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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Greece makes case for continued financial support from EU

26/07/2013 14:20 CET Just days before Greece’s international creditors begin their latest assessment of the country’s progress on economic reforms, the Greek Prime Minister has been in Brussels to make the case for continued support form the EU. He said Greece had achieved many of its targets. Prime Minister Samaras said: ';All that talk of extra financing need has to be along ...

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Tsipras to Visit Moscow in October

The leader of SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras had a long conversation on the bilateral and regional topics with the chairwoman of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation,Valentina Matviyenko, who visited Greece. Tsipras expressed the political will for the development of the bilateral Greek-Russian relations on all levels, a position also supported by Matviyenko, the highest-ranking female ...

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Curtain rises on Athens Film Fest with exciting roster of screenings

Adele Exarchopoulos, a French actress with Greek roots, stars in Abdellatif ...

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In Brussels Samaras says no austerity to cover fiscal gap

After meeting top European Union officials in Brussels on Tuesday, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras repeated in front of them the claim he had already made in Greece that his government would not adopt any new austerity measures to cover a fiscal gap in 2015 and 2016.Speaking after a meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Samaras said any savings would come from structural ...

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The Weeknd At The Greek Theatre: Review

Neon TommyThe Weeknd At The Greek Theatre: ReviewNeon TommyThe Weeknd tore up the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles (Photo by Kathy Zerbib/Neon Tommy). If that OVO and that XO is everything you believe in, you were at The Weeknd's concert in Los Angeles tonight. And if you were there, you saw him dominate Griffith ...Live Review: The Weeknd at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre (9/16)Consequence of SoundReview: The Weeknd woos the audience at the GreekLos Angeles TimesThe Weeknd - Greek Theatre - 9/16/13LA Weekly (blog)all 5 news articles »

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Wider search for Greek oil

KathimeriniWider search for Greek oilKathimeriniGreek firm Energean Oil & Gas and Israeli company Ratio Oil Exploration have tabled a joint bid to Greece's Energy Ministry to conduct hydrocarbon surveys in the Thermaic Gulf off the coast of Thessaloniki and the Strymonic Gulf east of the Halkidiki ...

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Greece Cant Find 502 Missing Kids

Activists say almost 6,000 children in Greece live on the street, many put there by rings to beg, sell tissues and flowers or even cleaning car windows at stoplights. ATHENS -- Judicial authorities in Greece say an investigation has been reopened into the whereabouts of 502 children who were placed into state care more than a decade ago but are unaccounted. The children, all believed to be ...

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Samaras Tells Schulz Greece OK

Greek Prime Minister, meeting with European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Brussels on Sept. 17 that, ';Greece is coming out of an unprecedented crisis despite very difficult social hardships';. He said all will be well one of these years, even if there is a deep recession, record unemployment, 1.4 million people out of work and a looming hole in the budget of as much as $14 ...

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Firemen recover 2 bodies after car plunges into Thessaly ravine

Fire service workers on Tuesday recovered the remains of an unidentified man and woman from a car that plunged into a 100-meter-deep ravine near Kalambaka in Thessaly, central Greece, several days earlier.It appears that the car came off the road between Anthousa and Kallarytes under circumstances that remained ...

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Local bourse’s benchmark edges closer to 1000 pts

The benchmark index of the Greek bourse came within a whisker of the 1,000-point mark on Tuesday as a late rally saw it reverse early losses on the strength of the positive opening at the New York Stock Exchange.The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 999.91 points, adding 0.67 percent to ...

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Review: The Weeknd woos the audience at the Greek

In the front rows of the Weeknd’s headlining show at the Greek Theatre on Monday, a professional-grade photographer prowled the aisles jotting notes and taking close-up photos of – exclusively - beautiful young women.

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Greek deputy minister puts pro-GD vote down to 'human error'

KathimeriniGreek deputy minister puts pro-GD vote down to 'human error'KathimeriniDeputy Education Minister Simeon Kedikoglou has attributed the fact that he voted against lifting the immunity of Golden Dawn MP Giorgos Germenis to “human error.” The vote took place in July, when a total of 208 deputies voted for Germenis's immunity ...

