Surviving Athens

Can IT help clean Athens?

2011-07-30T12:57:00.000+03:00

Here in Athens we are constantly faced with an uphill struggle to merely maintain what we have - to stop Athens from backsliding into a cesspit and maintain a standard of living other countries take for granted.

Nikos Pitsianis has written an interesting idea on how to link grassroots demands with open-gov, making open government more than a window dressing but an effective reality that would have important positive impact on how we here in Athens live our day to day lives.

In essence what he proposes is a linking of government tenders and responsibilities, say road maintenance tenders with IT applications that people can download and automatically know who is responsible, from the Minister down to the mayor and the body that is responsible be it public or private.

Of course getting them to do something is another story altogether, but all to often we here in Athens whenever we complain we are told "I am not responsible" and we are led to on a merry chase - trying to find who is responsible. The lines of responsibility are kept blurry so that nothing gets done - and blame can be apportioned to whoever is the bad guy of the day.

His idea is one step in the right direction that can make our lives easier.

Unfortunately i lack the skills to do anything... Sigh

The interesting article can be read here

Stiglitz - Still not good enough to work in Greece

2011-07-26T13:33:00.000+03:00

Right now, Greece is going through some tumultuous events and the decisions being made now will have important ramifications for generations to come.

For now however I would like to talk about Stiglitz and his presentation. Actually I want to write on the irony of his talk. Over 200 people attended his poorly publicised talk. Only a couple of politicians turned up, one of whom Stefanos Manos is a former politician. So the front rows of around 50 seats were empty as the invited politicians didn’t show up, obviously scared to show their face in public or be seen listening to - what the communists and far left call - “That Jewish Economist”, in a tone that makes one fear for public safety. In the audience there were those who challenged him on a couple of his economic points – and rightly so, but on the whole everyone enjoyed his talk and it was not raided by a Student Union demonstration happening down the road.

The irony lay in the fact that it occurred in a country where he is technically not allowed to work as an economist or university lecturer or is even recognised as an English speaker.

Stiglitz cannot work as an economist because he never completed his 'guild' like training at a Greek University. Only those who graduated economics from a Greek University are recognised. To have his degree recognised as good enough, he has to prove his university exists which may include translating a university handbook into Greek at a price of 1.5 euros a page. Once proven - he can then proceed to get his Degree recognised. If he is lucky he can have it recognised in 2-5 years, and involve ancillary costs of up to 18 000 euros. Then he has to wait from the Economists guild to invite him as a member, once a member he can set up his shingle and head off to work.

Read the rest of the article here

Up and running again...

2011-07-13T15:31:00.002+03:00

Yes this blog is getting back on its feet.

Its been a hectic period - full of ups and downs... and more downs, both for the nation and personally.
So in order to sate your thirst for information, here is an insight from one of Greece's preeminant thinkers, Mr Papagiannidis.

Greek politicians, may they live long, are an especially short-sighted race. As remarkable as they are short-sighted. (Correction: maybe not 'Greeks' in general, but perhaps better defined as Greek residents.)And as a result of their shortsightedness - deeply self-destructive!

Look at how they cried out in response to the capital flight in personal deposits. Let's look at examples of the impact of wild enthusiasm on the one hand, and of pragmatism on the other.

The wild enthusiasm: In comes Theodoros Pangalos sounding alarm bells that the medium term financial plan would not pass into legislature, he describes a situation wherein Greece returns to the drachma, sending people running to the banks to withdraw their money, and the only thing that can stand in their way are the tanks and the armed forces.
Leaving aside the fact that Theo has most probably not seen a soldier, or any kind of military figure up close (hence his notion that they would be protecting beleaguered banks), lets also ignore the fact that the interview was given to Spanish newspaper (hence limited risk that it would be read by the natives), but given his statements, what is one to think, and what did he think would be the outcome of his statements.

The exuberant and quick tempered Theo invited the people to withdraw their deposits and send them abroad, hide them under the bed, buy gold sovereigns, throw them down a well, put them in a bag and head of to Albania or Turkey, do anything to save them.

The rest of the article can be read here.

2011-07-06T14:09:00.001+03:00

will be coming back soon

Greece vs the Civil service - Let there be blood

2010-03-04T17:36:00.004+02:00

For the first time in its modern history the Greek people have won its first fight against the Greek civil service.

Civil servants will see their 13th and 14th monthly pay check cut by 30%. No new civil servants will be hired and their pay will be frozen. (no mention of those civil servants who get 16 monthly paychecks a year, have to investigate more)

While a lot - a whole lot - a gajillion more, needs to be done, the significance of this event shouldn't be underestimated.

The evil selfish forces of the civil service have been a raging behemoth, crushing any who dare oppose it. The dreams of the young in Greece along with the economy have been sacrificed to it to slate its greed and hunger.

The last time anyone tried to limit its greed was during the previous Socialist government under Prime Minister Simitis. Back then the opposition parties - the Conservative party (think Republican Party) and their affiliated Unions (the unions that they directly control - or are controlled by) joined with their traditional allies the Communists (and their unions), used their connections in the media (or simply the media they owned or bribed) and brought over 100 000 people onto the streets to oppose those measures.

If the government back then had the guts to carry on, Greece wouldn't be in such a bad state - still bad, but nowhere near as bad. Sure it would have been a civil war but we wouldn't be where we are now.

Now, the Conservative party have once again joined with Communists - the only difference is that they are now in the midst of this crisis and are morally bankrupt (and more importantly are seen to be) and through force, lies and deception were only able to get a mere 15 000 people onto the streets. Many of those were immigrants - tricked into coming out by the Communist party by telling them that they were protesting in favour of making them Greek citizens. Others from the private sector were just told to come out and protest if they wanted to keep their jobs.

The poor show is a sign that their political power has weakened. So in a way Greece had its El Alamein against the civil service.

The battle of El Alamein did not change the course of the war, but it was the first battle the Allies won against the Germans.

The pay cuts against the civil servants is the first time the civil servants have been asked to do anything for Greece - and Greece won. In the great scheme of things it's a drop of water in what needs to be done. For a start, Civil servants need to begin to work 8 hour days 5 days a week to the public, maybe even get fired for taking a bribe (oh to dream). But a utopia like that cannot happen overnight. I have to be realistic.

The Communists have taken to the streets with their traditional allies the Conservatives and have promised that blood will be spilled by the end of the month. Together these two power bases have a strangle hold on the Education system in Greece as well as the Media. As a result many here in Greece do not truly understand what is going on and only repeat the catchy slogans they are taught in the classroom (university or high school) or the slogans the reporters for rent repeat.

That's where foreign media and pressure is important. Europe has to look over our shoulder - because while the fear of blood being spilled on the streets the temptation is always there to try and avert it. Europe has to ensure that the changes are taking place, and foreign media has to report on it. Greek media is too corrupt to act as any sort of watchdog - It never has and it itself is part of the problem. That's why Foreign media has to do the job that the Greek media is not doing. Already there is a sense by a handful of journalists that things are not as the slogans say they are, that Greece is in the midst of a crisis - a serious one and not like any it has faced before.
This is only because they can see how the foreign media is reporting it.

Foreign media can also help by offering constructive analysis instead of punching out their own jingo-istic analysis. For example when the EU's Barroso comes out and congratulates the leader of the Opposition for what he is doing (opposing the current changes on the table for example), the media can ask him 'Why are you against these changes and a solution to the crisis in Greece' or 'Do you regret the joint public statement you made with your fellow conservative, the PM of Greece, where you came out in favour of Greece using dodgy book keeping - a decision Eurostat and many in Greece were against.'

But i cant ask for a utopia overnight.

I can at least hope that Greece will get through this without bloodshed, unless the blood is that of the civil service.

Greece - the addict of Europe

2010-03-02T22:06:00.002+02:00

For those of you who missed it, here is a post from my other blog

Greece - the addict of Europe

Greek statistics. Those two words are now synonymous with false bookkeeping, and in a way epitomises the state of affairs in the Balkans. The past year has seen the Greek economy and its reputation hit rock bottom.

But how did Greece in particular reach this state. In February of 2009 the then Karamanlis government and Economy and Finance Minister Yiannis Papathanassiou, announced that the budget deficit in 2010 would be 'reduced' to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from a targeted 3.7 percent in 2009. One change of government later the deficit was revealed to be the largest in the euro-zone and projections predict that the deficit will reach 13.7% in 2010.

Read on.

Greek economy - WTF - Its not my fault

2010-03-02T10:12:00.003+02:00

Wow. i haven't written in over a year and i still got over 200 hits a month.
How bizzare. I guess its because the Greek economy is making global headlines at the moment.

Economics aside, this crisis is really taking its toll on Greek nationals abroad. The crisis has given rise - once again - to racial stereotypes. Unfortunately not the good ones. The Greeks in Germany have responded to this by writing a letter to the German press.

To be a Greek abroad it seems as though we always have to apologise for the behaviour of Greeks in Greece. Be it the state of the Parthenon, how we burn down our remaining forests to build illegal villas, to the corruption that seeps out of every pore of this country.

Its not our fault!

And as i have written previously - nor is it the average citizens fault.

But it doesn't make it hurt less.

For more on the crisis, and the schizoid economy, click here.

Panic - who us?

2010-03-01T10:17:00.002+02:00

Having just arrived back from a trip to Australia, i was surprised to see the difference the media is reporting Greece's financial crisis.

Everybody in Australia - Hello everyone back home - is looking at Greece as the next Argentina, or Mexico, with people running wild in the streets, revolution and eating rats. While here its, sure there is another crisis, but i'm ok, stuff the rest.

sigh

Hello to all those old bloggers and followers. Its been sometime since we spoke last and boy has a lot changed. Have i returned to blogging. I don't know, but one thing is for sure, my title is more apt now than ever.

A new blog has started over here.

Lets see how 2010 pans out.

Athens - contrasts upon contrasts

2009-01-09T14:52:00.002+02:00

Oh the joys of living in Athens. I was late paying my electricity bill so the other day, of i went to one of their main offices to pay it off. Arriving there at 10 to 8 i was a bit annoyed to see that there was already a small line forming outside. As i got closer i heard a lot of grumblings.
"30% increase in prices and this is what we get" and "You are for the rubbish (baza)"
"What's going on" i timidly asked "They haven't got any power"

Yup, thats right. Greece's Power Utility DEH branch was out of order because of a power outage. Half an hour went by as they contacted their main offices to see what they could do and to have them send someone over to fix the problem. In the mean time they let us in two by two so we could pay our bills the old fashioned way, and all by candle-light.

Of course the irony was not lost on anyone. That this should happen, no-one is shocked. But it also shows how many in Greece work, they were not phased at all that they should work by candle light. I guess in another country it would never get to that stage, but if it did i seriously doubt they would work in those conditions.

Inaction leads to shooting of Police

2009-01-05T11:12:00.003+02:00

This morning Athens woke to the news that a Greek Policeman on guard duty outside the Ministry of Culture had been shot multiple times. Over 20 bullets had been fired by either a Kalashnikov assault rifle or military issue G-3, a nine mm pistol was also fired and one hand grenade was also thrown.
So now we know that holidays are over and people are back from their holiday feasts.

Everyone is being hypocritical, ministers, politicians 'journalists' and they are all pretending to be outraged over this turn of affairs as the police officer lies in hospital fighting for his life.

I say hypocritical because 99% of those mentioned above acted in a way that directly contributed to today's shooting. This officers blood is on their hands.

The police were ordered to stand back and watch as rioters threw firemen out of their trucks and drove away in them to smash them to pieces. Police were ordered to run as rioters looted and set fire to stores. Police were ordered to stay indoors on 24 watch - not going home, not allowed to respond to calls by citizens, ambulance and firemen for protection.

The government had ceded power and authority to the rioters. Journalists and politicians jumped up and down to protect the rioters and blame the violence on migrants, the police themselves and 'foreign powers' - or to justify their actions.

Rioters grew accustomed to throwing molotov cocktails at police, running onto university grounds for sanctuary and taunting them from this hiding place. Something that wasn't reported was that mothers would come at dinner time, throw bottles at the police to allow their 'children' (you can be 30 and still be a child) to come home and eat. They would take their children by the hand through the police blockade and take their children home, for a home cooked meal and a good nights sleep. The next day, the 'children' would return to the fight, fully rested and fed to tear up the University for ammunition to throw against the police who were up and on duty all night with no rest.

Because all this was allowed to happen with the tacit approval of government, our elected representiatives and society, why not go the next step and act on the chant 'The only good cop is a dead cop'. The government has proved that you can commit acts of violence and get away with it. Some parts of society even applauded it. This is not the first policeman to die under these circumstances, and nor will he be the last.

In Greece where no one has any responsibility for anything, this violence will only continue.

Christmas wishes

2008-12-23T17:00:00.000+02:00

What is Christmas?
It is tenderness for the past,
Courage for the present,
Hope for the future.
It is a fervent wish that every cup
May overflow with blessings rich and eternal,
And that every path may lead to peace.

Agnes M. Pharo

Athens upheavel - part 2

2008-12-23T10:37:00.002+02:00

This morning we heard that people are taking pot-shots at the police. Why is this happening, well the second part of the Why all this is happening lies with the government.

Many on the left disagree with the violence and have come out strongly against it. However many have also created a theory that the government is allowing this violence to occur, to let things get out of hand so that when they do call in the police, or even the army, they can start cracking heads and the people will cheer them on. Yes many people are saying what we need is another dictatorship, and the left is saying this is exactly what the government wants people to think.

However, the simplest reason is the best. And that reason is incompetence. We now know that when the violence started, the Minister of the Interior was at the Bouzoukia, throwing rose petals at the singers. Day Two when Athens was going to hell in a handbasket, he went to see a soccer match. Meanwhile the police where left rudderless and without instruction, except do nothing. Inaction is not an action.

We witnessed exactly the same happen when half of Greece was burning down with the fires. Action only happened when the Minister of Public Works stepped in and started giving orders to the firefighters, police and army. Despite what many think, these services need coordination and the authority to do things, the army cant just decide to come in and bring order, be it riots or fires, orders need to be given.

Just remember, the first act of this Prime Minister in 2004, was to sleep in and miss the Davos Conference. He just forgot to go. While many Greeks make fun of the fact that George Bush managed a failed baseball team etc, Kostas Karamanlis our PM has never worked a day in his life. His first job was being Prime Minister. (oh during his military service his role was to light a candle every day to protect the navy). Other countries usually train their politicians, they get junior ministerial roles, then slowly get more responsibility, a small ministery, then something bigger and then - depending on how good they are a big Ministery, Health, Treasury, Defense, Foreign Affairs, before being chosen for the top job.

Karamanlis went through nothing of the sort. He was chosen because of his name, did nothing to educate himself and then parachuted to the top job. His knowledge of governance and management is zero. And much the same can be said for most of his cabinet, with the exception of Souflias (minister of Public Works and environment - a man who does not want to protect the environment, yet the only one who showed leadership during the fires) Dora Bakoyianni, daughter of Mitsotakis and a couple of others.

Dont get me wrong, No prior experience is not a bad thing in and of itself. What is bad is that Karamanlis has shown no drive to better himself and is more concerned of keeping his work schedule from 10:00-16:00. So the reason why the government acted the way it did, pure and simple - because of incompetence.

Athens upheavel continues

2008-12-22T10:46:00.003+02:00

So the civil unrest continues across Greece. Yesterday soccer hooligans attacked the police at the stadium, protesters in my suburb who gathered to show their support to other protesters chased off police and the situation doesnt give any indication that it will end before christmas.
People are just waiting for the holidays which will mean that all protests stop.

And of course your all asking WHY is this all happening. The answer can be summed up by a group of 11 year olds who set fire to their school bus while it was taking them to school.

Why not?

For all you ideologues out their who are trying to pin point a reason, a justification, its easy to attribute what we want to these riots. Since their is no standard bearer behind the riots, this is all the more easier. Sure manifestos were sent out, but in Greece, every high school student has written a manifesto. This is Greece, its part of the norm - 15 years olds talk about the injustices done to them during WW2 and the Dicatorship. They just repeat and speak in the same tones of their elders. And yes, we all want things to have meaning, some deep meaning, we all want to fight injustice and a little bit of us always cheers when we see the little guy fight back and win. But according to the principle of Ockhams Razor, the simplest solution is often the best.

This was brought home to me in a number of ways, one was the burning of the school bus, i mean, everyone else had gotten away with burning things down, why not burn the school bus. (PS. School bus also implies private school so these are not the underprivileged)
Walking past the broken bank stores, i did think, Yeah, serves the bastards right. After all they used to charge me 2 euros for every transaction i did be it depositing money or paying of a credit card, and they continued even after the High Court ruled it illegal. Did i get my money back.. NO!
But as i continued past the looted electronic shops, Why did they target them? Well, the revolution needs laptops to blog the revolution. Ok
The looted Mobile phone shops, well they need to spread the word about the revolution, and the I Phone is cool.
The looted optomitrists, well every revolution needs vision...
The looted 24 hour internet shop, which they came in - kicked out everyone and stole the pc's, they did that because...
The g-store gadget shop next door which sells gadgets, well obviously the rioters were geeks,
How about the newspaper shops which were burnt to the ground? Why were they targetted?
Why were sports stores across Athens looted? They were inspired the Nike logo perhaps?

You see its easy to focus on the fact that banks were smashed 'indicating a dissatisfaction / dissiliusionment with the capitalist system' but a whole lot more were smashed and looted. We saw old grannies picking through stores looking for things to take, youth walking with modded up pc cases underneath their arms, and of course the christmas tree burnt down etc etc etc.

And the easiest and most logical answer as to why this happened is simply, because they could.

Athens riots - A country in fear

2008-12-19T12:44:00.002+02:00

As all of Greece is once again in flames and upheaval. It has become quite apparent that this is a a country living in fear. Not fear of the violence, of which that does exist, but that the violence is a result of the fear that exists in Greece.

In many ways, Greece is like a patient suffering from cancer, it knows it has to undergo chemotherapy to survive, but the date for chemotherapy keeps getting postponed. It knows that in the run up it has to avoid certain foods, but they are too good to miss out on, and besides the chemo keeps getting postponed, so one more meal wont hurt. And on and on it goes, and now things are building up to a huge climax.

Case in point, the students who are out on the streets with the support of their teachers are protesting against recognising degrees from other EU countries - something which it has to do, and against allowing foreign universities to come in and review Greece's curriculum and standards of teaching. (This is why you don't see a Greek University in the top 100 Universities to study at). The education system here is a joke, and relies in a large part on party membership to school unions, and not on merit. This is why we have Professors of Theology in University teaching Graphic Design. And because students find themselves being taught inadequate skills, they have to turn to the party system to ensure their future survival. Too much has been invested by so many for them to turn their backs on it.

So yes they do hate the situation, but so many have been abandoned by the education system and so many have found ways to overcome this situation - through corruption - that they cannot afford to leave it.
And so the riots continue, and so the government appeases them and the schizophrenia continues. This is why the Greek government is continuing to hire more people to work at Olympic airlines while simultaneously arranging for its sell-off and ultimate closure before its rebirth. Its stuck in this futile and vicious circle, and the riots allow them to vent off steam.
In the end what will change, have any demands been made? Have any discussions been had?

No, and this is what allows me, you and everyone else to attribute our own beliefs as to the 'why' this is all happening. And in the end, we can all say we were right and move on, i got an illegal house to build now.

Waiting for the Barbarians

2008-12-19T10:20:00.003+02:00

Constantine P. Cavafy (1904)

What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

The barbarians are due here today.

Why isn't anything happening in the senate?
Why do the senators sit there without legislating?

Because the barbarians are coming today.
What laws can the senators make now?
Once the barbarians are here, they'll do the legislating.

Why did our emperor get up so early,
and why is he sitting at the city's main gate
on his throne, in state, wearing the crown?

Because the barbarians are coming today
and the emperor is waiting to receive their leader.
He has even prepared a scroll to give him,
replete with titles, with imposing names.

Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold?

Because the barbarians are coming today
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.

