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Sunday, February 19, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Dio Psemata- Remos
Αν καμιά φορά βρεθούμε
δε θα πούμε ούτε γεια
μες στο πλήθος θα χαθούμε
μ' ένα δάκρυ στην ματιά
Κι αν φωνάξω τ' όνομά σου
θα κοιτάξεις στα κλεφτά
και θα κάνεις για φαντάσου
πως δε με θυμάσαι πια
Κι αν ρωτήσεις πώς περνάω
θα σου πω δυο ψέματα
ένα πως δε σ' αγαπάω
κι ένα πως σε ξέχασα
Κι αν ρωτήσεις πώς περνάω
θα σου πω δυο ψέματα
ένα πως δε σ' αγαπάω
κι ένα πως σε ξέχασα
Αν καμιά φορά βρεθούμε
η ανάσα θα κοπεί
ούτε λέξη δεν θα πούμε
μα, θα τα 'χουμ' όλα πει
Κι αν φωνάξω τ' όνομά σου
θα κοιτάξεις στα κλεφτά
και θα κάνεις, για φαντάσου
πως δε με θυμάσαι πια
Κι αν ρωτήσεις πώς περνάω
θα σου πω δυο ψέματα
ένα πως δε σ' αγαπάω
κι ένα πως σε ξέχασα
Κι αν ρωτήσεις πώς περνάω
θα σου πω δυο ψέματα
ένα πως δε σ' αγαπάω
κι ένα πως σε ξέχασα
Friday, February 17, 2012
Here's To Life
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond (Liz) Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 -- March 23, 2011), was an English-born American actress. Beginning as a child star then throughout her adulthood, she was known for her acting talent, glamour, beauty, and striking violet eyes. Her much publicized private life included eight marriages, several life-threatening illnesses, and decades spent as a social activist, championing the cause of AIDS awareness, research and cure. Taylor, a two-time winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress, is considered one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. The music is by Shirley Horn, the American singer-pianist who died in 2005. The song, the title track from one of Ms Horn's finest albums, is "Here's To Life".
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Poverty among Greece's Middle Class
If this crisis has reached Piraeus, then it's done a good job of hiding itself. Even on this cold February night, the luxury cars are lined up outside the chic, waterfront fish restaurants in this port suburb of Athens. But Leonidas Koutikas knows where to look. Not even 50 meters off the main promenade, around two corners, misery is everywhere. Koutikas finds a family of five living behind a tangled tent that has been attached to the wall of an apartment building.
Koutikas and his colleagues from the aid organization Klimaka are expected. They hand out their care packages here every night. "Each day the list of those in need gets longer," Koutikas says. He speaks from experience. Until recently, the 48-year-old was sleeping on the streets himself. Athens has always had a problem with homelessness, like any other major city. But the financial and debt crises have led poverty to slowly but surely grow out of control here. In 2011, there were 20 percent more registered homeless people than the year before. Depending on the season, that number can be as high as 25,000. The soup kitchens in Athens are complaining of record demand, with 15 percent more people in need of free meals.
It's no longer just the "regulars" who are brought blankets and hot meals at night, says Effie Stamatogiannopoulou. She sits in the main offices of Klimaka, brooding over budgets and duty rosters. It was a long day, and like most of those in the over-heated room, the 46-year-old is keeping herself awake with coffee and cigarettes. She shows the day's balance sheet: 102 homeless reported to Klimaka today.
Tales of the 'New Poor'
Many of those belong to what is called the "new poor" here. "It really started about two years ago," Stamatogiannopoulou says. Suddenly, it wasn't just people with psychological problems or drug addictions who were knocking on the organization's red wooden door. "The middle class is increasingly becoming our target group," she says.
The "new poor" includes Lambros Zacharatos, who navigates the streets of Athens with Leonidas Koutikas in the Klimaka van night after night. Until last year, Zacharatos worked as an interior designer, earning up to €4,000 ($5,300) in a good month. "All of the sudden, boom, the crisis was here and 90 percent of the commissions were gone," he says. Zacharatos and two others sleep in a room above the Klimaka offices. The bunkbeds and veneer cabinet are reminiscent of a youth hostel.
Zacharatos says things happened very quickly. He lost his job, had no money to pay for his apartment, and within a few months he was out on the street. "Never in my worst nightmares would I have imagined that I would one day become homeless," he says.
