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Going the distance

                Since the morn of human existence, people are used to be separated by borders and boundaries. It looks quite common to us nowadays, but try thinking of a good excuse when a child asks why. What to say in those questioning eyes that ask you why nobody talks to this kid at school because he is Albanian, orAfrican or Pakistani? What is the meaning of those words and who invented them?

21st century, Greece; most of the foreigners imagine a paradise on earth: Shiny white houses in the sun, Mediterranean Sea, blue landscape and idyllic sunshine next to the coastline. If you also believe in this, it is time to bring you down to earth.

Literally, borders and boundaries even exist in human relations, often inspired by (human) politics. Greece has become a significant immigrant receiver, hosting a great total number of immigrants arriving illegally, causing public anxiety and political frictions. Recently, Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), an extremely right-oriented party has entered the Greek Parliament. The chief of this party, Mr Karatzaferis is repeating again and again, directly and indirectly in the Greek Media his unique and very original migration policy embodied in just a single slogan; Greece for the Greeks. "If immigrants don't like it here they should get up and leave. Illegal immigration cannot be tolerated any more, migrants already living in Greece need to respect the country or get out".

The same time, Greek Media has created a completely non-friendly profile for immigrants whilst public opinion turns to keep a negative attitude when it comes to immigrants and foreign people moving in Greece in order to find a job. At the beginning people started being afraid of immigrants. When a burglar or a mug was mentioned on the news foreigners were the first to blame. Currently the situation is even worse. Media propaganda serving political positions obviously influences more and more Greek public opinion. Foreigners “steal our jobs, break into our houses and violate the regulations” are some of the most common arguments anybody would hear. However, few Greeks find it acceptable to work as builders, cleaners, waiters or pizza deliverers as they find them non-prestigious for themselves.

Immigration phenomenon has become more intense during the last years. On the one hand the situation becomes more complicated when Turkey appears to have no reaction with regard to illegal immigrants attempting to reach Greece through the Turkish shores. Moreover the Greek government has actually not reached a solution. None of the measures applied have worked and most of all there has been no integration policy to facilitate the integration of incoming immigrants. Reception centers around the country are flooded by immigrants who are struggling to obtain a legal permit to stay in Greece or the EU. Until now, about 250.000 illegal immigrants arriving from Albania, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bangladesh, Somalia and other parts of Africa.

On the other hand, it would be quite a hard political decision to establish more immigration centers to alleviate the problem for such a large amount of people, while Greek society is quite unwilling to accept them as its integral part. “Greeks who condone and approve the immigration/invasion fiasco are applauding their own displacement and dispossession”, is a characteristic phrase mentioned in a blog. Some have implemented a revengeful solution, sending the immigrants coming from Afghanistan and Iraq to England, considering UK “as the main responsible that created the problem by bombing these countries”. Alas, since when Zeus’s descendants became so inhospitable?  

The media propaganda machinery is in full flight. Immigrants constitute a serious threat on the Greek Media while people are being stuffed propaganda and images of the "Odyssey" of illegal immigrants in the Aegean Sea.At the same time, life in Greece is already hard and people find it difficult to make a living. Therefore, it would be not only throwing more immigrants into the “land of Eden”, as it is presented by those who transport them illegally from their countries to the coastline of Greece. It is not a question of the Greek society feeling pity or plight for immigrants. Incoming immigrants have no idea about the social status or the impact they have on Greek society. It is definitely not their fault, as they have no other way but to seek survival no matter where or how. A paperless migrant is a criminal; the laws of the country are being violated and these people do not move out creating ghetto slums and additional problems to the hosting country. This is also because Greece signed up to the so-called Dublin II Convention, which means illegal immigrants circulating in the EU must be returned to their original EU country of entry – in this case, Greece.

Motivated by the celebrations for the breakdown of Berlin’s wall, we allstarted all kind of brainstorming and mind-searching about recent and past governing and global political systems efficiency. Instead, I would challenge you to give a fair answer to all these people who cannot move or have to confront withgreat difficulties-in the worst case risk their lives- in order to travel in their own country of residence. Somalia, Mexico, Afghanistan, Colombia, Pakistan -not to forget the unsolved case in the EU- Cyprus.   

Some people are close to us and at the same time miles away. On the other hand, some others remain deep inside us although many or just few kilometers keep separating us. Since the world started we cross borders between us. The route is not always pleasant. But usually it worth’s trying.

Sofia Belegrinou

''Imperceptibly..'' 20 years after the fall of the ''Wall of Shame''

Today Βerlin celebrates. Humanity celebrates. The Wall of Berlin is just a (bad) memory.
Thousands of blogs, newspapers, channels will broadcast live from the German capital in order
to commemorate an event which changed the world as we know it. Many of them will surely speak of
the remaining walls which still stand in the planet: Korea, Cyprus, US-Mexico border, Palestine, Nothern Ireland and many more.