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Protests in Greece follow violent attack on communist group

Protests in Greece follow violent attack on communist groupThe Independent“Keep fascists out” was the slogan repeated at a peaceful protest that took place early this evening, in the port town of Perama, south-west of Athens. Demonstrators, mainly from communist backed PAME union, assembled on the city's docks, carrying the ...and more »

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East Africa Greece Eyes EAC Trade Through Kenya

GREEK investors plan to use Kenya as the gateway for their foray into East Africa, a visiting trade delegation said yesterday. To start off, they are holding a trade exhibition at the KICC which ends on Thursday. It has attracted more than 60 Greek entrepreneurs. The delegation met the Cabinet Secretary of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism who urged them to take advantage of ...

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Five Greek-American Billionaires On Forbes 400

John Paul DeJoria, known for his Paul Mitchell line of hair products and Patron tequila brands, didn't finish college but he's one of the richest people in America. Forbes magazine's annual list of the 400 richest people in the United States finds five Greek-Americans with hair products and tequila maker John Paul DeJoria the highest with $4 billion, in a tie at 110th place. He was ...

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Aristoteli mayor to file suit against Independent Greeks leader over lynching comment

Aristoteli Mayor Christos Pachtas. The mayor of the northern Greek municipality of Aristoteli, Christos Pachtas, said on Tuesday that he will be filing a lawsuit against Panos Kammenos, leader of the nationalist Independent Greeks party, after the latter made comments suggesting that residents of Halkidiki in northern Greece ...

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Greek Festival returns to Roseland

ROSELAND - The second annual Roseland Greek Festival will be held from Friday, Sept. 20 to Sunday, Sept. 22. Last year’s popular festival returns to the grounds of the Ss. Nicholas, Constantine, and H

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Euro crisis could return this fall

Debate has been raging over new aid for Greece, and EU finance ministers are grumbling again about a number of other problems. Is the euro crisis on its way back?

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Greek lenders' ECB funding rises in August

KathimeriniGreek lenders' ECB funding rises in AugustKathimeriniEuropean Central Bank funding to Greek banks rose by 391 million euros in August while emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) from the country's central bank decreased by 4.29 billion euros, Bank of Greece data showed on Monday. Greek banks depend on ...

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Greece expect short-term pain says commission boss

Economic recovery is on the cards in Greece, according to European commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, but short-tern economic recovery will continue to be difficultfor the Greek people. He was speaking in Brussels on 17 September, following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras. Both men discussed recent developments in Greece's financial assistance program, as well ...

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Samaras Says Greek Budget Success Commits Euro Area to More Aid

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras sought to tie Germany and other euro-area nations into giving Greece extra aid in 2014, saying they promised more support as long as he meets budget-austerity targets. Five days before German elections ...

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Mad Men attack European Parliament

by  Andy Carling

George Parker is one of the original Madison Avenue advertising legends, immortalised in the early sixties cool of the popular TV series Mad Men and has become the most acerbic commentator on the advertising world, through his book 'Confessions of a Mad Man' and blog, 'AdScam'.

We got Parker together with some other ad and brand experts, who operate in the commercial world, not the political one, to look at the 2014 election information campaign launched last week.

The video has been widely dismissed and the slogan, 'Act. React. Impact.' has not inspired either. but what do the experts think?

First of all, even these people who are constantly watching developments in the media, were, like all Europeans, unaware of the launch, so it was with some trepidation that they were shown the video and publicity material.

We acted and they reacted and it certainly made an impact.

But not in a good way.

“Unlike national tourism campaigns that merely try to influence foreigners to come to Europe, this travesty is supposed to energize the public within the EU to the point were they will actually go out and vote for something most of them regard as a giant ****,” says Parker.

“The video is a collection of splendid images that have no relationship to each other, let alone the poor ****ers forced to watch it,” he adds.

“I have no idea what it wants me to do after sitting through it.”

Parker's colleague, Ralf Zeigermann, who has worked throughout Europe in the advertising industry as a designer, author and brand developer, is equally baffled, “I don't get it. What's this ad about? About the EU? The Parliament? About us, the EU citizens? There's zero information in there, just a bunch of nice but random pictures.”

He continues, “This ad does nothing for me, it only shows various things we know about already. Why the ballet girl? Why the landfill? Is the EU parliament now magically making landfills disappear?”

The slogan isn't helping, “I don't get the slogan either. Who's supposed to "Act. React. Impact."? Are they talking about me as a European Citizen or are they talking about themselves?”

