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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Film Captures Greece's Racist Golden Dawn Party

"Nightline's" Bill Weir talked with filmmaker Konstantinos Georgousis, who managed to charm his way into the inner circle of Golden Dawn. Over the course of a month, Georgousis captured unguarded moments of the group's sheer racist hatred toward Greece's immigrant community.        

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com

Film Captures Greece's Racist Golden Dawn Party

"Nightline's" Bill Weir talked with filmmaker Konstantinos Georgousis, who managed to charm his way into the inner circle of Golden Dawn. Over the course of a month, Georgousis captured unguarded moments of the group's sheer racist hatred toward Greece's immigrant community.        

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com

Film Captures Greece's Racist Golden Dawn Party

"Nightline's" Bill Weir talked with filmmaker Konstantinos Georgousis, who managed to charm his way into the inner circle of Golden Dawn. Over the course of a month, Georgousis captured unguarded moments of the group's sheer racist hatred toward Greece's immigrant community.        

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com

Filmmaker Captures Unguarded Racist Hatred of Greece's Hostile Golden Dawn ...


ABC News

Filmmaker Captures Unguarded Racist Hatred of Greece's Hostile Golden Dawn ...
ABC News
In Greece, a country crippled by debt and years of failed leadership, a young filmmaker went inside the hate-fueled, rebellious political party known as "Golden Dawn" to capture its members' vocal hostility against immigrants in a society on the brink ...


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The 20 Most Fun Colleges In America

 20 most fun colleges in america

Higher education is certainly an opportunity to study and learn, but college can also be the most fun four years in someone's life. There's good reason for this — college is a time of seemingly endless parties, a constant supply of alcohol, and cherished sports teams to cheer on with fellow students.

In order to find the most fun colleges in the country, we looked at 10 categories from the Princeton Review's 2014 college rankings.

Click here to read our complete methodology.

Many of the schools that made our list share common traits. The typical "fun" school, based on our results, is a large public university with a strong Greek life and competitive athletics.

This is not to say that these colleges are all play and no work. Many of these schools were nationally ranked for their academics as well.

Penn State University was our number one most fun college, but only topped one of the Princeton Review's lists we used — Lots of Beer. The school was included in a whopping eight of the 10 categories we looked at, including high rankings in Students Pack the Stadiums, Everyone Plays Intramural Sports, Jock Schools, and Party Schools.

#20 University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, Indiana

Due to its single-sex dorms and lack of Greek life, Notre Dame is often thought of as a gendered campus, with little interaction between male and female students.

However, everyone comes out to support the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame's storied sports teams.



#19 University of Missouri

Columbia, Missouri

Athletics are a big part of the Mizzou social scene, and students are strong supporters of their Tigers.

On campus, Greek life makes up much of the partying culture, but Columbia, Missouri is a great college town for those seeking an alternative. 



#18 University of Wisconsin — Madison

Madison, Wisconsin

There's a lot of alcohol at the University of Wisconsin — both beer and hard liquor — and students take advantage of a small, but active Greek scene, as well as other social opportunities in Madison, Wisconsin.

The school has historically participated in two massive annual parties — the State Street Halloween Party in October and Mifflin Street Block Party at the end of the academic year. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
    









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Power cut hits island of Santorini

The Greek island of Santorini has been hit by a power cut during the peak time of the tourist season.

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Illegal casinos depriving Greek state of considerable revenues


Kathimerini

Illegal casinos depriving Greek state of considerable revenues
Kathimerini
The Greek police launched a campaign at the start of the year aimed at shutting down establishments operating as illegal casinos around the capital, with seizures of video lottery terminals (VLTs) and computers running electronic betting programs ...


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Merkel Ally Says 'Forget About' Greek Sovereign Debt Writedown


Merkel Ally Says 'Forget About' Greek Sovereign Debt Writedown
Bloomberg
Volker Kauder, the parliamentary caucus leader of Merkel's Christian Democratic-led bloc, reiterated the government's position that it opposes a Greek writedown. Indebted euro-area nations should focus instead on reforms to boost their competitiveness ...

and more »

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Greek Festival returns to Pawtucket


Greek Festival returns to Pawtucket
Providence Eyewitness News
(WPRI) -- Opa! A weekend chock full of dancing, food, and fun is set to begin this Friday at the 86th Annual Greek Festival . The event runs from Friday, August 16 until Sunday, August 18 at The Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in ...


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New bistro offers Greek food with a twist


New bistro offers Greek food with a twist
MiamiHerald.com
As the executive chef of Edgewater restaurant Kouzina, or “kitchen” in English, she is the mastermind behind the menu that offers dishes cooked with traditional Greek ingredients but prepared with her own accent. Take the $10 bacalao croquettes, part ...


