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Punters are pinning their faith in English trainer Ed Dunlop shedding his bridesmaid tag with Trip To Paris the best supported runner ahead of the Melbourne Cup.

Dunlop is yet to win a race in eight Australian starts, but has produced six placings with Red Cadeaux finishing second on four occasions, three times in the Cup and once in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney.

Trip To Paris finished second in the Caulfield Cup and Manndawi was third in the Geelong Cup.

Vine: Stop the Vine to pick your Melbourne Cup horse

Since Saturday night’s barrier draw, Trip To Paris has firmed from $9 to $7.50 with one TAB punter outlaying $14,500 at $8.50 for a collect of a little more than $123,000.

The heavy support for Trip To Paris has resulted in the favourite Fame Game drifting from $3.20 after the draw to $4.20.

The Chris Waller-trained Preferment is the only other runner under $10 in Cup betting at $9.

The Lee and Anthony Freedman-trained Our Ivanhowe has firmed from $31 into $19 since Saturday night and is one of another six horses under $20 in Cup betting.

The only Australian-bred horse, Sertorius, has met with support firming from $201 to $101, but is still regarded as an outsider sharing that price with Quest For More and Prince Of Penzance.

source:abc.net.au

Για ένατη συνεχή χρονιά το Φεστιβάλ «ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ 2015»

* Πανηγυρική Χοροεσπερίδα το Σάββατο, 7 Νοεμβρίου, στο Κρητικό Χωριό, με τους καλλιτέχνες Χάρη Παντερμάκη (λύρα-τραγούδι), Γιώργο Παντερμάκη (λαούτο-τραγούδι) και Αντώνη Ηλιού (κιθάρα)

*Δοξολογία & Επιμνημόσυνη Δέηση για την 149η Επέτειο του Ολοκαυτώματος της Ιεράς Μονής Αρκαδίου στην Ιερά Μονή της Παναγίας «Άξιον Εστίν», την Κυριακή 15 Νοεμβρίου,

*Σεμινάριο Κρητικού Χορού για όλα τα Ελληνόπουλα της παροικίας από τους έμπειρους χοροδιδασκάλους και χορευτές της Ένωσης, στη Λέσχη του Κρητικού Χωριού, την Πέμπτη 19 Νοεμβρίου

*Παραδοσιακή Κρητική Κουζίνα την Κυριακή 22 Νοεμβρίου στη λέσχη του Κρητικού Χωριού.

Η ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΟΛΟΚΑΥΤΩΜΑΤΟΣ

Ο τουρκικός ζυγός στο νησί της Κρήτης μετρούσε ήδη διακόσια πενήντα χρόνια όταν μετά από συνεχιζόμενους ξεσηκωμούς Κρήτες επαναστάτες άρχισαν να συγκεντρώνονται στο Αρκάδι από τις 3 Μαρτίου του 1866 για να φθάσουν το Μάιο να αριθμούν τους 1500 πολεμιστές από όλη την Κρήτη που συγκεντρώθηκαν για να εκλέξουν πληρεξουσίους για τις διάφορες επαρχίες της Κρήτης. Ο τουρκικός στρατός, αποτελούμενος από 15.000 τακτικό στρατό και υποστηριζόμενος από τριάντα κανόνια, υπό τον Μουσταφά Ναϊλή Πασά, εξεστράτευσε εναντίον της Μονής. Παράλληλα ζήτησε από τον ηγούμενο Γαβριήλ να παραδοθεί. Η απάντηση ήταν αρνητική. Στο μοναστήρι υπήρχαν 964 ψυχές, 325 άνδρες και οι υπόλοιποι γυναικόπαιδα.Η επίθεση ξεκίνησε στις 8 Νοεμβρίου. Εξαντλημένοι και με βέβαιη την αιχμαλωσία και όλα τα συνακόλουθα, ο Κωνσταντίνος Γιαμπουδάκης από το χωριό Άδελε του Ρεθύμνου κλείνεται μαζί με άλλους πολεμιστές και γυναικόπαιδα στην πυριτιδαποθήκη. Η πυροδότηση των βαρελιών με το μπαρούτι προκάλεσε την καταστροφή της Μονής και το θάνατο πολλών Ελλήνων αλλά και πολλών Τούρκων εισβολέων. Ο κρότος λέγεται ότι ακούστηκε μέχρι το Ηράκλειο. Από όλες τις θυσίες που πρόσφερε η Κρήτη μεσουρανεί το Αρκάδι. Η μονή Αρκαδίου ύψωσε το αίτημα της Κρητικής ελευθερίας και ξεσήκωσε τα φιλελληνικά αισθήματα της Ευρώπης, αλλάζοντας τη νοοτροπία και την τακτική των ευρωπαϊκών δυνάμεων απέναντι στο Κρητικό ζήτημα.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Βρίσκεται στα πιο χαμηλά επίπεδα των τελευταίων δέκα ετών, παρά τα κίνητρα του κράτους προς τους γονείς.

