. Treasury officials have been quietly urging their European and International Monetary Fund counterparts to put together a Greek rescue plan more quickly to contain the damage, it emerged Wednesday, as U.S. policy makers worry the continent's problems could undermine a U.S. recovery much as U.S. housing woes hammered Europe in 2008. In Spain, rival political leaders...

Potentially interesting development here. Germany may pursue some action against Goldman Sachs (GS) relating to the CDOs itself to a German bank. Remember, Germany already has hostility towards the company due to its apparent role in helping Greece hide its debt in order to gain entry into the EU. With Merkel on the ropes a bit due ot the Greek bailout, going after Goldman would probably be a smart political move.

A Greek man has sued a dairy firm in southern Sweden after his picture ended up on a Turkish yoghurt product. The man whose picture adorns the Turkish yoghurt product, manufactured by Lindahls dairy in Jönköping, argues that the company does not have permission to use his image. He has now sued Lindahls for 50 million kronor ($6.9 million), according to Sveriges Radio (SR) Jönköping.

Jesus was the son of a middle-class, highly educated architect, according to a new book, which claims the previous belief that Joseph worked as a carpenter has distorted the Bible's meaning. The book- The Jesus Discovery- claims that Jesus rose to become the most senior Rabbi of his time, thus explaining how he was able to exert such influence and why his teachings became such a concern to the authorities. Author Dr Adam Bradford, who works as a GP, drew his conclusions after studying and comparing the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures, as well as using human psychology to analyse...

Greece will this month launch a multibillion-dollar bond in the US in its hunt for new investors, selling itself for the first time as an emerging market country as demand for its debt dwindles in Europe. Morgan Stanley is being considered to handle the deal after Goldman Sachs’ plans to sell Greek bonds to US and Asian investors this year fell through amid rumours that the Chinese had shunned Athens’ debt. George Papaconstantinou, Greece’s finance minister, would lead a roadshow to the US “after April 20” but in contrast with plans at the start of the year he would not...

SARAJEVO -- During the past week, an international Wahhabi organization has launched a campaign in Bosnia-Herzegovina calling on non-Muslims to convert to Islam. The organization, which calls itself "Poziv u Raj" (Invitation To Heaven), has been putting up slick billboards and posters and distributing leaflets in Sarajevo, Bihac, Sanski Most, Maglaj, Zenica, Travnik, Tuzla, and Tesanj. The group also has been organizing public lectures in Bosnian cities and towns by a Greek man and a German man who recently converted to Islam. Those recent converts have repeated the group's call for non-Muslims to convert to Islam. They have also been...

ATHENS — Vasia Veremi may be only 28, but as a hairdresser in Athens, she is keenly aware that, under a current law that treats her job as hazardous to her health, she has the right to retire with a full pension at age 50. “I use a hundred different chemicals every day — dyes, ammonia, you name it,” she said. “You think there’s no risk in that?”

"The Greek state must sell stakes in companies and also assets such as, for example, unpopulated islands," Frank Schäffler, a member of parliament for the pro-business Free Democrats, told the Bild daily. Marco Wanderwitz, an MP for Merkel's own conservative Christian Democrats, said Athens should provide collateral for any money it receives from the European Union to help it out of its debt crisis. "In this case, certain Greek islands also come into question," added Wanderwitz. "We give you cash, you give us Corfu," the Bild commented. Greece has around 6,000 islands off its coast, of which only 227 are...

Herodotus begins his history by telling us that some Phoenician traders came to Argos, Greece and, on a whim, abducted the king’s daughter Io and took her to Egypt. Later, to show that two could play at that game, the Greeks slid over to Phoenicia and stole their king’s daughter, Europa. (Bad pun: and how these ladies ended up with Jupiter, nobody knows.) “So far,” Herodotus, checking his sums, said, “the scores were even.” But then the Greeks, into the game, decided to do a one-up. The went back to another Phoenician stronghold and kidnapped that king’s daughter, Medea. The...

An old stone quarry on the Greek island of Crete which has a network of underground tunnels could be the original site of the ancient Labyrinth, the maze that housed the Minotaur of Greek legend, scholars believe. An Anglo-Greek team believes that the site, near the town of Gortyn, has just as much claim to be the place of the Labyrinth as the Minoan palace at Knossos 20 miles away, which has been synonymous with the Minotaur myth since its excavation a century ago. The 600,000 people a year who visit the ruins at Knossos are told the site was...