Categories
political

Why Is Athens This Stupid?

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis has said Greece will support Ukraine’s territorial integrity in the event of a Russian invasion. What exactly does this even mean? What isAthens going to do should Russia actually invade? Furthermore, why does Athens have an interest in Ukraine? What Greek interests are at stake?

Turkey has occupied Cyprus since 1974 and has ethnically cleansed the occupied territories of Greece. Turkey is openly threatening war with Greece by demanding the demilitarization of the Greek islands. Why does Mitsotakis care about Ukraine?

Sadly, the answer to this rhetorical question is that Greece is internationalist in its foreign policy. Greece has been westernized to such an extent that its sovereignty and independence in foreign affairs is nonexistent. Mitsotakis is much better in his foreign policy than his predecessors but far from perfect.

NATO and the European Union view Russia as a threat. Serious Greeks with a nationalist ethos and who are solidly Orthodox are pro Russian. Russian is not a threat to Greece and alone among the great powers has never dominated Greece or interfered in the internal affairs of Greece. Sorry, the Communists of the Soviet era do not count.

The only obstacle to the flourishing of Greek-Russian relations are ties between Russia and Turkey. The Russians sat on the sidelines when Azerbaijan with the backing of Turkey defeated the Armenians over a year ago. Russian support for Turkey is an obstacle to good relations with Greece. Of course, Patriarch Bartholomew has made Greek-Russian relations worse with his meddling in Ukraine.

For now, Greek foreign policy needs to concentrate on one thing. Defending its territorial integrity from Turkey. NATO has made very clear it has no interest in helping Greece. Within the European Union, the Germans have made it clear that Greece can expect no help or assistance.

Greece needs to keep all options open in Moscow and Washington. Washington right now cannot be depended on because it is agitating for war in Ukraine. As long as Russia is considered the enemy, Washington will support Turkey. Incidentally, Turkey is supplying Ukraine with drones which is angering the Russians.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis is in a tough position. For now, he should make no commitments to any cause other than the Hellenic cause. That means staying out of Ukraine and concentrating on defending the Hellenic homeland from Turkish aggression.

Categories
faith

Greece Under European Secularism

A Greek television station MEGA has been broadcasting a series on the life of Saint Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994). Saint Paisios is one of the most beloved Saints in the recent history of Orthodoxy. He was a holy and pious monk from Mount Athos who taught love and assisted anyone who sought his guidance. Miracles are said to have been attributed to him during his lifetime and after his death.

He was added to the list of Saints in 2015. Churches named for him have been built not only in Greece, but in Russia and Syria as well. His tomb outside Thessaloniki at the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian is a site of pilgrimage from throughout the Orthodox world.

Now, a secular Greek politician has proceeded to ridicule the series on Saint Paisios. Petros Tatsopoulos made one serious point but even that point was mangled by the insults and ridicule that he directed at Orthodox Christians. He suggested that the story of Saint Paisios cannot be considered historical. From the viewpoint of secular history and research this point is valid and in itself does not disrespect religious faith or the life of the Saint.

History is generally written through the prism of historians and researchers whose emphasis is on facts that can be proven in this world. Christian faith is not of this world and so the revelation of God is something that is beyond the scope and purposes of secular historians. The Church itself through the bishops, priests, theologians, and ecclesiastical historians have the task of examining the role of God in history and the world.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized the Elder Paisios as a Saint in 2015. Under the influence of the holy spirit the works and miracles of Saint Paisios were recognized. Secular historians do not recognize divine miracles and it is not their purpose to pass judgement on matters of faith.

Many good secular historians have written about Christianity and other faiths with great respect. They have done so by explaining matters of faith. For example, the study of Byzantine history necessitates a knowledge of Orthodox faith and dogma. There are brilliant secular historians who have written about Byzantium and discussed the dogmas that were formulated by the Ecumenical Councils and Synods.

Now, returning to Tatsopoulos. Tatsopoulos does not do historians any favors by his comments. His attacks on the series depicting the life of Saint Paisios is motivated by ideology, not by his love of history. It is clear that like many officials of the Greek establishment that he is a secularist, an internationalist, and an ass.

His suggestion that Greece will not return to the middle ages is indicative of his western and anti hellenic mindset. The middle ages he refers to have to with Western Europe. Of what does Greece have to do with Europe? Greece languished under the Turks for centuries and before that under the yoke of the Franks who invaded Constantinople and other Greek lands.