Why don't our distinguished orators come forward as usual
to make their speeches, say what they have to say?

Because the barbarians are coming today
and they're bored by rhetoric and public speaking.

Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion?
(How serious people's faces have become.)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
everyone going home so lost in thought?

Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come.
And some who have just returned from the border say
there are no barbarians any longer.

And now, what's going to happen to us without barbarians?
They were, those people, a kind of solution.

Constantine Petrou Cavafy was born in Alexandria on 29 April 1863.

Why this poem, because i believe that there are few things new under the sun and i think this poem really sums up the current goings on here in Greece. But I will allow other more literate than me give their view on the underlying theme of the poem.

"In this cunning, amusing poem, with its punch line that never wears out, the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy penetrates deep into the nature of political life. The atmosphere of civic pride and civic hypocrisy, the mingled air of awe and contempt toward governmental institutions, rings not the bell of cliché but many eerie tintinnabulations: the gongs and chimes of public life, the distinct sounds of what we say, what we know we mean and what we don't know we mean."

--Robert Pinsky

New Christmas tree - Singed not burnt

2008-12-18T17:07:00.002+02:00

Ok, apparently they did try to set fire to the Christmas tree once again. But it was put out before the whole thing burnt down.

Clearly this has now become a game lets see who can burn the tree.
What does burning it down serve? Can anyone please explain?

Athens protests - schools out

2008-12-18T16:04:00.003+02:00

Yup, week two and the student unions have agreed to continue their strike and not go to school for the second week in a row. This absence from education will continue until the holidays. After which who knows. The only people getting an education are those enrolled in private schools, of course these include the children of politicians. Most famous case was the daughter of the head of the Communist party of Greece who went to American schools for her education.

At the end of which, exams will be changed to reflect the fact that they did not learn all they had to. And look at what they did learn. The protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails like girls. Actually that's a bit sexist, i know quite a few girls who can throw a whole lot better than those protesters on the streets. But seriously what do they learn in physical education, they couldnt throw a rock further than ten meters, and some of them threw their projectiles sideways!!! That's worse than atrocious, worse than a girly throw. Sorry, being sexist again.

The education system here isn't the best, and yes they are protesting against the condition, they trash the schools on a regular basis, steal the school pc's, burn tables and there is hardly a public school without graffiti. The teachers dont care, they dont teach, they prefer to clean potatos in class so that they can teach the same children in private tutorials after class. Thats where the money is.

Unfortunately while they both want something to change, they dont want it to change. Becuase as it stands, stupid kids can graduate without having to go to school and follow lessons, and teachers can get a safe wage and good pension for doing nothing free of stress.

Government blood money again the solution

2008-12-17T10:05:00.000+02:00

There is much talk about the government pushing ahead with reforms etc. Proof of this lie is the governments response to businesses. Being a so-called 'conservative' party one would assume that their base is the small and medium business owner. But their response in light of the financial crisis and riots puts paid the lie that they support these businesses.

They are throwing money at businesses that have suffered damage from the rioters and are paying unemployment benefits to those left unemployed till February. This is what they did after the fires, which directly lead to the death of many people.
The structural problems however still remain. People are not going to the centre to shop, they are still too afraid. Experts say that consumption in the centre of Athens is down 60%. So now we have the case of those businesses that escaped the rioters are suffering.

And the 'conservative' government is also still holding tightly onto the reins of the market economy.
In the USA, shops have already started sales of up to 70% so that they can increase their cash flow and help them survive this current period where cash flow is restricted. Here in Greece small business owners wanted to do something similar and asked the government to allow them to start sales early. In Greece shops can only have Christmas sales when the government decrees they can, which is scheduled for late January.
The minister for development firmly stated that sales will not be brought forward. Now if i were prone to hyperbole, I would say "what sort of communist state are we living in, is Karamanlis emulating Stalin? But i wont say that. but I will ask "Since when do businesses have to ask the government when they can have sales?"
If my business is going to go bankrupt and i need cash now, why should some government employee, who gets paid through my taxes tell me when i can have a sale. It's my business, heck, it's my livelihood at stake. If I don't get the cash when I need it to pay, oooh lets say government utility bills, no one is going to feel sorry for me, nor will the bank when they come in to sell my business because I can't pay back the loan.

So why does the Economist and the Socialist worker both believe that this is a 'conservative' government that is pushing forward economic reforms?
I don't know. What i do know is that many small and medium businesses will be suffering this Christmas, and as a result, the rest of the Greek economy. But what do the Elites care? They are well insulated in their government jobs, won through party favouritism and affiliation and not on merit. Its easy to strike as a government employee, when the government will guarantee your wages for the duration of the strike. The problem is, as always, that the little guy suffers and structural problems persist.

Athens riots - Foreign Minister insults Police

2008-12-16T10:06:00.007+02:00

I happened to be reading the on-line version of Spiegel and i came across an interview with the Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis. Her husband was killed by the terrorist group 17 November, her brother is currently a member of parliament and facing questions regarding the SIEMENS scandal and her father is Kostas Mitsotakis, former prime minister of Greece, and nephew of Eleutherios Venizelos, another Prime Minister of Greece and a prime example of the Elites i keep ranting about. Her father also gets three seperate pensions from the state, so much for 'conservative' ideals of the right - they love state hand-outs as much as the next guy.

Anyway Spiegel asked her why the police acted passively and her response is "The police have not reacted passively, rather they have sought to de-escalate the situation. The government decided that it would rather accept material damage than new casualties and victims."

Ok, now i find that answer hugely insulting to the Greek police force. She is implying that the only way the police know how to respond is by killing and beating up more people? huh?
Come on! No! I refuse to believe that. Yes i know the police are under-trained and under-paid, but i do know that they do get some training, i saw the riot police march on the protesters banging their shields with their clubs and yelling 'move move move'. Now here in Greece not everyone speaks english. Their actions were exactly similar to those of the English police when they move on soccer hooligans, suggesting that they had some external training. Speaking to people within the police force i KNOW that they have had some training, and they do come back hugely dissillusioned, because they realise that there is a whole lot more they can learn and that they have been doing things on their own for so long.

I also know that there were police in the force who did have a plan how to react to the violence.
It has also been reported that the previous chief of police was sacked and replaced with a policeman who voted 'correctly and appropriately'.

But i absolutely refuse to believe Bakoyanni and condemn her for insulting to the whole police force. Just because the government was paralysed and could not make a decision as to how to act, do not blame your governments incompetence on the police force.

And then the biggest lie of all, 'the government is going ahead with its economic reforms'.
WHAT REFORMS! the government came in lowered the tax rate to lawyers and doctors and are now raising it to where it was before. They also increased the tax on the middle class - the only people who pay tax. Corruption has increased, they have loaded more of 'their people' in the public service, and have sat by and watched as the black economy grows, and they even tried to include the black economy in its GDP figures. These are not reforms!!!

But many people only read labels, they see the label Unions and Anarchists and believe that they are connected with the unions of South America which fight for minimum wage and a toilet break, and its leaders frequently 'dissapear' and turn up dead four months later. Or they see 'Conservative' party and believe that they are connected with Neo-liberals, or the Tory party of England or the Republicans of the USA.

No, this is Greece. our conservative party actually has a larger say in the unions than the Communist party. In fact getting into a union as an average worker with no political affiliation is harder to get into than Greece's golf club.
This is our reality. Its our own schizophrenic world where public servants are the Elite and union dockworkers are on a six figure salary in a country where most are on a four figure salary.

Athens riots - I dont agree but...

2008-12-15T12:48:00.004+02:00

Commentators all over the news (some call them news anchors or journalists - but they are neither, since instead of reporting facts they just opine) are talking about the riots (not reporting) saying "This is outrageous, but the students have are right when they...".

I am all for understanding the other point of view, through understanding we can stop these events from re-occurring and treat the root cause. But by idolising the vandals and demonising all police do nothing but incite further anger and violence. Worst offender of all was comedian Lazopoulos who hosts a comedy/satire show (in which he portrays a gypsy - so much for his socialist feelings of equality) who, on day 4 urged all students 'Protest - stand against the facsist, stand up for your rights, continue the struggle'.
In Australia he would find himself sanctioned and off the airwaves for inciting violence. I am sure there is law against it, but a law that never applies to the elite. So when my walk through the smashed shops in Kolonaki took me by Jackons Hall, a nightclub/bar owned by Lazopoulos that remained untouched, i had mixed feelings, where is the Karma when you most need it. As i continued on, i passed by another nightclub/bar named after a fruit which was the only bar to be burnt down, according to many, it was also relatively new and had not arranged for 'protection' yet. Small things like this, along with many others reveal the myth behind the protesters and the ensuing violence.

Did you know that Ghandi organised a boycott of English goods so that India could gain independence? Of course he realised that many innocent people would be hurt so he arranged a fund that would help subsidise business that lost income as a result of the boycott. He did this because he did not want innocents to starve to death or be punished as a result of the boycott.

All these instigators of violence, with their high and mighty ideals, with their teenage angst, with all their pent up frustration, all these politicians that jumped on the bandwagon to justify the violence, all these members of the Elite - did they give a thought to all the innocent people that now suffer?
Yes a boy was shot, yes Greece is corrupt, BUT, does that justify kicking people out of their homes because they cant pay the rent? Because that is the reality in which we live. People that are now out of work because their place of employment got burnt down, because their customers wont visit, all these people that now face a future which is unsure, why should they suffer? And don't tell me that the girl who delivers morning coffee to these shops, and is now out of work is part of the elite. And don't try to fool me and tell me that they kicked her out on the street, now jobless, so as to protect her or to 'wake her up' to the capitalist system.

Considering that many students only got into university through corruption i also find it quite hypocritical. But that's the elite in Greece for you.

Athens Riots - Day 10

2008-12-15T10:07:00.002+02:00

Day 10 and Athens and the rest of Greece is still a state of flux. While it started in Athens, the rest of Greece is also rioting and shops have been broken and destroyed in Thessaloniki, Patra, Volos and on and on and on.

Walking the main shopping street Ermou on Saturday was a surreal experience. Kudos to the Mayor of Athens, who despite his general incompetence came out on day 4 or 5 and walked the streets of Athens and encouraged citizens to come to the centre. Some did and found themselves trapped in Syntagma Metro station in between Riot police and Rock throwing protesters. So i wasnt too suprised by the fact that there was only a handful of people on the streets shopping. Of course those buildings that had been gutted by fire were not open, but i was suprised by how many other shops were open. The theatre on Alexandras is also open. Bravo i thought to the shop keepers.

Then i passed the traffic lights, but in actual fact its just a pole, lights smashed, colours missing, hanging down useless connected by a wire. Police zooming by on bikes every 5 minutes. Later on i passed by Exarhia, the suburb at the centre of the violence. Its still a no go area. The burning smell of tear gas still hangs in the air, the blockade of rubbish bins on its main streets are still in place, and glass shards still crunch underfoot. About a block away tired firemen take a break at an empty bus station, the trolleys have stopped running through the centre. They make their final stop behind Zappeion park. And the police are on edge, eyeing everybody that goes passed.
Its not healthy, they dont like the impossible position that they have been thrust into. Officially sanctioned to maintain law and order, but ordered to sit by and watch as firemen get beat up as they go to put out fires.

Also missing on the streets are the Council police. On the council payroll these officers are hired to.... er ... write a parking ticket every now and again (but if you know someone, dont worry, they can write it off) and... basically keep unemployement down. Another example of the corruption that is in every pore of this countries government.

Gone is the christmas cheer - the rioters burned the christmas tree on day two of the riots. And now it turns out that at the same time as the the riots were flaring up, the Minister of the Interior and the Education Minister were out at the Bouzoukia and could not respond to the riots. I am not going to make an analogy to Nero, because he didnt play the pipe while Rome burnt, he actually helped and made sure the people were looked after both during and after the fire. All this shows is that, as will all "revolutions" (as many commentators want to call the rioters) its aways the little guy who foots the bill and suffers.

Transparency International HELLAS blames corruption as cause of riots

2008-12-12T16:50:00.002+02:00

Transparency International Hellas has laid the blame for the riots at the feet of the level of corruption that exist in Greece. When it comes to corruption, Greece comes in at the Top 5 in Europe. (not on the good end). In 2008 Greece ranked 57, worse of than South Africa (54) or Botswana (36). I mention these two countries because many in Greece constantly put down African countries.

In its press release Transparency International claims that the youth especially have a belief that laws are not being enforced, that no one takes any responsibility, that the education system is sick. It also states that not only is corruption instilled as an everyday fact of life but that it has also become part of the tradition of life.

I am not trying to justify the rioters, but Governments and those with power have to take responsibility for their actions.
When the lawyer of the policeman who fired the shot, comes out before the coroners inquest and declares that the death was a result of a ricochet,
When the lawyer continues and says that in time we will see if the youth should or should not have been shot,
When the policeman were not placed in immediate custody,
When the lawyer for the policeman says that he had to take on the case pro-bono because the previous lawyer asked for a certain 'sum' to be placed in her bank account to get a favourable hearing,

Well you can see why the family of the deceased youth hired their own doctor to witness the autopsy,
You can also understand why people think that corruption is so widespread, and these inflamatory remarks came out recently, after the bulk of the rioting had been done.

Corruption has become so commonplace that no one is ashamed of asking for a bribe, doctors ask it outright, people ask each other, how much did you pay for your degree. And of course this state of affairs would eventually spill out one way or another.

But of course its the little guy who gets hurt, the villas and the shops of the elite are still fine, the poor shop owners took the brunt, the police took a beating as they were ordered by the government to stand by and watch. And in the end, me and a few other guys in greece - the only taxpayers are left to foot the bill for all this.

Athens Burns - In pictures

2008-12-11T13:55:00.004+02:00

Here are a few pictures doing the rounds
View of Athens from a balcony

Streets in Exarhia
Firefighters trying to put out the flames

Alexandras in flames as protesters march to Police Station

Athens cancels Christmas

2008-12-10T10:25:00.003+02:00

By now the pictures of the street riots and lootings have gone around the world, back to Greece where journalists are focussing on 'What the rest of the world is saying of us'....
Blame is being thrown around and looting children are being turned into revolutionary heroes.

But would you believe me if i said that this was inevitable? In history class we are taught that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand started WW1. Not that people were distraught and started killing each other because they liked the guy, but that things had been building up to war and all that was needed was a starters pistol to let everyone know that the war had begun.

In Athens the shot fired by the policeman that took the life of the 15 year old was that starters pistol. The government continued its policy of 'wait and see', and 'do nothing unless we have to'. We saw this policy in effect during the fires that burnt half of Greece, during the corruption scandals that continue rock the government and during the current financial crisis. So as the concrete in Athens burnt, the government continued to do nothing. Ordering its police to 'Do nothing, Do not make matters worse, DO NOT arrest anyone and retreat when threatened'.

Meanwhile the Elite in the Teachers Union, went on Strike monday to make their demands against the changes needed to modernise the education system, and threatened their lazy lifestyle. They had won before so they used to death as an excuse to go on strike. Seeing tensions rise, The government gave students till thursday a pass not to go to school, at the same time ordering the police to do nothing but run and let small businesses burn.

Students, children, who have been brought up, looking at their elders and seeing-
A corrupt government system (By that i mean not just one political party that is in power, but including ALL - yes thats right, ALL political parties who have representatives in parliament).
Seeing University Students Stike at the drop of a hat and even medical students who went on strike (and won) to be allowed to pass their first term (because they had missed all of first term because they were on strike.)
Seeing Elite public servants go on strike for better work conditions and winning (work conditions that those in the private sector on dream about.)
Seeing Doctors, Lawyers claim poverty and being taxed as if they only earn 800 euros a month.
Seeing Taxi-drivers and Petrol station owners striking and winning for the right NOT to give reciepts. (they also claim poverty).

Seeing all this, why not do as everyone else? When police are ordered by the Government NOT TO RESTORE ORDER and to IGNORE calls to protect citizens and private property and retreat from the mob. Why should they stop? Why shouldnt they continue?

Meanwhile the government is following a tried and true method, Let the fires burn as they did with the forest fires and evenutally they will burn themselves out, untill then, lets get a good nights sleep.

Black economy saves Greece in short term

2008-11-17T10:07:00.002+02:00

Economic Crisis? What economic crisis?
Seriously, i dont see it. This weekend i was busy getting trampled on by thousands of shoppers in the Mall, and the week before that, trampled on at IKEA. Meanwhile the TV, especially CNN is forecasting doom and gloom as Europe enters recession and pundits predict a drastic downturn in consumer spending. So as i was being whacked by other peoples shopping bags, all i could think of was, 'Hey, where's the recession everyone is talking about?'

Then i remembered that i was in Greece, and everything i learnt in economics doesnt hold.

Greece's huge black economy, estimated at 40% of the total economy, means that for the time being, people are sheltered from the big hit being felt in other European countries. While this is good news for the consumer, it is bad news for the long term and the Government.
Since coming to power the government has made it easier for traditional tax-dodgers to evade tax, while passing on the burden to the one-fifth of the work force that is stuck with the bill. This has left the government weak and unable to respond to this crisis. Sure they have promised to support banks, but with an empty piggy bank, analysts really dont see how the government can fulfill this promise if they are forced to bail out the banks like other European countries have.

Enter saving grace number two. A majority of Greek banks are stone age compared to their European counterparts. It may take you two months to open up a bank account in Ethniki bank. Paper is king and computers, ahh that new age fangled thing with the high-tech Green monitor, well they do exists but not completely harnessed by a work force which sees it more as a threat than a tool. That means that these banks have insulated themselves to a large extent to overlending and trading in these safe (but high risk loans) being shopped around by american banks. This means that hopefully the government will not be called in to uphold its promise to save the banks.

And lastly, saving grace number three. Greece's red tape and aversion to encouraging businesses in Greece, especially encouraging foreign companies into the country. This has meant that Greece did not have much foreign investment in the first place. So when the crisis hit, there were not many companies to withdraw their investments from Greece. Something that we saw hit Hungary and other emerging markets.

So three cheers for backwardness and economic stagnancy!!!

Thoughts on corruption

2008-07-03T15:25:00.002+03:00

Greece is - once again in the midst of corruption scandals that are rocking both major parties, and so far the positions of both parties is - We know nothing - lets all keep quiet until more come to light, oh and lets not ask too many questions.

The trouble with corruption in Greece that it is sooooo prevalent that people here don't really care that it happens...

The following is an interesting quote on corruption... from Thomas Bata, a Czechoslovakian entrepreneur of the 1920's

"Let's bear in mind that the chances to multiply wealth are unlimited. All people can become rich. There is an error in our understandings - that all people cannot become equally rich. Wealth can not exist where the people are busy with mutual cheating, have no time for creating values and wealth. It is remarkable that we can find the greatest number of wealthy tradesmen and a population on a high standard of living in countries with a high level of business morality. On the other hand, we can find poor tradesmen and entrepreneurs and an impoverished population in countries with a low standard of business morality. This is natural because these people concentrate on cheating one another instead of trying to create value.

Lesbians VS Lesbians!!!

2008-06-09T09:50:00.002+03:00

Do you want to see two Lesbian factions fight it out on a Greek Island this summer? Thats right, this summer two groups of Lesbians will engage in a fight to find out who is the TRUE Lesbian. Interested? Then stay tuned and keep your eye on Greece!

Its not what you think by the way....

Residents from the island of Lesbos (otherwise known as Myteline) are taking to court (If what i heard is correct) the Gay and Lesbian Association of Greece, for misappropriate use of the word Lesbian. Thats right, Lesbians (people from Lesbos) are suing Lesbians (women who are romantically attracted to women) for mis-using the name of Lesbos.

Its true, there are many grandmothers out there who will never see a grandchild named after them. It is very common in Greece for people to be named after places, and to name kids after grandparents. So it is very common to see on the island of Lesbos 50-60 year old women called Lesbia, but no grandkids named after them. Oh the trauma those kids would face in school! I got teased being called Vassili, i can only imagine what it would be liked to be called Lesbia! It is also quite uncommon to find a kid called Sappho.

