Daily Archives: December 2, 2014

Photo: LiveScience.com

For years archaeologists believed the structures they saw underwater were merely remains of a submerged ancient port. But recent examinations are debunking those beliefs, instead calling the area, at the bottom of the Aegean sea, an ‘underwater Pompeii’.

It is only about six feet underwater, just off the coast of Delos. Here researchers were actually able to discover a terracotta workshop with 16 pots and the remains of what was once a kiln. There are more structures too, walls that extend the shoreline and colonnades can be seen.

They suspect the area was part of a settlement and has remained hidden just off the coast for centuries. No-one is quite sure of the cause for the demise of the underwater area.

The island of Delos itself was once the centre for an ancient slave trade, but remained shrouded in cultish mystery and customs which prevented anyone from dying or giving birth on the island. It became deserted around 5AD due to pirate activity, and eventually the building materials from houses on land were pillaged for nearby communities.

source: Neos Kosmos

Στον απόηχο των αρνητικών για τους Φιλελεύθερους εκλογικών αποτελεσμάτων στην Βικτώρια, ο ομοσπονδιακός πρωθυπουργός Τόνι Άμποτ, βγήκε σήμερα και αναγνώρισε ότι η προηγούμενη εβδομάδα δεν ήταν και η καλύτερη για την κυβερνητική παράταξη.

Επιπλέον ανακοίνωσε ότι η κυβέρνηση υπαναχωρεί σε ορισμένα από τα μέτρα της που προωθούσε για τους εργαζομένους στις Ένοπλες Δυνάμεις και την Ανώτερη Εκπαίδευση.

Πηγή:sbs.com.au

The guest of honour at the annual Glendi Festival at Federation Square, Thessaloniki’s mayor Yiannis Boutaris.

Following the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of Melbourne and Thessaloniki sistership, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Mr Yiannis Boutaris visited the Hellenic Museum to outline future cultural endeavours between the two cities. For Boutaris, this visit is the first actual step towards a more tangible sister city relationship.

“We’ve been connected for thirty years but there was no intention for an actual connection. This is what we’ve come to change,” Yiannis Boutaris said.
During his visit, the mayor made an effort to specify new objectives and set a joint planning with the delegates of the Greek Australian community to instigate more substantial communication and actions to strengthen the ties between the two sister cities.

Therefore, in the upcoming Thessaloniki International Exhibition, Australia will be the honoured country. Melbourne will for the first time take part as the ‘honoured city’. Moreover, an exhibition showcasing the treasures of Mount Athos is planned to be shown at the Hellenic Museum. In addition, Thessaloniki will join Melbourne’s food festival, while a students’ exchange program is set to be launched between the two cities.

“When we decided to come to Australia,” he stressed, to Neos Kosmos “we made clear that we need to see whether it is possible and to what extent we can make this relationship more active. It takes a lot of mutual effort to make this bond efficient. Initially, we aim at joining forces with the Greek communities of Australia, centring on Melbourne, so that on a second basis, we can promote this relationship using the Greeks of the diaspora as a ‘facilitator’ to help us reach the general Australian public, breaking the boundaries of Greek ethnicity”.

Boutaris and his delegation are looking into promoting trademark Macedonian locations as ideal destinations for historical and environmental tourism. Mount Olympus, the ancient site of Vergina, the beaches of Chalkidiki and the very city of Thessaloniki carry a rich history from multiple aspects, which goes back thousands of years.

“Our goal is the exchange of cultural and commercial elements, sharing activities and events. We want both communities to benefit and evolve through this merger, which will hopefully create a common heritage of historic importance,” he added.

“Time will tell if we can actually be consistent and successfully deliver what we discussed. We believe that our proposals will be accepted by the government of Australia and the City of Melbourne.”

Boutaris said that what excites and moves him in Melbourne is the passionate Hellenic spirit of the city’s vibrant and active Greek community, compared to other major diaspora centres. He also believes that the city of Melbourne sets an example as the home of harmonious coexistence of different nationalities and cultures – something that he hopes Thessaloniki can evolve into in the future.

