Nikos Papastergiadis will analyse Christos Tsiolkas’ body of work in an online event on 23 September.
‘Facing the fall: humanism after nihilism in Christos Tsiolkas’ writing’ will run as part of the Greek Community of Melbourne’s Greek history and culture seminars.
“The novels of Christos Tsiolkas provide a powerful portrayal of the hollowing out of radical political ideologies and the disaggregation of cultural bonds,” Papastergiadis writes in a press release.
“In this lecture, I contrast the ambivalent resort to nihilism (the rejection of religious and moral principles) in Tsiolkas’s work with the theoretical commentary by [philosophers Peter] Sloterdijk and [Slavoj] Žižek’s.”
Nikos Papastergiadis is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge and is currently an academic at the University of Melbourne’s school of culture and communications.
He is the author of six books, 10 collections, and numerous essays spanning three decades.
His work often philosophies about migration, displacement, and multiculturalism in the modern world.
Tsiolkas is the author of nine books, including the novel Damascus about St Saul of Tarsus.
With over 50 published papers and 1300 citations, 3 published books, and 35 coauthored chapters in 7 university books, Dr. Antigone Kouris-Blazos is one of Australia’s most well-established dieticians.
Dr. Antigone Kouris-Blazos is a second-generation Greek Australian researcher who has filled the post of associate professor at La Trobe University’s school of rehabilitation, nutrition, and sport since 2011.
She is a practicing dietician with over 30 years of experience as a clinician, researcher, author, and educator.
Dr. Kouris-Blazos has been in her post at La Trobe University for 10 years (Photo: latrobe.edu.au)
She is based in Melbourne and says her interest in healthy eating came from her parents who migrated from Athens to Australia.
“Even though we did eat quite a bit of meat, my parents were quite careful. We rarely barbequed meat, they kept sugar dense foods like soft drinks out of the house, and my mum, like most other migrants, made us eat legume-based meals twice a week,” she tells the Greek Herald.
“They had a different outlook and my parents were very well educated. That plays into how you view food and health.”
Dr. Kouris-Blazos’ landmark PhD was the first study to show that adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern in old age conferred longevity.
The cross-cultural, international studyDiet and overall survival in elderly people, published in the British Medical Journal in 1995, collected the data of 182 elderly residents across three rural Greek villages, including a village 20 kilometres from the capital of Athens called Spata.
Kouris-Blazos was a part of a landmark collaborative study published in the British Medical Journal in the mid-90s (Photo: Andrew Matthews / PA Images via Getty Images)
The study pioneered the first Mediterranean diet score, which classified dietary patterns and allowed them to be analysed statistically, and showed that Greeks had the lowest mortality rate.
“[The score] captures food groups, like how much meat versus fish versus legumes… [not] the cuisine, per se.”
“If it wasn’t for this score that we developed, maybe we wouldn’t have had so much research on the Mediterranean diet…”
Kouris-Blazos takes an epidemiological approach to diet research, looking at food patterns as opposed to cuisines.
Professor Kouris-Blazos is a staple figure in the field of research into the Mediterranean diet
Professor Kouris-Blazos’ studies have shown time and again that people of Greek descent have their diets to thank for their low mortality rates.
So how do Greek migrants have the highest CVD rates and yet don’t seem likely to die of them?
“If you have CVD risk factors, it increases your risk of having heart disease, cancer, and so on, but that’s not what we found [with Greek migrants].”
“We actually found the opposite: that they had these risk factors but had much lower death rates than the slimmer Anglo Australians who had less diabetes, less heart disease, and yet higher death rates from these conditions.”
Associate professor Kouris says the Meditteranean diet comprises many beneficial food groups (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
It’s called the Greek paradox.
Kouris says there are solid and unanimous speculations for this paradox, but admits time is running out to quantitatively confirm it.
“We look at all possible factors to explain this paradox such as diet, social activities, physical activity, mental health, and more. Following the Mediterranean diet score was the most important factor conferring longevity in our Greek migrants, especially their intake in legumes,” she says.
“Apart from the diet, we suspect it’s also got something to do with inflammation and the microbiome, which are influenced by diet.”
“We don’t have microbiome or inflammatory markers on Greek migrants, unfortunately, and we’re slowly losing this group of people because they’re all in their 80s and 90s and are dying.”
“We’re losing the opportunity to get this information from them.”
“We need to get more blood and stool samples to look at what it is about this group; why are they so protected from cardiovascular risk factors?”
Research on the Mediterranean diet, however, indicates that the cuisine reduces inflammation in the body and thus lowers the mortality rate of those who live with CVDs.
This is why the Mediterranean diet forms the basis for Kouris’ practice as a dietician, her own diet, and even her own brand line of Skinnybik lupin biscuits.
After all, who doesn’t love fakes (lentil soup) and some sofrito sauce?
