The countdown for Gaddafi's family deposition has started. The
first planes of the international force have already flown reconnaissance
flights over Libyan territory. One more leader has had his chances to
evacuate peacefully, but like so many others before him, has chosen
to be deposed by force and, hopefully to be exiled in disgrace, or,
perhaps, be executed...
More than 10,000 souls are thought lost in the latest earthquake
that hit the Japanese islands measuring a devastating 9.0 in the
Richter scale...
Alogoskoufis is providing advice on how to fix Greece's finances.
Hahahaaaaahaaaaaaa....!!!
I hope that the Guardian commentator that lambasted the Greek state
and the Greek Government last week on the issue of immigrants' rights
will have the courage to acknowledge that, despite the significant
immigration problems that the country is facing, and despite the fact
that the hunger strike was a form of undue pressure from immigrants
that had broken the immigration law, the Government has done
everything in its power to resolve it. Moreover, this is more than
many other governments of civilized states are willing to do to face
similar problems...
Right now the focus of the liberation movements are in Libya and the
Middle East. However, it seems that it is not only the Ben Alis, the
Mubaraks and the Gaddafi's of this world that are getting rich on
the backs of impoverished and restrained subjects. There seems to
also exist significant evidence that the leader of one of the ex-super
powers has amassed a significant private fortune that is inconsistent
with his declared finances but, of course, very consistent with his
privately created and supported power structure... He should realize
before it is too late that sooner or later transparency will become
a sine qua non and that there will be an overwhelming demand for
every leader, past and present, to be held accountable for his actions...
Gaddafi is determined to die in power in Libya. And he'd better die sooner
rather than later before his regime causes even more bloodshed. A person
has every right to renounce his own life and turn down a deal for his own
survival by not realizing that his moment of glory is up, but he does not
have any right whatsoever to put other people's lives on the line for his own
self-interests and vanity. The world will be a better place with one less idiotic
"leader" governing the lives of powerless subjects.
I was very upset and incensed to hear the producer Harvey Weinstein last
evening on CNN arrogantly putting forward his company's "ownership"
of the rights of the story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Warsaw
Ghetto Uprising is part of the story of humanity, its darkest and its
bravest moments. Mr. Weinstein may be extremely rich and may have
been exhilarated that he had won an Academy Award for one of his latest
productions and may have put forward successfully his point that he
has four daughters to raise and feed, but he does not have the right to
proclaim publicly with such arrogance the exploitation of one of the
most sensitive parts of the history of humanity to make another quick
buck in his already abundant collection. Some sensitivity never hurts...
Most countries have some well established procedures for admitting
immigrant workers legally and absorb them into the existing population
structures. This is especially true for countries founded on immigration
like the United States, Canada, Australia etc. and much less so for
countries whose immigration patterns are rather recent like, for instance,
Greece. A large number of immigrants, however, for a number of
understandable reasons (political, economic, religious etc), choose to
bypass these procedures and to enter those countries illegally. This
illegal migration unavoidably results in a situation where a large number
of people end up without a legal status and the host countries get exposed
to problems that are very difficult to solve legally.
If one thinks about this issue carefully, a solution would require the legal
framework of a country to incorporate some provisions on how to legally
(and not penally) deal with persons that break the law. That creates a logical
contradiction and, potentially, a dangerous legal precedent in areas of law
other than immigration law. It is, as a consequence, rather unfair for the
Guardian to unload the entire blame of the unfortunate situation that has
been created in Greece with the large number of illegal immigrants on the
Greek Government and the Greek State. A solution is definitely needed,
but the difficulty in finding one, both inherent and political, should not
be underestimated.
Unfortunately, the Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg incident is only the tip
of the iceberg in a much wider phenomenon of the "entitlement" felt by
a younger generation when it comes to higher education and not only.
Many of its members, under pressure from parents and a booming and
competitive job market, are eager to obtain diploma papers while, at the
same time, they are unwilling to invest the time and the mental and,
sometimes physical, effort that has traditionally been associated with
those studies. The results are more than obvious to anyone with any
minimal interest and experience in this field to see...
It is just astoundingly remarkable how far out of touch with reality a
40-some-odd years "leader" can be...