Mayor Boutaris also highlighted how disappointed he is by Greece’s tolerance towards lawlessness, which is somewhat turning into a norm.

“We have to tolerate the existence of different things and freedom of expression, to be able to say we respect ourselves.”

“Australia is a country created by immigrants, so by definition its citizens are tolerant to other ethnic communities. The legal framework is efficient and the people have acquired a social conscience that respects the freedom and diversity of others,” he continued.

Mayor Boutaris also underlined the achievements and cultural contribution of the Jewish community in both cities. He believes the Greek Jews will be of great help to the realisation of a more solid and profound Melbourne-Thessaloniki connection.

“I was moved when Greek Jew Maria Curtis told the story about how she survived the Holocaust, at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne,” Yiannis Boutaris said.

“The 91-year-old woman was born in Thessaloniki but during the Holocaust lived in a Jewish ghetto from where she escaped. She was saved thanks to a Greek Orthodox priest and his daughters, who hid her and protected her. Apart from her sister, Curtis’ whole family was killed by the Nazis. I was really touched by her story. These people have been through a lot.”

When asked about his views on Greek political matters, Thessaloniki’s mayor took the opportunity to remind the press that he is independent and won’t take part in any dispute between parties.

“The support we received in the last elections proves we should not go off our track. I am more interested in a joint national policy than politics itself.”

“I am a mayor not a politician, and my goal is to help Thessaloniki become a better city for its citizens,” said the mayor.

“Let us not forget I entered politics – or should I say the realm of local government – after the age of 60, coming from private initiative. I do not consider myself different. I don’t have horns on my head. I just don’t like to compromise my beliefs. We are all different and we should respect one another. This is the only compromise.”

The City Mayors Foundation included Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris in the shortlist of 26 candidates for the 2014 World Mayor prize.

source: Neos Kosmos

A terrible combination of pigheadedness, inadequacy and imprudence is threatening to derail the country.

The stubbornness comes from the German finance minister and other like-minded policymakers who see Greece as a “special case” and afford it a lot less tolerance than they show to other countries making much slower progress in critical areas. Portugal, for example, has not implemented more cutbacks or reforms than Greece yet its spreads are performing much better than Greece’s. Germany, according to economist Peter Bofinger, still lags way behind Greece in liberalizing so-called closed-shop professions and labor reform. Nevertheless, Wolfgang Schaeuble insists on his puritanical approach to Greece and even the chancellor appears unable to sway him.

The inadequacy comes from the Greek government, which was hasty in underestimating the risks from the markets, abandoned the reform effort and went ahead with decisions that shook international confidence in the country. The government has always been torn, like the residents of an apartment block where the people on the ground floor are working for something entirely different than those on the first. It proved unable to rein in its worst self and ended up in a vicious cycle.

The imprudence is being displayed by the main opposition party, which has ensnared the country in political uncertainty even though it does not have any real plan of its own to speak of. It believes that the negotiations with the troika can be treated like a sit-in at a university, blackmailing the lenders into giving it what it wants over the country’s debt and continued funding. There is no excuse for ignorance at this point.

There are so many economic, social and, of course, geopolitical factors threatening Greece and these cannot be left in the hands of inexperienced politicians. It is one thing to be a mover and shaker on the domestic stage and quite another to play the country on the international chessboard.

Everyone needs to get serious. Greece does not deserve to become a failed state that can boast nothing but sunny skies and pretty beaches. Neither should it be allowed to become like Ukraine, where things are run by powerful lobbies that solve their differences with guns and other such methods.

Germany is not known for its geopolitical wisdom and has never managed its elevated position with foresight and vision. Anything but. In Greece, meanwhile, the government has shown that it can run the gauntlet and it has done a lot to keep the country on its feet, yet it has failed to find a cure for the turpitude and lack of judgment that afflicts parts of it. The opposition, on the other hand, has become enchanted by the lights of power, ignorant to the fact that these might be the lights of the train that will smash into it if it is elected to power.