At Klimaka, he not only has a roof over his head but also a new task. As part of a reintegration program, all residents of the institution have to take on a daily job. They cook, clean, or like Koutikas and Zacharatos, make the nightly drive to the favorite sleeping spots in greater Athens. Those spots are near the fancy promenades of Piraeus, a stone's throw from the parliament or in the middle of the tourist district near the Acropolis. Usually it takes just an informed look, and the Klimaka team has found its new "clientele." "We constantly see new faces," says Zacharatos.
'There are Always More'
As yet, there are no reliable estimates as to the numbers of the "new poor," because the appropriate studies are lacking. Families can also mitigate the severity of many financial crashes. Those who have lost their jobs or their homes find accommodations with relatives before they ever make it into official statistics. That is especially true of the youngest victims of the financial crisis. "But with the government's many new austerity measures, along with the tax burdens, it is questionable how long the families can continue doing that," says Stamatogiannopoulou.
What is clear is that in 2010, almost 28 percent of Greeks, or 3.03 million people, lived at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to numbers released last week by the EU statistical agency Eurostat. With the recession only having deepened since, it seems likely that the number of poor Greeks rose in 2011.
Manos, who would prefer not to give his last name, is among the Greek poor. The man, in his mid-50's, is one of dozens of people to come to the Aghia Zoni church on a recent morning. "There are always more," says Father Immanuel, who has organized meals for the poor for 20 years. "Up until one or two years ago, we knew every face here. Today things are much different," he says.
Suicide Rate Doubles
The people in the church's courtyard are waiting for the cook Georgia to finally open the door. She has been at work in her kitchen in the church's basement for hours. When she opens the heavy steel door, there is a great rush to get in. Manos, too, gets noodle soup and bread. As he is eating, he tells a common story of losing his apartment and his job. He was born in lower-middle class Kypseli, an Athens neighborhood, and now he is sleeping in the cold on park benches. "I am a good salesman, honestly," he says. "I can sell anything." He then asks his German guest for his email address, and a few hours later he sends his resume with the request to pass it on. He hasn't given up. The psychologist Eleni Bekiari knows what dark thoughts the crisis and its consequences have brought to Athenians. She staffs Klimaka's telephone number "1018." It is a 24-hour suicide hotline, and its statistics are clear. In 2010, there were about 2,500 calls made to the number. In 2011, there were twice as many. "Most of those who call us are women," she says. "On the other hand, it's usually the men who end up taking their lives."
Greece traditionally has one of the lowest suicide rates in Europe, but the increase has been dramatic. Since the beginning of the crisis, the suicide rate has almost doubled. In 2011, there were almost six suicides per 100,000 citizens. When the callers to the suicide hotline are asked for their reasons for suicidal thoughts, Bekiari says, they often answer with two words: the crisis.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,814571,00.html
Monday, February 13, 2012
ATHENS IS BURNING !!!!!! H ATHINA KAIGETE!!!
Watch live streaming video from stopcarteltvgr at livestream.com
http://livestre.am/6Sn
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2012/02/12/syntagma-live-updates-from-syntagma-square-athens-feb-12-2012/
http://prezatv.blogspot.com/2012/02/live-stream-from-athens-general-strike.html
http://www.tovima.gr/society/article/?aid=443272#.TzjTl8xezz8.blogger
“In order to save the banks from bankruptcy, they’ve thrown us into poverty and unemployment. They sold off our country and all that belongs to us. Switch off your TV, take to the streets, for victory!”
http://livestre.am/6Sn
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2012/02/12/syntagma-live-updates-from-syntagma-square-athens-feb-12-2012/
http://prezatv.blogspot.com/2012/02/live-stream-from-athens-general-strike.html
http://www.tovima.gr/society/article/?aid=443272#.TzjTl8xezz8.blogger
Sunday, February 12, 2012
I learned from the best - Whitney Houston
This is an interview on whitney houston which debuted in 2002 in primetime about her drug use, issues, marriage, life, etc.
Austerity Bill passed
ATHENS, Greece — The Greek parliament approved on Monday a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund and avoid a messy default.
The vote occurred after 100,000 demonstrators marched to the parliament and buildings were burned down in central Athens. Following the vote, black-masked protesters created a wall of fire with petrol bombs and set fire to cinemas, cafes, shops and banks.
Dozens of police officers and at least 37 protesters were injured in Sunday's violence and more than 20 rioters were detained.
Following the vote to cut $4.35 billion — which means axing one in five civil service jobs and slashing the minimum wage by more than a fifth — violence spread to other Greek towns and cities, including on the holiday islands of Corfu and Crete.
"I've had it! I can't take it any more. There's no point in living in this country any more," said a man walking through his smashed and looted optician store.
A protester who declined to give his name said: "I don't care if an ornament shop is burning, but it's a shame the building is old. We will win."