Alliot-Marie fully deserves the fate that has befallen her. What she did
was not even appropriate for a politically sensitive common EU citizen
to do, let alone for the French Foreign Minister. It is a pity that the
French polity and the French hierarchy are so deep in s**t that it took
several weeks for the President of the Republic to realize that there had
to be repercussions concerning her unfortunate (to say the least) actions.
Moreover, it is sad that she has the audacity to claim that she has done
nothing wrong..
GROUND ZERO, TIME ZERO: We all stand with Libya and
we are all happy to see Libya free and its people liberated.
GROUND ZERO, TIME ZERO: FREE LIBYA
One of the remarkable things that come out in the open, as several
middle-eastern countries enter this period of revolution and turmoil
and their people embark on their own quests for liberty, is the
absurdity of character and the madness of the people that have led
them for such a long time. Just look at Gaddafi and read the
remarks that he made in his televized appearance a few hours
ago. What an incredibly low human form... And yet and still
he has been a "leader" for several decades. It is indeed remarkable.
Gaddafi should have known that, based on historical record,
when one revolution is succeeded by another, the obsolete leaders
of the preceding one should give way to the leaders of the new
one or else risk becoming extinct. But his last statement shows
that he is delusional, not basing his decisions on historical reason
and foresight. FREEDOM FOR LIBYA NOW!!
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has absolutely no right to threaten the
peaceful Libyan protesters "until the last man standing".
Libya is no more the fiefdom of either him or his father and
the sooner they understand that the better it will be for their
health and well-being. Unless of course he wants to become
the "last man standing" of the old regime...
Libya: Ground Zero and Time Zero.
President of the Hellenic Republic? You must be kidding me...
It is not up to him, whether he wants it or not. The Presidency
is a symbolic post that cannot possibly be occupied by a
politician, who has played a universally accepted detrimental
role in the well-being of the republic. So, sure enough the post
does not "interest or suit" (?) this despicable human being...
Libya is boiling. And Gaddafi does not have many friends left...
The blood that is flowing in Libya comes from the river of Liberty
and that is one river that cannot flow backwards. BRAVO to
Libyans and to their sacrifices! They are also on their path to
joining the civilized world of democratic and self-governing
nations on this earth.
Egypt won! The Egyptians won! Let us hope that no country will provide
refuge to the oppressor and his stolen goods and fortune. Let us hope
that every country will support the new democratically elected authorities
in Egypt, regardless of their political ideology. Egypt starts afresh and
Egyptians will need all the support that their newfound liberty and
democracy can get. BRAVO TO EGYPT!!
M. Fillon did not want to be left behind... Shame on France and its
politicians who are creating a clandestine neo-colonialist foreign
policy and personal mafia-style political relations that stink...
It seems that French politicians, starting from Mitterand, on to
Chirac and down to Alliot-Marie, are committing one "error" of
judgement after another when it comes to rich African puppets
and their free offerings...
The Provost of the University of Athens, Mr. Pelegrinis, thinks that
the Greek public consists of idiots that cannot think and form their
own political opinions. Calling the issue that has arisen with several
illegal immigrants occupying the central building of the Law School
in Athens an "immigration issue" is ridiculous. While the presence of
so many undocumented immigrants in Greece is an "immigration
issue", the occupation of the Law School and the disruption of its
normal operations is a University issue. As the Provost very well knows,
for sensitive historical reasons, the Greek Law delegates authority for
resolving these issues to the Provost Council and not to the State Police.
It is HIGH TIME in the history of the MODERN GREEK REPUBLIC
that those Provost Councils take seriously their responsibilities under
the laws of the republic. Their not doing so, may result in those
responsibilities being reverted to the state police via a public outcry
(and/or via other means) and this will be a step back and rather
detrimental to public order, given the sensitivities with which events
of the not-so-distant past have burdened the conscience of the freedom-
minded and extremely Democratically-oriented Greek populace...
Bravo to Egyptians! No Mubarak has the right to keep the population
of an entire country, in fact of one of the most historic countries on
earth, under his thumb. People are not dumb, people want freedom,
people will not let a leader become rich while they are starving and
tortured under his regime. Let us witness a sweeping reform in the
Egyptian political system too.
The World's citizenry is witnessing aghast the Swiss Government going
after one of its citizens in order to protect a worldwide Swiss-sponsored
network consisting of gangs of afluent high-profile customers aiming
at evading taxes by hiding their incomes in offshore "investments"...
