Εκλογές 2007

Ο Ναπολέων έλεγε ότι "η ηλιθιότητα είναι ανίκητη και αιώνια". Ο Ελληνικός λαός το αποδεικνύει περίτρανα. Είναι θαύμα (ελληνικό) πως μπορεί μια κυβέρνηση των κουμπάρων, των ομολόγων, των ζαρντινιέρων και των ασύμμετρων απειλών, μια κυβέρνηση που έκαψε την Ελλάδα να επανεκλέγεται. Πως γίνεται αυτό το 41.8% να εμπιστεύεται και πάλι τους ανίκανους, τους ψεύτες, τους ληστές και τον υποκριτή πρωθυπουργό τους;

Είναι απλό: δεν τους εμπιστεύεται. Η ΝΔ κέρδισε μετά βίας την αυτοδυναμία με τα ρουσφέτια και τα βολέματα. Υπάρχει ένα ποσοστό "Ελλήνων" που έχει συνειδητοποιήσει ότι η ΝΔ βολεύει "τα δικά της παιδιά", οπότε φρόντισαν να προσκοληθούν σε αυτήν.

Πόσο θλιβερά είναι αυτά τα άτομα αλήθεια; Πόση έλλειψη αυτοπεποίθησης, αυτοσεβασμού, ήθους ώστε να γλύφουν υποψήφιους βουλευτές για μια 8μηνη σύμβαση; Για μια θέση 500 ευρώ στο Δήμο. Λες και το 8μηνο ή με τα 5 κατοστάρικα σώθηκαν. Αλήθεια τόσο ηλίθιοι είναι που δε βλέπουν ότι με ΝΔ θα παίρνουν 500 ευρώ και θα πληρώνουν 1500 σε φόρους;!

Τι να πει κανείς για το αυτό το 5.5% που εγκατέληψαν το δικομματισμό για να διαμαρτυρηθούν και πήγαν στο ΚΚΕ και στο Συνασπισμό. Αυτή έδωσαν τη νίκη στη ΝΔ. Αν ονειρεύονται ως εναλλακτικό του δικομματισμού μια διασπασμένη και αδύναμη κεντροαριστερά και μια ΝΔ που θα παίρνει σε κάθε εκλογές την κυβέρνηση εξαιτίας της ηλιθιότητας της αριστεράς, τότε τι να πω; Απλά κάνουν πλάτες στη Δεξιά! Και επομένως αντιλαϊκή πολιτική.

Οι Έλληνες πρέπει να το καταλάβουν. Όπως είπε ο Γιώργος Παπανδρέου όσο υπάρχει η Δεξιά στην Ελλάδα, ενωμένη, ως ισχυρός πόλος η λύση είναι μία και μόνο: ένας αντίπαλος ισχυρός προοδευτικός πόλος στην κεντροαριστερά.

Ο Αλαβάνος συνεχίζει να φέρεται έξυπνα. "Ξέρουμε ότι είναι δοκιμή", είπε. Το δε ΚΚΕ στον κόσμο του. Νομίζει ότι το 2.5% που πήρε από το ΠΑΣΟΚ είναι προλαιτάριοι που ξύπνησαν.

"Θα κινηθούμε και μετά τις εκλογές ενωτικά", είπε ο Αλαβάνος. Αναρωτιέμαι αν δεν έπιανε αυτοδυναμία η ΝΔ (που λίγο ήθελε, μόλις 2 βουλευτές της την εξασφαλίζουν), αν θα συνεργαζόταν ("ενωτικά") με το ΠΑΣΟΚ. Αν όχι, θα έδειχνε ότι κι αυτός κάνει πλάτη στη Δεξιά. Και στις επόμενες εκλογές θα ξεφούσκωνε το 5% όπως έγινε το 1996.

