Monthly Archives: March 2014

Σύνταξη στα 70 προγραμματίζει η κυβέρνηση.

Η κυβέρνηση μελετά το ενδεχόμενο αύξησης του ορίου συνταξιοδότησης στα 70 χρόνια για τους άντρες και στα 67 χρόνια για τις γυναίκες, προκειμένου να καλύψει μέρος του προβλήματος που δημιουργεί στα δημόσια ταμεία η αύξηση του προσδόκιμου ζωής, μιας και ο μέσος όρος έχει φτάσει τα 79 χρόνια και εννέα μήνες στους άντρες και 84 χρόνια και τρεις μήνες στις γυναίκες – σύμφωνα με μετρήσεις που έγιναν το 2012.

Nα πούμε ότι ο μέσος όρος προσδόκιμου ζωής το διάστημα μεταξύ 1975–1977 ήταν 69 χρόνια και έξι μήνες για τους άντρες και 76 χρόνια και έξι μήνες για τις γυναίκες, ενώ το 1890, ήταν 47 και 50 χρόνια αντίστοιχα.

Ενώ η κυβέρνηση μελετά ακόμη την ογκώδη –900 σελίδων– αναφορά της Επιτροπής Δημοσιονομικού Ελέγχου και τα πορίσματά της, βρίσκεται κάτω από μεγάλη πίεση ώστε να αποσαφηνίσει τη θέση του όσον αφορά το θέμα της αύξησης του ορίου συνταξιοδότησης που κυκλοφορεί ευρέως.

Είναι γεγονός ότι τον περασμένο μήνα, ο ομοσπονδιακός θησαυροφύλακας, Joe Hochey, αναφέρθηκε στην προοπτική επέκτασης της εργάσιμης ηλικίας, λέγοντας ότι αποτελεί μέρος της συζήτησης που το έθνος θα πρέπει να διεξάγει, σχετικά με τη διεύρυνση της κοινωνικής πρόνοιας, την παιδεία και την υγεία. Χαρακτηριστικά, δε, προειδοποίησε ότι αν δεν ενεργήσουμε άμεσα στο διαρκώς αυξανόμενο βάρος του προϋπολογισμού, θα είναι σα να προβαίνουμε σε «ληστεία σε βάρος των επόμενων γενιών».

ΑΛΛΑΓΗ ΣΚΗΝΙΚΟΥ

Το σκηνικό και οι «παίκτες» έχουν αλλάξει δραματικά, θα πει ο θησαυροφύλακας, σε πρόσφατη σύσκεψη υπουργών Οικονομικών στο πλαίσιο τη Συνόδου του G20 (στο Σίδνεϊ). Ο πληθυσμός της Αυστραλίας, τόνισε, γερνά με γρήγορους ρυθμούς, ενώ το προσδόκιμο ζωής έχει, ταυτόχρονα, αυξηθεί, φαινόμενο που παρατηρείται όχι μόνο στη χώρα μας, αλλά σε όλες τις αναπτυγμένες χώρες. Ενώ το προσδόκιμο ζωής, όταν εφαρμόστηκε η σύνταξη των ηλικιωμένων στις αρχές του 1900, ήταν 55 χρόνια, τώρα έχει φτάσει τα 85.

«Κατά συνέπεια, πιστεύω, ότι οφείλουμε να είμαστε απόλυτα ειλικρινείς με τον αυστραλιανό λαό. Αν δεν λάβουμε ορισμένα μέτρα τώρα, δεν θα απαλλαγούμε ποτέ από το έλλειμμα. Δεν θα επιτύχουμε ποτέ το πλεόνασμα που επιθυμούμε. Και δεν θα απαλλαγούμε ποτέ από τα χρέη μας» είπε ο ίδιος. Αξίζει, επίσης, να αναφερθεί ότι το ίδιο θέμα απασχόλησε και την Αποθεματική Τράπεζα Αυστραλίας. Ο κυβερνήτης της Τράπεζας, Glenn Stevens, δήλωσε ότι, ενώ η Αυστραλία δεν αντιμετωπίζει άμεση κρίση προϋπολογισμού και τα οικονομικά της προβλήματα δεν είναι ακριβώς άμεσα, είναι, όμως, ορατά μεσοπρόθεσμα, εξαιτίας του υψηλού κόστους των νέων κοινωνικών προγραμμάτων.

