Vladimir Putin

•Born: 7 October 1952
•Birthplace: Leningrad, Russia (now St. Petersburg)
•Best Known As: President of the Russian Federation, 2000-2008

Vladimir Putin was elected president of the Russian Federation in 2000 as the hand-picked successor of Boris Yeltsin. After earning a law degree in 1975, Putin joined the KGB, the security force of the former Soviet Union. He spent years working primarily in East Germany, then left the service in 1991 and became active in the politics of St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). He was brought to Moscow by Yeltsin in 1996 and served as an administrator in the Kremlin and an official for the security organizations which replaced the KGB. In 1999 Putin became Yeltsin's fifth prime minister in 17 months, then became acting president when Yeltsin left office. He was officially elected to the office in 2000 and then re-elected in a landslide vote in March of 2004. As president he gained a reputation as a clever and ruthless political operator with a hunger for Russian power and not too much concern for the niceties of democracy or diplomacy. He stepped down in 2008 (as required by term limits) and was replaced by his own hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev then installed Putin as prime minister, a move which left Putin, as The New York Times put it, as "the country's dominant politician, with a firm grip on power."

Putin married the former Lyudmila Shkrebneva in 1983. They have two daughters: Maria (b. 1985) and Yekaterina (b. 1986, also known as Katerina or Katya).

Nikos Sampson

Nikos Sampson (Nicos Sampson; Greek: Νίκος Σαμψών; December 16, 1935 – May 9, 2001) was the de facto president of Cyprus that overthrew Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus, in 1974.[1] Sampson was well known as a Greek nationalist and member of EOKA B, which sought Enosis (Union) of the island of Cyprus with Greece. He remained President for only eight days and the puppet regime that installed him failed to gain diplomatic recognition from any country. Shortly after the 1974 coup the New York Times described Sampson as the " Al Capone of Cyprus" and connected him with various criminal activities such as bank robberies and murders. He was also described as a 'thug and vicous killer' and a 'playboy gunman' by many journalists as reported in the 'Rough guide' to Cyprus. He strongly denied he was employed as a CIA asset when journalist Jack Anderson alleged that Sampson had been on their payroll for many years.

Sampson was born in the Cypriot port city of Famagusta to Sampson Georgiadis and Theano Liasidou. During his teenage years, he was a promising right back in the second team of Anorthosis Famagusta football club. The man who once boasted "Nobody says "no" to Nicos!" began his working life at a Nicosia newspaper, The Times of Cyprus, which was owned by Charles Foley. His original name was Nikos Georgiadis, but he adopted his father's forename as his (public) surname, a common custom in Cyprus in those days. Less well known as a Greek surname, it has been surmised that Sampson referred to the biblical figure, or even borrowed a chip off the English block. It helped to distinguish him from others who bore his surname and it was his nom de guerre during the EOKA resistance campaign against British rule in Cyprus, waged from 1955 to 1959, although he also became known as Atrotos (Greek: Áτρωτος), or Invulnerable.

"Nicos Sampson carries a Turkish flag captured during his attack on Ormophita, a Nicosia suburb. His militia and those of other Greek Cypriot ministers led to a near civil war when the Turkish Cypriots responded in kind in late December 1963. The Greek press reported 'what is taken after bloodshed is not given back'."

In Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, the 1950s were marked by a rise in nationalistic fervour. Since its inception in 1955, the EOKA organisation actively recruited young patriots during the period of its struggle. Joining EOKA, the young Sampson became known to the British Army and police as one of EOKA's most feared resistance fighters. He participated in a number of killings carried out along Ledra Street, including three police sergeants, for one of which Sampson was tried in May 1957. He confessed but was acquitted on the grounds that his confession may have been coerced by torture. By March 1959, when the shooting ended, 509 people had died, of whom 156 were British soldiers and police.

In 1960 he set up the newspaper Makhi, meaning battle, or struggle, which was one of the first Greek newspapers in circulation in the nation of Cyprus. In 1961, in a series of newspaper articles, he admitted his responsibility for the death of the police officers in 1956 during the resistance campaign against British rule. According to the Telegraph, as a journalist, he flew to Algeria to interview Ben Bella and to Washington to talk to J F Kennedy. He quickly accumulated race horses and fast cars from Greek and Greek Cypriot businessmen eager to show their patriotism.