Greece is a mess today. Greece has a spiritual crisis as well an identity crisis. The Greek political elite mock the Orthodox faith of the Greeks and their beloved Saints while erasing Greece’s history from schools and subordinating Greek interests to that abomination known as the European Union.

Tatsopoulos is apparently a former Syriza official that has joined New Democracy. This is now the second time someone associated with Prime Minister Mitsotakis has ridiculed the faith of the Greek people. Last December, the Greek representative to the World Health Organization ridiculed the Mother of God.

The Prime Minister needs to distance himself from the enemies of Orthodoxy and Hellenism.

Categories
faith

The Patriarch’s Warning

Patriarch Bartholomew has expressed concern that a third world war could break out over Ukraine. His concerns are valid and he is right to speak out and urge everyone to restrain themselves. The problem however is that he has no credibility.

Patriarch Bartholomew’s intervention in Ukraine effectively led to the Ecumenical Patriarchate aligning itself politically with Washington against Moscow. The Church became a political pawn in all this. As far as Russia is concerned, neither the Patriarch nor the Greek speaking world has any influence in Moscow.

Before the Ukraine crisis broke out the Greek Orthodox world had much influence in Russia. The Monasteries of Mount Athos were beloved by the Russians. When Elder Ephraim of Vatopaidi Monastery was arrested in Greece in 2011 the Russians were his biggest supporters.

Greek clerics and theologians once highly esteemed in Orthodoxy have lost their reputations because they sided with Constantinople in Ukraine. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has succeeded in conquering the Greek speaking Orthodox Churches but he has angered and alienated the rest of the Orthodox world.

The Church of Greece is now subjugated under Constantinople and falling into total ruin. The majority of bishops are afraid of challenging Patriarch Bartholomew’s un Orthodox teachings. The Church of Cyprus is divided. The Patriarchate of Alexandria is losing priests and faithful to the Russian exarchate.

Who now will listen to the Ecumenical Patriarchate? Without the Church crisis the Ecumenical Patriarch would have stood as an elder statesman of Orthodoxy. All the Orthodox respected him as being “first among equals”. Without the schism Patriarch Bartholomew could have used his office to serve as a bridge between Washington and Moscow.

This is now an impossible task with the Russians having been alienated and Orthodoxy divided for the foreseeable future. Anti war statements from the Ecumenical Patriarch are very much welcome but will fall on deaf ears in both Washington and Moscow. Moscow because of the Church schism and Washington because they have gotten what they needed from Patriarch Bartholomew and do not care what he has to say.

What a terrible situation when the world is headed for a horrific war the Orthodox Church remains divided. It is terrible to reflect that Constantinople divided the Orthodox Church.

Categories
political

Greek Problems With Turkey Unaddressed By The West

The Turkish Ambassador to the United Nations Feridun Sinirlioglu has written a letter to the United Nations Security Council claiming that the militarization of the Greek islands by Athens represents a threat to Turkey. The Turkish government of course ignores its own persistent violations of Treaties. The Treaty of Lausanne was supposed to provide autonomy for the Greek populations of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos.

The Treaty of Lausanne was supposed to protect the Greek Orthodox population of Constantinople. Furthermore, at the Lausanne conference of 1923 Turkey officially renounced all claims to Cyprus. Turkey has violated all of the aforementioned agreements that it made.

Turkey is becoming more aggressive and is using Greece’s militarization of the islands as an excuse to justify potential invasions of the islands. One of the few wise things that Greece has done is to militarize the islands. Without military bases and troops the islands would have likely been invaded decades ago.

Where exactly is NATO on this? NATO is threatening war with Russia over Ukraine. NATO does not want to be bothered with Greece. The Mitsotakis government has previously asked NATO to intervene. NATO refused to do so.

NATO was indifferent to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and to the ethnic cleansing of Greeks from Constantinople in 1955 and later during the 1960’s. Athens and the Greek world in general have made a mistake by aligning themselves so closely with the west. As of this writing it appears that Turkey is offering to assist Ukraine against Russia by providing them with drones.

The Turks are snubbing the Russians. This could again open the door for Greek-Russian cooperation. Whatever Greece does, Athens should not participate in any way in a conflict over Ukraine considering the problems with Turkey.