However, beyond the above, it seems that there is another Wall, an invisible one, which was built without understanding how and why..''Imperceptibly'' as Constantine P. Cavafy wrote in his own poem ''Walls''.

This wall knows no homeland. Nor a race, a religion or a social status. It exists ''imperceptibly'' in every one of us.

 It is the same wall which prevents us from hearing, offering, loving. Look at yourself in the mirror,think for a while and ask yourself: Do I really listen to people when they talk to you, or I just hear? Do I really understand their problems?  
People do not communicate anymore. Even in pubs, cafes, or wherever you see people socialize, you can notice that actually people do not communicate. They are just having parallel monologues. We do not actually listen to what our fellow has to share with us. What we are thinking, is our own problem, which of course is much more ''serious''. We are the centre of our world. We and our own-problems.

You can test my argument if you just notice, some small ''imperceptible'' things that we do in many cases. You walk in the street and you can notice that nobody watches were the other people are going..That's why when we ''crush'', nobody knows to which direction to head! It is the same ''imperceptible'', slight stare over the beggar, the homeless the migrant, which we unwittingly cast. We ignore the problem and we move on.
There is no actual communion between us anymore. Everything spins around our Ego.

The Age of Communication, which is supposed to be the revolution of our era, didnt manage to bring us closer. It actually did it, technically speaking, but the very context of communion changed. It became ''communication'', it was described in quantitative terms. The word communion is made of ''common'' and ''union''. But today, communication is just a series of means; it is know known through various acronyms like WAP, SMS, ADSL, 3G, WIFI, BROADBAND. Human interaction, human relations, are no more interpreted through quality but through quantity: charge per minute, volume of data.
A person I love, once wrote that ''when things which cannot be measured, start to appear through digits and numbers, then you can be sure, that we count in reverse to the end..''

We have created a world, were there is only room for one person: ME. All the others, are just people passing through, minor actors in the show..

These are the walls we have to tear down. It is the same walls who prevent us from being tolerant and open. These walls make us ready to through a stone against anything different, instead of embracing it. These walls prevent us of the poor, the immigrant, the opponent. These walls are the very routes of racism, the cornerstone of a new Holocaust.

Berlin Wall is also known as the ''Wall of Shame''. However, even though the Wall has fallen, this doesn't means that shame actually left.

Shame is all around us.

Shame is existant when poverty is a statistics measure, where 1 out of 3 doesnt has access to food. Shame is existant when the victims of a war are regarded as either ''mistakes'', or ''collateral damage'' . Shame is existant when human suffering enters in a TV-box and can generate money for the channels.

Human pain and suffering is non countable.

The refugee who lost his house in Famagusta, Cyprus in 1974, lost the same house as the Darfur-refugee last year. The immigrants from Mexico who are trying to reach the American ''Land of Promise'' have no different intentions to those East-Germans who died in the Berlin Wall, when trying to cross it. The family which found itself half in Pyong Yang and half in a Seoul-suburb is the same family which was divided in 1961 between Eastern and Western Berlin. The mother from Palestine, who holds in her hands the body of her dead child, feels the same pain as the Michaelangelo's known Pieta...

Can Papandreou turn the 2009 election to an (opposite) 1981 election?

For one thing anyone who has observed the outcome of the greek election can be sure: the absolut winner of the night was G. Papandreou.
The Conservative party, faced the worst night since its foundation on 1974. It's decision for early election was a true event of political suicide, a decision which still is not easily comprehendable.
From the qualitative characteristics of the results it is more than clear that many citizens voted for the Socialists either because they believed in Papandreou or because via that way they wanted to punish Karamanlis.
It is sure that at this very moment, the hopes of many people rallied in the face of George Papandreou.
Within the Socialist party, they seem to be realists.They say that they know the problems they are about to face: a spendthrift hydrocephalus state, chronic structural problems of the national economy, corruption. Problems that they faced before as goverment and part of which they inherited to the Conservatives on 2004.
Many, in the Socialists, claim to be ready to '' lift the sleeves''and work, following the demand of their president. The announcement of the new government will prove whether or not are we about to move towards a climate of trust which is essential at the moment.
The winner of the elections, knows that he stands alone. He knows that next to him, next to the new prime-minister, both the media and the politicians will pretend that they were always supporting him. Papandreou yesterday won a personal bid. He was alone when he became president of the Socialist Party on 2004 where nobody believed him. Alone he led the party to the electoral victory yesterday.