Oh the shame to be called a Lesbian! Actually it is a shame that people feel as though they have to be ashamed, (for islanders or for sexual orientation). Despite Greece being well known for places such as Mykonos or Lesbos (which holds an annual festival to Sappho and promotes same-sex couples to visit). Homo-sexuality still has a social stigma attached to it here. Everyone knows that many famous TV personalities and Politicians were and are homo-sexual, but everyone pretends that they are not just so we can keep up pretenses. Until recently the famous comment was that there is only one homo-sexual in Greece, the President of the Gay and Lesbian Association.

I am not sure what the islanders hope to achieve with this action, but something tells me that Tourism might be on the increase to a certain island...

Gone wondering

2008-05-27T09:38:00.003+03:00

Sorry to all of you out in netville, i know its been a while since my last post, but certain events did not allow me to post and now they are demanding i post. I started this blog to vent, and thats what i am going to do.

Recently, a very close friend of mine suffered from a condition that affected her health (i dont want to go into details). Calls to the emergency SOS doctors were answered with the response - 'this is too serious for us to deal with, get her to a hospital quick!'. So the ambulance was called and their response - 'It doesn't sound important enough, and besides we cant come now'.

I realise that the emergency services around the world are sometimes over - used. People call them when their is no need. The problem is just recently in Thessaloniki Greece, a report was released revealing that the Emergency Ambulances were corrupt, only responding to calls from relatives and friends and other 'special' people. Knowing this - knowing the amount of corruption that exists here - i am left wondering. What exactly happened that night...

sigh

Strike Season

2008-03-11T11:57:00.002+02:00

With reforms desperately needed to Greece's pension system, the government is enacting stop-gap measures at a glacial pace to bandage the system while keeping the elite civil servants happy.

But of course their arrogance knows no bounds and for this reason All of Greece is suffering Strikes.
The result is:
Athens looks like one of its many illegal open air rubbish tips as a result of Sanitation workers strike.
Power outages across all of Greece as electrical workers go on strike leaving areas without power for up to 6 hours. (At the same time Greece gets fined for not opening up its electricity market to competition - Greece also has failed to meet its renewable electricity target of a measly 6% - and no new plants have been built meaning that electricity demands have outstripped supply, increasing reliance on burning oil for energy)
One Illegal Stockmarket strike damaging Greece's nascent business market and reputation
Bank strikes which may mean a shortage of cash from ATMs as cash reserves in banks fall dangerously low. (If we still had the Drachma inflation fears would be rampant!)

All in all the government is doing what it does best - Management by incompetence
And is in no danger of collapsing because no one else wants the job.

International Singles Awareness Day

2008-02-14T10:05:00.005+02:00

You may not know it, but millions around the world suffer from 'Singles' ailment, many of whom suffer in abject silence, afraid of the social stigma which is attached to it. Professionals around the world invest millions into finding a cure and their findings are presented in prestigious journals such as Cosmopolitan and Esquire. Sufferers pore over these pages relentlessly looking for some spark or sign which will signify an end to their suffering. Many have been cured of this ailment, yet despite this, many more are diagnosed and fill the ranks.
Some cures unfortunately are short term or fail to cure the problem and only treat the symptoms, many also suffer a relapse and need to yet again undergo intensive treatment. For this reason February 14 is International Singles Awareness day - It hopes to raise the profile of the plight these suffers.
If you know someone who suffers, show them you care today.

Is change in the air

2008-02-13T10:30:00.002+02:00

Well Bravo to the new archbishop, as many of you know - I frequently refer to the Archbishop of Athens as just that, and never call him 'Pasis Ellados' (and all of Greece) - because he isn't.
In his first speech the archbishop himself followed Church law and protocol and referred to himself as 'just another Bishop, whose jurisdiction ends at the border of Athens and who chairs meetings.
This shows how Humble the person is - how unlike his predecessor who was a power hungry man intent on more money and power.

Also on the weekend the socialist party SYRIZA (an amalgam of left leaning parties) voted on a new president, the young Alexis Tsipra. Now he may not be the best person in politics - but who is? And therein lies the rub. Politics here is dominated by all these stagnant politicians. Whenever a question is asked they respond "Well when i was a minister under (insert politician and year) blah blah blah" Now i have nothing wrong with elderly people being in parliament, they obviously have a lot to offer. But this lot that we currently have in parliament have offered NOTHING. And with scandal after scandal being uncovered from the 1980's through to 2008, all they have proved is how CORRUPT they are or how tolerant they are of corruption.
This Tsipras guy on the other hand - is fresh. He hasnt had time to be corrupt - sure he has had a part in the youth wing of the party which many view as reactionary or at best just a bunch of kids being stupid and making stupid demands on the education system (such as the right to truancy). Hopefully as an adult he has left behind these childish notions.

And his election has everyone frightened - every single party criticised his election. The reason being is that everyone here is SOOOO fed up with the corruption that as they turn away from every party in DISGUST they will turn to this new kid on the block. Again i am not holding up too many hopes, but anything is better than the entrenched corrupt political elite who now hold the reins of power.

Archbishop of Athens - Geronimos

2008-02-07T13:18:00.000+02:00

Well by all accounts it appears as if the Church has done an about turn, and instead of electing an Archbishop who was in it for themselves, power and money, have, for a change, elected someone who has done things for the poor and indigent. Some would say he does the 'christian' thing (not that they have a monopoly) ... how old fashioned of him!

Apparently this guy is very active in doing things for the community (a strange and unique thing for the Greek Orthodox Church). He has established orphanages, shelter for the aged, education centres for children with special needs, Kitchens for those in need, Giving out supplies to those in need and especially migrants and a drug abuse prevention center for the youth. He has also started a centre of Archaeological research in his region of Boetiea.

I have always complained that the Greek Orthodox Church was never like the churches i saw growing up. The Catholics and Anglicans for example would do these things - lending out a helping hand to those in need, and all the time i just saw the Orthodox just putting on fancy jewelry, getting fat and rich.
If this guy is as good as what i hear, then BRAVO, a little less meddling in politics and a bit more looking after 'thy fellow man' (in the non gendered pejorative sense of the word).

And the new Archbishop is...

2008-02-07T13:09:00.001+02:00

It looks like they have decided who the next Archbishop of Athens is... Geronimo of Thebes.
And there was i hoping for some hardcore politico... oh well lets wait and see...

Heads up - Taxi strike tommorrow

2008-02-05T13:25:00.000+02:00

Just letting you guys out there know that there is a taxi strike tommorrow. So a perfect day to take your car - without all the taxis about it should be a smooth ride.
The reason for the strike - they are demanding a 10% pay rise.
Wish i would get half as much, and i would be half as rude!

Super Holy Tuesday

2008-02-05T10:49:00.000+02:00

While America is in the midst of its primary run off, the Greek Orthodox church here in Greece is electing a new Archbishop. And just like other political campaigns, allegations of scandal and impropriety abound. The bishop of Messinia is claiming that he is being blackmailed to vote in favour of the Bishop of Sparta - and unlike others - has gone to the police to make a signed declaration. Apparently he was photographed walking on the beach with a women!!! And to top it off, he wasn't wearing his cassock!!!! (a serious NO-NO in the eastern orthodox religion). The bishop of Sparta is also a member of the same religious sect the former Archbishop Hristodoulos was - Hrisi Pigi - Golden Spring. Not much is known about that sect except they indulge in politics and own a lot of land. Ask me its a bit fishy having an all male club with the word golden in it...

Meanwhile the front runner is the bishop of Thessaloniki Anthimos. Since the Archbishops illness he has been trying to grab headlines whenever he can. He has been excellent in creating fear against FYROM - which is recognised almost everywhere now as Macedonia (like it or not), and causing a furore against an up-dated primary school text book which was a major leap forward for Greek education. Most recently he used the funeral ceremony as his political election platform. He first mentioned the President of Greece and then the former King - completely disregarding protocol (after all why didnt he mention me or the famous basket baller Gallis if he was going to name random people) He mentioned the former King to show the priests where he stood on this issue - a return to the Monarchy.

Protocol exists so that mistakes are not made and no intentions are mis-understood. Thats why you follow it. And up until now priests have got it good. They get front row seats, they get invited to all the good gigs. Anthimos is no child - he knew exactly what he was doing and was completely re-affirming the close ties that religion has with the state. (this is actually a common phenomena in all eastern christian religions - but now is not the time for a religious history lesson). And that is why i hope he DOES become the next Archbishop. Thats exactly what the church needs - an unrepentant politician priest who will constantly fight the state for control - drive Greek education back into the stone age - elect politicians it approves.
Hopefully the people will get so sick of them that the Church will clean up its act and DO something humanitarian for a change, you know like clothing the poor instead of trying to rip them off.

Riots in Athens

2008-02-04T10:08:00.000+02:00

"No mother, i'm fine"
"but things look really bad - the police are letting the fascists run around and they are beating up people, are you sure you are ok?" said my mother on the other end of the line.
It was last Saturday afternoon and my mother had rung me from Australia on my mobile to check on me and to see if i was ok. She had seen the Athens demonstration on tv and she was worried with what she saw. The sight of the ultra-right wing group - Golden Dawn (Hrisi Avgi) attacking the anarchists and the anarchists fighting them and the police using tear gas on the anarchists had her worried about my safety.
"Yes mother i am fine, i am in a safe place, dont worry about anything" I told her as i looked around Notos Galleries store for something to buy a friend.
"Vassili" This was my dad now "Be careful"
"Yes i am perfectly fine, don't worry ok, i am nowhere near the riot"
"Vassili" my dad again "You dont understand, this is exactly what happened in the 1960's, the police would encourage the fascists to fight, would never arrest anyone. The government would encourage this lawless behaviour to keep the people down and make things appear chaotic"
"ok dad i understand" I had just spotted something i wanted to buy and was eager to end the conversation "I'll be careful, i will stay away and lock the doors when i get home"
"ahhh I understand - you dont want to talk to your dad, you think i am crazy and your making fun of me. But this is how these right wing governments work, akou me pou se leo, they encourage these disturbances, if they wanted to they would arrest everyone and put them in gaol and then we would see if it would happen again, but they are their friends and no one will go to gaol."
"ok ok ok" i added hurriedly - someone else was trying to move in on that item i had seen, if i didnt hang up soon it would be gone. "Ok dad, tha ta poume later ok, bye"

This conversation was no different from a million other ones i had had with my parents. They are constantly trying to explain to me whats going on, but their frame of reference is always the years up to their departure from Greece. So they are telling me about the events leading up to the dictatorship, the anti-communist sentiment, the random arrests and beatings of people on the streets. And i am always trying to tell them, that its not like that, its Greece in 2008, we just had the Olympics, everyone is dressed up to the nines and there is so much wealth everywhere - not just poverty which they remember.

Later on that night, I saw the footage of the Golden Dawn activists running in between the police lines to attack the anarchists - and then run back through the police to seek shelter behind them. I heard that following a judges decision - decreeing the original protest march by Golden Dawn was illegal, they just said ok, picked up their things and left. The police continued to press the anarchists who retreated to Exarhia. Later on 100 people were arrested, but no charges were lain and they were all free to go in the morning.

Its so confusing my head hurts, perhaps my parents were right, time and wealth have no bearing on the matter. This is Greece - anything can happen and things won't change for a long time to come.

Greek Archbishop burial ceremony

2008-01-31T13:43:00.000+02:00

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!

2008-01-30T09:51:00.000+02:00

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

2008-01-29T14:28:00.000+02:00

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

2008-01-29T10:05:00.000+02:00

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!

Remembering the Fires and Environment

2007-11-07T10:55:00.000+02:00

So while Greece remembers the events that occurred over 50 years ago, short term memory loss means that we are forgetting what has happened only a few months ago. Of course short term memory loss can be fought if people try to remind each other of these events. AmericaninAthens has provided an excellent environmental wrap up of last month.

Also doing the rounds is an email alerting people to a recent EU vote in parliament. Parliament voted that the forested areas in the Mediterranean which suffered from the fires should be protected and allowed to regrow. All countries in the Med voted in favour, all except one party from Greece. New Democracy members voted according to their party line, not their conscience and stated that they voted against the regrowth bill because, according to the email, Rousopoulos said 'it is a violation of Greek constitution, particularly article 24. i have mentioned before article 24 which is a toothless article meant to protect the environment, though never enforced. So if the EU bill says protect the environment, and article 24 the same, how can they be in conflict?

The answer is simple. They are not. The government is playing the Nationalism card. It is trying to hide its disgusting actions behind the Greek flag. "What are you in favour of, an EU bill or the Greek constitution?"

Also mentioned is the fact that over 2000 stremmata (Greek unit of measurement) of the Zaharo village, where people died from the fires have been signed over to tourism development. Apparently the plans were already signed off during New Democracy's initial term according to some people. Of course these people may only be saying that to cast doubt and suspicion on the PM Karamanlis who supposedly signed it when he was also acting as minister of culture. If its a lie then that would be atrocious, if true however...

There is an online petition to support the reforestation at www.petitiononline.com/forestgr/
and there is also a website which shows where the parties vote in the EU with regard to the environment at http://www.foeeurope.org/euvotewatch/. Which is also interesting as it shows that New Democracy has consistently voted against the environment. The Communists largely abstain or are in favour, while SYRIZA and PASOK vote in favour of the environment. Interesting tool as it also includes emails of the parliamentarians so you can have your say. Which is one way to act if you want to see change.

Remembering 28th October

2007-10-29T09:59:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday was 28th of October, and it is a national holiday here in Greece. For those who don't know, on that day Greece commemorates the famous declaration by Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas who said Ochi (No) to Italian demands to let Italian forces pass through and occupy certain sites in Greece.

This event marked Greece's entry into WW2. From being a neutral observer, Greece joined the side of the Allies and provided them with the first victory against the Axis powers. This is remembered through military style parades. In fact it appears, through a rough search, that Greece is one of the few 'western' countries to have student military parades.
It appears that student parades were very popular in totalitarian countries before the war. Nowadays military-style parades are still held here in Greece, China, North Korea, Iran and Turkmenistan. Of course, upon noticing the company, debate has begun here in Greece over whether we should still have these parades. What gets me is that we are missing the point, and the debate should not be focusing on the parade as such. What should be debated is 'How well are we remembering the sacrifices made during WW2'.

TV made a point of questioning the children on the significance of the day. Some knew, some didn't. Of course you will always find children who don't know but there is a greater lack of understanding on the Italian role in WW2. Everyone knows about the atrocities of the Germans. Its undeniable. In fact the first who recognise it are the Germans themselves.
Japanese atrocities are known to a lesser extent. Some people may have heard about the massacre at Nanking. Or about Unit 731, a covert biological research unit which experimented on 10,000 people in the most brutal and grotesque ways imaginable. Japanese people are mostly unaware of these facts.

The Italians on the other hand seem to have gotten off scott free from their shady history. Before their invasion of Greece, they were guilty of equally disturbing atrocities in Abyssinia. In fact they were also guilty of deliberately targeting the Red Cross with mustard gas, such was their flagrant disregard for humanity.

Instead our image of Italian involvement in WW2 involved peaceful, mandolin strumming soldiers who want to make love not war. We do not hear about the internment camps in Yugoslavia where tens of thousands of Yugoslavs were starved to death. The torture and rape of Greek civilians. We are not informed about civilians who were killed with boiling oil, or that Italy refused to pay reparations after the war if charges were laid against the people responsible for such heinous acts.

So what, i hear you say. Well memorial days are there to remind us what our forefathers fought for. They fought for liberty, and for the freedoms we now take for granted. They fought against a fascist regime that wanted to put an end to such freedoms. And if we forget this, then it becomes all the more easier for modern parties to start taking away these freedoms.
Italy has never had to come to terms with its fascist past. Which is why we had Silvio Berloscuni insult a German MEP saying "Mr Schulz, I know a movie-producer in Italy who is making a movie about Nazi concentration camps. I will suggest you to play the role of a Kapo. You are perfect!" Despite the fact that he was leading a party which included the successor of the Italian Fascist party. Now in Italy, the Socialist government wants to pull the reins on the Internet and blogging. The law, as i am told will seriously restrict what and which people can talk about on the Internet.

These things of course are easier to do when a culture forgets its history. And that is what memorial days should really be about, remembering these warning from history.

Constructive criticism of Greece: Members Only!

2007-10-23T09:22:00.000+03:00

So there you are, sitting around with your friends at a cafe and the conversation turns to the state of a) Greek roads, b) Hospitals, c) Politics, d) Insert Other, and everyone in the group starts to add their horror story... "20 minutes in traffic... thats nothing, i ran over five potholes in a row and was stuck in traffic for 50 minutes" And if you're a foreigner or a Greek from abroad, poor naive you, not wanting to be left out of the conversation you add your story to everybody else's. Big Mistake!

All of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of a maelstrom of accusations. "But things are worse in (insert your country of origin here) I know. (insert problem area here) are worse there" Or some third country gets dragged in and accused of being worse. Which is why I want to travel to Uganda one day, and find out if things are really bad as they claim. But i suppose that would be unfair seeing as one is a third world country and Greece is first world with all the benefits of EU funding.

In the meantime, while you are listening to all this, somewhere in the back of your head you're saying to yourself "but all i did was agree with them, they started it". But of course who started it has nothing to do with it. Nor do the facts, because while everyone in Greece recognises, for example, the roads are in desperate need of maintenance or that things need to change in (insert problem area), its not for you, the outsider to say.

The average Greek raised here seems to operate on the assumption that Greece is just an extension of their family, and therefore, we don't mention the family's faults and shortcomings to outsiders. And they also assume that if they don't mention it, well, no one will find out how bad the roads are. So its fine to talk about our problems amongst ourselves, but no problems exist when talking to outsiders.

Of course i have to note that some 'outsiders', as well as some Greeks, base their criticism simply from a position of elitism. You know the kind of people, the ones who compare Greek taxi's to limo services. With those guys, yeah i too want them to be quiet, because they don't offer constructive criticism, all they want to do is show off.

But of course i am not talking about those few. I am talking about the average person, who decided that they wanted to live in Greece, and they too want to see Greece enjoy the same luxuries that other countries have, such as good roads. And when it comes to these people i would like to see them being able to share in these conversations like equals, and not being brow beaten because they spent their youth in another country. Till that happens however, if you are an 'outsider' all i can say is, be prepared. No it doesn't always make sense, but as they say here, Min to psahneis (dont look for it).

On Clean beaches and the future of Greece

2007-10-22T09:31:00.000+03:00

Ok, my penultimate post has of course caused some confusion. And i find myself coming under fire for a) Trying to ruin the tourism market of Greece, or b) Exaggerating the situation in Greece when it comes to the clean beaches. So i will try to clear things up.

The fact is that the the natural coastal environment from Spain, France to Italy has to a large extent been destroyed by rapid urbanisation and especially a policy of attracting tourists through the building of houses and resorts on the beach. In the face of this limited competition, Greece does have some of the best beaches in the Med and the world.

However. And this is the point i wanted to make, if we do what the other countries did, and follow this governments policy of building on beaches, we will destroy them just like the other countries have with their beaches. Its not rocket science. Sure, now, the beaches are nice, but if we continue along our current path... And the problem is i dont see any measures in place to protect the environment. And the government is furiously promoting property tourism, while i don't see any other economic development policies such as an IT policy for example.

Anyway here are some links for you
Mediterranean Basin on brink of ruin
Mediterranean faces ruin

Become a famous blogger

2007-10-19T14:32:00.000+03:00

 
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.


From:
http://www.weblogcartoons.com/

Joni Mitchell is back!

2007-10-17T08:58:00.000+03:00

For those of you who don't know, Joni Mitchell is a Canadian singer/songwriter. Perhaps her best known song is Big Yellow Taxi, you know it, it goes "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot". If you don't know it, well go out and find it, its worth listening to. Well Joni Mitchell is back with a new album, can't wait to hear it, and I hope its good.