Και αφού περιλάβαμε όλους τους ηλιθίους, δεξιά και αρίστερά, πάμε τώρα και στους ηλιθίους του κέντρου. Στο ΠΑΣΟΚ. Μα νομίζουν δηλαδή ο Βενιζέλος και οι γελοίοι που έπεσαν με τα μούτρα να τον στηρίξουν (πλην του Λοβέρδου όλοι άλλοι καμμένα ήδη χαρτιά) ότι ο κόσμος πιστεύει ότι το πρόβλημα του ΠΑΣΟΚ είναι πρόβλημα αρχηγού;

Δηλαδή ο μπουχέσας (aka Καραμανλής) που έτρωγε 8 χρόνια τη σκόνη του Σημίτη στην καταλληλότητα για πρωθυπουργία (και με το που έπεσε το ΠΑΣΟΚ και ανέβηκε η ΝΔ ξαφνικά έγινε ο καταλληλότερος) ήταν πρόβλημα για τη ΝΔ; Τότε γιατί τον ανέχτηκαν 8 χρόνια υπομονετικά μέχρι να πάρει τις εκλογές και τώρα τον έχουν θεοποιήσει κιόλας;

Αυτές οι εκλογές χάθηκαν εξαιτίας των ομαδούλων και όχι του Παπανδρέου. Οι ύαινες της νεολαίας ΠΑΣΟΚ ροκανίζουν την καρέκλα του Παπανδρέου από την πρώτη στιγμή της εκλογής του, γιατί ξέρουν ότι στο ΠΑΣΟΚ ενός Παπανδρέου, ομαδούλες και λαμόγια δεν έχουν θέση.

Λυπάμαι πολύ, γιατί η Ελλάδα έχασε μια μεγάλη ευκαιρία. Το 2013 τα κονδύλια της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης στερεύουν. Και ήδη η Νέα Δημοκρατία απέτυχε να απορροφήσει το Γ' ΚΠΣ (μόλις 66% απορροφητικότητα). Η νέα, αδύναμη, κυβέρνηση της ΝΔ των 152 βουευτών είναι βέβαιο ότι δε θα τολμήσει καμία ριζική αλλαγή. Η κατάσταση με μια κυβέρνηση που παραπαίει και μια χώρα ακυβέρνητο καράβι θα συνεχιστεί μέχρι την τελική πτώση του Καρμανλή.

Και η Ελλάδα δε θα χάσει μόνο χρόνο, δε θα χάσει μόνο το Δ' και τελευταίο Κοινωτικό Πλαίσιο Στήριξης. Αλλά θα χάσει και μία ευκαιρία. Μία ευκαιρία να μπουν κάποια πράγματα στη θέση τους. Να εξομοιωθούν οι ελληνικοί θεσμοί με τους ευρωπαϊκούς. Στην Ολλανδία μένω και βλέπω ότι όλα όσα πρότεινε ο Παπανδρέου στο πρόγραμμα του ΠΑΣΟΚ είναι θεσμοί που ήδη δουλεύουν χρόνια στην Ολλανδία και γενικά στη Β. Ευρώπη με επιτυχία.

Αλλά οι Έλληνες επέλεξαν ρήτορες (Καραμανλής, Αλαβάνος) που κάνουν πλάτες σε ληστές (ομόλογα, γαλάζιες σύνεντεύξεις, ασύμμετρες απειλές) αντί ενός σοβαρού Ευρωπαίου πολιτικού με σύγχρονο ευρωπαϊκό όραμα, όπως ο Γιώργος Παπανδρέου.

Αλλά όπως είπε και ο Αϊνστάιν: "Δύο πράγματα μόνο είναι άπειρα: το σύμπαν και η ανθρώπινη ηλιθιότητα. Και δεν είμαι σίγουρος για το σύμπαν".

The evolution

Yesterday Georgios A. Papandreou, the president of The Socialist International, and probably the next Greek Prime Minister finished his speech with a wonderful way.

He finished with 7 points of the German philosopher Meyer-Abich, which in my opinion form the stairway of the evolution of the human conciousness. The way to the socialism, to the realisation that humanity is one and a whole, an organism, and we are just cells of this organism. Different, yes, like liver cells, heart cells, brain cells. But we all work for the same reason, for the well being of the organism, not just our own.

Here's the 7 points of Meyer-Abich, which Papandreou used to conclude his speech:

1. I care only about myself.
2. I care not only about myself, but my family and friends too.
3. I care not only about myself, my family and my friends, but my nation too.
4. I care not only about myself, my family, my friends and my nation, but all the nations of Earth too.
5. I care not only about all people today, but the previous and future generations too.
6. I care not only about the humanity, but every living creature and element of Earth.
7. I care about everything.

More than 50 people died in fires

I feel so sad. 1 month later I have to write again about big fires in Greece. This time Greece mourns. 51 people have been found dead right now.

And THAT moment the Greek governement chose to call for national elections!

For god's shake. I can write nothing more. I'm just furious

Pictures can say more.