The Biden administration is proving to be useless to Greece. Anti Russian hysteria is going to make Turkey to important to alienate. Greece needs to think long and hard about future options.

Categories
political

The Media And Nazism

Whoopi Goldberg of the laughable television show “The View” was suspended for comments she made regarding the Holocaust. Goldberg said that the extermination of the Jews by the Nazi regime was not racist. This is an example of just how stupid the media really are when it comes to history.

Goldberg presumed that since both Jews and Germans are “white” that the Holocaust was not motivated by race. Any well read person in history known that the Nazi regime was racist. Its ideology was based on real racist doctrines and not the make believe racism that the woke crowd in America refers to.

The Nazis believed that “Aryans” were the master race. Slavs which include Russians, Ukrainians, Czecks, and Poles were considered subhuman. Racially inferior people whose lands were to be seized and colonized. Jews were at the bottom rung of the racial ladder and were to be exterminated outright.

Goldberg deserved criticism. She is not the only one who deserves criticism. Since 2016 the media and the Democratic Party have been demonizing Russia without cessation. Even after the Durham report which concluded Russian collusion in the 2016 elections was fiction the media and the Democrats are still anti Russian.

As noted above, the Russian were considered racially inferiors by the Nazis. The Russians and the other Soviet nations lost twenty seven million people as a result of Hitler’s invasion. This is a prime reason why the Russians are so sensitive about their borders and NATO’s demand that Ukraine become a member.

Media sources even more ignorant that Goldberg continue to compare Putin with Hitler. Never mind that Putin’s family suffered horrific losses to the Nazis. Furthermore, the various Ukrainian militias that Russians have been fighting against are flat out Neo-Nazis.

Whoopi Goldberg can be excused for her ignorance. Before becoming a television commentator she was an actress. As an actress she would have no reason to have an expertise on Nazism. So called journalists however have no such excuses. There is no reason why journalists who report on Russia and Ukraine should not have consulted sources regarding history.

The Nation which is a left wing political journal has done some good reporting regarding the Nazi ideology of Ukrainian militias. They are the exception. As the media continues with its pro war reporting it is clear that they are not interested in facts or truth.

They stupidly are covering for elements in Ukraine that fully endorse and accept Nazi ideology. So the Biden administration is pulling the US into a war to support Nazis. That is what happens when historical illiterates report the news.

Categories
faith

A Church Council?

From the time that the Church crisis began in September 2018, voices have called for the convening of a Pan Orthodox council to resolve the Church crisis in Ukraine. Orthodox primates such as Patriarch John of Antioch and Archbishop Anastasios of Albania have called for the convening of a council. Patriarch Bartholomew has repeatedly ruled out a council.

Two years ago, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem made an attempt to convene a council. In light of the denunciation of the actions of the Patriarch of Jerusalem by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the “council” was redefined as being a meeting or gathering. In total, six Orthodox Churches were gathered in Amman, Jordan under the auspices of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Plans have been announced for the convening of a council that would include no more than five local Churches to gather and this time the topic is not Constantinople’s intervention in Ukraine, but the establishment of a Russian exarchate in Africa on the territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

The five local Churches invited are the four ancient Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem) and the Church of Cyprus. There is respect and reverence that is due to the ancient Patriarchates which is why I do not believe the order of Churches in the dyptychs should ever be changed. The ancient Patriarchates were established by the fathers and the Ecumenical Councils and so are to an extent a part of tradition.

The ancient Patriarchates are entitled to maintain their places of honor at the top (or near the top) of the ranking of Churches. They are entitled to nothing more than that. The Church of Russia is the largest Orthodox Church. The Churches of Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Georgia, and Greece are much bigger than the ancient Patriarchates and have much larger flocks.

Therefore, a council that excludes Churches that represent the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians is pointless. But then again Patriarch Bartholomew has no desire to convene a serious council that will seriously examine the Ukrainian crisis honestly. The plans to discuss the Russian exarchate in Africa is also an attempt to distract from Ukraine which is what started all the chaos.

No council can be convened that does not include the participation of all autocephalous Orthodox Churches. The Amman gathering in 2020 was flawed specifically because more than half of the Churches were not represented. Still, the Amman gathering was a noble first attempt to begin the process of getting plans for a council off the ground.

The plans for the upcoming gathering of the five Churches is not only flawed because it seeks to ignore the the universal Church. It is flawed because it is also being convened with less than honorable intentions. It is intent on attacking the Russian Church over Africa while ignoring the mess that Constantinople started in Ukraine.