Those who ''inhabit by Jerusalem'' know that the new goverment will be structured upon its prime-minister. Anyone who will find himself close to a ministerial chair will have to provoke samples of absolute loyalty to the new prime minister. Many analysts point out that by Monday we will see within the new government a powerful Prime Minister's Office to initiate things in the cabinet as opposed to ''Super-ministers'' of the Karamanlis government.

I freely admit that I regret the fact that ''in a european country'' as Greece claims that is, we have  prime minister-centered  systems and we are placing our hopes in them- which is the worst.

I can not even deny the fact that, personally, I have suspicions over the democratic initiatives and manners of Papandreou, especially to what concerns things within his own party.
However, I must admit that at this critical moment, only a super-concentration of control to the Prime Minister, may allow him to enforce policy.
First of all Papandreou has to battle his party and the attitudes within it. Attitudes that remember us the pre-2004 Socialist Party. If he manage to beat these attitudes then he can battle the very-known problems of the country.
The issue actually is whether or not George Papandreou can turn himself into a charismatic leader ...! If the politician who begun his carreer by representing the absolute antithesis of  a weberian charismatic leader will be able to reverse these conditions. His personal bid is whether or not he is capable of making  the 2009 elections a new 1981 elections, without the irresponsible rhetoric of his father ...

We shall notice..

There are NO Parthenon Marbles!

All these months, since the New Acropolis Museum was opened and we at the Athens local team tried to open the file of the Parthenon marbles and their possible reunification I was thinking of what should be mentioned from our part in order to give another dimension to the issue. Should we write about where should the sculptures be ? Should we write why or why not should they be returned to Athens? Dozens of articles and books have been written to cover these issues and still very few actually came up with the true dimension of the problem. 
First and foremost lets clear something : The Parthenon Marbles are not Marbles. Nor sculptures or statues. Greeks were wise enough to create such a language that could express even the slightest difference of what a thing resembled. That is the reason they called these artifacts, ''άγαλμα'' (agalma). The world ''marble'' definites the identity of the material they have used in order to create them. The word ''sculpture'' was used in order to express the outcome of human work over a material. But the word ''αγαλμα'' (agalma) wanted to present the metaphysical dimension of the sculpture, which was the main reason for its creation. The word agalma comes from the verb ''αγάλλομαι'' (agallomai) which means jubilate. Means the joy of the soul. 
But why they have chosen this name ? What is the thing that provokes joy, that jubilates the soul ? 

The answer to the above questions, is the one which defines the difference of the greek civilization, of the greek way to comprehend the world and ourselves within it. The Greeks do not created these magnificent buildings and artifacts in order to show the world their abilities. Nor for the people around the globe to be able to compare them among other artifacts from different civilization (as the British Museum suggests). The reason for their creation is metaphysical. It is the joy of the soul when it faces what is really real, the ''όντως υπαρκτόν''. We all tend to believe that when an ancient Greek sculptor made Hermes, Aphrodite or Zeus had a model in his atelier where he depicted the model. Well, this is not the case. In total contrast with the Rennaisance, the ancient culture tries to depict, to resemble the nature through ablation. The artist tries to remove from the sculpture what is temporarely. He wants to magnify the elements that make a man being a man, a woman being a woman etc. The ancient Greek civilization doesnt want to impress. Greeks do not want to add things that are needless, unnecessary. 

Did anyone thought what is the element that makes the Parthenon more important to humanity than e.g. The Eiffel Tower, or the Big Ben? 
 It is not the era that it was created, nor the means that were used for its construction. If you visit the Acropolis in Athens and stand before the Parthenon, you can easily notice that the building isn't impressive at all. No extra decorations, no corinthian columns instead of doric. Nothing but the nudity of the building. And this is the apocalypse of the Greek art. Parthenon is greater than other landmarks because it resembles the way the ancient Greeks understood the world. A world full of harmony - a harmony full of logical relations. What is really real cannot be corruptible nor temporary according to them. This ideal is embodied in every event of the ancient greek life: from the Parthenon to tragedy and from language to democracy. This ideal is embodied in the ''αγάλματα'' (agalmata) of Parthenon
I would be really amazed if one out of all the millions of tourists in the Acropolis or the British Museum could understand this without just taking photos. I would be also amazed if modern Greeks or modern British could understand this. The return of these magnificent agalmata to their birthplace is not a romantic demand. It doesnt mean that modern Greeks have the monopoly of the ancient legacy.It is our common duty, to a monument, to a civilization which affected the course of humanity throught the eons. Let us hope that one day in our modern societies we will set the same priorities as they did. Until then we will daze in front of them without reason..

...and what about the Marbles???

This post is also available in: Modern Greek

Cafebabel.com Athens, launches e-campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.