The Greek island of Milos was recognized by the readers of US tourism magazine “Travel+Leisure” as the greatest in the world in the publication’s annual World’s Best Awards. More specifically, Milos received an almost flawless score of 95,50 in the Best Island in the World and Best Island in Europe categories.
The writing staff of the magazine pointed out that this vote of preference from their readers came due to the warm people living on the island, the many beautiful beaches and the unique locations that it gives its visitors the chance to explore:“…Mílos rose from its No. 3 spot last year thanks to friendly locals who welcome visitors to explore the quaint villages (Trypiti is famous for its windmills, Plaka for its sunsets), extraordinary tavernas, and dozens of picturesque beaches that vary in color depending on whether they are formed from shells, stones, or sand. Visitors will find many options for lodging.”
But it wasn’t just Milos that the US travelers seemed to show a preference to, as fellow Cycladic island Folegandros was given second place in the “Top 20 Islands of Europe” category, with Greece dominating the rankings, as Santorini was in fifth place, Paros in tenth, Mykonos in 13th, Crete in 14th, Corfu and the other Ionian islands in 15th and Rhodes alongside the rest of the Dodekanisa completing the white and blue lineup in 17th place.
An image of Folegandros, named 2nd in the Top 20 Islands of Europe category by readers of US magazine Travel+Leisure. Source: liadis
This latest recognition comes only a few days after Greece and Santorini had been named as Favorite Country and Best Island in Europe respectively in the recent FXExpress 2021 Awards and serves to further solidify the US tourist’s preference towards Greece as their ideal holiday destination.
The voting process took place for nearly four months, starting on January 11 and ending on May 10. During that time, over 35 million readers had a chance to submit their votes for the many different categories such as Best City in the World, Best Hotel in the World, but also other more specific rankings like the Top 10 Resorts across various tourist locations.
The award on behalf of Milos was accepted by the Chief of the Hellenic Tourism Services in North America, Mr Konstantinos Charokopos, with the official results expected to be published in the October issue of the magazine.
It was a great night for Greek football as both teams remaining in the European football competitions were able to come through with important victories, starting their respective group stages in the best way possible.
For the Europa League, Olympiacos defeated Belgian side Royal Antwerp 2-1, in front of a “Karaiskakis” stadium that was at 80 per cent capacity. The home side took the lead on the 52nd minute with Youssef El Arabi, but the visitors were able to bounce back thanks to a close header by Mbwana Samatta.
Το μήνυμα του Όλεγκ Ρέαμπτσιουκ στον κόσμο του Θρύλου! / Reabciuk’s message to Olympiacos fans! 🔴⚪️
️💬 «Καλησπέρα φίλαθλοι του Ολυμπιακού! Θέλω να σας πω ότι σας ευχαριστούμε για την υποστήριξή σας από το πρώτο λεπτό του αγώνα! Ήταν μία εκπληκτική βραδιά! Συνεχίζουμε μαζί!» pic.twitter.com/OwQt2DXDxz
Thankfully for their fans, the “erythrolefki” had the ideal response when Marios Vrousai found himself with the ball inside the box on the dying minutes of the game. Spotting the run of Moldavian winger Oleg Reabciuk, he fed him the ball with the 23-year-old smashing it into the back of the net.
This win puts Olympiacos top of their group, with their next game being in Turkey against Fenerbahce on October 1.
Earlier, PAOK had done their duty in the Conference League against the Lincoln Red Imps, a team comprised of many non-professionals. The club from Thessaloniki took the lead at the last minutes of the first half, when Anderson Esiti made the run from the right, feeding the ball towards Chupa Akpom, who simply laid it to rest in the back of the net.
The final score was written by new arrival Alexandru Mitrija on the 56th with a fancy scissor kick, after the opposition defense failed to deal with a corner kick. PAOK will now look to their next game, which will be against Slovan Bratislava at Toumba on October 1.
These wins gave Greece some breathing space in the UEFA coefficient rankings, with the country rising to 19th place from 20th. The 1000 points offered by PAOK and Olympiacos allowed Greece to put Sweden behind them, while now they will look to move beyond Turkey, who sits in the 18th spot with 23,700 points. Greece currently have 23,450.
Meanwhile, despite putting on a solid performance, Angelos Postecoglou’s Celtic failed to walk away with a good result from Seville against Betis. The Celts took an early 0-2 lead thanks to goals from Albian Ajeti and Josip Juranovic, but by the 50th minute the home side were ahead, 4-2.
All Postecoglou’s men could do was reduce the margin of their defeat with a goal by Anthony Ralston on the 87th. It’s worth pointing out that goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas saw the game from the bench, while new arrival Giorgos Giakoumakis wasn’t included in the lineup.
Ambulance Victoria paramedic Steven Gelagotis has been bearing the brunt of Melbourne’s Delta wave.