Following an explosion to the statue of EOKA hero Markos Drakos in Nicosia, Sampson actively participated in clashes between the Greek and Turkish communities in December 1963. On the morning of 24 December, the clashes in Nicosia spread and fighting continued into the subsequent year. The fiercest fighting took place in Constantia, Neapolis, Ledra Palace and, especially, the suburb of Omorphita (Kucuk Kaymakli) where Sampson was particularly active. In Omorfita, which had a majority Turkish Cypriot population, Sampson led armed groups in fierce battles between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot irregulars after the Greek Cypriot families living in the suburb came under heavy fire from Turkish Cypriot militias who were aiming at bringing the whole suburb under Turkish Cypriot control. Apart from conventional weapons his groups used excavator trucks as makeshift tanks. According to American sources there were 17 dead, most of them Turkish Cypriots, and 70 wounded. In total, it is estimated that the whole intercommunal war cost the lives of about 350 Turkish Cypriot and 200 Greek Cypriot. The result of these clashes was the departure of the Turkish Cypriots from government and the segregation of the Turkish Cypriot community into enclaves. The United Nations responded by dispatching a peacekeeping force to Cyprus. The precise nature of the role of these troops, mostly British troops, has been the subject of some controversy.

On May 10, 2001, he died in Nicosia.

Macedonia (Greece)

Macedonia Greek: Μακεδονία, is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region. The region and that of Thrace are often together referred to informally as northern Greece.
Macedonia lies at the crossroads of human development between the Aegean and the Balkans. The earliest signs of human habitation date back to the palaeolithic period. In the Late Neolithic period (c. 4500 to 3500 BC), trade took place from quite distant regions, indicate rapid socio-economic changes. One of the most important changes was the start of copper working.
According to Herodotus, the history of Macedonia began with the Makednoi tribe, among the first to use the name, migrating to the region from Histiaeotis in the south. There they lived near non-Greek tribes such as the Bryges that would later leave Macedonia for Asia Minor and become known as Phrygians. Macedonia was named after the Makednoi. Accounts of other toponyms such as Emathia are attested to have been in use before that. A branch of Macedonians invaded Southern Greece, where, upon reaching Peloponnese were renamed to Dorians triggering the accounts of the Dorian invasion. For centuries the Macedonian tribes were organized in independent kingdoms, in what is now Central Macedonia, and their role in Greek politics was minimal. The rest of the region was inhabited by various Thracian and Illyrian tribes as well as mostly coastal colonies of other Greek states such as Amphipolis, Olynthos, Potidea, Stageira and many others. During the late 6th and early 5th century BC, the region came under Persian rule until the destruction of Xerxes at Plataea. In the next century, Macedonia became the theatre of many military actions by the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians and saw incursions of Thracians and Illyrians, as attested by Thucidydes. The kingdom of Macedon, was reorganised by Philip II and achieved Greek hegemony during his years. This is where the Greek history of the remainder of today's Greek Region of Macedonia. After his assassination, his son Alexander succeeded to the throne of Macedon and, retaining the office of "General of Greece", he became one of the best known persona this land ever gave birth to. Macedonia remained an important and powerful kingdom until it was annexed by the Romans in 148 BC. The region remained under Roman rule for centuries and went under various administrative names.

There are a number of theories for the etymology of the name Macedonia:

1.According to Herodotus, both the Dorians and Macedonians descended from the Makednoi tribe. The name of the latter two probably derives from the Doric noun μᾶκος, mākos (Attic and modern Greek μάκρος, mákros and μῆκος, mēkos), meaning "length", and the adjective μακεδνός, makednós, meaning "tall, taper", since both the Macedonians (Makedónes) and their Makednoi tribal ancestors were regarded as tall people. The adjective is used by Homer in Odyssey (7.105f), to describe a tall poplar tree, and by Aristophanes in his comedy the Birds, to describe a wall built around their imaginary city.
2.The district of Macedonia took its name from the Macedonian people, who in turn owe their name to Macedon, who according to Hesiod was the son of Zeus and Thyia, Deucalion's daughter. Hesiod makes Magnes and Macedon brothers, cousins of Graecus, sons of Zeus and grandchildren of Deucalion, the progenitor of all Greeks

Carlos Mavroleon - Κάρλος Μαυρολέων

It is a last moment decision, not to post anything for Carlos Mavroleon. Only a simple reference of his name is enough for the people they "know". One more Great Greek. He is a Legend.

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

Date of Birth: 14 June 1928, Rosario, Argentina
Date of Death: 9 October 1967, La Higuera, Bolivia (executed by firing squad)
Nickname: El Fuser-Che
Height: 5'11½" (1.82 m)