In few hours, the opening of the New Acropolis Museum is about to come. With this museum, Greece fulfills its promise to History. With this museum, the ancient treasures of Acropolis will be well- preserved for the generations to come. This museum, questions from now on, the validity of the British Museum's arguments, that Athens is incapable of protecting the Marbles. Cafebabel.com Athens, from today, announces an e-campaign in the form of debates over the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. And what about you? Are you for or against ? Send us your comments, so that we can spice-up the debate!

Athens celebrates the New Acropolis Museum on Saturday

This post is also available in: Modern Greek

What's the meaning of voting on June the 7th?

Over the last weeks, the eu-elections are one of the top news in every european country no matter how the people really care. Here in Greece, the political parties announced their candidates almost two weeks after PM Karamanlis announced that the Parliament will end its sessions because of the european elections- a move which provoked a lot of discussion because of the corruption scandals which dominate the political life of the country. It is sad that in Greece, the european election race will be held based on the national agenda - nothing about Europe was said from the parties until now..Very few debates were organised up to now, so that nobody knows what each party represents about Europe. Within the Greek political system exist a consensus over Greece's position within the EU. Except of the Communist Party, no other party has ever questioned that it is for good that Greece participates to the Union, no matter the different visions over the european project that each party has. This phenomenon is not only apparent in Greece. A greater political consensus has been created in the european level as well. The two big political parties of the Union, the European Popular Party and the European Socialist Party are agreeing even to that point so they both want Jose Manuel Baroso to continue being the President of the European Commission. It is true that those big political coalitions do not seem to be that much different at all. After all, since the Reagan-Thatcher era, almost all the socialist parties which came to power, implemented liberal policies. ''So, what is the point of all this procedure ? '' I am afraid, that all these years, in order to boost up the unification process we' ve lost something much more important : to politicize the procedure. Despite the fact that the European Parliament was given a lot of powers over the last years- powers that will be much more important if the Lisbon Treaty is about to be implemented- the percentage of people who vote in the elections is diminishing. To conclude, is this 60% of Europeans who believe that their vote will result to nothing on June the 7th, a message to Brussels that something doesn't goes well ? I think that we are in a desperate need of MEP's that are able to understand so..

"Conspiracy of the Rich" …what they do not teach us at the university!!!

"What did you learn about money at school? Have you ever wondered why our school systems do not teach us much-if anything-bout money? Is the lack of financial education in our schools simply an oversight by our educational leaders? Or is it part of a larger conspiracy?"

“Regardless, whether we are rich or poor. Educated or uneducated, child or adult, retired or working, we all use money. Like it or not, money has a tremendous impact on our lives in today’s world.”

Quite interesting points!! This is an extract from Robert Kiyosaki's new book "The Conspiracy of the Rich" that I was able to read the first pages online. http://conspiracyoftherich.com/read/toc (check the widget at the end of the page of the blog)



In his book one of the points for the thesis he is trying to put forward is that school does not necessary prepares us for the real world and very important issues in life such as financial education and the role of money in life are issues where the educational system remains silent! I agree! Why don’t we learn something about money at school or at the university, why nobody explains how it works but everybody finds sufficient to say that rich are rich because they steel. Really? An easy excuse but very far from today’s realities.

At the moment, some European countries are reforming their educational system and students oppose strongly to these reforms (France, Spain, Greece). I believe to have understood the new reforms but what I have better apprehended is that the reforms as their opponents are once again far away from the real causes that make an educational system insufficient. Both sides are “hors sujet”.

I agree with Napoleon Hill who wrote in 1939 (“Think And Grow Rich”) that there is something radically wrong with a civilization and a system of education which permit 98% of the people to go through life as failures. And if this is not true can anybody explain me why in many European countries most of young people are educated, better say “overqualified” but they do not have a job or they are obliged to work for very little money in spite of their “good studies” and consequently they can not plan their life or dream about a better future. Why did I have to go to the university in order to “carry the bag” of my professors, or later that of my bosses. Why did we have to go to the university in order to be modern slaves?

“Is it about a simple oversight by our educational leaders or is it part of a larger conspiracy?” Conspiracy you will ask why? The answer comes a little later at the fourth page: “I‘ve often marvelled at the lack of financial education in our modern school system. At best, our children are taught how to balance a check book or speculate on stocks. But they are not taught how to read a balance sheet or to understand what makes a business profitable. This seems to ensure that the best and brightest students in our country will end up working as high-paid employees-not as partners-which in turn allows for the consolidation of both money and power.” I am afraid students do not apprehend all the above concerns when they protest. They understand that something is wrong but I hope they grasp that necessary educational reforms is not about some administrative reforms such as the status of ‘chercheur” in France or the abrogation of the university asylum or the recognition of professional rights to the graduates of private universities in Greece. I hope we get to see the forest and not just some trees..

Hellenic Foreign Policy : ''Quo vadis''???

