Enemies of the state

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece has lashed out at "forces seeking the devastation of the nation and the country" during a ceremony for the cutting of the traditional New Year cake at the Archepiscopate. In an attack on those seeking further separation of Church and State, Christodoulos called for resistance to efforts to "de-Christianise" Greece.

Muslims intent on becoming German citizens will have to undergo a rigorous cultural test to gauge their views on subjects such as bigamy, homosexuality, western clothing for young women, and whether husbands should be allowed to beat their wives.

Enjoy / endure 2005 a second longer - scientists are delaying the start of the New Year by adding a "leap second" – make the most of it!

And who is transported through the air by another creature and comes down the chimney at Christmas? You might be surprised - find out in Weird, Wild & Wacky

What would Archbishop Christodoulos make of posh London store Fortnum & Masons? They effectively cancelled Christmas for thousands of their customers - oh, what a Goode Life. Margo will never 'play the tart' for Gerry again!

Check out the ELSOKAI Forums

As we prepare to celebrate Agios Vassilis

Two Greek police officers have been shot dead with their own weapons as two prisoners escaped during a prison transfer.

Two leading members of the Pakistani community in Athens yesterday played down claims that fellow countrymen were kidnapped and tortured as terrorist suspects, suggesting the claims have been misinterpreted.

Dozens of students are helping Greece's efforts to attract tourists by training to be mountain guides as part of an initiative intended to exploit the natural beauty the country has to offer apart from beachside resorts. In the UK, the annual exodus during July and August is being overtaken by the number of people taking their holidays out of season, prefering winter activity holidays to sitting on the beach.

Two sections of the Petrified Forest on Lesvos, one of the largest parks containing fossilised forests in the world, are now open to the public.

And television viewers could soon be watching channels with news and information about their area.

Turkish state prosecutors have dropped one of two criminal charges against the best-selling writer Orhan Pamuk.

Is the Geneva Refugee Convention still workable in the modern world? It is not an abstract question, but one at the heart of political debate around Europe.

"The 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees is hopelessly out of date. Designed during the Cold War to allow a few dozen refugees to flee from behind the Iron Curtain, its authors would be absolutely astounded to learn that, a generation later, hundreds of thousands of people were taking advantage of it every year."

However, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Europe has a huge problem with migration but it is not being swamped by refugees. Rather, the institution of asylum is sustained by the generosity of some of the poorest countries in the world.

Sir Elton John's civil "wedding" has revealed an unexpected Greek connection.

And in the Weird, Wild & Wacky section:

A drunken airline passenger became so aggressive on a packed Christmas holiday flight that the captain decided to dump him on a desert island and a police dog that can ‘earn’ more than the chief of police.

More details in the ELSOKAI Forums

Our daily bread

Authorities are looking to recruit consumers in their fight against unfit food items hitting the market. The Development Ministry said yesterday that it will distribute pamphlets telling shoppers what to keep an eye out for when filling up their shopping carts.

The government yesterday made public a new set of figures that determine the tax payable on property transfers as it aims to use the country’s booming property market to help improve its budgetary health.

The possibility of secret service agents being called to testify as part of an investigation into claims they abducted and interrogated Pakistani immigrants grew yesterday after the migrants’ lawyer said he had filed charges against the intelligence officers named by a newspaper. The claims must also be investigated in the UK, according to the Liberal Democrats.

The number of foreign students at Greek schools has increased more than tenfold over the last decade, but few of the schoolchildren make the jump from junior high school into further education.

Bakeries will be closed for the New Year break after Saturday. Normal bakery hours will resume on Tuesday.

In the pc section, two new threats facing Windows users and a report on response times by AV companies.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

Three cheers for Turkey

Higher fines for violations of health and hygiene standards are expected to be recommended after authorities blocked more than 5,000 tons of bad food from being channelled into the Greek market this year

Greek opposition MPs are seeking further clarification over allegations that 28 Pakistani migrants were abducted and mistreated by Greek and UK intelligence agents. Left wing politicians claim there has been a cover-up and that national sovereignty is at stake.

Immigration became a UK election issue for the first time since 1970, a development caused in part by a record number of arrivals that would have beggared belief 35 years ago.

Bob Geldof has agreed to work with the Tories on world poverty.

Europe is building its own satellite-navigation system (‘GPS’) called Galileo – at an estimated cost of €3,400,000,000

And an unlikely hero has emerged in Turkey to rescue sex-slaves forced in to prostitution: the men who use brothels.