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born to a middle-class family in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina on June 14, 1928. Disgusted by the corrupt Argentine militarist government, Guevara became a dedicated Marxist while still in his teens. As a student, he vowed to dedicate his life to revolutionary causes and in 1953 he received a medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires. He left Argentina later that year to take part in a Communist revolt in Guatemala. There he adopted his revolutionary nickname, nom de guerre Che, the local slang for "pal." When the revolution in Guatemala failed the following year, Che fled to Mexico where he was introduced to another Communist revolutionary in exile, Fidel Castro. Joining Castro's July 26 Movement, named after the date of Castro's aborted 1953 revolution in Cuba, Che Guevara sailed with Castro and over 80 guerrilla troops to Cuba where they landed on December 2, 1956, bent on overthrowing General Fulgencio Batista's government. After the invasion force was almost decimated by government troops and air strikes, Castro, Guevara and about 10 others hid out on the Sierra Mastera mountains of southern Cuba. In July 1957, Che was assigned command of half of Castro's forces with the rank of Comandante, a title he shared only with Castro himself. For the next year and a half, he led his insurgents against the government forces in the province of Las Villas, while growing hatred to Batista's government fueled widespread support to Castro's forces, which steadily grew in size. Che's successful attack against the government troops in Santa Clara in December 1958 sealed the victory of Castro's forces. Batista's fled into exhile on January 1, 1959 and Castro's troops then marched unopposed into Havana a week later. After Castro assumed power, Che became one of his most trusted advisors and a leading international revolutionary. Che became the Cuban minister of agriculture and in 1960 wrote a book titled "Guerilla Warfare," a manual for Third World insurgents as part of his plan to bring Communism throught the world. Che resigned his post in Cuba in 1965 and traveled widely to Africa and other insurgent hot spots in the world, including the Belgian Congo, to organize Communist revolts as well as train Cuban contingents there and teach them the French colonial language. In November 1966, Che surfaced in Bolivia to organize another revolt by the local Communist peasants. But the revolution in Bolivia only received lukewarm support from many of the poorly-educated, non-Spanish-speaking peasants who preferred to support the government, not caring for foreign insurgents. After a long and drawn out campaign, Che's revolt in Bolivia came to an abrupt end on October 7, 1967 when he and the surviving members of his group were captured by government Bolivian soldiers. Two days later, on October 9, 1967, Che was executed by a Bolivian firing squad, who were apparently acting under orders from the CIA which were training the Bolivian army.

Turkish Prime Minister visits Greece

Breaking Out
Next Back Kurdish and Armenian protestors clash with Greek police during a demonstration against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit, in Athens.

Friday, May. 14, 2010

Time Magazine - Pictures of the day

Focus Το εξώφυλλο

Αξιότιμε κύριε Helmut Markwort, αρχισυντάκτη του περιοδικού Focus Το εξώφυλλο του περιοδικού σας (αριστερά) είναι κακόγουστο και χυδαίο. Ανησυχείτε για τα «φράγκα» σας και αυτό δεν σας εμποδίζει να προσβάλλετε την ιστορία και τον πολιτισμό της χώρας μας. Πολιτισμός κ. Markwort είναι το εξώφυλλο του περιοδικού της ομάδας μας (δεξιά). Πολιτισμός είναι ο Σάτυρος του Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείο Αθηνών. Ελπίζουμε να τον γνωρίζετε. Η σημερινή έκδοση του περιοδικού μας και η παρουσία του Σατύρου είναι αφιερωμένη σε εσάς, στους συνεργάτες σας και στο έγκυρο περιοδικό σας!

Ας σταθούμε όμως στα «φράγκα» γιατί, από όλα όσα γράφετε, αυτά και μόνο φαίνεται να σας ενδιαφέρουν. Λέμε λοιπόν: ας πληρώσει η Γερμανία τις αποζημιώσεις για τα εγκλήματα που έγιναν στην Ελλάδα στη διάρκεια του Δεύτερου Παγκόσμιου Πολέμου, ας επιστρέψει το χρυσό που υφάρπαξε από τη χώρα μου και τότε θα δούμε ποιος χρωστάει ποιόν! Όσο για τους απατεώνες, σας συμβουλεύουμε να τους ψάξετε στις φυλακές του Μονάχου. Απάτη δεν γίνεται μόνο με έναν. Χρειάζονται τουλάχιστον δύο! Το όνομα SIEMENS, das "Flaggschiff" Deutschlands και οι δωροδοκίες, σας θυμίζουν τίποτα;

Η πρέπει να φρεσκάρουμε τη μνήμη σας για τα υποβρύχια designed in Germany που "μπατάρουν" στου Σκαραμαγκά και τα τανκ που δεν δέχεται να "ψωνίσει" η Ελλάδα από τη χώρα σας; Η μήπως δεν γνωρίζατε πως η Γερμανία έχει μεταβληθεί τα τελευταία χρόνια στο μεγαλύτερο προμηθευτή οπλικών συστημάτων της Ελλάδας και πιέζει ασφυκτικά με κάθε τρόπο τη χώρα μου να αγοράσει το Eurofighter;
Δε φταίτε όμως εσείς. Φταίει ο Έλληνας πολίτης που ανέχεται προσβολές σαν τη δική σας αλλά και την ανεπάρκεια των πολιτικών, που κακώς επέλεξε να τον κυβερνούν! Φιλικά Εθελοντική Ομάδα Δράσης Ν. Πιερίας