Things I've Learned

greekdude:

A painting by Pablo Picasso painted in 1939, and donated to the Greek people by the artist in 1949 to honour their “brave resistance against the Nazi’s”. The painting, measuring 56cm X 40cm (22 inches x 16 inches) was one of the three stolen from Greece’s National Gallery in Athens on Monday.   (via Photo from Reuters Pictures)

A fire broke out in downtown Athens tonight burning down the bulding of the former ‘Acropole Palace’ hotel. The fire’s cause as well as the extent of the damage are currently unknown.

Built in 1928, it is one of the most important examples of the Greek version of the Art Nouveau architecture.

The hotel, which has the status of a listed monument, has been vacant and in disrepair since 1980. 

(source)

Anti-austerity protesters shout slogans, during a student parade in Athens, October 28, 2011 / Getty Images

The Revolution of ‘No’

This has been the first national holiday in many years where I haven’t complained about the student parades all over Greece. My country swamped with what seems to be an ever increasing number of problems, it feel awkward to go against a tradition most Greeks support. 

Today though, many parades on the occasion of Oxi (No) Day were marked by protests against politicians that in many instances disrupted the events. In Thessaloniki, the President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias had to leave the parade early after citizens shouted “Traitors!” at the official podium. In Athens, students parading in front of Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou were holding black ribbons while groups of protestors where shouting “Thieves” and “Traitors”. In many other parts of Greece politicians were “welcomed” with similar protests and hurled eggs. 

Many progressive voices welcomed the protests hoping that this would be the beginning of the end for student parades, a militaristic tradition dating back to the years of dictatorship and surviving until today. Others, saw a turn of the public opinion towards the Left, with quiet, until recently, citizens now protesting and expressing their anger and disapproval towards austerity measures and the political system. 

Personally, I believe that this interpretation is very wrong. It’s easy to see that the majority of Greeks have nothing against student parades occuring twice a year (March 25th, October 28th). Their anger, which is now greater than ever before, is exclusively aimed against politicians and the “system” they represent.

A protest banner on display today in Athens (see photo) reads: “Germany 1933: Work sets you free. Greece 2011: Is slavery setting you free?”, written in both German and Greek. The banner is ilustrated by the flag of Greece behind a swastika and the word OXI (No). A few meters away from that scene, something more scary was taking place: Members of a neo-nazi group were attacking immigrants selling Greek flags on Syntagma square.  

I very much fear that what we are entering in, is a circle of anger and pessimism. Greeks have enough reasons to feel that way. People are laid off every day while new taxes and austerity measures are imposed. Together with unemployment, crime and poverty rates are rising as well.

The media are compounding the situation by having a negative influence on the public. According to George Tzogopoulos, a media expert:

one of the problems is that the Greek media portrays the crisis as the fault of foreigners intent on dominating the country. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a favourite target. Conspiracy theories abound, explaining why Greece has been singled out for punishment. “If you look at the Greek media you would not think we were not responsible in any way for what happened,” he says. “It never portrays the crisis as an opportunity for Greece to change.” 

(source)

October 28th, 1940 was the day when “Ohi” (no) was echoing in the streets of Greece, as a reply to Mussolini’s ultimatum that would allow Italy to occupy strategic locations of the country. Fast-forward to 71 years later, October 28th, 2011, the Greeks, more angry perhaps and certainly a lot more pessimistic are protesting against the “system” including the politicians they voted for and the European Union that just yesterday erased 50% of the Greek debt. 

Saying ‘no’ is expected when your life is turned upside down and the only thing left is uncertainty. However, I’m afraid that the situation won’t get any better before people move on the next step, if not this, then what?

- greekdude

Australian stunt Motocrosser Robbie Maddison, 28, jumps over the 85-metre (279-feet) wide Corinth Canal at height of nearly 100 metres (328-feet) in Greece April 8, 2010.

I’ve been looking to this picture for some minutes now and still, it keeps cutting my breath. You can also watch the video of the “big jump”

MORE:

• Robbie Maddison jumps Corinth Canal (espn.go.com)
• Robbie Maddison Jumps Over Corinth Canal In Greece, Sets New World Record (topspeed.com)
• Robbie Maddison jumps Corinth Canal (video via dimitrisyouvris)

Photo from Reuters Pictures

Roman Catholic worshippers pray at a mass cemetery during Holy Week in Larantuka, Indonesia’s Flores island April 2, 2010*.

Noone will disagree that a big amount of the violence we see every day is a result of religious fanaticism. It’s always disturbing to see supporters of religions that promote love and understanding, to engage in violent acts in order to “protect their beliefs”. Two stories from last week that caught my eye, among dozens more similar that unfortunately took place.