A while ago Bubbles left a comment on how one comes to Greece and expects to see sunshine all the time, but work conditions are such that you hardly step out of the buildings. Another paradox is that you come to Greece expecting clean beaches but according to the latest surveys, these are fast becoming extinct. A recent report by Reuters reveals that Greece's coastline is increasingly being clogged with pollution, mainly as a result from the tourism industry. (another paradox, tourists come for the clean beaches, causing its destruction - but thats ok, they can go back and leave the pollution for us who live here to enjoy). Just 5 km from the city center, the once prestigious beaches of Faliron where all the 'in' crowd would go, is now off limits as a result of the pollution.

Lacking any real economic development plan, the current government is desperately encouraging the holiday home market. Giving jobs to the construction companies and underpaid construction workers (some claim that most are migrants whose situation is exploited and they get paid peanuts). This puts further pressure on the last surviving coastal areas of Greece. In other words, they are paving paradise and putting up holiday homes/apartments.

Last year the Spanish government for the first time demolished an area on its coastline to re-introduce 'Green' areas. If you don't know, from the straights of Gibraltar up to and including Italy, all concrete, completely lacking any natural environment. While Spain has learnt from its mistake and is desperately trying to reverse the situation, Greece now is intent on repeating this mistake. Why, for the cheap and lazy dollar, no plan or thought required, just destroy what nature we have.

So if you want to see the Beaches of Greece, better hurry before they disappear and "they pave paradise and put up a tourist complex..."

Action day: In review

2007-10-16T11:16:00.000+03:00

So Blog action day for the environment has been and passed, and was deemed a success in raising the issues facing the planet and the environment. I switched over to watch the special coverage on SKAI, for the most part it was good, but was tinged with traditional Greek sensitivities, namely a fear of self inspection.

I didn't watch it all i admit, but the few blogs it showed, of the local Greek blogs, they showed the state of the environment around the world. Which evoked the question from one of the hosts "Looking at these pictures, Athens isn't doing too badly isn't it?" Another question asked at the guest bloggers on the night was "Can and should everyone in India drive a car" given that the majority of the population there earns less than one US dollar a day, no matter how cheap cars get, its gonna be a hell of a long time before everyone drives a car.

But the problem with those questions is that Greece needs to be asking itself some serious and hard questions of itself! Such as, "can and should everyone in Athens own and drive a car" after all, that's the direction Athens is heading in, how is it going to cope? And instead of looking at the worst around the world, why don't Athenians try to compare themselves to the Best places around the world.

Are We scared? Are we still swept up in nationalism? Are politicians to blame? Our education system... I dont know, but it is about time that we grew up and asked ourselves these tough questions and faced the future. Sure its scary, but ignoring it wont make it go away.

Environmental protection to be stripped away

2007-10-15T09:04:00.000+03:00

Currently on the governments hit list is Article 24 of the constitution which sets out the basis for environmental and forest protection in Greece.

The governing party of New Democracy has proposed that Article 24 (together with art. 117.3) be revised, but instead of strengthening it, they want it watered down so much to make it meaningless. In its argument it has stated that the highest court of the land, the Council of State (Sumvoulio tis Epikrateias) and in general the courts often issue restricting decisions with respect to forest areas.

In other words, the courts have ruled against a new project or in favor of the demolition of illegal constructions (afthaireta) in forest areas in favor of forest protection, and this they say jeopardizes the public interest.

It seems that the constitutional reform is aimed at the promotion of projects and interventions in sensitive areas, particularly forested areas, that would go against the established constitutional protection status of these areas.

It has been said that here in Greece there has been a conscious choice of past governments and administrations to deprive administrations the tools, policies and measures that would lead to rational development that would also protect the environment. Currently Greece is devoid of a National Spatial Plan, a National Cadastre (Land Registry) and Forest registry, which would clarify the status of many disputed areas.

To change the constitution and Article 24, 180 of the 300 MPs need to vote on it. Thanks to the governments poor showing it falls well before this number. This of course does not stop it from gathering support from the minor parties, including its old allies the Communists. We wait and see and hope that the correct action is taken.

Industrialists guarding the Forest

2007-10-12T14:56:00.000+03:00

Dora Bakoyianni made an interesting speech when she appeared at the UN. Despite what was going on in Greece regarding international relations, she spoke on the environment and its importance and on how something should be done.
Here's a thought for her, how about listening to the people and creating a separate ministry for the Environment.

Greece has lumped the Environment together with Physical planning (read town/city planning) and Public works (read construction - from roads to dams). So in effect what we have is a ministry with two different objectives, one is conserving the environment , the other its destruction. The Wolf is guarding the sheep. OK i know that it might make sense, especially if the ministry has a philosophy of Sustainable development, but it doesn't. Tools such as environmental planning and environmental impact statements are not all that common. When they do exist they just pay lip service without doing a thorough job. Golf is considered an environmental achievement because green is created.

The question is, how can a ministry defend both the environment and construction? Its staff must be torn in two. But of course it isn't. One side is sacrificed, and that side is the environment. Case in point is the Ministers illegal house (built outside town planning, so in theory it is a farm - Who said farmers couldn't have two story villas and undercover parking).

Both major parties have advocated for a change in the constitution article which protects the environment. In fact they want to change it to make it illegal to quote protection of the environment as a reason to stop building and construction.
What the Greek government is trying to say with this action is that it is in the greater common good that the environment make way for building projects. Bourdes (rubbish) (Read Arundhati Roy's - The Greater Common Good for an eloquent rebuttal of this attitude).

Since Dora's party is in power, and she is rumoured to be its next leader, i believe she should act on her statements and join in advocating the creation of a separate ministry for the environment, one whose charter is its protection, not its destruction. Or else be labelled a hypocrite like the rest.

Blog Action Day for the Environment

2007-10-11T09:38:00.000+03:00

Well ok since i have been writing on the environment, i have decided to add my voice (or word) in support of the environment and a better future.

Blog Action Day which is this Saturday October 15th, aims to unite bloggers from around the web and riase the profile of environmental issues. It hopes that every blogger who signs on will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. So you can be an IT blogger and blog about how IT relates to the environment.

For my part i hope to shed some light on environmental issues here in Greece. Maybe i should start by saying that I am not a Greenie. Environmental concerns took second place behind employment. For me it was far more important that people be employed than looking after the environment. It was only when i came to Greece years ago that i changed.

My parents described to me the Greece they left behind. Fresh water springs in the village and on the road to the next village. Forests full of game where my Grandfather would hunt Minks, foxes, wild boar and wolves. Tree lined streets full of birds chirping.
But when i got here, there were water shortages, wild animals virtually extinct. Forests no more. And the work people were employed in. Electricity from brown coal fired furnaces. Brown coal which is the cheapest and nastiest coal available, guaranteed to give locals breathing disorders and cancer.

So thats when i started thinking about the environment. An environment which has been stolen from me and future generations. Why should a select few, an elite enjoy it where it still exists. Why should these miserable fuddy duddys (elderly) be the only ones to remember the good old days. Why shouldn't I have those memories. Thats when i discovered Sustainable development. Where it isnt an either / or dilemma. As human beings we are smart enough to make decisions where we dont have to sacrifice the environment for a cheap buck.

Anyway, enough said for now, stay tuned, and any questions you have, i will try my best to answer.

Greek Fires Revisted

2007-10-08T14:01:00.000+03:00

Its worth remembering the past every now and again. So cast your mind back to the fires that raged all across Greece. Remember the Foreign Affairs minister who vaguely blamed 'foreign interests'. Or the Public Order minister who blamed it on 'Asymmetrical threats' (whatever that means. Or what about the minister of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works who said... well he didn't say anything, what a smart cookie! And lets not forget the people who took to the streets to say NO to Building on Burnt land. People who were branded as left wing reactionaries and accused of working for the opposition, and therefore to be ignored.

Building has Begun
I wanted to remind you of this because, yes, building has begun!
Here are photo's taken in Parnitha (sent to me by a friend), well whats left of it after the fires. Parnitha is a forest reserve in Greece, and building there is prohibited. I mentioned before that it is illegal to build even within 50 meters of a forest. Following the forest fires, now we know why. Well we do, these builders obviously dont care. And why should they if they are building there in the first place.

Meanwhile the minister of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works, Mr Souflias has allegedly been cought building a luxury villa on the hill Anavyssos without a building permit. But since it was outside the town planning zone, does he need one? And by sheer coincidence a new road will be built that way, built coincidently by his ministry.

Meanwhile the brother of the minister of Agriculture has been cought allegedly re-zoning forest land as land intended for building, for an annual fee of course.

And as for me, I am looking for a new place, either to buy or rent. But housing prices are really expensive, hmm, the houses in the pictures look nice. I wonder...

On Communists and Olympic airlines

2007-10-04T09:26:00.000+03:00

People regularly call me a communist here in Greece. Maybe it's because of my liberal views, because I don't do my cross whenever I pass a church or because I abhor the military dictatorship which is coming back into fashion, whatever the reason that's the reputation I have. And maybe I would be, if only the communist party would stand up for the little guy instead of the entrenched elite.

This article is a case in point. Both the KKE and SYRIZA have given their support to the employees and Unions of Olympic Airways, and once again stated that they would oppose the privatisation of the airline. Olympic Airlines is THE entrenched elite of Greece, an employee there lives like a King (or Queen as the case may be). Both parties stacked the airline with their people, (and some would say employed them through the back door) as well as with people belonging to the small parties to keep them on side. The benefits received by these employees are an anchor on the Greek economy. Every day it operates is a loss making day for Greece as the state run company has not turned a profit in decades. A former minister Theodore Pangalos said "If you love Greece, don't fly Olympic" such is the wound that this company has made.

In a country where the average income is 700 euros a month, retirees of Olympic receive pensions of up to 4000 euros a month. These pensions are available after only 14 years employment and half pensions after 7 years. So a person employed at age 18 can live off a pension from age 32 till they die. And since they don't work, they will live to a ripe old age. Both parties claim that the airline forms a bond with Greeks living abroad. A lie, because all employees receive 15 free tickets a year for them and their relatives. This means that it is hard to pay for a seat because it is quite feasible for the whole plane to be booked with free loaders. (Happened to a colleague who tried flying to Istanbul, the return trip was full of Olympic staff that had flown over to their grocery shopping). All employees receive free medical treatment anywhere in the world and only do eight hour shifts (now you know why they change crew in Thailand if you have ever flown it to Australia). Such is their arrogance that one time a pilot landed in Thessaloniki instead of Athens to make it to wedding, enraging passengers who stormed the cockpit and wouldn't let the pilot leave till he flew them to their scheduled destination.

Unfortunately because both major parties stacked it with superfluous staff, it is one of the largest employers in Greece, and therefore a major voting block in elections. Anyone who dares change the situation could very well lose the election. But because of Olympic, University graduates, cleaners, builders and entrepreneurs find it hard to earn more than the basic 700 euro a month wage. That's because they see over a third of their wage held back in tax, how else to pay for the exorbitant pension plan these guys are on. So in the end, the little guy, who has no political backing that would ensure him a seat in the public service, ends up paying the cost.

And unfortunately, no party is looking out for the little guy, especially not those so called left wing parties who supposedly stand up for the little guy, both of them have turned their back on the people.

I should close by mentioning that the new minister of Transport Kostis Hatzidakis in his maiden speech said that he will enter a dialogue to solve the problem that is Olympic. I, and the rest of Greece hope this is followed up by action and soon.

Will the Minister of Education please stand up

2007-10-03T13:59:00.000+03:00

Here in Greece, and especially Athens, i look at the mess around me and i wonder if any of it will ever change. What is needed is strong leadership, someone who is willing to make a stand and do what is right. But all too often leaders are missing and too gutless. An ideal example is what is happening now with the 6th grade school book, and satirised the other night by a popular Greek comedy show called Ellinofrenia.

For well over a year the government fully supported the book and the change in the education system. Even though the party won the election- it decided to change its position yet again (from being against changes when PASOK was in power, to being pro change and then anti change again) and withdraw the book from circulation and stop its distribution to schools, now leaving 6th grade primary school students without books. The reason being - it was too gutless to stand by its decision and instead cave in to what the extreme right wing / racist elements in its party wanted.

Ellinofrenia showed clips sarcastically titled 'The Real minister of Education' which showed the Bishop of Thessaloniki Anthimos declare before the election (coincidentally) "The book will not be distributed" followed then by known extremist Nomarch of Thessaloniki, Mr Psomiades reiterating the comment. And, what he said, happened.

All through the election and its run up, the minister of Education was supporting the book (with the rest of the party too gutless to speak, only to comment, "I am not the minister") the fact is that such decisions are not made in a vacuum, the party had decided to modernise the countries education system and bring it in-line with the EU, and the result was the said school book which has been reviewed and applauded by educators from around the world.
So in private they supported the book, but publicly, well publicly that's another matter.

So even in its moment of glory, having won re-election, the party immediately acceded to demands of the church, extremist elements in its party and extreme right wing party LA.O.S and scrap the book completely.

So who really runs Greece? Do all politicians really deserve the bad name we give them, or are they instead trapped and servile to other elements in the community? I don't know, but i am desperately trying to untangle this mess to make sense of it.

The Greek Paradox

2007-09-27T21:13:00.000+03:00

Greece is full of paradoxes (is that the correct plural?) so many in fact that in Germany economics students learn about it. How is it they learn that Greece has the lowest wages but import the most Mercedes Benz per capita in Europe, or the most whisky.
How is it that Greeks enjoy the most holidays but work the most hours. Its a paradox, and i witnessed another one on the boat over.

The boat we had taken was scheduled to dock at Rafina, and from there Blue Star Ferries had organised one bus route to Pireaus and another to Pedion tou Ares, anf they can stop and let people off anywhere along the route. Great i thought, but how to find out? Hearing my predicament a friend of the bride took it upon himself to find out for me what the bus route would be and if it would pass by someplace close to home.

So off we went to ask the concierge. "Excuse me" he asked politely "but can you tell me the bus routes will take?" To which the concierge replied "what, do i look like a bus driver to you"
what follwed was a back and forth, polite questioning answered with the utmost rudeness.
Seeing that there was no way he was going to help us find out, he called his mum who went to the bus station to find out for us.

How is it that Greece has some of the MOST kindest people who will go out of their way to help a stranger and a service provider, who's job it is to provide a service to the customer and not treat them with rudeness and threats, doesn't help?
This is just another example of the Greek paradox. Many thanks friend, and as for Blue Star Ferries, i won't forget!

Pirates of Paros

2007-09-25T19:52:00.000+03:00

Brief lesson on English usage.
Arghh!!! Here be pirates matey! Arghh! I am so tired! See how flexible the word Arghh can be.

Well my brothers wedding went off without a hitch, well except for the fact that the photographer cancelled last minute and almost every relative and close friends were dragooned into being Photographer for a day (many thanks to Paul! who went above and beyond the call of duty with his excellent photography skills)

The only hitch occurred when it came time to leave the island of Paros, which is gorgeous and well worth the visit, especially if you love beaches and wind surfing. High winds throughout the Aegean meant that scheduled boat trips had to be cancelled for safety reasons. My brother became central control for all the guests as he was trying to get hourly updates as to when the boats would leave. Chaos quickly ensued as travel agencies started giving out their own advice.
Some were told that they could travel with the same ticket "after all" they said "Your boat (for which you have tickets) is trapped in Santorini, when it leaves it will pick you up as normal, but no new tickets can be issued"
Others however were told that they would have to purchase new tickets "after all you missed the boat, you need a new ticket with the new time"

All for naught however as when the boat did arrive the next day, All tickets were cancelled and new ones issued and sold within a couple of hours. To ensure a seat people were encouraged to upgrade to first class. The bride and groom were lucky, thanks to the sacrifice of the brides brother, and got tickets for the first boat out so that they could continue on their way to their shortened honeymoon.

Once on board, the situation in first class resembled "sardines in a can" as three tickets were sold for every seat. Stools were brought out for people to sit in the walkway. Meanwhile in Economy class, the situation resembled Cirque du Soleil, without the glamour as people were performing amazing feats of contortion to fit everyone in and ooze their way past if they wanted to make their way to the toilets or outside deck. Of course this was done to facilitate as many people as possible who had been stranded. I am sure it wasnt done for financial reasons.

Those left behind booked passage on the romantically named Roumilda which was to leave at 16:00. Little before 15:00 however, the brides brother discovered that an extra boat had been sent from Rafina to pick up the stranded. I informed my friends and quickly made my way to the nearest travel agents were i sought to purchase tickets. At first they denied that a boat was coming, once they realised that i knew and wasn't moving, they asked me various questions, "how did you know, Who are you? etc" Then when they saw i had tickets for the Roumilda they said that they couldn't issue me tickets as i already had tickets... I was too tired to move so when they saw that i would just sit there, they decided to sell me the tickets - at a small markup of course (28 euros is a bit off, 30 euros a ticket is a nice round number) , he leaned back, picked up 4 tickets which were lying their and handed them to me.

I shuffled my lifeless feet back to where my parents were eating, and as i sat down i received a call from the friends i had informed about the extra boat. They had been told that the extra boat would arrive in Rafina well after midnight as it would make many stops. Seeing as the Roumilda was scheduled to arrive at 22:00-23:00 they decided to stay with the Roumilda and advised me not to change the tickets.

At that moment, my parents asked me where the blood had gone from my face. I calmly hanged up the phone and told my parents that all was well. What was done was done, i would not go back to the travel agents again. As we got on the boat i noticed how few people were getting on, obviously everyone else had found out how late it would arrive, and i was with the luckless few who hadn't found out. I secretly asked the concierge what time the boat would arrive at Rafina and was shocked and relieved to find out that it would arrive at 22:00! Not the next day as my friends had been told! As the boat made its way through the rough waves, my heaving stomach was consoled by the fact the journey would be over soon.

Meanwhile the Roumilda was late in arriving. This elderly timepiece had obviously seen better days as it limped its way into Paros to pick up the hordes of stranded passages who couldn't find passage on any of the other boats. Survival of the fittest meant that the healthy and strong got seats, which is fine as it meant that old grannies got the seats over all the chain smoking, sun burnt people aged 20-50 (beware their pinches and elbows!) Its passengers suffered immensely from the sea as if Poseidon were re-enacting the trials of Odysseus. The Roumilda, after only a couple of break-downs limped into port well after 2:00 in the morning where it disgorged its dazed and bedraggled passengers.

But as my friend Paul told me, only in Greece, out of all the disorganisation, was a beacon of light as they sent an extra boat to pick up the stranded passengers to help them out. Anywhere else they would have just been told to wait in line for the next available boat once scheduled trips resumed.

Ahhh, isn't it great to be in lovely Athens again! As for me i am quite enraptured with the thought of a wedding in the mountains...

Trapped on Paros

2007-09-23T19:21:00.000+03:00

Some times in order to survive Athens it is good to escape the Chaos of Athens every now and again. This time i have escaped to the island of Paros to enjoy the sun, fresh air, the natural beauty and leave my worries, troubles, pollution and traffic behind, all in the company of friends and relatives who have arrived here for the wedding of my brother.

Since i have come here to escape from Athens, why is it now that the boats cant leave for Athens i am all tense? High winds have meant that boats cannot leave the Islands on the return leg for Athens. I suppose there is something else about Athens that makes me want to return to it.

Frappe man strikes back!

2007-09-21T16:43:00.001+03:00

Ok i have been a bit tardy updating my blog but at long last i am on holiday in Paros where my brother is getting married, so i have been taking a break from the LCD screen. But geek that i am, i have to update my blog, i think its taking over my brain, need a check up, can i get a prescription from the Dr for this?

Let’s start with a brief round-up of the election here in Greece, as you all know by now, New Democracy won and is continuing its term as government. Despite the cabinet reshuffle however and the news that LAOS is in parliament, the doubling of KKE's representation in parliament etc, the biggest news here is PASOK's poor showing in the election and the repercussions this has had in the party.