More details in the ELSOKAI Forums

So, what did Santa bring you?

My Christmas stockings weren’t filled with anything as shapely as I hoped (you can see what I got in the bar at elsokai). But it was a very enjoyable Christmas nonetheless, with a few nice surprises.

However, not all were so fortunate. Twenty-eight people were killed in car crashes in the Athens region during the Christmas period. Some 260,000 vehicles left the city over the holiday weekend and many were expected to return today.

Children singing Christmas carols were robbed in three separate incidents across Athens on Friday.

And children are among those receiving text-message invitations via cell phones to play high-cost lotteries.

A Greek newspaper has published the name of the British spy chief involved in the alleged abduction and mistreatment of 28 Pakistani migrants in Greece following the London bombings.

A woman who was abducted and sold in to marriage has been found after living in a cave for 21 years.

Well, who’d think I’d be mentioning beaches so often in winter? Following the bomb on the beach and the body remains on the beach, now body parts have been discovered washed up on a beach.

And what everyone wants next Christmas – a ‘lifelike’ robot that cooks and cleans (when it isn’t watching television).

All in the ELSOKAI Forums

Merry Christmas

Peace on Earth


Goodwill to All

The ghosts of Christmas present

Merry Christmas everyone.

Hardly afraid to be contentious here so, as one man’s Christmas meat is another man’s poison, feast on this: Maybe it wouldn’t hurt us to remember what Christians in other countries have lived through in recent years. This may remind us that, in the greater scheme of things, a few pine needles in the shag-pile aren’t a tragedy.

All around the world the story is the same — the massacre, enslavement and forced conversion to Islam of more than a million Sudanese Christians; thousands of Christians murdered or driven from their homes over the past decade by Islamist mobs in Indonesia; rape, kidnapping and forced conversion of Christians in Egypt; the list goes on and on.

Here’s a time-ly story from The Times The Elves of Cold Commerce

Shhh, don’t tell the kids, but there’s a rumour floating around the members’ bar that Father Christmas was laid to rest in a churchyard in the village of Dedham, Essex, UK, on May 30,1564

I’m thinking of hiring some help for the bar, check out the candidates later on and vote for your choice. I hope you all get what you want in your Christmas stockings!

Check out the ELSOKAI Forums

'Fat fingered' Greek gave Olympics to London

The Budget for 2006 was passed through Parliament late last night and the five-day discussion concluded with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis calling for a review of the Constitution, saying, “It is the time for changes and reforms."

Yesterday it was announced that Greece's troubled health system is in for an overhaul and the long debate about the quality of public health services was further revived after a live scorpion was found in a Greek hospital operating room – not long after a rat tail surfaced in soup served at another hospital.

In the run-up to Christmas, Public Health departments around the country are finding lots of food unfit for human consumption in store and on sale.

A writer has been fined 3,000 lira for insulting Turkish identity in a book describing the forced evacuation of thousands of villages by the Turkish military.

After the bomb on the beach, a human skeleton has been found buried on another beach – more in the local news.

And London may have won the honour of staging the 2012 Olympics due to a ‘fat fingered’ technophobic Greek.

You'll find more from the news in the ELSOKAI Forums
Feel free to add news or comments

Santa Pope wears Gucci

The Acropolis will no longer be in danger as the main part of renovation work on the monuments will be completed by 2009, ending a 34-year restoration project aimed at saving the country’s most famous landmark, officials said yesterday.

Greece's troubled health system is in for an overhaul after Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis got the green light yesterday from Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on a draft law which aims at decongesting the country's hospitals.

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded and the Home Office Scientific Development Branch is already working on ways of automatically recognising human faces by computer, which many people would see as truly introducing the prospect of Orwellian street surveillance, where our every move is recorded and stored by machines.

The Dutch immigration minister says she will look into the legality of banning the burqa, the robes worn by some Muslim women to cover their bodies and would-be immigrants hoping for Dutch citizenship will need to pass a special test on Dutch language and culture.

The Pope played Santa yesterday in St Peter's Square, draping a red cloak over his shoulders and covering his head with a red velvet hat lined with white fur.

And the state-run poison center in Athens has received more than 800,000 calls for assistance since opening 30 years ago, dealing with some unusual as well as worrying cases: an elderly man who swallowed a watch battery instead of a painkiller and three adults who consumed French fries they had cooked in motor oil. It’s understood things are ticking over smoothly.