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Eurozone turning a corner as recession set to end

The eurozone's recession was a byproduct of the debt crisis that engulfed the currency union in 2010.

The crisis forced debt-laden governments to impose painful cuts, spooked investors and raised doubts about the viability of the eurozone.

Shrunken government spending and higher taxes devastated living standards in much of the eurozone, slowed economies and drove the bloc's unemployment rate to a record 12.1 percent.

Youth unemployment, in addition to hindering economic growth, is thought to contribute to crime and political extremism.

"While welcome news, much of the return to growth is likely to be driven from Germany, which is likely to be cold comfort to countries like Spain, Italy and Greece buckling under crippling levels of debt and unemployment," said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets.

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Eurozone set to exit 18-month double-dip recession

Official figures from Brussels are expected to show a return to modest growth in the three months to June

The 18-month double-dip recession in the crisis-stricken eurozone is expected to end on Wednesday with the release of official figures in Brussels showing the return of modest growth in the three months to June.

News on Tuesday of a pickup factory production across the 17-nation single currency area during the second quarter left financial markets convinced that a downturn stretching back to the end of 2011 is now over.

Analysts said the 1.2% jump in industrial production coupled with a stronger performance by the construction sector would be enough to produce growth of 0.2% or 0.3% during the spring and early summer. That would reverse a fall of 0.2% in the first three months of 2013.

The last piece of data to be released before Wednesday's growth figures showed that the output of the combined manufacturing and energy sectors expanded for the fourth time in five months, helped by a strong performance from the eurozone's biggest economy, Germany.

But with the European commission predicting that 2013 as a whole will see the single currency area contract for a second successive year, economists warned that the formal end of recession was unlikely to herald a period of strong growth. The European Central Bank has pledged to keep interest rates low in an attempt to nurture recovery.

Peter Vanden Houte, economist with ING Bank, said: "The [industrial production] report shows that the recession has probably ended in the eurozone. However, with a new bailout needed in Greece and the economic situation still fragile in most of the countries on the periphery of the eurozone, a subdued recovery is probably the best we can hope for."

Figures from Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, showed that production rose by 0.7% in June, reversing a small fall in May. The increase was led by a jump of 4.9% in the output of consumer durable goods, while energy production dropped by 1.6%.

Hopes that some of the countries worst affected by the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone are at last on the mend were fostered by reports that industrial production not only rose in Germany but also in Ireland and Greece. Irish output was up 8.7% in June, while Greek production rose by 2.5%. Falls were recorded in June in the Netherlands (4.1%) and Portugal (2.8%), France (1.5%), Finland (1.5%) and Spain (0.5%).

Germany posted a 2.5% increase in industrial production in June, while the latest survey of business confidence from ZEW rose more than expected in August.

Ben May, an analyst at Capital Economics, said the snapshot of conditions pointed to annual growth in Germany of 2%, much higher than the 0.2% posted in the year to the first quarter of 2013. "But the survey has not been a particularly good predictor of growth in the past and other timely indicators of activity point to weaker growth", May said, adding that much of the increase in eurozone industrial production had come from a build up in stocks of finished goods.

"In all, then, these data support the view that the eurozone as a whole may have exited recession in the second quarter. But we doubt that this will mark the start of a strong and sustained recovery."

Howard Archer, European economist with IHS Global Insight, said: "Latest survey evidence from the purchasing managers shows rising orders and output in July and the hope for eurozone manufacturers going forward is that current rising confidence in most countries increasingly encourages businesses to invest more, and also encourages consumers to lift their spending. Meanwhile, relatively muted input prices are helping eurozone manufacturers to price competitively.

"Even so, conditions remain far from easy for eurozone manufacturers with domestic demand still constrained by strong headwinds in a number of countries. These headwinds include still widespread restrictive fiscal policy (despite increased flexibility now being allowed on fiscal targets), persistently tight credit conditions in many countries, elevated unemployment and limited consumer purchasing power. This is particularly true of the southern periphery eurozone countries, but France and the Netherlands also continue to face significant headwinds. Meanwhile, global growth is currently limited, which is constraining the upside for eurozone exports."


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Earthquake Leaves Fthiotis Homes Unsafe

More than 850 buildings checked by crews of engineers in the villages of Fthiotis seem to have been affected by the current earthquake and it was reported some 45% of the buildings that were checked have serious problems, while most of them are characterized as unsafe for habitation. Several departmental structures from Athens and other regions of Greece have been transferred in Amphicleia to ...