I suppose this is because PASOK is like a monolith in Greek politics, and has a pervasive presence. Its leader George Papandreou called for new elections for party president. And within a heartbeat, before you could say goodnight, Evangelos Venizelos announced that he would run. The party is currently dividing itself between the two camps and is debating how and when the new elections should take place.
As a result, no one seems to care who the new cabinet is, who is out and who is in. The way things look, Prime Minister Karamanlis could do anything he likes and no one would take notice. Who cares about the government of Greece, PASOK is tearing itself apart!

And of course, amidst this time of confusion, Frappe man has a struck again!

Frappe man is a bit of a character in Greek life. He has made it a point to pour Frappe (a Greek invention – instant coffee, whipped up to a thick concoction and drunk cold) on politicians he believes are doing a below than average job. His colourful career started when he poured frappe on the then Education Minister Arsenis (PASOK) as an act of protest at the state of the education system (an opinion shared by many). He continued by targeting other ministers, changing his MO a couple of times to water or eggs, depending on what his feeling was towards the minister/victim/incompetent fool.

This time his target is the party challenger, Venizelos. Catching the police, and security detail by surprise, he poured the frappe on Venizelos’ jacket, before being subdued. Rightly or wrongly, there is always a nice feeling when a politician gets dirtied by an average citizen. Politics is after all a dirty game, and who said that it was a game just for politicians. Venizelos immediately blamed the dark Papandreou forces for this attack, and is pressing charges for this outrageous attack against his self and life. Instead of shrugging it off, he has blown this out of all proportion.
Its politicians like this who take themselves a bit too seriously that make the average citizen want to take them down a notch, or worse, that led to the low voter turn out, which was something like 30%, a percentage greater that what KKE got. Their pomposity and self importance has distanced themselves from the voter, perhaps any party wishing to win should listen to frappe man, a person who is just expressing his angst and desperation in the only way he could. Politicians need to get closer to their roots, the people they are supposed to represent.

I think frappe man spoke for many Greeks.
Hmm Ten thousand people take to the streets over the environment and get a front page here and there, one man and a frappe get hours on TV, and is in almost every paper… hmmm
I am off to order another frappe now…

Small parties sweep

2007-09-17T09:27:00.000+03:00

Yesterdays election results is set to change the way politics are done, we hope. While New Democracy is set to govern, the small parties of Greece took a sizable chunk of the votes.
SYRIZA which barely scraped in last election came in well above the 3% minimum, as did LAOS and of course the KKE which increased its size in parliament.

Of course the biggest loser is PASOK which saw its worst result since 1977. That is currently taking the headlines at the moment. But all parties shoulld take note from this result as it showed a huge retreat from the large parties and a huge number of people who did not vote at all.

SYRIZA - Because we got tired spelling it out

2007-09-13T14:20:00.000+03:00

Election Day is fast approaching so i am trying to wrap up the party brief. And SYRIZA, next up is one of the hardest i have had to describe, basically because i am still trying to figure out what they stand for. Lets just give them the benefit of the doubt and just say i am lazy. But lets go with what we know.

SYRIZA stands for the 'Synaspismos tis Rizospastikis Aristeras' or the Coalition of the Radical Left, which was born in 2004. It is actually the rebirth of the Synaspismos tes Aristerás ion Kineáton kai tes Oikologías or Synaspismos for short. In short throughout its various phases it is a coalition of the various left wing parties of Greece, and at one stage included the KKE, before it split off taking a huge chunk of the voters with it. At previous elections it just managed to muster over the 3% cut off point needed to get into parliament, this elections thanks to the fires it may do better.

As part of its rebirth (with a snazzy name SYRIZA - bit like Kentucky Fried Chicken becoming KFC) it has proceeded with the largest reshuffle of its candidates. It now features 80% new candidates - people who not only have never run for re-election but who are young. In the last mayoral election its young candidate Tsipras recieved a suprise percentage of the vote. What was suprising is that he only recieved little media coverage. From what i understand they are concerned with the environment (one of the parties in the coalition is the Ecological Intervention party) as well as of course, Student issues. During the student protests they automatically sent lawyers out to defend their rights. Now, while abuses occured on the side of the police, abuses were also made by students, who i believe violated the spirit of University immunity. (by throwing petrol bombs at police and then running into University where police cannot enter)

Now people are telling me that a vote for them is a vote for PASOK, and thats why they wont be voting for them. Which is strange since i do believe that in its previous reincarnation it formed a coalition with New Democracy, so why isn't it a vote for New Democracy?

Unfortunately the media is not helping me understand what these people are about, by not giving them equal air time with the other parties. So i am confused, should i be happy that young fresh faces are running or concerned that i am not 100% sure what their policies are. For many, it doesn't matter as long as its not one of the big two.

Racism - Guest Post

2007-09-10T15:21:00.000+03:00

I have been invited to write every now and again on fellow bloggers site Internations.blogspot
not quite sure what to write i have written a post on two experiences of Racism. The Rise of Australian Racist, Pauline Hanson and the current rise of LAOS in Greece.
Check it out and tell me what you think.

Greece: Here be Communists

2007-09-10T10:17:00.000+03:00

That's right, those bogeymen of the cold war still exist here in Greece. Founded in 1918, the KKE (Communist part of Greece) is perhaps the oldest surviving political party in Greece. During WW2 they offered fierce resistance to the invading Germans, following which they were hounded by the successive right wing governments and the military junta. In fact it was only with the election of the PASOK government that communists were able to receive pensions. The party was part of a joint government with New Democracy in 1989 which governed for a few years. Their current slogan is "You might not agree with everything we say, but vote for us anyway to show your displeasure with the top two parties" As a result they dont have a comprehensive political platform.

I am not going to go into what communism is etc, that would just take too long, instead i am going to focus on what it is now. From my unscientific observations of who turns up to their rallies, the party is currently made up of students and those over 60. Those over 60 follow the party so that the sacrifices of their comrades are never forgotten. I also notice that they hand out pamphlets to 15 year olds, and not to me. So they obviously single out students, which is why they seem to primarily focus on education.

They are against any reform to the education system, no private education should exist as education should be free for all. At the same time they complain that the system is a mess. So they don't want the system as it is, nor do they want any changes.

Their Leader Ms Papariga was asked during the debate 'Since you are against private education why did you send your daughter to private schooling (she did not mention that the daughter was sent to private American schooling - Not that there is anything wrong with it, its just that the KKE is so against anything American - whats that word - Hypocrite) to which she replied that the hours didn't suit her, what was she to do, freeze her daughter until the education system got better. All well and good until i remembered my relatives who are entering University. They chose to go to Universities which did not strike. That way they finish school on time and are able to work and help their families all the sooner. Otherwise if they went to an 'elite' school in Athens or Thessaloniki where the Communist student unions are strong, they would have been subjected to strikes which may have delayed their graduation by at least one year, if not three.
Ms Papariga gets to incite the students to strike against changes, to the detriment of their education while at the same time, her daughter studies problem free. (Some pigs are more equal that others).

I should also mention that the party harbours former (what the party calls fascists) trouble makers of the other parties. In Larissa they have on their ticket a major rabble rouser who would start riots in support of the Metropoliti (bishop) who was installed by the Military dictatorship and refused to leave even at the behest of the Holy Synod.

It also offers refuge to Ms Kaneli - another one of those trouble makers who have done the rounds with every political party. Before the last election her magazine almost went bankrupt, but was saved by a mysterious donor. In that magazine she published how George Papandreou was a mummy's boy ruled by the evil dowager (his AMERICAN mum - we all know how evil americans are). She also went on a rampage against his policy to hire Greek-Australians/Norwegians etc to the foreign office "They dont speak Greek in the foreign service" which i thought would be a good thing that the foreign service know a second language, but according to KKE's Kaneli - Thats Evil! She would also go on rampages against the EU (The KKE is against the EU, against admiting Cyprus, Turkey into the EU, had they the power they would have been against Greece entering) and commented that the only reason why Greece is in the Euro is so that the Germans can steal our money. She also commented that Eurovision song winner Paparizou is a bastard mongrel of mixed descent (seeing as she born in Sweden of Greek parents).

If the KKE can have such an evil person in its ranks, it obviously agree's with their policies. Before the fires i would have said that this party harms Greece more than any other party. It surely however insults our intelligence as human beings.

Greek Political Debate without the debate

2007-09-06T23:01:00.001+03:00

Thursday, a little past 9pm the Great Political Debate was shown on almost every channel in Greece. It featured the leaders of 6 parties answering the questions of 6 journalists. Missing from the event was the leader of the Filleleutheri party (Liberal party) which does not have an elected official in either the Greek parliament or EU parliament.
No debate was had between the leaders, instead what we saw was a series of parallel questions and answers taking place between the politicians and journalists. All in all it was a major dissapointment. Nothing new was said, no one was pressured on a particular issue, especially since no hard questions were asked.

I am torn between deciding who was the biggest waste of space on the side of the journalists, was it Evangellatos or Liatsou who asked the softest of questions "What would you say to the little girl who asks, what makes a good PM"
What kinda question is that?!!!!! Who said he was a good PM anyway! Why doesn't he ask the little girl! I am sure an average schoolchild could govern more effectually and with more Concern and Justice for the average person than most of the clowns in parliament!

One thing that struck me was that the journalists were represented by 2 women (3 if you include the moderator) and 4 men. On the political side, only one woman! The best questions were asked by Papahelas and Tremi i thought.

I was very impressed with the confidence of the PM Karamanlis when he answered the questions directed at him. Especially when he admitted his own incompetence when he said it took him three years to figure out that checks and balances were needed when dealing with complicated bond investments to make sure that public money slated for pensions wouldn't continue to be lost. Eh... Three years!!! Three YEARS??? But he said it with such a confidence that i felt as though, yeah... he actually accomplished something, then i remember THREE YEARS!!!!

Papandreou was a bit of a dissapointment. Ok, in the previous post I mentioned how he was calm and that the average Greek doesn't want calm. Well you can put me in that camp too. He reminds me of the Australian Labour Leader Kevin Rudd who is also a former diplomat. They have been so indoctrinated to curb their language that they can be a bit too calm. So we saw a calm Papandreou state how New democracy implemented a policy of Blue Windows (hiring and appointing as civil servants only those who voted New Democracy), how ND sacked fire-fighting officials and replaced them with ND voters, leading to the incompetent fire response we saw, how ND is hiding evidence of their corrupt handling of the retirement bonds. All of this delivered in a calm manner. Stick a Pin in this man!! Doesn't he get angry? Shake him someone. Why is he trying to present himself as a serious candidate? He has the CV after all. Come on fight, show us you really want to be PM. (maybe i am too bloodthirsty, is it meant to be a bloodsport?)

The Communist party was represented by Ms Papariga, who was the only lady in the politician camp. Which was a bit unfortunate because she was perhaps the weakest link on the night. She couldn't answer the questions and instead resorted to stock standard replies. When asked if she was living in a sort of Utopia where health care, education etc could be free for all, she replied with "just because it doesnt exist elsewhere doesn't mean we can't do it here" well she does have a point. And how will she do it? Oooh sorry only two questions allowed, gotta move on to the next person.

Alavanos of SYRIZA was a very good speaker, he took the PM to task when he called protesting students as rabble rousing thugs. Unfortunatley the structure of the debate was such that the PM couldn't respond or explain himself as to why he slandered the students in such a way. But i am trying to remember a particular policy they raised... I don't remember, but i do know he spoke passionately. 9 points to him.

Karatzaferis of LAOS, the christian orthodox right party was also a good speaker and it was interesting to note how he hooked his seemingly racist policy of anti-immigration onto statements of ND, particularly those where they alluded to foreigners setting fires in Greece. And he delivered the best line of the night when he answered the question directed at the PM - "What would you say to the little girl who asks, what makes a good PM" He responded with "Be born a Karamanlis or a Papandreou" And with that one line i can see a whole lot votes going his way, irrelevant of what his policies are.

Last on the list was Papathemilis of the Christian Rennaisance party. A former PASOK member and affiliate of ND. The only real reason of his existence in this election is to stop the bleeding of votes from ND to LAOS. He ignored the time limit continously and just droned on and on and on. His biggest achievement was proclaiming that he has been in parliament since 1974 and is therefore the most successfull politician. Someone should tell the person that politics isn't a marathon race, its about doing something for the people... but maybe he does know that and thats why he refers to it as a marathon.

All in all, despite the many and obvious flaws of the so called 'debate' it did give the viewer some insight into the candidates, their policies or their lack of. It would be interesting to find out how many people watched, seeing as it was on every channel. When i stepped onto the balcony there weren't any cars on the road and i could hear the 'debate' coming out of neighbours windows. Which shows that people are interested in politics and debate, which is always a healthy thing.

PASOK: Third way for third leader

2007-09-06T09:14:00.000+03:00

Earlier on i started a brief explanation of the political parties, but what with the fires i got sidetracked. So back to the flow.
PASOK is the leading opposition party. Founded in 1974 by the economist Andreas Papandreou who led it to victory in 1981, making it the first socialist government ever to do so since 1924. He led a series of reforms including de-nazifying the military, building schools and hospitals. The only branches he admitted that he couldn't reform was education, police and the judiciary.

The party is now lead by his son George Papandreou. He is trying to continue the reforms implemented by his predecessor and former PM, Mr Simitis. In this way PASOK is similar to the Labour Party of UK and Australia, both of which advocate a Third way in politics, one that realises that global economic integration is a fact but combines it with social responsibility. PASOK differs from ND in that it has a comprehensive policy platform that includes increasing recycling by 100% in 5 years, building drug rehabilitation centres (How DARE he insinuate that some Greeks have drug problems), care for the environment and regional economic regeneration programs. I have not seen such a comprehensive platform in the other parties.

However this shift in thinking has alienated him from traditional voters, those who still expect the role of PASOK is to hire 'their boys' to government postings. Many of those who are vocal against George Papandreou are those in the Greek foreign service. When he was minister he hired many Greek - Somethings (Greek - Canadians / Australians etc) on fixed year contracts based on their knowledge as opposed to making/hiring Permanent staff from within the ranks of PASOK.

And its this shift away from political patronage that has politically harmed George Papandreou and the party. I say harmed him personally because while PASOK was in power, not everyone followed his example and many charges of corruption were levelled at fellow politicians, and was one of the reasons they lost power. But those who were criticised as being corrupt are the ones who remain popular to this day, and should he win their is no guarantee that they will change. It should be mentioned that during the Prime Ministership of Simitis, corruption as measured by Transperency International fell, something that New Democracy has reversed.

The other problem with George Papandreou is the time he spent in exile growing up and being educated in Scandanavia. His policies, the way he talks calmly without hyperbole might be good for Scandanavia and the rest of Europe, but apparently that's not what the people in Greece want to hear, or at least what the media says isn't what people want to hear.
As a result PASOK remains behind in the polls.
However, and many may disagree i do think he has a Vision for Greece that is more in line with some of our more progressed neighbours.

Government bribes its way out of responsibility

2007-09-05T15:54:00.000+03:00

Fires are still burning in parts of Greece, but thankfully the government has a plan to stop the fires, its called the Ionian sea. The fires have made their way across the Peloponnese and now only the coast is in its way.

A while ago i mentioned that the New Democracy party is not about fiscal responsibility. Well last week we saw it again in action. The ruling party implemented a financial bail out of those affected by the fires. 3000 euros for those who lost their house, x amount for livestock etc. All well and good but so they can wash their hands of the guilt of not dealing with the fires, no proof was requested when handing out the money. After one day, 24 million euros were handed out, by day two 72 million euros was handed out. By then many local residents were heard complaining because they were seeing non locals receiving money. Since no proof was requested people had come down from all over Greece to receive the money. False Identity cards were being sold for 500 euros and for those who were illiterate, they could purchase the services of someone to write out their application for 250 euros.
New democracy politicians had also set up their own booths and were handing out the money, cementing in the mind of the locals that ND hands out money for nothing.

Of course they could have followed the lead of Germany and allowed the local councils to distrubute the aid, as was done when Germany suffered from the flooding. But they didnt because of two reasons.

They wanted to be associated as the guys who hand out money (like a doting grandmother who hands out cash to her grandchildren).
And they are against the local councils because it was implemented by the PASOK government, and everything they did cant be allowed to succeed.

And that in a nutshell is what the government and party is about. We are the ones who can give you money. Sure its corrupt and many people are benefiting illegally. But its by implicating as many people in this corrupt system that they hope to win, if everyones hands are dirty and is able to benefit somehow, its in their interests to keep these guys in power.
Unfortunately the EU is giving financial aid to Greece, i say unfortunately because without fiscal responsibility this money will be wasted. Maybe tough love would be better, let Greece struggle through this so it can learn from its mistakes. Maybe that way these mistakes won't be repeated.

Hope for Greece

2007-09-04T11:34:00.000+03:00

Well a big thanks to everyone who answered the poll and especially to those who wrote in.
Why i did it. Well i wanted to find out what other people thought, as simple as that. As i grow older most of my friends are fixed as are my thoughts and ideas. Therefore, its really easy to just fall into the trap that everyone thinks the same, or sometimes the reverse, that I am the ONLY person thinking like this.

Last Wednesday i went to the public rally in Syntagma square and when i saw the other 10 000 people (twice as many as turned out last time) all dressed in black, i was reassured. No i am not alone. Unfortunately it didn't get much press coverage. Most of the media chose to ignore it again. But i won't let that let me down.

And thanks to the people who wrote in, because i made me realise something even more important (see qualitative data IS useful) I realised that no matter what people voted, that everyone voted because they possessed a love of Greece. A love obviously much greater than those who set fire to Greece. And yes we can be disapproving and still love Greece. Maybe its like the love of parents who discipline their children. They only do it because they love them and want them to reach their full potential. And that is what i saw in the comments, people want Greece to be all that she can be. Yes it is a shame some people out there disagree and want to turn Greece into a miserable place all concrete. But if the will of the people of those who turned out to the rally is anything to go by, that won't happen soon.

Hmm and that ethics tourism is something to look into...

New Poll

2007-08-29T09:39:00.000+03:00

I have decided to change tact today. I really want to find out what impact these fires have hade on the Greece's image. I would love to do a detailed and comprehensive survey, but that is just not practical. So instead i am asking a simple question

"Do you believe the recent fires have harmed the image of Greece."

However a close friend would hassle me if i did not cover the qualitative aspect as well. So i would also appreciate it if you could leave a comment here and tell me "how and in what way your perception of Greece has changed" basically explaining why you voted the way you did.
It would also be great if you could include where you are from. Basically i just think its really great finding out where my readers are from :)

Protecting the environment - A government Responsibility

2007-08-28T10:38:00.000+03:00

This man is the Prime Minister of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, nephew of former PM and President Costas Karamanlis. In one of his speeches soon after coming to power three years ago he proclaimed
"We have inherited a government in ashes"
I wonder what he is feeling now, now that he has turned Greece into ashes.

During his three year term this man has been actively trying to change article 24 of the Greek constitution which states that the government has a responsibility to protect the environment and bans the re-zoning of the environment except under certain conditions (click here for article in Greek) He and his government wants to make it easier for construction companies to build in environmentaly protected areas. Just last month in the middle of those fires the government legalised illegal houses built on burnt land. A property developers dream. The BBC interviewed the president of the Hellenic Property Federation, Stratos Paradias who is trying to counter public wisdom that property developers are behind the fires "That's absolutely nonsense, this allegation, because if there is a company which wants to get its hands on some piece of land, to burn this land is the worst way to do it. Once a forest is burnt, according to our constitution, within three months the Forestry Service is obliged to pass a decree according to which this land is reforested."

Yeah right. This government, as proven by the fires, have been absent in the enforcement of these laws, which is not only lax, but non-existent in Greece! The trouble with Karamanlis and Paradias is that they think that they are so smart, everyone else is stupid and no one will know. They are the stupid ones, a WHOLE WORLD is watching this and is expecting Greece to clean up its act.