Before the vote on Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told lawmakers that violence would not be tolerated. He urged them to back the bailout reforms, saying the "wrong decision" in the bailout vote would lead to catastrophic default and exit from the euro.
We are facing destruction. Our country, our home, has become ripe for burning, the centre of Athens is in flames. We cannot allow populism to burn our country down," conservative lawmaker Costis Hatzidakis told parliament.
Since May 2010, Greece has survived on a €110 billion ($145 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. When that proved insufficient, a new rescue loan package worth a further €130 billion ($171 billion) was decided — combined with a massive bond swap deal that will write off half the country's privately held debt.
But for both deals to materialize, Greece has to persuade its deeply skeptical creditors that it has the will and ability to implement spending cuts and public sector reforms that will end years of fiscal profligacy and tame gaping budget deficits.
Athens ablaze The air in Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.
Terrified Greeks and tourists fled the rock-strewn streets and the clouds of stinging gas, cramming into hotel lobbies for shelter as lines of riot police struggled to contain the mayhem.
State television reported that trouble had also broken out in Heraklion, capital of the tourist island of Crete, as well as the towns of Volos and Agrinio in central Greece.
A three-story corner building was completely consumed by flames with riot officers looking on from the street, and firefighters trying to douse the blaze. Protesters set bonfires in front of parliament and dozens of riot police formed lines to try to deter them from trying to make a run on parliament. Clouds of tear gas drifted across the square in front of parliament. Many in the crowd wore gas masks and had their faces covered, while others carried Greek flags and carried banners.
Riot police fired dozens of tear gas volleys at rioting youths, who attacked them with firebombs, fireworks and chunks of marble smashed off the fronts of luxury hotels, banks and department stores.
Streets were strewn with stones, smashed glass and burnt wreckage, while terrified passers-by sought refuge in hotel lounges and cafeterias.
Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis said rioters tried to storm the city hall building, but were repelled.
"Once again, the city is being used as a lever to try to destabilize the country," he said.
Conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said the rioting "hurts the entire country."
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
"Time Wandering’–living “some-when”
If your thoughts are stuck and you can’t see the next logical step, you might be doing a little ‘Time Wandering’–living “some-when” other than the present moment. Here’s a short quiz to find out when you’re often living:
• Have you ever found yourself back in frustrating situations that are eerily similar to your past and make you feel powerless?
• Does your mind often wander to past relationships or old frustrations or “failures”?
• Do you ever run scenarios in your mind about conversations you’ve had with someone or are about to have with them, taking your attention off, say, driving your car?
• Have you ever found yourself sitting in a meeting and running through scenarios that have nothing to do with your surroundings?
• Do you sometimes find yourself anticipating the worst to happen, just like it once did in your past experience? (I.e. He/She will leave me, just like the others.)
• When you’re frustrated with something in your life, do you tend to focus on your past or future rather than deal with your current emotions and experience?
If you answered yes to any of these questions (and I don’t have to be psychic to suspect you had at least one yes!), it’s a sign of being “some-when else.” And, when you’re some-when other than the present, you are never in the now.
Remember, now is where all your power is to shape your Map—past, present and future!
Mercury this week
Mercury, the fastest-moving planet in the solar system, is always on the go -- flitting from one sign or planet to the next, having fun and creating mischief along the way. And this week, this quick-talking celestial body has decided to steal the cosmic show!
On February 13, Mercury, still in Aquarius, forms a benevolent alliance with sensible Saturn. This is an ideal time to make plans or have serious discussions, and with scientific Aquarius in the mix, a bit of careful reflection can result in sorely needed solutions.
The very next day, February 14, Mercury spreads its wings as it soars out of Aquarius and into Pisces. Dreamy Pisces has a tendency to make communication challenging and vague, which only serves to rile conversational Mercury. However, if you stop trying to be rational and simply tune into your inner self and your surroundings, Mercury in Pisces will significantly enhance your intuition. In fact, you could become positively telepathic!
Also on February 14, Mercury bumps into Neptune, a transit that essentially guarantees a head-in-the-clouds day. Save any meaningful chats for another time; instead, simply try to enjoy all the earthly beauty that surrounds you!
Taking a quick break on February 15, Mercury hands the stage over to Venus and Pluto, who square off against each other in a transit that will bring passion, jealousy ... and maybe even betrayal. Keep an eye on the motives of others as you do your best to keep your own manipulative plays in check.
Fortunately, by February 16, Mercury is back, cheering you up through an enthusiastic encounter with Jupiter. You'll regain your optimism and confidence, and you can count on at least a couple fun encounters!
astrology.com
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