Στα χαμηλότερα επίπεδα των τελευταίων δέκα ετών έχει πέσει ο μέσος όρος γεννήσεων που αναλογεί σε κάθε γυναίκα στην Αυστραλία, φτάνοντας πάλι στο σημείο που βρισκόταν όταν η ομοσπονδιακή κυβέρνηση αποφάσισε την θέσπιση μέτρων που θα λειτουργούσαν ως κίνητρο για την αύξηση των γεννήσεων.

Σε απόλυτους αριθμούς, το 2014 καταγράφηκαν 299.700 γεννήσεις στην Αυστραλία, έναντι 308.100 που είχαν σημειωθεί το 2013. Σύμφωνα με τα τελευταία στοιχεία της Αυστραλιανής Στατιστικής Υπηρεσίας, ο ρυθμός γεννήσεων που μετριέται με την αναλογία παιδιών που αναλογούν σε κάθε γυναίκα, σημείωσε πτώση τα τελευταία χρόνια. Ειδικά πέρσι η αναλογία ήταν 1,88 παιδιά ανά Αυστραλή, ενώ φέτος ο αριθμός μειώθηκε ελαφρώς σε 1,8, συνεχίζοντας την πτωτική πορεία που βρίσκεται από το 2008, χωρίς όμως να φτάσει τα ιστορικά χαμηλά επίπεδα του 2001.

Από το 2002, οι γεννήσεις είχαν αρχίσει να αυξάνονται, ενώ από το 2007 μέχρι το 2010 αναλογούσαν δύο παιδιά ανά γυναίκα – αύξηση που συνέπεσε με την άνθιση της βιομηχανίας των εξορύξεων. Σύμφωνα με τους ειδικούς, τα αίτια της αύξησης εκείνης παραμένουν αδιευκρίνιστα, ωστόσο η γενική εκτίμηση είναι πως οι φοροαπαλλαγές και τα επιδόματα που ξεκίνησαν να χορηγούνται από το 2004 έχουν παίξει μικρότερο ρόλο από το γεγονός ότι εκείνη την περίοδο ήταν πολύ υψηλά τα ποσοστά των γυναικών που βρίσκονταν στην ηλικία των 30 ετών και άνω, οι οποίες ανέβαλαν μέχρι τότε την μητρότητα.

Όταν εκείνη η γενιά γυναικών τεκνοποίησε, τα ποσοστά γεννήσεων αυξήθηκαν για να πέσουν ξανά στην συνέχεια.

Οι γυναίκες μεταξύ 30 και 34 ετών είναι οι πιο γόνιμες στην Αυστραλία, σύμφωνα με την Στατιστική Υπηρεσία, καθώς είναι υπεύθυνες για το 12% των γεννήσεων.

Ακολουθούν οι γυναίκες 25-29 ετών που γεννούν το 9,5% των παιδιών της χώρας, ενώ το 1,4% γεννιέται από γυναίκες άνω των 40. Σημαντική πτώση σημείωσαν οι γεννήσεις από έφηβες μητέρες πέφτοντας στο 1,2% από 5,5 που ήταν το 1971. Στα αστικά κέντρα, ο ρυθμός των γεννήσεων παραμένει μικρότερος από τα προάστια, όπου κάθε οικογένεια περιλαμβάνει τουλάχιστον δύο παιδιά.