He says the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on new challenges for paramedics.
“It’s definitely changed the way we use our personal protective equipment (PPE),” he tells ABC’s News Breakfast, saying it adds to the “physically exhausting” and “draining” work of 14-hour shifts.
“I always say to my friends, ‘If you came out here and saw the devastating effects [COVID-19] has had on people in their lives, you would totally understand’.”
Steven Gelagotis appeared on the ABC’s News Breakfast program on Friday (Photo: @BreakfastNews on Twitter)
Gelagotis contracted COVID-19 in August last year and implores people to get vaccinated if they hope to avoid that battle themselves.
“It took me 8 months to get better and I didn’t have the choice to get the vaccine then,” he says.
“If it’s not for you, do it for your loved ones… I wouldn’t want to weigh up those odds.”
Victoria has recorded 510 new cases and one death.
Gelagotis says his greyhound Lucy has been his “saving grace” through it all.
“I come home and you know what dogs are like; regardless of what you do, they are always there for you and they greet you with a smile,” he says.
“I think my neighbours probably think I’ve lost it because I talk to her all the time.”
Cyprus’ Orthodox Church have had stolen 18th-century church doors repatriated from an art college in Japan.
The two ornately decorated doors were displayed to the public at the Archbishopric in Nicosia on Thursday following a lengthy legal battle.
(AP Photo/Philippos Christou)
Cypriot communications and works minister Yiannis Karousos says the doors were discovered at the Kanazawa Art College over 20 years ago and their return followed “long and intensive efforts”.
He says the doors’ repatriation sends the message to antiquities smugglers and “the international ring of crooks that however many years go by, (Cyprus) will hunt them down, because cultural genocide cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world.”
Cyprus’ communications and culture minister Yiannis Karousos (yiannikarousos.com)
The artifacts – painted with religious scenes – originally stood in the central gateway the iconostasis of the 18th century Saint Anastasios church in Peristeronopigi.
They were among hundreds of artifacts stolen in the country’s north after Cyprus’ ethnic split in 1974, but no information has been provided on how the Japanese college acquired them.
The French government has hit out at Australia’s decision to ditch its submarine contract in favour of nuclear-powered submarines.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has responded furiously to the cancellation of the contract.
“It’s a stab in the back. We had established a trusting relationship with Australia, and this trust was betrayed,” he told French radio network France Info.
He added he was “angry and very bitter about this breakup,” adding that he had spoken to his Australian counterpart Marise Payne days ago and received no serious indication of the move.
French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has slammed the move (Photo: AFP/Stephanie De Sakutin)
In 2016, the Turnbull government announced French company Naval Group (then known as DCNS) had been selected for Australia’s largest-ever defense contract at a cost of $90 billion.
Naval Group were to construct up to 12 new conventional submarines in Adelaide in a bid to replace the existing Collins-class subs which make up the Australian navy’s defence fleet.
“The Australians need to tell us how they’re getting out of it. We’re going to need explanation,” Le Drian says.
“We have an intergovernmental deal that we signed with great fanfare in 2019, with precise commitments, with clauses, how are they getting out of it?
“This is not over.”
Australia announced plans to join the US and the UK for a historic, trilateral national security pact dubbed the ‘AUKUS’ on Wednesday.
The US and the UK are partners in the Australian navy’s new nuclear-powered submarine fleet project, providing the technology required for Australia to operate its own nuclear submarines in the Indo-Pacific region.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the pact will make the region safer.
NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo met with prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Thursday.
The Milwaukee Bucks star attended a ceremony at Mitsotakis’ official residence which bestowed citizenship on his mother Veronica and younger brother Alex.
“We always felt Greek, but now we have an official stamp and we are happy,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the ceremony.
“Alex and my mom are Greek citizens now.”
Antetokounmpo, 26, is an Athenian-born Greek-Nigerian who grew up in Sepolia.
He was born to parents who migrated from Nigeria and was granted Greek citizenship in 2013.
The citizenship allowed him to travel to the US and join the Bucks later that year.
“The face of the whole Antetokounmpo family reflects the Greece that struggles, overcomes the difficulties, and keeps its family united,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis later wrote on Twitter.
Η Βερόνικα Αντετοκούνμπο και ο Εμέκα – Άλεξ Αντετοκούνμπο πολιτογραφήθηκαν σήμερα τιμητικά Έλληνες πολίτες. Στο πρόσωπο όλης της οικογένειας Αντετοκούνμπο αντικατοπτρίζεται η Ελλάδα που αγωνίζεται, ξεπερνά τις δυσκολίες και κρατά ενωμένη την οικογένειά της. Θερμά συγχαρητήρια. pic.twitter.com/3OyQjnoOln
CoreLogic figures released earlier this month show the median house price in Australia increased by 18.4 per cent since September last year, the fastest pace of growth since 1989.
