Greece

I watch the TV and I see riots in Greece, people losing their lives, a country with no way to sustain itself, and a plummeting stock market. You know what else I see when I watch that? The United States in the near future if the Obama administration doesn't wake up and stop its spending splurge. Tom Landerkin, Parkville

While your co-workers hover around the water cooler debating whether it matters if Mitt Romney bullied some kid in his youth, a formerly First World nation called Greece is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Why, you might ask, should Middle America pry its overworked eyes away from Jennifer Lopez gyrating around in a bodysuit on "American Idol" long enough to bother caring? Now replace "Greece" with "your bank. " It suddenly matters a little more, doesn't it? What if your bank couldn't loan you money, give you a mortgage or allow you to ring up credit-card debt, all because the bank abruptly had much less with which to leverage your lifestyle since Greece decided to finally pull itself off fiscal life support?

- Greece won a major pledge of financial support from the other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund in a deal that aims to halt a government debt crisis undermining confidence in Europe's currency union. The joint eurozone and IMF bailout program comes with strict conditions and makes no money available right now. It could be tapped only if Greece or other financially troubled eurozone members cannot raise funds from financial markets. It would require the unanimous agreement of the 16 eurozone countries to release the loan funds.

The economic and political tumult in Europe has continued this week with anti-incumbent votes in France and Greece as well as signs of disaffection in Italy, Great Britain and Germany. The electorate is angry, and the election results have raised renewed concerns about whether Europe's most debt-burdened countries will stick with their quest toward fiscal discipline. On this side of the Atlantic, it's tempting to view the uproar in purely parochial terms - out of concern that the U.S. economy will continue to be encumbered by the eurozone crisis.

Swimmer Zachary Posten, of Laurel High, will compete with Team USA at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, June 25 to July 4. Zachary has competed in Special Olympics as a swimmer for four years, and competed at the county, regional and state swimming competitions for the first time in 2010. Athletes for the U.S. teams were chosen by a random drawing from among those who won gold medal during their sport's state finals. Maryland's delegation to the games includes 16 athletes and seven coaches and managers.

The Greek parliament approved a $113 billion austerity package that had been demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund as a condition for receiving a $17 billion installment of the $160 billion "bailout" package negotiated last year. This cash infusion will allow Greece to avoid defaulting on debt obligations due in July and August. This is a precursor to negotiations on a new "bailout" package that must be created to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt over the next five years.

The Greek government has harmed Greece and democrac and aided terrorism by sending seven editors to prison for the crime of printing a terrorist's statement. It is not the aim of the Conservative prime minister, Constantine Mitsotakis, to mount a dictatorship or curb dissent. But that is the effect.Mr. Mitsotakis had a law passed last December making the printing of a self-serving terrorist's statement a crime because he believe it encourages bombings and kidnappings. There is an element of truth to this.

The return of Andreas Papandreou fills European Community officialdom with dismay. Yet he cannot champion the Soviet bloc as he did in his last prime ministry of Greece: the bloc is not there. He will have a hard time supporting Middle Eastern terrorism: regimes dedicated to it are fewer, isolated and spotlighted. As for making trouble for Europe's newest nation, Macedonia, the ousted Constantine Mitsotakis was already doing that.In winning Greece's election Sunday with 171 seats in the 300-member parliament, Mr. Papandreou and his Panhellenic Socialist Movement managed one of the great political comebacks.

Mike "Markos" Karavasilis, former royal chauffeur, ballroom operator and bon vivant, died Monday of cardiac arrest at the Francis Scott Key Medical Center. He was 70."He had his first heart attack in 1968 and another in 1992," recalled his son, Alex Karas. "Because he technically died twice and kept coming back, I gave him the nickname of Lazarus."The Gardenville resident retired from the Wedding Belle, a full-service wedding center that he opened in Highlandtown in 1972 with other members of his family.

The Air Force may be approaching the end of its appetite for new F-16 fighter planes, but Bethesda's Lockheed Martin Corp. continues to develop markets worldwide for the versatile jet.The company's latest target is Greece, which is shopping for about 60 military aircraft of that type.Lockheed Martin treated Greek Defense Minister Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos to a Fourth of July tour of the Texas plant where F-16s are made and made a pitch for selling his country the latest version of the plane, which has extra-powerful computers.

