Friday, June 23, 2017

Let’s Do It Greece: Ξεπέρασε το 1% της χώρας η συμμετοχή των εθελοντών!

Την Κυριακή 2 Απριλίου, κορυφώθηκε η μεγαλύτερη ταυτόχρονη Εθελοντική Δράση της χώρας, η Πανελλήνια Εθελοντική Εκστρατεία “Let’s Do It Greece 2017!”.

Με κεντρικό σύνθημα «Γίνε η αλλαγή που περιμένεις», περισσότεροι από 109.000 εθελοντές συμμετείχαν σε πάνω από 1475 δράσεις σε ολόκληρη τη χώρα, ξεπερνώντας το 1% του Ελληνικού πληθυσμού. Στο πλαίσιο της εκστρατείας συγκεντρώθηκαν περισσότεροι από 530 τόνοι απορριμμάτων, με την ανακύκλωση πάνω από 140 τόνων.

Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι η εκστρατεία διοργανώνεται αποκλειστικά από εθελοντές, που οι περισσότεροι αγάπησαν τον Εθελοντισμό μέσα από τα σχολεία. Πρωταγωνιστές σε όλη αυτή την προσπάθεια παραμένουν τα νέα παιδιά, που μέσα από την Εβδομάδα Εθελοντισμού Let’s Do It Greece 2017 στα Σχολεία έδωσαν δυναμικό παρόν, προάγοντας την περιβαλλοντική συνείδηση σε πάνω από 1.400 σχολεία, με πάνω από 1 στα 10 σχολεία της χώρας να συμμετέχουν ενεργά!

Willow Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith clean up Greek beaches on Ionian cruise

Hollywood star Will Smith’s teenage daughter Willow posted photographs of her and her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, cleaning up trash and debris from a beach on the Greek island of Antipaxi.

The Smiths are on a family cruise in the Ionian Sea and have visited Corfu as well as other islands in the area.

Willow has been posting photographs and comments of the experience, including a day spent cleaning beaches.

“Being so far away from what I perceive as a polluted metropolis, I couldn't stand seeing these beautiful beaches in Greece littered with trash,” wrote the 16-year-old.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Stratos Papafilippou: The wonderful "Eric" of Thassos (full documentary)

"Eric" is the short documentary by Faidon Gkretsikos and Panos Tragos that tells the story of Stratos Papafilippou, the doppelgänger of football legend Eric Cantona, from the Greek island of Thassos.

In the mid-90s two English tourists told Stratos Papafilippou, the owner of a small bar in Potamia, Thassos, that he bore a striking resemblance to the legendary French footballer Eric Cantona. 

Stratos did not know who Cantona was but he figured it could be a good business opportunity. So he cut his hair, put on a Manchester United jersey, and began appearing in public as "Eric Cantona in the flesh," determined to one day meet the real Cantona in person.

Tilos: the first island in the Mediterranean to run entirely on wind and solar power (video)

You’re more likely to run into friendly partridges, rare orchids and endangered eagles than people as you trek around Tilos. The entire Dodecanese island is a nature reserve, with more than 150 species of resident and migratory birds, over 650 plant varieties, and a permanent population hovering around 500. Tilos owes its extraordinary biodiversity to a network of underground springs that feed five wetlands – but also to the late mayor, Tassos Aliferis, a committed environmentalist who earned Tilos its reputation as “Greece’s green island”.

Aliferis banned hunting in 1993. (He also conducted the first same-sex marriages in Greece in 2008 long before they became legal in 2015.) The current mayor, Maria Kamma, continues to champion sustainable development, and human rights. She has extended an open invitation to refugee families to settle on Tilos, working with the NGO SolidarityNow and the UNHCR to establish sheltered accommodation, language classes and mentoring schemes to help asylum-seekers set up organic farming businesses in partnership with locals.

“We want to revive traditions that were dying out due to a dwindling population, like making cheese and gathering medicinal herbs,” says Kamma. “By integrating refugees, we can boost the local economy and encourage eco-tourism.”

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Χρυσοί οι Μάντης - Καγιαλής και ασημένια η Καραχάλιου στο Παγκόσμιο Ιστιοπλοΐας!

Παγκόσμιοι πρωταθλητές οι Τάκης Μάντης και Παύλος Καγιαλής στο Σαταντέρ. Οι Έλληνες Ολυμπιονίκες συνεχίζουν να πρωταγωνιστούν στο διεθνές στερέωμα της ιστιοπλοΐας και το μεσημέρι της Κυριακής κατέκτησαν το Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο που διεξήχθη στο Σαταντέρ.

Από την αρχή των αγώνων έδειξαν ότι ήταν το φαβορί. Την Κυριακή στο Medal Race, που είναι αγώνας τακτικής, έκαναν μία συντηρητική κούρσα για να διατηρήσουν τα πρωτεία. Ο Τάκης Μάντης δήλωσε αμέσως μετά τον τερματισμό:

 «Στόχος μας σήμερα ήταν να διατηρηθούμε κοντά στους Αμερικάνους και στους Αυστριακούς για να κλειδώσουμε το χρυσό. Και το πετύχαμε. Δουλεύουμε σκληρά για να διατηρηθούμε στην κορυφή και να ανέβουμε ακόμη περισσότερο ως αθλητές με την συνεργασία του προπονητή μας, Μάκη Ωρολογά.  Τώρα θα πανηγυρίσουμε στον… αέρα αφού επιστρέφουμε σήμερα στην Ελλάδα».