In the pc news: Norton antivirus software contains a vulnerability that affects both MS Windows and Apple Mac pc’s.

More details in the ELSOKAI Forums

Gloomy Greeks go cold on Turkey

With the start of the new year around the corner, a new survey shows that Greeks are pessimistic about the next 12 months, saying the state of the economy leaves little room for hopeful beginnings.

The survey also shows that EU citizens are unhappy with decisions to keep adding new member states. Opposition to Turkey’s membership continues to rise, particularly in Greece.

An Istanbul-based editor is facing a three-year prison sentence for “insulting the Turkish state” after publishing a book by a Greek author which has sold over 50,000 copies in Turkey.

Gordon Brown has disclosed that the deal to surrender part of the EU rebate will cost the UK taxpayer almost double the amount Tony Blair claimed.

In the States, teaching of ‘Intelligent Design’ has suffered a major set-back after a judge ruled it a violation of the constitution.

In the local news, an old mine has been washed ashore on a beach n Kefalonia. Now where is that Captain Corelli when you need him?

And Santa does exist! Motorists who received parking tickets have been finding Christmas cards on their windscreens containing cash to pay the fines.

More details in the ELSOKAI Forums

Sober worm catches child-porn perv

Well, we can't have drunk worms crashing round the net, can we? This is a real cracker. Check it out here in the pc section at ELSOKAI

Merry Christmas, chocolate is good for you

There’ll be more people walking the streets in Athens this Christmas, but the good news is that they will be police officers. They’ll also be checking for drunk drivers.

And more good news – chocolate is good for you!

In the local news, there’s a Christmas Carol Concert coming on Kef.

All in the ELSOKAI Forums

Athens centre is 'Little Albania', Greeks most xenophobic in EU

Greeks feel a “heightened sensitivity” toward immigrants and their problems, according to Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos, speaking on International Migrants Day (Saturday). The government has repeatedly stated that immigrants are sacred in Greece and it seems the centre of Athens has become a ‘Little Albania’. But despite what the government might like to portray, Greeks are the most xenophobic in the European Union, with 84.7 percent of Greeks regarding migrants as a social threat.

A white Christmas looks likely as the weather has taken a new turn for the worse with snow and polar temperatures hitting parts of Greece.

An old Christmas tradition, which millions of people around the world anxiously wait for every year, is on the verge of extinction.

Meanwhile, the Greek Church and the state are hoping to exploit the rich religious traditions to entice visitors (hm, 'give us ya money, then go back home'?).

In the local news, a bad road accident on Kef.

If you have any news, or views on the news, don't be shy - feel free to post in the ELSOKAI Forums

Animals skinned alive in Euro fur trade

An undercover investigation has revealed a booming trade in dog and cat fur coats from eastern Europe. The fur, which comes from both strays and captured pets, is re-labelled to disguise its origins before being stitched into coats and re-dyed. A coat passed off as "Korean Wolf" had been manufactured from dog fur - possibly from an animal that was drugged and skinned alive to preserve the fur's freshness.

Freedom of speech isn’t only under threat in Turkey. While crime appears to run rampant in the UK, police are chasing up people who publicly challenge the government or who express views that aren’t deemed politically correct.

And a new seaplane service should connect the islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos with Patras, w.e.f mid-January.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

Turkey's 'major problem': snail mail

Greece has one of the highest education dropout rates in the EU, at the same time, a large number of graduates are forced to work in positions for which they are overqualified.

European leaders have agreed the next seven-year EU budget after two days of tense talks ended in the early hours. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis expressed his satisfaction on the deal, which included progress on the FYROM issue.

A monk who “only believes in God and not the justice system” is accused of stealing ikons from a monastery on Kythera.

With all the recent news about corruption in Greece, I’ve posted an extract about an ancient Chinese cure for corruption.

Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan have executed a school teacher in front of his pupils for refusing to comply with warnings to stop educating girls.

Turkey experienced a “major problem” yesterday. In a tense first hearing, marred by violence inside and outside the Istanbul courtroom, the trial of Turkey's Orhan Pamuk for allegedly insulting Turkey was suspended yesterday - because the mail didn’t arrive. Hate to say this guys, but the mail isn’t really the reason why Turkey is experiencing a major problem. The real reason is that the Turkish idea of democracy is way out of line with the Europe Turkey wants to join. Still got a long way to go.