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Fire Causes Blackout on Santorini

There's no elbow room on Santorini in the summer with tourists packed in to capture images of the famous sunset, but they're going to be in the dark the night of Aug. 13 after a fire caused a power failure across the island. At least they'll have company. ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Visitors to the Greek resort of Santorini are facing candlelit dinners with warm beer after a power ...

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Power station fire causes blackout for entire Greek island

Tourists on the Greek resort of Santorini are facing candlelit dinners with warm beer after a power station fire left the entire island without electricity at the peak of the holiday season.Greece's power network administrator said the blaze had been extinguished and efforts are being made to gradually restore power to the Aegean Sea island as soon as possible.No injuries were reported from ...

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Investment tycoon Prem Watsa emerges as leading BlackBerry bidder

'Canada's Warren Buffett' has resigned from BlackBerry board and is expected to try to orchestrate stockmarket exit

The investment tycoon known as Canada's Warren Buffett is emerging as one of the leading bidders for BlackBerry, as analysts point to the likelihood of a private equity buyout for the beleaguered smartphone maker.

Prem Watsa, the boss of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings, resigned from BlackBerry's board on Monday, just seven months after joining, and is now expected to try to orchestrate the company's stockmarket exit.

Having spent an estimated $880m (£570m) buying nearly 10% of BlackBerry's shares at an average price of $17, the 61-year-old is the company's largest shareholder and he is sitting on a potential $270m loss.

But the Indian-born chemical engineer has made his fortune from championing apparently lost causes, having left his home for Canada with $8 to his name. Fairfax was one of a small group of institutions that bought a 35% stake in Bank of Ireland from the Irish government during the height of the eurozone crisis, and has earned a positive return on its investment. Now Watsa is betting on a Greek recovery, declaring recently that "a bottom has been reached" in the decline of the European Union's most troubled economy.

He was an early sceptic on the US property market, predicting the sub-prime housing collapse years before it happened, and used the proceeds of that bet to invest in the shares well before their recent rebound.

Watsa's investment nous means his firm's stockmarket value of $8.3bn is now greater than BlackBerry's, which has crashed from a pre-credit crunch height of $55bn to $6bn today.

"Hearing the announcement from BlackBerry accompanied by Prem's departure from the board should indicate something will happen this time on the strategic front," said Todd Johnson, a portfolio manager at Winnipeg-based BCV Financial, which owns Fairfax debt. "We have a lot of respect for the investment acumen and long-term track record Prem Watsa has established at Fairfax."

Industry watchers think a sale to another handset maker or technology company is unlikely. Despite the company's determination to reinvent itself under chief executive Thorsten Heins, observers say a trade bid would have emerged by now if rivals were truly interested in the wake of the sidelining of founder Mike Lazaridis and his business partner Jim Balsillie 18 months ago.

Watsa's move is therefore being seen as the first tangible sign of a financial solution to BlackBerry's woes. "We believe Fairfax along with other Canadian pension funds and banks are considering taking BlackBerry private," said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies bank.

On Friday, Mark Wiseman, the chief executive of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a BlackBerry shareholder, expressed support in a Bloomberg interview. "It's safe to say that any large deal in Canada or elsewhere is something that we would make sure we took a hard look at," Wiseman said when asked about BlackBerry.

Wiseman's fund holds 0.2% of BlackBerry shares. Should other home grown pension investors chose to throw in their lot with Fairfax, between them they would control 17% of shares, according to Misek.

"To have Prem Watsa resign from the board is a very positive thing because it would give him the freedom to pull together a club deal," said Vic Alboini, an activist investor in BlackBerry via his fund Jaguar Financial, who is hoping for a sale at $15 a share.

Watsa is no corporate raider. He is a chancellor of the University of Waterloo, like Lazaridis before him, and has described BlackBerry's founder as a "good friend". Both men are known to want to protect the technology community that has grown up in Waterloo around BlackBerry.

Seeking to reassure clients over the investment in a company that has seen its global smartphone market share shrink to 3%, Watsa explained his thinking in his letter to shareholders this year.

Among its virtues, he listed the brand name, BlackBerry's respected security system, a "huge" patent portfolio, a subscriber base now numbered at 76m, and almost exclusive usage by governments in Canada, the US and the UK. Attributes which Watsa said made BlackBerry "Canada's greatest technology company".

Watsa has taken wrong turns in the past, most notably over media company Canwest, which eventually filed for bankruptcy. But his shares in Bank of Ireland, bought in 2011, have already delivered a handsome return.


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