Nikos Charalambides, director of Greenpeace in Greece placed the blame at the feet of those responsible "the biggest arsonist is the state, which has not clarified the use of land, leaving suburban forests vulnerable to rogue developers. The lack of a national land registry and national zoning laws leave room for doubt about the characterization of land, whether it is forest or not" more elequently than i could ever have, basically because i am angry at these people.

These reports are also repeated on SKY News UK and CNN. For some reason this isn't getting airplay on Greek Media. Do they want to build on this land too? Are their interests at stake? I dont care anymore, the truth however needs to be said.

2007-08-28T09:40:00.000+03:00

“The first job of a true patriot is to question the Government”
~Thomas Jefferson

Protests to be organised

2007-08-27T14:43:00.000+03:00

Protests have been organised for today and Wednesday. Todays protest is organised by the United Anti-Capatilist Left, at 19:00 at the ProPylaia - which is in front of the Old university (Panepistimiou) opposite Korai Square... actually the Panepistimou exit of the Metro. Their chant 'To stop the Murderous Arsonists' No to the removal of protection of forests.
Wednesdays protest i believe is organised by bloggers. (can someone help me verify this) at 19:00 at Syntagma square.

Meanwhile Greenpeace Greece has estimated 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of the country's forests and vegetation have been wiped out in this summer's fires.
Nikos Haralambidis, director of the environmental campaign group, has been quoted as saying...

``The government shouldn't take arsonists as an excuse,'' Haralambidis said. ``There was no proper coordination to extinguish the flames.''

Here are some links to see what other blogs are saying on the fires...

http://americaninathens.wordpress.com/

http://kassandrapoised.blogspot.com/

http://ellasdevil.blogspot.com/

Why fight fires when you can shift the blame

2007-08-27T09:50:00.001+03:00

Today's edition of Eleutheri Ora has as its headlines "Olympic champions of incompetence and irresponsibility" in reference to the Government ineptitude we have been watching these past few days.

Don't worry if your village is on fire, if you're loved one has been burnt to death, after three days of inaction the government has finally leapt into action with a fervor. After hours of brainstorming they have compiled an impressive list of who is to blame for the fires. Instead of organising a comprehensive response to the fires, they are busy trying to cover their own backsides to wash their bloody hands of the guilt they have.

The government has not named any groups but are heavily hinting at the opposition parties. Here is a list of the groups they are trying to blame through proxies and innuendo:

Anarchists - Urban firebugs who historically only burn government buildings, surrounding areas, Exarhia and politicians homes
Left Wingers - Since no one believed the Anarchists did it, lets broaden the net
PASOK - These bastards might gain from the governments loss, lets throw mud at them and hope it sticks
Americans - If all else fails, Americans are a popular standby to cast blame on, apparently so the conspiracy theory goes, they started it with a new Laser they are testing, in revenge for Greece signing the oil treaty with Russia. Oops... hang on, they are also tourists here, bugger, quickly on to someone else
Freemasons - Seriously, you want us to believe that an old mens club did this! Electric wheelchairs don't go up goat paths!
Jews - can't forget these guys, since we named everybody else, lets see if this will catch, Whats that? They left after WW2? Bugger... who's next we can think of...
Turkey - Yeah these guys, What's that... you want evidence? umm... and lastly
The Shepards are to blame!

Yes thats right, police are investigating the role of shepards in all these fires. They seriously want us to believe that the Shepards of Greece coordinated themselves into lighting these fires? Shepards of Greece Unite, Long live the sheep!

I am in fact heartened by this list, i am heartened because it shows that no one is believing this rubbish, this pack of lies. They are making up names hoping that one will stick. But none of them are sticking because the average person can see through these lies.

And lets say it is true, that the villanous shepards DID do it, WHY did the government DO NOTHING! Why did the assist with the destruction of Greece by DOING NOTHING!
Notice the pattern here... the government DID NOTHING! and that more than anything has gotten the people angry and made them wary of their lies.

MEDIA BLACKOUT FOR OPPOSITION PARTIES

2007-08-26T21:04:00.001+03:00

For some reason a live press conference by PASOK was only shown by 1 out of the 5 channels showing the news. Other small parties, whenever their candidates have appeared have been talked over, that is when they have appeared. Is this how the government and their media lackeys are going to convince the people that they are doing a good job, by silencing debate?

Meanwhile on Alpha the wife of the minister of Communication, a 'journalist' Mara Zacharaia (ethics? conflict of) has gone from happy at the change of subject away from talk about government corruption surrounding the Bonds scandal to despair again. Why is it i cant take her seriously whenever she asks "Why hasn't local government acted to stop the fires" Oh that's right, she's a bottle blonde, that's why i can't take her seriously.

Oh my, she just tried to compair what happened here to Australia. Yet another Idiot! Australia faces fires the size of Greece, and yet has in place an organised structure to deal with it, and when it fails it tries to learn from its mistakes. People are charged with long jail terms for arson and do not reward illegal construction. If Mara doesn't know, she shouldn't talk!

Minister flees as he tries to fool the people

2007-08-26T20:23:00.000+03:00

THIS MAN IS A VLAKA (an IDIOT)

The minister of Culture, Mr Voulgarakis proudly called a press conference to announce that the buildings at Ancient Olympia have been saved. Things would have been fine if he ended it there, instead he added "eh and a few little trees were burnt" referring to the ancient trees surrounding the buildings.

He fled the scene chased by a group of enraged citizens.

What is even more tragic is that the local mayor warned the government that the site was in the fire path from Friday 24 August.

Ancient Olympia in Flames

2007-08-26T17:49:00.002+03:00

Ancient Olympia is now in flames and are now 200 meters away from the museums and ancient Olympic Stadium, Archaeologists and museum personnel are fighting the fires with buckets and garden hoses. Villages are encircled by flames, police services are still missing and are no where to be seen, leaving villagers in confusion as to which way to escape.

Pictures taken from SKAI TV. A Nation waits with bated breath to see if its culture will be added to the death toll

Greece: Fire Sale, everything must burn!

2007-08-26T12:30:00.000+03:00

Greece is in a state of mourning and shock. For the past two days now fires have raged all across Greece, murdering over 50 people and destroying numerous homes and villages. All of the Peloponnese is on fire, threatening ancient Olympia, mystical Arcadia and brave Laconia. Gone are the beautiful beaches of Euboea. Amidst all this death and destruction, the media is trying to put their own rules on place and the government, a positive spin.

That self righteous journalist Terence Kuik on Alter demanded that no politician speak, and shame on any member of the opposition party who uses this tragedy to blame the government, how dare anybody profit from this tragedy, then without skipping a beat, he added We will tell you now which villages are threatened by the fires, but first a commercial, stay tuned. Obviously benefiting on the pain and suffering of others is a monopoly only for journalists like himself.

Another Idiot journalist stated 'A tragedy of this magnitude could not have been foreseen so lets not blame the government' Why did he LIE so blatantly? The media and government are desperately trying not to blame the government.
I am SICK AND TIRED of incompetent journalists refusing to tell the truth for fear of being critical of the government. They are so incompetent, they believe that being balanced means blaming the previous government as well. So you hear on TV the inevitable response to the charge that the response to the fires were uncoordinated 'And the previous government was just as bad'. That is NO answer! That is NO justification for what happened. We need to be mature, not kindergarten children, and Deal with the here and NOW.
FACT: We had a CHANGE of government because the people wanted a CHANGE, if they wanted the same, they would have kept the same.
FACT: A response to just such a tragedy had been planned for in the run up to the 2004 Olympics. Therefore the government and response teams knew EXACTLY what they should be doing!
FACT: The government removed professional emergency response leaders who were familiar with this plan,
Their replacements are OBVIOUSLY INCOMPETENT. (Are they also just political appointees?)
FACT: Professional emergency response leaders who were waiting to be called were ignored by the government, exacerbating the tragedy.
FACT: THIS is EXACTLY what the people were protesting against months ago. They knew that if the government did not charge anybody with arson and banned all building on burnt ground that this would continue.
FACT: The Government ENCOURAGED the continued arson attacks by bringing illegal building into the city planning.
FACT: The Government is removing the protection on forests, further encouraging the arsonists
FACT: PEOPLE HAVE DIED because of somebody's incompetence.
FACT: The minister of the Interior was more concerned with hiring 'Agrofilakes' a do nothing job (see previous postings) than hire fire-fighters.

It should be noted that it took the personal appearance of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Works to the devastated areas, and personally kick start an organised response, before them everyone was running around like headless chickens. But it was a response too late.

While journalists are warning opposition parties away from commenting on the death and destruction around us, they are allowing the government to say how well they are dealing with the crisis, apparently the Foreign Minister appeared on BBC to say how everything is under control.
yeah right... great Tourism slogan, oh hang on, what was this years big tourism push, come and purchase land in Greece, what a coincidence...

Out with the old, in with New Democracy

2007-08-22T15:28:00.000+03:00

Who/What is New Democracy? Ι start with these guys because they are the governing party and it seems fair that they go first.

New Democracy is the leading conservative party of Greece formed in 1974 by Constantine Karamanlis. He ran on a platform of 'Its either me or Dictatorship', needless to say, he won. It would be a more modern and progressive party than the previous right-wing parties that had gone before. This task was made difficult in that many right-wing politicians from other parties, joined him. As a result the current New Democracy party is formed of an amalgam of right wing ideas and people. You can find former Nazi-Military Dictatorship types as members, people who support the power of the Church in policy making, Pro-King and Anti-King, Free-marketeers, and those who believe that large enterprises should only be run by the government.

The party is now led by the founders Nephew, Constantine Karamanlis. (Greek politics are a family affair, more on that later) As far as policies are concerned, ND is not similar to the Tories of the UK, the Republicans of the USA or the Liberals of Australia, but more akin to the Christian Democrats of Italy prior to Berlusconi. It believes in a Paternalistic government which has a role to play in the economy. This is why it has not liberalised the market or made business any easier for entrepreneurs. It does have a platform of small government but since being elected it has gone on a recruitment binge increasing the size of the civil service, most of whom are 'administrative'. In other words only a few of those do 'actual' work like nurses, doctors, police or ditch diggers.

Despite their slogan 'Power in change' (if i translate correct) more than anything they represent the status quo. 'We will provide jobs to everybody' and 'continue farming the way you always have and we will subsidise you' is what they are saying. They represent a comfortable Greece. No fundamental restructuring of Greece's economy has been implemented by this party even though, one would imagine that being its domain.
That said it has made some courageous decisions. It has appointed a reformer to the head of OTE, one who is actually implementing reforms much to the chagrin of ALL employees, unfortunately change is not happening fast enough to please reformers, nor is it happening across the board in ALL public sectors (eg Olympic airways, other public utilities etc.) It has also tried reforming (more like tweaking) the education system and curriculum.

So which is true you ask how can it be a reformer and for the staus quo? Well its reforms are limited and on the edges, they are not bold and drastic. And bold and drastic changes ARE needed especially if the pension funds are to be saved. These changes have not been forthcoming. I also get the impression that the government is itself embarrassed by these reforms they have made and are distancing themselves from them instead of hoisting them up as an example.

As of this post ND has a lead on the leading opopsition party PASOK of at least 3 percentage points making this party the likely winner. If it does win, there is not much hope that they will make the reforms needed in agriculture, environment, public spending, health, education etc etc, and why should they if the public do not realise the need for change and we can get by the way we always have?

Election distraction

2007-08-21T14:30:00.000+03:00

I think this is blog is just turning into a blog on Greece rather than specifically 'How to survive in Athens' which is how i started. After all i haven't written any helpful advice on what to do to survive the summer heat have i?

But recently i noticed a lot of misconceptions surrounding the parties, not only among foreigners living here but also among Greeks, so those from abroad shouldn't feel confused as they witness the election process. And it is easy to get confused, i mean why is the Socialist party always talking about fiscal responsibility? Why are the conservatives talking about increasing the size of the civil service? Surely these talking points are anethema to the respective parties. Well you would be right because they usually are, but to paraphrase the movie 300, this is Greece, and the opposite of what you would expect often occurs.

And this is why Communists hardly mention the average workers, why the Church dabble's in politics in contrast to what happens in other western countries, and so on and so forth. This is why i will attempt to shed some light in the following days on the parties and the elections here in Greece. The benefit to this is that i also have something more to write about, oh joy :)
Of course what i will write will be based purely on viewing their actions and their policies and should not be taken as a definitive guide.

Elections in Greece, the burning question

2007-08-20T12:02:00.000+03:00

Schadenfreude - watching illegal villas going up flames.

This sums up my feelings when i saw the villas going up in flames last week in Pendeli. 13 years ago the suburb was the victim of arson, burning huge swaths of forest. Replanting did occur, as did illegal housing. Some of the land was also divvied up to the journalist pension fund, which explains why it was a huge news item when it went up in flames, and why illegal housing is a non news item. Distraught faces wept on TV as they saw their property burn. They also had the audacity to ask for government funds to rebuild. Thats what insurance is for... whats that? Can't get insurance on illegal villa's? You never tried getting insurance... well excuse me for mentioning the obvious, why should elite lawbreakers get my sympathy?

While Pendeli burned the government finally announced the election date, September 16. So from now until then the TV chanels are going to be full of yelling politicians - Woohoo!
Journalists are also waiting expectantly for the official announcement of the campaign slogans.
Who cares about party platform, policy statements or vision statements on the future of Greece, all we care about are the party slogans so we can chant them on the streets like soccer hooligans, which is what Greek elections are like actually.

But they are also fun and many things, such as the true character of Greece and its citizens are revealed in these days, which is why i will be watching expectantly this whole election process.
Already the dirty politics have begun with the governing New Democracy party blaming the PASOK government for setting the fires to divert attention from the election announcement. Oh yes this is going to be a good clean fight!

Election Fever spawns feverish humour

2007-08-07T14:21:00.000+03:00

You might have heard the saying "Fact is stranger than fiction", well it appears that this is one of those situations. The Minister of Transport and Communication has released an official press release regarding the timing of the imminent elections - precise date unknown.

Roughly translated it reads;

"You're asking me? Can't you see? Can't you hear? Aren't you listening?
Why are you asking me?"

Fantastic! Thats what i say.
The man is obviously a clown, the question is, "Why is he still there?"

This follows on from a recent law which 'legalises' over 3000 stremmata of land and brings them into the city plan. By legalising these illegal houses and property the government has effectively green lighted continued illegal housing and as a consequence, the burning of forests (and the death and destruction it causes) upon which more illegal houses can be built and eventually legalised. If there are no ramifications for these actions, why shouldn't they continue to burn and build? It's cheaper than being legal.

One point you may have noticed is that they bring these newly legalised property into the city plan. But surely you ask yourself, first comes the plan, then the building. Unfortunately this is not how things generaly work. Buildings go up first and then public services and utilities are taken to the buildings. That's why Athens sometimes appears to be jumbled up. Roads that suddenly narrow from 2 lanes to one half, plots of land that are 40 square meters next to another which is 100. Some roads with footpaths, others with telephone poles. That's all because city planning has not had a chance to be implemented, with the exception of a few suburbs (such as the Olympic village and land set aside for civil servents [judges, military/police officers] etc). All this haphazard building of course raises the cost of public utilities as these haven't been budgeted for, nor planned in the most efficient manner which takes this issues into account.

We may not have the most organised of cities, but at least we have a funny government we can laugh at - thats something to wipe away our tears.

Amorous Athens in August - An attempt at alliteration

2007-08-06T09:27:00.000+03:00

August has arrived and Athens is truly lovely at this time of year. For the most part of the year Athens is very hectic, and on average you should estimate at least 50 minutes driving time to go anywhere and expect to be stuck in traffic and not find a seat at your destination. In August however, Athens really changes.

I still remember my first August in Athens. I was walking down Kolonaki and there was this strange noise, i looked around, nothing. I continued walking and there it was again, then i realised, it was the sound of my footsteps! I could even hear birds chirping in the trees and antennas. I could actually smell the trees and believe it or not, the air was without pollution!
I walked up Lycabettus hill and looked across a sprawling Athens and the sky was so clear i could see for miles. The other day i went to visit a friend in Glyfada and a trip that usually takes 45 minutes, i did in 15 minutes! Oh joy of joys.

In the month of August when at least half the population has left, you truly realise how beautiful this city is, and, how small it is. The distances are not so great to go from one part to another, its just the traffic that makes everything so long and seem distant. With most people gone, parking is so easy. Heck you can even walk on the footpath without having to dodge parked cars and motorbikes zooming by! If you find yourself still in Athens in this month, make the most of it, go to the Acropolis and look over this pollution free city - before the crowds return again.
And as you walk down the streets and see the beautiful sites, maybe like me, you can once again fall in love with this city as you remember why it is we stay in this hectic city and try to survive in Athens.

Being in the Spotlight: The Greek Paradox

2007-08-02T13:33:00.000+03:00

I found a couple of interesting sites the other day all thanks to an article in e-tipos featuring blogs in and about Greece. You can find the English transcript of the article here. Many thanks to California Kat who informed me about the article and who runs the informative 'American in Athens' blog, by far the best site i have ever seen that answers the questions that civil servants won't answer.

As a result of this publicity I have had to clean up this site, make it nice and neat... adding tabs, cleaning up the links (thanks Hans) etc... because now all of a sudden i have visitors :)
If i was true Greek housewife of the old school, this would never have happened.

If you ever step inside any Greek home you will be immediately hit by the smell of chlorine and detergent. Greek homes are always kept in a constant state of cleanliness ever ready to greet guests, be they friends or strangers. When a relative, in-law or friend visits, the house will automatically be graded and the results communicated through a mysterious mothers info hotline 'And would you believe it' a mother would say ' i found dust behind the cabinet, apa pa pa!'. This was annoying as kid as it felt as though i was constantly living in a guest home, oh how i envied the other kids who could do as they liked in their own home.

Despite Greek mothers obsession with chlorine and cleanliness however, the sad truth is that it usually ends where the property ends. Once you step out of the disinfectant zone that is their residence, you find yourself on the public streets of Athens, where cigarette butts, dog/cat food and rubbish bags abound. This reflects a strange dichotomy among Athenians. Ever proud of their personal cleanliness (i am serious, bugs are scared of entering these places) public property is unfortunately treated in some cases as a public dump. No, not all of Athens is like that. Go to the expensive suburbs and you risk being swept up by the cleaning machines.

Its just that there are so many historic and beautiful buildings and even a few parks in Athens that i just wish that they were all taken care of the same way as the inside of private houses were. Now that would be something to brag about.
Maybe we should just privatise these places, give them to Greek mothers and say that the In-laws are coming, now there's an idea...

How colour clouds perception in Greece

2007-07-31T09:17:00.000+03:00

If you want to be able to survive in Athens and Greece in general, you have to understand the role colour plays in everyday society. When i say colour i don't mean how Greeks treat Chinese or Africans. While Greeks attitude to foreigners can certainly be improved, i must admit that foreigners are not treated with the same amount of viciousness that one would see in Australia.

I am talking about the colour of political parties. You might have heard it being said if you live here, 'I don't have a colour' or 'Are you Green?' 'What should i expect from you, you're Blue!'.
Each colour corresponds to a political party, and be extension to a set of political views.
Blue represents the New Democracy Party (don't ask me what happened to the Old democracy)
Green represents the PanHellenic Socialist Movement (No they are not Green because they are environmentalists) .
Red represents the myriad Communist parties that exist such as main KKE (Hellenic Communist Party) as well as the M-L KK (Marxist-Leninist Communist Party, not to be confused with the L-M KK the Leninist Marxist Communist Party).

So for example, the rally to save the forests was 'colourless'. The farmers who came out protesting low subsidies was a Blue-Red protest.

These colours permeate throughout Greek society and espousing one colour or another is seen as a ticket to success. For example, despite efforts to introduce some sort of merit to the hiring process, when New Democracy came to power a few years ago there were media reports that the party faithful had taken to wearing blue ties when attending government job interviews thus declaring their allegiance and securing a job despite their lack of qualifications.
This has led to a pityable culture where party faithfullness is more important than merit. And with one third of the workforce employed by the government, many see the only way of getting a job is by entering this culture, despite their initial reticence and disgust at such a system.