And after The Odyssey comes the The Penelopiad, Odysseus's story through the eyes of his faithful wife, Penelope. A review of the new book by Margaret Atwood is in ‘A novel idea’ at ELSOKAI.

Feel free to add news or views at the ELSOKAI Forums

Heart troubles plague Greeks

Three people were arrested in Greece yesterday after authorities broke up one of the largest illegal immigrant-smuggling rackets in Europe in a five-country police operation.

The Church of Greece will give up land it owns in the area of Schistos, western Athens, to enable the building of a Muslim cemetery and mosque. The decision was made “out of respect for the needs of the people, without discrimination.”

The trial of acclaimed Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk has been suspended minutes after his first court appearance on charges of insulting his nation.

The body of a missing Lesvos betting-shop owner was found after her murderer confessed.

A gene mutation puts Greeks more at risk of suffering from inflamed hearts than other nationalities.

And Jennifer Anastasakis’ heart is broken, so she’s coming home to Greece for a little while. Might not be a big thing, except she’s better known as Jennifer Aniston.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

Freedom-of-speech on trial in Turkey

Tomorrow, Friday 16 December, acclaimed Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk will be tried for "insulting Turkishness" after talking about the Turkish genocide of Armenians.

"Immigrants living in Greece and especially those coming from countries Greece shares long and close ties with are sacred to us,” said Greek Interior Minister, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, after a Summit session with the Interior Ministers of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey focusing on the issues of illegal immigration, people and drug smuggling and organized crime.

Police have smashed an international people smuggling ring which made millions of euros trafficking more than 5,000 people to Italy via Greece.

Feel free to add news or views in the ELSOKAI Forums

Ratatouille, anyone?

Sometimes I have to wonder if Turkey really wants to join the EU or not. Not only do they threaten to imprison anyone who wants to publicly discuss the Turkish genocide of Armenians, now there are fears - within Turkey itself - that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is returning his ruling party to its Islamic roots with a proposal to banish drinking in bars and restaurants to special "drinking zones" in remote suburbs.

In Greece, people are becoming concerned about the quality of food following many finds, in warehouses and supermarkets, of food unfit to eat.

And patients were (allegedly) served rat soup in the country’s largest state hospital. Always wondered what happened to Basil and Manuel.

On Lesvos, the search continues for a woman missing after going to collect a €14,000 debt from a customer at her bookies shop.

And the EU is making life easier for us. If you get a speeding or parking ticket abroad, soon you could be prosecuted in your home country.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

Athens 'at a standstill'

A 24-hour strike around Greece paralyzed the country's public sector, plunging the capital into a standstill.

Demand for drug rehabilitation has increased to the extent that the state Organization Against Drugs (OKANA) can’t keep up with the rising number of users wanting to access the program.

Two weeks ago a report indicated a small percentage rise in cases of AIDS in Greece; a new report reveals an almost 25 percent rise from 2004 in the number of people diagnosed as HIV positive. As far as I’m aware, there is a difference between HIV and AIDS, but I think the former usually precedes the latter. If anyone is more knowledgeable, feel free to enlighten us.

Police on Lesvos are searching for woman missing after she allegedly collected €11,900 of a €14,000 debt owed by one of the customers at her betting shop.

Major branches of Hellenic Post (ELTA) should be open this weekend to cope with Christmas demand. Many branches are closed today through strike action.

A respected US research institute says that the Chinese military is probably behind an organized hacker attack on US government computers.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Oh, and footballer Paula di Canio looks set to be fined (again) for giving fans a fascist salute. Didn’t know he was still playing – good player, crazy guy.

Pirates attacking Greece

Pirates are attacking Greece, or at least, the Greek economy, as fake goods flood the consumer market. The Deputy Foreign Minister has called for a single government body to coordinate efforts to combat fake consumer products which are costing the economy up to 1,900 new jobs and €118,000,000 in additional tax revenues.

As we all know, street vendors freely peddle copied their wares in most neighbourhoods across the country’s cities and towns. The Development Ministry’s secretary for consumer affairs called for help from companies because his staff do not always know whether an item is a copy or not.

Police think the recent bombing in Syndagma could be the work of terrorist group "Epanastatikos Agonas." And it’s been revealed that the police officer who took the warning call did not properly complete the relevant forms, resulting in inadequate information being passed to officers on the ground.

In what seems like political correctness gone mad, a court on Kos sentenced a 60 year-old priest to 17 years in prison for sexually harassing three young girls, who testified that all he did was stroke them on the back.