• In Crete, Greece a bomb went off outside a Muslim cultural center last Friday. This building was used as a prayer site for Muslims in the area. Earlier this year there were two arson attacks against a synagogue on the same island.
• In Bogor, Indonesia, a team of 200 islamists disrupted the Roman Catholic service of Good Friday which was taking place in a makeshift chapel. Roman Catholics are a minority in the predominantly Muslim nation of Indonesia.

“Some 200 young people came to our makeshift chapel and asked us to stop our prayers, which actually were already done. We were terrified, but after they negotiated with our church leaders, the group agreed to move their protest to the Parung district office,” Gabriel said. […] a miscommunication forced them to move the venue again to a restaurant owned by a church member.

“It’s not the first time the group has staged a protest. Protests also occurred during Easter celebrations in 2008 and Christmas services in 2009,” [church member] Gabriel said. 

There were 139 cases of violation of the freedom to worship in Indonesia in 2009, according to the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace.

MORE:

• Arson attack on Muslim centre in Crete (iol.co.za)
• Ρατσιστική επίθεση στο Ηράκλειο (ethnos.gr)
• Indonesian Islamists in Bogor Disrupt Otherwise Peaceful Good Friday (jakartaglobe.com)
• Catholic Youths Mar Easter Mass in Papua (jakartaglobe.com)
• Catholics Hold Good Friday Celebrations With Little Disturbance Across Indonesia (jakartaglobe.com)

*Worshippers visited five churches to celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the discovery of the Tuan Ma (Mother Mary) statue. They believe the statue, which was founded in Flores in 1510, formed the basis of the religion that has replaced animism on the island. Government data in 2008 showed that more than 80 percent of residents on Flores Island are Roman Catholic in a predominantly Muslim country.

Photo from Reuters Pictures

For a family escaping from the hell of Afghanistan, Hellas, my country should look like heaven on earth. Not for a family of Afghans living in Athens, who lost one member tonight when a bomb exploded near them.

At 22:45 local time a bomb exploded outside a building at Patissia, Athens killing a 15 year-old man who was apparently holding the bomb which he found inside a garbage bin and wounding an 11 year-old girl and her mother. All of them seem to be an Afghan refugee family according to media reports.

Athens has seen a wave of bombings recently, mostly targeting public buildings, without victims until tonight.

Details are still sketchy. For MORE:

• Athens bombing kills one, injures two (Reuters)
• Bomb kills man and injures girl in Greek capital Athens (BBC)
• One killed in explosion in Athens (CNN)

Photo from Reuters Pictures

The Acropolis rock as seen in the early-morning hours on March 24, 2010 in Athens, Greece.

189 years since the beginning of Greek War of Independence, Greeks don’t have to fight for their freedom against the Ottoman Empire, but rather fight for their dignity in a totally different world. As Athenians are watching the extravagant military parade in the center of Athens from their TV sets, (last year it costed more that 3 million €) Eurozone leaders are gathering for a two-day meeting in Brussels where the focus will be on whether and how heavily indebted Greece will be helped.

Greece has a long history of borrowing money. First loans were issued by British fund-holders in 1824 and 1825 making the City of London the financier of the Revolution and leading to the creation of the “British” political party in Greece. Today, with Greece heavily into debt, all eyes are on the Eurozone summit in Brussels, often forgetting that this war should be primarily fought on Greek soil, where corrupted politicians are walking, expensive armoured fighting vehicles are marching through the streets and respectable citizens are forgetting to pay their taxes.

MORE:

• Greek War of Independence (Wikipedia)
• Eurozone leaders lock horns over whether to rescue Greece’s economy (Guardian)
• Divided EU seeks pre-summit deal on Greek debt (Reuters)

Photo from Getty Images

British Royal Air Force Red Arrows squadron performs aerobatics over Athens’ Saronic Gulf in this September 6, 2005 photo. Two RAF Red Arrows jets collided over the Greek island of Crete on March 23, 2010 during a training exercise, a Greek Defence Ministry official said.

Red Arrows, a branch of Royal Air Force were formed in 1965 and since then, they have completed more than 4,000 aerobatics shows in 53 countries. They’ve been to Greece quite a few times always attracting large crowds. Their last show in Crete though, had a dramatic ending as two jets collided mid-air. The pilot of the first plane ejected from his seat and parachuted to the ground escaping with minor injuries while the pilot of the other plane landed safely at Heraklio airport. Red Arrows pilots have at least 10 years of experience at flying fast jets, something you can understand by watching their shows. This was their first mid-air collision during the last 30 years and I’m sure that soon they will be up in the sky again.