ΔΕΝ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΛΥΣΗ

«Σίγουρα, δεν αποτελεί λύση του προβλήματος η αύξηση του ορίου συνταξιοδότησης των εργαζομένων» θα πει ο γνωστός πρώην συνδικαλιστής και μέλος του παναυστραλιανού οργανισμού Fair Go for Pensioners Alliance, Γιώργος Ζάγκαλης.

«Είμαστε κατά του μέτρου αυτού, που, αν εφαρμοστεί, θα είναι σαν να στέλνει απευθείας από τη δουλειά στον τάφο τους εργαζόμενους. Ναι, είναι γεγονός, ότι το προσδόκιμο ζωής είναι υψηλότερο σήμερα. Δεν μπορείς, όμως, να δεις το θέμα απομονωμένο από άλλους παράγοντες. Θα ήταν λάθος. Σήμερα η παραγωγικότητα, για παράδειγμα, με τη νέα τεχνολογία, έχει αυξηθεί κατακόρυφα, σε σύγκριση με το ’70. Μετά, τα άτομα που συνταξιοδοτούνται σήμερα εξακολουθούν να είναι ενεργά και πολύτιμα μέλη του κοινωνικού ιστού. Από πού ν’ αρχίσει κανείς; Στον εθελοντισμό μόνο, ασχολούνται εκατοντάδες, αν όχι χιλιάδες, συνταξιούχοι σήμερα.

Έπειτα, με τις τιμές στα κέντρα παιδικής φροντίδας να έχουν φθάσει στα ύψη, ο ρόλος των ηλικιωμένων στη φροντίδα των παιδιών, ώστε να μπορούν τα νέα ζευγάρια να ενταχθούν στον εργασιακό χώρο, είναι –ομολογουμένως- ανυπολόγιστης αξίας. Αν υποχρεωθούν οι ηλικιωμένοι να μένουν μέχρι τα 70 τους χρόνια στη δουλειά, πώς θα δημιουργηθούν θέσεις εργασίας για τους νέους που, όντως, υπάρχει μεγάλο πρόβλημα στο θέμα αυτό σήμερα.

Εμείς, όπως και άλλοι οργανισμοί ηλικιωμένων, δεν πρόκειται να μείνουμε με σταυρωμένα τα χέρια. Αν τολμήσουν μια τέτοια αλλαγή, θα την πολεμήσουμε με νύχια και δόντια» θα καταλήξει ο κ. Ζάγκαλης.

Να τονιστεί ότι την εφαρμογή του μέτρου αυτού στηρίζει σθεναρά και το Συμβούλιο Παραγωγικότητας.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

O Δρ. Άθα Χριστόπουλος

Αλλάζει το χάρτη της φαρμακοβιομηχανίας.

Μια νέα ανακάλυψη που στοχεύει στην κατάργηση των παρενεργειών που προκαλούν στον οργανισμό τα φάρμακα, ενδέχεται ν’ αλλάξει δραστικά το χάρτη της φαρμακοβιομηχανίας σε παγκόσμια κλίμακα και να σώζει ζωές. Της ανακάλυψης αυτής προΐσταται ο ομογενής επιστήμονας Δρ. Άθα Χριστόπουλος, από το Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, o οποίος πέτυχε να αλλάξει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο λειτουργεί και αντιδρά η πρωτεΐνη της καρδιάς.

«Εκείνο το οποίο ανακοινώνουμε με πεποίθηση σήμερα», θα πει ο ίδιος, «είναι ότι υπάρχει ένας εντελώς νέος τρόπος που ενεργοποιούνται οι συγκεκριμένες πρωτεΐνες, κάτι που προηγουμένως ήταν αδύνατο. Τώρα είναι δυνατόν να αλλάξουμε τους κανόνες με τους οποίους λειτουργεί ο οργανισμός, με τη νέα αυτή μέθοδο». Ο ίδιος θα πει ότι σχεδόν πάνω από τα μισά φάρμακα που βρίσκονται στην αγορά σήμερα, έχουν ως στόχο υποδοχής τις πρωτεΐνες του σώματος, επομένως, η μέθοδος αυτή μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί για να δημιουργήσει πιο αποτελεσματικά φάρμακα για πάρα πολλές παθήσεις, συμπεριλαμβανομένων της σχιζοφρένειας και του διαβήτη.

