THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside Greece email: VEMA [email protected] JULY 2007 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 In this issue... Our Primate’s View ‘CASINO’ - THE MOST FORMIDABLE ‘TERRORIST’ PAGE 5/23 Parnitha fire aftermath The burning of Parnitha forest will have the same effect on the city Pilgrimage to Patmos: as thedoubling of vehicles on its streets overnight, scientists warn Island of the Apocalypse Environment Minister George Souflias mates that his plan will cost approximately Parnitha is not a recreational ground. “Its announced a host of measures on July 9 30 million euros. one and only primary reason for being is the PAGES 8/26- 9/27 addressing the issues of flooding, soil ero- Measures welcomed preservation of biodiversity,” he said and sion and reforestation in response to the added that for this to be achieved many blaze that burned down over 4,000 Environmentalists welcomed Souflias’ things would have to change, such as limit- hectares of Attica’s last remaining fir-tree plans saying they are a step in the right ing traffic on the mountain. forest. direction. But in two separate press confer- Temperatures rising But environmentalists and academics ences, non-governmental organisations believe that more must be done to counter- (NGOs) stressed that more must be done to WWF and Greenpeace, along with scien- balance the main consequence of the fire - a revive Parnitha and to ensure that measures tists from the National Technical University change in the region’s micro-climate. are taken to counterbalance the effects the of Athens (NTUA) and the University of “I want to stress that we have set targets catastrophe will have on the region’s micro- Athens (UoA), warned during a press con- and timetables that are hard to achieve. We climate and quality of life. ference on July 10 that Parnitha’s burning realise this is a very important issue for During a press conference organised by means that “Athens has lost its most impor- Attica, and we will try to respond to citizens’ five environmental groups on July 11, tant mechanism for defervescence” and that demands,” Souflias said after meeting with George Sfikas, the honorary head of the quality of life will suffer. Agriculture Minister Evangelos Basiakos, as Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature Dr Manthos Santamouris from the UoA well as regional, forestry and other officials. (HSPN), told journalists that the National explained that Parnitha’s forest was one of According to the environment minister, by Forest’s boundaries should be extended to the most important cooling mechanisms for July 19 the Army’s Geographical Service include nearby public forests, and that forest Attica’s climate. Now that it has been will produce aerial photographs mapping maps and a forest registry must be immedi- replaced with charred trees, the air passing the burned areas, and within a week of this ately compiled for the whole country. over the area will be heated instead of the areas will be declared reforestable. The Martin Gaitlich, also from HSPN, told cooled, adding to the city’s already heavy Parnitha Forestry Department has already journalists that the ministry should not heatload, in the same way that additional 90th anniversary of started compiling an assessment of the wood attempt to introduce non-indigenous species traffic does. “Simply put, it’s as though we that is available for anti-erosion and anti- into the affected area. doubled the number of cars in the Attica Australia’s saddest year flooding works. Constantinos Liarikos of environmental basin,” he said. Souflias estimates that the study outlining group WWF agreed and stressed that PAGE 15/33 the necessary works will be ready by the beginning of August, but said that construc- tion of some projects would start even earli- er. Regarding reforestation, the necessary study will be ready by the end of September, the minister said and added that on November 1 - after the first rainfalls - refor- estation will begin. Grazing will be forbid- den in the affected areas, more guards will be hired and the area will be monitored by satellite in order to detect land poachers and illegal buildings springing up. According to Souflias, illegal constructions will be torn down immediately. The minister also announced a host of measures for the protection of local fauna. Entry in the Mola area will be forbidden, Amorgos: home to the and wounded animals will be cared for and fed. But citizens will not be allowed to feed improbable and impractical Provost Norm animals or intervene for fear that their efforts will have negative effects. Souflias esti- McFarland - Just PAGE 18/36 an ordinary bloke UNESCO slams seven ‘new’ wonders of the world list PAGES 10/28 & 11/29 PAGE 2/20 JULY 2007 2/20 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA UNESCO slams seven ‘new’ wonders of the world list JULY 27, 1949 First jet makes test