And such a disgust does exist and i see and hear it when i talk to people, especially the young and idealistic people. Some get bitter at being turned back and rejected that they enter it and a few others embrace it from the beginning.

You can survive without any colour in Greece, but it is a difficult road. So if you are living here and are trying to survive without a colour, i commend your efforts for not taking the easy road. But if you have succumbed after a struggle, there is no shame because, employment does have its rewards.

Public activism does not equal whining - A protesters response

2007-07-30T09:33:00.000+03:00

Driving up to Volos on the weekend i passed a few of the burnt areas, coincidently to be found near the national highway, coincidently on the other side of other cafe's, just the perfect place if you want to start a Highway cafe.

Today i want to respond to a comment made/repeated by Greece's most well know blogger vrypan (Panagiotis Vryonis). His post written in Greek (click here) says "I would like to see at least half of the protesters who gathered days ago outside by the Parliament, to help the northern Greeks in their work efforts. And prove that we are not only for complaining and demonstrations!"

As one of the people who turned up to the demonstration i take offence at his depiction of the people who gathered as a bunch of whining demonstrators. Many politicians and their news lackeys in Greece have chosen to ignore the rally and denegrate it and the people who turned out. I dont know precisely what vrypan has against these people but i do know that it confused the Party Hacks, people who care more for their parties than than the country, because, as i commented before, I believe it was the largest non-politically organised rally since the fall of the dictatorship.

At least 90% of rallies in Greece are organised by the parties who bus people in, door knock and make sure that the bodies turn up. If you ask anyone at these rallies why they are there, most will spout slogans and others who are truthfull will say 'The party needs my support'.
PASOK, to its credit hasn't organised many rallies and instead has let New-Democracy poke their eyes out. When they were in opposition they organised rallies at the drop of a hat and now they have lost control of their faithfull who are still protesting in order to get the government jobs and subsidies which were promised them 'I protested for you, now its time to pay us back'

What exactly does vrypan want?
I guess i could become a fire-fighter- if the government was hiring that is. Instead the Government chose to re-instate Horo Filakes (something like country policy which operated like the Gestapo during the dictatorship, and disbanded by the centre left govt.) with that money.
If i was one of the handful of people hired (currently undermanned by at least 4000 people) i would have been inadequetly trained for 3 months (according to the fire services who have been begging and pleading for better training regimes)
I could have read the training books written in Katherevousa back in 1970 (which the fire services have been pleading to be updated)
I could have been sent with inadequate and outdated equipment to fight the fires and maybe have been killed.
Would that have proved that i am not a whiner?

Again: the rally was a reminder to the Government and every politician to uphold the laws, primeraly Reforestation! Because If one square meter of the burnt areas gets built on, gets sold from the church to private builders, gets turned into a casino, and most horribly gets pardoned by the government and brought into the city planning structure, if any of that happens, no matter what gets done now, they justify the actions of the arsonists and in effect legalise the murder and destruction that the fires have done. Because the ends will have justified the means, especially if there are no consequences for their actions.
Thats what the rally was about.

Don't forget what the protesters knew, the government belongs to the people and the politicians are our servants and have a duty to listen to us, uphold the laws and do what is right!

A bloggers dilema

2007-07-26T13:30:00.000+03:00

When i started this blog, i thought it would be a nice medium to practice my writing through my observations about Greece and obviously more particularly what it is like to survive in Athens. Barely had i put my toe in the water when i suddenly get overtaken by current events. That's when i realised that most blogs out here in the blogosphere, the content is erratic as blogs regulary get swept up by current events, current likes and dislikes and sometime narcissm of their owners.

Erratic as my thoughts are at this moment. I wanted to write about food here in Athens today, but as the fires continue to burn their way through Greece, leaving behind them a swathe of burnt trees and dreams. A state of Emergency has been declared in the region of Kefalonia. The villages of Skala, St George, Kapitsa, Xenopoulo, Markopoulo, Kremmidi and Pastra have been evacuated. Fires are still raging in Old Sagiada, Thesprotia, Kotili in Kastoria, Velvento in Kozani, Nikiforo in Drama, Kanalia in Volos, Nigrita Serres, Livadi, Eidomeni in Kilkis, Amarando Konitsa, Psari Megalopolis, Metaxades Messinia, Lagada in Thessaloniki and the islands of Chios, Hydra. Over a hundered houses have been burnt down.

Another person died last night and the fires raging in Achaia in the Pelopennese are burning down irreplacable forests as well as destroying, murdering? wildlife found nowhere else in Europe. What can i do? I can't pretend that nothing is happening, i can't write about food.

I am angry!
Angry at every politician who talks big and does nothing!
Angry at my fellow citizens who will purchase land in these areas!
Angry at the Builders who will build there!
Angry at the ecological catastrophe which is taking place before my eyes!
Angry ... but oh so helpless

At the rally i was glad, so enheartened to realise that there were many others who felt the same way as i do. This blog has also made me realise that there are so many more who were not able to go, who felt just as strongly, if not a whole lot more strongly over what we are witnessing.
And right now that is what i will concentate on... I will keep in mind that there are many of us who wish to see the burnt areas reforested and back the way they were, not for us but for future generations of the whole world.

I will consider where i place my vote carefully these elections.
I will tell others what i think about this situation and convince those around me why it is important that these areas be reforested and the criminal, murderous arsonists be brought to justice.
I know i am not alone.

Greek Media Bored with fires

2007-07-24T18:17:00.000+03:00

Fires are still raging all over Greece, but they have become so common, like waking up in the morning that it takes a tragedy to remind them of the fires.

Unfortunately thats what happened yesterday when a Canadair plane which drops water on the fires crashed, killing both pilots. That brings the death toll of firefighters to 5 by my count. People, politicians are looking for someone to blame for these fires...

Here's a radical idea... How about charging someone for these fires. Unfortunately Greece's track record in this is abyssmal. Fellow blogger over at http://grigsgr.blogspot.com/ quotes the newspaper Kathimerini and states...

According to the National Statistics Service, a total of 1,502 people were convicted on arson charges between 1997 and 2004. Two in three (947) of those convicted got suspended jail sentences while nearly a third (464) were given sentences they could buy off. Just 6 percent (90) served jail time.

The penal code provides for jail sentences of up to 10 years, and a fine ranging from 15,000 euros to 150,00 euros for convicted arsonists.

Again my frustration over current events is coming through... i promise to change subject soon

Turkish news live from Athens

2007-07-23T09:50:00.000+03:00

If you happened to switch on the tv on the weekend to watch the news, you may be excused if you thought you had woken up in Turkey somehow. That's because the news was focusing on the Turkish elections, by my watch 26 minutes out of a 30 minute programme.

Relations between Greece and Turkey are in an ever constant state of flux. There has been a feeling of distrust dating from the 400 years occupation from the Ottoman empire, there have been periods of rapprochement, occupation again - this time of Cyprus, to one of assistance such as the time when Greece lent aid following the disastrous earthquake Turkey suffered.
This has meant that many Greeks distrust Turks while at the same time they will give a kidney and go there for shopping or a holiday.

As a result of these tumultous events, Greece takes a keen interest in developments in Turkey. There is obviously concern as to whether the far right extremists would get into power, basically Greece is hoping for nice and calm neighbours. It seems as though a far right group which was throwing around hangman noose's at public rallies has entered parliament as a relatively strong force. One Greek academic mentioned that no matter who gets elected into parliament - the accountability that comes with the seats may temper the more outrageous comments.

For an interesting update on the elections check out http://www.internations.blogspot.com/ written by a Netherlander in Turkey.

Oh and if you did turn on the news and you actually are in Turkey but live in Greece and have no recollection of how you got there, I know the island parties can get wild but maybe you should consider laying off the booze...

Summer time... Summer foods...

2007-07-20T09:40:00.000+03:00

As another heat wave is set to fall across Athens, without the protection offered by the cooling forests, there is nothing more refreshing than eating out in Plaka, Glyfada by the sea... well actually anywhere outside, Athens has many places. Order an Ouzo or Tsipouro with ice, accompany that with some dishes like tomato-keftes, saganaki, fried zucchini, Baked peppers stuffed with rice, raisins and pine nuts, and of course a salad. How can you not order a greek salad?

Well maybe you should. Greek cuisine is actually very diverse and rich. Thessaly- central greece- cook with fruits, Islander cooking is influenced by other islands in the mediterranean and the Island of Astypalia make some delicious food flavoured with saffron which is picked locally from the cliff faces. And this is just a brief glimpse of the food offered, that could be another blog which could go on for ever! Unfortunately Greek food has been stereotyped to the Moussaka and the Greek Salad, so when tourists come here thats all they order, well for the most part if i can over-generalise.

Waiters will see locals as well as a few mainland Europeans who order two-three dishes including a salad. But many tourists will just order a Greek Salad, so its not uncommon to see in Plaka a table of tourists and in front of each of them is a Greek Salad. It is very healthy but it goes against the communal eating style that exists here in Greece where everyone picks of common plates. And as a result, restaraunts are becoming stingy when it comes to putting Feta in the salad, only putting in small pieces, or even worse - Feta which isn't Greek! (Sorry but having been raised on Feta from a small child, Feta from the Northern countries [you know who you are] which is made from cow milk and then coloured white just doesn't taste the same. The same way that Australian Rocquefort tastes different, and Tofu burgers taste different from beef.)

So next time, skip the Greek Salad, be adventourous, look what nearby tables are eating and point to what you want and have one of the many other salads which they serve at Taverna's, restaraunts etc... You will be pleasantly suprised, i assure you. This way you will also avoid the Salata X (the salad chi) which is served to tourists and tastes... well more on that later.

FIRE WATCH ATHENS!
Greek newspaper Eleutheri Ora has as its headline today 'The only thing not burning is the sea'
This comes in light of recently released figures from the Fire Department which shows that from the period 1/07/2006 to 18/07/2006 there were 732 fires, this year for the same period that number has soared to 1567! More than double. The 11th of this month July saw 105 fires rage across Greece, compared to 32 from last year. Each election year see's a massive fire campaign which is deliberately set as builders quickly build on burnt land so that the government can legalise it to gain their support.

The Communist party is actually doing something, now after so many fires they have table 5 new laws. 5 new laws to waste everybodies time. 5 new laws which will never get passed. The problem isn't the laws, laws against arson, against illegal buildings, environment protection already exist here in Greece, and have existed for a long time now. The problem is enforcement, none of these laws are ever enforced. Instead of acting as a Public Watchdog and pointing out corruption and government ineptitude and doing something useful it instead resorts to empty meaningless gestures. My beef with them is that they should do something useful, if they are not part of the solution they are part of the problem.

Some shopping tips for Athens

2007-07-19T16:23:00.000+03:00

Soldes, Sales, Εκπτοσεις!!!
Yes its that time of year again, sale time! And sales here in Athens are quite good, ok it may not be Milan sales, but things are so overpriced here anyway that sales are a good time to shop and buy things at a decent price. Yes you heard me right, things are very overpriced here in Athens, making it one of the most expensive places to live in the world.

In an effort to save money, many people travel to nearby Bulgaria or Turkey to do their shopping. There they can buy Greek olive oil a third cheaper than they can here, and thats not taking into account the exchange rate! In an effort to cut back on excessive price gauging the Ministry of Development i believe has set the price of certain goods.

Water is a public right here in Greece, when sitting down at cafe waiters will automatically bring you water. Tap water here in Athens is rated as amongst the cleanest in the world, but if you have to buy a water at a periptero - Do not pay more than 50 cents, if they charge more - they are ripping you off. And bottles sell even cheaper at supermarkets.
As a result many do not stock half a litre bottles and stock the 750ml bottles whose price is not capped and you can pay anything up to 2 euros!
Another scam is the humble ham and cheese toast. Don't ask me why this is so popular here but the price for this has been set at 1.50 euros. As a result ferries - where this is most popularly bought - only stock a small supply, and if you are hungry the only thing left is a ham, cheese AND tomato toasted sandwhich which can cost anything upwards of 3 euros!
A Tiropita - a cheese pie is also capped at 1.50 euros
Kaseropita - or any other cheese pie is not capped and they can charge any exhorbitant price they want!

My advice is buy a loaf of fresh bread from the bakers for 60 cents, some ham and cheese from any market and make your own sandwhich at home at pack it with you if you are REALLY desperate for something so basic, otherwise spend your money on some real food thats really worth the money. Oh and avoid the Greek salad, but more on that tommorow.

FIRE WATCH
the forests of Vrylissia have also been set alight along with the forests of Corinth. I think the count was 30 fires in 24 hours. The Mayor of Vrilissia blamed the fires on arsonists and mentioned the illegal builders his municipality is fighting over land ownership, ownership which is muddled as a result of Ottoman land registry titles, something which has never been cleared up here in Greece, but more on that another time.
More incendiary fires were found at the sites of these forest fires. The latest media craze is looking at the fires in the rest of Europe and Turkey, trying to shift the focus from local events to 'See its not only Greece, it happens elsewhere'.
Sigh...

Sales time in Athens, forests burn to make way for new developments

2007-07-17T09:55:00.000+03:00

Yes its sales time in Athens, what everyone has been waiting for, and i had hoped to write a bit about that but as fires pop up i get so angry that i have to write about them. Maybe i should just just the name of this to FIRE WATCH ATHENS. Sure is catchy, but i wish it were not necessary.

First a little background...
For the past two months community groups have been organising in the suburb of Vyronas and Kaisarianni to protest the proposed land development of the forested area which borders these suburbs. The church 'claims' that these areas belong to them. I say 'claim' because this is disputed and there are court actions to clarify this situation. The church has proposed a series of property developments in this forested area, and also claim to offer cheap housing to those with three children or more.
The locals have been protesting on their own against these land developments for two months, no thanks to the local Communist party who have been covering up the community posters with their own. Whole sections of blank wall to deface and they chose to cover up the local community groups home made posters pleading to save the environment. Bunch of....

Anyway three fires started simultaneously yesterday at around three o'clock. The local fire watch patrol saw a car drive to and from the area where one of the fires started. At the other end of the forested area a moterbike without plates was seen leaving the area by firefighters as they approached and the third fire started at the bottom, close to the road.

In other words the fires were strategically placed to burn of a specific square section of forested land, land which coincidently coincides with the area the church and builders want to develop. Land which has most probably already been sold and earmarked for building.
Coincidently the land burnt included the two hills which offered the best views of Athens.
Coincidently the same land burnt was the land claimed by the church, which excercises certain exemptions when it comes to building codes in Greece.

Coincidently... there are too many coincidences...

Photos taken from http://www.e-tipos.gr/ whose front page headlines "Everything points to Arson"

And in the end what was achieved...

2007-07-10T15:39:00.000+03:00

The big question now is What have we achieved by our protest?
I must admit, following the protest many people said Wow Great! Its good that people went, but when i ask if they went the common reply was "Nooo, why should i, nothing will change, all the politicians are corrupt/incompetent and nothing will ever change".

Well in part i agree with them and i truly understand where they are coming from. I am not naive (well maybe a little) and i know how things work here in Greece. But the 5000 at least who turned up - we knew the truth but we did not let that get us down. In my opinion if you do nothing then can you complain if you get ignored? Why should the politicians change their ways?
By at least making our voices heard, by protesting, by engaging in this Sysiphian task at least we are trying to change things. Lets not make things easy for them.

I also believe that the people who turned up were REAL Greeks, people who were really concerned about this land and country than a political party.

Athenians protest to protect the environment

2007-07-09T10:05:00.000+03:00

Where will Red Riding Hood walk if there are no forests left?

July 8th saw Athens largest non-politically organised protest since the fall of the dictatorship.
This was truly an amazing occurance, people of all walks of life came, grannies with walking sticks, Death metal heads sporting Metallica shirts, Hippies, Cyclists and Bikers, families came pushing their children in prams, Goths came with piercings in various body parts.
It didn't matter who you were, rich or poor, thousands came to Syntagma square to voice their protest over the fires and to make sure that it would be re-forested. Police estimate that when the area in front of Parliament house fills up with people, that equals 5000 people. Some people like Tsipras who recently ran as a candidate for Athens mayor estimated that as many as 40000 people came.

This rally really opened my eyes. Other rallies are politically backed and feature rent-a-crowds. Political Parties organise buses to ensure that people turn up, speeches are held and people turn up to prove their faith to the political party, real issues that affect people are rarelt raised.

Instead what we saw in Athens on Sunday were real people, people who felt that this time things had gone too far. People who really felt passionately that something had to be done and wanted to let all politicians know how angry they were.
In a symbolic gesture some people placed a plant in front of the tomb of the Unknown soldier. Police quickly swept in to remove the offending plant. This action provoked boo's and contempt from the crowd which started to crowd in closer to the tomb. The police quickly retreated.
A child then stepped forward from the amassed crowd and laid a burnt branch from Parnitha at the foot of the tomb. This was soon followed by others.

WWF was also there, as were many other bloggers who were influential in making the protest a reality.
http://salata.wordpress.com/ organised a unique demonstration. Dressed as businessmen they chanted slogans such as "Trees take up parking spots" "Deers just shit in the woods and dont turn a profit" and "Burn and Build, construction companies elect governments".
Unfortunately their dark satirical humour rang true, too true.

But i cannot stress enough how impressive this protest truly was. Over 5000 Athenians got up off their couches to protest and make their voices heard. They also performed the 'Moutza' (an open palmed insult) towards parliament building. The crowd also cried out 'Eshos' - Shame, disgrace...

I should also point out that the government spin machine is in full force and orchestrated an almost complete media blackout. Government TV stations did not report on it and instead the media is following a four year old scandal which implicates the previous government as being incompetent (and the current one too if you ask me, over 4 years to find out the obvious, they have to be incompetent to miss that). They are also reporting on how well Pendeli is being reforested. Now thats a scandal that they can truly point towards the previous government, because it is not being reforested and the old forest now features villas and highways where once trees and goat tracks existed. The only reason they are not pointing the finger is if they themselves are also implicated. - ESHOS -

Most Newspapers are completly ignoring it too, except for Ta Nea and Eleutherotypia. How the media can be so corrupt and complicent to the government line still amazes me. This is why, in part i write this blog and why i write it in English, so that those who live outside can also realise what is happening here.

But as the people, by their mere turning up to the protest exhibited, this shame will not be tolerated for much longer and we will be watching.

Correction

2007-07-04T13:02:00.000+03:00

Well, while people may be turning to blogs for activism and the truth, we are fallible!

I must issue a correction. I said a couple of days ago that a law should be passed banning apartments being built where forests use to be. Well such a law exists, not only that, but apparently nothing is allowed to be built until it gets re-forested as it was before, in other words something like a 100 years have to pass first.

Which reminds me, Greece has passed some of the best laws and was well ahead of its time. Take for example the bill allowing the Athens Metro to be built which was passed in the 1890's. Well ahead of its time and foretelling the needs of the future. Trouble is it took over 100 years for the Metro to be built.

In effect this and other laws are never enforced, not a single builder has been brought to court, no fine given, nothing whatsoever. Do the police suffer from blindness? Are the local Mayors indifferent? Does the electricty company not realise where they are connecting electricty?

Well this is where corruption rears its ugly head, how else to explain it? A comedian, Lazopoulos, which i dont like, raised a similar point. He recounted how he overheard developers talkign about where they were going to build after the fire in Penteli, selling plots of land, and has justice been dealt? No.

However in a recent development, Home owners in Salamina have been receiving fines because their houses have been illegally built, maybe justice does act, but like the case with the Metro, 100 years has to pass first. This is a pitfall for many home buyers who are purchasing old houses/apartments, they often realise too late that the house they just bought is illegal and face huge fines. So if buying proprty in Greece, caveat emptor!

Greeks utilise new media to enact change

2007-07-03T10:45:00.001+03:00

The traditional news media has turned to its usual tricks. Government media and right wing stations like Antenna are glossing over the fire and are presenting things in a manner where everything has returned to normal. Center-left media like Mega are trying to place blame on government inaction for the fires. Meanwhile STAR channel is back to showing bums on beaches and an expose on the daily fashion of morning tv presenters!
SKAI tv, though new on the scene and traditionaly politically right leaning, seems to have an enlightened production and editorial team and is actually reporting on the environmental consequences of the fire.