ΕΞΟΥΔΕΤΕΡΩΝΕΙ ΤΙΣ ΠΑΡΕΝΕΡΓΕΙΕΣ

Κύριος στόχος του καθηγητή Άθα Χριστόπουλου, είχε πει τον περασμένο Δεκέμβρη στον «Νέο Κόσμο», ήταν να εξουδετερώσει τις παρενέργειες των φαρμάκων: «Τα περισσότερα φάρμακα στην αγορά σήμερα –αν όχι όλα– στοχεύουν σε συγκεκριμένες πρωτεΐνες του σώματος, ενώ κατά ιδανικό τρόπο το ζητούμενο είναι να φθάσουν και να ενεργήσουν σε μια μόνο πρωτεΐνη. Επειδή, όμως, χτυπούν και άλλες πρωτεΐνες, δημιουργούνται παρενέργειες».

Ο Δρ. Χριστόπουλος θα πει ότι αυτός είναι ακριβώς ο δικός του στόχος. Να συγκεκριμενοποιήσει την ενέργεια των φαρμάκων, ώστε να απευθύνονται σε μία μόνο πρωτεΐνη, αυτή δηλαδή που στοχεύουν, και να αποφευχθούν, μ’ αυτόν τον τρόπο, οι παρενέργειες.

Η έρευνά του, η οποία ξεκίνησε πριν δύο δεκαετίες, αποκτά όλο και μεγαλύτερη δημοσιότητα στη φαρμακοβιομηχανία και στον ακαδημαϊκό χώρο, δεδομένου ότι ανακαλύπτει και παρουσιάζει νέους τρόπους με τους οποίους λειτουργεί ο ανθρώπινος οργανισμός.

Ήδη, θεωρείται ένας από τους κορυφαίους φαρμακολόγους του κόσμου και έχει στο ενεργητικό του δύο εξαιρετικά σπουδαία βραβεία, το John J. Abel Award στη Φαρμακολογία και το Michael Rand Medal.

Για το πρώτο θα πει ότι είναι μεγάλη τιμή για τον ίδιο, δεδομένου ότι δείχνει ότι η δουλειά του έχει κάνει βασική και θεμελιακή διαφορά στο χώρο της φαρμακολογίας, για, δε, το δεύτερο ότι «ανοίγει τις πόρτες της Αυστραλίας στην παγκόσμια φαρμακολογία για να δείξει ότι η χώρα μπορεί και δικαιούνται να είναι από τους ηγέτες του εν λόγω χώρου».

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Ο εικονικός γάμος πραγματοποιήθηκε στο σπίτι του πατέρα του κοριτσιού, ο οποίος είχε προσηλυτιστεί στο Ισλάμ πριν από 18 χρόνια.

Σε κέντρο κράτησης μεταναστών του Σίδνεϊ μεταφέρθηκε 26χρονος Λιβανέζος που κατηγορείται ότι παντρεύτηκε 12χρονο κορίτσι στην Αυστραλία.  Στο ίδιο κέντρο κρατείται και ο μουσουλμάνος θρησκευτικός ηγέτης που κατηγορείται για τον παράνομο γάμο του 12χρονου κοριτσιού με τον 26χρονο, ο οποίος είχε επισκεφθεί την Αυστραλία από το Λίβανο με φοιτητική βίζα.