Zeigermann continues, “There's not a word about banks, about Greece, nothing about all the problems we have and their possible solutions.”

So what were they trying to do? “I think they tried to emulate the Apple advertising a bit, but what might work for a consumer brand doesn't necessarily work for a fragile union of different countries, who all have loads of problems.”

Zeigermann concludes, “This has got bugger all to do with an "information campaign about the 2014 European elections", because there's no information to be found. I'd rather have three 30 second ads giving actual information than this 1:30 ad where they try to get all emotional.”

Showing the background material distributed by the parliament didn't improve their impression.

Over to George Parker, whose acerbic tongue is matched by an extremely detailed knowledge about advertising since the 60s, “As for the article (and booklet), 'The power to decide what happens in Europe.' The visual was obviously lifted from a naked wrestling in mud, porn film, with the inscrutable caption, 'Take on the present and shape the future' being an ad for Viagra, or some other cure for erectile dysfunction product.”

but there was a use for the slogan, “After wading through reams of turgid copy, my first 'Act' would be to sit through every archived episode of Monty Python to see if I am missing some tautological nuances of language better understood by Spam eating Vikings.

“After being told that the European Parliament was ready to fight for the things I really care about, such as the optimum circumference of duck eggs throughout the EU, I wanted to 'React' by stabbing myself in the eyes with rusty kitting needles.

“But, as these would not meet the current EU regulations for 'Needles – Knitting – Rusty' I passed on that and moved on. Which left me to dwell on the “Impact” of what I had just read.

“Unfortunately, I had fallen asleep, so I had to pass on that also.”

Parker's conclusion, “In common with most government efforts at communication, it is execrable. As an example of trans-governmental communication, it is unforgivable.”

Was there anything positive Parker could say? “Have the girl in the mud wrestling shot report to my office immediately.”

This was probably not the best time to break the news that €5 million of the campaign was to be spent on social media.

Zeigermann was stunned. “Oh dear, this is ridiculous. Why don't they spend the money on billboards and perhaps a few informative ads? This is insane.”

But perhaps the experts could explain how you could spend €5 million on Facebook and Twitter, Zeigermann is baffled, “I have absolutely no idea.”

The acid test is that 'Act. React. Impact.' makes no more sense than 'React. Act. Impact.' or 'Impact. Act. React.'

Does it?

 

George Parker's weblog provides acerbic insider commentary on developments in advertising and occasional glances back to the 'golden era' of the Mad Men: http://www.adscam.typepad.com/

Ralf Zeigermann's portfolio is online: http://zeigermann.prosite.com


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Greece: ‘Tourism bonanza’ to give economy a boost?

highlighting that non-tourism exports, a weak labor market, tight credit conditions and a fragile political situation continued to weigh. "A tourism bonanza in the third quarter won't alleviate Greece's need for further financial assistance," he added.

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Greek Doctors Join Civil Service Strike As Workers Protest Austerity Cuts To ...

Greek Doctors Join Civil Service Strike As Workers Protest Austerity Cuts To ...Huffington PostATHENS, Greece -- Greek hospital doctors have embarked on a three-day strike, joining high school teachers who walked off the job a day earlier in a week of public sector strikes protesting planned job cuts. The doctors walked off the job Tuesday ...

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Hospital doctors in Greece join strikes against job cuts

Press TVHospital doctors in Greece join strikes against job cutsPress TVPublic hospital doctors in Greece have embarked on a three-day walkout in a show of protest against greater layoffs demanded by foreign lenders in the debt-stricken country. On Tuesday, Greek doctors and nurses have joined the latest wave of strikes by ...Doctors at Greek hospitals join strikesMiamiHerald.comall 14 news articles »

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EU says Greece making progress, must stick to bailout

As Greece was hit Tuesday by yet more public sector strikes against government austerity, the EU insisted the unpopular policy is showing results and must be pursued to the end. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that after huge ...

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Greek Tourism Could Boost GDP To Historic Levels – At Least For a Brief ...