This post is also available in: Modern Greek

These days in Greece, there is a peculiar sentiment over President Obama's visit in Turkey. Athens believed that bilateral relations with the US will enter in a new era, something which is actually happening...in Turkey!
Therefore, the Greek Foreign Policy didn't know how to react to this american-turkish flirt. It is clear that Obama is trying to promote a new role for Turkey which seems to be the ideal example of a western muslim republic. After Obama's personal involvement in order to persuade Turkey to accept the Danish PM as the new NATO secretary general and the public support of the Turkish candidancy in the EU, the Turks welcomed Obama as a rock-star. Meanwhile, the Greek diplomacy managed to arrange a meeting between PM Karamanlis and President Obama one day before his trip to Turkey, during the NATO summit in Strasbourg - Kehl.
According to my point of view this was a child-like reaction of the Greek diplomacy : Greece realised that now the US dont regard that Turkey and Greece as a ''package'', which seems to be the reality. Greece is regarded as a European country- no matter it's ''peculiar'' characteristics and weaknesses. Apparently, Turkey is not treated that way : Turkey is a huge country, three times the size of Greece, inhabited by eight million people, which neighbours with the sensitive Middle East area and forms a mixture of a western- even weak- republic and the islamic tradition.
The US seem to believe that Turkey can have a key-role in the area, by being the model of the other islamic states.
The question which rises, is not what Turkey is doing in order to strengthen her position worldwide, but what Greece does or not in order to strenghthen its very own position. In most international fora, Greece has only issues of ''national importance'' in the agenda, meaning : Greco-turkish relations, the Cyprus issue and the name of FYROM.
On the contrary, when issues of international interest are on the top of the meetings, Greece doesn't seem to have a position, we just adopt the thesis of our partners. Even in the way we treat our national issues, we do so, by asking the foreigner to take a position in favor of our own ''lawful'', ''true'', ''rightful'' or ''historical'' demands. We are acting like if international fora were a Holy Synod or a meeting of Saints, where issues are solved according to the ''rights of God''. Unfortunately they are not like this, and we should finally understand that the world is not spinning around our national demands and rights. National issues are extremely important and we should give our best in order to promote them but when you have to face international problems like economic repression, climate change, Iraq, Darfur or nuclear weapons you have to have a position. In order to be ''one'' and not''someone'' you have to have a voice, you have to have proposals. You have to see the world, try to understand it and foresee your position within it in the future. This is foreign policy. Otherwise, you will wondering in every recognition of ''Macedonia'' or ''Nothern Cyprus'' or in every trip of every Obama in every Erdogan.

Greece, Riots and John Lennon

I would like to clarify a point about recent events: As bullets can not be answer to words, likewise you can not honor someone’s memory with stones and Molotov.

As I see things...an ostracized bullet to Alexis’ chest, a straight one to Greek society’s heart: I am continually trying to understand riots motive but they refuse to talk. I approached them today with two friends having a camera but they insisted on turning off the camera. Actually there are no cameramen during their march. They do not want journalists among them because they believe journalists are alternating facts. I give them reason. But I would like also to know about their anger. I ask to see them in private but the answer was vague. Facing today’s march, I witnessed anger and rage against the policemen. They throw pieces of marbles and stones. They scream and yell. Their faces are covered. I want to understand them. Being a young nowadays do not mean at all being carefree and cool. I agree, but to start as a teenager with violence is very dangerous. During the protest a heard a passer-by say “How can you call yourself Greek when you try to put fire to the National Library, to the Archeological Museum, no matter the age.”



I would like also to clarify something about the recent events in Greece: They have NOTHING to do with the international economic crisis. On the contrary, as wisely pointed out by Nikos Xidakis in “Kathimerini” newspaper (9.12.08) as society “we just offer material, as much as we‘ve got, no matter what! This is all we got. We are spiritually and ethically orphans”. I can understand the youngsters. I am one of them! As society, as parents, as professors we do not encourage the pursuit of any calling in writing, music, dance, painting, any creative art, any spiritual advancement or any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower…and lower is violence. Alexis Grigoropoulos was unlucky but one could say that he was born lucky. He was coming from a wealthy family, schooled at one of the best private schools in Greece but somehow this was not enough for him. Unfortunately the same night before he was shot dead, he was reported as participating in violent events at a polo game.