PS: Sincere thanks to all the countries that send help (airoplanes, fire troops, etc). SHAME ON THE GREEK GOVERNMENT.

Greece goes on fire!

The last weeks the Greeks are watching their forests being burned out. The Fire Brigade loses the war. This year has been burned more forests than ever. I’m surprised that this time people are not blaming the government… but actually the Fire Brigade although 3 firemen lost their lives!



I’ve been helping the Fire Brigade troops in big fires as a Red Cross volunteer last year in Crete. I’ve seen myself that due to the wild surface of Greece, ground troops cannot do much. At least not without help from the air. I’ve seen with my own eyes a small tree catching up fire on its own 4 times, although the firemen had thrown tons of water on it each time.

Is still the Fire Brigade responsible, when the government hires 3000 totally useless agrofylakes (agro-field guards) instead of firemen or instead of buying equipment (e.g. planes or helicopters) to enhance the Fire Brigade? Then what the hell is the government responsible for?

I hope to get an answer before the last tree of this country turns into ashes.

Turkey: Elections and immature meaningless acts.

Turkey goes to elections this weekend and once again Greece has to pay the price. Usually it’s Turkish military airplanes getting illegally into the Greek borders (or something with Cyprus). Increase of the number of such incidents, to be more accurate, since such intrusions/provocations are done by the Turkish army very often, almost every day. But this time it was something else. The International Union of Greek Orthodox Christian Youth had their festival in Istanbul where the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian Church lays. The festival would conclude with a concert given by a famous Greek singer Georgios Dalaras.

The Turks took back the permission they had given for the concert and the concert was cancelled. The Turkish media said this singer is anti-Turk. Georgios Dalaras has sung actually for the re-union of the island of Cyprus as well as to raise money for Turkish children suffering from mental diseases. And for Turkey this person is an enemy!

What can someone say about a country (willing to join EU) in which it is ILLEGAL to talk against this country, to admit that the Armenian or the Pontian-Greek genocide are not science fictions or that Kurds are actually a different ethnic group?!

Al een jaar in Nederland

Already one year in the Netherlands. It was like a glimpse. I’m sitting in my childhood bedroom now in hot Greece. This year is running back in my mind. Since I got in Greece I already miss the Dutch trains, the perfect roads and generally that abstract sense that everything works! However, by the first moment here, I felt the difference in those two countries view over the food! Oh, really, Dutch people have no idea. They just put something in their mouth to make their stomach stop complaining (“brood met iets erop”). Greeks on the other way have turned cooking into a real art. And that great artist, my mother, of course had something great for me when I came back. Hehehe.

I’m having a hard time to get used to the Greek summer. I left Netherlands with 12 degrees celcius and I landed on 30 degrees Greece. Well, it’s nice not to worry about what you’re going to wear (you wear as less things as you can, all 24 hours of the day), but if you work in a big city like Athens or Thessaloniki, you really suffer! I made a small visit to the capital of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, and it was like a trip to hell. The busses usually had no air-conditioning, and even when they did, the people were not patient enough and they opened the windows. So, no use.

Also a big difference that cheered me up when I came here. Whenever you go out: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Sunday it doesn’t matter… it’ s always crowded! In Netherlands there are people outside only on Friday and Saturday. Sunday is a dead day all day long. Here Sunday is always crowded. People go on trips or just out to drink their coffee in a café by reading their Sunday-newspaper or just meeting friends.

Every country has its pros and its cons. Although I think I’ve already got acquainted to all the cons of Netherlands, there are still many pros to discover. It was a busy year with lots of courses and only a few money. Next year there will be more time to do things and more money since I’ll be working. But till then… I can have a great summer under the Greek sun ;)

Gay-friendly cities have more economic prosperity

Since last weekend it was the Gay Pride in Athens (also in Toronto as my friend Fotini informed me) let's write something about gays.

I found this research from the George Mason University in USA. According to it, the more "gay-friendly" a city is, the more "economically prosperous" it will be. In his March 2007 paper (which can be read here), they use a "Gay Index" to show that "artistic, bohemian, and gay populations" have significant effects on housing values. They also found that gay-friendly areas typically support technological innovation and higher income levels. Additionally, educated young people tend to move to the most gay-friendly cities, because they generally have the best job markets.

Could those cities really owe their prosperity to gays?