By any intelligent person's standards, Prime Minister Erdogan's
judgement on the Israeli State's inquiry on the massacre on the "Mavi
Marmara" being devoid of any value whatsoever is justified. By what
standards of justice can an accused form a committee of "investigation"
to pass judgement on its own crimes? Who would have expected a state
to incriminate itself in the eyes of the international community on their
own voluntary accord? There is a reason why incidents like the attack on
the "Mavi Marmara" should be investigated by international committees
and tribunals; not by committees operating under the auspices of the
parties involved behind closed doors...
Tunisians are realizing at last that the problems of North African and
several Middle Eastern countries cannot and should not be blamed
exclusively to colonial oppression and exploitation anymore. The
citizens of those countries are now responsible for their fates. They
have the right and the responsibility to revolt against home- and
foreign-grown and supported dictators and oligarchs who are living
on the backs of the citizenry and exploiting their countries' resources
for personal gains and self-aggrandizement. BRAVO to Tunisians!
I was very happy indeed to read that the German Chancellor is placing
a high enough priority in the common European currency project not
only as an economic endeavor but also as a political project. The stress
on and efforts invested by the European leaders on this tough junction
for the world economy should not be underestimated. But neither should
the fact that even thirty years ago the language of division and belligerence
was all too often present in world and European affairs. The struggles of
the generation of politicians preceding the current one resulted in the
Europe of today, of the generation of our children for which war,
division and hatred have taken the back seat and peace, harmony,
cooperation, stability, financial well-being and collective responsibility
are guiding the way. The German Chancellor and the other European
leaders should keep this in mind and subject all their financial decisions,
albeit difficult and sometimes painful but necessary, to the service of this
unprecedented political progress in the continent.
In Greece, despite many commendable efforts by the Government of
George Papandreou, many irrational, bureaucratic and comicotragic
events seem to still occur: today the same press outlet in.gr reported
in two of its articles: First, that the Vice Minister of Health together
with the Secretary General for Athletic Affairs announced that an
effort is being made to exlpoit all available infrastructure so that all
citizens may participate in athletic activities and be able to exercise
and live a healthier lifestyle; Second, that the Chania National
Swimming Center is closing its doors because of lack of funds which
prevents it from being able to afford heating oil.
Unfortunately WikiLeaks is not what it claims to be. If it was an organization
caring about the dissemination of all available information, it would publish
that information as it becomes available. But it is more about profit and control
of information. We hear that it has millions of documents at hand that will be
made available over time in a controlled manner. Thus, it aims, much like a
government, to control the available information and provide it to the public
in a way that reveals special interests and behind the scenes machinations. The
world does not need another controller of information; the world needs a web
site that leaks without shady and questionable time and subject filtering...
It seems that, for some reason, the first institutionalized step in placing
oneself into the European support mechanism is to deny vehemently
having made the request and, also, deny that it is going to happen... So,
as it turns out, Portugal seems to be undeniably the next in line.
Bravo to Pope Benedict XVI for having the courage to revise his own rigid
ideological position concerning the use of condoms. Even in a restrained
and qualified statement, the Pope's new position reflects the current needs
and current realities of humanity. A leader (religious or otherwise) must
have the courage and audacity to adapt to these circumstances and this
seems to be the first sign that Benedict is heeding these calls...
Η ενιαία Κώς δεν ψηφίζει δαγκωτό ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ.
Η ενιαία Κώς ψηφίζει δαγκωτό Καΐσερλη γιατί η Κώς θυμάται και γιατί η Κώς
έχει
.Berlusconi did not go too far this time. Berlusconi has been going too far for a
long time. It's just that Italians have become too numb to realize that their premier
is making a mockery of their country, their "democracy", their judicial and their
political system, while many in the rest of Europe are staring aghast, wondering what
this despicable human being is going to do or say next...
Why are our taxes funding irresponsibility and corruption around the globe? Why
does the US fund the same regimes that are covertly funded by Iran and are into
negotiations with the same people that blew up the WTC? I simply cannot follow
the US military and foreign policy as far as Afghanistan goes. I think that, given
the history and credentials of the present regime, the US should withdraw support
and bring troops home.