Ο εικονικός γάμος πραγματοποιήθηκε στο σπίτι του πατέρα του κοριτσιού, ο οποίος είχε προσηλυτιστεί στο Ισλάμ πριν από 18 χρόνια. Ο 35χρονος θρησκευτικός ηγέτης κατηγορείται ότι τέλεσε τον παράνομο γάμο. Ο Λιβανέζος φοιτητής αντιμετωπίζει 25 κατηγορίες για σεξουαλική συνουσία με ανήλικο παιδί. Ο πατέρας του 12χρονου παιδιού δήλωσε ότι κατά την αντίληψή του για το Κοράνι, ο μόνος τρόπος που το ζευγάρι θα μπορούσε να βρίσκεται ταυτόχρονα στο ίδιο δωμάτιο ήταν εάν παντρεύονταν. Είπε, επίσης, ότι δεν «ήθελε να σταθεί εμπόδιο στην ευτυχία της κόρης του».

Ο παράνομος γάμος ήρθε στην επιφάνεια όταν ο 26χρονος προσπάθησε να γράψει το κορίτσι σε ένα σχολείο κοντά στο σπίτι όπου διέμεναν μαζί στο Σίδνεϊ.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Olympia Valance

Greek Australian Olympia to follow in her half sister Holly Valance’s footsteps.

Greek Australian Olympia Valance, the half-sister of Holly Valance is following in her footsteps and will be the latest person to move into Ramsay Street after she scored a role of the famous Australian soapie Neighbours.

Valance is set to play fiery Paige Novak on the hit show. In her first acting role, Valance had to go through a long daunting audition process before securing the part. Already a successful model, the 21-year-old is no stranger to Neighbours after visiting the set as a child to see Holly in action.

Holly joined Neighbours in 1999 as Felicity ‘Flick’ Scully and left the series in 2002 to pursue a music career.

Valance will appear on Australian television on June 2 when her character Paige will make her debut in Ramsay Street.

source: Neos Kosmos

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is determined to distribute the bulk of a projected primary surplus to vulnerable social groups as promised, Kathimerini understands, despite reports that the troika has shifted its stance on the matter, putting the government on a possible collision course with the foreign inspectors as negotiations resume.

According to sources, Samaras is determined to stick to his guns and give 70 percent of the primary surplus for 2013 – the size of which will not be determined until April – to low-income pensioners and members of the police and armed forces, as he has repeatedly promised. The troika is understood to object to this plan, proposing instead that the handouts be drawn from the amount by which Greece overshoots its primary surplus target for 2014, which is 2.9 billion euros. The alleged shift has irked the government, which is preparing for local and regional authority elections in May and cannot afford to be seen to be breaking promises.

The foreign creditors’ insistence on a deal in negotiations by Sunday has also annoyed Greek officials who note that a deadline should not be imposed before a deal is reached.

A key sticking point in the talks is the enforcement of certain structural reforms, which are aimed at lifting barriers to competition and are set out in a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and have rattled special interest groups. The government is pushing back against troika demands for supermarkets to be given the right to sell non-prescription medicines. Also, as regards demands for an extension to the shelf life of milk, the Greek side has said it will not consent to reforms that harm the interests of Greek producers.

Troika mission chiefs are due back in Athens on Thursday to resume talks following a three-day break prompted by Monday’s Eurogroup summit in Brussels, where eurozone officials urged Athens to quickly conclude a long-running review of its economic review.

In a speech in the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn praised Greece for the extent of its fiscal adjustment, referring to “tangible signs of growth” and noting that the country was on course to post a primary surplus for the first time in years.

Source: Kathimerini

Akis Gerontopoulos, Deputy Foreign Minister of Greece.

But there are claims he will not sign the long awaited Work and Holiday Visa agreement on behalf of the Greek government.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece and Minister responsible for the Hellenic Diaspora, Akis Gerontopoulos, is expected to visit Melbourne next Saturday 22 March.

Mr Gerontopoulos is coming to Melbourne in order to represent Greece in the annual Greek Independence Day parade and celebrations that take place at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. He will also have meetings with representatives of the Greek Australian community as well as Australian officials.

However, Neos Kosmos understands that Mr Gerontopoulos will not sign on behalf of the Greek government the long awaited Work and Holiday Visa agreement (subclass 462), which is to allow approximately 500 Greek and Australians (18 to 30 year old) to work in each other’s countries for 12 months.

This agreement is planned to be signed by the Greek Minister for Tourism Ms Olga Kefalogianni, who is expected to visit Australia most probably in April.