I have lived abroad and teenagers and students do not enjoy all that goods from family as we do in Greece. They do not grow up with expectations from family, society and university to find them a job in the public sector as soon as they graduate, to live in the security of the public sector, buy them a car, pay for their vacations, in other words they live with less “acquis” than we do. We have been hypnotized from the cradle, we have been made to fear to dream, we have been made to fear to dare and we feel that deep in our soul. Because the last thing when you TRULY DARE in your life is a hood to cover your face. Then we protest for the wrong reasons, serving the political interests of others, charged with our education, in a way to prepare us to become exemplary employees and not to be free thinkers. “Carry their bag” until they have the generosity to treat us as equals. The only possible way for many –for those not exposed to intellectual art or culture- seems protest or vandalism of what they can not create. But vandalism and free thinking are mutually exclusive. It goes without saying that this principle applies to drugs, alcohol, shopping, depression, gossip, TV.

How can we make the world a better place? For me real revolution passes by decent hard work and when I say work I mean the active exercise of one’s faculties in conformity with virtue (Aristotle). John Lennon once wrote: Well, you think you‘re so clever And CLASSLESS and free But you‘re all fucking peasants As far as I can see

''Do not throw us tear gases. We can cry on our own...''

1941. Greece is under the Nazi's. The groups of the Resistance are on the edge of a civil conflict. At the same time, the leader of a big political party who had fled to Cairo, Egypt with the government-in exile, after coming in contact with some local politicians, vows to make jobbery with them if they vote for him in the..upcoming elections (that would happen when Greece would be liberated!!) This is considered a clear example of a political system who at it's era was unable to comprehend the needs of the society. An image of the same radius is happening today also in Greece. The political system of today, cannot (?) understand the routes of the problems and therefore to solve them. The problems who brought the society to the edge of destruction. PM Karamanlis, announced a series of measures - important measures- which even though do not solve the problem. At this very moment the damages in Athens are about of 200 millions euros. It is really odd, that before some months the government was unable to find half this amount in order to fund poor people and as by miracle, those ''inexistent'' money were found! Even though the PM insisted of self-restraint he would certainly meant the labor unions not the police. The public force provoked the society again, through gunshots and tear gases during Alexi's funeral. Even today, 5th day of the riots, the police withdrew from Korai Square after mobilization of citizens! Day after day, it is becoming clearer that there is a plan in order to disdain the cause of a whole generation, our generation, just because some so-called anarchists burn Athens under the eye of the police. Nobody feels good about what is happening in Athens all these five days. Why 150 policemen in Syntagma Square couldn't arrest 10-20 anarchists who threw rocks yesterday? The media revealed today that those special guards -like the policeman who shot the boy- get a four-month training instead of a four-year training which is required for ordinary policemen, while there are no psychological test for any policeman! To those people the Greek State trusts its guns in order to protect civilians!

Suppose those things weren't enough, the accused and his counsel of the defence, acclaimed that ''whether or not this child should die...is a matter of the justice''.

No, it's not. The justice is not the one to answer whether the child SHOULD die or not ! The justice is the institution which will decide the punishment for this policeman who thought that by carrying a gun HE WAS THE LAW ITSELF, not the servant of the civilians and the state. It is clear that they do not respect even the memory of the child..Not even a sign of penitence! What an attitude for a man who with his blood-painted hands opened the Pandora's box.. The day of Alexis's funeral, his fellow students wrote a paper which had as a PS for the policemen : ''Do not throw us tear gases. We can cry on our own...''

Greece: Asking for...hope!

I think it is clear, even to a foreigner, that what is happening these days in Athens remarks that ''en era is about to finish.'' The government of the country, in a desperate effort to proof that...exists, tries to take measures. It is clear from what happened that PM Karamanlis is incapable of taking any political initiative for the country to escape the crisis. This can be witnessed from the way Karamanlis is taking decisions. After 2 days of Athens being in flames, Karamanlis asked to see his ministers and the President of the Republic in order to find a way to handle the situation. These 2 days, the political parties of the Parliament weren't capable of making a single statement about what is currently happening in the country. These measures should have been taken earlier. The assassination of little Alex in Exarcheia was not the cause, it was just the occasion for a whole generation to protest. This generation was shot in Exarcheia... It is this generation, which is the most educated of all which work without insurance and labor rights for only 700 euros. ''This generation has to pay the bill for all the depths of the greek economy.'' The ruling class of our fathers, who protested against the military junta in 1974 asking for democracy, established a ''prime minister's dictatorship'' in the country. It is this generation, which burnt and continues to burn forests in order to build illegally, which practices corruption and is corrupted and which managed to gain all the labor right for itself. The country demands changes, our society demands changes! I refuse to accept that we stick to the so-called anarchists and we don't face the problem. Day after day, people are getting poorer, the prices are skyrocketing while the wages are the lowest within the EU. At the same time the political system of the country is full of corruption scandals between politicians and companies such as Siemens as well as real estate businesses, between the State and the Vatopedion Monastery... This government must resign not because a child was killed. It must resign because it failed to fulfill the demands of its citizens. It failed to protect their lives and their properties and because this government attested in the cruelest way, that we miss essential political proposals. So we ask for hope ... a new political approach is demanded. We ask for politicians who will make changes in the state, politicians who is about to implement real social policy. Furthermore, we want politicians who will be capable to find solutions for those Greeks who suffer from unemployment, poverty ... and believe me, we aren' talking about just one or two. It is a whole nation! We ask for politicians who end all the bribing and nepotism, who fight those Greeks stealing taxes, those who vote only because of their personal interest. These are not just people. It is our very own nature that we ask to fight. We ask for a leader, who will attack this bad side of us as citizens and as a state... So we ask for hope...