flight On this day in 1949, the world's first jet- propelled airliner, the British De Havilland Comet, makes its maiden test- flight in England. The jet engine would ultimately revolutionize the airline indus- try, shrinking air travel time in half by enabling planes to climb faster and fly higher. JULY 29, 1958 NASA created On thisSOVIETS day in 1958, INVADEthe U.S. Congress passesCZECHOSLOVAKIA: legislation establishing the National AeronauticsAugust 20, and 1968 Space Admini- stration (NASA), a civilian agency re- sponsible for coordinating America's acti- vitiesOn the in night space. of NASA August has 20, since 1968, sponsored approx- spaceimately expeditions, 200,000 Warsaw both humanPact troops and me-and chanical,5,000 tanks that invadehave yielded Czechoslovakia vital informa- to tioncrush about the "Praguethe solar Spring"--a system and brief universe. period It Shortlisted sites that missed the final cut included Sydney Opera hasof liberalization also launched in numerous the communist earth-orbiting coun- House, the Acropolis in Athens and Paris’ Eiffel Tower satellitestry. Czechoslovakians that have been protested instrumental the inva- in everythingsion with public from demonstrations weather forecasting and other to The UN body for culture blasted a private initiative that drew navigationnon-violent to tactics,global communications.but they were no nearly 100 million internet and telephone voters to choose seven NASAmatch for was thecreated Soviet in responsetanks. The to theliberal So- “new” wonders of the world. vietreforms Union's of OctoberFirst Secretary 4, 1957 launchAlexander of its “This campaign responds to other criteria and objectives than that firstDubcek satellite, were Sputnik repealed I. and "normaliza- of UNESCO in the field of heritage,” said Sue Williams, the spokes- tion" began under his successor Gustav woman for the UN cultural body that designates world heritage sites. Husak. AUGUST 5, 1962 “We have a much broader vision,” she told AFP. Marilyn Monroe is found dead Voters chose the Great Wall of China; India’s Taj Mahal; the cen- PARIS LIBERATED: turies-old pink ruins of Petra in Jordan; the Colosseum in Rome; the On AugustAugust 5, 1962, movie25, 1944 actress Marilyn statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro; the Incan ruins of Machu Monroe is found dead in her home in Los Picchu in Peru; and the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Angeles.After more She than was four discovered years of Nazilying occu- nude Mexico. onpation, her bed, Paris face is down,liberated with by a telephonethe French in British actor Ben Kingsley and US actress Hillary Swank hosted a one2nd Armoredhand. Empty Division bottles and ofthe pills, U.S. pre-4th ceremony at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light, broadcast in more than 170 scribedInfantry toDivision. treat her German depression, resistance were was lit- countries to an estimated 1.6 billion viewers. teredlight, aroundand General the room. Dietrich After vona brief Choltitz, inves- A private Swiss foundation launched the contest in January, allow- tigation,commander Los ofAngeles the German police concludedgarrison, ing voters to choose from 21 sites shortlisted out of 77. It said it had thatdefied her an orderdeath bywas Adolf "caused Hitler byto blow a self- up gathered nearly 100 million votes by the end of polling at midnight administeredParis' landmarks overdose and burn of sedativethe city todrugs the on Friday. is the only real wonder of the world,” Egypt’s antiquities supremo andground that thebefore mode its of deathliberation. is probable Choltitz sui- According to its backers, the campaign aimed to update the origi- Zahi Hawass told AFP. “This competition has no value because it is cide."signed a formal surrender that afternoon, nal list of seven world wonders, drawn up about 200 BC, of which not the masses who write history.” and on August 26, Free French General only the pyramids of Giza remain today. China did not broadcast the event, leaving thousands of tourists at Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation Shortlisted sites that missed the final cut included Sydney Opera the Great Wall unaware of its new status. march down the Champs d'Elysees. House; the Acropolis in Athens; Paris’ Eiffel Tower; the Easter Island “As usual there are a lot of tourists here today, but I don’t think they statues; Britain’s Stonehenge; Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples; came here because the Great Wall was chosen as one of the seven JAPAN SURRENDERS: New York’s Statue of Liberty; and the Alhambra in Spain. wonders of the world,” Hu Yang, an official at the Badaling Great September 2, 1945 Christian Manhart, UNESCO’s press officer, criticised the ballot, Wall near Beijing, told AFP. saying it sent out a “negative message to countries whose sites have “All the same it is a great honour for all of China.” not been retained”.