Columnist Thomas F. Schaller's analysis is incredibly myopic ("Avoiding Europe's austerity nightmare," April 18). To compare the economic condition of the U.S. to those of Greece or Spain at the beginning of the economic crisis is comparing apples and oranges. The fundamental strength of the American economy was far greater than that of the countries he selects in order to contrast and applaud President Barack Obama's response. In short, America had the ability to absorb additional debt - for a time.

As the global economic crisis grinds into its fourth year, we now have a clearer sense of which countries responded appropriately to the crisis and those that perpetuated or aggravated their situation. That discussion must begin with a comparison of the differing approaches taken by European governments and the United States. Let's start in Greece, where I recently gave some lectures about the American presidential elections. Once the center of one of the world's most influential empires, Athens now finds itself at the center of the European crisis.

Robert and Rosemary Miller, of Catonsville, announce the marriage of their daughter, Carolyn Marie Miller, to Sean Lawrence McEwen, son of Lawrence McEwen, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Theresa McEwen, of San Carlos, Calif. The bride and groom serve as captains in the Army. The Rev. Sousa officiated at the May 29 ceremony in St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, Fort Monroe, Hampton, Va. Sarah Forster was maid of honor with Patrick McEwen, brother of the groom, as best man. Since returning from a honeymoon in Athens, Greece, the couple is residing in Williamsburg, Va.

Ravens cornerback Chris Carr is everywhere, all at once. He had played in 97 straight games before being injured in this year's season opener, where he was part of a defense that forced a franchise-record seven turnovers in a 35-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. On the field, Carr is praised for his initiative, versatility and camaraderie with his teammates. Off the field, he's spent time interning at a law firm, a profession he plans to pursue after football. Last winter, the engaging political science major from Boise State was presented with the media's Good Guy Award for his accessibility and candor.

Sandy John Sarantinos, a former Southern High School principal, died of leukemia Dec. 5 at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 77 and lived in Monkton. Born in Chios, Greece, he came to the United States in 1946 and lived with his family in Donora, Pa. "As a child, he would often spend the day at the movies, watching spaghetti Westerns so that he could learn English," said his daughter, Argiro "Argie" Sarantinos-Perrin of Bel Air. He worked in a steel mill and attended college in the evening.

Richard K. "Dicky" Marshall, a former Gilman School teacher and coach who was also a World War II veteran, died Oct. 5 of heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Mercy Ridge retirement community resident was 87. The son of physicians, Mr. Marshall was born in Baltimore and was raised on Deepdene Road in Roland Park. After graduating from Gilman School in 1942, he attended Princeton University for a semester before enlisting in the Army Air Forces. Trained as a navigator, he was sent to England, where he flew several missions with the 8th Air Force.

AKROGIALI, Greece - Maria Mirea is 70 years old, stands about 5-feet-2 - if she balances on her toes - and she is as wispy as the million weepy, leafy olive-tree branches dancing in the wind outside her seafront, cliff-side home. But in the middle of a conversation, when her cooking show comes on TV, she stands like a cowboy, hips thrust forward, knees bent, a remote control in each hand. She fires away until she nails her target, a demonstration on ancient ways of baking bread. "As I was saying," she finally continues, as if a talk-show host returning from a commercial break, "everywhere you look, Greece is changing.

LONDON -- The outcome of the recent British election was not good for the Greeks.The Labor Party had promised to return the famous Parthenon sculptures to Athens had it won. It didn't, so the Elgin marbles, as they are also known, remain in a vast gallery in the British Museum -- kind of a temple within a temple.These are the friezes, half-reliefs and whole statues that once adorned the temple of Athena on the Acropolis, carvings of men and women, heroes, centaurs, horses, gods and sprites; they are antiquity's notions of the world expressed in stone.

It's impossible to know whether Occupy Wall Street will coalesce into a political movement, but there's little question Wall Street is still up to its old tricks. Right now the Street is dedicating all its lobbying power to water down regulations designed to implement financial-reform legislation. Its spokespeople, including congressional Republicans and GOP candidates, charge that Dodd-Frank (as the law is known) is overkill. Yet take a close look at Europe's debt crisis and you see quite the opposite.