photo by courtesy of Mariana (murplejane/flickr)

Rioters burn and plunder Athens

The centre of Athens looks like a conflict zone, probably the worst seen in Greece since the restoration of democracy in 1974. Dozens of shops, banks, businesses and cars are being destroyed by the rioters on Athens main shopping streets and business centre. Incidents started on Saturday night, soon after an officer who was patrolling shot dead a teenager (Alexis Grigoropoulos) in Exarchia district, an area where they often take place clashes between self-styled anarchists known as “known-unknowns” and police. The circumstances surrounding the death are still unclear. According to the officer’s version of events, his vehicle was attacked by a group of some 30 people and he fired three times with his service gun (twice in the air and one on the ground) for self-defence. His version is contradicted by several witnesses who claim there was simply a verbal exchange between a small group of youngsters and the two officers who got out of their car to pursue the youths. The two officers have been arrested and charged with murder and illegal use of gun. In Athens, rioters set up burning barricades across downtown streets, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails, torched the capital’s massive Christmas tree in central Syntagma Square, smashed windows, burned and robbed shops and ATM machines causing millions of euros worth damage. Massive riots spread across Greek cities and towns including Thessaloniki, Patra, Ioannina and Crete in the third day of rioting. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has called an emergency Cabinet Meeting Monday night and the Rector of the University of Athens has resigned.

photo: Third day of violence

Thousands of protesters battled police in central Athens, smashing the windows of shops and banks with Molotov cocktails, and sending three officers to hospital, said police, who used tear gas to disperse the rioters.

By courtesy of Mariana (murplejane/flickr)

The ''Banana Republic''...

Athens is on fire..Greece is on fire..and I am really afraid that nobody can bring an extinguisher..I feel really upset of what happened in Exarcheia. No matter if the child attacked or not to the policemen it is unacceptable for a policeman, who knows the sensitivity of this certain district, to shoot. No public force has the right to shoot any civilian, let alone a 15 year old child. If the child is regarded as a criminal then they arrest him..After all nobody believes that a bullet in the heart and and the stomach can happen by mistake. What is really important to me is first of all that the civil society, through blogs and through the facebook is fully aware of the event and want to react. However, those anarchists-who apparently seem to not know what their ideology is all about- for another time burn Athens and there are so many people, students, professionals and civilians who will pay for all this mess. The government and personally the PM Karamanlis are totally ABSENT and seem incapable of protecting the people who are in trouble. Also the rest of the political parties are also ABSENT and only after 48 hours later Papandreou (PASOK party) makes a statement. Our society demands changes, the political system of the country seems incapable (not to say dangerous) to handle the situation and we are waiting to see what is going to happen..The Hellenic Republic became the Banana Republic

Riots in Greece: Shame!!



Shame! This is what we felt all passers-by who witnessed yesterdays battle scene at the centre of Athens. Riots that have broken out after police shot dead a 15-year-old boy who tried to throw a firebomb (!) at a patrol car in Exarchia district. At least that seemed to be the motive-reason which I doubt facing myself the extent of the damages, the fires and the vandalism at the central streets, shops, banks and about 20 cars. Police responded by firing tear gas, evacuating some restaurants in the area, and closing several streets to all traffic. But what I don’t understand is the Government apology. Several hours after the incident, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the interior minister, apologized for the incident and expressed his sorrow for the death of the young boy. "There will be an exemplary punishment and measures will be taken so that such a thing will not be repeated", he said! But why there were no arrests? Why they leave those people hurling Molotov cocktails and vandalizing undisturbed businesses in central Athens? Who controls and organize those rioters? These are the concerns of the simple citizens like me, like the cab driver who took me home last night, of the terrified passers-by, forced to find their way out of the centre whispering “ok! Once again we are going to pay for all that” or the small business owners of the destroyed and burned shops and cars. Shame to the "professional" rioters, they loose the right –if they have any- over the public opinion who witnessed speechless such damages, such chaos and proving for once again how easy is to destroy than create and contribute to the society

Greece’s Piraeus port, a hub for Chinese goods on the way to European markets and the reactions to the deal; Why?