The combination of all these factors is anything but good, and it does nothing to placate the people, who are scared and distrustful. The worst thing is that it is the people who will end up paying for this pigheadedness, inadequacy and imprudence.

source: ekathimerini.com

Greek Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis addresses and event organized by the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce in Athens on Monday.

Government officials sought to appear upbeat Monday even as they awaited a response by the troika to Greek counterproposals aimed at closing a projected fiscal gap for next year and completing a stalled economic review by creditors.

By late last night, there had been no response from the troika to Greece’s proposals, which include a doubling of the value-added tax rate on hotel accommodation, to 13 percent – a prospect that caused consternation in the ranks of the coalition. The government also committed to make “further corrections” next year if the budget execution goes off track, sources said. A high-ranking government official told Kathimerini that the Greek side believed it had made a significant compromise toward the troika. “We will see if they really want an agreement,” the official said.

Earlier in the day Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis told a conference organized by the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce that negotiations with the troika remained “tough” but that the Greek side was persisting in a bid to “avert a return to uncertainty.” He added that “significant progress” had been made in the negotiations. Addressing the same event, Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Athens was not prepared to enforce new painful measures. “The country must not and will not introduce new austerity measures,” Venizelos said. He added, in an apparent dig at leftist SYRIZA, that “some are trying to fuel fears that are completely unfounded.”

Venizelos stressed that Greece must press on with delayed structural reforms but played down the extent of a feared overhaul to the pension system, noting that only “few additions and improvements” were necessary.

Venizelos said the aim was for the troika’s review to be completed in time for a December 8 Eurogroup summit when, Athens had hoped, Greece’s post-bailout prospects would be addressed. He conceded, however, that negotiations could drag on, noting that they would be concluded before scheduled presidential elections in February.

Stoking political tensions later in the day in an interview with Skai TV, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said any opposition MPs who back the coalition’s candidate would be “apostates.” He added that current coalition leaders were “entirely expendable” in the eyes of the troika.

Troika officials themselves indicated Monday that negotiations with the Greek government were on the right track. Rishi Goyal, of the International Monetary Fund, told a Capital Link investment forum in New York that talks with Greek officials were “constructive,” echoing the words of a European Commission spokesman earlier in the day. In a recorded video message played at the same event, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras appealed to investors, noting that Greece had strengthened its economy over the past two years and was a European leader in fiscal adjustment.

In a related development, speculation about possible further support for Greece was reignited by German Finance Minster Wolfgang Schaeuble’s comments on Sunday that eurozone finance ministers will discuss a possible credit line for Greece in early December. Germany’s Spiegel magazine reported on Sunday that Greece would likely be offered a credit line worth 10 billion euros, with conditions attached.

source: ekathimerini.com

The only good news for Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the latest polls is that they have recovered slightly from two weeks ago, despite the cavalcade of setbacks experienced by the government during this period. Photo: Andrew Meares

The federal government’s run of horror poll numbers has continued with two national surveys showing the Coalition remains in an election-losing position.

The only good news for Prime Minister Tony Abbott is that the polls have recovered slightly from two weeks ago, despite the cavalcade of setbacks experienced by the government during this period.

Federal Labor continues to have a dominant lead in the polls, with a Newspoll published in The Australian on Tuesday showing the opposition at 54 per cent, down one point, while the Coalition is at 46 per cent, up one point.

The poll also found a fall in Mr Abbott’s personal rating to a five-month low, while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s personal rating remains steady.

A rival poll, by Roy Morgan, also found a slight recovery for the Coalition, which is up one point to 53 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, while Labor is down one point to 47 per cent.

The polls, both based on preference flow at the 2013 federal election, represent a swing away from the government of at least 6.5 percentage points since that election.

Significantly, the new polls continue a trend seen for most of this year and especially since the May budget, showing the Coalition trailing in the national polls.

The past fortnight has seen the Coalition experience a series of difficulties, ranging from mixed messages about the dumping of key budget measures through to the Senate voting down the government’s changes to Labor’s financial advice laws and voters in Victoria dumping the state Coalition government after just one term.