The program of Mr Gerontopoulos visit to Australia is to be announced within the next few days.

source: Neos Kosmos

US investigators believe MH370 flew for hours longer than first thought based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing 777’s engines. Photo: Reuters
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/malaysia-airlines-plane-may-have-flown-for-hours-after-dropping-off-radar

US investigators suspect the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight stayed in the air for about four hours after its last confirmed location, the Wall Street Journal reports, raising the possibility the search area for the plane should expand even further.

Two people familiar with the investigation told the publication’s Asia edition that the plane may have flown for a total of five hours based on automatic data sent by the on-board monitoring system to engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce.

However, Malaysia’s Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has called the Wall Street Journal report “inaccurate” during a press conference at 8.30pm Thursday.

Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the engine’s last transmission was 1.07am local time on the day the plane vanished.

“It did not run beyond that,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal initially said they could not reach Rolls-Royce for comment but later updated the story with a response.

“We continue to monitor the situation and to offer Malaysia Airlines our support,” a Rolls-Royce representative told the publication.

This shot from Boeing’s website shows the equipment hidden beneath the engine’s casing.

“The disappearance is officially not an accident and all information about this is strictly handled by investigators,” a Rolls-Royce executive is reported to have said.

Also quoted was a Boeing executive who declined to comment except to say: “We’ve got to stand back from the front line of the information.”

It was reported that live data from the plane’s Trent 800 engines is recorded in 30-minute increments and sent to Rolls-Royce for analysis, with the information showing details such as altitude and speed of the jet.

Rolls-Royce says on its website that engine data is routinely used “so that plane operators can easily view the health of their fleet of engines”.

“Snapshots” are sent from the aircraft to the ground during take-off, during a climb, once the aircraft is in cruise and at the end of the flight – and are also triggered by unusual engine conditions, the website states.

“The snapshot data is always ‘trended’, so that subtle changes in condition from one flight to another can be detected.”

The comments revise earlier estimations that the plane flew for one hour and 10 minutes after it vanished from radar over the South China Sea, according to a Malaysian air force official quoted by CNN.

A total flight time of five hours means the Boeing 777 could have travelled about 2200 nautical miles after leaving Kuala Lumpur and potentially have reached the Indian Ocean, the border of Pakistan or even the Arabian Sea, the Wall Street Journal said.

The massive search for the plane has already expanded to an area of several hundred kilometres as Malaysia’s military revealed it tracked a missing jetliner by radar over the Strait of Malacca on Wednesday.

However, Malaysia’s civil aviation chief said no signs of the missing Malaysian plane have been found in an area where Chinese satellite images have shown what might be debris.

“This morning we sent two AN-26 aircraft to inspect the maritime areas near Con Dao island, where three suspicious objects were detected by Chinese satellite. Both have returned and we found nothing so far,” Dinh Viet Thang, deputy director of Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, said on Thursday.

The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by false leads since it disappeared with 239 people aboard just hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early on Saturday.

The plane was heading east over the South China Sea when it disappeared, but authorities believe it may have turned back and headed into the upper reaches of the Malacca Strait or beyond.

source: smh.com.au

A rare diamond that survived a trip from deep within the Earth’s interior may have confirmed some theories that beneath the planet’s crust is an ocean’s worth of water.

In a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists have found a battered-looking diamond from Brazil actually contains a water-rich inclusion of the olivine mineral ringwoodite, suggesting there is a very large amount of water held in the transition zone of the Earth’s mantle.

Samples from the transition zone are considered to be “exceedingly rare” and are only found in a small number of unusual diamonds, geochemist Hans Keppler said.

Most diamonds form at depths of about 150 to 200 kilometres, but ‘ultradeep’ diamonds come from the transition zone, which is 410 to 660 kilometres below the surface, Graham Pearson, a mantle geochemist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton said.

This particular diamond weighs just one tenth of a gram.

Mr Pearson said their discovery was almost accidental as his team had been looking for another mineral when they paid about $20 (£12) for a three-millimetre-wide brown diamond from the Juína district in Brazil in 2008.

His team studied the diamond and discovered a grain 40 micrometres across that turned out to be ‘ringwoodite’ — a high-pressure form of olivine, a mineral that makes up much of the upper mantle of the Earth.