Monday, June 12, 2017

Παναγιώτης Μηλάς - Ομάδα Angels: Οι «άγγελοι» των κακοποιημένων ζώων (video)

Συναντηθήκαμε σε ένα γηπεδάκι μπάσκετ στο Γαλάτσι, τη γειτονιά του. Τον διέκρινα από μακριά -ογκώδης, με τατουάζ στο πρόσωπο και με τα τέσσερα σκυλιά του μαζί. Ο Παναγιώτης Μηλάς είναι ο ιδρυτής και ιθύνων νους της Ομάδας Αντιμετώπισης Κακοποίησης Σκύλων «Angels». Οι δράσεις τους, οι επεμβάσεις τους σε περιστατικά κακοποίησης, έχουν γίνει γνωστές πανελλαδικά και η αποδοχή τους -στα social media π.χ.- είναι πρωτόγνωρη.

«Και δεν είναι μόνο τα likes», λέει ο Παναγιώτης. «Η εκτίμηση, η αγάπη από ανθρώπους στο δρόμο είναι εκπληκτική, άνθρωποι μου δίνουν το χέρι τους, με αγκαλιάζουν. Έρχονται πιτσιρικάδες να βγάλουμε μαζί φωτογραφία -αυτό είναι το πιο ελπιδοφόρο».

Όσο τον ακούω, κάποιες φορές μειδιώ ασυναίσθητα. Αντανακλαστικά φαντάζομαι την έκφραση στο πρόσωπο κάποιου που κακοποιεί το σκύλο του, όταν ξαφνικά εμφανίζεται στην πόρτα του ο Παναγιώτης...

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Vaggelis Chatzis: The Incredible Story of the Only One-Armed Boxer in the World (videos)

The ultimate underdog story of a Greek who lost his right arm and went on to become the only one-armed boxer in the world, titled “The Greek”, will be premiering at this year’s LA Greek Film Festival on Thursday June 8.

Created by Anastasios Papapostolou, the 26 minute-long documentary follows the life of Greek boxer Vaggelis “Cobra” Chatzis. The Greek professional fighter struggled through a tough upbringing and the physical challenge of only having one arm to pursue a path in the world of boxing. Today, Chatzis is recognized as the only one-armed competing boxer in the world.

Papapostolou opened up about his inspiration for filming the documentary “The Greek”, saying “I felt it was the most inspiring underdog story I had stumbled upon during my 15 years in journalism.”

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

June 8-11: Hydra island pays homage to Leonard Cohen

The Municipality of Hydra will name a street after Leonard Cohen, the famous Canadian singer, who used to have a house on the Greek islands in the Saronic Gulf.

Organizing a two-day event to commemorate the poet who loved the island,  the municipality will also reveal a stone bench that has been donated by the International Forum of the Friends of Leonard Cohen.

The street where Cohen had his house will receive his name.

A music concert by a local group dedicated to the works is scheduled for Saturday, June 10th 2017, at the port of the island.

On the same weekend, June 8/9-11 2017, there is Meetup scheduled on Hydra with Cohenites from all over the world.

Leonard Cohen bought the 19th century village house in summer 1960 for 1,500 US Dollar using some money inherited by his grand mother. He said once, “this was the smartest decision of my life.”

Friday, June 2, 2017

Holiday home in Finikounda puts Peloponnese on the map of modern, captivating architecture (photos)

Fingers of earth branch over this mound-shaped holiday home by architecture studio LASSA, allowing its owners to climb up onto the roof to admire Greece's Peloponnese peninsula.

The 150-square-metre Villa Ypsilon was designed by London- and Brussels-based firm LASSA, which is headed up by architects Theo Sarantoglou Lalis and Dora Sweijd.

The domed form of the summer house responds to the client's desires for a vantage point from which to survey the agricultural land, as well as the nearby mountains and coastline.

After four decades on bench, Greek-American judge who shuns publicity ready to retire

A Virginia federal judge who upheld Miranda rights, loosened campaign finance strictures and sent both a Romanian hacker and a high-ranking CIA agent to prison will retire this fall.

James Cacheris, the first Republican to become a judge in Northern Virginia since Reconstruction, is also the longest-serving federal judge currently on the bench in Virginia. Before he took the bench in the Eastern District of Virginia in 1981, he served on the Fairfax County Circuit Court bench.

For the past two decades, Cacheris has served as a senior justice, meaning that he does not work a full caseload. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, who is also retiring this fall, replaced Cacheris on the active bench.

At 84, Cacheris, who is married and has four children, does not plan to fully retire. He says he will likely do mediation work — to “get me out of the house.” But first, he says, he’d like to take another trip to Greece.

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