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HELADA Meeting Notes 2005

14 November 2005

HELADA Monthly Meeting - At the Athens Centre we were 18 stalwarts, including newcomers Joanna Trilivas and Kristin Zissis,  The U.S.-wide Democratic National Committee house parties was the springboard for a lively discussion of the problems of the Democratic Party. Judy Blish alerted us to upcoming events of the Migrants Forum (www.migrant.gr)   Planning proceeded for the November 26 HELADA Thanksgiving potluck (see above). Then a cheerful dinner at Virinis Taverna in Mets. 

October 10, 2005

We were 21 attendees, including guests.   After the usual glass of wine and a brief discussion of burning political issues in the U.S., Judy Blish made a brief presentation on the Greek Forum of Migrants.  Each of the main nationalities represented in the Athens migrant community has an organization to represent the interests of its members with the Greek state, not always very successfully.  The U.S. community, however, has no such representation.  With Judy and Karen Lee at work, HELADA is a natural organization to speak out for U.S. citizens.  We will explore this further.

We reminded all of the Habitat for Humanity Greece efforts at Katrina Relief Fund-Raising Efforts, particularly the concerts on 19 October and 2 November.

We welcomed Greek farmer Panayiotis Manikis and his three Japanese visitors.  Panayiotis gave a presentation on his efforts to spread his natural, non-anthropocentric ideas about reseeding the deforested Greek landscape.  His philosophy, which draws deeply from Taoist doctrine and the work of Japanese farmer-sage Manasobu Fukuoka, insists on leaving the final voice to nature.  We hope that the autumn rains cause the clay balls of seeds we helped scatter on Pendeli to sprout and flourish.  He hopes to do a large-scale reseeding project in Kenya in the coming months, the first major experiment with the method. 

Demetres Karavellas, the Director of  World Wildlife Fund Greece, backed by Fundraising Director Emily Kern, gave a brilliantly well-organized 15 minute presentation on the ambitious programs of WWF Greece.  With 37 full-time staff and some 300 volunteers among 18,000 Greek supporters, WWF does environmental field work in sensitive ecosystems, environmental education/awareness programs in schools, policy/legislative work.  WWF Greece is looking for skilled volunteers, and clearly has the organization capacity to make use even of volunteers who do not speak Greek.  Their telephone is 210 331 4893, website www.wwf.gr

September 12, 2005

We were 22 strong at the Athens Centre.  After the meeting, 20 of us continued conversation at a local taverna until midnight.

Katrina Relief Fund-Raising Efforts:  HELADA will support the Athens American Community fundraising event spearheaded by Yvette Jarvis, and are awaiting details.

Per a suggestion from the floor, check out AlterNet's excellent list of ways to help Katrina victims. 

After a good discussion of ways HELADA can help environmental awareness and policies in Greece, Alicia Coriolano volunteered to reach out to Greek environmental organizations for input.  Brady Kiesling volunteered to put together another beach cleanup like last April's, aiming for Sunday, October 16.  This was superseded, however, by word of a possible October 9 tree-planting event on Pendeli. Volunteers will be needed to coordinate carpool, pot-luck picnic, publicity, and community outreach.  

The HELADA consensus is that your senator needs to hear from you, preferably by telephone, that John C. Roberts has not demonstrated the commitment to civil liberties and minority rights to be a safe choice for the American people as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Several HELADA members, led by Joan Weaver, undertook to take action here in Athens on September 24 to echo and reinforce the anti-war protests in Washington DC on that day.  Send her an e-mail to volunteer your interest or call her at 22980-53634. The protests are inspired by the vigil of grieving Iraq War mother Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, Texas, now on a bus trip across the country. 

 May 4 2005

The HELADA May 4^th meeting was held at The Athens Centre and attended by 22 people. The main conclusions from the meeting are summarized here:

Information Content and Distribution

There are too many sources of information on political events. Many of these have to be sorted and distributed quickly, which is impossible for one person to do. It was recommended that people interested in different issues consolidate sources of information using RSS feeds on the Yahoo site.

Promoting the HELADA Website

HELADA members are free to disseminate the HELADA website to contacts in the USA and further afield. This includes exchanging links. If links are to be exchanged, please contact Philip Ammerman (pga@navigator-consulting.com) to arrange for posting of links on the HELADA site.

HELADA Issues

HELADA is an issues-based network. We want to offer the opportunity for interested participants to coordinate issues that they believe should be addressed. Our work includes analyzing specific issues, forming a general statement or position, and working to change the current status through outreach, mailing, information dissemination and other means. Coordinators should also provide a form letter that can be sent by HELADA members to their Congressional Delegations and other recipients.

The following issues should be set in the HELADA agenda:

 Humane Treatment of Detainees: Joan Weaver (ioanna@acadia.net) is interested in taking the lead on this issue. Detainees at Guantanamo and other detention facilities (including Iraq and Afghanistan) should be treated under Geneva Convention rules. The policies of rendition should be fought against. A Humane Treatment page has been started.

·        Patriot Act: Under Title 3, Article 386, it is impossible for US citizens living outside the US to open bank accounts, invest in financial instruments (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) or undertake other transactions. Brady Kiesling (brady@helada.org) has already begun work on this (see our Overseas Banking page) and will coordinate this issue.