Public Sector employees’ winter and summer working hours will be unified w.e.f. 1 July, 2006

Thunderstorms and gales are set to hit most of Greece today.

And if anyone’s having problems connecting to otenet on dial-up, check out ‘Life in Greece’ in the members' section.

All in the ELSOKAI Forums

The Greek disease

“We are committed to the Greek public to limit the gray areas of corruption, to form rules and boost democracy in the country that gave birth to it,” Karamanlis told his party’s lawmakers on Saturday.

On the same day the head of the Workers’ Housing Organization resigned after a newspaper published a letter accusing of him demanding a bribe before he’d pay a contractor for work done. And on Sunday, Kathimerini reported that corruption has increased under ND.

Hardly surprising perhaps, as ND, who loudly proclaimed the need for competitive tendering whilst in opposition, have awarded a €200,000,000 contract without going out to tender – to a military vehicle company 51% owned by the state.

A bomb rocked Syndagma Square this morning as Greece prepares for a wave of strikes this week against the governments plans for the public sector.

Meanwhile, dipping temperatures and snowstorms did their bit to bring choas to the country by cutting off a number of villages and leaving others without electricity across northern Greece yesterday.

And the Education Minister is setting Greece upon the information super-pathway by upgrading computer systems in 5,000 schools in Greece.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

Honouring ordinary lives

(Another) One of the things I like about Greece is walking in to an old shop and seeing an old black-and-white photograph of dad, or even granddad, hung on the wall. Sounds like these guys have the same sort of appreciation:

"The world is overflowing with information about rich and famous people. We wanted to do something to remember the anonymous people in this world. The people who really make the world go round."

Well maybe the world will be going round in the heart of Rome, where the Franciscan Fraternity of Bethany has quietly opened the first convento misto, where men and women who take religious orders can choose to live under the same roof.

Hold on – stop the world, I want to get off: Children should be protected from "terrifying" Father Christmas, shielded from "alarming" pantomimes and encouraged not to send wasteful Christmas cards, a UK Government website has advised teachers.

More on these stories in the ELSOKAI Forums

Snail mail

Well, I actually got some work done today, courtesy of otenet. Had one hell of a problem getting connected today but here I am. At 03:30 in the morning. No, don’t ask what I’m doing sat at my pc at this time. First time I’ve been able to get on the net since lunchtime. Was beginning to wonder if it was my pc but, thankfully, a friend phoned around 21:00 to ask if it was just her pc! Oh well, at least the line wasn’t engaged. Makes a change. Anyway, here I am, at a staggering 33.6 kbps. Hm, might have been quicker to post a letter.

Universal Children's Day

“Today is Universal Children’s Day”
according to ERT News

But is it? Have a look in the ELSOKAI Forums

Another wasted opportunity

Today is International Human Rights Day, 2005, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Government plans to reform the public sector come under strong attack this coming week as workers come out on strike.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said the EU faces difficult negotiations before it can strike a deal on the 2007-2013 budget. The failure to reach a deal could plunge the EU into a prolonged crisis.

And once again Greece is wasting a golden opportunity, this time to save 90 million euros and create 4,000 new jobs, as ND fails to live up to its promises.

More on these stories in the ELSOKAI Forums

Go forth and multiply

Maybe there is a method in ND’s madness. Having launched a new policy of favouring applicants from or with big families for positions in the public service, it now transpires that university graduates dream not of being successful in the ‘real world’ but of securing a cushy job in the public services. After the recent riots, allegedly involving students, it seems the ND message to them really is “go forth and multiply”.

And it seems that doctors in Thessaloniki sent a patient diagnosed as HIV-positive home with little help as to his care and well-being. He was subsequently imprisoned at home by his father, who often strapped him to his bed.

Nor is this lack of initiative confined to graduates. Customs officials in Kakavia were shown how to do their job by their counterparts across the border after allowing three stolen cars to drive into Albania.

No wonder then that three-quarters of the public are unhappy with the government.

But someone is showing initiative. Whether it’s the police and Coast Guard or whether it’s the illegals trying to enter Greece remains to be seen, but the number of illegal immigrants caught in Greece this year has increased by over 60% on last year.

And talking of people being unhappy with the government, in the fruit and nut state of California there are plans by the Republicans to replace Arnie with Mel Gibson. Now that could be interesting. So come on now, Mel, tell us about the Holocaust.