Greek Tourism Could Boost GDP To Historic Levels – At Least For a Brief ...International Business TimesThat'd bring the Greek economy back, at least for a fleeting spell, to the happy days before yearly public deficits of over 10 percent of GDP ran the government into a paralyzing debt crisis, from which it has struggled to emerge for years. Related.Record visitor numbers boost to Greek economyTravel Weekly UKGreek economy gets tourism boostOpodoGreece's economy boosted as tourists returnTravelBite.co.ukall 5 news articles »

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Greece sells 1.3 bln euros in new treasury bills auction

Greece sold on Tuesday 1.3 billion euro ($1.73 billion) worth treasury bills during the latest auction, the country's Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) announced.The three-month treasury bills were sold at a 4.02-percent interest rate, unchanged from a similar sale in August.PDMA officials said that the amount raised on Tuesday will be used to cover older issues which become mature in ...

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Russia set to help Greece work its way out of crisis

ATHENS, September 17 (Itar-Tass) - Russia is set to provide support to Greece to work its way out of the economic crisis, Russian Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko said after talks with her Greek counterpart Evangelos Meimarakis on Tuesday. "I sincerely believe that Greece will overcome the hardest period in its life and will get out of the crisis and citizens’ life will ...

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Daphne's California Greek and American Cancer Society Team Up to Finish the Fight Against Cancer

CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Daphne's California Greek has joined forces with the American Cancer Society to support its Relay For Life event, an annual, overnight community fundraiser ...

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Stournaras Says The Pressure’s Off

Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, who is upbeat about the chances for a recovery and a return to the markets next year, has denied that Greece is being pressed by its international lenders to adopt more fiscal consolidation measures or austerity reforms despite a looming $11-$14 billion budget hole. Stournaras spoke briefly to journalists after leaving a meeting with Prime Minister ...

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Officials to discuss seismic activity in Amfikleia

Officials at the Municipality of Amfikleia in central Greece are to meet with Fthiotida regional authorities and experts from the Organization of Antiseismic Planning and Protection at the town hall on Tuesday afternoon to discuss a spike in seismic activity in the area.The meeting was called after four moderate quakes measuring between 4.2 and 4.8 on the Richter scale shook the area north on ...

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4.8-magnitude quake rattles central Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Seismologists say a 4.8-magnitude earthquake has rattled central Greece, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

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Greek hospital doctors join strikes

Belfast TelegraphGreek hospital doctors join strikesBelfast TelegraphStriking Greek teachers hold a protest (AP). 17 September 2013. Greek hospital doctors have gone on a three-day strike, joining high school teachers who walked out a day earlier in a week of public sector protests over planned job cuts. Also in this ...Doctors at Greek hospitals join strikesAlbany Times Unionall 9 news articles »

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Angry Kammenos Storms Off TV

Backpedaling in the face of criticism and a pending probe into his comments that a mayor in northern Greece who supports a gold mine project should be lynched, Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos walked off a TV program on Sept. 17 as he was being questioned. ';You are in no danger of violence from the Independent Greeks,'; the head of the anti-bailout, nationalist party said in ...

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Samaras Invited Putin to Visit Athens

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras extended an invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Greece, with Russia’s Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko, who is currently in Athens. According to AMNA, Matviyenko presented Samaras with a personal message from Putin and, according to sources, referred to the strong interest expressed by Russian firms for investments ...

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Greek doctors join teachers on strike

Greek hospital doctors have gone on a three-day strike, joining high school teachers who walked out a day earlier in a week of public sector protests over planned job cuts.The doctors stopped work ahead of a two-day civil service strike that is expected to affect public services across the country, including schools, hospitals and some transport systems.Under government plans 25,000 public sector ...

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Samaras Now Says Recovery Six Years Off

ATHENS - After predicting that the economy would begin to recover next year and that Greece could even return to the markets, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has revised his estimate and said it might not happen until 2019 at the soonest. "We are not out of the woods yet. There are many problems we have to deal with,' Samaras told a conference organized by the International Herald ...

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Three Major Players Expressed Interest for Trainose

The first stage of the Trainose privatization process was completed on Monday, with three major players in the European railway industry having expressed an interest. The Greek railway service operator is being wooed by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais (SNCF), Romania's Grampet Group, which controls private railway company Grup Feroviar Roman (GFR), and ...

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PM upbeat after meeting with EU Parliament president

"Greece is coming out of an unprecedented crisis despite very difficult social hardships," Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in Brussels on Tuesday, following a meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.In a brief statement to the press following the meeting, Samaras said that the pair had agreed on "growth-enhancement policies and job creation as our ...

