Christina Animashaun/Vox
In his 2011 book The Believing Brain, author Michael Shermer presents evidence that human nature is relatively constrained by our heredity and biology, along with the constraints from our families, communities, culture, and society.
Given that how one turns out very much depends on heredity, environment, and genes, I guess the following should not come as any great surprise.
Looks bad. Legal fraud alleged. Triple damages. Misuse of IOLTA (legal escrow) accounts.
Bad.
Nope, nothing good down this road.
Maybe they’ll trace everything back to Constantinople. No wonder they’re buddy-buddy with Biden and Co., probably hoping they can be bailed out.
Petros, the problem with this is that the Federal gummint is a behemoth. It sometimes acts as a collective dumb animal and even though Hologram Joe may be the occupant in the White House, and he’s appointed some truly awful people (I’m looking at you, Merrick Garland), things have a way of spinning out of control.
The moral to this story? Just because the GOA is owned lock, stock and barrel by the State Dept, doesn’t mean that there can’t be (or won’t be) unforeseen consequences.
It was different with St Hussein, when he was POTUS. He at least had a sound mind in order to pursue his evil agenda (e.g. Fast and Furious, IRS targeting the Tea Party, etc.) but that type of mental acuity doesn’t presently exist.
Even under the “best” of times (evilly speaking), Obama lost control as the result of certain incidents. Think Obamacare, Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, and the stampede at the border.
Long story short: if the GOA thinks that they’re “in like Flynn” regarding all the St Nicholas shenanigans, then they may have another thing coming.
“Hologram Joe!” You’re too funny, George. We might have missed his hand going through the mic if they had avoided cutting off his head!
Hologram Joe, I like that, think I’ll start using it lol
Agreed, I’m sure the house of cards will fall soon/eventually. Just a matter of asking how much damage they are going to leave in their wake.
I love to think that all of the boondoggles around St. Nicholas not being completed and constant roadblocks is God’s way of saying it is not meant to be completed. Let’s be honest, it would be Orthodox in name only and would likely cause scandal if it were to be completed (I can just picture Elpidophoros & Cardinal Dolan grinning while celebrating liturgy). Maybe it is God’s providence that is not allowing it to be completed.
I keep trying to find the pic of Barak in leather, umm, gear but the internet may have been scrubbed of it.
As a side note, it seems like the Russian Church is already setting up parallel parishes in Turkey: https://orthodoxtimes.com/christmas-divine-liturgy-was-officiated-by-russian-priests-in-cities-of-turkey-that-are-under-the-jurisdiction-of-the-ecumenical-patriarchate/
Given that Russian vastly outnumber Greeks in Turkey and given the current relations between MP-EP, this is no surprise.
From what I can gather, the Turkish government granted the MP permission to set up the parishes, much to the chagrin of the EP I’m sure since he more than likely can’t do anything about it due to political pressure.
I think over the coming year this will ramp up in/after November if the Church of Russia does formally anathematize Patriarch Bartholomew. My guess is we may be seeing more of this, especially in Africa and possibly even in Greece…who knows at this point
It’s actually already happened. From the MP’s POV, Bartholomew doesn’t exist so they are free to move into his territory. Oh, what a can of worms he opened when he went into Ukraine. He keeps trying to remind everyone why he felt he had a right to do it but he can’t seem to grasp the idea that the greater Church does not agree. – He once told a reporter that the Church would “get over it.” Didn’t happen.
True. I guess what goes around comes around.
I’m guessing that the parishes there are serving mostly Russian-speaking laity, but, it would be cool to see them start to incorporate Turkish in the liturgy. From what I gather the parishes under the EP are completely disinterested in evangelizing the Turkish people.
“From what I gather the parishes under the EP are completely disinterested in evangelizing the Turkish people.”
Can’t fault the EP on that, considering Christianity threw in the towel on openly trying to convert Muslims in Muslims countries over a millennia ago.
Mohammedans are notoriously hard to convert. Their faith is so simplistic that it’s like trying to reason with a rock. You can see with with a lot of contemporary Muslim apologists, who simply can’t get their heads around complex metaphysical issues like the Trinity, the Incarnation, or the two natures of Christ.
That being said, I do know of some converts to Orthodoxy in Turkey and I have heard that Turkish is used in some capacity in a number of parishes in Istanbul. To what extent, I have no idea, but it is used.
Maybe Rev. Fr. KARLOUTSOS can just give back all of those gold cuff links?!
To be fair to the defendants (I’ve got no stake in this obviously), these two documents sort of represent a big nothing burger at this point in time. The big fight was taking place over the summer and fall of last year. I think it was in the summer when the Greek marijuana scam first came up. Then the plaintiff decided to hit Karloutsos and friends under RICO in the Southern District Court of NY. The presiding judge ended up throwing out the case with prejudice, as in her words the scam was “eminently terminable”, and the plaintiffs could not adequately explain why New York had jurisdiction over it except that Citizens Bank locations are located in the city, and one of the meetings took place there. Now they’re trying to do it in East PA (on the basis that Karloutsos’ attorney friend is based there), and are complaining again that Karloutsos should be a party in their view, but I think the judge there will take the same view as the one in New York. That this is a fight between two foreigners that should be heard elsewhere. If I were on the receiving end of these two papers I wouldn’t be too worried, 70 pages of allegations notwithstanding.
On a non-legal level, what’s described inside is of course very troubling. An archon, a member of the Trump state department protocol team, church board member, and son of a prominent clergy man is engaged in some low level wire transfer scams concerning the money of a gambling magnate and a purported investment into a marijuana business in Greece. Doesn’t get any more worldly than that. Typically, I am opposed to scrutinizing the children of public persons (Hunter Biden story kinda comes to mind), but this fellow is actually much more than Alexander Karloutsos’s son, but is a player in his own right and thus deserves the attention.
P.S. – the UK businessman of Greek extraction that is the plaintiff in this case, really comes across as quite dumb throughout this document. He had a million warning signs, and a dozen chances to get out. The judge told him as much. I never cease to be amazed at how you don’t have to be very smart to make a lot of money.
Wouldn’t it be funny if the warrants lead to . . . Bart of Istanbul, and he gets named in U.S. legal proceedings? Better get some popcorn and sit down to watch this show…
Recently Karloutsos Sr took Karloutsos Jr to his new Greek Orthodox Florida community to introduce. Beware Greeks of Florida. New scam artists in town.
A verse from the Reading today in Proverbs
10: 2 Ill-gotten gains do not profit
Righteousness delivers from death.
literally, Treasures of wickedness =ill-gotten gains
Sounds like somebody’s going to be walking the straight & narrow in the not-too-distant-future.