Greek Archbishop burial ceremony

Well the soap opera is drawing to teary end. Priests are crying in public, people are chanting "Zeis zeis, esu mas odygeis" (You live, You live, You show us the path to take) and news reporters speaking in halting tearful tones - Oh the HUMANITY - When will this cease. soon hopefully.

On another note, the Greek Orthodox Relief Charity is under investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are seeking he return of over 7 million Euros. This PUBLIC money was given to the Charity by the government to help them do 'good deeds'. Deeds which involves the sending of sexy underwear (thongs etc) and fur coats as part of the relief sent in the aftermath of the Tsunami which hit South East Asia. Or the overbilling which occured when the charity blew the budget when they purchased rotten chickens to send to a disaster hit region.

Of course this time is providing a welcome relief to the Government as they try to divert attention from the Corruption scandal which is threatening to blow up over Zahopoulos and the forthcoming Seimens scandal which has been brewing for over a year now...

The only good thing that has come out of the Burial is the day off which public servants are taking, and since i was not due to have life saving surgery - coming to work today was great. With the public servants staying home the roads were almost empty - I zoomed up Mesogeion this morning. Since public servants dont do any work, the only thing they are good for is causing Traffic Jams!

No Holiday for YOU!

So as i mentioned yesterday, the country is having 3 days mourning for the passing of the Archbishop of Athens. People are visiting his dead corpse and wailing and gnashing their teeth. Tomorrow, public services will be closed in his honour. What this means for you and tourists is that ALL Archaeological sites will be closed. Thats right - You just flew in from Canada to see the Temple of Athena - STUFF YOU! It will be closed because a Greek Orthodox priest died.
That has got to be the Ultimate pay-back. I mean Christianity has won and is the dominate religion here in Greece, yet all these ancient temples will be closed to honour the passing of this divisive priest.

Perhaps the best thing i have heard yet is that Many Public hospitals have canceled scheduled surgeries and are taking the day off. Yes, that is the best way to remember the passing of Hristodoulos. A man who flew to Miami at Taxpayers expense to undergo a surgery which doctors KNEW he could not undergo, who stayed at this exclusive Miami hospital at TAXPAYERS expense till he could gather his strength to fly back - We remember him and his fight against cancer by reminding everyone else that he was better than us in every way and enjoyed rights and privileges we would never dream of abusing - By telling others who are fighting cancer - STUFF YOU - its a holiday, get back in line and wait.
Yes, memorable times....

Death of a man

So yesterday morning, the Archbishop of Greece passed away in his sleep. After something like 8 months of fighting liver and stomach cancer, his immune system collapsing and despite the loan of the Prime Ministers lucky charm, the Archbishop died.

And so the country mourns, civil servants - as a result of a decision from the Holy Synod will get one day of this week to mourn and visit his corpse. Those of us working in the private sector, tough luck - NO HOLIDAY for YOU! Everyone is coming out and crying, oh the poor archbishop has died. Two Comments - 1 He was never poor but instead was a power hungry capitalist, looking back over his years in power one can see that it was a constant battle for land with churches he had no jurisdiction and secondly he was down in the mud fighting dirty politics for the right wing of politics which he has always espoused.

He will be buried with full honours of state. Another waste of money. He is not Greece's head of state, nor was he ever the head of Greek Orthodoxy as many in media and politics claim.
Theologically he was just the Archbishop of Athens and had no control over other bishoprics. This aint Catholicism, the Greek Orthodox Church is ruled by a synod and does not include Crete, many islands nor certain regions in the north. This power hungry man did his utmost to usurp power from the Patriarch of Constantinople in order to obtain title deeds to land not in his jurisdiction.

But everyone in the media is busy hagio-phying this man. Ooooh lets not talk ill of the dead, but as was pointed out to me, if George Bush died, would people do the same for him? Would they say of Bush -He was a kind man, he was a good man. Or would the communists and all the lefties (and righties) go out in the street partying? I think more the later. As such i refuse to engage in the hypocrisy i see now going on around me. The man did his most to divide Greece and dirty his religion by politicising it.

Winter Hibernation

YAWN!!!!!!!!!

Good Morning one and all! Awww wow, its been a long time.
Thanks Hans for waking me up... Its a bit hard to get back on the bike after such a long slumber.
And boy has a lot happened here. Just give me some time to gather my thoughts and i can get to talking about SEX and Corruption!

Life in Athens is getting interesting again, i wonder if Grisham could write a novel about whats going on here!