The Newspoll primary polling has the major parties at an equal 37 per cent, with the Coalition up one point and Labor down two points.

Roy Morgan primary polling has the Coalition on 39 per cent (up one point) and Labor on 37.5 per cent (down one point).

More than half of voters surveyed by Newspoll – 57 per cent – are dissatisfied with Mr Abbott’s performance, compared to 43 per cent being dissatisfied with Mr Shorten’s performance.

Mr Shorten remains ahead of Mr Abbott as preferred PM but one in five voters remain uncommitted.

source:afr.com

Asking the tough questions: Karl Stefanovic quizzes Tony Abbott. Photo: Screen grab: Today Show

Mr Abbott, who as opposition leader repeatedly refused to support a range of measures proposed by the Rudd and Gillard governments, used his TV appearance to lament the lack of support from Bill Shorten’s Labor opposition.

“I wish the Labor Party wasn’t in such a feral mood,” Mr Abbott told the Today Show.

“I wish the Labor Party was taking the kind of view that the Howard opposition took back in the 1980s.”

But Stefanovic seized on Mr Abbott’s argument.

“With respect you were fairly feral in opposition… and isn’t he [Labor leader Bill Shorten] just doing what you did and why would he do anything different when it worked for you?” Stefanovic asked.

Mr Abbott shot back: “We tried to stop the Labor Party from putting in a carbon tax because a carbon tax was a very bad policy and that is what Bill Shorten wants to give you the people back if he was to win an election.”

The PM was then asked about the state of the budget, which Stefanovic described as “a shambles”.

“No one is buying what you are selling, what you are laying down. That is the problem.”

Mr Abbott replied: “Karl, I want to stop you there. The budget started to come under control the day the government changed and the day we got a government which was serious about budget repair”.

Appearing minutes later on Sunrise, Mr Abbott said independent Senator Jacqui Lambie’s threat to vote against all government legislation in protest against the below-inflation defence force pay offer was a “form of blackmail”.

Morning television is a popular option for politicians seeking to use the softer platform to sell their message.

A day after admitting he broke his election promise not to cut funding to the ABC and SBS, Mr Abbott hit both high-rating shows to assure voters his government had handled well a range of challenges.

“Look at the way we have handled the foreign policy issues like MH17, MH370.  Look at the way we have handled the foreign fighters threat, the ISIL death cult threat,” he said.

Mr Abbott also backed his Treasurer Joe Hockey and said his job was safe.

source: brisbanetimes.com.au

A briefing aboard the survey ship Go Phoenix searching for MH370 Source: Twitter

Even now, many months after the horrific disappearance, speculation still runs rampant as to what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

Several weeks ago, a newspaper article on the search for MH370 stated that the search area — based on new information — had moved further south and that it was likely someone on board had tampered with the flight computers.

The article also stated that it was possible the aircraft flew for over seven hours on autopilot then ran out of fuel and crashed.

But after an aircraft crashes, masses of debris would be floating around for a long time afterwards. None has been found.

I was a senior captain with a major international airline flying a B777, the type of plane that has now vanished as flight number MH370.

I am bemused by the media coverage given to self proclaimed experts — people who have never flown a modern fly-by-wire computerised glass cockpit airliner and yet offer speculation as to what happened to MH370.

So the uninformed can join the dots and draw their own conclusions but I will point out what most probably did not happen.

Flashback: MH370 search vessel Go Phoenix in Fremantle, about to continue the serch for missing Malaysian Airline plane Source: Supplied

The B777 has 80 computers and, except for two engines, nearly every system on board is triplicated to ensure a practically fail safe operation, for example three radios, three radar transponders (linked to Air Traffic Control), three autopilots, three flight management computers (FMS) etc etc.

Failures

And a failure of one will result in transfer, usually automatically, to another. This means for ATC to lose secondary radar contact with MH370 someone had to deactivate all three by manually selecting them to off.

A total electrical failure has also been speculated.The B777 has five generators (two per engine plus APU) and, as a final backup, an automatic deployment Ram Air Turbine ( RAT ) which can supply hydraulic and electrical power to vital systems and still have contact with ATC.