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Barroso sees 'light at the end of the tunnel' for Greece

Jose Manuel Barroso also gave Greece the 'hurry-up' on its state asset sales, saying that its privatisation programme needs to be "sped up". The FT's Peter Spiegel reports that prime minister Antonis Samaras nodded at this point. Worth noting that the two ...

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Greece sees fiscal gap smaller than latest lenders' estimate

The fiscal gap - or the amount by which Greece is expected to fall short of budget targets set by EU/IMF lenders - will be a major issue for discussion when the inspectors begin their latest review of Greece's progress under its bailout.

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Greece doctors join striking masses

(17 mins ago) Greek doctors joined thousands of public sector workers protesting at government plans for lay-offs and redeployments. Teachers from schools and universities, civil servants and lawyers are also on strike, protesting against reforms the government of conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is undertaking in return for international bailout funds. Doctors in public hospitals ...

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Six Greek Diaspora Personalities on Postal Stamps

The International Foundation for Greece honored six distinguished living personalities of the Greek Diaspora at the Acropolis Museum on September 16, in the presence of the Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras. In this framework, the Hellenic Post presented at the Museum's amphitheater the Commemorative Stamp Set, entitled Distinguished Greek Personalities, which includes six stamps. The ...

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Independent Greeks leader walks off TV set in huff

Independent Greek leader Panos Kammenos on Tuesday responded to criticism regarding a recent comment in which he suggested to citizens protesting a gold mine in northern Greece that they should "lynch" the mayor of Aristoteli Municipality who supports the project, by walking out of the studio in which he was being interviewed on Star television."You are in no danger of violence ...

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The Ultimate Gay Destination: The Greek Island of Mykonos -- A Personal Story

The Ultimate Gay Destination: The Greek Island of Mykonos -- A Personal StoryHuffington PostThe Ultimate Gay Destination: The Greek Island of Mykonos -- A Personal Story. Posted: 09/16/2013 6:09 pm. Follow. Greece, Gay Travel, Gay Mykonos, Mykonos, Mykonos Gay Travel, Mykonos Memories, Gay Voices News. Mykonos. Get Gay Voices ...

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People & Places: Greek Festival VIP Night offers taste of this weekend's event

People & Places: Greek Festival VIP Night offers taste of this weekend's eventTulsa WorldWe arrived - "we" being me, World Scene Writer Nicole Marshall Middleton and her husband, Steve - for Greek Festival VIP Night at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 1206 S. Guthrie Ave., and immediately ran into Mary Benes. She was a guest at KTUL, ...

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The Bizarre Evolution Of The Word 'Cyber'

For his groundbreaking book Cybernetics , Weiner borrowed the ancient Greek word "cyber," which is related to the idea of government or governing.

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Party leader probed for allegedly inciting lynching of official over Greek gold mine spat

by  Associated Press Greek party leader probed over "lynch" remark Associated Press - 17 September 2013 08:18-04:00

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek political party leader is being investigated for allegedly urging supporters to lynch a mayor involved in a spat over the handling of a gold mine.

A public prosecutor ordered the probe for alleged incitement to commit acts of violence after a video posted on the Internet showed Panos Kammenos, leader of the opposition Independent Greeks party, saying last weekend: "(the mayor) must not be able to walk around. Lynch him."

Kammenos on Tuesday didn't deny the remarks but said he spoke during "a private discussion with citizens." He later walked off the set of a live television interview.

Activists in Greece's northern Halkidiki peninsula oppose the plans to develop the mine by Eldorado Gold Corp., a company based in Vancouver, Canada. Campaigners argue development will damage the environment.

News Topics: Business, General news, Precious metals industry, Metals and minerals industry, Materials industry, Industries

People, Places and Companies: Eldorado Gold Corp, Greece, Western Europe, Europe

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This article is published under the terms of the News Licensing Group, LLC. privacy policy, in addition to the terms of use and privacy policy for this website.


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University of Alabama students, Greek and independent, say it's time for ...

University of Alabama students, Greek and independent, say it's time for ...al.com (blog)Alabama Bid Day 2013 View full sizeMore than 2,000 women participated in sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama in 2013. It culminated in Bid Day on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013 when young women received their new bids and ran from Bryant-Denny ...

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