More on all these stories in the ELSOKAI Forums

Nazi worm infection set to attack soon

A Nazi computer ‘virus’ is set to hit pc’s just after Christmas. "There hasn't been one variant that did anything but send out right-wing German spam," said the security company who discovered the plot.

Sony are in more trouble after the second version of their CD anti-piracy software has been found to leave computers open to attacks by hackers.

And a small ship with eight crew is missing off the coast of Kefalonia.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Karamanlis defecting to Pasok?

If you want to get a job in the public service, have a big family – having ended ‘jobs for life’, that’s the new message from ND.

In a new blow to public confidence in the legal system, a lawyer suspected of dealing drugs shot a policeman in Athens.

But don't tell the tourists - they find it safe and friendly, if expensive – taxis in particular. And nearly half of all taxis and three-quarters of school buses fail tests at Athens’s Vehicle Inspection Centres.

The Greek Ministry of Economy will focus on battling against tax evasion and on cutting public spending in 2006. Among services entitled to a lower rate of tax are power supplies, waste management, construction and… hair salons.

Milk producers, who already admit that milk is substantially more expensive in Greece than most of Europe, are mislabelling milk as ‘fresh’ and ‘Greek’ when most of it isn’t either.

Mel Gibson, whose film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ was criticised as being anti-Semitic, is embroiled in a new controversy over plans to make a film about the Holocaust.

And Kostas Karamanlis is going green. But no, he isn’t defecting to Pasok (despite his bizarre plans for re-populating Greece).

And if you’re thinking of buying your kiddie a video-game for Christmas, there’s a new website where you can check out its suitability.

As usual, feel free to add comments, or news you’ve found, in the ELSOKAI Forums

And if anyone, perhaps but not necessarily, living on Kefalonia, can give a home to a delightful little puppy, please have a look in the 'Found' section.

A taste of reality

The foreign contribution to Greece’s cultural heritage is being honoured in a display at the Athens Concert Hall.

A new round of investigations into corruption within the judiciary began yesterday. One of the cases involved a court's refusal to issue an arrest warrant for former judge Constantina Bourboulia, wanted on charges of money laundering and taking bribes.

And alcohol advertisements overflowing with sexy, successful young people sipping their favourite drink may soon be a thing of the past.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Periptero's under threat?

Tiny, turreted kiosks overflowing with newspapers and hundreds of trinkets are one of Greece's most familiar street sights - but one big investor's view of them as a potential goldmine has alarmed traditionalists.

The debate on the new draft bill concerning the radical reforms to be put in effect in the public utility companies, known as DEKO, is launched in parliament today.

In the dense central forests of Borneo, a conservation group has found what appears to be a new species of mammal. The WWF caught two images of the animal, which is bigger than a domestic cat, dark red, and has a long muscular tail.

Red Cross officials hope approval of a third emblem will finally put an end to decades of controversy over the issue of the Red Cross emblem. At the moment, the only two emblems recognised under the Geneva conventions are the red cross and the red crescent.

And a bank for women is being launched in Germany with the aim of liberating female customers from dealing with patronising, traditional bank managers.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Impressed? You bet!

Hm, wonder how many Greeks read blogs?
posted by Mike @ 11:43

Young Educated Men Surf the Net
05 Dec 2005 11:47:00

Wow! A reply from eKathimerini in four minutes! How’s that for an information society!!! Impressed? You bet!

OK, I’m kidding – obviously, it was just coincidence. But there’s a lot of info on the typical profiles of Greek ’net users at eKathimerini, check it out if interested. I don’t think it mentions blogs...

Poverty in Greece

According to a survey conducted by VPRC on behalf of the state-run National Book Centre (EKEBI), two-thirds of Greeks don’t read a single book a year while 39% say that they never read a newspaper. 62% did not visit the cinema and 83% did not go to the theatre last year.

And in a separate report:

One in four Greeks has trouble paying for basic needs and one in five lives below the poverty line, according to research by the National Center for Social Research (EKKE). According to the study, only 42% of Greeks are in a position to say they are not socially excluded in some way.

More at the ELSOKAI Forums

Don’t be shy – feel free to add a comment. Hm, wonder how many Greeks read blogs?

Greece too inefficient for progress?

It seems as though the Greek administration, past and present, is too inefficient to make use of available resources vital to Greece's progress. After six years, Greece has spent only one-third of the money available to it through the EU. Most depressingly, the ‘information society’, where Greece lags way behind the rest of Europe, lies at the bottom of the list.