Παρά τη θέσπιση μέτρων, όπως η πληρωμένη γονεϊκή άδεια, που ξεκίνησε το 2011, ο ρυθμός γεννήσεων συνεχίζει να πέφτει από το 2010 και εξής. Ωστόσο ο μέσος όρος των 1,8 παιδιών ανά οικογένεια είναι φυσιολογικός για τα αυστραλιανά δεδομένα και δεν προκαλεί ανησυχία.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Punters are pinning their faith in English trainer Ed Dunlop shedding his bridesmaid tag with Trip To Paris the best supported runner ahead of the Melbourne Cup.

Dunlop is yet to win a race in eight Australian starts, but has produced six placings with Red Cadeaux finishing second on four occasions, three times in the Cup and once in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney.

Trip To Paris finished second in the Caulfield Cup and Manndawi was third in the Geelong Cup.

Since Saturday night’s barrier draw, Trip To Paris has firmed from $9 to $7.50 with one TAB punter outlaying $14,500 at $8.50 for a collect of a little more than $123,000.

The heavy support for Trip To Paris has resulted in the favourite Fame Game drifting from $3.20 after the draw to $4.20.

The Chris Waller-trained Preferment is the only other runner under $10 in Cup betting at $9.

The Lee and Anthony Freedman-trained Our Ivanhowe has firmed from $31 into $19 since Saturday night and is one of another six horses under $20 in Cup betting.

The only Australian-bred horse, Sertorius, has met with support firming from $201 to $101, but is still regarded as an outsider sharing that price with Quest For More and Prince Of Penzance.

source:abc.net.au

Malcolm Turnbull has dumped Tony Abbott’s widely ridiculed policy of reinstating Knights and Dames, saying the titles are “not appropriate” in modern Australia.

The new Prime Minister announced on Monday that he was dumping the titles nearly seven weeks after ousting Mr Abbott from the top job.

In a statement, Mr Turnbull said the decision was recently taken by cabinet and approved by the Queen.

“The cabinet recently considered the Order of Australia, in this its 40th anniversary year, and agreed that Knights and Dames are not appropriate in our modern honours system,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said the change will not affect existing Knights and Dames, meaning Prince Philip will potentially be Australia’s last Knight.

Mr Abbott March 2014 decision to reinstate Knights and Dames in Australia was one of his most notorious “captain’s picks”.

He described the change at the time as an “important grace note in our national life”.

Mr Abbott said he expected recipients to include governors-general, state governors, chiefs of defence forces and chief justices rather than politician.

The decision was mocked at the time but it became a lightning rod for Mr Abbott’s critics when he appointed Prince Philip a Knight on Australia Day earlier this year.

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He said the 93-year old was being recognised for his “contribution to Australia throughout the Queen’s 62-year reign.”

Mr Abbott dismissed a social media backlash against the decision as “electronic graffiti”.

“I’ll leave social media to its own devices. Social media is kind of like electronic graffiti and I think that in the media, you make a big mistake to pay too much attention to social media,” Mr Abbott said at the time.

“You wouldn’t report what’s sprayed up on the walls of buildings.”

Earlier gongs had gone to former chief of the defence force Angus Houston and former governor-general Quentin Bryce, who accepted the title despite being a republican.

Peter Cosgrove was automatically made a Knight upon becoming Governor-General.

source:theherald.com.au

An English biscuit which survived the Titanic sold to a Greek collector for $23,000

An English emergency/ sustenance cracker, which was part of a survival kit on one of the Titanic lifeboats went for $32,200.

The plain yet of historical value cookie which came with a photograph purported to show the iceberg that caused the historic collision, has been dubbed the “most valuable biscuit in the world” by Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in Devizes in Wiltshire.

The 3.5 inches square Spillers and Bakers snack, had been kept intact in a Kodak film envelope by Fenwick along with the following notation: “Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912.”

“It is the world’s most valuable biscuit,” Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge told The Salisbury Journal admitting it fetched $8,000 more than was expected when bought by a collector in Greece.