The upper mantle is a layer that lies between the planet’s crust and lower mantle.

Unlike other forms of olivine, ringwoodite can hold a substantial amount of water, meaning the sample could potentially resolve a long-standing debate over just how much water the transition zone contains.

The team found that its tiny speck of ringwoodite contained about one per cent  of its weight in water – a significant amount.

“That may not sound like much,” Mr Pearson told Nature News, “but when you realise how much ringwoodite there is, the transition zone could hold as much water as all the Earth’s oceans put together.”

“It’s actually the confirmation that there is a very, very large amount of water that’s trapped in a really distinct layer in the deep Earth,” Mr Pearson added.

However, the results taken from one single crystal may not represent the entire transition zone, according to some scientists.

Speaking to Nature, Norm Sleep, a geophysicist at Stanford University in California compared the situation to panning for gold and discovering a large nugget. “It would be unwise to assume that all the gravel in the stream is gold nuggets,” he countered.

Mr Pearson agreed that further analysis is needed to test his theory, as other studies of the mantle have shown the water content in the transition zone is ‘spotty’, and this sample may have come from one of the wet spots.

But tests could prove difficult because of the very small size of the mantle ringwoodite. “We have to think really carefully on what we do next on this sample because it’s very small: 40 micrometres,” he said. “That means you can only think of doing one or two additional analyses.”

source: independent.co.uk

House prices in Greece are set to slide again in 2014, extending the crisis in the property market for one more year, according to an annual market report by Eurobank.

House prices in Greece are set to slide again in 2014, extending the crisis in the property market for one more year, according to an annual market report by Eurobank.

The baseline scenario of the report foresees a 6 per cent price drop and a rebound from next year, while the extreme scenario provides for a 12 per cent slump in prices and a return to growth in 2016.

The study also draws attention to the remarkably steep rise in prices – more than 200 per cent – between 1997 and 2008 (i.e. an annual growth rate of 10 per cent), which was followed by a decline that the Bank of Greece has found to amount to 38 per cent from the end of 2008 up to 2013.

Fitch Ratings is forecasting that house prices in Greece will post a total drop of 42 per cent before they start to rebound.

The International Monetary Fund had predicted in a recent report that the market crisis will last for six-and-a-half years and bring about a price slide equal to 45 per cent since 2009.

Source: ekathimerini

We take a look at the Greek flavoured shows at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Now in its 28th year, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is one of the largest ‘funny’ events outside of the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s a month-long laugh-fest that features international and local comedians performing – in some cases – night after night to tickle your funny bone. And given that the festival is held in the city that hosts one of the largest Greek populations outside of Athens, it’s no wonder there are more than enough Hellenic themed laughs on the menu. Penni Pappas explores some of the Greek flavoured shows that are on offer at this year’s MICF:

A Date With Effie: Looking For Love… And Child Support! Mary Coustas’ Effie has been Australia’s most lovable and iconic boofhead for nearly thirty years now. Her show combines what it’s like to date a ‘cultural icon’ but who is now not only looking for love, but child support for her baby. In an interview with Neos Kosmos, we asked Effie why she thinks she’s so sought after by bachelors not only Australia wide, but in Greece. “They want a piece of me because I am prime real estate like Greece is in Europe. I may not come with islands, but I come with assets that are very much lauded by your average person – fame, Logies, things like that.” She adds that the Greek community see her as a prized possession, like Greece does with the Acropolis, or Elgin Marbles. “I am something they adore, but can’t quite access. Something that was there, something they want back and something that’s not easy to get.” Yarraville Club, 135 Stephens St, Yarraville, Friday 28 and Saturday 29 March. Tickets $40 to $35

Thawed Thawed is the new one man comedy theatre show by Xavier Michelides. It’s about a man thawed from his cryogenic slumber. His body hasn’t coped with the defrosting, his mind hasn’t adjusted to the time frame and his personality isn’t suited to the current social norms. He decides to spend his first night attending a dinner party. And in the show, you are sitting right next to him. “All good great art comes out of suffering,” Xavier tells Neos Kosmos of his comedy, “that’s the time when you need to have a sense of humour the most.” And he says this is what the Greeks do best – have a sense of humour; even if it is an obscure one. Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon and Victoria Sts, Carlton, Thursday 27 March to Sunday 20 April. Tickets $22 to $15