·        Iraq Invasion: Several members voiced their fundamental disagreement with the invasion of Iraq, and stated that this should not continue unchallenged. We do not have a coordinator for this issue. An Iraq Page has been started.

·        Bolton Nomination: The nomination of John Bolton as US Ambassador to the United Nations is seen as another sign of US arrogance and hubris. John Bolton has, in the past, opposed the very existence of the UN, and has a history of inappropriate behavior towards people who don’t agree with his point of view. HELADA opposes his nomination. Members are asked to write to their Senate delegations to oppose his nomination. Time is running out. We do not have a coordinator for this issue.

·        Immigration (US Citizens in Greece): This refers to Greek government policy towards US citizens living in Greece. This is a field where lobbying by HELADA could try to ameliorate the situation. We do not have a coordinator for this issue.

·        Environment, Waste Disposal, Recycling: Several HELADA members expressed an interest in raising standards and awareness for environmental management in Greece. We do not have a coordinator for this issue. An Environment page has been started.

·        Increasing Volunteerism in Greece: US citizens have a wide range of experience in volunteer organizations. Volunteerism showed its potential in the Olympic Games, but since then has died down. HELADA members indicated their interested in volunteering and promoting this concept. We do not have a coordinator for this issue.

·        Human Rights / Rule of Law: The issue of the US respect for individual human rights and the international rule of law is highly sensitive in Greece. Issues such as the US support for Turkey despite the invasion and occupation of Cyprus as well as its policies towards the United Nations, Serbia and Iraq have inflamed Greek public opinion. The representation of an alternative US foreign policy is necessary, which also must be actively communicated to the Greek public. It would be useful to see that there are Americans who have a different view of US policy. We do not have a coordinator for this issue.

·        Darfur: The situation in Darfur is turning into a potential genocide, yet the US government is not reacting. HELADA members should promote a change in policy. We do not have a coordinator for this issue.

Future Events

The HELADA group agreed to the following future events:

 February 21, 2005 HELADA Meeting

Some 17 people attended the monthly HELADA meeting on Monday, February 21 at The Athens Centre.  A lively discussion took place, and the night-owls retired to a taverna afterwards.

Democrats Abroad Greece (DAG) is having their election meeting on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 at 6:30 pm.  Location is the office of Nick Angelakis at 129 Vasilissis Sophias, a couple of blocks north of the U.S. Embassy on the same side of the street.  In lieu of a HELADA meeting in March, we encourage all Democrats Abroad members to show up and express support by voting for the new board.  As far as we know, the sole candidate for DAG Chair is Beth Tate Hondros.  She deserves and will need lots of support from the community, as Bill Kiritsis steps down after his years of sometimes thankless service as Chair.

There's an excellent taverna nearby, Vlassis at Pasteur 8, and we Heladites (non-members of DAG of course included) will head for it afterwards. Reservations are a good idea there, so let Brady know to reserve a place. We're guessing 9 pm, but call Brady on mobile to confirm before you set out:
6946- 578-290

The HELADA web site is coming along nicely, at www.helada.org thanks to travelling webmaster Philip Ammerman.  Please visit it and e-mail your suggestions for links and material to Philip or Karen Lee.  The on-line membership registration page is almost ready, but send Brady a separate email to confirm that it worked.  We urge everyone to volunteer his or her name for the membership list with a one or two-sentence description.  This will give HELADA the respectability it deserves.  We promise that neither the FBI nor the IRS will call. All members and friends are encouraged to try their hand at a one-page policy sheet with relevant links on any political issue that strikes them as of interest to HELADA members.  We are moving material off the greekdemocrats Yahoo site as best we can.

At the meeting, we went over Philip's ambitious memorandum of goals and responsibilities for HELADA.  We are looking for additional volunteers for the steering committee and regional coordinators.  There was considerable enthusiasm for the idea of taking HELADA on the road this summer, going to beaches and mountain villages where Greek-Americans cavort in August.

Brady presented the Rhamnous Beach Clean-Up for Earth Day.  Most of those present expressed interest in volunteering, and we're already well past the critical mass needed. Based on discussion of the academic calendar, we moved the date to April 17.  Please forward the flier liberally, and print out to post in a visible place where potential volunteers can be found.  We would like to broaden the event to gather maximum attention for HELADA and for environmental causes generally.  Ideas include a commemorative T-shirt based on Brady's flier design, a garbage sorting report perhaps linked to a venerable University of Arizona garbage study program, and ties to various local groups.  Please e-mail Brady to volunteer.

We had a lively discussion on potential participation in a March 19th "Out Now!" event in Athens.  Members showed themselves ambivalent on the message they wanted to send about the current presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. There was no ambivalence at all in the group that HELADA should take to the streets with everyone else should the Bush Administration attempt to invade Syria or Iran.  We are waiting for ideas on events we could support in Athens.

Brady again solicited stories and ideas for a project on the American image in Greece.  You are encouraged to e-mail him your stories and ideas about how Americans are seen in Greece.


Brady Kiesling

New Year Pita Cutting HELADA's January meeting saw 20 members gather at The Athens Centre to cut the Vasilopita and inaugurate a promising New Year. We heard presentations on the Ohio elections, social security reform, Attorney General-designate Alberto Gonzales, Not-One-Damn-Dime Day, and future HELADA projects including on the American image in Greece.