“We don’t know which lifeboat the biscuit came from but there are no other Titanic lifeboat biscuits in existence to my knowledge.”
“I couldn’t imagine anything less appetizing, but if you’re in a rowing boat in the middle of the ocean, you’d certainly eat it with the rest of them,” Aldridge continued.

He explained that the cracker has survived all these years because it’s similar in composition to a hot cross bun.

“If you get one of those and leave it out, it will dry and it will fossilise. If you left a slice of bread out, it would go green and start to rot, but hot cross buns don’t, and neither do these biscuits.”

Source: BBC News, Salisbury Journal

“Multiculturalism is the glue that holds us together and makes us the envy of the world.”

The Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, welcomed the latest Scanlon-Monash Index of Social Cohesion released today, that has confirmed social cohesion in Australia is at an eight-year high.
The Scanlon-Monash Index of Social Cohesion (SMI) has been mapping social cohesion since 2007.
“This is a good result in difficult times and I am pleased that Australia remains a stable and cohesive society,” said Senator Fierravanti-Wells.
She added it was encouraging that the 2015 report shows Australians continue to overwhelmingly support a multicultural Australia.
“The SMI found there is strong support for our cultural diversity, with more respondents than ever (86 per cent) agreeing that ‘multiculturalism has been good for Australia’.
“Multiculturalism is the glue that holds us together and makes us the envy of the world.
“With 45 per cent of us either born overseas or with at least one parent who was, we are one of the most culturally diverse, yet socially cohesive nations on earth,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.
The Mapping Social Cohesion report includes views on the extent to which Australians and immigrants should change their behaviour.

source:Neos Kosmos

Alf Carpenter honoured as part of ‘OXI’ Day commemorations

On the 75th anniversary of Greece’s national ‘OXI’ Day, the Greek diaspora of Australia has moved to commemorate one of the few remaining Australian soldiers who fought in the Battle of Crete.

Alf Carpenter, 98, who will travel from his native Newcastle in New South Wales to Sydney to take part in the commemorations, has vivid memories of Nazis parachuting onto the Greek island in 1941 – which resulted in 642 Australian deaths.

“I can also remember what wonderful people the Cretans were,” he said.
“I hope to get back to Crete for the 75th anniversary of the battle next year if I’m healthy enough.

“The problem is that no one wants to give you travel insurance when you are my age. I don’t blame them really.”

The Germans entered the Battle of Crete after Greece refused Italy free passage through the country, pushing its troops back beyond the Greek border into Albania.

source:Neos Kosmos

THEY won the Ashes back earlier this year and now the English are about to take home the Melbourne Cup.

After nearly two decades of fruitless endeavour and frustrating near-misses, persistence is about to pay off at Flemington on Tuesday.

Five English-based trainers are represented by six stayers in the big race — Trip To Paris and Red Cadeaux (Ed Dunlop), Snow Sky (Sir Michael Stoute), Big Orange (Michael Bell), Sky Hunter (Saeed Bin Suroor) and Quest For More (Roger Charlton) — and Trip To Paris is the stayer most likely to win the Melbourne Cup.

At least that is the opinion of Jim McGrath, the Australian journalist and former BBC racecaller who has called England home since 1984, and is an authority on the British raiders and Melbourne Cup.

McGrath was just a four-year-old and was at Flemington when Evening Peal won the 1956 Melbourne Cup, he remembers the great Galilee’s win in 1966, and he called the race 20 times for the BBC.

He knows what it takes to win a Melbourne Cup and has identified Dunlop’s Trip To Paris as the horse to beat. Trip To Paris is the reigning Ascot Gold Cup (4023m) winner and has the necessary powers of acceleration to win the Melbourne Cup, according to McGrath.

“I must say that Trip To Paris is very, very uncharacteristic of an Ascot Gold Cup winner,’’ McGrath said. “He is not the one-paced, grinding stayer that typically wins the Ascot Gold Cup, he has a very good turn of foot.

“He showed that with his second in the Caulfield Cup, I like the way he has been working at Werribee and I like the way he looks in the coat. Trip To Paris has the perfect qualifications for the Melbourne Cup — he is a great winning chance.’’