A real council needs to be held that will represent the universal Church that lives in today’s reality. A council of the ancient Patriarchates and Cyprus is inadequate to address the Church crisis or any other contemporary issue. Patriarch Bartholomew would have the right to make his case in a council attended by ALL Churches as would the Russian Church.

Therefore, no Orthodox Christian can accept the forthcoming gathering and any decisions to be made with any seriousness.

Categories
political

Biden’s World

The Biden administration seems intent on going to war with Russia over Ukraine. More than any other policy of the Biden administration, this rush for a confrontation with Russia demonstrates why Donald Trump was a great President. Donald Trump was able to temporarily overthrow the old order that was supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. An order based on interventionism and unending war.

Donald Trump understood it was better to have Russia as an ally against ISIS. The Democrats cared nothing about the genocide and slave trade under ISIS because the Russians were politically incorrect on social issues. Even today, the Biden administration and the European Union are hostile to Hungary and Poland because those countries are conservative and Christian and refuse to adopt western social values.

The Russians are demanding that Ukraine not be admitted into NATO. This gesture could defuse tensions. The Democrats (this is not just Biden) are anxious are for a confrontation with Russia. Over the past thirty years, NATO has expended as far as the Baltic Republics. The Russians naturally see themselves being surrounded.

It would be easy to point out that Biden is senile and has no business being President. It is true that Biden is senile and should not be President. However, in fairness to the man, Biden is doing the same things that Clinton, Bush, and Obama did. He is following the dictates of the pro war foreign policy establishment and media.

Clinton bombed Serbia. Bush invaded Iraq, and Obama supported war in Syria. Biden’s present course indicates that the Presidency is generally reserved for the ignorant and for the subservient. Donald Trump looks good compared to both his successor and his three predecessors.

In the post cold war era, Donald Trump was the only real smart President we have had. He was the only independent President we have had. If Trump were President today, there would be no talk of war over Ukraine.

We live in a world with Covid. We live in a country where an unelected maniac named Anthony Fauci holds unprecedented power and influence for a “scientist”. The scientific community has been supporting gain of function research in China which resulted in the leak from the Wuhan lab.

Contrast the anti-Russian hysteria with the indifference toward China. China lied and covered up about the leak at the Wuhan lab. China is engaged in genocide against the Muslim Ughyurs. Despite these horrors, the international Olympic Committee permitted the Olympic games to be held in China.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization was present. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has long been China’s man. He was unsurprisingly present at the genocide games in China, as was the United Nations Secretary General.

That China has jeopardized the way of life for everyone in the world seems not to distress western governments or media. Its the bad Russians that everyone is obsessed with. Russia should not invade Ukraine and NATO should not admit Ukraine as a member.

This should be the basis for peace between Russia and the west. Unfortunately, we are living in Biden’s world. Again, in fairness these tensions with Russia would still exist if Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, or Jeb Bush were President. If any Democrat or any Republican neo con were in the White House, the same policies would be in effect.

Categories
Letters

Letter To Senator Warren

Dear Senator Warren,
I am a Greek American constituent. I am writing to express my revulsion at the blatant hypocrisy over the foreign policy establishment’s rush to war over Ukraine. Much of the Ukrainian affair has to do with Kiev’s aspirations to join NATO. The fact of the matter is that there is an aggressor and predator within NATO that engages in acts of external aggression and ethnic cleansing. That member of NATO is Turkey.


The Turkish government has assisted Azerbaijan in its genocidal campaign against the Armenians of Artsakh and other territories that were occupied by Baku in 2020. Turkey has been threatening to wage war on Greece and has openly claimed Greek islands that have been recognized by international treaties. Since 1974, Turkey has been occupying the northern territories of Cyprus from which it has ethnically cleansed over 200,000 Greek Cypriots. 


It is hypocritical in the extreme to be risking war over Ukraine when an international aggressor and menace such as Turkey is a member of NATO. It now appears that the Biden administration has played a role in bringing about the demise of the Greece-Cyprus-Israel partnership that would have done much to diminish dependence on the monstrous dictatorship that rules Turkey. It is simply not possible to suggest that a conflict over Ukraine has any relationship to freedom considering the unceasing support that Washington gives to Turkey and its ally Azerbaijan.


