GREECE, a BASKETBALL powerhouse. "They were runners-up in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and they have won the European Championship twice, in 1987 and 2005. They are currently placed fourth in the FIBA World Rankings." - Wikipedia. I show you a cool MAXICARD from my friend Spyros (GREECE), showing the team (it's all Greek to me, although I see a black dude in the photo of the stamp on the right), and their autograph facsimiles

"In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Greece were glazed to win a medal that had closely missed in their last two participations in the tournament and reached once more the semi-finals with a record of seven consecutive wins, some of them impressive. In the semi-finals, Greece defeated the popular odds-on United States in a 101–95 upset, rallying back from twelve points down, and qualified for the final, but they proved to be exhausted from their dramatic game with the Americans and lost 70–47 to Spain, ending up with the silver medal. Despite the loss the players were greeted enthusiastically by celebrating fans on their return to Greece, due to their first medal in a World Championship and their glorious win over the United States."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece_national_basketball_team

Team spirit and better individuals performance have prevailed again against reputation.

LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and all the other NBA stars from Team USA have seen, once again, that WHITE MEN CAN JUMP. 

And WIN.

Hellenic Republic Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Elliniki Dimokratia
Flag National emblem
Motto: Eleftheria i Thanatos, (Greek: "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος", "Freedom or Death") (traditional)
Anthem: "Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν Ýmnos is tin Eleftherían Hymn to Liberty1"
Location of  Greece  (dark green) – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  —  [Legend]
Capital (and largest city)		Athens 37°58′N 23°43′E
Official language(s)		Greek
Ethnic groups		94% Greek, 4% Albanian, 2% others[1][2][3][4]
Demonym		Greek (Officially: Hellenic)
Government		Unitary parliamentary republic
-	President	Karolos Papoulias
-	Prime Minister	Lucas Papademos
Legislature		Parliament
Independence from the Ottoman Empire
-	Declared	1 January 1822, at theFirst National Assembly
-	Recognized	3 February 1830, in theLondon Protocol
-	Current constitution	11 June 1975, Third Hellenic Republic

"Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of ancient Greece, generally considered the cradle of Western civilization. As such, it is the birthplace of democracy,^[11] Western philosophy,^[12] the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, Geography,^[13] Biology,^[14] university education, coinage, and Western drama,^[15] including both tragedy and comedy. This legacy is partly reflected in the seventeen UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in Greece, ranking Greece7th in Europe and 13th in the world. The modern Greek state was established in 1830, following the Greek War of Independence.

A developed country with an advanced,^[16][17] high-income economy^[18] and very high standards of living,^[19][20][21] Greece has been a member of what is now the European Unionsince 1981 and the eurozone since 2001,^[22] NATO since 1952,^[23] and the European Space Agency since 2005.^[24] It is also a founding member of the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,^[25] and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece

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Happy Blue Monday! (meme)

Please visit:  http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/

See this excellent video - funny and smart: School creativity, by Sir Ken Robinson— at my dear writer Paulo Coelho's Blog. This is a great example of fast-forwarded recording of cartooning for visual metaphors, along with alert and intelligent commentary. Melikes it! :)

School creativity — Paulo Coelho's Blog


Get an iPhone app from http://www.thersa.org/iphone.

"The RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce): an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges. Through its ideas, research and 27,000-strong Fellowship it seeks to understand and enhance human capability so we can close the gap between today’s reality and people’s hopes for a better world."
http://www.thersa.org/about-us

See on youtube.com some 440 videos from RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo&feature=related

Animation done by:
http://www.cognitivemedia.co.uk/

=========

It's worth repeating:

BBC Sport - Brazil football legend Socrates dies at 57. I show you a YouTube videoclip tribute. "Sócrates was a technical playmaker, known for great through passes and his vision on the field, as well as his physical strength. He was also a two-footed player and a prolific goal scorer. His ability to read the game was highly valued, and his signature move was the blind heel pass.[3] He was considered to be one of the greatest midfielders ever to play the game.[4] Easily recognizable for his beard and headband, he became the "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters"" - Wikipedia. Also, I show you some stamps with OTHER Brazilian players, from my showcase/samples collection (at least 1 stamp from every theme of interest)

BBC Sport - Brazil football legend Socrates dies at 57

"Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, MD, (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), more commonly known simply as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer. He was also a qualified doctor, and was the elder brother of Raí, who was a member of Brazil's World Cup winning squad in 1994.

He played for Botafogo-SP, before joining Corinthians in 1978. He spent six years with the club, scoring 172 goals in 297 league games. He then moved to Italy to play for Fiorentina, before retuning to Brazil to end his career with Flamengo and Santos. He is best remembered outside of his homeland for the sixty caps he won playing internationally for Brazil; he captained his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and also appeared at the 1986 World Cup, the 1979 Copa América, and the 1983 Copa América – appearing in the defeat to Uruguay in the 1983 finals. He was named South American Footballer of the Year in 1983, and was named on Pelé's FIFA 100 list in 2004.

Sócrates was a technical playmaker, known for great through passes and his vision on the field, as well as his physical strength. He was also a two-footed player and a prolific goal scorer. His ability to read the game was highly valued, and his signature move was the blind heel pass.^[3] He was considered to be one of the greatest midfielders ever to play the game.^[4] Easily recognizable for his beard and headband, he became the "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B3crates

Some stamps with OTHER Brazilian players, from my showcase/samples collection (at least 1 stamp from every theme of interest):

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Happy Sunday Stamps meme!

Please visit: http://viridianpostcard.blogspot.com/