The Greek Justice Minister, Anastasis Papaligouras, stressed that a clean-up in the Justice department, with purgation and upgrading of the judicial system, constitutes a one-way street. Although harshly condemning ‘tele-trials’, he stated that this reflects the public perception of a corrupt judiciary.

Marietta Giannakou, Greek Education Minister, has stressed that the changes required in education will be implemented, despite any reactions and irrespective of political cost.

MORE than 20,000 British Muslims gathered yesterday at a conference in London, the largest meeting of its kind to be held in Europe. Many of those who addressed the conference insisted that Muslims did not support the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks in America and the London bombings in July.

Tony Blair is claiming that a plan to cut up to £7 billion in the British rebate over seven years will bring Britain’s EU spending down to that of France and help the development of Eastern Europe. Is he betraying the UK, or saving money?

The Civil Partnership Act comes into force in the UK today. Allowing for the notice period, the first ceremonies will take place in England and Wales on December 21.

Google has introduced an anti-virus service to Gmail (at last!).

And a little clip I found tucked away in a quiet corner of the net:

President George W. Bush had to explain that he was a little busy running the United States when he got called for jury duty.

Maybe it wouldn’t be appropriate for the President of the USA to sit on a minor case, but it made me think of these clips from the article I posted on the 1000th execution in the USA:

Bill Clinton boosted his 1992 election campaign by flying home to Arkansas to sign the death sentence of a mentally retarded man.

While the governor of Texas from 1994 to 2000, President George W Bush presided over 152 executions.

Nice to know these guys get a little time to take part.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums. As usual, comments welcome.

Racism revisited

Two identical acts of kindness that led two young men to violent deaths have been recounted before the criminal courts in the past fortnight.

Anthony Walker and Christopher Yates, concerned about female friends late at night, walked with them to bus stops in Liverpool and London respectively to make sure that the women got home safely. Both were set upon, not far from homes they shared with their mothers, by other young men from their own neighbourhoods who had been drinking heavily or taking drugs.

In Huyton, Liverpool, Mr Walker, 18, who was black, was attacked by Paul Taylor and Michael Barton and killed with a savage blow to the head with an ice axe. They were sentenced to at least 24 years and 18 years, respectively.

In Barking, East London, Mr Yates, 30, a white man, was knocked to the ground and kicked and stamped on by Sajid Zulfiqar, Zahid Bashir and Imran Maqsood. Every bone in his face was broken in a ferocious attack. Afterwards, Zulfiqar boasted in Urdu: “We killed the white boy. That will teach a white man to stick his nose in Paki business.”

But while a judge in Liverpool decided that Mr Walker’s murderers were racists — and therefore liable to more severe jail terms — an Old Bailey judge decided that Mr Yates’s murderers had not been motivated by racial hatred. Zulfiqar, Bashir and Maqsood were sentenced to 15 years in prison, the minimum tariff for murder.

The similarities between the two murder cases, and the differences in their outcomes, has left the Yates family feeling that it has been treated unequally. “I understand what Mrs Walker and her family are going through. We are going through exactly the same thing. But it appears to me that we have experienced a different measure of justice than they have experienced.”

The question of anti-white racism makes the political class uncomfortable. But it is a very real phenomenon.

More on this story at the ELSOKAI Forums

The information society / Don't mention the genocide

While some European countries, such as France, Austria and Germany, have laws against denying the holocaust, in Turkey anyone who tries to talk about the Armenian genocide is threatened with imprisonment.

Members of the Greek radical group November 17 have appeared in court to appeal against convictions for more than 2,500 crimes.

Today is International Day of Disabled People, and in Greece it is dedicated to providing people with disabilities better access to the natural environment, communications and the information society. (er, does Greece have an ‘information society’?)

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Killer kids / killer COPD

Greece has been rocked by the news that three children robbed an old man and strangled an old woman on Salamis island.

Deaths from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have doubled in Greece in recent decades, while some 300,000 Greeks are suffering today from the disease.

The World Health Organisation will no longer offer employment to smokers.

Mental health professionals in the United States have highlighted the emergence of a new psychiatric problem on a par with alcoholism and drug abuse: internet addiction disorder.

A gang of Albanian sex traffickers who forced more than 20 teenage girls to work as prostitutes in London brothels were given jail sentences ranging from five to 18 years.