Experts interviewed predict a rise in the temprature in Athens of approx. 2 degrees which suggests that we will be facing a few more heat waves this summer. We should also expect major flooding of suburbs here in Athens as there is now nothing to retain the water as it comes flooding down Parnitha mountain. Air quality is also expected to decrease, with all this bad news maybe i should turn to bums on beaches to forget it all.

Faced with these outcomes Athenians have turned to blogs, emails and SMSs to rally people together to voice their protest over the fires and to demand that these areas are re-forested. While Greeks like to protest, most of them are orchestrated by the different parties. This one is unique as it appears to have come about from the people themselves.
Tired of being managed, lied to with empty promises, honestly scared by what they have seen and realistic of what will become of these burnt areas, they themselves have turned to the only media that they have a voice in, and have utilised it for action. It's amazing the way these emails and messages have spread out, they have spread out like a virus, from network to network, company to competitor, where they have been met with agreement. At the moment the only stumbling block may be laziness, oh, and those bums at the beaches.

Despite that, lets hope it works.

So if you are in Athens, July 8 come and see the protest at 7 o'clock Syntagma Square.

Don't worry - Its the forests fault

2007-07-02T10:53:00.000+03:00

Parnitha before

Parnitha now

In a dramatic turn of events, the Minister of Public Order Byron Polydoros announced over the weekend that the fault of the forest fire was a direct result of the forest being there and that it was growing wild, too closely together and it was too green.

Well i for one am glad that its been solved - pesky forests - growing as they please!
Though perhaps, if we give him the benefit of the doubt, what he might have wanted to say is that there was no Forest Management system in place. Well at least i hope so.

The President of Greece said that it was a day of mourning, he asked the nation to consider what legacy will be left to our children if we continue to disregard nature. The Prime Minister in turn promised that Parnitha and all the areas struck by fires will be re-forested and he emphasised "I say it and i mean it" which makes me wonder about the other things he said...

Cynicism blooms as promises are made

A pro-government newspaper Eleutheri Ora had as its headline today 'Parnitha re-forested with
apartment blocks and maissonetes. ' The reason for this cynicism is because its an Election year.
What's this got to do with anything i hear you ask. Well unfortunately elections in Greece are a time when general amnesty's are given.
For example, to help pedestrians - cars parked on footpaths were fined in Athens. When Dora Bakoyianni became Mayor of Athens, the first thing she did was to give a reprieve to all those who had been fined - end result - everyone parks where they want, don't pay the fine and wait for the next reprieve.

The same goes for illegal houses/bars etc. A famous cartoonist (Kyr) showed a house being built on the Acropolis with the caption "No worries, some politician will come along and make it legal"

In another example of blatant transgression of the laws, Greek Media Magnate Kyriakou apparently extended the training ground of his team onto the grounds of a large park in Athens. Opposition media SKAI tv together with the local pensioners association and Boy Scout troup organised a re-planting on Public Property. Angered by this, Kyriakou called in the police who wielded their truncheons on kids and eldery who were planting trees on public property.

But enough cynicism, lets hope for the best.

Meanwhile concern has also been raised over the plight of the last remaining red deer of Greece. People's reaction to this was

"What, we still have deer in Greece!?!?"

Well apparently we do. Again we hope that something gets done.

Politicians point fingers while Greece burns

2007-06-29T13:05:00.000+03:00

Picture from leading newspaper Ta Nea- http://www.tanea.gr/

As Athens woke up this morning to the smell of burning fires and witnessed their cars covered in a fine sheet of ash, the reality of events began to settle.

While i was writing yesterdays blog, politicians came out and announced that recent upgrades will ensure no power outages or restrictions and no-one had to fear the fires as everything was ready. Hours later a major power station in the region of Macedonia, overburdened by electricy demand, blew its fuses sending a casquede effect down the lines, plunging the whole of northern Greece into a blackout.

Meanwhile the fires increased in intensity and numbers jumping to over 300 flare-up according to government news media. Of the 22 fire fighting planes, only nine were capable of flying and of those, two returned to base for maintence. Politicians who were previously telling everyone that everything was under control began to realise that we were now facing the most devastating fire in a decade. People whose houses were under threat from the fires appeared on tv to plead for firefighters to make an appearance to save their homes, firefighters in turn blamed understaffing (They claim that there are 4000 positions to be filled in their ranks). The government blamed the opposition for years of lax management. The opposition blamed the current government for not implementing any change, and the Communists... well they blamed the dominant two party system and the imperialist capitalist system and advocated a fundamental change to the political system.

Firefighters clock out - Volunteers clock in

Meanwhile the mayor of Parnitha, home to the last vestiges of green forest in the Attica basin, Athens lungs so to speak came out and pleaded for HELP and pointed out that finger pointing can be done later, but that he needed help NOW, before it was to late. Help did come. Apparently as the firefighters shift ended last night they abandoned two water tankers, these were commandeered by some 50 volunteers, some of them army, who went out by themselves to fight the fires.

Already at the sites of two fires evidence of foul play was found. At one a warning flare was found and at another a petrol jerry can with 30 shotgun shells. Some of the morning media have already pointed the finger at building companies who have been eyeing these green areas for building development for a number of years.

Right now Greece is asking for help from its neighbours in fighting these fires, unfortunately when the fires are quenched i fear that the same complacency that existed before will return. Sure much finger wagging will be had, voices raised on the television and a number of good plans raised, but if those who are at fault don't step up and admit fault nothing will change.

And to whom do i point and wag my finger - Well the fault is our own. Sure some can say that the government is corrupt and inneficient, or that many of the firefighters were only chosen according to whom they voted and only wanted a job where they were not expected to do anything. And those poor 'innocent' people who appeared on tv and cried for their houses to be saved, houses which were built not ten meters away from the forest (In Greece it is illegal for houses to be built any closer to 50 meters from the forest) - sure we could blame them, or even cheer at some sort of cosmic karma, but that's too easy.

We are to blame because we do not DEMAND from OUR government accountability, even NGO's such as WWF who have been pointing out the lack of fire breaks and proper forest management seem to be content to just point things out but do not follow up. No one does.
Partly its our own greed. "Atrocious that houses are being built where forests used to be, but if i save up, i too can own a house there..." Another part is our own complacency or lack of fight, the current system has been so ingrained in us that we don't believe we can fight it.

That being said action should be done by the government, they are the only people who can legislate after all. Do what Spain does, ban any building on burnt areas for 20 years, that is a first step. Do what Australia does - educate children on dealing with fires and the law. I never lived near a forest yet i know what i should look out for if i live near a forest.

The forest fires are still burning, while this is tragic i hope that this will be a catalyst for change.

Here are some pictures from local newspapers;

http://www.e-tipos.gr/

Greece burns - Civil servants take the day off

2007-06-28T08:33:00.000+03:00

Record Highs

This week has seen record tempratures all over Greece. Last Tuesday the temprature hit a whopping 47C degrees in the centre of Athens! In an effort to fight the heat all the air-conditioners were put on max which contributed to the high tempratures.

Living in a concrete city like Athens only excacerbates the high tempratures. Green gardens in front of apartments have been built over to increase the inside apartment space in many suburbs. A culture of car dependence (car showing off) means that many have bought the latest luxury/sporty car and drive it everywhere, even if its to the local shop for some milk, just so they don't have to walk and to show off. This too increases the temprature highs.

This has also caused a strain on energy supply, the government is informing everyone to shut off all non-essential appliances in an effort to reduce energy use. Greece imports a lot of its energy from near-by countries such as Bulgaria, Italy and Turkey. I should also mention that Greece is far behind in reaching its commitment to renewable energy, such as wind turbines etc.
A recent wind energy park proposal on an island is being faught by nearby residents citing concerns that it would impact tourism. Another dirty coal burning plant scheduled to be shut down is still operating, not because of the energy it produces, but the locals who are dying at the age of 50 because of the pollution the dinosaur of a plant produces, demanded it be kept operational for the jobs it supplied. And since they die earlier because of it, the least the government could do is give them government jobs.

The government has also ordered that public services cease at 12:00 midday. This is so that energy consumption can be reduced. Unfortunately many left and forgot to turn them off, meaning that nothing was achieved. That sort of sums up the public service actually.

Greece has also been struck by at least 75 seperate fires. The government is calling on other governments to help them combat the fires. While many of the fires may be accidental there is a lot of cynicism in the country regarding them. Many blame the excessive smoking which goes on and people just throwing their cigarette butts out the window. A greater majority however blame the citizens and builders. Previous fires have cleared large sections of wooded areas where it is illegal to build. After the fires, no wood/forests, building becomes no problem!
Penteli which still has some forest left was the site of major fires a few years ago. Now it is becoming heavily populated by houses and apartments.

Why haven't the media brought it up you ask and bring it to public attention?

I don't know. Of course what many Athenians cite is that many top rated journalists have bought houses there, so really they should know first hand about whats going on. But there are some very nice houses up there now, wouldn't have been possible without the fires...

...and so it goes.

Al Gore in Athens

2007-06-14T09:03:00.000+03:00

While George Bush was getting his watch stolen in Albania, former Vice President Al Gore was touring giving a personal presentation of his award winning documentary of an Inconvenient Truth.

Now is it just me or am i always the last person to find out things that are happening in Athens. I moved to Athens because there are always a lot of things going on. Unfortunately, they happen so fast that they are usually over if you don't pay special attention. This is true for independent movies to lectures and presentations.

I had heard about the Al Gore lecture a week ago but could not find details on the where and the when, it was only when i picked up a free daily newspaper that i saw 'Tonights Happenings'. When i arrived at the Megaro Mousikis it was clear that many had heard. Admission was free and the hall he was presenting in was full within minutes (Granted many of these seats were reserved for dignitaries and journalists). A second hall was quickly filled to near capacity were we could see the presentation on the big screen via a live feed. A simultaneous interpretation into Greek made it easy for the Greek speakers to follow. Unfortunately when it became apparent that we would not be able to hear him in English, many left, i assume they were English speakers, American who wanted to hear him.

My impression on the night was varies, a lot of what he 'revealed' I was taught in High School back in Australia, and i went to a normal government school. So half of what he said was not new. The other half i suppose was just continuing on from where i had graduated school. In other words, Few shock revelations.
What was revealing was the power of Photographs, images were presented of what is happening to our earth and in this digital Youtube age it is easy to forget the power that a single frame image can have.

What was revealing was the statistics which a University study came up with.
Roughly - From over 900 academically refereed articles on Climate Change/Global Warming, none - 0- nada zilch presented it as though it was open for debate, in other words - it is happening and we are witnessing the early stages. In contrast
From over 600 news articles - 53% reported it as if it was still debatable. If that is the case - who are the Academics backing up these news articles - who do these journalists quote if it is debatable?

Why is it so I wonder?

On the whole however not being in the same room as Al Gore meant that i missed some of the enthusiasm and vigour he puts into his presentation and we only heard bits and pieces of it, from the vigorous applause he was receiving I assume he went down well.

Another thing I noticed is that cargo pants and satchel bags were the dress code of the day.

But too many questions for one day...

Taxi driver apprehended, thousands still free

2007-06-06T13:24:00.000+03:00

I should note that the Champions League final was marred when a taxi driver beat up a Liverpool fan. According to news reports the fan and his children took the taxi from the airport to their hotel in Nea Makri. Upon arriving the driver requested 95 euros as his fee, when asked by the fan "why is it more than the 25 euros indicated by the meter" the driver offered him a discount and asked for only 75 euros. Most probably having had enough the fan asked for a reciept where he was then beaten in front of his children, and the taxi driver drove off with his luggage and more importantly his match tickets.

Now we hear that the police have actually caught the taxi driver in question (when asked he apparently didn't realise he left with their luggage but when he did find out he left it on the pavement so that a "concerned citizen" could return it to the rightfull owner.

HAH!

I have relatives who are taxi drivers, unfortunatly however it can be really painfull and stressfull should you have to deal with taxi drivers. You could wait half an hour shouting out your destination to 70 taxis in the hope that one of them will take you to where you want to go. When you get in, if you are female you will of course be chatted up (and if you're really lucky invited out to a night of Cretan dancing!). You will be driven through random suburbs, slowly so that the driver can pick up a second or third passenger. Another trick they do is flick the thumb up while changing gear and change the meter from zone 1 to zone 2. Zone 2 is double and is used only after midnight. So if you land in Athens at 11:30 and need a taxi, forget it. They all dissapear until midnight so that they can charge double.

Without Discrimination

Taxi drivers may be the least racist of all Greeks. If its female they will hit on her. Foreigner or local, no difference, they will cheat both without discrimination.
When tourists come here they feel pity for them "Oh my how can they survive on such a low wage". Since these are the only working greeks they meet they fail to realise that wages are low for the vast majority living here. Its a tough place to survive.
What this has done however is given taxi drivers a feeling that they are entitled to more and entitled to cheat others to supplement their low income. Regardless of the fact that they are amongst the biggest tax evaders out there (up there with doctors and lawyers). Every second or third passenger is money in the pocket as there is no evidence of them using their service. Whenever the meter is not running, that too is money in the pocket.

Know your rights

When catching a taxi you might want to know that they are legally required to indicate that their taxi is Vacant (using the Eleuthero - Vacant sign on the dash) this is almost always turned down.
When they stop they are required to take you where you want to go - You don't have to stand like a hooker on a corner soliciting taxis for an hour or a minute.
They must ask your permission if you want another person to share your taxi.
They must leave you at the destination you specified otherwise they forfeit the fare.
You are entitled to a reciept (Legally speaking i think you are legally required to ask for one)
If you suspect that they are driving you in circles you can ask to be driven to a police department.
You can also take down their details and present them to the tourist police if you believe that you have been wronged.

Another note, the income they recieve from the taxi meter is decided upon by government in association with the Taxi drivers association. What is indicated on the meter, even if its a trip from Athens to Thessaloniki has been deemed enough for the taxi driver.
If you think thats low, well welcome to Greece!

PS. I just walk or try to take the Metro, who has time dealing with these clowns

Notes on a long weekend

2007-05-29T13:38:00.000+03:00

Yesterday, Monday, was a public holiday here in Greece, i believe it was Aghios Pneuvmatos (correct me if i am wrong) which does not translate into Saint Lung, but something like Holy Spirit.

So since it was going to be a long weekend i decided to stock up on emergency food, basically bread, cheese and ham. If all else failed, i could make myself something to eat - no worries, i wouldn't starve. And of course as is always the case in these situations but that a friend sees me. Over she comes, has a look in my basket and of course notices the lack of fruit, vegetables and any real food in the basket.
So of course she thinks typical guy living by himself incapable of feeding himself beyond a ham and cheese toast. But i can do more than that, honest! (I have pickles at home! Another good emergency food) Anyway after that, partly from the embarrassment, i went by a new Organic shop that has opened up near me.
Living in Athens i am quite lucky because the open air fruit and veg markets are excellent! You can find excellent quality fruit and veg at very cheap prices, especially compared to Australia. Unfortunately because of work i can't make it that often. So this organic shop is a good alternatitive. I have noticed quite a few of them opening up over the recent years and you should pop in because as i discovered they have a whole lot more. Things like Organic Beer from Crete, Wines from all over Greece as well as cheese, milk, bread fruit and veg. Fantastic!
I left the store with some fruit, some really crispy apples as well as Hazelnut milk which made for a great ingredient in pancakes. They added a real nutty flavour to them.
So pop into and try them out!

BBC Bias in their reporting
Thanks to those of you out there who gave me a heads up on the BBC reporting on the Final in Greece last week. I managed to catch some of their reports. While Athens was inundated with English fans for the final and did cause a mess (see previous posts) they did behave themselves. They didn't riot or attempt to overthrow the government. The BBC reports on match night made it sound as though the English were rioting everywhere in the streets and that the police were clubbing anyone they could find. Why did they feel the need to hype everything up? Why were their journalists so sloppy or did they just want to make headlines out of nothing?

So what did i eat on the weekend you ask?
Ham and cheese toast. This week i will cook something, i promise!

Taxation in Greece is taxing

2007-05-25T11:03:00.000+03:00

Applause!
Yes, yes thank you so very much.
After little over a week i finally managed to submit my tax form. *woohoo*
All i had to do was to wait in line at two different tax buildings, get redirected to another office just the once (for those of you who have been redirected countless times will realise how amazing this is) and hey presto one hour and three official stamps later, i managed to hand in the form.

Submitting your tax form in Athens can become complicated.
These forms can only be submitted at your 'local' Tax office which is based on your current residence. If you don't know ask your nearest tax office where you have to go.
If you have moved you also need an official stamp from your new tax office on your form before you hand your form in. Why i hear you ask? I dunno, thats just the way it goes.
I found out the hard way, after waiting in line for 50 minutes i was told that they couldn't accept it because it hadn't been stamped, as well as being told off for writing it by hand. Since this was my first time i had no other option.

Another confusing point is that throughout the document whenever it asks a question it asks you to cross (well you have to guess that you have to mark the box with an x) either Yes or 1.
Yes or 1? Whats that mean!!! Has anyone asked you to become a member of the church of Scientology and you replied with 1? I don't understand! Anyway with that cognitive hurdle sidestepped I manged to hand it in.

Soccer Fan Update
Athens is also looking a lot cleaner now that Soccer fever has died down. I was talking to a Milan supporter the day who was ripped of by a tourist agency back home. They sold him fake tickets and failed to book him a hotel room. But still he came on the off chance he could still find a ticket. He must have been one of the lucky ones because the first group of Milan fans he encountered he found someone who had a spare ticket. First though he had to listen to them chastise him for travelling without a ticket. "Whats this, how can you travel without a ticket? Where did you think you were going?" To each response he replied with the same answer "I am here now, is there a ticket?" So after half an hour of this someone said "Hang on, someone here has a spare, his friend couldn't make it" Without any hesitation he went for it.

But why is it that 10 000 English fans think it normal to travel without hotel booking, let alone without a ticket to watch the match, but completely strange for the Italians?

Anyway while i kind of miss them and the atmosphere, i can now walk in Syntagma and just lounge and wind down. Till next time.

The day after!

2007-05-24T13:38:00.001+03:00

A lone Liverpuddlian sleeps it off next to another vagrant.

Well its over and Milan finished conquerers, beating Liverpool 2-1.
It was an exciting match, with Liverpool hammering away at goal for the fist half. But unfortunately not managing to get past the excellent defence of Milan.

Which brings me to an interesting point for those of you surviving Athens, the sports commentators on the state run channel here suck, or should i say SUCK with capitals. They are so incompetent they make monkeys look like geniuses. That's because they are incapable of making any intelligent comments on the match. It's always 'lathos' a mistake by the attacker. Not once did they say good defence by the defenders! And to top it off they didn't know who was playing. They knew this match was coming yet they made no effort to find out.

All through the first half the commentator was calling Liverpool player Kuyt - Couch. At half time he made a comment that "The correct pronounciation of his name is Couch and that's how the English pronounce his name and they should know". Why the English should know how to pronounce a Dutch name, i don't know. Then 15 minutes before the end, Crouch comes on and low and behold Kuyt is called Kuyt. Where did Couch Go?!

Nowhere! It's just that the commentator was an idiot, no, he was an idiot and a half. I bet he was the same guy he yelled for an offside during a Basketball match. *sigh*
If you wanna survive in Athens you have to get used to the idea that idiots are everywhere in high places, and especially on state run tv!

On a side note, local council cleaners spent over 8 hours cleaning up the mess made by the Liverpool supporters in Syntagma square. They estimate that 200 litres of cleaning products were used to get rid of the stench of urine and beer, and over 98 tonnes of aluminium beer cans were collected.
Despite their best efforts however the place still smells.
Maybe there should be an open festival held this weekend in Syntagma selling air freshners? It's just an idea.