MORE:

• RAF pilot forced to eject after two Red Arrows jets collide mid-air over CreteRead (Daily Mail)
• Inside the mind of a Red Arrows pilot (Guardian) 

Photo from Reuters Pictures

This is the question that brought a friend from Canada on this humble tumblr page, and it’s interesting enough to make me want to learn about it and answer it. As I wrote, some time last week,* the big news of Greek PM Papandreou’s visit to the U.S. was the announcement that Greece became a member of the US Visa Waiver program. This means that soon, once this decision gets verified by parliament, Greek citizens won’t need a visa to visit the U.S. Greece is the last one of the first 15 EU-member countries to enter the Visa Waiver program and this has led many to believe that my country was descriminated by the US.

So, after reading a livingingreece.gr post about Google Waiver program it seems that there were two problems. First was terrorism in Greece, partly solved after the capture of members of the terrorist organization 17 November back in 2002. And the second problem was the issuing of modern biometric passports that didn’t take place before September 2006. Of course another issue could be a co-operation between the two countries in counter-terrorism procedures such as access to DNA and fingerprint databases but those, are mostly kept under the table.

MEANWHILE, Australia issued a travel advice on Greece yesterday, calling for attention of Aussie citizens in Greece mainly because of violence. Apparently written by people who have known Greece only through the media. Anyway…. we will survive!  

MORE:

• Secretary Napolitano Announces Greece’s Designation as a Member of the Visa Waiver Program
• Greece enters U.S. Visa Waiver program in 2010. (livingingreece.gr)
• Απ’ ευθείας πρόσβαση σε DNA και αποτυπώματα έχουν οι ΗΠΑ (Ελευθεροτυπία)
• Travel Advice for Greece (smarttraveller.gov.au)

* (I need to find a tumblr theme that includes date and time of posting, help is welcome)

Demonstrators holding white pieces of paper form a peace sign at Monastiraki square in Athens March 14, 2010. The gathering was organized by the international organisation “World Without Wars”.

While demonstrators were forming the peace sign at Monastiraki square in Athens, SIPRI, a leading Swedish peace research group, announced that Greece is the 5th biggest importer of conventional weapons. In the world. Yes, Greece, a country of 11 million people pays more than any other country in Europe to equip its arsenal. And this, while during 2004-2008 period, weapon imports in the country were decreased by 5%.

So, why does a country with people living in a period of peace and economic difficulties has to import so many weapons? The answer is simple. Greece has to import large amound of weapons every year because there are countries that export them. Especially since some of those countries happen to be strategic partners of Greece. Right after Greek PM Papandreou’s visit to German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this month (official purpose of it was to get political support from Germany) Greece, announced the agreement to buy four submarines from Germany. I guess political support is valued really expensive these days. 

MORE:

• Arms Transfers to Europe and Central Asia [PDF, full report by SIPRI]
• US No. 1 arms exporter, China, India top importers: SIPRI (India Times)
• «Αγαπημένη» των αγορών όπλων (Ελευθεροτυπία) 
• Athens reaches deal in submarine row: minister (France 24)
• BONUS: Τουρκική υπεροπλία στο Αιγαίο (Το Βήμα)

(Photo from Reuters Pictures)

The truth is I don’t know a lot about Economics. I know that my country’s economy is in bad state, however, you don’t have to be an expert to see that. All it takes is to go to the market tomorrow and see the new food prices as government recently raised VAT of food products at 5%. Then, maybe go to the gas station and start wondering if buying kerosene for your private jet plane would cost you less. Or you can start searching for a job, or just an internship, as in my case, which will test how easy it is to reach despair. Unemployment rate in Greece is calculated at around 10% but the National Statistics Service (NSS) cannot really be trusted. 

In the meantime, while trying to educate myself, I’ve been reading an article about pensions and retirement on the New York Times. Something that I already knew is that in Greece, there is a whole category of jobs which are considered dangerous and unhealthy enough to merit retiring early. I never imagined though that this happens with 580 different jobs. Here’s the funniest paragraph I’ve read this week:

The law includes dangerous jobs like coal mining and bomb disposal. But it also covers radio and television presenters, who are thought to be at risk from the bacteria on their microphones, and musicians playing wind instruments, who must contend with gastric reflux as they puff and blow.

More: NYT

So how do you tell a tv presenter that his job shouldn’t be considered dangerous enough to offer an early retirement, at least not earlier than a bank clerk? (Though I’m not sure, do you know how many bacteria live on banknotes?).