The State Department cannot claim to be interested in the sovereignty of Ukraine while simultaneously tolerating and/or supporting the Turkish and Azerbaijani occupations of Cypriot and Armenian territory. There are those of us who think the United States should get its house in order by restraining those it considers its “allies”. 

Theodore Karakostas 

Categories
political

Biden Targeting Greek Ally

The Biden administration has apparently brought about the demise of the Greek-Cyprus-Israel alliance meant to bring oil from the Middle East to Europe. This was an alliance the Trump administration supported.

The Biden administration is now cutting $130 million in aid to Egypt. The Egyptian military did the world a favor when it overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood a decade ago. Washington is complaining about a state of emergency that has been extended since it was imposed in 2017 following terrorist attacks on Coptic Christians. Rather than credit the Egyptian government for protecting the rights of Christians, the Biden administration would like Cairo to commit suicide by liberalizing too quickly and permitting another Jihadist movement to rise.

Neoconservatives and liberal internationalists supported the Arab spring over a decade ago which did not lead to democracy. It led to the rise of the Brotherhood in Egypt. If the Biden administration has its way Egypt will become a Jihadist state.

The Egyptian government is friendly toward Christians. In 2013, ISIS attacked the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai. Several brave Muslim police officers were injured defending the Monks and one officer died. More recently, the Egyptian President condemned Turkey’s conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque.

The President also pledged two million Euros to the Monks for the upkeep of the Monastery. A government friendly to Christians does not evoke a response from Biden’s atheists. If the Egyptian government was sympathetic to the LGBT community, there would be no question of cutting any aid.

Egypt is also a strong ally with Greece against the Turkish-Libyan alliance to partition resources in the Mediterranean between themselves. The Biden foreign policy is doing great harm to the interests of Greece and Cyprus. Joe Biden is not our friend.

Categories
political

In Hitler’s Footsteps

The Biden administration is intent on escalating tensions with Russia over Ukraine. Ordinarily, we should be demanding the impeachment of Joe Biden. The problem is not with this one President. The problem is with the Democratic Party.

Anti Russia hysteria existed before the 2016 elections but it grew more intense when Hillary Clinton lost. The left wing media began stigmatizing the Russians because Hillary lost. How many Americans are aware that Michael Sussman, an ally of Hillary was indicted for lying to the FBI about the Russian collusion hoax.

Federal Prosecutor John Durham released a report repudiating allegations that the Russians interfered in the 2016 elections. As it is, four years of non stop anti Russian hatred has brought us to the moment where there may be a war with Russia! It is clear that the Democrats are the party of anti intellectuals. This is the party that believes that children should have sex change operations and that gender is in general is a social construct, not a matter of biology. This is the party that wants to defund the Police.

The Republicans have their faults to be sure. The neo con faction is supporting the Biden administrations anti Russian hysteria. The sane majority in the Republican party however does not want war.

The Democratic Party is the party of ideology and the party of war in contradiction to the Republican Party of Donald Trump which is the anti war Party. The Democratic Party shares a fanatical hatred of Russia which brings to mind Adolf Hitler. Hitler also hated the Russians.

The Russians lost twenty million people during the Second World War. It is insane for any leader or leaders to contemplate war with Russia over Ukraine. The Russians have the reasonable demand that Ukraine should not be a member of NATO. The lunatics in the Democratic Party do not understand that Russia has been invaded numerous times throughout history and has legitimate security concerns.

Leaving Ukraine out of NATO would probably alleviate the crisis. The Biden administration refuses to consider this option. Biden is a senile old man who has no business in the White House. His wife who is a Doctor let him run for President and will be judged harshly by history.

Two years ago, the Democrats tried to impeach Trump over Ukraine. The Trump administration sought to investigate Hunter Biden over his activities in Ukraine when he was on the board of a gas company that was being investigated by a Ukrainian prosecutor. As Vice President, Joe Biden used his leverage to threaten to cut aid to Ukraine if the prosecutor was not fired.

All that President Trump wanted to do was get information about the Biden families wrongdoings in Ukraine. For this the Democrats tried to impeach Trump. Biden is a senile old man instigating tensions with Russia.

The Democrats are pathetic. Hitler tried to take Russia at the height of German power in Europe. It ended badly for him. It will end badly for the Democratic administration who history will remember as following in the footsteps of Hitler.