McGrath said the ageless Red Cadeaux, runner-up in the 2011, 2013 and 2014 Melbourne Cups will be among the placings again.

“I am definitely putting Red Cadeaux in my trifectas,’’ McGrath said. “This horse grows another leg at Flemington, he loves the course, loves the occasion.

“He is a horse that peaks at this time of the year and he looks as well as he ever has at Werribee. He should not be discounted at any price.’’

McGrath has forecast the internationals running 1-2-3 on Tuesday with Irish stayer Max Dynamite splitting the Dunlop pair. Max Dynamite was a last-start Londsdale Cup winner at York, leaving Trip To Paris nearly 12 lengths behind.

“This horse’s Lonsdale Cup win was very impressive,’’ McGrath said. “He is a horse with good staying ability and he will run a race.’’

Japanese stayer Fame Game is a dominant $3.20 favourite for the Melbourne Cup — which McGrath believes is way under the odds.

“My comment on Fame Game would be that he seemed to be running on nicely in the Caulfield Cup,’’ McGrath said of the stayer’s fast finishing sixth.

“I can understand why a lot of people assume he will find the two miles at Flemington more to his liking but with 57kg, he will have to be one of the great stayers of modern times to win it.

“Hokko Brave covered extra ground in the Caulfield Cup but it would appear he is the second choice of the Japanese runners.’’

Snow Sky is the race topweight with 58kg and was solid in the Caulfield Cup when he held his ground late finishing fifth to Mongolian Khan.

McGrath described Snow Sky as a “tough stayer” with each way claims.

“Snow Sky, I thought, was caught a little flat-footed in the Caulfield Cup,’’ he said. “He will stay the trip right to the end and Sir Michael Stoute, one of the great trainers in the world, knows what is required for this race.’’

McGrath nominated Bondi Beach over Kingfisher as the pick of Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien’s two Cup runners.

“What we know about Bondi Beach is he is tough and streetwise,’’ McGrath said. “He got into a bumping duel in the St Leger at Doncaster and he knuckled down really well.

“It is an unknown how he will handle the occasion on Cup Day as he is a young, inexperienced horse, but I still feel a good staying European three-year-old with a lightweight has the right attributes for the race.

“Kingfisher was terrific in the Ascot Gold Cup, some even say he was unlucky, but his subsequent performances lead me to believe he may lack a bit of class.

Big Orange and Sky Hunter have been flying under the radar in Melbourne this spring but McGrath said both stayers should not be underestimated.

“Michael Bell trains Big Orange and he is a very capable horseman, he has won a (English) Derby with Motivator and he has also trained an Oaks winner,’’ McGrath said. “Big Orange is a really good stayer but a grinding stayer, he is not one who quickens so he will need to have a very fast pace up front.

“Sky Hunter is from Godolphin and a hard horse to assess. He did win the Dubai Gold Cup, which was a good staying performance.’’

Quest For More split Big Orange and Trip To Paris in the Goodwood Cup but he ran poorly in the Geelong Cup, finishing only 16th behind Almoonquith. “He drew wide and did lose a shoe at Geelong so the connections are clinging to those reasons for his run,’’ McGrath said.

source:news.com.au

Volunteers help rescue migrants from a sinking boat off Lesvos.

Eleven migrants including six infants drowned when their boat capsized off the Greek island of Samos, trapping most of them in the cabin, the coast guard said on Sunday.

Fifteen others were rescued when the six-meter boat sank in the early hours near the coast of the Aegean island.

The death toll from drowning among thousands of refugees making the short but dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece’s eastern islands has risen in recent weeks as autumn weather has set in, bringing high winds and falling temperatures.

“We recovered 11 drowned bodies, 10 of which were trapped inside the vessel’s cabin,” a coast guard official said, adding that the dead included four babies, two children and four women.

A search and rescue operation was continuing to find two more migrants missing from the boat.

Greece has been a transit point for more than 570,000 refugees and migrants fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond this year, putting European nations at odds over how to deal with the continent’s biggest humanitarian crisis in decades.

source:ekathimerini.com