Then there is the hijack theory. On board were two pilots and 14 cabin crew. None of the passengers came under suspicion and the Flight Deck door is reinforced and kept locked. Airlines have security protocols in place to prevent unauthorized access to the Flight Deck.

The flight profile is programmed into the FMS computers before engine start and, with the autopilot(s) engaged, normally immediately after takeoff, the aircraft would have flown itself automatically to its destination unless there was human input to change the flight profile.

There are two lateral modes of flight, Navigation (NAV) and Heading (HDG), the latter normally only used if radar vectors are given by destination ATC to facilitate the instrument approach if required.

The flight crew could leave the Flight Deck after takeoff with the A/P engaged and the aircraft would take itself to the destination — it could not meander around the sky, not when under A/P control.

I might mention that it is not easy to fly a large airliner manually at altitude as they are not designed for it and B777 and Airbus Standard Operating Procedures ( SOP ) call for autopilot engagement at 400 feet after takeoff.

Explsive theories

There is also the explosive decompression theory. Practised regularly by Flight Crew in six-monthly B777 Simulator checks, all the emergency and abnormal scenarios are covered at some stage. Malaysian Airlines has a good reputation with well-trained crew that are proficient at Boeing Memory Emergency Procedures, which includes rapid donning of oxygen masks and selecting immediately the transponder to immiediatel notify ATC and then for rapid descent to a lower level.

The time of useful consciousness at 35,000 feet is 30 seconds — ample time for a well-trained crew to get the aircraft safely down to a lower altitude.

What about fire and smoke in the Flight Deck? Again Boeing has emergency procedures to cover this contingency and the crew would still have contacted ATC.

A bomb on board just doesn’t fit. It’s highly unlikely that the aircraft could then keep flying for several hours as has proved to be the case.

Subsequently, analysis of Malaysian military radar (the event happened in the early morning hours) suggests the aircraft tracked across northern Malaysia then deviated to the northwest before turning south to the southern Indian Ocean.

Is it a coincidence that this track managed to avoid Indonesian, Thai and then Indian military radar?

This analysis also suggested the aircraft climbed to 45,000 for 10 minutes. As a former RAAF fighter pilot who has experienced Hypoxia in high altitude training, it is known that over 35,000 feet, even breathing 100% oxygen, Hyposix can still occur due to the skin tension of lung alveoli (partial pressures) unless oxygen is fed to the mask. Only the Flight Crew masks have this capability.

Go Phoenix has been a core compnent in the search for MH370 Source: Twitter

Passenger drop down masks are designed to provide chemically generated oxygen for 10 minutes to enable the crew to get the aircraft down to a lower altitude in the event of a decompression. If this scenario is accurate then once above 40,000 feet a very rapid loss of consciousness and death would occur to all those behind the Flight Deck door. The symptoms of Hypoxia include euphoria.

Haystacks and needles

The “experts” also stated that the aircraft might have flown slower and therefore flown further – hence more guessing as to the extent of the search area.

Rubbish.

A B777 is not a small aircraft where this can apply. The normal cruise speed of a B777 is M.84 (M is the speed of sound), high speed cruise is M.86, low speed cruise is M.82 and any slower than that, due to the high wing loading of large airliners, would result in an induced drag increase. The difference between M.84 and M.82 is very small. M is the speed of sound.

Three ships with sidescan sonar are now in the search area. It appears that the “haystack’’ has now been found and now we are searching for the ‘‘needle”.

The B777 is a very large aircraft and I personally believe that MH370 is intact and in 6000m of water. If we search long enough it will be found.

In summary the B777 is so automated that if something happened to the Flight Crew, or even if they left the cockpit shortly after takeoff, the aircraft would have flown itself to its destination via the preprogrammed computer Flight Profile.

For it to alter course and fly a different route as alleged would require the deliberate manual intervention of someone with considerable expertise of FMS protocols, which suggests a preplanned intention.

source:dailytelegraph.com