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Sunday, February 19, 2012
Ιtalian Mayors Donate their Salaries in Support of Greece
In a symbolic act of solidarity towards Greece and its people, plagued by the economic crisis and struck by their lender’s excessive demands, two mayors from Italy have announced their decision to donate their salaries in support of the Greek people.
Marco Galdi, mayor of the Cava de’ Tirreni, outside Salerno, offered his 1,100 Euros salary per month to the Greek people, as he stated in a letter to the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schultz, the Italian PM, Mario Monti, and the Greek PM, Lucas Papademos.
The payment of the mayor’s salary to Greece will commence in March.
In his letter, Galdi wrote that “only one people across Europe claim not having brothers or sisters, and those are the Greeks. And in this particular moment in history they are absolutely right. Nobody in the world treats the Greek people with any sentiment of brotherhood.”
The same solidarity gesture was repeated by the mayor of the small town of Baronissi, Giovanni Moscatiello, who offered his salary of 780 Euros per month to Greece.
“All leaders of Greece have definitely committed serious mistakes over the years. We would be as irresponsible as they were, if we did not support the country that gave birth to the Western European civilization in any way we could” read Moscatiello’s letter.
PROMINENT EU PERSONALITIES SUPPORT GREECE
The voices of those who support Greece increase in number and volume day by day! Francois Olland, the French socialist candidate for the presidency, stated that if he is elected, he’ll renegotiate the terms and conditions of the economic package. Francois strongly supports the Greek people during these crucial and severe times for our country. He states that all the sacrifices that the Greeks have made so far and the progress that Athens has shown up to this stage should be rewarded…only to carry on by saying that a lot of foreign ministers already have doubts over the austerity measures that Germany wants to impose, not only on Greece, but on the rest of the EU countries.
Another French national turned Greek supporter is Patrick Hyaric, who is actually the president of the French newspaper “L’Humanite”, and the list doesn’t end there….
Even the Italian prime minister Mario Monti supported our country in one of his speeches declaring that “…Greece had serious responsibilities in the past, but she has made serious steps towards improvement and it’s only crucial to turn the page in her favor…” In a move that clearly shows dissatisfaction with the whole EU failure, Mario Monti has withdrawn Italy’s candidancy for the 2020 Olympic Games!
One can only wonder how this will end, or what dawns for every one of us…One thing is for certain…unity brings people together…isn’t that what Alexander The Great did after all? Where are You now to see the state of Your country? Where are You now to see the state that certain “prime ministers” have reduced Your country to?
I guess we have to close with what Patrick Hyaric wrote in his paper “… Yes we are Greeks through unity and solidarity, we are Greeks simply because we refuse to live in the very same misery they have to live in at the moment.”
YES WE ARE GREEKS!!! We should finally wake up and claim back OUR OWN COUNTRY!!!
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
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