Yes and no. I believe in the power of the citizen. When citizens are not supressed, and they are able to hunt their happiness and dreams they can do miracles. Either they are gay or not. So it's not that gay people are bettter than others. It's just that those cities make sure that a piece of them, an important one actually (10%), is free to act as it wills and has no obstacles or supression. They give it a chance to do miracles.

That can be a good lesson for Greece. The Greek politicians have not realised yet the power of the citizen (maybe only George Papandreou). Last week the mayor of Athens (Nikitas Kaklamanis) refused to put Athen's Gay Pride 2007 under the auspicies of the City Hall (municipality). He received very strong critisism about that.

The sooner Greeks wake up, the better for them. Especially in the gay issue, the whole Europe laughs when they hear that the country in which homosexual love was invented (or at least flurished) is actually... homophobic!

EU agreement

I read that the EU managed to go into a new agreement last night, replacing the failure of the European Constitution.

It's funny how two countries who want the same thing, but fight for it in a different way always manage to ruin Europe's true union.

The greatest difficulties were Poland and England.

Poland doesn't want to leave the veto-system. I agree. The new system just gives the big countries more votes. It doesn't give the decision to the majority of the European Citizens, so it's actually less democratic than the old one. But this is not why Poland dissagrees. Poland just wants to stay as much as independent as possible. Because it's a big country, compared to other EU countries it's powerful enough to stop any decisions it doens't like using the present system. If the system changes, it won't. Poland just wants to take from European Union and not give.

England is actually the same. England wants to be in EU, but also be as independent as possible. The new voting system doesn't affect it (cause it's a big country), but if the Constitution or the new agreement is going to pass, she has to accept the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which gives the workers of England too many rights, and England doesn't want that. How ironic that the Labour Party is in power!!!

Actually England has a Guiness Record on "exceptions"! The most obvious are Euro-zone, Schengen zone, etc etc. Whenever Europe goes forth, England stays behind. Whenever it comes to military stuff and common foreign affairs policy, England is more like the advocate of USA and never agrees with the rest of the Europeans. England was obsessed with terrorism and forced all these exhaustive and hysterical measures in the airports.

So, is UK in the EU because it feels like European or is it inside EU just to sabotage it?!

I'm tired of watching the same play again and again, every time EU wants to move on; having to discuss UK constant disagreements and eventually accept ANOTHER exception. Let's move on. The countries that are really interested in uniting Europe may follow. The rest of the countries can just make us a favour and stay the hell out of it!

Sto para 5

I spent my evening yesterday watching the last episode of the famous Greek comedy series "sto para 5". It's one of the innocent but not naive series that the whole family can watch. Some people complained about the last episode. It was too dramatic they said for a comedy. I think the last episode is like a break up. And break ups are always dramatic. It was nice. And it sent so many messages about life and death, love, etc. But the best I think was the last message: Switch the TV off! The real life is out there!

This message, along with the last picture of the 5 friends playing in the sea sent all my stress away and gave me a great feeling. I think I'm going to have a really nice summer :)

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.

I have no idea why people create those things. I just felt the need to create one too. I don't know where it comes from, I don't know how to satisfy this need, neither where it's going to lead me to. But I'm doing it anyway.

I'll start with a song. To present myself. It's Greek so I'll give you first the Greek lyrics and then I'll tranlsate for my international friends. I wish I could write in Greek in this blog. It's my favourite language. But things change, and we have to adjust. We always have to adjust, though never yield.

Με λένε Γιώργο
και ποτέ δεν τραγουδάω
για της αγάπης το γλυκό-πικρό καημό.
Δεν έχω μάθει
μαργαρίτες να μαδάω,
δεν περιμένω κανενός το γυρισμό.

Με λένε Γιώργο
και ποτέ δεν τραγουδάω.
Θα υποφέρω στη ζωή κάθε στιγμή,
γιατί δεν έκανα ό,τι θα ΄πρεπε να κάνω,
γιατί σαν άνθρωπος δεν είχα την πυγμή.

Με λένε Γιώργο...


My name is Giorgos
and I never sing
about love's sweet-bitter "pain" (although "kaimos" cannot be exactly tranlated)
I've never learnt
to pluck margaritas,
I don't expect anyone to come back to me.

My name is Giorgos,
and I never sing.
I'll always suffer in life, every single moment,
because I didn't do what I should have done,
because I didn't have the strength.

My name is Giorgos...