Yes, this is Greece! ... [2484]

The reply to the slanderers of Greece

Posted Friday, October 14, 2011 / / Republish
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The video below is the answer to all critics of Greece ...

A video advertisement for Greece ...

A video that simply tells truths ...

View and forward when and where you can! Worths ...

Bending the Light...[ 2483 ]

Image of the Day "The galaxy cluster"

Bending the Light

This image of galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 (or MACS 1206 for short) is part of a broad survey with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

The distorted shapes in the cluster are distant galaxies from which the light is bent by the gravitational pull of an invisible material called dark matter within the cluster of galaxies. This cluster is an early target in a survey that will allow astronomers to construct the most detailed dark matter maps of more galaxy clusters than ever before.

These maps are being used to test previous, but surprising, results that suggest that dark matter is more densely packed inside clusters than some models predict. This might mean that galaxy cluster assembly began earlier than commonly thought.

The multi-wavelength survey, called the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), probes, with unparalleled precision, the distribution of dark matter in 25 massive clusters of galaxies. So far, the CLASH team has completed observations of six of the 25 clusters.

Dark matter makes up the bulk of the universe's mass, yet it can only be detected by measuring how its gravity tugs on visible matter and warps space like a fun-house mirror so that the light from distant objects is distorted.

Galaxy clusters like MACS 1206 are perfect laboratories for studying dark matter's gravitational effects because they are the most massive structures in the universe. Because of their heft, the clusters act like giant cosmic lenses, magnifying, distorting and bending any light that passes through them — an effect known as gravitational lensing.

MACS 1206 lies 4.5 billion light-years from Earth. Hubble's keen vision helped CLASH astronomers uncover 47 multiple images of 12 newly identified faraway galaxies. Finding so many multiple images in a cluster is a unique capability of Hubble, and the CLASH survey is optimized to find them. The new observations build on earlier work by Hubble and ground-based telescopes.

The era when the first clusters formed is not precisely known, but is estimated to be at least 9 billion years ago and possibly as far back as 12 billion years ago. If most of the clusters in the CLASH survey are found to have excessively high accumulations of dark matter in their central cores, then it may yield new clues to the early stages in the origin of structure in the universe.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Postman (STScI), and the CLASH Team

Greece at UEFA EURO 2012 as Group F winners..[ 2482 ].

Greece get the better of ten-man Georgia

Published: Tuesday 11 October 2011, 22.45CET

Georgia 1-2 Greece

Late goals from Giorgos Fotakis and Angelos Charisteas booked Greece an automatic berth at UEFA EURO 2012 as Group F winners.

by Vakhtang Bzikadze

from Mikheil Meshki Stadium

Angelos Charisteas (right) celebrates his winner with Kyriakos Papadopoulos ©Getty Images

Greece trailed Georgia at the interval in their final Group F game, but late goals from Giorgos Fotakis and Angelos Charisteas ensured that they will travel to UEFA EURO 2012 as the top side in their section.
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David Targamadze put Georgia ahead after 19 minutes yet his team were reduced to ten men when he left the pitch injured with 20 minutes to go, Temuri Ketsbaia having already used all three of his substitutes. Fotakis's deflected leveller gave Fernando Santos's men the point they knew would secure them top spot and Charisteas's 85th-minute strike then kept them two points clear of second-ranked Croatia.
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With midfielder Levan Kobiashvili having been honoured before kick-off with a UEFA award to mark his 100th cap, Georgia were in positive mood, and they soaked up early pressure from the visitors before scoring from their first meaningful chance, Targamadze's cross into the box eluding his team-mates as well as goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas on its way into the net.
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Georgia looked to make the most of their good fortune as No1 Nukri Revishvili parried a Kostas Katsouranis free-kick, and Fanis Gekas fired another chance over as Greece struggled to respond. Targamadze had an opportunity to double Georgia's lead just after the break, but Tzorvas was equal to his effort.
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It proved to be a crucial save and, when Targamadze was taken off, Greece were able to press home their numerical advantage. Fotakis's effort took a couple of kind touches before speeding past Revishvili and Katsouranis then set up Charisteas – back in the team after a year-long absence – to put the game beyond the home team.
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Match statistics

Georgia -   Greece

Goals scored	1		2
Attempts on target	2		8
Attempts off target	2		4
Corners	5		3
Fouls committed	13		6
Yellow cards	3		2
Red cards	0		0

"Rena's " captain charged...[ 2481 ]

New Zealand oil spill ship captain charged

 

It is not clear how the Rena ran into the well-charted reef in calm weather

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BBC.,,12 October 2011 Last updated at 02:39 GMT

The captain of a cargo ship that has grounded off New Zealand and is leaking oil into the sea has been arrested and charged, officials say.

The captain was charged with "operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk".

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The 775ft (236m) Rena ran aground on a charted reef off the North Island port of Tauranga a week ago.

Officials say the fuel oil leaking from the ship has caused the country's worst environmental disaster in decades.

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), which is managing the emergency response, said about 70 containers had fallen off the Rena after more bad weather overnight shifted the vessel into a heavy list.

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The ship is carrying 11 containers of hazardous materials, MNZ said, including ferrosilicon which is flammable upon contact with water.

MNZ said the hazardous materials containers were not among those that had fallen overboard.

But New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said stress fractures had been found on the Rena.

"We can't rule out the risk of the ship breaking up, that's certainly being monitored," he said.

Growing anger On Tuesday, MNZ officials said the spill was much worse than originally feared, with as much as 350 tonnes of oil estimated to have leaked from the ship.

Environment Minister Nick Smith called it "New Zealand's worst environmental disaster in many decades".