Heart Thy Neighbour Back for another four shows, Heart Thy Neighbour tells the story of a neighbourly barbecue that goes horribly wrong, giving a real glimpse at what goes on in the ‘burbs once the sausages are on the barbie and Chisel is playing on the stereo. The play stars Greek Australian actors Greg Pandelidis and Jim Koutsoukos, who play both male leads as typical Aussie blokes. “It’s a complex comedy with a dark side to it as well,” says Pandelidis of Heart Thy Neighbour. “There is a bit of tragedy to the characters as well.” Mechanics Institute, 270 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, Wednesday 9 to Saturday 12 April. Tickets $28 to $22

I’m wearing two suits because I mean business Steen Raskopoulos builds on the success of his award-winning solo sketch show – bruce springSTEEN LIVE IN CONCERT! – by creating a brand new one. I’m wearing two suits because I mean business promises to be a showcase of elaborate characters, physical comedy and unbiased awesomeness. You may recognise him from his work on SlideShow (Ch 7) or performing with the Axis of Awesome. ‘Two suits’ is an unforgettable comedy extravaganza written and performed by a man frequently called ‘Steve’. Steen Raskopoulos has been writing and performing in sketch comedy and improvised stage shows for the past seven years. He has performed in sell-out seasons at the Sydney and Melbourne comedy festivals since 2006 and performed to a sell out crowd at UCB’s Improv Comedy Festival ‘Del Close Marathon’ in New York in 2010. Steen fostered his sketch writing skills with comedy revue group The Delusionists. In 2013 Steen decided to go solo. In doing so he received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and won the same category at the Sydney Comedy festival for his debut solo sketch show bruce springSTEEN LIVE IN CONCERT!. Steen is also the youngest ever national theatresports champion. Portland Hotel, Cnr Russell and Lt Collins Sts, Melbourne, Thursday 27 March to Sunday 20 April. Tickets $22 to $15

Viva La Vida Loca Las Vegas This will be Axis of Awesome’s sixth MICF season, and they will be debuting their new show Viva La Vida Loca Las Vegas. Jordan Raskopoulos, who spearheads this comedic band as lead vocalist, along with Benny Davis on keyboard and Lee Naimo on guitar, present another classic example of musical comedy. Axis of Awesome recently picked up the Time Out Award for Best Australian Act at the Sydney Comedy Festival, and they are also recipients of the prestigious Moosehead Award for their first ever Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, The Axis of Awesome Comeback Spectacular. Their most recent show Songs in the Key of Awesome had its Australian premiere at The Sydney Opera House. Following a tour of the US, the boys are back in Australia to present their mixture of original comedy songs and pop parodies. The Famous Spiegeltent at Federation Square, Flinders St, Melbourne, Thursday 8 to Sunday 20 April. Tickets $28 to $22

Lay-lah Wazir: From Scrags to Riches!
Co-written by Greek Australian writer and actor Margarita Maragoudaki, and performed by Egyptian Australian comedienne Yvonne Malik, the two use an original blend of cultural comedy to satirise the values of modern Australian society on outer suburban housing estates.
Lay-lah Wazir, the most sought after Bo-gyptian belly dancer (in her own head), and Queen… of the Pyramid Schemes, returns to MICF to reveal the ‘secrets’ that made her rich! After graduating with a “BhP from Samira’s Palace Dance School in Thomastowns”, Lay-lah went on to become CEO of the Oooh Lay-lah Belly Dance Academeee. She now lives in a fully financed but fully sick McMansion at Lalor Fortress Heights and her net worth is estimated at about $200 bucks! Just like Lay-lah “youse too” could be living the high life on the housing estate “coz when it comes to mansions, Hummers and plasmas, more is more.”
Comedy on Collins, 156 Collins St, Melbourne, Wednesday 26 March – Sunday 12 April. Tickets $22 to $10

source: Neos Kosmos