And two women in the States were sacked for not flashing their t*ts to a gorilla. Definitely one for the Weird, Wild & Wacky section.

More news later. As usual, all those items are in the ELSOKAI Forums. Feel free to pitch in with any news you find, or an opinion or two.

Oh yes, and if I remember rightly, another benefit of coffee has been discovered!

It's only rock'n'roll

The Rolling Stones are going to rock Athens in June.

Del Boy, a.k.a. David Jason, has been knighted by the Queen in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The system of odd and even car registrations in Athens is to be abolished.

Paxos is cut off from the mainland and parts of Kerkyra are without electricity.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Sweet an' sour

About one in two people believe that the quality of service offered by public offices has improved recently but dissatisfaction still remains with the public sector.

Britain will be tightening the visa rules from 2007, according to a report in Beijing.

And fifty-eight Chinese tourists were detained by police at Athens International Airport for 25 hours, despite having valid visas. Greece is trying to encourage tourism from China. (?)

Enlisting migrants into the police force will help law enforcers fight their own racist attitude toward foreigners, the Panhellenic Confederation of Police Officers (POASY) said yesterday.

Today is World AIDS Day 2005. As per organisation "Doctors Without Borders," 40 million persons are carriers of the virus, 95% of whom live in developed countries. In Greece, a small increase was recorded in 2003 and 2004. A study suggests circumcision can reduce the rate of HIV infections among heterosexual men by around 60%.

And it looks as though the beta version of Microsoft's new anti-virus software has been released.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

Anthony Walker

Today is, apparently, ‘blog against racism’ day. I post news items about racism, immigration, illegal immigration, people trafficking, etc, quite regularly – because it’s a topic that’s often in the news and many people have an opinion on it, one way or the other. So I’m not going to blog specially about racism. To be honest, I get a bit tired of hearing about it. I know what my views are and I expect you do to.

I don’t particularly want to live surrounded by blacks or Muslims. I want to live in a ‘nice’ part of town. If the nice part of town is 99.9% black / Muslim, I’d much rather be there than a 100% white area where theft, drug taking and assaults are the norm. Gee, if I don’t want to live among ‘foreigners’ I’ve sure picked the wrong place to live. IMO, Greece is still one of the ‘nice’ parts of the world, where people from different walks of life and of different ethnic groups still eat in the same tavernas, drink in the same bars, shop in the same shops and get on with their lives. Well, in my neck of the woods, anyway. And that’s one of the reasons why I like it.

I wrote that a few days ago and was considering whether to post it. This is why I decided to:

ANTHONY WALKER could not have been more different from the racist and idle thugs who took his life.

He was determined to become a lawyer and then a judge and so spent his days working hard to gain the A levels that he needed to get into university.

The popular teenager devoted most of his free time to basketball and his Christian faith, although it was always clear which he valued more. He once declined an invitation to take part in trials for the England basketball team because they fell on a Sunday.

The contrast between the 18-year-old victim, a devout Christian, committed student and talented basketball player who wanted to become a lawyer and his white racist killers could not have been more stark.

Anthony Walker's killers regarded themselves as untouchable in the predominantly white working-class housing estate in Huyton on Merseyside.

Paul Taylor, the older, more volatile of the two, had the swagger of a young man who had done time in a young offenders' institution and, by the age of 20, a criminal record stretching back six years.

Michael Barton, too, had "street cred": not through time served, but because he was a notorious thug. Barton and Taylor led feckless, feral lives. Their uniform was tracksuit and trainers, their occupation going “on the rob” and their daily drug of choice cannabis.

The two killers were part of a gang intent on intimidating anyone who got in their way. They had a particular hatred for anyone with a different coloured skin.

“They are nasty, evil lads,” said one woman, “They never seemed to work, yet they managed to buy expensive cars and drugs. They didn't just pick on black lads. They'd pick on anyone they thought was weak and vulnerable - but only when they were part of a gang. They were too cowardly to fight one to one.”

Anthony Walker was murdered by a racist gang who attacked him and embedded an ice axe in his head. On the day of the murder, after a day spent snorting cocaine and failing to steal a quad bike in a garage raid, Taylor was seen scratching his name on a board at the Huyton Park pub. His nickname was later found next to a swastika motif on the sign.

The ‘reason’ for Anthony Walker’s murder was simply that he was black.

Extracts from articles at The Times, The Times, The Telegraph, Independent