 

Oil from the Rena has been washing up on some of New Zealand's most popular beaches

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MNZ said the Rena's captain had been charged under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act. He faces a fine of $7,800 (£5,000) or a maximum prison sentence of 12 months if convicted.

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More charges were likely, MNZ said.

He appeared at a court in Tauranga on Wednesday morning and was granted bail for one week, when he is next due in court.

Judge Robert Wolff granted his lawyer's request that the captain's name be suppressed because people "might want to take matters into their own hands".

The captain's passport has been confiscated and he is to remain at a nominated address approved by the prosecutors and make daily reports to a local police station subject to the needs of the salvage operation. 

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It is not clear how the vessel ran aground on a well-marked reef in calm weather.

With shipping containers falling off the Rena, New Zealand has issued a navigational warning and re-routed major shipping away from the grounded vessel.

Some of the containers have been reported to have washed ashore on Motiti Island, between Astrolabe Reef and Tauranga. More of the Rena's 1,368 containers are expected to fall overboard in the heavy swells battering the ship.

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Meanwhile, anger is growing among residents of Tauranga and nearby communities over the speed of the official response to the grounding.

The oil spill is happening in an area teeming with wildlife, including penguins, seals, dolphins, whales and rare sea birds.

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Bad weather, including north-easterly winds of 30 knots and heavy seas, have hampered efforts to pump oil off the Rena and clumps of oil are washing up on the area's long, sandy beaches.

Once the oil is off the vessel and the containers have been removed, salvage crews can work on lifting the Rena off Astrolabe Reef.

Lukewarm approval to Greek aid tranche...[ 2480 ]

Lenders give lukewarm approval to Greek aid tranche

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By Ingrid Melander and Harry Papachristou

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ATHENS | Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:04am EDT

(Reuters) - EU, IMF and ECB inspectors gave tepid approval for a vital aid tranche to Greece on Tuesday, saying that despite some fiscal progress Athens was lagging on privatizations and structural reforms needed to exit its debt crisis.
Known as the troika, the inspectors said in a joint statement that an 8 billion euro tranche Greece needs to avoid imminent bankruptcy would probably be made available in early November, after approval by euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund.
"It is essential that the authorities put more emphasis on structural reforms in the public sector and the economy more broadly," the statement said.
European Union leaders are racing to put together a second, 109 billion euro bailout deal agreed in July to try to prevent the Greek crisis from spreading out of control, after an initial 110 billion euro bailout proved insufficient.
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"It was a political decision, not a decision for experts or economists to take. They are not ready yet to take the risk of pulling the plug on Greece," said Joerg Kraemer, a Frankfurt-based economist at Commerzbank.
This was the troika's last review under the first bailout and the inspectors said the success of Greek program now hinged on getting enough private sector and state funding for the second program.
After Greece admitted it would miss its deficit targets for this year, there is growing doubt whether the planned second bailout will be enough either.
The troika will take at least a week to give a full report to EU ministers and the IMF board which will take the final decision on the aid. Greece has cash until November and faces almost 3 billion euros worth of bonds expiring in December.

MISSING TARGETS
The inspectors confirmed Greece would miss its 2011 deficit target because of a deeper-than-expected recession but also slippages in implementation. Additional measures, if applied rigorously, should be sufficient to meet 2012 targets.
But it said even more belt-tightening would be required to achieve 2013-2014 targets and that should be in place by mid-2012.
"It is essential that such measures focus on the expenditure side," it said, repeating its message that Greece must shrink its wasteful public sector rather than keep levying growth-stifling taxes to cut deficits.
Greece, in deep recession and struggling to contain a public debt expected to hit 162 percent of gross domestic product this year, has promised sweeping austerity measures, including severe wage cuts for many public sector workers, mass layoffs and tax hikes that will hit middle class Greeks hard.
On Tuesday, civil servants blocked the general accounting office and the Interior Ministry, waving banners reading "Broke and Fired" and "No to Layoffs, No to cutting wages." Thousands of local government workers also marched on parliament.
In some areas of Athens, garbage was piled high on the streets as waste collection workers went on strike, while at Greece's biggest state refiner Hellenic Petroleum, workers protesting at planned wage cuts also walked off the job, threatening fuel shortages.
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DELAYS
European Union officials have repeatedly criticized Athens for delays in implementing reforms and euro zone ministers postponed any release of the aid by a month to November to keep up pressure on the government.
The troika said privatizations and structural reforms were the weakest areas and urged Greece to step up efforts.
"As overall progress has been uneven, a reinvigoration of reforms remains the overarching challenge facing the authorities," it said.
Although a privatization fund has finally been set up, sell-off targets will be missed in 2011, the troika said. The government remained committed to producing 35 billion euros in revenues by 2014.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who had repeated meetings with the inspectors in recent days, welcomed the troika statement as positive and balanced and said Greece was determined to regain its credibility.
"We must, for the good of the country, catch up on reforms," he said in a statement. "It's important to do all that must be done before the tranche is delivered, even before the October 23 EU summit."
Venizelos is expected to brief ruling party PASOK lawmakers later on Tuesday on pension cuts and a controversial plan to put tens of thousands of state workers on the road to redundancy.
The main conservative opposition New Democracy, which is riding a wave of public discontent with austerity to lead opinion polls, on Tuesday asked the government to call snap elections, saying its policies failed.
"It must change policies and try to restart the economy, complete fast reforms and cut state waste," it said in a statement. "If it can't, it must seek the public's verdict and leave."
($1 = 0.732 Euros)
(Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by Dina Kyriakidou, editing by Mike Peacock)