Yesterday has been signed in Athens, a multibillion – euro port deal between the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) and one of the most important world port administrators, the Chinese Cosco Pacific Ltd. The agreement is expected to earn Greece € 4,3 billion over 35 year period (Cosco has guaranteed € 3,4 billion of this money), will increase the capacity of the port by up to 250% and will create some 1.000 new jobs for the locals. In addition, the port keeps its public structure and OLP has guaranteed the jobs of the existing personnel of the port. All these sound clear enough.

And then there are the protests. From the opposition and the dockworkers. Why? What is wrong with this deal? What is wrong with Greek ports to operate as transit centers for Chinese products to EU states and to the broader region of Southeastern Europe and to the Eastern Mediterranean? Why always Greeks have to comport like that? Is it only a Greek phenomenon or is it just the job of every -political- opposition to sabotage the common good. Why do they never propose something instead of fighting for maintaining the old situation? The point, for the thesis I am seeking to put forward is that whatever does not evolve is condemned to extinction. Why the unionists and the opposition parties do not propose, any counter-proposal apart from total refusal? Do all of this groups are satisfied with the Greek 'status quo'? Why can't we find our way to the future?

Skopje versus Athens..and the battle goes on!

As you probably know Athens on Tuesday strongly criticised Skopje's decision to file a complaint against Greece in the International Court of Justice, and said FYROM would "remain outside the international organisations it wants to join" during the judicial process. Skopje is accusing Athens of violating the terms of a 1995 UN agreement between them. Is that the case?

Cost of life in Athens

Cost of life in Athens! Welcome to the vibrant city that never sleeps! Night life is in the blood of Greeks and is a major part of their social life. No chance to visit Athens and stay indoors. Traffic jam at 4:00 am is more than a probability... Let’s walkabout in Athens. First, transportation to our destination costs €0,80 (bus, train, metro, tram, trolley) and the ticket is valid for one hour and a half. We choose to start our night to the movies where the ticket costs €7,00 to €7,50. On the other hand what is also very interesting in Athens is the theatre. Greeks love theatre that is why for a capital of a small country you can find more scenes than London. Prices can start from €10-15-20. Then of course we go for a drink. A glass of wine would cost around 5.00€ whereas a glass of Heineken beer would cost €3,50 (25ml) or a Budweiser of 0,33ml round €6.00. Hungry? Big Mac (€3.20) isn’ t actually “bon marché” in Greece, that is why you have to taste the typical greek souvlaki. One “Pita souvlaki” costs about €2.00- 2.30. All that being said, considering what affects most the cost of life in Athens is that all the above can partly take place more than once during the week, they do not represent accurately having fun “à la grecque” and salaries is a whole another story! Total for one person: 16 - 17 € Gia mas!! (γειά μας!)

Athens
Budapest
Clermont-Ferrand
Istanbul
Köln
Lyon
Paris
Sevilla
Sofia
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Cartoons from the 27 countries of the Eurpean Union

What do they laugh about in Germany? How does the british humour translate on paper? Which nation hosts the darkest satire? Does the climate of a country play any role in the satire produced? How does the cartoon function as a national mirror?" According to the Greek Cartoonists Association all these questions will be hopefully resolved in the exhibition which takes place in Zappeion during 13-25 october. An initiative which belongs to the Greek Cartoonists Association and really worths to visit for those of you that you are actually in Athens. I will add the link directly to the catalogue. http://www.parliament.gr/ektheseis/... for it can not be life without laughter!! _____________.bmp 'Kostas Vlachos-Greece' ________.bmp

'Panos Maragos-Greece'

lisbon_bus.bmp

Andy Davey, United Kingdom

Ruben_Oppenheimer.bmp 'Ruben L. Oppenheimer, Netherlands'

berlusconi_show.bmp Gianni Allegra, Italy

Going for a coffee with a Greek...

Actually "Going for a coffee" in Greece it means that for the next at least 2-4 hours you ll be outside with a friend talking..gossiping and of course looking to the other people. So take care when you propose to a greek person to go for a coffee!! More than taste, "going for a coffee" is the prefered by far social activity of the Greeks which explains why coffee is expensive in Greece. 2 kind of traditional coffees: "Φραπέ" / "frappé" / "shaken!!" Is the youngsters favourite and that is why Giorgos has named the greek babelblog "frappebabel". Promise to make to each of you next time we meet..but we are talking about a dynamite for the normal European stomach..no chance to sleep for the next 10 hours. Ah! do not forget that this is always COLD coffee. A usefull link to fully understand the point of view: http://www.frappenation.com/greek/frappe.html 2And a traditional homeroasting coffee named just "greek" which resembles to the turkish and the arab. Many old women like to "read the cup" in order to predict one' s future. Ladies and gentlemen would you like to order...

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