In Adelaide, the increase for the year was 17.9 per cent to a median value of $522,000.
How has the pandemic impacted South Australia’s real estate market and what does the significant surge in housing demand mean at a time when overseas migration has stalled?
These are some of the topics discussed on Wednesday, September 15, at the second Business Breakfast panel discussion hosted by St George College, as part of the school’s efforts to raise funds for the refurbishment of its Senior Campus.
The event was opened by St George College Principal Peter Karamoshos with Senior Reporter, Andrea Nicolas leading the conversation that followed.
The panel was comprised of the Mayor of the City of West Torrens Michael Coxon, Director of Xsell Property Andrew Kyriacou and lawyer Elias Farah.
A one in a generation peak
“We are amazed by how many people want to buy a house at the moment…It’s the classic undersupply and increase in demand that’s been going on since November last year,” said Kyriacou responding to a question about his workload during the last year.
“We’ve been the busiest we’ve been in eleven years and this cycle is a one in a generation boom,” Partner, Commercial and Legal, Elias Farah, said.
The surge in demand has created a shift in the demographic of home buyers with nearly two-thirds of Australians thinking home ownership won’t be an option for young people as property prices rise.
That’s particularly the case in cities where house prices are booming but wages aren’t as strong.
“Let’s not forget about the first home buyers and how they will enter the market. We are seeing a change in the demographic of people that are more attuned to living in residential denser environments,” Mayor Coxon said.
The panel also discussed the build-to-rent model as a potential solution to relieve the pressure from first home buyers and what are the difficulties in adopting it in South Australia.
The school’s Year 10 and Year 11 students who study Hospitality prepared and served the attendees with a scrumptious breakfast and the morning concluded with St George College Principal, Peter Karamoshos thanking all and renewing the invitation for next year.
As Europe tries to stop the boats, lifeguards from the calm beaches of Barcelona are stepping in to save lives on the open sea.
The ABC’s Foreign Correspondent program spent 10 days sailing the Mediterranean with the Spanish rescue group Open Arms, an NGO founded by lifeguards who once patrolled the calm beaches of Barcelona.
It proudly claims to have rescued 62,000 refugees and migrants on the open sea since it was founded six years ago.
Italy and Malta, where most migrants boats head, claim the group enables people-smuggling and attempt to stop the boat from taking distressed migrants to shore.
The Open Arms boat. Photo: Twitter.
Take for example one night out on the open seas when the rescue group spotted a small wooden boat with more than 50 people crammed inside — anxious mothers, crying babies, old men, young men and frightened children.
There’s no navigator, no safety gear and just an outboard motor sputtering like it is running on fumes in the vastness of the Mediterranean.
The rescue team, led by Gerard Canals, secures the wooden boat with an inflatable orange buoy, checks for injuries, hands out water and reassures the distraught passengers that help is coming soon.
But back on the Open Arms yacht, the Greek captain, Savvas Kourepinis, has been pleading over the radio for an hour for the Maltese or Italian coastguards to come.
Savvas Kourepinis pleads with Italian and Maltese authorities to assist in the rescue. Photo: Foreign Correspondent / Santi Palacios
Both are refusing. An Italian coast guard base is just 13 nautical miles away on the island of Lampedusa but the operators are now insisting he contact the Maltese authorities.
“I am in the sea trying to keep the people alive,” Savvas shouts during the TV program, barely able to control his anger. “And you say me to call Malta! Serious?”
The Maltese rescue service doesn’t pick up the phone so eventually the Italian coastguard agrees to connect Savvas to the Maltese radio room.
“Can you kindly send an email?” comes the crackly reply of the Maltese operator. Savvas again bites down his rage.
An hour earlier, Gerard Canals sent Malta an email giving full details of “the target,” the international rescue parlance for a possible boat in distress. There was no reply.
It is 20 years #11S, of endless conflict, destruction and death in #Afganistan and the Middle East. 20 years and millions of people forced to flee the "war on terror" risking their lives, always the most vulnerable and the most invisible ones. #EveryLifeCountspic.twitter.com/F2dyJPu73Q
At dawn, after hours of badgering, the Italians finally relent and send out a coastguard vessel to collect the migrants. The Maltese rescue authority, part of the Maltese Armed Forces, never even replied.
Soon, more migrant boats appear on the horizon and the exhausted crew begin another sleepless day and night of rescues.
On its 83rd mission, the Open Arms team went to the aid of 398 migrants, keeping every one of them safe as it cajoled, begged, pressured and embarrassed the Italian coastguard to come.
Oscar Camps, who is the founder and director of Open Arms, tells Foreign Correspondent the team will keep going back as long as there are lives to be saved.
“Nothing is more important than protecting life at sea. Saving lives in international waters is not a crime. It is a duty,” Camps said.