For years the formula for the Greek Economy was to try to please those who were near the government and if you could do that with foreign money (European Union, banks all over the world), that was even better. The challenge for the current government is to try to get away from this path which leads straight down the cliff. In other words, try to fix the economy from the inside, unfortunately with deep and painful reforms. This is why I’m very sceptical towards EU plans to bail-out Greece. What we need most of everything is to stop being like a spoiled child. If you screw up, find the way to fix everything yourself. Don’t wait for dad-EU to provide for everything.

to be continued…

More:

• Patchwork Pension Plan Adds to Greek Debt Woes (The New York Times)
• Greece debt: EU agrees bailout deal (The Guardian)
• Greece’s unemployment rate hits 10% (BBC)
• Greek Austerity Measures Spark Rising Protests (TIME)

People are angry.

Angry at bad politicians who are stealing their money, angry at bankers asking them to pay off their loans, angry at journalists for being corrupted, angry at “foreign powers” for wanting to destroy Greece, angry at their neighbor for being their neighbor. At some point the reason for all the anger stops having importance and what’s left is the process of setting it free. While thousands of Greeks were taking the streets of Athens and other big cities today to protest the really harsh austerity measures, others were organising a protest against the shutting down of a well known Greek torrent tracker.

The pictures from Athens speak for themselves. A nationwide strike was imposed, and thousands of people were marching throught the central streets, today joined by striking policemen as well. In the meantime, small numbers of anarchists set fire to a couple of cars as well as banks and hotel entrances. Twitter was buzzing this morning with reports about unprovoked use of teargas from policemen which led many old and young people having breathing problems. This happening three months since minister of public protection mr. Chrisichoidis promised that use of teargas from police, which every few weeks make city centers look like the front of a chemical war, will be banned.

It’s not just a financial crisis what we live. Causes should be searched deeper into the sociaty. In case we want to be done with it.

More:

• PHOTOS: Protesters clash with riot police in Athens, Greece (telegraph.co.uk)
• PHOTOS: Greece strike protests turn violent (guardian.co.uk)
• VIDEO: Athens police clash with protesters (Reuters)
• Greece Roiled By General Strike Over Austerity Plan (npr)
• Thousands protest Greek austerity measures (CNN.com)
• Police clash with protesters as Greeks fight cuts (Reuters)
• Θα πας στη διαδήλωση για το gamato.info; (teckinsider.gr)

(Picture: EPA/Telegraph.co.uk)

To summarise Greece PM Papandreou’s yesterday meeting with Obama, the US President:

• expressed “political” support for measures aiming to fight the financial crisis and “encouraged Athens’ efforts to boost financial regulation”

“The central task before the Greek government is to continue to move forward on their plans to restore fiscal stability and growth to its economy,” a US official told reporters.

• announced that Greece became a member of the Visa Waiver Program, which means that once this will be ratified by Parliament, Greeks won’t have to issue a visa before travelling to the US.
• expressed the willingness for the US to recognise the country currently known as “Republic of Macedonia” with the name “Republic of Northern Macedonia” which may be one solution to the Macedonia naming dispute.

I’d like to offer some fashion commentary on the First Ladies, but Mrs-O.org can do it better than me ;)

More:

• Support-gathering meeting with Obama a success, Greece says (www.dw-world.de)
• Βόρεια Μακεδονία προτείνουν τώρα για το όνομα οι ΗΠΑ (tovima.gr)
• Obama supportive of measures: Papandreou (Bloomberg)

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou walks out of the West Wing after a meeting at the White House March 9, 2010 in Washington, DC. Papandreou met with President Barack Obama.

Photographers and members of the press weren’t allowed in the meeting but I guess we will see official photos in a few hours. I understand that being together with the president of Socialist International wouldn’t be a very pleasant picture for the American conservative media.

The big news of this meeting though, is that Greece became a member of the US Visa Waiver Program. This means that Greek citizens will be allowed to travel to the US without having to go through the painful procedure of issuing a visa.

“Our efforts to guard against terrorism while enhancing legal travel and trade depend upon close collaboration with our international partners,” said Secretary Napolitano. “I commend our partners in Greece for committing to strong screening and security standards and enhanced information sharing for travel by Greek citizens to the United States as we work together to protect our citizens and strengthen our economies.”

More: Homeland Security announcement

Of course, we shouldn’t expect a rush of Greek travellers to the US, especially during those hard times but it will make travelling procedures a lot easier for those who need to travel there.

I expect many to ask the question “So, what did Greece gave back?”. Access to DNA databases, granted by the previous Greek government may be one answer, while further involvement in Afghanistan is another. Greece agreed to take over the operation of Kabul’s airport adding to today’s peaceful Greek presence in the country.

• Meeting with President Barack Obama: Prime Minister’s statement
• Greece becomes new member of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (wireupdate.com)

Photo from Reuters Pictures